A/N: chapter lengths may be pretty inconsistent as I struggle with my writing style continuously changing and for that I apologise but I feel its better to put something out and later than fighting with liking writing the chapters to make them longer. That's all.
"Oh my god," Addison spoke from behind Doctor Bailey, gaining all the attention of the resident, interns and Derek. Dorian had currently sat next to his sister against an armrest of a chair, rubbing her back soothingly. She did not look good in the slightest. Meredith was putting it down to stress but Dorian wasn't convinced.
As everyone looked through the window to see Mark and the chief shaking hands with some people Derek glared half-heartedly. "Oh my god," he sighed, arms crossed over each other in a crisscross.
"Oh, my god..." Meredith muttered, clutching her stomach area in pain. Dorian's rubs on her back had stopped being soothing and became more annoying as he kept applying pressure, having zoned out at seeing Mark in the hospital, wearing a white coat.
"Mer, are you okay?" He whispered as he brought his attention back to Meredith. She nodded lightly as she straightened her back in an attempt to make her pain dissipate. The only people who knew of Mark staying in Seattle permanently were the interns and Derek. Even Addison had thought he'd left.
"Is that?" George muttered to himself. Cristina chuckled, looking to Dorian whose' full attention was on his sister and smirked.
"McSteamy," Cristina spoke, making Dorian look up with a grin. Soon though Meredith vomited over the floor and he rushed to help her while George yelled to some man about not lighting something. Soon enough a large fire had started around the patient's face, snapping everyone out of their 'McSteamy' trance.
At once the interns were running around the floor like headless chickens trying to gather the supplies needed to help the man who was foolish enough to light a cigarette up at his face with he had an oxygen tube.
Dorian watched as the fire was put out Bailey had him on a gurney and Mark was assessing his injuries.
"Get him to the burn unit until he's stabilised and get a CT," Mark ordered, Bailey gave him a look as he told her to 'go'. She didn't look happy.
"You're burning up," Dorian spoke to Meredith as Derek handed her a cup of water. "I'm fine." She insisted but Derek argued otherwise, Meredith in turn urged him to leave and go clip his aneurysms.
**
"I thought you were going back to New York," Addison said to Mark who just smirked, why would he do that?
"And, pray tell, why I would do such a thing?" He asked, spotting Dorian standing by the nurses' station. He flashed him a grin and turned back to his conversation.
"You can't do this. You can't be here." She replied, opening and flailing her around while trying to make a point. It was funny to watch but Dorian could Mark grow impatient. His sister and Cristina were enjoying themselves though. Free drama. That sounds like an offer nobody could refuse.
"Sure I can! It's easy! Sublet my apartment and I sold the practice." He grinned as he saw the look on Addison's face. Dorian could hear their conversation and had no idea why Addison thought she was allowed to be here but Mark couldn't be despite the fact he had done nothing wrong.
**
"Are you pregnant!" Cristina yelled for the whole floor to hear as Meredith doubled over and spewed into the bin for the second time that morning. The whole floor stopped, conversations halted and actions ceased. It was funny to see how wrapped up in others' businesses people could become. Dorian rubbed his sister's back as Addison chuckled venomously.
"Ah, perfect! An adulterous love child!" She exclaimed, Mark frowned at her, not happy with how she acted towards Meredith.
"Oh shush!" Derek hushed her as he jogged down the stairs and to Meredith's side. Mark looked as if he felt as though he was in the way of everyone and moved for Derek.
--
"I thought you said you weren't pregnant." Cristina had a smirk on her face. Bailey walked through the doors with Dorian by her side.
"She's not, we'll have to run more tests," Bailey responded, chuckling when Meredith asked for morphine. Bailey agreed, making Dorian laugh out loud.
It took a while to kick in but eventually, Meredith received her Morphine.
"You're a good friend," Meredith spoke to Cristina while Dorian sat at the bottom of the bed, his back leaning against the bottom frame. Cristina mumbled about how high she was.
"Actually, you're my best friend in the whole entire world." Meredith continued to blab as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't, she was just laying in a hospital bed. Dorian rolled his eyes as he listened to his sister insisting that she could die today.
"Easy, pick Derek, save us all the trouble of a vet." Dorian chuckled, he was well aware of how much Derek had hurt Meredith but he could also see just how far she had fallen for him. Finn, as much as he hated to admit such a thing about his sister, was more or less just a pawn to make Derek work that little bit harder. Yeah, okay, Dorian's opinion on Finn wasn't what mattered and he did think that Meredith could do better than a doctor for animals, but that was coming from the man who had captured, tamed and tied himself to a wild Plastic's attending. Plus, Dorian had to admit, it was just as hard seeing his sister toy with his best friend's feeling as it was the other way around.
"I can't. It's not an easy choice." Meredith giggled easily as if the conversation wasn't an easy one. Dorian smiled at her as she let loose the laughter that was building inside of her. He was more than aware that it was the morphine and years of pent up emotions that was making its presence known in humour.
