We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This Chapter 8: The Story of Us, a grey's anatomy fanfic

I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us
How we met and the sparks flew instantly
People would say, "they're the lucky ones"

She stalked through the halls of New York Pres Hospital, questioning why she had even come back in that day. She could literally go anywhere else in New York, it's just that none of it interested her. She had no great desire to get lost in the herds of people in times square, and no dying need to go to the top of the empire state building. All she really wanted was to be back in Seattle, getting on with her residency and not having to deal with all these unwanted emotions that festered inside of her.

"Meredith, you can't just sit around the house moping all day, go and do something with your day. Maybe go sightseeing, or at least go to the hospital and watch some surgeries. Learn something."

She looked up from where she sat on the couch as her mother spoke and sighed softly before standing up, muttering under her breath, "I'd rather be able to practice medicine, but okay."

If she were back in Seattle, she could actually be on the cases, doing the dirty work rather than just watching from afar. No one questioned her presence in the hospital, realising who she was, the Chief's daughter, but she knew she didn't exactly have any privileges while she was visiting, especially with her mother not physically in the hospital. As such, she had to settle with finding a surgery to watch.

She stood in front of the electronic OR board, noticing the similarity in the layout and system used with the one back in Seattle. She glanced over, looking for anything happening of interest to her. Apparently, it was a slow day for the doctors of New York, and there were only routine surgeries displayed on the board, none of any interest to her in that moment.

Her next stop would have to be the cafeteria then, if not just to keep her busy, but to also top-up her energy reserves with some well needed caffeine. Being in her mother's house, she had barely slept. She never did do well sleeping in unfamiliar places. Hopefully, she could get on a plane tonight back to Seattle and this whole nightmare could just be forgotten.

Finally retrieving a cup of black coffee and the only sandwich that didn't make her stomach turn at the sight, she found herself an empty table in the back corner of the room close to the feature length window that overlooked the bustling city that surrounded the hospital. As she unwrapped her sandwich, she watched the various doctors, nurses, and patients, along with their loved ones, who took up the rest of the tables in the busy cafeteria.

The taste of the sandwich revolted her just as much the grey-purple scrubs worn by the surgical residents, and in that moment she was more thankful that she had put her foot down and refused to do her residency here. She missed the light blue of her own scrubs back in Seattle. The thought had her pulling her phone out of her coat pocket, looking to see if there were any flights heading back to Seattle that evening, but it seemed they were all either sold out, or far too unreasonable a price to bother switching her Sunday night flight for. She'd just have to put up with New York for one more night.

A familiar scene began to unfold around her in the cafeteria, just as she had caught sight of Derek entering the room with April at his side. The familiar beeping of pagers, the sheer number that appeared to be going off, indicating most probably an incoming trauma in the pit. Did they call it that here? She watched as the flurry of surgical residents and the few attendings in the cafeteria left the room. Maybe she would get to see some interesting surgeries after all.

I used to know my place was a spot next to you
Now I'm searching the room for an empty seat
'Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on

Standing from her own seat, she threw the remainder of the sandwich in the bin and followed the familiar route down to the ER, interested to observe how they dealt with mass trauma situations here. On her way down, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to find a message from her mother, Mass trauma. Find Dr Evans and help out in the ER, if anyone asks, well, they can speak to me. She sent a quick reply to say she was already in the ER, as she approached the main desk in the ER. She looked to the nurse sat there, "Where can I find Dr Evans?"

The nurse regarded her a moment, "If you're a patient you'll need to admit and wait to be called. We have a mass trauma coming in, so unfortunately there might be a longer wait to be seen."

Meredith laughed a little and shook her head, "I'm not a patient. I'm Chief Grey's daughter, I've been told to find Dr Evans. So, if you could me with that?" She looked at the nurse expectantly, noticing a blush rise to the surface of the nurse's cheeks.

"Oh, my apologies, I just saw him head out to the ambulance bay," she gave Meredith a small smile and Meredith returned it with a thanks, before heading out to the ambulance bay, not really paying attention to who was around her.

She quickly spotted Dr Evans, talking to a group of residents, recognising him from her previous visits. As he spotted her, he grinned and beckoned her to approach, ignoring his group of residents now, "Dr Grey! Your mother told me she'd send you! I can finally witness this skill she goes on about so much."

