[A/N: I do not own GA. If I did, I wouldn't have to write this fic.
"Shit!" Cristina muttered as the threesome made their way to Meredith's side.
Meredith had exited the bathroom and found a small opening among the bodies bellied up to the bar. Able to ignore the crush of bodies and tune out the noise, she waited for Joe to deliver her usual shot of tequila and her friends to emerge from the crowd. Today sucked. Big time. In the history of bad days, today ranked at least number four. Stuck in the Pit all day, hip high in sutures and projectile vomiting. Feeling was just returning to her hand. And something was off with Derek. Had been for the past week. His distant demeanor worried Meredith. Derek's hovering behavior had gradually stopped recently. She didn't really notice until after the emotional pain from Thatcher's slap receded. Thatcher. He lost the right to be thought of as "father." Meredith briefly touched her cheek, remembering the sharp sting of Thatcher's open palm against her skin. She had waited for Derek at the house that night since he promised to come by. He never made it. Meredith still wondered what had happened to him. Glancing down at the cell phone clipped to her waist, she thought about calling him and inviting Derek to Joe's.
Meredith dialed his number and hit the send button.
When Joe set the shot down in front of her with a sympathetic "this is on the house," Meredith glanced up in confusion. As he moved away, and some of the crowd shifted, she spotted Derek and the collection of empty glasses in front of him. Looking like he wasn't feeling much pain. Meredith then noticed Derek wasn't alone. The woman's profile looked a little familiar, but Meredith couldn't place her. Maybe they had crossed paths at the hospital.
Meredith watched as Derek squinted at his cell phone, silenced her call and returned to his drink. Did Derek just silence her call? Her fingers tightened around the shot glass, raising it up. Meredith was stunned and quickly moving towards numb. Derek had silenced her call, and she watched as he smiled in response to something the woman whispered in his ear.
Izzie grabbed the glass from Meredith's hand and returned it to the bar top as Alex wrapped a protective arm around her waist.
"Come on Mer, let's go home." Meredith continued to stare at Derek and his drinking companion. Her brain was refusing to compute the tableau before her. Derek. Sitting drunk. In Joe's. With another woman. Yet knowing her friends were trying to remove her from the scene of the crime made it all that more real.
Cristina slid the shot glass back into Meredith's hand, guiding it to her lips. "Are you kidding? She needs this." Cristina signaled to Joe for another shot.
The burning liquid jerked Meredith back to reality. She set the empty glass on the bar and downed the second shot, not once breaking eye contact with the couple. Meredith ignored the urgent words between Alex, Izzie and Cristina as they discussed the best way to remove her from the scene. She wasn't ready to leave just yet.
Alex tightened his arm around her waist, trying to steer Meredith towards the door. "Come on Meredith, let's go."
"No."
"No?"
Meredith continued to stare at Derek as he chatted with the woman, almost willing him to look at her. He was leaning and smiling. The lean wasn't steady, but it was a lean. It was an inebriated imitation of "the lean."
Meredith felt her body go cold. The chasm between the two of them now seemed much bigger. Derek was walking away. Again. Why did the men in her life always walk away? First Thatcher, and now Derek. For the third time.
Cristina and Izzie each grab an elbow, pulling Meredith away. "Come on, let's go."
Meredith shook herself loose. "Stop it."
"Mer," Cristina urged. "Don't bother with McBastard. Come on."
Meredith motioned Joe over. "Joe, I know he's drinking scotch. What is she drinking?"
"Martini."
Meredith pulled some cash out of her pocket and set it on the bar. "Their next round is on me. Be sure to give them my compliments."
Joe slid the cash back toward Meredith. "I'll serve them, but your money isn't good here tonight."
Nodding, Meredith abruptly turned to face her friends while Izzie grabbed the bills. Meredith ignored the bile rising in the back of her throat. Derek had walked away.
So much for his always showing up promise. And who ever said "the third time's the charm" didn't know what the hell they were talking about.
"Let's go. I'm done here."
Alex, Cristina and Izzie looked at each other as Meredith made her way towards the door.