Hey, guys. I know you're waiting for an update on Bless the rains in Africa but I just couldn't help myself with this one. I'm currently rewatching Grey's and my friend just finished season 7. And I just got really inspired to write about what happened with Slexie between 7x10 and 7x11 (My favorite Slexie kiss btw). I'm leaving this as a one shot for now with the possibility of maybe making it a multi-chapter fic, depends on what you guys think :)
I also have another idea for a whole new story that I think you will like and I'm tempted to start writing it. But don't worry, the update on BTRIA will come!
Enjoy this in the meantime :)

t's just one drink. She convinces herself as she's walking down the street towards Joe's. One drink is not gonna hurt. She thinks to herself, realizing by the second that it's getting harder and harder to prove herself right. One drink with Mark. That wasn't going to change much. He would probably try to convince her that they were good together and that they should get back together. That he loved her. Not that he hadn't told her that before. Or that he missed her for that matter. But things didn't make sense these days. He says he loves her and then goes off sleeping with Derek's sister. Was that true love?

Deciding that it wasn't doing her any good to speculate, she took a deep breath as she entered the bar. One drink. She thinks to herself determined. One drink and we'll see how it goes. She welcomes the warmth as she entered, letting go of the cold Seattle air that was catching up. Just like she predicted, he had chose a table close to the door so she would see him early. The first thing she notices is the drink standing on the table in front of him. The pink fluids with a straw in a glass she knew he had ordered for her. Vodka cranberry. She thinks to herself and can't help the small smile that appears on her face. He knew it is her favorite. Her eyes leaves the drink and instead focuses on the man before her. He lazily takes a sip of his own drink, looking as if he was in his own world a thousand miles away. As she approaches him and gets closer, he looks over at her. She was expecting a wide smile, a hug and even a 'Thank you so much for coming', but he doesn't say a word. Doesn't even give her a look. He knew I was gonna show up. She thinks to herself, a little amused at his smugness.

Before he can say anything, she opens her mouth to speak. Before they start this… Whatever it is, she needs to make some things clear. "I know I agreed to have a drink with you," she starts casually, her words leaving quickly in case he was gonna interrupt with protests. "But as I walked in here I realized how unfair that was." She finishes, half-expecting him to interrupt any second and protest, when he doesn't, she continues. "It is unfair to you, it's unfair to me because…" For a minute there she forgot her point. Why was it so unfair to have a drink with him? One drink. It could be the start of something new for them, a new beginning, a clean start. No pregnant daughters, no adopted grandsons. Right, there was the reason it was so unfair. He was ready to start a family and settle down, and she wasn't. "… Really nothing has changed. I mean you're still in a very different place in your life than I am and you want different-" She doesn't even have time to finish before he interrupts her. But not with words as she would have expected, but with his lips. His lips covering hers, silently telling her to shut the hell up. The lips she had missed so much. And just like that, she doesn't have a point anymore. That kiss was his way of saying 'I don't care. I just want you'. She feels his hand reaching up to touch her cheek, her hands subconsciously moves up to rest on his arms. Their lips move together in some sort of dance they have danced so many times before and for a moment, she is completely lost in the trance of Mark Sloan. For a moment she forgot completely where they are, it felt like the two of them were the only people existing in the whole world.

A moment later he pulls away. But not too far, just enough so they can look at each other. As soon as he pulls away, she takes in a quick breath. That kiss took all the oxygen out of her system. A true breathtaking kiss. Opening her eyes slowly, she takes a minute to catch her breath and get back to reality. He looks at her in the way only Mark does. She wants to say something, anything, just to break the silence. But she can't. His hands are still on her face, his fingers touching her soft skin ever so gently, just the way she wants him to. She looks up at his eyes, taking a moment to just admire them. His blue orbs were a perfect match to her chocolate brown. Her thoughts (and trance) are interrupted when she hears Jackson Avery call her name. "Oh, Lexie. I just got a page- Bailey wants us back in the ICU." He announces. At the thought of going back, she feels like a kid who were just told to go to bed. She doesn't want to. She keeps her eyes on Mark as she speaks. "Can you deal with it, please?" She asks, her words coming out more like a desperate whimper. Not that she cared. If Jackson knew anything about her longing for Mark Sloan, he wouldn't have asked. She doesn't turn around or asks twice, she takes the silence as he agreed and left. In milliseconds, the thoughts of Jackson and the hospital are gone and all she can focus on is Mark. She was back in the trance, back in the bubble. All that existed was the two of them. And she feels herself craving his lips again. As if he read her mind, he leans down and captures her lips with his own again, this time she's prepared for it and meets him half way. As soon as their lips connects, her hands move up to cradle his face, her fingers brushing over his scruff like so many times before. His hands move down to rest on her hips.

