As promised here is Chapter 5. This was a very fun chapter to write so I hope you all enjoy it. Please leave me reviews. I won't have Chapter 6 up any earlier than Sunday evening, because I'll be in DC promoting my political beliefs.

Thank you and as always thanks for reading- Jen.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Grey's Anatomy or the lyrics to this chapter's song.

Chapter 5- Rockin' the Beer Gut

5 foot something cherry bomb

She had everything going on
The first thing that caught my eye

Joe's was not completely unfamiliar territory for Melanie. The last time she was home, all those years ago, after she left her mother's for the last time she had gone to there for a few drinks. It was the type of place she liked to go, quiet and intimate. She strolled up to the bar, "One shot of vodka, please."

Joe looked surprised that the rather small woman in front of him was going to drink straight vodka, but he poured the drink as ordered, setting it on the bar. Melanie's fingers wrapped around the cool glass. She tipped her head back and felt a familiar burn as the contents slipped down her throat. She thought about Clark. He was still angry but she couldn't exactly blame him.

A stranger sat next to her as she ordered a second shot. "You are going to be miserable in the morning," he said.

Melanie shot him a look and downed the shot. "I have a feeling I'll be miserable in the morning either way," she smiled. He couldn't be called cute. He had far too much sex appeal to simply be called cute. He reminded her of what her Uncle Mark or her Uncle Derek had looked like when she had first arrived in Seattle. "I may as well enjoy how I get there."

He appraised the girl next to him. She was different from his usual type but he doubted that there were many models living in Seattle. Nowhere near as many as there had been in New York. Besides there was just something enthralling about her. Maybe it was the fiery red hair or the cool aqua eyes, but he couldn't tear away his own baby blues from her. "Can I buy you a drink," he paused as if to ask her name.

Not missing the hint she continued for him "Mel, and yes you may." How could she refuse a drink from such a handsome man? "I'll have a gimlet and your name."

"Dan's the name," he replied to her and turned his attention to the bartender for a brief moment. "The lady will have a gimlet and I'll have a double scotch." Joe thought to himself that this chance meeting in a bar was like déjà-vu, but he couldn't place it.

"So Dan what do you do," Melanie asked. Her demeanor relaxed.

"Would you be impressed if I told you I was a doctor?" That trick usually worked with girls. Back in New York he was a frequent guest on a local news station as their medical advisor. He was an excellent surgeon in his own right but the show had given him notoriety. When his old resident had called him with a job opportunity, head of plastic surgery no less, he decided he could easily give up his New York style of living.

Melanie quietly chuckled. "Not one bit."

For a second Dan looked dumbfounded. "Really?"

"I'm a doctor myself, and so is almost everyone else in my family." She provided as Joe provided the drinks that had been ordered. Dan sat back impressed and took a sip of his drink. She had hardly looked old enough to be in medical school, much less be a doctor already. "Surprised?" she asked with an edge of sarcasm.

"No, a lady like you has to be pretty smart; classy too," he smoothly replied, a Southern drawl creeping into his voice. Mel just smiled at him and took a sip of her drink. In the back of her mind she thought that the drink must be weak. She couldn't taste any vodka. What she had forgotten when she ordered the drink that gimlets are usually made with gin. She had also forgotten that gin was her weakness. She could handle any drink thrown at her, but gin made her unusually affectionate.

"So where are you from?" she asked. "Somewhere classy I'm sure."

"I'm originally from Charleston. I lived in New York for the past five or so years, and I just moved out here for work."

"What part of New York?" In the eight years she lived throughout Upstate New York, she no longer recognized New York as just meaning the city. It was a whole state after all.

"The Upper West Side. Are you from New York?" he asked.

"No. I just spent the last couple years Upstate. I'm originally from Iowa, but lived right around Seattle for about half my life." She downed the rest of her drink as a country song crooned from the jukebox. "Do you want to dance?"

"I only dance with the most beautiful girls," he replied cheekily.

"Then you're in luck. One of them is asking you," she said as she grabbed his hand and took him out to the dance floor. As the rhythm took them, he looked at her with admiration. Never had he been so taken by a girl. She was young, self-assured, and intelligent; a picture of what he had always been looking for in a woman but had never taken the time to look for. Certainly she would never fall for his methods.

She interrupted his thoughts. "Has anyone ever called you Danny boy?" Her eyes sparkled at him. It might be the booze or it might be love.

"I can't say anyone ever has," he laughed.

As the night progressed they shared a few more drinks. She looked through her purse to find her phone to check the time. It was close to midnight. Not too late, but still not too early. "This has been great Danny boy, but I have an early day of work tomorrow," she informed him.

"It was nice to meet you Mel." He would probably call it a night soon too. Damned hospital had such early hours.

Melanie just looked at him. "Aren't you going to offer to take me home?" she said sweetly.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I did that?" he asked with faux indigination.

Melanie suppressed a giggle, poorly. "You would be my kind of gentleman. So do you?"

"Want to take you home?" Dan was surprised. She seemed like such a classy girl; one who would not be going home with some random guy. "Of course I want to take you home."

She smiled at him, her eyes bright. "Then let's get going."

On the car ride to her house, she texted Erin to tell her that she had found a ride home and that she'd see her in the morning. Each minute felt ten times longer. Both were quiet with anticipation. When they finally arrived she led him by the hand into the house. Noting that the lights were still out in the house, his lips crashed against hers. She looked into his eyes. They dared him with a smoldering light and with that he allowed himself to be led upstairs.