Okay, I messed up the schedule again, sorry about that! It's a longer chapter than usual, I hope you'll forgive me. I founded hard writing about this story while I did a Bones marathon. I practically watched the whole show so well, I still have a 3D life as well ;)

I had serious issues in entitling this chapter, and a brainstorm and beta consultation later, I decided to use R.E.M.'s song Bad Day again. It's linked with the previous chapter anyway because it picks up exactly where it left off.

Enjoy this, then!

Chapter 10 – It Starts With An Earthquake

Meredith recomposed herself after a few moments and stood up from the uncomfortable seat on the closet's floor, realizing that she had to pick up Eden because her shift was almost over.

She was on the verge of tears but as soon as Eden was with her, everything seemed to brighten again. It still amazed her how that little girl could affect her mood.

"You're still up for the hamburgers?" Meredith asked with her fist real smile of the day as soon as Eden grabbed her hand to go home. It felt good to smile again.

"I think I still want pizza" Eden mumbled, almost guilty for it.

"You know, we have really been spending way too much time together" Meredith laughed and Eden simply joined her with her infectious giggle.

"Can we go to the docks and see the ferries?" Eden asked

"You know, there's a great pizza place near the docks on Bainbridge Island, do you think that Daddy will mind if we'll be a little late?" Meredith suggested and the girl's smile grew even wider.

"We are taking the ferry?"

"I think we are"

Unexpectedly, Eden pulled Meredith into a tight hug, despite her small arms and she simply hugged her back, enjoying the feeling of being loved, even for a moment. She knew that Eden needed that too, her mother seemed just like what Ellis had been for her, maybe just a tiny bit nicer. She would do anything for Eden to not let her have the kind of childhood she had.

Eden practically ran to the rail to look over the water as soon as they reached the dock on the ferryboat. She gripped it tightly and stared at the water being sliced in two by the hull.

"Mommy told me that LA doesn't have ferryboats" sighed Eden sadly

"LA?"

"Mommy lives here now. I don't want to go live with Mommy" her eyes filled with tears and her whole body flinched at the simple idea

"Does she treat you badly?"

"No, but she never plays games with me. Never ever, Meri" she emphasized

"You know, my Mommy was just like yours. She was always busy working"

"Do you think she loves me?" Eden wondered

At that question, Meredith had an hard time to answer. Because she knew she had to say yes, she needed to tell her that everything was going to be alright and nothing would hurt her, but she knew she couldn't. She still had the scars of what a whole life of pretending and avoiding had done to her.

"I'm sure she does. But if she doesn't, she's missing a big chance to love a very special little girl" she said sincerely, hoping to get the right answer

"Did your Mommy love you?"

"In her own strange way, she did. Probably" she sighed and looked at the water. It was calming; she had to agree with Eden that the ferry had been a good idea.

"Do you think I'll have a new Mommy someday? But not mean like the one Cinderella had, a nice new Mommy" Eden asked with the tiniest glimmer of hope and somehow Meredith still wanted to comfort her over and over.

"I don't know. When your Daddy will get married again, you will have a new Mommy and maybe even a little sister or brother" she tried to lighten up the situation

"Are you going to be a Mommy?"

"Why?" Meredith frowned, surprised by the direct question.

"You are getting married"

Meredith's eyes widened "Where did you hear that?"

"Home" she shrugged. It still stunned Meredith though that she called her house home probably more than the fact itself that she was asking about her limbo situation with Finn so casually.

"Are you, Meri?"

"Probably not" she admitted sincerely and it didn't felt as bad as she thought "I don't even know if I'm gonna get married in the first place"

"Why?"

"Mostly because I don't think that spending the rest of my life with Finn is a great idea" she tried to explain a situation that wasn't clear even to herself.

"But he is nice. And he has lots of dogs" she argued, like nothing seemed hard in marriage. And probably she was even right: marriage is great most of the time if you actually love the person who's putting a ring on your finger.

