Chapter 36: Explosion

This was bad. Meredith had no idea what she was going to do as she unlocked the door to her small apartment. There was no way they were going to be able to keep this. This was really bad, now she was numb. Her body literally ached. She was let off work a few hours early. Business was slow, she just didn't realize how slow.

Now, the bookstore was going out of business, and she had no job. No job meant no money. That wasn't good when you were the single mother of an eleven-year-old girl who needed things.

How was she going to do this? Things had already been rough, but now things were going to be completely awful unless she found a way to fix this. She would tell Dawsyn that they would have to cut back on more, that they needed to clip more coupons. Then she'd make Dawsyn go apartment searching with her for something smaller, something cheaper, even if it was on a rougher side of town. Dawsyn would hate switching schools, but she would understand. She always seemed to in the end.

She tossed her stuff down on the couch, sitting down next to it and running a hand over her head. They were going to have to move, they had been in this apartment for what seemed like forever. She really liked it, but she knew there was a possibility they were going to have to downsize. Maybe they would find a one-bedroom apartment, where Dawsyn could have the bedroom.

Well, the bookstor failed and gone out of business, causing her to come home several hours, early when she was supposed to be there late closing. But no, she was home and wondering what she was going to do. She would job search the rest of the week, and not tell Dawsyn until morning. She deserved to enjoy one last night before everything started.

Now, Meredith was just wondering what mini golf course was open this late. Maybe Derek stopped and picked something up or they had opted to see a movie instead. Either way, she needed to make a cup of tea.

She should've known to look harder for a new job when business started to slow down. She pictured it picking up once the winter came closer. Her boss had called all the employees into the back room and told them that the closing was happening, and it was effective immediately.

She looked at her phone once more, frowning slightly as she saw no update from Derek. They were probably enjoying themselves, even if Dawsyn should probably be going to bed or asleep. She just new it was late and typically Derek was great with rules when it came to Dawsyn. Then again, he wasn't expecting his…Meredith to be home and sitting in the kitchen.

She sat down at the kitchen table, resting her hands on the hot mug as she looked around. Maybe she could do this. Maybe she would find a job almost immediately and she would somehow be able to fix all of this. She stopped playing the scenario in her head when she heard the apartment door open, and Derek's voice quietly follow. She would go to him if her feet weren't so tired, he could come to her.

"Meredith..." Derek said, stopping short as he walked into the kitchen, laughing and smiling.

"Hey..." She looked up, her eyes tired as the smile faded quickly from his face. "You're back late..."

"Yeah we um...Got some food after the mini golf..."

"She has school tomorrow."

"Yeah...Sorry."

"Yeah I've heard that a lot today." Meredith sighed, looking down at the hot tea mug.

"What's going on?" Derek frowned, sitting down next to her.

"Nothing..."

"Meredith..."

"Derek, I don't want to talk about it...I just need to figure something out and I will." Meredith said quickly.

"Did something happen at work?"

"Hmm..."

"Dawsyn's putting her pajamas on. Do you want to tell me what's going on before she comes down here?"

"No..." Meredith replied. "How was mini golf?"

"Fun. It was fun...And we had a good time." Derek said.

"What's this?" Meredith frowned, looking at the receipt that he had sat down with his phone. Parking. "You paid eight dollars to park for mini golf?"

"Oh...That was from something else."

"But the date is for tonight..."

"It was from the restaurant...The line was really long so...We had to pay."

"And you took Dawsyn to mini golf..."

"Right."

"Okay...fine." Meredith shook her head, pushing her hair from her face. She was too tired to worry about why he would be so stupid as to pay that much for parking.

"Derek...I need your help hanging my..." Dawsyn said, running into the room and stopping when she saw Meredith sitting at the table.

Meredith looked up to find her daughter, holding up a large poster. Her face was red, with a little bit of glitter on it. When Meredith finally caught a glimpse of her daughter's new t-shirt, she realized it clearly was Jonas Brother's concert t-shirt. She looked to Derek then to Dawsyn. "Where did you get that?"

"Derek bought it for me...at the store." Dawsyn said quietly.

"Turn around." Meredith ordered.

"Why?"

"Turn around now." Meredith demanded.

"Okay..." Dawsyn whispered, turning around, her back facing her mother.

"Oh my God." Meredith groaned, looking at the back of the t-shirt. There were tour dates, even more proof that her daughter went to the same concert she was grounded from. "You took her..."

"We...Yeah." Derek said, realizing he couldn't hide it any longer.

"Dawsyn, I swear..."

