A Sky Full of Stars
"Well that man fell, and all he wanted was one last chance to tell Sally how he felt about her. And I got one last chance. I got my chance! And what have I done with it?"
A skydiver fell. He fell from over a thousand feet in the air. And his last words on his video were that he loved his skydiving instructor. And he had never told her that yet.
And after having watched the video, Meredith and Cristina are sitting in the lab discussing it.
"I drowned. I was sinking. I died. And you know what I realized? I realized how stupid all of my issues are."
"I'm waiting for how this applies to me."
"It doesn't."
"Of course not."
"Well that man fell, and all he wanted was one last chance to tell Sally how he felt about her. And I got one last chance. I got my chance! And what have I done with it?"
"You know, being aware of your crap, and actually overcoming your crap are two very different things."
"I know."
"So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to finally confess your feelings to McDreamy and move into his trailer and have all his babies?" says Cristina.
"No," says Meredith.
"See, not overcoming your crap," says Cristina.
"That's not it," says Meredith, sighing.
"Oh, so you just want to marry Derek. Fine, go marry him. Maybe your marriage will turn out better than mine didn't," says Cristina.
"That's not it either," says Meredith.
"Okay, then what is it then? Because I just found out about awake brain surgery and I don't have time to be playing 20 questions with you," says Cristina.
"It's not him… It's someone else…" says Meredith.
"What, who you're in love with?" says Cristina.
"Uh-huh," says Meredith.
"Who!?" says Cristina. "Oh don't tell me it's McVet. He wasn't even a real doctor," says Cristina.
"No-" says Meredith.
"Oh for love of all that is good do not tell me it's George because Izzie already claimed her adulterous rights to McBambi," says Cristina.
"No-" says Meredith.
"Is it Alex? Because seriously if you've been pining over that ass since day one then you've really got problems," says Cristina.
"Um, no," says Meredith, biting her lip.
"Okay, if you'd told me last week it was Burke I might have drowned you myself, but he's gone now, so if you say that it's Burke, then I promise that I will not actually kill you," says Cristina.
"It's not Burke," says Meredith.
"Ooh, McSteamy?" says Cristina.
"No!" says Meredith.
"Okay, we're out of options here. Because I don't know of anyone else that you could have possibly-"
"It's Addison," Meredith deadpans.
"What?" says Cristina. "I'm sorry, did you just say that you were in love with Addison? As in Addison-Addison? The one that your boyfriend was married to, who just moved to Los Angeles, Addison?" says Cristina.
"Yeah…" says Meredith.
"Since when?' says Cristina.
"Since we umm…" Meredith bites her lip again.
"You what!?" says Cristina.
"Since we made out… Once or twice…" says Meredith.
"Wait, you've made out with her? You've made out with the Ruler of All that is Evil!?" says Cristina.
"Yeah, once… Or twice… Or maybe three times…" says Meredith.
"Uh, when!?" says Cristina.
"When ah, you didn't get married…" Meredith says sheepishly.
"At my wedding!?" says Cristina.
"Well, no. After that. After it wasn't a wedding anymore, but you were still looking for Burke," says Meredith.
"And you never thought to mention this to me?" says Cristina.
"Well no, because you were all sad about Burke, and then she moved to LA, and then I started having breakup sex with Derek to try to forget about her, or replace her, or something but it's not working because every time I kiss him, I pretend I'm kissing her, and that's really hard to do because he's prickly because he doesn't shave all the time," says Meredith.
"Does he know?" says Cristina.
"No," says Meredith. "I don't think he'd approve of it."
"Uh, no, probably not," says Cristina.
"So should I tell her? Should I tell her that she kissed me like, three times, and now I can't kiss anyone else without thinking about it? Should I call her, and tell her that she looked so hot in her dress but I wanted to tear it off her, but I didn't, because I thought it would be more polite not to? Should I tell her that I've had feelings for her since like, ever, but I never ever told her how much I love her!?" says Meredith.
"Uhh, well I don't know. Do you plan on going skydiving and not opening the parachute anytime soon?" says Cristina.
