Derek and Meredith both awake from sleep at the exact same moment. Or who's to say whether one had moved slightly, and the other had awoken. Neither one had slept very well with the anxieties of the day to come. Derek had been all prepared to be mad at Meredith when she had shown up at his hotel rather late last night after ignoring his phone calls all afternoon and evening. One look at her face when he had answered the door had told him a few unanswered phone calls were the least of their problems though. He let her in, where she immediately tossed her bag next to the nearest chair and sat in the chair with her exhausted head in her hands.
He doesn't even ask where she has been, he just approaches her and tells her "come on" as he leads her over to the bed. She hardly moves as he takes off her shirt and pants and puts her under the covers. He has already put his pajamas on and was preparing for bed when she had shown up. He scoots in next to her and pulls her into his nook. He doesn't say anything. He just waits for her to speak.
"I went to see my mother." She finally says.
"You did?" He asks with wonder, knowing how hard that must have been for her.
"I wanted to tell her in person." She says as her gaze remains firmly on his chest. Her hand comes up to lazily rub against his chest. "I wanted to tell you. But you were in with the dean, and then I didn't want to know. I should have called you." She says, finally looking up at the last sentence.
"It's alright." He says as he looks into her eyes and sees just what kind of day she's had. It's not like he didn't have just as tough of a day, but he also has a supportive family that he has been on the phone with all afternoon. He rubs the hair away from her face and asks, "How did she take it?"
Meredith is silent for a while, and then very hesitantly says, "Surprisingly well."
"Really?" He asks in surprise.
"She asked me to come visit her when everything had died down a bit." Meredith tells him, the surprise still evident in her voice.
The mention of tomorrow makes them both reflect for a minute. They really have no idea what to expect. Christina was able to get some bare facts from Alex, but the rest is up in the air. They had told their respective family and friends, but how the rest of the world was going to react was a total unknown.
That reminds Meredith. "So how did it go?" She asks, obviously referring to his meeting with the Dean.
"Surprisingly well." He answers the surprise evident in his voice also. "I obviously can't keep teaching the class, and I think you might have to re-take it, but Dr. Bailey was quite receptive to the idea of a very generous anonymous donation made out to the Medical School."
Meredith absorbs the information. "Just how generous are we talking here?" She asks with no small amount of trepidation.
"Let's just say that Dr. Bailey's dreams of a fully functional free clinic can now be realized." Derek answers with apparent irony.
"Oh." Meredith is quick to answer, not sure of what else to say.
They lie there in silence for a few more minutes, comfortable in the space of each other's arms, before Derek offers, "You know, you don't have to do this with me if you don't want to. I've been through this before; I know what it's like. It might be a bit much."
Meredith looks up into his eyes and they stare at each other assessingly. "I am not leaving you this time. We are going to go through this together. You got that?" She tells him forcefully.
He smiles a little smile, and kisses the top of her head before he answers, "I've got it."
"Good." She says as she cuddles more securely into his chest.
They cuddle together, preparing to drift off to sleep, when Derek says feelingly, "I love you, Meredith."
"I love you too, Derek." She answers just as feelingly, and they both drift off to sleep.
But now it is the next morning, and they both groggily awake to a knocking on the door. They stare at each other wide-eyed, knowing it is the man he has hired to bring them the magazine as soon as it hit stands. Derek gets out of bed, pulling on one the hotel's robes, and answers the door.
Meredith hears the low rumble of voices as Derek greets the man. Then the magazine is handed over, an exchange of money is made, and Derek comes back to bed. There is a very large photo-shopped picture of the infamous photo of them on the cover with the bold letters of "Caught" sprawled across the page. Derek flips to the appropriate page, and finds:
Caught!
(I originally had an article that detailed the whole sordid affair in a very bad light. Unfortunately, photobucket ate it! You can still see it, but the words are too small to read. If you'd like to see it, PM me and I'll send you the links. This makes me very very sad. You'll just have to infer what was said. Sorry!)
They both kind of stare at the article for a second, absorbing the words on the page. Derek is the first to speak with, "Well, that's not as bad as I thought it was going to be."
"Yeah." Meredith kind of says in a daze.
After a couple moments of silence, Derek asks, "Are we really that loud?"
