Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Celia Chávez – Melanie Iglesias.

Ian Chamberlain – Chris Evans.

Vince Grant – Chris Pine.

Chapter 21:

Blink. Blink. And blink again.

After six days of a forced respite from Seattle Grace due to suffering from a nervous breakdown, coupled with experiencing her first episode in years after the inmate's surgery, Celia woke up excited and more than ready to bounce back to being an intern. Unfortunately, almond-shaped chocolate orbs wouldn't cease their incessant blinking due to watery, round black eyes the size of coins staring right back at her. Eyes belonging to a mutt. A random mutt she had never seen before now, sitting on her bed, its tongue lolling out and its tail wagging rapidly. And just when the Latina had been about to loudly voice out her confusion, a chipper Meredith skipped inside, prompting the nuisance to bark loudly.

"You've met, Doc!" um, okay…. cryptic much?

And then… the penny dropped and Celia whipped around to face her twisted sister, so fast, she nearly risked whiplash. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Please don't tell me you bought a dog? Meredith Grey!"

Meredith smiled sheepishly as she scratched… Doc behind the ear, "Yeah, that was my initial reaction when the issue was brought up," she shrugged, "But after Emily-"seeing Celia's frown of confusion, Meredith rolled her eyes and clarified, "Emily… one of the quints. So yeah. Izzie was depressed after Emily died and she threw the option out there, you know? And then, Ian seconded the notion, saying that it might be good for you to have a lovable dog around… what with them being man's best friend and all. So, meet Doc, the newest inhabitant of our little frat house," Meredith beamed after concluding her speech.

Finally managing to lift her jaw from the ground, Celia spluttered, "That is, this-this is… how ridiculous, Death! You're being absurd! Izzie needed some extra loving because Alex cheated on her with Syph Nurse followed by a baby she got attached to dying, okay then fine, get her the dog. But I don't, I repeat, do not," she stressed, pointing an accusing finger from the… dang it – really adorable dog – to Meredith, "Need a mutt. I'm perfectly fine. It was just a minor relapse, that's al-"her speech was interjected by the loud blaring of her cellphone. Meredith, who was closer to it, grabbed it from the bedside table, lifted a brow and passed it over to Celia who grimaced upon seeing the I.D. Caller and turned off her phone. "I'll let voicemail get that," the Latina murmured.

Unconvinced, Meredith crossed her arms against her chest and confronted her indignant sister that was stubbornly averting all eye contact, "You're avoiding Vince. Don't bother deflecting or denying! For the past three days he's been calling the landline, Ian, and even my phone nonstop, claiming that you haven't been returning any of his calls and disappeared from the face of the earth! Hell, he even called Cristina. Cristina, Celia!" when Celia remained stubbornly quiet, Meredith promptly carried on, "Also, yesterday he stopped by at the hospital. Apparently he stopped by the house and stood by the front door, ringing the buzzer and knocking for an hour, and no one answered; which is funny, because you haven't left the house in three days, since you started ignoring him. Talk to me, CeCe. You know you can tell me anything. Is it… is it because Christmas is nearby?"

Celia was burning a hole at the wall opposite her, adamant in avoiding the ever-knowing light green eyes and subconsciously, she found her hand reaching out to stroke Doc's belly.

It's an urban myth that suicide rates spike at the holidays. Turns out, they actually go down. Experts think that people are less inclined to off themselves when surrounded by family.

"CeCe?" Meredith gently nudged her, making herself comfortable on the bed and enveloping her in a warm embrace, patiently waiting and desperately hoping that her Latina sister would finally confess after leaving everything bottled up since her episode at the beginning of the week. Swallowing the ginormous lump dwelling in her throat, Celia rested her head in the crook of Meredith's neck and whispered, "I'm just delaying the inevitable, Death."

Best friends and soul sisters since childhood, despite the fact that they were separated for eight years when Sophie Chávez up and left Seattle and moved herself and her daughter to Beverly Hills to become Mrs. Chamberlain, while Ellis Grey dragged Meredith to Boston, their reunion at Dartmouth, if possible, brought them even closer, evolving into best friends and twisted sisters, and therefore, the two girls never had to clarify or simplify their feelings into painstaking words. Celia and Meredith always had a connection and those six words were more than enough for the dirty-blonde to widen her eyes in comprehension and force eye-contact with the Latina.

"Already? It's barely over a month…"biting her lips in concern, Meredith sighed loudly, "Last week, in the OR; it hasn't been the first episode, has it?" Celia disentangled their limbs, abruptly stood up, and headed over to the adjoining bathroom for a warm shower, wordlessly ending the morose conversation.

