Meredith unlocked her front door cautiously, not wanting to disturb Izzie, but she knew the second she stepped inside that the situation was far beyond that. Her friends sat on the couch, still in the ridiculous and gorgeous pink dress, staring at the wall as though it contained all the secrets of the universe. For one weak moment Meredith contemplated just going upstairs and not dealing with anything else, at least not until morning and a hot shower had cleared away the worst of her own guilt… but she was ultimately unable to ignore the crestfallen slump of her friend's shoulders and stepped softly into the living room.

"Izzie?" she asked quietly, taking a hesitant step forward. Receiving no response, she repeated, louder, "Izzie?" then again, "IZZIE?"

"I heard you the first time," the girl said tonelessly, continuing to stare straight ahead. "I'm not deaf." She took a shaky breath before, to Meredith's surprise, turning her head to face her, saying softly, "I thought you were going to Finn's."

"Right," Meredith said slowly, hesitantly walking over to the couch and sitting beside Izzie. "Finn's."

"I hope you're not here because of me," Izzie continued dully, turning back to the wall. "I'm fine." With visible effort she turned back to Meredith, smiling the fakest smile the other woman had ever seen before continuing with no conviction whatsoever, "See? Fine! You should go. You can probably still catch Finn and-"

"Also I slept with Derek at the prom, and I sort of need to be home right now," Meredith cut her off, and Izzie just stared at her friend silently for a minute before starting to laugh helplessly, mirthlessly.

"I'm sorry," she gasped. "It's just… you and I both really, really suck at life, do you realize that? Like, really, really-" And suddenly she was sobbing as Meredith watched helplessly, at a total loss as to what to do for her.

"I'm sorry," Izzie gasped, turning her head away in a somewhat successful attempt to collect herself. "It's just-"

"You don't need to be sorry," Meredith said at once, placing a hand in Izzie's back gently and hesitantly rubbing it, trying to offer some comfort.

"What are you going to do?" Izzie asked softly.

"I don't know," Meredith replied honestly after a long moment, shaking her head helplessly.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't think…" Meredith began softly, and then shook her head. "I don't think what I want is an option."

"You want Derek," Izzie said dully, scrutinizing her friend.

Meredith looked down at her feet, something like shame coursing through her whole body as she whispered, "Pretty pathetic, huh?"

"Well, take it from me," Izzie said with a nearly hysterical giggle. "Life is short. We have to go after what we want while it's still there to take."

--

"How do you feel?" Bailey asked Addison as she walked into her hospital room.

"Okay," Addison said cautiously. "I- I don't remember what happened-"

"You went all Victorian era on us and fainted," Bailey snapped with a smile as Addison grinned weakly. "Where's the other Doctor Shepard? I have a feeling you might want him to be here when I give you the results."

Addison grimaced, smile fading. "That bad?"

Bailey shrugged, something resembling a smirk on her face. "Depends what counts as 'bad'. Do you want me to page him?"

Addison shook her head in the negative. "No, he just went to scrub in- I can handle it on my own."

"Oh, I'm sure of that," Bailey said with a knowing smile, then shrugged. "The short version is this: You're pregnant."

--

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