So, here's what I'm hoping: Callie is a big fat liar. Let's all cross our fingers, and maybe that's how it will all play out! But in the mean time, here's some more fluff. Thanks so much for all your reviews, favorites, and alerts!

Whisper Hello, I Miss You Quite Terribly

The warm water cascaded down Lexie's body as she lightly ran her fingers through her hair. The brunette shivered slightly as a pair of warm lips pressed into the bare skin of her shoulder. She leaned into the warm body behind her as two strong arms wrapped around her stomach.

"We're going to get caught," Lexie laughed as Mark nuzzled his head into the crease of her neck.

"And then what?" Mark taunted, placing kisses along the top of her shoulder blades, "Are they going to punish us?"

Lexie laughed as Mark turned her around and pressed her against the shower wall, placing one hand on her waist and one on the wall beside her head. "Do you think they'll use whips? Maybe a hot iron?"

Lexie rolled her eyes as he hovered over her body, "You just think you're so clever, don't you?"

"No, no," Mark shook his head, "I know I'm clever."

Lexie scrunched her face in mock annoyance, "Shut up and kiss me, smart ass."

Mark smirked as he ran his hands up and down the sides of her body, and connected his mouth to hers. He groaned as Lexie allowed her hands to navigate down Mark's back, her fingernails digging slightly into his skin. His tongue slid across her bottom lip as she opened her mouth and tasted the mint from his toothpaste he had used moments ago.

Lexie sighed in content, ever since movie night she hadn't had a single worry, she hadn't encountered a single instance of doubt. Being with Mark felt so easy, so carefree; sometimes she wondered why she had questioned their relationship in the first place. They were just so, so obviously perfect together, how had there been any instances of hindrance? She was being so apparently idiotic before, why couldn't she and Mark work? Why couldn't she put everything she had into their relationship? She had been repetitively questioning them together when she should have been embracing the feeling. How much time had she wasted chasing a reasoning that wasn't even prevalent?

Lexie smiled into the kiss as she felt Mark begin to massage the shampoo into her scalp, creating suds. Lexie laughed as she felt him playing with her hair. Suds of shampoo fell in-between their faces before Lexie pushed him away slightly, "Are you five years old?" Lexie asked with a giggle.

Instead of responding, Mark took his hands and rubbed them vigorously around on top of her head. Lexie swatted at his hands, still laughing. She took some suds from her head and patted them against his cheek. Mark shook his head slowly back and forward, nuzzling her face. Lexie laughed wholeheartedly as she attempted to move away. Mark's arms enveloped her, keeping her in place as he tried to rub his soapy face against hers.

"Lexie," Meredith's voice came from outside the door.

Lexie's eyes widened as an amused grin slid across Mark's face, Lexie held his face in one hand and covered his mouth with the other, "Yeah, Mer?" Lexie asked, trying to muffle Mark's voice as he teased her.

Meredith opened the bathroom door and walked in, "Hey, I just needed to ask you something."

Lexie shook her head with wide eyes at Mark as to command him to shut up, "Sure thing, what's up?"

Meredith walked towards the toilet and sat down on the closed porcelain bowl, "Well, yesterday Mrs. Shepard called and asked if Derek and I would want to join them for New Years in the mountains."

"Aw, look at you, bonding with the fam." Lexie mocked, keeping her hand over Mark's mouth, slapping his hands when they attempt to make their way up her chest.

"Yeah, yeah, all that maternal connection crap. Anyways, she was wondering if you would be interested in tagging along." Meredith stated, picking at her nails.

Lexie's mouth dropped, as did her hand from Mark's mouth, "She wants me to come?" Lexie asked Mark, slightly confused, but more astonished that the woman would to invite her at all.

Whereas Mark just smiled, Meredith responded, "Yeah, she said she really wants to see you again, and that you're good with Mark, and that you should be welcomed to the family properly. And then she said that I'm way better than you and way cooler because I'm the one continuing the Shepard family line, so don't even try to be her favorite." Meredith added the last part in good humor, rubbing her hands up and down her swollen belly.

"Welcomed to the family?" Lexie repeated, ignoring the latter part of her statement, a small smile tugging at her lips. Mark shook his head, his smile still intact. He lowered his head and began to press small kisses against her collarbone. Her hands went to his hair, running her fingers up his scalp.

"Yeah, so I said I'd asked you and get back to her, so what should I tell her?" Meredith asked. "And, just a fair warning, Derek and I, as well as all of Derek's sisters will be there; most of which, Mark has, in fact, slept with."

