Survey Says
Life is a series of quizzes.
OR the Matchmaker survey during the season 5 crossover event that nobody asked for.
"So, you just fill in the bubbles, only one per question. With a pencil, not a pen or the machine can't read it. And then you come back in seven days and buy your results to see who your perfect match is!"
Izzie Stevens gives her pitch to the interns one more time before she asks them all to practice it.
"And why are we selling 'Find your match,' quizzes anyway?" Sadie Harris raises her hand, in protest.
"It's for the Denny Duquette clinic. As a fundraiser," Izzie says pointedly. "And it's fun."
"Why can't we do a bake sale or something?" One of the other interns asks her.
"What a great idea, we'll do that next week. I'll teach you how to make cupcakes. You see, the trick is just a little bit of coconut extract…" says Izzie.
"Okay, okay fine. We'll sell the damn quizzes," another intern scoffs.
"Based on the pricing that's been set, we'll be making the fund approximately two thousand and three dollars, minus the printing and shipping, as well as the processing costs," a small voice pops out from the back.
"Alright, Lexie's on cash," announces Izzie.
"Yes!" says Lexie.
"Why is she always the favorite," another intern scoffs.
"I want a photographic memory…" Another intern grumbles.
The table is quickly set up, and the doctors and nurses line up to buy their surveys.
"I don't need one of these, I'm in a relationship," says Derek.
"We're being supportive of Izzie," Meredith huffs impatiently.
"We'll just get each other, right?" says Derek.
"Sure," Meredith rolls her eyes, and picks up two surveys.
"Meredith-" Derek says exasperatedly.
"What?" Meredith asks him.
"Oh, nothing. I was just giving you an opportunity to yell at me…" says Derek.
Meredith rolls her eyes again, and stomps away from him.
Next in line is George, who of course, is also there to support Izzie.
"George!" says Izzie.
"You're here, otherwise you would have 'coded,' say the interns.
"Yeah!" says George, high-fiving his friends.
Cristina is next in line, followed by Owen, and they too, are squabbling.
And after that, there's Mark Sloan, who insists on buying a survey for Callie Torres, who seems to be down lately.
"Come on, you got shut down by a Peds surgeon. So now you'll go on a date with whoever you get, and it'll make her jealous," says Mark.
"As I said, you're paying for this wreckage," says Callie, as she gives Mark an appreciative smile.
"Ooh, what are those?" asks the Chief.
"These are love surveys. You fill them in to figure out your perfect match," says one of the interns.
"Your wife might kill you," Bailey teases.
"She actually might," says the Chief, as he shrugs, and steps out of the line.
"Will your husband kill you?" The Chief asks Dr. Bailey.
"I'm picking these up for some patients," says Bailey. "They wanted to participate."
Alex buys one, grunting, and then grunts again when Izzie teases him about it.
"Hi," a familiar voice approaches the counter.
"Hello! Welcome to 'Match Magics' would you like a survey?" says Sadie Harris.
"Yes please," says the doctor. "Does it matter if I work here? Because I don't anymore, but I used to," says the redhead.
"Oh, Dr. Montgomery, hi, how is LA?" says Izzie.
"Sunny," says Addison, as she picks up a survey.
"Ooh, are you here to find your perfect match?" Izzie giggles.
"Least I can do to be supportive. Great work with the clinic Stevens," says Addison.
"Thanks," Izzie smiles.
"Who is she?" Lexie Grey whispers.
"She's Derek's ex-wife," Izzie whispers.
"Wha- so she was Mark's ex too," says Lexie, frowning.
"And Alex's," Izzie frowns.
"Wow-" says another intern.
"Hey, watch it. That's rude," says Izzie. "Now get back to work."
Meredith sits with her intern friends in the resident's lounge as they fill out the surveys.
Question 1: Your favorite milkshake flavor is… Vanilla, chocolate, or stawberry?
"How is this supposed to help us tell who your soulmate is?" Cristina scoffs.
"It's some fancy math," says George.
"Who knows, but I pick chocolate," says Meredith.
Question 2: I prefer to play… Board games, video games, or card games?
"Video games for sure," says Alex.
"Ooh, card games," says Izzie.
"How much are the results again?" Meredith asks Izzie.
"Ten dollars," Izzie answers.
"I sure hope you raise the money you want to," says George.
"That's the plan," Izzie smiles.
Question 3: Your favorite school subject is… English, Math, or Science?
"English," says Addison.
"Seriously?" says Mark.