Meredith looks over at the puzzled look on Derek's face. That is what he's concerned about? "Well, you are." She responds automatically, not able to bite back the smile that graces her features.
"I am, am I?" Derek says with a mischievous grin as he starts to tickle her with his hands and rub his scruff all over her exposed chest.
She can't help laughing at the tickling, squirming to get away. The magazine is forgotten, rolling to the side as they both laugh and participate in the love play. Derek is about to slide his hands up further for some real love play, when his cell phone rings. He's told the Inn to direct all of his phone calls through his public relations firm, and the only person that has his cell phone number is his family, so it must be important.
He reluctantly slides away from Meredith and looks at the number on the phone: his sister, Kathleen.
"Hey sis, what's up?" He asks without preamble.
"I think you better turn on the news." His sister says.
He's suddenly alert. Meredith lays there looking at him as he grabs the remote and turns on the television.
"Just what am I looking for?" He asks Kathleen as he flips channels.
"Good Morning America."
"Oh boy." Is his first response, not realizing it was going to be spread so fast so soon.
"I don't think it's going to be as bad as you think it is." His sister responds mysteriously.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"Just watch." She answers with a decidedly chipper voice before hanging up. What the?
He turns to the appropriate channel, while Meredith asks him, "What was that about?"
"I don't know. She just said to turn the television on." He answers as they both turn to watch the people on the screen.
They are both shocked to discover Addison sitting in the GMA visitor's chair. She looks polished and professional in a light blue suit that has a decided feminine twist to it. Her hair is pulled back in a decidedly soft chignon arrangement that is quick to soften her features. She looks calm and collected, but to anyone that knew her like Derek did, she was pumped and primed for battle.
"Good morning everyone. We are here today with a very intriguing guest. Sitting before me is Addison Forbes-Montgomery, soon to be Sloan, that was the jilted bride of this summer's biggest scandal." The GMA reporter says from her chair, introducing Addison to the television viewing audience.
The camera pans to Addison, who sits silently while the reporter finishes her intro. "Ms. Forbes-Montgomery is here today because of a new development in the story. A new article has been published in this week's US weekly, that professes to know the identity of the mystery woman that set this whole debacle in motion. But that isn't why you are here today, is it?"
"No, Linda, it isn't." Addison replies succinctly.
"Would you care to tell our viewers what you told me earlier today?" The reporter, Linda, asks in the prepared format.
The camera pans back over to Addison, who simply responds, "Yes, I came here today to once and for all set the record straight. I kept quiet before because Derek asked me to. I am not saying what he did made me happy, or was right, but I can't sit back and watch him be maligned again for something that was not entirely his fault."
"Could you elaborate on that?"
Their eyes are glued to the set, as she says, "Derek may have cheated, but so did I. And long before anything he did with anyone in Rome."
Meredith sucks in her breath and turns to Derek. "Did you know about this?" She demands.
"The day you left me, I caught the two of them in bed." He answers absently as he tries to absorb what is happening.
She wants to question him some more, but Addison is still talking. "I am not condoning what he did. I am not trying to make excuses. But I am sick of the media assuming they know his character by this one act. I have known Derek practically all of my life. He is a good man." Addison says with feeling.
The reporter tries to interrupt her, but she keeps going. "In fact, I would like to thank the photographer who took that picture. If it wasn't for him, we might be married right now and miserable. I have found happiness with my fiancé, and I wish Derek all the same. Thank you." She says and then does the unheard of thing of standing up, removing the microphone, and walking off the set.
Meredith and Derek stare at each other in shock. The reporter is still talking.
"And there you have it. Addison Forbes-Montgomery defending her former fiancé." She says, before continuing with, "This on top of the heart-felt letter accompanying the article."
Meredith looks at Derek, and then hurriedly grabs the magazine from where it had fallen at the bed. She opens it to the afore-mentioned article, and then turns the page:
(There was also a letter from Christina that just supported Mer and Der's right to privacy and questioning what lengths anyone would go to for love.)
"Oh, Christina." Meredith says as she finishes reading the article. She tries to wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes, but it's no use; they keep on falling.
