Say something, I'm giving up on you

I'll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all

And I will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl

"Its really nice to see you." She struggled to form a smile.

Owen sighed, "Its nice to see you too," He replied in the same somber tone. "Its been a while since I've heard from you."

She struggled to find her wording, stuttering as the words left her mouth, "1-heard you were engaged." She stated, her voice trying to remain as neutral and unaffected as possible. "Congratulations." She added as she took a deep breath and willed her heart rate to slow down.

His heart sank, his stomach fell to the ground, he didn't want to admit his upcoming nuptials to her, but he had no choice, he was getting married.

He gulped and hung his head down ashamedly, "Yes, Thank you." He muttered underneath his breath in an almost inaudible volume.

"I hope…" She started looking away, "Are you happy now?" She asked before looking down at her feet and back up to him again.

He stared at her intently, he didn't know how to answer her question because he thought that he was happy and content again, but now here she was, two years later, standing in front of him, looking more beautiful then he could ever imagine and he didn't know how to be in her presence. He let out a nervous laugh and looked around uncomfortably and chose not to answer her question, he hoped that the look in his eyes was enough of an answer for her then him having to admit it out loud and in the open.

"I heard you were in Korea, doing pro-bono heart procedures on dying patients." He asked trying to change the subject. "That must have been amazing." He stated.

"Actually," She started unsure of how to put her words together, "I was traveling throughout the orphanages and performing life saving procedures to babies and children who had been abandoned by their parents." She stated, "And yes, it was amazing, the whole experience changed me, I feel like a different person." She added while meeting his gaze once again.

Owen looked at her with his eyebrows raised and nose crinkled, "Wow, thats interesting." He tried not to seem so shocked, "Its just hard to picture you wanting to be around kids." He said, obviously his words were failing him.

She stared at him before shaking her head in disgust. "Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" She asked in an aggravated voice. "I never hated kids, I just didn't want to have any of my own at the time." She stated matter-of-factly.

At the time? Owen thought, that was a weird choice of wording.

Her annoyed look turned into a sigh of contentment as she looked almost dreamily as she spoke, "I never thought I'd understand the love between a parent and a child, and then I went there expecting to just perform some ground breaking procedures on children who had been tossed aside and left for dead. Truthfully, I did it for my own benefit rather than out of compassion, because I wanted to win another Harper Avery so I could say I had three of them back to back, but then I arrived there and everything I thought I knew about the world, about humanity and life just decimated and I realized that I was not living, I was just existing. It was the most heart breaking experience but it also became the highlight of my life, I learned what it really meant to be human, that we are not just flesh and bones, that we are people with feeling and a heart and a soul, and seeing those children struggle and hurt and their faces when I told them that I could save them…." She shook her head slightly, almost embarrassed to be revealing such intimate details about herself and life. "I learned what it meant to truly love somebody." She looked up and gave him a sheepish smile.

Owen gulped, this was different, she seemed different, she even looked different, her eyes smiled, she seemed at ease and care-free, qualities that she did not possess before she left Seattle.

"So…Are you married, engaged, or have a boyfriend?" He asked trying to sound nonchalant but the question was burdening his mind and heart. He held his breath waiting for an answer, even though he knew it was insane for him to wish that she was single even though he was engaged.

"I was seeing someone, actually an old boyfriend," She said, "He was my old professor at Stanford, and we ended up at the same hospital after I left here, but after I came back from Korea we ended up splitting up, right after he proposed to me." Cristina fought hard to keep eye contact but it was beginning to be torturous to look into his eyes.

Owen let out a ragged breath, he hated to admit it but he was so happy and tried really hard to conceal his happiness with empathy. "I'm sorry to hear that, you college professor? He must of been a lot older then you?" He quipped and looked quizzically at her. She nodded, "Yeah he's about twice my age, thats probably why it didn't work out so well."

"What do you mean?" He asked intrigued.

She shrugged, "We ended up wanting different things…" She hoped he would drop it and move on to another topic.

"Like what?" He asked clearly oblivious to her silent plea to leave the conversation alone.

She laughed in a sarcastic voice, "Pfft, life is so cruel most of the time, I feel like everything happens to me at the wrong time, in the wrong place and with the wrong person.." She stalled a minute thinking about the effect her next words would have on him, she didn't want to hurt him, or sting him anymore then she had when she left, she thought that by telling him why her relationship failed that it would just be adding salt to his wounds. But then she reminded herself that he was engaged and moved on, and that maybe her revelation wouldn't affect him at all.

He looked intently at her waiting for her to continue, "Why do you say that?"

"I changed my mind." She stated while he waited for her to clarify but the conversation was interrupted as Emma came up behind Owen and gave him a little peck on the cheek and asked him to dance. He reluctantly let Cristina's side, trying so hard to break eye contact but failing miserably to do so. Emma had to give him a little pull and tug before his feet finally moved. It was ironic that they were at a wedding again, Jackson and April finally tying the knot almost two years after he had broken up her first attempt at marriage. Cristina had her reservations about attending the wedding, mostly because she didn't want to have to see Owen again and be reminded of what could of been, but she had made Jackson and April a promise and she stuck to it.

Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

And I will swallow my pride
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye

A little later on the room went quiet as Jackson stood up to give a speech. He took a deep breath before surveying the room and holding his glass up to make a toast.

"Someone once told me that you cannot pick who you love, you can try but in time you realize that its forced and non-existent, its an emotion that we can't control, one that overwhelms logic and common sense, it just happens, the wrong person always comes at the right time and the right person always comes at the wrong time. It will never be perfect and it will not come easy. If you meet someone and you think they are perfect for you then you better run in the other direction because they are not your soulmate. But if you find someone who you fight and bicker with, someone who challenges you and makes you feel human and alive, and despite all your differences, all their faults and all your insecurities, if at the end of the day you still cannot imagine life without them, then don't let that go because you will never find it again." Jackson surveyed the room and met Cristina's gaze before giving her a sheepish smile, he then turned to look down at April who was sitting to his left at the bridal table. "I don't want a fairytale marriage, I want a union that is pure and raw and undying, I want you to know that I will be there by your side and I will love you until the day I die, I will share your joy and your pain because I cannot imagine my life without you in it nor do I want to be here on earth if you are not right by my side." He smiled and tried to control his emotions while April silently wept and wiped her tears away with a very damp tissue. She stood up and gave him a big hug and kiss. "Here's to love, life and objecting to wrongful marriages!" He said laughing while raising his glass and toasting his new wife.

The guests stood up with a round of applause all toasting each other, Cristina looked up from her glass just in time to realize that a pair of blue eyes were intently watching her, studying her and looking at her with a longing that seemed to burn through her flesh.

Colin Marlowe made his way around Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital, he was in Seattle to talk amongst the interns and residents to discuss his journey as a surgeon and the legacy he would leave behind upon his retirement. He had not been in Seattle in ten years, and while he surveyed his surroundings he noticed that Seattle Grace had changed a lot more then just its name. He was preparing for the speech and presentation when the Chief of Surgery greeted him along with a few faces that he vaguely remembered.

"Hello Dr. Marlowe, we are so honored to have you here." Owen said as he outstretched his hand to shake Colin's.

"Pleasure is mine." He answered back in his english accent, "I'm happy to be back for a visit after all these years." He stated as he gave Meredith a once over.

"Your Cristina's best-friend?" He quipped while releasing Owen's and giving her hand a shake before doing the same to Derek.

Owen's breath caught in his throat at the mention of her name, he had banned his mind from her consuming his thoughts long ago but somehow it was always to no avail.

"Yes, I was her best-friend, but if that's your way of trying to pry into her life then I'm sorry, she no longer works here and though we still talk occasionally, we have grown apart, especially after she moved to Korea." Meredith stated with an icy tone. She didn't like this man ten years ago, she sure as hell didn't like him now.

Owen looked back and forth between the two of them, he remembered that Cristina told him a few months ago at Jackson and April's wedding that she was nearly engaged to an old professor, was he him? Thee Colin Marlowe?

Colin raised his eyebrows at Meredith and gave her an amused smile. "Oh, I know she doesn't work here anymore, her and I actually worked together for almost a year at Cleveland Clinic." He stated slyly.

"Really?", Derek chimed in, "So how is she doing?, we haven't heard from her in a while."

Colin let out a sigh, "Well she was doing great actually, we were doing great, we rekindled our romance after she arrived, I even bought her an engagement ring, I thought she was ready to take the next step in our relationship…." He his gaze shifted to all three of them and then ended back on Meredith. "But then she decides to be a humanitarian and goes off to Korea to perform heart surgeries for orphans and underprivileged children and then she comes back to the US and wants to adopt a baby!" He exclaimed in a dramatic voice. "I'm in my late sixties, I was looking forward to finally retiring and having a peaceful quiet life and she wanted to have a baby." Colin was getting riled up again just thinking about how all his plans had gone down the drain after Cristina came back from Korea, she had changed so dramatically, he didn't even recognize the woman that had come back to him.

Owen felt like the wind was knocked right out of him, he blinked and shook his head in confusion, did he just hear him right? Or was Owen imagining the words coming out of this man's mouth.

Owen let out a nervous laugh and fidgeted with his feet, "You must be mistaken," He stated, "Hell would freeze over before the Cristina Yang I knew decided she wanted to have a baby." He stated.

Meredith nodded. "Yeah, what are you talking about? Cristina would never have a baby, it would jeopardize her career." She looked at Colin like he had two heads, completely shocked. Colin gave her an incredulous look.

"Thats what I thought too until she came back, I don't know, you women and your hormones, her biological clock must have started ticking." He said before trying to change the subject, "Well. anyways, she broke up with me stating we wanted different things out of life, now she's probably out there looking for a sperm donor."

"Well thats enough talk about my personal life, why don't we get this discussion under way?" He smiled brightly and signaled to the entryway of the auditorium. Leaving a stunned Owen standing back.

Say something, I'm giving up on you
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
And anywhere, I would have followed you
Oh-oh-oh-oh say something, I'm giving up on you

Say something, I'm giving up on you