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4. Pieces

They were both nervous, very nervous as they sat in the therapist's waiting room. His hand squeezed hers. He was afraid that bringing everything to the surface would shatter this relationship into even smaller pieces. No, he pushed the thought away. They couldn't possibly make a bigger mess out of things.

They had decided not to see a therapist at the hospital. They didn't want to talk to someone who'd already heard the gossipy part of their relationship.

"Mr. Shepherd! Miss Grey!" the receptionist called. "Mrs. Hanson's ready to see you now." She had on a warm smile as she directed them into a room down the hall. Mrs. Hanson was a kind looking woman in her mid-forties. She greeted both of them with a handshake and asked them to sit down on a couch, whereas she sat on a chair opposite them.

"So," she started. "Derek, when you called you talked about needing to sort out some issues the two of you've been having."

They both nodded in response, not quite sure where they should start.

"Ok, tell me... how long have you been together?" she continued.

They looked at each other, again not quite sure of how they were going to get through this conversation. The therapist looked at the two people in front of her waiting for a response. Finally Meredith spoke up.

"Well, it depends if you mean 'how long since we first met' or 'how long since the last make-up'!" She blushed a little and Derek couldn't help but smile at how awkward she looked.

"Well, tell me about when you first met." This time it was not just Meredith who blushed.

"Well," Derek started. "We met at a bar, about a year and half ago."

"Okay, could you be little more specific. I mean, what made this meeting turn into something more than a simple conversation at a bar?"

"Tequila, basically." This time it was Meredith who answered the question. Derek looked at her a little offended.

"Well, honey if we're going to do this we might as well be honest," she continued in a defending tone.

"Fine," Derek said looking from Meredith to Mrs. Hanson. "It was tequila."

Mrs. Hanson studied the two faces in front of her. She had a feeling that these two were going to be a complex case.

"Ok. So alcohol was involved. That's not uncommon. Tell me what happened next."

Meredith and Derek looked at each other. "Well, the next morning I woke up as she threw a pillow at me. And then she threw me out," Derek replied as Meredith had to remind herself once again why she was here.

"I didn't exactly throw you out!" she said in her defense.

"Yeah, you did," he replied laughing.

"Fine," she looked at Mrs. Hanson. "I threw him out."

Mrs. Hanson couldn't help but laugh. Their chemistry was amazing.

"Ok, Meredith. Tell me, how did this one night stand turn into a relationship?"

"Well. That morning I started my internship at the surgical wing of Seattle Grace," she said. "Where he was...well is the head of neurosurgery."

"So, the morning after you found out that your one-night stand was your boss?"

"Yep, bad karma, I know!"

"Excuse me?" Derek said a bit offended.

"I just meant, it would've been better if you hadn't turned out to be my boss. It would have made things a lot simpler than they turned out to be." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand a little.

"Okay, so over time this developed into a relationship?"

"Yeah," Derek said. "Somewhere between elevator kisses and watching ferryboats at the break of dawn, I fell in love with her."

Now, that was a sentence that made her heart stop.

"How did your co-workers react?" Mrs. Hanson continued.

"Well in the beginning there were a few hoops to jump through, but we got good at not letting it affect our work," Meredith said. "Things were going good for about two months, we were happy. Until..." She paused and looked at Derek.

"Until Addison showed up," Derek said not taking his eyes off of Meredith and saw that bringing this up still hurt her, over a year later.

"Who is Addison?"

"Derek's wife," Meredith said carefully.

"Did you know he was married, Meredith?" Mrs. Hanson looked at her.

"No," she sighed. "I didn't."