I'm SO sorry this took as long as it did to get posted. Real life got super crazy and I just didn't have the time until now.
Hope it was worth the wait though!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13

Everyone was staring at her.

Everyone.

At least that's what it felt like.

From the moment she walked into the hospital, Meredith could feel everyone's eyes on her. Every time she went up to the nurse's station to ask for a chart, it was always handed over with a smug smile and whispers as soon as she turned her back. Leering, gossiping interned seemed to be around every corner she rounded. Even the guy at the coffee cart gave her strange looks as he handed over her latte.

She was contemplating this while sipping her drink and leaning against a corridor wall when she felt a strong hand tug her into the on-call room immediately to her right.

Meredith's immediate thought was that Derek had finally arrived for his shift and was choosing to pick up where they last left off in the conference room the day before. However, her involuntary smile instantly fell as soon as she laid eyes on the man now in front of her.

"What the hell, Alex? Good morning to you too," she greeted gruffly, yanking her arm from his grasp.

"What the hell is going on with you and Shepherd?" Alex demanded, paying her previous statement no mind.

Meredith's eye's darkened further. "I don't believe that's any of your business."

"You are my business! We've been together for four years and I want to know what you're doing with Shepherd. You've been scrubbing in on all of his surgeries, you've completely ditched cardio, and you've been eating lunch every day with Yang?! What is going on with you?!"

"I am NOT your business! And we WERE together. Past tense. Me giving you the ring back? That was me saying we're done. Unless you have an assignment for me as my chief resident, I have nothing to say to you."

She turned sharply on her heel and firmly gripped the door knob when Alex spoke again.

"Did you really go out with him last night?"

Meredith detected the tiniest hint of sadness in his tone was enough for her to almost make her feel bad for him.

Almost.

She whipped back around. "How did you hear about that?"

"One of the scrub nurses said she saw the two of you out last night," he answered. "So you did then? You're dating that guy now? He's married, Meredith."

"Why do you care, Alex? You spent God knows how long screwing my best friend behind my back. You don't just do that to the person you love, so why do you care about what I do with my life now?"

"I told you I made a mistake. I told you I was sorry. I was giving you space these past couple weeks because I thought that's what you needed. I didn't think you'd start screwing an attending to get back at me."

The accusation made Meredith's blood boil. She easily closed the gap between them in two easy strides, shooting intimidating glares Alex's way the whole time. "I'm only going to say this one more time so let me make myself perfectly clear. You no longer factor into my life or any of the decisions I make. Nothing I do is done with you in mind. I will date who I please, do what I please and I expect you to keep your opinions to yourself. So unless it is work related, stay away from me."

Not giving him enough time to respond, Meredith shot out of the room as fast as her feet would carry her. She had no idea where she was heading. All she could think about was getting as far as she could away from Alex.

She jabbed her thumb angrily at the up button for the elevator before tiredly rubbing her face with her hands. Only three and a half hours into her shift and she was already wishing her day could be over.

The elevator dinged to signal its arrival, but Meredith made no move to raise her head from her hands.

"Just the person I was looking for."

Shit.

Meredith reluctantly lifted her head and was immediately met with the intense, calculating gaze of her mother.

And here she thought her day couldn't have gotten worse.

When Derek stepped out of his car, he was grinning from ear to ear. He actually wasn't positive he had stopped smiling since he walked Meredith to her door and kissed her deeply goodnight.

Walking briskly into the building, he headed straight onto the elevator, sipping from his travel mug and giving smiling hellos to the various hospital staff members he passed.

Nothing could ruin his mood.

Except for the woman that happened to follow him on to the elevator.

"Dr. Shepherd," Ellis Grey greeted sharply.

Ever since he had started working at Seattle Grace, the woman never ceased to intimidate him.

"Dr. Grey," he returned. "Good morning."

"I assume it is," she hummed, eyeing Derek suspiciously.

A moment of silence passed between them as he punched the floor number for his office and wondered why she hadn't exited on the first floor with the rest of the elevator's former occupants.

