"How'd you know?" asked Alex feeling relieved that he wasn't facing his crazy family drama alone. He didn't know how he'd even look at Amber. What was he going to say? Then there was Aaron. Apparently gone crazy. Well, crazier. He'd put his brother in an expensive, nice psychiatric facility. God knew he spent a big chunk of change on that every month. Now, had to find a new place. A place that was good. That would take Aaron.

"So, how'd you know?" he repeated.

"Jo asked me when your flight left. I got on stand by and here I am. Alex, why didn't you tell me? I'm your friend. I'm here for this kinda thing." She grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly.

"Yeah, thanks. You didn't have to do this, but thanks." It was about the closest Alex got to sentimental. "Hey, where's Zola?"

"Cristina volunteered."

"You left her with Yang? She hates kids!"

"Uh, I leave her with you and you say you can't stand kids," Meredith answered.

"But Yang really hates kids!"

"Did you just admit that you like kids? You did! You just said you love kids!"

"Whatever. You're delusional! I'm gonna have you committed too. Next to my brother."

"Shut up, Alex."

"Is it too late for you to get off?" asked Karev smiling. Meredith smiled and held his hand tighter. They spent the rest of the flight not talking much, both knew this would not be a fun trip. Alex finally dozed off, head resting on Meredith's shoulder.

Amber was waiting at the airport to pick her brother up. She seemed genuinely happy to see him.

Yeah, ready to drop this shit storm in my lap, thought Alex.

"This is my friend, Meredith," he said after hugging Amber awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you," his sister extended her hand but Meredith pulled her into a hug.

"Jeez, Mer. A hug?" Alex whispered on the way to the car.

Amber filled the two in on the Aaron incident on the ride to the hotel. It was uglier than expected. He'd slit a nurse's throat late one night and left her to die in a restroom. Luckily, the jugular was missed and she was going to fully recover. Unluckily, no place else was going to take him. At least no place good.

"Amber, you didn't have to do anything. I told you I'd take care of it."

"He's my brother," Amber said simply.

Silence. "Well... uh, thanks." Alex didn't know what else to say. He wanted to tell her it would be okay, everything would be okay. Her big brother was there and he would take care of all of it, of her. The words wouldn't come. Instead, he repeated, "Thanks."

"Alex, you look like shit. Have you been sick or something?" she peered at him knowing he was underweight, dark circles, cheeks more sunken than normal.

"A little. I'm better now, no big deal. Thanks for the freaking compliment," he laughed sharing a look with Meredith. Keep your damn mouth shut, Grey, he thought.

Amber dropped the two at the hotel, making arrangements to have them over for breakfast at her place in the morning.

"She's cute," said Meredith. "Seems sweet. And looks at you with those baby sister eyes. I can tell she's glad you're here."

"Because I'm such a freakin' great big brother."

"Don't say that. You're here, aren't you?" Meredith hooked her arm in his as they walked to check in.

"You go ahead," mumbled Alex, directing her to move in front of him.

"Alex, I don't have a room. It was so last minute. I figured I could just stay in yours."

"Oh, yeah, sure. I, I, just thought you'd want...whatever. It's great. No problem. Can we have the damn card key?" asked Alex handing his driver's license to the lady behind the desk.

They rode the elevator up to nine, Alex sweating profusely the whole time. Yes, Webber helped him get back on one, but he definitely didn't like it. Especially not all the way up to nine. Meredith told him about Zola's cast being covered in drawings since her friends were too little to write. Pictures of everything from flowers to cows to a mountain that looked like poop. Alex was laughing by the time they got off the elevator and headed to their room.

He slid the card key and held the door open for his friend. Meredith stopped in the middle of the room staring at something. Alex joined her to see what was wrong.

"Crap," he said staring at the one, king-sized bed.

"Do not worry about this. Don't unpack anything. I'll take care of this." He immediately called the front desk and was told that there was not one room available with two queen sized beds.

"Unbelievable! Freakin' unbelievable." Alex was rubbing his head, pacing back and forth.

