permanent price ✷ alex karev

001. first day of my life

"the first day of my life"
by bright eyes

" this is the first day of my life
swear i was born right in the doorway
i went out in the rain, suddenly everything changed
...
yours was the first face that i saw
i think i was blind before i met you
and i don't know where i am, i don't know where i've been
but i know where i want to go
...
with these things there's no telling
we just have to wait and see
but i'd rather be working for a paycheck
than waiting to win the lottery
besides, maybe this time it's different "

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

the intern mixer !

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

IT WAS ELEANOR'S FIRST NIGHT IN SEATTLE, and it was the "intern mixer" and only 12 hours before her first shift. she was nervous, to say the least. she was in an unfamiliar city and she didn't know a soul (or so she thought). she had been to mixers like the one she was about to walk into, but that was different. back in new york she had addison or derek by her side, telling her everything she needed to say, and introducing her to everyone she needed to know. now she was all alone. although over the years she had learned to hold her own weight in social situations like this, standing in front of those doors, it seemed she had forgotten everything she knew, and she just couldn't bring herself to walk through those doors.

"nervous?" a voice perked up from behind her, slightly startling eleanor. "sorry, i didn't mean to scare you." the voice apologized, noticing her skittishness.

"no, uh, it's okay, don't be sorry." she nervously chuckled turning to face the boy. he had big kind eyes and a shaggy haircut, he was nervous too, she could tell. "eleanor. eleanor shepherd." she smiled holding out her hand for him to shake it.

"george o'malley." he introduced himself, weakly shaking her hand.

"and yes. to answer your question, yes, i am nervous." she breathed out.

"well, if it's any consolation, i don't think you have any reason to be. you'll do great, they're all gonna love you." george smiled.

"how could you possibly know that, you just met me." she said to him, completely unconvinced and almost annoyed at the fake cheerleader attitude.

"well, you've got a charm, fake or not, you've got confidence in your handshake and the way you introduce yourself. it goes a long way, and if you've got that, well you probably got the rest of it no problem." he smiled at her. he was nice. god he was too nice. nice people freaked eleanor out. there is no reason to be that nice, unless you want something, the question was what could this random guy she just met possibly want from her that he was willing to kiss her ass this hard.

"thanks george, i'm sure you'll do great too." she told him, internally cringing.

"thanks eleanor." he smiled innocently. "i'll see you around." he told her walking through the doors. as the door closed behind him she slid down the side of the wall, pinching her temples and cringing.

"that was awful." another guy chuckled, eleanor heard his footsteps getting closer.

"that bad?" she questioned, looking up at the guy in front of her. he had a buzzcut and was dressed in a slightly wrinkled brown button down and a pair of dark jeans.

""definitely that bad." he assured her. "alex karev." he told her, reaching out his hand for her to shake.

"eleanor shepherd." she smiled, her voice had a more playful tone than how she had introduced herself to george. she shook his hand and let it linger a little longer than she should've, getting a good look into his eyes.

"well it's very nice to meet you eleanor shepherd." he flirted. "unlike bambi, i'm not gonna kiss your ass and pretend like i don't wanna take you home tonight, so i'm gonna be straight up with you." he said to her. she shook her head and smiled, turning her head away from him avoiding eye contact. "is there any chance i'll be taking you back to my place tonight?" he asked her.

"not a chance, karev, though i can appreciate the straightforwardness of your proposition, it's a no. i don't do one night stands." she told him.

"who says we only have to have one?" he kept trying.

"i'm not going home with you tonight, alex." she lightheartedly rejected. "good luck in there tonight, though. i'll be curious to see how many girls you have to ask before you can find one that is willing to sleep with you tonight." she teased him. he laughed at the girl, shaking his head and looking away.

"i'll see you around, shepherd." he smiled, still shaking his head at the girl's words, making his way to the door. "you gonna come inside, or you just gonna sit out here all night?" he asked her.

"yeah, uh, i guess i'm coming in." she nodded following him through the door. "i'll see you around, karev." she smiled, heading in the opposite direction as him once she entered the function. eleanor headed straight for the bar. if there was one thing she knew about socializing, was that she was a hell of a lot better at it with a little bit of liquid courage. normally her optimal method of drinking was shots. but it wasn't exactly socially acceptable to do that at a mixer, so an overpriced cocktail it was. "hi, can i do a cosmopolitan? please and thanks." she said to the bartender. she turned around while she waited for her drink, resting her elbows against the bar, looking around the room at all the different conversations that were going on. she spotted george o'malley talking to a tall blonde, and alex karev attempting to impress one of the attendings.

"miss, your drink." the bartender spoke up, pushing the beverage towards her.

"thanks." she smiled, sliding some cash across the bar towards him, enough to cover the drink with tip. eleanor grabbed the drink taking a sip and letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. another girl walked up to bar, her hair was a dirty blonde and she was wearing a black dress. eleanor gave her a small smile and wave, to which she reciprocated. "eleanor shepherd." she introduced holding out her hand.

"meredith." she told her shaking her hand. "meredith grey."

"surgical intern?" eleanor asked her.

"yeah, you?" meredith asked, eleanor nodded. "you from around here?" she asked.

"no, i'm from new york. it's actually my first night in the city." eleanor admitted. "what about you?"

"well kind of. it's complicated, i was born here, but i just moved back from living in boston." meredith explained.

"ah, gotcha." eleanor nodded.

"yeah." meredith sighed. "you nervous?"

"oh 100%." eleanor told her.

"yeah. me too... me too." meredith agreed.

"it'll be fine though, right? you think it'll be fine?" eleanor questioned.

"it's only the next 7 years of our life, i sure hope so."