He stood there, tears streaming down his face from a mixture of sadness, anger, and regret. He looked at the tiny figure with such hate and love. How could she have done this to him? Has all the months they spent together mean nothing to her?

"I'm…I'm so sorry. It's…This…is not how I wanted it to end." She said, her voice barely beyond a whisper.

She couldn't stand it. This was killing her, but she knew it had to be done. It was for both their sakes. It was the right thing to do. But then why does it hurt so much?

"Not how you wanted it to end?! So you knew…you knew it was going to end! That we wouldn't last! Great! I'm such an idiot! All this time I thought you were the love of my life! But you think this is some game?! That's just freakin' great!" He screamed trying hard not to crack.

All he wanted to do was breakdown and cry. But he couldn't. He had to stay strong, for both their sakes.

"No! No! That's not what I meant! This was not a game to me! It never has been!" She said her voice cracking from the pressure.

Her face seemed permanently stained with tears. How had it come to this? Three months ago they were happy, but now…it was crash and burn.

"You just don't love me right? Is that why?" He accused

He could feel his throat constricting as he uttered the words. He knew it was not true but how could he have known for sure? After all they'd been through had it come to this?

"No! I love you! I swear that's true!" She said her voice raspy from the crying as more and more tears fell from her face.

"Why?! Why then?! How could you do this? What about us? Did you even think about me? Or were you too busy worrying about your selfish self?" He said

It hurt saying such hurtful words when all he wanted to do was take her into his arms and hold her tight, and tell her that everything would be okay. But he knew that it wasn't true. Everything would not be okay. What happened to them?

Meredith flinched at the words that he had just said. She hated hurting him All she wanted to do was go back. Back when things weren't as complicated. When they would watch "The Notebook" together as she cried in his arms about how sad the movie was. When they were laughing or crying together knowing that if they had each other everything would be okay.

"I did what I did for both our sakes! You and I both know that we weren't ready for that kind of commitment!" She yelled at him as more tears streamed down her face never stopping like a waterfall.

Derek laughed bitterly.

"For both our sakes huh? If we weren't ready then we didn't have to get married! We could have gone back to the way things were. You didn't have to buy a plane ticket to Seattle and decide you want to move there. What about me? Did you ever stop once to think about how I would feel?" He snapped as he ran his hand through his hair something he tended to do when he was angry.

He was now on the verge of tears as his eyes glistened in the light from the moisture.

"That's all I thought about! How you would react! Do you know why? Why I bought the ticket? Why Seattle? No! Because all you can think about is yourself! You think that I'm selfish. What about you? You want to know why? I'll tell you. My mom is sick, Derek. She needs help. She is in a nursing home right now. She has Alzheimer's. She needs someone to be there. You know I don't have any siblings and my dad left us when I was five. She has no one. So I have to go. I didn't tell you because I knew that you would want to go with me. New York has the top hospitals in the nation. It would help you're career. In Seattle the hospitals can't compete with the ones here in New York. So how dare you accuse me of being selfish when you're the one whose selfish?!" She said.

She fell to her knees, her legs no longer able to support her body.

"I'm…I'm sorry." was all he could utter.

How stupid had he been accusing Meredith of being selfish. She was thinking of everyone but herself and now she had to fly to Seattle alone with no one she knows to take care of her mother. The tables had turned. It's was now her turn to be mad at him. He was the one feeling sorry now. He walked toward her and took her into his arms, her small frame shaking as his light blue T-shirt absorbed her neverending tears. He kissed the tope of her head and whispered "Everything is going to be okay." He could feel her head nodding. He pulled her away to look at her for a moment. He smiled sadly at her as she did the same. They shared a passionate kiss before breaking it only to come up for air.

"Let's go home." he whispered softly giving her his hand guiding her home.