"You need to leave," Meredith growled.

"Meredith..." Izzie sighed.

"Izzie, how could you?!" Meredith gasped.

"Give her a damn chance, Meredith. Do you know how guilty she feels? It's not like she walked into the bar and said 'hey look, there is the significant other of my half sister that I hardly know, let me pursue him.' I'm not going to watch you slip into dark and twisty mode. You were the one to get me off the bathroom floor so now I'm preventing you from winding up on it. Seriously, Mer...try, try and talk to her, do it for me, do it for Cristina, Alex and...George...just do this!"

Meredith's eyes shifted to Lexie who was standing by the door, staring down at her sneakers with her arms folded over her chest.

"Fine," Meredith sighed and Izzie nodded, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Meredith...I can't say I'm sorry enough for what I did. So, I'm going to stop saying anything about it after this. You don't have to forgive me, I don't expect you to, and I appreciate you letting me in here right now...There's a lot I need to talk to you about and none of it has anything to do with Derek."

"I don't want to talk about your father," Meredith sulked.

"Our father," Lexie corrected.

"He is not my father. He may have taken part in my creation but he is not a father to me, nor has he been since the day he walked out on me."

"There's a lot you don't know..."

"Oh, and you do?" Meredith snarled.

"May I?" Lexie asked, motioning towards the bed.

Meredith took a deep breath and slowly nodded as Lexie sat herself down on the edge of the bed.

"I wish I could have spoken to you when my Mom was still alive. Apparently she really liked you, trusted you and...I just don't understand now how she didn't let me see you sooner. Maybe she didn't know how I would take it..."

"How I would take it," Meredith muttered.

"What?"

"I...I blew your Mom off on a regular basis when she tried to get to know me. I think she was fearful I would just hurt you...or whatever."

"In her will, she left me information on you. I had no clue she even had a will, it just seemed so...morbid and now I realize that people can die anytime and...I'm rambling but...it's like she knew. She knew and she wanted me to continue what she started."

"There's nothing to continue," Meredith stated, "I don't need a family."

"That's what you may think," Lexie said.

"I've done perfectly fine on my own and my friends make excellent substitutes."

"I know, I know...you're not looking for a sister or whatever you said."

"Good, you're smarter than I've given you credit," Meredith stated.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Lexie asked.

Meredith laughed to herself. "I made an effort, alright? I made an effort and he hit me and told me I wasn't welcome amongst other things. I was going to go to your mother's funeral and he...look, would you honestly want to be around a man who left you as a little girl with no answers? Imagine having plans to go to the park with your Daddy the next day and waking up the next morning to his car gone and his stuff packed. Five years old, that's over two decades of wondering what the hell you did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Lexie said softly.

"Tell that to a little girl whose mother resented her and her father couldn't even get the nerve to talk to."

Lexie just looked at Meredith who shook her head.

"Of course, you wouldn't understand," Meredith sighed. "You are his pride and joy, obviously...the one who can't do anything wrong, right? You and Molly had these perfect lives with your perfect parents and your picket fence while I was babysat and taken care of by the wife of the man my mother was having an affair with! I was left behind for supposed surgeries and then moved across country so my mother could run away from it all, including me. I'd come home from junior high to ten dollars and a Chinese food menu. I didn't get home cooked meals and I didn't take ballet and I sure as hell didn't go to the mall with my mom and talk about boys!"

"I...don't know what to say..." Lexie muttered.

"I didn't expect you to."

They sat in silence for a moment, a cool wind blowing through the bedroom window causing the blinds to tap against the window pane.

Meredith pulled her comforter up and tucked it under her arms, folding her hands over her stomach. Her eyes shifted on the room, finally focusing on Lexie who hung her head in silence.

"I don't understand why you're so persistent to talk to me," Meredith sighed. "It's really not worth it."

"To me it is," Lexie said, lifting her head and looking back at Meredith with tear filled eyes.

Meredith hung her head and wondered why she had even allowed Lexie to stay. She hated talking about her past, her emotions, anything that involved her walls tumbling down and the exposure of who she truly was. She was a broken girl struggling to live behind the façade that she was "fine" despite the fact that her friends knew it was all an illusion. She continued to pretend and yet there she was, raw and exposed in front of the sister she never got to know.

