Shades of Grey
By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Part One.

Part Two- Brand New Day

Meredith woke up to see McSteamy laying in bed next to her.

She blinked and sat up, the events of the night before coming back to her. Okay, this was why she shouldn't be allowed to drink. She had actually slept with Mark!

Meredith chuckled humourlessly, she and Addison really did have the same taste in men. First Derek and then Mark.

"Hey." Mark said, opening his eyes.

"Hey." Meredith said awkwardly. "You should go."

Mark shot her an amused look. "You're not so good at the morning after etiquette are you?"

"Not really." Meredith admitted, briefly thinking back to that first morning with Derek. She shook her head, now was not the time to be thinking about Derek. "But you should still go. Last night was--"

"Two lonely people sharing their misery." Mark said with a grin. "And really great sex."

Meredith laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. But..."

"No buts." Mark told her. "We're claiming our own destiny, remember, and we're forgetting all about certain people."

"I remember." Meredith told him. "But you should still go, I have to get to the hospital."

"Fine." Mark told her. "As long as you let me buy you dinner tonight."

Meredith smiled, despite herself. She knew she should say no, this was Mark, the wife-stealing jerk, after all. But, despite that, she found herself smiling. "Okay."

Mark grinned and then got up out of the bed and started grabbing his clothes. "Good. I'll see you tonight then."

George and Izzie, who had come in early that morning, were in the kitchen.

"So I was going to tell her, but she had this guy in there with her." George was telling Izzie.

"What guy?" Izzie asked. "I thought she'd given up on random one-night stands."

"I don't know." George answered. "I didn't see him, I just heard him. But who he is, isn't the point. The point-"

"Hey, I think I hear someone." Izzie said, interrupting him.

George wasn't sure if he wanted to see what Meredith's one-night stand looked like, but he got up anyway and followed Izzie to the door, just in time to see a man walking down the steps and head out the front door. The two of them exchanged looks.

"Is that?" Izzie asked in disbelief.

"McSteamy." George muttered, hated himself for using the nickname. "God, I really do have to be the last man on Earth that she'll sleep with."

"Oh, George." Izzie said sympathetically. "I'm sure that's not true."

"She slept with the wife-stealing jerk." George told her. "How much lower can she get? And yet, when I talk she doesn't even hear me."

The truth was just slowly starting to sink in. He was never going to get with Meredith, because she was never going to see him.

Derek had spent the night thinking everything over and he came to a conclusion. This charade had gone on long enough.

"Addie, I want a divorce." He said quietly over breakfast.

She put down her fork and stared at him. "What?"

"I want a divorce." He repeated. "Our marriage is over, it's been over for a long time, we both know that. We've just been deluding ourselves."

It hadn't been an easy decision to make, after all his vows meant a lot to him, but he had to admit to himself that he no longer meant those vows. He'd given it his best shot, but the truth was his marriage had been over for a long time.

"Is this about Mark coming here?" She asked. "Because I swear--"

"It's not." Derek told her. "Oh, it might have helped me see things more clearly, but that's not why I'm asking you for a divorce. I'm asking you for a divorce because I'm not in love with you anymore."

"So it's about Meredith." Addison said bitterly. "I should have known."

"I'm sorry, Addie." Derek said quietly. "I wanted it to work out."

Addison just nodded. "I'm sorry too, Derek." She stood up. "I'll move into a hotel today and then I'll call my lawyer, all right?"

Derek nodded gratefully, glad that she wasn't going to fight him on it. Apparently she knew just as well as he did that it was over between them.