AN: First off, I am super sorry for the seriously long months of delay. Life got really busy for me, uni is controlling my life lol. I don't write as well when I am stressed out so I always figure its better to wait it out then try to force myself to write.

So I thought I'd make a mention, I'm really impressed and amazed how right I am about my timeline, the first episode of season 9 confirmed my suspicions, well at least on Derek's side, how serendipitous is that?

Also, on a forum I post this on a member pointed out that students can graduate in the US at 17, so I decided to push Meredith's age to 18, I could have just made her in the second year of College, but I liked the idea of them both starting. I'll go back and make the changes to the first chapter later, for now, enjoy!

Chapter Two
Gravity

"I wasn't raised with a silver spoon in my mouth…well that's not to say I didn't have the silver spoon, I do come from money. I lived in the nice house, had an allowance and a trust fund, but I was never doted upon. Better put, I was ignored. So from a young age I knew that if you wanted something bad enough, you had to be willing to fight for it. If you are going to sit there and wait for some mystical, fate-like opportunity, to come to you, you're probably going to end up disappointed. After all only we are the masters of our own destiny."

Two Months Earlier

Acceptance letters laid before her, one from Dartmouth, another from Harvard and countless others, but there was only one that Meredith was focused on. Columbia. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the kitchen table, waiting for her mother to come home. She knew from a decade long of experience that her mother was never home on time, if ever. The hospital was her family, Meredith was just the inconvenience on the side or at least that's how Ellis made her feel.

The front door slammed, jarring Meredith from her thoughts. She heard the clicking of heels on the tiled floors of the foyer. Any minute now she knew she would have to face her mother.

Ellis hung up her jacket in the closet; weary from the forty-eight hours she had been on call, saving lives and losing some. She had fought for eight hours in the OR to save the life of a drunken driver. Stupid fool. She inwardly cursed; he had died on her table. She wanted to save him just so he would have to live with the fact that his idiotic actions had cost a family their lives.

She slipped off her heels and made her way into the kitchen and halted at the sight of her daughter sitting quietly, staring at a whole heap of letters before her. She knew what they were; after all she had listened all day to Carrington bragging about his son getting into Harvard. Ellis had called Dartmouth earlier in the day to ensure that Meredith had been accepted; truthfully Ellis believed that nobody would take her. It was no secret to Meredith that her mother believed she was unfocused and lacked discipline.

"You got into Dartmouth." Ellis broke the silence, speaking matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I did. I also got accepted to Harvard and Columbia." She responded meekly, a ghost of a smile playing at her lips. She knew this would surprise her. But it didn't, it was like Ellis wasn't even listening.

"Well obviously you accepted the Dartmouth off-"

"I don't want to go to Dartmouth!" Meredith protested, cutting her mother off.

"Excuse me?" She turned to her, scoffing.

"I want to go to Columbia." Meredith affirmed, meeting her mother's glaring eyes for the first time, challenging her.

"And why on earth would you do that! Dartmouth is an incredible university Meredith, you are lucky you even got accepted!" Ellis shouted at her incredulously.

"No I am not lucky, I worked my ass off, which you would know if you actually bothered to notice!" Meredith shot back angrily.

"My job keeps me busy, I save lives Meredith, my work is what is important, it is what puts food on your ungrateful plate. My work is what matters. So excuse me if I don't have the time to keep up with your life, or coddle you like a pathetic child." Ellis growled at her. Meredith sucked in a breath, her words were like bullets. It was no different to anything she had said to her before. But it doesn't mean that it hurts her any less.

"So what, if you weren't a surgeon you would pay attention to me!?" Meredith argued back in contempt. Her blue-green eyes shooting daggers of accusation to her mother. Ellis was taken aback, lost for words. She had no way to respond. Meredith scoffed at her mother's sudden speechlessness. "Exactly. It wouldn't be any different. Just admit it mother you never wanted me. You have absolutely no interest in being my mother, you never did, and now it's too late and you are stuck with me!" She cried out to her, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, but she held them back, not wanting to cry in her presence.

