A/N: Again, thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows, and for being so patient with my slow updates! Studying continues full-force, so I'm afraid things will continue to be slow for at least a while longer, but I am continuing to work on this story (and my others, when I get a few minutes' break). This is a bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope you all still enjoy it! I can't say exactly when I'll have the next chapter ready, but we'll be diving into Meredith's first day at the new job, and I've got lots planned (and pre-written) for that, so there's a chance it could be as soon as a week or so from now (no promises, though, of course!).
Meredith let out a sigh of exhaustion as she slipped her key into the lock and let herself into her house that evening. She'd thought about going after Maggie, trying to explain herself right then and there that afternoon, but she knew she was due at Seattle Presbyterian to sign her contract, and it wouldn't have been a good precedent to set to be late for her own contract signing. She'd thought maybe she could get in and out quickly, and make it back to Grey-Sloan before Maggie scrubbed in or left, but after the contract, there'd been people to meet and hands to shake and a surgical floor to tour, and before she knew it, the sun was setting and she was only just leaving the hospital. Her car had been in front of the house when she'd pulled up, though, so she knew the confrontation was coming.
"Hey."
Meredith jumped slightly as she hung her keys on the hook and turned to find Amelia sitting on the couch in the living.
"Is Maggie upstairs?" Meredith asked.
"Yup," Amelia nodded, taking a sip from the soda in her hands. "Hey, can I have her room?"
Meredith frowned. "No, you can't have her room," she said. "It's her room."
"Yeah, but she's not going to be using it anymore," Amelia said. "And I'm sure Alex would like me out of his room."
"I'm sure of that," Meredith said. "What do you mean, she won't be using it anymore?"
"I don't know what you did to her, but she's pretty pissed off," Amelia said. "She came home with a bunch of boxes and muttering something about finding a new place to live."
"Well, that's ridiculous," Meredith said. "No one is moving out."
"I am."
Meredith turned around and shook her head as Maggie slowly made her way down the stairs, dragging a very overstuffed suitcase behind her.
"Maggie, you're not moving out," Meredith said. "Where do you think you're going to go?"
"I don't see why you care," Maggie said. "Or I am supposed to consult you on decisions like this? You know, give you the courtesy you didn't give me?"
"Maggie, that's not fair," Meredith said. "This had nothing to do with you."
"Of course it did," Maggie said. "I thought you were my sister, I thought you understood what that meant."
"Maggie…"
"I just don't understand how you could be so selfish," Maggie said. "I don't understand how you could do this to me."
Meredith tilted her head slightly as she stared at her sister. "Wow," she muttered. "I see it now."
"What?" Maggie asked in confusion.
"My mother," Meredith said. "I've looked, over and over and over again, I've looked at you, and I've tried to see her. I could see Richard, I could see parts of him that came through in how you acted, but I could never see my mother until right now."
"I'm not following," Maggie said. "What did I do that reminds you of Ellis?"
"It's the ego," Meredith said. "The refusal to acknowledge that the world doesn't revolve around you. You're my sister, Maggie, and I do love you, but not everything that happens is about you or even has anything to do with you."
"And that reminds you of Ellis?"
Meredith nodded. "It was always about her," she said. "Never about what I wanted, never about what made me happy. Everything I did, she viewed it as something I did to her. Maggie, I didn't talk to you about moving to Seattle Pres because it didn't have anything to do with you. It's my career, not yours. And yes, I'm sorry you found out the way you did, but I'm not going to discuss every career move I make with you."
"And Nathan?"
"That happened months ago," Meredith said. "Before I knew you were interested. I didn't do it to hurt you, Maggie, but to be perfectly honest, when I made the decision to sleep with him, you were probably the furthest thing from my mind."
"So you've just been screwing him behind my back?" Maggie asked. "When you knew I had feelings for him?"
"It was one time, Maggie, and it was months ago," Meredith said. "And yes, I kissed him today, but it didn't mean anything. Even if did, nothing happened between the two of you, and he doesn't want anything to happen between the two of you. Sometimes, a guy just isn't interested, Maggie, and I am sick and tired of feeling guilty about whatever feelings I might have, just so you don't get yours hurt."
"Well, if that's how you really feel, you should go for it," Maggie said, reaching down and picking up her suitcase. "Who cares what I think? Why should I matter? I'm only your sister."
"Maggie…"
"No, you know what, this is good," Maggie said. "I'm glad I know where I stand with you."
Meredith sighed as Maggie dragged her suitcase toward the door. "Maggie, you don't have to move out," she said.
"You know, I really think I do," Maggie said. "I wouldn't want to stay someplace where I don't matter."
"That is not what I meant, Maggie, and you know it," Meredith said.
"Goodbye, Meredith," Maggie said.
Meredith winced slightly as the door slammed shut behind Maggie. Turning slowly toward the couch, she was surprised to find Amelia still sitting there quietly.
"Am I supposed to go after her?" she asked, stepping into the living room.
"I wouldn't," Amelia said, taking a sip of her soda. "She'll come back when she figures out she's an adult."
"What?"
"Look, they might have given her a driver's license and the right to vote and buy booze and cigarettes and lottery tickets, and she may have a medical degree, but none of that makes her an adult," Amelia said. "She's an only child who never had anyone to argue with and nothing bad has ever really happened to her, not directly. Life has been handed to Maggie Pierce on a silver platter. She's never had to have coping skills for the big stuff, so she doesn't have them for the little stuff either. Why do you think she's always freaking out over the tiniest little thing?"
Meredith frowned skeptically as she sank down on the other end of the couch.
"This could be good for her," Amelia said. "She's got fantasies about the way the world works and somehow she's made it into her 30s without them being shattered. It's time to shove that little birdie out of the nest, Meredith. Until she realizes that speed bumps aren't mountains, and that not everything that happens in the world is intended to harm her or help her, she's never going to grow up and be a functioning adult."
"You're one to talk," Meredith said.
"Hey, my mountains are mountains, thank you very much," Amelia protested. "So, are you going to make me ask?"
Meredith hesitated for a moment. "Fine," she conceded. "You can have her room. Whatever. But you're still going to have to talk to Owen at some point."
"Thank you," Amelia said. "That wasn't what I was talking about, though."
"Oh?"
"Don't play coy, it doesn't suit you," Amelia said. "You and Riggs? Really?"
"Please don't start," Meredith said wearily.
"Was he good?"
"Amelia!"
"What? He's hot," Amelia said. "Come on, I'm not getting any, give me some details."
"No," Meredith said, slowly easing herself up from the couch. "And the only reason you're not getting any is because you won't talk to your husband, so you're not going to get any sympathy from me."
