Chapter 25:

January 18, 2007- Seattle, Washington

Meredith and Derek finally decided that should actually be working and forced themselves off the couch that they were enjoying each other so much on and made their way down the hall. They were about to go into a patient's room when Derek stopped and turned around, blocking Meredith's way.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Tell me something," he said, "Why did you really leave? You knew I loved you. I just don't get it."

"Derek, can we not do this now? Please? We are in the middle of the hospital and it's my first day back. Give me a few days before I have Bailey on me for being unprofessional," Meredith said. Derek was reluctant at first, but gave in and they walked into the patient's room.

June 14, 2006- Seattle, Washington

"Meredith?"

"Meredith?"

Meredith looked between the two men speechless. She turned her head towards Finn and her heart sunk. She looked at Derek and the rest of the world stopped. She locked eyes with him. He wanted her to come with him and her entire heart wanted to, but her mind kept saying 'no.' She turned away from both of them, looking at the stairs that now had no reminiscence of the tragedy that had just walked down them. She knew those glances should tell her something. She felt something when she looked at Finn, but when she looked at Derek, she couldn't feel anything in the world but him.

She looked back at them and out of the corner of her eye she saw a red figure moving towards them: Addison. She looked at Derek once more as panic drew upon both of their faces for some of the same and also many different reasons. She looked back to Finn. His bewilderment continued to grow. He began to realize the not-so-innocent glances between his date and his former client. He even noticed how they both became panic stricken the closer that the red head got towards them.

"Meredith?" Finn beckoned again.

"Meredith?" Derek said trying to keep her away from him.

"Derek, I," Meredith began she could feel a tear welding up in her eye and she began to feel a loss for words.

"Derek, I think we should get going. It's getting late and we both have surgeries early tomorrow," Addison said not noticing the moment she had just broke. As she walked between Finn and Meredith, it was as if she cut the string that kept Meredith attached to him. Addison stopped in between Finn and Derek. She never cut the string between Derek and Meredith. It was beginning to seem as though no one would.

"Addison, you go. I'm not going back there. I can't. Not yet," Derek said, never taking his gaze off of Meredith.

Addison looked at Derek and his averted eyes. She then looked at whom they were focused on and sighed. "Fine Derek. I'll go. I'll see you tomorrow," she said in a defeated voice that everyone seemed to have noticed except for Derek.

Addison turned and walked away. As she walked in between Finn and Meredith, Meredith realized that he was still there. She took a step in his direction and stopped. Almost as if she was expecting someone to stop her. Someone to tell her that she was going in the wrong direction. Someone to tell her that she was going in the opposite direction of love. Time slowed drastically as her left heel lifted off the floor and made it's way in front of her right. She paused again. There must be something. Someone that would stop her. As she began to lift her right leg for the second time, Derek stopped her.

"Please, Meredith. Please," he said. He knew that if he didn't protest now, he would never have the chance to. He couldn't risk that.

"Derek, why?" Meredith said turning away from Finn once more. Finn sighed in confusion and frustration, but it went unnoticed.

"Because Meredith. I need you," Derek said simply.

Meredith looked at him with saddened eyes. She was about to say no. She was going to tell him that it wasn't enough. She was going to stop it all, but than he looked at her deeply with those eyes and all of those thoughts fell apart. Then she was about to say that she needed more. But then a familiar voice came into her head and told her something: That's it, that's all you've earned. For now. The rest...well, the rest you'll have to take on faith.

"Dr. Grey? Dr. Grey?" Derek said trying to snap Meredith out of her day dreams.

"Uh, yes?" Meredith said extremely embarrassed after realizing what had happened.

"What is your diagnosis?"

"A ruptured aneurysm. The hemorrhage also explains the reason for the sudden mood and personality changes," Meredith said, trying to quickly recover from her daydreaming.

After Derek said a few words to the patient, he led Meredith out into the hallway. "What was that about?"

"I'm sorry. I just had a flashback. That keeps happening to me," she said trailing off at the end.

"About what?"

"After prom," Meredith said.

"Oh. Now that you've relived it, can you answer my question?" Derek asked hopefully.

"Derek, we are still at work," Meredith said as she turned to walk away. After getting a few feet away from him she turned around and spoke again, "Besides, if you had been listening you already would know."

Meredith sat down in the empty on call room. She needed to think. She had been pushing so many things into the corners of her mind that she was sure she had forgotten what the definition of corner even was because there was no way she had that many corners. As she forced herself to examine everything, her mother came to her mind easily. She felt horrible. She's been so worried about her friends that her Mother somehow skipped her mind.

She wanted to feel guilty about it, but for some reason she couldn't seem to feel bad for forgetting someone who forgot her for most of her life. Meredith knew that was selfish considering that she was sitting there, just fine and healthy, and her mother was dead, but still she couldn't help it. The door opened slowly and Meredith quickly laid down to pretend as though she was sleeping.

"I saw that."

Meredith's eyes opened, "Derek?"

"What are you doing in here?" Derek said as he sat down next to Meredith as she stared at the ceiling.

"Sleeping."

"I don't think you're sleeping," Derek said smiling.

"Fine, thinking," Meredith said frustrated.

"What to tell me what you're thinking?" Derek said as he pushed a lose curl away from her face, drawing her eyes towards him.

"No."

"Why not?"

Meredith sighed, "Because I'm a horrible daughter."

"Meredith, No-," Derek began as Meredith covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shut up," Meredith said as Derek began to protest. She grabbed his scrub shirt and pulled him towards her. "Now you should shut up," she said smiling as she kissed him and pulled him on top of her.