"What's in the bag?" Meredith asked as she noticed the brown paper bag beside her door.

"One of the many things I came here to talk to you about," Lexie stated.

"Well..." Meredith urged.

Lexie nodded and stood, moving towards the door. She felt the paper crinkle under her fingertips as she lifted it and moved it over to the bed.

"My mother found this," Lexie began. "She left it in the closet of my old room, and when I came back here...well, I figure she had every intention of me finding it. It's like I said...it's as if she knew she were going to die or...never mind. I...I brought it here because you need to see it."

Lexie set the bag in Meredith's lap and nervously bit at her bottom lip.

Meredith raised an eyebrow at her and then reached into the bag, pulling out a small package wrapped in faded, worn birthday paper. The paper was yellow with pink, green and blue balloons. On the top of the package was a card marked Meredith.

"What...what is this?" Meredith asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

Lexie shook her head. "I have no idea what's in the box."

Meredith tore the card from the package and flipped it over, sliding her finger under the seal to open it.

Her father's shaky and rather sloppy handwriting jumped out at her from the yellowed card with a clown on the front. The front of the card exclaimed Silly Smiles and Birthday Giggles for the special 6 year old! Meredith struggled to breathe as her eyes scanned what Thatcher had written.

Dear Meredith,

Daddy is very sorry he cannot be with you on your birthday. Maybe someday soon I can come see you but Massachusetts is very far away you know. I know that sometimes it is very hard to understand everything, but never think that I don't love you. I love you very much and things are just hard right now. They will get better; I hope someday you will understand this. You will always be my special girl, no matter what happens. I hope you are doing well, your mother hasn't sent your school picture yet but I'm waiting for it. I bet you've grown a lot since I last saw you. I hope you still like horses; I remember they were your absolute favorite thing. I do hope to see you soon, princess.

Love,

Daddy

Meredith gasped and brought a hand to her mouth and Lexie instinctively placed her hand on Meredith's shoulder. Meredith took a long, drawn out breath, struggling to hold back the tears that were beginning to flood her eyes. She ran her fingers over the worn paper of the box and closed her eyes for a second as a single tear rolled down her cheek, and then she began to slowly tear off the paper.

She opened the box and reached through the tissue paper to feel something soft and fluffy against her fingertips. Pulling it out, she began to sob.

It was a darling stuffed brown horse with black button eyes and a white mane, complete with a fabric saddle and long soft tail. Meredith clung to the horse, pressing it into her chest as the tears flowed freely, staining her cheeks.

Lexie pulled Meredith closer, and for a moment Meredith struggled against her touch before she finally relaxed her muscles and rested her head on her sister's shoulder.

Callie heard someone at the door and it infuriated her beyond explanation. She knew it had to be George. Couldn't he take the hint? His things were packed up neatly and left in the lobby for him, and she left him with the very firm statement, "We're over."

The door swung open and Callie jumped up to see who it was. The light of the main room was flipped on and there stood Addison Montgomery a hand planted on her hip and a disappointed glare in her eyes.

Addison moved forward, ripping the comforter and sheets from the bed. "Get out of this bed," she ordered.

Callie threw herself back into the bed, her head hitting the pillow as she sighed, "I really regret giving you a spare key now."

"Okay, now you're just infuriating me," Addison growled.

"Addie, he cheated on me, he cheated on me with that 'stacked supermodel' and I'm a freaking IDIOT for not following up on my suspicions."

"If you're an idiot what does that make me? Izzie Stevens practically spilled everything to me and I never said anything to you. I let you go on, attempting to make babies and living behind your happily ever after façade because I was in denial and wanted to believe he was a better man than that...and I was wrong. Callie, you are NOT an idiot for loving him, he's an idiot for not reciprocating."

Addison climbed onto the bed and sat next to Callie, kicking off her heels as she took a deep breath.

"I can't do this...I can't go back to the hospital with everyone knowing my husband's a whore and...it was right in front of my face. "

"Who are you?" Addison asked.

"What?" Callie questioned.

"Who the hell are you?" Addison asked.

"I'm Callie..."

"No, you're not Callie. Because the Callie Torres I know won't let a man reduce her to moping in a bed. The Callie Torres I know is Chief Resident and a damn good one at that and she would not let a man ruin her career."

