Disclaimer: Sadly, not mine. Why do Shonda and ABC get to have all the fun:(
At lunch, Meredith caught up with her friends for the first time since the day began.
"Okay, has anyone seen George?" She asked, placing her tray down on the table where Alex, Izzie and Cristina were already engaged in conversation.
"Speaking of missing…" Cristina said, shooting Meredith a sideways glance.
"What?" She asked innocently, biting into an apple.
"Someone didn't come home last night." Izzie pointed out.
"Derek showed up at the bar…"
"Damn."
Izzie slid Cristina five dollars.
"Dude, who would bet on that?" Alex questioned.
The two girls ignored him.
"And see this is exactly why we need to be more careful. Anything could've happened to you and we wouldn't know."
"You could've asked Joe."
"See, we could've asked Joe." Cristina chimed in.
"Personally, I didn't notice. There are too many damn people in the house." he glanced pointedly at Cristina.
"What? Watch it. It's not like I'm moving in."
"But really, about George..." Meredith, sensing the impending argument, tried (and failed) to interject.
"Sure seems like it." He muttered.
"You know what? It's been TWO DAYS." She pushed her chair away from the table and rushed off, leaving her tray.
Meredith and Izzie turned to glare at Alex.
"What?"
"What's your problem?" Asked Izzie, taking a bite of her salad.
"You know, we could all stand to be a little more sensitive. It has only been two days. And have any of us really tried talking about it?"
Alex looked away.
Izzie spoke up, "I tried…"
"We suck."
Derek's day had started out well enough.
Things with Meredith seemed to be resolved (for the moment at least), the review of a young patient's post-op x-rays revealed that she wouldn't need another surgery afterall, and the new interns had managed not to kill any of his patients overnight.
Yes, things were going well.
He was standing at the nurse's station going over the chart of the one of the aforementioned still-living patients when Alex Karev approached, two young men who he assumed to be his interns trailing behind.
"Dr. Shepard."
"How's it going, Karev?"
"Interns won't leave me alone. Please tell me you've got a case."
In a generous mood from the day's victories, Derek offered,
"Luckily for you, I'm heading out for a consult. I could use some help."
"Thanks, man."
"Sure." He signed off on a chart and handed it to a nurse. "And Karev? Remember, this is a teaching hospital. You're going to have to teach them eventually." Derek turned to walk away, motioning for the two (very nervous) interns to follow him.
"Shepard!" Karev called after him. "There's one more."
Derek turned as a brunette of medium-height hurried to catch up with the group.
He recognized her as the woman from Joe's.
She offered her hand.
"Dr. Shepard? It's nice to meet you,"
The twinkle in her eyes told him that she too remembered his face.
"I'm Lexie Grey."
"Crap."
A box of gloves tumbled off a shelf onto Meredith's head as she searched the supply closet for a surgical kit.
"This is so not my job." She re-stacked a pile of overturned boxes.
She jumped when the door swung open, and the boxes fell to the floor.
"Meredith. I've been looking for you."
"George! You scared me. Where 've you been? We've been worried about you."
He bent to help her clean up.
"It's a long story. I need to explain, but...not here. Free tonight?"
"Sure. Joe's?"
"Actually, I think this is more of a conversation for the house. Around ten?"
"Sure. You're all right?"
"I think we all have a lot to talk about."
"I'll get the alcohol."
"That might not be the best idea either."
Meredith shot him a look, "What's this about?"
"I promise I'll explain everything later. Please?"
"Okay...but just know that you're acting really strange. Freaking me out a little."
"Are you kidding? This is normal for me lately."
He smiled.
"Well, Bailey's probably looking for me. I better go."
"See you later, George"
After making the night's arrangements with Meredith, George was on a mission to find Izzie.
He'd spent so much of the past couple of weeks in complete avoidance mode that he'd almost forgotten where to find her.
He was exiting the last (empty) on-call room when he spotted her turning a corner.
"Izzie." He called.
She hadn't heard him.
He rushed down the hall and called her name again once she was in sight.
"Izzie."
She turned around.
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
He didn't notice Callie, standing with her back to him at the nurse's desk, until a patient's chart fell to the floor and she reached to retrieve it.
She angrily glanced at him and shot a look at Izzie before swiftly walking off.
"Great." George said as Izzie approached.
"And just when I thought she couldn't hate me anymore."
"Shh." He pulled her into the nearest on-call room.
"Thanks for the heads-up that you were telling her, by the way. This is my reputation, too."
"I know. I really didn't mean-"
"Forget it. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Well, that was part of it. But...I think it's time we tell."
"What do you mean 'tell'? Tell who? In case you've forgotten, Callie already knows."
"I mean Meredith, Alex, Cristina."
"What? Are you crazy?" Izzie replied.
"I'm tired of hiding it. I'm tired of things being weird with us and I just want things to go back to the way they were." He slammed his hand down against a surgical tray.
"I want my friends back. I want to not have to hide out in the hospital for three days because I'm afraid our friends might found out what we did if we stay in the same house."
"You've been staying here? George-"
"I didn't think it would make sense to get a hotel yet, but now..."
"I have an idea."