"It was my idea, Meredith."

"Why?" Meredith snapped, pulling away from him. "Why the hell would you take her to that damn concert?"

"Should we really be discussing this right now?" Derek said, gesturing to Dawsyn.

"Dawsyn...you are in so much trouble."

"It's not her fault." Derek repeated.

"She knew better!" Meredith stood.

"She's a kid!"

"And she's not stupid! She was grounded and you knew...you knew she was grounded. Now, she has that damn shirt and she got what she wanted!" Meredith shouted, walking over to her daughter.

"She's just a kid!" Derek yelled again.

"Mommy..." Dawsyn frowned.

"What?"

"I don't want you to be mad..."

"Well, it's a little late for that." Meredith snapped.

"Dawsyn, I think you should go upstairs." Derek said quietly.

"Okay." Dawsyn nodded, tears filling her eyes.

"Yeah, I agree...I'll be up to take away things soon." Meredith groaned.

"Okay." The young girl whimpered, looking at Derek before turning around and rushing out of the room.

"Meredith..."

"Oh, don't Meredith me."

"I can explain this."

"You know you're a liar...did you even sell those tickets to another guy at work or were you bullshitting me the whole time?"

"I bought them for Daws."

"So, this is my fault?"

"She deserves to be a kid."

"She is a kid."

"Then treat her like one!"

"You...seriously?" Meredith groaned, putting a hand on her hip. "Never...have I ever taken that away from her!"

"Oh really?" Derek shouted.

"You're unbelievable."

"She shouldn't be worrying about money...She should be worrying about what color shirt she's going to wear...Being a normal kid!"

"This isn't your problem." Meredith said again.

"Yeah it is."

"How?"

"Because I love the both of you!"

"That doesn't mean you take her to a concert she was clearly grounded from!"

"This isn't just about the concert."

"Clearly!"

"You can't just let things be!"

"Oh, and what does that mean Derek?"

"You know what it means."

"You're ridiculous." Meredith rolled her eyes.

"I'm leaving." Derek breathed.

"You don't get to leave right now..."

"Watch me."

"You're selfish."

"I'm selfish?"

"You are...you really are." Meredith whispered.

"Fine..."

"You're the one who rushed things...you're the one who did everything you could to make me look bad!"

"How did I make you look bad?" Derek yelled.

"You tried to pay for everything...camping trip...groceries...bills...everything!"

"I was trying to help!"

"And after I told you no...why did you keep trying?"

"Because I was trying to keep your daughter from hearing that you couldn't afford to send her on a trip!"

"I already bought concert tickets that you bought and lied to me about!"

"I admit to that...I lied to you about it...But Dawsyn deserved a night where she didn't have to think about what brand of toilet paper you're going to have to buy!"

"She doesn't worry about toilet paper!"

"She does."

"Still...don't tell me what my daughter deserves!"

"Maybe if you thought about it I wouldn't have to tell you!"

"Maybe if you would butt out, I wouldn't have to worry about my daughter doing something she clearly wasn't allowed to do!"

"Butt out?"

"Yes...you shouldn't have taken her!"

"Fine! I shouldn't have taken her!"

"You're just now seeing that?"

"Whatever."

"From the start...all you have done is try to rush me."

"Because I'm in love with you!"

"Fine! You shouldn't have tried to rush me, and you shouldn't have done everything in your power to make me look bad!"

"That's not what I was trying to do!" Derek shouted.

"I forgave the camping trip...I did but now...this is bad."

"What do you want me to do, Meredith?"

"Try to stop screwing everything up to make yourself look good!"

"Is that really what you think I was trying to do?"

"Stupid question!"

"I'm done."

"Selfish...you just want what you want."

"If that's really what you think, then I should leave."

"It's what I know."

"If I'm selfish...at least I'm honest." Derek said, picking up his stuff from the kitchen table.

"That's..."

"You were more honest with me at the bar when you were drunk then you've been since I've met you."

"Not really."

"I'm leaving."

"Then leave!" She shouted, as she followed him into the living room. "But I will promise you one thing!"

"What's that?" Derek asked opening the front door.

"I hope you had a good time tonight." Meredith crossed her arms, her eyes wet at the corners. "You will never see my daughter again!"

"Goodbye Meredith."

"I hate you."

"Sorry to hear that."

"No you're not." Meredith whispered.

"Yeah...I am." Derek breathed.

"Leave."

"I'm going."

"Good."

"Yeah..." Derek said, shutting the door and walking away from what was his life for the past few months.