Authors Note: Hi guys! this is my first story, obviously. I'm not really sure if anyone will read this, but hopefully someone will. This well definitely be many chapters long. This took me a while to write, so I'm not sure how long it will take for me to update. I'm hoping I'll be able to update this once a week but I'm not sure. It's basically gonna be an AU of Meredith and Alex growing up together. Enough of my rambling, here's the story. (Also, please Review (: )

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN GREY'S ANATOMY, jeez! stop reminding me :(

Chapter 1 - A Gracious Introduction - 1986 - 6 years old

Alex Karev sat on the steps of his house's front porch. He was locked out. His father had come home again, making his home feel less like a homey place. He had been drinking again… the really strong stuff, at least Alex thought since it made his breath stink the worst. Four years with his father and his father's drinks, he had learned the difference between each drink. His mother, on the other hand, she had always done her best for Alex, but she had stopped taking her pills that she took every morning as Alex ate breakfast. With her pills gone, she was acting weirder and weirder, sometimes she would lash out, and others, she would sit on the couch and stare straight ahead, muttering under her breath. Alex had coped with the changes by playing with his little brother and sister, Aaron and Amber, but they were gone too. His grandmother had come and taken them back to Oregon to live with her, but not Alex. His grandmother had never known that the three Karev and Evans children existed. She had come down to visit and saw the terrible environment and the two children there. Alex's mom let her take them, never giving a second thought to it. Alex had been at school. He came home and they were gone. His father, in his drunken stupor, had told Alex that his grandma had purposely not taken Alex along, that she didn't love him, and Alex believed him.

The loud crash of a trashcan lid tore Alex from his thoughts and he glanced around his otherwise silent neighborhood and eventually down to the small video camera in his hands. He had found it in a large box filled with other treasures in the basement earlier that morning. He had seen on shows with his mom that some people would videotape their day and their friends, and others who videotaped themselves talking to the camera.

'It doesn't seem too hard, maybe I could do that too.' Alex thought to himself. And with that, Alex carefully set his camera down on the porch in front of him and lay down on his stomach so he would be eye level with the lens. He flipped the screen out and turned it towards it so he could see what he looked like and then he clicked the 'record' button. Alex nervously cleared his throat, suddenly not knowing what to say, it was as if he was caught on stage with only his underpants on. He opened his mouth and began to talk, his voice wavering slightly at the beginning.

"Hi, I'm Alex Karev, I'm six years old. That means I'm in 1st grade at Johnson. My teacher's name for this year is Mrs. Tuck, she's the worst teacher ever. She never listens to us, she always says her daughter is smarter than us, and she puts me in the trouble corner. The trouble corner is almost as bad as it is at my house, and that's saying a lot since my dad is how he is and my mommy is… " Alex stopped there, not knowing how to explain his mother's behavior. He took a shaky breath and continued on his story, "Well, she's acting weird. I remember when I was 4, this is while Aaron was still here, but before Amber was born, she took these pills every morning while me and Aaron ate breakfast, but she doesn't take them anymore. She just sits on the couch all day and looks around with this weird look on her face. Or she sometimes gets mad, like, really mad. And she'll yell at me about snakes. Back when she took pills, she said she was… sch, schizo? I don't really know what that means, but it makes my dad very mad. He was hurting my mommy and I tried to help her but then I got in trouble with my dad-" Alex winced as an angry roar came spilling out of the window, followed by a shout and the ping of shattering glass. "That's my dad, he locked me outside." Alex explained, painstakingly calm. And with that, he stopped. Alex stared at the yellowish-green grass just beyond his camera for a few still moments. The boy rolled over onto his back and stared up at the blue sky above him, his hands behind his head. The blue sky full of fluffy white clouds, brought him peace, not that he would ever admit that. Alex remained there, remembering the easier times in his life. He never realized that life wasn't supposed to be this hard for anyone, especially a six-year-old, and he probably wouldn't for a while longer. This punishment of being locked outside was sadly not a new experience for Alex. He looked up as a shiny red station wagon pulled up to the house across the street. Alex had only been living here for a little over a year, and the whole time, that house had always been abandoned, showing no signs of life. It gave him some strange sense of closure to know that someone would be living there, and hopefully fixing the terribly overgrown flowerbeds. Maybe there would be another kid in the neighborhood to play with, the only kids were him and the bully of a fifth grader who lived down the street. Alex sat up as a small girl with pin-straight blonde hair and bangs, a wide blue headband, and a faded pink flowered dress stumbled out of the back seat of the station wagon, an obvious look of sadness dancing across her face. Her mother soon stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the house. He watched as the little girl ran up and tugged on the back of her mother's coat. The mother whipped around and turned to face her child.

"What!" the mother yelled. Even from across the street he could still hear their conversation and the anger in the mother's words. A tear took it's nearly invisible path down the girl's cheek.

"I-I miss Seattle, I wanna go back." The child mumbled. Seattle? What was Seattle? Alex looked away from the apparently dysfunctional family and looked up towards the sky, as if that would answer his questions concerning this 'Seattle'.

"Stop mumbling and whining, you're a big girl, big girls don't mumble and whine. Just, get the bags out of the car and into the house, we'll unpack later." And with that, the mother turned and stomped away into the house. The girl sighed at her mother's dismissal and she headed towards the back of the station wagon. Alex sat there for a few seconds before he shot up, grabbing his camera from its spot on the porch and ran across the street to go help the girl. As the girl popped open the trunk, she heard a growing noise coming from behind her. She turned around and was nearly scared out of her skin to see a boy about her age run up behind her.

"Hey, uh, you need some help?" He asked cautiously. The girl backed up against the car, but to Alex's surprise, eventually smiled shyly and nodded towards the now opened trunk. She turned her back to Alex and reached into the trunk, heaving out a small suitcase that seemed to belong to her. She extended the handle and rolled it behind her up the driveway to her front door. As she reached the front door, she sat the bag down. Alex shrugged and pulled out another suitcase and rolled it up the driveway, passing the small blonde on his way to the porch. They fell into a routine like this, one person always grabbing a bag as the other set it down on the porch, always passing by each other halfway up the driveway. With both of them working, they soon finished. Alex returned to the station wagon and closed the trunk, making sure it clicked shut. He huffed and ran up to the porch to talk to the girl.

"I'm Alex, I live right across the street." He pointed to his house, with the chipped white paint. He turned back to her with a smile. He outstretched his free hand to the girl, but she only shifted her gaze from his eyes to his camera, and finally to his hand. She turned away from him as she began to move a bag from to porch to the entrance of her new house. As she went to move another bag, and then another, she glanced up at him standing awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

Very bluntly, he asked, "Do you speak?" The girl dropped her next bag and glared up at him. Sadly for her, her soft, almost doll-like face, and her seemingly caring features, rendered her glare pretty pathetic. Alex had to hold back a laugh, knowing a glare did not sit well across her face. She sighed as she placed her last bag inside, and she then reluctantly turned to face Alex. She stepped backwards into the doorway, but kept the door propped open with her hand. She looked him up and down, as if she were sizing him up, and eventually stared straight back at him. She tilted her head, like she way waiting for him to ask his question. Alex finally realized she was waiting and he took in a deep breath.

"What's your name?" his prolonged question.

Silence followed, the air tense enough that even them, two six-year-olds, could sense it. This silence continued until a small voice broke through it.

"Meredith"

And with that, she stepped back, allowing the wooden door to close behind her.