11. Mark Sloan

A/N: I present to you a completely new chapter 11 with more Emily/Mark goodness.

"It's nearly one. Why are you still here?" Joe asked, a hint of worry in his tone. Emily glanced around the near-empty bar. Just a bunch of people who had no home, wasting their time in a dank corner of the bar.

"Uh, yeah. It's been a rough week," she offered as an excuse, twirling the last sliver of brandy in her cup. Downing the last of the golden liquid, she signalled for another round. "Vodka tonic. Let's spice it up a bit, Joe."

"Keys, then drink."

"Joe, come on. I've only been drinking a bit," the brunette teased, handing over her car keys. He took them before pouring a glass quickly. "Thanks, anyhow." She drained the shot glass easily as the bell above the door chimed, signalling that a new patron had arrived.

"Is this seat taken?" a husky voice asked. It was hoarse with sleep and deep, and honest to god sent chills down her spine. Raising an eyebrow at the person beside her, she shook her head with a chuckle.

"It is now," she commented dryly, taking in his features quickly although she knew that being drunk distorted their facial features to be more appealing to the drunk person's view. Still, this guy was something of a sculpture. He was absolutely magnetic. "Joe-" She waved the brunet who stopped in front of her- "I am drunk. I am also a doctor, and know that being drunk means I see people more handsome than they really are. So tell me, Joe," she said his name languidly, "is the man next to me, indeed, incredibly hot?"

"I'd totally go for him," Joe confirmed jokingly, "but I'm taken so he's all yours,"

"All mine? Who said I was buying?" she replied teasingly as another shot was placed in front of her. "I didn't want another one!" she called after the bar owner's retreating figure.

"But I want you to have another one," the man murmured and she complied, sending an easy smile. "Mark." He offered a hand to shake but she ignored it, slamming the shot glass down after it emptied.

"Do I need to know your name?" she asked as if it was not needed, a nagging feeling building up in her core as she sneaked glances at him again. He was just so familiar…

"I think you do, seeing as you'll be moaning it later," he shot back dirtily. Shaking her head, she chuckled at that cheesy line. "No?"

"No. Didn't work." He pouted and she found it rather adorable. Obviously undaunted, his smile doesn't fade as they continued on in silence.

"Where do you work?" she asked suddenly, the silence unnerving her.

"Between gigs. Came out here to visit,"

"Confounded by rain?"

"Read my mind." He nodded, sending a cocky smirk her way. "It's cold and gives me a headache. What I wouldn't give to stay in a warm bed."

"Not even five minutes in and already talking about bed, are we?" Rolling her eyes, she nursed her drink.

"Well, you look like you'd be fantastic company."

"That's very sweet of you," she drawled sarcastically and he chuckled, tipping back his scotch.

"How about you?" When she hummed in confusion, he explained, "What do you do?"

"Surgical intern."

"So, you're a fetus." Scowling playfully, Emily narrowed her eye at him, sizing him up. "I shouldn't even be talking to jailbait like you."

"Yeah, call the police." She rolled her eyes. "How about you?"

"Plastics,"

"Is it really all boob jobs and giving people like huge asses?"

"Maybe." The look he sent her made her warm inside but it could've been the alcohol. Still.

"And is it true that plastic surgeons are, like, gorgeous?"

"That's stereotypical," he argued but it's clear he has no intention of putting up a fight, "and true but I mean-" He gestured to his body- "If you had the body of mine, I believe you'd understand. I can take you on a tour, if you'd like," he murmured but she shook her head. "Maybe a quick-pass to the rollercoaster,"

"Funny but no. No guys in bars," she declined. Pouting rather adorably once more, he stood to leave.

Before he did though, he stopped behind her and craned his neck, gazing intensely at the disinterested brunette. "Last offer." His breath fanned against her hot skin, cold and tingling as his lips rested against her neck as he continued to speak against her neck. "I have a thing for mouthy brunettes." She turned around to face him, breaking off the action before realizing with a start at how close their faces were. A part of her wanted to kiss him because she hadn't felt this in a long time. There's the smell of electricity when his nose brushed against hers.

"What's that name I'll be moaning again?" she asked, taking in his arched nose and sculpted face. Her hazel eyes flickered between those irritatingly blue eyes and his lips. He took the bait and swallowed it whole.

"Mark. And who do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, head tilting just a bit more and coming a bit closer.

