Mark was floating on air. His friendship with Zoey was back on track, he and Derek were even closer than before and he and Lexie were free to do what they liked and not in secret. So why did he still feel guilty? Derek was fine with the prospect of him and Lexie and Meredith, although a bit upset to begin with, only took a few days to get used to it and then was fine with them as a couple. With that in mind, he didn't understand as to why he felt guilty. It was late at night and had started to walk towards the exit when he had spotted Zoey lying on a row of chairs in the waiting area.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked her as he approached the seats she was lying on. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her eyes were closed. He smiled at how cute she looked when she was asleep. He remembered many mornings waking up and just watching her sleep next to him. She looked so peaceful he didn't want to wake her but he knew she couldn't stay there all night. He bent down so he was level with her face and stroked her cheek as a way of waking her up. As he did so, he saw the small shiner that was on the side of her cheek. He moved her hair out the way to get a better look at it. He frowned as he contemplated what could have caused it. He remembered Derek telling him it was her boyfriend who had put her in hospital, which made him wonder if he hit her again. It was only a small bruise on the side of her cheek but a bruise nonetheless – as far as Mark's concerned, no man should ever hit a woman. All thoughts left him when he saw Zoey's eyes flicker and a small smile creep on to her face as she saw who was waking her up. "Hey sleeping beauty, time to go home." He said softly.

"What time is it?" Zoey asked groggily.

"Quarter after eleven. Have long have you been sleeping here?"

"Since about five."

"Doesn't your shift finish at five?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason. Just … why didn't you go home? Surely your bed's more comfortable than these chairs..."

"I was waiting for Derek to finish and I fell asleep." Zoey lied.

"Does Derek know that?"

"Yeah, course he does."

"Really? Is that why his shift finished at eight and he didn't mention anything all day to me about seeing you?"

Zoey said nothing. "He must have forgotten." She said eventually, not looking Mark in the eye.

"Right." He sighed. "Come on, I'll give you a lift home."

"No don't worry about it, I've got my car in the car park."

"Yeah well you shouldn't drive when you're tired. Leave the car here and you can pick it up in the morning."

"How?"

"I'll pick you up in the morning."

"I'm at college tomorrow morning."

"What's your point? I'll pick you up, take you here to pick your car up and then you can go off to college."

Zoey thought about it. It did make sense … well sort of. She was very tired and couldn't really be bothered to drive. "Alright then but only if I can control the radio." Zoey grinned. She knew he hated it when she used to control the radio, usually because he hated the stations she made him endure.

Mark sighed. "If it makes you happy."

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It was silent in the car. Zoey couldn't find a radio station she liked so she turned it off. The two of the chatted for a bit but it soon turned to silence as Zoey's eyes started to droop.

"Hey Zo, you can't fall asleep, I have no idea where I'm going. Do I go left or right here?"

"Oh erm, left – no right. No left definitely left."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. 100%."

"Oh no wait, it was right." Zoey said as Mark indicated and turned left.

"What?!"

"Only joking." She smirked.

"You really are annoying, you know that?" Mark joked.

"I do try." She said laughing.

The pair of them soon fell silent again. Mark looked over at her as she rested her head on the door. He noticed the bruise on her cheek and wondered how it had got there. "Hey Zoey, I couldn't help but notice that bruise on your cheek. How did you get that?"

"What? Oh that. I erm, fell and banged my face on the radiator."

"On the radiator?" Radiator my ass, Mark thought to himself. No one bangs their cheek on the radiator and even if they do, they don't get a mark like that.

"Yes on the radiator."

"Okay. So why were you sleeping in the waiting area?"

"I told you, I was waiting for Derek."

"I don't believe you." Mark said bluntly. "I know it's not the first time you've done that. Whenever you're working at the day care centre, you don't leave until very late. Your shift is 9 'til 5, why don't you go home?"

"Maybe I don't want to go home." Zoey mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"I said … it's just …" She sighed. "I don't always want to go home."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I don't always like it."

