Meredith Grey sat on the foot of the stairs, grasping her cell phone in her right hand. She was clearly irritated at whoever was on the other end of the line. Isobel Stevens, one of Meredith's two roommates, tried to navigate her way past the testy dirty blonde without incurring her wrath.

"Tabitha! Please, I'm asking you…yes, I understand why you haven't—hey! No, not you, Tabby, I'm talking to my roommate."

Izzie reluctantly turned around and faced Meredith, who covered the speaker of the phone and said, "Iz, I need to chat with you in a minute." Izzie nodded and sat down in the middle of the stairs. Meredith uncovered the phone. "Listen, I'm just worried. Please think about what I said…okay…yeah, bye."

Meredith slammed her flip phone shut and her head dropped into her hands. Izzie slid down the steps and placed a comforting hand on Meredith's shoulder. "What's up, Mer?"

"I think I just asked my sister to move here," she replied, raising her head to look Izzie in the eyes.

"Well, that's exciting! You have a sister?"

Meredith nodded. "Yeah, my mother pawned her off on my father when I left for college. Sick of 'raising' kids I guess. Ellis Grey was a surgeon, not a mother. I haven't seen her since she was like seven or eight."

"But I thought your parents separated when you were really little."

"They did. But they got back together for a couple of months when I was ten. Mom got pregnant again and of course Thatcher left her again. What a freaking ass. I call her all the time…from what she says, I don't think he's taking care of her very well. He never wanted kids either. Obviously we have amazing parents."

"What do you think he, you know, does to her?"

Meredith shrugged. "I don't know for sure. She won't exactly tell me everything or anything really, because she says she doesn't want to upset me. But I'm pretty sure he hits her. Not often, but often enough. I never thought I would say this, but I guess I was lucky to live with my mother my entire life."

"I guess you were. Sometimes sucky things don't seem so bad when you put them in perspective."

Meredith stood up. "I'm waiting for her to call me back. She said she was going to talk to Thatcher…Dad. I doubt he'll give a shit. I have to get ready, I'm on call tonight."

Izzie stood up. "Yeah, me too. And let me know what happens."

"Of course."

Many miles away in South Carolina, Tabitha Grey was having very little trouble convincing her father that she should move to Seattle. "Are you sure it's okay, Dad? Once I move there, I don't think I'll be coming back."

"What do I care? All you do is take up space anyway."

"I guess you really don't," Tabitha whispered to herself. "I'll be moving by the end of the week then," she said loud enough for her father to hear.

His only response was a shrug. Tabitha hurried into the kitchen, picked up the phone and quickly dialed the number she knew by heart. It rang a few times before being picked up. "Hey, Meredith….he said I could come."

Meredith's cell rang and she picked it up off her bedroom chair, mentally crossing her fingers that her father's answer was the one she wanted to hear. "Hey, Tabs! What did he say?"

With Tabitha's response she breathed in a sigh of relief and sank on to her bed. "Thank god. When will you be out here?...Okay, call me as soon as you know?...I'm so happy, kiddo. I'll talk to you soon, okay…Love you, sweetie…Bye."

Meredith ran into the hallway and shouted to Izzie. "She's coming! By the end of the week!"

Izzie's head popped out of her room. "That's awesome, Mer! I can't wait to meet her! Grab your stuff, I'll be ready to go in five."

"Sounds good," Meredith replied. As she tossed her light blue scrubs into her black bag, Meredith was certain she had a permanent smile engraved on her face. Only one other thing could make her this happy, and she was not willing to admit what it was