Hey girls! I've decided to keep the story going for a little bit longer, which I hope will make most of you happy. I'm not sure if I'll carry it all the way into the intern years, but we'll see. Anyways, I just thought you'd all be happy to hear that, and I hope you enjoy the update :)
Meredith sighed as she walked into the coffee shop on campus. The first week of classes for the second semester of med school were finally over, and now all she wanted to do was curl up and bed in cry. It was going to be harder than last semester, even if all her professors were completely normal and didn't have psychotic inappropriate crushes on her. She knew she was going to have to work hard, and although she was willing to do that for the ultimate goal of becoming a doctor...she was completely exhausted and all she wanted to do was sleep.
She stood in line impatiently for her coffee, opening a textbook and glancing through it as she anticipated how boring her ortho class was going to be. As she finally reached the counter, she ordered quickly, then looked around the shop as she heard the familiar warm laughter of her husband. She sighed in relief as she took her coffee, looking around the shop for the source of one of her favorite sounds of the world. Today had just been a long, crappy day, and all she wanted was her husband.
She smiled as she finally set eyes on him, sitting in a corner with a cup clutched in his hands. She started to walk over to him, frowning when she saw who was sitting across from him.
Meredith normally didn't get jealous. Girls swooned over her husband all the time, and she usually rolled her eyes and told him if they knew how much of an idiot he was, they would definitely stop swooning.
But now, she was staring at her husband as he laughed loudly with a smiling, petite brunette who sat across from them. She swallowed hard as she looked closely at the girl She could barely be out of high school, but her eyes were sparkling as she looked at Derek, and...Meredith turned her attention back to her husband, her heart dropping when she saw the sparkle in his eyes that he had only ever seen when he looked at her. She felt hot tears quickly rush to her eyes and she blinked rapidly as she tried to stop them. She made a run for the door, hoping that Derek wouldn't see her as she slipped outside and quickly started making her way towards her apartment, wondering what she could possibly do with her life now.
Her husband was cheating on her.
XXXXX
Derek sighed as he looked down at his watch. "I've got to get going," he said. "Mer just got out of class and if I don't get home soon, she'll burn the building down trying to cook."
"Well, she and I have that in common at least," the girl smiled as she moved to stand with Derek.
"It was nice to meet you, Lexie," Derek said, holding out his hand. "I know it's a difficult situation, but I'm sure Mer will eventually come around and want to meet you."
"I hope so," Lexie sighed. "I'm really sorry if it was awkward or...not normal. Me showing up at your apartment and rambling about my long lost sister, I mean."
Derek laughed. "I'm used to the rambling," he smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll try to talk to her tonight."
"Thanks," Lexie breathed. "I guess I'm just...I don't know how to do this."
"We'll figure it out," Derek nodded. "Listen, good luck starting your classes next week. I'm sure I'll see you around."
"Sure," Lexie smiled. "Bye, Derek."
Derek nodded to her as he made his way out of the coffee shop, wincing slightly as he looked down at his watch. He definitely hadn't been expecting to stay out this long.
Earlier that afternoon, when a young girl looking strangely like his wife had shown up asking to see her, he'd been confused. Until she'd explained that they had the same father, and Lexie had decided to come to New York for medical school. She'd only found out about Meredith over Christmas, and now she wanted to meet her.
Derek knew it was a lot more complicated than that, so he'd offered to take pity on his nervous sister in law and grab a cup of coffee with her downstairs. He had to explain how skittish Meredith was, and the last thing he needed was his wife coming home from class to find him with a strange girl in their apartment.
Lexie was a nice girl, a little naïve, but nice all the same. But now he had to figure out how to tell his wife that the father who had abandoned her had two other daughters and one of them wanted to meet her.
"Mer?" he called as he opened the door to the apartment, frowning when he saw that there were no lights on. He shrugged as he looked down at his watch, figuring she must have gotten caught up on campus. As he made his way through the living room towards the stairs to their bedroom, he heard a soft voice say, "you forgot."
Derek jumped, obviously not having expected anyone else to be in the apartment. He turned to see the dim outline of his wife curled gently on the couch, and he reached to switch the light on and moved towards her as he thought about what he could possibly forgotten. Not her birthday, not her anniversary, they hadn't had plans to meet up on campus.
"Mer?" he asked gently, sitting down beside her and running a hand over her hair. "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the tear stains running down her cheeks.
"It's Friday," Meredith whispered. "You promised every Friday we would spend it together, just the two of us, no books, no family, nothing except us."
"Oh," Derek inhaled sharply, wondering how he could possibly have forgotten. "I'm sorry, Mer. Come on, let's get dressed and we'll go out to dinner."
"That's not the point," she snapped. "The point is that you forgot."
"I'm sorry, Mer," Derek shook his head. "I really am, but I'll make it up to you."
"Where were you?" she asked evenly, not meeting his eyes.
"Oh," Derek said hesitantly, not wanting to bring up her father's other family right now. "Um, I got caught up with a professor. And then I couldn't get onto the subway until rush hour, so you know how that is."
Fresh tears spilled down Meredith's cheeks as she took in his words. Derek stared at her curiously for a moment, reaching out to take her hand and frowning when she jerked it away. "Meredith what's going on with you?" he asked.
"Nothing," she shook her head. "I just...I don't want to be one of those crazy wives who always wants to know what her husband is doing and who he's seeing."
"Okay," Derek said slowly, not understand where she was going with this. "You're not, Mer. And I'm glad you're not. Because that means you trust me."
She muttered something under her breath, and Derek frowned, wondering what in the world was going on in her head.
"Do you still love me?" she whispered.
"What?" Derek asked. "Meredith, what kind of question is that?"
"It's a question that I need answered," she snapped as she stood. "And you didn't answer."
