Chapter 36: Lexie's in Town
"You're sure you've got everything?" Meredith muttered checking the contents of the bag that was sitting on the passenger seat of her jeep. "The steak, the muffins-"
"I'm sure, we've packed enough to feed an army," Derek rolled his eyes. He was, in turn, sitting in the driver's seat and about to pull off from the driveway. It was his turn to check up on Helen in Vegas while Meredith was staying behind in case of an emergency.
"An army would be less demanding than her," Meredith shook her head. "She's a pain in the ass to the hospital staff and I've already received enough complaint calls. Just give her the food and she'll shut up."
"I hope so," he chuckled and stuck his head out of the window demanding a kiss. "I want to be back as soon as possible."
She giggled satisfyingly, obliging his plea, and giving him a long thorough kiss. "Drive safely, stay at the motel if you're running late, okay?"
"Okay," he smiled and started the engine.
"And watch out for my jeep, it's my baby!"
Derek rolled his eyes grinning. "I love you."
"I love you," she smiled, giving him another kiss and moving out of the way.
She watched him drive away until the dust on the road settled down. She scolded herself for being pathetically lovesick. But she couldn't quite deny the fact that she didn't like the sight of him going away. She shook herself mentally, she needed to prepare herself as his going away was ultimately inevitable. Actively not thinking about this depressing prospect, she spent the evening chatting with Miranda and playing with Bert. She heated up the dinner Derek left for her and got herself ready for bed with the intention of reading a book or a medical journal before going to sleep. She was just brushing her teeth when the cell phone rang.
She scurried to the bedroom and answered, "Mhmpf?"
"Please, tell me it's just food in your mouth…" Cristina's drawl reached her ear.
She spat out the toothpaste to the sink and bit back, "I'm brushing my teeth. Trust me, if there was something else in my mouth I wouldn't have bothered to answer."
"Good point!" quipped Cristina. "Are you sitting or standing?"
"Is that a tricky question?"
"Your smiley-posters sister is in town," her friend quit beating around the bush.
"I'm sorry… what?" Meredith choked, accidentally swallowing the toothpaste.
"What you heard, Lexie's in Rachel. She's been to the practice already but didn't catch you so she came to the inn hoping to find you here. She doesn't know I'm talking to you, by the way. I'm in the cellar supposedly bringing a bottle of wine. You're lucky my cell has reception down here."
"I… what… how…" Meredith stammered. This was not good.
"I did ask you if you were sitting or standing," shrugged Cristina.
"I… Thanks for the heads-up," Meredith sighed audibly starting to pace up and down the bathroom.
"I take it she doesn't know about Mr. Perfect?"
"Of course, she doesn't know, no one in my family knows! God, and I thought I was safe from this side…"
"Oh, I think she's gonna die from the excitement," chuckled Cristina. "You dating Dr. Shepherd? Breaking news of the year."
"Cristina? You're not helping," Meredith growled in frustration. "She's gonna overanalyze everything! D'you know how long she's gonna stay here?"
"Not long from what I understand… What are you thinking about? Me locking her up in the cellar?"
"I just thought she doesn't need to necessarily meet Derek…" Meredith started evasively.
"How do you plan on pulling this off exactly?" snorted Cristina. "Mrs. Marsh has already tipped her off, and I quote, 'at the doctor's house'?"
"She already knows about Derek?"
"No, she thinks you bought William's house like you were supposed to. I already promised to give her a lift. So don't plan on any McNasty with McDreamy tonight, you'll have a guest."
"Wasn't planning on it anyway…" Meredith's voice trailed off pensively. "Derek's gone to Vegas to visit Helen…"
"Oh, now I see. Suppose you never leave her alone with a local and threaten Helen to keep her mouth shut, you may just succeed in hiding from her the fact that you're not only screwing a guy but also shacking up with him."
"I'm not…! Whatever, let's not waste time-"
"Not to mention McDreamy won't be overly pleased when he finds out you were too ashamed to introduce him to your sister, and we both know he's bound to find out unless-"
"Cristina, shut up!" Meredith shrieked to silence her drabble. "Fine, get her over here! Just… give me some time…"
"Right, James Bond. Over and out."
Meredith stopped in the middle of the bathroom, completely panicked. She knew she was being completely immature, neither Derek nor Lexie deserved the truth to be hidden from them. But Lexie meeting Derek would initiate a chain reaction leading to a disaster. Lexie would undeniably tell Molly, Molly would tell the parents, and that was only a step from her mother learning everything. Ellis was out of her life, and she wasn't grieving because of that.
