A/N: Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews on last chapter! I can't describe in words how happy they make me! Now, since I gave you two light and fluffy chapters, this chapter starts on a darker and angstier note again. You know I can't stay away from angst for long ;) But, I assure you, even though the beginning of this chapter is a bit darker, I think the ending will make you happy. And all's well that ends well!

P.S. I made a playlist on YouTube which includes all the songs that have been used in this fic so far. You can find the link to it from my profile page, and I hope you find it useful!

Let's Get Away From It All

Let's take a boat to Bermuda

Let's take a plane to Saint Paul

Let's take a kayak to Quincy or Nyack

Let's get away from it all

Meredith sat atop her bed as she brushed and braided her daughter's curly hair. Zola kept babbling all the while Meredith plaited her hair, and it made Meredith smile a little to herself. Zola was back to being the chatterbox she was, and Meredith couldn't be more thankful for it.

For the past few weeks, Meredith had noticed an unusual change in Zola's demeanour. Zola, who had always been an extrovert, jolly and talkative kid, had slowly been turning into a quiet and reserved one. She had stopped talking much, and her usual bright, chirpy self had gone into hiding. It had been a drastic change, as if it had happened overnight. Meredith had immediately noticed the shift in Zola's demeanour and had tried talking to Zola about it, but it had appeared as if Zola had withdrawn herself from her mother. It had been a reason of constant worry for Meredith, and she had even started thinking about talking to Derek and taking Zola for counselling. The thought of taking her four year old daughter to the shrink had unnerved and unsettled Meredith no end, but Meredith had known that she needed to figure out what was wrong with her baby girl.

Now, as Meredith listened to her daughter's incessant chatter, Meredith felt a sense of peace and relief wash over her. She couldn't describe in words how relieved her heart felt as she noticed the spell of darkness lift from her daughter's disposition. This was how her daughter looked best – happy and smiling and chattering. Meredith never wanted to see her daughter in a state of unhappiness.

"Mommy, this week is the bestest week I had!" Zola exclaimed suddenly as Meredith braided her hair.

Meredith smiled. "Really? And why so?"

"Cause I gots the gold star in school for helping Ms. McCarty clean our classroom," Zola said, "And Ms. McCarty gived me a candy for that."Zola sported a proud grin on her face.

"That's so great, sweetie," Meredith said with a grin of her own, feeling incredibly proud of her daughter. She finished braiding Zola's hair and keeping the brush away, she pressed a loud kiss to Zola's cheek, causing Zola to giggle.

"Oh, and you and Daddy didn't fight this week either!" Zola turned around and tacked on, causing Meredith to freeze with shock. The happy feeling that had been dwelling in Meredith's heart on seeing her daughter happy and cheerful again, left as soon as it had come. Meredith's mouth hung open in shock as she looked into her daughter's warm, chocolate brown eyes. Unable to formulate any response to Zola's statement, Meredith just kept staring at Zola's face in shock.

"I don't likes it at all when you and Daddy fight," Zola murmured, as if offering explanation to her mother. "You shout a lot and you say bad things to each other, and you swear, which is not nice at all. And I can't sleep when you an' Daddy are shouting," Zola said innocently, looking down at her feet.

Meredith's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her daughter's childlike face for a moment before wrapping her arms around Zola and pulling her into a bear hug. She had no idea what to say to Zola; she had known that her and Derek's fighting was affecting Zola – Amelia had told her that, but she had never prepared herself for having it thrown at her face. One part of Meredith was happy that Zola had admitted the truth, but another part of Meredith couldn't reconcile herself with the bitter reality.

"I know, sweetie...I know..." Meredith whispered as she hugged her daughter tightly. "I'm so sorry, honey. Both I and Daddy are sorry that we fight and yell at each other so much. I'm sorry." It was all Meredith could say in response to her daughter's innocent confession as she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from escaping.

Zola pulled back from the hug and said in a fearful whisper, "Mommy, is Daddy gonna leave us?"

Meredith's eyes snapped up to meet her daughter's. A pit hollowed out in her stomach and Meredith gulped. Once again, Meredith found herself tongue-tied with horror. She looked at her daughter sincerely as she shook her head. "No, sweetie. Daddy is never going to leave us. He would never...Why are you asking this? What made you think that Daddy is going to leave us?" Meredith asked, aghast.

Zola pursed her lips and replied, "Well, you know Sara in our class? She says her Mommy and Daddy used to fight and shout a lot too, and then, one day, Sara's Daddy leaved 'em. He don't live with Sara and her Mommy anymore, and Sara only visits him on the weekends now."

