Title: Loud And Clear
Authors: Sara And Lizzie
Rating: T for language, mild sex
Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.
Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work.
Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way.
We call this... the aftermath. And to those of you who thought all the twists were over, think again.
REVIEW.
"So the baby is okay?" Izzie asked eagerly.
Addison smiled and nodded. "She's in the child care center right now. I'm not back to work until next week, but there was an emergency."
Izzie, with Alex at her side, Cristina and Burke behind her and Mark next to Addison, was about to respond, but a commotion from the stairwell interrupted her.
"Meredith let me explain!" Derek called following her out of the stairs.
She whirled around and stared at him, eyes blazing, chest heaving. "Really Derek? Kissing Addison wasn't bad enough! You had to make out with my intern too?" Addison and Mark exchanged a look, Burke closed his hand around Cristina's wrist to keep her calm and Izzie laid her head on Alex's shoulder.
"She jinxed it." Izzie murmured.
"Meredith…" Derek said.
She cut him off by flinging her hand in his face. "See this Derek?" she yelled. "See this ring? Remember when you gave it to me and asked me to marry you? That was supposed to mean we were done with this! You're not supposed to be kissing my intern!"
Derek stood and let her words hit him, preferring her anger to her tears. Meredith's sadness was suppressed by her shock and blind rage, but as the image of Bridget snaking her hands into Derek's hair flashed in her mind, and tears welled in her eyes. "Damn it, Derek." She choked, wiping her eyes roughly with the back of her hands.
Derek moved towards her, reaching out and grabbing her shoulders. She backed away from him. "Don't touch me!" she snapped.
"She kissed me, Mer. Come on."
"You kissed her back!" Meredith exploded. "I saw you!"
"For a second! Until I realized it wasn't you!"
"It was long enough for her to get her hands in your hair!" Derek looked down at the floor.
"I'm so sorry." He said softly.
She stared at him, open mouthed and gaping. "I've heard that line before. Derek, I don't think I can do this. I just… I can't…"
Derek shook his head wildly. "No. No, I won't let you go. I need you, and I won't let you run away."
"I'm not running anywhere!" Meredith shouted. "You're pushing me away! Is this what you wanted?"
"Of course not. Mer, I'll make this up to you." Meredith sneered and rolled her eyes. "That or die trying." Derek continued.
"Oh don't do me any favors." Meredith snapped. Derek took a step toward her, reaching for her arm as she backed away.
"Mer, please." He said. "It meant nothing to me. Less than nothing. God, she's nothing."
She turned back to face him, her anger and hurt mixing together in a strangled scream as a few more tears slipped down her face. "Go fuck yourself Derek!" she shouted. Mark raised his eyebrows.
"Meredith, I'm sorry! We can fix this." Her shoulders shook as she succumbed to tears. She composed herself enough to look at him.
"Go to hell, Derek." She spit out, turning to run for the nearest door. Derek raised his eyes from the floor to her friends. Cristina and Izzie had already taken off after Meredith. Alex and Burke glared at him, but left for surgery. He looked at Addison and Mark, his oldest, closest friend and his ex wife for the solace he needed, but Addison's eyes were cold and Mark's arms were folded combatively.
Derek opened his mouth, but Addison spoke first. "I'm quite certain you've put this girl through enough." She said. "She didn't need this." Addison shook her head and walked away.
Derek stood, staring at Mark, who lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "She's still wearing the ring." Mark said quietly before walking away.
The person to find Meredith outside on a bench wasn't Cristina, Izzie or Addison who were all looking for her, it was Bridget. She sat down next to Meredith and looked up at the sky. The two of them were silent for a long time.
"I was twenty." Bridget finally said. "Happy. In love with my boyfriend of two years. I thought he was the one. One day, I answered his phone and Megan, my best friend at the time, started talking about last night." She paused and ran a hand through her hair. "The night he was supposed to be at the library. They had been hooking up for the better part of a year, and it ruined me for awhile."
She looked at Meredith, then down at the ground. "When I was okay again, I promised myself I would never be ruined again. So I started to ruin." She confessed.
Meredith sighed and nodded. "You get I'm feeling pretty ruined right now, right?" Bridget nodded.
"I get that." She whispered.
Meredith nodded back. "Okay."
Bridget swallowed hard. "He didn't kiss me back for long. Only until he figured out it wasn't you." She said.
Meredith shrugged. "Tied to a much larger issue. What if he kissed you to destruct the marriage before we actually got married?"
Bridget shook her head. "He really loves you." She said. Meredith sighed. Bridget lit a cigarette and offered one to her resident. Meredith reached out, lit one, and inhaled for the first time since sophomore year at Dartmouth. And there they sat.