Come lie with me

Chapter 11

"Sloan!" Callie yelled when she saw Mark enter Joe's.

Mark slowly made his way across the crowded bar to where Callie was sitting.

"You came!" She exclaimed happily. "I thought you were busy."

"For you, Callie? I became un-busy." Mark grinned at her as he sat down at the booth she had snagged. "So what's up? You sounded…different on the phone."

"I need to talk about hot interns," Callie said, taking a gulp of her beer.

Mark sighed, this was going to be a long night. He flagged down a cocktail waitress and ordered a scotch, single malt of course. "So hot interns in general?" He asked once his drink had come, "Or hot interns in a specific sense?"

"In general," Callie said. "I have a hypothetical supposition to present to you."

"O-kay," Mark said, drawing out the word.

"Say that there was this certain doctor who was having a fling with an intern…"

He rolled his eyes, "Strictly hypothetical, of course."

"Of course," Callie said. She pushed her heavy hair out of her face, and continued, "Now this doctor thinks that no one knows about this fling, but then someone finds out. What should this doctor do?"

"Well," Mark said. "The doctor should come clean. There are worst things that sleeping with an intern, Callie."

"I know there are," she said. "But I just wanted to let you know that I know."

Mark froze, his glass halfway to his mouth. "What did you say?"

"Feel like coming clean, Mark?" Callie asked, looking at him calmly.

***

"100, 101, 102," Lexie mumbled to herself as she counted the stairs from the basement to the surgical floor. Her evening had been miserable so far. Once she had gotten to the hospital, Christina had immediately started sending her on errands. It quickly became clear to her that she was not getting on an actual case tonight; instead the Chief was trying to make a point. She was an intern, and no matter how much time she spent in Mark's OR, she better not forget that.

Lexie supposed that this was one of the reasons that she hadn't wanted people to know about her and Mark. There was something about Lexie that made people try to protect her and teach her lessons. It was as if when they saw her big brown eyes that they thought they had a responsibility to protect whatever it was that seemed innocent about her. There was no way to avoid it, Lexie would always be the little sister of Meredith Grey who cried over puppies, was bright and shiny, and never made a wrong step.

If they only knew.

If they only knew the things she let a certain doctor do to her in the dark of night, and the things she did to him. If they only knew that she was in a serious relationship with Mark Sloan, the one they said could not be tamed. If they only knew how she felt about him, the deep and dark and twisty way she became at the thought of being separated from him.

They wouldn't believe it.

When Lexie exited the stairwell, she came face to face with Derek. "Dr. Shepherd," she squeaked. "I thought you got off earlier."

He nodded. "I did, but I got caught up in work and I ended up never leaving. I was just heading out now. What time are you on 'til?"

Lexie checked her watch. "Three more hours, and then I can go home. I am just covering someone else's shift."

Derek nodded again. He seemed to do that a lot. "You should come over to Meredith's after your shift. There is no need for you to go home to that empty apartment. I am sure you miss having company now that George is gone."