Sorry it took so long to update, but I did warn you all. Enjoy!
Chapter 24: No More Lies!
Thankfully the rest of the afternoon had been as mundane as the morning, the only thing that had pulled his thoughts away from the Allison/Lexie dilemma, was when he was introduced to the Chief's wife, Emily Uley. Wanting to meet the woman who had made those incredible muffins, Mark was shocked when she had turned around and he saw the deep tissue scarring on her face from an animal attack. Jumping into full plastic surgeon mode, he began to give her different options of what procedures could be done to fix the scars on her face and offered to do the work pro-bono, if she came to Seattle. At first, Emily had declined by explaining that Allison had just confirmed that she was 12 weeks pregnant, but let him know that if the offer still stood after the baby was born, then she would graciously accept his gift. He nodded his head in agreement and provided his business card, before heading back to finish up the now dwindling line of patients. Finally at 6:30 PM, the last patient had been seen and everyone worked quickly to get the clinic cleaned up so that they could leave for the day. An hour later, after giving the Clearwater's their thanks for helping them at the clinic; they got into Marks car and made their way back to Forks. After 10 minutes of asking Mark questions about his day and him answering with single word syllables, Allison began to wonder if he was just exhausted from seeing so many people or if something was bothering him.
"Did you want to stop at the diner and order something to take back to the house?" Allison asked and looks toward him.
"I'm not really hungry…. Can we just head back to the house?" He responded in a tired monotone voice.
"Umm…sure… sounds good." She nervously answers and turns away from him to look out into the darkening forest. Arriving at the Cullen house soon after, they head inside and she starts begins turning on the lights before heading to the fireplace to light the fire.
Sensing that Mark has followed her, she turns around to ask him what's going on, but is pulled into his arms until their lips are almost touching. She feels his tongue bridge the gap to trace her lips, then delves deeper into her mouth until she melts into his body with a moan and kisses him back. Slightly pulling away he gently gives her one softer kiss before touching his forehead to hers and whispers.
"Ahh there you are, Lexie. You have no idea how much I've missed this." He gives her one last kiss to her forehead and pulls away until their standing apart.
"Wait….wh…why did you just call me Lexie?" she asks breathlessly as her muddled brain realizes that he said her real name.
"I think you know why, Alexandra Caroline Grey." he said watching her stunned expression, as she takes another step away from him.
"I don't know what you're talking about... she's dead. Lexie Grey is dead." She denies, while trying to figure out what was going on. "My name is Allison Scott."
"Please, stop lying to me!" he begs feeling his anger grow at her denial; "I know you… lived with you for almost a year, Lexie! I've intimately touched every scar, birth mark and dimple on your body; from the little birth mark under your right breast to the scar on your left pinkie where you cut off the tip when I told you about Sloane moving in with us."
"Mark….you don't understand….. I can't be Lexie." She begins trying to make him see reason, but he interrupts as his temper flares up.
"Damn it! I've been watching you! At first it was little things, like the way you smiled! But then, you did the Sloan loper stitch that I showed you as an Intern…. I only taught two people that suturing technique and then a few days later I saw you bring flowers to your Mom's grave! Her favorite flowers…. And that kid yesterday…. I heard him call you Lexie!" He has begun to cry with frustration and angrily wipes the tears off his face. "Please just tell me the truth!"
Her soul feels as if it's shattering, when he begins to cry, but she remains silent; torn with the desire to blurt out the truth, yet knowing to do so would put him at risk.
"Mark….the Lexie Grey you knew died in that plane crash. I'm sorry but that's the truth." She says sadly and moves away from him to go to the door, but looks back and continues, "I…..umm going to get a bit of fresh air, but if you need to leave…..I'll understand." Not waiting for a reply, she walks outside and heads into the forest and begins to run until she is several miles away from the house. Finally stopping, she sits down on the damp moss on the forest floor and wraps her arms around her knees to think about Mark.