"Do you want to know before or after you've had me in bed?" she quipped. Her hands gripped the back of the high seat as he scoffed. Aha. Caught. Cocking her head, she sighed in faux disappointment. "Sorry, but no. I don't do one night stands,"

"I can be the first," he pursued, leaning in closer. Smiling coyly, she drew back and stood. "Come on." His whispered words fanned against her cheek and the desire to kiss him struck her but she shook her head. "We have a connection, jailbait."

"I've learned my lessons." She thought about Meredith and Derek but flushed under his nickname. "Goodbye, Mark. It was nice drinking with you and maybe if we knew each other, it could be... something." She shook her head with an insatiable smile, one so wide it made her cheeks hurt and cupped his face briefly. Her thumb brushed across his lips and she raised herself to the balls of her feet. He leaned down for a kiss but she pulled back a fraction of an inch, smirking.

"What if I do find you again?"

"Then you can kiss me. Just once." Brushing past him to go call a cab, she tossed one last glance over her shoulder. "Welcome to Seattle."

.

"Why is he suturing his own face?" George's voice made Emily peek her head up from the folder.

"What?" she asked, glancing around to see what they were looking at. Finally spotting it, she saw Meredith hold a mirror for a man who held the suture in his skilled hands. Squinting through the blinds, she tried to make out his features.

"To turn me on," Cristina supplied. Alex rolled his eyes before apprising them haughtily on who he was.

"Because he's Mark Sloan. He's like the go-to plastic surgeon on the East coast." He scoffed as Emily flushed. Mark… Mark… I know that name from somewhere, she mused when Meredith pulled up the blinds and the window was clear. Then she swore her heart stopped for a full three seconds. Oh, shit. Oh, shit, oh shit.

To be fair, he should not have been able to find her so easily.

"That's the guy Addison was sleeping with?" George whispered furiously. Izzie gazed dreamily at the brunet as Meredith settled a stand for the mirror. They exchanged parting words before exiting the room.

"Well, you can't really blame her, can you?"

"No, not really," Cristina murmured back as George heaved a sigh.

"Yes, you can." They all spotted Meredith walking towards them and turned to her for details.

"McSexy wants an x-ray to check for fractures and I think it's a bad idea if I take him." Meredith explained, gazing into the room.

"Why? Why?"

"I'm on it," Alex volunteered as Emily busied herself reading the chart again. If her friends found out, she'd never hear the end of it. Covering the side of her neck as casually as she could, she felt Meredith's lab coat brush against her arm and gave herself a chance to peek up.

"Why is it a bad idea?" George pressed and the brunette glanced up.

"Because he is trying to get into the pants of every living thing with a vagina," She told him bluntly. George's eyes widened and a flush crawled up his neck as Cristina questioned the nickname.

"McYummy?" Izzie proposed.

"No." The other two disagreed.

"McSteamy,"

"Ah, there it is," Cristina approved, turning around to watch the man suture his face again. Izzie chuckled in agreement.

"Oh, excuse me. Just choking back some McVomit." George grumbled, walking away with a pen in hand. Desperate not to be alone with other women ogling over that guy, she tried to think of a plan to get her out of here.

"Oh, look at the time!" Emily let out before she could stop herself. She felt three pairs of eyes burn into her and looked up, closing the folder with a loud slap of paper. "I think I hear someone calling me, very far away from here!" She stood up as Izzie's eyes focused more intensely at her. "Uh, Izzie? What? Seriously, Iz. You're freakin' me out."

"Is that a hickey?" she asked, almost breathless. The blonde's eyes widened when she realize she was correct. "Oh my god! You have a hickey!" Feeling self-conscious, she patted her neck trying to cover whatever her friend saw. "No, let me see!" Slapping the protective hands away, she stretched the skin. "Definitely, that is definitely a hickey."

"Where're you getting some?" Cristina asked, genuinely surprised. Emily didn't know whether or not to be insulted. "You've never mentioned anyone."

"It's nothing! Maybe I scratched too hard or something. Okay?" She gathered up loose papers and her patient's binder. It slipped clumsily from her grasp and she caught it before she hit the floor, running away from the laughter with an embarrassed expression across her face.

.

"Continuous orgasms? Dude, that sounds so good."

"Like you're not having that. You see that?" Izzie whispered nefariously to George who tried to hide a smile. Rolling her eyes, Emily just stopped covering it at that point. As they walked through the E.R. hall, the brunette wanted to slap Izzie so hard. In a joking way, obviously.

