𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 ━ jackson avery

025. ━ meeting the mcbrothers

season seven // episode twelve
[ meeting the mcbrothers ]

ELLIE WAS CHARTING at the nurse's station when she was suddenly pulled into an on-call room. "Hey!" Mark locked the door behind him and he and Derek stood in front of her. "Um, good morning?"

"You're dating," Derek said, matter-of-factly. "You're dating someone and we haven't met him yet. Why is that?"

Ellie licked her lips. "Um... you two are really scary... especially when you meet one of my boyfriends."

"What?" Mark frowned. "We are not. We're just overprotective."

"Oh, really?" Ellie challenged, crossing her arms. "Junior year. Two weeks before prom."

"What about it?"

"You asked to meet my boyfriend," she reminded them. "Without me, might I add? Ten minutes after the dinner ended, I got a call from a hysterical teenage boy telling me that he would no longer be taking me to prom. We were fine before that but one dinner with the two of you and he's suddenly scared out of his mind."

Mark shrugged. "Well, that was only one—"

"Sophomore year," she interrupted. "College. You went to coffee with the guy and he broke up with me two days later."

"Okay," Mark relented with a sigh. "We promise we won't scare him away this time. But if he's dating my baby sister, I want to meet this guy. Derek, him, and me."

Ellie narrowed her eyes. "No."

"W—No?"

"No," she repeated, crossing her arms. "You are not going to take him away by yourselves and use your scary 'big brother' powers on him. If you want to meet Andy, then I'm included."

"But—"

"That's the deal," Ellie said, tilting her head. "So, what's it gonna be, big brother?"

Mark and Derek looked at each other before turning around and conversing amongst themselves. Ellie rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed, holding her head in her hand in boredom while waiting for them to finish. Finally, they turned back to face her. "After much deliberation, we have agreed that that will be okay," Mark said and she stared at him. "Tonight at Joe's. Seven o'clock."

"He doesn't drink."

"Then the two of you can have a soda," Derek said with a sigh. "Will you just agree to it, please?"

Ellie stood up. "Well, it doesn't seem as though I have much of a choice in the matter. I'll see if he's available."

"Thank you." Mark nodded. "Alright, see you later."

Ellie shook her head as she watched them leave the on-call room. She pulled out her phone and brought it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"How would you feel about meeting my brothers tonight?"