"I liked numbers, but words were more my thing," Addison shrugs.
"Mine's Science," says Derek.
"Maybe Math…" says Mark. "But maybe not…"
"Is there a box there for 'I have fake asthma?' says Naomi.
"Hey," says Sam.
"At least it's not worms in the brain," says Archer.
"I thought you were supposed to be resting," says Addison.
Three days later, Archer Montgomery no longer has worms in his brain, the patient with Mirror Syndrome didn't make it, and the results of the matchmaking quizzes are finally for sale.
"Just ten dollars to see who your true love is!" Sadie Harris announces to the crowd.
"I'll take mine," Meredith slams a ten-dollar bill on the table louder than she probably has to.
Sadie makes a big show of leaning against the table to take it, and Meredith pulls away.
"What, are you worried that it'll be me?" Sadie scoffs.
"It's been years, Sadie, it's over. Not gonna happen," Meredith fumes.
"You seemed happy to see me when I showed up," Sadie whispers, a little bit in pain.
"I don't want to get caught up in the past," says Meredith, sighing, and walking away as Sadie serves the next customer, trying not to peer over her shoulder at her younger sister, Lexie, staring at her, wide-eyed.
"You and Meredith were…?" Lexie whispers to her when she thinks that Meredith is out of earshot.
"It was a long time ago," Sadie whispers. "But I did love her once," Sadie says, before she doesn't say anything else.
Lexie nods, and she keeps her eyes firmly on the calculations until she sees someone roll up to their table in… Roller skates?
"Hello! Results for Arizona Robbins!" The blonde chirps.
"Seriously?" says Sadie.
"It's for the battleship, not the state," says Arizona, in a still chipper voice.
And then she turns around on her heels, and she rolls away.
The remainder of the day is rather unexciting, and the doctors find their ways home for the evening, or to the bar, depending on their current preference.
The topic of matchmaker results is clearly a topic of vivid interest, and it causes for some, quite a stir at the car counter.
"LEXIE GREY!?" says Derek, as he makes a fist at Mark Sloan.
"What? Are you mad because you're mad, or because Meredith is?" Mark tries to reason.
"Derek…" says Addison, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Did you know about this?" Derek asks her.
"Well…" Addison sighs. "They were looking very flirty together, I just figured…"
"She just knows me," Mark smirks.
"Not helpful," says Addison.
"So who did you get?" Derek asks Addison.
"Not saying," Addison turns away.
"What, just because we aren't married anymore doesn't mean you can't admit who it is," says Derek.
"Is it me?" Mark smirks.
"Watch it, you already seem to have Lexie, and she's lovely, and I don't want you to mess thing up with her the way it didn't work out between us," says Addison.
"Wow, you wish her luck but not me?" says Derek.
"Hey, last time I came here to Seattle, I interrogated both you and Meredith about not being together, and I never got any credit for that," Addison rolls her eyes at Derek.
"Speaking of Meredith, has anyone seen her?" Derek asks them.
"Did you get her on your survey?" Addison asks quietly.
"If you're not going to say, then I'm not either," says Derek, as he goes off to get another scotch.
"Oh no, she's here," Meredith gasps as she walks into the bar. "Quick, let me hide behind you!" she adds.
"She can't know right," says Cristina. "Just don't talk about it. She'll be gone in a few days anyway."
"If you matched with her, she probably matched with you. That's how that works," says Izzie.
"I think it's hot," says Alex. "She's hot," he adds, and George rolls his eyes at him.
"This is serious. I'm in a relationship, and I don't even know if she's single. Plus I hate long-distance," says Meredith.
"Because no sex," says Cristina.
"Yes, because of the no sex," says Meredith. "And the touching, and the cuddling. I have abandonment issues, and I don't like distance," Meredith huffs.
"You could always… I don't have any ideas," says George.
"So, who'd you get," a chipper Lexie Grey pops into their group and asks her.
"Did Sadie send you?" Meredith asks her.
"Umm-" Lexie bites on her lip.
"It wasn't her," says Meredith.
"Oh-" says Lexie.
"I got Mark," Lexie whispers, unable to contain herself.
"Nice," says Cristina.
"Congratulations," says George.
"Dude, have you even told Derek yet?" Alex asks Meredith.
"I'm also an avoider…" says Meredith.
"Yeah, good luck with that."
Derek finds her after a half-drink, half-panic, in which Meredith quickly tucks her results in her pocket.
"I take it we weren't the match made in heaven?" says Derek.
