Help is Around the Corner
Addison and Derek's trailer catches fire, and Meredith offers them a place to stay for a while.
The first thing that Meredith ever learned about carousels, is that they give her memories of her mother's heartbreak.
When Meredith was five years old, she was riding the carousel waiting for her mother, who had been pleading with Richard Webber to leave Adele and be with her, after she'd left her father, Thatcher, as they'd both promised each other.
This incident left her mother in tears, and since then, her mother had admitted that carousels 'give her the creeps,' and also, cryptically, that 'the carousel never stops turning… you can't get off…'
All this is what is turning through Meredith's head when they arrive at the state fair with Alex, Izzie, George, Callie, Mark, Derek, Burke, Cristina, and of course, Addison.
"Come on, who wants to ride the rollercoaster?" says Izzie excitedly, the moment they are out of the ticket gate.
"I do!" says Mark, and he looks at Derek, who looks a bit pale, but he nods, and he follows Mark.
"Do you want to ride it?" Cristina asks Burke.
"That's okay," says Burke.
"I'm umm, also going to sit this one out," says George.
"What about you?" Callie asks Meredith and Addison.
"I'm down," says Addison.
"Alright, me too," says Meredith.
The six of them make their way to the lineup, while Cristina, Burke, and George decide to go on a less intense ride to start off their day.
"Have fun," Meredith grins at Cristina.
"You too," Cristina smiles at her back.
They head for the tallest roller coaster in the entire park, and confidently take their seats once they reach the front of the line.
"Are you excited," Mark grins.
"Yeah…" says Derek, sitting next to him.
"This is going to be so much fun!" says Izzie, who is sitting next to Alex, who is also smiling.
"Yes it is!" says Addison, who kisses Meredith before they start moving, and everyone groans at them teasingly.
"You two are so codependent-" says Callie, who pops her head out from the row behind Meredith and Addison.
"That's what I've been saying-" says Alex, smirking, as the roller coaster finally begins its trajectory.
The roller coaster glides up a tall, tall hill, at a deceptively slow pace.
As the car rises, so does everybody's nerves, even though they all try to put on a brave face, until Derek starts whimpering.
"Ahh-" Derek squeezes his eyes shut, and grips the bar in front of him with a death grip.
"Shh-" says Mark, gently. "We're going to be fine."
"I can't watch!" says Derek.
"It's better if you watch-" says Mark. "Pretend you're driving really fast, it helps you feel like you're the one in control," offers Mark.
"Okay-" says Derek, Mark's advice seeming to have a calming effect on him. "That does help a lot."
"No problem," says Mark enthusiastically.
And that's when the roller coaster starts speeding downwards.
They go down the hill, and then twist and turn, and they do a full loop-the-loop upside down at one part.
Mark has his hands in the air, waving, but Derek just holds onto the bar for dear life, until Mark wraps his arms around his friend.
Derek softens for a moment and nestles himself closer to Mark.
"Whoa- that was unreal, do you want to go again!?" says Meredith, as they leave the ride, and experience the accompanying adrenaline rush.
"I umm- would rather explore something different-" says Derek, as he stumbles away from the roller coaster, and finds a place to sit down again.
"Let's do that," says Mark kindly, as he guides Mark to a nearby park bench.
"I'm down," says Callie, and Izzie and Alex join them.
Meredith and Addison get in line with the others and ride the biggest roller coaster at least four more times before Meredith says that she's getting hungry.
"Let's catch up with the others," Izzie suggests.
"Yeah," says Alex.
Nodding, Meredith and Addison follow them, along with Callie, until they find Cristina, Burke, and George indulging in some of the fair snacks.
"Ooh, funnel cake!" says Meredith.
"Here-" Cristina offers a bite of hers.
"Yum-" says Meredith.
"Hey, that's mine, that's like, four bites!" Cristina whines at Meredith, and Meredith sticks her tongue out at her.
"I'll get you one," offers Addison.
"Yay!" Meredith cheers and kisses Addison on the cheek.
