A/N I am so sorry about the wait but I have really struggled writing this chapter. It is a little on the short side but I think this chapter and the next one can stand separate; I was going to combine them both but this chapter has turned out a bit more angsty than I planned.

I want to give a huge thanks to Kate and to Jill for their advice on this chapter and to Suzy for proofing.

Enjoy!

Chapter 36

After exploring The Cave of the Winds that morning, they headed for the Niagara Restaurant that overlooked the American Falls for lunch before they started the drive back to New York; Lexie and Molly were happy to see Meredith looking relaxed. It had been a week since Molly had expressed concerns to Lexie about Meredith and now Lexie was not only worried about her older sister but also her baby sister. Lexie had managed so far, to stop Molly from asking too many questions about why they weren't spending time with the Shepherd's anymore. Lexie had been watching Molly closely that morning.

Whilst Meredith was ordering their lunch, Lexie leant over to Molly and whispered to her.

"Mols…No!"

"Meri" Molly said; ignoring Lexie.

"Yes sweetheart?" Meredith said giving her sister a small smile.

"Why don't you spend any time with Chris and Carolyn anymore?" Molly asked her.

"Molly, I told you not to ask that," Lexie said to Molly.

"Lexie, it is fine," Meredith reassured her. Truth be told, she had been waiting for one the girls to ask her. Meredith still didn't know that Lexie was aware of the situation between her and the Shepherds.

"We had an argument," Meredith told her.

"Why?" Molly asked; not quite understanding.

"They made a decision for me that I disagreed with," Meredith told her, not wanting the girls to know the truth; not yet anyway.

"They did it to protect you," Lexie blurted out, before clapping her hand over her mouth.

"Lexie…you don't know…"

"I do Meredith," Lexie interrupted her. She decided to be honest.

"Lex…"

"You have a different mummy to us, I know. I overheard Carolyn and the lady talking about it," Lexie interrupted; causing Meredith to freeze. She did not want the girls knowing that.

"What lady, Lexie?"

"Ellis," Lexie said.

"Ellis…when did you see Ellis?" Meredith asked, not quite believing what Lexie was telling her - that Lexie had lied to her.

"It was months ago; not long after we arrived here," she confessed.

"Why did you not tell me?" Meredith asked. "You should have told me!" She insisted, not giving Lexie a chance to answer. Although, Lexie couldn't look at her sister, let alone answer her. She knew that Meredith felt betrayed by everyone and now she was adding to that list.

"Yes…I am so sorry…"

"She told you not to tell me, didn't she?" Meredith asked her as Lexie kept her head down and Molly kept looking between her two sisters, confused as to what was going on.

"No Meredith. I decided not to tell you," Lexie told Meredith; which was the truth, she decided that she wasn't going to tell her.

"Lexie…you are too young to make that decision yourself."

"No I am not Meredith…I am not a baby. Carolyn and Chris were trying to protect you…" Lexie said before Meredith interrupted her and told her in no uncertain terms. "We are not talking about this here"

"Who's Ellis?" Molly asked.

"No one you need to worry about Molly," Meredith told her as the waiter served them with their food.

They ate their meal in silence, giving Meredith time to think about what Lexie had said. Meredith knew that Lexie was right; that they were trying to protect her but she was still so angry with everyone. Everything she knew was turned upside down and she didn't know what was real anymore. All she knew was that everyone lied to her including her own sister and that hurt more than anything; she had no idea how to proceed.

After lunch they returned to the hotel to pack their bag for the journey back to New York. Meredith hadn't said a word since leaving the restaurant and Lexie couldn't stand it any longer; when Molly went to the bathroom she turned to her sister.

"Meredith; please talk to me," Lexie begged her. "We need to talk."

"No we don't Alexandra…now go and pack," she told her.

"I am so sorry Meredith."

"Sorry…everyone is sorry. Well sorry isn't good enough. It was bad enough knowing mum and daddy lied to me but you Lexie. All I want is for people to stop lying to me and be honest with me for once," Meredith screamed before collapsing on the floor in a heap and her sobs ripping Lexie's heart out.

She wished that her sister didn't have to go through this and that she could take Meredith's pain away. Lexie wished that they could all go back to the way things were before coming to America. She was 10 years old but she felt so much older. She knew how much Meredith had given up for her and Molly but she wished she could be a child again; like Molly, who seemed to be so unaffected by all this. She wished she never knew the truth that they had stayed in London with her parents; despite everything that had happen.

Lexie pulled herself out of her stupor and sat down beside her sister, her small frame wrapping around her sister's much larger one. She kept murmuring, "I am so sorry," repeatedly in her sister's ear, before noticing Molly standing in the doorway looking terrified.

"Molly…come here," Lexie said, and Molly sat on the other side of Meredith, wrapping her small arms around her sisters, unconsciously creating a cocoon with Lexie around their sister. Meredith's hand unconsciously started stroking her hair whilst she pulled herself together. What seemed like hours later the tears stopped and although Meredith felt exhausted she also felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulder. The one thing that this trip had accomplished was that Meredith had finally come to terms with everything and maybe, just maybe, something good would come from all this.

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