The tears threatened to fall from Meredith's eyes as she looked into her daughter's brown eyes. She could see the fear settled in there, and Meredith couldn't feel guiltier at the moment. She and Derek had been so absorbed in their own problems that they hadn't even stopped to think how their present situation could affect their children, especially Zola.

"Daddy will never leave us, ZoZo," Meredith finally rasped out as she cupped her daughter's cheek. "Daddy loves us too much to even think about leaving us. I know that I and Daddy have been fighting a lot lately, but...I promise you, you won't have to visit your Daddy only on the weekends. He's gonna stay right here, with us." Meredith pressed a tender kiss to her daughter's forehead, trying to ease her fears and worries.

"Okay," Zola said with a nod. "Cause I can't not see Daddy all week...I wonder how Sara manages," Zola said in a pensive voice.

"Nothing like that is ever gonna happen to you and your brother. I and Daddy will make sure of that," Meredith said with a wan smile, her stomach doing flip flops. She needed to talk to Derek about this, and soon.

"Kay. Love you," Zola said with a bright smile that lit up the entire room. "C'mon now, I'll be late for daycare and you'll be late for work, Mommy."

Meredith blinked back her tears and smiled at her daughter. "Love you too. Let's go," Meredith said and the duo made their way downstairs.

Derek walked down the hallway towards on call room 10, his head full of thoughts. He had received a text from his wife five minutes ago, and she had asked him to meet her in on call room 10. She had mentioned in her text that it was urgent, and trepidation had filled Derek's mind immediately. What could have been so urgent that she had asked him to meet her in the middle of such a busy day? Derek hoped that Meredith and the kids were alright – he hadn't seen them since he had left the house early in the morning. He wondered if something was wrong with one of the kids, and the thought made his heart plummet. He walked in long strides and tried to reach his destination as fast as he could.

Reaching the on call room, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, finding Meredith sitting on the bed with a pensive and worried look on her face. The look on her face made Derek's heart beat rapidly and Derek quickly shut the door and walked over to his wife.

"Meredith, are you alright? What's wrong? Are the kids alright?" Derek asked as he took a seat beside his wife and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Meredith didn't move as she replied, "I'm fine. And the kids are fine too. Well, at least physically."

Meredith's cryptic answer caused Derek to raise an eyebrow. "Meredith, what do you mean by at least physically? Tell me what's wrong," he said, feeling anxious and worried.

His wife let out a heavy sigh as she turned to face him. "It's – it's about Zola," Meredith said, wringing her hands nervously in her lap.

"What about her? Is she okay?" Derek probed, wanting to know more.

"Physically, yes. Emotionally, I don't think so..."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked, feeling the worry seep into his mind. "Meredith, stop being so cryptic and tell me already."

"I –"Meredith hesitated and then continued, "I was braiding Zola's hair this morning and she told me that this week was the best week she had. When I asked her why, she told me that it was because you and I hadn't fought all week." Meredith bit her bottom lip nervously, waiting for her husband's reaction.

Derek's eyes widened and his face took on an unreadable expression. Well, at least Meredith couldn't read it. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, looking into Meredith's eyes.

When Derek remained silent, Meredith inhaled a deep breath and said, "There's more to it. Zola was scared that you'd leave us. Her friend's parents used to fight a lot too, and then her friend's Dad left, so Zola thinks that you're gonna leave us too. She can't sleep at night due to our yelling...And, Amy has told me this before – that, that our fighting and yelling bothers Zola and keeps her up at night..." Meredith paused and then turned to her husband, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "Derek, I – I don't want Zola to become dark and twisty like me. I...I don't want her to have the same life as me. I grew up in a house where my parents were constantly fighting, and I swore to myself that I'd never let that happen to my kids, but..." Meredith trailed off, unable to continue as she buried her face in her hands.

Meredith felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and she looked up into Derek's glassy eyes.

"I – I don't know what to say, Meredith. I – we were so busy with our own mess that...we totally forgot that Zola is growing up now. She – she understands these things and these things affect her, and we totally forgot about it...And now she thinks that I'm gonna leave you and her. God, I – I feel so guilty..." Derek whispered, his eyes fixed on the wall in front of him.

"I know...I feel like the most terrible mother in the world! I mean, I know what it feels like to have your parents constantly fighting with each other; I know how it can damage you emotionally and psychologically and yet...yet, I let it happen to my daughter..." Meredith rasped out, her voice breaking.

