"What are you gonna do?" Meredith said.
"Die, probably," Erin took a drag of the cigarette. Meredith had relented and allowed Erin to have one after the day they'd had.
"Don't be stupid," Meredith smiled slightly.
"I can't say yes. I barely know him. We've been together for three days, dating for like, a month. It's weird to say yes. It's insane to say yes. I'm not saying yes. But I can't say no. He'll hate me if I say no," Erin said.
"Do you like him enough to consider it in the future?" Meredith asked.
"I don't know," Erin sighed.
"What happened with Addison?" Meredith asked. Erin flicked the ash off her cigarette and watched it land on the windowsill.
"We kissed before Rob found me on Friday. I called the nursing home and mom had just said I was her daughter and I was emotional and she found me and I kind of cried and then we were like, almost kissing. And I told her to say no but she didn't, so I told her to say yes, but she didn't so I told her to leave, and she kissed me. And then Rob was coming and I told her to go but she wouldn't go and she's weirdly obsessed with my relationship and she's meant to be fixing things with Derek so why is she kissing me again?" Erin said.
"That's complicated," Meredith said.
"I know," Erin muttered.
"Well, do you like Addison?" Meredith asked.
"It doesn't matter if I did. I've cheated on Rob, she's cheated on Derek again, she wants to fix her marriage and now I might be getting dragged into one of my own," Erin rubbed her face. She huffed and put her cigarette out, climbing back into bed beside Meredith.
"Okay. Let's talk this through logically," Meredith said.
"No matter what we say or plan, it won't work. When do things ever go to plan with us? We're cursed," Erin said. Meredith chuckled.
"Yeah, we are," she said. They sat in silence for a minute.
"I can't get married. I'm twenty-two, Mermaid. I'm a child. It's ridiculous. I barely know Rob," Erin said.
"Well, yeah, that's one half of it. But you have to think about the other side," Meredith said.
"The other side?" Erin asked.
"How you feel. I get the logic but listen to your heart. We almost died today. If we're going to listen to our hearts, it should be now," Meredith said. Erin hummed.
"I saw Quinn today," she said.
"What?" Meredith asked.
"When Dylan told us to think about someone today, I thought about Quinn. It was like she was there. I was holding her but she wasn't a baby. She was a toddler. She looked like I did when I was a toddler, same hair and eyes. And she said we were brave. And she calls you Mermaid," Erin said. Meredith sighed and wrapped her arms around Erin, kissing her head.
"Was she just as cute as you?" Meredith asked.
"Cuter. Definitely cuter. And she said she loved me. I know it's not real. Quinn died, she's dead and she's in the ground. She wasn't there in that OR with us but I kind of think she was. I think she was watching us and keeping us safe today," Erin said.
"If she's anything like her mother, that's definitely something she'd be doing. You're my guardian angel, Er-bear," Meredith said. Erin smiled and kissed Meredith's cheek.
"You're mine, Mermaid," she said. Meredith smiled and ran her hands through Erin's hair.
"Come on. Bedtime. You've got to ward your boyfriend off tomorrow," she said. Erin groaned but shuffled down so her head was on the pillows.
"I really hate my life right now," she said.
"Yeah, me too," Meredith sighed.
"So," Rob sighed heavily, looking at Erin. She looked up from her dinner plate where she'd been pushing her chinese food around for the last twenty minutes. "I think we should talk," he said.
"Okay, yeah," Erin put her fork down. He sighed again.
"I was being rash," he said.
"Yeah," Erin hummed.
"You almost died. I was just worried I'd never be able to see you again. I don't love you yet, Erin, but I think I could. I really do and I know we aren't ready for marriage. I was just really stressed and worried and wanted to try and make everything better," he said.
"I get it, Rob, I do. I just don't think that marriage is the right step for us. We're still in our early days. I'm twenty-two. You work a lot. I work a lot. I want to be a surgeon. You want a family within the next few years and I've got my internship for the next six. And then residency and hopefully attending, too. That's at least ten years without kids. That's fine for me, I'm young, but you're older than me and you might not be cool with being an old dad," she said.
"I don't care about age, Erin. You should know that," he said.
"I know," she said. "It's just the truth. Being with a surgeon is not easy," she said.
"I know," he said. "So, we don't get married. That's fine. That's cool. We just carry on as we are and progress over time," he said.
"I'm cool with that," Erin smiled slightly. He sighed and rubbed his face, looking down at the table.
"There's something else," he said.
"Something else?" Erin asked.
