Meredith walked slowly up to Finn, who was standing alone by the snack table looking at her worriedly.

"Meredith! Where have you been? I was worried, I thought you passed out or something. Are you okay?" He said, placing his hands on her arms. She sighed and shook him off.

"Finn..." She started. His face fell.

"No... don't... don't do that. We were fine. We are fine. Don't... if you did something, just don't tell me. I'll forgive you, you're forgiven! What I don't know can't hurt me. Ignorance is bliss." He rambled, trying to do anything at all to stop her from doing what he knew she was doing.

"Finn... I like you. I really do. But... I love Derek. I can't do this anymore, I'm sorry." She said. His eyes filled with anger suddenly.

"You're leaving me... for HIM?" He shouted, drawing the attention of the couples dancing near them. She sucked in a breath when he threw his arms into the air in dismay.

"He's married! He picked his wife over you! What makes you think he would take you if you went crawling back to him?!" He yelled, making her cringe as more and more people turned to stare. Derek looked up from the corner of the room, where he was standing with a very upset Addison after having told her that he was leaving her. He saw Finn yelling and slowly approached the two, hearing what they were saying as he got closer.

"I-I'm sorry, Finn! I didn't mean to hurt you, but we love each other. I can't ignore that any longer." Finn's eyes were burning with fury as Derek reached the front of the crowd.

"Damn it, Meredith!" Finn screamed, his hand reaching back and striking her hard across the face. The crowd gasped and Derek pushed forward as she fell backward onto the ground, her head slamming into the tile and sending her into unconsciousness instantly. Derek reached her and dove to the ground, lifting her head to check for injuries as people swarmed around them, with Alex having to grab Finn and hold him back before he could hurt someone else.

He broke free from Alex's grip just as Meredith came to, rushing toward her with white-hot rage in his eyes. Derek jumped up, stepping in front of Meredith just as Finn reached her. He cocked his fist, leaning back and bending his knees. Before Finn could react, Derek sprang forward, his fist making solid contact with Finn's cheekbone and sending a satisfying crack through the silent room. His opponent stumbled backward, blood seeping down his face. He had definitely hit Finn harder than he hit Mark when he flirted with Meredith.

Alex and Richard both moved in on the veterinarian, with Alex telling him that he had to leave quickly before he put a dent in his skull and Richard threatening to press charges if he didn't get out. Pain erupted across Derek's hand from his knuckles but he ignored it, turning and dropping down so that he was by Meredith's side on the floor.

"Derek... your hand..." She said. He followed her worried gaze to his bloody hand and shook it out, shrugging and squeezing it a couple of times.

"It still works. Are you alright, Meredith? What happened?" He said, changing the subject. The crowd slowly dispersed and people got prepared to go home. No one wanted to dance after witnessing such a scene.

"I told him... about us... and he got really mad. I tried to calm him down, but... I was scared." She said, her eyes glistening with tears. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his chest. Over her shoulder, he locked eyes with Addison, who had tears coating her face but slight concern in her eyes. She looked away from him and left the room, leaving him alone with Meredith on the ground.

"It's okay. You're okay now, you're safe." He said comfortingly, stroking her hair gently. She sniffled and relaxed, wiping the tears from her face. Callie approached them, a worried look on her face.

"Uh... Meredith, the nurse told me to come get you. It's Izzie." She said. Meredith looked up at Derek for support. He helped her up and they walked hand in hand to Denny Duquette's room, where a hysterical Izzie was laying with her arms wrapped around a dead-looking Denny. Meredith sighed sympathetically. George and Cristina turned to look at her, their eyes landing on her hand squeezing Derek's severely bruised one tightly and asking her millions of silent questions.

Alex appeared in the doorway.

"Izzie, that's not Denny. It stopped being Denny as soon as his heart stopped beating." He said, walking over to her. Meredith placed her hand on Derek's chest and hid her face in his suit. She couldn't bear to see her best friend this upset. She couldn't bear to hear her sobbing anymore.

Meredith, Callie, George, Cristina, and Derek left the room to give Izzie and Alex privacy. They sat down in the hallway.

"So... you're back with McDreamy again?" Cristina asked to break the silence, looking at Meredith. Everyone turned to her as she smiled at Derek.

"Yeah. We were just tired of wasting time denying our feelings." She said. Cristina's eyes traveled from the deep bruises on Derek's hand to the swelling and redness of Meredith's face concernedly.

"Meredith..." She said softly. Her friend noticed what she was looking at and shook her head with wide eyes.

"Oh my god, no! Derek didn't do this to me, I promise you. Finn did. He got really mad when I broke things off and Derek was just protecting me." She explained, her arms wrapped around his muscly one. Cristina, George, and Callie all raised their eyebrows.

"Finn hurt you?" Cristina narrowed her eyes. Meredith nodded. Her best friend turned to Derek.

"How hard did you hit him?"

XxXxX

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I didn't really focus much on Denny and it's not because I don't like him because I do but I just wanted to focus more on Meredith and Derek instead of Alex and Izzie and Denny.

Finn is not the same person in this story as he is in the show. (which is evident from his behavior in this chapter) He's a lot more controlling and violent and less of a nice guy.

The next chapter will be up tomorrow! Don't forget to review!

Kisses!

-E