You Might Die Trying

A.N: So, big thanks to all of you who reviewed the sixth chapter of this story… it really is appreciated and it means a lot to writer. And of course, thank you (a million times over) to those who always review.

Also, check out Trapeze, The Great Escape, and All My Defenses

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy….

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Chapter 7: Two

"And I'm fractured

from a fall,

and I wanna go home.

Now it takes two,

And it used to take one."

- Ryan Adams

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Meredith heaved the remaining contents of her stomach into the porcelain abyss before her. For the first time in days she had tried to eat something, but her stomach rejected the cold pizza that she had consumed only moments before. She gagged again, vomiting up all that was left inside of her, and she swallowed back the warm saliva that had filled her mouth. A bitter taste remained on her tongue and in the back of her throat. Her body fell back against the wall beside the toilet, exhausted from purging itself. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, matting her hair to her forehead. She brought her hands to her face and pushed her hair back, annoyed at the tiny strains that had made their way in front of her eyes. Gently, she rested her head up against the wall, and took slow, shallow breaths, and a tiny burp gurgled up her throat. Her eyes drifted towards the door. Two feet stood just outside the door, their shadow giving away their presence. Meredith released a frustrated sigh. Ever since he had held her and comforted her on the locker room floor, she had felt her old feelings creep back in. Her body started to want him again. Her mind only wanted to think of him. And, her only solution to her problem was to avoid him. She had managed to evade him for days, but now he had finally cornered her.

"Mer?" Derek asked, his voice booming through the door between them.

Meredith continued to stare at the door, her heart pounding. She had been successfully dodging him by leaving the house at odd hours and turning corners abruptly when she saw him coming down the hallways in the hospital. In surgeries, she remained professional and kept her distance, and when they were done, she ran. Because running was what she did best.

"Meredith," Derek exhaled, "I know you're in there. I heard you."

Meredith remained quiet, limiting her movement on the floor. Her eyes shot towards the door handle, checking to see if she had locked the door. The button within the doorknob was popped out, which meant that the door was unlocked, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before Derek tried to open the door.

Outside of the bathroom, Derek shifted his weight. His head was pounding. Sleep had been hard to come by since he had started staying at Meredith's house. Every noise inside and outside of the house disrupted his sleep, and he often found himself walking quietly up the stairs to check on Meredith. Tonight was the first night he had come upstairs to find her out of bed. At first he had panicked, but then he had heard her vomiting in the bathroom, and his anxiety switched to concern. Now, as he stood outside the door, waiting for Meredith to answer him, his concern continued to grow. "Did something happen?"

Meredith groaned loudly, her stomach still churning from the pizza. She was close to tears and dangerously nearing a meltdown. And, her first instinct was to push Derek away. "Go away, Derek."

"I'm not leaving," Derek paused, unsure of what else to say. This was what she did when things got tough. She pushed, she avoided, and she pretended not to care. She did anything but turn to someone, and Derek wanted nothing more to change that about her. He wanted to be there for her; he wanted to be someone that she could turn to.

"Just go, Derek," Meredith said in a loud voice.

Derek hesitated for a moment before he placed his hand on the doorknob and gave it a rough turn. He pushed the door open, surprised that it was unlocked, and slowly walked into the bathroom, where he found Meredith sitting on the floor. His eyes locked with hers. "Meredith, what happened?"

"Nothing," Meredith murmured. "I'm fine."

Derek scanned the room before his eyes landed again on Meredith. Her hair was frazzled and her ratty Dartmouth t-shirt was clinging to her petite body. Her face was pale and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked exhausted and worn out. He took a step towards her and when she didn't protest, he took a few more until he was standing right in front of her. His knees hit the floor as he dropped his body down so that he was kneeling in front of her. She remained frozen, staring at him like a ghost, unsure of what to do. He placed a hand on her forehead and brushed a few stray hairs off of her face. "You're not fine. You are anything but fine."

"Stop," Meredith frowned. "Stop acting like you're my boyfriend."

"Meredith," Derek's voice trailed off, uncertain of how to respond.

"I don't need your help, Derek. And, I most certainly don't need your pity."

"Is that what you think?" Derek whispered. "You think I pity you?"

Meredith released a frustrated sigh. "I don't know why you're still here, Derek. A few weeks ago you wanted nothing to do with me. Now, this crazy stalker man comes around and here you are again, trying to save the day."

Derek shook his head. "You're wrong, Mer. Ever since I met you I've wanted to be with you."

"Is this a game to you?" Meredith asked, her face hardening with anger.

"What?" Derek muttered in disbelief.

"It's like you don't care, Derek. You do everything you want to do and how you want to do, and you don't care if you're hurting me in the process," Meredith breathed.