Thirty minutes later, Celia descended the staircase, fully intending to make a beeline to the coffeepot when she suddenly halted in her tracks as she went to pass by the living room. Mouth agape, eyes widened and limbs frozen, the words poured out of her mouth, "Am I in hell?" she didn't even notice a dumbfounded Meredith and a bleary-eyed George on either side of her in the midst of her shock.

The beautifully polished and tastefully elegant living room had been completely modified into Santa's workshop. Red, green, gold, and every cheerful color imaginable winked back at her from every nook and cranny. Frick! Even the ceiling was lavished in red and gold! It was over the top – way too over the top! Celia expected reindeers and elves to pop out from under the plethora of disgustingly bright and cheerful decorations and she was feeling extremely claustrophobic just by looking at what used to be the classy and aesthetic living room.

"Looks like Santa threw up in here," George commented in pure shock, taking the words right out of Celia's mouth. Nodding absently, Meredith lightly grasped her wrist and hissed, "Just… go with it. We're being supportive."

Finally succeeding in tearing her eyes away from the ghastly scene, Celia glared at her twisted sister, "Speak for yourself! This is a nightmare! A horrible, horrible nigh-"

"Oh, hey!" Izzie chirped out sounding disgustingly cheerful as she noticed the three of them, nauseating Celia further, "What do you think?" she inquired, gesturing her hand around the room. Meredith and George flashed painfully fake smiles while Celia merely stared at her blankly as she suppressed the bile in her throat. A small wrinkle appeared on Blondie's forehead, "Did I go overboard? Oh, I know, I know sometimes I can go a little overboard."

"Well, you know what they say. Acceptance is the first step to recovery," Celia coldly retorted, prompting two elbows to either side of her. George chuckled nervously, "Ignore her, Iz. We, we love it!" Meredith nodded fervently, "It's great!"

Ironically, that same family togetherness is thought to be the reason depression rates actually do spike at the holidays.

Izzie's face threatened to split in two as a vibrant smile overtook her features, "Oh yay! I love Christmas!"

In unison, Meredith and George quipped, "We know," and simultaneously, Celia drawled out in an emotionless voice, "Clearly." Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Izzie burst out into song, loudly and merrily singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs.

Yeah, okay, Izzie doesn't count!

Horror and fury; both emotions were fighting for dominance and before she could implode, Celia gritted out, "Fuck coffee! I'll get from the vendors at the hospital, just get me the hell out of here. Now!" Meredith and George didn't need her to tell them twice. Not even a minute later, and the three interns were speeding down the road away from Izzie's festive cheer.

Let the Christmas maniac find her own ride!

**GA**

Watching the Nazi actually waddle over to them for rounds was really demolishing Celia's image of her hardcore resident. A mama-Nazi was really a hard picture to imagine, but if anybody could be deathly terrifying and a nurturing mother at the same time, Celia Chávez had no doubt that Miranda Bailey could possibly be the only exception, the only surgeon to excel in that.

"Look at her belly. She's almost as wide as she is tall," George commented in a sickly sweet tone that made Celia want to hurl. Seriously, what was with all the sudden cheer going around?! Meredith grinned, her eyes scrutinizing their resident as she loomed closer, "Are her ankles swollen? Is that why she's waddling?"

And then Izzie addressed the elephant in the room, the topic they had been adamantly avoiding ever since Bailey first announced her unexpected pregnancy, "What's gonna happen to us when she goes on leave?"

"Leave? She's going on leave?" Cristina spluttered, unable to imagine such sacrilege. Celia snorted loudly, her face devoid of any emotion as she addressed the Korean Intern – who had thankfully, not once uttered a word about her previous breakdown or her return to the hospital after six days of forced reprieve, "She's pushing a baby out of her vagina, Cristina. Soon enough, she won't be able to waddle around the hospital and do her job. It doesn't take a gyne to know that."

George chuckled, "Do you think we're gonna get a new resident?" Cristina looked appalled while Meredith and Celia grimaced, unable to stomach the mere thought. Alex, however, retorted with much sarcasm, "Nah. Probably just let us all walk around unattended. See how much damage we can do."

Watching Bailey pause by the nurse's station, Izzie brightly rounded up on her five co-interns, "Hey you guys, we should all get together and get Bailey a Christmas gift for the baby. Or we could… um, organize some sort of Secret Santa thing."

Christina didn't look impressed at all, "Ok, listen Tiny Tim, you can take-"Meredith clapped a hand over her mouth and George beamed at the blonde trying to instill as much cheer into his voice, "Sounds great!"