"Callie Torres has never loved a man the way she loves George O'Malley."

"Well then, Addison Montgomery is going to have to beat some sense into her. Or try and fail miserably because Callie Torres is intimidating."

Callie laughed a bit under the blanket of tears rolling down her cheeks; Addison reached over and draped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in closer.

"He's going to regret this for the rest of his life. You were the best thing that ever happened to him, the only person who treated him not like a little boy, but like a man. You'll come out on top, because you're smart, beautiful and talented. Do not let this ruin you, you seriously do not want to end up like me, dried up and lonely. You've got so much going for you; don't lock yourself away from those of us who can actually see you for what you're worth."

"I want to hate him so bad," Callie cried. "I want to loathe him with every fiber of my being but I cannot hate him, I love him, I love him and I don't know what to do."

"Do for Callie, that's what you do."

Callie took a deep breath and as struggled to tame her tears, she looked over at Addison and furrowed her brow in thought. "How did you... how did you know what happened? How did you know to come here?"

"Never you mind," Addison grinned.

"Don't be cryptic," Callie laughed.

"Hey, all that matters is that I'm here, right?" Addison asked.

"You have no idea how grateful I am to have you in this bed with me right now," Callie sighed.

"Was that a sexual comment?" Addison laughed and Callie shoved her away.

"Hey, at least you're smiling now," Addison grinned.

"Am I wrong for wanting to give him another chance?" Callie asked.

"You love him, of course you're going to want to try and fix this. You may not be able to set this fracture though, Callie. What happens if it displaces again? You can keep pinning it back together but it won't be the same."

"Wow," Callie said, her mouth hanging agape.

"What? I make a decent point, don't I?"

"You do," Callie sighed.

"I can't make decisions for you, Cal. But right now your number one concern is you, if he should miraculously redeem himself then...we'll see what happens from there, but right now you need your space and act like you have no cares in the world...it'll drive him insane."

"I can't believe I was trying to have a baby with him...after he screwed HER. Ugh, I feel tainted."

"You are not tainted, shut up."

Callie scrunched her nose and sulked and Addison sat up straight and looked her in the eyes. "Get up, get out of this bed, get dressed and I'll take you out to dinner. You deserve a night on the town. We can drink away our sorrows and have a girl's night out just you, me, the city of Seattle and a dozen mojitos."

Callie laughed. "What if I were to say no?"

"I'd drag you out of here," Addison growled, whacking her with a pillow. "You cannot say no to me."

"You have a point," Callie said.

"Good," Addison grinned, standing and extending her arm to Callie. Reluctantly, Callie grabbed it and Addison helped her up.

"Let's go live life like it's actually worth living," she said.

"Where is she?" Cristina snapped as she stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"She's...busy right now," Izzie said nervously.

"Evil spawn alerted me that you left with Lexie. Where is that little McSlut? If you brought her here I will put you in the back of the closet with Meredith's mother!"

Izzie backed away from Cristina, who began rolling up her sleeves.

"She IS here," Izzie choked out, "But they're doing fine...seriously!"

"I'll seriously damage your face, Cinderella," Cristina growled. She paused and gave a sigh before rolling her eyes and then starting up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Izzie asked.

"To rescue my person," Cristina stated as Izzie bolted up the stairs after her.

Cristina opened Meredith's door and peered inside and Izzie smiled at what she saw. Lexie and Meredith were curled up on the bed, facing each other. They were asleep, a small stuffed horse tucked between them, their cheeks still stained with tears.

Cristina backed away from the door, looking one last time at the duo. She shrugged and then turned to Izzie. "Well then, that settles that."

Izzie smiled and Cristina sighed.

"Make me a sandwich," Cristina ordered, before heading down the stairs.

Izzie rolled her eyes and laughed to herself. "Fine," she said as she followed Cristina.

NOTES: Semi short chapter but I really wanted to get these two major issues approached and minorly dealt with. This doesn't mean Lexie and Mer will be BFF and what not now, far from it. But it's a small step forward in bridging the huge gap between Meredith and Thatcher.

Thanks to my regular reviewers, I hope this chapter didn't dissapoint!