Thank you to those who reviewed! Means a lot to me and I love the feedback. I decided to update early just because! Exams are tomorrow and Wednesday so I decided to take a break and update! Hope you enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------Chapter 6-----------------------------------------------------

After Meredith got ready and headed out the door to the nursing home, she stopped to get coffee at one of the many Starbucks on the way. Pulling into the parking lot with her steaming cappuccino, she parked her car then stepped out into the muggy air that surrounded her and the rest of Seattle.

She opened the door to the building she had become use to the past months, and was met with the familiar smell and slightly homey feel to the place. She turned her head and saw the lady who called her standing behind a desk.

"Miss. Grey, nice to see you made it! She's in the living room now, if you would like to go in and see her." The lady told her in a cheerful voice.

"Thank you," Meredith responded politely as she walked into the other room.

She spotted her mom sitting on the couch staring off into the room with a blank expression.

"Hi Mom," Meredith said to her as she sat down next to the older woman she learnt to despise growing up.

"Who are you, are you sure I know who you are?" her mother responded as she looked towards her.

"Mom, it's me, Meredith." Meredith responded, this is what made the trips hard. Having to remind her mother who her own daughter was.

"Meredith…" the woman said thoughtful as she continued to ponder the name. "Meredith, my daughter?" she asked confused.

"Yes, mom. It's me." She said again.

"What are you doing here? And why are you all grown up?" she asked still confused.

"I'm here to visit you mom, and I'm an intern at Seattle Grace." She told her mom with a smile, hoping to get a response out of her mom.

"Seattle Grace, ah…I spent my residency there…with Richard Webber…" her mother said as a thoughtful smile came upon her lips.

"Yes, mom that's right." Meredith praised her, as the ladies told her to do long ago.

"You're an intern?" her mom asked as if she was just told this, pulling her from her thoughts of Richard.

"Yes mom, I am." Meredith answered.

She knew she said mom a lot when talking with her mother, but the nurses told her it was better if she kept saying it so Ellis would remember it more.

"What are you doing being an intern? You'll never be good enough or brave enough to become a doctor. You wasted years away in Europe, slacking off…you won't be able to work as a doctor." Ellis told her.

"But mom, I went to Dartmouth, I'm an intern and I'm probably one of the best out of my group." Meredith told her, not wanting to take her mom's words to heart.

"That's only because of me. You're just like your father Meredith, weak and unable to work hard at anything." Ellis scolded her. "What else have you been doing Meredith, tell me that's not the only interesting thing you have been up to."

"Well, I'm seeing someone. He's a neurosurgeon." Meredith told her, happy for the subject change.

"What happened to you Meredith? You used to be so strong, I used to believe that you could make it in anything. You've ruined yourself, and dating a neurosurgeon? He's not going to help you any, he'll just screw the next one that comes along. You shouldn't let a relationship dictate your life or future Meredith, you could have been extraordinary." Her mother ranted, tearing Meredith to pieces word by word.

After sitting there for moments letting her mother's words sink in, Meredith looked back up at her mom.

"Who are you? Do I know you?" Her mother asked her, forgetting everything that had just unfolded.

"No, you don't." Meredith mumbled as she stood up and left, not stopping to look or talk to the lady that had greeted her ten minutes prior.

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Meredith pulled into a random parking lot at the hospital and ran towards the elevators, taking the floor that would lead her to Derek's office. She wanted that relaxing place to disappear to before her rounds started, and she found it harder to keep her tears at bay as she exited the elevator.

"Meredith." She heard Derek call only loud enough for her to hear.

She ran past him and made it to his office, shoving the key in and unlocking it quickly. Once the door was opened and she was in she slammed it shut as she went to the couch to lie down on her stomach.

She heard the door open and knew it was Derek. He walked over to his chair and rolled it up next to the couch, scooting closer to her.

"Meredith…what happened?" he asked gently.

"My mother." She said through her tears.

"Come here." He told her as he opened his arms up and she climbed into his lap.

"Shh, it's ok, it's ok Meredith…" he soothed her.

"It's not Derek! I'm a…I'm a…a failure…and weak!" she yelled at him.

"You're not, and if she told you that then she has never known the real you, Meredith." He told her. "She probably didn't mean anything she was saying…her disease, its…"

"Don't defend her, Derek!" she told him harshly pulling away slightly.

"I'm not, I'm not Meredith. I am a hundred percent on your side, I'm just letting you know…"

"I know about her disease Derek, god! Why does everyone think I am a stupid person who cant become a doctor!?" she yelled as she stood up off his lap and walked away from him.

"Meredith, I never said that! And I don't think that. You are an amazing doctor, the best in your group." He told her softly as he walked back over to her.

"Yeah, well my mom doesn't see it that way. Apparently I'm weak, and unable to work at anything. And the only reason I have become as great as people think is because of her and my last name!" she ranted.

"That's not true Meredith. If anything you have had to work harder because of that…and because of me." He said.

"That's another thing, she told me I shouldn't be involved in a relationship. I shouldn't be with a neurosurgeon because you're just going to move on to the next one that comes along." She said pacing around the room.

"That's not true either Meredith. You know I never would, remember, I love you." He told her stopping her pacing and wrapping his arms around her small frame.

"Try telling my mother that."

"I wish I could have," Derek said holding her tighter.

"I'm sorry." Meredith said after moments of relaxing in his hold.

"For what?" he asked confused.

"For laying all of this on you, for not letting you go with me when you wanted to, and now you probably never will want to go with me because I told you no and then now you know how she is and what she is like. A horrible, horrible woman, and I ruined the chance for you to be able to idol her as a surgeon, I'm just sorry for…for everything." She finished her rant.

"Meredith, I don't mind you coming to me with this, if you remember I actually came to you. I want you to be able to come and talk to me about everything and anything. And I'm not scared of your mother, if anything I want to go see her with you now more than before. And I never idolized her." He told her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really, I figured I could pull off the Grey method and call it the Shepard method later on." He said with a twinkle in his eye and smirk placed on his lips.

"Oh, god! You're ego is so huge!" she remarked with a smile.

"Oh, don't I know it!" he said with a laugh.

"Not in that way, Derek!" she giggled, feeling better.

Derek looked at her in amazement at how wonderful of a woman she truly was.

"Well, it could be taken in both ways." He told her.

"I meant psychologically." She told him with a smile.

"You mean it's not the other way?" he asked with a big grin.

"No, it is…" she told him with a smile.

"Glad to hear that, you had me worried there for a minute." He told her with a smirk.

"Thanks again Derek." She told him.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"I am, you made me laugh and it helped, talking to you helped." She told him.

"Good, I'm glad." He told her kissing her tenderly pulling away slightly when they heard Derek's phone begin to ring.

He looked down at the caller ID and silenced the phone.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" she asked curious as to why he silenced the phone.

"No, I'm busy right now." He told her with a smile.

She returned the smile and kissed him lightly.

After spending a few moments wrapped in each others arms Meredith left to go report to Bailey with rounds as Derek turned back to his charts. They made plans for lunch, and with that Meredith was feeling better. Derek's phone continued to ring but he silenced it every time, not wanting to speak to the person on the other line.

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Who is it?? Wanna guess???

Some stuff coming up. I decided to update early. This one is short, but it leads up to stuff and shows Meredith actually talking about stuff and not running away.

Let me know your thoughts please!!

Review!