"What makes you say that?" says Meredith.
"If we were, you wouldn't be hiding that," says Derek.
"True," says Meredith.
"Does this change things for you? Because it doesn't have to change things. It's not like a soul mark or a thing where if one person gets hurt then the other one does, or a thing where your eyes change to weird colors if you see them. It's just a questionnaire," says Derek.
"Well, I didn't want it to, but maybe it's a sign Derek," Meredith sighs. "I mean, we want different things. You like to live in the woods, you want to settle down and I'm not ready yet. What if this is all going too far," says Meredith.
"Do you not want this?" says Derek.
"Maybe I don't," says Meredith.
"Are you breaking up with me then?" Derek asks her.
"I think I am…" Meredith sighs.
"Are you leaving me for whoever's name is on that paper?" Derek asks her.
"That'll depend on what she says…" says Meredith. "I'm not doing this to hurt you Derek. It's not that. This is just about me now," she adds.
"Right," says Derek.
"You're not shocked it's a woman?" says Meredith.
"Well, no. When Sadie showed up I just figured that she was your ex. Also she mentioned that to Lexie who mentioned it to me," says Derek.
"Okay," says Meredith.
"Okay," says Derek.
Meredith wasn't actually planning to confess to her match or anything, but she ended up bumping into her in the washroom, and it just ended up being blurted out all at once.
"So here it goes. I matched with you. And believe me, I never tried to want this. When you left Seattle, I thought it was good, because I could stop pretending I never noticed you. I could stop thinking about you, and your teaching, and your juju, and your teal scrubcaps. But then you came back again, and it took everything in me not to ask you to stay. And now you're here again, and these damn quizzes weren't supposed to mean anything, but they mean so much to me, and I just broke up with my boyfriend- over YOU, because I can't get over you so yeah. I'm a mess. It's incredibly embarrassing. And I'm walking away now-" Meredith tries to cut past the woman who seems too shocked to be letting her past now.
"I didn't ask for this either," the voice answers her softly.
"What?" says Meredith.
"I didn't try to want you. But you were there, you were always there, and I thought in the beginning it was because of some jealousy over Derek that you were there, but it was more than that. I thought you were happy with him, so I left it that way because I thought I would find peace again. But when I come back to this town I see every version of you. The you that's eager to learn. That's having fun with your friends. That's lying nearly dead and frozen and blue, and Meredith my world almost stopped when I thought you were gone. So yeah, I never asked for this. But here we are, and I don't know what you want to do about this, because this is probably only the second big conversion we've ever had, and you were high for the first one so-" Addison shrugs as she stares back at Meredith.
"So…" Meredith looks up hopefully.
"So apparently by some matchmaker statistics, we're made for each other. And I just want you to know that I'm willing to give this a shot… If you are…" Addison says shyly.
"You are?" says Meredith.
"I am," says Addison.
"I don't like distance," says Meredith.
"Neither do I," says Addison.
"One of us has to move then," says Meredith.
"True," says Addison.
"And what are we going to do about that?" says Meredith.
"We can figure that out," Addison smiles.
"Okay," says Meredith.
"Okay," says Addison.
The two of them leave the bathroom hand in hand, and they grin to themselves as they watch Callie brush past them being led by a perky doctor on roller skates.
"You think they matched with each other too?" Meredith whispers.
"Oh yeah," says Addison. "Callie told me all about it over lunch today."
"So this is going to be super cheesy, but I kinda wanna kiss you right now," Meredith giggles, as she leads Addison out of the bar.
"That is totally cheesy, but it's totally true," says Addison.
"So, do you wanna?" Meredith smiles, and bats her eyelashes in an exaggerated fashion.
"Yeah," says Addison, squealing a little.
It's under the streetlight at Joe's when it happens.
All warmth, with Addison picking Meredith up a little, and Meredith reaching on tiptoes.
It's soft, and it's sweet, and their eyes are pressed shut so they can just feel each other.
"So, the perfect match?" Meredith looks up hopefully.
"Yeah, I think so," says Addison.
"Izzie's gonna be gushing for weeks about this," Meredith giggles.
"Hey, it was for a good cause," says Addison.
"Let's go for a walk, get to know each other better. Y'know, if we're going to be soulmates and all," says Meredith.
"Let's do that," says Addison, as she takes Meredith's hand again.
They walk the streets of downtown Seattle together, talking and laughing, and catching up with each other.
And then they figure that the rest will have to be up to them.
***** FIN