Memory of Lips (#Wattys2016)

A Familiar Face

A/N: Welcome, welcome, welcome, to my brand new story! The idea for this story came to my mind one night when I was particularly upset about Meredith hooking up with Nathan on the show. A friend told me the news since I don't watch the show anymore, and I kept mulling things over until this story weaved its way in my brain. I won't give away any more spoilers. Enjoy!

P.S. This is a post season 12 fic, but please overlook any inconsistencies between the show and this fic. I haven't watched a single episode of season 12 – I've just heard about it from my friend and my idea of what transpired in season 12 is very vague.

Copyrights of this story have been acquired from the U.S. Copyright Office. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author. 

If copied, author WILL SUE YOU, and she's rich so think  multiple times before plagiarizing.

"Mmm..." I moaned as he kissed me fiercely. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let my tongue slip inside his mouth briefly before pulling back from him. "I have to go. I'm meeting Amelia for lunch," I said, pushing him away and sitting up.

"Oh, okay," he said as he reclined against the sheets, looking straight into my eyes.

I donned my scrubs quickly, trying to avoid looking at Nathan the whole time. We were not even friends. Or maybe we were. We were sort of friends. We were...friends with benefits, nothing more. And he had acknowledged that fact. I had warned him not to get too attached to me, and he had said that he knew that we were just friends having sex. But...I was not a fool. I hadn't missed the looks he had been giving me over the past week. Looks that said there was something more to this whole thing for him than just sex. Looks that I didn't want to receive from him.

I was starting to like Nathan. I was. He was not as bad as he had come across at first. He was a good guy. But, he was not Derek. My Derek, who was the love of my life. My Derek, who was not here with me anymore. Did I like Nathan? Sure I did. Was this thing between us starting to turn into something more than sex? I didn't know about him, but for me, it wasn't. I knew it had been three years since Derek had passed away, and that I needed to move on with my life. And I had moved on in my life. I was just not moving on with my love life. Not now, not ever.

"I'll see you later?" Nathan asked, propping his head up on his elbow, still looking at me as I ran my fingers through my hair, straightening up my messy curls.

"Um...I don't know," I replied, grabbing my lab coat. "I have back to back surgeries today, and then I'm going out for drinks to Shorty's. This week has been hellishly long, so I'm leaving the kids with the babysitter and taking a night alone." I stressed the word 'alone' so that my point was made clear. I didn't want him to pop up at Shorty's to keep me company. He was my booty call buddy, nothing else.

"Okay. Have fun tonight. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, sitting up on the bed and grabbing my hand to pull me close. He leaned in to kiss me on the lips, but for some reason, I turned my head and his lips landed on my cheek instead. I didn't know why I did that. I was having sex with him; it was not like I hadn't kissed him before. But, it just felt weird to kiss him in a way that was not lustful or 'I want you to fuck me now.' We had never shared a kiss like that, and I didn't want to change the dynamic of our relationship.

"I will. See ya tomorrow." I walked backwards, staring at his crestfallen face and giving him a tiny smile before opening the door of the on-call room and walking out. As I made my way down the corridor, I released a breath that I didn't even know I was holding.