To her, and Derek's, surprise, their decision to cohabit didn't come as a shock to the Seattle Grace Gossip Line. Other than a small influx of well wishers, there hadn't been any talk, there hadn't been any gossip, and most of all there hadn't been any staring. It had been a week, and it was now common knowledge that she and Derek had moved in together, but the hospital didn't seem to care. It was as if the idea of them moving in together was ordinary. Expected. Nothing worth discussing. Izzy and George were still a hot topic. Meredith and Derek were quite a cold topic. And Meredith loved it that way. She had forgotten what it was like to live life in relative anonymity. And it was a welcome change, even if she did feel sorry for Izzy and George, who she knew was struggling with their new found spotlight and some other, very personal issues that she had unfortunately been on the receiving end of.

"Meredith!"

Meredith only half flinched at the sound of her half-sister calling out her name from down the hall. Things had been slightly better between them since Meredith had talked Lexie through the final days of her mother's life. Meredith had ceased her determination to hate the other woman, or she had at least decreased its magnitude. It wasn't Lexie's fault. It really wasn't. And if Meredith kept repeating that over and over in her head, then eventually she would start to believe it in full.

"Hi Lexie," she greeted as the brunette hurried up to her, charts stacked haphazardly in her arms.

"Have you seen Dr. Yang?" Lexie question quickly, eyes darting around for any sign of her resident. "I need to find her, cause she said she wanted the lab results right away and I can't find her anywhere."

Meredith sighed inwardly, knowing her best friend was being a tad harsh on her interns, but also knowing there was nothing she could do about it. "Have you tried paging her?"

Lexie quickly shook her head, her eyes wide. "Oh, no. She told us never to page her unless it was an emergency. And I really don't want to piss her off any more."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "That sounds like Cristina," she muttered.

"Okay, so you don't know where she is?"

Meredith shook her head. "I haven't seen her in a couple hours." She only hesitated briefly before deciding to divulge more information. "Hahn's in surgery right now. Have you tried the gallery?"

Lexie shook her head. "No, I haven't. But I've tried everywhere else. I'll go check. Thanks, Meredith." And with that, she was gone.

Meredith laughed to herself, for once not minding the smile spread across her features. Maybe that was because it had been two weeks since she and Derek had moved in together, and a little over three weeks since The Talk. It was currently day twenty-five of their new life together. The one where they were going to communicate and be mature and be happy. And so far it was working.

The novelty of the situation was starting to fade into a comfortable routine, in which Meredith, for the first time in her life, felt at peace. For the first time in her life, she felt relaxed and happy and... home. She had never been so sure of anything before. Derek was there every night when she fell asleep, and Derek was there every morning when she woke up, and it was only his name on the answering machine along with hers. The manic grin that had plagued her three weeks ago had now faded to a gentle smile. Life was good. Finally.

Meredith sighed contentedly as she rounded the corner into the last hallway before the nurses' station, completely unaware and unprepared for what was about to happen. She caught a flash of blond hair before she was blind sided by a larger frame and pulled behind a cart, a hand clamping down over her mouth to prevent any noise.

Meredith lurched, fighting against her restrained arms.

"Stay still," Izzy's voice hissed at her, causing Meredith to at least calm down at the knowledge she was being restrained by someone she knew. She paused and stopped fighting as footsteps passed them. She ripped her friend's hand off her mouth as she recognized George's back as he led three women past them. Once they had disappeared around the hallway Izzy released her hold.

"What the hell was that about?" She demanded, jumping away and backing into the hallway.

Izzy followed her out from behind the cart, rolling her eyes. "You are so lucky I was running interference."

Meredith shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"I just knew he was going to pass you in the hall. So, I stayed ahead of them. You so owe me now." Izzy told her. "Even though you're a horrible friend who steals my photo cards and gives away the room I had dibs on." She added.

"You never had dibs..." Meredith trailed off, shaking her head. "Wait, why were you running interference? Who were those people?"