Derek has been reading over her shoulder, and takes her in his arms when she starts wiping at her eyes. He's a little misty-eyed himself to tell the truth.
"Were you really that depressed, Meredith? You didn't tell me." He says as he wipes the hair away from her face and leans his head on top of hers.
She leans her head on his chest, sniffling a bit as she absently rubs her hand across his chest. "I didn't….it didn't seem that important." She finally answers after a little sniffle.
"Of course it's important." He says as he continues to stroke her hair. "The only thing that kept me going all those weeks was the thought that I would find you at the end of them. When I thought I had lost you, you might as well have stuck a knife in my heart and it would have hurt less."
Meredith is silent, absorbing the information. She thought she had been pathetic. She thought by leaving him, she was giving him what he wanted. But they had both been so miserable. There were so many what-ifs that could have saved them all of their heart-ache, decisions made by the both of them that had kept them apart. It seemed a miracle that they had even found each other. They lie there, just holding onto each other; thankful just to be in each other's arms. For whatever happens, whatever life puts in their way, they now have each other. And that means a lot.
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. "Oh, that must be breakfast." Derek says as he jumps to answer the door. Not without placing a kiss on her forehead though. "I ordered it last night so that we'd be sure to have a good breakfast."
Derek and his good breakfast, Meredith thinks as he flashes her a grin on his way to the door. Breakfast does sound good. She had been so worked up about everything yesterday that she hadn't really thought to eat anything. But now that Addison had declared to the world that she wished them well and her best friend had done the most unselfish thing she thought possible, who cared what anybody else thought. She had Derek. She had Christina. She was going to medical school. She had to take neuroscience over, but that was a small price to pay. Derek got to keep his neurosurgeon job. And her mom had even asked her visit her. Life was good.
She had almost forgotten about the article, when she sees Dr. Bailey on the television. Derek had put it on mute when they had gone to read the article, but Meredith quickly fishes around for the remote and turns the volume on. She can see Dr. Bailey on a podium shuffling around some notes, but she hasn't started talking yet.
An announcer from the local station announces, "Dr. Bailey, Dean of Dartmouth medical school is about to make a statement. There are stark allegations being made in this week's edition of US Weekly that a professor at Dartmouth has been having inappropriate relations with one of his students. The best friend of the student…a Meredith Grey…published a glowing tribute to her friend in the same issue. And the former fiancé of one Dr. Shepherd admitted fault in the dissolution of their engagement. But that still doesn't answer the question of what the University's decision shall be. This is a serious offense. Most universities have protocols and strict guidelines about these sorts of things."
Derek had let the room service guy in with the food cart, but they had both stopped in disbelief when they had seen who was on the television. Well, Derek had stopped at the site of Dr. Bailey, and the room service guy had stopped when he saw that the two people in the room closely resembled the picture that kept being flashed over the television screen. Derek snaps out of it long enough to sign for the food and practically has to kick out the gawking food service employee.
The food lies forgotten as he joins Meredith back on the bed, both eyes glued to the screen.
"Yes, yes, I'm the Dean of the Medical School." She responds in answer to one of the reporters, practically waving him off. "People are just too nosy for their own good." She mumbles to herself as she gathers her cards together and begins to speak:
"I, Dr. Miranda Bailey, as representative of the Dartmouth Medical School, announce to the world at large that you are all idiots. Dr. Shepherd came to me weeks ago, when he discovered that one Meredith Grey was in his class."
Meredith and Derek quickly give each other a look of disbelief, but then turn back to the screen.
"Miss Grey was informed week's ago that she would be re-taking the class, but chose to attend lectures anyway in order to further her education. If only the rest of our students were that dedicated. We have been searching for a replacement lecturer, but these things take time, and we did not want to deprive our students of their class time. All of this could have been prevented if the reporter who had written this article had done his job first and come to the medical school. Everyone at the University has agreed that it was a private matter between two mature individuals, and could be handled internally. I thank you for your time. Good day." She says with an official nod and leaves.
All of the reporters keep trying to ask questions, but it is no use. She has gone back to her job. Meredith and Derek no longer see the television though. They are completely stunned.
"I guess Dr. Bailey really appreciated the free clinic you bought her." Meredith answers glibly.
"I guess so." Derek agrees.