We are so, so, so, sooooooooooooo sorry we haven't updated in the longest time!! Chelseagrey's computer got a virus so she couldn't send the story back to me once she edited, then when she did send it back, my finals were coming up! Again we are so sorry. But at least here's the chapter now! So fasten your seatbelts and sit back to enjoy another part of the story that is now here.

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Chapter 7

"Danny!"

Daniel Walker quickly turned around in the busy airport to see a flash of a dirty-blonde blur rushing towards him.

"Hey Mer," he greeted Meredith Grey with one of his mega-watt smiles as she jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. "How've you been?"

"I've been okay," she said into his shirt; all the while smelling his addicting designer scent. The one thing that she had always enjoyed about hugging Daniel was how he smelled exactly like the inside of men's Burberry. They hadn't seen each other in over nine months, even though emails and phone calls had been exchanged. "I've missed you."

"That's great to know I was missed, but seriously Mer, as you might know, humans need to breathe."

She laughed before letting him go. "Sorry, it's just I haven't seen you in so long."

"It's okay. But let's get out of here. It's too crowded here for my taste." Danny picked up his luggage and followed Meredith out to her awaiting car. They walked through the busy airport, barely squeezing through the large mass of people.

Occasionally bumping in to people, many "excuse me's" and "sorry's" had to be said. They almost made it back through the doors into natural sunlight when Meredith accidentally bumped into to someone particularly hard, almost knocking him off his feet.

Meredith gasped, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." The stranger told her gruffly. "Just watch where you're going next time."

They managed to make it back to Meredith's car without any other accidents.

The ride back to Meredith's off-campus housing was hardly neither silent nor awkward. They had so much to talk about after being apart for so long.

"So how's Berkeley been since the last time we talked?" Meredith asked him while driving. She occasionally sneaked glances at him. It really had been a long time since she saw him last.

"It's been fine," he told her, "I've gone to the occasional keg party and went to class hung-over the next day." He grinned. "But other than that I haven't really been out of sorts. I'm sure your life at Dartmouth has been more interesting than mine. I mean, you are a med student. There's nothing boring about that."

"It's more boring than you would think." She laughed at him. "Think about it, the endless information and studying, that's enough to make anyone's life boring."

"You know you love learning all the med stuff!"

"Okay, you're right there." She said, still smiling, "but it really cramps my lifestyle." She paused as she turned off the highway. "Partying is like my addiction, but all the studying I have to do just to pass my classes doesn't leave me much time to enjoy my past time."

Daniel snorted in disbelief, partially at the fact that she still partied as much as her 16-year old self and the idea of her having to study. "Psh… like you have to study!" He laughed at that thought. "I remember you acing your finals during Junior year, despite the fact that you were hung-over while take most of them! You didn't study at all that year and you still managed a 3.83 GPA. You're too smart to need to study!"

"Yeah, but 3.83 GPAs were never good enough for my mother…"

"Meredith, honestly; you know your mother loves you but she's not good with emotions."

As Daniel finished the last of his sarcastic rant about how smart Meredith was, she drove the car up to the front of her apartment building. She kicked Daniel and his luggage out of her car and parked it in the garage.

"First off," she told him after meeting up with him back at the front entrance, "I did too study in my junior year. You just didn't see me. I wasn't very open about my nerdy habits."

"Hey! Studying isn't nerdy!" Daniel protested. "I have to study for my major, engineering, you know. And I'll have you know, I'm no nerd!"

Meredith giggled at his outburst while they carried his luggage up two flights of stairs to her apartment. She sighed, "Danny, that's exactly what I meant about studying being nerdy." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, that's real mature Meredith." He said, before doing the exactly same thing.

"Here we are!" Meredith said, stopping in front of one of the numerous brown doors in the hall. The lighting was poor, but Daniel could make out the "24" on the door. "It's not much, but it's home for the next few years."

She stuck the key in and quickly opened the door. Daniel could see the clutter that was all around the room as he entered. The apartment gave off a homely feeling, but that all changed when he saw countless bottles and cans of beer. They were littered haphazardly around the room, seemingly thrown down after they were emptied of the liquid within it.