"You are being ridiculous Meredith, if I didn't want you I would have let your fool of a father take you with him!" Ellis denied swiftly. Meredith rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. You have a funny way of showing it." Meredith frowned at her, not believing her at all.

"Look." Ellis sighed, as she sat down in the chair at the opposite end of the table. "Dartmouth is a good university for you, if you-"

"Why is it a good university for me, as opposite to a good university?" Meredith frowned, as she leant back in her chair. Ellis just rolled her eyes at her, thinking Meredith was just being completely unreasonable and ridiculous. It suddenly dawned on Meredith. "You want me to go there because you went there and because you have contacts, so that if lord forbid I embarrass you in some way and tarnish your precious name you can 'control the narrative.'" She accused Ellis, standing up from her chair angrily.

"You are being ridiculous Meredith. Dartmouth is a far superior university than Columbia and I won't pay for you to go to a less than exemplary university!" Ellis argued, putting her foot down.

"I don't want to go to Dartmouth. I don't want to go somewhere you went so I can be squashed by your suffocating legacy! I want to stand on my own two feet and prove that I am so much more than the daughter of Ellis Grey. I want to be great, I want to be an extraordinary surgeon and I want to do that without you overshadowing me!" Meredith ranted, exasperated.

"You don't have what it takes to be a surgeon Meredith, you'll never make it. You are too unfocused and-"

"Ordinary, yeah got it." Meredith cut her off sarcastically. "You may not think that I have what it takes, but I know I do, so please, I've never asked you for anything, just please let me have the opportunity to try and do it on my own terms?" Meredith pleaded. She wanted this, she wanted this so bad. Ellis stared at her fiercely determined daughter and smiled inwardly. Perhaps she does. She thought to herself. Ellis sighed deeply.

"Fine." She conceded. She was by no means happy about it.

"Fine." Meredith repeated, not quite believing she was actually giving way to her demands. Truthfully, Meredith was waiting for her mother to basically disown her, and cut her off if she dared to defy her.

"You can go, and I will pay for your education as originally planned, but I won't pay for your lifestyle, Meredith." Ellis conceded, still not overly happy with the idea.

"Lifestyle?" Meredith asked, confused.

"I'll pay for your education but I won't pay for your living expenses. You want to move to New York, and attend Columbia you need to get a job, find your own apartment, and pay your own rent and your food expenses. But I'm warning you Meredith, if you screw this up, I will cut you off entirely." Ellis warned before getting up and walking out of the room without another word.

/ / /

Present Day

Derek and Addison were sitting at a small dinner table in a five-star Italian restaurant. Addison was babbling on animatedly about something and Derek was…somewhat preoccupied. All he could see was Addison's mouth moving, but all he heard was white noise.

He couldn't focus, because all he could think about was her and he knew that was wrong, since he was very much in a committed relationship. Derek wasn't an unfaithful person, it went against all his beliefs to be that guy, but he felt that way just by the very omission of his own thoughts that he was cheating on Addison.

"Derek?!" Addison asked, jerking him out of his reverie.

"What?" Derek responded, feeling a little guilty for not paying attention to his girlfriend.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" She asked crossing her arms in front of her, quite put out at Derek's lack of attention tonight.

"Uhhh…Sorry Addie, I'm just tired," he mumbled, apologetically. "Actually are you almost done, I can barely think straight I'm so exhausted." He lied almost effortlessly. That bothered him, just how easily he could lie to his girlfriend like that.

"Ahh, sure. Are you ok?" She asked, concerned. Addison was tired, but she was still with it.

"Yeah I'm fine, just didn't sleep well in the on-call room last night." He placated her.

"Yeah, those beds are awful, mines better, want to go back to my place?" She asked, smirking wryly.

"Maybe another time, I think I just need a night alone in my own bed." He smiled. Addison was taken aback, winded by the sudden rejection. This was a first. "Come on, I'll drive you home." He murmured placing some bills to pay for their meal and stood up holding his hand out to her. Addison took it, albeit in dazed confusion as she tried to understand Derek's strange behavior tonight.

She could hear it in the back of her mind that something had changed for him, but she quickly pushed it away and smiled up at him as he led her to his car.