"I do care," Derek denied. "I care so much that it hurts me sometimes."

"So, that's why you walked away?"

Derek rubbed his hand over his face. "I walked away because I was trying to help you. Because I was trying to put your needs and your happiness above my own."

"I chose you," Meredith managed as a few tears slipped from her eyes. Her body exhausted from all the activity.

"I know you did," Derek said softly, "but I wasn't ready to give you what you needed. I wanted to be able to do it right. I wanted to not be absent."

Meredith's face softened. "All I needed was you."

Derek rocked back and forth on his feet before he let his body weight push his butt to the floor. He slid himself over to sit beside Meredith, and he grabbed her hand. "Addison and Mark, their affair, it wasn't a one time thing. They had a relationship."

"What?" Meredith sniffed.

"I found out the day you told me that you left Finn."

Meredith swallowed. "They had a relationship?"

"I didn't know," Derek nodded sadly. "I didn't know when I picked Addison. I ruined our relationship for someone who I didn't even love anymore."

Meredith squeezed Derek's hand. "I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be sorry. I'm not telling you this for you to feel sorry for me, or as an excuse," Derek explained. "I'm telling you this because this is why I didn't react when you told me about Finn. I needed time. I needed time to figure out who I was and what happened to my marriage."

"And what if none of this every happened?"

"None of what?"

Meredith released her hand from Derek's and stood up abruptly. She made her way towards her bedroom window. Derek followed closely behind her, and when she stopped, he positioned his body directly behind hers.

Meredith looked out the window at the unmarked police car. She motioned to it with her hand and said, "This, Derek. What would have happened if that man hadn't done this to us? Where would we be?"

"I don't know," Derek said truthfully.

"Would you even be talking to me?"

"Meredith," Derek sighed. "This was never about hurting you."

"Then, you should have told me. You should have told me when you found out."

Derek placed his hands on Meredith's upper arms and turned her around to face him. "I know. It was mistake, and I'm sorry."

Meredith hesitated for a moment and blinked back a few tears that had made their way to her eyes. "I don't want to lose you again."

"You're not going to."

Meredith leaned her body into Derek's. He put his arms around her, and her body melted into his. "I'm scared."

"I know," Derek whispered against the top of her head.

Meredith withdrew her body from his arms and tilted her head up to meet his eyes. "You're a good guy, Derek. Just because you failed at your marriage, doesn't mean you're not a good guy."

Derek bent forward and placed a soft kiss on Meredith's lips. "We're going to be okay."

Meredith let Derek's arms consume her body again, and she found herself hoping that she would have enough time for everything to be okay.

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He watched from outside as Meredith and Derek held onto each other in front of the window in Meredith's room. After a brief scan of the rest of the windows, it didn't look like anyone else was home. Meredith and Derek were alone, which meant it was the perfect time. He turned his head and looked at the unmarked police car that was sitting a few houses down from Meredith's house. The police officer inside was sleeping, clearly bored with his job. He made his way down the street carefully. He hid in the bush beside the police car and took one last look around the block to make sure no one else was around.

Behind the bush, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black ski mask. He placed the mask on top of his head and pulled it downwards until it was covering everything but his mouth and his eyes. Gently, he reached inside of his coat and pulled out his gun. While one hand held the gun, the other reached into his back pocket for the silencer, and when he had both out, he placed the silencer on the gun. Slowly, he stood up from behind the bush and took one last look at the unmarked police car. When he saw that the officer inside of it was still sleeping, he began to make his way to the driver's seat door.

He crouched down low and made sure not to hit the car with any part of his body. As he approached the driver's seat he switched his gun from his left hand to his right, and when he was in position he stood up quickly and placed the gun against the officer's temple. And, without thinking, he pulled the trigger. Blood spattered out of the officer's head and his body slumped further down the seat. He smiled in satisfaction, and then turned to make his way towards Meredith's front door.

Alright. So, seriously, I am so sorry that this chapter took so long for me to get out. I have this big master plot, and when you have all these plans for a story, things just get all jumbled sometimes… and so I was suffering from minor's writers block, not to mention the fact that I am so busy right now it is ridiculous. Unfortunately, the level of my busyness is not going to disappear since I am getting married in about 18 days. I do hope to update this one last time before the wedding and the honeymoon… some positive reinforcement might help!

Anyway, this chapter has a sort of reconciliation between Meredith and Derek, which is good because those two are going to need each other more than they know as this story progresses. We also have evil stalker dude shooting the police officer on duty outside of Meredith's house… and making his way towards them… what do you think is going to happen? I'll give you a hint, it's not good.

Alright… so I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading. Also, The Great Escape will be updated by the end of this week.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? And everything else….

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