"Alvin! I'm back." Meredith shouted into the apartment after closing the door.

"Who's Alvin again?" Daniel whispered to Meredith. Meredith looked at him with disbelief. "Sorry… I forgot." He replied to her look sheepishly.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "You are too forgetful Danny. Alvin's my boyfriend, remember?"

"Oh. I thought his name was Alan."

Their conversation halted when Meredith's boyfriend entered the apartment from the front door. He stumbled through the doorway before shutting it loudly.

"Where did you go?" Meredith asked him indignantly, but she already knew. She could smell the liquor and cigarette smoke coming off of him in waves.

"Whaaat's it tooooo youuuu?" Alvin replied, slurring his words from all the alcohol he had drank at the bar.

He uncoordinatedly staggered to the couch before dropping his body onto it. He turned his head and noticed for the first time another male in his apartment with his girlfriend, alone. He became flooded with rage.

"Who the fuck is he??" He shouted pointing to Daniel. "What the hell are you doing with him in our apartment alone?"

"Whoa. Calm down Alvin." Meredith told him, slightly frightened. "Remember? Daniel's my friend. I've told you quite awhile ago that he was going to stay with us over the summer break."

"I don't remember you saying anything of that sort!"

"Yes, I did. I've been telling you for the last month that my friend was coming to stay with me." Meredith said, slowly backing away.

"Are you calling me a liar???" Alvin shouted, now furious. He started staggering towards Meredith. He raised his hand menacingly at her; he was so close to her now that she could see his bloodshot eyes.

"Hey, back off man." Daniel said, standing in between Meredith and her "boyfriend". He blocked the blow that Alvin was about to deliver by catching his arm. "You do not want to do that…" He growled at the man.

"Oh fuck off! I'm her boyfriend. It's none of your business."

"It is my business when someone is about to hurt my best friend. I swear to god, if you lay one hand on her, the pain you felt when you hit her will be nothing compared to the pain you're going to feel after I'm through with you." Daniel threatened him. Daniel looked like he was ready to tear Alvin's head off.

"You bastard! You think I'm stupid?" Alvin seethed at him. His rage ran through his veins and snapped him back into sobriety. "You think I'm so blind that I don't notice you and that tramp are having an affair?"

Hardly able to contain his fury, Daniel quietly spoke, "Meredith IS NOT a tramp and we are NOT having an affair. I suggest you leave now before I call the cops on you."

"You know what? FINE! I don't want to be around that whore anyways." He said pointing to Meredith who stood nervously behind Daniel's large, protective body. "But remember this, I will be back. Meredith is mine and mine alone!"

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The vivid memory flooded her mind as she began to speak.

"Oh my god. What are you doing here?" At first she hadn't noticed that he was tied to a chair, but as her eyesight adjusted more to the light, she saw that his face was all bloodied up. "Oh Daniel…" she whispered quietly in shock.

She rushed over to him to check the extent of his injuries. He had lost a lot of blood; there were several lacerations to his face.

"Who did this to you, Danny?" She pleaded.

Meredith saw his lips move, but she could not hear what he was saying. It was so faint. She leaned in closer to try to catch what he was saying.

"It was…" He trailed off and slipped into the realm of unconsciousness before he was able to finish.

"Danny? DANNY!?" Meredith clenched her fists against his once clean linen shirt and shook him gently. A very movie like moment and something that a doctor shouldn't do but you try have a life-long friend lying unconscious in front of you…

Meredith trembled as she ran her fingers down Danny's pale cheek. The blood smeared on her finger as her breath stopped in her throat, "Oh Danny… who did this to you?"

A deafening silence rang out in the room and all lay still as Meredith shut her eyes and rocked her self gently. What was she supposed to do?

"To answer your question… it was me."

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nati-girl- thank you so much for your review! But I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little long until Meredith's kidnapper is revealed.

Fiora- thank you, but uh… we're still not sure if we want it translated. I'm going to have to talk to my partner in crime, co-author, chelseagrey about it.

Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed us! We love reviews, so thank you so much!