We Were Happy

A/N Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing I am very grateful for the support. Oh by the way I have created a playlist of all the chapter titles for this story, (+ all the songs that I'm going to use) available on Deezer so if you search the title of this story you can listen to it. And MXT4 is my other Mark and Lexie songs, if you're interested. OKay there is a theme of sleep and comfort in this one, just roll with it.

Seattle Grace Hospital, Seattle, WA 2009 - S6E04

Mark walked through the empty night hall until he reached Meredith's room. She was sound asleep after her surgery, he hoped it was a success. He checked her chart and everything looked fine so she walked out of the room again, his back hitting the nurses' station. He heard the sound of shuffling footsteps and looked up, Lexie was yawning and panting as she rushed from one patient's room to the other. She'd just finished her shift of lying at her dad's side and now presumably it was Meredith's turn.

She stopped when she saw him, he saw relief flood into her eyes. She walked over to him and let a small smile grace her lips. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her to him, "she's ok." He said, putting on a tired but needed smile. He saw her visually relax in his arms, her slumpy shoulders fell as she let out a sigh. She rested her head against his chest and breathed out a puff of warm air that danced over his skin. He felt a wave of energy pass through, something that felt like magic but could easily be explained by neurons. He kissed her forehead and let her settle into him, he let her catch a Zs on him until his legs started falling asleep. Then he guided her over towards the chair at the back of Meredith's room. Her head fell gracefully onto the pillow she'd left the last time she was here. Mark left a note in her hand to get some sleep at home when she could before he left a lingering kiss on her forehead and drifted out of the room.

Apartment 501, Seattle, WA 2009 - S6E06

They were almost asleep. Lexie had her head rested against the crook in Mark's arm but for some reason she couldn't shut her eyes. She just kept staring at the ceiling fan. It was off but there was a spot on one of the blades and it was too distracting to ignore. She wondered how anyone could get it off, she thought about how it got there, and who made it? All so she didn't have to think about how she was going to face work tomorrow.

Usually, there was something brave about her, something that distracted her from all the bad luck people went through to end up as her patient. Usually, after she went to bed she could shut off her mind from work and think about what she was going to have for breakfast or what cool surgery she hadn't done yet that she'd like to try. In the OR they were just patients, covered over with blue towel and draped in tubes. It was hard to see a person under all of that. Usually, she was the type of person who watched surgeries whilst she ate her cereal. She wasn't squeamish or wimpy, but this was getting to her in a way it hadn't quite before. Suddenly the reality of the ER was screaming at her. She wasn't going to be a trauma surgeon any time soon.

As she stared up at the ceiling she thought about him, about how his whimpering cries were for his dad only. She'd started crying because she was thinking about the time he would have to spend in the hospital, she thought about all the other colleges he wouldn't get to see because his skin was fried. When she came back in and told him about the rain, she was looking at his future, a year from now when he would set foot on that campus and smile because he could smell the trees. She had to be brave for him, just like she was everyday. But maybe she should stop wearing her heart on her sleeve. It was making her seem like a wet wipe, and now with so many new residents. There just wasn't the space to be second best anymore.

Now Lexie had a headache because of how much she was overthinking. She turned her face away from the dot on the ceiling fan and snuggled into Mark's neck. He breathed out a warm chuff, like a tiger, and kissed the bridge of her nose. "Are you awake?" She mumbled at him, returning his kiss.

"Maybe," he replied sleepily, as though she'd just woken him.

"April got fired today. She was sensitive, I'm sensitive. Do you think I'm going to get fired?" She said, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice.

"No." He rasped back. "You're different than she is Lex. You're bossy too, you get what you need done. Can I go back to sleep now?" He stroked her hair for a while, and nuzzled her neck as she shifted upwards. He held her in the dark and his eyes stayed tight shut because he was tired. She tossed and turned in her sleep until every thought had worked itself out and all that was left was his guiding arms.

Apartment 502, Seattle, WA 2009 - S6E08

For a while, everything was blissful. There was music playing and everyone was laughing and dancing. Lexie was excited because she loved surprise parties, Mark was just happy she was happy. He was a little cynical about the whole thing. But that came with age and experience and parents who didn't particularly care what he was doing. He never had a kids birthday party growing up.

Mark knew Arizona would be home from the hospital soon so he pulled Lexie onto the dance floor. His hands were on her hips as the music changed to a slower, more romantic song. He leaned in and whispered to her, "I was scared of the dark."

She pulled away from him in surprise, "what?"

He leaned back and pulled an awkward face. "I never liked surprise parties because we had to hide in the dark, I used to hate the dark." She covered her chuckle with her hand, but then looked seriously at him.

"That's adorable." She just saying when Callie called around that Arizona would be here any minute. "Oh hey come on, we have to get prime surprise seating positions." Then she yanked his arm towards the door.