A/N: Thanks for caring so much about my dad. He's doing alright…high doses of steroids... but outside of that, things are improving bit by bit. Hopefully he'll be over this bout of rejection soon and we can get on with our lives…I mean, as great as transplants are and all…they suck just as much!

I want to thank everyone for being so accepting of the OOC concepts. I guess I just see people reacting differently to this situation…and that's realistic for me. That's what I expect. I love having Addison and Meredith on the same level – friends. It's something new for me…and they work very well with each other. They may become fun to write later.

Oooooh…this is a very AU chapter. I brought back someone…it pays respect to my daddy, I swear! (I bet that tells you who it is) And while said character will not play a big role, one of our beloved interns needed a friend…or loved one…to be there for her. And I needed something for two people to talk about.

As for the Addison is too caring comments I've heard…I definitely see where you're coming from. In fact, a big part of me agrees with you. However, as a rape survivor, I know that I wouldn't wish the pain I've felt on anyone. And, as I've made Addison a rape survivor…I think she'd feel the same way. It's one of those awful, horrible, nasty feelings that you would kill to get rid of…you wouldn't even want the woman who is sleeping with your husband to feel that way. Trust me, you just wouldn't.

I guess we'll see what happens from here…hopefully more MerDer action soon! I'm working that way, at least. I have a few undecided things in the roadmap of this story, but for the most part, I think I know where I'm taking it. So thank you for putting up with me.

Sorry it took so long to put this out – I've been dealing with a lot and I had to get through some rough stuff before I could focus my attention back on this. But I'm back now…so let's get this party started! (Ha Ha Ha!)

Without further ado…

Chapter 7: Let Me Fall

Meredith didn't sleep a wink, and by 7:30am, she was up and getting dressed. Considering she didn't have a shift, it was a jeans and t-shirt day. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at her bruised face. She had used all the make-up she owned in an attempt to cover her battered appearance, but she ended up looking like clown. Meredith shrugged it off, washed her face, and threw her blonde hair into a sloppy pony-tail. She couldn't find the energy to care about her appearance anymore than that.

She couldn't get it off her mind. It didn't matter what she'd tried over the last night. The blonde had tried reading a book, she'd tried writing, she'd even joked around with Addison, but it wouldn't go away. All she could think about was exactly what she'd done wrong to deserve what Finn had done to her. Meredith shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts and quickly went back into her bedroom.

Addison was sleeping in a chair right next to Meredith's bed. She looked uncomfortable, but had only been sleeping for about an hour, so Meredith let her be. The blonde grabbed a book off of her dresser and slipped it under her right arm. She then attempted to make her way across the room and out the door without waking the red head. That, however, proved to be difficult as the crutches were louder than Meredith would have liked.

After successfully leaving the room without waking her colleague, the intern made her way down the hall and looked down the stairs. "Here goes nothing," She whispered. Meredith slowly started making her way down the stairwell, taking it one step at a time. She felt herself losing her balance about two-thirds of the way down. The book fell from under her arm and made a rather loud noise as it fell down the stairs.

"Damn," She cursed.

George stood at the top of the steps, watching the whole scene unfold. He sighed and bounded down them, placing two hands on the waist of his friend to steady her. George felt the blonde tense up and he wasn't sure what to do. Thinking fast on his feet, he opened his mouth to speak, "Meredith, it's just me, George. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Let me go," she demanded.

"But you were about to fall."

Her voice rose, "Let me go. Please."

George removed his hands, but stayed close in case she started to fall again. Meredith continued down the stairs, pushing the book out of her way with one of her crutches when she got to the bottom. She made her way into the kitchen and leaned up against a counter, she closed her eyes for a second, willing herself not to cry. Once she was positive she'd regained her composure, she opened her eyes to find George standing nearby. She sighed rather loudly and turned to get a glass from the cabinet above her head.

