THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE
By Merlucaforever
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PART 1: Crush
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Note: Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well in these very difficult times. I'm glad to finally be back with a new fic; I've been working on this project for several months. I hope you'll like the story and also the songs that took me ages to choose. Please, take the time to listen to them, they are definitely worth it and also, they are part of the story. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think. My greatest pleasure is to read your comments. Enjoy your reading!
There is No Greater Love, by Amy Winehouse
Crush, by David Archuleta
I do not own Grey's Anatomy characters; Shonda Rhimes does.
VERSION FRANÇAISE ÉGALEMENT DISPONIBLE!
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There is No Greater Love
(Amy Winehouse)
watch?v=2TiVVbraY0k
There is no greater love
Than what I feel for you
No sweeter song, no heart so true
There is no greater thrill
Than what you bring to me
No sweeter song
Than what you sing, sing to me
You're the sweetest thing
I have ever known
And to think that you are mine alone
There is no greater love
In all the world, it's true
No greater love
Than what I feel for you
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Chapter 1: Smile
Summary: Maggie brings home an Andrew who is high after he ate some weed cookies unknowingly, like half of the surgeons at Grey Sloan. As Meredith tries to get rid of him, she realizes that she is more worried than annoyed at seeing him moping on her couch for days and that all she really wants is to see him smile again.
Smile, by Nat King Cole
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Meredith was trying to focus on reading one of her mother's journals, but she couldn't. She couldn't even remember what information she was looking up in the journal. She was truly distracted this evening. The reason for her distraction: she kept sneaking glances at the new guest that Maggie had taken home today and who was sleeping inches away from her on the couch. But she would never admit it to herself.
Instead, she blamed it on what had been one of the most eventful days at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital today: a huge scandal had just erupted over the Harper Avery Foundation and also, half of the surgeons, chief Bailey including, found themselves drugged after unknowingly eating weed cookies.
This is it! What she was looking up in her mother's journal were clues that would help her to better understand the scandal and solve the Cerone case at the same time. And if this handsome Italian was lying on her couch, it's because he was still in a haze after having eaten a good quantity of weed cookies. His face was relaxed as if he was in a wonderful dream.
Meredith told to herself that life could really be unfair. Just a few days ago, she had helped his girlfriend get away from the immigration by moving to Switzerland to continue her internship. She had been truly sorry for them and at the same time she was so angry at how the immigration system in her country had become completely insane.
Meredith sighed. She'd better go to bed; it's been a rough day. Maggie was savoring her cheese plate next to her; so, she wished her good night and got up to go back to her room, not without casting a last glance at the sleeping Prince Charming on her couch. Wow! he was damn cute this resident!
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The next morning, when she went downstairs to prepare the children's breakfast, he was still sound asleep. Meredith was surprised to see that all the din the kids were making had not woken him up yet.
"Maggie, do you happen to know how long the effect of weed cookies last?" she asked her sister.
"I have no clue! Maybe he ate more than all of us. You know, he's been very sad since Sam left. Today's Saturday; it's the weekend. So, it's better to let him recuperate here. I'm going to call Parker to bring him some stuff; I think they live in the same building."
"No problem. That's very nice of you to take care of him. He's your ex after all."
Maggie cleared her throat:
"Actually, I'm spending the weekend at Jackson's."
"What? Do you want me to babysit him for you? No way! That's not happening!" Meredith snorted with laughter.
"Mer, this is my first weekend at Jackson's, and… need I remind you that I'm not the one who packed his girlfriend off halfway around the world? You owe it to him; don't you think so?"
"Maggie, I have not packed his girlfriend off halfw..."
Stopping short, Meredith sighed and surrendered:
"Fine!"
"Thank you, Mer. I'm sure he'll get better by Monday and that you'll have him out of your hair," Maggie added before leaving quickly for fear that Meredith should change her mind.
...
It was not long before Meredith regretted her over-generosity. Andrew spent the whole weekend sprawled on the couch doing nothing but playing the guitar and singing melancholy songs. Why had Parker brought him that goddamn guitar, complained Meredith? She had been able to coax him into eating something a couple of times, however, it was trickier to coax him into taking a shower and she gave up after the first attempt. She spent all her time with the children and did the housework, preferring to leave him alone.
On Monday morning, she tried in vain to drag him out of the couch, so he could go to work. He was singing one of his melancholy songs for the umpteenth time — she should rather say that he was butchering it. She thanked God that Zola could not understand the lyrics which were in Italian.
"Andrew, I'm going to work at the hospital. Remember? The big building… with a lot of sick people inside… would you like to come?" she asked him sarcastically.
