Playing with fire (Amelia Shepherd) ABANDONED

Fourteen

Mallie stared at her phone with raised eyebrows.

"What?" Amelia said. She peered over Mallie's shoulder, eyebrows shooting up as she saw the conversation. "Did you know?" she said.

"No. Wait there," Mallie said.

She grabbed her phone and called Travis, knowing he wouldn't be able to lie to her.

"Mallie? You wanna work out?" Travis picked up the call.

"Lucas Ripley and Vic Hughes are together?" she said slowly.

There was a tense silence on his end of the phone and Mallie scoffed, ending the call. She crawled out of bed and stood up, grabbing her sports bra and a pair of fitness shorts.

"Baby?" Amelia said hesitantly.

"My best friend and my uncle. I love my family. I really, really do," Mallie said quietly, pulling on the shorts and sports bra.

"They are?" Amelia said.

"Yep. And they didn't feel like they could tell me. I mean, if you're gonna fuck my uncle, at least have the decency to tell me about it before I find out from Lucas' sister," Mallie said.

"As your girlfriend and someone who also had complicated family relationships, I need you to listen and hear what I'm saying. You hate Lucas. He thinks you hate him. He probably didn't tell you because he thinks this will make everything worse. And Vic knows you hate him, so she's probably feeling really guilty that she's dating him and not telling you about it. So, it's a mess, but there are reasons for it to be a mess," Amelia said.

"I hate that you make sense," Mallie groaned. She pulled some socks on and kicked her trainers on, grabbing a Grey Sloan hoodie and pulling it over her head.

"I think you look gorgeous in my hoodie," Amelia grinned.

"I'll wash it before I bring it back," Mallie said.

"Thank you," Amelia said.

"You have time before you have to get up. Go back to sleep," Mallie kissed her softly.

"What time even is it?" Amelia said.

"It's five am. You're up at six," Mallie said.

"I hate that you wake up early to work out. I mean, sleep," Amelia groaned, burying her face back in her pillow. Mallie laughed and grabbed her phone.

"You love me," Mallie sang, skipping out of the door.

Amelia stared after her as she went, smiling softly.

"I really do. Idiot," Amelia whispered to herself, closing her eyes to go back to sleep.

"Hey," Vic joined Mallie in the gym that evening.

"Hey," Mallie said, wincing as she benched another weight.

"Need a spot?" Vic said.

"I'm good," Mallie said, putting the bench back in the slot and sitting up. "It's toning time," she said.

She lay down on the floor, starting to do sit ups.

"Are you okay? You're acting weird," Vic said.

"Peachy, Vic. Don't worry," Mallie nodded.

"Are you sure?" Vic squinted at Mallie. Mallie pushed onto her feet, shaking her hair out of her face as she flashed a fake smile at Vic.

"Super," Mallie said, heading out of the gym to get a shower.

"Now, that was a kickass surgery," Mallie smirked as Meredith, Amelia and Maggie walked out of the OR hallway.