(no subject)
TITLE: Precious Things [[[ three \\ ??? ]]]
AUTHOR: babyfirefly (with major help from the fantastic _nigella_!!!)
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Welcome to the reformed dirty mistresses support group. Izzie & Mark make a pact, Callie learns George's dirty little secret, people move on, people work things out and people realize that true love isn't so hard to find.
In this chapter - Callie wants details & the dirty mistresses keep holding on.
( Chapter One )
( Chapter Two )
She was crying again. She was crying and he didn’t want to admit it but it killed him inside. He watched her trace her fingertips around the plastic lid of her chai latte and struggle to hold back the tears.
“Hey,” he said softly, sitting next to her. Somehow he always found her, and this time she was sitting outside on a bench in the courtyard, her eyes focused on something in the distance that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Hey,” she responded meekly.
“What’s with the crying?” Mark asked.
“Nothing, okay?” Izzie snapped.
Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, “I thought we were some sort of support group. Look, this is me being supportive. Talk, Stevens.”
“It’s just...I thought this would be easier, you know? I keep telling myself I can do this and here I am crying like an idiot over a guy who is married and...making babies and...okay, seriously, why does my life have to constantly play out like a soap opera? I’m waiting for the dramatic music and for someone to have an evil twin...you’re the evil twin guy aren’t you?”
“Not that I know of,” Mark smirked.
“I just...it hurts, it hurts a lot. It hurts because I have been there for George from the start and then these feelings come forward...I didn’t even acknowledge them until he’s sitting there telling me how his wife thinks I’m in love with him and then it hit me like a brick...I did...I do love him. I always pushed it off because he’s like...a brother to me and then all of a sudden his tongue is in my mouth and we’re having this amazing sex and he tells me all these amazing things. On top of that now I’m thinking about Denny and how if he could see me right now he’d be so disappointed in me,” Izzie started to sob and Mark wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“I remember when I met her. Total knockout. Legs for miles, her eyes...the red hair...shit, everything about her was a ten. Derek loved her, he loved her and I wasn’t about to say hey man, I love her too. I went to the wedding and watched her walk to him. She’d come to me any time she and Derek had a fight and I’d play the good friend and tell her to fight for him. Derek wasn’t a bad husband, but he wasn’t the best either; he was too absorbed in his career and Addison, though self sufficient, she needs someone. She doesn’t do well alone. I was there, I was there when he wasn’t and so we started something...I thought for once the ball was in my court and I was going to get the winning shot, but she picked Derek. I was the last resort. Derek left her so she settled with me because she couldn’t have what she wanted. I couldn’t deal with the commitment thing. I’ve never had consistency in my life and to wake up every morning with the same person...freaked me out. So being the manwhore that she deemed me to be I made one mistake after another and soon enough she was on a flight to Seattle.”
Izzie’s eyes sifted upward and she looked at the broken expression pouring over Mark’s face.
“She called and I came in a heartbeat. I couldn’t turn her down. I never have been able to. I thought hey, I can prove this to her now, Derek fucked up. I’m just a booty call, good sex to fulfill her temporary needs and she’s avoiding me like the plague the next day. I play the manwhore card, sleep around but I’m just waiting on her. Then we make the pact and I’m dead set on proving it to her. I catch her post sex with Alex Karev and I realize that I’m just the backup guy. I’m there for her to fall back on when she can’t do any better. Alex Karev? Talk about a blow to the balls. Now I hear she’s leaving for L.A. next week and I wonder how long she’ll be down there before she’s calling me to fill that void again. I want her to be happy, I want her to stop feeling the need to call me to fix things. I can’t do it anymore.”
Izzie took a deep breath and rested her head on Mark’s shoulder. His heart began to beat faster as she clung to his arm. She breathed in his cologne and closed her eyes for a second. Mark Sloan was full of surprises, Mark Sloan was vulnerable, Mark Sloan was just as broken as she was and it felt reassuring. It felt wonderful to be understood.
Mark didn’t know what it was about Izzie Stevens that caused him to expose his wounds, but having her leaning on him felt as if some wounds were beginning to mend. He never opened himself up because he was comfortable being the bad guy, the dirty manwhore. But for once in his life he did not feel alone, and Izzie could agree.
“Your latte must be cold now,” Mark finally said.
“Yeah,” Izzie agreed.
“Come on,” Mark said, getting up slowly. Izzie pulled away and watched him stand.
“Appreciation latte?” She laughed through her tears.
“Of course,” Mark grinned as he held out his hand. It took a moment before Izzie let go and Mark turned and started towards the hospital entrance.
Mark shoved his hands in his lab coat pockets as Izzie tossed her cold latte.
“Thirty six hours in, I think we’re doing alright,” Mark grinned.
