Meredith clutched the bottle of tequila close to her, staring straight ahead at the two envelopes that sat on the table in front of her. Those envelopes held her and Derek's entire future, and she took a swig of tequila as her shaky hands tried to reach for the envelopes on their own accord.
Derek would be back from work soon, and then they could open their letters from University of Washington together. These were the last letters that they had been waiting for from the medical schools they had applied for together. They already knew that Stanford was out of the running since Derek hadn't gotten in, and when Meredith had received her acceptance letter from Dartmouth stating how excited they were to have the daughter of Ellis Grey attending their school, she had ranted for hours about how she felt that she had only gotten accepted because of her mother, and subsequently decided not to go there.
So now she sat at the kitchen table, clutching her tequila and taking a swig of it every time she felt the urge to open the envelopes. She could very easily find out herself what the results were, but she wanted to wait for Derek. He deserved to know at the same time she did.
"Derek!" she shouted as the front door opened and her fiancé entered, smiling widely at her.
"Hey, Mer," he said with a smile. "I missed you too."
"They're here," she replied, grabbing his hand and the letters and pulling him into their bedroom.
"Who's here?" Derek frowned.
"The letters," she replied, shoving his into his hand. "We…Derek, this is it. We're deciding this today."
Derek swallowed hard as he nodded. "Okay," he said. "Mer…no matter what, we know we're going to be together. And I'm so proud of you. Okay?"
"Shut up and open your letter," Meredith rolled her eyes.
Derek laughed as he tore open his letter, his eyes only reading the first line before he looked up at Meredith, trying to read her expression. "Mer?" he asked softly.
"I…what does your say?" she whispered.
"I got in," Derek nodded.
"Hmm," Meredith nodded, folding her letter and tossing it in the trash. She turned to him with a smile. "We're going to Columbia," she said.
"Oh," Derek nodded, unsure of whether he should be happy that he was going to go to his first choice school with Meredith or upset that she hadn't gotten in. "Mer…"
"It's fine," she smiled, moving closer to kiss him quickly. "I want to go there, really. And this way we'll be close to your mom, and everything will be fine. I just…I have to go meet Addison, we're going over floral arrangements for the wedding."
"Okay," Derek said softly, somewhat stunned that she wasn't freaking out more. "Um… I'll make dinner for when you get back."
"Thanks," Meredith said, leaning up to kiss him one more time before she reached for her bag. "Love you."
"Love you too," Derek whispered, watching her walk out of the room. He lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how in the world Meredith could get accepted to Columbia, one of the best medical schools in the country, but not University of Washington, as great a school as it was.
"Hey Shep?" Mark asked, knocking on the doorframe. "I saw Grey earlier, she was freaking out about some letters. What's going on?"
"I got into University of Washington," Derek said as he sat up.
"That's great, congratulations," Mark said with a smile.
"I'm not going there," Derek shook his head. "Mer didn't get in."
"Oh," Mark nodded. "Well, at least you get to go to Columbia."
"Yeah," Derek sighed. "I just don't get how she didn't get in."
"At least the two of you got into Columbia," Mark sighed. "And you know you'll be together next year."
Derek frowned as he regarded the pensive expression of his best friend. "What's up?" he asked.
"Addie and I didn't get into any of the same schools," Mark sighed. "So I don't know where that leaves us."
"Oh," Derek frowned. "Mark, you and Addison can't break up."
"I know," Mark nodded. "She's…god, she's amazing. But med school is hard, and we'll never get to see each other. I don't know what else to do."
Derek shook his head. "I'm sorry, man," he sighed. "I don't know what to do."
"Me either," Mark sighed. "Look, I'm going to go do some research for my thesis, but I'll catch you later, okay?"
"Sure," Derek nodded, watching his friend walk out of the room. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen him look this dejected.
He sighed as he looked around the room, rolling his eyes and laughing slightly as he noticed the empty box of cookies on Meredith's bedside. His fiancé was nothing if not a junk food addict. He reached out to grab the box, moving towards the trashcan. As he bent down to wipe the crumbs off of his hands, he noticed a very distinctive word on the letter Meredith had thrown into the trash only minutes before. With a frown, he pulled the letter out of the can and allowed his eyes to skim over the top of the page.
Dear Miss Grey,
Congratulations! I am pleased to welcome you to the University of Washington's School of Medicine…
XXXX
"Meredith, are you even paying attention?" Addison asked in frustration as they sat in the corner of a floral shop. "Because it is so not my job as your maid of honor to make all the decisions for you."