Derek remained silent for another minute before saying in a hoarse voice, "Our last fight...It was horrible. We – we said so many nasty things to each other, and God, we yelled and it was ugly! And Zola was in the house to hear all of it...I – it was the ugliest of all fights we have ever had...If you hadn't picked up that fight for no reason at all, then..." Derek rubbed his hand over his face, his thought process turning cold.

Meredith's head immediately snapped up and she looked at her husband. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she wiped them away with her hands as she narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you say?" Meredith whispered in a disbelieving voice. "I picked up our last fight for no reason at all? You – You're blaming me for all this?"

Derek looked away from her as he replied, "Well, there was no reason for you to flip out like that..."

"I can't believe this!" Meredith exclaimed as she stood up from the bed. "How can you say that, Derek? You told me you wanted to go back to D.C.! How can you not expect me to flip out on hearing that?! Wouldn't you have flipped out if our roles had been reversed?" Meredith asked incredulously. "How can you blame our whole fight on me? It takes two to tango, Derek. I wasn't the only one yelling!"

"But you started the yelling!" Derek replied as he stood up too. "And now, because of you, Zola thinks that I'm going to leave her!" Derek yelled, unable to control his anger.

"Because of me?!" Meredith whispered and then gave a small, bitter laugh. "Of course, Derek. Of course, you will blame me for it, because that's your MO! Whatever happens, blame it all on Meredith!" Meredith yelled out, her temper flaring. "I can't believe that you're deflecting all responsibility for this and calling me a bad mother. Again! I don't know why I feel surprised – this is like the third time you're calling me a bad mother!" Meredith couldn't stop the tears that came rolling out of her eyes. She had been so horrified and devastated after what Zola had said to her that morning that she had just wanted to talk to her husband and melt in his embrace. She had wanted to meet her husband so that he could comfort her, support her – reassure her that she was not a bad mother. But instead, her husband was blaming it all on her – he was confirming her worst fears instead of comforting her. She didn't know who else to turn to for support; she just felt so guilty and terrible for all of it.

Derek's eyes softened as he saw the tears rolling down Meredith's cheeks. He came back to his senses as he watched Meredith slump down on the bed again. What was he doing? Meredith had come to him for support, for reassurance, and he was yelling at her and blaming her instead? What was wrong with him?

"Meredith..." He whispered as he plopped down beside his wife and pulled her hunched body in his arms. Wrapping his arms around his wife's frail body, he shouldered her head while she burst into sobs. "Meredith, I'm sorry...I – I didn't mean to blame you...I just – I got so angry..." he whispered as Meredith buried her face in his shoulder and cried.

"I'm a horrible mother! I'm not fit for raising two kids," Meredith murmured amidst sobs as she felt Derek's arms tighten around her torso.

"You are NOT a horrible mother," Derek whispered firmly into her ear. "It's not our fault...It's – it's our situation's fault. We are in a bad situation right now, that's it," he said as Meredith's sobs weakened and she pulled back from him.

"But, we did it again, Derek. We yelled at each other, again!" she murmured. "Why do we keep doing this? How will we ever make it if we keep doing this? How will our kids ever make it if we keep doing this?" she questioned rhetorically as she buried her face in her hands. "I don't want my kids to be emotionally damaged because they had to grow up watching their parents fight all the time! I don't want that for my kids!"

"I know that," Derek whispered as he placed his palm on Meredith's back and started rubbing slow circles on it. "No parent wants that for his or her kids. No parent wants their kid to have the same life that they had. I know how you feel, Mer, because I feel the same way. I feel angry, not at you, but at myself and our situation. I feel angry and helpless. That's why I lost my temper and shouted at you," he murmured as he grabbed Meredith's right hand with his own. He squeezed her hand as Meredith continued sniffling.

"How will we do this, Derek?" Meredith asked incredulously as she looked up at her husband, her eyes moist and puffy. "The road ahead isn't easy, and we're gonna be fighting a lot now. We will fight a lot. How do we protect our kids from that? How do we make it without letting our fighting, our problems, our roadblocks affect our kids?" Meredith asked with a scared look in her eyes. She let out a heavy sigh as she leant sideways and pillowed her head on her husband's strong shoulder. "I'm scared, Derek. I don't want to fail..." she whispered as Derek pressed his cheek to her head. "I don't want to fail as a mother..."

