A/N: FIRST FIC EVER! Long time reader and reviewer, but I decided to get my feet wet and jump into the writing pool :) Obviously I don't own Grey's Anatomy, if I did MerDer would be instantly fixed with a few more doses of angst and Lexie and Mark would be making beautiful babies.
"That," he pointed viciously at their once prized Post-It,"That is why I stay. Because I keep my promises."
Meredith's heart clenched. That was why he stayed? Because he promised? How about because he loved her? How about because he was the only one to ever make her feel whole and happy? Now, all she was to him was a Post-It, a promise made long ago...an obligation.
Meredith knew what it was to be a burden, an obligation. She was her mother's burden for 18 years. She's the one who stopped her mother's greatness. She was the one who ruined her. No, Meredith would never be an obligation again.
Meredith pulled her slumped shoulders up and nodded her resolve as she formed her plan. She loved him too much to continue ruining his life, all because he felt obligated to stay with her. She was done flinching at the pure malice and despair in his voice, not when he thought she was the reason. It all seemed so simple now, remove herself from his life, then and only then, would he ever go back to a happy life, the life he had before her.
She'd ruined his career, she's lost him his-their-baby. She was a failure, and the more she thought about it, the more determined she was to follow through with her plan. She watched him unbutton his sleeves and lay on their bed for the first time in months. It would be the hardest thing she would ever do, but she would do it, for him.
She looked at him. He looked so tired, so un-Derek, that it was scary. His normally perfectly styled hair was ruffled, as if he had been nervously running his hand through it on a regular basis, his eyes looked puffy from exhaustion, with large bags under his eyes. It hit her again that this was her fault.
"I'm going to finish the dishes. I need to think. And, Derek? I know you probably don't care anymore, but I do love you, and I am sorry. Just, just sleep. We'll talk more in the morning, if you want." Her voice sounded hoarse, as if heavy with weariness and despair.
He said nothing, only closed his eyes and feigned sleep.
She turned and went downstairs to retrieve her suitcases. Yes, by morning she would be long gone, and their Post-It, removed from their wall. She would alleviate his guilt.
She would never be an obligation.
Phew. That was relatively painless...please review and I'll send you a naked McDreamy :)