Just wanted to give a quick shout out to all the folks who've been reviewing this story. You have no idea how excited I get when I read your comments. I always remember them when I'm banging my head against a wall, trying to edit one of these chapters. So thanks again for letting me know what you think!

Chapter Twelve

"Lexie's your family." -Derek Shepherd

Meredith Grey stared up at the ceiling.

Her hands were folded across her stomach. And now she pulled up her feet, still trying to get comfortable on the couch she was laying on. She didn't want to seem jittery, not in front of her doctor, but she felt like she was crawling out of her skin. She was still thinking about the previous evening, that awkward encounter she'd had with her father... And that image… that image of him leaving with a box packed full of Lexie's belongings.

He'd basically taken her out of this hospital. And Meredith hadn't done a thing to stop him.

Dr. Wyatt cleared her throat. Already, they'd spent two minutes in silence as Meredith scowled at nothing in particular. But now, like it or not, it was time to begin.

"So," Dr. Wyatt decided to jump right in. She was perched on the edge of her chair. The dreaded notebook was just within reach.

"Are you ready to talk about the accident yet?"

Meredith pursed her lips. The plane crash. Of course, she'd lead off with the plane crash.

Why was everyone so damn curious about it? Did they really want to know about the blood and the smell of jet fuel and that freezing cold night spent out in the forest? Maybe they should try living it, Meredith thought bitterly.

Live through it and then we'll see how much you want to discuss it…

"It wasn't an accident," she said finally, wishing she had skipped this appointment. She could've been in surgery, hiding herself in all of that medicine. But instead she was here, having to explain.

"An engine failed."

"And that's not an accident?"

"A maintenance guy missed something and we fell out of the sky," Meredith tried hard not to remember that part. "If that maintenance guy hadn't missed something, we would have landed in Boise. And then we would have come home, all of us."

Dr. Wyatt started to speak again, but Meredith held up her hand.

"And no, I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine."

Dr. Wyatt had learned to be patient with her. She could push of course, she needed to push. But at some point she'd risk Meredith withdrawing completely. And the plane crash was obviously a very sore spot, a raw nerve that wasn't yet ready to be poked and prodded.

"What would you like to talk about then?" Dr. Wyatt asked. "I get the sense that something specific is bothering you today."

Something other than the crash and Lexie's death and her still strained relationship with her husband...

Meredith thought about it, weighed the pros and cons of getting into her latest mess. But maybe it was worth it, maybe it would keep them out of the forest for a little while longer.

"Fine." She sat up suddenly, swinging her legs over the side of the couch. "Let's talk about my father."

"Your father?"

"Yes, my dad. He showed up last night." Meredith spilled the information before she could stop herself. But as that statement played back in her head, it sounded all wrong. "Thatcher," she corrected. "Lexie's dad."

Dr. Wyatt let her word choice pass, simply happy to be talking at least.

"So, he showed up at your house?"

"No, he showed up here," Meredith clarified. "Which is actually worse. And then he took the stuff from Lexie's locker, which is just so... it's just so wrong. I mean if you knew..."

She shook her head, picturing that stupid box.

"If you knew what he'd done to my sister..."

She wondered if Dr. Wyatt would ask about that. But she seemed more interested in her patient, in Meredith's reaction to her father's arrival.

"Did you two talk?"

"No, we don't talk," Meredith could easily answer that question. "We haven't talked in months."

She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had a conversation with Thatcher. And now, without Lexie, her urge to see him had disappeared completely. He was just another reminder of what they had lost.

"I mean I know he's in pain." That was the only thing Meredith could actually relate to. "I get that. But I'm not gonna be the shoulder he cries on. I don't owe him that."

"You two didn't talk at your sister's funeral?"

"No."

"Not at all?" Dr. Wyatt hesitated, unable to hide her surprise. "Not even about Lexie?"

"Not really."

Only then did Meredith realize how this must have looked, her refusal to speak to her father, especially at Lexie's memorial service. They had shared the same tragedy. But honestly, he'd been the last person she'd wanted to see that day.

"He was with Molly." She'd used that as an excuse to keep her distance, told Derek she didn't want to intrude on their grief. "Lexie's little sister. She was there with him."

"But isn't Molly your sister as well?" Dr. Wyatt posed the question carefully. "I mean blood wise, she's your sister just as much as Lexie was."

"No."

Meredith could see the turn this had taken. And she didn't like it one bit.

"No, Molly is not my sister."

"Didn't you say the same thing about Lexie?"

