Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's. If I owned Grey's my shopping spree yesterday would have been hell of a lot longer than it actually was.

Sorry I dissapeared...my boyfriend, or I guess ex, broke up so I've been going through stuff. But this will be back to being updated regularily so never fear. Things are better and I'm pouring all my energy into writing. Which is good, really good. So yeah...don't worry about me. I'm fine and not in the Meredith fine way, I'm really actually fine.

So enjoy!

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Tequilla. I didn't know why I hadn't thought of this last night. Tequilla. I didn't need George comforting me in the foyer. I didn't need Izzie offering to bake something for me. And I didn't need Cristina's rather cynical looks. And I definitely didn't need...the last thing I'd ever need was Derek. Nope. All I needed was tequilla. After a day of working with Derek I definitely needed tequilla.

He was an ass.

I don't know how I had gone so many months of being friends with him only to discover this one important detail now. Derek Michael Shepherd was an ass.

The bell over the door tinkled far too loudy. I wasn't even quite sure why Joe felt the need for a bell, it felt too cliche. I had to talk to Joe about this.

I looked up to see who had entered the already crowded bar to find my former best friend, now pain of my existence standing beside a chiseled good looking man I had definitely never seen before. Derek's eyes met mine briefly and flashed with annoyance and something else. But it was too fast to figure out. With a disgusted look he turned and walked out of the bar. The other man, the chiseled one, looked at Derek's retreating back in confussion and then turned to look at me, realization on his face.

And then instead of following Derek, like a sane and logical friend, he started walking towards me.

Of course anyone who was still friends with McShithead couldn't be counted upon to be either sane or logical.

"Tequilla," he said looking down at the shot in front of me, "you're going to regret that in the morning."

"I'm going to regret a lot of things in the morning," I told him.

"So you must be Meredith," he said, moving to sit down on the stool beside me. This man was the polar opposite of Derek, I had talked to him for a matter of seconds and I could already tell he was the total opposite of Derek.

"I must be," I told him, gulping back the shot. "And you are?"

"Mark," he said matter of factly. I met him with a blank stare. "Derek never mentioned me?" he asked, a joking hurt in his eyes.

"Nope," I said shaking my head.

"Wow. Talk about a shitty friend," Mark said and then turned to Joe to order a single malt scotch. Derek's drink. I didn't need this man that was so opposite of Derek and so much like him all at once. I didn't need this tonight.

"Oh in that case you can join the club," I said brightening slightly.

"There's a club?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. If I wasn't in love with Derek I would definitely contemplate taking this man home. Not that I was in love with Derek, not anymore. Derek was an ass. Derek was McShithead.

"Yep. The Derek Shepherd is a Shitty friend Club," I nodded. It was a wonder the things my brain came up with when a little tequilla was mixed in.

"I think you're more friendly with him than I've ever been," he said with a teasing grin. He was man candy, he was definitely man candy. I needed Cristina and Izzie, this man needed a McNickname. "I mean, I've never made out with him on an elevator."

"He told you that?" I exclaimed. I didn't even know this man, I didn't even know how Derek knew this man. And he knew that. That. That stupid kiss in that stupid elevator.

"Last night he told me all the long sordid details," Mark said nodding.

"Exactly who are you?" I asked him.

"Dr. Mark Sloan. I was apparently the best friend before you, not that I had even known I had been replaced," he said frowning slightly.

"You can have him back," I laughed bitterly.

"I don't want him back. You broke him," he told me, sounding slightly bitter.

"I...I...I didn't mean to..." I mummbled, blinking back a fresh wave of tears. I couldn't cry, not here. Not that Joe would mind, but I couldn't cry.

Suddenly an arm slung itself around my back, pulling himself closer to me. Mark was definitely stronger than Derek. Maybe taking him home would be a good idea, teach Derek to yell at me, to not listen to me. But even as the thought crossed my mind I knew I could never actually do to Derek. I could never hurt him like that. "I've known Derek my whole life," Mark told me.

"I'm sorry for you," I told him joking softly through my tears.

"And he's an ass. He's a wonderful amazing guy and I don't quite know why he still puts up with my shit, but he's an ass. Because when he's hurting he goes into hos own head. Instead of listening to reason, or to anyone else, he goes into his own head where he seems to think he figures things out. But he doesn't. It just gets all messed up. And he becomes an ass," Mark explained.

"So he's in his own head?" I said, looking up at Mark for reassurance.

"And it's a mess in there. I don't even think he could figure it out," Mark said with a laugh.

"There's nothing I can do?" I asked hoping that this man who had known Derek forever would have a quick fix to dismiss McShithead and get McDreamy back. Even though I still wasn't sure that I wanted McDreamy back. Which was a flat out lie.

"Derek Shepherd has the thickest skull in the history of the world and he won't listen to anything until he's ready," Mark said. My face fell as any hope that Mark offered whooshed out of my body. "But he'll come around eventually," he added apparently noticing the loss of hope.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"He loves you," Mark said matter of factly. "I've never seen him like this before. And it's rather disgusting. In high school we were the guys every girl wanted and none ever had. And now he's so madly in love that it's beyond pathetic."

"But...but he's married," I sputtered.

"Was married, they're getting divorced. And him and Addison...they were never like this," Mark volunteered. "He loves you."

Derek loved me. According to Derek's best friend who had apparently grown up with him, Derek loved me. And Mark would know, if anyone would know it would be Mark. Wouldn't it? He spent last night hearng the sob story that Derek and I had become. So he would know. And they were getting divorced, Derek was getting divorced. The man I loved was getting divorced and he apparently loved me back. Of course at the moment he wasn't talking to me, and I was trying my best to remind myself why I should hate him. But still, facts were facts.

"I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't come around," I said, surprised at the level of despair in my own voice.

"He will," Mark said, settling down further into his chair.

"Shouldn't you be going to find him?" I asked looking towards the door that Derek had exited.

"Who? Derek? Nah...he's pacing and messing up his hair right now, he doesn't need me for that," Mark said. "Besides I want to get to know the woman that made Derek's world stop."

"What? Why?" I asked, choosing to ignore the way his words about me making Derek's world stop and how they made me feel.

"So I can figure out how badly I have to kick Derek's ass if he messes this up," he said, laughing and ordering us both a beer.

Hold on tight, wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright.

So Mark came to the rescue. Because he knows Derek, he really knows Derek. So he can offer Meredith reassurance that no one else can, he knows what Derek is doing and he knows how Derek feels about Meredith. So yeah...Mark to the rescue. And they formed a club, because they can't be dirty mistresses, neither of them are...but they still bond immediately. And Meredith notices how hot Mark is but won't do anything about it because she loves Derek and only Derek.

I will update again later tonight probably.

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