Izzie's hands were shaking as she slid into the passenger seat of her car after making sure Annie was safely in her car seat.

"It's going to be okay, babe. Whatever it is. We're going to be okay." Alex murmured softly, grabbing onto her hand.

"Cristina was freaked out, Alex. Cristina doesn't freak out. Even when she's freaking out, she doesn't TELL anyone she is freaking out. She hides it. It's what Cristina does. Cristina doesn't get drunk and call people over. It's just not done."

"Max probably set a date or something."

"Oh. That would cause hysteria." She sniffled, trying to calm herself down from the craziness she'd built up since the phone call from Meredith telling them to come over.

"Probably in a church." Alex smirked at the idea of Cristina in a church. Oh the pretty penny he would spend to see it.

"She'd kill him. It has to be at City Hall. She's the Mayor!" Izzie laughed, thankful for Alex. She would have been in hysterics by now if it wasn't for him.

"It could be fun. Cristina in a dress- in front of a minister!" Alex allowed himself a small chuckle. Maybe he could feed the idea to Max- if he ever met the guy.

"You did it." Izzie smiled, squeezing his hand in appreciation. She knew he wasn't too keen on the traditional wedding ceremony, but he'd did it for her- with a smile on his face.

"You can't compare me to her!" He scoffed, offended at the clear comparison. He liked to think he was somewhere in the middle. He went to church with her, he said the blessings before meals. As far as he was concerned, he thought he handled it all quite well.

"You're right. It's unfair. You behaved like a gentleman." She grinned, brushing her hands through his hair playfully.

"Thank you."

"Our wedding was perfect." She nodded her head in agreement. He let her have everything she wanted- just the way she'd dreamed. He didn't even let her parents help pay. Not that they had a whole lot to offer, but he refused. She knew she was lucky to have him.

"I'm glad, babe." He smiled at her softly, allowing his gaze to linger as they stopped at a redlight.

"One of these days, you're going to admit that you loved it too."

"I loved the reception." He smirked, only casting her a small glance before refocusing on the road.

"The reception was at the hotel." She blinked, trying to think back if there was a mini-reception at the church. But there hadn't been.

"I know." He laughed as her eyes bulged open, followed quickly by a slap on his arm.

"DIRTY!" She rolled her eyes, laughing despite herself.

"Eight years later, and you still love me though." His voice was faint to her ears, and her heart ached when she realized that it was in disbelief.

"Always." She smiled, bundling his hand in both of hers before kissing it, allowing her lips to linger until they pulled into Meredith's driveway. Her temporary solace she'd found slipped away as she looked at the door that was already open for them. This wasn't going to be good.

There are certain people You just keep coming back to
She is right in front of you. You begin to wonder could you find a better one

Compared to her now. She's in question. And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.
Looking for the right one, You line up the world to find
Where no questions cross your mind. But she won't keep on waiting for
You without a doubt much longer for you to sort it out.

~The Fray, All at Once

The atmosphere of Meredith's house was suffocating as soon as Izzie walked past the threshold. She heard footsteps in the kitchen, and after taking a deep breath she forced herself to enter the house. Preparing herself the best she knew how for what she didn't know. It took her a minute to realize what was off about the scene of Cristina and Meredith standing against the counter top, eating pizza from the box. Then she got it. It wasn't about who was there, it was about who wasn't. "Where's George?" Izzie couldn't bring herself to offer any greeting. Small talk would just delay her knowledge. She needed to know.

"Everything okay?" Alex entered the room a few seconds later, and still no one had answered Izzie's question. He'd left Annie in the living room, unsure of what to expect in the kitchen. She might still be a baby, but he didn't want her to witness anything that wasn't good if he could help it. It was one of the few evils of the world he could protect her from. His gaze shifted from Cristina and Meredith at the counter to Izzie, who was still in the doorway, waiting for someone to answer him. No one seemed to notice his arrival though. It was then that he saw the empty bottle of vodka beside the trash can.

"Cristina.." Meredith finally managed to get out, even though the alcohol had clearly run its course on her speech abilities.

"You tell her." Cristina shrugged the patronizing gaze off. She didn't want to be the one to tell Izzie. She knew that Meredith and Alex would be pissed at her if she did. She didn't feel sorry for Izzie one bit, and she was frankly not amused with having to be here when Izzie found out. She was never quite sure what to expect from Izzie when it came to bad news, but if anything, Izzie always delivered heavy on the dramatics. Cristina had enough to worry about in her own personal life without thinking about Izzie's unhealthy hold on George.

"Cristina!" Meredith's eyes narrowed on her, and she finally relented. But now before shooting Meredith a glare that stated she would regret this in just a moment.