The male figure looked away from her and began to get himself two eggs out of the fridge. He moved to find the oil and a pan to scramble the eggs in. Meredith dropped the glass on the ground and jumped. George stared at the clear glass shards on the ground. He set down the eggs, pan, and oil and quickly went to grab the broom and dust pan. If he could do nothing else, he could clean up the mess.

When he reemerged in the kitchen, he found the blonde sitting on the floor, leaning against a cabinet, sobbing. George dropped the broom and dust pan, moved to his friend, and knelt beside her. He pulled her into a warm embrace. Meredith opened her eyes to see who was holding her, and, realizing she was safe, fell into the arms. George didn't know what to say, so he just held her close. She sobbed into his chest until there were no tears left to cry, and after that, they just sat there. No words needed to be said. Meredith knew he wouldn't hurt her, and George knew she needed a friend.

Addison stood in the doorway, watching the two interact. At least the battered and broken intern had friends here. At least there was someone she could talk to, as long as she had the strength. George looked up to see the red headed woman, who held one finger over her lips. The man nodded in agreement. Meredith didn't notice anything.

Once Meredith had calmed down enough, George stood up and cleaned up the broken glass in the middle of the kitchen. He then walked over to his friend and helped her up and over to a stool by one of the island counters. Meredith sat quietly, not saying a word. He got down another glass and opened the refrigerator, "Orange juice, apple juice, or milk?"

"Apple juice," Meredith replied softly.

He poured her a glass and took it over to her, "You know, you can ask for help."

"I know," She whispered. Addison was still in the doorway. She didn't want to invade anyone's personal space, but she desperately wanted to assure herself that Meredith had the support system to get through. George offered her a small smile, and Addison assured herself that Meredith would be okay.

"So," He muttered, "Breakfast? What do you want?"

Meredith shrugged, "Not really hungry."

"You've got to eat something."

"Cereal's always a good choice," George offered.

Meredith didn't respond for a moment, and then she offered a nod of her head. George got out the Honey Bunches of Oats that Izzie had purchased a few days ago and a bowl, setting them in front of Meredith. She poured herself a bowl of the cereal and added in the milk George had placed in front of her. She really wasn't hungry. Yet, if she didn't eat, her friends would worry. George handed her a spoon, and Meredith took a few small bites of the cereal before taking a sip of her apple juice.

Addison decided that it would be the best time to announce herself, as Meredith had yet to notice her standing there. She slipped into the kitchen and looked at Meredith, "You get any sleep?"

Meredith shrugged, the red head nodded. Addison then looked around the kitchen, "Do you mind if I get a glass of juice?"

"Glasses are in the cabinet above George's head," Meredith said. "Help yourself."

Addison went ahead and poured herself a glass of Orange Juice, "I just got a call, I need to head into the hospital in a few minutes."

Meredith nodded.

Addison sighed, "If you need anything, call me. And, Meredith, Derek called, too. He wants to talk to you. He asked me to tell you that he's sorry."

Meredith didn't respond to Addison. The woman drank her glass of orange juice and put it in the sink. She then excused herself and left the house. The blonde played with her cereal a little longer, then left the bowl, stood up on her crutches and moved to the living room. George let her go, knowing she needed time.

---

Around noon, Meredith was resting on the couch watching some TV. She was tired, but scared to sleep. George had gone out to lunch with Callie and Izzie was baking in the kitchen. Meredith tried not to fall asleep, but all of her attempts failed, and she let exhaustion consume her. Meredith fell asleep.

Meredith was sitting on the couch at Finn's place. He was joking and laughing with her. They were flirting, and it felt wrong. The blonde girl knew that she loved Derek, not Finn, and it wasn't fair for her to steal his heart when she couldn't give hers to him. Finn closed in on her and kissed her gently, running his hands through her blonde hair. She pulled away, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "Meredith, you can't do this to me. Do you know how much it hurt when you chose him at the prom? I was your date. Your date," He emphasized. "You can't do this to me."

"I know how much it hurt. He chose her, remember?"