Izzy's eyes widened. "As best as I can tell, they were McMommy and McSisters."

"What?"

"The older woman was Derek's mother. I'm guessing the other two are sisters. You said he had four, right?" She asked, but didn't pause to wait for an answer. "She was asking at the nurses' station where to find Dr. Shepherd. George offered to take them to his office and she introduced herself as Carol Shepherd. The other two didn't talk, but they look like her. And they all look like Derek."

Meredith felt her heart skip a beat at the name Carol Shepherd. She knew that name. And if Izzy thought the other two were sisters, then they probably were. If you were a mother flying across the country to convince your wayward son to give up his slutty intern girlfriend and likely move back home before it was too late, then the best people to take with you to accomplish said task were your daughters. Meredith sighed. Apparently twenty-four days of happiness was all she was going to get for now. And more in the future wasn't looking so good, not when it was going to be three against one. Twenty-four days didn't hold up well to people who had known him for decades.

"Damn it," she muttered.

Izzy laughed. "It'll be fine, Mer. Not all families are like yours."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Thanks for that."

Izzy shrugged. "You know what I mean. Some families actually want their members to be happy. And Derek is certainly happy."

"If you're so sure, then why did you drag me behind the cart to hide?"

"To give you some warning."

Meredith sighed and nodded gratefully. "Yeah, okay. Thanks, Iz."

The blond smiled brightly. "Do you know how you could thank me?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I'm not making Cristina switch rooms with you."

Izzy scoffed. "Fine. See if I do you any more favours. You said he's got a big family, Mer. More will show up eventually. And maybe next time I won't be so nice."

Meredith actually smiled at her former roommate's words. "Thank-you, Izzy," she repeated.

Izzy narrowed her eyes at her for several seconds before shrugging as a bright smile returned to her features. "Whatever. Let me know how meeting the future in-laws go."

Meredith jumped. "Future in-laws?"

It was Izzy's turn to roll her eyes. "Seriously? Meredith it's no secret you two are headed that way. If you didn't have so many freaking issues, you'd already be there." And with that she turned on her heel and disappeared down the hall, leaving Meredith speechless and alone.

000

An hour later, after checking on her patients and making sure her interns weren't killing anyone, Meredith stumbled into the tunnels underneath the hospital floors, craving comfort. She turned the corner and headed for the familiar gurneys no one ever seemed to use. It wasn't until she had almost reached the beds that she recognized the surgeon sprawled out across the gurney furthest from her.

"Cristina?" She called out, causing the rumpled doctor to sit upright.

"Hey, Mer," she offered.

"What are you doing down here?"

"What are you doing down here?" Cristina countered, swinging her legs over the side of the gurney, a letter clutched tightly in her hand.

Meredith sighed, plopping herself down beside her best friend. "Derek's family is here."

"His whole family?"

Meredith tensed, realizing for the first time that she had no idea if there were more than three that had made the trip to Seattle. It could be a lot more than three against one. A whole lot more. One mother, four sisters, four brothers in law, nine nieces and five nephews totalled to twenty-three in her books. And that was only his immediate family. He had definitely mentioned a few aunts and uncles. And they all had multiple kids. One especially, his mother's sister maybe? She and his mother had a friendly competition about how many grandkids they had. He had a huge family. Certainly they hadn't all flown out to see him, but when the numbers were added up, she just didn't have the same backing as Derek. She had five, and that was including him. Derek, Cristina, Izzy, George and Alex. That was it. If he started counting distant third cousins, twice removed, then she could probably count the chief, and maybe Lexie. That would still be only seven. Not even comparable with the number of nieces that he had. She sighed and turned back to Cristina.

"Only three that I know of."

"The other three sisters?"

Meredith shook her head. "Two sisters, and his mother."

Cristina raised an eyebrow. "Wow, they sent in the big gun."

"Yeah."

"Well, what's she like? She can't be worse than momma Burke."

Meredith smiled wryly at Cristina's bitter tone before she sighed, dropping her smile. "I don't know. I haven't met them."