"It's okay. No big deal. We've got bigger things to worry about tomorrow. C'mon sit, Alex," Meredith said patting the couch.

"You're right. Sorry. I'll sleep on the couch. I don't know what's the damn matter with me," he said nervously.

"I do. You're worried about your family, your sister, your brother. It's okay." Meredith rubbed Alex's back, his head down in his hands.

"We're ordering room service, then we'll watch a good movie, wake up refreshed and meet your sister in the morning."

"If you get any perkier, I'm gonna start calling you Kepner," teased Alex. "Meredith, thanks for comin'. I don't deserve it...you... but, uh, thanks."

That night Alex tossed and turned on the little couch that was barely meant to hold two people sitting.

"Alex! Quit sighing and turning over and over. Come in here. It's okay," Meredith called from the bed patting it loudly.

No way, thought Alex. "Sorry. I'm gonna quit moving around. Sorry."

Meredith sighed loudly, rolled over and went to sleep. Alex just froze on the couch trying not to move at all. Trying not to breathe too loudly. He finally got up at four and quietly slipped into the shower. Took an extra long, steaming hot one. He got out and felt for his suitcase in the pitch black room. Found it. He rummaged through feeling for a pair of boxers and T shirt. Success. He headed back to the bathroom slamming his toe on what must've been Meredith's suitcase.

"Shit!" he yelled stumbling forward against the wall. "Crap!" He was on all fours and started crawling the last few feet back to the bathroom. The light by Meredith's bed flipped on. He popped up, grabbing at the towel slipping from his waist.

"Crap," he repeated. "Sorry. Turn off the light and go back to sleep. It's early," stammered Alex precariously holding the towel in place, realizing he had no clothes on, and Meredith Grey was staring at him.

"Put some clothes on!" commanded Mer, turning off the light, blushing in the darkness. What is wrong with you, she thought. You've seen him naked plenty of times, and this time he wasn't really naked. He looked skinnier, she thought, and the scars just made her sad. But she had to admit, frat boy was pretty. Looks like a damn model, she thought with a smile dozing off.

Meredith woke abruptly sweating, face hot, dreaming of...what? Who? Oh crap, she thought. She'd been having a dream about her roommate and not a "your my friend" kind of dream. More like a "you look like a model" dream.

"You okay?" asked Alex rushing to her side. "Did you have a nightmare? You look upset."

"Um, uh, yes, a nightmare," answered Meredith looking at Alex in his boxers and T shirt. Form fitting T shirt. Pull it together, she thought. "I'm fine. Go back to the couch."

"Okay. Whatever." Alex knew she had probably been dreaming about Derek. About all their lost years, the happiness that could've been. Totally sucks, he thought.

The breakfast went well once the initial awkwardness faded. Meredith and Amber were acting like sisters, teasing Alex, making fun of all his faults. He had no idea he had so many.

"Has he always eaten with his mouth open?" asked Meredith gasping for air.

"Always!" laughed Amber. "Mom used to get so mad. It never helped though. And...dad. Dad." Smile was gone in a flash replaced by a look of sadness.

"Ha. Yeah, dad tried to break me of it, but didn't work either. Right?" Alex asked his sister with his mouth completely full little bits of food falling out.

The three laughed, but there was something in the Karev eyes not lost on Meredith. After breakfast Alex hit the phone while the ladies did the dishes.

"So what did your dad do?" asked Meredith not wanting to drop it. Alex had told her so much, but she knew nowhere near all of it.

"Let's just say that Alex took a lot. More than any kid should, so that Aaron and I wouldn't have to." Amber had that sad look on her face again. "Physical stuff."

Meredith didn't know what to say. I'm sorry, seemed so empty.

"It's no wonder he took off to college, then medical school, then Seattle. It all worked out though. He would've never met you if he hadn't left," Amber said perking up smiling at her new friend.

"Oh, no, Amber. Alex and I are just friends. Well, like best friends. I mean I love him and all, but totally in a friends kinda way," Meredith rambled.

