Authors Note: Hey guys, it's me, again. Sorry it took me so long to get this next chapter up, bur I'm doing my best to get them up ASAP, but I am writing this as I go, with almost no idea of what's happening next. Throughout the rest of my story, I'm guessing it will go kinda like this, switching perspectives each chapter. Anywho, so yeah, here's chapter 2 of Mer & Alex!

Disclaimer: It's not mine I promise, besides the random characters I make up and the plot, But still! Not mine!


Chapter 2 - Memory Lane - 1986 - 6 years old

CLUNK

Meredith's shovel left a small dent in the ground, right where she planned to start her hole

CLUNK

With another heave of the shovel, the hole grew slightly deeper, but not much.

CLUNK

Another satisfactory jab, but it still was not anywhere near close enough, and with Meredith's noodle arms, it might take awhile.

CLINK

A rock. Her shovel just had to hit a rock. Why, oh why, did her shovel just have to hit a rock.

The girl sighed as she crouched down, throwing the inconveniently placed rock away from her spot, getting rid of any other rocks she found as well.

As Meredith stood back up, she casually glanced across the street, groaning once she saw that annoying Alex kid she had just met a few days prior.

She continued to work on digging her hole, painstakingly aware of the boy approaching her, and surprise, holding that ailly camera.

With another dig, Alex had completely crossed the street and had reached Meredith. She didn't want him here, she much preferred to brood alone. She could take care of herself, pretty much, and she didn't need or want him. Besides, boys had cooties, Meredith couldn't afford to catch cooties and she knew that no doctor could fix them. Cooties were terrible!

Alex opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Meredith cut him off.

"Could you please not videotape me." she heard her voice mumble. All shreds of her tough act crumbled down around her even if it had only been in her head.

She wasn't brave, or outgoing.

She wasn't extraordinary.

She looked over at the crumpled picture and her matted, disgusting, and scarred teddy bear. Her beloved Mr. Fluffy. He had been with her through thick and thin. Through good and bad. She had received Mr. Fluffy from her dad when she was only a baby. Meredith had also only had the bear for 6 years, and it only took her five to turn him into what he was today.

Sure, he was an eyesore, and that was pretty obvious. But to her, his disgusting appearance meant that he had been loved.

He was missing an eye - from a time Meredith had been swinging on a swingset at preschool. The small button eye had gotten stuck in the swing's chain.

Mr. Fluffy had a long scar down his tummy as well - from when Meredith tried to give him a surgery. Just like her mom.

He had an arm with no stuffing - from the time when the meanest kid in kindergarten ripped it off. Meredith had somehow managed to superglue the limb back on, only getting one finger stuck to the fur in the process.

Mr. Fluffy had been her only constant in life. With her mother spending as much time as possible, she was rarely there for Meredith. Before her father had left, and before her mother moved the two of them to the suburbs of Boston, it had been Mr. Fluffy and her dad. But he left, and it was now just her and Mr. Fluffy.

The boy clicked the camera off.

CLUNK

She continued on forming her hole. Hopefully, she would be done soon, but she knew deep inside that she wouldn't be.

CLUNK

She still only partially understood why was she doing this. Originally, it was for some weird sense of closure, but now, it was more a sense of obligation since she didn't want to leave it half finished. Her Mother had been mad at her for still asking about Dad, even though it had been over a year.

CLUNK

Ellis had told her to bury her feeliings, that it was the strong thing to do, that they didn't need him. Just bury your feelings.

As Meredith shoveled the dirt off to her side, she glanced up at the darkening sky. The clouds were a worrying gray, and heavy with rain, so they were very prominent against the shining, yet gray, sky.

Seattle

Sure, it rained everywhere, but the rain reminded her of her home, Seattle. It probably always would.

She often sat on the wooden porch wing at her old home to watch the rain… with her dad. It didn't swing back and forth, or really move at all anymore, but it was all the same to Meredith.

Other times when it rained, Meredith would rid herself of her socks and her shoes. She would run down her driveway and into the street, her bare feet making a small pitter patter on the pavement. And her dad would watch her with amusement

The rainwater rushing through the gutters was a river, just asking to be splashed through. Her clothes would be clinging to her skin, but it didn't matter to Meredith.

Alex's voice tore her away from her thoughts.

Meredith turned to face him, her eyebrows raised in question. Before she knew it, a small "huh?" had escaped her lips.

"Seattle, what was it like there, in Seattle?" repeated the boy. Meredith had never mentioned Seattle to him, so how did he know?

'Well, mom's car does have that thing on the back that says Seattle, Washington, but he probably didn't notice that.' Giving up on any explanations, Meredith decided she should ask.

"How do you know I'm from Seattle?" the boy looked at her as if he was now embarrassed for knowing this piece of information, but still answered her question nonetheless.