"Then how do you know they're here? Are you spying?"

She shook her head. "They came to the nurses' station. George took them to Derek's office and Izzy ran interference. She caught me in the hall, pulled me out of sight. And right in time, too." She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had Izzy not been there.

Cristina laughed. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but those two make a good team; leading the enemy, running interference. I'm impressed."

"Yeah," Meredith agreed. "Although, I'm more grateful then impressed."

Cristina shrugged. "So, you're hiding out here in the basement, avoiding them?"

"Yup."

Her best friend smiled. "Glad to see the old Meredith is still alive and well. I was getting worried, I thought McDreamy had poisoned you with all his happiness crap."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "It's nice being happy."

"Yeah, but you know with a guy like that, you'll always have to contend with the family."

"I... I guess I just never really realized it before. I knew they were there, but they were so far away... I'm not ready to meet them. I'm not. I haven't had enough time to be..." She trailed off.

"Be what?"

Meredith sighed. "I don't know... normal, maybe? I feel like I'm going to freak them out and they'll hate me and..."

"You think the McFamily will scare McDreamy away from you?"

Meredith nodded, forcing the sting of tears away from her eyes. "Everything seemed so perfect, you know? I was happy, which is a big deal for me. And apparently twenty-four days is all I get. Twenty-four freaking days." Her breathing hitched and she silenced herself.

Cristina rolled her eyes and hesitantly reached her free hand around to place gently on Meredith's shoulder. "Look, this is not to be construed as me being at all comforting, but Mer, seriously, you're freaking out. McDreamy loves you, so much that it's actually quite pathetic. But it's true. He's a grown man, and definitely not a momma's boy like Burke. He's not going to let them chase you away. You just need to stand up for yourself, and don't ever let her take your eyebrows."

Meredith laughed despite herself as a single tear overflowed her lower lid and trailed down her cheek. "Yeah, okay. Thanks, Cris."

Her best friend roller her eyes and quickly removed her hand. "Whatever."

Meredith smiled as she wiped her hand across her face. "Okay, now it's my turn. Why are you hiding out down here?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Cristina..."

Cristina sighed and lifted her clenched hand, releasing grip on the twisted envelope and slowly pulled the sides outward, straightening the rumbled stationary. "This is my problem."

Meredith leaned over for a better look, tilting her head as she tried to read the text through the deep wrinkles on the paper. "What is it?" She asked, as she caught a glimpse of the Seattle Grace symbol in the top left corner.

"Have you picked yours up yet?" Cristina asked, either ignoring or not hearing Meredith's question.

Meredith shook her head. "What is it?" She repeated.

Cristina turned towards her, her eyes wide, matching the stunned expression across her face. "What is it?" She repeated. "Seriously? Do you not know what day it is?"

Meredith very cautiously shook her head.

Cristina scoffed and roller her eyes. "Seriously, Meredith. I don't know how you get by in life."

It was Meredith's turn to roll her eyes. "Well, are you going to tell me what it is, or keep insulting me?"

"It's been six weeks," Cristina stated, as if that explained everything.

Meredith pursed her lips as she tried to think back to what had occurred six weeks ago.

"Seriously!" Cristina exclaimed. "Our results were available this morning."

"Results..." Meredith trailed off, thinking furiously. "Oh!" She exclaimed as she realized. The day after their intern exam, they had received preliminary scores; scores which had told them whether or not they would be eligible to return as residents. However, the tests were sent away to be compared with other hospitals' from all over the country. They were all ranked within their hospital. And Seattle Grace was ranked with the nation's other teaching hospitals. And they had been told the results would be ready in six weeks.

Meredith smiled. Of course Cristina had been the only one to mark it on her calendar. She had probably waited by the Chief's office until he came in that morning. For everyone else, all that mattered was not being the bottom five. For Cristina, all that mattered was being number one. She looked back at her friend. "So, I assume you weren't first in the US?" She joked.

