Meredith woke up the next morning, after probably an hour of actually sleeping, to find herself half out of her sleeping bag, awkwardly pressed up against Alex.
"Oh gross," she muttered, sitting up and moving away.
Meredith ran a hand through her loose hair. After a night of no sleep she was exhausted, but she knew she'd never go back to sleep. Reaching behind her, she pulled on her sweatshirt and found her shoes. As quietly as she could, she unzipped the tent, and stepped outside. It was just after seven, and, typical of Washington, it was overcast and drizzling.
She went over to where Derek had started a fire and sat down in a damp chair.
"Is everyone still asleep?" she asked quietly.
Derek started slightly at Meredith's voice. Composing himself, he turned towards her with a smile.
"Richard's taking a walk, but other than that, yes."
"Is that coffee?" Meredith asked eagerly, referring to the pot on the metal contraption that she assumed was supposed to be a camping stove.
"Yep. It'll be ready in a minute." He came and sat down beside her. "So, are you doing okay? You know, after waking up last night."
Meredith blushed slightly, embarrassed that she had woken up the whole camp with her nightmare. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"So that means you're not okay."
"Derek, stop it! We're not doing this, okay?" She was angry that he was once again acting like he knew he so well and treating her like she was his girlfriend. It was really getting old.
"Sorry," he said shortly, getting up to fuss over the coffee. When it was warm enough, he pour two cups, and went back to Meredith, pressing one into her waiting hands.
"Thanks."
He nodded and sat back down. He winced as he sipped his coffee, the scalding liquid burning its way down his throat. "It's really hot, sorry."
She shrugged, and drank it anyway; exhausted and eager for any caffeine it could provide her.
"Are you enjoying camping?" Derek asked to break the awkward silence.
"No, not really," she snapped, not at all enjoying the cool dampness of the early morning, and the dirty feeling she would not be able to wash off until the next evening.
"Oh, Mer, it's not that bad is it?"
"Yeah, it's that bad. Camping is gross, and you're everywhere, and it's just bad. I wish I'd never come." She made a point to keep her voice down so she wouldn't wake everyone again. She didn't need to add that to her list of things she hated about camping.
Derek didn't response, knowing anything would make her snap again.
"This looks fun," Christina said brightly as she approached the two who were sitting in stony silence.
"Shut up," Meredith responded sharply.
"Well, good morning, sunshine," Christina said, continuing on her sarcastic thread. "Is that coffee?"
Meredith grumbled something mildly affirmative.
"God, if someone had told me camping included sex and coffee I would have come sooner," Christina exclaimed, stepping gracefully into the role of Meredith's antithesis as she accepted a cup from Derek.
Meredith snorted. "Not for all of us."
"Oh, Mer, you could get se –"
"Don't even!" Meredith cut in sharply. "I'm bitchy when I'm tired, so don't mess with me until the caffeine kicks in."
Christina raised her eyebrows, but didn't press the issue further. "So where are Evil Spawn and Bambi?"
"Sleeping. I think I kept them up last night."
Unlike Derek, Christina didn't push the issue of Meredith's nightmare, instead sitting down in a chair. "Muffin?" she asked, holding out Izzie's bag of treats.
Meredith grabbed one without answering, settling back in her chair to fall into silence once again.
"Morning Shep, Meredith," Burke said, far too brightly for seven in the morning, coming over to join the little group.
"I can't do happy people," Meredith groaned. "It's too early. Why is everyone up so early?"
Christina looked up at Burke. "Meredith didn't get sex last night."
Without looking up, Meredith kicked Christina.
"Damn, Mer. Keep the bitchiness to a minimum, please."
"Leave me alone then."
Interrupting the girl's arguing, Derek asked, "Preston, would you like coffee?"
"Yes, please. It's a beautiful day for fishing. Got to be awake for it," Burke said, as he took the coffee from Derek.
"Beautiful day," Meredith scoffed. "It's raining."
"Best time to catch fish," Derek informed her, his mood brightened at the prospect of fishing.
Tired of happy people, Meredith stood up. "I'm going for a walk."
Derek stood in response, suddenly close enough to Meredith to smell her flowery hair and feel the frustration radiating off of her. "By yourself? You might get lost."
That made her mad, he could tell almost before the words left her mouth. "I'll be fine, Dr. Shepard," she hissed before stalking off towards the trial.
"Nice one," Christina laughed. "You should know to leave her alone when she's tired and cranky."
Derek ran his hand through his hair and sat back down. "Yeah, I should know," he muttered. There were a lot of things about Meredith that he should know. Things that he would have known if they had ever gotten a real chance at a relationship. But he had been married, and so it was his own fault that he didn't know how to deal with cranky Meredith.
"Don't worry, Shep. We'll find her before we go to fish," Burke reassured him.
"I'm not worried about her, I just don't want to have to spend this trip looking for her if she gets lost," Derek claimed, knowing it was a lie both Christina and Burke would see through.
They let it go though, and the three fell into an easy conversation about the merits of camping.
"Morning all," Alex greeted, collapsing into the chair beside Christina. "Where's Mer?"
"Walking," Derek told him vaguely.
"Oh, she's cranky," Alex said knowingly. "What'd you all do to make her storm off?"
Even Alex knows Meredith better than I do, Derek realized, and the realization hurt. He had thought he and Meredith had something special, that he knew things about her. After all, she had told him about all her daddy issues, and her mother. But her friends are the ones who really know her.
"We were happy," Christina was saying. "She got mad because we were happy."
Alex laughed. "She'd be easy to hate if I didn't love her so much."
"Aw, Evil Spawn has a heart," Christina mocked.
Burke smiled knowingly at her. "I've heard you say the same thing, Christina. Don't be a hypocrite."
She glared at him. "Don't make me withhold sex."
Burke was smart enough not to respond, knowing that Christina would probably act on her threat if he pushed her farther.
Alex yawned. "God, between Grey and O'Malley I think I slept about three hours last night."
"What'd they do?" Derek asked politely.
Alex chuckled. "They snuggle. Now, Mer I can deal with. I think the woods kind of freak her out at night, and at least she smells kind of nice, but George? That is when it's time for me to get the hell out of there."
Burke and Christina laughed good-naturedly, but Derek felt a stab of jealously. Jealous of Alex? It seemed ridiculous. He knew for certain that Meredith thought of him as a brother, and it seemed the two of them were close enough to not want to ruin their relationship with sex. But it still hurt. To know she had spent the night cuddled up to another man; that the man in question had been smelling her hair. It hurt to think about. So he didn't. He was getting awful good at pretending.
"So, you were like a big teddy bear all night?" Christina teased.
Alex took it in stride. "Beautiful women like cuddling with me, not really my fault. And O'Malley, he's definitely the one you need to be teasing about this."
"I think I'll tease you both. Oh, and if you two ever decide to go at it, invite me because that is something I couldn't miss."
Burke looked at Christina incredulously. He could not believe she had just said that.
"You and Grey both. Is it like some secret women fantasy or something?" Alex was truly curious now. It was unusual that he would get two comments like that so close together.
"No, actually it's not," Christina said mildly, turning to Derek to have her coffee refilled.
"Women." Burke shook his head. The fairer sex was something he would never really understand.
"You and me both, man," Alex agreed, wondering who in the world decided to bring Meredith and Christina camping. But it certainly was amusing.
Well that was fun. I love bitchy Meredith so I'll start with her. She's cranky for lots of reasons, mostly because she didn't sleep well, and also because Derek's everywhere, and it's exhausting to be mad at him, and because she feels gross and dirty and can't shower. And Derek wasn't really in this much, but he's still kind of the same stupid Derek who won't realize he made a mistake even though he and Mer are both miserable apart.
And who else? Christina and Burke were pretty much just being Christina and Burke. Alex. Well, he's just kind of Alex. I'm playing with the Mer and Alex friendship a lot in this one. We don't see it much on the show, but I do think it's there. So just to be perfectly clear, there is nothing going on between Mer and Alex, they are friends. Alex is just Alex and makes a lot of sex jokes.
That's all I have. Keep reading and please review.