"Sorry, Addie," she sighed as she looked down at the book of floral designs in her lap. "Okay, this one looks good. There's no roses, which is good."
Addison stared at her friend for a moment before she asked, "What's going on?"
"I got into the University of Washington," Meredith whispered.
"Oh," Addison nodded. "I…I thought that's where you wanted to go."
"It was," Meredith sighed. "But…when I got in I just…I felt disappointed. Because apparently I really want to go to Columbia."
"So go to Columbia," Addison shrugged.
Meredith shook her head. "I had to tell Derek I didn't get into Washington," she sighed. "Because if he knew I'd gotten in and wanted to go to Columbia anyways, he would make me go. And he would go too, but…that's not what he wants. I just hate lying to him."
Addison nodded. "You know you're lucky," she said. "Because the closest Mark and I will be next year will be is LA and Chicago. I don't know what to do."
"Oh," Meredith breathed, suddenly realizing how lucky she was that she and Derek had gotten into any of the same schools at all. "I'm sorry, Addie."
Addison shrugged. "It's okay," she sighed. "We'll figure something out."
"Hmm," Meredith nodded.
"I just…Meredith, you don't even know how lucky you are. You're getting married. And you're planning your wedding to be right for you. When I get married…it's all going to be everything my mother wants. And you and Derek are going to med school together. So please, don't mess this up. Because you've got so much going for you, and you're giving me hope. That Mark and I can get through anything, just like you and Derek have."
Meredith blinked, surprised at her best friend's vulnerability. She had never expected to be the role model for anyone in a relationship, but apparently Derek made that possible. "Addie," she whispered. "You and Mark can get through this. "I know you can. And after med school…who knows what will happen."
Addison smiled softly. "Yeah," she said. "But, you're the one who's getting married now. So we have to get these floral arrangements picked out because otherwise Emma will kill us."
Meredith giggled. "She is enjoying the planning of this," she sighed. "I can't believe it's only three months away."
"I know," Addison smiled. "It's going to be wonderful."
"It really is," Meredith smiled as she returned her attention to the open book in her lap, finally actually concentrating on the task at hand.
XXXX
"Wow, it smells amazing in here," Addison smiled as she and Meredith entered the apartment that night.
"What's the occasion?" Meredith asked as Derek and Mark walked out of the kitchen, smiles on their faces.
"Kathleen just called," Derek grinned. "It seems that I am going to be an uncle."
Meredith smiled, hoping she looked sufficiently surprised. Kathleen had informed her of the pregnancy over a month ago. "Wow, Der, that's amazing!" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Hmm," Derek sighed as he buried his face in her hair. "She's refusing to be a bridesmaid though. Or…bridesmatron."
"What?" Meredith asked, pulling back. "Why?"
"Apparently 'fat people aren't supposed to be in wedding parties'" Derek quoted his sister.
"Oh," Meredith frowned. "Well…I guess we can find someone else. Not that I know many people, but."
"Relax, Mer," Derek laughed. "Chris said he would step down from being a groomsmen so we don't have uneven numbers."
"Oh," Meredith nodded. "Good."
"Hmm," Derek nodded as he led her into the kitchen. "So I made chicken alfredo for dinner."
Meredith eyed him suspiciously. "That's my favorite," she stated.
"I know," Derek smiled.
"You only make it when you do something wrong," Meredith said. "Last time it was because you stole my favorite shirt."
"It was my shirt," Derek argued. "You stole it first."
"Are you five?" Meredith asked. "And what did you do this time?"
"It's not what I did," Derek sighed as he reached over to place a piece of paper in front of her on the table. "It's what you did."
Meredith's eyes widened as she looked down at her acceptance letter from Washington. "Oh," she said quietly.
"Oh," Derek nodded. "Mer, why did you lie?"
"I didn't lie," Meredith argued quickly. "I just said we weren't going to Columbia. You assumed that meant I didn't get into Washington."
Derek rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to argue over a technicality," he sighed. "Meredith, we both got into Columbia, just like we both got into Washington. We need to talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about," Meredith sighed. "We're going to Columbia."
"But you want to go to Washington," Derek said. "I don't understand."
"I don't want you to hate me," Meredith whispered. "And we're going to Columbia. Because…I finally feel like I have a family. And I don't want to be in Seattle when Kath has her baby. If we're at Columbia, we can see your mom on weekends, be there for your sisters because they're all still around here. I just don't want to miss anything."
Derek regarded her for a moment before he nodded. "Alright," he said. "We're going to Columbia."