"You're freaking out. Derek warned me. He said this was fast. He told me to wait, but I didn't listen. I just couldn't. I couldn't even wait until tonight. I had this whole proposal planned, but I couldn't even wait that long. I've never been a patient person. I guess I should have waited."
Izzie watched in astounded silence as Mark, talking faster than Izzie herself could ever remember talking, paced circles around her seated form. When it seemed he'd finished, he squatted next to her and regarded her intently, awaiting an explanation, an answer to some unasked question.
Instead she gave him an answer to one he had actually asked. "Okay, first of all, yes. Second of all, I'm not freaking out, though you definitely are. I mean, my God, I think you've worn a path into the carpet and it's brand new." It was Mark's turn to stare in amazed silence. "Okay, I said, yes as in, yes, I'll marry you. You get that, right?"
Mark, motionless and still refusing to make a sound, continued to stare at her. Finally after a few more moments of agonizingly silence, he leaned in close, his nose against hers, his lips almost touching hers, his eyes darting between hers, and whispered, "You'll be mine forever?"
"Yes," was her simple, yet mesmerizing answer.
He kissed her then, gentle and soft, a kiss somewhere between a thank you and an apology. As her mouth melted into his, she swore she could actually feel the world rotating on its axis..
"You'll bear my children?" His lips left hers only for a second.
"Yes."
"You'll be naked all the time?"
"Y… what? No! Mark!" She playfully swatted his chest.
"Fine," he relented, only half-feigning disappointment. "But how about now?" He asked, his mouth recapturing hers as he guided her onto her back.
"Now's good," she smiled against his lips and let her hands slide up to grip his shoulders.
Some months later…
"Can you believe it?" Cristina, her limbs strewn haphazardly across a chair, popped a few munchies into her mouth.
"I can." Meredith's eyes followed Mark and Izzie as they moved in slow circles across the floor. Izzie's arms were wrapped tightly around Mark's neck, her head rested lightly against his chest. His strong arms enveloped her waist, holding her body to his, his check lay against her head, his nose taking in the flowery scent of her hair.
"You jealous?"
"I so am," Meredith admitted.
"Me too," Cristina grudingly confessed.
"When do I get my happily ever after?"
"You already have him," Derek whispered in her ear, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor.
"It's an it not a him," Meredith tried to protest, but Derek kissed her into submission.
"Admit it," he teased.
"Okay, fine. You're my knight in shining whatever." Derek smiled and kissed her again.
"Great! Now I get to be bitter girl all by myself."
"Or you could dance with me."
"I don't dance, Burke."
"I remember dancing with you in my apartment."
"I mean like that," Cristina pointed to the various couples moving at a glacial pace.
"I'll teach you," Burke offered her his hand.
"Okay." Cristina stood up before taking it.
"Really?" Burke looked at Cristina strangely, having anticipated a much stronger protest.
"I want my happily ever after!" She explained.
Izzie pulled back slightly so as to look at her husband. "Now will you tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Mark smiled knowingly.
"Why this song? I agreed to it on the condition you'd tell me why."
"I remember."
"So why?"
"That night you got drunk…"
Izzie scrunched her nose at the memory, "I hope you're going somewhere with this."
"That night, when I dropped you off at home and plotted with Meredith to make sure I got to drive you to work the following morning, well, something she said or rather something I said or I don't know, something one of us said made me wonder."
"Wonder what?"
"If I was falling in love with you. On my drive back to the hotel, this song came on."
"What station were you listening to?"
Mark turned a little red, "Izzie, that's not the point."
"Oh, right, right," Izzie encouraged, but couldn't fight the smirk that appeared on her face.
"Anyway, this song came on and I knew. I wasn't falling in love with you."
"What?"
"I already was in love with you." Mark could see the tears forming in Izzie's eyes. He didn't want to make his wife cry on her wedding day, so he hurried to finish, "Anyway, after that, every time I heard this song, I thought of you. That's why it had to be this song. It's your song." The tears had escaped her eyes and fell one by one down her cheek and onto his tux. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For making you cry."
"No, don't be," she sniffled. "I'm happy." Mark studied her carefully to make sure she truly was okay.
Suddenly, the sound of the Chief's voice rang out. "Okay, people, I need my hospital back!"
Adele rolled her eyes and quickly added, "This has been a wonderful evening, a truly beautiful affair. Richard is so glad the hospital could be used to host the union of two of our own."
"I'm serious," the Chief cut in. "We've got two ambulances on their way from a fire."
Mark turned his attention back to Izzie, "We're lucky he held his tongue as long as he did."
"I know," she giggled. "I've been watching him fidget in his seat for nearly an hour."
"There'll probably be burn victims."
"Yeah?"
"You wanna scrub in?"
"I hate plastics." She teased, giving him a mischievous grin.
"You wanna scrub in?" He asked again.
"Hell yeah." He pulled her against him, causing her feet to lift slightly off the ground.
Mark buried his face in Izzie's shoulder and whispered against her exposed skin, "I love you."
In response, as his head remained cradled in her neck, she kissed his jaw below his ear, and whispered back, "I love you."
"I Knew I Loved You" – Savage Garden
I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life
There's just no rhyme or reason
only this sense of completion
and in your eyes
I see the missing pieces
I'm searching for
I think I found my way home
I know that it might sound more than
a little crazy but I believe
I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life
Chapter 17: The Happily Ever Kind Of After
FIN
A/N: Did you seriously believe she'd say no? This is my happily ever after here:) Anyway, I feel a combination of relief and disappointment now that it's over; I didn't expect the proposal to be the end, but that's how it ended up working out.. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it, and if you're at all interested, I have another story in the works, it's also McStizzie (of course!) but it will be more inclusive of the other characters/couples than this fic was and it'll be a little more 'serious' (moment to laugh) ahem… I estimate I'll have the first chapter up in a week, maybe two at the latest (Harry Potter, you know). Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and to those of you who reviewed, you made my first experience posting a wonderful one!