"Seriously, what's with the PDA?" George groans.
"We're happy-" says Addison.
"And you can't resist me," Meredith whispers into Addison's ear, and Addison pouts at her.
"Alright, you two are getting funnel cakes, but I'm in the mood for liquid nitrogen ice cream," says Alex.
"Ooh, is there cotton candy?" says Izzie.
"Hey if you're going, then I want a soft pretzel," says George.
So that's how they find themselves in line at the refreshment stand, purchasing fair snacks for some absurd prices, before they scan the park looking for Mark and Derek, who had wandered away earlier.
"Awe look, they're hugging," Meredith coos.
"Guess they made up after all," Addison smiles.
"Ten bucks says they start dating within the next ten days," says Alex.
"Twenty says they start dating within seven," says Cristina.
"You're both terrible people," Meredith giggles.
"Hey, I made a fortune off of you two-" says Cristina, as she points between Meredith and Addison.
"And you haven't taken us out for drinks yet-" says Meredith.
"It will happen, I promise you-" offers Cristina.
The rest of the day, they split off into smaller groups, exploring the park, and heading on rides and taking some funny photos of each other.
Meredith's favorite part of the park is the ferris wheel, because of it's enclosed capsule, and her finessed ability to make out with Addison alone in it for five continuous minutes.
"You have lipstick stains on your neck," Cristina whispers to her friend as they leave the ride.
"Thank you," says Meredith sheepishly, as she brushes them away with her hand.
Addison, by contrast, loves the slow rising tower, that has seats that hold them in a row, and they just get a view of the whole park, and even more of the city view. Meredith and Addison sit together and hold hands the whole way up it, and on the way down, Meredith tucks her head into Addison's shoulder.
"Imagine retiring somewhere with a view like this," Addison says wistfully.
"Hey, I just started working," Meredith giggles, and Addison giggles along with her.
"That was my way of saying we could retire together-" Addison blurts out all of a sudden.
"Oh- oh!" says Meredith. "Awe, you are too cute-" says Meredith, as she kisses Addison on the nose.
"No that's you-" says Addison, as she kisses Meredith on the forehead.
The two of them hold hands, and swing them around, as they drift away from the others for a little while, and share an ice cream cone, alternating between licking the cone, and making out with each other.
(They hide away in the bushes so children won't stare at them).
"Yo, lovebirds!" Cristina eventually calls out to them, locating Meredith from her latest Snapchat photo.
"What-" Meredith groans.
"We're going to ride on one last ride before we head out, the park's closing soon-" announces Cristina.
"Okay-" says Meredith, as she follows Cristina, while still holding hands with her girlfriend.
"Come on-" says Cristina.
"Oh, I don't really do carousels-" says Meredith.
"You rode the roller coaster, like, eight times, and you're afraid of the children's ride?" says George, puzzled.
"Just… Bad memories from when I was younger," says Meredith. "It was my mom and I-, and then we moved…" says Meredith, quietly.
"We don't have to go," says Addison. "We can watch, and take pictures," offers Addison.
"Okay," says Meredith, as Addison opens up her arms, and they sit together while the rest of their friends ride on the carousel together.
Addison doesn't pry, or ask Meredith to start talking, but once the others are out of earshot, Meredith tells Addison the story about her mom, and Richard, and how her mother got abandoned while she was riding the carousel.
"I'm sorry," says Addison.
"Thanks," Meredith nods at her.
The two of them sit there like that until everyone seems ready to go, and the park staff are leading them out to the parking area again, anyway.
"That was a really great time," says Meredith, even though she'd been initially hesitant.
"Glad you enjoyed it," says Izzie.
"Yeah," says George.
"Are you two a couple yet?" says Cristina.
"No!" says Derek, and Mark bites his lip, and says nothing.
"Good," says Alex.
"Darn," says Cristina.
"Y'all gonna pack your stuff in or what, let's get going home," says Callie.
"Home," says Addison.
"Home will be nice," says Meredith.
The others agree with her.
***** END OF CHAPTER 49