Meredith jumped in the direction of the small cupboard above the sink and took all of Derek's cosmetics. He had taken some with him in case he had to spend the night out but still left a ton of hair products. She scooped them all and frantically threw them in the bottom drawer of the bedroom closet. She was for once satisfied that Derek was a neat freak, there were no clothes of his lying around betraying a male presence in the house. They were all in the closet where they could pass for William's belongings that she didn't give away yet.
She didn't have to worry about two mugs of coffee in the kitchen or something as Derek washed the dishes before he went out. There was only her solitary plate in the sink right now. All in all, nothing indicated there was another person living in the house…
The doorbell. Meredith took a deep calming breath and braced herself to go downstairs and open the door.
"Coming!" she yelled with an unassuming tone.
She opened the door and-
"Wow!" a gasp escaped her throat.
"Surprise!" Lexie dropped her bag onto the porch and lunged to hug her with a broad grin.
"Lexie!" Meredith didn't even have to feign her astonishment. "You're here! And you're… blonde!"
"It was time for a change," Lexie shrugged dismissively as she went in followed by Cristina who sported a knowing smirk for the occasion. "Hey! Where's your car?"
"I… I've let Miranda borrow it," Meredith cleared her throat. "So, have you talked to Helen already?"
"Nope, I did go to the hospital, but they took her for tests and I couldn't wait longer or I'd have missed the last bus here!"
"Oh, right," nodded Meredith.
"Why are you wearing boxers?" Lexie eyed her curiously.
Meredith blanched, she knew she forgot about something. She had nicked Derek's boxers and a T-shirt for bed. Thankfully Cristina came to her aid, "Lingerie is sexist."
"And what's with the dog?" Lexie laughed as she crouched down to pet his head.
"Oh, that's Bert, he's our… he's my dog."
"Hi, Bert!" cooed her younger sister while Bert lapped on her hand with his large pink tongue.
"So, would you like to eat something?"
"Nah, I'm full, I ate at Cristina's. I just need to get out of these clothes and into the shower and then we can have some girl time."
Meredith forced a smiled, "Cool."
Crap, Lexie had planned a slumber party. She needed to change the sheets, they were soaked with Derek. His aftershave would be a dead give-away. Besides, she didn't want anyone else than her sniffing him.
"Good luck," Cristina mouthed to Meredith and fled winking mischievously.
"I love that you bought this house," Lexie sighed contentedly when they were both comfortably settled in the master bed. "It's so traditional, and homey! Not the same without William though…"
"Yeah," Meredith cleared her throat again. She hated herself for not correcting Lexie's assumption. "So, what's with the hair?"
"I needed a change…" she answered tiredly. "Crap, fine… I'm completely pathetic, I dyed my hair over a guy…"
"What happened?" Meredith asked softly. For the first time, she forgot about her own dilemmas and her torrid love life. Her little sister seemed very not okay.
"Pierce, I must have told you about him…"
"Yeah, you did, he's from the vagina squad, isn't he?"
"He is," Lexie giggled vengefully. "I really thought we were going somewhere, you know?"
"What did he do?" Meredith asked knowingly.
"He… he said his ex-girlfriend's name in his sleep," Lexie muttered out with a pout on his lips. "I came home late from me shift and he was already in bed. Before I fell asleep, I heard it… I just… She was a total bitch! She left him! And he's still pining for her!"
"Was he… you know, dreaming about her?"
"Ugh, no, not this way!" Lexie winced. "I know because I checked!"
Meredith couldn't stifle a giggle as the image of Lexie "checking" her boyfriend's dreams popped unbidden into her mind. "Did you confront him about it?"
"What do you think? I broke up with him!"
"Just like that? Wasn't it too rushed?" Meredith sighed pensively.
"Hello, he calls some chick's name in the night, I don't want to be the other woman!"
"Do you know for sure you are?"
"Why else would he call for her?"
"Look, maybe he has some unresolved issues about that past relationship, he doesn't necessarily have to still love her. I… I was bitten by a rattlesnake a few weeks back-"
"You were what?" shrieked Lexie.
"Calm down, it was nothing serious, happens every now and then in here. Anyway, apparently… I said Mitch's name in fever…" she sighed deeply. "And I can swear on my life, I don't love him."
