AN: So a lot of people have been confused about whether or not Derek's the father. He's not. That's why they don't recognize each other during the one-night stand or afterwards….everything else will be explained later….be patient!!!

He had been pursuing her for nearly a week; cornering her in elevators, dropping by the house she now shared with two other interns, requesting her at work. His obvious interest was flattering, and she was sure that if he kept pushing, her resolve would start shattering.

He was starting to look hotter each day, his eyes a little bit bluer, his hair a little more perfect. The fact that he was charming and the exact opposite of what she needed wasn't helping.

"So is this line imaginary, or do I have to get you a marker?" He'd asked her in the elevator, his eyes twinkling playfully, his lips close to her ear. She ignored him, willing the elevator to move faster, to get to her floor quicker. She couldn't deal with a man right now, not when her career was just starting out, not when she was just starting to forget about her nine-year old daughter whose name she didn't even know. Her arms folded across her chest defensively and she refused to look him in the eye. His lips curled slightly at the corners; she could hear his smile.

She kept telling herself that she wouldn't give in, wouldn't get caught up in everything that a relationship came with.

But, before she could fully understand what she was doing, she was suddenly pressing up against him, ignoring the flutter of papers and concentrating solely on his lips and the feel of his hair through her fingers. The elevator stopped, and she jumped away from him, straightening her scrubs self-consciously and shaking her hair lightly to get rid of the mussed-up-sex look. She didn't look back when she stumbled out of the elevator, nearly losing her balance on the gap between where the elevator ended and the floor began.

--

Senior prom was the last time he looked at her, talked to her, touched her. It was the last time he had told her he loved her because after that, everything changed. He wouldn't take her calls and avoided her in the hallways. After school she had waited for an hour, waiting for him to suddenly show up in front of her, leaning against his car with his leather jacket tossed lazily over one shoulder, his eyes glinting. At lunch she went back to sitting with her friends instead of letting him take her to the diner a couple of blocks away. He wouldn't look her in the eyes during their classes together, instead actually paying attention for once.

She had chalked it up to shock at first, and given him a week to adjust, a week that she had taken, too. But eventually she began to miss his flirting. She began to miss the diner, and the leather jacket, and the eyes. She began to miss him, his smile, his laugh. She was missing him and the worst thing was that he had showed no signs of missing her.

"Are you done?" She asked one day, catching him at his locker after class. He turned towards his locker, flipping the combination easily and passively ignoring her.

"I said, are you done," she said, voice cold and growing louder with each word. He was embarrassed, she saw, his eyes darting down the hallway for potential eavesdroppers.

"Can we not do this here?" he hissed.

"No. You haven't talked to me for over a week. It's time for us to deal with this. I didn't say we had to keep the baby, so I don't know why you're ignoring me. We can do this together, make this decision together. We aren't going to break up, not over this."

He sighed, slamming his locker and reluctantly whirling to face her.

"Do you want me to pretend like this never happened?"

"Isn't that what you've been doing since prom?"

"Meredith…"

"Don't," she said firmly, stubborn tears collecting at the corner of her eyes, "I don't need an explanation, or an apology. I need us to go back to the way we were."

He sighed again, leaning against the wall of lockers and looking frighteningly lost.

"I don't think I can," he murmured, leaving her alone in the hallway, frowning as she watched his back fade into a sea of high schoolers.

A hand waved obnoxiously in front of her face, effectively cutting off her daydream. It was Christina, she realized, as her eyes focused and her legs uncrossed themselves from underneath the lunch table.

"Where were you just now?" she asks, "We have rounds in two minutes."

The blonde brushed the hair out of her face, lifting the edge of her tray and gulping down the rest of her apple juice.

"I'm fine," she said to Christina's concerned glance, "Just a little tired."

"I'm not. Guess what surgery I scrubbed in on this morning?"

"I don't know, Christina." Her voice was scratched with memories and her eyes were back to their distant, glazed look.

"What's with you today? Seriously, you're like a ghost."

"Just thinking," she murmured, offering a weak smile.

"Yeah, right."

"Seriously! I'm fine."

"Did something happen with McDreamy? He's been flirting with you all week."

"I wish," she said instinctively, clamping a hand over her mouth once she'd realized what she'd said. She ignored the pang of emotion she felt with his name, ignored the tell-tale sign that she might be falling.

"So you are into him," Christina casually observed while bringing her hair up into a messy pony tail, "Which is good. I was beginning to wonder if you were a lesbian."

Meredith laughed, forgetting why she was depressed and thoughtful a moment ago, instead focusing on being happy and careless with her sort-of best friend.

AN: I promise, in the next few chapters (maybe the next one) you'll find out who is the father. Along with other stuff. Reviews help, the more I get the more motivation I have to update fast lol.