"This is freaking crap!" yelled the peds surgeon throwing the phone on the floor.

"What did they say?" asked Amber already knowing the answer to her question.

"Which place? The first, second, third, or twentieth?" yelled Alex mad at no one and everyone at the same time. He took a deep, loud breath. "I'm sorry, Amber. This isn't your fault. I didn't mean to yell at you. Sorry."

"Let me call Webber and see if he knows anyone, if he can pull some strings." The calm in Meredith's voice made Alex think that it would be okay. His crazy brother would find a not so crazy hospital to take him.

Meredith hung up. "Richard's on it. He seemed to think he could help."

"Thanks, Mer."

"You're welcome. I hate to mention this, but... Do you think we should go see your brother? Aaron. See how he's doing? Talk to his doctors."

Alex could feel his blood pressure rising. He had to remind himself that Meredith was helping, she didn't deserve to be attacked. She didn't deserve any of this, not her freaking family.

"I guess," he said quietly.

Amber and Meredith looked at each other in shock.

"You can get those looks off your faces. Let's go," he said getting up.

At the hospital, everyone was much nicer than expected. After all, this was the family of the man who tried to kill a nurse, one of their own.

Alex went in to see Aaron first. He wanted to make sure it would be okay for Amber. She'd already been through enough crap, he thought. He stayed in for a long time, a really long time.

At first, Amber and Meredith were quiet. Finally, Amber asked, "So what's wrong with my brother? He's got cancer, right? You can tell me."

"What? No! God no!" protested Grey. "He's not sick. He was hurt, injured, but he's better now. Getting better. He didn't lie to you Amber."

"What happened to him? What was wrong with him?"

Meredith went through the whole ordeal again, the tree, the broken body, slow recovery. For some reason, she didn't sugar coat it. Alex's own sister deserved the truth. The truth of how close he'd come to death.

"Shit," she said. "A tree?" she asked, quizzical look on her face.

Meredith looked at her, not expecting that. They looked at each other for a few seconds before erupting in laughter.

Alex came out of Aaron's room looking more tired than before. He stared at the two women completely confused. Yeah, Grey laughed at funerals, but Amber? She was twisted too?

"What gives?" he asked. Yeah, bro slit someone's throat...freaking hysterical. No place will take you, hilarious.

"A tree almost killed you?" questioned Amber getting up, still laughing lightly.

She walked to her brother and hugged him. Alex stood limply immobile, arms hanging straight down.

"You didn't think I should be called?" she slapped him across the chest sharply. "What an ass."

"Ow!" Alex complained rubbing his chest. "Sorry?" His crooked grin made everything okay and Amber pulled him in again. This time he wrapped his arms around her tightly, glad he had one person in his family not crazy. Well, not completely crazy.

They went to dinner that evening with Meredith thoroughly enjoying watching the siblings talk, laugh, rib each other. She heard about how Aaron was doing so much better. So weird how schizophrenia worked. Could be long intervals of time where you wouldn't even know something was wrong, then, an episode. An episode that involved a throat slit.

Webber called during dinner to tell Alex he'd pulled the biggest freaking string ever, actually a rope, and got Aaron into one of the best facilities in Iowa. It would cost Karev an arm and a leg in fees, but it was truly the best.

"This is like the frosting on the cake!" Meredith said, huge smile on her face.

"I agree, Kepner," teased Alex.

"Okay, stop that right now. I'm not like April at all. She's perky all the time. I have to work at it."

"She wasn't so perky when she had Avery beat the crap outta me," laughed Alex rubbing his chin with the memory.

"Uh, April didn't tell Jackson to beat you up. She just went running to him, crying, when you upset her. She was probably perky when she told him. Through her tears."

"Hold up. You made this perky girl cry?" asked Amber trying to catch up.

"It was after I came here last time," explained Alex. "Still wondering why Jackson unleashed that can of whoop ass."

"Clueless," said Meredith. "They like each other. Duh. Can't you see it?"

