Hi again, guys! So this is the second "chapter" of Broken Hearts and Bathroom Floors. First, I'd just like to say thank you guys so much for the positive feedback on this! Lexie was (and still is) one of my favorite Grey's characters, and she had some of the most interesting and (I think) under-developed relationships with various characters.

I like to do review replies because I feel like I get to know the readers a bit more, so here they are:

Greybc — Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. (:

MerDer2015 — Thanks so much! I also love MerDer and Slexie. They are definitely two of my absolute favorite pairs from the show. I am for sure going to write a MerDer fanfic, I love their relationship so much!

mandyg67 — Thank you! (:

Guest — Thank you! I've always thought it seemed unfinished, too. I guess since the voiceover was also going on at the time, it might have been a little awkward to keep it going, and film-wise I guess it was a good place to cut it off; but I always wished Mer would've done something on-screen to show a little support. She seems to care about her at this point in the show, so I thought it was odd that she just stares at her. I'm definitely going to write more Meredith and Lexie fics. I love their relationship and wish it was developed more on-screen, but I suppose I'll have to write my own cute sisterly moments instead. Thanks again! (:

13 — Thank you a ton! This is a "two-shot," of sorts. The last chapter was from Lexie's POV, and this chapter is the same scene but from Meredith's POV. I hate writing in third person so I chose to do two chapters of first person. I agree, Lexie had quite a lot going on and nobody really seemed to be giving her much support (on-screen, anyways). I'll definitely be posting more Meredith/Lexie stories! I obviously love Meredith, and Lexie is adorable and fun to write. Thanks again for the nice comment! (:

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, on to the part you actually came here to read!

I want to go home.

That is the only thought in my head as I stand in front of the bathroom sink, idly washing my hands and thinking over the day's events thus far. Sure, Audrey's football-sized tumor was quite a sight to see, and I am genuinely glad we were able to remove it; but I have heard just about enough of bickering today. It started with Hunt and Webber duking it out for whose bright idea Derek would choose for Audrey's surgery, and it all went downhill from there. Thankfully they were able to get over themselves long enough to combine their ideas and save the girl's life, but I swear, those men act like middle schoolers sometimes. I turn around to grab a paper towel, and my thoughts are interrupted by someone slamming through the bathroom door. I look up to see my half-sister, Lexie.

"Hey!" I greet with a friendly smile. I wait for her usually-cheerful reply, but a couple seconds pass and she doesn't say anything, which is very rare for Lexie. Her breathing is shaky and a bit heavier than normal, and I notice she is blinking back tears. Somewhat surprised, I ask, "You okay?" She visibly tenses, though she tries to calm herself down with a short, uneven exhale.

"Mark's moving on," she says quietly, after a moment's pause. "Like, really."

I pause, narrowing my eyes slightly in confusion. Just earlier that day, she had told Cristina and I that she thought it would be better for both of them if Mark moved on. She couldn't really be upset about that, could she? I mean, now that I think about it, she did get up and leave pretty quickly when Cristina joked about it, but I had pegged that down to Cristina being Cristina and Lexie being Lexie. Voicing my thoughts, I slowly question, "Okay, well... That's good, isn't it? Isn't that what you wanted?"

Tears well up in her dark eyes, and when she opens her mouth to speak, I hear her breath catch in her throat. She nods unconvincingly a few times before the tears begin to fall, and she stutters and stumbles over her words even more than she usually does. "No, it's, that's... it's, it's great, that's, uh, great. It's, um, that's perfect, that's per... It's perfect—" And with that, she can't seem to hold it in any longer. Letting out a small, feeble whimper that makes even my heart break a little, she sinks to the floor. Cheeks flushed red from crying and seeming-embarrassment, she covers her face with her hand as waves of emotion crash into her. She glances up at me through a curtain of messy, blonde hair, and she opens her mouth as if she's about to say something—but no words come out. She hangs her head in defeat and allows loud, heartbroken sobs to overcome her. It is now—as her devastated sobs reverberate off the cold tile around us—that I realize she had been lying. She doesn't want Mark to move on—in fact, that's the last thing she wants him to do. She is still in love with him. I should have seen it sooner, honestly. With that thought, guilt begins to prod me. Thinking back, Lexie had been quieter lately—at home, on the drives to work, even at work. I had noticed, of course, because everyone notices when someone as boisterous as Lexie is quieter. But, like many others, I had written it off as sleep-deprivation or something of the like. It started shortly after she broke up with Mark, so I should have put two and two together. Maybe I could've helped reach out to her sooner and prevented a meltdown like this.

