don't own Grey's anatomy

Seattle six weeks before April starts her surgical internship.

April was trying to get settled into her new apartment. For the first time she was on her own. No parents, no grandparents, aunts, uncles or roommates this was her chance to fly away from the Shepherd and Montgomery legacy. This was her chance to prove she got here on pure talent and it had nothing to do with the name she carried.

She had just put away her dishes when a knock came on the door. She approached it cautiously she wasn't expecting anyone "Who is it?" she called out.

"You….you're fa..fath..father."

Her father, and from of it he was very drunk. She threw the door open and stood there in shock. Derek Shepherd stood there disheveled and obviously very drunk he was almost falling over.

"Dad." She gasped rushing forward and putting her arm around him before he feel to the floor. She pulled him into the apartment shutting the door behind them and moved him over to the couch letting him fall as she rushed to get some aspirin and water. "Here take this." She shoved it at him.

He took it spilling some of the water on her couch. "Thanks." He laid down and grabbed a pillow covering his eyes.

"Oh no I don't think so you show up on my doorstep drunk off your ass when you're supposed to be on the opposite coast so you want to tell me what that's about?"

"Too. Drunk." Derek mumbled

"Fine." April threw the pillow at him and stormed into her room slamming the door behind her and grabbing her phone from her end table where it had been charging. She dialed her mother's number maybe she'd know what happened.

"Hello." Addison answered and April was positive the woman had been crying.

"Hey um mom you want to tell me why a very drunk dad showed up on my doorstep a moment ago."

"That's where he went." Addison gasped. Now April was sure she'd been crying.

"Yes this is where he is but would you like to tell me why?"

"I made a… a big mistake." She sobbed. April raised her eye brow and pursed her lips even though her mother couldn't see.

"Care to elaborate."

"Well you know your father hasn't been spending much time with me always sending others to eat the dinners I make and forgetting important dates and I was so lonely…" she trailed off

April felt her stomach drop she was sure she knew where this was going. "And what did you do?" April bit out."

"He came home and I was…. I was in bed with Mark."

"Uncle Mark." April gasped. "How could you." April felt betrayed to her very core. Her family was ripped to shreds by her mother and her uncle helped to rip it apart.

"It was one time. Just once and I was so lonely." Addison pleaded with her daughter. "He saw us and he walked out and I have been frantic wondering where he's been since."

"I can't speak to you right now." April snapped. She didn't even give her mother a chance to say anything else she slammed her phone closed and went into her bathroom. She looked into the mirror.

Her eyes were her grandmother's for that she was thankful in that moment. Her hair though that was all her mother. Her red locks an almost carbon copy of Addison Montgomery-Shepherd if only a few shades lighter. She swallowed and turned away not wanting to even look at her own reflection. She left her room and grabbed her keys and purse. She got into her car and found herself walking around a late night drug store a few moments. Later. She stopped at the hair dye.

She looked at box after box before picking up a box of brown dye it reminded her of her aunt Liz. She walked up to the cash register and paid for it and almost on auto pilot found herself back at her apartment. She went through the motions of dying her hair. She looked in the mirror later as at her freshly colored hair. Now she had no reminders that she was Addison Montgomery-Shepherds daughter. Just a soul crushing betrayal.

She fell asleep the smell of dye wafting around her.

The next morning, she kept herself busy as her father slept on the couch eggs bacon toast waffles the works.

Derek yawned and set up the smell of food waking him. "Mmm smells good." His eyes widened when he saw his daughter. "What did you do to your hair?"

"Colored it foods ready." She said motioning to a plate and placing some juice and coffee in front of it. "Eat up."

He sighed stood up and came to the little counter he sat at one of her stools and took the food. "Why did you color it." She looked away from him as she made her own plate.

"didn't want to look like her." She mumbled.

Derek closed his eyes. Anguish washed thorough him. "You talked to your mother?"

"Yes and I don't want to again." April snapped.

"April." Derek grabbed her hand. "I don't want you to hate your mother. I shouldn't have shown up here. I was on the run and you were my first thought I'm sorry for dragging you into the middle of this." He squeezed her hand. "You had beautiful hair."

"Yeah well." April shrugged pulling away and stabbing her eggs. "It is what it is I guess."

"April me and your mother have both made our share of mistakes but you… you baby girl will never be one of them and I should have protected you from this not dumbed it on you."

" would have found out at some point so what are you going to do now, going back to New York?"

Derek sighed. "My old mentor works at Seattle Grace I think I'll see if I can get a job there. He's always bugging me to come out here."

"As long as it's not Mercy West." April snorted.

After that silence fell over the father daughter pair. Neither wanting to talk any more about the turn their lives had taken. April had raced to the opposite coast to outrun her last name and it seemed her mother's extra-marital affair now made that impossible. She was not pleased in that moment and she wasn't sure what life would bring her next but she hoped it wasn't as bad as this. If only she could See Meredith Grey about crash into her life.

A/N so I think the next chapter will be Derek buying the land and moving there maybe meeting Meredith. But I don't know if we'll actually see that as this is mostly through April's POV