'Damn it! Why did I ever think, I could fool him into thinking I was someone else? I should have known he would watch me closer . What am I going to do now?' She internally berated herself remembering the devastated expression on his face when she walked out. 'Oh God, how was she going to continue this illusion of being Allison Scott when all she wanted to do was tell Mark the truth, but to do so could put him and everyone else she cared about in danger? Was it worth the risk?' Biting on her fingernail, she sits deep in thought weighing her options until she hears the rustling in the brush and smells the musky scent of an approaching wolf. Sitting quietly to remain unthreatening, she watches the large grey wolf approach and transform into a naked Leah Clearwater.
"Lexie?" she asks curiously and quickly pulls out clothes from a bag that had been hanging around her neck. "Are you out hunting tonight?"
Not getting a response, Leah could see the tears glistening against Lexie's pale despondent face and knew something was wrong. Sitting down adjacent from her new friend, she asks, "What's happened?"
"I was stupid, that's what's happened!" Lexie answers, angrily wiping away the tears, before looking up at Leah. "I've endangered everyone I've ever loved by returning to Seattle."
"How? Is it the Volturi? Have they found out about you?" she asks anxiously; very much aware of how powerful and ruthless, the old vampire leaders could be.
"No, it's not them. As far as I know, they are still unaware of my existence." Lexie says reassuring Leah, that at the moment they were safe.
"It's Mark…Doctor Sloan, he's figured out that I'm Lexie Grey and I don't know how to convince him otherwise." She says seriously and watches the emotions flit across Leah's face.
"How can he know who you are? Didn't you just meet him during your interview at the hospital?" she asks curiously and notices Lexie shift uncomfortably at the question.
"Wait! That's the hospital you used to work at before the crash, isn't it? What on earth were you thinking, going back to a hospital where people knew you as Lexie Grey?!" Leah yelled in disbelief.
"It's been 5 years, Leah! Everyone at the hospital, including my sister were startled by my physical appearance, but accepted my new persona as Allison Scott." Lexie defended and jumped up to begin pacing back and forth. "But Mark is special; I should have known, he would look at the whole picture and figure out who I was. Especially since we were….." She stops and lets the rest of the sentence drop.
Suddenly realizing that there was much more between the two doctors then being co-workers, Leah jumps up from the forest floor and blurts. "You two were lovers!"
"Yeah, for quite a while; until circumstances and misunderstandings tore us apart." Lexie begins to explain, "But I've never stopped loving him and when the plane crashed…. He begged me to live… because we were meant to be together." She wipes away a stray tear, before continuing. "He's my soul mate, yet to protect him, we have to remain apart. Help me, Leah. I don't know what to do."
Leah nods in understanding, putting a hand on Lexie's arm; she stops her from pacing until they are now facing each other.
"Five years ago, you listened to your head instead of your heart and ran away to protect him, but now it's time to follow your heart. My advice is to tell him the truth and if he truly loves you, then what you are now won't matter. Keeping secrets can be just as painful as the truth." Leah smiles and whispers "Good Luck." Before removing her clothes and transforming back into the wolf.
Alone once again, Lexie comes to a decision about Mark knowing her identity and makes her way back to the house where she sees that his car is still in the driveway. After going inside, she watches as Mark jumps up off from the couch in surprise and says, "Thank God! It's been two hours since you left, I was really starting to worry that something had happened to you out in the woods!"
He watches as she walks towards him and begins to say, "Look, I'm sorry if I ambushed you tonight. I just want…." But stops when she stands directly in front of him and puts a finger over his lips.
"I know what you want, Mark. But for tonight, I'm going to get what I want." Taking a step back, she reaches down to the hem of her sweater.
"Teach Me." she says softly and pulls her sweater over her head.
"Wha…?" his mouth drops open as he watches her strip.
"Teach Me." she says again suggestively, then pulls off her boots and unbuttons her jeans.
"Lexie…" he whispers in hushed reverence as her words finally spark an important memory.
"Teach Me." she says again then pulls off her camisole and looks at him with love. "Am I really so bad?"
He reaches out to wrap his arms around her waist and breaths in the warm vanilla scent of her hair before huskily saying, "Oh God…..no…I am."
She smiles up at him seductively before taking his hand in hers and pulls him upstairs to bed.