Meredith stormed into her house, throwing her bag onto the ground and tossing her jacket behind her as she stalked into the kitchen. Lexie and Izzie looked up from the table as Meredith headed straight to the cabinet next to the fridge and pulled her bottle of tequila off the shelf.

"Hey Mer," Izzie said hesitantly.

"Hey," Meredith said shortly as she took a pull straight from the bottle.

"Is everything okay?" Lexie asked.

"No," she snapped. "Because my mother, the woman who has wanted me to be miserable for as long as I can remember, is in town. And you know what's happened now that my mother is back in town?"

"You're…miserable and drinking out of a tequila bottle?" Izzie volunteered.

"I get suspended," Meredith snapped. "That's what happens. My mother has never been supportive of me teaching, and she shows up in town, and now I've been suspended from my job."

"You were suspended?" Lexie asked. "Why?"

"I have a meeting with the principle and the superintendent tomorrow morning," Meredith sighed as she collapsed onto a chair beside Lexie. "I'm a good teacher. What could I possibly have done wrong?"

"Do you think your mom paid them off?" Izzie asked.

"I don't know," Meredith sighed. "I think they may have found out about Derek. But it's not against the rules, and Derek's not even Meg's dad. I don't understand why it would be a big deal about that now, after four months."

"Are you going to have to break up with him?" Lexie asked.

"No," Meredith breathed. "I mean…that's the last thing in the world that I want. But I can't be unemployed. Especially after my mom tried to tell me that I need to marry Ryan because I can't live off of her forever. And that teaching won't let me provide for myself."

Izzie and Lexie stared at her for a long moment. "I can't even imagine you without Derek anymore," Izzie said softly. "Meredith, you deserve to be happy. You can't break up with Derek."

"I don't want to," Meredith whispered. "I really don't want to. But…how am I supposed to choose between being with the man I love and having a job and…money?"

Before either one of them could reply, the front door opened, and Derek appeared in the kitchen. "Hey guys," he said, planting a kiss to the top of Meredith's head as he moved towards the fridge and pulled out a beer. "What's going on?"

"I um…I need to go study," Lexie said, grabbing a textbook and walking out of the kitchen.

"I'll…help you!" Izzie nodded, following her quickly.

Derek frowned as he watched them scurry out of the room, turning to Meredith and taking in the bottle of tequila that sat in front of her. "Mer, what's going on? Is everything okay?" he asked.

She sighed as she turned to look at him. "I was suspended from work today," she whispered.

"What?" Derek breathed, feeling his blood run cold. If this was a result of his visit from Ellis, he'd never forgive himself.

"I have a meeting with my bosses tomorrow," Meredith sighed. "They didn't tell me why, but if they somehow found out about us…I think that might be what the problem is."

"Meredith," he said softly. "Are you…you can't lost your job because of me. If that's it, I'll step aside."

"No," Meredith shook her head. "Derek, I love you. And I don't want to break up with you."

"It's January, Mer," he said softly. "No schools are going to be hiring new teachers right now."

"I know," she sighed. "But I don't want to be without you."

"Meredith, I know you," he said, reaching to squeeze her hand. "You love your students. If you can't be helping them, you'll be miserable."

"And I'll be miserable without you," Meredith smiled, leaning forward to kiss him softly. "Let me handle this, Derek. It's my job, I'll take care of it."

"Okay," Derek sighed. "Are you hungry?"

"A little," she sighed, reaching for the tequila.

"I'll make some stir fry," Derek nodded, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Did you drop my camera off at the repair shop?" Meredith asked as she turned to look at him.

"Yeah, it should be ready in a couple weeks," Derek nodded, moving to cut some peppers.

"How much was the deposit?" she asked as she reached for her coat.

"I don't remember, the receipt's in the pocket of my jacket," Derek replied.

"Okay," Meredith smiled as she reached for the jacket that hung over the back of the chair beside her. She reached into his pocket and rolled her eyes at the handful of paper scraps she pulled out. "You should really clean out your…" her voice trailed off as she looked down at the piece of paper in her hands.