Derek's grip on her hand tightened, and he gave her hand a tight squeeze before replying, "You won't. We won't fail as parents...We'll figure something out. We'll figure something out to shield our kids from...us." He squeezed her hand once again and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Meredith gave a small nod, wanting nothing more to believe her husband in that moment.

Let's take a trip in a trailer

No need to come back at all

Let's take a powder to Boston for chowder

Let's get away from it all

Derek stood in the doorway of the daycare, watching his four – almost five year old daughter playing with her friends. She was laughing and giggling, her dimpled cheeks making her look even more adorable than she already was. Derek's heart swelled with love and pride as he watched his daughter play happily, and he smiled a little to himself. But then, he remembered his earlier conversation with his wife and the smile disappeared from his face. Sighing heavily, he walked inside the daycare, his heart feeling heavy with guilt and a lot of other emotions that he couldn't quite place a finger on.

"Daddy!" Zola squealed excitedly as soon as she spotted him coming towards her. Dropping her toys, she stood up and broke into a run towards her father.

Derek met his daughter halfway and scooped her up in his arms, laughing as she planted a big, wet kiss on his smooth cheek.

"There is my princess," Derek said as he placed a kiss of his own on her cheek. Pulling back, he carried Zola over to the bean bag and sat down on it with his daughter in his lap.

"How comed you visit me, Daddy? Don't ya have to go and be a doctor and save lives?" Zola asked, scrunching up her nose just like her mother.

"Well, I have to. But, I thought that I'd come and pay a short visit to my princess," Derek replied as he tickled Zola's sides, causing her to erupt into a fit of giggles.

"Daddy! Stop tickling! 'Tis not nice," Zola said amidst giggles and peals of laughter.

Derek stopped tickling his daughter and looked at her for a minute. She was so innocent and young – he still couldn't bring himself to believe that she thought that he would leave her.

"ZoZo, I've to talk to you," Derek started to say in a serious voice, but stopped when Zola's eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Am I in trouble, Daddy?" Zola asked in the cutest way, making Derek crack a smile. "I swear I didn't steal any cookies after dinner last night," she said, causing Derek to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm...I never said that, did I?" Derek asked quizzically. "ZoZo, did you steal any cookies after dinner last night?" he asked in a mock stern voice.

Zola bit her lower lip nervously and then gave him a sheepish grin. "Only one cookie, Daddy, swear! Auntie Amy let me have only one!"

Derek raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you and your Auntie Amy have been up to this, huh?"

"Don't tell Mommy, pleeeeaaaase!" Zola said with a pleading look on her face. "If Mommy knows, she'll hide the cookie jar again, and then I can have no more cookies! Please, Daddy," Zola begged, causing Derek to finally give up.

"Fine," Derek said with a laugh as he pressed a kiss to his daughter's head. "I won't tell Mommy, but don't eat cookies after dinner again, ok? It'll cause your tummy to ache and then you'll not feel nice," Derek said in a warning tone.

"I won't, pinky promise!"Zola said, holding up her little finger. Derek wrapped his own pinky around Zola's little finger and sealed the promise.

"Okay," Derek said, smiling at his daughter's adorable activities, but his smile fell as soon as he remembered why he had gone to the daycare in the first place. He cleared his throat a little and then said, "ZoZo, now, Mommy told me what you said to her this morning. Do you think that I'm going to leave you?"Derek wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer to that, but he asked anyway.

Zola's mouth rounded as she realized what her father was talking about. She looked away from her father guiltily and mumbled out, "I just – you and Mommy fight so much nowadays...Sara's Mommy and Daddy also use to fight a lot and then Sara's Daddy leaved her. That's why I thinked that..."

Derek wrapped his arms around his daughter's tiny frame and whispered, "I'm sorry that I and Mommy fight so much, sweetie. But, just because we fight doesn't mean that I don't love you all anymore and that I'm gonna leave you. I'm never ever gonna leave you, Bails and Mommy, honey. I love you all a lot, honey; I'd never leave you guys."

"Well, Mommy said that in the morning..." Zola mumbled and then pulled back from her father's embrace. "Pinky promise?" she asked innocently and held up her pinky.

"Pinky promise," Derek said firmly as he entwined his little finger with his daughter's once more, giving Zola the reassurance she needed. And suddenly, Derek knew that he and Meredith had to fix their mess as soon as possible, just for the sake of their daughter.

We'll travel 'round from town to town

We'll visit ev'ry state

I'll repeat, "I love you sweet!"

