"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Wow, what a welcome," Mark smirked as Meredith stood before him in her pajamas. "A little early to be in bed, isn't it?"

"I have to wake up at six to make it to school on time," Meredith replied. "And if I'm not mistaken, you usually go to bed at nine o clock. So again, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"Am I allowed to come in?"

"Fine," Meredith rolled her eyes. She opened the door and led him into the living room, sitting down in the armchair as he settled on the couch. "What's up?" she asked again. "And if you say Derek…"

"I know we don't know each other that well," Mark said softly. "But from what I gather, we're pretty similar."

"We are not the same," Meredith insisted.

"Maybe not now," Mark nodded. "But we've both had broken pasts. And our parents were horrible to us."

Meredith shifted uncomfortably. "Derek's parents practically raised you," she said.

"Because my real parents seemed to think it was okay to leave their seven year old son alone in the house for days on end," Mark replied. "Your first Christmas was this past one? Mine was when I was eight, and Derek's dad made sure I was able to celebrate with them."

"Oh," Meredith breathed.

"I get that it's hard to accept love," Mark nodded. "But Shep loves you a whole hell of a lot. It takes a lot to get me here doing this, and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think you loved him too."

"He lied to me," she whispered. "He took my mother's money after I specifically asked him not to."

"That's something you need to talk to him about," Mark shrugged. "The man's an idiot always has been. But he's an idiot that loves you."

"I don't trust him," Meredith sighed. "How can I be with him if I don't trust him? It doesn't seem possible."

"You love him," Mark shrugged. "I'm not exactly an expert on these things, but I'm pretty sure if you love him, the rest will happen eventually."

Meredith stared at him for a moment. "I can't believe I'm hearing you say these things," she said. "Have you ever even been in a long term relationship?"

"I'm thinking about it," Mark nodded.

"Okay," Meredith nodded. "So if we're so the same, would you want to be with someone who accepted your parents' money to stay away from you?"

"I…" Mark frowned. She was right, he knew she was right, but there was no way he could go back to his apartment without some kind of progress made. Addison would kill him.

"That's what I thought," Meredith nodded, standing as she moved towards the door. "Thanks for trying, Mark."

Mark sighed as he stood, moving to stand beside her at the front door. "It seems to me you've got a choice to make," he said. "You can choose trust without love, or you can choose love with trust that will develop eventually. I'm an emotionally stunted manwhore, but even I'd rather have the second option."

With that, Mark was gone, leaving Meredith standing in the middle of the hallway for a moment. With a sigh, she moved back into the living room, reaching for the phone and dialing quickly

"Hi, it's me," she said. "I'm really sorry about what happened. Can we meet after school tomorrow?"

XXXXX

"Well?" Addison prodded as soon as Mark entered the apartment again that night. "What happened?"

Mark glanced at Derek's eager expression and sighed, running a hand over his hair. "She says she doesn't know how she can be with him if she doesn't trust him," he murmured softly.

Derek sighed and leaned his head against the back of the couch, squeezing his eyes closed tightly. "See, I told you," he said to Addison. "She doesn't love me anymore. It's useless."

"Oh, she loves you," Mark nodded. "She just needs to realize that trust can develop out of love."

Derek frowned as he opened his eyes and looked up at his best friend. "Trust can develop out of love?" he repeated. "Who are you and what have you done with Mark Sloan?"

Mark shrugged as he glanced at Addison before he looked down at his feet. "I'm growing," he said. "I'm turning over a new leaf or whatever."

Addison smiled up at him as she reached out to take his hand. "I think it's sweet," she said.

"As sweet as this all is, what happens with this brilliant plan now?" Derek interrupted them.

"Now," Addison sighed. "We have to make her jealous."

"Jealous," Derek repeated.

"Yes, girls get jealous too," Addison smiled. "Now that we know she's single and Mark's planted these ideas in her head, as soon as she sees you with another woman she'll get completely jealous and want you back."

Derek sighed. "I guess that makes sense," he said.

"Good," Addison nodded. "So tomorrow we'll go pick Meg up from school."

"I don't think this whole jealousy thing is a good idea," Mark frowned.

"That's just because you're jealous," Addison rolled her eyes. "It will be fine."

"Jealousy does bring out the strongest emotions," Derek sighed. "So…I'm going to borrow Addison for tomorrow."

"Fine," Mark frowned. "But…no sex."

"Definitely not!" Addison exclaimed as Derek rolled his eyes.

"You're an idiot," Derek rolled his eyes.

"Alright, big day tomorrow," Addison said excitedly. "I'm going to bed."

Derek frowned. "How long have you been sleeping with her?" he asked Mark as Addison disappeared into his bedroom.

"A week or so," Mark shrugged. "We've been talking for a long time before that. I like her, Shep. A lot."

"Talking?" Derek repeated. "Mark Sloan, are you in a relationship?"

"I think so," Mark frowned. "Maybe."

Derek smiled softly. "She's good for you," he said. "She's your Meredith."

Mark sighed. "No offense, Shepherd, but at this point, I hope Addison's not my Meredith."

"I don't really blame you," Derek sighed. "But if Addison's plan works, maybe things will work out for us."

"I sure hope so, Shep," Mark sighed. "You've been moping around here for way too long."

Derek sighed sadly as he moved towards his own bedroom. "I know," he breathed. "Good night."

"Night Shep," Mark shook his head as he moved towards his room.

Derek collapsed onto his bed, turning to stare at the picture of Meredith on the side of the bed. He couldn't help but hope that Addison's plan would work, that maybe they would be able to have their life back. He hated that he'd missed out on the last few months, but if he was able to get her back, he would work forever to make up for the time they'd lost.

If Meredith would take him back.