With little warning, Ellis transferred her clipboard to one hand and pulled the emergency stop button with the other.

"I am a very busy woman so I'll just get right to the point. Whatever you're doing with my daughter, end it now. She is in her 5th year of residency and needs to focus. The last thing she needs is some man using her to get through his mid-life crisis. Am I clear?"

"Excuse me?"

"Was I not speaking English or were you just not listening?"

"Your daughter is a grown woman and can make her own decisions. And the last thing I'm doing is using her."

"Oh please," Ellis scoffed. "She's had cardio as her main focus since she began her residency. Now all of a sudden she's scrubbing in on all your surgeries and completely ignored Dr. Torres' service. This is her career you're messing with, Shepherd. You're just looking for someone to admire you and pump up your ego and I'm not going to let it be my daughter you use."

"With all due respect, Dr. Grey, I didn't force Meredith on to my service. She's incredibly gifted and shows great promise in neurosurgery. I don't want her to 'pump my ego', I want to teach her. And as for our personal relationship, we're not doing anything that breaks any rules so, to be frank, you don't have any reason to forbid me from seeing her. I don't plan on going anywhere unless Meredith asks me too."

Not wanting this conversation to go pn any further, Derek reached over and pushed the stop button back in place and got off two floors before he'd originally intended.

"Mother," Meredith greeted in a strangled voice.

"Meredith," Ellis responded with an impatient tone. When Meredith hadn't moved from her spot just beyond the threshold of the elevator, she sighed impatiently and sent her an exasperated glare. "For God's sake, don't just hover. In or out."

"Sorry," Meredith mumbled automatically and hurried through the closing doors.

"So, I had quite the conversation with Dr. Shepherd a moment ago," Ellis began as soon as the metal doors fully closed.

"That's…nice," she replied slowly, confused as to where this discussion was going.

"He said you're showing a lot of talent on his service as of late."

"Oh." Maybe this wouldn't be as horrible as she was thinking. Perhaps the gossip of their date hadn't reached her. "I'm glad he thinks so. I've been enjoying his cases."

"Is that all you're enjoying?"

Oh, God. "Excuse me?"

"Were you ever planning on telling me that you're dating one of my attendings? Or is this just a fling to get in on his surgeries?"

"What?!"

The doors opened up and Meredith bolted through the people waiting to board, but her mother was hot on her heels.

"I'm just saying," Ellis continued. "I know you've had trouble competing with Yang to get on cardio cases, but that doesn't mean you have to resort to this."

"What exactly is 'this'?"

"He's married, Meredith. And he's your superior. You don't need to…whore yourself out for surgeries. I raised you better than that."

"Mom! I'm not…Oh, God," Meredith moaned in frustration. The pair slowed to a halt in a semi-secluded corner. "We went on one date and I…," Meredith lowered her voice. "I didn't 'whore myself out' for anything!"

"Then what are you doing? You're completely deserting everything you've worked for with cardio?"

"I'm just trying something else! I'm learning and I'm happy. Just let me be happy!"

"And with Derek Shepherd? Are you just trying to get over Alex?"

"This has nothing to do with Alex," Meredith glared. After a moment, her eyes softened again. "And I don't know exactly what we are right now. But he makes me happy too. We want to see where it could go."

Ellis regarded her daughter with piercing eyes for a moment, contemplating everything that had just been said. Though her expression didn't change, she started nodding slowly. "Okay."

"Okay?" Meredith echoed in surprise.

"I think you're possibly making a huge mistake and you can be sure I'll be watching the two of you like a hawk. But, as your father would be quick to remind me of, you are an adult and need to make your own decisions and mistakes."

"He's not a mistake," Meredith found herself whispering.

"Even so," Ellis shrugged.

"Okay," Meredith nodded. This was clearly as much of a blessing as she was going to get.

"Okay."

With the last word, Ellis turned away from her daughter strode purposefully down the corridor.

Collapsing against the wall, Meredith let out an exhausted sigh.

"Oh, God," she groaned. "Now I really need to get my own place."

Thanks for reading!
Let me hear what you thought!