"Of course I still love you," Derek breathed. "I'll always love you."
"I used to believe that," Meredith said, walking up the stairs.
"Meredith would you just talk to me. I can't..." his voice trailed off as he walked into their bedroom and saw a pile of suitcases sitting in front of his very empty closet. "Mer, what is this?"
"You're moving out," she said as she sat down on the bed.
"Meredith," Derek breathed, tears filling his eyes as he knelt in front of her, grabbing her hands tightly in his. "You can't do this."
"I can," she nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks as she jerked her hands out of his grasp. "And I am. You need to go, Derek."
"But...why?" Derek breathed, his heart gently tearing in two.
"Because I can't do it," she whispered. "I can't be the stupid wife who just plays along and pretends everything is normal while her husband is out screwing some horny college girl."
"I....what?" Derek asked. "Meredith, you're not making sense."
"I saw you!" she finally shouted. "I saw you today at the coffee shop with your girlfriend. And I refuse to be cheated on, Derek. I used to think that you would never hurt me, that you really loved me. But now we've been married for less than a year, and you're already sleeping with someone else. Am I that horrible Derek? Are you that miserable being married to me? Because I thought we were happy. I was so happy with you, Derek, but the entire time you've been lying."
"Meredith, no," Derek said, standing and beginning to pace. "You've got it all wrong."
"How long?" Meredith asked. "How long have you been sleeping with her?"
"I've never....Meredith, five years ago, I gave you my heart," Derek breathed. "I gave you my heart and everything that went along with it. And since then, I've never been with another girl, I've never even wanted to look at another girl."
"I saw you, Derek," she whispered. "She was practically having eye sex with you. And you....you were giving her our look."
"What?" Derek asked, falling onto the bed beside her.
"Your eyes were sparkling, and you were giving her the same smile anytime you use when you look at me. Or that you used to use when you look at me."
"Meredith, I was talking about you," Derek whispered. "That's why I had that smile on. Because I can't possibly think about you and not smile."
"Great, so you're telling your girlfriend all about me," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Is she okay with knowing that she's a home wrecking whore?"
"Meredith, she's not my girlfriend," Derek said. "Will you just listen to me?"
"Fine," Meredith snapped. "Who is she?"
"She's your sister."
Meredith stared at him for a moment frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest. "In case you've forgotten anything about me, Derek Christopher Shepherd, I'm an only child."
"No you're not," Derek whispered. "Meredith, your father has two more daughters. Lexie came here today looking for you, and I took her out for coffee to tell her about you."
Meredith blinked in surprise as she sank onto the bed, staring at the wall in front of her for a long moment before she whispered, "So you're not cheating on me?"
"No," Derek said firmly. "I would never ever cheat on you, Meredith. I thought you knew that."
"I did," she whispered. "Until...I just saw you with her and you were all flirty."
"I was not flirting," Derek shook his head. "She's nice, Meredith. And she's all by herself in New York City. She just found out about a big sister, and she wants to meet her."
Meredith inhaled sharply. "I can't," she whispered, burying her face in her hands. "It's too much, Derek, I can't do this."
"Oh, Mer," Derek breathed, pulling her close and sighing in relief when she didn't pull away. "It's okay. Just let it out."
"I thought," Meredith gasped as she clutched onto his shirt tightly. "I thought you didn't love me anymore."
"Meredith," Derek breathed. "I could never leave you. Ever. It's impossible."
"My dad did," she whispered. "He just decided I wasn't good enough so he just left, and he had new daughters. Better ones. So you could too. Leave me for the better Grey sister."
"Meredith," Derek said firmly, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him. "She is not the better Grey sister. Your dad...that man's an idiot, and I hate what he did to you. But Lexie is not better than you. There is no one in the world that is better than you."
"Really?" Meredith asked softly, her voice trembling.
"Absolutely," Derek nodded. "God, I hate your father for what he did to you."
"It's okay, Derek," Meredith smiled softly. "I turned out okay."
"I just wish you wouldn't doubt me," Derek sighed. "I would do anything in the world to let you know that I am never, ever in a million years leaving you."
"I...I think I just need to keep hearing it," Meredith whispered. "I'm sorry, Derek."
"What in the world do you have to be sorry for?" Derek asked.
"For accusing you of sleeping with someone else."
Derek smiled softly as he reached forward to brush a strand of hair out of her face. "I know you are," he said softly. "And as much as I hate the fact that you still have doubts about me...I love jealous Mer."
Meredith smiled softly. "Well...Jealous Mer loves you too. As does every other Mer."
"Good," Derek nodded. "And for the record...I didn't even take notice as to whether I thought Lexie was attractive or not."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."
"I didn't," Derek said earnestly. "Meredith, I really don't even notice other women."
Meredith smiled softly as she stood, making her way to the suitcases she had piled next to the closet. "Now you're just trying to sweet talk me."
"I am not," Derek watched as she opened the suitcase. "What are you doing?"
"Unpacking your stuff," Meredith shrugged. "You're not leaving, are you?"
"Never," Derek nodded firmly.
"So...we're unpacking."
"Good," Derek nodded.
"Oh, and um...you might want to get a new scotch decanter," Meredith said softly.
"What did you do?" Derek asked suspiciously.
"I may have thrown it across the room in anger," Meredith said.
Derek sighed as he dropped a pile of clothes and made his way over to her. "Meredith," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "If you ever have doubts again...I hope you don't, but if you do, please just come talk to me. I'll always be able to reassure you that there is no reason for you to have doubts. And you can't break things every time you get angry at me."
"Okay," she whispered, nestling herself into his arms. "I love you, Derek."
Derek squeezed his eyes closed tightly, never having been happier to hear those words coming from her lips. "I love you too," he whispered. "So much."