A/N: Back to the main storyline now, updates may slow down some as this is where I'm writing new content or adapting previously written content to fit the new direction of this story. Thanks for all the feedback and positive vibes so far!
Tuesday, 18th May, 2021.
Meredith had just finished speaking to the family of the patient whose aneurysm she had clipped that morning and made her way to Derek's office, to find him, to see what it was he wanted to speak with her about.
She couldn't help fidgeting with her fingers as she made her way to the office, lost in her own thoughts about what it was he might want to say to her. She ran her fingers through her hair after pulling the tie out, releasing the ponytail. Why was she so nervous about this?
She tried the door handle, expecting it to be locked, only for it to be unlocked. Opening the door, she stepped inside, not fully noting who was actually in the room.
"Derek, you wanted to talk?" She asked, her voice trailing off slightly as she looked up to see who was standing there.
"Oh, Megan, I didn't see you there," she told the woman who was leaning against the edge of Derek's desk, inspecting her own manicured nails.
Megan looked up at Meredith, her eyes scanning over Meredith's appearance before narrowing her eyes slightly at her.
"Have you seen my husband?" Megan asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"I was looking for him myself actually," Meredith spoke in a quiet voice with a polite smile, having always felt slightly nervous around Megan. The familiar knot of guilt tightened in her stomach as she thought about the fact she'd been kissing the woman's husband earlier that afternoon.
"If you could get him for me, that would be great," Megan said with an obviously fake smile toward Meredith, talking down to her as she normally did.
"I'll ask them to page him for you," Meredith said with a nod before turning on her heel to walk out of the room.
"Wait," Megan stopped her and Meredith turned to look at her, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about an affair Derek might be having, do you?"
"Oh, uhm no," Meredith said with a slight frown, "Why do you say that?"
"He's always working isn't he? Through the night, at weekends, sometimes I wonder if he's actually working at all," she said with a shrug and a sigh, as though she were a totally innocent person herself. Which Meredith knew she wasn't at all, but she was in no position to judge.
"He does work a lot, it's part of the job really," Meredith said with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"Do you have a boyfriend, Meredith? A husband at all?" Megan asked.
"No, I'm not with anyone right now," Meredith asked, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Megan at the insinuation she would only be with a man.
"And is this the life you have chosen for yourself? Working all hours until you die? You'll never find someone with this lifestyle, you know," Megan said, as though she was giving Meredith advice, "Derek's lucky I still stick around."
"I'll bear that in mind, Megan," Meredith said with a tight smile, before turning around again, "I'll go see if I can find Derek for you."
"Thanks, I mean, after last night I just couldn't wait to come and see him again," Megan said, a tone to her voice that made Meredith think she was looking to get a reaction from her.
Meredith felt a slight heat on her cheeks and was glad she was looking away at this point. She kept her voice steady, despite feeling her heart drop into her stomach, as she opened the door to step out the office.
"I'll just go find him for you."
"Meredith," Derek called out her name as he saw her closing the door to his office.
She looked up at him with a small shake of her head as she approached him and he furrowed his brow slightly in confusion.
"Can we talk?" He asked, holding his hand out to her, but she didn't take it.
"Derek, we can't, not now," Meredith started to say but he cut her off.
"Why? I really need to talk to you," he pleaded, "You said we could talk."
"It's not… Derek," she looked him straight in the eye, and he could see a sheen of tears covering her eyes, "You need to go into your office, your wife is here."
"Wait here for me, please," he asked, his fingers brushing her arm as she stepped back from him.
"I have to go," is all she could say before walking around him and out of sight.
He wanted so badly to walk after her, to make things right with her. But he had to sort Megan out, or she'd only come looking for him. At this point with Addison knowing the secret of his affair with Meredith, and having her own ulterior motives for seeing Derek fail, he couldn't trust she wouldn't say something to Megan. That would make the whole thing come crumbling down.
"Megan, why are you here?" Derek said, not a hint of invite in his tone as he closed the office door behind him.
"I've brought the signed paperwork," she said, pulling it out of her bag and going to hand it over to him before pulling back as he reached for them, "Are you sure you want to do this? You'll never find anyone like me."
"Megan, why would I want to be with someone who takes my money to go on holidays 300 days out of the year with other men?" Derek said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"And what would your mother say to you getting a divorce?" She said, narrowing her eyes at him, thinking she had one over on him.
"She'd say good riddance," Derek said back with a slight smirk, holding his hand out, "Now give me the papers and go back to New York, you're not wanted here and you never even wanted to come here."
She thrust the papers towards him, almost dropping them to the floor if he hadn't caught hold of them in time. She picked her bag up off the chair as headed toward the door, turning to him a moment before she left.
"That blonde colleague of yours, the one that follows you around everywhere, you really should be careful," Megan said with a smirk, "She really does get around, you know."
