Thank you for all the lovely comments, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Have a lovely week!

XOX

The loud buzz of the doorbell ripped Meredith from her sleep. She slowly peeled her face from an encyclopaedia on the floor, her eyes crusted and red. The doorbell rung again and she pushed herself up onto her feet from the floor, and quickly walked downstairs to see Derek waiting behind the glass front door.

She flicked the lock and opened the door, tugging through her knots with her fingers to try and look more presentable.

"Hey!" He greeted her, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in days!" He kissed her cheek, "Did you fall asleep on a book?" He laughed, rubbing his thumb across the page creases on her face.

"Yeah." She replied, rubbing her face.

"Mum kicked me out because I hadn't left my desk in four days. I tried to call, but you didn't answer." He continued to talk then noticed the stacks of boxes in her entrance foyer. "Wait. You're moving?" He stopped and stared, waiting for a response.

"Yeah." She repeated.

"You didn't answer when I called, you didn't reply to my messages… Were you even planning on telling me?" He questioned her. "Or were you just going to leave and never come back?" He questioned her, bitterly.

"I was going to tell you, I just," She was trying to form sentences but she hadn't woken up yet, "It all happened so quickly as I wasn't sure what to say. I got the bill for property tax and then when I was waiting for you at the hospital, I ran into Ted and then we looked at my finances and if I'm not careful, I could lose everything Mum left me, and well, it all happened so quickly. I've got five days to have this all packed and then I need to move out if we find a tenant. I didn't want to distract you with your studying."

"Where are you moving to in five days if you get a tenant?"

"I hadn't quite thought that far ahead." Meredith admitted, "I'll be at Cristina's for just over a week, then, it'll be two months until school starts. I thought about heading back early."

He quickly calmed his temper egged on by his hurt feelings and tried to offer an olive branch. "Or, you could just stay with me?" He reminded her. "Mum is practically forcing the guest bedroom down your throat. Note the intentions that you can store your stuff in there and then sleep in my bed with me." His eyes twinkled as he joked with her, and she smiled when she realised he wasn't mad anymore. "But, if you've only got five days, then you might need my help then." He smirked.

She opened the door further for him to come in and nodded sweetly. He was offering and she was exhausted. They slowly walked to her Mum's den to finish the packing and she directed him over to the filing cabinets to pull out the files and stack them in the boxes. Meredith pulled all the journals from the floor and packed up the computer, slowly deconstructing the years of work and collections. Derek finished the cabinets and carried the boxes out into the hall the best he could without hurting his leg as the radio sang quietly to them.

At five pm, Meredith flopped into the chair in the empty room, surrounded by boxes. She'd ordered Derek home at two that afternoon to go study, him promising to return at seven with dinner for them both. She was exhausted and the box of diaries was beginning to haunt her. She'd taped it shut and pushed it out of the room on the premise of 'out of sight, out of mind', but nothing was keeping them out of her thoughts. There was only one room left in the house to pack and as soon as it was done, she could rest, at least until tomorrow when she was transporting everything to the storage locker she'd bought out online. Most of what she'd need to go visit Cristina was already at Derek's, so it was all about boxing up the toys from her childhood and old clothes. She groaned as she pulled herself up off the chair and down the hall to her room. The final push she had to make for that night. She threw the boxes onto her bed and scooped all her too small clothes into garbage bags to donate, and the remainder of her belongings into the boxes. Textbooks, school work, everything was taped up, with stacks of old magazines to recycle and old books to donate. She retrieved the step ladder and took the sealed plastic boxes from the top shelf of her wardrobe, she brushed off the dust and sliced open the seal with her fingernail and uncovered her fondest childhood memories. Her favourite knitted hat from elementary school, her favourite doll, her first certificate, a couple of medals… Her mum must had saved this stuff for her. Most of the contents of the box she hadn't thought about in years. It all seemed like a lifetime ago. Before she got too emotional, she snapped the lid back on and re-taped it shut. It was best to remove any emotion when trying to pack or it'd take three times as long. But, her room took less time than she'd expected - most of her important things were stacked in Derek's garage to take back to college. She still had 30 minutes until Derek was going to arrive and in her book, plenty of time for a short nap. She flopped onto her bed and buried her head in her pillow, falling asleep almost instantly.

When she opened her eyes again it was dark outside. She glanced over at her alarm clock with blinked 9:12pm.

"Crap!"She yelled as she jumped up and ran from her room. The blood rushed to her head and she but had to stop at the top of the stairs to avoid falling, squeezing her eyes shut to make the feeling pass quicker. She clutched the bannister and shook her head. She could hear movement downstairs in the kitchen and as soon as the tingling feeling had passed, she skipped down the stairs and ran into the kitchen to find Derek re-heating the food. The bench was clear of her dishes from the past few days and he'd even taken out her trash.

"You left the front door open, so I came in to see if you were okay. You were asleep, so I thought I'd leave you for a while. How was your nap?" He smiled.

"I am so sorry." She apologised. "I intended to lie down for thirty minutes, but, I guess I didn't wake up."

