season 4 episode 14
veronica found out that burke got the harper avery prize. she was standing glaring at the piece of paper as george, izzie, meredith and lexie joined her. stupid man, getting an award when so much of his success was attributed to a woman. and he didn't even mention said woman!
"has cristina seen it?" meredith asked.
izzie took a step forward, "let's take it down."
"you can't take it down," meredith scolded.
izzie stepped back, patting george on the back, she moved around like the whole thing made her too anxious to stand still, "take it down. take it down. she never has to know."
veronica rolled her eyes, "she's gonna hear about it."
"who's gonna hear about what?" cristina called, approaching the group.
they turned, izzie throwing herself backwards into the board to hide the article. she raised an arm behind her head to hide it better. she flinched from the impact.
cristina walked towards them, chuckling, "izzie move your hand." izzie didn't budge, pretending she had no clue what cristina was on about. "come on, move it."
she shoved her out of the way, her smile falling as she saw the poster. she turned around, "good for him."
veronica gaped as she just walked away.
"she may be fine with it but the dick didn't even mention her," veronica hissed, pulling her pen out of her pocket. "cover me."
"what-" izzie began, before quickly standing in front of the woman to hide her from view. she began doodling on his face, giving him devil horns, bad facial hair and a tail. she placed her pen back in her pocket, turning to a bewildered friend group.
"it's childish but i don't care."
---
the nurses had taken to boycotting mark's surgeries. there was even a union rep, which happened to be adele webber. along with human resources, who were making every employee fill out a form that said who they were having sex with and who they had had sex with.
veronica had been paged by mark, who was questioning her about whether or not they should disclose their relationship on the form. well, he asked if they should disclose the fact they were having sex, he'd stopped himself before he called it a relationship because he was terrified she'd run away if he tried to define what they were.
he'd quickly realised she was a jumpy person when it came to relationships. she avoided any mention of what they were or where they were going.
"i don't know," veronica exclaimed as he questioned her. "we kind of have to i guess but who's gonna see it-"
"the chief and human resources," he told.
"maybe we can add a 'this isn't public' thing so that it doesn't get out?"
"would it be so bad? if we were public?" mark questioned.
george walked past the room, backtracking to enter the room, he held out a form to veronica, "the chief needs to know who you've slept with by the end of the day, please be thorough."
veronica raised an eyebrow, she was glad for the interruption even if her face didn't show it, "no."
and there it was again. he thought he was a commitment phobe. well, until he met her.
she wasn't sleeping around, but she wasn't exactly jumping at the idea of a relationship with him. if he didn't know about her shitty parents he'd probably look more into it.
"wha- you can't say no."
"why's it his business, it's my vagina," she retorted.
george sighed, "it's private. whoever this nurse is won't become public. if you want to tell me though-"
"is it your vagina?"
"n-no."
"then no, georgie. see you tonight for movie night though," she responded, getting up to leave, form still in her hands. "bring lexie and snacks."
"i feel like you love lexie more than me," he admitted.
veronica shrugged, "she's hotter than you."
"hey!"
---
"talk to the nurses for me," mark requested as veronica looked over a chart.
"no."
"why not?"
"because what they really need is an apology," she informed. "because you treated them like they were objects, just for sex and then you moved onto the next nurse. so, apologise, learn their names, treat them with respect and then your surgeries wouldn't get boycotted, you slut."
she smiled, showing him that she was joking at the end. the last thing they needed was for the nurses to boycott him and him be offended. it would just take the day from bad to worse.
"come on, you know i don't do that anymore," he pleaded.
veronica stopped, turning towards him, "i know that and they know that but the point is you did. and now they're angry."
"so i should say sorry?"
"yes."
---
veronica was eating lunch, the form mocking her as it sat on her tray. she glared at is as she ate her sandwich. to make it worse, george was bugging everyone. he was already making his way over to hand forms to lexie and meredith.
"what's this?" lexie asked.
"the sex police," alex muttered.
"i'm gonna need your form," george told meredith.
"don't ask, don't tell, forms are stupid, george," she retorted.
"yeah, i'm still gonna need it though." he held out a pen to lexie. "pen."
rose joined them, whispering something to george before he loudly asked why before he realised the answer to his question. he stared ahead, slowly pulling a form out of the clipboard and passing it over to her. she walked away.
lexie stared at a smiling meredith, "oh god, i am so sorry."
"do you want me to get cristina?" george asked.
"want me to grafitti her picture?" veronica offered.
alex turned to veronica, "that was you with the burke article?"
"who else would it have been?" she replied.
he shrugged, "good point."
"derek is with rose and i am okay that derek is with rose," meredith assured.
george nodded, holding up a device to his mouth, "get cristina, get her form."
lexie shook her head, "you don't wanna go near cristina right now."
meredith gasped, "is she crying?"
"no."
"is she staring straight ahead being super scary quiet?" veronica spoke up.
"she's singing."
veronica and meredith frowned. meredith shot up, going to find the woman. veronica left her to it. cristina needed meredith not her and she knew that.
"gonna need your form ronnie," george told.
"no, i will fill out the form and hand it to the chief myself," she informed.
alex stared at her, "got something or someone to hide, ronnie?"
"shut your fucking mouth."
george glanced between the two, "it's not alex is it?"
veronica made a face, "ew. no."
alex stood up, handing the form to george, "here perv boy, enjoy."
"this isn't complete," george announced.
"it's fine." george stared. "what?" he let his eyes trail over to lexie.
"oh, right sorry, i forgot." he pulled out his pen, writing lexie's name before he walked away.
"he forgot he had sex with me?"
"i just collect the forms."
lexie slammed her hand on the table, "he forgot he had sex with me."
veronica laughed loudly. she watched george walk away from them, still giggling to herself.
"your sleeping with someone the nurses are boycotting," lexie hissed. her laughter ceased. "not so funny now, huh?"
"he wants us to disclose it," veronica blurted. "and he asked if it would be so bad if we were public but all i could think about is how it would be. i like him. i do but derek would freak and then there's expectations and people talk and i just left somewhere where people talk and i don't want to be the reason people are talking again."
lexie nodded, placing a hand gently on her arm, "breathe and tell him that. and then disclose it but only to hr and the chief."
veronica followed her movement, nodding too, "okay. yeah. thanks lexipedia."
"there's a movie night tonight, right?" lexie asked, changing the subject. veronica hummed, nodding. "maybe invite him?" veronica's eyes widened. "it's just me, you and george. george won't tell and you can just pretend he's there as a friend because all his surgeries got cancelled."
"i'll think about it."
---
veronica handed her form directly to the chief, telling him that she didn't want her form disclosed to anyone else at all and when the chief saw it, he only nodded.
she was leaving the hospital, about to get ready for her movie night. she was going to stop for snacks and lexie and george were going to meet her at meredith's. they were going to have the house basically to themselves. meredith had agreed to stay with the latest patient from the clinical trial, so veronica wasn't needed. it was perfect, she got to have the movie night and be asleep early.
she paused where she was when she noticed all the nurses gathered. bailey had gathered them and stood next to her was mark.
"this boycott has gone on long enough. now, okay, i have no authority here, but would like to offer my thoughts on dr sloan," bailey began.
mark leaned closer to her, "you're doing great."
"uh, this man is a whore, has always been a whore, will probably always be a whore."
veronica snorted, shocked at what she said. it was so out of the blue to her. she stifled her laughter, placing a hand over her mouth.
"but i mean, that's not a secret. he's not keeping it hidden. you all knew who he was before you got involved with him. and now you want to be all 'woe is me, he doesn't call me back, he's dating other women'. he's nasty, but he's a doctor here and a pretty good one. ao let us all close our knees-"
veronica snorted again, laughing quietly.
"-and get back to our jobs so he can get back to his job and help the people that really need it."
she turned to face mark before she spun back around to the nurses.
"disperse."
mark walked slowly towards veronica, deflated because of the speech. he was obviously not expecting that and it had obviously offended him slightly.
"i'm sorry," she whispered.
mark nodded, "thanks. do i look smaller? i feel smaller."
veronica smiled softly, "do you want to come over? as friends. we're having a movie night and lexie suggested inviting you and you look sad so maybe it could cheer you up?"
"sure."
---
the pair stopped off at the supermarket to get some snacks before they got home. lexie and george were already in the living room, having set up the stuff they bought with them. veronica knew she was going to be late, so she gave the girl her key.
"hope you don't mind, mark's joining us," veronica told, entering the living room.
george looked shocked but didn't say anything.
lexie smiled, "how to lose a guy in 10 days? or my best friends wedding?"
veronica thought, before both her and lexie replied, "kate hudson."
they put the movie on and it took everything in veronica not to let herself cuddle up to mark. he was so warm and there and she hated to admit it but she really liked his hugs.
the door opened and slammed closed. alex came walking in.
"what we watching?" he questioned. he glanced at the screen. "again?"
veronica threw popcorn at him, "it's a classic."
"you recycle the same like ten movies," alex told, grabbing a handful of popcorn and sitting himself down on the other side of ronnie.
ronnie glared, "they're good now shut up, kate hudson's on."
"she is hot."
"i know right. i love her with her curls. she just looks so gorgeous with them."
veronica stopped talking and stared at alex for a second, noticing something was off. he was exhausted and she could see that way too clearly. they were surgeons, they would be tired, but his was next level.
"alex, i need your help in the kitchen," she spoke up, grabbing his arm and dragging him away. "what's the matter?" she asked the moment the door closed.
"rebecca's pregnant," he blurted. "and izzie doesn't think i can be a father."
veronica took a second, "what the fuck? plus you'd be a great dad, you just gotta like learn about kids a bit more. wait, oh my god, i'm gonna be an aunt."
"yeah."
"this is so exciting. congratulations," she squealed, pulling him into a hug.
alex hugged her back, "why's sloan here?"
"lexie said to invite him but george doesn't know, so he's here as a friend," she muttered.
---
mark stayed the night. not that george realised that but lexie and alex knew straight away that he would be.
veronica was torn when she let him stay because it seemed that almost all her friends were having a hard time. but this also included mark. he was upset. bailey, a respected surgeon, had defended him and the only way she could think to do that was to call him a whore.
she walked back into her room, in her pyjamas.
"you okay?" she spoke. she sat down next to him.
"yeah. i'm just not in the mood tonight," he informed. "sorry."
veronica smiled, letting a hand run through his hair, "that's fine. you don't have to apologise. i wasn't expecting anything. i didn't ask you to stay for sex."
mark kissed her nose, "thanks."
"don't listen to what bailey said. you've had a... promiscuous past but it's not the only thing you're known for. you're also a kick-ass plastic surgeon who changes lives."
she kissed his cheek, leaning to turn off the lamp next to her. she lay down, letting mark pull her into his chest. she took his hand, closing her eyes.
a/n not me disappearing from this story again. sorry for the delay in updating, i had zero motivation for this story, but enjoy a new chapter and one that isn't sad!! definitely enjoy that while it lasts. but domestic veronica and mark are back and i love them and they need to hurry up and admit they love each other but i like to see you suffer so they won't.