XXXXX

"Okay, you have to hold my hand," Addison commanded as they walked into the school the next afternoon.

"What? Why?" Derek asked.

"Because we're supposed to be dating," Addison said, grabbing for his hand.

"Fine," Derek rolled his eyes, grabbing for her hand. "Let's just do this."

"Alright," Addison said. "Lead the way."

Derek felt his heart pound as he led Addison down the hall towards Meredith's classroom. He could only hope that this would work, that Meredith would realize how much she hated being jealous of Addison and want him back.

"Okay, everyone, time to pack up," Meredith's voice drifted into the hallway. "Rachel, you're the leader this week, you get to pack up first. And if you're getting picked up today, wait until your parents get here to grab your stuff."

Derek took a deep breath and stepped into the classroom, suddenly wishing that Addison would let go of his hand. "Miss Grey," he said softly.

Meredith turned to look at him quickly, her eyes widening as she saw Addison standing beside him, their hands interlocked. "Oh," she said. "Um…Meg, your uncle's here, sweetie."

Meg's eyes lit up and she raced to get her backpack, and Meredith smiled briefly at them before turning back to another student. "Make sure you remember your homework, sweetie," she murmured as she zipped another girl's backpack, trying to avoid Derek's gaze. At that moment, the buses were called, leaving the three of them alone with the few students who were going home with parents.

"I'm Addison," she said, holding out her hand. "Derek's told me all about you."

"Oh," Meredith frowned, reaching out hesitantly to shake Addison's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"I hope you don't think that I'm a horrible person for making Derek bring me here," Addison sighed, moving closer to him. "But he told me he was going to take Meg to the zoo after school, and I just couldn't say no."

"Right," Meredith nodded. "No, it's fine. I'm just glad that you're on time. Because I've got a date. With my boyfriend. So it's a good thing that you weren't late."

Derek cleared his throat as he turned to look down at Addison, who blinked in surprise.

"You know, Mark was over at my house last night," Meredith continued. "And I really thought about some of the things he said, and I really thought that we could make it work, Derek. But I guess not, since you two are so happy together. And after thinking about what Mark said, I realized that maybe I'd been to hasty to break up with Andrew."

"Oh," Derek faked a smile. "Right, of course. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks," Meredith smiled. "I am too. Happy. For you."

"I'm ready Uncle Derek!" Meg cried, running up to him and grabbing his hand. "Can we go to the zoo now?"

"Of course," Derek murmured, picking his niece up into his arms. "Let's go."

"It was good to see you, Mr. Shepherd," Meredith murmured.

"You too, Miss Grey."

Meredith watched as Derek walked out of her classroom, his niece on his hip and his hand in that stupid whore's. Except she wasn't really a whore, she as tall and gorgeous. And completely different than her, but apparently that's the kind of woman that Derek really wanted to be with.

"Meredith?" Andrew knocked on her door and stepped into the classroom. "Are you okay?"

Meredith blinked back tears and moved quickly to hug him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Andrew. I want to be with you, really I do. I want to be with you, not Derek, and I'm sorry."

Andrew frowned as he tightened his arms around her. "It's okay," he breathed. "It's okay, Mer, we'll work it out."

"We don't have to go to Europe if you don't want to," Meredith whispered. "And I'm sorry about last night, I really am. But it won't happen again, I promise, I'll just be with you, not thinking of anyone else."

"Meredith," Andrew breathed, pulling back to look at her. "It's okay. All of it. I'm sorry for last night, I should have let you explain. I don't like it, but we'll work it out. You don't have to cry."

"Are you sure?" Meredith breathed, pulling back. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"I'm sure," Andrew smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her forehead. "We'll work this out. I promise."

"Thank you," Meredith breathed. "I um…I have to go meet Lexie, I promised I'd help her study for one of her finals. But um…can we get together for dinner tonight? Maybe figure all of this out?"

"Sure," Andrew nodded. "Give me a call when you're done with Lexie, and I'll come over and cook for you."

"Okay," Meredith whispered.

Andrew smiled, but before he could say anything else, Lexie ran into the classroom. "Mer, I just saw Der…oh," she said.

"Hi Lex," Meredith sighed, pulling away from Andrew and reaching for her bag. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Lexie said, glancing suspiciously at Andrew. "I um…you guys worked things out."

"We did," Andrew smiled.

"Okay…" Lexie said. "Mer, are you ready? I really need you."

"Sure," Meredith said, sniffling softly. "I'll see you later?" she asked Andrew.

"Of course," Andrew nodded. "Bye, Mer."

"Bye," Meredith smiled as she followed Lexie out of the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lexie asked as soon as they were in the hallway.

"What?" Meredith frowned.

"You're back with Andrew?" Lexie asked. "What about Derek?"

"Derek has a girlfriend," Meredith replied. "Which he made very clear when he brought her in here to flaunt in front of me."

"What?" Lexie asked, her heart suddenly pounding. Maybe the plan hadn't worked after all.

"She's beautiful and tall and gorgeous," Meredith sighed. "And I'm…me. Derek obviously wants to be with strong women like her, not me."

"That's not true," Lexie insisted. "He loves you."

"What the hell is going on?" Meredith snapped. "Lexie, I'm done with Derek. You need to accept that. We're done, and I don't know why you won't let me let go of him."

"Because you love each other," Lexie insisted.

"Loved," Meredith shook her head. "Past tense."

"Fine," Lexie sighed. "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll meet you at the car."

"Fine," Meredith said.

Lexie sighed as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, ducking into the nearest staff bathroom. "Addison, it's me," she whispered.

"I know, it didn't work," Addison sighed. "Derek's a mess. He refuses to do anything else. It's really over this time."