There were moments that she thought of just giving up. But those moments were short lived, thoughts of her children invaded and quickly consumed her mind. Meredith could never leave her children, she just loved them too much. Ever since Derek died, she only found joy in her kids and sometimes at work when a special case came around and then some days when Alex managed to make her laugh. However aside from that, she felt total emptiness.

Empty.

That was the one word that could really sum up how she felt. The feeling was never ending, she missed Derek so much that it physically hurt. She had it all. She had an incredibly handsome and caring husband, one of the most rewarding jobs ever, and the most adorable kids you could ask for. Life was great to say the least. But then suddenly it all stopped. As if everything was moving in slow motion, her life as Meredith once knew it, was now something she almost could not recognize. The love of her life had been ripped away and along with him a piece of her left as well. She pulled herself from all of her thoughts when she saw the one guy she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Nathan Riggs.

After their encounter in the parking lot which subsequently led to them having sex four times that night, she didn't know what to say to him or how to act around him. The sex was great and was just the release she needed but she didn't want to have any "what are we" conversations. Meredith had convinced herself that she didn't have time for a relationship or anything of that nature so instead of talking, she avoided. That had somewhat worked up until he took a seat next to her on the plane.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was assigned to the McRae case." he said coolly.

"I thought Maggie was supposed to come with me" she countered.

"Pierce had an emergency patient so Bailey sent me"

"Oh." was all she could come up with. "Well don't get too happy." he said sarcastically.

There was something about him that threw Meredith off. His arrogance.. or maybe how calm he was about everything, like all the time. Or maybe it was his accent. Or it was probably because they had sex four times. Whatever it was, it was pissing Meredith off because he consumed her almost instantly.

A silence filled them both until the plane was preparing to take off and that's when Nathan sensed Meredith's discomfort.

"You alright?" Nathan questioned.

"I'm fine." but everything about her demeanor said otherwise. She tried to calm herself down but it wasn't working. And that's when he grabbed a hold of her hand as the plane took off.

"Hey, it's okay." there was something in his voice that Meredith took comfort in. He had this sense of calmness to him. She then let go of his hand.

"I was fine." she finally said.

"Yeah, I could totally tell by the way you were crushing my hand." he said with a smirk.

It wasn't until moments later when she spoke again. "I was in a plane crash" she didn't really know why she told him that bit of information, she just did.

"Oh.. I'm sorry. I was in one too so I'm not a big fan of flying either" he replied. Now this peaked Meredith interest enough for her to face him.

"Really?" "How bad was it?" She said.

"How bad was yours?" He asked.

"I asked you first." she countered.

"Alright." "Um it happened when I was around 15. One of my friend's dad owned a small plane and he'd dare me to fly it like a million times. Then I got tired of being called a pussy so I decided to fly it.. not my brightest decision"

Now Meredith laughed and asked "So what happened next?"

"Ah well, I actually managed to get it in the air for about a minute or two. Then I crashed it into their shed. I had to get fourteen stitches and I had a concussion but other than that I was fine. But ever since that day, I try to avoid planes if at all possible"

"Lame." Was all Meredith said.

"Lame?" His face filled with disbelief. "I could've died"

Lexi and Mark did die, she thought to herself as she became silent.

Nathan noticed the change in her demeanor and asked "What's wrong?" After a while she responded "Two people died from my plane crash, my little sister Lexi and Mark... it's where Arizona lost her leg"

Flashbacks of the horrific event now engulfed her mind. It wasn't a fond memory she liked to hold onto, to say the least.

"I'm so sorry Meredith" was all he could come up with. I mean what was he supposed to say to that? It seems like she's been through so much trauma and he barely even knew her yet.

After a moment Nathan said, "You're right my crash was pretty lame compared to yours" Meredith actually chuckled and said "I hope this isn't a competition, because I'd definitely win" Riggs then replied "Oh I don't doubt it"

Author's Note:

Hey everyone. This is my first time writing a fanfic so if you took the time to read this I want to say a special thank you to you guys. I just thought there should be more Merthan fanfics out there. Please feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think!

By the way, I know it's been years but I still miss Derek dearly and I'd literally do anything to have him back.