Crap, crap, crap! I think to myself, wildly wracking my brain for an action plan. But, unfortunately, none arises. I am a surgeon, dammit, I always have an action plan. My sister is falling apart on the bathroom floor, and all I can do is stare at her in shock. I love Lexie, I really do, and it breaks my heart to see her like this. She's my sister, and I've come to accept her as a sister and even a friend. But sometimes I just don't know how to act around her. Though she tells me otherwise, I still feel like she's expecting me to be someone or do something that I'm not naturally. I'm constantly afraid of letting her down, but because of that fear, I realize, that's exactly what I keep doing: letting her down.

But this time, this time I will not let her down. Although my first instinct is to quietly slip out the door behind her and run for the hills, I know I can't do that to her. She is shattering into a million pieces in front of me, tears streaming down her face and sorrow-filled sobs overcoming her. I don't quite know what I'm going to do or say, but the last thing she needs is for me to leave her here, alone, crying on the bathroom floor for anyone to walk in and see. Judging by the way she's hanging her head down, she's already embarrassed enough that she's bawling in front of me, let alone any random stranger—or worse, a fellow doctor—that could walk in any minute.

Although I'm not a touchy-feely, emotional type of person who does tear-filled hugs or whatever, my sister is. In her own words, I have pretty much "failed on every occasion" to live up to the role of what a big sister should be. And now Lexie—sweet, caring, sensitive Lexie who has been nothing but nice to me even when I pushed her away—is sobbing on the floor, unravelling right in front of me; and I'll be damned if I can't do something about it.

I slowly make my way towards her, still trying to formulate a plan as I get closer and closer. "Lexie," I gently call, hoping she isn't so lost in her pain that she'll look up. She lifts her head slightly but is clearly avoiding looking at me; and despite my best efforts to catch her eye, she reverts her gaze back to the floor. Sympathy pulls at my heartstrings as I close the gap between us. "Lexie," I repeat, kneeling down beside her, silently hoping nobody will walk in the door and hit us. I gently rub her back in an attempt at comfort, and she chokes on a sob while trying to control her breathing. I'm not sure what to say, so I say nothing. For a few seconds, we just sit there—her crying, me rubbing her back. She finally looks up at me again, and this time she holds my gaze for just a moment. I reach out and tenderly tuck a strand of her now-blonde hair behind her ear. She had dyed her hair blonde shortly after she broke up with Mark, stating that she "wanted a change to feel like a new person" so she could move on. Her naturally-dark roots are already visible, though, and if that isn't some cruel, telltale sign, then I don't know what is.

Lexie instinctively flinches away at my touch, quickly averting her gaze to the floor. Figuring she won't look at me on her own, I gently tilt her head up, forcing eye contact. Her usually-bright and sparkling eyes are now filled with a desperate pain, and my heart breaks a little more as a sense of hopelessness seems to wash over her. I look at her sadly, compassion for my little sister welling in my heart. This is why I had been so apprehensive of her and Mark, because I knew she'd wind up getting hurt. Now isn't the time for an I-told-you-so lecture, and by the look in her watery eyes, she already knows. Another tear slides down her cheek, and I instinctively wipe it away with my thumb. She reaches up and grabs my wrist, clinging to it as if she was dangling over a 10,000 foot drop and I was the only person on earth who could pull her back up.

"I'm, s-sorry," she chokes, shaking with the effort of suppressing her emotion. "I... I'm such a m-mess, I'm really... R-really sorry." Pangs of sadness stab me as she struggles through her sentences. She's in this much pain, yet she's still trying to apologize for supposedly inconveniencing me. I really do not deserve this girl in my life, but I'm incredibly glad she is.

"Shh," I soothe, "it's okay, there's no need to apologize." I'm not big on hugs, specifically the teary kind, but I shove that aside for the girl in beside me. After a moment's hesitation, I reach out and gently pull her to me. It feels awkward and unnatural to me at first, and I'm momentarily startled as she seems to start crying harder; but as she melts into me, I wrap my arms around her tighter and the embrace begins to feel much more organic. "Just let it out, you're gonna be okay," I promise her. And it's not an empty promise, either. I am Meredith Grey—I don't do empty, meaningless promises. One of the first things interns are taught is to never, ever promise anyone that they or their loved one will be okay, because it's the unfortunate reality that some people will not be okay. But this time, with Lexie, I promise her that she'll be okay because she will be. Maybe not today or tomorrow or even in the near future, but sometime soon, she will be. She's Lexie, after all. She'll pull through.

"I... I don't know w-what to... to do," she confesses, now clinging to my lab coat. She lets out another sob. "Everything just... hurts."

"I know," I murmur softly, sadness clear in my voice. I slowly stroke her hair, running my fingers through it in what I hope is a comforting motion. Lost for other words, I simply reply, "I'm so sorry, Lexie."

