Alex Karev finally turned up after going missing for the entirety of Season 13, episode 11 of “Grey’s Anatomy.” The troubled pediatric surgeon popped up in Meredith Grey’s bed, which one again sparked rumors of a possible romance.

In an interview with TVLine, Justin Chambers — who has played Alex on the ABC medical drama since Season 1 — said he looks at Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) “as siblings that care very much for each other.” The actor admitted that he thought Alex and Meredith, or MerLex as fans have dubbed them, hooking up would be bizarre. Still, he noted that “anything is possible” in Shondaland.

“Personally, I don’t see that [happening] right now. I think it would be kind of strange,” he said.

As for Alex’s fate on the show, Chambers assured fans they’d understand everything fully by episode 12 of “Grey’s Anatomy.” According to his TVLine interview, Thursday’s show will kick off with a flashback. Through this trip down memory lane, “Grey’s Anatomy” fans will finally get the scoop on why and how Alex ended up in Meredith’s bed rather than in jail.

Much of Season 13, episode 11 of “Grey’s Anatomy” centered around Meredith’s search for Alex. While chaos reigned down on Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital, Meredith ran around Seattle checking for him. Her search was fruitless and she returned home defeated. As she retreated into her room after a long and disappointing day, she discovered Alex right under her nose — literally. He shot up and greeted her. As the episode came to an end the two fell out of view of the cameras, which left viewers questioning what exactly they were doing and where their relationship was headed.

Fans have been holding out hope for a MerLex romance for quite some time. Shonda Rhimes, the genius behind “Grey’s Anatomy,” opened up about the idea in a December interview with TVLine. She said that there was no particular reason she hadn’t written the romance into a “Grey’s Anatomy” storyline yet, giving fans hope that she could in the future.

“That’s like asking me why I haven’t had a certain kind of cheese. The answer is, ‘Because I haven’t had that kind of cheese,’” she explained.

Tune in to “Grey’s Anatomy” Thursday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

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