"I already called in sick," he replied in an annoyed tone.
"You know you are not sick," she commented.
"My whole body… just… it hurts, OK… I am sick!" he persisted.
Meredith realized that there was nothing she could do; she did not insist any further and went to work. Nevertheless, she refused to admit defeat because she was starting to worry about him. He had been moping on that couch for three days and she thought it was not very healthy for him to spend his days pining for his girlfriend. She had helped Catherine Fox save the foundation today by renaming it after her, but it was apparently more difficult to drag Andrew out of her sofa. So, she brought some backup with her when she got back home. As was to be expected, he was lying in the same spot. She grabbed a cushion and toss it right in his face.
"Hey, Garfunkel!" she called out for him.
"Ooooh! Leave me alone!" he wailed.
"I have something for you," she said.
In fact, the surprise she had for him was his sister Carina who came in reinforcements. Meredith had first asked Arizona for help, but the latter had advised her to talk preferably to Andrew's sister. She told her that she would find her at Joe's and Meredith had to go there to meet with Carina and tell her about her concerns.
Carina did not bother treating her brother with kid gloves. She let him know right off the bat that it was disgusting to let himself go like that and ask him to get the hell out of his boss house. Meredith didn't want to meddle in their quarrel and preferred to go upstairs, praying to God that he wouldn't forget his guitar.
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The children were already asleep, and Meredith relieved the nanny who was still with them because her sisters hadn't got back home from work yet. From her bedroom, she could overhear the brother and sister but could not understand much of what they were saying since they were speaking Italian. She had some rudimentary knowledge of Italian because she took three years of Italian in undergrad, but they were speaking far too fast for her. After a while, she went back downstairs to see what was going on.
Carina started speaking English when she saw Meredith.
"Andrea, you're acting like a baby!" she said to her brother in an exasperated tone.
"You know, I didn't expect you to understand. You've never been in a relationship that goes past three months. And anyway, you hated her. You may not have informed on her to immigration, but I'm sure you're rejoicing in her deportation."
Carina looked truly hurt.
"Andrea! I always thought that this girl wasn't good enough for you, but if it was in my power, I would have done everything I could to prevent that. Please come home with me."
Crossing his arms on his chest, Andrew looked at her and stubbornly refused to go with her:
"Me, staying at your place? You can whistle for it!"
"OK! I give up!" Carina said, letting her shoulders sag in discouragement. Then, turning to Meredith who was watching the scene silently, she added: "Dr. Grey, I'm sorry. But you have my permission to kick him out. He knows where to find me if he needs me and he knows I'd be there for him."
She left, looking a little sad. Andrew sighed and plumped down on the couch, then he buried his head in both his hands. Meredith stepped closer but remained standing.
"Andrew, I'm sorry about what happened to Sam. But I was the one who called your sister because you can't stay wallowing on my couch forever. Not that it bothers me, but because it's not healthy. It's been three days; you absolutely have to pull yourself together."
"I know," he whined.
"Andrew, I know we don't know each other very well but I do know how much it sucks to lose the person you love. And I know that Sam wouldn't want you spending your time drowning in your pain… Andrew you're young, and you have that face! You're gonna fall in love again! And you're gonna get your heart broken again. And that's life, and it's beautiful... and it's messy! It's a beautiful mess. But you can't cling to what was; you have to look to what might be. That's what Sam is doing on her side. I spoke to Dr. Yang, she told me that she was fine. In fact, she said that she's doing really well."
"I... uh… I'm sorry Dr. Grey. I'm going to squat in an on-call room at the hospital until I find a place. I don't want to go back to Sam's apartment; the lease was in her name and I'm not going to renew it. I... I'm going to leave."
He was about to get up, but Meredith had approached him in two strides; she put her hand on his shoulder so that he could sit down again and said gently to him:
"Stay... I'd like you to stay."
He looked up at her, a bit surprised by her kindness. Her hand on his shoulder was comforting. Her voice was empathetic without holding any pity. As for Meredith, she did not want to analyze this surge of affection towards him, this sudden urge to be there for him and to help him. She had spent her day thinking about him and worrying about him. It was part of her nature; she was a doctor and helped people, that's all. Quickly taking her hand off his shoulder as if she had been burned, she sat down next to him and continued:
"Stay until you find another place… I mean... stay until you get better and only then you might start looking for a place. No need to rush, you know."
"Dr. Grey... I... thank you; that's very kind of you but..."
"There's no buts about it. This is an open house. Everyone is always welcome here, even more so my best resident. So, it's settled; you stay."
"I... I don't know how to thank you."
"Well, actually... uh… I know how you can thank me."