"If you can't easily chose between the two, well then you have an issue." Was all dorian said.
It later turned out that he wasn't about to be made an uncle, but rather meredith had appendicitis. Which was a relief, a bittersweet relief. He wasn't ready to have to impart his knowledge to a child.
———
"What are you doing here?" Dorian asked Mark with a broad smile on his face, "you failed to mention a job interview or an offer."
"I didn't want to get your hopes up, love. I applied to three different hospitals, one was an hour out just so I could stay and work and be close to you." Mark said as he pulled Dorian close and connected their lips in the safety of an on-call room. After about seven seconds of lip locking the two pulled apart, Dorian just pulled Mark to his chest, embracing him and appreciating the fact that he can see him more than a few hours a day or on his days off.
"You made sure to leave the bedroom door open for Kai, right?" Dorian asked mark quietly, pulling apart from him. Dorian was an intern, if Bailey found him slacking...
"Yeah, don't worry love. He has his space" Mark said as he let go of Dorian, he was new and couldn't afford to be doing nothing.
"Okay, I have to get back to work. I'll see you later?" Dorian smiled widely at Mark as he left towards the door. Mark voiced his agreement and stared openly at Dorian as he left, leaving Mark alone to think to himself about just how lucky he was.
——
Dorian walked through the threshold of Meredith's room and glanced at the two men and the lady inside.
"Haha! Good luck!" Dorian laughed loudly and walked away. He decided that if he wanted to be with his sister he would have to wait for the men to leave. That thought made him chuckle to himself.
He found charts that needed to be done in order to keep himself busy and he hadn't actually been assigned anywhere.
——
"Oh, oh! On the table, keep me draped. Too many people have seen me naked already. I'd like to keep whatever dignity I have left." Meredith demanded as George pushed her gurney, clearly not happy at the situation he had been placed in. Dorian walked by her side, grimacing at her talking about herself naked.
"McSteamy? McSteamy! Woo-hoo!" Meredith exclaimed loudly making George sigh.
"Meredith!" He chided like she was a kid rubbing her hands over thousand year old artefacts at the museum. Dorian just elbowed him lightly and nodded his head towards Mark who began walking towards them.
"You're still calling me that? McSteamy?" He smiled down at the sister of his boyfriend who seemed rather out of her mind on pain killers.
"Yeah but you were never supposed to know that," she laughed, her hand leaning on George's arm. Dorian watched on with a smirk as George looked rather uncomfortable with the whole situation. It wasn't easy for him to be considered one of 'the girls'.
"How's my favourite dirty mistress?" Mark asked, to anyone else it would seem like he was just being friendly but in truth he was using the conversation as a catchup, drugs or no drugs. Meredith was more like a sister to Mark than the sister of his boyfriend. Their relationship was more than that of what he would consider an 'in-law' at this stage of his and Dorian's relationship.
"Haven't you heard? Now, I'm an adulterous whore!" Meredith yelled for the whole hospital to hear, she is definitely going to regret that when she wakes up. Dorian will never, ever let her forget it.
"I'm sorry Doctor Sloan, she has to get to the OR" George interuppted awkwardly, not knowing how to address Mark now they were in a professional setting.
"Okay, I'll see you after surgery." He assured Meredith and turned away to Dorian who kissed his cheek before leaving for the nurses station he was working some charts at.
——
"I'll leave so you guys can talk" Dorian muttered, seeing the serious look on Derek's face, he left. Dorian knew when his presence wasn't needed nor wanted and this was one of those times.
As Dorian left he heard Meredith asking Derek about her experience on morphine but that was all he heard. He wasn't interested on eavesdropping, if it was important or something Meredith even wanted to share with him then she would. Forcing her to talk or listening into her private conversations wasn't really his style.
No, instead he opted to finish up some charts and then leave. His shift was almost over, the charts were voluntary but he didn't like the thought of having more work later on, it was just more effort he really could be bothered spending on charts.
Dorian ran over the events of the day silently in his head. It had been a strange day to say the least, Meredith, who had never been hospitalised before, needed her appendix removed. Mark joined the surgical staff at the hospital, a surefire way to prove to Dorian that the was serious about staying and staying with him. Then there was the man who set himself on fire that morning. The day, in rapid succession, had left him feeling exhausted despite not doing as much work as usual due to his sister being hospitalised. It was frustrating for him to say the least.
The charts he was working on slowly but surely diminished in numbers, from five to one left. All he had to do was fill out a few key points of the patient and bam! He was finished. Sighing to himself, he placed them back where he picked them up from and left for the locker room.
As dorian changed from his scrubs to his sweats and hoodie, he thought about Kai. The dog had been home alone all day, well, not all day hw had the dog walker, but still. He debated going for a drink or just going home to see his dog. He decided that asking Mark what he was going to do would settle that internal debate and quickly, there was no question he was following his boyfriend.
