Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any characters, obviously.
A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Grey's fic so feedback is welcomed! I suspect this story will be pretty long... more than a few chapters. Let me know if you like where it's going! Constructive criticism and suggestions are encouraged! Review, review, review!
Also just some background info. There's really no specific time period this story is in, I'm just taking bits and pieces that I like. George and Callie are married and living at the hotel. Derek and Addison are together and living at the trailer. Cristina's with Burke - not married. There's no Denny. There's no Ava. Izzie, Alex, and Meredith live at the house.
Meredith woke to the smell of baked goods. It was the only thing that could get her out of bed these days, though she wouldn't admit it. Most of the time she didn't even have the energy to get up and shower without Izzie forcing her to. Not after Derek had chosen Addison. She still couldn't believe after everything the two of them had been through that he had picked the bitchy red-head, and left her to be alone.
Whatever. She thought. It's not like I can do anything about it anyway.
The original hurt had eventually turned into anger and her anger soon became a cold, steely, 'determined-to-be-over-it' attitude. Meredith crawled out of bed and slid on the sweatpants she had managed to kick off during the night. She glanced out the window as she walked by, seeing yet another drizzly, gray day. She looked away disgusted.
Why do I live in Seattle, again? She asked herself.
Meredith wandered into the kitchen and found the source of the delicious scent that had awoken her. Izzie was pulling some sort of dark, chocolate-covered, muffins out of the oven.
"Mer! You're up!" She placed the plate of warm goodies on the counter next to another batch of golden blueberry muffins.
"Umph." Meredith mumbled.
"I baked for you! I figured you could use the cheering up. Since, you know... the whole Derek thing..."
"Ugh. Don't talk about it, I haven't had my coffee yet." She moved past Izzie to turn the coffee pot on then dropped into a chair at the table.
At that moment Alex walked in, looking in even worse shape than Meredith.
"Coffee." He grumbled, clearly not fully awake yet. He plopped down across from Meredith and put his head on the table.
"It's coming." She responded, "What's wrong with you?"
"Hungover." his voice was muffled by the hard surface.
"Alex! Muffins!" Izzie brought two plates over and set them in front of the grumpy duo.
"How can you be so perky, ALL of the time?" Alex asked, lifting his head to look at her.
"Oh, c'mon guys! It's going to be a great day!"
"What's so great about it?" Meredith moped. Alex gave her a look that said My thoughts exactly.
An hour later, the three doctors walked into Seattle Grace Hospital and got on the elevator. They were about to head up to the surgical floor when a mans hand squeezed in and stopped the doors from closing. Suddenly, Derek Shepherd had joined them. Meredith felt her chest tighten at the sight of him, and suddenly found there wasn't enough oxygen in the confined space.
"Good Morning Dr. Stevens, Karev." Derek nodded his greeting in their direction, "...Meredith."
"Good Morning Dr. Shepherd!" Izzie answered, not wanting to be rude to her superior, even if he had broken her friends heart. Alex just ignored him and Meredith muttered "It's Dr. Grey to you, now." under her breath. He pretended not to hear her.
The door finally dinged, signaling they had reached their destination. Derek let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and fled the elevator as quickly as he could. Izzie was just glad to get out of the tension-filled space.
As Meredith started walking down the hall, Alex grabbed her wrist and pulled her back until she was face-to-face with him. She looked at him with confusion in her eyes.
"Mer, don't pay attention to Shepherd. He's an ass." He dropped her arm and started walking towards the interns locker room before glancing back and adding, "You deserve better."
Meredith stood there for a minute in shock, thinking about what she had just heard. It didn't seem like much, but it was a lot coming from him. He was Evil Spawn, after all. She wondered when in the world Alex Karev had become the voice of reason.
Meredith walked into the locker room and started putting on her scrubs.
"Hey Mer." George looked up when she entered the room. He wanted to say more. To say that he was sorry for what she was going through. To say that even though he moved out, he was still there for her. But he knew it was probably a conversation that shouldn't be had in front of the others. And he didn't want to push the wrong buttons, knowing how fragile she was lately. So he said nothing.
Alex began digging around in his locker, apparently not having the guts to look Meredith in the eye after his little confession. Cristina looked sideways at her friend, noticing the far-away look in her eye.
"Joe's tonight?" She asked.
"Nah... I don't think so." There was no emotion in Meredith's voice. It was like Derek took her ability to feel with him when he left.
"Mer, c'mon." The fact that Meredith was saying no to alcohol worried Cristina. She'd seen her friend in less than pleasant situations before... I mean she was dark and twisty... and had a bad habit of sleeping with inappropriate men. But a few nights of dancing it out and drinking tequila usually brought back her spark.
"Cristina, please. I just really don't think it's a good idea."
"Why not?" She scoffed. "You've never had a problem drowning your problems in alcohol before. Especially when it comes to McDreamy." Meredith didn't have a response.
"No, you know what, no. You're coming to Joe's. You need a night out. We'll get drunk and stupid, and you'll mope and whine for awhile, then George will get us a cab home."
"Hey, leave me out of it." He interjected.
"Then we'll laugh until we cry, and pass out in your bed. We'll have horrible hangovers in the morning. Then you'll be back to normal."
Bailey charged into the room before Meredith could protest again.
"Rounds in 5 minutes! Then Yang you're with Dr. Burke, Karev you're with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, Stevens with Torres, O'Malley and Sloan, and Meredith you're with the other Dr. Shepherd." Meredith let out a large sigh which received an apologetic look from Izzie.
"C'mon, don't just stand around people, get to work! Move it!" Bailey shouted, and the interns rushed out of the room. She stopped Meredith before she could leave.
"Listen Grey, I know it might be hard for you to work with Shepherd today. But focus on the medicine. I don't want to hear about any patients dying because you two are too busy arguing to do your jobs, you got that?" Meredith just nodded and walked away.
What is with everyone and stopping to talk to me about Derek, today? She wondered. I'm fine. Totally fine. Why does everyone think I'm about to fall apart? I'm fine. The thought was more to convince herself than anything else.