Thankyou to everyone who has reviewed. This chapter will clear up some of the confusion, the next one even more so so stick with it. Dani xx

Chapter Six: Hands Off

Meredith sat in the locker room staring into space. It had been 2 days since her talk with Cristina where had almost confessed her past to her person. She wanted to open up to her so badly but at the same time she couldn't be honest about her life. There was something holding her back and she was certain it had something to do with a certain blue eyed brain surgeon.

"Meredith?...Meredith can you hear me?" came Izzie's concerned voice.

"Is she okay?" George asked equally as concerned.

"I can hear you just fine" Meredith snapped a little harsher than she had meant it. "Sorry…I didn't mean to snap… I'm just tired" she explained. She hadn't been able to sleep lately especially since the calls were now coming non stop. She tossed and turned in bed at night and she was certain that Derek would have noticed.

"Well maybe if you actually slept instead of other activities you wouldn't be so tired" Alex teased her. He had only meant it as a joke but before he knew it Meredith had slapped him.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Bailey's dominant voice rang through the locker room.

"Nothing, I'm sorry Alex I just snapped" Meredith said quickly before exiting the locker room. She could feel Bailey's eyes following her but she didn't care.

"Dr Grey hold it right there" Bailey yelled after her. "Care to explain what that was all about. We do not assault other members of staff. I don't care if you are having a bad day or whatever. I will not tolerate this. You can spend the day in the pit if you can't seem to get along with your fellow interns" Bailey ranted at her.

"Okay" Meredith said softly. She turned and started to make her way to the pit, as she did her eyes locked with a familiar set of blue ones, he looked at her sympathetically and with concern as she hurried away from him.

"Geez Evil Spawn, she sure did a number on you" Cristina snickered at him. "You can see the handprint" Cristina teased him as they stayed in the locker room waiting for Bailey to return with their assignments. They could hear her ranting at Meredith and couldn't help feeling bad for her.

"What is going on with her?" Izzie asked concerned for her friend. "She seems distant and worried about something."

"She keeps getting calls, but she isn't answering them. She just cancels them, she said it's someone from New York" Cristina told her group of friends. Although her and Meredith as each other's person had a code Cristina knew this had to be shared in case the others knew something else.

"Maybe it's her Mom" George suggested. "She did say they don't get along so great" George continued.

"I don't think she would be this upset over her Mother" Alex replied. "She is used to her Mom not caring, this is something bigger."

Meredith could feel his warm breath on her neck as she stood in the supply room reaching for a bandage for the patient's sprained ankle she was wrapping. The pit was certainly dull today but she didn't mind in the slightest.

"Do you want to talk about what happened back there?" Derek asked. He had wanted to chase after her after he witnessed Bailey yelling at her but he had been paged for a consult.

"Not really" Meredith replied barely audible.

"Mer come on talk to me. You haven't been yourself the last couple of days. There is something bothering you" he probed wanting to know what was upsetting her.

"Yeah, um maybe we can talk about it later, I have patients to see" she said looking up into his bright blue eyes. She had decided that she had to tell him about her past if she wanted to have any kind of future with him.

"I'm off at 7, I will meet you in the lobby" he said quickly placing a kiss on her cheek before leaving her to tend to her patients in the pit.

Meredith saw Alex sitting alone in the cafeteria as she entered for her lunch break. It was late for lunch but she had been swamped with minor injuries in the pit.

"Hi, mad at me?" she asked sitting across from him.

"Not mad, just surprised. I guess people are right when they say don't judge someone on their size. For someone small you sure hit hard, hate to know what you would do to me with your fist" Alex answered with a smirk.

"I am sorry, truly. I'm just stressed over some stuff. But I'm going to sort it" she told him with a nod.

"Are you convincing me or yourself Mer?" he asked curious of what she was stressed about.

"Maybe both" she muttered half to herself and half to him.

"Well if you wanna talk about it I'm here or whatever" he replied.

"Not yet Alex, but in time I will tell you all, I promise" she said with a small smile.

It was 7.10 and Derek was still waiting for Meredith. She had said she finished as 7 also but she was running late. He figured she was probably caught up with a patient. He sat in a chair and typed away on his blackberry.

At 7.30 he finally saw Meredith making her way to the lobby. "Sorry I'm late, I had to suture a patient who cut his leg open stupid idiot" she mumbled approaching him.

"It's okay I wasn't waiting long" he lied placing a kiss on her cheek. He turned her to help her with coat. He wrapped his arms around her and she nestled into his neck. He placed a soft kiss on her lips, she broke away seeing a figure approach Derek from behind.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered to him.

Before he could ask what for he turned and was connected in the face with a strong fist. Derek hit the floor with a loud thud.

"What the hell?" he yelled holding the side of his face.

"Don't ever touch my wife again!" the mysterious man snapped harshly at him.