Meredith inhaled sharply. She knew she had to let that one roll off her back. Dr. Wyatt was trying to make her uncomfortable. That was sort of the point, to go into the deep, dark recesses of Meredith's mind. She didn't want to talk about the plane crash, fine. They could talk about Lexie and their shared relatives instead. After all, Meredith was the one who kept bringing this stuff up. But that didn't make these discussions any easier.

"Look, Lexie dropped into my life five years ago." She eyed her doctor warily, hating to go over all this again. But it needed to be said.

"I was in a totally different place back then. Things were on and off with Derek, and we had just become residents. Lexie was Christina's intern, her mother had just died and it was all really weird and really messy."

"Because you didn't want her…"

Meredith tried to hold back her anger, but it was getting harder.

"You really like bringing that up, don't you?" she bristled. Somehow, she'd known that those early sessions would come back to haunt her. What was that thing people said?

The truth hurts...

And it hurt badly, worse than Meredith had ever thought possible.

"You're right," she said finally. "I was a crappy sister to Lexie, I really was. I made a lot of mistakes with her. But that doesn't change the fact that she was my family. And Molly is not."

"You're sure about that?"

"Damn right, I'm sure."

"Okay fine." Dr. Wyatt folded her hands. "But let's just think about this for a moment. Just go with me here."

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Meredith immediately tensed. She knew that posture. Her therapist always adopted it when she was about to say something Meredith didn't want to hear.

"Only a few short years ago, Lexie came into your life. And you spent months trying to push her right back out again."

Meredith's guess had been spot on. She didn't want to hear this.

"But then things eventually changed," Dr. Wyatt continued. "You grew to like Lexie, you even grew to love her. Isn't it possible the same thing could happen with Molly... or even your father?"

No, it's not possible… Meredith wanted to yell that from the rooftops. But Dr. Wyatt wasn't going to give her the chance.

"Or maybe you're afraid," Her therapist raised her eyebrows, clearly baiting her patient. "Afraid that you'll screw up these relationships too."

Meredith crossed her arms. It was hard not to be defensive after a statement like that.

"I'm not afraid."

She put a little more force into her voice.

"There's no reason to be afraid. I can't screw up my relationship with my father, because guess what? It's already screwed up. A couple years seeing him on and off, that doesn't make up for the decades he was gone. And as for Molly..." she softened her stance a little, not wanting to sound like a total jerk. "Maybe she's nice. She could be the nicest person in the world. But it wouldn't matter. The timing's just not right."

Dr. Wyatt smoothed a page in her notebook.

"Some people think you should be around family at a time like this."

Meredith's fingernails dug into her arms. There was that word again. Family. She wasn't going to let her therapist sneak that one past her.

"But, I already told you, Molly's not family. And Thatcher Grey is definitely not family."

"They share your name and they share your blood," Dr. Wyatt reminded her. "Just like Lexie did."

"That's ridiculous." Meredith was getting increasingly irritated with this line of discussion. "That comparison is totally, totally ridiculous."

Lexie had wanted a place in her life. She'd earned it, with all the crap she'd been put through. She'd earned the right to be Meredith's sister, her one and only sister.

"I'm not just going to trade Lexie in. Not for them and not for any other long lost relatives who happens to show up."

"Who said anything about trading her in?"

Meredith's only response was to set her jaw and glare at her doctor.

The woman had to know that Lexie was different, that Lexie was special. And that there was no way, no way whatsoever that Molly or anyone else could ever replace her. And so if this was a test to get Meredith to admit to that, then congrats because Dr. Wyatt had won. But Meredith wasn't going to let her win easily.

"You want to know about Molly?"

Meredith abruptly shot to her feet, catching her doctor completely off guard.

"Fine, I'll tell you all about Molly, everything I've learned in the last five years, which isn't much, because unlike Lexie, she never wanted to know me. And quite honestly, I never wanted to know her. It was mutual, so let's not pretend that this is all just on me."

Meredith was sure that Lexie had tried. She'd worked hard to pull all the pieces of her broken family together. But this wasn't some fairytale. Meredith had chosen her, and only her, to be close to. And Molly, and even their father, hadn't protested much.

"Until recently Molly lived in Bahrain," Meredith poured out the story the best that she could. "She saw Lexie maybe once a year. And she loved her, obviously she loved her. But she never once helped out with their father, even after she realized what was happening, even after she discovered that he was a drunk who made Lexie's life miserable. And she sure as hell never came here to visit. Lexie's funeral was the first time she'd been back since their mother died."

