Chapter Five

The beach was empty; with the exception of a bonfire some distance down the way. Meredith watched the distant flames dancing, listened closely to the laughing and shrieking that drifted on the wind, then giggled. She claps her hands over her mouth, still giggling. It couldn't be helped. She wasn't even for certain why she was giggling. One minute she was calm, as calm as somebody three sheets to the wind could be, and the next she was giggling like a school girl. With eyes dancing, she looks over at Cristina, who is staring up at the sign. She smiles up at her sign. Her sign; that's what it soon would be. The shark stares back, open mouthed, teeth bared. This causes another fit of giggles.

"Chomp, chomp," she shrieks. Cristina jumps her hand flying up to her left breast. It takes a moment, and then she laughs.

"Chompers!" Cristina cries, pumping one fist into the air. The sudden and quick motion upsets her already delicate balance. She stumbles into Alex. ""Beware of Chompers!"

"Yeah. Whatever Yang." Alex shoots them both an annoyed look before turning his attention back toward the bolts. They were twisted at a thirty degree angle. It didn't leave much room for maneuvering.

"Ohhh. Better watch it! Chompers likes to bite rude pricks!" Cristina chuckles. Meredith looks at her. She had never seen Cristina this loose. She tries to think back to how many drinks Cristina had had, but draws a blank. Her mind is racing. Any and every thing was going through it.

"Hey, George," she trips across the sand to where George is adjusting the holder thingies, channel locks he had called them. He looks up at her, his eyes glazed over. "How come you always gotta fuck with your friends? I mean, I knew you kinda had a little thing for me, but Izzie…wow…so did not see that coming."

"Hey. Yeah. Did you make her cry? The way you made Meredith cry?" Cristina drops to the ground, scooting close to him. "I bet she did. I know I would cry if I woke up naked next to you."

"You told her that I made you cry?" George squints up at Meredith. "I didn't make you cry! I mean, you cried, but not because of me. Was it because of me?"

Meredith nods. "Yeah. I cried. Cause of you. You made me cry. That wasn't cool Georgie. Making me cry."

"So not cool," Cristina agreed. "So? Did she?" He looks at her. She sighs, shaking her head in disgust. "Izzie. Did she cry? I bet she did. I bet she took one look at your naked ass and cried."

For some reason, Meredith wasn't sure why, but the image of Izzie bawling in bed with a naked George danced before her, bringing with it another round of giggles. There was nothing remotely funny about the situation. If anything, it was rather somber. That one night had ruined George's marriage, as well as his friendship with Izzie. "I'm sorry! Oh, God! It's not funny, I just...can't," she bursts into full belly laughter.

"Sure. Laugh. You're not the one making people cry," George scowls, dropping the channel locks. They land on his foot. He lets out a howl of pain. "Dammit!"

"Ha! So Izzie did cry," Cristina smirks. Her head turns to glance at something over her shoulder. "Aw. Where you going Alex? You feeling left out?"

"No. Just not up to listening to you two giggle all night," he says over his shoulder. His gait is a bit off, partially from sand, partially from alcohol. "Good luck with that sign. Those bolts aren't coming off."

"What!" Meredith stares after him in horror. The bolts had to come off. They just had to. Chompers was her sign. She starts for the sign, tripping half way there. She sputters as her face hits the sand. "Ugh. Yuck!" She raises a hand to brush the grit from her tongue.

"Ew. That's gross Meredith! You're not supposed to do that!" Cristina crawls over, lying next to her. They smile at each other, and then giggle.

"Hey! We gonna do this or what?" George looms over them, channel locks and bolt cutters in hand. Meredith rolls onto her back, then shrieks. Cristina joins her. George shoots them an annoyed look, then shakes his head. "You two done? Cause if you ain't..." he looks back toward the house.

Meredith sits up, trying to compose herself. They needed George. Never mind that seeing him naked made women cry. They needed him to get that sign. "We're done. Ain't we Crissy?"

Cristina looks at her. "Did you just call me Crissy?" Meredith starts to giggle, then claps her hands over her mouth. She would not giggle. Giggling would make George leave. "Remind me when I'm sober to smack ya for that. I hate the name Crissy. Sounds so…stupid."

"And you're not stu...tupid." Meredith grimaces. Her tongue wasn't working right. It had to be the sand. Yes. That was it. The sand. She looks up at George. "And you can't leave, Georgie. We need you for Operation Chompers!"

Cristina and George both stared at her, mouthing Operation Chompers? She didn't care what they thought. Chompers was going to be her's. And, she liked the way Operation Chompers sounded. So there! She felt like sticking her tongue out, but refrained. She needed them. For Operation Chompers.