Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and all its characters are the intellectual property of Shonda Rhimes and Co.

A/N: The title of this fic comes from the Evermore song "Never Let You Go", and these words were part of my inspiration "I found you and now I know, that I will never let you go." I'm an optimist despite all the negativity, so I have faith that Owen and Cristina are the endgame, and this story reflects that.

Joe's was alive tonight, Meredith observed as she sat alone at the bar waiting for Cristina. It was more crowded than usual, and she saw some of the Mercy Westers sitting to one side in their little clique. They were a prickly little bunch and she wasn't going to go out of her way to play nice.

She heard someone clear their throat as they slid onto the stool next to hers. When she turned to see who it was, she was a little surprised to see Owen Hunt sitting next to her. He looked a little...nervous? Maybe awkward was a better term.

"Hey," he was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Hey."

Things were a little strained between them, not least because of that little spiel she'd given him about being on Cristina's team. She'd meant it though; after all the crappy things her best friend had been through lately, Meredith wasn't about to tolerate something else that had the potential to make her breakdown again.

Of course, there was also the general wariness resulting from the whole choking incident, but that was pretty much on the backburner these days.

"So, are you waiting for Cristina?"

"Yup." There was a beat before she continued, "What about you?"

"Uh, I, I thought I'd join you guys, maybe?"

Meredith shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to her drink, "Okay."

There was another pause before Owen spoke again, "What you said to me before..."

Oh, here it comes, she thought to herself with an inward sigh, subtly rolling her eyes. She'd been waiting for the defensive comeback, but she'd thought this one had passed its expiry date.

"I get it."

"What?" That wasn't something she was expecting to hear. She was expecting a "mind your own damn business" or "you had no right to accuse me", or something more along those lines.

"Cristina, well, she's your best friend and you saw me looking at Teddy and you did what a best friend would do. I get it." Owen nodded in affirmation, giving her a sidelong glance, as he spoke the words.

Meredith gave him a hard stare for a good couple of seconds, a tiny frown of confusion marring her forehead, before her expression relaxed and she took another sip of her drink, "Okay."

Owen observed, with some chagrin, the carelessness with which his girlfriend's best friend absorbed what he had said. Even though this was really between him and Cristina, and he wasn't a person who liked to discuss his personal life with others, he knew how important Meredith was to her so he was trying.

"I love Cristina."

"I know," Meredith interjected quickly.

"I love Cristina," he repeated, his intonation deliberate, "I'm not going to defend myself because I don't have to. I love her and you should know that, no matter what it is you thought you saw, that's the truth."

Biting on her lower lip as she looked thoughtfully into his earnest eyes, she couldn't help but pose the question, "And what about Teddy?"

He had no doubt that Meredith was aware of his past with Teddy; she was Cristina's person after all. So he wasn't going to insult her intelligence by pretending to be unaware of it himself.

"We're friends who have a complicated past. I'm not going to pretend that it's not still a little weird between us sometimes, but I'm with Cristina and I'm with her because she's who I want to be with."

A thumb and forefinger absently worried Meredith's bottom lip as she looked down at her drink and pondered upon Owen's words. No one could ever accuse her of being a person who saw things in black and white, but this was one of those times she seriously wished she could. Unfortunately, her brain was hard-wired to the shades of grey she saw in most things. She understood what Owen was trying to say, no matter how reluctant she was to.

"Like I said Owen, me and Cristina, we're a team. But thank you for saying what you said." The look in her eyes had softened a little, though her words remained somewhat defensive. He knew that was probably the best he was going to get out of her, but it was something and that was enough for now.

They exchanged half smiles, a kind of truce forming between them for the moment.

"Hey," Cristina came up behind them. Acknowledging Meredith with a smirk, she turned to Owen and gave him a peck on the lips, "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd join you two for a drink, if that's okay with you?"

A puzzled, but pleased, smiled graced Cristina's features, "Actually yeah, it is. Right, Mer?"

"Sure is."

Owen smiled to himself as he scooted down to the next stool so Cristina could sit next to Meredith. He was glad that his girlfriend had the diminutive blonde to defend her honour, even if it didn't need defending. Not from him.

These two came as a set, he'd learned that a long time ago. But he knew something else.

No matter what was going on right now, he and Cristina were partners for life.