Meredith had easily spotted her at the service. She'd been sobbing into her husband's shoulder, crying as if she might die right there too. And Meredith had hated her for it. It wasn't fair, but it was how she had felt at the time... how she still felt in fact.

"And as for my father…" She emphasized that last word, knowing that Dr. Wyatt would want to hear it loud and clear. "I'm sure he loved Lexie. Hell, I'm sure he loves me. But when I saw him yesterday, the only thing he could say, the only thing he wanted to talk about, was Lexie's stuff, all of the stuff I still have at my house. He didn't ask for it, he just wanted to know when he could come over and get it, like I'd just pack up her entire life all over again."

"Her entire life?"

"Yes, Dr. Wyatt, her entire life!" Meredith stood in the middle of the room, practically yelling now. "I have all of Lexie's stuff crammed in my attic. Because at one point he basically threw her away."

"Out of his life and straight into yours."

It was one of those comments that stopped Meredith short.

She froze, her mind going blank until she suddenly recalled why she came to this therapist, why she kept returning over and over again. Somehow, even through Meredith's ramblings and wild emotional swings, Dr. Wyatt always found the truth. She always uncovered the real issue, the one that was eating away at her patient.

"So, do you want to tell me how that happened?" she asked, gesturing towards the couch again.

Meredith wasn't quite sure what to say. She was still too surprised by where they had landed. Maybe she'd talked herself straight into this moment. Maybe she'd actually done it on purpose, because for the last twelve hours, ever since she'd laid eyes on her father, she'd thought of nothing else but that party, about the night she'd watched her sister's life get dumped out in front of her…

She shot one last look at Dr. Wyatt, wishing that the road to this point had been a little less bumpy. But sometimes her therapist worked in mysterious ways. Meredith would simply have to accept that.

And so finally, she lowered herself back to the couch. It was time to tell this story from the very beginning.

"How in the hell did I let you talk me into this?"

Meredith turned to glare at Izzie Stephens. They were huddled together in a corner of George and Lexie's new craptastic apartment, trying to go unnoticed as yet another group of interns walked through the door. Meredith shuddered. They were laughing, carrying their bottles of wine and six packs of beer. They hadn't even bothered to bring real alcohol.

"You didn't tell me they'd invited the preschoolers."

"I didn't know," Izzie whispered.

Meredith was suddenly very happy she'd visited Joe's before coming over. With Izzie driving, it had seemed like the wise thing to do.

Another group of interns arrived, smiling, fist bumping…

"George just said 'house-warming party.'" Izzie had been sucked in by his sweet little smile. And then Meredith had gone and gotten sucked in by Izzie. "I was trying to be supportive."

Oh god…

Meredith glanced around the tiny apartment. It was cute enough and she knew she should stay, for George at least... and Lexie too. But the idea of chatting up dorky interns for the rest of the night... it made her die just a little inside-and that was after she'd had a couple of shots. If she didn't find a way to bail soon, she'd be trapped with these people, stuck listening to their various dramas as they got tipsy on cheap drinks. Plus, Lexie was cooking an actual meal. Once dinner was on the table, it was all over. She'd be cut off from the world, her happy buzz from Joe's fading fast.

Already her mind was scrambling for excuses to leave. Maybe Alex could call and say the house was on fire… but no, that wouldn't work, because to her surprise and horror, Alex Karev had just walked through the door.

He spotted them instantly and made his way over, gleefully holding up a bottle of vodka. Meredith sighed. At least that was something.

"What are you doing here?" Izzie was even more shocked by his sudden arrival. "I specifically told you not to come. You're just gonna get drunk and make fun of George. And then it'll get all awkward and weird, just like our last party."

"First of all, I don't need to get drunk to make fun of O'Malley," Alex reminded her, already sporting a nice buzz himself. "And second of all, I just saw Yang hopping out of a cab, so maybe I'm not the one you should be worried about."

"What?" Meredith's mouth dropped open.

Christina had been with them at Joe's, but she'd never imagined, in a million years, that her friend would join them here. Meredith looked over at the huge table George had set up by the wall. Lexie had even put out little place settings. It was all rather adorable. And Christina would make them pay for it.

"Christina can't come to this," Meredith automatically reached for her phone, wondering if she could stop this disaster. "This is so not her thing."

"Too late now." Alex nodded towards the door. "Speak of the devil."