Mark paused his wandering lips, waiting for Lexie's reaction. He didn't look up from his current position, his head still resting against her shoulders. Lexie pursed her lips, not sure as to whether she should be as amused by Meredith's statement, or slightly horrified. "Yeah, I got that fact. Thanks, Mer." Lexie stated, her hands lying still on Mark's neck. A slightly amused smile finally began to break out across her face, "I'd love to go."

Meredith slapped her hands on her pajama-clad thighs, and pushed herself up off the toilet, "Swell," she stated sarcastically, "I'll let her know." Meredith made her way towards the door, before stopping at the threshold, "Oh, and Mark, you're obviously expected to come to."

With that last comment Meredith waddled out of the bathroom and closed the door. Lexie bursted out in laughter, slightly mortified but mostly entertained. Mark poked his head up from his girlfriend's shoulders, "You're right, we were caught and I was punished."

Lexie laughed once again and lightly pushed Mark so that they both were immersed under the spray of the showerhead. Lexie began to wash the soap from Mark's head, causally making upward movements with his hair between her fingers. Mark looked at her, his eyes conveying affection and love, and a hint of concern.

"I'm ready for it," Mark stated, letting his hands fall to her waist.

"Ready for what?" Lexie asked, a slightly perplexed expression adorning her face.

"Whatever you've got," he said simply, playing with the cascade of locks that fell down to her mid-back. "Lay it on me."

Lexie shook her head at his oddity, "I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Mark shook his head, "I'm prepared for whatever you throw at me."

Lexie cocked her head to the side, "Are you alright?" She asked, washing the remainder of soap from her hair, before squirting some conditioner in her hand and rubbing it through her brown mane.

"Aren't you going to yell at me? Like, 'how dare you sleep with those skanky Shepard sisters. The nerve.' Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, 'go to hell'?" Mark asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Lexie scrunched up her face, letting the water wash the conditioner from her hair, "You're making it sound like you slept with all of them at the same time."

Mark stared the woman before him down, "You're not going to yell at me?"

Lexie shrugged and turned off the faucet, "I don't have a reason to. Your past, along with your reputation, isn't exactly a secret, babe." Lexie said with a small laugh.

"But I still did it, and now we'll all be together again, does that not unnerve you in the slightest?" Mark asked, trailing his fingers up and down the small of her back as she removed herself from the shower. Mark followed her movements and picked up a towel that laid atop the toilet seat.

"Should I be?" Lexie asked rhetorically, Mark reached around her wet frame and wrapped the towel securely around her. "I've never not trusted you," she continued, grabbing another towel from above the toilet and handing it to him, "You say we're in a monogamous relationship, I trust you. Who you were is not who you are, there's a difference; maybe it's not apparent to you, but it's obvious to me. I trust you, you should try trusting yourself, too."

After fastening a towel around himself, Mark's arms, once again, pulled Lexie into him. "So, you swear you're not mad?"

Lexie placed her hands on his bare chest and looked up into his eyes, "Tell me you love me."

Mark leaned down and kissed the woman before him slowly, trying to communicate the truth of his impending statement. He pulled away, all too soon in Lexie's opinion, and pressed his forehead against hers, "I love you, more than anything in the world."

Lexie pushed herself up on her tiptoes and briefly pressed her mouth against his briefly, "Then, I'm not mad. As long as you agree to trust me, and trust you, the way I trust you."

"Always," Mark stated simply, lowering his mouth onto hers.

Lexie kissed him back for a minute, before wriggling herself out of his embrace, convinced if they didn't leave the bathroom now, they would surely end up in the shower again. And while that probably wasn't the worst thing that could happen, her skin was already pruned and her mortification for the day was just about filled; she didn't need any other of the housemates to walk in on them. "So it's agreed," Lexie stated opening the bathroom door, "neither one of us will be jealous or unnecessarily angry for dumb things?"

Mark didn't respond as they made their way of the bathroom, coming face-to-face with Jackson and April, of whom were about to enter the bathroom themselves. "Good morning," Lexie said enthusiastically, walking past the pair as their mouths fell slightly agape. Jackson's eyes followed Lexie's, only slightly covered, form, as April's eyes stayed glued to Mark's bare chest.

April blushed a little and headed into the bathroom as Mark raised an eyebrow, catching her in the act. He then turned to Jackson and pushed him back slightly, so his shoulder hit the wall, "You keep staring Avery, I have ways of making your death seem like an accident."

Jackson mumbled something before following April into the bathroom. Lexie stood at the end of the hall, a hand placed on her hip and an amused expression across her features. Mark shrugged before walking towards her, "I'm not a perfect person."