/ / /

Meredith was late. She was so late, she had overslept. Between her shifts at New York Presbyterian and now college on top she was definitely feeling the pressure and it was only week one.

So she shuffled as fast as she could with her book bag swinging beside her as she navigated through the Columbia campus to her lecture. She sighed in relief as she found the lecture hall and quietly opened the door tip-toeing in. The lecture had already begun, but thankfully her Professor didn't acknowledge her, he just kept talking. She scanned the room for a spare seat as she climbed the stairs. A blue-eyed, raven-haired girl, offered a small friendly smile and moved her book bag off the seat next to her for her to sit down. Meredith smiled gratefully back at her and sat down, quickly rifling through her bag to bring out a pen and a notebook.

"Don't worry, I was late too," the raven-haired girl lent toward her, whispering. "I'm Amelia." She murmured, holding out her hand for Meredith to shake.

"Meredith," Meredith responded, shaking Amelia's proffered hand. "So what did I miss?" Meredith quietly whispered.

"Nothing much, he's mostly been going on and on about his boring career…like anyone really cares he published an important research paper ten years ago," Amelia responded, obviously bored. "On the upside, he's mildly entertaining, I mean look at him," she gestured with her hand to him down on the podium and Meredith immediately suppressed a giggle. He was so awkward. "I don't think he knows how much of a parody he is to himself." Amelia quietly giggled. Meredith shook her head in amusement as they both watched him drop the notes he had in his hand and then as he fumbled trying to pick them all up. Everyone around them was trying not to laugh.

"I don't think he's ever been laid." Meredith's eyes brimmed with amusement. Amelia snorted in response before they both sat back and tried to concentrate on what the poor guy was saying.

Meredith's page remained blank, Fordson hadn't told Meredith anything she didn't already know, the lecture was a waste of time for her…well not completely, as Amelia had proven to be quite entertaining. But still, she was relieved when it was over.

"Hey, you want to get a coffee with me?" Amelia asked as they filed out of the lecture hall.

"Sure, I could use the caffeine." Meredith agreed gratefully as they walked outside toward the coffee cart stationed in the courtyard.

"So, I'm assuming you are pre-med right?" Amelia asked, making conversation.

"Yeah, you?" She responded.

"Yeah, surgery, what area are you hoping to get into?" She passionately answered, Meredith smiled inwardly, it was nice to know someone who shared the same level of passion she had.

"There are other specialties?" Meredith responded seriously, raising an eyebrow before smirking. "I'm not going to spend eight years of my life getting my MD then residency, only to become a Doctor who puts band-aids on morons who don't have the balls to get real injuries." She said sarcastically. Amelia chuckled.

"Agreed," Amelia smirked, agreeing. "Although, I think my brothers and sisters don't think I can do it." Amelia murmured, suddenly becoming very serious. Meredith could detect the pain in her voice. She knew how it felt to have a family member doubt you.

"Why?" Meredith asked as she turned to the coffee attendant. "Latte?" Meredith asked Amelia. Amelia simply nodded and sat down at the chair situated under a tree a few paces away from her. "Two lattes please." She asked, paying the Barista. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Amelia staring blankly at nothing in particular.

"Here you go." The Barista smiled warmly at Meredith and handed her the steaming coffees. Meredith smiled in return and went to join Amelia. She handed her one, and she smiled up at Meredith gratefully.

"I'm the black sheep of the family," Amelia began to explain without any prompting from Meredith. "I got into some trouble after my Dad died. Drugs, prescription mostly, and ever since then, it just feels like they are waiting for me to screw it all up." She explained. "I guess in a way it makes me fight harder to prove them wrong." She shrugs, brightening up again, as if saying that made her realize again not to let it get to her.

"I get that, it's the same with my mother." Meredith responded turning toward her, as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Is she a surgeon?" Amelia inquired.

"Yes, she's the surgeon." Meredith responded dryly. Confusion swept across Amelia's face, not quite understanding what Meredith actually meant.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"My mother is Ellis Grey." Meredith said, distaste creeping into her tone. Amelia was immediately taken aback. She wasn't expecting that.