Meredith turned just as Christina walked in. She was momentarily distracted by the two lovely bottles of tequila she carried, one in each hand. But Meredith knew that wouldn't be enough to get them through this, not nearly enough.

"This is gonna be bad," she warned her friends quietly. "This is gonna be really, really bad."

"Maybe not." Izzie was trying to think positive. It was a spectacularly misguided approach in this situation, but Meredith let her go with it anyway.

"It could be fine. I mean we're outside the hospital. There's alcohol, there's music. We're having fun-"

"Who's having fun?" Meredith had to cut her off there.

"We are!" Izzie snapped, unimpressed with her sarcasm. She seemed absolutely determined to make this night work. "We are going to have fun. We are going to drink and talk to our idiot interns and Christina is going to be friendly."

"Dude." Alex laughed as he cracked open his bottle. "Good luck with that."

Izzie shot him a nasty look, one she'd been perfecting since the day she had met him. But that lasted only a split second. She dropped it as soon as Christina approached.

"Hiiii!" Izzie switched on the charm causing Meredith to shake her head just a little. "We didn't expect to see you here. This didn't really seem like your kind of party."

A smile played across Christina's lips. She slid off her jacket then tossed it at the nearest passerby. Poor Intern One took it full in the face.

"Bambi and Three just moved in together." She put a hand on Izzie's shoulder, as if she was breaking the best news in the world. "And then they invited all their weird friends. This isn't something you miss… ever."

"Christina..." Meredith frowned at her, but Christina was feeling absolutely no shame tonight.

"Oh come on," she protested, gesturing out at the crowd. "It's like a once in a lifetime opportunity to mock freely. You get to show up, eat dinner and practice your ridicule."

Alex tipped his bottle in mock salute.

"Welcome to the freak show."

Izzie's smile was already fading and after a second it vanished completely. It was obvious that the interns were in trouble here. Both Alex and Christina were sizing them up like lions ready for the kill. Now all Izzie could hope to do was mitigate the damage.

"You two," she pointed at them, her exasperation on full display. "You are not allowed to ruin this for George."

"What about Three?" Christina opened the tequila then clinked bottles with Alex. Meredith could feel her headache beginning.

"Can we ruin it for Three instead?"

"No, you cannot," Izzie held firm. "You already promised Meredith you wouldn't torture her anymore."

"Maybe not at the hospital," she conceded. "But George allowed me into their home. It's like a vampire movie. Once you're invited inside, the innocents are totally fair game."

Christina took a swig of tequila, keeping a watchful eye out for weaklings. Poor Izzie looked like she was ready to hurl. This definitely wasn't the evening that she had envisioned.

"We are screwed," she hissed into Meredith's ear. "We are so totally screwed."

Meredith nodded slowly, thankful that those shots were still swirling around in her system. Izzie wasn't wrong. They were totally, totally screwed.

With Alex and Christina here, this had just gone from a dinner party to a ridiculous circus. The interns were performing and they didn't even know it yet. And Alex and Christina were the heckling spectators.

Meredith grabbed the bottle from Christina and lifted it to her lips. This was gonna be a long night for all of them. Her window of escape had certainly closed, so now she'd have to find a way to amuse herself. There had to be something… Meredith glanced around the apartment. Some activity… or perhaps an extra liquor cabinet that George had brought over. But as Meredith took in the space, she began to get a nagging sense of déjà vu.

"Does something about this place seem familiar?"

She looked over at Izzie. She couldn't quite put her finger on why, but she felt weirdly at home here. She tilted her head, trying to get a better view of the fruitbowl.

"Is that a bed pan?" It was sitting on the table, filled with oranges and bananas. Meredith blinked. "That's a bed pan, right?"

"Hell yeah, it's a bed pan." Alex laughed in realization. He downed some more vodka then wiped his face with the back of his arm. "And that's a painting from the hospital lounge." He motioned towards the wall. "And I'm pretty sure that's a surgical lamp over there in the corner."

"Oh my god," Christina's face filled with inexplicable joy. "Your sister's a klepto."

She was right.

Meredith surveyed the room again, taking in each object with a fresh set of eyes. Christina was right.

Everywhere she turned, she saw another piece of their hospital. The curtains, the decorations, hell even the furniture had all been magically transported to this otherwise grungy apartment. No way George would have gone to that bother. This had to be Lexie's doing.

Meredith should have known. Her mother was a cheater, her father was an absentee dad and now her sister was a klepto...

Way to go, Grey family.

"Well..." Izzie mumbled. "At least we know Lexie has another skill set."

