Song – See You in My Nightmares by Kanye West.

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Pain Takes My Heart's Place

Chapter Three

The soft sound of a click met her ears as Meredith pulled her hotel key-card out of the slot. The green light flicked on and she pulled the door handle down, struggling to make it through the door with her dog fighting to walk into the room between her legs. The doorway only stood so large, yet her dog, her bag, and Meredith herself managed to fit through it. Meredith let the door fall back and shut as she dropped her purse and let out a tired sigh, vaguely glancing at the hotel room before she flipped on the lights. Nothin' special.

Once she locked the door behind her, she slowly walked toward the beds, noticing that her dog already claimed one of the two. She plopped herself down on the empty bed and noticed she brought her cell phone to the bed with her. A small, tired, and defeated sigh pushed past her lips as she pressed the power button on her cell phone. She waited for her phone to go through its usual powering up stages, and then the ring tones began to play. E-mail, missed call, e-mail, voicemail message, text message, missed call, voicemail message…

One particular text message caught her eye.

You're going to Seattle, aren't you?

She raised an eye brow momentarily and silently wished she never told Mark about her secret want to travel to Seattle. Meredith said a number of times that if time and opportunities permitted, she would catch a flight across the country. Seattle captured her interest and she couldn't figure out why. But that didn't matter, because Mark remembered. And he knew that she would go to Seattle.

A swift movement sent her phone to land near the end of the bed. Meredith rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, after she glanced over to find her dog fast asleep.

"You're it for me, Meredith," he mumbled.

Meredith let out an overly sarcastic and bitter laugh, to herself, before she buried herself under the covers.

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"Come on, Molly, we're doing awesome," Meredith stated, only slightly out of breath. She gripped her dog's leash in one hand and she skipped one of the songs on her iPod with her free hand.

Meredith figured her and Molly might as well continue their routine of a morning jog. Besides, Meredith knew she needed the exercise—it always managed to calm her down on a stressful day. Keep her in the moment. Or, at least, get her mind off of issues at hand. The steady feel of her sneakers hitting the solid ground and the feel of her pony tail flipping ever-so-slightly back and forth, even the occasional hair bangs-in-face, remained something constant. She needed the consistency.

The individuals of Seattle and the tourists (her included) continued on with their lives, and Meredith realized life didn't slow down and wait for her to stand back up on her own two feet. She had some down time, some tears, and some regret—she needed to get her head back into the game; in this case, the game of life... If it's even considered a game. A twisted game.

"All right, good girl," she gently patted her dog on the head and slowed down to a walking pace. She noticed a bench up a ways and she planned on taking a vacant spot on it, and giving her dog some water.

Guess what? Plans change.

"Meredith, right?"

"Derek," and their eyes locked.

I got the right to put up a fight
But not quite 'cause you cut off my light.

Meredith took in his looks, noticing that he wore navy blue scrubs. And a lab coat. And of course, the infamous pager and cell phone combination on the pant rim.

"You're a runner, huh?"

"You're a doctor?"

"Yeah, work right over there," he motioned toward the hospital near them. Meredith read Seattle Grace Hospital out in front. She also felt the blood drain from her cheeks when she realized that she mentally wrote Seattle Grace on her list of hospitals to check out for future work purposes.

"Learn something new every day."

Derek chuckled and Meredith couldn't help but notice the way his head tilted a little bit to one side. She definitely noticed the sound of his soft laugh, too. Comforting. Refreshing. Cute. Derek reached down and began to pet Meredith's Black Labrador, wordlessly asking permission to do so, which she gave, only using eye contact.

The sound of her cell phone ringing snapped her attention away from him. She reached down and grabbed her phone, but only briefly glanced at the screen. Mark.

No.

Not yet.

She couldn't talk to him yet. She couldn't think about him yet.

A nimble finger silenced her phone as she shifted her eyes to Derek again.

"But, uh, I've got to get her some water," Meredith motioned down at Molly. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah. How about eight o'clock tonight?"

Meredith laughed despite herself. "I barely know you, Derek."

Her laugh—he knew for sure that he absolutely loved her laugh.

But my sight is better tonight and I might
See you in my nightmare, oh well, how did you get there?
'Cause we were once a fairytale
But this is fair well.

"So give me a chance to talk. Tell you about myself… And then have you tell me about yourself."

Meredith contemplated this, and wordlessly gave a nod. "All right. A chance to talk…"

"That's all I'm asking for. Now," he smiled and it instantly captured Meredith's attention.

Meredith gave him an incredulous look that soon turned into an entertained expression. She rambled off her phone number seeing how Derek would react to the whole situation. It didn't seem to faze him. He pulled out his cell phone and typed her number in like he typed it in plenty of times. Must be the Med School memory. Or the ability to hold information and promptly regurgitate it.

I got my life and it's my only one.
I got the night, I'm running from the sun.

And then her phone rang again.

8:00 tonight. Meet me at the clock tower.

She chuckled again. "See you tonight, then, Dr. Shepherd," she mumbled after reading his ID tag. And that statement caught her off guard. She definitely acted out of character by agreeing to meet a guy she barely knew. But it sounded adventurous, and she wanted an adventure… An adventure with a mysterious, captivating guy.

"See you tonight, Meredith," Derek repeated with a certain twinkle in his eye.

"Dr. Grey," she corrected with a cocky grin. He couldn't have all the I'm special, I'm a doctor perks. Meredith nodded with a hint of a smirk as she walked off with Molly.

She deemed Seattle special, and knew it awestruck her for all the right reasons.

After tonight, there will be no return.