Salvation ► GREY'S ANATOMY [2]

FIVE

COURTNEY WAS AT JOE'S BAR WITH MARK SITTING NEXT TO HER. She was swirling the liquid in her glass around, while he was watching Derek on his date with Sydney Heron. It had been about two weeks since Courtney had gotten punched in the face. Her nose had almost completely healed and the bruises around her eyes were slowly fading. That all meant that the stares she got from people lessened as the days passed by. Not only had the healing process taken its own course, but in that timespan of two weeks, Sydney had gathered up the courage and had asked Derek out on a date.

After hearing about it from the man himself, Mark had decided he wanted to witness it. Not wanting to see it alone, he had informed Courtney and brought her along to get front row tickets to the show. They weren't the only ones having that idea, with Meredith and Cristina sitting at one of the tables with a good view of the date. "Oh, come on, why did he even say yes? Just look at them. It's kind of pathetic." Mark said, tapping with his fingers on her leg to make her pay attention to the show.

Courtney rolled her eyes and complied, turning around in her chair. Her knee brushed against his leg. Ever since the almost kiss in the trauma room, there had been a lot more physical contact between the two without them even knowing they were doing it. It was just instinct to them; reaching out for the other, knowing that the other one was there right beside them. It had become a second nature to them. The line between friends and more than friends was now surely crossed. It was fading as more time went on. Did that mean that they knew that they had? Absolutely not. In their minds, they were still just friends. Two friends who were so inexperienced at love that they didn't realize the feelings growing between the both of them.

Sydney was laughing at something that Derek had said. Derek's eye were wide as he brought another snack to his mouth. He probably didn't even understand what she had found so funny, since he hadn't been trying to. "How should I know? Oh, this does look pretty sad. He's obviously not interested in her. One look at his face is enough. Poor Sydney, at least she tried. We got to give her that." Courtney replied, a laugh escaping her lips.

Then, Sydney stood up and left Derek alone for a minute, which Mark used to his fullest. He got up from his seat to go talk to him. The blonde kept her eyes on the man she was with, not having it in her to look away. Seeing him laugh as he talked to Derek made the corners of her mouth turn up. Once she realized what she was doing, Courtney cleared her throat and turned around in her seat, facing Joe behind the bar again.

What the hell was going on with her?

Courtney kept her head down, putting all of her focus on the red liquid in her glass. Her heart was beating faster. Before she knew it, a hand was gliding over her lower back. She looked up and met Mark's eyes, shooting him a smile, which he more than happily returned. However, that little moment of happiness was ruined when a pretty redhead separated the two of them. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, almost hitting Courtney in the face. "Well, won't you buy me a drink, handsome?" She asked, her voice velvet smooth.