Indeed.

Meredith upended the tequila bottle, pouring the alcohol straight down her throat.

Indeed...

"Mer, maybe you should slow down a little." Izzie raised an eyebrow, her concern evident. "I'm already dealing with two drunken idiots, please don't make me-"

"Oh my god!"

Izzie sighed as Christina shouted right over her. She was pounding on Alex's shoulder, Lexie's thievery all but forgotten.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!"

"Dude, what?" Alex tried to shrug her off, but Christina grabbed his head, twisting it so he could follow her gaze.

"They're doing karaoke!"

Karaoke?

Meredith quickly lowered the bottle.

And that's when she saw it, sweet little George, standing by the far wall, helping Steve set up a TV. Christina looked like she might die of happiness. If she did, then Alex wouldn't be far behind her.

"Come on!" She took his arm then stole the open bottle back from Meredith. "We gotta make sure they get that thing up and running."

The two retreated into the crowd, handing out hi-fives as they passed their own interns. Meredith threw a sideways glance at Izzie. Her eyes were wide, as if she'd just witnessed some terrible miracle.

"You've gotta be kidding me," she muttered under her breath. "They don't even like each other."

No, they usually didn't. But tonight, Christina and Alex were the perfect tag team. The robot and the evil spawn... Meredith grabbed the second bottle of tequila. What a buddy film that would be...

"Holy crap!"

Meredith nearly dropped the bottle as Lexie's shriek pulled her right out of her thoughts. She spun around and immediately saw what the problem was. Her sister was standing in front of an oven, an oven that was probably older than she was. Smoke was pouring out of it. And here came the flames.

"Holy crap! Holy freakin' crap!" Izzie repeated her sentiment, then rushed forward just as the other guests scattered. "Where the hell's the fire extinguisher?"

For one terrible second, Meredith thought they were in for an epic catastrophe. After all, what were the chances that Lexie had snagged a fire extinguisher? But apparently her little sister was an even better klepto than they had imagined, because already she was pointing to a nearby cabinet.

"There!" Lexie spat out the only word currently in her vocabulary. "There, there!"

Izzie kneeled down and hurriedly threw open the cabinet door, digging around until she found the red canister. But just as she got to her feet, Alex appeared.

"I got this!" He nudged her aside then ripped the fire extinguisher out of her hands. It was the typical guy response, chivalrous and insulting all at the same time.

"Are you kidding me?" Izzie tried to reach around him. "For godsake, I can put out a fire!"

"Shut up, I got this."

"Alex!"

"Would you shut up a second?"

Alex was still struggling to dislodge the pin, pushing Izzie's patience to the absolute brink.

"Alex, I swear to god, if you don't give me that fire extinguisher!"

"Just hold on, dammit!"

The smoke alarms began screeching, one more sound in all of that chaos.

We're gonna die... Meredith thought. We're gonna die in a tenement apartment with all of our interns.

She knew she should move, grab her friends and head for the exit. But she was weirdly entranced by the scene right in front of her. Alex cursing as he tried to play rescuer... George shoving his way forward through the sea of interns... And Lexie, poor distracted Lexie, she was scooping ingredients off the counter, in a desperate attempt to save some of their food.

"Ah-ha!" Alex finally got a hold of the pin just as George yanked Lexie away. "No, wait!" she cried. "Our dinner!"

But Alex was already charging the oven, like a firefighter ready for his close up. He aimed the nozzle at the rapidly expanding flames.

Here it was, his big moment.

"Clear!"

He yelled with all the authority he could muster then closed his eyes and squeezed the lever. Immediately a white cloud shot out, engulfing the flames, the oven, half of the kitchen… and whatever had been left of their meal.

Meredith took another sip of tequila.

And now we're gonna go hungry…

The interns stood there in stunned silence, every bit as useful in a fire emergency as they were in a medical one. Thankfully, Izzie had opened a window. The smoke began to seep out, the alarm gradually died. And then, slowly but surely, another sound filled the room. Yep... Meredith sighed. It was Christina.

Christina was laughing.

"I love this party!"

Meredith couldn't remember what she'd been drinking at Joe's but the alcohol had definitely taken effect. Christina held up her hands, mimicking Alex.

"Clear!"

There were tears in her eyes. George opened his mouth as if he might scold her, but then he closed it again, too stunned to say anything. Christina quickly filled in the silence.

"Oh come on, it was funny!"

