So, kids...this is the end of the road for this story. Thanks to all of you who reviewed; you really made this an enjoyable experience. Who knows...maybe I've got another fic or two up my sleeve... ;0)
Enjoy!

Meredith couldn't sleep.

This was her third sleepover at Finn's. He lay with his arm wrapped around her waist, his warm and gentle breath tickling the hairs on the back of her neck and the faint, sweet lingering scent of chardonnay on his mouth.

Meredith couldn't sleep.

The branches of the tree outside of the window moved back and forth in the wind that had picked up, making the shadows on the wall dance. Near her feet, Doc lay curled up in sleep, his legs twitching fitfully.

Meredith couldn't sleep. She had tried to countless times that night already, and her eyes just wouldn't stay shut. She should be happy, she should be tired, she should be ready to sleep in Finn's arms after a home-cooked meal and a glass of good wine…but the day's events tugged persistently at the edges of her mind.

You really get around.

She had avoided thinking about it all day, going through the motions at Seattle Grace until her shift was over and plastering a thin but convincing smile on her face throughout her evening with Finn. She kept her hands busy so that he couldn't see them shaking. She looked at the spot between his eyes when he talked so that he couldn't see the pain radiating from them. She kept quiet so that he wouldn't hear the tremor in her voice.

I don't remember ever asking you to forgive me.

All she could picture in her head was Derek's stony, unmoving countenance as he ripped the last of her to shreds. Any effort to maintain their friendship died right there in the stairwell, killed bit by bit as the words left each other's lips. It had taken everything in Meredith to tell him right then and there what she'd been going through ever since Addison had walked through the doors of Seattle Grace for the first time, and at the end of it all she had just been so tired. Tired of fighting with her conscience, tired of wishing things were different. Tired of loving him.

For the first time since Derek chose Addison over her, Meredith had been feeling something other than numbness in someone's arms.

So why was she so hurt?

This thing with us is finished. It's over.

The fury that he'd unleashed on her all day had taken her by surprise, although as she lay tucked under Finn's shoulder she didn't know how she could have missed it. The minute that Meredith had told Derek what exactly had happened between she and George, she knew what would happen. The light in his eyes died, and the smirk slowly faded off of his face. She had known…she had known exactly what that meant, but since denial was all the rage at Seattle Grace, she had just brushed it off as nothing.

It was never "nothing". Every single thing that transpired between Meredith and Derek on a daily basis meant something; a glance, a smile, the brushing of fingers while passing instruments during surgery. There wasn't a single moment they'd shared since they met each other that didn't mean something.

I make no apologies for how I chose to repair what you broke.

Something had to give, and last night was apparently the breaking point. He was the last thing that she had expected to see while walking down the stairs, and judging from the way his face had froze up when she saw him, she was the last thing he had expected as well.

That was it. That was the moment that she'd seen coming…the moment that all the secret smiles, all the joking, laughing, dog-walking, and moments in the elevator had been laid to rest. Meredith and McDreamy were done. Over. Finished.

You don't get to call me a whore.

Doc let out a low whine at the foot of the bed, his front leg brushing Meredith's toes. Finn tightened his hold on Meredith in response, sighing into her hair and continuing to rest peacefully.

A single tear escaped from her open eyes, blurring the walls of Finn's bedroom and making the shadows soften.

It's unforgivable.

Meredith couldn't sleep.