Running in Circles - Lexie Grey x OC

All Eyes On Me

Lexie literally shoved Eric away from her and quickly let go of his hand when she saw Mark.

Mark's stare stayed on Lexie, as if she owed him an explanation for being with Eric; while he occasionally sneered at Eric, as if he wasn't allowed to be seen with her. His possessive gaze on her was aggravating Eric to the point where he could see a target on Mark's punchable face to hit on.

Eric looked away, letting out an exasperated grunt rather than yielding to the urge of punching Mark's smug face, but he couldn't keep his frustration from showing. His composure was slipping. He tightened his teeth and curled his knuckles. Eric truly understood what Lexie was doing. She was just trying to keep their relationship a secret, or risk Meredith finding out, as they had discussed that morning. What he didn't understand was himself. He was confused at how a simple act of Lexie letting go of his hand made him obviously overly frustrated.

"Mark..." Lexie muttered as she turned to look at the plastic surgeon.

Eric's scowl faded as he looked at Lexie, hearing her stammering an explanation, guilt etched on her face. He then glanced at the plastic surgeon.

When Lexie requested him to sneak out of her room that morning, basically asking him to keep their relationship a secret, he never considered Mark to be a reason — clearly, that was a mistake. Seeing how Lexie reacted when she saw Mark made Eric wonder if her sister was really the only reason for the secrecy. Knowing her past with the man in front of them, how Lexie had spent the months pinning on Mark; and Lexie's repeated declarations, that she was over him but yet behaving as if she wasn't. Maybe Eric was upset she let go of his hand because it's Mark. It would have been fine if it had been other people and Lexie had stepped away or maybe even slapped him; it would be okay for him. Knowing Lexie moved away because she saw her ex wasn't exactly comforting. — Eric almost visibly grimaced, as if he was hearing his ridiculous thoughts out loud. This was not at all like him.

He returned his gaze to Mark, who was now glaring at him with a look of unmistakable envy on his face. That made him want to pull Lexie in closer and kiss her in front of Mark, but he couldn't.

The confrontation, the uneasy air filling the confines of the elevator; Mark's obvious jealousy and Lexie's guilty expression — Eric's head ached at the prospect of this becoming a thing between the three of them. He pushed his thumb and index finger against his brow as he stepped out of the elevator, not wanting to be the 'oblivious other guy'  in this cliche love triangle.

"I mean..." Lexie corrected, "D-Dr. Sloan, I..."

"I needed that ages ago, Grey." Mark interjected.

Lexie knew well that she was not supposed to feel guilty or bad. She and Mark were no longer together, yet she found herself constantly cautious around him, appearing guilty as if he had just caught her with Eric.

This wasn't being cautious or guilty. She doesn't care about Mark Sloan. Lexie fought back against her own thoughts.

In her own defense, Lexie didn't want whatever Mark was thinking about her and Eric right now to cause a rift between the two. This had happened before — Mark's overblown reaction after hearing about her living with Eric. Because of it, Eric and Mark had not spoken for over a month; She didn't want it to happen again. She simply let go of Eric's hand and moved away before anyone could start imagining things that weren't there (even if there really was something between her and Eric).

Lexie would like to think she handled it gracefully, but she didn't. When she saw Mark as the elevator doors opened, she panicked, and the way she let go of Eric's hand and shoved him away looked like an attempt to get away from Eric so quickly so Mark wouldn't catch them.