Author's Note: Hey guys! So from the feedback I've received, there's definitely interest in this story, so (obviously) I'm going to continue posting. This story is being told from third person limited omniscient point of view, so the narrator knows everything that's going through Meredith's head. If the point of view changes at some point during the story to where the omniscience shifts to another character, I will let you know at the beginning of the chapter. As a rule, if I don't say anything at the beginning of the chapter, all italic thoughts are Meredith's. Also, throughout the story at varying points, there will be flashbacks in Meredith's memory that are also italicized and separated from the rest of the story by extra space.
My plan is to have longer chapters, but when I edited what I had written, the end of this chapter was a good place to stop, this chapter is a bit shorter than what I'd like to post in the future. Also, if you have ideas about what caused Meredith to leave Mass Gen before it is officially announced, please respect the other readers and not discuss any concrete theories in reviews. I'd be happy to discuss it with you in a private message!
I hope you enjoy Chapter 1 of Rise Up!
Chapter 1:
Meredith Grey knew that getting drunk the night before anything important was out of the question and was always a bad idea. For some reason, though, that wasn't stopping her. She pushed aside the thought that tomorrow morning's impending hangover was going to make her first day hell, and she ordered a shot of tequila.
"Straight tequila. Really? You are going to be sorry in the morning," the bartender said.
Meredith shrugged it off, saying, "I'm always sorry in the morning, but tomorrow I start my first day at work, so keep them coming."
The bartender gestured so as to say "suit yourself" before preparing to make another drink. As Meredith was about to down her first shot of the night, a man in a red shirt came to the bar next to her. Meredith spared a glance at the man as she took a drink.
"Double scotch, single malt please," he ordered in a silky smooth voice that gave Meredith chills. She risked another glance at the man and tried to quickly take him in. She was only able to focus long enough on his thick mane of dark curls before he peered over at her with a head-turning smile.
Busted, Meredith thought to herself and quickly turned away and back to her drink, desperately trying to ignore the excellent specimen of pure male glory sitting next to her and begging him not to say a word to her.
"So is this a good place to hang out?" he asked. Meredith peaked over at him out of the corner of her eye to make sure she was not about to answer a question that wasn't asked of her and saw him watching her carefully.
She turned to look at him so as not to be rude and said, "I wouldn't know. I've never been here before."
"Oh, you know what? I haven't either. First time here. I'm fairly new in town. I'd never been to Seattle, but I got a job, so…" he trailed off. Meredith diverted her attention back to her drink as he spoke. She knew where this was headed, and it wasn't somewhere that she would go again. Not so soon after... She stopped that thought immediately and tried to clear her mind of it.
"Ah. You're ignoring me," he said definitively.
Meredith turned her attention back to him and said, "I'm trying to."
"You shouldn't ignore me."
"Why not?" His eyes gleamed and he gave her a mouthwatering half smile as he casted his eyes downwards.
"Because I'm someone you need to get to know to love."
Meredith had to give him points for his confidence, so she smiled at him. He returned a bright-toothed smile back to her.
"Really?" Meredith asked incredulously.
"Oh yes."
"So if I know you, I'll love you," Meredith said bluntly so as to alert him to how insane it sounded.
"Oh yes," the man responded again, this time sounding even more confident than the first time. He smiled adoringly at her, but Meredith knew it was nothing more than a ploy to get her into his bed.
"You really like yourself, huh?" His playfulness disappeared for a moment as a trace of gloom crossed his face.
"Just hiding my pain." Meredith couldn't help but laugh at this, and she was rewarded with a laugh from him as well.
The man took a breath before asking, "So what's your story?"
She had a story, one that froze blood. It made her numb just thinking about it…
One month before…
"How're you doing tonight, Meredith?" Brian asked, coming to sit next to her on the couch. Danielle's party was well underway, and all of the med students were celebrating the ends of their time in med school; they'd taken their last finals that afternoon. They weren't med students anymore, they were doctors. Each one of them had received an invitation to practice in intern and residency programs across the country, and one of them was even going to Europe for his residency. Meredith was excited to know that going into her intern year at Massachusetts General Hospital, she would walk in knowing several other faces, her best friend Abbey and Brian included.
"I'm…good. Really good. It's setting in that I'm a doctor now. I can actually make a difference and help save lives." Meredith felt like she was reciting lines. She liked him, a lot, and the whole class knew it. She hated the idea that he probably knew, too, but she was too shameless to do anything about it. It's not like she really could do anything unless she stopped liking him or moved away, but neither of those things were going to happen.
Meredith turned to look at him again, her shock from the question having worn off. Well, I just moved across the country, away from everything I know and love, because of fear. That sounded like the kind of thing you wanted to tell a complete stranger in a bar, especially one who is hitting on you. Her judgment was still poor; apparently moving across the country didn't fix that. If she would've been smart before, she would've walked away. Coincidentally, she was making the same ill-advised mistake again.
"I don't have a story. I'm just a girl in a bar," Meredith settled on telling him. You really hate yourself, don't you? Stop engaging him and get out! The man smiled and raised his glass a bit.
"I'm just a guy in a bar," he said and brought the glass back to his lips to take another swig.
Wouldn't those lips be nice to kiss and feel all over your body, Meredith caught herself thinking. No. Stop trying to make this okay. You know it's not and will never be, just like you will never be again.
She focused on him and realized that he was watching her expectantly. Crap. No escape now. Okay, Plan B: just play nice and be polite. Soon enough he'll get bored and move on to some other girl he thinks will be an easy lay. One thing Meredith knew for sure was that she was not that kind of girl. Not anymore, her inner demons mocked.
"Are you from Seattle?" he asked, clearly fishing for some kind of response. Man, this guy just doesn't quit.
"I moved two weeks ago from Boston—you know what? We don't have to do the thing."
"Oh, we can do anything you want," he said smoothly.
"No, the thing. Exchange the details, pretend we care," Meredith starts and sees that he's almost laughing, "because I know you don't. Guys have a one-track mind, and I'm not here for that, so I think I'll just head out now."
He raised an eyebrow, silently questioning what she meant by that, deciding to let it go. Clearly, it wasn't likely that he would see her again, so he didn't have to clear the air of that.
"Can I at least buy you a drink?" he asked. No! Haven't you learned at all from your mistakes? Don't back yourself into that corner again! If you accept his offer, there's no way out.
"Not tonight. Goodbye…um…" and she realized she never found out his name.
"Derek," he finished for her.
"Derek. I'm Meredith."
"Meredith, nice meeting you," Derek said and moved a little bit closer.
She took that as her cue to leave, saying, "Bye Derek," over her shoulder as she headed out of the bar and back home.
When Meredith arrived home, she trudged upstairs and plopped onto her bed, still wearing her little black dress and heels. She released a slow breath as she stared at the ceiling and kicked off her shoes.
If she would have met that guy in a bar two months ago, she didn't have a doubt in her mind that she would have gotten drunk with him and woken up in the morning to him laying naked next to her. She thought about how amazing he had to be in bed.
Meredith began to drift while thinking of curling toes, sticky skin, and luxurious dark curls.
It's not your fault…it's not your fault…it's not your fault…
It wouldn't have been tonight. She would never let them tell her that it was her fault again.
Author's Note: I'd just like to thank everyone who responded to the first chapter in some way individually! So…
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