"Mer?" Derek asked as he looked at her. "Did you find it?"

"What the hell is this?" Meredith asked quietly, placing the rectangular piece of paper on the counter in front of him.

"What…." Derek frowned as his eyes landed on the paper and he felt his heart stop. "Mer, that's not what it looks like."

"Really?" Meredith asked, tears filling her eyes as she stared at him. "Because what it looks like is a check from my mother to you for five thousand dollars. And I know what it's for."

"Meredith," Derek breathed as he set his knife down on the cutting board and moved around the counter island. "Let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain," she said as she backed away from him. "It's perfectly clear that you're going to break up with me as soon as the check clears. Well you know what, I'm going to save you some time."

"That's not what happened," Derek said desperately.

"Okay," Meredith said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. "What happened?"

Derek inhaled deeply, hoping that he could get himself out of this mess. "I went to the hospital to see your mom," he started.

"Wait a minute," Meredith said. "What the hell were you doing at the hospital?"

"I wanted to talk to her about the way she treats you," Derek replied. "It's not right, Mer."

"Derek, you have no right to do that," Meredith snapped. "So what, you went to see her to tell her how amazing I am, and then you just suddenly ended up with a check for five thousand dollars?"

"No," Derek shook his head. "I told her she should be proud of you, that she should really want to get to know you because you're amazing. And she thought that meant that I was asking for money. I said no, I didn't want to take the check."

"And yet somehow it ended up in your jacket?" Meredith asked loudly.

"I didn't mean to keep it, it just…ended up there," Derek said meekly.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Meredith rolled her eyes. She froze for a moment before she asked, "What did you say to her about my job?"

"I said you were amazing teacher, that your students love you," Derek breathed. "Meredith, please."

"Did you say anything about Meg?"

Derek winced, remembering how the only time Ellis had seemed even remotely in the conversation had been the point where he'd mentioned the fact that his niece was in Meredith's class. "I think so," he said softly. "Mer, I'm sorry."

Meredith jerked away from him as he reached out for her. "It's your fault," she said. "I'm going to get fired, and it's your fault. Derek, I can't believe you."

"Meredith, don't you think you're overreacting?" Derek asked.

"Overreacting?" Meredith yelled. "Derek, you were the first person I allowed myself to trust in years. Years, Derek! And you go and do this!"

"I love you," Derek breathed. "Meredith, you know I love you, that I would never hurt you."

"I used to think that," Meredith said, tears filling her eyes. "Derek, you promised me that you'd never take money from my mother!"

"I didn't!" Derek cried, ducking the napkin that Meredith had thrown at his head. "I was never going to cash that check!"

"You were!" Meredith shouted, reaching for the candle that sat in the middle of the table. "Derek, you were only dating me because I'm the daughter of the great Ellis Grey who could pay you off and make sure that you got the best of the medical community. You never loved me!"

"I did!" Derek cried. "I do! I'm not Ryan!"

Meredith froze, a plate clutched tightly in her hands. "How do you know about Ryan?" she asked.

"I…I ran into him in the hospital," Derek breathed. "Mer, please calm down."

"I can't believe this," Meredith shouted, throwing the plate at him and ignoring the crash that followed as it collided with the cabinets behind him. "What is this, some kind of conspiracy against Meredith?"

"Mer, you're being completely unreasonable," Derek breathed, coming closer to her.

"Leave," Meredith commanded, tears filling her eyes as she turned away from him. "I want you gone."

"Meredith," Derek breathed, not knowing what else to say as he took in her completely broken existence in front of him. "Please don't do this."

"Derek, go!" Meredith shouted, turning away from him.

"I…." Derek started, his eyes traveling to Lexie as she appeared in the door to the kitchen.

"Derek," she said softly. "Maybe you should go."

"I can't leave," Derek said, tears filling his own eyes. "I promised I wouldn't."

"She'll calm down," Lexie said. "She just…needs time."

"I…" Derek blinked back tears as he looked at Meredith, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"I'll have her call you later," Lexie said, squeezing his arm. "It'll be okay."