"Wow, talk about pressure!" She answered, exasperated, and awe struck.

"You have no idea." Meredith muttered. She expected the flow of questions to come, but they didn't.

"I have three older sisters and an older brother. My two eldest sisters are doctors, Nancy is an OB/GYN and Kathleen is a psychiatrist. My other sister Lizzie is in her second year of med school and my brother Derek is a first year surgical intern at New York Pres." Amelia said, launching into explaining the dynamics of her family. The description of her brother Derek resonated with the Derek she knew.

"Is your last name Shepherd?" Meredith asked. How coincidental. She thought.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" A frown crossed her features as she remembered she had not introduced herself to Meredith with her surname.

"I think I know your brother, I work at New York Pres as a nurse. I met him on his and my first day." Meredith explained. Amelia grinned in wonderment.

"Black messy hair, blue eyes, tall, goes out with a red-headed intern named Addison." Describing her brother and Meredith nodded at each point. "Wow, small world!" She laughed. "Wait you're a nurse, how did you manage that?" She grilled her for details.

"My high school offered an LPN program and I thought it would be kind of cool to work in a hospital while I complete college and med school." Meredith shrugged noncommittally.

"Wow, talk about dedication." She nudged Meredith, her head still reeling from the fact that she knew her brother.

"Or plain stupidity, I'm exhausted!" Meredith groaned.

"Practice for being an intern." Amelia pointed out.

"True." She conceded.

"So, a couple of friends and I are going to a party at one of the dorms on Friday night, you should come with me if your are not working." Amelia said as she wrote her cell number on a piece of paper and handed it to Meredith.

"I'm working during the day, but sure, yeah I'm up for it." She shrugged, a night out of dancing and a bottle of Jose Cuero sounded good to her. She scribbled down her own cell number and handed it to her.

"Awesome, I'll text you later in the week the address when I know," she said pulling her book bag over her shoulder. "I gotta go, promised Ma I'd have dinner with her tonight, say hello to my jerk of a brother for me, you'll probably see him before I ever do." She grinned giving Meredith a wink as she retreated toward the car park.

Meredith thought she had spunk, she was as dark and twisted as she was and that was comforting to her.

/ / /

That night alone so he could sleep…that didn't exactly happen. Derek had tossed and turned all night, he'd never been so unsure in his entire life. He had always been the most decisive in his family, the most responsible, and honorable even. But this…this he couldn't figure out.

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration as he lent against the back of the vacant elevator. He heard a ping, announcing the arrival of the elevator to a floor, then the doors opened, he glanced up and noticed it was a nurse by the colour of her scrubs, his eyes then trailed up to her face...and it was like his breath left him. It was Meredith. She wasn't paying attention, her back to him, staring down at her phone and fiddling with it.

"Hey." Derek murmured in greeting. Meredith glanced behind her at Derek and her face broke into a friendly smile.

"Hi." She greeted back, before turning back toward the elevator doors, she glanced up and watched the lights signaling the elevator passing each floor.

"So…?" Derek drawled, a smirk on his face. He felt almost better in her presence, like there was this light switch inside him that only turned on when she was in the room.

"So…I…ah, met your sister yesterday." Meredith offered, leaning up against the back of the elevator beside him.

"Really, which one?" He asked, mildly surprised at her proclamation.

"Amelia. We had a class together." She answered, she couldn't take the grin off her face.

"You did." He stated wryly, as the ping of the elevator sounded and the doors opened.

"I did." She said, cocking her head to the side before pushing off the wall of the elevator heading out the door, she then stopped abruptly and turned back. "Oh, she told me to tell you, hi. In fact her exact words were Say hello to my jerk of a brother for me, you'll probably see him before I ever do." She winked, before turning and walking away.

Derek chuckled, shaking his head and walking out of the elevator, and heading in the opposite direction. Spotting Mark sitting behind the nurse's station he headed toward him.

"Morning." Derek greeted as he grabbed Mr Folger's chart from the rack. Mark just raised his eyebrows in response.

"So…who's the hot nurse?" Mark drawled.

"Don't even go there, she's way out of your league." Derek responded dryly.

