Song – My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne.

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Pain Takes My Heart's Place

Chapter Two

Meredith yawned again – which marked three times – as one of the flight attendants offered a pillow to the row she sat in. She sat in the window seat and the man sitting next to her fell asleep long ago, so she wordlessly motioned for a pillow and mouthed a simple "Thank you" as the pillow entered her grasp. Meredith slowly tucked the pillow behind her head and realized just how uncomfortable she was. But, she sat in an upright seat, so she expected nothing less.

The scenes of her might-or-might-not-be-ex-fiancé and might-or-might-not-be-ex-best friend continuously played on in her mind. Meredith figured falling asleep would not be an option because she really, truly did not want to see those two in her dreams—nightmares, whatever. Her eyes continued to droop, and she could feel her body willing itself to sleep. And then she vaguely thought that she might not even dream (who actually sleeps well on a plane?)… That was the last conscious thought Meredith made before she fell asleep.

So much for my happy ending…

...Her hands tangled in his hair as his warm lips continued to leave a firey trail down her chest. She tilted her head back as a contented sigh fled her lips, and she could practically feel the smirk that curved his lips at her responses. Tension always arose between the two of them – his steamy body and her long legs and red hair. They finally allowed themselves to go for it and not hold back any emotions, feelings, sounds, wants…

"Hmpf," Meredith grumbled as the overhead light clicked on above her. Her eyes squeezed shut involuntarily along with the scrunching of her nose.

"Oops, sorry," she heard a man's voice answer. And then her pillow moved under her head – the pillow that she had suddenly realized solidified – followed by the light clicking off. Even though she wanted nothing more than to fall back to sleep, she realized that she had this sudden urge to see if she really borrowed his shoulder. She grumbled when she realized she had, and she was too tired to move.

Meredith held every right to be tired though. She woke up early to make pre-rounds, she worked efficiently all day long, she walked in on… Well, she made it through a long, horrendous day, and she simply. Needed. Sleep. That could not have been too much to ask for- well, evidently it was.

"Oh, I- Sorry," she mumbled, finding a flicker of energy, as she sat upright and off of the man sitting next to her. Once she tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear, she turned her head to meet his gaze, and a set of amazing blue eyes clashed with her green ones.

It's nice to know that you were there
Thanks for acting like you cared
And making me feel like I was the only one

"It's fine," the man smiled tiredly. "I'm the one that woke you up, and I know how difficult it is to catch some shut eye on planes…"

Meredith diverted her gaze from his and gave a simple nod. A strange feeling came over her as their eyes met, and that should not have happened. Not then, not after what had just happened, not ever. Because she thought she was done. That she had found the person that she was going to spend the rest of her life with—and then it ended. And she was in so much pain it was unbearable. It was unimaginable, and she couldn't explain every emotion.

But she felt everything. Every. Single. Emotion.

The man glanced over at Meredith once more and couldn't help but notice how the inner battle she continued to fight mirrored her facial features. "You okay?"

A small nod said that she was fine, "Yeah. Just need some sleep, I guess." However, sleep was the last thing on her mind, because Mark and Addison lurked in her nightmares, and the nausea she felt accompanied the images every single time. Every single goddamn time.

"Well, you've already claimed my shoulder as a pillow, so feel free to use it," the man whispered with a soft chuckle.

His laughed grabbed Meredith's attention immediately. She couldn't help but smile the slightest best, and partially notice that her issues disappeared for one split second.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," she whispered in return as she repositioned the pillow behind her head. This time she made sure she reclined at an angle that would keep her in her own seat, and kept her thoughts on other events—other happier events.

It's nice to know we had it all
Thanks for watching as I fall
And letting me know we were done

Meredith repositioned herself in the seat and let out a tiny, frustrated sigh. Who knew trying to get comfortable could have been so difficult. Earlier, it was a matter of staying awake long enough to step onto the plane; now, she wasn't too tired, but tired enough to know that sleep was in order. A necessity. She wasn't even worried about the dreams she would have because Mark and Addison polluted her conscious thoughts anyway. They polluted her thoughts in a way that made her feel like she couldn't get away from them, and in a way that made her feel like they were drowning her. The metaphorical waves lapped her over and over. Relentlessly.

She wasn't sad anymore, not entirely. The anger began to build up in her and overtake the sadness. No, that was a lie. But she continued to tell herself that she didn't do anything wrong—that they worked at the same hospital, worked in the same field, loved each other... Their relationship was fine and they were planning on getting married. That should constitute fine. But reality bit her in the ass.

Was it something I did?
Was it something you said?
Don't leave me hanging

Then Meredith began to wonder if what took place between Mark and Addison happened only once or multiple times, and she couldn't control the tears and nausea that came along with that thought.

"S'cuse me," she mumbled as she stood up and made her way out of the row, and into the aisle. The restroom stood a short distance away and from what she saw it looked unoccupied.

Once she shut the door behind her, she leaned back against the wall and tilted her head back. Eyes closed, she sobbed. Flat out sobbed. After a good sixty seconds, she concentrated on evening out her breathing and holding back her gasps; that is, before someone knocked on the thin, sad-excuse-for-a-door. Meredith cleared her throat and wiped at her cheeks.

"One sec."

"Are you sure you're okay?" There his now familiar voice was. It sounded strangely comforting.

"Yup. Peachy," she mumbled and slowly opened the door.

"You know, this might be considered stalking," Meredith muttered.

"This might also be considered curiosity. Worry," he responded.

"I don't even know your name."

"Derek," he stated with a smile. A freaking smile.

"Okay, Derek, I- It's been a rough day for me."

Derek didn't say anything and simply followed her back to their seats. "And I don't even know your name."

"Meredith," she sighed.

"Meredith," he mumbled. "I don't know what got me to get up and see if you were all right. It just happened, something I couldn't control." Something about her.

"Right. I'm going to try to get some sleep."

"Okay," he nodded.

And again, she willed herself to sleep. Please...

We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending