(I'm sorry this update is on the short side. Short, but kind of important. Again, many thanks for the comments!)
"Mer."
The soft sound of her name drifted across the comforting layer of unconsciousness. She couldn't understand why, so Meredith burrowed deeper under her pillow.
"Mer…"
This time, her name was followed by a gentle nudge, disturbing the same comforting layer of unconsciousness. Meredith very reluctantly pulled her head out from under the pillow. Squinting at the alarm clock, it reads "415 a.m." Meredith keeps squinting. Why was she up so early? After falling into a deep sleep a few hours earlier, and not scheduled to work today, there was no reason for her to be awake right now.
Meredith's head dropped like a dead weight on her pillow. But slowly rises back up as her nostrils detect the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee.
"Mer. Wake up." That damn voice again, and another nudge.
Meredith opened her eyes, trying to focus on the large coffee-smelling object sitting on the edge of her bed. After pulling herself up into a seated position against the headboard, a full mug of coffee is pressed into Meredith's hands and guided to her lips. Carefully sipping the hot liquid, Meredith tries focusing again.
"Alex, you'd better be dying."
Sipping his own mug of coffee, Alex chuckled at Meredith's morning voice. Her voice drops an octave, sounding a little gravelly and a little sexy.
"I'm sorry Mer, but I need to talk to you before I go. So drink up." Alex took a deep breath, knowing his topic of conversation may not go over well.
Meredith took another sip. She had a pretty good feeling Alex wanted to talk about Derek. "Couldn't this wait until after your shift?"
"Nope." Alex waited a moment for the caffeine to do its job and Meredith to become a little more focused. "What the hell are you doing with Shepard?"
"Jeez Alex, are you channeling Cristina?"
Alex shrugs. "Maybe. We both want to kick his ass."
Meredith smirks into her mug. "So do I."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because." Meredith sighs deeply. "Things haven't been good between us recently…"
"That's no excuse for what he did last night," Alex cut in.
Resting the mug of coffee on her lap, Meredith pushed up the sleeves of her Dartmouth t-shirt. "I'm not sure he did anything." Meredith held up a hand to stop Alex from interrupting. "We talked before you guys came in. He had too much to drink and she came on to him."
"And you believe him?"
"There's no reason not to," Meredith shrugged.
"Does the name Addison ring a bell?"
"Yes," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Which reminds me, tell Cristina to meet me at Joe's tonight."
"Only if I'm invited." Alex replied. He wondered why Meredith would return so soon to the scene of the crime. He was already planning on visiting the bar tonight and talk to Joe.
"Sure. Since you woke me up you can buy me a round or two or three." Meredith shrugged.
"Are you bringing Shepard?"
"It'll be up to him." Meredith drained the rest of her coffee and swapped mugs with Alex.
Alex watched as Meredith finished off the contents of his mug. Sitting against the headboard with a serious case of bed head, and face free of makeup, Meredith reminded him of his little sister – if he had had one.
Wiping her mouth with one hand, Meredith handed the empty mug back to Alex with the other.
"Mer…"
"Alex…"
"You know I'm only watching out for you, right?" Alex stood up, a mug in each hand.
She nodded once.
Shifting the mugs to one hand, Alex ruffled the top of Meredith's head. "And if you tell anyone, I will deny it."
"Evil Spawn to the end." Meredith chuckled.
"Evil Spawn to the end."
"Even If I did, I doubt anyone would believe me." Meredith slid down under the comforter. One and a half mugs of coffee shouldn't prevent her from falling back asleep.
Laughing out loud, Alex headed out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.