"Secret Santa sounds-"but Celia had had more than enough with those two walking on eggshells around the sickly sweet, bright and annoyingly perky Izzie. "No! No, it does not sound great!" Celia snarled looking quite deranged and she glared at Izzie, "None of this sounds 'GREAT'! I swear to G.O.D, if you don't shut the fuck up about your stupid and moronic ideas of celebration, I'll put my foot up your ass and bang a door repeatedly against your head until. You. DO!"

A stifling silence surrounded the six interns, and much to Celia's confusion, the other five were all gaping at a specific something directly behind the Latina. Pivoting around in an excruciatingly slow motion, cold chocolate eyes met shocked blue-blue ones and she inwardly groaned, facepalming herself. Naturally, who else but Derek Shepherd would be passing by in close proximity to hear Celia's Christmas-Bashing rant. Of course, the one person she had been desperately avoiding a run-in with. Clearing his throat, Derek stiffly nodded at them and without a word, walked away, as though Celia was transparent.

"Welcome back, Dr. Chávez," Bailey grunted as she decided to finally bless them with her presence; Great… Perfect timing!

**GA**

Someone or, or something was conspiring against her, Celia was damn sure of it! But one thing the Latina knew without a doubt was that the Nazi had adopted a sick sense of humor and had only gotten meaner urged by her pregnancy hormones. Why do you ask? Simple. Dr. Bailey had assigned her to be Dr. Shepherd's intern. And not only was she his only intern, oh no… to make matters worse, Dr. Sunny Stevens had been assigned to his service as well.

Unable to escape her nuisance of a roommate at home, nor at the hospital, now Celia had to work alongside the man she feared due to the feelings he evoked in her, the blonde that was giving her a migraine… oh no, let's add more cards to the deck; the patient was a revolting jubilant man who had an optimistic, festive attitude that his wife and three irritating children seemed to have inherited in spades. The little girl wouldn't shut her gob, incessantly squeaking out Christmas carols and Celia prayed for a miracle in getting her away from Derek's service and the fivesome's cheerful disposition.

Unfortunately, Celia was being conspired against and no aid materialized out of thin air.

Standing in front of the patient's room listening with one ear to Derek and Izzie discuss the patient's history, Cristina energetically waved at her before making a beeline, her face flushed with elation and eyes dilated manically, "Celia, guess what? Burke and your brother are performing a heart transplant, and I'm the intern on the case! Isn't that great?"

"I. Will. Kill. You," Celia groused out, one hand massaging both temples with her thumb and middle finger, "Seriously, Cristina. Walk away, or I won't be held guilty for my actions." Cristina adopted a concerned and sympathetic expression as she took a page from Meredith's book, titled 'How To Deal With Celia Chávez's Mood-Swings' and remained silent. Celia didn't fail, "You've got a hardcore supercool surgery while I'm forced to watch over Mr. and Mrs. Claus and their three chipper, carol-singing offspring. I hate you," she pouted.

Before Cristina could process her words and verbally soothe her, Derek cut in, his voice stern and face taut, "Dr. Yang, Dr. Chávez, if you have finished. This is a hospital, not a lounge. Go, Yang. Now!" Cristina sent Celia one last grimace before scuttling away, leaving Celia's emotionless orbs to meet the furious ones of her Attending, "This is a hospital, Dr. Chávez, we have patients, and whether we like it or not, we have a duty to help them. Now if you don't like it or if you're bored working in my service then I'll inform your Resident that you're not cut for Neuro and ban you from my OR."

Izzie's back was pressed against the wall, trying to make herself invisible as she gaped at the stark change in McDreamy's benign attitude, especially in the face of the frigid brunette. It was as if Derek Shepherd was possessed and was channeling the Nazi. Straightening her posture, Celia ducked her head and professionally uttered, "I am sorry, Dr. Shepherd. My behavior is unacceptable and unprofessional and it won't happen again."

He hated treating Celia so caustically, but he was her boss. Derek was the Attending and Celia was his intern. Countless of times she incessantly implored him to treat her as such, and he had finally acquiesced. And although he hated the newfound attitude he adopted with the Latina, Derek simply nodded and sternly retorted, "See that it doesn't, or you're off the case."

"Derek!" Three heads whipped around to face the gorgeous redhead with emerald eyes; ah, saved by Satan; that was one sentence Celia never expected to ever be lumped together by her. In an abrupt manner, Derek informed the two interns to get the patient's scans as he approached his wife and became absorbed in conversation.

Izzie inched closer to the brunette who was obviously masking her hurt, "What was that about?"

Celia's eyes shuttered close and she leaned her head against the wall, "That was Dr. Shepherd doing as I asked. He is being my boss."