"It's not as easy as that" Meredith claimed

"Do you love him?" she asked bluntly

Meredith waited a moment before answering "Maybe not as much as I should"

She wanted to laugh, because she was having marriage advices from a four-year-old and she didn't found anything odd in that.

"But he looks like a prince, Meri. And he kisses you. You like kissing him, right?"

Not as much as I like kissing your Daddy "Eden!"

"Sorry" the girl looked at the floor and counted the tiny droplets of seawater on it

"Okay, yeah, I don't mind kissing him" Meredith admitted, blushing.

"I think kissing is yucky"

Meredith simply shook her head, amused. That little girl never ceased to amaze her.

"Maybe he's not Prince Charming even if it's a prince" Eden said tentatively after some thinking

"Yeah, that's probably it" Meredith sighed sadly and began breathing regularly again, hoping that the game of twenty questions was over.

Eden grew silent again and turned back to the water, before speaking again. "When do you know the boy you kiss is Prince Charming?" she frowned

"You just know it. It's...I don't know sweetie, I haven't found my Prince Charming yet" she smiled, trying to seem even more convincing.

"Do you think Daddy will ever get another princess for him? He looks a bit sad"

"I hope he does" she sighed but before she could speculate again they realized they had to go back to the car because they were nearly docking and she was glad for the interruption.

They drove to the pizza place in a few more minutes and Eden couldn't keep still in her booster seat in the backseat of Meredith's Jeep. The more Meredith looked at her, the more her face was elated at the simple idea of buying pizza. Meredith was amazed by the little girl's reaction and the fact that she had a car seat in her Jeep seemed almost normal if the child was Eden Elise Shepherd.

They brought home a huge box of pizza but they both knew they wouldn't have many leftovers as the delicious smell kept lingering in the car even if the box was safely locked in the trunk.

Derek walked in the foyer and hung his coat after a very long shift at work, a small smile tugging his lips when he heard that Eden was giggling happily in the kitchen and Meredith sounded like she was having a blast with his daughter as well.

He had missed her giggle.

It still surprised him how little he could hate Meredith Grey. No other woman had made him feel like that, not even his ex wife and that was maybe one of the main reasons why she had the said title at the moment. Even though Meredith pissed him off all the time recently, he couldn't hate her. It seemed like hating a cute puppy that runs in circles around you to catch your attention or a smiling baby. He just couldn't.

He was so happy that Eden finally found someone to get along with. She had always been comfortable with adults, probably because she had been around grownups most of her young life, but still, it amazed him the close relationship she had built with Meredith. Breaking things off with her meant that Eden would have been deeply affected too and this fact alone made it even harder for him to hate her. She made the painful transition from New York to Seattle more bearable for the two of them and he still didn't know how to thank her.

He was sure a kiss wasn't going to work, despite how good it felt to kiss her. And make love to her felt even better. He had never made love to anyone on their first time together, but he knew already that Meredith was different. She didn't fit any scheme he had drawn before and he was even more excited about it. She was simply perfect and she loved Eden that, considering everything that he was planning, was a really big -giant- bonus.

He lingered at the door for a moment, taking in the figures of his two favorite girls laughing hysterically and, open on the table, a box of pizza so big that could easily fit Eden into and she wouldn't mind. Eden's whole mouth was covered in tomato sauce while she was clutching a huge slice of pizza in her tiny hands and Meredith giggled amused at a joke that they were probably sharing. And God knows how much he missed her smile today at work.

Seeing her crushing those old casts made his heart break. Then he knew that he was only partially to blame, but the unsettling feeling never felt any lighter on his shoulders.

Eden suddenly looked up and saw him hovering, so she simply shouted "Daddy!" and ran to him, leaving her beloved pizza behind.

"Watch your dirty claws, missy!" reproached Meredith before Eden's dirty hands would stain his shirt permanently and that simple sentence seemed so familiar that it hurt twice as much as before knowing that he had probably ruined everything. He had screwed up big time, not just ruined.