"Tell me how; I would be very happy to be able to help you in return."
"First, you could start by smiling a little. I don't want to see that sad face anymore," she smiled, as if to encourage him to do the same.
In an attempt to smile, Andrew's face twisted in a way that looked more like a wince and Meredith laughed lightly.
"Not exactly what I expected, but at least it's a start," she finally conceded. "And now, how about a shower?"
Andrew stared at her with a puzzled look, his head tilted to the side. Meredith saw the confusion on his face as if she had made an indecent proposal to him. She realized too late that her words could indeed have a double entendre. She should have felt offended that he could have imputed such intentions to her but to be honest, she was rather overwhelmed by the image of their two bodies bare naked entwined in the shower that immediately flashed through her mind. Not wanting to look flustered, she exclaimed:
"No! I did not mean a shower with me! It's not a seduction!"
"No... sorry Dr. Grey... I thought nothing of the sort. Even though I'm not capable of rational thoughts these days, I didn't mean to imply that…"
"All right, stop, stop, stop... that's enough," she hissed, gesticulating to emphasize her order as if preventing him from putting such thoughts into words would help her chase away this inappropriate image. Then, she added in the same tone that she would have used to tear a trip off any resident in her service by enunciating her words slowly and distinctly: "Andrew, what I mean is that you can stay... provided that you scrupulously respect the hygiene rules of this house, which include showering regularly. Do I make myself clear?"
Andrew's mouth hung open as he processed what she had just implied.
"Oh!" he exclaimed when he finally understood what she meant. After a quick glance at the clothes he had been wearing for so long that he no longer knew since when, he began to smile… a genuine smile that turned into a little laugh. "Yes, it's a vital emergency! You're right, Dr. Grey, I should go right away."
Meredith matched her laughter to his and the atmosphere relaxed a little.
"That smile is much better," she commented.
"Thank you, Dr. Grey. I'm going to go," he said as he got up, immediately imitated by Meredith.
"Well, let's go then." She stopped short when she noticed her slip of the tongue and stammered: "I… I mean... I'll show you… where the towels are stored and… you will also need clean blankets."
"Okay," said Andrew.
He followed her until she stopped in front of the bathroom. Pointing to a closet, she quickly said:
"You'll find everything you need in this closet over there. There's also plenty of room to store your belongings for now since you haven't gotten everything back yet. You'll let me know if you need more. You'll also find a key to the house in the drawer of the entryway table at the foyer."
Andrew nodded voicelessly in thanks. Meredith decided that it was high time to end this somewhat bizarre exchange. She suddenly turned on her heel to go up to her room without another word.
A shower with him! What the hell was going through his mind?
But an inner voice said to her:
Why not? You haven't stopped checking him out since he's been here; he may have noticed.
No! I never checked him out... she tried to convince herself.
Once she reached her room, she began to undress and decided to go to take a shower and then go to bed right away. She had nibbled too much while she was at Joe's with Carina. Their snack was such that she didn't need dinner. Anyway, she wouldn't have gone down to the kitchen for anything in the world not to bump into Andrew. The last thing she needed right now was a tête-à-tête with him.
Minutes later, she was in the shower. She closed her eyes… and he was there. Hmm... the water was running down his black hair, his handsome face, his bare skin...
"For God sake, what's gotten into you, girl?" she admonished herself. She hurried out of the bathroom, unable to stop her mind from wandering towards another bathroom downstairs and its occupant, knowing that a certain Italian was taking a shower there at the same time. It was not the first time that she had a male colleague at home; there had been George, Alex and Jackson. She had never imagined them in the shower with her. It was the first time this had ever happened to her.
What was so special about this new guest? Was it really a good idea to have invited him to stay?
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Crush
(David Archuleta)
watch?v=vl_wmxuqwnI
I hung up the phone tonight
Something happened for the first time deep inside
It was a rush, what a rush
'Cause the possibility
That you would ever feel the same way about me
It's just too much, just too much
[Pre-Chorus] Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You've got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I've just got to know
[Chorus] Do you ever think when you're all alone
All that we could be, where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?
Do you catch your breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way I do?
'Cause I've tried and tried to walk away
But I know this crush ain't goin' away
Has it ever crossed your mind
When we're hanging, spending time girl, are we just friends?
Is there more, is there more?
See it's a chance we've got to take
'Cause I believe that we can make this into something that will last
Last forever, forever
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Smile
(Nat King Cole)
watch?v=YXuB6md9zPk
Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
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Notes: Thanks for reading (and listening to the songs, I hope). I'm looking forward to your feedback. The next chapter will be posted in two weeks. See you soon!