"Not really, but I had my hand holding a bomb in a body cavity and I drowned and my brand-new stepmother died all in the past 6 months. It's only a matter of time for me, honestly," says Meredith.
"Okay, so do you know what you're going to say to her?" says Cristina.
"No," says Meredith.
"Okay, well if you write it on your hand, make sure to write it on your wrist again if you scrub in. Made that mistake," says Cristina.
"Thanks," says Meredith. "Are you weirded out that I like her?" says Cristina.
"Because she's a woman? Or because she's your ex's ex? Or because she's a fetal surgeron?" Meredith asks her.
"Well, The woman part isn't all that strange. For you, at least. I mean, you like a lot of people, so why not women? And the ex's ex part is just part of your inappropriate-liking thing. And I approve of the fetal surgeon thing. It's much better than the vet-thing," says Cristina.
"Thank you," says Meredith.
"I mean, you're probably right, McDreamy will probably disapprove and possibly hate you, and McSteamy might be right there with him," says Cristina.
"That's okay, they'll have each other," Meredith shrugs.
"You know, they'd make a cute couple," says Cristina. "All tall, and muscular, and surgeon-like," says Cristina.
"I think so too," Meredith giggles.
"Do you think they ever 'did it,' like for fun?" says Cristina.
"One time, in college," Meredith giggles. "But you can never tell anybody ever that I just said that," says Meredith.
"Okay," Cristina giggles. "So do you have a plan yet?" she asks Meredith.
"I'm thinking of one," Meredith says determinedly.
The next day, when Meredith doesn't come into work in the morning, Cristina shrugs, and teases Lexie for asking so many questions.
"She's my sister, I should know right?" says Lexie.
"She's been your sister for like, two seconds. You gotta wait for her to understand you," says Cristina.
Meanwhile, in the faraway land of Los Angeles, Meredith takes a deep breath as the plane lands on the tarmac.
It's a sky full of stars, and Meredith hopes that it's a good sign for her.
She disembarks, and takes a cab to the address that Mark finally gave her, and she takes her bag and knocks on the door.
"Hello?" A confused Addison opens the door, and Meredith smiles.
"Hi," says Meredith nervously.
"Hi-" says Addison. "Meredith… come in?" says Addison, unsure of herself.
"There was a man in the ER yesterday," says Meredith quickly, before she can back out again. "There was a man who fell from the sky. And he lived, and he felt invincible, and he finally told his skydiving instructor he loved her. And it got me thinking that I've been through not one but two near-death whatever's, and I've never told you I loved you… And I still love you. I love you Addison, and I have no idea how it happened, but I know it's true, and I know that you feel it too… So please, Addison. Say something…"
Meredith stands there panting in desperation, searching for something in Addison's eyes, before the redhead's eyes finally soften.
"I love you," says Addison, as she leans in to press her forehead against Meredith's. "I've loved you since I thought I could have lost you. And I was so scared every time I thought that you weren't coming back. And then at the wedding, when we kissed, it was a great kiss, but I already signed on for this job, and you went to Hawaii with Cristina, and I wanted to call you every day but I waited… And I wanted to know that you felt the same way about me… And you do, and you're here, and I'm incredibly happy," says Addison.
"Kiss me," says Meredith, as she leans in.
"Okay," Addison whispers, as she takes Meredith's bag, and puts it on the floor so she can kiss her properly.
They kiss in the porch, soft and sweet until Addison picks Meredith up, and carries her to the couch, where they kiss some more, and cuddle up in each other's arms, and eventually become sleepy.
"Do you have to stay here, in LA?" says Meredith. "I don't know if I can leave Seattle."
"I think Richard will take me back if I ask," Addison chuckles. "He said he'd keep my position open for a while."
"You'll come back for me," Meredith says tearily.
"You'd be picking me," says Addison.
"I'll always pick you," says Meredith, as she tucks herself back into the crook of Addison's shoulder.
"I'll pick you too," says Addison, as she kisses Meredith on the top of the head softly.
***** FIN