"Okay, first of all, it was not sex. Second of all, we aren't all hooking up with someone."

"It was a one-time lapse in judgement."

"Alex told me it was a four-time lapse," Emily sang and the blonde let out a annoyed groan, leaving them to go check on the orgasm patient. The two interns left shared a smile as they went up onto the catwalk. Alex and Cristina were there, leaning into the window and staring through to the Chief's office. Within, Emily could see Derek and Mark arguing. Mark was shouting as he waved his hands about while Derek appealed to Richard. As soon as Mark saw that, he took steps forward.

As much as Emily hated the conflict, she couldn't help but note how Mark's muscles wrapped around his back and how his arms were so damn thick. No matter what she tried, her eyes zeroed in on that ass in grey casual slacks.

"What do you got?"

"Shepherd and Sloan battling it out."

"Oh, it's gettin' good."

"Why what do you got?" Alex asked, never taking his eyes off the two battling surgeons. Emily sighed. Derek looked like an absolute hazard with pale skin and red-rimmed eyes.

"Just a woman down in the E.R… having spontaneous orgasms." Emily only ripped her gaze away when her three friends ran away to see the patient. Emily herself? She merely leaned against the rail and watched because something about Mark Sloan pulled her in, even if she wanted to shut him out.

Look at him, all suave and leaning against the window like it's none of his business. Screw him, she grumbled to herself. That black t-shirt, the pants - she needs to stop herself.

If anyone was the exact opposite of Prince Charming, it was Mark Sloan.

.

She was thankfully not on the Lionitis case but she still felt like avoiding the room just in case. She doesn't think her lungs could take it if she actually was in the same vicinity as Mark Sloan. She was a professional.

She did not kiss philandering adulterers who screwed over one of her best friends, and her boss, by screwing her other boss.

As she settled into a table for lunch, she bundled the jacket around her neck as a chilly wind swept through the air. She poked at her salad as the rest of her friends approached the table. George, Izzie and Alex approached soon after, talking about the woman with spontaneous orgasms. She kept her head low as George subtly complimented Meredith between his sentences and Izzie told Alex firmly that the 'beast' wasn't hungry, him laughing heartily as he followed after the blonde.

"No, it's not Alex's penis. It's - you know when you haven't had sex for a long time and you forget how good it is so you want it less?" George asked, biting on his straw with a nervous lap. Her neck snapped up fast, painfully fast before returning to her jello.

"Yeah, that doesn't happen to me."

"Me either," Meredith agreed.

"Me either," George stuttered and Emily felt Cristina's eyes on her. Unconsciously, she placed a hand over the fading pink mark on her neck. "What did happen with your neck?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing," She dropped the appendage, grabbing the fork. "It's-" At Cristina and Meredith's sly smiles, she stopped explaining. Closing her salad, she took it and got up. "You know what? Bye. I'm leaving. This is harassment. Also, it's cold. So bye."

.

"Jailbait!" a voice called, making her freeze. Turning around as slowly as she could, she was faced with none other than Mark Sloan. "Didn't expect you to work here," he commented smoothly, leaning beside her. She tried ignoring him, tried to focus on the computer in front of her but his presence was dominating the small office-like room and she finally looked up. Dark blue scrubs instead of the grey tee, he looked just as good as he did before. Not that she was looking.

"Didn't expect you to visit here," she shot back, rotating the office chair to face him. "What are you doing here?" In the back of her mind, she unconsciously noted that his eyes flashed dangerously and he repeatedly stretched and crushed his fingers with his other hand. His eyes darted to her ID tag and they lit up with surprise.

"Addison and Derek are here, there's no one in New York left for me," He admitted, settling half of his bottom on the desk. His knee nearly touched the mouse she was using and the brunette moved it away. "'Sides, Noah Moore's sister is a little hotter than I expected."

"Right. Well, I need to get back to work, so-"

"You know, you look a lot like him but you seemed to have gotten the better half of the genes." She rolled her eyes and he brushed a curl away from her face. "You look better in scrubs than I imagined."

"Thinking about me now, are you?" she asked with a wary smile. It was like she was locked in a room with a hungry predator, but she felt bold as she leaned back. His fingers ghosted her cheek before falling away.

"Yeah. Not often girls reject me."

"Clearly people should do it more. I hear your ego barely fits in your scrub cap," she said through her teeth. She didn't know that. She was guessing based on the vibes she picked up from him.

"You know what else doesn't fit?"