Dorian just plugged some earphones into his MP3 player as he left the Intern locker room, opting to listen to Man in the Mirror but Michael Jackson. Dorian would argue anyone that the song was a classic.
——
Dorian had found Mark about 10 minutes ago which had now led to them heading to Joe's. Dorian was tired for sure and missing his furry companion but he had to admit that a drink sounded good. Just one though, he didn't want to be drunk the next day.
"Hey" Dorian said brightly as he sat two seats away from her, leaving the other one for Mark to sit at.
"Dorian." She nodded her head and raised her glass in his direction politely.
"So, you're the infamous McSteamy?" She asked as Mark sat down. Callie had yet to meet Mark and had no about his and Dorian's relationship. Dorian liked her and all but he didn't know her and automatically that meant he couldn't trust her. But now she was being flirty which just made Dorian's stomach churn a little bit.
"You must be a friend of Meredith's" Mark asked while placing his hand on Dorian's thigh. It was almost as if Mark could read every thought that was running through his boyfriend's head. Mark had never heard of Callie before meaning that Dorian wasn't close to her.
"No not really," She replied, taking a small sip of her drink, whatever it may be. "Dr Torres. Callie." She introduced herself, sticking a hand out for Mark to shake.
"Mark Sloan" he shook her hand, sounding rather down Which Dorian frowned at. Wasn't he okay? Maybe Addison had gotten to him.
Dorian ordered a drink for them both before laying his hand on Mark's and intertwining their fingers as a gesture of comfort. Two beers were placed on the counter before Dorian and Joe, the bartender smiled at him.
"What's up with you guys?" He asked Dorian as Mark and callie had a separate conversation although the two never separated their hands.
"Meredith had surgery today and Addison's been bugging Mark. Not great a great day." He responded to the friendly bartender who pat his shoulder in a sympathetic manner. Dorian nodded his head, a tight lipped smile on his face. He honestly didn't know how to respond to the events of the day. He loved Mark, deeply and was glad he was working at the hospital but he would have appreciated the notice, he didn't like surprises.
"Your sister will be fine and between me and you, Addison didn't look so happy earlier." Joe told Dorian who just shrugged, right now he couldn't care less about Addison. He just wanted to know that Mark was alright working in a hospital with Addison and that Meredith would be alright.
"You coming?" Callie asked Mark with a smirk, attracting Dorian's attention. He had missed whatever conversation they had had and right now his sole focus was making sure Callie knew that Mark wasn't single. But Mark took care of that himself.
"I'm sorry, I think you may have misinterpreted my intentions. I'm not single, I was just trying to be nice," Mark smiled sheepishly, Callie looked positively mortified at the situation she found herself in and scampered out of the bar.
"She's usually cool but I think O'Malley has messed her around too much recently. Wanna go home?" Dorian explained to Mark as he looked really confused by the happenings of the last few minutes.
"Yeah, let's go." Mark lifted his and Dorian's hands off dorians lap and placed a few dollar bills on the counter before guiding them both out of the bar.
The drive back home wasn't very talkative, Dorian just plugged his aux in and stuck on 'It's five o'clock somewhere' by Alan Jackson. Mark was driving so dorian had his foot up on the dashboard wedged between the door and windscreen and was singing his heart out at half eleven at night. It was fun to be a grown up, he concluded.
"Actually, Mark? Can we pick Kai up and go for a drive? Maybe to the beach. I know it'd dark but I feel like being out." He asked Mark who smiled at him widely and nodded at him. Mark would do anything just to spend time with Dorian. In the house, in the car, at the beach in the dark. It was any excuse.
"Yeah, of course love." Amd so with that they stopped by the apartment to grab Kai and his leash and tennis ball.
"Somebody told me that you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February!" Dorian and Mark sang loudly and out of tune together.
The drive led to nowhere but also somewhere. They had no clue where they were going but knew that it didn't matter. Dorian was happy being out, out of the house and out of the hospital. And Mark, he was just happy. The last few hours had cheered him up. All the pair wanted was each other and whilst driving around aimlessly they got that. Kai he switched from the back seat to the floor at Dorian's feet. Well, where his feet should be. Instead the seat had been pushed back and his feet were still up between the door and windscreen. It was fun for the both of them, Mark enjoyed driving and Dorian enjoyed being the DJ for the night. Opting to listen to Human by The Killers.(*)
The night ended at maybe 2am, they git back to their apartment later than expected, their fun had stopped being fun when they needed their bed which happened after they had taken a trip to a beach where the dog ran freely after his ball and the two sat by the shore, arms around one another, just talking. Simple as that. Talking. But then they Mark began to grow cold and Dorian, tired so they left, heading home to go to sleep.
A/N- I know it's been a while but I've been struggling a lot recently the chapters at like 3100 words. A LOT shorter than others but it something. I hope you enjoyed :)
(*) - I'm aware this song never came out to 2008 and the first three seasons are set in '05 and '06. I just began tiring of googling songs out before I was even born haha.