**GA**

It didn't take long for the two interns to retrieve Tim Epstein's CT scans, and as they made a beeline to Derek, a small vindictive part of Celia was ecstatic with their timely intrusion as they cut into the married couple's conversation. Addison's eyes bored into Celia's as her bright smile faded into one of disappointment before she lifted her head haughtily and walked away, leaving her husband alone with the two interns, one of which captured a huge part of his heart despite his litany of denials.

"What do you think?" Derek inquired as he quickly inspected the CT scan. Trading looks with a desolate Izzie, Celia grimaced, "It's not great."

Derek exhaled loudly, "Oh no, that's not great at all," and he subsequently inclined his head toward the patients room. Knocking on the door, the Attending entered, shadowed by the two interns and all three of them faced the jovially smiling Tim Epstein. Clearing her throat, Izzie addressed the room, "Mr. Epstein, we're sorry to interrupt. You remember Dr. Shepherd?"

"Um, should we talk more privately?" Derek subtly glanced at the three children, all of whom were staring expectantly at the three surgeons. Mrs. Epstein smiled softly while shaking her head, "Just tell us. Is it bad?"

Adopting professionalism, Derek relayed the results, "The fall has caused a subdural hematoma." The little girl who had been incessantly squeaking out carols all morning, spoke in a childishly baby voice, "I don't even know what it means."

"That means your dad… his brain is bleeding," Derek hesitantly informed her, prompting her gleeful expression to turn morose, "Look, there are some risks to the surgery, it has to happen before the bleeding gets worse," and when questioned of the risks, Derek complied, "The bleed is in an area of the brain that control the speech and the motor control."

One of the boys that Celia vividly recalled was named Jake, aggressively piped up, "We don't need the operation, ok?!" Ugh, Celia really despised kids; ignoring a problem wouldn't make it magically disappear, but she obediently kept her vitriolic thoughts to herself as Mr. and Mrs. Epstein chastised their son.

"We have a doctor named Shepherd," came Mrs. Epstein's baffling statement. Tim beamed and ruffled his son's hair with much gusto, "Shepherd. Is that a sign from God or what?"

Celia bit the inside of her cheek in a desperate attempt to keep her laughter muted while Izzie shifted about in an uncomfortable manner. Derek however, plainly looked weirded out, rendered speechless by the parents' conclusion, and when his eyes flickered toward his interns, he made the mistake of meeting a pair of mirthful chocolate eyes that were currently shining with amusement and that effectively took his breath away. It had been six excruciatingly long days since he had seen the Latina intern, and during the entirety of the morning, Celia had been nothing but frigid, impassive and outright abrasive… but now, he was blessed with the opportunity of seeing the light side of the woman he fell for; every cell in his body longed to hold her in his arms and enjoy the rare moment, but he forced such sensations away and regrettably walked out of the room, leaving the two interns to prepare Mr. Epstein for surgery.

Celia Chávez was testing his limits, and she would no doubt end up being the death of him. Unfortunately, he couldn't prolong his avoidance of the Latina; two hours later found Derek Shepherd donning on his customary ferryboat scrub cap and scrubbing in for surgery, adamantly ignoring Celia who stood to the patient's right with Dr. Stevens in the OR.

There was a tranquil silence as he operated, until Izzie absently commented, "What a great family. Hanumas. Chrismakkuh. And how cute are those kids?"

"Adorable," Celia deadpanned, not once detaching her eyes from the operation and Derek's nimble hands. It had been two months since she scrubbed in on a Neuro case due to her adamant avoidance of Derek Shepherd and she was suddenly awakened to the wrongness of her actions, depriving herself of education due to the issues in her private life. Derek too, had been thinking amongst the same lines, unable to recall the last time Celia had been assigned to his service and a part of him felt relief that the chatterbox blonde was around to alleviate the tension.

"I think it's sweet," Izzie pointed out, not fooled by the Latina's sarcasm. Derek sighed as he deftly operated on Tim Epstein, "Do you happen to know the time of year neurosurgeons are the busiest, Dr. Stevens?"

Blinking in confusion, Izzie cocked her head to the side, "No. There's a time of year?"

"Well there's no hard or fast rule but brain injuries tend to pile up around the holidays," Derek started, "Like our friend here. Folks fall off their roofs while they string up lights or they go skating for the first time in a decade, break their heads open," the color drained from Izzie's face and Celia suddenly, to nearly everybody but the blonde's confusion, looked triumphant, "And every year, people drive through blizzards to get to parties where they kiss germ-infected strangers under poisonous mistletoe and then they get so drunk they smash their heads against their windshield on their way home." After a slight pause where the tension surmounted, Derek concluded his morbid, mood-killer speech, "Like I said, there's no hard or fast rule."

Talk about sucking all the happiness from the room.