"You're disgusting," she said with a shake of her head. Getting up, she found herself face to face with Mark Sloan again, their lips too close. Backing up, she gathered her charts.

"Well, no one night stands is no fun, so we all have our faults." He checked his watch before standing up again. Sending a arrogant smile her way, he chucked her under the chin and she turned to leave when he added, "You owe me a kiss, jailbait."

"I know," she admitted, turning back around and facing him by the door. He lumbered over, a slight swagger to his steps as he looked down upon her. "Why did you come to Seattle?" He froze for a second and she knew she found a weak spot. Her eyes softened and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You answer honestly, and then I give you your kiss."

"I'm in love with Addison." The admission had her blood freezing over and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Oh." Her gaze fell to the floor between their shoes and he cups her face. For some reason, that rugged expression had fallen away to something more tender, warm. Like he understood. Oh.

She didn't understand people who cheated.

"Why do people cheat?" she asked softly, voice wavering as she took a step back. Her parents' split resonated in her head.

"Because they love each other."

"Well, who's the poor sucker who loved the cheater?" she asked before pulling away. "You have surgery." Leaving the room, she felt her heart drop into her gut as she tried to get rid of that feeling of being lungless.

.

Fuck her, fuck her, fuck her. Mark thought as he tied the scrub cap quickly behind his head. He pulled tightly, nearly wincing as he thought back to the interaction mere minutes ago with Noah's little sister. He never really knew her, thought her always as some annoying pest, but when he thought about it…

He was the exact opposite of someone she'd talk to.

Adulterer.

Fuck. As he scrubbed in, turning on the sink, he thought of his four-hundred-dollar-an-hour shrink.

"What is there to fix? I'm not broken," He shot at her, crossing his arms and leaning back against the couch. His shrink tut-tutted, crossing her arms.

"You see? Behind this rugged and confident facade-"

"It isn't a facade!" He argued, "So what? Just because I've been drinking and-"

"Fine. It's your exterior, alright? A confident and rugged exterior. You're self-destructive and self-loathing, Mark. It's to an almost pathological degree and it's worrying me. You're full of hatred for yourself and I can see it radiate off of you."

"Care to tell me why?"

"You never grieved for your parents, Mark. One day they were there, then they were gone. No matter how much they treated you like crap, you know, deep inside that you loved them and you miss them and now you're feeling the same way about Derek and Addison. You never had people behind your back, and when you did, you clung onto them and they still left.

"Sex doesn't resolve problems, Mark, but you're using it as a way to mimic the feeling of being loved. What I think you need to do is go out there. You never really fought for people to stay because you never had to. Derek stuck because he's your best friend, Addison and his family followed suit." she explained calmly.. Her gentle tone surprised him and he reeled back, his dark expression lessening as he leaned back. "You're drowning. Addison's gone after him, Derek's not even trying to talk to you and you're still here. You aren't fighting, Mark and you need to. You aren't letting yourself feel anything and you need to." The truth of her words hit him and left a mark of loneliness and a hollowed feeling in his chest. "So go out there, fight. Live."

And here he was, doing what his shrink told him. Fighting or whatever except he wasn't. He was trying to pick up girls left and right. Pushing the button that opened the O.R. door, he took in a deep breath. Hours with in a hostile environment, with Derek practically ignoring his existence. When he glanced up at the gallery, saw how people were filing in.

He saw her.

She smiled down upon him, but there was something tired about her edges.

Good luck, she mouthed. He nodded and turned away, knowing that he couldn't afford to be distracted.

.

Emily knocked softly on the door on the attendings lounge. She didn't know why she was here but something about how shocked Mark Sloan was, how completely crushed he was prompted her sympathetic genes to come here and-

God, I hope no one else is here.

Knocking again, she held her breath and shoved her hands into her pockets. The door opened and she raised her head hesitantly.

"Jailbait?" Mark Sloan's eyes rested on her, exhaustion clear in his gaze. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you okay?" The question came out warped and he stepped aside, as if inviting her in. Stepping in hesitantly, she glanced around. This was the first time she ever came in to an attendings lounge.

"Yeah." He pulled off his shirt and went to the locker. "I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Your parents." She stiffened, trying to keep her face neutral as she plastered a smile on her face.

"Well, it's not exactly dinner conversation, is it? I don't like bringing it up." She faced him but avoided staring and he seemed to notice. "For obvious reasons." Going over to sit at one of the benches, she looked into her hands.