"You don't?" Lexie's fingers wrapped around hers in a gesture of support. "How do you know?"
"I have… quite a lot of unresolved feelings… but none of them has anything to do with love. I can bet my Harper-Averys."
"That's good to know, I haven't heard you talk that much about your feelings… ever," Lexie gave out a small chuckle. "This place has really changed you."
"I should hope so," nodded Meredith thinking of Derek. From everything that happened in Rachel, he was the most powerful force that changed her. "I'm not giving excuses for Pierce, I'm on your side, but maybe you should give him a chance to explain himself."
"Maybe I should," Lexie whispered softly. "Thank you, I missed my big sister."
"I missed you too."
"What's new with you?"
"Does there have to be something new?" Meredith asked evasively. Lexie had shared with her about her personal problems, she would be the bitch of the year if she didn't reciprocate.
"It doesn't but I can see there is."
"You can see what exactly?" she eyed her suspiciously in the darkness.
"Well, for starters, you put on weight."
"What?! I did not!" Meredith gasped, offended.
"You so did, and it's a good thing, you were much too thin."
"I am not fat! You should watch your ass yourself or you're going to end up with an elastic waistband!"
"I didn't say you were fat, you're never going to be fat. Why couldn't the fast metabolism be in dad's genes, huh? You just look well taken care of, and it's really good. Honestly, I didn't expect you to be doing this well, especially after William…"
Meredith beat the pillow underneath her head and sighed. "These last few months… I… they've been quite a struggle… in many ways…" she admitted with a heavy heart. Tell her, just tell her about Derek, she mentally beat herself over the head.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be here for William's funeral, I wouldn't have been able to come for Helen's surgery… Well, I guess I still wasn't but I'm here now, for both of you."
"Thanks, Lex. But… I've been fine."
"Fine? Should I be worried?"
"No," Meredith chuckled. "I'm fine fine, not Meredith fine. Don't get me wrong, I miss William a lot. He was this steady element here, in my life, in this world. He was a voice of reason I'd like to hear sometimes. He helped me to rebuild my life and… he's gone. Forever."
"I'm so sorry…"
"And I owe him a lot, like a lot," she let out a watery chuckle, as Derek's face fleeted through her mind.
"Must have been hard for you to move in here?"
"Uhm… no, not really," Meredith giggled, completely unconcerned that her sister was missing the hilarity of the situation. "It's been… a whirlwind and I… I'm not the person I used to be even last month… which probably doesn't make much sense to you but… I've been really well, better than in years."
"You don't know how happy I am to hear that, to actually see that. Do you think you'll be ready-"
"Ugh, I, no, I don't… I… that's a no," Meredith stuttered out.
"I'm not asking you to come back, you could just visit us. Molly misses you terribly, and she hasn't even got a chance to show off her pride and joy to you…"
"How is Molly? And Laura? Is she growing fast? I haven't talked to Molly… in ages…"
"Molly, oh, Molly is starting to show her inner Grey power. If you think she's still that sweet girl, you're sadly mistaken," laughed Lexie. "Apparently, she's tired of being a housebound housewife. She wants to go to work…"
It was very late into the night when both of them fell asleep, their throats dry after hours of talking and gossiping.
Derek was completely and utterly spent. He was knackered. He had had to wait to see Helen as she was taken for tests and after entertaining her a good hour he was talked into a consult by the chief of staff. He probably shouldn't have driven all the way down to Rachel at night when he was so tired, but he dreamed of nothing else than being close to Meredith.
Relief washed over him as he parked the car in front of the house. It was a unique kind of relief. The one you feel coming home.
He unlocked the door and slipped inside the dark house. Bert infallible alertness made him lift his head up but Derek patted him affectionately and the dog didn't even growl as he lapsed back into sleep. He quietly made his way up the stairs and entered their shadowy bedroom. Their bedroom, it sounded so nice, warm and, intimate.
He couldn't wait to press himself to her naked body and fall asleep in her embrace. He hastily threw off all of his clothes, not really caring where they fell at the moment and slipped under the cover. Immediately he felt something was wrong. The scent was different, different pattern of breathing, different aura.
But before he could react in any way he was pushed out of the bed with a wild shriek. The bedside lamp was lit at once blinding his eyes, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his head and, even worse, in his groin. He fell to his knees with a howl, cradling his battered family jewels. The Shepherd line might have just been officially ended.
