CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! ANOTHER STORY?!?!?!
Summary: It was only a summer love. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it wasn't supposed to be this hard. She wasn't supposed to come back 10 years later...
1997
"I can't believe the summer is over," Mark sighed stroking Meredith's hair.
"I know," she breathed, taking in the sun setting in the distant. "It sucks I have to leave a week earlier."
"You'll be back next summer though, right?" he asked concerned.
"Of course," she nodded. "We come here every year."
"Good." He nestled closer to her, breathing in her scent. "I wish we could just stay like this, I don't want to go to college."
"You'll be fine," she laughed, holding onto his hand. "Plus NYU is an amazing school."
"So is Stanford," he replied, massaging her hand.
"Don't worry, the summer will be here before you know it," she said, trying so hard to convince herself this would be true. She had fallen in love with him. She wasn't supposed to. It had been two months; you weren't supposed to fall for someone in only two months. But she did, and hard at that. He treated her differently, and even though she was only 17, she knew he loved her back.
"I'm going to come see you," he protested. "I'll get a flight out there and come see you."
"Mark, NYU and Stanford are halfway across the country; you'll never be able to afford a ticket." She hated being so cynical. But she didn't want to get her hopes up, his hopes up. They would have to wait till summer.
"Fine," he surrendered, resting his head on her shoulder. "Then summer. You promise you'll come back?"
She turned her neck, resting her hand on his cheek. "Of course, I wouldn't do anything else."
He smiled, planting a soft kiss on her lips. "Next summer."
"Next summer," she smiled, kissing him back.
1998
"Meredith, Rosen wants to see you in his office," a tall threatening woman instructed her.
Meredith sighed, getting up from her tiny desk in her tiny ten inch office space. Fluffing out her hair, she began to walk towards her boss's room. She had been working for one of the toughest insurance agencies out there, and on top of that, she was taking all honors courses at Stanford. But nevertheless she needed the extra cash.
Knocking lightly on her boss's door, she hesitantly walked in. "Mr. Rosen? You wanted to see me?"
"Oh yes Meredith sit down," her frazzled boss stammered, stumbling through the mass of papers on his desk. "As you know," he continued, "summer is coming up, and you will be leaving us for 2 months."
She nodded, tugging at the bottom hem of her shirt. Every time someone mentioned the word 'summer' her stomach did a complete flip. She and Mark had been keeping in touch, and she was beyond excited to come back to him. It had been way too long. "Yes sir."
"Right, well, I have been talking with Hanson and Fendermen and we have all came to a conclusion that you deserve a promotion."
Her mouth dropped and her eyes went wide. "A promotion?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, now the pay will increase, obviously, and we will also be taking care of your medical and dental insurance so you won't have to worry about that. Oh and this is always a crowd favorite…your own office. It's a chance only a few get."
"I, I don't know what to say." She shook her head, completely breathless.
He smiled. "I figured you would feel this way. Now the only catch is that you won't be able to have the summer off. But I don't think that's too big of a sacrifice especially since the offer I am giving you is extraordinary."
"Oh…" she stopped short, losing her words. This was a chance she was never going to get again. She desperately needed the money, but another summer without Mark? Could she bear it? "No, no of course not. When do I start?"
"So let me get this straight," her best friend Alex said, "You got a job where you get your own office and are basically treated like a freaking queen and you think you made the wrong choice by accepting this?!"
"It's just," she paced, "I don't know what to do about Mark."
"He was a summer thing," he responded, flipping through a magazine. "He's nothing."
"But he is to me!" she complained plopping down on her bed. "What do I do?"
"Just forget about him, Mer…he's stressing you out. Just cut all the connections, take the job, then he'll be a thing of the past."
"You don't get it," she shook her head thinking back to that amazing summer. "He's different."
"Look," he rolled around on his belly, "You have three choices; take the job, cut all ties with this dude and be happy. Or you can not take the job, go spend another useless summer with him and be not happy because you'll be broke. OR you could take the job and not cut ties with him and be miserable because you will miss him. If I were you, I would take the first choice," he said matter-of-factly.
"You think?" she asked, her mind telling her to do things one way and her heart…telling her something completely different.
"Definitely. It will be better for both of you. If you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for him. It will make it a hell of a lot easier. If you just cut the ties, it will be easier for him to move on and not miss you so much. Trust me; a guy can only take so much heartache."
She bit her bottom lip, knowing this decision would haunt her forever. But she knew Alex was right. If she just stopped all forms of communication, maybe he will be able to move on, even though she desperately did not want him to. "Okay," she sighed, "I choose door number one."
She didn't come back. She didn't call, she didn't write, she didn't do anything. He wasted his entire summer waiting for her, loving her, and she didn't come back. He was sick over it. She promised she would come back, she promised everything would work out okay. But she wasn't there with him. He hated this. He hated not being able to hear the sound of her voice or breathe in the scent of her hair. He didn't know why she refused to answer his calls or delete his e-mails. He didn't know why he waited as long as he did. But he waited and it was all for nothing because obviously she didn't love him like he had loved her.
2008
"So why are we going again?" Derek asked his fiancé, fidgeting with a tie.
"Alex is getting married, I told you that," she scrambled, trying to find her earrings. "And for some strange reason he wanted to get married at the Jersey Shore."
"Right," he nodded. "At least he's getting married to someone nice. I like Izzie, she's sweet."
"Yeah, she's perfect for him," she agreed, slipping on her high heels. "I'm glad he's happy."
Derek smiled, slipping his hands around Meredith's waist. "Well we'll soon have our happy ending."
She grinned, kissing him lightly. "I know…maybe if we like the way this is done, we could get married there as well."
"At the Jersey Shore?" he inquired, his eye brows raised.
"Yeah, I grew up there. It's amazing Derek you'll love it."
"Alright, I'll be open to it."
"Good," Meredith winked before grabbing his hand. "Now come on, I have this stupid dinner thing and we can't be late."
"If you hate your job this much, just quit," he reminded her, putting on his jacket.
"I can't quit," she groaned. "Not now at least."
"We need someone at the hospital to do paper work you would be perfect for it!"
"Yeah but I don't want to do that stuff anymore. I'm sick of it," she moaned, locking the front door. "But once we're married we'll figure it out."
"Whatever you say…" Derek sighed, tangling his fingers with Meredith's.
"I know pronounce you husband and wife," the priest shouted, interrupted by jolts of laughter and claps.
"This is so beautiful," Meredith whispered to Derek, clapping her hands frantically.
He wrapped his hand around her shoulder. "Yeah, it is."
"I'm married Mer!" Alex exclaimed as he and Izzie walked down the aisle, rice splattering all over their heads.
"I know!" Meredith laughed, giving his hand a tight squeeze before he continued walking down.
As she watched them saunter down the aisle as man and wife something clicked inside her. She Inhaled deeply, breathing in the smell of the salty air. She shut her eyes and thought back to all those days at the beach. Everything about it was magnificent; the smell, the ocean, the sand…beautiful. This was the place where she wanted to get married. This was where she wanted to be. But when she opened her eyes, something looked familiar. As the face turned around more, she gasped…it was Mark.
A/N: So Mark was at the wedding. He was there for Izzie and you'll find out why in the next chapter. I know its choppy but this is just the start. And uhm hopefully everything else makes sense so please review and tell me if I should continue!
