A/N: This chapter will have Meredith and Zoey meeting for the first time because I wanted them to meet at some point so I thought this would be the perfect time. She's going to show a little jealousy in this chapter but, for all you MerDer fans, I haven't made her a nasty character :)

The next day around mid-day, Mark and Derek, along with Meredith and one other intern, brought Zoey to another room, away from ICU. Her scans showed that there was no damage to her brain but they wanted to keep her in over night in case of any change. Mark had stitched up her wounds before taking her over for her MRI. Meredith and the other intern were taking care of Zoey, making sure she was comfortable.

"So you've made quite an impression on my boyfriend." Meredith stated to Zoey once the boys had left the room.

"Excuse me?"

"My boyfriend, Derek Shepherd, doesn't stop talking about you and then the next thing I know, he's punching some guy out to defend your honour."

"I think you've got the wrong idea. Me and Derek are just friends. And the guy he punched? That was my boy – well ex-boyfriend" Zoey started. So this is the amazing Meredith Grey? She seems more jealous than amazing.

"If you two are just friends then why did he feel the need to punch your boyfriend?"

"I don't know. Maybe because my boyfriend's the reason why I'm here? Maybe because this is the sixth time he's put me in hospital in the past year? Maybe because Derek is an amazing friend and was there to defend me. Meredith, I've known Derek for five years and we're extremely close but that's all it's ever been."

"Oh." Meredith sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually a jealous person and you seem really nice from what Derek has told me."

"The same goes to you."

Meredith laughed. "What?"

"Yeah, you should hear him go on. Once he starts, he doesn't stop. He keeps insisting that I meet you and I have to say I'm disappointed that it wasn't in better circumstances." Zoey smiled.

"He's the same about you."

Both girls went in to an awkward silence. "I hope you don't mind me saying this but you seem very upbeat considering what you've been through."

"I'll let you in to a little secret Meredith – it's a front. The truth is, I was sleeping in the waiting area 'til the late, sometimes early, hours because I was terrified of what I might go home to. I can't let it run my life though; I can't sit there and wallow in self-pity. What would people say? Stop complaining and do something about it."

"Why didn't you?" Meredith asked quietly.

"I was too scared to. I kept making excuses for him, saying he only got like that when we was drinking but the truth is that it happened all the time regardless of how much he'd drunk. There were moments when I was going to leave him the first time he hurt me but I just kept going back to him because I didn't know what he was capable of."

Meredith looked at her with sympathy. How could anyone hurt her? She seemed so sweet. "And you do now?"

Zoey lay there and said nothing for a moment contemplating whether to say what was on her mind. "He raped me Meredith. He raped me and then practically put my head through the wall." She paused before continuing. "So in answer to your question, no. No I don't know what else he's capable of. He could – would – probably try to kill me if he got given the opportunity."

Meredith looked at her. "Let's not give it to him then." She was shocked at what she was hearing. How could one person put up with so much shit? In a way, she understood why Zoey would put herself through that. Meredith had put up with a lot of shit from her mother as she was growing up but obviously it wasn't the same and she would never compare the two but on some level, she understood.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mark and Derek were standing by the surgical board when Meredith approached them.

"I've just had a chat with your friend Derek."

"Oh yeah? Which friend would that be?" He asked her.

"Zoey. Thanks for introducing us by the way." She said sarcastically, hitting him gently in the stomach.

Mark looked over at Meredith. "You had a chat with Zoey?"

"Yeah. How do you know her?"

Derek looked over at Mark, wondering how he was going to answer this question. "Yes Mark, how do you know her?"

Mark shot him a glare. "We all know each other from New York." He said simply.

"So you must know that girl has been to hell and back fifty times over."

"No I did not."

"How could you not have known!?" Meredith cried out. "If you're all meant to be friends then why didn't you do anything to stop it!"

"Hey! I didn't know until a couple of days ago. I hadn't seen her for five years up until a couple of months ago so if there's anyone to blame, blame Derek."