Meredith smiled politely, as she approached him and gave a short laugh, "Do I have time to get scrubs?"

He shook his head, "Ambulance is two minutes away," his head turned back to his group of residents, "Kepner! Go fetch a trauma gown for Dr Grey."

At his words, she finally turned to look at the small group of residents stood there, just now paying attention as half of them practically gawked at the sight of her, which just had her rolling her eyes. She felt her fist involuntarily clench however as she noticed Derek stood there, beside a wide-eyed Kepner, and a smirking Mark Sloan. She grinned for a second at Mark, before turning her head to look expectantly at the infamous April Kepner who was stammering a confirmation to her superior before turning around and heading back into the ER. Mark approached her and she swatted at his hand as he reached to ruffle her hair, "Professionalism, Sloan, I see you lack it," she spoke with a hint of amusement.

"Long time no see, Grey," he laughed and then he glanced to where Derek stood, watching their interaction. She followed his gaze and narrowed her eyes a little. Kepner returned then. Trauma gown and gloves in hand, passing them to Meredith.

"Here you go, uhm, Dr Grey," she took them from her, pulling on the trauma gown, allowing Mark to tie it for her. Meredith rolled her eyes slightly at the uncertainty in April's voice, but bit her tongue against saying anything just yet. The fact she was still hovering bugged her, though.

Her attention turned back to Dr Evans as she pulled on the gloves, the first ambulance coming around the corner, "Do we know what's happened?"

"Something about a car accident, a couple of cars were involved. One suspected head injury, which is you and I will work on," Meredith nodded in response, a sneaking feeling that she was taking someone's place as Dr Evan's right-hand person and feeling slightly smug about it.

There was no time for talking then as the ambulance doors opened and the first patient was unloaded, Meredith in the zone now and hanging on to every word being told to her by the paramedic. She found herself going inside with the patient, and April was there again with them, leading the paramedics to the first trauma room. Once situated, and the patient was transferred off the gurney, Meredith began her initial evaluation of the injuries, a Q&A being exchanged between herself and Dr Evans as he questioned her on the exam and subsequent procedure. It looked like the patient would definitely be needing surgery and needed a head CT to determine the true extent of the head injury.

Oh, a simple complication
Miscommunications lead to fall out
So many things that I wish you knew
So many walls up I can't break through

Meredith was grateful when Mark instantly volunteered to go with her to get the patient to CT, additionally promising a set of scrubs for Meredith as they went. Dr Evans approved, requesting a page when they got the head CT through.

"So, you swan in, take over Shepherd's position as Evans' favourite resident… you're not moving to New York, are you?" Mark spoke as they were alone with the unconscious patient in the elevator up to CT.

Meredith rolled her eyes and laughed softly, "God, no. I was sent here, probably to keep an eye on you lot while my mother was indisposed. How've you been anyway? Got round to all the nurses yet?" She teased.

He gave a deadpan laugh, narrowing his eyes at her, "I'm surprised you aren't joined to Shepherd at the hip," he teased back.

She tensed a little but kept her resolve as the elevator reached the desired floor, "I'm sure even you're aware he's got a new flavour of the month."

"Who, Kepner?" he released a short, sudden laugh, "Yeah, that's a disaster if I ever saw one. I'm sure even you noticed he hasn't kept his eyes off you."

She rolled her eyes at his words, "Shut it, Mark."

"Although, I am surprised you're the Meredith Grey. How did he not even figure that out before?" He guided them to CT with the patient, only having to wait a moment to get their patient in due to his emergent status. "Here, you stay with the patient and I'll go grab you some scrubs and a lab coat."

"Thanks, Mark," she watched as he left the room and sighed softly, working with the tech to get the patient set up for the CT scan. She leant back against the wall of the viewing room as the scan progressed, her arms crossed over her chest impatiently. She was sure the CT moved faster back at Seattle Grace.

Mark returned just as the scan completed, and she was hunched over the computer screen monitoring he scan, "He has a subdural haematoma, we should book an OR and page Dr Evans."