"Why do you care?" Mark responded, noticing Derek was almost defensive.

"I don't, she's just one of my sister's friends and you are not going to sleep with one of Amy's friends." Derek warned him.

"Since when has that stopped me?" Mark teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Stay away from her!" Derek snapped at him, fury raging like a fire within the depths of his body.

"Woah dude, chill, I won't do anything." Mark said warily, putting his hands up in defense.

"Don't do anything!" Derek warned one last time before turning on his heel and heading toward Mr Folger's room leaving a stunned Mark behind.

/ / /

Meredith hauled her tired body onto a bed down in the basement. This had become her hiding place; whenever she needed a moment to herself during breaks it had proved to be very peaceful. Today, however, she was eating her salad on her lunch break while trying to study for her weekly quiz for Fordson's class.

She felt the bed dip beside her and the sound of the squeaky springs of the mattress. She turned her head to find Derek beside her.

"And here I thought I was the only one who knew about this place." Derek murmured, tiredly.

"Me too." Meredith agreed. She noticed he looked very distracted. "You ok?" She asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Mmm…Yeah…I don't know." Derek groaned as he slumped against the wall behind him. Meredith turned to her side and crossed her legs Indian style.

"Well I'm a good vault." Meredith offered a small smile, telling him if he wanted to talk she'd listen.

"I have a girlfriend, you know?" He asked her, not sure if she knew that piece of information. Meredith simply rolled her eyes, sarcastically.

"Oh the red headed intern that looks like Isabella freaking Rossellini, oh no, I didn't know about that." She mocked him, and then let out a chuckle, shaking her head. She knew he had no concept of how he was the envy of all men and that every woman hated Addison for the simple fact that she was stunningly attractive and she was dating Derek who they all considered to be drop-dead, heart stopping gorgeous. Even Meredith had noticed.

"Well yeah, we've been together for nearly four years, and well she's expecting me to propose, and I know that's the next logical step, it's what people expect me to do…but I don't know-"

"You don't know if you want to spend the rest of your life with her," Meredith surmised. Derek simply nodded. "Do you love her?" She asked, unconsciously holding her breath in anticipation of his answer.

"Yes, I do. But…I don't know. I just…look, my Mom and Dad were madly in love with one another, and I've always wanted that. I don't know if I feel that for her. I know I don't want to hurt her; it would kill me to hurt her. I don't know…I just don't know." Derek tried to explain, but he didn't have any answers.

"Well I don't know much, the one marriage modeled to me was my parents and it didn't work out. But I don't think people should get married because it's the logical thing to do or because it's what people expect of you. You get married because you love each other, and sometimes even that isn't enough, but anything less than that is pretty much destined to blow up in your face." She responded as she lent her head against the wall.

"I agree with that, I just don't know what I want." He murmured in frustration.

"I think you do know, Derek, you're just afraid of hurting someone or your family and friends." She whispered emphatically. She had hit the nail on the head, Derek knew it right then and there.

"Yes, but-"

"And that's precisely your problem, the more you try to not hurt anyone, the more you hurt them. The right thing to do is generally the thing that hurts the most initially, but hurts less in the long run." She said, cutting him off before he could make any more excuses. He sighed deeply.

"That isn't making this any easier." Derek moaned, placing his head in his hands. She put her hand on Derek's shoulder and rubbed soothingly.

"Nothing is ever easy." She whispered, shuffling on the bed so she was sitting beside him, her shoulder pressed to his, Derek lifted his head from his hands and turned his head to face Meredith, he then took her hand and clasped it in his. He eyed her lips and then shifted back to her eyes. It was like gravity pulling him in as his head inched closer to her.

"For the most part, I still believe we control our own destiny, but maybe Mrs Snyder was right, maybe some things are just out of our control. Don't get me wrong, I still believe that love, like life, are about the choices we make. But I'm starting to believe that we don't get to choose who we fall in love with. It's a lot like gravity, I suppose. There's this invisible force that just draws two people together, no matter how hard you fight it, it never lets go and once it's got a hold on you, it changes your life forever."

AN: I do hope you all felt that was worth the wait, things are already set in motion. ;)