Aria stood with the other residents in the pit, arms folded loosely across her chest as Bailey handed out assignments with the same clipped authority she always had.
Nobody interrupted.
Nobody complained.
At least, not until she was done.
"Grey, you're with Shepherd in neuro."
Aria nodded once. "Okay."
That was all she said, but apparently even that was enough to amuse Alex.
"You could sound a little more enthusiastic," he muttered from beside her. "He'll be your brother-in-law one day."
Aria didn't even look at him.
"Shut it, Karev," she snapped under her breath.
Alex smirked, clearly pleased with himself.
Bailey shot them both a warning look before moving on. "Karev, Stevens, you're in the pit."
The second Bailey turned away, both Alex and Izzie started grumbling.
Aria tuned them out.
She was too tired for the bickering, too irritated by the very idea of being trapped on service with Derek all day, and too aware that Alex only made those comments because he knew exactly how to get under her skin.
The worst part was that lately, when he teased her like that, she noticed it more.
Not just the words.
The look in his eyes when he said them.
The way his mouth pulled to one side.
The ease between them that had come back in some ways after the kiss and stayed broken in others.
Aria pushed the thought aside before it could settle and headed off to find Derek.
⸻
Derek was already moving when she caught up to him, chart in hand, purpose in every stride.
"All right," he said, not slowing. "What do we got?"
Alex stepped in, handing over the chart as Aria came up beside them. "Take a look. The thing's bigger than a baseball."
Aria frowned and leaned in toward the scans.
The second she saw it, her expression changed.
"It's right behind his eyes," she said, shock slipping into her voice before she could smooth it out.
Derek looked impressed in that quiet way he did when he found a challenge worth respecting. "This should be fun."
Aria let out a breath through her nose. Only Derek Shepherd would look at an enormous tumour packed into one of the worst possible places and call it fun.
"Grey," he said, glancing at her, "you ready to scrub in?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
Derek turned back to Alex. "Page Stevens."
Alex didn't even hesitate. "She left the guy with me."
Aria looked at him immediately.
It was the slightest thing, but she saw it — the way his expression didn't quite line up with the lie, the way he answered just a second too quickly.
Derek looked mildly surprised. "She gave you the case?"
"Yeah," Alex said, with the kind of confidence that only really worked on people who didn't know him well. "Izzie felt bad for me. Figured this would cheer me up."
YOU ARE READING
Shooting Stars
Fanfikce"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...