"Fine! Ok. George is gone, Iz." Cristina refused to add any amount of emotion to her voice. She wanted it to be as frank and cold as she could. She was not going to encourage a meltdown when she had no more alcohol. Once Izzie eyes bulged, Cristina turned back to Meredith with a clearly satisfied smirk. "Told you to tell her." She shrugged her shoulders, focusing her attention on the pizza that she'd been eating before the couple's arrival.

"Gone? For the rest of the week?" Alex asked to clarify, even though he had a feeling that was not the case. He wanted to scream an array of expletives but he resisted as he remembered his little girl in the next room. He knew this was going to be highly unpleasant at best, heart wrenching no matter what, and possibly the end of his marriage. He felt sick.

"No." Meredith shook her head, not being able to force herself to look at either of them. She just wanted to crawl into her bed and sleep away the rest of the day. Derek had made her day long enough without all of this. She swore life was playing a cruel joke on her, and she was getting quite sick of the punchlines.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Izzie's arm stretched out until she felt Alex's skin. She sunk her nails into it with her tight grasp, needing him to keep her on her feet. She tried to compose herself, but the way everyone was looking at her, she couldn't. They had known she would take it badly. And Alex, God, she felt terrible.

"Mr. O'Malley died today, Iz. George left town." The words barely made their way across the room for Meredith's mouth, but somehow Izzie managed to strain to hear them.

"No! He would have called me!" She could feel her nails digging into the palm of her free hand, but she couldn't bring herself to loosen up. There had to be a mistake. George wouldn't just up and leave. He wouldn't.

"Iz." Alex murmured her name. His voice was full of pain, but even then, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She didn't deserve him at all, which only made the tears forming in her eyes burn that much more intensely.

"He can't just leave! He has a job! A life!" Izzie yelled, her voice straining into a high pitch squeal.

"He quit." Cristina's solid voice broke the air again, causing everyone to shift their gaze to her. She refused to apologize though. Alex didn't deserve to see this. She'd told Izzie not to bring Alex. But she hadn't listened. She needed to learn to listen.

"No."

"Iz..." Alex tried again, but he was cut off by the shaking of her head. She wasn't done yet.

"He promised! He promised!" The tears fell onto her cheek, and finally she leaned into Alex's chest. Her body convulsed in sobs, and yet his arms still did not snake around her. She didn't try to force him either. She just held onto his shirt that much tighter.

"He could come back.." Meredith offered weakly, even though she doubted it would do much good, whether Izzie believed her or not. She highly doubted George would step foot in Braxton ever again.

"Not helping, Mer!" Alex glared at her for only a moment before he wrapped Izzie into his arms. It hurt to see her so upset under any circumstances, but he swore he could feel a knife in his stomach at the sight of his wife so upset over another man. No matter how many times she swore she loved him, it was times like these he had to doubt it.

"I am sorry, Iz. I am sorry." Meredith whispered, bowing her head in defeat of the moment.

"He was my best friend."

"I should probably check on Annie. I left her in the living room." Alex mumbled, setting Izzie down into a chair before leaving the room, the front door closing only a few seconds later, even though Annie could still be heard in the living room.

"Get up, Izzie." Cristina narrowed her eyes on the blonde once she was certain Alex couldn't hear her.

"Shut up."

"Get up! You have a husband! A husband that is HERE! Stop mourning for another guy before he leaves you too!"

"Alex gets it!" Izzie defended herself quickly, even though she wasn't sure how true the words were.

"Doesn't mean he likes it." Meredith offered meekly, careful with the words she chose. The last thing they needed was Izzie going off the deep end. She couldn't handle someone else's breakdown. Especially Izzie's.

"We were going to be married!" Her voice was shrill, causing both of the other women to wince. Annie started crying in the next room, so they stayed silent until they heard Alex reenter, but only for a moment, this time leaving with the baby.

"Oh, shut up already! You were sixteen, and even then you were messing around with Alex! You made your bed and now you are sleeping in it!"

"Cristina!" Meredith's eyes bulged. It wasn't that she didn't have similar thoughts, she just wasn't sure if that tone was the best way to calm Izzie down. She would put money on it that it wasn't.

"You know it's true! All of these years, she's been keeping George on the back burner, just waiting for Alex to screw up. She has to stop! For everyone's sake! For George, for Alex, for that damn baby! She has to stop!" The room fell silent as the door opened again, and without even looking at them, Cristina walked out of the room and right past Alex, whose eyes were bubbled in a layer of tears. "I'm sorry, Alex." She whispered before leaving the house. She'd had enough. She didn't expect anyone to follow her, and no one did. Even though she could see Alex looking around the window as she backed out. If he was smart, he would walk out. But he wouldn't. He loved Izzie too much to ever leave her. Even if she deserved it.