In all the forty eight

Meredith pushed the door of the attendings' lounge open and stepped inside, stopping in her tracks when she came face to face with her husband. She hadn't spoken to Derek after their earlier conversation in the on-call room. She didn't know what to say to him – she had no idea whatsoever. He was sitting on the couch with his iPad in his hands, and he had been looking at something on his iPad intently prior to her entrance. Their eyes locked across the room and Meredith turned around to shut the door.

"Hey," Derek said softly as Meredith shut the door and walked over to him slowly.

"Hey," she replied as she reached the couch and took a seat on it beside her husband. "Did you talk to Zola?" she asked, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Yes, yes, I did," Derek replied, looking at her face. "She – she was really scared that I'd..." Derek gulped, not being able to say the word 'leave.' Even the thought of leaving his family made the bile rise in his throat. "She made me pinky promise her that I wouldn't leave..."

Meredith closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I knew it...I knew that our fighting was affecting her, and I didn't do anything about it...We just kept fighting, and now...now, the damage is done..."

"Hey," Derek said as he set his iPad aside and grabbed Meredith's hand. "It's not your fault – it's our fault that we didn't pay any attention to how our constant fighting could affect Zola. And...And the damage is not done, Meredith. We can still prevent the permanent damage," he said softly, stroking the skin of Meredith's hand with the pad of his thumb.

"How?" Meredith asked, shrugging her shoulders. "How are we gonna prevent the permanent damage, Derek? We fight a lot these days, and let's be honest with each other – our share of fights isn't even close to being over yet. Just because we didn't fight this week doesn't mean we're not gonna fight next week. We're still recovering from...everything and the fights are gonna be there, Derek. And not the occasional fights...Frequent fights...They'll not dwindle overnight," Meredith pointed out rationally, rubbing her hand over her face in despair and disappointment. "How are we going to shield our kids from all the things that are about to come our way?"

Derek let out a soft sigh before saying, "I've been thinking about it all day...And," he paused, "I think I have come up with a solution. I mean, it may not be a permanent solution, but temporarily, it could work..."He trailed off, eyeing Meredith carefully.

"What?" Meredith queried, her curiosity piqued.

Derek left her hand and picked up his iPad again. "We could," he said, "We could go for a small vacation..." He paused a little and then said, "Without the kids."

Meredith's eyebrows shot up, and she looked at her husband like he had grown two heads. "What?! A vacation? Without the kids?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah..." Derek said as he turned the iPad towards her. "I've been looking at a few holiday resorts, and we could go away for a few days –"

"Wait," Meredith said, cutting him off, "And how exactly is this going to solve our problem?"

"Well," Derek said, "The kids would get a break from our constant fighting...And we'd get a break from work, kids and everything and we could spend more time working on our relationship..."

Meredith bit her lower lip and looked away from her husband. She remained mum for a minute before saying, "Derek, are you out of your mind? How can we just go on a vacation without the kids? Zola is only four, Derek, and Bailey? He is barely two. How can we leave our four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son alone and go on a vacation?"

"Meredith..." Derek said, "Zola is almost five. And we talked about this before, remember? You weren't so opposed to the idea back then...Then, why does it sound so impossible to you now?"

"Because," Meredith said with a sarcastic laugh, "Derek – we can't just up and leave our kids and go on a vacation! Who would look after them while we're away?"

"Amy –"Derek started to say, but Meredith cut him off.

"Derek, we can't just impose our kids on your sister and leave. That's just wrong, ok? We can't do that. And besides, don't you remember the last time we left our kids with your sister? She was...devastated by the end of the day, and our house was a complete mess and...And it was only for a day! She couldn't manage it for one day, how will she manage it for a few days? Not to mention that she runs an entire department, Derek. She's busy – crazy busy. She won't have the time to look after two kids and work," Meredith pointed out the reasons.

"But, Alex could help her..."

"Alex? Derek, Alex is really good with the kids, but please, he has enough on his own plate right now. He can't look after our kids too, while we're away vacationing. And let's not even talk about who'd take care of the kids. Let's talk about how the kids will react when they find out that we're going on a vacation without them," Meredith said, "Do you think it'll be so easy to go and tell Zola that 'Honey, we're going on a vacation, and we're not taking you or your brother with us?' How can the idea even come to your mind?"

"Meredith," Derek said, "I know it's gonna be a little tough, but I think we can manage. We need to do this – for us and for the kids. Who knows, maybe we can sort our crap out while we're away..."