Derek swallowed hard as he walked out of the kitchen, wondering how he could possibly fix this. He wasn't sure that Meredith would ever be able to get over this, but he couldn't imagine his life without her anymore. Her giggle, her smile, her quiet confidence was enough to make his life complete, and he had no idea how he would be able to live without her amazing presence every day.

"Meredith," Lexie said softly as she sat down beside her at the table. "What happened?"

"My mother paid him off," Meredith whispered. "And he told her that his niece is in my class, and I'm positive that that's why I'm going to get fired. So basically, I trusted a guy for the first time in years, I think he's the one I'm going to spend the rest of my life with, and it turns out that he's just like all the others."

Lexie frowned as she looked down at Meredith. "Did you let him explain?" she asked.

"He said it's not his fault," Meredith sighed. "That he wasn't going to take the money."

"Do you actually think that he was going to take the money?" Lexie asked. "Derek loves you a lot. He'd never leave you, no matter how much money he was offered."

"That's what I thought," Meredith said as she reached for her tequila. "I was wrong."

"Why wouldn't he have been telling you the truth when he said he wasn't going to take the money?" Lexie asked.

"If he really wasn't going to take the money, then why would he take the check?" Meredith asked.

"I…" Lexie frowned, seeing her sister's point. "I guess you're right."

"So now I'm never going to date again," Meredith sighed.

"Don't you think that's a little dramatic?" Lexie asked.

Tears filled Meredith's eyes as she looked at her sister. "I really loved him," she whispered. "I thought he was the one."

"I know," Lexie whispered, wrapping a comforting arm around her sister. "It's okay to cry, Mer."

"I loved him," Meredith sobbed, resting her head on her sister's shoulder. "I loved him, Lexie, I really did."

"I know," Lexie said soothingly, running a hand over Meredith's hair. "Let it out, Mere, it's okay."

Meredith sobbed harshly for a few minutes, finally calming after a few minutes as her breaths came out in harsh pants. "Derek," she whispered.

"What are you going to do?" Lexie asked carefully.

"I…I can't trust him," Meredith shook her head. "He's the reason that I'm going to lose my job. If he'd just let me take care of it like I asked him to, I'd still have a job. And he took the check, Lexie. There must have been some part of him that wanted the money if he took the check."

"You're going to break up with him?" Lexie asked.

"I think I already did," Meredith whispered.

"Meredith, you're my sister, and I love you," Lexie said softly. "But if you're really going to end this, you have to talk to him."

"I don't want to see him," Meredith shook her head, standing to make her way towards the door. "I can't."

"You have to," Lexie said softly. "But honestly, Meredith….are you okay with breaking up with him?"

"No," Meredith whispered. "Derek…he was so amazing. But then it turned out that he was just like all the other men out there."

"Derek's different," Lexie said. "Meredith, you have to know that he's completely in love with you."

"He's not," Meredith shook her head. "If he was in love with me, he would have torn up the check in the first place. Actually, he wouldn't have even gone to the hospital after I asked him not to."

Lexie took a deep breath as she took in her sister's broken gaze and tear filled eyes, wondering how she could possibly convince her that breaking up with Derek was probably the worst idea she'd ever had. "Meredith, maybe you should just calm down a little," she said softly. "Take a couple days to think, see what the meeting tomorrow is actually about. Maybe it has nothing to do with Derek."

"You don't get it," Meredith shook her head. "Lexie, you had the perfect parents who want you to be happy and do anything they can to make sure that that happened. But me…my dad left me, he didn't want me. He had you and your perfect family, and he didn't need me and my mother anymore. And my mom seemed to blame me for everything that was wrong with her life, therefore making it her mission to make me completely miserable."

"And it's Derek's mission to make sure you're completely happy," Lexie pointed out softly.

"It doesn't matter," Meredith shook her head. "It's over. I can't do this with him anymore. There's no way I can trust him. It's the same as Ryan."

"He's not the same as Ryan," Lexie said. "You can't just break up with Derek. That's like against the laws of nature or something."

"I can," Meredith nodded, tears filling her eyes. "And I will. I don't exactly have a choice."