Izzie hadn't been surprised when he announced he was going to go for a walk a few minutes after Cristina left. She was actually glad. A walk would calm him down before they talked. They needed to talk. She needed to apologize.

She'd expected him to be back in an hour, two tops. It was eight o'clock when she finally left to go back home, and he still hadn't returned. He hadn't taken the car.

She busied herself with cleaning after she put Annie down for bed. There were dishes to wash, clothes to fold, bills to be paid, walls to scrub. She did them all.

She finally allowed herself to sit down at a quarter till' midnight. She was officially worried. He should have been home by now. It was Braxton. The town closed down at like nine.

Her stomach knotted as she saw the police car pull into her driveway. Oh god, she squirmed as she stood up and walked to the door. Something had happened. She'd expected it to be Mark- or Derek to meet her at the door. It wasn't though. It was Addison.

"Addi? What are you doing here?" Izzie opened the door for her to come in, but she didn't move. She glanced towards the car to find that Mark was in the driver's seat. The car was still running.

"Iz." Addison whispered as she glanced down at her shoes. "I think.. I think you should, um, come with us. Okay?"

"Come with you? Why? What happened?"

"It's Alex."

And I won't let you go
And I won't let you down
I won't give you up
Don't you give up on me now

What do I have to do
To try and make you see
That this Is who I am
And It's all that I can be
~Lifehouse, Good Enough

"It's Alex." Addison spoke a little louder after clearing her throat. "He's, I mean, he isn't hurt or in the hospital or anything. He just, Izzie, you just need to come with us, okay?" Addi insisted as she nodded towards the car.

"What about Annie?"

"I'll stay with Annie." Addi offered. "You need to go, Iz. Now."

"Okay." Izzie nodded helplessly. She didn't know what to do, her mind was cluttered, but at least he wasn't hurt. That was good. Right?

"Now go." Addi tried to smile as she pointed at the car. The smile became a little more genuine when she met his gaze. She also became a little more afraid. She didn't ever want to be the cause of Mark being in as much pain as Alex was.

Alex had told her what happened. She wanted to yell at Izzie, but it wasn't her place. Nor was it the time.

Izzie grabbed her purse that was still on the couch and ran towards the car. She had no idea where Alex was, but she needed to find him. To see him.

She was surprised when Mark pulled into the church parking lot. The church was definitely the last place she'd expected him to be.

He was inside, sitting in the center of the middle pew. His body was shaking, and it took her a moment to realize that he was crying. She couldn't remember a time he'd cried since Annie was born. Those were happy tears. These were not.

She didn't sit beside him. She somehow didn't feel as if she'd earned that. Even though they'd been married for years. She silently made her way into the pew behind him, sitting a few feet further down.

"I told them not to get you."

"Alex." She breathed his name, but he shook his head. It was as if the sound of her voice alone hurt him.

"All of this time, I convinced myself that you loved me. God, Izzie. I've given you everything I own, and it's still not good enough. I'm still not good enough for you."

"I DO love you, Alex." Tears were spilling down her cheeks, and she didn't try to wipe them away. "I wouldn't have married you if I didn't love you. I just, you know, my parents had this whole other life set up for me before I met you. I'm not saying it was a better life, because I'm sure it wouldn't be. I don't know that anything is better than the life we have together. But I turned my back on my family when I turned my back on the life with George. So it hurts okay? When George left, I felt like I lost my family all over again."

She'd expected him to at least turn around to look at her, but he didn't. He just bowed his head. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear he was praying. "I talked to Cristina. I'm going to crash on her couch tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He whispered faintly.

"You aren't coming home?"

"Not tonight."

"But tomorrow, right? You'll come home tomorrow?"

"I don't know, Izzie." He sighed as he stood up, finally looking back at her. "I really just don't know." He shook his head at her. She was about to say something when the doors opened.

"You ready, Alex?" It was Cristina. Izzie's stomach knotted. She'd never gone a night without Alex since they were married. Not one. How was she suppose to sleep now?

"See you." He mumbled before walking away, towards another woman. She sat there numbly until Mark finally came inside to get her. He had to all but carry her to the car. She had no idea what to do without Alex. She did know that she'd crumble if Addison and Mark left her though.

They didn't. She was thankful. Apparently Mark was on vacation. She didn't think Mark took vacations. She didn't have the energy to ask though. All she could think about was the fact that Addison was in Alex's spot on her bed.