Finn moved closer to her, he had a look in his eyes that she didn't recognized. Meredith stood abruptly, trying to get away from him. He stood up, "Stand still and it won't hurt. I promise."

Meredith's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Was he serious? She stepped back again, "Don't touch me."

"Don't you remember two nights ago? How much fun we had? We could have it again," Finn said seductively.

She tried to pull away as he pulled her close and kissed her. He pulled her to the ground, not taking his hands off of her for one moment. He ripped and pulled at her clothing. She pulled away, "Stop it! Don't do this."

He pulled her back into his arms. She screamed.

Meredith awoke with a jolt, Izzie kneeling at her side, shaking her slightly. Meredith pulled back and curled into a protective ball on the couch. Izzie retracted her hands, ending all contact, and just sat there. The figure on the couch was shaking slightly. The ex-model didn't know what to say, so they sat together.

"He haunts my dreams, Izzie," whispered Meredith.

Izzie closed her eyes, "I'm so sorry."

Meredith shrugged, "It's no one's fault but mine."

Izzie pulled herself onto the couch, sitting as far from Meredith as she could, while still there as a source of comfort. She watched as the other intern pulled her knees even closer to her chest.

"This wasn't your fault," She whispered. "It was him. He wanted power. You did nothing wrong."

Meredith closed her eyes. She moved her knees away from her chest and sat criss-cross-applesauce on the couch. She didn't look at Izzie or anything else, just stared into space. Izzie didn't move for a few minutes, until she realized that Meredith didn't need her to sit there.

So she rose from her perch on the couch, "I'm going to make some lunch. Do you want anything?"

Meredith shrugged, "What are you making?"

"Grilled cheese," Izzie responded softly.

"I'll meet you there in about five minutes."

With that, Izzie turned and walked back to the kitchen. Meredith regained her composure, fixed her pony tail, and grabbed her crutches as she stood up. She couldn't sleep, couldn't think, couldn't do anything without him being right there to haunt her.

When is this going to stop? She questioned herself. Not finding any source of an answer or any comfort from thinking about it, she hobbled into the kitchen to take the seat she had occupied at breakfast. She listened to Izzie ramble incessantly about Denny's recovery. Everyone was so happy that his transplant had been successful. To top it off, Izzie and Denny were officially engaged and the entire hospital, while fairly amazed that Stevens had the guts to have a relationship with a patient, was incredibly happy for the two.

Meredith tuned part of it out, but managed to nod when she felt it would be appropriate. Her friend seemed okay with the fact that she wasn't exactly focused on her story. Izzie finished up the grilled cheese sandwiches and placed one in front of the other woman. She turned away and opened the refrigerator, "Do you want anything to drink, Mer?"

"Water's fine," She replied dully. Izzie grabbed a bottle out of the fridge and placed it on the counter. Meredith opened it and took a sip, "Hey, do we have any chips or anything?"

Izzie opened a door to reveal barbeque and original Lays. She glanced at Meredith who shrugged. Izzie pulled out both and threw them down next to Meredith. Meredith took a small handful of each and the other did the same. In silence, they ate their lunch. For a moment, it seemed almost as if everything were okay.

It was just too bad the world didn't want it to be that way.

fine

Okay, there ya have it. Chapter 7. I have to say that writing this wasn't necessarily easy. As always, criticism and thoughts are much appreciated and THANK YOU FOR READING! It makes the writing part feel more worthwhile when people let you know what they think of it.

Oh, and I had Denny survive. He got a heart, Izzie did not cut the LVAD wires, because anyone who knows me knows that I do not and cannot condone what Izz did. I love the girl to death…but my dad had an LVAD, and cutting the wires, even out of love, is beyond wrong. She could have caused the stroke in and of itself right there. So the LVAD wires weren't cut, Izzie never got in trouble, Denny got a heart and has a long road of recovery ahead of him. I will be doing that part correctly, if I do it at all. So there we go.

Thanks again!