Title: A Leap Of Faith

Authors: Sara And Lizzie

Rating: T for language, mild sex

Disclaimer: It would be nice to own grey's anatomy, sadly all we own are a lot of high priced shoes and handbags, and both seasons on dvd.

Summary: AU. Meredith leaves Seattle the night that Addison comes. Five years later, she's standing at the back of the church, about to marry another man, when she admits to herself that she's still very much in love with Derek Shepherd. So she heads back to Seattle, and finds a very broken Derek. Will they be able to heal each other, or is it too late?

Author's Note: WE'RE SORRY! We haven't abandoned our fics. The internet wasn't working in our apartment for the first two weeks of school, and we couldnt update. But here you are. Everything should be updated this week.

REVIEW!

I wanna kiss you,
and knock 'em down like we used to.

Four Years Ago: Seattle

The barstools at the Emerald City bar had become familiar; comfortable to Derek. He was there almost every night. Sometimes with Mark and Addison, sometimes with the interns and Burke. That night, he was early. His last surgery was canceled. The patient died on the way to the hospital.

He sat at Joe's, and George came in, with Olivia, the nurse. "Hey, Derek." He said.

"Hi, Dr. Shepherd." Olivia said nervously. She headed towards the bathroom while George slid onto the seat next to Derek.

"She called today." He said quietly. Izzie, Alex and Cristina liked to stay tight lipped about Meredith around Derek, but George was the one who kept him informed. "I think she met someone."

"You think?" Derek asked dryly.

"She met someone. I think it's getting serious." George corrected. Derek sighed, recognizing the demeanor of someone who was trying to lessen the blow of a painful statement. Tactics Derek himself used on patients were being used to deliver news about Meredith.

"George," Derek said, "When did she meet him?"

"About six months ago?"

Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I should have told her." He said. "I should have told her about Addison. I just, I thought, I was sure she'd be gone if she knew." He finished his drink and looked at George. "Do you think I should fly out there?" he asked.

George shook his head. "She asked about you. She's still angry. I think… I think you need to have a little faith, Derek. I think that if it's going to happen, she'll come to you."

Present Day

Derek felt like his head was spinning, and it probably was. He struggled to remember the last time he had slept for more than four hours. He was struggling to remember anything through his drunken haze. He downed his drink and decided that Joe's was spinning, not his head.

Joe's was spinning, but Meredith, hissing urgently into her cell phone in the corner, stood out perfectly clear to Derek. She was the only thing in focus in Derek's vision. The only thing that wasn't spinning. He watched her, sitting by herself at a table in the corner, leaning forward slightly, playing with the end of her ponytail as she talked.

"Liz, you can not let him come here." Meredith said, panicked. "I absolutely can not deal with it." Elizabeth Pierre, Jack's cousin, sighed into her phone. From her table outside at Rouge on Rittenhouse Square, she could see friends, Jack among them, approaching.

"I'll talk to him Mer." She promised, hanging up with a guilty feeling. She wanted to remain friends with Meredith, but there was no talking Jack out of things he wanted.

Meredith hung up feeling uneasy. Jack coming to Seattle would destroy all of the slow progress she had made with Derek. Addison, Izzie and Denny entered the bar, and Meredith rose to join them. She walked past Burke and Derek and forced herself not to look at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Burke shooting sidelong glances at Derek as he drank more and more.

"Hey." She said, sitting at the bar. "Addison, can I uh, talk to you?" she asked. Addison nodded and they moved several seats away from Izzie and Denny.

"What is it?"

"Does he always drink that much?"

Addison looked over Meredith's shoulder at Derek and her eyes narrowed. "He's drunk." She said flatly.

Meredith dropped her head into her hands. "I…" she looked up at Addison, her eyes flashing. "No." she said, hopping off the stool. Addison watched, awed as Meredith marched over to Derek, and pulled him out of chair by the wrist. She pulled him outside, and Derek followed, stumbling under her strength.

She opened the door and pulled him outside into the rain. Within seconds, they were both soaked. "How's that for tiny, ineffectual fists?" Meredith demanded. Derek blinked blankly at her. Meredith looked down, her face expressing something that resembled embarrassment. "In the locker room, before we started dating, you said…"

"I remember." Derek interrupted shortly.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, putting both of her hands on his shoulders.

"What the hell do you mean?" he mocked.

"You're drunk, Derek." She said tonelessly.

"Like you've never been there." He said meanly. "I need something, Meredith." He snapped. The harshness in her eyes faded, and before he knew what was happening, her hand drifted from his shoulder to rest gently on his cheek.

"Oh, Derek, I'm so sorry." She whispered. Derek didn't want her to apologize. He didn't want to forgive her, because forgiving her would force him to face everything he couldn't forgive in himself.

She shivered involuntarily against the rain. For the first time, Derek's attention was drawn to her now soaked clothes clinging to her thin frame. His eyes traveled up her body and finally locked with hers. Her hand slid from his cheek back to his shoulder and finally away from him completely as they stared at each other.

He reached for her roughly and pulled her towards him. Meredith yanked his t-shirt out of the waistband of his jeans and slid her hands under the soaked fabric, letting her fingers play across his abdomen.

When they came up for air, their eyes locked again. Derek looked at Meredith's face, taking in her swollen lips and the expression in her eyes. "I have to go." He said. She shook her head.

"Give me your keys."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have to let me drive you. I'm sure it would be emasculating or something. But you are going to give me your keys." She said. "You're drunk, Derek. I won't let you drive."

"I need to go home." He said through gritted teeth.

"You have friends to drive you." She said breezily. "Call a cab."

"Get out of my way, Meredith."

"Give me your keys Derek." She countered. He shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. She shook her head and, smirking, slid one leg in between both of his. Molding her body to him, and pressing up against him, she reached into his back pockets and fished for his keys.

Derek's breath caught in his throat as her body hit his in a way that caused his jeans to get tighter. She extracted his keys and smirked at him again. "You might want to ask Burke if he'll drive you home." She said, biting her lip to hide a smile as she glanced quickly towards his belt.

Derek thought about calling Burke, but as she disappeared inside, he thought better of it and called Mark. "I need you to pick me up. Now." He told his best friend, knowing he'd never live it down.