Derek pushed the meat and vegetables around in the pan, and shook his head, "Don't worry about it. You needed to rest. Are you hungry?"

She eagerly walked towards the cooking food and took in a whiff, "When you cook, I'm always hungry."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "I was going to wake you up at 9:30 for food, anyway." He smiled, and shrugged. "And I wanted to see you."

Meredith didn't care what the pretences were, she was really glad to see him and eat his delicious home cooked food. She pulled cutlery from the drawer and two bowls and Derek served them up the food. Her food was still steaming as she inhaled it from her bowl. Derek laughed at her enthusiasm, and they spent the night after dinner sitting in her living room. Meredith actively avoided thinking about diaries, boxes, and shipping. They sat together on the couch as she stared blankly at the tv and Derek read his textbook. There is only so much movement one person can take, and needless to say that she spent the night tossing and turning in anticipation for moving day.

XOX

Meredith awoke to an empty bed the next morning with a note from Derek downstairs.

Headed home to squeeze in an early study session. Amy, Mark and I will be over at 11 to help you take the boxes to storage. Hope you wake up in time. ;)

x

They were a very supportive family, and she was glad she could rely on their help, as she couldn't lift furniture on her own. She showered and returned to her mother's den, collecting up the loose items and then moved on to the final room of the house. Her old school memories were being packed away into moving boxes and dragged out into the hall. She stripped her bed, and pushed the linens into more boxes. In two weeks, someone new would be sleeping in her room. The house wouldn't be hers anymore. It was depressing if she thought about it too much so for right now, it was time to just get it done. Packing away all her photographs, letters and books, only filling a single cardboard box and duffle bag to take to keep at Derek's for the time being.

At 11 on the dot, she heard the doorbell rang downstairs and Mark, Lexie and Amy stood eagerly behind the glass door, all dressed in working clothes.

"Mer!" Mark greeted her with such enthusiasm, "Let's get this show on the road!" Even for moving house, Mark retained his boyish enthusiasm.

Meredith welcomed them inside and hugged Lexie. She hadn't seen her since school had broken up, and it was a nice surprise. "Lex, I didn't know you'd be here!"

"My parents went on vacation and Molly isn't home yet, so I drove up to see Mark last night. I can't believe you're moving." She cocked her head to the side and hugged Meredith.

"Sucks, but it means we'll all have a house if we move back." Meredith said, "I'll personally kick out the tenants."

"Oh," Amy chimed in, "Derek's coming, but we told him he had to finish studying the last chapter before he could. He wasn't amused that I was ordering him around, but then Mum heard and just stared him down until he went back to his room."

Meredith laughed and patted Amy on the back for her manipulative sisterly charm, only making Amy's eyes sparkle more.

"Thanks all for coming, I really appreciate it." She told them all, as she pushed the front door open further and propped it open with a box of kitchen supplies from the entrance way. "I've pretty much finished packing. All the boxes to take are in the hallway and living room. Most of the furniture is staying. If you could possibly take the boxes out to my car, then I'll drive them over to the storage place this afternoon."

"We brought my car too, so fill her up too!"

Lexie nudged Mark's shoulder, "Your car is a her?" She giggled. "Of course, because you ride her."

"That was one of the reasons, yes." Mark smirked.

"Ergh." Amy groaned, "Can we start already?"

The last box left lingering in her car was the box of journals. She hesitated before picking up the box, and decided to leave it in her trunk.

"Oh! You missed a box!" Lexie alerted Meredith as she was closing the car door.

"It's fine!" Meredith quickly reassured her, closing the trunk and leaning back on it, "It's just… books. I need them. For College." She lied.

Lexie dropped the subject, and rubbed rustled her fringe with her fingers. "Carrying boxes is hard work!"

"There's one last box at home, and it contains beer." Meredith stated, satisfied with their days work.

"No beer for Amy!" Derek called out, staring at his sister.

"She lugged all my boxes today. I'll make sure she's getting one." Meredith shut Derek down. Amy smirking in the background. "Coming with me?" She asked Derek. He nodded and climbed into the passenger seat, Amy following Lexie and Mark back to his car.

Twenty minutes later, they were all lying in a circle in Meredith's foyer, staring at the ceiling, holding a chilled bottle next to them.

"We'll all sleep well tonight." Lexie sighed, tiredly.

"Thanks for helping me, I couldn't have done it alone." Meredith replied, taking a drink, careful not to spill it.

"I'm hungry. Call for pizza? Or go home to Mum's cooking? She's probably made a smorgasbord."

"I don't want to move." Meredith sighed.

"I'd carry you home if I could," Derek offered.

"I have my car!" Mark remembered, sitting up quickly.

Meredith downed the last few mouthfuls of her drink and nodded to Mark. "I'll get my stuff." She said, slowing standing and hobbling towards the stairs. She reached her room and took her duffle bag from the floor and one last box of items. She carried her pillow under the arm, and bid goodbye to her room.

"I'll be back, I promise." She whispered as she turned off the light.