As the Attending and the two interns scrubbed out of the surgery, Celia smirked at a despondent Izzie, "What did I tell you, Iz? Holidays are better off ignored. Toodles!" and she skipped away, a new pep in her step, leaving behind a baffled Derek and a vexed blonde.

So maybe the day was looking up after all!

"What was that about?" Derek inquired, brows knitting together in confusion. Acidly, Izzie spat out as she hurled her gloves into the trash, "That was the embodiment of the Grinch bidding us farewell. Honestly Dr. Shepherd, you're better off without Celia in your life, sucking out all the happiness from the air!" and before she could be scolded for inappropriate behavior, she stormed away.

Derek placed both palms on the sink and lowered his head, eyes clenched shut as he tried to drown out the pain and the hurt from his system; Stevens was right… what was he thinking, trying to win Celia over? He was light, she was dark… he was optimistic, she was pessimistic… he was happy, she was angry… he was the sun, she was the moon… and he was willing to make a leap of faith and risk everything for love, while Celia Chávez closed herself off from the word and instilled gloom in everyone but those she loved's lives.

**GA**

The surgery had some weird effect on Tim Epstein; gone was the jubilance disposition and in its place, was a bitter man, spewing forth insulting and vitriolic remarks, practically reducing his children to tears. Derek promised a tearful Mrs. Epstein that he would personally perform another CT scan in hopes of recognizing the reason for such a major glitch in his persona and as they departed the gloomy room, Izzie wasted no time in speaking up.

"How did that happen? I mean his personality… you didn't go anywhere near his frontal lobe."

"Well, the CT might've missed something. Or a personality change could be a reaction from the anesthesia wearing off. Could be the pain," Derek calmly hypothesized, in his line of profession, he was used to such altering results. Celia snorted loudly, uncaring over her harshness or the consequences of her words, "I don't know what all the fuss is about. In my opinion, I think Mr. Epstein's personality change is wonderful and a breath of fresh air that would do him good."

The words 'breath of fresh air' coming forth from those pouty lips that never failed to entrance Derek, in such an acerbic way, made him snap, but before he or Izzie could scold the emotionless Latina, a nurse hesitantly approached them, her face set in unadulterated fear as she addressed Celia, "Dr. Chávez, a Mr. Grant has been asking for you."

Eyes widening, her heart skipped a beat and Celia rudely dismissed the nurse, "Tell him I'm busy."

"Actually, Nurse Romy, she's not," Derek snapped, eyes ablaze as he faced Celia who looked vehemently taken aback, "You're off my service, Chávez. Get- get out of my sight. Just go!" he snarled, abruptly turning away and barking for Izzie to walk with him.

There was a sudden hush in the hallway as all eyes blatantly stared at Celia's immobile form, unable to deftly mask the hurt and humiliation in her uncaring façade any longer. Nodding crisply at the nurse, Celia stormed away with her head held high, inwardly cursing Derek Shepherd, for there was no mistaking the fact that a huge scene had been produced and in less than an hour, those pathetic, lifeless gossipmongers would be spreading her moment of mortification around the entire Seattle Grace Hospital, making her a laughing stock. Surprisingly, Celia didn't care a lick about the gossip – gossip always followed her wherever she went; she only cared about Derek's treatment of her, and she knew, oh, Celia knew that she finally succeeded in pushing Derek away with her abrasive attitude.

One would think Celia Chávez was used to rejection. Her whole life, people had always given up on her and left her alone; claiming her to be a hopeless case; even her own mother. All but Meredith.

Blue-grey eyes inspected her. Masking her true feelings, Celia approached Vince and forced a smile, that looked positively painful, on her visage, "Vince, what are you doing here? I'm working."

"This, uh, this won't take long," Vince nervously interlaced his fingers with hers as he escorted her to the bench in front of the hospital, away from prying ears. Celia remained stoic, having her suspicions of what her boyfriend wanted to talk about. "CeCe, I don't know how to say this, but, ugh," his expression morphed into one of frustration and he bluntly announced, "It's not working. This. Us. It's just, I'm sorry. I can't, I can't continue on with this relationship."

Celia smiled sadly, and nodded in acceptance, surprising Vince who gasped out, "You're, you're not surprised. You've been expecting it, you've been expecting us to fail." It wasn't a question, but an agonizing statement filled with disappointment and hurt. Slowly, Celia released her hands from his hold and brought his palm to her lips before kissing it softly and staring at him with wide, imploring chocolate eyes, "Oh, Vince. Of course I did. Don't you remember how I was fervently against us becoming a couple? I do recall me telling you that I'm cursed."

