Easy But Complicated/ Alex Karev

1.2

"All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name."
- André Breton

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"Today we're going to the skills lab," Maeve and Alex are stood in front of their interns. "We're gonna do the same procedure over and over until you guys don't screw it up." Maeve gives Alex a bit of a nudge and when he looks at her he sees that her eyes say, 'don't be so mean.' "Just do your best," Maeve gives them an encouraging smile.
When they get to the skills lab it's set up for biopsies, every intern finds their own table and waits for further instruction. "Today you are going to learn how to do biopsies, open the textbook on your table to page 180." Maeve points to the textbook closest to her. "First to finish wins," Alex adds with an evil smile. "Evil spawn," Maeve whispers under her breath so only he can hear. Alex snickers and they make their way to sit in the front of the room. "You know," Alex takes a pause before he continues, his eyes unreadable. "We haven't hung out in a while." It's true, since that night on Mers porch she not quite sure how to talk to him, how to get the butterflies out of her stomach when she so much as looks at him. Maeve studies his face, the way his nose is pointed in the tiniest way, the way his eyebrows are never relaxed, or how his eyes say a million things his mouth would never. She can see right through them into his mind. "Yeah, you're right." They got back to silence for a couple minutes before he turns to her, meeting her eyes. "You've been avoiding me, I know when you see me you turn around and walk the other way." Maeve doesn't flinch; she's heard it all before. The subtext of it, the echo in his tone that makes it sound like a confession rather than an observation. The silence falls again, the only thing other than the interns flipping pages and using instruments, is Alex's hand brushing her, and once again her stomach doing flips. She feels his stare, like it's going to burn a hole right through her head. "Alex," When she turns to meet his eyes, his shoulders relax and eyes soften. "Yes?" As desperately as she wants to ask if he feels it, the linger of something unspoken-the way both their eyes say more than their mouth does. Instead she swallows her words, maybe it's better to be unsaid, unanswered.
"IM DONE!" An intern screams, jumping up and down with excitement. Maeve's thoughts scatter while her and Alex stand to see the interns work. It was good, not perfect, but good enough to not kill anyone. "Alright, everyone else finish up and ask your fellow intern for help if needed." Maeve and Alex exit the room both turning to go different ways. "Maeve?" She turns around to meet Alex who takes a couple steps to close the distance between them. "I'm not sure if," he takes a second, looking at his shoes. The truth is Alex does feel that tension between them and he knows how the accidental touching his hand to hers hasn't been an accident at all. Though he knows that everyone he has ever loved, has turned into someone who he can't recognize, and that's something he can't do to her. "I'm not sure if I like the distance between us. You're my friend and I feel like we've been planets apart, and i liked it better when we talked everyday." Maeve feels a thousand feelings at once, disappointment above all.
Friend.
She nods, a quiet smile tugging at her lips. "Me too, Alex." And so they're left standing there, friends, the unspoken things between them swirling in the air but never quite reaching the surface. As Maeve's turning to leave Alex grabs her arm, "Let's get drinks after work. Like old times." Maeve just nods in agreement, feeling as if she were to open her mouth a million different ways of confessing how she felt would pour out at once.

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