This is set after Derek tells Meredith that he can't breath for her any more. It's more how Meredith deals with what he says and how she makes him realise what was happening in her head. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review )

Meredith sat on the living room couch, the glass of wine spinning round in her hand. Izzie watched her from the living room door, not sure what had happened with Derek but knew it was something bad due to the fact she had slammed the door when she came in.

'What did he do?'

'He…it doesn't matter,'

'Meredith what did he do?' Izzie sat on the living room table and faced Meredith.

'when he pulled me out the water…when he was breathing for me…tonight…he said that he couldn't breath for me anymore. Because I stopped fighting, he says he can't keep breathing for me. And it was just after we had just had mind blowing sex,'

'stupid ass. Why did you give up?' Meredith shook her head.

'It doesn't matter,' Izzie squeezed her knee before she went to answer the door. Meredith turned and looked into the fire, the embers dancing around.

'There's some one here to see you,' Meredith nodded her head, Izzie stepping to the side to reveal Derek.

'I'll be at the store,' Izzie closed the front door behind her, the silence uneasy between Meredith and Derek.

'when…when I said I didn't want to breath for you anymore, I didn't mean I didn't love you…I just,' Derek sighed heavily.

'I don't want to loose you,' Meredith turned to face him

'You never will loose me,'

'But you gave up fighting, you stopped swimming,'

'You want to know why I gave up fighting?'

'Why?'

'Every day of my life Derek I've had to fight for something. When I was five I was fighting for my parents to stay together. Then I was fighting for my mothers attention and that was before the altzimers. Then I had to fight for my mother, take on her battles when she got the altzimers…then I got to Dartmouth and I had to fight for my place and I did, I stayed because I kept fighting,' Meredith looked back to the fire.

'Then I had to fight for you…I had to fight the urge to leave Seattle to get away from you and Addison…When I fell in the water…I gave up fighting for the first time in my life Derek. I was tired of fighting…and for once in my life…I just stopped fighting,' Derek was speechless, unsure of what to say or how respond.

'So I don't need you to breath for me…all I need is when I need to stop fighting, for you to help me start again,'

'You still gave up…and it nearly killed you,'

'But it didn't kill me…because I started fighting again…I started fighting for you again,'

'What made you fight?' Meredith smiled as she remembered Denny and Dylan.

'I had a conversation with some one and they said that when they stopped fighting, they lost any feeling of the one person they loved. We were talking and then he just stopped. I asked him why and he said he thought the love of his life was in the same place as him. He couldn't see her, all he got was a scent of her. I couldn't live with only a scent of you…I can't live on just a scent of you,' Derek sat on the couch, Meredith holding onto him for dear life, like she couldn't ever let go of him in case she lost him again.

'The meeting for the chief. You said you were distracted,'

'Yeah,'

'Why?'

'I close my eyes and I can feel you when I lifted you out the water, how cold you were…the fact you weren't breathing. I don't want to wake up and find your not breathing,'

'I will always keep breathing on my own, as long as I know that if I need to stop fighting, you'll fight in my place until I can,'

'Always,'