Later that night, Izzie was snacking nervously in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
"Doorbell!" Alex called from the living room where he, Meredith and Cristina were watching television.
"Seriously? Don't get up, I've got it." Izzie opened the door.
"Hey."
"Hey. George's here! " She called into the other room. "You can...go on in."
After the words were out of her mouth, she realized she had never needed to announce George's presence before, and that he would know where to go without being directed.
She leaned against the wall as George caught up with the others.
Deep breaths.
When Izzie joined the group in the living room she sat down in the empty space between Meredith and Alex on the couch.
Cristina, as usual, spoke up first.
"What's going on?"
Alex muted the television before Izzie took the remote control from him and turned it off completely.
"Well," George began from where he sat on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest.
Izzie took another deep breath.
Here it comes, she thought
"Callie left me."
"What? Oh, George." Meredith moved to touch his shoulder (she'd become a lot more emotional since drowning) but George held up his hand.
"That's not all."
"There's more? And I thought my life sucked." Cristina spoke up.
Meredith shot her a look.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"Well, the reason she broke up with me was-"
"Don't tell me it was the whole failing your boards thing, I didn't realize Callie was that shallow."
"Seriously? You had a problem when I was dating Finn because he wasn't a 'real' doctor."
"That was completely different."
"Different how?"
"HEY." George spoke up.
The room went silent.
"Callie broke up with me because Izzie and I slept together." He rushed.
Alex laughed.
"...So what really happened?"
Izzie shifted uncomfortably at his side.
"You're serious."
Cristina covered her mouth to hide her smile, then coughed to regain her composure.
Silence.
"When-when did this happen?" Meredith spoke up finally.
Izzie answered.
"Um, after you drowned...we got really drunk one night and, well..." She laughed nervously. "We actually didn't really remember the next day. Well, he didn't. I did, all the time...but then he remembered too so we both knew. But...yeah."
"My head's going to explode." Cristina said.
Alex laughed. "I can't believe this."
"Believe it." George moaned from the floor.
"Anyone else have any earth shattering news? Pregnancies, secret marriage? We're on a roll here. Meredith?"
"I resent that. I have been very normal lately."
"I slept with Addison." Alex offered.
"Okay, something we don't all know already."
"Do you know how hard it was not to tell anyone?"
"You two stumbling out of an on-call room kind of spoke for itself."
"So wait, what does this mean for you guys?" Meredith questioned.
George shrugged, looking at the ground.
"Uh…" Izzie started.
"Well, this is awkward. Way to kill it, thanks Mer." Cristina said.
"I don't think we thought that far." George said.
"Or at all." Izzie elbowed Alex in the ribs then made an attempt at changing the subject.
"Okay, but I had an idea…Cristina,"
"Oh, here it comes."
"…Since you aren't really living in the apartment right now…and George technically has no place to live…"
"No way."
"Come on, Cristina. He's practically homeless." Meredith added.
"Guys." George spoke up.
"George, this place is packed. You know you can't keep sleeping at the hospital without someone catching you. And there's no way you can afford a decent hotel for more than a week or two.
"I guess you're right." He said.
"Of course I'm right. Cristina?"
"I'll think about it."
Having had the day off, Mark helped Addison pack until they finished in the earlier hours of the evening.
After a lengthy goodbye hug and after Addison had shed a number of tears, he left with the realization that this was it.
She was leaving.
He couldn't (or wouldn't allow himself to) follow her again.
Unwilling to head back to his own room, the thought crossed his mind to start his next day's shift early.
On his way to Seattle Grace, he instead parked his car and headed across the street to Joe's.
The first thing he spotted was Derek sitting at a booth alone, legs stretched on to the seat in front of him. He took a drink from a glass.
Mark rolled his eyes and approached the table.
He moved Derek's legs to the side and took a seat.
"What happened with Meredith this time?"
"Nice to see you too, Mark."
"So it's not Meredith?"
"No, it's not Meredith. But thanks for the genuine concern."
"So what's wrong then?" He stretched his arms along the back of the seat behind him.
"Not that it's really any of your business..."
"Come on, who else are you going to talk to?"
"Point taken."
"After Burke's bachelor party, that woman I met here..."
"Which woman?"
"Dark hair, nice smile?"
"Hmm."
Derek rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, she offered to buy me a drink. I refused of course because, well...Meredith."
"Well, of course." Mark said sarcastically.
"She's one of the new interns."
Mark allowed Derek to pause for effect.
"And she's Meredith's sister.
"And?"
"What do you mean, 'And?' She's Meredith's sister."
"I mean, why does it matter? So you flirted with another woman in a bar for a few minutes. You love Meredith, right?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I do."
"Then it shouldn't matter."
"It shouldn't. But this is Meredith, everything matters. I told her I met a woman here."
"And why would you do that?"
"Because we have an open, honest relationship. Something you know nothing about. I had to tell her."
"No, you told her because you felt guilty...or you wanted to make her feel guilty. Whatever it was, now it's going to bite you in the ass."
"It is not going to bite me in the ass. I'm sure her sister knows what happened in the bar was a one time thing. People flirt in bars all the time. And I'm her boss.
"Right. Because that stopped you the first time."
Derek fidgeted nervously.
"Just make sure Meredith doesn't find out."