Meredith's condo wasn't as pretty as Seth's; she knew she's have to paint and buy furniture to spice up the place. It was small - one bathroom with a shower, two bedrooms, a small kitchen living room combination - but it was good enough for Meredith and she couldn't find words to thank Seth more than she already had.
The curtains and wallpaper patterns weren't her favorite; they looked as if she was living in a nursing home. The floors were sanded down; she would add carpet later. She would also need to install the air conditioner that laid on the kitchen floor, but she would keep the windows open in the mean time. Meredith walked down the hallway that was identical to Seth's and found the bedroom with the closet; she would use the other bedroom as storage or a guest room. The bedrooms - unlike the kitchen and living room - had carpet but it was unwelcomingly hideous and it didn't feel too great either. Though, Meredith wouldn't complain; Seth didn't have to do this for her.
Roman and Dean carried Meredith's bags in from Seth's condo and set them down in Meredith's dark living room. They looked around at the unkept rooms and heard Meredith's voice yell from a room in the back of her condo.
"Just leave them in the kitchen, guys!" Meredith wiped her skirt off and headed up towards the room where the two men were.
"Uh, Mer?" Roman lifted his eyebrow.
"I know," Meredith knew what he was thinking, "it needs work."
"It needs a lot of work." Dean admitted.
"I just need new furniture and I should probably paint." Meredith looked at the ugly floral wallpaper staring back at her.
"You need to do more than that." Dean laughed through his nose.
"Yeah, Mer, this place needs a complete renovation." Roman added and scratched the back of his head.
"I'll make due." Meredith rolled her eyes.
"I'll go get Seth." Roman headed out the door, leaving Dean and Meredith alone in the condo together.
"I'll carry these bags back to your bedroom for you." Dean offered as he picked up the bags.
"I'll show you where it is." Meredith gave Dean a gentle smile and followed him down the hallway. "It's that room." She pointed to the second door on the right which was across the hall from the bathroom.
"Jeez, Meredith." Dean walked in the room and looked at the walls and floor, "this place needs a woman's touch."
"Yeah," Meredith sighed, "I don't know when I'll have the time though."
"I'll help you." Dean offered.
"Dean, I couldn't ask you to do that." Meredith spoke solemnly.
"Why not?" Dean set her bags on the bed and walked over to her, gently grabbing her arms and rubbing them with his thumbs. "I'm offering. I'll help paint and lay your carpets while you do errands or go furniture shopping some days. I promise its no big deal." He looked into her eyes and gave her a half smile.
Meredith looked into his eyes for a while and realized his proposition wasn't going to change. She finally gave in with a sigh, "Fine. Thank you, Dean."
"My pleasure." He smirked as ran his thumb over Meredith's jawline.
Meredith practically melted in his hand, but kept her composure. God he was seductive, even if he meant to be or not.
"Mer?" Seth's voice echoed through the practically empty condo.
"Coming!" Meredith proclaimed.
Meredith and Dean walked in from the hallway together and this upset Seth greatly, but he kept his feelings well hidden.
"Um..." Seth lost his words.
"How about we go get some drinks or something?" Roman broke the silence.
"Sounds good." Dean shrugged.
"Sounds great." Meredith laughed. "Seth, you can invite Leighla if you want." She gave him an innocent smile.
"Today is about you, Mer. I don't want to spoil it for you." He frowned.
"Please invite her," Meredith pouted, "I've only seen her in pictures. I want to meet her."
"I'll see if she's busy." Seth gave her a half-grin.
"Ro," Seth nodded to him, "What's Joselynn doing tonight?"
"I can see if she can get a sitter for Ava or something." Roman shrugged.
"Sweet."
As Roman and Seth stepped out of Meredith's condo to get better signal on their phones, Dean and Meredith shared the small couch in the corner of the living room. Meredith didn't really know what to talk about, so she stayed quiet. Dean twiddled his thumbs and finally broke the silence in the room.
"What color were you thinking for the walls?"
"I was thinking a soft yellow." She gave him a smile.
"Alright, cool." Dean nodded.
"I hope Seth loosens up after he has a few drinks in him." Meredith groaned. "And when hes with Leighla, that should help too."
"I think he's just having a bad day." Dean tried to reason with her.
"He's just so protective of me." Meredith looked over at him. They were practically face to face. "I just want to have fun tonight." She whispered as she looked at his lips.