No one else was laughing, but Meredith had to admit, this was a hell of a way to start things off. A housewarming party where you nearly burned down the house... A couple of guests had tried to bail out the window. A few had raced out the door and into the night... It could only go downhill from here.

As it was, Christina was already bored, Meredith could tell. She was glancing around, trying to decide what to do next. The interns had begun to disperse and she certainly didn't want any more of them leaving.

"Let's go, Two." She snapped her fingers at Intern Steve, pulling him towards the karaoke machine. "That thing's not gonna set itself up!"

Their dinner was ruined, the apartment had nearly gone up in flames, but Christina didn't care. She just wanted a chance to make fun of her interns. Meredith could sort of see the appeal, but still… her timing and location needed some work.

"I can't believe this," George finally found his voice as he turned back to his friends. "Who even invited her?"

"Wasn't me," Izzie muttered.

"Wasn't me either." Alex turned his smirk on Meredith.

Crap… Meredith knew what came next. Within ten seconds everyone's eyes were on her. Aw… the accusatory stare. She hugged her bottle of tequila, trying not to appear guilty. It wasn't her fault that Christina had seen Izzie's email. And it sure as hell wasn't her fault that they'd decided to set up a karaoke machine.

"It doesn't matter now anyway," Lexie unintentionally came to her rescue. She was staring at the charbroiled mess in the oven, completely dejected. "That was the main course."

Gradually, she straightened only to catch sight of her poor little salad. It was covered in fire retardant... as were the veggies and appetizers and everything else she'd been preparing.

"Now all we have left is bread." She cast a pitiful glance at her roommate. "Bread-George. That's like-that's like prison food!"

But George didn't seem to care about his guests or their meal. His eyes were fixated on Lexie's right hand. She was holding it awkwardly, her fist pulled up into her sleeve.

"Did you burn yourself?"

"No." Her response came just a little too fast. At this point, everyone knew she was lying. The color rushing to her cheeks didn't help matters either. "It's fine," she tried again to convince him. "It'll be fine, really."

"Let me see."

"George, no-" Lexie flinched as he moved in to examine it. She pulled her arm away, hiding it between her back and the counter. "It's fine, I swear. It's not a big deal."

"Then show it to me." He stood in front of her, patiently waiting. "Show it to me and then I'll believe you."

Meredith stepped in closer as Lexie grudgingly produced her hand. Even Alex wanted a peek now. George carefully rolled up her sleeve and sure enough, there it was... Lexie had an ugly, red burn crisscrossing her palm. She bit her lip then hastily closed her fingers around it.

"Lexie..." George looked up at her with concern.

"I just, I thought I could get the oven door closed." Lexie stumbled along, embarrassed by all the attention. "I saw the smoke when I opened it, and then the stupid thing just burst into flames. I mean, I was just checking it, checking to see if our meal was done, which it clearly is now and-ow!"

Lexie yelped as George forced her fingers back open. It was sort of sweet, Meredith realized, to watch him take care of her. It was sweet and maybe a tad disconcerting. Somehow her friends had become Lexie's friends too.

"Come on."

George gently took the girl's wrist and walked her over to the sink. Izzie already had the faucet going and Lexie started hopping up and down as they placed her still sizzling skin under the cool tap water.

"Seriously," Alex leaned in towards Meredith. "Your sister's like a walking disaster."

His superman act was long since forgotten. The vodka and whatever other beverages he'd started the night with, were reaching his brain, transforming him into a snickering jerk.

"Must run in the gene pool..."

"Don't be an ass." Meredith knew full well that he was trying to provoke her. Even after all this time, her relationship with Lexie was still a sensitive subject. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on," he scoffed. "Tell me you don't see the resemblance. The frantic hand gestures, the kitchen fires-"

"That happened once," she protested.

"The freak outs." A grin appeared on his face. "You two are good at the freak outs. Your eyes get all wide and crazy-"

"You're so full of crap."

Meredith watched Lexie behind him, jumping around like a hurt puppy. She felt sympathy yes, but still, she couldn't find the connection. They had absolutely nothing in common, except the hospital… and an increasing number of friends.

"Dude, I'm telling you, it's obvious. That girl is totally related to you. Hell, she's practically living your life."

"You're drunk." Meredith scowled as he continued to needle her. "So maybe you should just finish your vodka and shut the hell up."

"Yes please." Izzie suddenly appeared. She didn't seem particularly happy with either of them. Her expression was a mixture of anger and utter disappointment. "I can't believe you guys, honestly." She turned her gaze on Meredith. "I really thought you wouldbe better at least."

"What did I do?" Meredith caught herself whining like a petulant child.

"Nothing," Izzie gave an exaggerated shrug, as if she'd expected this all along. "I asked you here because I thought it'd be fun. I thought we could come support George, just the two of us... But now Christina's here and she's being awful. And your sister, she's upset. Alex is being his usual asshole self-" She shot him her second dirty look of the night, then went right back to Meredith. "And you-you've done absolutely nothing to help... so thanks for that."

Before Meredith could even respond, Izzie shoved her way past, making sure to throw an extra elbow at Alex. They could hear her rustling around in the bathroom, grabbing various supplies, slamming cabinet doors in frustration.

Meredith knew she should think of some snappy remark, something to say when Izzie passed by again. But nothing came to mind. And so she simply watched as her friend emerged, juggling a huge roll of gauze and three kinds of ointment. Meredith narrowed her eyes. Lexie had definitely covered her bases when she'd ransacked the hospital...

If only she'd hit the cafeteria too…

"What are we going to eat?"

Their sad little thief was still fidgeting by the sink. Meredith could see the guests growing inpatient. Apparently, the reality of the situation had finally dawned on them. They'd just watched their dinner get burnt to a crisp.

"George, we didn't buy anything else. The fridge is literally empty." Lexie was unraveling fast. "The milk's gone, all the vegetables are gone. Seriously everything, everything I bought yesterdayis gone. So unless we want to serve them top ramen-"

"I vote no on that."

Alex raised his hand. Meredith reached over to swat it back down, but her reflexes were slightly delayed. She needn't have bothered anyway. Poor Lexie had already seen him.

"I can't believe this," she stammered. "I just-I can't believe this."

"Here it comes," Alex smiled, proud of himself for egging her on. "She's gonna lose it."

Meredith pursed her lips in dismay. Unfortunately for all of them, Alex was correct. The wide-eyed freak out was about to begin. Meredith knew all the signs… She did a silent countdown in her head.

And in five, four, three, two…

"You were right."

As if on cue, Lexie whirled around to face George. Her words were coming out faster and faster now.

"You were totally right. This apartment, it sucks. And we, we really suck. We suck for being stupid enough to rent it. And we suck for trying to throw this ridiculous party. But I suck most of all, because I'm the one who talked you into it, all of it."

"Lexie, it's fine," George was trying his best to convince her. And then there were the others… He looked out at their gathering friends, giving them a nervous smile. "We've got this handled. It's fine everyone!"

The interns, dopey kids that they were, instantly believed him. But Meredith certainly didn't. And Lexie didn't either.

"George, we need food!" she whispered. Izzie had started to tend to her burn, but Lexie's focus remained solely on her roommate. "We need food right now, because we're gonna have to work with these people tomorrow-"

"It's okay." George used a soothing tone, hoping to calm her shattered nerves. Meredith had to hand it to him. No matter how close Lexie got to the edge of the cliff, he kept trying to pull her back. "It's no big deal, I promise."

"Sure for you!" She almost laughed at how well he was taking this. "But me, I'm Meredith Grey's little sister, I'm the intern who got taken out by a patient and had to stay at the hospital. I can't be the person who invited twenty friends over to her apartment, nearly burned it down, then didn't even feed them!"

She pointed out at the crowd, yanking her hand away just as Izzie was beginning to wrap it. Now the gauze was flying everywhere, following Lexie's increasingly frantic hand gestures. Alex actually started to giggle. Meredith sighed and took another sip of tequila.

"Jeez, would you chill?" Izzie's supposedly awesome patient skills apparently stopped at the hospital doors. She grabbed Lexie's wrist again, barely batting an eye as the girl winced in pain.

"This right here, you freaking out, that's what they're gonna remember. Not the food, not the fire, just you."

"Izzie," George attempted to intervene, but Izzie just shook her head.

"No, if she wants to be the weird, crazy intern people talk about for all the wrong reasons, then let her be."

"Here, here." Alex held up his bottle.

Izzie gave him a withering glare.

"You, can shut your mouth and you-" She glanced up at Lexie, taking a deep breath as she gathered herself. If anyone had been in this position before, laughed at, underestimated and called out for all of her mistakes... it was Izzie Stephens.

"You need to stop worrying what the rest of them think." She motioned at the misfit crowd. "They're freaking interns."

"I'm an intern," Lexie said pathetically. "I'm a freaking intern!"