Meredith turned to face her boyfriend. "Derek, did you know about this?" he nodded his head. "Then why didn't you do anything to stop it? No' one deserves anything like what she's been through."

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's not that easy you know. I told her to leave him on countless occasions but she didn't seem to want to. You can't blame me for not trying cause I can tell you, I did try."

"You didn't try hard enough. That bastard raped her Derek – he raped her and then practically put her head through the wall."

Mark's head shot up from the chart he was working on. "What did you say? That can't be true."

"It is. Well that's what she told me just now."

"Derek I will never forgive you if you knew this was happening." Mark warned him.

"I promise you I did not know that. I'm as shocked as you are. Trust me, if I had known that, I would have got involved a lot sooner."

Meredith nodded at Derek before turning to Mark. "Hey, how could I have known? I told you, I'm only just getting to know her again." He protested.

"Yeah, so how come you haven't heard from her in 5 years and Derek has?"

"Erm, because I thought she was still in New York."

"Derek didn't. You were all friends weren't you?" She questioned.

"We weren't exactly on good terms…"

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one." Derek piped up, raising an eyebrow at Mark who just glared back. "Go on Mark, just tell her the truth."

"What's that? He slept with her and never called?"

"No, it wasn't like that. It's … complicated."

"What could be so complicated? Just tell me what happened between you and her."

Mark looked at Derek with pleading eyes to get her to let the subject go. It wasn't that he didn't want to admit he was in love with her; he just knew that if she knew that, she'd want to know what happened and then he would have to go through the painful story all over again – something he was not prepared to do.

"Well, Mark what happened?"

"Doesn't matter." He said quietly.

"Course it mat-"

"Drop it Meredith!" Mark said sternly. "It's none of your business what happened five years ago between me and Zoey so just leave it."

"Were you in love with her?" Meredith queried.

Mark said nothing. Instead he grabbed the charts for his post-op patients and strode off in the opposite direction.

"Oh my god he was in love with her, wasn't he?" Meredith whispered, turning to Derek.

"He was in love with her. She was in love with him. If you ask me, they still are. You satisfied now?"

"Not really, no. You think they still love each other? What about Lexie? I mean she is dating Mark."

"Since when do you care about Lexie?"

"Derek! How could you say that! Lexie is my sister and I will kill Mark if he hurts her."

Derek sighed. "Listen, Zoey was the first girl Mark Sloan has ever loved – or at least admitted to loving. He has never truly got over her. That's why he's such a man whore. He sleeps with girls to get over the one girl he let get away five years ago. Before you look at me like that, when he started dating Lexie, she did mean something to him, of course she did. With Zoey back in his life, it's thrown him for six and he doesn't know what to do. I really think there's a part of him that will always love that girl no matter what or who is out there."

Meredith nodded. "What happened between them? Mark and Zoey I mean."

"It's not a good idea to tell you here. I promise I'll tell you tonight at the house."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mark walked in to Zoey's room. "I've just had an interesting chat with Meredith and Derek."

Zoey put down the magazine she was reading. "That's nice for you." She smiled. "What was this chat about?"

"You." Mark said coldly.

"Oh. What did she say?"

"That he raped you." Mark said bluntly.

"Oh. There's no beating about the bush with you is there." Zoey joked.

"How many times Zoey?"

Zoey looked down at her hands, which were now in the middle of a thumb war. Mark saw for the first time just how broken she was. He softened up as he approached her. "It's okay, just tell me." He said, stroking her hair.

Zoey pushed him away. "Don't Mark."

"What did I do?"

"Feel sorry for me. I don't need anyone's pity, I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me." She told him, letting tears slide down her cheek.

Mark climbed on to the bed with her and put his arm round her shoulders, allowing her to lean against him. "I'm not pitying you or feel sorry for you. I'm here because I care about you and I'm worried about you." He assured her, wiping away her tears with his free hand.

Zoey looked at him through blury eyes. "It just happened the once." she sniffed.

