Meredith leans against her car, keys in hand, taking advantage of a little alone time before her roommates came out of the hospital. She had walked away from Derek knowing it was the right thing to do. She passed Addison, not being able to look her in the eye, knowing that she knew, mumbled something to Finn about seeing him later and practically sprinted her way out of the hospital and out the parking lot. She looks up, hearing the clicking of shoes against the concrete and sees Izzie walking toward the car. Alex a few steps behind her, and Callie and George have stopped just at the hospital doors.
"Hey"
Meredith calls out to Izzie, giving her a reassuring smile as she opens the passenger door for her. That's when she notices Izzie is barefoot and Alex is holding her shoes.
"Hi"
Izzie responds, not even bothering to smile back. She climbs into the passenger seat without a word and closes the door. Meredith looks up at Alex.
"You want to squeeze in? You should come for a bit"
"No. I know she uh--doesn't want me right now--"
"Alex…"
"It's okay. I'll check on her tomorrow"
He offers her a shy smile.
"Oh, here…"
He hands her the shoes.
"…She left these in there"
"Thanks"
"Yeah."
He begins to walk away but turns on a second thought.
"Hey. Call me, you know…if anything"
"Yeah. Of course."
He waves and walks off into the darkness of the parking lot. Meredith looks over at George and Callie for a second and decides to wait in the car.
"What is it?"
George asks Callie, gently squeezing her hand for reassurance.
"Um…I think I'm going to stay. You need to be with your friends right now--"
He frowns.
"But I--want you to be there"
"You do?"
"Yeah"
"Okay"
She can't help but smile.
"…well, you go, I'm going to change my clothes, and I'll head over"
"Okay"
He leans in and kisses her.
"You should bring some clothes…you know, to leave at the house for when you spend the night"
She kisses him again, this time lingering there for a few seconds.
"I'll see you in a bit"
She walks away and George finds himself watching her walk away until she's too far in the hospital to be seen. He turns around, spots Meredith's car and frowns again, remembering the events of the night. He runs across the parking lot and climbs in the back seat of the car.
Half an hour later, they have pulled up to the house. Izzie still not having said anything, walked straight up to her room and had not come out since. George and Meredith sat in the kitchen, not knowing what to do or say. George was rambling on and on about Izzie and Meredith was tuning in and out, half lost in thought about what she had done not one hour ago.
"…If she wanted either of us up there, she'd ask, right? I mean, I don't want to bother her of she wants to be alone"
George asks Meredith in a preoccupied tone. He notices her absence.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing"
They hear Izzie open her door and they both look in the direction of the top floor as if to have a better listen. They then hear her walk across the hall, open and shut the bathroom door ad start the shower.
"Should she be alone right now?"
George asks again. She shrugs.
"I don't know"
There's a long pause.
"What's WRONG with you?"
"Nothing!"
She stands up before giving George a chance to ask any more questions.
"I'm going to go change"
She leaves the kitchen. George sighs and lays his head on the kitchen counter.
"They're all crazy"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Maybe you should go in there. You're a girl"
George and Meredith sit in the hallway, by the bathroom door, both in their pajamas, the shower still running.
"Izzie?"
Meredith knocks on the door.
"…are you okay?"
No answer.
"I'm waiting five more minutes, then I'm going in there"
"George, I'm fine!"
Izzie, shouts from the bathroom.
"She's not fine--you're not fine!"
"Maybe she just needs to grieve alone"
Before he can reply, they hear the front door open and someone run up the stairs.
"Who's that?"
Meredith asks, to no one in particular.
"Probably Callie…"
Meredith perks up suddenly.
"Callie's coming? Why?"
"She's spending the night…is that a problem?"
"No"
Cristina walks in around the corner. George can't help but seem disappointed. Meredith heaves a sigh of relief.
"Hey"
"Hi Cristina"
Meredith answer with a weak smile.
"How's she doing? Is she all weird and broken down or more like a zombie kind of thing?
"We don't know. She won't talk to us"
"Well, leave her be. She obviously doesn't want you two as guard dogs out here"
"She's been in there for an hour"
Meredith sighs again, this draws Cristina's attention.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing!"
She stands up and walks down the hallway and down the stairs. Back to the kitchen. Cristina now looks at George.
"How long have you been sitting here?"
"I'm a good friend"
"Well--"
She begins, as she sits across from George.
"So am I"
"How's Preston?"
"He's fine--"
He looks at her wearily and she makes a face.
"What! Burke is fine, what do you want from me!"
"Why do you call him Burke?"
"Why do you call him Preston?"
"He's my friend, I can call him Preston. Question is, why don't you?"
"Mind your own business, Leprechaun"
"No. You're hiding something"
"You've gotten really cocky since you started getting laid. It's annoying"
He leans back and smiles confidently at her. Not knowing what else to do, she kicks him.
"Ow--"
There's a pause, then George jumps on Cristina, trying to pin her down and she tries the same.
"You're not supposed to hit girls!"
"I'm not hitting you--and you're not a girl!"
She manages to climb on his back and pins him face down to the floor.
"Ow-ow-ow-OW!"
With heir antics they don't notice that the shower has gone off. The door opens and Cristina looks up, frozen on the spot as George tries to wiggle away.
"Hi Izzie"
Cristina says as Izzie walks right by them.
"Izzie--Izz…"
George tries to reach Izzie but she slams her bedroom door before he can pull away from Cristina.
"See what you did?"
"Hey! It's not my fault you can't fight your way out of a box"
He pushes her off him and stands up, looking very dignified.
"I'm going downstairs…ABUSER"
"Sissy"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx