A/N: Hi. know I've been neglecting this story for a while but I promise that's going to stop. I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going and what I'm doing with with this story so it takes me longer than usual to write for it. But I'll always come back. Promise.

/

10 June 2016

Cristina lifted her head slightly and looked down at Meredith's shoes. They looked angry.

She dropped her head back down. "What do you want, Meredith?" Her voice was muffled by the mattress.

"You've been missing for a week." She sounded angry, too.

Cristina sighed and flipped around so that she was no longer lying at the foot of the bed. She realized how much her head had missed the softness of her pillows. "Just leave me alone." She pulled the blankets over her face so that she didn't have to look at Meredith's equally angry face.

"You're depressed."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Come home with me. At least there we can be depressed together."

"Depression doesn't like company."

"Cristina."

"Go away, Meredith."

She felt the bed shift as her friend climbed in next to her.

"No."

"You're relentless, you know that?"

"I know."

Cristina sighed again and then lowered the blankets.

"There she is." Meredith smiled.

"Oh, shut up."

"Are you going to tell me what happened, now?"

Cristina sat up. "What's there to tell? They fired me."

"Did they say why?"

"Something about not representing the firm well and being a bad image." She shrugged.

"Assholes."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to quit."

"Don't be stupid, Meredith."

"My mind is made up."

Cristina rolled her eyes and then took Meredith's hand into hers. "You're not going to quit. Don't be an idiot. Unemployment and cancer doesn't go well together."

Meredith squeezed her hand. "Fine."

"Thanks for the offer, though."

They were quiet.

"Will you come home with me now? Derek's driving me insane and I need you to help me bury the body."

Cristina nodded. "I'll grab my shovel."

\

Meredith folded her arms on the side of the tub and rested her head there.

Cristina wasn't speaking but her eyes were.

She could be cold at times but those eyes never were. They played out every emotion she felt, every thought she had, it was all there in those two pools of dark brown.

"What are you thinking about?"

Cristina looked up at her, her eyebrows drawn down. She was quiet for a moment longer. "I had sex with Owen."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It happened the day I got fired. We didn't mean for it to happen but it did. Which sounds cliché, I know. But it's true."

"And then what happened?"

"Then... I was lying in his arms and I didn't feel safe and I told him so." She shrugged.

"Well, not feeling safe is understandable."

"Yeah, and he understood. He accepted it and then we got dressed and he left and it was over."

"Is it over? Does it feel over?"

Cristina flattened her hand against the bubbles and moved her palm across the foam. She looked back up at Meredith. "I wouldn't feel like this if it wasn't."

Meredith didn't say anything.

Cristina sighed and sunk further down into the warm water. "I don't know what to do."

Meredith lifted her head. "About Owen?"

"About everything. I don't know where to go next."

"We'll figure it out."

"But what if we don't, though? What if they decide to revoke my license?"

Meredith shook her head. "They wouldn't do that."

"You don't know that. They could if they wanted to. If they felt like their reasons were enough. They could take away my license and then where would I be?"

Meredith was quiet.

"I don't know who I am if I'm not a lawyer."

A moment passed. "Well, I know who you are."

Cristina rolled her eyes.

"You're Cristina Yang. You're strong and stubborn and ambitious."

"Mer."

Meredith ignored her. "You don't let people push you over. You fight for what you want and you don't let anyone stand in your way." She paused. "Listen, we all know that if this was a man they were dealing with, they'd give him a slap on the wrist and move on but it's not. It's you. And you're this strong woman who commands a room and draws everyone's attention and you could lawyer the fuck out every one of them and that's why they're being extra shitty but who gives a fuck? We both know that if it came down to it, if they decided to revoke your license, you'd fight until the bitter end and you'd win. You would. And even if you didn't, even if the unthinkable happened, you wouldn't just lay down and give up." She paused again. "And I might not be sure about where you'd be if you lost your license but you can bet your ass I'd be right there with you. Side-by-side. Together. Thelma and Louise style."

"Didn't they die at the end of the movie?"

"They did."

Cristina looked down at the water.

They were quiet again.

"Thank you for running a bath for me. I don't hate it as much as I thought I would."

Meredith smiled. "You're welcome."

\

17 June 2016

"I didn't expect to see you here."

She turned around with her coffee in her hand. She almost wish she hadn't because he looked so good that all she wanted to do was take him back to her car. "You mean because I got fired?"

"Well, yeah."

"I decided that I needed the therapy anyway." She shrugged and then turned back around and added sugar to her coffee. "Why are you here? Don't you have a private therapist now?"

"I thought it wouldn't hurt to get double sessions."

She nodded as she turned back to him.

They were quiet as they looked at one another.

"How have you been?"

He thought about it. "I'm getting there. Dr. Wyatt and I have been working through a bunch of stuff. Working to help me deal with my triggers and everything."

She nodded again. "That's good."

"How about you? How have you been doing?"

She pursed her lips. "I'm coping. I'm staying over at Meredith's because she feels better if she hovers and I've gotta admit that her hovering helps." She shrugged. "But don't tell her I said that."

He gave her a small smile.

They were quiet again.

"Cristina, I'm-"

"I know." She cut him off. "I know you are."

"I wish there was a way-"

"Me, too."

He looked at her. "Are you coming back next week?"

She looked away for a moment and then back at him. "I am."

"See you then?"

She nodded. "See you then."

He backed away and then made his way out of the building.

She let go of a breath and took in an even deeper one. She shook her head and then grabbed several donuts and left. She needed to get back to Meredith's hovering as soon as possible.