Cristina glared at her. "You know they don't rank us like that."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I know. I was making a joke."

"Well, this isn't something I want to joke about right now."

Meredith rolled her eyes again. "Sorry," she said, trying to sound sincere. "So, what's the problem?"

Cristina pulled the crumpled letter out of the envelope and passed it over to Meredith.

Meredith took the document and smoothed it out over her knee before lifting it and scanning downwards. "Wow, Grace made third in the country. That's good." Then she reached the bottom. Dr. Cristina Yang, Seattle Grace Surgical Intern, Score:92, Rank:2nd.

"You were second at Grace. That's a good thing. Congratulations," Meredith said, cringing. She knew this was not a congratulatory thing for Cristina.

"Shut up."

Meredith laughed. She just couldn't help it.

"Shut up, Meredith."

But she kept laughing. Cristina swiped her arms across Meredith's shoulder in an effort to make her person stop. But Meredith just couldn't help it. There were tears rolling down her face before she could vocalize her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Cris. I just... Do you have any idea..." She trailed off as she fought to get her giggles under control. She took several deep, cleansing breaths before turning to her best friend.

She sighed. "Cristina, I'm so glad you're my person. You know why? Cause we're both so not normal."

Cristina raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

Meredith shook her head. "Here we are. I'm living with a wonderful man, and am freaking out cause his family is in town. And here you are, horrified that you ranked second in the third top hospital in the country. And we're both hiding out in the basement." She shrugged. "It's times like these that I'm glad you're my best friend."

Cristina stayed silent for a few seconds before shrugging and allowing herself a small laugh. "Yeah, okay. You've got a point."

"Yeah," Meredith repeated, sighing. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, there's nothing I can do now. The test is already over. You, however, have a family to meet. And you need to figure out how to convince them you aren't a slutty intern-turned resident who stole their son-slash-brother away from his perfect wife." She smirked at Meredith. "At least my problem doesn't involve any future planning, except of course hunting down whoever beat me and making sure to discredit them at the first opportunity," she added, only half sarcastic.

Meredith laughed. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Cristina shrugged. "Yeah, you too."

000

As Meredith made her way back up from the tunnels after a relatively helpful therapy session with Cristina, she passed the OR board, immediately noting that Derek's surgery was still listed, meaning he was either still in, or just out of surgery. Furthermore, that meant that he had not been in his office when George had taken his mother and sisters up, which meant they were loose in the hospital somewhere. This all led to one very important conclusion; Meredith would have to watch her back for the rest of her shift.

She was hungry but decided not to risk a trip to the coffee cart or cafeteria. Public areas were far too dangerous. She would be better off sticking to less frequented areas, at least until Derek was out of surgery and confirmed to have taken his family far away from her. She found herself an empty exam room, and seated herself in the corner near the hallway windows in order to blend in, and yet be able to watch the hall. She lifted the receiver off the wall beside her and paged her interns. Then she waited. Only George and thing two were on today. George called in to say he was working on a patient in the pit, one that was not surgical, but he didn't have time to talk. Thing two called from the gallery phone to say he was observing Dr. Sloan, who had just started a facial reconstruction. Yes, Dr. Shepherd was in here. He closed half an hour ago.

Meredith hung up the phone and sighed, burying her face in her hands. Half an hour. That meant Derek had talked to the patient's family and grabbed a coffee. With any luck, he had either run into his family, or had been informed of their presence, wherever it was that George had stashed them. She sighed and glanced at her watch. The Chief was probable still in. She could go and pick up her results. That would keep her in less public areas of the surgical wing.

She shoved herself out of the comfortable chair and made her way to the door. After a quick glance both ways down the hall, she closed the door behind her and made for the stairs. There was no way she was going to be caught in an elevator car with the Shepherds, and knowing her luck, that was exactly what would happen. She reached the correct floor and hurried across the catwalk, smiling in relief when she noticed the office light was still on.

