Meredith was sobbing in the bathroom, and she hated it.
She'd never pegged herself as the lovesick sort-of girlfriend hiding from her married sort-of boyfriend in the bathroom at work but, apparently, somewhere along the way, that's who she'd become. She wondered what her mother would say if she were here. Bringing a both palms up to her face, she pressed them into her eyelids, willing the tear streaks and red rims to disappear.
Thank god all the stalls were empty, it'd be mortifying to be discovered like this, hair clinging to her face, knees up to her chest while she sat perched on the farthest toilet from the door, hiding from both an Armani-clad knock-out and a flannel-wearing, gorgeous brunette that just happened to be the reason she was crying her heart out at work. The door cracked open and she scrambled up, nearly dropping into the water as she frantically dove for the sink to bury her face under the faucet.
A sigh.
"I know it's you, Grey."
Meredith paused, wincing as she realized who was at the door. She almost wished it had been someone else, someone who had wavy long hair and wasn't allowed in women's bathrooms.
"And here I was thinking it was the perfect hiding place," she quipped, straightening up to face Bailey, "Did the rest of the interns send you to bring me out of my bottomless pit of depression?"
The shorter woman stepped forward, her black hair catching the light as her eyes swept over Meredith's frame pityingly. She clucked, "What the hell happened to you?"
She watched while the still tear-streaked girl sank against the wall.
"I don't even know," she murmured, "one minute we're fine and then-and then-"
"Don't cry," Bailey warned, "I don't do crying."
"I'm not going to cry," Meredith insisted, although the tears started to well up anyway despite how unwelcome they were, "At least I wasn't going to until-until he showed up…"
She was crying harder, the tears coming faster as her words bled together until Bailey gave up trying to understand.
"I'm not supposed to follow any of this, right?"
The intern's head shook, blonde hair fanning out for a second before draping limply back to its place on her shoulders.
"Good. When do you think you can work?"
The sobs slowed to hiccups and a hand reached up again to wipe at her eyes.
"Now?" she offered waveringly.
"No. Patients won't trust you while you look like… that. I'll give you ten minutes to pull yourself together and then I'm putting you on scut."
"But I need to-"
Bailey interrupted gently, like she expected her intern to explode into tears again, "You need to take it easy, Grey. And frankly? I wouldn't want you to operate on me right now," she waved her hands at Meredith, "Come and see me if you feel the need to run into the bathroom again."
Before Meredith could nod weakly, the door was swinging shut. Sighing, she lowered herself to the floor and let her shoulders shake with now-familiar sobs.
--
"Where's Meredith?" he asked casually, leaning against the nurse's station counter and focusing solely on the paperwork in front of him. The blonde just gave him a look and pushed herself off the counter, walking away.
"It's not like I cheated on her," he called after her, glancing up only when she whirled to face him.
"That's all you're going to say-that you didn't cheat on her," her eyes narrowed and she took two confident steps in his direction, "She's crying in the bathroom because she saw you get back together with your wife, who, by the way, you didn't tell her about, and all you have to say is 'it's not like I cheated on her'? What the hell is wrong with you?"
He winced.
"So she did see that."
"Yes, she saw it, along with half the people that she works with," She studied him for a second before shaking her head, "Congratulations on breaking my best friend."
His mouth opened and closed stupidly but she was gone by the time he could form a word, pushing angrily past the temp nurses and heading in the general direction of the OR. He watched her blonde ponytail bounced from side to side down the hallway, only looking away when she turned a corner.
He turned back down to his paperwork, running a hand nervously through his hair and letting his mind wander.
He knew that his latest screw up had, quite possibly, just ended his relationship with Meredith and he also knew that if he didn't fix this, if he didn't beg her to take him back, he'd be spending every night for the next ten years on a barstool.
So, using the information he had not-so-pleasantly extracted from Izzie Stevens, he let his clipboard clatter to the counter, ready to look in every women's bathroom in Seattle Grace, hoping to find a dirty blonde intern-his dirty blonde intern- leaning against a sink, waiting for him to grovel.
--
Addison Shepherd was not a cruel woman.
She was just a heartbroken wife and mother who was facing the possibility of losing both roles at once, a woman who had just been presented with the prospect of losing the husband that didn't really love her anymore. She was a woman who was presently debating about whether to let go without a fight, or whether to cling to her marriage desperately, giving up on whatever dignity she still had left.
"I don't know what to do anymore," she admitted, crossing her legs gracefully and leaning back, furrowing her eyebrows at the wedding photo Richard had displayed on his desk.
"You stay. You remind him of what it was like before the adultery."
"But how? He doesn't even want me here, Richard. It's like he doesn't even see me anymore, all he sees is that-that-"
"Don't take it out on Meredith," he chided softly, "she's a victim here, you all are. This is a bad situation that's only going to get worse."
"Maybe I should go back," she murmured, "I hate it here. There's too much rain here…too much goddamn rain."
"Addison…"
"I'm fine."
"You're a bad liar."
She glanced up, flushing.
"I'm a wreck," she moaned, "I can't even keep it together for my boss anymore."
With a sniffle, she pushed herself out of the buttery leather easy chair and began to pace.
"Addison."
"Mhmm?"
"Are you sure you want this job?"
"No."
"Then I can't give it to you."
"So that's it? I'm done? I crawl back to New York with my tail between my legs?"
"When you're ready, we'll talk. Until then, Addie…"
She nodded, entangling her fingers in her hair and blinking.
"I just need a couple days. Just to figure out what I'm going to do. Can you keep the position open?"
He sighed, leaning forward and slipping his glasses onto his nose. He shuffled through a stack of papers idly.
"I'll give you a week."
She let out a relieved breath, crossing back behind the desk while he stood up, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"I'll bring Hannah by to see you-she's missed you."
He chuckled, "I've missed her."
She smiled, a sweet smile that contrasted sharply with her earlier mood.
"You'll be okay Addie," he mused, holding her out at arms length, "Either way, you'll be okay."
And for a second-a moment- she believed him.
AN: So, so sorry that it's been THIS LONG for an update. Seriously, I don't think I've ever gone this long, and I'm really sorry I made you guys wait. But, good news, I am now officially graduated. Which means all that's left now is work, college, and more work. Mhmm, maybe leaving high school wasn't such a good idea….