"Megan, you're pregnant and have no idea who the father is, but it's definitely not me, so just leave!" Derek almost shouted, at the end of his tether now as he moved behind the desk to sit on the chair, ready to call his lawyer.
"Bye, DerBear," she said with a smirk before leaving the room, unaffected by his anger.
If he had something near him to throw, he'd have probably thrown it at the door behind her with the rage he was feeling. He needed to calm down, though. He needed to call his lawyer and get this over with, and then he needed to go and find Meredith before Addison could.
Her shift having finished for the day now, Meredith quickly changed in the residents' lounge before heading over the road to Joe's bar. The whole time she avoided speaking with anyone, knowing that if anyone asked how she was she would break down there and then.
She needed to forget about Derek. She needed to forget about Addison. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She stared at the shot of tequila in front of her, her stomach still feeling uneasy from her run-in with Megan.
She didn't know for sure if Derek was still sleeping with Megan at all. She'd never asked, and he'd never clarified it to her. But after what Megan had said… well she was leaning toward it being more likely that he was.
She found herself suddenly downing the shot of tequila before groaning softly and lowering her face against her arms on the table in front of her. She'd chosen to not sit right at the bar for everyone to witness her woe, she sat at a table in the far back. In fact, it was the table Derek had been sat at when they first came to their arrangement.
"Does drinking ever work out for you?"
Her head snapped up to look at the person who the voice belonged to. In front of her stood Addison, looking as attractive as usual, if not more, and Meredith groaned softly again before sitting back in her seat.
"What are you doing here?" She asked her, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"I didn't exactly come looking for you, I'm just glad I found you here," Addison said with a slight smirk before sitting beside Meredith in the booth.
"I don't need company," Meredith muttered.
"I'm not giving up on you, Meredith," Addison said, her arm moving around Meredith's shoulders.
Meredith couldn't help but lean into Addison's hold, almost melting against her as she felt herself giving up.
"Now, let's maybe stop drinking away your sorrows and I'll take you home," Addison suggested, tightening her hold on Meredith ever so slightly.
"No, Addie," Meredith said with a sigh, pulling herself out of Addison's hold as she heard the chime on the door signalling someone's entrance.
Her gaze flickered over to see Derek walking in now and heading straight up to the bar, not having seen her yet. She found herself wanting to move out of the booth and go to him, but her own doubts about how he felt about her and the run in she'd had with his wife earlier held her back. As did the hand Addison had rested on her thigh.
"Baby, don't," Addison said in a soft voice, her lips close to Meredith's ear as she spoke and the blonde's head turned slightly to look at her.
"I'm not your baby anymore, Addie," Meredith said, her voice breaking slightly at the word 'baby' and she closed her eyes to blink away tears that had started to form with the emotion of hearing Addison call her baby again.
"Then why do you keep calling me Addie?" Addison said with a whisper.
Suddenly, she felt Addison's soft lips against hers and only hesitated a moment before returning the kiss, feeling Addison's hand slide further up her thigh and her other hand grip her blonde locks gently.
She found her own hand moving to the side of Addison's neck, playing with strands of her hair between her fingers as their kisses deepened, momentarily forgetting the public setting. She pulled her lips back slightly breathless, meeting the look of desire in Addison's eyes and she was suddenly reminded of a very important detail.
"Stop," Meredith said, pulling away from Addison and climbing out of the booth, "Just stop."
"Meredith?" She heard Derek's voice close by, turning to find him standing just behind her, and she looked back to Addison who just looked pissed off at the intrusion.
"No, stop, both of you," she said moving away from Derek, her hand raising to run her fingers through her hair.
"You need to go. Go back to California. You're engaged , Addison. You don't want me, you're just scared of that. If you don't want to be with him then fine . Go and sort that out and stop screwing with me," Meredith rushed out, gesturing toward Addison as she spoke.
"And Derek," she turned to look at him now, "Just go and fix things with your wife, and stop screwing with me, too."
She released a breath before turning away from the both of them and leaving the bar, intent on walking the rest of the way home. She needed to clear her head. She needed to think. She needed to get away.
She got a cab to drop her off at the ferry terminal, and she was glad she had brought her coat with her as she pulled it closer around her middle feeling the wind cold on her skin as it sent a chill through her body. She stayed out on the deck as the ferry moved across the river, letting the cold air sober her up.
She kept her head low as she left the ferry, keeping the wind out of her face as she held the coat tight still. She sighed softly as she stood by the terminal. She hadn't actually thought about what she'd do after getting off the ferry. She'd never got this far without either her own car or being in his car and she had no idea of the address, just the direction to go in.
Which is why, for whatever irrational reason going through her mind, she found herself walking in the pitch black to get to the land where Derek's trailer sat. The land they had held as their own sanctuary for the past seven months, ever since that first night.