Mark nodded at her and made her lay back in to his chest so he could wrap his arms around her and protect her. Zoey breathed in his scent, something she could always get used to. He always did have an amazing smell to him. "You smell nice." She breathed.

Mark grinned. "What did you say?"

Zoey's eyes widened as she realised what she said out loud. " Oh erm, nothing."

Mark laughed. "It wasn't nothing, it sounded like "you smell nice", would that be correct?"

Zoey sat up and looked at Mark, pretending to be shocked. "I never said anything of the sort." She said.

"Liar." Mark grinned at her. They both giggled together like they used to. Mark moved her hair out of her face and looked in to her eyes. "I love hearing you laugh like that."

They both settled down again with Zoey in Mark's arms. "How come I didn't know you were here until two months ago? You've been in Seattle for what? Two years? You were working downstairs in the day care centre and I didn't have a clue. Just explain to me how you managed to escape my attention."

Zoey sighed. "I didn't want you to know I was here. Mark, you know how much you hurt me. I didn't want to see you because I didn't want to face that again and bring up all the hurt and hatred I had for you. I'm really glad that's not the case anymore. I mean, I'm willing to forget the past because the truth is, in the two years that I've been with Justin, even at the beginning before I learnt the truth about him, I've never felt for him what I felt for you in the short time that we were together and if I was completely honest with myself, I've never really got over you..."

Mark's entire body filled with emotions. He displayed the biggest grin anyone could possibly make. Smirking at her, he mocked, "You never got over me eh?"

"Yes but I also hated you, don't forget that part." Zoey laughed, leaning forward to gently elbow him in the stomach.

Mark looked at her seriously. "I'm sorry I hurt you so much."

Zoey smiled at him. "I know you are. It's okay. It's all in the past."

Mark smiled at her and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "I never really got over you either."

Zoey's heart swelled to twice the size. "Really?"

Mark nodded. Looking in to her eyes he noticed they were sparkling again, for the first time in a long time. Mark was about to lean in again when his pager beeped. Shit!

"Does that mean you have to go?" Zoey asked, trying not to let the disappointment show in her voice.

"Unfortunately. I'll be back soon though okay?"

Zoey nodded. "Okay."

Mark kissed her on the head again, jumped off the bed and headed for the door. He put his hand on the handle, turned round to face Zoey who gave him a smiley wave. Mark turned round and sighed. "Fuck it." he said, letting go of the door. He turned round and skipped over to the bed. Taking hold of Zoey's face he pulled her in and kissed her. The built up passion that had been burning between them for the past five years exploded the minute their lips collided together. Mark's tongue found his way in to Zoey's mouth and the two tongues danced together like they had done so many times all those years ago, only this time, it was so much better. Their mouths moved together in unison, both of them reminding each other just how good the other was. Mark was the first to, regretfully, pull away. He kissed her again on her lips before saying to her, "I want us to be together." Zoey's eyes were still shut but they shot open as she heard the last sentence.

"What?"

Mark flashed her his famous smile that makes Zoey go weak at the knees. "You heard me." He kissed her again. "I've got to go. I'll be back later. Think about it." He said smiling. He flicked the tip of her nose before running out of the room.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ten minutes later Lexie came in to Zoey's room to check everything was in order. Zoey sighed. She wanted to be with Mark, she really did. There were just complications. Complications that meant that there was a Lexie and because there was a Lexie, that made it complicated. Lexie had said "hey" to her and asked her how she was and was just being a really sweet girl. She seemed like a genuinely nice girls and nice girls didn't deserve to have their boyfriends stab her in the back or have said boyfriends' ex-girlfriends demand to have him back. No, she liked Lexie. If Mark wanted to break up with Lexie that was fine but she wasn't going to force him to do so. She wasn't that sort of person.

A/N: I get the feeling like I might be getting a bit repetitive so I apologise if it is. Let me know what you think and I promise the next chapter will be different :)