Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, or Shrek.


Izzie ran as fast as her legs could carry her, not looking back. She could hear the cries of Sloan and the security guards behind her, but tried to block them out. Suddenly, she ran into someone and fell backwards. It was Meredith, who had been putting a new 'KEEP OUT' sign at the edge of her land. She glared down at Izzie, who gulped, but then Sloan and the security guys came bolting up the path, so Izzie hid behind Meredith, deeming her the lesser of two evils.

"You there, dark and twisty!" yelled Sloan.

"Yes?" Meredith frowned. The security guys cowered behind Sloan.

"By order of Sydney Herron, I demand that you step away from that woman so we can arrest her and have her escorted to a designated resettlement facility." Throughout this speech, Sloan had been becoming less and less confident, as Meredith continued to stare him down. She glanced at Izzie, wide-eyed and frightened, and couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her. Just because she was dark and twisty didn't mean she was heartless.

"Really?" she smirked, turning back to Mark. "You and what army?" Mark turned, and seeing that his back up had abandoned him, he screamed and fled. Meredith turned and began to walk away, back towards her house. Izzie stared after Mark for a second, then chuckled, following Meredith.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? You were really great back there, seriously."

"Are you talking to.." Meredith turned, annoyed at being followed, only to find Izzie apparently gone. "Me?" she shrugged, then almost jumped out of her skin when she discovered Izzie had come around to stand right in front of her.

"I was talking to you!" Izzie grinned. "You were awesome back there, really. There was Mark Sloan and those other creeps thinking they were so great, then you come in, and BOOM! They're tripping over themselves like a bunch of interns on their first day! It was good to see Sloan get taken down a notch, he needed it."

"Really? Great" said Meredith sarcastically.

"It's so good to be free!"

"In that case" said Meredith, starting to get annoyed, "Why don't you go find your own friends and celebrate your freedom with them?" Izzie paused for a moment, thinking about George, then sighed sadly.

"I uh, don't really have any friends right now" she said, shuddering as she looked down the road. "And I can't go back there, now that they know I'm all bright and shiny.." she paused again, then grinned as an idea came to her. "Hey, maybe I should stick with you! You're all dark and twisty, and I grew up in a trailer park, so I'm tougher than I look. We could easily scare the crap out of anybody who crosses us!" Meredith turned around, glaring.

"GO AWAY!" she growled, hoping to scare Izzie off. The blonde resident looked shocked for a second, but was soon beaming again.

"Whoa, that was a good one!" she laughed, while Meredith groaned. "I nearly jumped right out of my skin! But seriously girl, you need to get some mouthwash because your breath stinks!" Spotting Meredith heading quickly into the distance, trying to lose her, Izzie ran to catch up. "It reminds me of this time me and George.." Meredith clapped a hand over Izzie's mouth, trying to silence her, but Izzie kept talking through it, so Meredith sighed and released her. "..And there was so much garlic, we both smelt pretty bad that day, I can tell you!"

"Why are you following me?" Meredith snapped.

"It's simple really" Izzie took a deep breath, and Meredith was overcome with a feeling that whatever followed the breath was not going to be good. Then, the bubbly blonde resident began to sing. "'Cause I'm all alone, there's no one here beside me. My problems have all gone, there's no one to deride meeee... But you gotta have friends!"

"Stop singing!" yelled Meredith, nearly tearing her hair out. "It's no wonder you don't have any friends if you sing like that!"

"Only a true friend could be that honest!" Izzie smiled, while Meredith groaned again. She was really beginning to wish she had just let those guys take Izzie.

"Look, you... shiny happy girl. Look at me! What am I?"

"Uh.." Izzie frowned, looking Meredith over. "Really short?"

"No!" Meredith yelled. "I'm dark and twisty! Broken! Damaged goods! Doesn't any of that bother you?"

"No" Izzie replied.

"Really?" asked Meredith, a little surprised.

"Really, really" Izzie smiled. "I like you. I'm Izzie, Izzie Stevens. What's your name?"

"Uh.." Meredith paused for a moment, not completely sure she wanted to divulge this information to her rather annoying companion, then shrugged, not seeing any real harm in it. "Meredith."

"Hmm, you know what I like about you Meredith? You've got that 'I don't care what anybody thinks of me' thing going on. I really respect that." The pair reached the driveway of Meredith's house. "Man, this place is kind of run down. Who in their right mind would want to live here?"

"Me" said Meredith, glaring. "This is my home."

"Lovely place it is too" said Izzie sheepishly. "I love what you've managed to do with such an obviously small budget." She realised she was digging herself into a very deep hole, so quickly found something to compliment before following Meredith up the driveway. "I like that gnome, really great gnome." Izzie gulped when she spotted the various 'KEEP OUT' signs littering the front lawn. "Uh.. you don't entertain much do you Mer?"

"I like my privacy" Meredith replied.

"Me too! That's another thing we have in common!" Izzie grinned. "I really hate it when some idiot's bugging you, and you're trying to give them a hint and they won't leave, then there's that big awkward silence afterwards.." Meredith just glared at Izzie, who giggled nervously. "So... can I stay with you?"

"What?" yelled Meredith.

"Can I stay with you?" Izzie repeated. "Please?"

"Sure!" said Meredith in mock-cheerfulness.

"Really?" said Izzie hopefully.

"No."

"Oh come on!" cried Izzie, grabbing Meredith by the shoulders. "You don't know what it's like to be persecuted!" Mereddith once again glared, crossing her arms, and Izzie gulped. "Well maybe you do, but that's why we have to stick together!"

"Fine" Meredith sighed. "But just for tonight."

"Cool!" said Izzie, rushing into the house and jumping right in Meredith's favourite chair.

"Hey!" cried Meredith, running after her.

"This is going to be seriously awesome!" said Izzie, excited. "We'll stay up late catching up on the latest gossip, and in the morning, I'm baking muffins!" Meredith, really annoyed by this point, ground her teeth, while Izzie looked around. "So, uh.. where do I sleep?"

"Outside!" yelled Meredith. "In the chair on the front porch.

"Oh" said Izzie sadly. "Well, I understand I guess, I mean, I don't really know you, you don't know me.. Outside is best." Izzie gave a long, drawn out sigh. "Here I go." As soon as she was out, Meredith slammed the door. Unfortunately, Izzie's voice, though slightly muffled, could still be heard. "I can handle this. I grew up in a trailer park, that's almost outside.." Meredith groaned, as Izzie sang sadly. "I'm all alone. There's no one here beside me.."