A/N: As always, I hope you guys enjoy this. I don't think I'm the best writer by any means and this will probably be my last story for a while but I'm not sure yet. Anyways thanks to anyone who's taken the time out of their day to favorite/leave a review on my stories!
Meredith stood in the attendings lounge finally ending her shift for the day. She grabbed her purse and headed for the door when she saw Carina walk in.
She didn't really know Carina all that well, aside from the basics such as the fact that she was an OB and she was Andrew's sister. They were always cordial, but she'd never really spoken to her before.
"Meredith, hi, I was hoping I would see you. Can we talk?" Carina said to her.
"Sure. Is everything okay?" Meredith questioned, figuring that maybe it was a request for a consult.
"Yes, yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk with you. I was thinking we could meet at the café down the street?" Carina explained to her.
"Oh, yeah, that's fine. I was just leaving actually. Did you want to go now?" Meredith replied, taken a little by surprise by the request and wondering exactly what it was the Carina wanted to talk about.
"Yes, now would be good. See you there." Carina said before retrieving her belongings and heading out.
Meredith went through scenarios in her mind. She was dating her brother after all. Maybe she hated her and this was all to tell Meredith to stay away from him. Carina had always been the protective type from what Andrew had told her.
The thought remained in Meredith's mind as she reached the cafe about twenty minutes later. She walked inside to find Carina had already got a booth for them.
Meredith smiled and greeted her as she sat down. The waitress came by and took their coffee orders. The two briefly bonded over the realization that they'd both ordered the same thing.
She looked at the tall, Italian woman sitting before her, unsure of exactly what she should say. Meredith could admit a small part of her felt slightly intimidated, I mean Carina was strikingly gorgeous but also seemed like the type you would not want to piss off.
Meredith tapped her fingers against the table, averting her gaze to the busy streets of Seattle outside the window.
"So, you and my brother.." Carina started.
Oh, so we're diving right in. Cool. Meredith thought to herself. She raised her eyebrows indicating her to continue.
"Exactly how serious is this between the two of you?" Carina asked her. "..because just from talking to him, he seems pretty serious about this and I have to wonder if you feel the same."
"It's pretty serious." Meredith replied. "I care very deeply about him, Carina."
The waitress came by with their coffee orders and they both thanked her.
Carina took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Andrea - he's very special, Meredith. And I'm not just saying this because I'm his big sister. He has the biggest heart and it has pained me time and time again to watch it be broken.." She paused briefly. "And the way he talks about you..he talks as if you yourself hung the stars in the sky and I have never seen him quite like this over any woman before. And I...I just don't want to see him get hurt."
Meredith listened intently to every word she spoke. Just from the time she's spent getting to know him, she knew Carina's sentiments about the special person Andrew is to be true. "Carina, I can assure you that I would never, ever do anything to hurt your brother." She spoke sincerely, looking the brunette straight in the eyes.
Carina stared at her for a moment, when a smile crept to her lips. "You love him." She stated, not as a question but as if it were a fact as clear as night and day.
Meredith's heart skipped a beat in her chest and she hoped her moment of panic wasn't quite as obvious on her features as it was on the inside. She sipped her coffee.
"What Andrew and I have, it's still fairly new and we're figuring a lot of things out, but the more I get to know him, the more I spend time with him, I see..a very real future between the two of us. I haven't felt this way since...well since I lost my husband." Meredith realized just as quickly as the words left her lips that she had never spoken this aloud to anyone up until that point.
The more Carina took this time to listen to Meredith, the more confident she felt that her brother's heart was in the right hands. She had been so afraid that this was nothing more than a fling to Meredith, perhaps something to check off her bucket list, and that her brother was bound to be heartbroken eventually. Relief washed over her knowing she couldn't have been more wrong.
Carina noticed Meredith's hand shaking and she reached over from across the table. "I'm glad my Andrea found you, Meredith. I'm glad you have each other."
"So am I.." Meredith uttered softly.
The two spent the rest of the time talking amongst themselves. Carina talked about her life in Italy, and of course sprinkled in a few embarrassing stories of Andrew as an older sister would.
They hadn't realized how much time had passed until noticing they were the only two left in the café and it was starting to get dark out.
"This was really nice. We should get together again like this sometime." Meredith said to Carina as they walked outside to their cars.
"I would like that. I don't have many friends here in Seattle, considering I only really know Andrea." Carina said to her.
"Well, you've got one now." Meredith smiled. "And you're always welcomed to come along with me, my sisters and Jo Karev whenever we do ladies night."
"I really appreciate that. Thank you." Carina said before the two parted ways for the evening.
Andrew entered the research lab to find Amelia staring intently into a laptop in front of her with notebooks scattered about. He had only come to retrieve some papers and considering turning around and coming back later so he wouldn't disturb her.
However, before he could do so, Amelia spotted him. "Deluca, hey!" She said cheerfully.
"Dr. Shepherd, hi. I just came to get something but you looked pretty busy so.." Andrew replied.
Amelia waved it off. "I've been at this the past forty eight hours straight. I could use the human contact." She moved her notebooks out of the way to make room for him to sit.
Andrew sat down. He and Amelia had worked closely in the past, and spent quite a bit of time together during one of the most vulnerable seasons in her life and he realized sitting there how much he actually missed it.
"I feel like we haven't talked in forever!" Amelia said to him. "What's up? How's life been treating you?"
"Yeah, I know things can get pretty chaotic around here, but I do really miss working with you. And as far as life goes..it's been treating me pretty amazing actually, especially since -" Andrew started and then stopped.
"Since…?" Amelia raised her eyebrows, a smirk on her lips.
"Since, well.." Andrew looked down, feeling his cheeks grow warm suddenly."
"Since you started dating my sister?" Amelia finished for him.
"Oh, so you already know?" Andrew asked, a bit surprised.
"Duh. Of course I know. Meredith tells me everything. Well, most things anyway. We're still working on it." Amelia told him.
"What'd she say about me, exactly?" Andrew questioned with a smirk in his tone.
"Like I'd really tell you that! I am sworn to sister secrecy. I can tell you, that Meredith seems happier lately, like really happy. It's kinda weird, actually. But I like seeing this side of her, and I know it's because of you." Amelia smiled at him.
"Thanks, Amelia. That means more than you know." Andrew said.
"Just do me a favor and don't screw it up. Or else you'll force Maggie and I to hunt your ass down and trust me it will not be pretty."
Andrew couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Alright, fair enough."
He wasn't quite sure exactly how Amelia would have reacted to the news, but he had great respect for her as both a surgeon and person in general, so he was glad to know he had her blessing.
Friday night family game nights were about to get so much more interesting. Amelia thought to herself.