He raised his eyebrows at her as she stood up and passed the change of clothes to her, "I'm not sure how the process works back in Seattle, but only attendings authorise the booking of OR rooms around here."

"Why? He needs an OR, they take time to prepare," she gave him a slight confused look as she took the clothes, "At least page Dr Evans, then. I'm going to find somewhere to change."

"There's an on-call room at the end of the hall," Mark said with a slight smirk, which made her feel a little uneasy as she didn't know the meaning behind the smirk. It was almost like he was up to something.

She shook it off, leaving Mark to take the patient to pre-op, and headed in the direction Mark had pointed her in for some privacy to change. In hindsight, she probably should've checked who was in the on-call room before she locked the door and pulled her jacket and top off.

How'd we end up this way?
See me nervously pulling at my clothes
And trying to look busy
And you're doing your best to avoid me

Stood in only her bra, she turned around, coming face to face with Derek, who sat up in the bed. As her nerves took over, she burst out laughing, "You're sleeping already? A mass trauma just came in." She grabbed the scrub top and pulled it over her head and turned around again to remove her jeans and pulled the scrub pants on, ignoring the hammering of her heart against her ribcage. She muttered under her breath when he still didn't say anything, "It's not like you haven't seen me naked before."

Derek stayed conspicuously quiet, and at first, she didn't realise why he wasn't speaking to her, wasn't responding to what she had to say. She turned around, pulling the lab coat on, freezing slightly as she uncovered the reason for his silence. April sat up in the bed beside him, clutching a sheet to her chest. Her heart dropped deep into the pit of her stomach and she felt slight blush rise in her cheeks.

She had just changed in front of the guy she loved and his girlfriend. Wait, guy she loved? No. Just a fling. Past fling. She picked up her things, and took a second before speaking, "If you guys aren't too busy pro-creating, there's kind of a trauma going on. I'm surprised you people get any work done around here."

I'm starting to think one day I'll tell the story of us
How I was losing my mind when I saw you here
But you held your pride like you should have held me

Oh, I'm scared to see the ending
Why are we pretending this is nothing?
I'd tell you I miss you but I don't know how
I've never heard silence quite this loud

She walked back out of the room, suddenly finding the need to catch her breath. She found the nearest exam room, still clutching onto the clothes she had previously been wearing. She locked the door behind her and leant against it, trying to calm her breathing. She covered her face with her hands, wiping at tears she didn't realise had spilled down her cheeks until she was touching them. She took a breath and stood in front of the mirror, gathering herself for the second time in less than twenty-four hours as a result of his actions.

She pulled her hair into the familiar plaits she normally donned on top of her head before going into surgery. She splashed cold water on her face before exiting the bathroom, following the familiar hallways in search of Sloan or Evans. She found her way to pre-op, clocking Sloan stance as he leant against the nurses' station, clearly trying to make conversation with a seemingly disinterested nurse.

She walked up beside him with an eyebrow raised, "Sloan, do you ever stop bothering the nurses?" She leant one arm against the nurses' station.

Mark looked slightly shocked to see her, and she couldn't think why he would be so shocked to see her, "Grey! We're meeting Evans in the OR in half an hour, they're just prepping the OR. You didn't have to rush down here."

"Right, well, that on-call room wasn't free you know…" she eyed him carefully.

He smirked, "Nice surprise to see him alone?"

She scoffed and shook her head, muttering, "He wasn't alone, and I have strong need for tequila right now."

"Oh, crap," Mark said with a frown, "He was alone when I saw him."

"Did you seriously try and parent trap us, Mark? I ended up changing in front of him and that girl," she reached her hand out to hit against his shoulder.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you guys, but he's not happy with her," Mark pointed out, as though there had been a falling out between Derek and herself.

"Nothing happened, Mark. I haven't spoken to him since Hawaii before I came here today," she furrowed her brow as she studied his expression, "Why? Did he say something happened?"

Before Mark could respond, Dr Evans approached them, "I see managed to get yourself some scrubs, Grey. Let's see what you're made of then. Sloan, plastics have asked for you down in the ER."

The previous conversation between her and Mark seemingly suspended for now, he nodded to his superior and headed off. Meredith followed Evans to the operating room, conversing about the approach they would be using to evacuate the brain bleed.