"Yeah. You probably don't want to speak to me." Emily scoffed quietly. "Look, I know you said you owed me a kiss but-"

"I don't wanna kiss you," she cut him off sharply, silencing him easily, "not in a 'I love you' way, or 'I even remotely like you' way, but like, I don't know." Mark had a slight smile on his face. "Okay, you're just really good looking. Like your eyes and your face and, ergh, it's annoying. But! But, that would be the only reason why I would want to kiss you, but normally, I don't really go past first-base with people because I want to make sure that they could possibly be the one and-"

"Jailbait."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." She did so. "Stand up." She also did so. He placed a hand on her waist and brought her close. She rested her hands on his shoulders hesitantly and he smiled in a way that made her more at ease. "For the record, we both agree we are not 'the one' for each other."

"Agreed."

"This is just fulfilling a deal."

"Agreed." With that he leaned down but paused. Emily sighed and he pressed their foreheads together. For some reason, the feel of his body against hers was comforting and he searched her eyes.

"You want this?"

"Yeah," she breathed quietly and he licked his lips.

"I'm flattered you think I'm annoyingly good looking," he mumbled and she rolled her eyes, lowering herself back down from the balls of her feet.

"Uh, are you gonna keep going? I just want this kiss over and done with, and then you can leave Seattle because-" He lifted her face up, pressing his mouth hard against hers. Her arms slid over his shoulders and clasped around his neck. He was a skilled kisser, no doubt, but Emily missed the energy and passion that came with it. There was something so horribly fake.

Then he pulled back, as if sensing the discord. Like it didn't feel quite right. He looked at her like it's never happened before and his eyes glowed with gentle care. It made her feel weak at the knees.

"Did you feel that?"

"Like it was wrong?" she asked and he nodded. Sighing, Emily pulled back but then he had her pinned against the lockers, his presence overwhelming.

There were always two kind of men she imagined for herself when she grew up.

A Prince Charming - perfect, kind, who kissed their lady sweetly because she was a dainty flower. Who did everything she asked, saved her with true love's kiss, married her within days of knowing her because they both knew they were soul mates.

Then, there was the Han Solo, roguish and charming and arrogant all at once who ravaged you with passion and was the type of guy to leave your heart broken even after two seconds of knowing him. Who was hard to leave, probably had some issues, and just made it so hard for you to stop loving him.

How on God's name did Mark Sloan switch so effortlessly between these two personas within a second?

"I always had a thing for it's so wrong it's right," he murmured huskily against her lips before prying her mouth open and having her moaning quietly in his arms. This time, as he kissed her, there was something alive festering between their lips. Everywhere she touched, there were sparks and everywhere he glided his hands over there was fire. Their eyes were closed but it didn't matter because they already knew what the other person looked like. It was complete bliss in the quiet of the room and for a moment, Emily forgot who he was and who she was and she thought this was something out of a fairytale when the guy gets the girl, finally.

It was a kiss, and then another, and then another until they needed to breathe but still, their breathes mingled and they breathed air as one person and Emily felt every nerve on end singing.

"Me too," she finally breathed when the door opened. Immediately moving her face away and pressing herself closer against the lockers, she wanted to melt into nonexistence. She expected chastising, she expected something like punishment because here she was, kissing an attending, one she barely knew, just met, and disliked for cheating and fuck, her life was a mess but-

"Dr. Sloan?"

Alex? Still, she didn't move her head away and she knew Mark's eyes were on her, scanning her face. Her neck was red in embarrassment as a flush crawled up her neck.

"Yeah?" There was a long silence and Emily lowered her head before glancing at her friends. Strands of hair fell into her face as Cristina and Alex basically gawked. Mark ripped his gaze away from her to look at her intern friends.

"I should go," she mumbled and the attending turned back to her. There so much ignominy in this. Swallowing visibly, she felt a grimace make her way onto her face as she tried to suppress whatever it was that was making her heat up. "Dr. Sloan."

"Dr. Moore," he whispered and she let out a goodbye before running past her friends.

She did not kiss philandering adulterers who screwed over one of her best friends, and her boss, by screwing her other boss. Except she did.

Fuck.

.

Okay, that was completely unfair. He was just saying it in condolence and Derek had the nerve to walk out before claiming that it was impossible to forgive him. But, at least he had time to face Addison as she stared at him, defeat clear across her features.