Dean's breath picked up a little bit and he swallowed hard as she put her hand on his thigh. She moved in closer as if she was going to kiss him, but was interrupted by Seth and Roman trudging back into the condo. Meredith and Dean quickly situated themselves to look innocent, even though nothing had happened. Seth's eyes pierced into Dean as if he knew what was going on when he left; or what was going to happen anyway. Meredith's face flushed as she looked down and bit the skin around her thumb.
"Joselynn and Leighla said they can come." Seth said in a mono tone.
"When will they be here?" Dean realized his arm was still around the top of the couch where Meredith was sitting and quickly moved it into his lap.
"Joselynn is going to drop Ava off at her sister's house and shes gonna swing by Leighla's house and get her." Roman noted.
Dean said nothing, but nodded his head.
"Are we carpooling?" Meredith asked.
"Yeah." Seth answered. "You're gonna ride with the girls and the three of us are gonna take Roman's car."
"I guess I'll get to know them on the way to wherever we're going."
"You wanted them to come." Seth pointed out.
"Where do you wanna go, Mer?" Roman sat on the island in her kitchen.
"I don't really know. What's in LA?"
"Um." Roman tried to think of places appropriate for the ladies.
"I guess we can go to Charlie's. It's a grill and bar." Dean told her.
"That sounds great." Meredith smiled. "I'm gonna hang up some of my clothes while we wait for them, okay?"
"We'll be in my condo." Seth told her.
The three men walked out of the condo and Meredith turned on her Pandora Music Radio. She chose the Aerosmith Station and walked back to her bedroom. The first song to play was "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing." She sat on the edge of her bed and closed her eyes; recalling the smooth way Dean sang the lyrics in his car earlier. It was the first moment of peace she had all day which was quickly ended by a phone call that stopped her music. Dustin.
Meredith hesitantly picked up her phone on the third ring and set it to speaker, "Hello?"
"Hey, baby." He sounded drunk.
"Dusty, leave me alone." Meredith's annoyed voice wasn't hidden.
"I know you're gonna come back for me, bitch." He gave a hearty laugh.
"Then why did I move to California?"
"You're in denial." He laughed again.
"And you're drunk. Goodbye."
"Wait."
"What do you want from me, Dusty!" Meredith cried into her phone.
Seth knocked on Meredith's door; he forgot his phone. She didn't answer the door, so he let himself in. He heard her talking on the phone so he quietly walked up the hallway thinking it was their parents. He stood in the hallway for a minute or two.
"Meredith, you're worthless. You always were." Dustin snarled into the phone.
"Just because I didn't have sex with you doesn't make me worthless."
"You're a slut, Meredith. Just admit it. You're getting some dick in California; that's why you moved there."
"No it's not! Dusty leave me alone. I'm tired of you. You weren't the person I wanted to give my virginity to." Meredith shrieked into the phone.
Seth was happy that his sister was still a virgin, but the way Dustin was talking to her made him want to personally drive himself to Iowa and knock his teeth down his throat. He couldn't interrupt the conversation now, so he stood and listened.
"You're lucky your brother is a wrestler." Dustin's voice now threatening.
"And why is that?"
"Because if he wasn't I would come down to LA and beat you like you so much deserve, cunt."
"You won't find me, Dustin." She tried to stay calm.
"But I will." He warned. "And when I do, you're not going to like the outcome. This time, I'll break more than your heart." He laughed and hung up the phone.
Meredith threw her phone against the closet door and it fell to the floor. She balled up on her bed and started weeping helplessly into her hands. Seth was trying to find a way to walk into her room without startling her or making her seem like he was eavesdropping which he sort of was. He couldn't stand to hear her cry anymore, so he just went for it.
"Mer." Seth softly spoke as he sat on the edge of her bed where she was originally sitting and pet her head for comfort.
Meredith said nothing and curled into Seth's arms, continuing to sob into his Glamour Kills t-shirt. He hugged her tight and as well said nothing; he didn't need to. They continued hugging and he finally spoke up.
"I had no idea Dustin was like that, Meredith." Seth's words were filled with sorrow.
"Because I didn't tell you; I didn't tell anyone." She wiped her eyes and smeared the mascara to the side of her face.
Seth didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what he would do if Dustin actually did come to LA. He didn't want to think about that, and he didn't want Meredith to think about it either. All Seth could think of was that maybe Dean wasn't so bad for Meredith as he originally thought.