"I see that you ended up eating pizza again" he greeted Eden with a kiss, then looked at Meredith, but she simply glared at him and awkwardly took another bite of her pizza, ignoring his presence like she had done the whole day at the hospital. He shrugged, clearly frustrated and sat right in front of her, next to Eden that sat back in her seat. He picked up one of the slices in the box and met Meredith's eyes, but she quickly looked away.

He decided then to talk to Eden "Did you have a good day today?"

"Meri took me to the best pizza place with the ferry!" she squealed happily, her mouth still full of pizza. He finally saw Meredith crack a small smile.

"I bet she knows all the best places around" he joked with the hope to throw Meredith in the conversation, but she pretended not to hear him

"Hm-hm" Eden nodded "We don't have to share the pizza with Alex or Cristina, right?" she asked worried then, turning to Meredith.

"It's all yours, you can even eat leftovers for breakfast" Meredith replied, winking to the girl "I'll put a note on it"

"Thanks Meri!" the girl took another bite of her pizza and made herself busy a little more. She expected some kind of conversation from her two favorite adults, but they were clearly giving each other the silent treatment.

"Watcha doing tomorrow, Daddy?" she piped in

"I'm going to work in the morning, but I might have to stay the night" he explained and the girl seemed a little disappointed.

"I can tuck her in bed tomorrow" finally Meredith spoke to Derek. The more she remained quiet, the more her thoughts kept swirling and she couldn't bear it anymore. Hearing her mother call her not-so-smart once was enough for the rest of her life, talking kept her distracted from her thoughts. Derek's eyes kept her more than distracted as well, especially when they were filled with anger and frustration.

"Thank you" he replied sincerely, his gaze softening at the first offer of peace

"You are welcome"

The quiet settled in the room again before Eden could ran away to her games after asking her permission to stand up.

Derek helped Meredith clean up the few things they used still in an awkward silence, then went to check on his daughter. He found her playing on the coffee table with some stuffed animals but as soon as he entered in the room and sat on the couch, she immediately settled against him, snuggling closer.

"Daddy, are you mad at Meri?"

Eden's question swept him out of his feet and he was glad he had been sitting when she asked "No, I'm not mad, but we are a little bit in a fight. I promise that everything will be over soon" he tried to reassure her and himself at the same time. He didn't know what it was going to be if she kept giving him the silent treatment.

"You and Meri look sad when you fight" she pointed out

He remained quiet next to her, reflecting on what she had just revealed and the more Derek thought about her words, the more he wanted to make up with Meredith.

Eden snuggled closer and in a few moments, she was asleep in his arms. He kept looking at her, breathing regularly in his arms and wondered how Addison could not miss all of this. It broke his heart just knowing that he was probably going to spend the next night away from her, he couldn't even think about seeing her just once in a while. On the other hand though, he was glad she didn't, so he could have Eden all for himself.

He carefully lifted her up and brought her to bed, changing her into her pajamas without a complaint. He looked at her one last time, kissed her forehead then went back downstairs, closing the door behind his back.

In the corridor, he could see that Meredith's door was ajar, a sliver of light coming out of the room. When he passed by the room, he could hear her sniffle and realized that the light was the moonlight, as all the lamps were switched off.

He knocked gently, unable to let her cry alone in the dark "Meredith" he called.

Her only answer was a rough "Go away"

"Is everything okay?" he continued, ignoring her.

"I'm fine"

When she replied he immediately knew that something was wrong, so he just opened the door and saw her sitting on the bed with her legs against her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees tightly, like she wanted to protect herself from something, hiding or disguising with the linens.

"Meredith" he called

"I had enough for today, Derek" she replied tiredly, almost resigned to the fact that he was there, hovering. He was almost positive there were tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"For what? Kissing me in a closet or having sex with an almost engaged person?"

"For everything. I was an ass to you and you didn't deserved it" he replied sincerely and she was taken aback for his real sadness. He had never realized how much he had hurt her before this moment. He completely forgot about Finn's existence the moment their lips met.

"What we did was wrong on so many levels, Derek" she admitted, forcing herself to believe in what she had just said. Having Derek in his room clearly didn't helped much with that.

