I am back…I just saw Footloose today and I have to say I was skeptical at first, but I LOVED it! It was awesome. Julianne Hough and Kenny Wormald were amazing. Great job! Anyway, here is the next chapter, guys. Once again, thanks for being awesome.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me but the desire to write my own story.

A day off. Lexie had forgotten what that felt like. Meredith, Derek, Alex, April, and Jackson were all working while Lexie was lucky enough to score the day off, leaving her and Haley alone in the enormous house they were now calling home. She had cleaned, fed Haley, did the laundry, and watched an early showing of Grease on basic cable. As much as she hated being alone, she did enjoy a small vacation from the questions. "Are you okay?" "Can I do anything?" Lexie had grown tired of them all. As Haley laid on the floor, playing with toys, Lexie rushed to answer the phone she heard ringing in the next room.

"Hello?"

"Lexie, I know you're not going to like this and please don't hate me, but Mark is on his way over to the house now." Meredith told her.

"What? Why?" Lexie said, on the verge of panic.

"He asked if you were on call and I said no and then he said that he wanted to take Haley for a little while." She explained.

"Mer, it's my day off. I was spending it with my baby, he can't just come and take her." Lexie said.

"I know. I tried to explain that now was probably not a good time and that he should probably wait and he wouldn't have any of it. I just thought you deserved a warning." Meredith said.

Lexie sighed. "Okay. Thank you."

"Hey, if you really don't want to deal with him, just lock the door and you and Haley can hide in mine and Derek's room. Just pretend you are not home." Meredith offered.

"Thanks." She said.

Hanging up the phone, she began to pick up Haley and her toys to move them into Meredith's room. As she walked upstairs, she thought to herself all she wanted to do was avoid another argument with Mark. She figured they would never see eye to eye on this issue and she wasn't going to get anywhere trying to make him see her side.

"Here we go." Lexie said, laying a blanket on Meredith's bedroom floor and placing Haley on top of it where she quietly continued to play with her toys. "We are just going to stay up here for a little while so we can spend some time just you and me."

Lexie heard the doorbell ring and her gut dropped, as she knew exactly who it was. After several minutes, the doorbell rang again followed by an eager knock and Mark's voice. "Lexie, come on, open up."

After a few more minutes, it became clear that he was not going to give up. Lexie got up and placed the baby gate in Meredith's doorway, just in case Haley should scoot her way out, and walked downstairs to the front door. She opened the door and stood in the doorway, leaving no room for Mark to invite himself inside.

"Hi, Lexie." Mark greeted, awkwardly. "How are you?"

"I'm doing just great." Lexie answered, sarcastically. "And yourself?"

"I miss you." He said.

"What do you want, Mark?"

"I just wanted to spend some time with Haley."

"You can't just drop in uninvited." Lexie told him. "It would be nice if you would let me know in advance."

"I told Meredith." He defended himself.

"Last time I checked, Meredith wasn't Haley's mother. If you would have called Haley's actual mother you would have known that today wasn't a very good day." She told him.

"Lexie-" Mark tried.

"Look, I have to get back to Haley, okay? We're done here." She said, walking back in the door.

Mark sighed as he heard the lock click and could not understand how things had gotten so screwed up, how he had let things get so screwed up. However, he wasn't giving up. He took a seat on the front porch steps and decided to get comfortable. He had a feeling that he was going to be there for a while. A few hours later, Lexie walked out the front door to check the mail, finding Mark sitting on the porch, falling asleep.

"Mark." She whispered. "Mark."

Mark jumped. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"I was just sitting here and then I guess I fell asleep. I had a pretty long night last night." Mark told her.

Lexie couldn't help but feel slightly moronic for being so mean. "Hey, do you want some water or something? You're looking kind of sluggish."

"Water would be great." He told her.

She nodded her head toward the front door and Mark hesitantly followed.

"Thank you." Mark said.

"Yep." She said.

"Where is Haley?" He asked her.

"Sleeping." Lexie answered. "She usually takes a nap around now."

"Right." Mark said. "I guess I forgot. It's been weird not having you guys at the apartment."

"It's been weird for me, too." She said, handing him a glass of water. "But I don't want to go there."

"Go where? Lexie I just want to talk."

"I know what you're trying to do." Lexie said, growing frustrated. "You're trying to weasel your way back in and I can't-"

"I'm not trying to do anything but get back what's mine. My child and the woman I love." Mark said.

"I can't do this." Lexie said, walking past Mark.

"Wait." He said, grabbing her arms. "Look at me. In my eyes and tell me you don't still love me."

"Of course I still love you." Lexie said with a sigh.

"As long as we love each other than the rest will work itself out." Mark said.

"Are you delusional?" Lexie asked. "We loved each other before and guess what? Things didn't work out. Things got pretty damn messy."

"I'm sorry for that." Mark said. "I really am. I don't know how else to say it. I do know that I am going crazy without you guys. I need you to just come home and let me show you that I can make this right."

Lexie paused and looked at him, the man in front of him looked do hurt and lost. "I don't think you can, and that's not your fault, okay? I'm not going to keep being angry at you for something that has already happened. You did what you did and it's done. I wish 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' made everything better, but it doesn't and I can't do anything to change that. Please understand."

"I can't understand that!" Mark shot back. "I can't understand why you won't fight for us?"

"Because fighting is killing me, Mark!" She regained her composure and continued. "I don't have any fight left, because all the strength I have is helping me to stay strong for that little girl up there. I can't be strong for you to help you feel better after you screwed it up. I won't."

"I'm not going anywhere." Mark said, as she walked away.

"Mark-"

"No. You can run and you can tell me it doesn't change anything, but one day you're going to wake up and realize that this is it." Mark said. "You're it for me, Little Grey."

"Okay." Lexie said, holding the front door open. "We'll see."

"Yes, we will." Mark told her. "Kiss Haley for me when she wakes up and tell her I love her."

"Of course." Lexie said. "Drive safe."

Lexie closed the front door and went to the attic to check on her sleeping daughter. Haley was still sound asleep in her crib and Lexie couldn't help but sit and watch. It was the simplest yet most soothing thing in the world to her. For the first time since that awful day, Lexie was able to have a semi-civil conversation with Mark. She felt that things were looking up and she wanted more than anything for everything to just get better. She loved Mark, with all her heart, she just wasn't so sure that she could trust him with it again.

This chapter was a little shorter but I think it still got the job done. I am making Mark work for it. I will try to have more character interaction in the next chapter. This one was mainly centered on Slexie. Until next time, guys. Read and review! Peace & Love, xoxo.

P.S. Go see Footloose, it is UH-mazing! : )