"You didn't come home last night," Izzie said as George sat down at the table.

"Third time this week," Meredith agreed.

"Whoa, Bambi's getting some?" Christina asked.

"No, Bambi isn't... I'm not... I was just with a friend. It's nothing." George said hoping that he wasn't blushing too much.

"Right," Izzie said, standing up. "We're gonna find out sooner or later, George. You know you can't keep anything from us. Now, if you'll excuse me, Bailey's got me on rectal exams today."

Cristina laughed as she walked away. "I have to go, too. Burke's got that surgery in like half an hour."

"So," Meredith said once Cristina was gone. "Just you and me, George. Spill. Who is she?"

"She? No, no she."

"Ok, then he. Who is he?"

"It was... it's just Alex. We were hanging out. It's no big deal."

"Alex," Meredith said, almost knowingly. "You guys have been spending a lot of time together lately."

"Well, we do work together..." George said nonchalantly.

"I meant extracurricular time."

"Yeah, well, he's not as bad as you guys think... once you get to know him."

"And you know him pretty well, huh?"

"I'd say so," George replied hesitantly.

"Intimately?"

"In... intimately? Um, you mean... no... no, of course... why would you say... I mean, he and I... it's not, we don't..."

"George, is he you're... boyfriend?"

"Boy... boyfriend? No, not my boyfriend. He's my friend. And he's a boy... a man. He's my man-friend."

Meredith raised an amused eyebrow. "Right, and how long has he been your... man-friend?"

"He's been... it's... I don't want to talk about this. I gotta go... patients and... yeah." Meredith laughed as she watched George take off down the hall.

~*~

"Meredith knows," George said as he closed the door to the empty exam room later that day. "And Izzie probably knows, because she's Izzie, and Cristina, well, Cristina doesn't care, but Meredith is probably telling her right now so she'll know and soon everyone is going to know because nothing can stay a secret in this place. It's like a freaking high school..."

"Whoa, breathe, George," Alex said, as he wrapped his arms around George, rubbing his back. "Just breathe. You're making far too big a deal about this."

"How can you say that?" George asked, removing his head from Alex's chest. "The whole hospital is going to know. No one even... we're not even out and now we're going to be outed together and you don't think this is a big deal?"

"George, do you regret being with me?"

"What?! Of course not! How can you ask me that?"

"Then chill. Who cares what everyone else thinks? Honestly, we should just consider ourselves lucky we've gone this long without anyone finding out the way news travels around this place. Three months of a secret has got to be some kind of record," Alex says and pulls George's head to his shoulder, hugging him again.

"You're really okay with everyone knowing?" George asks hesitantly.

"God, O'Malley, you talk too much, anyone ever tell you that?"

"Well you have, more than once. A lot, actually. But you still didn't answer my question."

"Fine, you want an answer?" Alex asked sounding annoyed.

"Um, yeah..." George said hesitantly at Alex's tone.

"Fine," Alex said, pulling away from George and grabbing his hand. George hesitated a little bit.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Giving you an answer," Alex said as he pulled him out of the room. He could feel George's reluctance as he held onto his hand and they walked down the hallway filled with doctors and patients. He ignored all of their questioning stares, knowing that they were reacting to the way his and George's fingers were laced together, because he was about to give them all of their answers. He banged open the door as he pulled George into the intern locker room where all of their fellow interns were getting ready to go home after their long day.

"Excuse me," he yelled, announcing their presence to anyone who happened to not hear the door bang open upon their entrance. "I don't know what you all have heard, or if you've heard anything at all, which let's face it, is highly unlikely, but George and I have some things to clear up."

He turned to face George, pausing for a second to make sure George wasn't about to bolt out of the room, and pulled him close. He grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. And not just a small kiss, which would have sufficed, no a full on tounge action that lasted for what could have been an hour for all George knew. When air became a necessity they both pulled back and Alex whipped his head around to look at his collegues.

"Any questions?" He asked, smirking as every mouth was left hanging open. "Right, great. Now, if you'll excuse us, it's been a long day so we're going to go home where I'm going to let O'Malley have his wicked way with me. Mer, Iz, don't wait up for him cause he wont be coming home tonight." He grabbed George's hand again and smirked again as George stood there, not knowing how to react. "Does that answer your question?" He whispered to him, forgetting everyone else in the room now. At George's slight nod Alex responded a quiet "good" before leading him out of the locker room, letting the door shut slowly behind them and leaving a room full of shocked interns in his wake.