"Derek, please," Meredith said, raising her hand, "It has been about a month since..." she paused, not knowing what to say before continuing, "since your return from D.C., and we have hardly made any progress in that month. If we can't sort our crap out in a month, how can you even think that we can solve it in a few days? A vacation is not magic, Derek."

"I know that!" Derek exclaimed. "I know all of those things, Mer, but you never know. A vacation may not be magic, but it's certainly a break from our rut. Yes, we haven't been able to sort out our mess in a month, but that's because we hardly see each other! We're always busy at work, or with the kids...A vacation without the kids will give us more time with each other, and even if we can't fix all our problems, we can fix a few of them. And we may come up with a way to tone down our fighting too," Derek reasoned with his wife.

Meredith stared at him for a minute before shaking her head adamantly. "No, Derek. My answer is no. I can't go vacationing without the kids – it's too cruel!"

"You know what else is cruel?" Derek asked, his temper ticking up. "Subjecting our small, innocent kids to our ugly fights and screaming matches every other day. That's what's cruel. Believe me, the kids will be relieved to get away from us and our fights for a few days," Derek spat angrily, causing Meredith's eyes to widen.

"Wha – I – What did you say?" Meredith sputtered, aghast.

"It's the truth," Derek said with a shrug.

"You – you are a jerk!" Meredith exclaimed loudly. "You're such a jerk! I can't believe... You think that your stupid idea of a vacation could actually work? Fine, let's go on a vacation, and I'll prove it to you that it's not gonna solve any of our problems. If anything, it's gonna cause more problems for us, but since you won't listen to a word I say...Let's go on a vacation, darling," Meredith said in a derisive tone.

"Fine!" Derek exclaimed.

"Fine!" Meredith echoed and then added in a high-pitched voice, "Oh, and darling? You're gonna talk to your sister and the kids and convince them." Meredith gave her husband a sarcastic smile before turning away from him and folding her arms across her chest angrily.

"Fine. I'll do it and show you that it's not as difficult as you think it is," Derek said with a huff as he turned away from his wife in anger too.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Stop copying me!" Meredith huffed.

"Whatever, honey," Derek drawled out with a shrug, giving his wife a faux sweet smile.

Let's go again to Niag'ra

This time we'll look at the fall

Let's leave our hut, dear

Get out of our rut, dear

Let's get away from it all...

A/N: I told you that you'd be happy with the ending (I hope)! I had to write this chapter, for a lot of different reasons. One of the primary reasons for writing this chapter was that I wanted to highlight how deeply a couple's fights can affect their children. When parents fight in a violent way, the collateral damage to kids can last a lifetime, and I'm saying that based on my personal experiences. Zola has been deeply affected by her parents' fight, and that's why I decided that it was necessary for MerDer as well as Zola to get a break from everything. I hope you understand my decision.

Let me know what you all think about this. I always appreciate your thoughts :)

Song Lyrics from "Let's Get Away From It All" by Frank Sinatra

~ooOOoo~

A reply to the reviews –

bhavyam1998 – Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Agreed! I wish they had explored a bit more of Derek's past on the show. We just knew about Seattle Derek, but all fans wanted to know all about Derek Shepherd, including NY Derek. But, don't worry, I bring up some NY Derek in this fic quite a few times. I've always loved Mer and Amy's friendship, and I try to showcase it whenever I can. And yes, Derek is giving Mer the space she needs, but he isn't always perfect, like you saw in this chapter. Hope you liked this chapter as well! Thanks!

Patsy – Thanks so much for your kind words! Your review made my day! Yes, we're just into step one of the healing phase – there's still a long way to go. I'm extremely gratified to hear that! Thank you!

Paisley Mae – Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your review makes my day brighter! And don't be sorry about not reviewing the last chapter; it's okay, it happens. Thank you!

msnovelist – Thank you so much! Glad you think so! Hope you liked this update! :)

mandyg67 – Thank you! I'm happy that you liked it – I'm very fussy about details and how I write them, and it's good to know that I didn't botch it. Thanks!

Ellen – Thanks so much! I'm extremely gratified that you think so. Yes, I love Mer and Amy's friendship too. That's why I try to portray it whenever I can. They go so well together. Thank you!

Guest – Thank you so much! I'm extremely glad to know that my fanfic got you out of your funk. Your review made my day! More is on the way!

Jill – Thanks a lot for reading and reviewing! McDreamy is back, but he can be a McAss too when he wants to be. Hope you liked this chapter, even though it was a bit darker :)