Aria headed up the stairs, still tugging her jacket on properly, when she caught Alex looking at her from the bottom of the hall.
He smiled.
Not a smirk. Not one of his usual cocky, half-amused looks.
An actual smile.
Without thinking, Aria smiled back.
It was quick — just a small, easy curve of her mouth — but Meredith saw it.
And Meredith, who had spent most of her life knowing exactly what Aria's smiles meant and who they were for, felt something uneasy settle in her stomach.
Before she could say anything, there was a loud noise from Izzie's room.
A laugh.
Movement.
The unmistakable sound of two people who were definitely not asleep.
Meredith frowned. "Who's she with?"
Aria glanced toward the closed door, but Alex answered first.
"Probably the third-year Ari's friends with."
He said it casually, but when he handed Aria her car keys a second later, the familiarity of it — of him knowing exactly where they were, of her taking them without asking — only made Meredith more suspicious.
"We should get going," Alex added.
Aria nodded, already moving.
Meredith looked between them again as they headed toward the front door together.
Too comfortable.
Too natural.
There was something there.
She just couldn't tell yet if she wanted to know what it was.
⸻
The hospital was already in full motion by the time Aria reached peds.
She had been on the ward most of the morning, checking in on patients and trying to ignore the lingering weight of too little sleep and too many thoughts, when she was paged down to the ER to check on one of the younger kids.
She rounded the corner too quickly and nearly walked straight into Lexie.
Aria stopped.
Lexie stopped too.
And immediately looked guilty.
Aria narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Lexie said too fast. "Just collecting some supplies."
Aria's gaze dropped to the armful of equipment Lexie was carrying.
"For who?"
Lexie hesitated for half a beat too long.
"Sloan," she said. "He needed them in the ER. I should really get these to him."
She started walking before she'd even finished the sentence.
Aria watched her go, suspicion settling hard in her chest.
Because Lexie had scrunched up her nose when she lied.
Meredith did the same thing.
It was one of those weird twin things Aria never thought about until she saw it in someone else's face.
And now she knew.
Lexie was lying.
Her pager went off before she could follow, and Aria let out a frustrated breath.
YOU ARE READING
Shooting Stars
Fanfiction"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...
