Nothing Else Matters: Chapter 9
Mark slammed the door of the locker room shut, thankful that there was no one else inside. He roughly pulled his scrub shirt over his head and threw it into the corner of his locker.
Mark had spent the better part of the day half focused on his cases. Whenever he tried to concentrate, his thoughts had continuously traveled to Lexie, who at the moment may or may not hate him. After the misunderstanding in the on-call room with Callie, Mark had looked for her everywhere, he even spoke to the other interns but they all claimed to not have seen her.
As he went to put his t-shirt on, he heard someone knock on the door before pushing it open. His heart jumped into his throat as the subject of his worry was now standing infront of him.
Lexie smiled nervously "Mrs. Howell is responding wonderfully to the antibiotics and the swelling in her face has gone down."
Medicine. That's what she came in here to talk to him about. Mark felt a small rush of relief, if she wasn't going to bring up the incident, he thought that maybe she wasn't upset about it. It wasn't like what she walked in on was higher than PG. It was just a hug. A hug in an empty on-call room. While he was shirtless. With someone he used to have sex with.
"About earlier-"
Lexie held up her hands, "It's okay. I didn't realize you had someone in there with you. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything."
Mark knew that he could just accept her apology and move on. She was giving him an out. She was making it easier for him to do what he always did when a situation became too emotional. She was giving him a chance to run. But for some reason, Mark didn't want the easy way out. He didn't want Lexie to think he was dragging random women into on-call rooms. He wanted Lexie to see that there was more to him than that.
Why did he care so much about what Lexie thought? Why did it matter so much to him that she knew the truth about what really happened? Normally he was fine with letting others think whatever they wanted about him, but with Lexie, he wanted to show her a different side of Mark Sloan. A side that no one else knew about. A side that he barely acknowledged he even had.
"You didn't walk in on anything Lexie. We were just talking."
Lexie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "It's alright Dr. Sloan. If you're worried I'm gonna go feed the rumor mill, you don't have to be. We're friends. I wouldn't do that to a friend."
Mark wished that his heart didn't sink the way it did when the word 'friend' passed over her lips. He had been so worried that Lexie might have taken the sitation wrong and been angry or upset with him. What he didn't expect was for her to act like she didn't care. That was worse than anger. He started to feel like he was losing something before he even had it.
"No, you don't understand. Nothing was going on between me and Dr. Torres. We were just talking."
"It didn't look like talking." Lexie muttered, her voice sounding oddly bitter.
Mark looked into her face carefully. For the first time during the conversation, Lexie's true emotions accidentally came out. He could see the momentary flash of jealously on her face before it composed itself into the calm and cool mask she had entered the room with. That little slip of control gave him the slightest bit of hope that maybe all was not lost.
"Well it was."
"But you were shirtless," Lexie blurt out.
Mark smirked, "I'm shirtless now and we're just talking right?"
Lexie turned a deep red and gave him an embarrassed smile.
"I'm an idiot."
Lexie made a move for the door when Mark grabbed her wrist.
"Lexie, wait."
Mark's hand unexpectedly began to burn with the physical contact and he was finding it hard to form a coherent thought. He didn't know what he wanted to say to her, he just didn't want her to leave. Because of their close proximity, Lexie had to tilt her head back in order to look him in the eye as she waited for Mark to say something. Anything to fill the silence that was filling the room. Mark watched as she bit her lower lip and wanted nothing more than to throw her against the wall and bite her lip for her. Mark shook his head. That line of thinking was only going to get him in trouble.
"You're not an idiot."
Lexie shook her head, "I'm no better than the other gossips in this hospital. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I just saw you in the on-call room and my mind immediately went to sex." Lexie's eyes widened in horror. "Not that I think about sex when I look at you. Uh, not that you aren't sexy." Lexie shut her eyes, "I'm just gonna shut up now."
Mark loved the way Lexie's brain just couldn't seem to keep up with her mouth. It guaranteed that there would never be a dull moment in her presence. Mark's gaze then shifted down to her mouth.
And what a mouth it was.
Soft pink lips that made him yearn with desire to taste with his own. He calculated that he would only need to lean down a couple inches in order to satisfy that desire.
Just as he began to close the distance, Lexie's pager began to vibrate.
Lexie, mildly flustered at what was about to happen, looked at her pager with something that looked suspiciously like disappointment. Mark felt ridiculously happy that she seemed to want the kiss as much as he did.
"It's Dr. Yang. I have to go."
Mark nodded and reluctantly let go of her wrist.
"Have a good evening Dr. Sloan."
Lexie quickly went to the door but stopped when Mark called her name.
"I'll see you tomorrow Lexie," Mark said.
Lexie smiled that special smile of hers and then she was gone.
(next chapter)