Patricia had long since gone home for the day, but it was no secret that Adele was filing for divorce, leaving Dr. Webber even less reason than usual to go home at night. She bypassed Patricia's desk and knocked on Richard's door.

"Meredith," he greeted warmly as he swung the door open.

"Hi, Chief," she smiled at him. "Sorry to bother you, but Dr. Yang told me the intern test results were in, so I thought I'd come pick mine up."

"Of course," Richard nodded, turning away to riffle through a pile of envelopes sitting on a filing cabinet. "Here we are, Grey," he muttered as he reached the G's.

He turned back and handed Meredith the letter with a warm smile.

"Thanks, Chief."

"Not a problem, Dr. Grey."

She turned to leave.

"Oh, and Meredith," he called her back. "Congratulations."

Meredith furrowed her brow. "Thanks, Chief," she said with a nod. She had passed six weeks ago. Why would he congratulate her now? She shrugged, deciding he must do that with all of his interns.

She found herself an empty hallway, far away from the hustle and bustle of the working hospital, and far away from certain family members who may be wandering the halls. Plopping down on an empty gurney, Meredith slipped her finger underneath the lip of the envelope, and slid her nail across. She pulled out the letter and unfolded it, smoothing it out over her knee, just as she had done with Cristina's. She skipped over the paragraphs, as she had already read them. Seattle Grace Hospital, number three. Yay again.

It wasn't until she reached the bottom that her throat went dry.

Dr. Meredith Grey, Seattle Grace Surgical Intern, Score:94, Rank:1st.

A rush of emotions swept over her as she remembered the horrible day leading up to the test. Susan's death and subsequent funeral. Her drunken father hunting them down in the parking lot, telling Derek she wasn't worth it. Don't stand up for her. She doesn't deserve it, not after what she's done. She's just like her mother. Destroys everything good. My advice to you is to run for the hills.

But Derek hadn't run. He had driven her back to the hospital. He had forced her to stop her frenzied attempt to study. Meredith, you know your stuff. Trust me, you'll be fine. You just have to trust in yourself. You have to believe in yourself. Just like I do. He had loved her, and supported her and had faith in her. He had given her a reason to have faith in herself. He had said everything she needed to hear to be ready to write the test.

You know your stuff, Mer. I know you do. And I know you are going to kick ass on that test, even give Cristina a run for her money.

She'd kill me if I beat her.

Even so, you have what it takes to be at the top, Mer. Don't belittle your knowledge and your talents. Go into that test with some faith in yourself and blow them away.

She sniffed as she realized there were tears streaming down her face. Everything he had said was right. For her to end such a crappy year on this kind of a note. Well, he had called it. She was making a statement. A statement that said she was where she belonged. With a sudden new sense of confidence, Meredith nodded and wiped the tears off of her face.

If she could face dating her Attending, her Attending's wife, a sick best friend, nearly being blown up, almost losing a friend, her friend's father dying, her dog dying, appendicitis, a suddenly lucid, and yet still disappointed mother, drowning, the death of her mother, the death of her step mom, and being shunned by her father... If she could face all of that and still come out okay, then she could face Derek's family. She could. She really thought that she could. All she could do was try, and hope they like her. And she was sure Derek loved her, so his family could at least tolerate her for his sake. She took a deep, shuddery breath as she glanced back down at the sheet she was clutching in her hands. She re-read it, as if making sure a second read through wouldn't change the results. Then she read it for a third time. Nothing changed.

"Crap," she muttered to herself. "How am I going to keep this from Cristina?"

AN: Okay, so I've been struggling with motivation for this fic for a while, but I've finally decided where to end it, and pretty much how to get there. And I've decided to write part of what I wanted to do as a sequel. It was just necessary that some of Derek's family come into the picture now. But I think I like the way it's going to head now. Updates should be much more frequent now that life is improving, and motivation is back. I have no idea how many chapters are left in this story. Lol. And I know that there was no interaction between the two of them in this chapter, but it was starting to run long, and the next chapter has a lot as well, so it was best to split them. Thanks for reading.