I've got a few Grey's One shots I'm working on, hopefully I'll get to post them soon if I ever get time. Spring semester is coming fast. Please remember that not all relationships are the same and not all characters are "in character".


The door was opened by a tall blonde woman in a maid's uniform. "May I help you?" She asked with a clear English accent.

"I'm Alexandra Grey, Meredith Grey's sister?" The statement came out as more of a question. She thought about pulling out the letter as some sort of proof. "You're expecting me?"

The woman only nodded. "Of course, Miss Meredith is expecting you. Come in Miss Grey."

Lexie gathered her things and tentatively entered the house. If the outside had been intimidating, the inside was even more so.

The first thing she saw upon entering was a huge, ornately carved staircase curving gracefully up the wall, each stair covered in thick red carpeting. At the top of the stairs, a large, decadently coloured stained glass window looked down on them. The foyer floor was a black and white marble pattern that extended down the halls leading to the rest of the house. To the left and right were two richly appointed rooms, both filled with ornate yet tasteful furniture and artwork. The widows were all hung with expensive draperies that looked older than she was. The maid closed the front door and took Lexie's suitcase and coat before leading her down the hall, her footsteps echoing on the marble floors.

"The missus is in the solarium." The maid explained as she turned and lead Lexie through another beautifully decorated room before stopping in front of two large pocket doors and knocking.

"Come in." A female voice from within called.

The maid pulled open the doors to reveal a room that seemed to be made entirely of glass and filled with plants of all kinds. The amount of green in the room stood out starkly against the yellowy brown land outside. A woman stood with her back turned to them, her hand resting on the back of one of a pair of white wicker chairs in the centre of the room with a glass topped coffee table in between them. She turned and looked at Lexie up and down. Lexie felt like a school child before the headmistress.

"It's nice to meet you Alexandra. I'm Meredith." The woman spoke, a slight frost in her voice.

Lexie looked at her stranger sister. She was taller than Lexie, and more than a few years older. Her face was prematurely lined but still held a unique beauty and her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a bun. Her grey eyes seemed to take in everything at once, casting judgments on her.

"Please call me Lexie." Lexie smoothed her skirt before offering her hand. "Thank you for inviting me Meredith."

Meredith ignored the hand and sat in one of the white wicker chairs, indicating Lexie was to sit in the other. Lexie felt her eyes on her, taking in the way she walked, that way she sat, every movement she made.

"Will that be all ma'am?" The maid asked from the door.

"For the moment, thank you Sadie." Meredith nodded at her. Sadie gave a little nod before taking Lexie's suitcase and disappearing. Meredith turned her attention back to Lexie. "Could I interest you in some tea? You must be quite tired after such a long journey."

"I would like some, or coffee if you have it." Almost immediately Lexie felt as if she had said the wrong thing, as she felt Meredith's gaze harden just slightly.

"Very well." Meredith said as she rose, moving over to a tea cart by the door. She returned a few seconds later with two cups of coffee. She hadn't even asked how Lexie took it.

"I'm terribly sorry that you had no one to meet you at the station. Avery was supposed to meet you there with the car," Meredith made a disapproving sound in her throat, "but it would appear he had more pressing matters to attend to at home."

"Really, it's not a big deal." Lexie assured her. The last thing she wanted was for someone else to get in trouble on account of her.

"I trust you weren't stuck there for long then?"

Lexie bit her lip, trying to decide if she wanted her sister to know exactly how she'd managed to make the journey from the train station to her front porch.

"No," she said slowly, "a Mister Sloan offered me a ride."

"I see." Meredith's voice trailed off, as if she was attempting to figure out how to feel about that information. After a second she gave Lexie the first real smile she'd seen on her. It was a very pretty smile Lexie decided. "Well then I'll have to thank Mark the next time he drops by."

"Mark comes here?" Lexie asked surprised, feeling slight flutter in her chest.

"From time to time." Meredith nodded, taking note of the glimmer in Lexie's eye. She finished her coffee before rising from her seat and pulling a bell cord on the wall by the pocket doors. After a few moments Sadie entered the room.

"Do you have many people living here?" Lexie asked as she watched Sadie quickly and quietly clear away the dishes, marvelling at the idea of actually being able to afford servants.

"Currently it's just Derek and myself. Sadie and Richard live with us here in the house while Avery lives a few miles down the road." Meredith explained.

"If you're done I'll show you to your room miss." Sadie said to Lexie.

"No, thank you Sadie." Meredith raised her hand with a small smile. "I'll do it myself."

She rose and motioned for Lexie to follow her. Lexie followed her back through the house and up the grand front staircase to the second floor, then up another equally grand staircase to the third floor. For a moment she thought that they were going all the way up to the attic before Meredith turned and led her down carpeted hallway with several doors and a large window at the end of it.

"Here you are." Meredith said as she stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hall and opened it. Lexie entered first and looked around.

It took her a moment to realize the bedroom was in the top floor of the turret. It was tastefully furnished with soft purple painted walls and three generously sized windows framed by white lace curtains. Her suitcase sat on top of a brass framed bed with white satin sheets sat along one wall under one of the windows while across from it, a large armoire stood as if watching over whoever occupied the bed. A white painted desk and chair sat pushed up under one of the other widows which was open, allowing the curtains to dance on the small breeze wafting in from the outside.

Lexie looked out the open window to find that she could see out to the main road. She turned her head to the left and could see the white steeple of the church. To the right, nothing but dry Kansas prairie. Next to the armoire was a door that led to a small bathroom which was shared with the hall. Everything in the room felt of a comfortable sanctuary from the outside.

"Will this be satisfactory?" Meredith asked as she watched Lexie move about the room.

"It's very nice, thank you."

Meredith nodded. For a second the two sisters stood there silently looking at one another, separated by much more than the few footsteps of space between them. Finally Meredith cleared her throat as if she was going to say something, only to decide against it and turned to go. When she got to the door, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

"I am sorry for your mother's death Lexie." She said before disappearing, leaving Lexie alone in the circular room. She thought about the increasingly empty row house back home. She remembered how Molly would work late into the night, mending the clothes they would have once thrown out. She remembered doing their best to hide their situation when company would come over and the shame in her sister's eyes when they had to ask their neighbour if they could borrow back their silver.

Lexie fingered the necklace under her collar.

"Here," Molly had pressed something wrapped in a handkerchief into her hand as the conductor called for boarding, "keep it safe."

Lexie had folded back the lace to reveal her mother's favourite diamond necklace.

"I managed to save it from being swapped for a bottle." Molly had explained before pulling her sister tight. "Please be safe."

"Oh Molls," Lexie sighed as she looked around, "if only you could see me now."


You love it, you think I'm destroying the very fabric of the characters, you want more, I wont know what you think unless you tell me.