In a tender movement, Vince tucked a strand behind her ear and caressed her jaw with the back of his fingers, "Damn, Celia. I'm sorry. I wish I listened to you, I would have spared us all this. I really liked you. Ever since I visited Dartmouth with Ian and Ronnie, I haven't been able to get you off my mind, and when Ian put the suggestion out there, I arrogantly believed I'd be the one. It's just… I tried to ignore it but… those nightmares of yours? They're brutal and I don't think I'm equipped to handle a broken girl. I'm not the one that can help you, and… listening to your night terrors… I pretended to be oblivious hoping they would suddenly stop, but… it's been three weeks and they haven't."

He didn't need to say it. Celia heard them all. Vince was her fourth boyfriend and he was the only one that sugarcoated that fact that she was a twisted, hopeless defect of a human being. For some reason, she preferred her past boyfriend's breakup speech… she would gladly embrace vicious honesty than a sweet goodbye.

Wanting nothing more than to lick her wounds alone, or preferably with Meredith after being publicly disgraced by Derek and then effectively dumped by Vince, Celia needed to be alone with her morbid thoughts. Standing on her tiptoes, Celia placed a soft, chaste kiss on her handsome ex-boyfriend's cheek and forced a cheeky smile, "Vince?"

"Hmm?" Vince awaited her next words with a miserable expression. Walking backwards into the hospital, Celia grinned, "I told you so!" Vince let out a bark of laughter, though it had a woeful tinge to it as he recalled her exact words in the cafeteria before they became a couple: "Fine, I accept your dare. But when you end up terminating our relationship, you don't get to disappear until after I've said, 'I told you so.'"

"Damn, how I wish you weren't right. We could have had something great," Vince whispered to himself as he sat on the bench by his lonesome, waiting for Ian to get out of surgery so that he could explain himself to the overprotective brother.

**GA**

"I can't hear you when his hand is on your boob." Those were the random words that welcomed Celia when she arrived at the interns' usual hangout spot. "Oh, hey, Celia, it's uh… not what you think," George sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, his face reddening in mortification. Celia's brows lifted on their own accord at the scene she had walked in on; Cristina was laid down on her back while Alex's hand was frozen over her chest and a sniggering Meredith sat next to George as they watched Alex feel her up.

"Uh, what's up, guys? I hope I'm not interrupting something…" Celia inquired, staring strangely at the four interns. Alex smirked, "Get your head out of the gutter. They're helping me study for my boards tomorrow."

"Oh," Celia approached them and slumped down next to Meredith whose radar immediately went on overdrive, "Don't worry about it. You'll ace it for sure."

Meredith nudged her, "What's wrong?"

"Don't tell me you're sad because McDreamy kicked you off his case," Cristina repositioned herself into a sitting position, and all four interns awaited her response. Celia growled lowly in her throat and snapped, "Of course you heard about that. I was hoping the nurses would delay the juicy gossip for a while longer. Lifeless bitches!" she swore.

Alex scoffed, "No dice."

Shaking her head, Celia adamantly maintained eye-contact with the lighting on the celling, "Vince dumped me." A sharp intake of breath escaped Meredith's lungs and she immediately embraced the Latina in a hug, knowing that hell would freeze over before the frigid brunette admitted that she was hurt over the inevitable breakup. Alex turned purple in rage, his hands twitching as he itched to punch the bastard. George gave her a sympathetic frown while Cristina let out a noise of disgust and said, "Forget him. You deserve better than that guy anyways! He doesn't get you. You need somebody that matches you in intelligence, up to par with your wit and sarcasm, and that can deal with your mood swings."

"Yeah," Celia chuckled humorlessly just as her pager went off with a 911. Scowling at her pager, Celia extricated herself from the tender and comforting ambience of her friends' support and shot up to her feet, "Duty calls. I'm betting McAss complained to the Nazi about my behavior. See ya!"

However, her predication was false when she found herself facing the Chief and the Nazi, both of whom relayed to her that Ian was being examined by Derek and she wasted no time in barging into the room, a heavy scowl shrouding her face as she glared at her sheepish brother. Ignoring Derek who was currently inspecting his swollen wrist, Celia marched over to Ian, "What the hell, Ian?! Que estabas pensando? Estas loco? No peudo creer que se metió en una pelea que se supone que actuar su edad!"

Ian winced, recoiling violently; when Celia Chávez unconsciously began yelling in Spanish, it spoke volumes of her level of rage. Derek gaped, pausing in his administrations at the sound of her sexy accent; he didn't know Celia could speak fluent Spanish and it was a huge turn on.

"CeCe-"

"No! Don't CeCe me, Ian Chamberlain!" Celia brusquely interrupted, holding a palm up in the air, "What possessed you to fight with Vince, your best friend! Not to forget, the risk of damaging your hand that is worth billions! Noah will kill you, you know that right?"