"You don't always like it? What's that meant to mean?" Mark asked her, knowing full well what that meant. Zoey looked away from Mark and out the window. "Zoey, why don't you like going home?" he asked. When he got no response he pulled the car over and stopped. "Zoey, look at me. Why don't you like going home?" He undid his seat belt and made Zoey turn her head to face him. As Zoey turned her head, a tear had escaped from her eye. "Hey, come on. What's going on? Zoey you can tell me. Whatever it is, I might be able to help but only if you tell me."

"I didn't fall. There was no radiator. There was no mugging." Zoey said quietly as another tear fell from her cheek, which she wiped away quickly. "He drinks a lot."

"Your boyfriend?"

Zoey nodded. "He gets aggressive when he drinks. He doesn't mean it, it's just the drink talking."

"Zoey did he do this to you?" Mark asked, referring to the black and blue mark on her face.

Zoey nodded again. "That's why I stay at the hospital as late as I can. I don't know what I might go home to." Her voice started to quiver as she let more tears fall only this time she didn't wipe them away. She just sat there looking at Mark letting them fall past her chin and drip on her hand, arm and car seat. Just watching the tears fall, her voice quiver and listening to what she was saying broke his heart in two. He wiped her tears away with his thumb and said nothing. If there was any chance of showing her he was a changed man, this was the time, only he didn't have a clue what to say. He figured he would just sit there and listen to what she had to say. Let her get out all these feelings. He wondered whom else she had said this to. Had she told Derek? He hadn't said anything to him but she might have told him not to remain quiet and not tell Mark. "Does Derek know about this?" he might as well ask the question.

"He knows I get hit a lot but he doesn't know just how scared I am to go home." Her voice shook even more with each word and Mark hated it. He hated the fact that she's so scared of going home. Home should be a safe place, the one place you shouldn't feel scared. He couldn't take any longer. He unbuckled Zoey's seat belt and pulled her on to his lap where she cuddled in to him and as she sobbed on to his favourite Armani shirt and he found that his feelings for this young woman had developed in to something a lot deeper than he thought. I am so screwed, he thought to himself. He rubbed her back in circles as she calmed down and stopped crying. "I'm not taking you home. No way. You're coming back with me. I'm not letting you go back there tonight not when that bastard is capable of anything. He put you in hospital before; I'm not going to let him do it again. Don't worry, you can have the bed, I'll sleep on the couch." He added when her head shot up at him.

"You live in a hotel room." Zoey sniffed.

"Yes but only the best hotel room the Archfield could offer."

"What about Lexie?"

"What about Lexie?" Mark asked, putting extra emphasis on the word about.

"She is your girlfriend. Don't you think she'll mind if I stay at your hotel room?"

Mark's face dropped hearing it from Zoey. Lexie's his girlfriend and now everyone knows it, even Zoey knows it. "I'm sure she'd understand." He told her.

Zoey smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek before crawling back to the front passenger seat. This took Mark back a bit. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Just … thank you."

They locked eyes with each other for what seemed like an eternity. Just as Mark felt himself about to lean in, he felt himself say something he never in his wildest dreams thought he'd say:

"Let's get going, it's been a long day for both of us."

I am so so screwed. He said to himself as they drove off in the direction of the Archfield.

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Once inside Mark's hotel room, Zoey was tucked up in his bed and didn't take long before she started to doze off. Mark sat on the other side of the bed and sighed before getting up to move to the couch.

"Stay with me." He heard Zoey mumble in her sleep. "What was that?" he asked, thinking he might have imagined it.

"Don't leave me alone Mark." She said sleepily and attempted to pull the duvet back with all the energy she could master, which as she was so tired, wasn't very much.

"I will never leave you." Mark reassured her. I am so so so screwed. He thought to himself as he stripped down to his boxers and climbed in to the bed where he had the best nights sleep he had had in ages.