"Did you tell Finn this morning? I heard you yelling"

They barely had any conversation which didn't involved yelling, she wanted to point out, but she was sure it could give him permission to stick around, and she really wanted to wallow in her misery alone. Above all, she didn't wanted Derek Shepherd and all his perfection around.

"No, I didn't" she sighed audibly. She hated keeping big secrets "I'm sorry Eden heard us yelling"

"She had heard worse, believe me" he admitted sadly

"Still"

Somehow, they seemed okay again. Like two old friends, they apologized and everything could go back to normal, except it didn't.

"Did you heard my mother has Alzheimer?" she said out of the blue. She had missed talking to him about everything and nothing, he wasn't like Cristina, it was so easy to talk to him and she had missed it.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry, I didn't knew"

"Nobody did"

"What else?" he asked, studying her face change at the mere mention of her mother.

"It's lots of things" she looked away, her eyes glistening with tears again.

He let the silence settle for a moment, waiting for her to continue, then he prodded her "You can tell me"

She opened her mouth to reply, but then she closed it again and gazed outside. The silence thickened, until she spoke "My mother was mean to me my whole life"

She looked up and saw his face pleading her to share more "When she had been admitted I went visiting and she said that she would have lived better without me. I'm a disappointment, I can't do something right, ever..." she took a deep breath "you know, the same old stuff, it just hurts every time. Every single time she says that and I'm just tired of hearing it." the first tear escaped the corner of the eye "How could I be a disappointment at five years old?"

Derek remained shocked at her revelation and watched her tears fall down her cheeks again, then he simply sat on the bed beside her and pulled her in his arms, hugging her tightly.

"I just want to be happy for one day, am I asking too much?" she asked rhetorically between sobs. He just tightened his hug.

She basked in the feeling of his strong arms around her and his muscular chest to lean on, feeling unbelievably safe in his hold. He smelled good, just like she remembered, even if he had worked the whole day, he still smelled like Derek and it comforted her. He whispered soothing words that she couldn't understand, but she felt like they were helping. All the rage and frustration was gone and they were okay again.

"I'm breaking up with Finn tomorrow" she admitted for the first time and it felt nice to put it on the open. "I can't lie to him anymore"

"I'm sorry, I..."

"It's not you, it's me" she sniffled and snuggled closer. Her body in his arms felt good, even if she was desperately crying and needed nothing more than comfort. She was beautiful, despite the week she had just gone through and her whole life was a huge mess at the moment. He would never get bored of looking at her.

She rose slowly from his chest and their eyes met, clashing into each other's gaze. He was mesmerized by the perfect gray her eyes had become with her tears. They stared at one another for an endless moment, then her face moved dangerously close to his, before she could back away again. He just wanted to lean over and kiss her over and over, until they were both breathless and panting, but he knew he had to let her take the first step.

Unexpectedly, she leaned in again, she brushed away one of his curls from his forehead, then kissed him.

It was slow and tentative at the beginning, then it filled with all the passion he had kept buried deep down to not take another wrong step. She let out a small, satisfied moan and he suddenly needed more. She shifted against him and sat on his lap, straddling him. His whole body stiffened at the feeling of her. She was just perfect.

"Meredith" he said, his voice something he hardly recognized because it was filled with need, his sweatpants suddenly uncomfortable. He still wanted to make her stop before she could regret anything more, he wanted to do things right this time. He ignored the pounding need to just take her right in that moment and waited for her. She kissed him fully again, her gaze hooded with lust and tears when their eyes met once again.

"I need this, Derek, please" she was almost in tears again, pleading and looking gorgeous so he just kissed her lips softly as a confirmation that she could use him in whatever way she liked.

"Thank you" she replied sincerely, before letting herself go in a happier place of forgetfulness in the safety of his arms.

AN: Once again, the last part wrote by itself.

Many things happened here and I know, I know I have to bring Finn up again, he'll reappear soon, I promise. Thank you for you patience and your great reviews!