“Yeah, I guess things could be worse,” Izzie nodded in agreement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He didn’t see her the night before; she had to pull an all nighter and boss around the new interns. He decided to stay the night with his Mom, as he missed her and she needed the company every now and then. He had just received his test results and stuffed the envelope in his coat pocket. He wasn’t sure he wanted to look at them and he wanted to talk to Callie before he did either way.
He slid the card key in the door and waited for the green light before pushing it open. The cool air of the hotel room rushed against his face and he felt refreshed. He spied Callie on the bed, her bathrobe wrapped around her as she brushed her damp hair. There weren’t words to describe how beautiful she looked to him at the moment, and he set down his car keys and bag on the dresser, watching her. Her eyes did not shift: she continued brushing her hair and watching the television.
George took a deep breath and moved forward and Callie finally looked at him. “I need you to tell me exactly how you feel about Izzie,” Callie stated.
“Oh,” George managed to squeeze out as he sat down on the bed next to her. She didn’t move away from him and instead set her brush in her lap and turned to watch him. “I owe you honesty,” he added.
George took a deep breath and counted the specks of random color that dotted the carpet. “I always cared for Izzie, but it was overshadowed by what I felt for...for Meredith. I...found Izzie unattainable...I guess. Yes, a blonde, stacked supermodel...which was...stupid for me to say and I’m sorry and she’s just...uh... the type of girls you can find a dime a dozen in like...Los Angeles or something. When I first met her she treated me just like a brother. They...made me buy tampons and stuff! I was always just the friend figure to both her and Meredith...and then I met you, and you were...and are...just...too good for me. You’re this rare, classic... old Hollywood type beauty! I never thought in a million years you’d love me like you do. Izzie didn’t like it...I’m not in her head ...so ...I can’t say exactly why but it’s as if...she didn’t like that she wasn’t the center of attention anymore. I didn’t get it...she could ditch me for guys but if I got involved with someone she’d have issues. I never saw it as “oh she likes me”... and when you said she was in love with me...it was like something clicked...for her too. The alcohol just made matters ten times worse. I can’t just blame the Bourbon...the Bourbon isn’t the bad guy here. When it all came to me the day after...I didn’t know what to do. I was unfaithful to you, I didn’t want you to know, I wanted to protect you from it...I...I just wanted it to go away. I was confused because old feelings came rushing back but I knew I loved...I LOVE you,” he paused to look at her and he couldn’t pinpoint what she was feeling through the serious expression on her face. He reached over to grab her hand then realized she would crush his fingers at what he was about to say.
“I wondered constantly if I did love her. But...I...I think it was just my insecurities, that I moved too fast or that I’m not good enough for you or I’d just...disappoint you. It made me wonder if loving Izzie was a possibility. Then we kissed in the elevator and I felt something but...it wasn’t like what I feel for you on a daily basis. Before the wedding she admitted...she...she said... she IS in love with me. I didn’t say anything. I’m not in love with her back, I do care for her...she’s been there for me and I miss the old days when she and Meredith would crawl into my personal space and bombard me with girl issues. Things...things changed though...we’re all different now. I’d like to think I’m a better person now but I’m not. I do know that I love YOU. I’m picking YOU. I’ll fight for YOU.”
Callie’s eyes lowered and she sat, trying to process everything George had told her. Part of her wanted to scream and yell, to kick him out of the room and tell him to never come back. A part of her wanted to rest her head in his lap and sob until the tears stopped coming. A part of her wanted to run, run like she used to do as a small child when things terrified her and she didn’t understand. She’d hide under the fancy dining set in her mother’s kitchen and all the fear would subside. There was no table to hide under now, so she found the strength to speak.
“Family is worth fighting for,” Callie sighed. “You are my family now, George. This isn’t going to be easy though. I can’t just give you another chance thinking that I’m just going to be that woman, the one who loves her husband and takes him back only to get screwed over again.”
“Callie, I will never hurt you again,” George stated, taking her hands into his.
“How do I know that?” Callie asked.
“I’ll prove it to you!”
“We need to see a counselor. So, either you can agree to go to sessions with me, to make this work or you can leave now,” Callie stated.
“Of course I want to make it work!” George exclaimed, “And...I agree...maybe we need a third party or something to tell us what we’re doing wrong.”
“George, don’t give me reasons to regret loving you, to tear my hair out because I fell so hard for someone who doesn’t feel the same.”
George leaned forward and kissed Callie’s lips softly. She didn’t pull away but she didn’t quite kiss him back either. George pulled away and rested his hand against her cheek.
“I love you, I truly do,” he said clearly and filled with emotion. “We will go to counseling; we will go because we can make this work.”
Tears welled in Callie’s eyes and it was as if they had moved back in time to that moment in the hospital hallway after the prom. Her eyes lifted and she stared down at her wedding ring and then back up to George. “I hate that I’m so into you,” she sighed through her tears.