"Wait. I thought she was engaged to that guy who did the dorky song and dance thing. Paramedic McDork." Alex snickered at the memory.

"Flash mob," corrected Meredith. "The dance thing is called a flash mob," she explained seeing Karev's confused expression.

"Whatever. Well, if they like each other why don't they do somethin' about it. Freakin' kids," he muttered. "Life's short," he added, immediately regretting the words.

The look on Meredith's face said that she'd never heard truer words. She had the look of loss... of Derek. She did think of her husband, but she also flashed to George, to Alex and how close he'd coming to joining O'Malley. Life was definitely short.

"Sorry," said Alex softly, not knowing when he'd ever apologized so much.

"No, you're right. April and Jackson should definitely say something to each other, while they can." Meredith noticed Amber looking at her, strange expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

"April and Jackson?" asked Amber.

"Yes," answered Meredith.

"Who wants dessert? The picture of the cheesecake looks incredible," interrupted Alex with forced enthusiasm. Did I just describe cheesecake as incredible, he thought.

"Sure, Kepner. We can order dessert. I'll even pay," teased Meredith, smile back on her face.

Back at the hotel room, Alex took a shower first, this time remembering to bring in boxers and a T shirt. Under the hot water, he wondered if it was possible to fall asleep in the shower standing up. He thought it just might happen. He'd slept maybe one hour the night before, and it had caught up with him.

He got out toweling off his hair roughly and found Meredith face timing with Zola. He joined them glad to see the beautiful little girl, realizing he missed her terribly. He promised ice cream treats as soon as he returned, but don't tell mom. Grey swatted at him playfully.

Meredith was next to shower. The hot water felt so good. Lathering up, she realized that this trip hadn't been at all what she was dreading. She'd met Alex's sister, liked her, and Aaron didn't try to kill anyone. Overall, a good trip, she mused.

Meredith exited the bathroom, towel drying her hair as well. "Alex, I really like..." she began before abruptly stopping. She smiled at the sight of her friend fast asleep on the bed, sprawled on top of the covers, snoring lightly. She pushed him softly to one side and tugged at the covers, placing them on top of him.

She brushed her teeth and headed to the couch. Two minutes on it convinced her that Alex was as crazy as his brother for staying there all night. She got up and slipped into the bed, scooting as far away from Karev as possible.

In the morning, Alex awoke to the feel of a soft, warm body pressed up against him, someone's leg draped over his. Mmmm, felt good, he thought drowsily. He opened his eyes slowly trying to remember where he was.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. He rolled over slowly and saw the sleeping face of Meredith two inches from his. Oh crap, he thought again. He moved to the edge of his side, stirring Meredith a little.

"Uh, huh," she mumbled in her sleep, rolling closer to Alex, draping that damn leg over his again.

He was stuck. He couldn't move or she would wake up. Wake up and find herself practically on top of him. He was definitely stuck.

It seemed like an eternity, but Meredith finally moved a little, giving some signs of waking up. Alex could feel her stirring. She snuggled in closer, both legs pretty much straddling him. Oh crap. He was liking it a little too much. No, no, no. Think of something disgusting, something awful...Kepner naked. No, no, that was making matters worse. Yang. Yes, Yang naked. No, making the situation grow, so to speak. Webber. Yes, Richard Webber naked. Yes, yes, definitely doing the trick. Everything back down to size, back to normal.

"Hey, good morning," whispered Meredith opening her eyes, seeing Alex staring at her.

"Uh, sorry," replied Alex knowing Grey was going to freak out when she realized where her legs were and how they were moving up and down against his legs. He had the sinking feeling that he was going to get blamed for this. "Sorry," he repeated.

"For what?" asked Meredith enjoying the feel of his skin, the look of fear in his eyes, the look of something else in his eyes. What was it? Longing. Definitely longing.


Okay, she's been alone for a looong time. Who can resist Karev? Who? Please do leave a review before you leave. Love your feedback! So much fun to read, and see that people love Grey's as much as I do. Where do you think this is going?