Ian scowled at her, "First of all, Dr. Shepherd ensured that my hand is damaged. I just need to keep it on ice and it'll be good as new in two days. Second of all, did you actually think I'd be thrilled over the fact that Vince broke up with you?! You're my little sister, Celia, I will always protect you."

Derek adamantly focused on wrapping Ian's hand; he didn't know how he should be feeling in regards to Celia being a single woman again.

"Ian, be real for a minute. We both knew Vince and I wouldn't last. I wasn't surprised, neither should you be. I'm cur-"

"Spare me that load of bull, Celia," Ian snarled through gritted teeth, though his expression softened, "You're not cursed. You think you are, but the problem is them, not you," he sighed. Celia uncomfortably glanced at Derek, grateful that he was making himself look inconspicuous as she didn't feel comfortable with the heart-to-heart in his presence. Taking in a deep breath, Celia addressed Ian, "What's done is done. At least we learned something from all this. Next time you want to set me up, don't, and that goes for Neal as well. I'm destined to remain a spinster," she chuckled dryly.

Ian smacked her lightly with his free hand, "Keep talking shit, CeCe. If it's any consolation, I preferred Vince out of all the rest." A bubble of genuine laughter escaped the Latina prompting Derek's heart to leap at the mellifluous sound, "Are you kidding me? He barely lasted the month. Nah, I preferred Drake, at least he managed to last six months."

Ian gave her a deadpanned look, "Drake? Dirty Drake your jock boyfriend during senior year? That dick was a douche! The only reason he stayed with you was because he was the most popular guy at school and according to the rumors you were the hottest girl at Beverly High and for sex, as much as it pains me to say it."

"Didn't stop you from saying it," Celia giggled, shaking her head in amusement. Clearing her throat, Celia addressed Derek, "Uh, Dr. Shepherd, are you sure his hand has no lasting damage and he'll be able to operate?"

Forgetting his previous ire with the brunette after hearing her genuine laughter and gaining a bit of insight into her past, Derek smiled softly as he nearly finished wrapping Ian's hand up, "Like Dr. Chamberlain told you. He needs to keep the hand in ice and not strain it for two days."

"Thank you, Dr. Shepherd," Ian gruffly stated; he didn't want the man that hurt his sister working on him, but Richard was a stubborn old mule and wouldn't allow anyone but the best to inspect and heal his two billion dollar hands. And he grudgingly admitted that Derek was the best at Seattle Grace since his father wasn't in the zip code area.

"Ian. I think you should head back home," Celia quietly uttered. Ian smiled crookedly at her, "Bored of me already, sis?"

Rolling her eyes, Celia playfully smacked his shoulder, "As if. I found the engagement ring," she confessed, prompting Ian to stiffen slightly, "I know I am not one to shy away from showing disdain to the holidays, but you Chamberlains don't and neither does Veronica. Ronnie's favorite holiday is Christmas and I think she'd appreciate the romantic gesture of being proposed to on Christmas Eve and you know it." Holding a hand up to prevent the predictable argument, Celia said, "I'll be fine. I've been fine without you since I left for college and I'll remain fine. You know I'm right, so stop being stubborn and go make your girl happy."

**GA**

Rubbing his hand over his face, Derek decided some liquid courage would do him a world of good after his crappy day; he didn't know what to think. He was confused. Derek humiliated Celia in public and not even ten minutes later, she got dumped. All morning and all afternoon, Derek began to adopt feelings of disdain in regards to the Latina after her abysmal and caustic attitude, awakening him to the truth of Celia Chávez and of how much she contradicted him and many people in general. And then, he bore witness to the touching sibling scene between Celia and Ian, portraying a different side to the frigid brunette, and evoking his deeply buried feelings that he locked away in order to make things work with Addison and heal his tattered heart from her many rejections.

Hearing the tender care Celia had for her older brother… step-brother at that, and revealing the romantic side of her he never imagined her to even have, it floored him, shocking Derek Shepherd to the core. Celia Chávez held many secrets, of that he already knew, but today, he personally witnessed the Latina hide her pain and her true desire for the sake of her brother's happiness. Celia pushed Ian away from Seattle to propose to his girlfriend, knowing that what she wanted more than anything was to keep him close to her side.

Celia Chávez was an enigma to him, and today, observing her caring nature, her devotion and her humbleness, it awakened the love for her that he succeeded in locking away.

Nearing Joe's Bar, he bumped into a slim figure, and his arms shot out on their own accord, arms snaking around the woman he collided with, and he sucked in a deep breath upon finding the painstaking familiar chocolate orbs staring at him; he managed to recognize the loneliness and the misery before they disappeared and portrayed nothing but an eerie vacancy instead.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Shepherd. Pardon me," she muttered. And although it pained him to do so, Derek forced himself to release her warm physique, "No, it was my fault."