AUTHOR: babyfirefly (with major help from the fantastic _nigella_!!!)
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Welcome to the reformed dirty mistresses support group. Izzie & Mark make a pact, Callie learns George's dirty little secret, people move on, people work things out and people realize that true love isn't so hard to find.
In this chapter - Callie wants details & the dirty mistresses keep holding on.
( Chapter One )
( Chapter Two )
She was crying again. She was crying and he didn’t want to admit it but it killed him inside. He watched her trace her fingertips around the plastic lid of her chai latte and struggle to hold back the tears.
“Hey,” he said softly, sitting next to her. Somehow he always found her, and this time she was sitting outside on a bench in the courtyard, her eyes focused on something in the distance that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Hey,” she responded meekly.
“What’s with the crying?” Mark asked.
“Nothing, okay?” Izzie snapped.
Mark wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, “I thought we were some sort of support group. Look, this is me being supportive. Talk, Stevens.”
“It’s just...I thought this would be easier, you know? I keep telling myself I can do this and here I am crying like an idiot over a guy who is married and...making babies and...okay, seriously, why does my life have to constantly play out like a soap opera? I’m waiting for the dramatic music and for someone to have an evil twin...you’re the evil twin guy aren’t you?”
“Not that I know of,” Mark smirked.
“I just...it hurts, it hurts a lot. It hurts because I have been there for George from the start and then these feelings come forward...I didn’t even acknowledge them until he’s sitting there telling me how his wife thinks I’m in love with him and then it hit me like a brick...I did...I do love him. I always pushed it off because he’s like...a brother to me and then all of a sudden his tongue is in my mouth and we’re having this amazing sex and he tells me all these amazing things. On top of that now I’m thinking about Denny and how if he could see me right now he’d be so disappointed in me,” Izzie started to sob and Mark wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“I remember when I met her. Total knockout. Legs for miles, her eyes...the red hair...shit, everything about her was a ten. Derek loved her, he loved her and I wasn’t about to say hey man, I love her too. I went to the wedding and watched her walk to him. She’d come to me any time she and Derek had a fight and I’d play the good friend and tell her to fight for him. Derek wasn’t a bad husband, but he wasn’t the best either; he was too absorbed in his career and Addison, though self sufficient, she needs someone. She doesn’t do well alone. I was there, I was there when he wasn’t and so we started something...I thought for once the ball was in my court and I was going to get the winning shot, but she picked Derek. I was the last resort. Derek left her so she settled with me because she couldn’t have what she wanted. I couldn’t deal with the commitment thing. I’ve never had consistency in my life and to wake up every morning with the same person...freaked me out. So being the manwhore that she deemed me to be I made one mistake after another and soon enough she was on a flight to Seattle.”
Izzie’s eyes sifted upward and she looked at the broken expression pouring over Mark’s face.
“She called and I came in a heartbeat. I couldn’t turn her down. I never have been able to. I thought hey, I can prove this to her now, Derek fucked up. I’m just a booty call, good sex to fulfill her temporary needs and she’s avoiding me like the plague the next day. I play the manwhore card, sleep around but I’m just waiting on her. Then we make the pact and I’m dead set on proving it to her. I catch her post sex with Alex Karev and I realize that I’m just the backup guy. I’m there for her to fall back on when she can’t do any better. Alex Karev? Talk about a blow to the balls. Now I hear she’s leaving for L.A. next week and I wonder how long she’ll be down there before she’s calling me to fill that void again. I want her to be happy, I want her to stop feeling the need to call me to fix things. I can’t do it anymore.”
Izzie took a deep breath and rested her head on Mark’s shoulder. His heart began to beat faster as she clung to his arm. She breathed in his cologne and closed her eyes for a second. Mark Sloan was full of surprises, Mark Sloan was vulnerable, Mark Sloan was just as broken as she was and it felt reassuring. It felt wonderful to be understood.
Mark didn’t know what it was about Izzie Stevens that caused him to expose his wounds, but having her leaning on him felt as if some wounds were beginning to mend. He never opened himself up because he was comfortable being the bad guy, the dirty manwhore. But for once in his life he did not feel alone, and Izzie could agree.
“Your latte must be cold now,” Mark finally said.
“Yeah,” Izzie agreed.
“Come on,” Mark said, getting up slowly. Izzie pulled away and watched him stand.
“Appreciation latte?” She laughed through her tears.
“Of course,” Mark grinned as he held out his hand. It took a moment before Izzie let go and Mark turned and started towards the hospital entrance.
Mark shoved his hands in his lab coat pockets as Izzie tossed her cold latte.
“Thirty six hours in, I think we’re doing alright,” Mark grinned.
