Aria stood at the kitchen counter in the early morning quiet, one hand wrapped around her mug as she stared blankly out toward the window, still half asleep.
The house was never really peaceful anymore. Not properly. Not with Meredith spiralling, Izzie and George avoiding each other one minute and orbiting each other the next, and Cristina appearing at all hours like she had a spare key to everyone's sanity.
Behind her, she heard heavy footsteps and the low sound of a yawn.
Alex.
He wandered into the kitchen looking as tired as she felt, hair a mess, shoulders slumped, and eyes barely open.
Aria turned slightly, already reaching for the coffee pot. "Did they wake you too?"
"Yeah," Alex muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I need coffee."
Without a word, Aria poured him a cup and handed it over.
Alex took it from her, their fingers brushing for half a second. "Thanks."
He took a long sip, looking faintly more human by the second.
Aria leaned back against the counter, mug cradled in both hands, and that was when she saw Meredith creeping toward the kitchen like she thought no one would notice.
Her hair was messy, her clothes were yesterday's, and the guilty look on her face told Aria everything she needed to know.
She'd been at Derek's trailer again.
Aria let out a slow breath through her nose.
Alex followed her gaze, immediately clocking Meredith too, but said nothing.
"I'm going to get ready for work," Aria muttered, already too tired to deal with whatever conversation Meredith might try to avoid.
Alex raised an eyebrow, clearly reading the irritation in her tone.
Aria just sighed and set her mug in the sink before heading back upstairs.
⸻
She got dressed quickly, pulling on her clothes with mechanical precision, brushing out her hair, pinning it back, putting on just enough makeup to hide the exhaustion written across her face.
By the time she was done, she looked put together.
She just didn't feel it.
A little while later, she and Alex were in his car heading toward Seattle Grace, the radio low, the morning still quiet around them.
It wasn't uncomfortable silence. It rarely was with Alex anymore.
With him, silence could just be silence.
And right then, that was easier than talking.
⸻
Later that morning, Aria stood beside Mark in an exam room while he consulted with one of his patients.
Harriet was glamorous in a fading sort of way — the kind of woman who had probably once been breathtaking and had built an entire identity around staying that way. Even now, post-op and irritated, she carried herself like the room should still revolve around her.
Mark motioned toward parts of her face as he explained the plan. "We'll infiltrate with a mixture of bupivacaine, then lidocaine with epi along these areas here."
Harriet barely seemed to listen.
Instead, her eyes shifted to Aria.
"Is there a surgery that can make me look like her?" she asked, looking Aria up and down.
YOU ARE READING
Shooting Stars
Fanfic"But he's Evil Spawn." "Don't you think I know that. I didn't wake up one day and suddenly decide I was going to be in love with Alex Karev." Being the daughter of a world renowned surgeon was never destined to be easy. The first born of the Grey tw...