Nodding timidly, Celia's lips spread into a diminutive smile as she reached out for the door handle, "Merry Christmas, Dr. Shepherd. Excuse me."

Averting his eyes from her form as she went to join Meredith Grey and Alex Karev by the bar, Derek made a beeline toward Addison and smiled at Joe, "Merry Christmas Joe."

"Merry Christmas," Joe beamed at him and poured his regular drink, "Double scotch. Single malt." Derek chuckled before toasting him, "You're a good man, Joe." He tried to hide his grimace when Addison's fingers started stroking his arm, purring his name in a seductive manner. It took all of his effort to concentrate on his wife, and not on Celia who sat across the bar, a few aching seats away.

Brutal minutes passed by, and the awkwardness only surmounted when Addison huffed in irritation, "Christmas Derek. We love Christmas. At least, we used to."

It was at that moment, Derek noticed that Karev was no longer with the two interns, but two men sat on either side of them, showering them with attention and countless of drinks. Jealousy surged and he didn't miss the knowing gleam in Addison's eyes, nor the sad upturn of her lips. Forcing his absolute attention on his wife and not on the Latina's laughter permeating the air due to the strange man, Derek revealed, "Yeah… Christmas makes you want to be with people you love. I'm not saying this to hurt you or because I want to leave you. Because I don't," sadness altered into confusion, and he ploughed on, "Celia wasn't a fling, even if it was on her part. She wasn't revenge. I fell in love with her. I'm trying to get over it, but… that doesn't go away because I decided to stay with you."

Addison remained silent, contemplating the speech she had been on the receiving end of, and trying her utmost hardest to ignore the way Derek's fists clenched and unclenched whenever Celia laughed loudly, or the way his abnormally gorgeous blue eyes hardened into steel as they kept traveling toward the two interns and their respective men.

Derek used past tense: fell in love. Only Addison was aware that Derek was still in love with her, and she feared he would never stop loving her, no matter how much he tried or denied.

There's an old proverb that says you can't choose your family. You take what the fates hand you, and like them or not, love them or not, understand them or not...

One hour later, Celia and the dark-haired stranger both departed from the bathroom looking sufficiently pleased, their clothes slightly wrinkled and their hair tousled and unkempt from their wild carnal activity. The Latina abruptly froze when her eyes connected with a pair of glacial blue eyes staring at her in disapproval, rage, disgust and … was that, heartbreak? Not a second later, Meredith showed up with her brunette stranger, eyes traveling from Celia to Derek in comprehension and without further ado, she bid a hasty farewell to the two men and yanked Celia out of Joe's Bar, away from Derek's knowing glare and into the car.

… You cope.

"Well, he already knew I was a broken whore," Celia chuckled humorlessly. Meredith elbowed her lightly as they walked into the living room, "Screw McAss and what he thinks. He's the one who turned out to be married, not you." A sniffle interrupted their heart-to-heart and their eyes narrowed in on Izzie, whose head was shoved under the Christmas tree, unblinkingly watching the lights. Wordlessly, the twisted sisters lied down on either side of her.

"Pretty," Meredith commented on the sparkling lights. Izzie nodded her head in agreement.

Huffing loudly, Celia grabbed Izzie's hand in a friendly demeanor and whispered, "I'm kind of sorry, about today. I was just going through something, and… my attitude was uncalled for."

Then there's the school of thought that says the family you're born into is simply a starting point.

Izzie pivoted her head to stare at the Latina, surprised and quite taken aback by the genuine apology; smiling softly, she nodded again, "I'm sorry too," and she squeezed her hand to validate her apology.

"What are we doing?" George called out before making himself comfortable on Celia's other side.

"Lights," was Izzie's prompt and vague reply.

They feed you and clothe you and take care of you until you're ready to go out into the world… and find you tribe.

A/N: Whew, this was a long one. I hope you liked it?! XD

Spanish Translation: Que estabas pensando? Estas loco? No peudo creer que se metió en una pelea que se supone que actuar su edad! – What were you thinking? Are you crazy? I can't believe you got into a fight you are supposed to act your age!

So yeah … Vince and Celia broke up… awhhh. It had to happen. Also, we won't be seeing Ian again for a while, but don't worry, he'll be back, wink, wink! XD

Things are moving up, and yeah I know Derek was horrible to Celia, hence McAss, but also Celia was beyond rude in this chapter, going back to her Cruella de Vil moniker.

Things are starting to look up! And we are finally moving ahead… bomb chapter is coming up soon && we are nearing the introduction of sexy McSteamy, Mark Sloan! AAHH! ;) XD

R&R.