Their lips move in perfect synch together, as if they were created to do so. Lexie hears herself hum softly into his lips. Mark smirks against her lips, proud of himself that he can manage to get a sound out of her just by kissing her. Soon air becomes necessary, they gently pull apart but stay close enough to brush their noses against each other's. With their eyes still closed, they just breathe each other in. The seconds passes by and Lexie could swear the seconds became minutes and then hours. She was in a trance and she didn't know how to get out of it. But it was a good trance of course. Luckily, Mark makes the decision for her and pulls away completely as he opens his eyes to look at her. She opens hers as well and stares into his ocean blue eyes. It takes a moment for her to catch her breath and she notices the smirk on his face. Clearing her throat, she scratches her neck a little awkwardly before glancing down to the drink Mark ordered for her. "So… I…" She starts, not really sure how to continue or what she wants to say exactly. Where do we even go from here? "I've noticed you haven't said a word since I walked in here." She finishes with a light chuckle before she meets his eyes again.

Her comment makes Mark chuckle a little. He hadn't even thought about that. His hands casually reaches for his drink and he takes a lazy sip before clearing his throat. "Yeah, I… I don't really know what to say. And frankly, words weren't even needed." He replies, the characteristic Mark Sloan-smirk still glued to his features. "But we can talk now… If you want to." He adds and the smirk drops, suddenly turning serious. He knows that if they are gonna try their relationship again, they need to talk. Communication was their biggest problem last time and he is determined to not let that happen again. And he really wants to talk, to be able to solve their problems and get Lexie back for real. "If… If this is what you…" He trails off, not finishing the question because he is so god damn scared of the answer. That she will just walk out that door and never see him again.

Mark changes the subject so fast Lexie doesn't have time to respond to his joke about words. Once the smirk drops, she knows that he is just putting on a face, behind that smug smirk is a man who is completely freaked out. Lucky for him, though, Lexie is not leaving this time. She smiles at his unspoken question, knowing damn well what he is really asking. Without a second thought, she breaks the distance between them and gently grabs Mark's face before pulling him in for another kiss. However this one is different, it's a kiss of reassurance, a kiss telling him that she's not going anywhere. After all, silently talking through kisses was something they were pretty good at and right now it was kinda fun. When she feels Mark's arms wrap around her waist, she knows that he knows. A moment later she pulls away, looks directly into his eyes as if to burn the information into his brain. "I love you."

"I love you too." He replies and looks deeply into her brown orbs, not even bothering to pull the 'Because I'm unbelievable'-joke. They could joke all they wanted later. Mark lets go of her waist and offers her a soft smile. "So this means we're back together?" He asks softly, still scared to death that she will turn on her heels and walk out the door.

Lexie can't help but laugh at his question since the answer is obvious. Clearly not to him. "Uhm… I would guess so. Breathtaking kisses, 'I love you's and the fact that I am still here. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're back together, Mark." She tells him softly, trying her best to not sound too sarcastic and mocking. He's cute when he's nervous. She thinks to herself and smiles at him. "However… I don't think moving back in with you is the best option right now. But I wouldn't mind spending nights at your place." She adds, suddenly feeling the craving for his apartment, the craving of feeling him against her while she's sleeping. Just laying with him in his bed.

Mark blushes a little at her answer to his question. How silly of him. She's still here, that should be answer enough. He was prepared for the moving in together-part, though. And to be honest, no matter how much he wants Lexie to move back in with him, he is mature enough to understand that that would be a bit too much too soon. "No, no. Of course. We… We should take baby steps." He tells her with a smile. But she wouldn't mind spending nights at his place. And just like that, the smirk is back where it belongs and he knows that she knows what's going through his mind. Having sex wouldn't hurt though, right? Every couple has sex eventually. He's desperate to just take her back to his place and make sweet love to her all night. That's one thing he's been craving for months. But if she wasn't ready, he wouldn't push it.

