Meredith slung her purse over her shoulders as she left the hospital and headed over to The Emerald City Bar. She was going to meet George and Izzie there when they got out of a surgery, which she was hoping wouldn't last too long. But for now she crossed the street at a slow jog and headed inside, sitting down at an empty chair at the bar.
"Hey Joe," she said, greeting the bartender as he walked over.
"Hi Meredith, what are you having to drink? Tequila?" he asked, motioning over to the bottle.
"Nah, I'll have a vodka tonic, just waiting on George and Izzie to get over here."
"Well, Derek's here, in the back. Maybe you can keep him company before …"
"No, no … that's alright Joe. I'll just watch the uh … World Poker Tournament right now," Meredith said, as she grimaced towards the show on the television above the bar.
"Well, your call, but I think he'll be over anyway with the way he's looking at you."
"Joe, I'm with Finn now, you know that," she said.
"Yeah, yeah, you're with Finn, you've moved on. At least you're not knitting anymore."
Suddenly Meredith's shoulder was bumped as someone slid into the chair next to her. She glanced over, not surprised that it was Derek, and wearing the same red shirt that he had on the first them they met. She just shook her head, trying to clear it of the memories it brought back.
"True, at least she's stopped knitting. So it's serious this thing between you and Finn?" Derek asked as he brought his glass to his lips, taking a sip.
"Derek …" Meredith started to speak.
"Meredith …" Derek interrupted, looking over at her with a small grin on his face.
She breathed in deeply and turned to face him.
"Derek, you don't get to ask me those questions. You're not my friend, I don't know if we ever were but I can say that we are not friends right now. You can't be my friend when you say that you love me the day you divorce your wife, you can't be my friend when I asked you to pick me and you didn't. You can't be my friend and you can't ask me those questions," Meredith said, the words pouring out of her before she could stop and think.
"Fine. We're not friends," Derek replied, not ruffled at all by the words she spoke, and took another sip of his drink.
"Wh-what?" Meredith stuttered, expecting him to at least fight her on the 'we're not friends' part of her little speech.
"I said that's fine. We're not friends. A friend certainly wouldn't try to go after the girl he loves when she's in a relationship with someone else. So, I'm not your friend," Derek said, throwing a couple of bills down on the table before nodding at Joe and leaving the bar with a small smirk on his face.
Meredith sat completely still, shock written all over face at what Derek had just said. She didn't expect him to say that, although she admits she had no idea what he would say otherwise. She was angry at him for throwing a new wrench into her life that she didn't want to deal with, shocked that he suddenly seemed so intent on pursuing her again, and, she finally admitted to herself, a little giddy that the butterflies were again floating around her stomach. With Finn, there was a calmness and comfortableness that she hadn't felt in a long time, but there was nothing of the same heart-stopping, world shaking intensity she had felt in those few minutes of conversation with Derek.
Joe stepped over to her when Meredith wordlessly held up her empty glass and filled it again.
"Actually Joe, can I have a few shots of tequila too? I think I may need it tonight."
Joe filled a shot glass with the liquor and passed it too Meredith who promptly took it. Hearing the bell above the door ring she turned around to see George and Meredith walk in and sit down by her.
"Hey, was that McDreamy we just saw leaving?" Izzie asked.
"Yeah," Meredith said, her reply short and distracted, her mind still focused on Derek and the words he said, and exactly what he meant by them.
Izzie just looked at her friend, then at George, and shrugged her shoulders, leaving Meredith inside her own world for right now.
