When They Met

Addison

A/n: @AlSRLV wrote this chapter

Derek's POV.

I don't remember much of last night, but I put the thought behind me and head downstairs. As I make it to the stairs, I smell burning eggs and...hash-browns?

"Alex! You said you would watch them, now look, they're burnt." A feminine voice scolds from the kitchen. I'm assuming that is Jo. I didn't interact with her that much of that I remember, but I assume she's nice. Meredith wouldn't be one to hang out with mean people...right?

"I was watching them!" Alex, I assume, defends.

"Well, obviously not. When was the last time you stirred the eggs or flipped the hashbrowns?" She asks, not paying attention to my entrance.

"I was supposed to do that?" He looks confused, like he's actually stunned.

"Yes. You are." She sighs, emptying the contents of the pans into the trashcan.

"I'm sorry." He looks at her guiltily, but once making eye contact with me, he hardens his look.

"Don't worry about it...Derek, is it?" Jo asks me, searching the pantry for food.

"Yeah." I respond, almost as a whisper. I need water.

"Penny really needs to stock up on some food. There's nothing here, so we're going out. Are you coming?" She still doesn't make eye contact, rinsing the pans she was using.

"Penny?" Who's Penny? Is there someone else here?

"Meredith. We call her Penny." She speaks, almost as if she were annoyed at my lack of information. Meredith never talked about them, or frankly, anything surrounding her childhood.

"Why do you call her that?" I question, extremely confused. Most nicknames are a shortened version of ones name, but 'Penny' is nowhere close to doing that for 'Meredith.'

"Well, seems you all have gotten aquatinted in my absence." Meredith speaks over my question, as if she were to be avoiding the topic. Jo shoots a knowing glance at Alex, who in turned, looked at Mer with curiosity. I feel seriously disregarded. What don't I know?

"We're heading for breakfast, go change." Alex states, heading to the fridge.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Mer walks over to him and removes the glass of OJ from his hand and earns a glare in the process.

"If you want to go dressed like a hobo, then suit yourself." He snorts, walking over to Jo and placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

"I do not look like a hobo!" She giggles, slapping him playfully as she passes them, heading towards the stairs.

"Well, I think you look beautiful, Meredith." I speak up, earning a few 'nobody asked' glances from her friends. I suddenly feel out of place, not that I felt welcome before hand...

"Thank you, Derek." She calls out from down the hall. Jo and Alex snicker in response. I decide to follow Meredith. I really want an out to this predicament.

I make it up the stairs and am taken aback by the pictures on the wall of the hallway. There's a few of Meredith as a little girl.

One picture she's in a sled, it's snowing and she's smiling. There's a man with her, he kind of looks similar to my acquaintance, George.

It's probably her dad. Other pictures consist of her and her friends. There is one person I haven't met, besides her mother and father. There's an Asian woman standing next to Mer, they're holding their diplomas. I hope she's nice.