"Your marriage is over, Addison," he said in a low tone, "all you have to do is admit it." As he took a few steps closer, his eyes scanned her face. "Then you can come back home with me-" And her brilliant red hair- "I'm going to the bar across the street, meet me there."

This is your choice were the unspoken words as he ran his knuckles down her cheek. Her conflicted gaze followed after him as he exited the elevator and out of the hospital. The cold air stung his skin refreshingly as he crossed the road, into the bar and into a seat next to his fellow dirty mistress.

The blonde looked sad, her eyes downcast and looking at him when he himself looked away. She said she saw her father for the first time in twenty years, he asked how it went. Her reply was sarcastically optimistic, that it could've gone better and she asks what he's still doing here. He told her about meeting Addison and the way she said that Addison wasn't going to show up hit him deep. The rawness of her voice spoke to him as if it happened to her, and maybe it had with Derek. But the protest rises in his throat, letting that silly emotion, hope some would call it, rule his next words.

"What if, just this once, life comes down on the side of the dirty mistresses?" Grey offered a small smile, more of a grimace and they sat for a few minutes more until she said it was time to tuck in for the day. She grabbed her coat, her purse, said her farewells with a squeeze on the arm and left. He cursed. Fuck. That was the most accurate description he had so far for his life. As the night slipped by, he resorted to his usual tactics. Scan the bar, look for girls, bring one home, leave early in the morning. Normally, it'd settle his mind, knowing that he had a plan, maybe even excite him but his thoughts were running rapid, spiralling and he was bored. There was no constant as his gaze drifted lazily over to the dartboard.

Thwack.

The sound of the dart seemed amplified to his ears despite sitting the farthest away from the board.

Thwack.

A round of cheers and he scanned the crowd standing at the high tables. Most were from the hospital, faceless people but still recognizable somehow in his brain. A lot were male, a few females littering the crowd but they were older, nurses and doctors alike, none younger in the range of his tastes until he saw a head of brown curls and a white blaze of a shirt. Standing, he brought his double scotch along with him as he searched for the brunette. Despite his height, the man still couldn't find her until he saw the woman leaning against a table, sharing an easy laugh with Karev, the intern he had worked with today. Staring hard at her, he tried to analyze her features in the dark.

It was Moore.

For fuck's sake. Seriously? He groaned inwardly, turning away but he knew the damage was done, she had seen him staring. Saying a few words to her friend, she brought her drink and walked up to him Her chin was tilted up as she waited for an explanation. When he was silent, the brunette finished her drink. "Looking for another fling?" Her voice was crisp and direct as she placed the glass on the bar counter. The golden light bathed their skin in a warm yellow, reflecting off her eyes and flecking her irises with burnished gold.

"Maybe," he replied vaguely, plastering a charming grin on his face. She rolled her eyes, nodding to Joe for another drink. "How about you?"

"Looking for a fling? Yeah, totally," she snorted. "No, I have to explain profusely why I was making out with you in the attendings room."

"Why do you need to suggest otherwise?" he teased and he was surprised at how hard it was to hate her. Not that he had a reason to, yet.

"Because I'm not that kind of girl," she said with raised eyebrows but there was a growing smile. "Look, I fulfilled my end of the deal. There's nothing more to it." Her eyes crinkled when she smiled like that and he liked how there were dimples, two in one cheek, one on the other. "So, yeah. And for the record, I don't normally kiss people cheats. It was just a deal."

He chuckled, "I get it. I'm heading out anyways." What a lie but he didn't exactly have a choice now that he said it. Besides, there was no action in this bar. "See you, Moore."

"You're staying?" The surprise in her tone caught him off-guard but he shook his head.

"It's just something people say, jailbait."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. Okay, see you, then." Blushing, she ducked her head. As she passed, something slipped into her hand and she paused. Raising her right hand, she noted the slip of paper pressed firmly against her palm. Opening it, she glanced back to see Mark smirking at her. Rolling her eyes, she pinned in the number in her phone and scribbled on the back of it with a pen, her own number. "Wipe the smug smile off of your face,"

"How can I?" He replied, sashaying up to her in a completely over-exaggerated manner and snatching the paper from her hands. "Ring me up. Keep me company." He rolled his fingers into a fist except for his thumb and pinkie finger, shaking the gesture beside his ear. Laughing, she pushed him lightly against the shoulder.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes for what seemed like the two-millionth time. As she turned around once again for the exit, the brunette was unaware of the piercing stare at her back.

A/N: Edited - August 30, 2018