chapter twenty six

where the boys are.season three, episode seven.

Izzie said to George as she handed him his backpack full of camping equipment. From the front door, Derek glared at Burke for inviting the intern on their trip.

"Izzie, I'm not five." George looked down to his jacket. "Zip me?"

Cassie came down the stairs, frowning at the sight of tents and coolers in the living room. "Georgie, what's going on?"

"They're camping," Izzie answered.

Cassie shot her a look. "I didn't ask you."

"We're camping," George repeated, oblivious to Derek wincing as he spoke.

"Camping?" Cassie exclaimed angrily. She turned to Derek, narrowing her eyes accusingly. "I thought that was our thing!"

"It's a guys trip," he defended himself. "Guys, meaning no girls."

"That's sexist," Cassie countered.

"It's not—"

"I can't believe you didn't invite me," she frowned, giving him her signature puppy dog eyes that in the past twenty three years of her life, he'd never said no to.

Derek sighed. "Fine, you can come, but—"

"Give me five minutes!" she interrupted him, racing back up the stairs with a wide grin on her face.

"If Callie calls, tell her I'm a mountain man," George boasted. "Man of the wild, right Dr. Burke?"

Burke leaned over to Derek. "Okay, him, I invited. But you invited Harper, so we're even."

"Izzie baked us treats!" George grinned from across the room.

Derek rolled his eyes. "At least Cassie doesn't bring to go camping."

☆

"I just said we needed an extra tent," George frowned.

Derek, Burke, George, Cassie, and Webber were in the bar, evidently waiting for Joe and Walter to finish packing up.

"Well, it looks like he misunderstood," Cassie smirked.

"Do you want to follow us, or should we follow you?" Joe asked as Derek mumbled something inaudible under his breath.

"Hey guys," Alex said, passing by the group. Derek gave Cassie an exasperated look.

George put his hands up in defense. "That wasn't me, I swear."

☆

The group arrived at the camp, each of them setting up their tents and getting ready for the day ahead of them.

"That is a nice looking picnic basket," George said to Webber, pointing to his assortment of different fancy cheeses and crackers.

"Thank you," he smiled. "The concierge at the hotel put it together. We've got crackers, pâté, and an assortment of Seattle soft cheeses."

George, Alex, and Cassie shared a look.

"What the hell is ?" Cassie wondered.

"Dude, he brought silverware," Alex laughed.

"You should talk," George laughed, shaking his head and rolling out his sleeping bag.

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, "have you ever been camping before, Alex?"

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You're wearing a t-shirt and sneakers. You're going to freeze your ass off."

"So what? I'm wearing a jacket."

George snorted at him. "Just don't come crawling to me in the middle of the night when you want to huddle for warmth."

"Fine, I'll just go to Cassie," Alex smirked.

"In your dreams," she scoffed, before smiling mischievously. "Plus, I'm sharing a tent with George. So, I mean, if you wanna lay with us in some weird threesome huddle, go for it."

George laughed and gave the girl a high-five, while Alex rolled his eyes. Derek, who heard the interaction, gave Cassie a thumbs up from across the camp.

"That's a good looking tent Joe," Webber said. "You and Walter got room for one more?"

Cassie stifled a laugh.

Joe grimaced. "We thought you'd be sleeping with one of the doctors."

"Well, Preston's and Derek's only have room for one."

"Well, Walter and I were hoping to share this one. You know, just the two of us," Joe said, before sighing defeatedly. "But I guess if you really want to."

"Chief, I don't think you really—" Alex began to interject.

"They've offered Karev."

"They want to be alone..." George trailed off, looking at Cassie, who rolled her eyes and told it like it is.

"Walter is Joe's boyfriend."

Webber raised his eyebrows. "Oh! Oh, so you two are, um—"

Burke smirked. "Chief."