what i'm here for

Chapter 14: Late nights

Meredith glanced over at her silent best friend, slumped over in the passenger seat; forehead leaned up against the glass. Cristina hadn't said much after she'd awoken from her fretful sleep and demanded they vacate the apartment. So they had quickly and efficiently packed up Cristina's most important belongings and shoved them into Derek's car, which they were now driving back to Meredith's house. Well, Meredith was driving, Cristina was... drifting. She hadn't said a word since she had closed the car door and jammed on her seatbelt. Meredith got it; at least she hoped she did. It was some sort of closure thing that Cristina was doing so silently. Leaving the apartment. Moving out. It was a closure thing. It had to be. She could only hope it was a good thing.

She sighed, glancing tiredly at the clock. It was well after midnight. She had gotten about an hour of sleep on Cristina's couch before Cristina had jolted her awake. It wasn't near enough, even for her intern adapted body. Not when she had been burning the candle at both ends trying to study for the exam, deal with Susan's death and then throw a party the night before. She was exhausted.

She wondered what had happened to Derek. She had called him, but had gotten his voice mail. She assumed he was in surgery, and wondered if he was still at the hospital. Her phone had been turned off all evening, not wanting to be distracted. Cristina deserved her utmost attention right now. But still...she could really do with hearing his voice right now. She almost smiled at the thought, and settled for a content sigh.

Remaining silent, Meredith easily navigated the streets toward her house, pullied into the driveway and shut off the engine. Before she could speak, Cristina was up and out of the car, already opening the back door to pull out her overnight bag. Meredith followed as quickly as she could.

"You mind if we leave everything else till tomorrow? I'm too tired to unload tonight." Cristina said more than asked. Meredith was still stepping out of the car.

Meredith nodded. "I'm sure its okay. Derek's probably stuck at the hospital anyway. He won't care if his car is full."

Cristina seemed to jolt a bit, as if just noticing she had not been in Meredith's jeep, and that the vehicle before them was, in fact, Derek's car. "Good," she finally said. And with that she was striding up to the front door.

Meredith hurried after her best friend, quickly opening the door and ushering the two of them inside. It was dark in the front hall and the whole house smelled of baked goods. She sighed, hoping Izzy was reacting to the stress of the non-wedding and not something else. If something else was going on, then she felt guilty, because she hadn't noticed.

Meredith pushed past Cristina, just meaning to stick her head in the door to check on her roommate, but was surprised when Cristina pushed her through the door.

"Hey!" Izzy exclaimed. "You guys are here. Awesome. You want some muffins? Or cupcakes? Or maybe some cake, I made two; different flavours. I'm trying out some new recipes."

"Calm down, Martha Stewart," Cristina said. "Who're you trying to impress." But she made her way to the counter anyway, picking out a cupcake with yellow frosting.

"Izzy, what are you doing up so late?" Meredith questioned.

Izzy shrugged, avoiding the question. "Just feel like baking."

"You know, Izzy, you should stay up all the time baking, like all baking and no sleeping. You could make a living at it. Cause these are good cupcakes," Cristina was already starting on her second, this time she chose one with purple frosting.

"Are you okay?" Izzy asked after a stretch of silence in the kitchen, the only noise being Cristina's hurried chewing.

Cristina nodded. "Yes, Izzy, I'm fine, and no, I don't want to talk about it. But I will take you up on a piece if cake."