Lexie looks down at her drink again as she listens to Mark's answer. Baby steps. That sounds great. And baby steps doesn't have to mean no sex. She glances up towards him again and catches his smirk, knowing damn well that he's thinking the same thing she's thinking. She breaks the eye contact again to look back at the drink. He had ordered it for her and probably already paid for it so it would be rude not to take at least three sips. With a soft sigh, she takes the glass and puts the straw by her mouth, gently sucking the fluids in. She feels Mark's eyes on her the whole time, not that she minds. The strong liquor feels pretty good against her throat as she swallows. Taking a glance around the bar, she takes in the presence of other customers that are currently having a fun time with friends and alcohol before she turns back to Mark. Her fingers plays with the straw as she looks at him, dragging out the seconds a little extra just because. "I know I technically promised you two drinks since you helped me out with Eli. But what do you say we finish these drinks and then go back to your place?" She suggests with a smile that is un-intentionally turning into a seductive smirk.

Mark chuckles at her suggestion. "Sounds good to me, Little Grey."

—

As soon as the door closes behind them in Mark's apartment, they're going at it like animals. Hungry, almost desperate kisses, touches. Their hands are everywhere. As Mark wraps his arms around Lexie's waist, he takes a few steps forward and with a loud thud, she's against the wall. A gasp and a slight moan escapes her as her back makes contact with the wall. Her hands rests on his upper chest for a moment before she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Mark releases her for a moment to take off his jacket, Lexie takes the moment to do the same. In milliseconds, he has her trapped between his body and the wall again. A moment later, Lexie pulls away to breathe. "Wait wait wait." She breathes as Mark trails kisses down her neck. "Baby steps, remember?" She reminds him, not really wanting him to stop what he's doing.

"Screw baby steps." He growls against her skin, leaving hungry kisses down her neck.

Lexie lets out a soft giggle, both in a response to his words and to the way he tickles her as he finds a sensitive spot. "But we're gonna talk later, right?" She asks for like the hundredth time since they left Joe's. "Because I really think we need to talk about stuff." She adds a second later.

"Yeah. We'll talk." He assures her as he pulls back to look at her, his thumb caresses her cheek gently. "I love you, Lexie." He whispers softly.

"I love you too, Mark." She replies with a smile before she pulls him closer again. Their lips connects in no time and Lexie pushes herself against his body, silently asking him to pick her up and take her to the bedroom.

Mark takes the hint and places his hands by the back of her thighs before he lifts her up. The smirk is back on his face as she giggles. A soft moan escapes him as she wraps her legs around his waist. Lexie pulls away from his lips and instead attacks his neck as Mark turns them around and leads them towards the bedroom.

—

Lexie lets out a soft sigh in pleasure as she rests her head on Mark's naked chest, her fingers drawing lazy circles over his until he decides to intertwine their fingers together. He kisses her head softly and hums in pleasure. This was what he had missed for so long, just being able to lay in bed with her in his arms. Suddenly a horrible question enters his mind and he stiffens for a moment, swallowing hard before looking down at Lexie, even though all he sees is her brown hair. "I… I didn't hurt you, did I?" He asks quietly. He would hate himself if he ever hurt his Little Grey during sex.

Lexie, who had been having her eyes closed as she just enjoyed his lips on top of her head, opens them slowly at his question. For a moment she has to think about what he means. He did hurt her emotionally when he declared that he was picking his daughter over her and he did hurt her when he refused to look at her after she slept with Alex. But the way he asks it makes her realize what kind of 'hurt' he's talking about. She pulls away a bit, moving her head up so she can look into his eyes. A small smile finds it's way onto her lips as she gently brushes her index finger over his beard. "No. You didn't hurt me. You never could." She tells him reassuringly before she kisses him.

The way she smiles is enough for him to really believe her. Right now he's just so afraid of hurting, both emotionally and physically. Mark kisses her back softly until she decides to break the kiss and rest her head on his chest again.

Lexie takes a deep breath as her mind starts racing. It wasn't until now she remembered the heated kisses between Mark and Amelia just a few weeks ago. Suddenly, the images of them in this very exact bed started to haunt her. Was he holding Amelia like this after they had sex? Had he changed the sheets since Amelia left? Had he been with anyone else after that? She gently shakes her head to clear it before she decides that they should talk about it. Clean start, no secrets. "Hey, Mark? Can I confess something?" She asks softly, almost cursing herself for giving him the option to turn her down on this.