"Yeah, but I'm not and neither is she." Izzie nodded at Meredith. "And god help us, neither is Alex. And we're gonna fix this, okay? So just calm the hell down."

The tequila had started to take effect, but Meredith still caught that last part, the part where they were supposed to help Lexie.

"Wait a minute, what?"

She didn't want to be a total brat, but she hadn't even wanted to come to this party. And she sure as hell had never signed up to save it.

"I don't cook." She gave Izzie a pointed look. "I don't cook-at all."

"She doesn't," Alex was oh-so-quick to agree. "You might as well take a blow torch to this place."

"You really can't seem to shut up, can you?" Izzie griped.

She finished bandaging Lexie's hand, then crossed over to Meredith, easily pushing Alex aside.

"Look Mer, I know that I was a little hard on you earlier," she launched into her case, before her friend could object. "But this-right now, this is your chance to redeem yourself. This is your chance to help George and Lexie and save them from this mess they're in."

Meredith could just see Lexie out of the corner of her eye. She was bent over the oven again, probably wondering what the hell had gone wrong.

"All you have to do is go to the grocery store," Izzie kept talking, afraid she might lose Meredith otherwise. "Just go buy some food, something we can throw in the microwave. And take Heckle and Jeckle with you." She gestured at Alex, then Christina. "I'm sure George will drive."

"I will," George had overheard them. "I'll drive."

"Great. And you know what? Just go ahead and forget the other two there," Izzie lowered her voice. She was apparently fed up with their mischievous friends. "Seriously, just leave them with cab money or something."

George actually seemed to like that idea. But Meredith still wasn't convinced. She knew George and Izzie were ganging up on her here. She wanted to signal Alex for help, but he was too busy making googly eyes at Lexie again. Ugh… she'd thought he'd moved past that stage. But the vodka had caused him to regress… even more.

"Come on Mer," Izzie had caught her watching her sister. "Lexie just wants a place to fit in. You don't want her hanging out with your friends, then fine. Help her make dinner for the rest of these morons. Give her that at least-"

She was interrupted by a loud blast of music. Steve had apparently accomplished his goal. The karaoke machine was alive and well, much to Christina's excitement. She stood in the middle of the crowd, her bottle of tequila lifted high in the air.

"That's what I'm talking about, Two!"

She gave Intern Steve a friendly slap on the back. The poor kid nearly collapsed.

"Please," Izzie tried again, grabbing Meredith's shoulders and shaking her gently "Just please go get food. And for the love of god, take Christina with you. It might be the nicest thing you ever do for your sister."

Meredith pressed her lips together. The alcohol was clearly working for Christina. Now she was waving Dani over, trying to push the microphone into her hands. And here came the Huey Lewis music. Huey Freakin' Lewis.

"Aw, I love this song."

Lexie was suddenly happy again, her head bobbing to the beat. She started walking towards Christina like a moth to an 80's music flame, but Izzie mercifully pulled her back.

Meredith rolled her eyes at her bouncing little sibling then finally nodded towards Alex and George.

"Alright fine," she grumbled. "We'll go get some food."

"Thank you."

Izzie sighed in relief then reached out to take the vodka from Alex. He glowered at her, but gave it up easily. When she went for the tequila however, Meredith held fast. She didn't want the interns getting their hands on it.

"Let go." Izzie gritted her teeth, still struggling to yank the bottle away. "Let it go, Mer, right now."

"Meredith!"

George quickly joined in the struggle. Alex just started laughing again. And Lexie… oh little Lexie was still trying to get to that karaoke machine. It was so tantalizingly close.

"Oh for godsake!" Izzie grabbed the back of Lexie's shirt, saving the girl from any further embarrassment. "You two are impossible."

"Which two?" Meredith bristled.

Izzie's eyes lit up. She had found the exact button she needed to press, the one that Alex had been hammering earlier.

"You and your sister." Izzie put extra emphasis on that last word, driving it right into Meredith's tequila soaked brain. "You're both impossible."

Meredith released the bottle immediately. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but she was done with this, done being teased, done listening to all the ways she resembled her sister.

"Come on," Meredith latched onto Alex's arm then shoved him towards Christina. She didn't even bother to glance back at Izzie.

"I guess we'll buy more drinks at the store."

Okay, so this flashback is "To Be Continued." There is a second part to it that deals with the stuff that Meredith hints at in therapy. But this chapter was already running long so I figured I'd save that scene for the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed what was written so far. As always, let me know what you think. Your comments always put a smile on my face. :)