"I sh-should've never... made him choose," she continues, breath still labored and awkward as she fights to regain composure. "That was... So stupid. He just... Wanted to be a dad. I... I just..."

"It wasn't stupid," I interrupt, cutting her off before she can delve into further self-disgust. "He was ready to have an eighteen-year-old and newborn move in and you weren't. Maybe they are his daughter and grandson, but you were his girlfriend and you were living together. He had no right to tell them to just come on in without even talking to you about it. I would've done the same thing," I finally admit, realizing that I wasn't just saying it.

She pulls away slightly, surprise evident on her tear-stained face. "Really? You... You would've broken up with Derek if... you were in the same shoes?"

I pause momentarily, thinking it through before finally nodding. "Maybe not at the age we are now," I admit, and it's true. While the age difference between Derek and I is comparable to that of Lexie and Mark, it's a little different, somehow, because we're older. The older you get, the less age differences seem to matter. And while maybe the age gap wouldn't be such a big deal if Lexie wasn't barely starting her career and Mark was ready to have a family, that is what's happening, and it wasn't fair to expect a girl as young as Lexie to be ready to be a step-mother to a teenager. "But if I was 26 and he was in his 40's," I continue, "I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to think about being a parental-figure to an eighteen-year-old, let alone a technical grandparent to an infant. That's just... Really weird." I smile a little at the end, trying to lighten the mood, if only just a bit. Lexie manages a slight laugh, and I smile in return.

She reaches up and wipes at her eyes, and I suppress a laugh as black makeup smears across her cheek and onto her hand. "That... Makes me feel a little better, actually," she confesses, a shy smile dawning her features. "Thanks."

I open my mouth to reply, then quickly shut it. I need to choose these next words carefully, or she's going to go on defensive and any progress their relationship had made today would be reversed. "I know this probably isn't what you want to hear," I begin cautiously, "but if things are really 'meant to be' or whatever with you and Mark, he'll come around. And if he doesn't, well... That's really his loss."

I can almost see the gears turning in her head as she silently processes what I said. A glimmer of hope flashes in her eyes, but it's quickly followed by skepticism. I can't say I blame her, really—it was a pretty commonplace thing to say (especially coming from me), mean it though I did.

"Do you really mean that?" she asks, that same flicker of hope in her eyes that she's clearly trying to hide. Her voice drops ever so slightly, and I can visibly see her fighting to not get her hopes up. "Or are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Of course I really mean that, Lexie," I reassure her without even a split-second hesitation. She smiles at me—a genuine Lexie smile. "You did what you did because things were moving faster than you were ready for. That doesn't make you a horrible person. You're pretty much the opposite of that, actually. You're a wonderful doctor and probably the sweetest person I've ever met. Nauseatingly so," I add jokingly, and she laughs. "You loved me even when I pushed you away and did everything in my power to make you feel otherwise. If that's not something worth changing your mind for, I don't know what is. You managed to change my mind, at least," I add with a sincere smile.

Tears again fill her eyes, but this time they're accompanied by a warm, grateful smile. "Thank you," she says softly, cheeks turning slightly red. "Really. That... It means a lot, coming from you." She exhales as if breathing a sigh of relief, and suddenly her eyes shine a little brighter through the tears.

"You're welcome," I reply warmly. "Now come on, let's get you cleaned up. You look like crap Little Grey." I extend a hand down to her and she takes it. I help pull her up with ease and we walk back to the sinks. I wet a paper towel, wring it out a bit, and hand it to her.

"Ugh," she laughs after taking a look in the mirror. "You're right, I do look like crap." Both of us laugh and I give her a light, playful nudge.

After she's fixed what she can, we turn to leave the bathroom. Just as we're about to walk out the door, Lexie stops. "Hey, Mer?"

I turn to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for being there and listening. And for helping me feel better. I really appreciate it." She reaches over and throws her arms around me, hugging me tight, and this time I don't hesitate to return the gesture. "I love you," she adds, making me smile.

"I'm here anytime, Lex," I tell her honestly. "I love you, too. Now back to work, Lexipedia," I say with mock-seriousness as we pull away. "You have patients to attend to."

She laughs and smirks at me. "Sure thing, Doctor Grey."

And with that, we walk out of the bathroom and down the hall, together.

All right, that's it for this little two-shot! I really hope you guys liked it because I really enjoyed writing it! Lexie and Meredith are both such fun characters to get into, and how they interact is definitely interesting to write. I'm planning on more Meredith and Lexie stories, as well as some cute MerDer and Slexie fics. If you liked this (or if you didn't), leave a review and let me know what you thought! I'd love to hear from you.

Again, I hope you enjoyed, and thanks so much for reading this! (: