A Lexzie story. This is slightly AU in the fact that it assumes that Izzie and Callie fight in tonight’s episode and that Izzie breaks up with George. I have to admit, I’m a Gizzie shipper, but if Gizzie doesn’t work out I would love for Alex to stop being an ass and have him and Izzie together. Although, judging by the new TV Guide cover, that isn’t happening. Inspired by Regina Spektor’s “Samson”.

On an unrelated note, I can’t tell you how long it took me to figure out what “Lexzie” was the ship name for. I thought people were misspelling Lexie Grey’s name. Haha.

Samson

I.

“You’re staring at me.”

They’re sitting in the kitchen doing paperwork, and Alex can’t help but notice the way that she hasn’t so much as looked at her forms.

“Your hair.”

“What?”

“Your hair. It’s bothering me.” She gets up and walks across the room, grabbing a pair of scissors.

“Izzie,” he says warningly, and she looks up at him innocently.

“What?”

“You know what. It’s not arts and crafts time; put the scissors down.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It looks good.” He smirks, running his hair through it. “The nurses in Peds dig it.”

“Urgh.” She screws up her face, wrinkling her nose as she rolls her eyes. “You’re disgusting, you know that?”

“You know you dig it.”

“That’s it. You look ridiculous. I can’t take it anymore. Please. Let me cut it.”

“Cut someone else’s hair. Cut Meredith’s hair. Cut George’s hair.” Her eyes flash and he grins. “Oh. I see. This isn’t about my hair at all.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is about how you need to feel better about yourself because you slept with O’Malley and wrecked his marriage, and how Callie has been making your life hell since he told her. You dumped O’Malley but you still aren’t feeling warm and fuzzy inside, so you want to cut my hair.” He looked up at her and scribbled something on the sheet in front of him. “Go talk to Meredith; I don’t have time to deal with this crap.”

Her mouth hangs open and he shrugs at her. “Seriously, Alex? Seriously? You are a bastard. You are a smug, arrogant bastard, and I – ”

“Cut it.”

Izzie stops, analyzing him. “What?”

“If you really need to, just cut it.” He pauses. “It’ll shut you up, right?”

But she doesn’t hear him as she descends on him with the scissors. He closes his eyes as she runs her fingers through his hair and goose bumps sprout on his skin. She takes a piece of hair and carefully snips; he winces because the scissors are dull but he stays silent as his hair grows shorter. When she’s finished, she taps his shoulder, smiling to herself.

He gets up and walks to the bathroom, inspecting the haircut in the mirror. It’s rough and uneven, but it’s nothing a barber can’t fix. She’s beaming at him, and he half-smiles in return. “Good job,” he says, and there’s no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Thank you.” Her voice is quiet, and she’s looking at him softly.

He reaches out a hand to touch her cheek; she closes her eyes and turns away. “Alex…”

“Too soon?”

“Yeah.”

He nods. “Let me know.” He reaches down to squeeze her hand quickly and walks out, leaving the door open behind him.

II.

He hasn’t been alone in the locker room with her since before Denny, but he’s here with her now. She’s rummaging through her things as he re-laces his sneakers. He can’t see her, but he can tell her movements from the rustling of her clothes.

“We’re the same, you know.”

“What are you talking about, Alex?”

“You and I. We’re the same person.” She’s silent and he can tell that she doesn’t understand. “Av—Rebecca and I. You and George. We’re the same.”

“The dirty mistresses.”

“Yeah.” She’s quiet and he turns around to look at her. “Izz—”

“We’re not the same.”

“What?”

“You and Rebecca? You flirted. I destroyed a marriage. We are not the same person.”

“Izzie, I’m just trying to say that things happen.”

“Things ‘happen’?” Her voice peaks, and she pauses, breathing in. “Yeah. Things happen,” she says. She slams her locker closed and walks out.

III.

He can see her silhouette in the doorframe, but he waits for her to speak. She hisses his name into the darkness and he grunts, pretending that he wasn’t watching her.

“What do you want?”

“Can I come in?”

He mumbles a response and she steps gingerly into the room, sitting on the edge of his bed. She looks down at the mattress and at him. He rolls onto his back and puts his hands behind his head. “What’s wrong, Stevens?”

“I can’t sleep.”

He nods. “Count sheep.”

“I always lose count and have to start over.”

He rolls his eyes and she looks at him expectantly. “What?” Then it hits him and he groans. “You want to sleep here.”

“Just for tonight. I promise.”

“Fine.” He sits up, untangling himself from the sheets.

“No.”

“What?”

“Stay there.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t kick or snore.”

“I don’t think it would matter if you snored or not – Meredith would still drown you out.” She chuckles, and he smiles although she can’t see it in the dark. Alex lies back down and scoots over to the edge of the bed. She lies beside him, molding her body against the curve of his, and rests her head on the pillow.

“I miss him,” she whispers.

“I know.” He props his head up with his hand and looks down at her as she falls asleep, watching the way her chest rises and falls when she breathes. Tentatively, he drapes his arm around her waist and she wiggles against him a bit, just like she used to.

IV.

“Alex?”

They’re sitting side by side on a cot in the on-call room, their hands draped over their legs as he watches her stare miserably at the wall.

“Yeah?”

“Am I a bad person?”

“No. You made a mistake. We all make mistakes. You and I? We’re not bad people, we’re just screwed up.”

“I cut an L-VAD wire and slept with a married man.”

“O’Malley’s marriage was over before they swapped vows. You just sped things up.” She inhales. “It’s not like I’m perfect. I…” He hesitates. “I outted George to the other interns, and I slept with Addison before she went to L.A.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know that.”

He looks at her and takes her hand in his. “And I cheated on you.”

“We weren’t technica—”

He leans over and kisses her; she freezes in surprise and then softens, placing her hand on his cheek. He pulls away and she keeps her hand in place, not breaking eye contact with him.

“Alex…”

“Look, I know you’re not over O’Malley. And that’s okay, because I’m not over you. And I’m willing to wait. So when you feel ready, just … I’m here. And I’ll be waiting.” She smiles at him. “What?”

“You’re a good guy.”

“Does that mean I have a chance?”

She reaches over and lays her hand in his. “Yeah. Something like that.”

“Good.”

She nods. “Good.” Her pager beeps and she groans. “I need to go. I’ll see you at the house tonight?”

“Yeah.”

And for the first time, he can smile as she walks away.