"Sure, Sweetheart. Anything." He replies and can feel his heartbeat pick up. This is the part where she regrets everything and leaves.

Lexie takes a deep breath before she moves her hand up to his chest, drawing lazy patterns over his soft skin. "I… I saw you and Amelia together."

A frown covers his face at her confession. Yeah, Amelia was here a few weeks ago and he brought her back to his apartment. But when did Lexie…? Oh no. "Wh-what? When?" He asks even though he knows the answer. After all, the kissing hadn't started until they got to his door.

"I… I came here to talk to you. April had said some things that made sense so I wanted to talk to you but…" She trails off, making a motion with her hand. Suddenly, this topic was starting to be too painful to talk about.

Mark sighs heavily and moves her so he can rest on his elbow as he looks at her. "I don't know what to say, Lex." He confesses. "I think you know I'm telling the truth when I say that it didn't mean anything. It was just… A one time thing. If I had seen you I would have let her go." He explains even though he knows it probably won't matter what he tells her. She saw him with another woman and it obviously hurt her. "I'm sorry."

Lexie looks into his eyes and can see the regret in them, the truth is clear as a day. She manages a small smile, indicating that his apology is accepted. Not that there's really anything to apologize for. They weren't together at the time so he was free to have sex with whoever he wanted to.

"What did April say?" He asks after a moment, curiosity written all over his face.

Lexie can't help the smile that widens at his question. She bites her lower lip before speaking. "She… She just pointed out a few things I haven't noticed before. Like…" She glances up at him and notices the smile on his face. "Well, like the reason you had me chained to your service and couldn't stop looking at me was not because you thought I was crazy." She blurts out before looking down at the space between them, feeling a little ashamed by it. It was so obvious now.

Mark's smile drops for a moment before he forces it back on. She thought I thought she was crazy? Mark sighs softly before he places his hand under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Lexie." He murmurs in a serious tone. "I never thought you were crazy. Psych ward doesn't equals being crazy. You just needed a little help dealing with everything that happened. And the reason I couldn't stop looking at you…" He trails off, looking down for a short moment before looking at her again. "Is because I love you."

Lexie doesn't say anything. She responds by smiling at him and leaning forward to kiss him. "I was so stupid. I should have let you help me. You- you just wanted to be there for me and I didn't let you. I am so sorry." She whispers a moment later, suddenly feeling very guilty for pushing him away.

"Hey, hey hey." He says, quietly. "It's okay. You're okay now and that's what matters. That's the only thing I care about- that you're okay and happy."

She lets out a sigh of relief before she looks up at him. "Well… I guess that's out of the way now." She says softly. "Amelia didn't mean anything and you didn't think I was crazy." She sums it up, indicating that they're done talking about it.

Mark smiles and nods. He takes a moment to think before he realizes that there's something else that has to come out. Callie. Just 24 hours ago Callie was the woman laying in his bed, not Lexie.

Lexie notices the change in his expression and can tell there's something bothering him. "Mark?"

"There's something I have to confess as well…" He trails off, already regretting this. This time she will get up and leave.

"Okay." Lexie replies, feeling a little nervous. She didn't want anything that could possibly break them apart again. "What is it?"

A heavy sigh leaves him as he runs a hand over his face. "I…" He starts, not knowing how to put it. What the hell. "I slept with Callie."

Lexie's eyebrows raises in surprise. Not by the fact that he slept with Callie, but by the way he struggled to tell her. "Okay." She says, dragging the syllables out a little, not understanding what the problem is.

"Last night." He clarifies, avoiding eye contact with her as he does so. If she's leaving again, he doesn't want to see it.

"Oh." That's all Lexie can get out. "Well… I know you two are best friends and have… Been having sex before. But it was just as meaningless as with Amelia, right? It's not like you're in love with her."

"Of course not." Mark tells her firmly, finally looking up at her. "No, Callie and I are just friends."

Lexie smiles at him. Sure, she wasn't glad over the fact that he slept with other women, but they were broken up. And Lexie had been sleeping with Alex, even started a relationship with him. But that was in the past now. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that she was together with Mark. "I love you, Mark. So let's leave the past in the past and focus on the future."

Mark cracks a smile as he moves forward, pinning her down onto the mattress and hovering over her before he leans down to kiss the breath out of her just like he did at Joe's. "I love you too, Little Grey."

For the first time in a long time in both Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey's life, it felt like everything would be okay. As long as they had each other.