As they scrubbed in, the door opened and Meredith found herself avoiding Derek's gaze, "You paged, Dr Evans?"

"Ah, Dr Shepherd, I want you to scrub in with us, had to send Dr Sloan down to the ER so we're down a pair of hands."

Derek nodded and stepped in, "Yeah, I'm free."

Meredith kept her face stoic as she went into the operating room with Evans. Although she didn't let it show on her face, the last thing she wanted was to stand in a surgery for hours with Derek stood in close proximity, watching her every movement. But if it meant she got a surgery out of this weekend; well it was better than not doing surgery at all.

Dr Evans had Meredith performing the surgery herself practically, talking through the steps with her as Derek assisted. Despite the electricity she felt being stood close beside him, she focused solely on the patient she was working on, glad that everything appeared to be going along as though it were from a textbook.

Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room
And we're not speaking and I'm dying to know
Is it killing you like it's killing me yeah
I don't know what to say since the twist of fate
When it all broke down and the story of us
Looks a lot like a tragedy now

"Good work, Grey, you definitely have an affinity for neurosurgery," Evans pointed out as the three of them scrubbed out together, "Shame we can't convince you to stay and finish your residency here."

"You and my mother both," she said with a short laugh as she dried her hands,

"I'll go check on our patient, Dr Shepherd, maybe you could show Dr Grey here around a bit more, convince her a bit more to stay around," Dr Evans said as he left the room, leaving Derek and Meredith in the small room together.

"Meredith," Derek turned to her as he started to speak but she cut him off.

"Don't worry, you don't have to show me round. I know this place inside and out, I'm sure you've got more important things you can be doing, saving lives and all that," she still couldn't make eye contact with him, and went to leave the room.

His hand reached out and took hers and he spoke quietly, "Meredith, my shift is over. Maybe we can go get a drink, or something to eat. Talk."

"Talk about what, Derek? There's nothing to talk about."

He stepped closer to her, keeping her hand in his, "You didn't call, or message. April was there for me."

She furrowed her brow, "Derek, I… I told you. I couldn't," her voice caught, and she bit her lip, looking up at the ceiling a moment to avoid the tears spilling over as she thought about their time in Hawaii.

This is looking like a contest
Of who can act like they care less
But I liked it better when you were on my side
The battle's in your hands now

A look of realisation washed over Derek's face, and this just confused her further. He released her hand as he spoke softly, "Your mother didn't tell you, did she?"

"She doesn't tell me a lot of things," her eyes locked on his, trying to figure out what he could be talking about, "What was she supposed to have told me?"

"Doesn't matter," he lowered his gaze to the floor for a second before looking back up at her, "I missed you."

She scoffed slightly, rolling her eyes as she shook her head, "Don't, please. You're getting on perfectly fine without me, it seems."

"Dammit, Meredith," he muttered under his breath as he stepped close to her, his hands at her waist as he connected their lips in a kiss. Her hands gripped the front of his scrub, both of them seemingly losing control in each other's presence. He groaned softly against her lips almost, sensing her response to him, "You're all I've ever wanted."

She caught herself after a few moments, pulling herself back from him as the tears spilled over her cheeks, breathing slightly heavier. Her hand covered her mouth and she shook her head as he made to step closer, using her other hand to hold out in front of her. When he stopped, she wiped away at the tears and spoke up, "You can't, no. We can't!"

She moved around him, heading towards the door but he caught her hand one more time. The words just came spilling out of his mouth. "I'm not giving up on you. I'm so in, it's humiliating. And I'm begging here, Meredith. Just give me a few hours to fix everything else, so we can do this properly. Because I love you. In a really, really big, pretend to like your music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window. So please, give me a chance. Pick me, choose me, love me. Meet me tonight, please. At the bar, before you go."

But I would lay my armor down
If you'd say you'd rather love than fight
So many things that you wish I knew
But the story of us might be ending soon

She didn't confirm or deny whether she would be there or not and pulled her hand from his. Leaving him stood in the scrub room, his mind racing as he realised what he'd just openly admitted to her. He knew that there was no way she would stay in New York, and he couldn't just transfer to Seattle in the middle of his residency, could he?

The Story of Us – Taylor Swift.