I OWN NOTHING!

MEREDITH & DEREK

"Derek, wait up!" Meredith yelled, running up to him.

"What?"

"What do you mean I was wrong? Last night, when you came to my house, you and her were together. You didn't want to tell her unless I agreed to be with you."

"That's not what I said-"

"Basically. You said that you didn't want to cause a problem if there was no need to cause one. Well, why did you cause a problem?"

"Because sleeping with you was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Not just because I love you, but because it made me realize that I love Addison, just not in a wife-type way. I'll always love her. But there's a difference between loving someone and being in love. And I'm just not in love with her. I haven't been for awhile. We were pretending to be in a marriage. She agrees."

"So you told her we slept together, and you told her you were only pretending to be her husband, and you're still alive to tell about it? She didn't claw your eyes out or anything."

"Meredith, she knew it too. I mean, sure, it hurt because we spent eleven years together, but it hurt a lot less than living a lie; you can only pretend for so long."

"Yeah, I suppose. Is she mad at me?"

"I'm not sure, why?" Derek asked.

"Well considering you told her that I slept with her husband on the night of prom…"

"I told her that, and I also told her you were going to try and work things out with Finn. She told me it was good to move on without you."

"Because she hates me."

"No, because I need to learn how to heal by myself."

"Okay. How do you feel about that?" Meredith asked, mentally kicking herself. She can't fall in love with him again. She can't do this to herself.

"Mentally, I know she's right. When it comes to my heart, however, I feel as though I should be with the woman I love. I feel the only way I'll be able to ever be happy is to be with you, Meredith," Derek said, taking a step closer to her.

"No. NO! You do not get to do this," Meredith said, taking a step back only to fall into an on-call room. Derek grabbed her arms to keep her from falling backwards, while moving them into the room to shut the door.

"Do what?"

"You don't get to make me fall in love with you and then tell me you have a wife. You do not get to choose your wife over me, yet claim to still love me. You do not get to call me a whore and then sleep with me. You do not get to tell me you want to be with me, yet keep your wife on the rebound to catch you if I reject you. You don't get to have me tell you that if you can't tell your wife about us, than you can't have me. You don't get to listen to me tell you about how I want to be with another man. You don't get to dump your wife when I've chosen someone else. You don't get to take a step towards me. You don't get to bring me into an on-call room. You don't get to, to, to…"

"To what, Meredith? I don't get to what?" Derek said, leaning down to capture his mouth on hers.

Meredith pulls back before she gets too irrational. "You don't get to kiss me. Not anymore. You do not get to talk to me outside of the hospital. You do not get to see me outside of my scrubs."

"We can't be friends?"

"Not if this is how we're going to act. I'm staying with Finn, Derek."

"Good."

"Good?" Meredith asked, not sure if she heard him correctly.

"Yes, good," Derek repeated.

"Good?" Meredith asked again, not sure if her crackling voice came from confusion or sadness.

"Yes. I need time to heal. So do you. The only difference is I need to heal on my own. I do want to remain friends. I'm sorry for this. I truly am."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes, okay. We can be friends. But if you kiss me one more time I'm going to sock you with my fists."

"With your tine, ineffectual fists?"

"Shut up!"

Meredith walked out of the on-call room, flustered and frustrated, stomping slightly, walking towards the door. She had a date in an hour and she needed to get ready.

Derek walked out of the on-call room to find Addison standing at the nurses' station. Meredith had apparently not seen her.

"So, she's staying with Finn, huh?" Addison said angrily.

"Yes, she's staying with Finn. I told her I needed time to heal. I told her you knew. I told her we were getting divorced. Than I pushed her into the on-call room and kissed her. She pushed me back, telling me we can't do this. I told her I wanted to still be friends with her. She said only if we remain professional and platonic. I said okay. She said if I kissed her again, she'd punch me. To which I replied, 'with you're tiny, ineffectual fists?' Which also got her frustrated and she stormed out."

"I see. Why was she upset about that?"

"Because that's what I said when I hit on her the last time before we started dating."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"So where's she going?"

"Oh, that. She has a date with Finn tonight."