Work Text:
"Hey, do you know where Sadie is?"
George shrugs his shoulders, rolls his eyes, and then brushes her off. It's fine, it's not like she didn't expect it. They've barely been able to carry a conversation lately, unless it involves him giving her orders, but whatever. Lexie can deal, she's with Sloane now and she's over it, really. It barely even stings.
"Hey! Hey, Meredith!"
Of course, Meredith just throws up her hands and walks off muttering about how some things never change, leaving Lexie to blink in confusion and sadly repeat her question to an empty hall. No really, where is she?
Bailey just gives her the famous 'I am too old, too wise, and too busy to be dealing with interns and their endless questions' sigh, but she at least barks at Lexie to wait until her resident gives them the day's official announcements. Of course, Cristina is busy doing… well, Lexie doesn't really know what Cristina is busy doing, but half way through shift Alex wanders over. He puts on his best 'I'm Resident Karev and I'm bored and cranky, so fuck off' voice, and tells them all that Sadie has left the program. She supposes it sort of makes sense that he's making his rounds of the hospital to inform everyone, seeing as Alex was Sadie's resident, but when Lexie follows him with questions he just pulls a face and ignores her to chase after Izzie Stevens. All in all Lexie still doesn't know what's going on.
She can't believe Sadie just left without telling her about it though. Lexie thought they were, well, not the closest of people but at least starting to be friends. Sadie had covered for her when Mark… when she… when things broke, and they were living in the same house and hanging out, and it seemed kind of cool. Kind of okay. They were bonding and helping each other out, and all that.
It's a pretty big deal to just up and leave the intern program, and even bigger to do it without making a fuss about it. She's heard all about how Izzie killed her fiancee patient first, and how George moped, and she knows there'd be wailing and tears if it was her. Lexie also doesn't have to be told that Sadie didn't get a supportive heart to heart from Meredith on the issue to know that's how it played out. Her sister has been so cold towards Sadie lately, and Sadie told her that she told Meredith to get off her high horse and fix things with Cristina, and Lexie doesn't know if that's what it was about, but she thinks it might be. But see, that was still Sadie confiding in her a little, only it was a lot because it was about Meredith, which was a huge thing to her and between them. If they could talk about their disastrous relationships with Meredith, why couldn't she tell Lexie about work?
As far as Lexie is concerned, Sadie isn't as tough as she likes to say she is. She wears her job at the morgue like it's jewellery; blood and death are her favourite accessories, and she lives to remind them about those things whenever she gets the chance. Sadie is tough, and she likes Lexie despite the fact that she's cheery and hopeful, only Lexie secretly gets that Sadie actually likes her because of all those things.
After all, Lexie is the adult child of an alcoholic, and her half-sister still pretty much despises her existence on some level. Lexie gets covering your soft, squishy insides with something that's harder and stands up better under other people's scrutiny. She does, so now she just has to be patient until the end of the day so she can run home and tell Sadie that.
Lexie will understand when she gets scoffed at, but she'll have made Sadie laugh, and maybe when she's alone Sadie will admit that they have some common ground.
"Why aren't Sadie's bags in the living room?" Lexie knows she might be waving her hands about a little too dramatically, but she's been waiting by the door for Meredith to get home, because Sadie wasn't at the hospital and then she wasn't at home either. Meredith stops dead in the doorway and stares at Lexie like she's some kind of oncoming heavy vehicle, and fine, Lexie is waving her hands too dramatically. "And stop standing there, you're letting the cold in."
"Alright, alright," Meredith cries, when Lexie tries to usher her into the house faster, and she slips past Lexie and heads for the kitchen with Cristina in tow, leaving Lexie standing in an empty hallway again. Dammit.
But she's not going to be foiled so easily a second time, because she's Lexie Grey, and she has a mission. A friends-related mission, and that's the most important kind, the kind that Lexie never lets slip through her fingers.
"Has she found a place, is she moving? Is that why her things aren't here?"
Cristina frowns at her, and Meredith sighs, places her hands flat on the bench, and meets Lexie's gaze like she's asked about Meredith's dead mother or something equally idiotic.
"She probably left this morning. I don't know where or when, but if her stuff is gone then she probably is too."
"That's it?"
"I don't know, Lexie!" Meredith huffs and brushes past her again.
"You know, you might want to cut her a little slack," Cristina observes lazily from where's she's perched against the counter, after waiting just long enough for the silence to get awkward.
"I thought you two still weren't speaking?" Lexie snaps, and then wishes she could bite her tongue and take it back.
"Oh, whatever Little Grey. She doesn't want to talk about her stupid friend Sadie, so leave her alone."
It isn't until she gets up to her attic and throws herself down on her bed to sulk, that she thinks to check her phone for messages. It's not totally pathetic that she didn't think of it sooner, because she's a doctor and she's been relying on her pager all day. Okay, so it's a little pathetic.
Predictably, there's one voicemail message.
Hey, I don't know what Death told you, it starts, and it sounds like she's in a terminal somewhere. There are fuzzy sounding announcements in the background, and Lexie thinks she can make out the words New York and Los Angeles while Sadie pauses and seems to struggle for words. Sorry I didn't say goodbye. You know I'm not good with the talking and the smiling.
Sadie interrupts herself with a self-deprecating laugh, and Lexie smiles sadly at the ceiling.
Good luck with Sloane, I'm sure you two are going to be great. I want to hear what everyone's faces looked like when they find out! I… thank you. You were a good ear, even when you were being disgustingly joyful. I'll see you around, Lexie Grey.
There's a long gap of background noise before the message ends with a click, and Lexie wishes - deeply, deeply wishes this was a phone call and not a voice message. The time stamp is nearly ten hours ago, and Sadie already has her walls back up, or she's on a plane still, or something. Lexie can feel it in the pit of her stomach, and it sucks.
She really thought they were going to be friends. Now they'll just have a few phone calls where she relates hilarious stories about the people they both know, and Sadie pretends that she doesn't want to be there with all of them.
Lexie will still call and tell her all about declaring her relationship with Mark, if they ever do declare their relationship, and they'll laugh about it. She looks forward to it. But when she hangs up she already knows she's ready to mourn the girl who liked her because she was cheerful and happy, instead of despite it.