"I heard you ask your mom about it a few days ago." Filling in the unspoken, but obvious, Meredith realized that he had been listening to her and her mother's conversation. She didn't know much about the boy, but she sure knew that he was definitely nosey.

"Well, it was big and there was a lot of people. It rained a lot too." Meredith kept her answer brief, hoping that Alex would get the hint that she wanted him to leave. He didn't

"I used to live in Iowa with my mom, then we moved out here last year. My mom had another baby a few months ago too, but he doesn't live with us." The enthusiasm in Alex's voice faded away as he finished his sentence, but Meredith didn't care.

"Cool." her voice monotone. She shifted her focus back to her hole, thoughtlessly shoveling the dirt off to the side.

"Anyways," he continued, enthusiasm returning to his words, "I saw your mom yesterday, but do you have a dad?"

She did, everyone had a dad, right? But no, Meredith didn't she was told to forget him, she was burying the memories, the feelings.

She ignored him. 'Him': referring to Alex or her dad, either worked. Meredith didn't like to think about her dad, Thatcher. Her mom told her not to think about him anymore - or talk about it. But truth be told, she missed her dad.

He had poured her cereal in the morning. He had tucked her in at night, and made sure that there were no monsters hiding under her bed, or in her closet. When Meredith couldn't sleep, Thatcher would sing her a lullaby, because that would always calm her down, and it put her right to sleep. He would play dolls with her and Anatomy Jane.

But one day, after her parents yelling a lot, he packed up a suitcase. He told Meredith he would be back really soon, that he would be back for dinner.

So she waited…

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

He never came home.

Five hours later, five hours after her father left, her mom came home. She dropped take out on the kitchen table for Meredith, half eaten takeout at that, and went straight up to bed.

Meredith had been three, almost four at the time, and now, two years later, her mother had packed up everything they owned at moved the two of them across the country to the suburbs of Boston. And now, this annoying boy was talking to her, and would not leave her alone.

'Wait' she corrected, 'all boys were annoying, what other kind were there?'

A big raindrop fell on Meredith's head. It was raining. Meredith looked up at the sky as the rain began to pitter patter down, so far only a few scattered drops.

And she dropped the crumpled, sad looking picture into the hole. It had been her, her mother, and her father. She was sitting in a red wagon in front of the elementary school.

As the rain began to drizzle down, she hurriedly shoveled all the upturned dirt back into the hole, definitely flinging some dirt onto Alex. On accidentally of course.

The rain was pouring now. Meredith had long given up trying to return all the dirt back to it's rightful place, so she had just left it in the pile next to her hole. Suddenly remembering the boy, she turned around to see that he was no longer there.

Meredith glanced all around, finally to see him running across the street back to his house. But to her confusement, he only sat on his porch, Alex did not go back inside.

Mr. Fluffy! Forgetting Alex, Meredith practically lunged for her beloved teddy bear. How could she have left him to get soaked? She hugged the bear to her chest, fighting the urge to run through the streets, to play in the rain. She had to do this for Mr. Fluffy's sake.

The girl turned around, about to head back into her new house to change her dress, perhaps something less… wet. But before she could make any movement, her mother came running out of the house.

"Meredith, my liver transplant patient is coding, we're going to the hospital." Ellis, her mother, climbed into the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition.

Meredith stood there, waiting for her mother to drive off like she always did. Instead she heard she mother yelling, and loud enough for Meredith to hear it from outside of the car, a new accomplishment for Ellis.

"What are you waiting for! Get in the car!" It had been 3 years but Meredith was still getting used to going to the hospital with her mother. She blinked a few times before she rushed to get into the car. She sat herself down in her car seat and buckled herself up, something that she was used to, as her mother always forgot to do. Mr. Fluffy sat next to her.

What would this new hospital be like?

Would it have kind nurses who let her color on old E.R. charts?

Would the nurses let her sit behind the nurse's station?

Would she still get to take naps in the resident's lounge?

Meredith didn't know any of this, how could she? But Meredith did know that this new hospital would never be Seattle Grace, and it wouldn't have her dad.


Authors Note (Again): So, there you have it! As you can tell, there are some changes I made to the original story line. Thatcher left when Meredith was 3, not only was Ellis having an affair with Richard, Thatcher was having an affair with Susan. Thatcher left Ellis when Susan realized she was pregnant with Lexie, so they eloped a few days later. Richard and Ellis stayed together for a little while longer. Ellis has already had Maggie as well, but she has not tried to kill herself yet. Alex lived in Iowa with his mom, but then moved to Boston to be with his dad. I am going to change one small thing in chapter 1 though, instead, Aaron was still a newborn and is already gone, Amber will come into play later.

And I know this is Cliche and EVERYONE says this, but it would mean a lot to me if you would review, give some feedback, something! Love you guys!

xoxo