“Yeah, I guess things could be worse,” Izzie nodded in agreement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He didn’t see her the night before; she had to pull an all nighter and boss around the new interns. He decided to stay the night with his Mom, as he missed her and she needed the company every now and then. He had just received his test results and stuffed the envelope in his coat pocket. He wasn’t sure he wanted to look at them and he wanted to talk to Callie before he did either way.
He slid the card key in the door and waited for the green light before pushing it open. The cool air of the hotel room rushed against his face and he felt refreshed. He spied Callie on the bed, her bathrobe wrapped around her as she brushed her damp hair. There weren’t words to describe how beautiful she looked to him at the moment, and he set down his car keys and bag on the dresser, watching her. Her eyes did not shift: she continued brushing her hair and watching the television.
George took a deep breath and moved forward and Callie finally looked at him. “I need you to tell me exactly how you feel about Izzie,” Callie stated.
“Oh,” George managed to squeeze out as he sat down on the bed next to her. She didn’t move away from him and instead set her brush in her lap and turned to watch him. “I owe you honesty,” he added.
George took a deep breath and counted the specks of random color that dotted the carpet. “I always cared for Izzie, but it was overshadowed by what I felt for...for Meredith. I...found Izzie unattainable...I guess. Yes, a blonde, stacked supermodel...which was...stupid for me to say and I’m sorry and she’s just...uh... the type of girls you can find a dime a dozen in like...Los Angeles or something. When I first met her she treated me just like a brother. They...made me buy tampons and stuff! I was always just the friend figure to both her and Meredith...and then I met you, and you were...and are...just...too good for me. You’re this rare, classic... old Hollywood type beauty! I never thought in a million years you’d love me like you do. Izzie didn’t like it...I’m not in her head ...so ...I can’t say exactly why but it’s as if...she didn’t like that she wasn’t the center of attention anymore. I didn’t get it...she could ditch me for guys but if I got involved with someone she’d have issues. I never saw it as “oh she likes me”... and when you said she was in love with me...it was like something clicked...for her too. The alcohol just made matters ten times worse. I can’t just blame the Bourbon...the Bourbon isn’t the bad guy here. When it all came to me the day after...I didn’t know what to do. I was unfaithful to you, I didn’t want you to know, I wanted to protect you from it...I...I just wanted it to go away. I was confused because old feelings came rushing back but I knew I loved...I LOVE you,” he paused to look at her and he couldn’t pinpoint what she was feeling through the serious expression on her face. He reached over to grab her hand then realized she would crush his fingers at what he was about to say.
“I wondered constantly if I did love her. But...I...I think it was just my insecurities, that I moved too fast or that I’m not good enough for you or I’d just...disappoint you. It made me wonder if loving Izzie was a possibility. Then we kissed in the elevator and I felt something but...it wasn’t like what I feel for you on a daily basis. Before the wedding she admitted...she...she said... she IS in love with me. I didn’t say anything. I’m not in love with her back, I do care for her...she’s been there for me and I miss the old days when she and Meredith would crawl into my personal space and bombard me with girl issues. Things...things changed though...we’re all different now. I’d like to think I’m a better person now but I’m not. I do know that I love YOU. I’m picking YOU. I’ll fight for YOU.”
Callie’s eyes lowered and she sat, trying to process everything George had told her. Part of her wanted to scream and yell, to kick him out of the room and tell him to never come back. A part of her wanted to rest her head in his lap and sob until the tears stopped coming. A part of her wanted to run, run like she used to do as a small child when things terrified her and she didn’t understand. She’d hide under the fancy dining set in her mother’s kitchen and all the fear would subside. There was no table to hide under now, so she found the strength to speak.
“Family is worth fighting for,” Callie sighed. “You are my family now, George. This isn’t going to be easy though. I can’t just give you another chance thinking that I’m just going to be that woman, the one who loves her husband and takes him back only to get screwed over again.”
“Callie, I will never hurt you again,” George stated, taking her hands into his.
“How do I know that?” Callie asked.
“I’ll prove it to you!”
“We need to see a counselor. So, either you can agree to go to sessions with me, to make this work or you can leave now,” Callie stated.
“Of course I want to make it work!” George exclaimed, “And...I agree...maybe we need a third party or something to tell us what we’re doing wrong.”
“George, don’t give me reasons to regret loving you, to tear my hair out because I fell so hard for someone who doesn’t feel the same.”
George leaned forward and kissed Callie’s lips softly. She didn’t pull away but she didn’t quite kiss him back either. George pulled away and rested his hand against her cheek.
“I love you, I truly do,” he said clearly and filled with emotion. “We will go to counseling; we will go because we can make this work.”
Tears welled in Callie’s eyes and it was as if they had moved back in time to that moment in the hospital hallway after the prom. Her eyes lifted and she stared down at her wedding ring and then back up to George. “I hate that I’m so into you,” she sighed through her tears.