"I had sex with another girl," he said. Erin blinked.
"You had sex with another girl?" she repeated. Her voice was eerily calm.
"Yeah. Yesterday. Before I found out about the bomb. It was a mistake and it's never going to happen again. I swear, Erin. You're so important to me and I was just stressed with work and she was there and-"
"It's fine," Erin shook her head. He blinked.
"It's fine?" he said.
"Yes. I kissed someone on Friday. Before you asked me to be your girlfriend. So, we're even," Erin shrugged. She stood up and carried her plate out to the kitchen.
"You're fine with this? You're fine with me having sex with another girl? Who did you kiss? Is it that man who we were with yesterday who told me to go home?" Rob followed her.
"I'm not fine with you having sex with another girl. You cheated on me, how would I be fine with that? I'm just saying, I kissed someone on Friday, you slept with someone yesterday, we can call it even. We don't have to fight. I don't want to fight. We fucked up. We're mature adults, we move on," she said.
"Who did you kiss?" Rob repeated.
"It's not Derek. He's married to Satan," Erin said.
"Was it Satan? You two are weirdly close," Rob muttered.
"She's like a role model to me. And I'd never kiss a married woman," Erin lied. "Besides, the age gap is a lot bigger with Addison than it is with us. I wouldn't go there," Erin said.
"So who is it?" he asked.
"Who did you sleep with?" Erin asked.
"My assistant," Rob answered.
"I kissed a nurse. He was just there, I was emotional because of my period, he was comforting me and I kissed him," Erin lied.
"You kissed him?" he said.
"You slept with another woman! How is this even an issue right now? I said we were even so just drop it before I throw a fit," Erin slammed the plate down in the sink.
"You don't even care? You don't even care that I slept with my assistant? You don't care that I liked it and I want to do it again?" he shouted.
"Well, I care now!" Erin shouted back.
"You never care! You never pay attention to me, you never go out with me anymore and you don't give a shit about anything other than work!" he shouted.
"Yes, I do! I work eighty hour weeks as a surgeon! I skipped three years of school to live my dream out and I'm not about to lose it over a fucking man-child who sleeps with his assistant and then gets pissy at me for kissing someone else. Get a grip and grow the fuck up. Either you're in with me or you're not. You wanted to marry me yesterday and now you hate me. Pick what you want and stick with it, 'cause I'm not gonna fight with you. We're adults, Rob, and we don't fight like this," Erin said.
"Fine. I want you," he said, a dark look in his eyes.
"Fine, then you have me," Erin snapped, slamming her hands onto the island. "But you can't go around having sex with your assistant like it's nothing. It is something. If it happens again, we're finished," she said.
"If you kiss someone else, we're finished," he said.
"Well, they're hardly on the same level but deal. I can't believe we have to discuss being faithful in a relationship. You know, I thought being loyal was one of the basic foundations but no, clearly it's not," Erin muttered sarcastically, moving around the kitchen as she tidied up their dishes.
"If you've got a problem, spit it out. You said we don't fight so get it all out now while we are," he growled.
"I haven't got a problem. You're making this into a problem. You cheated on me with your assistant. Don't do it again. I cheated on you with that nurse. I won't do it again. Problem fucking solved," Erin hissed. He glared at her before nodding.
"Fine," he said.
"Fine," Erin repeated, turning the sink on. She sighed and held out her hand. He handed his empty plate over and she began washing it.
"Wanna have sex?" he said.
"You better have worn protection with your assistant because if I get an STD, I'm gonna become a murderer," Erin glared at him.
"Believe me, I do not want to be getting anyone knocked up. We wore protection," he said.
"Then we can have sex once I've done the dishes," Erin said. Rob grinned.
"Cool," he said. Erin rolled her eyes and began washing the cutlery.
"You men are insane. Insane," she whispered.
"I'm exhausted," Ellis sighed, sipping her tea.
"Me, too," Meredith and Erin said.
"I was going at it all night in the on-call room. What's your excuse?" Ellis eyed her daughters. They blinked at her in surprise.
"Mom?" Meredith said.
"I tell ya that man makes me purr like a kitten," she said.
"Mom!" Erin cried.
"When he isn't making me growl like a tiger," Ellis winked.
"Oh my god, stop!" Erin whined, slapping her hands over her ears. Ellis chuckled.
"And my husband wonders why I'm not interested in him anymore," she said. Erin and Meredith looked up sharply, Erin's hands falling back to her side. "If he had any balls at all, he would leave on his own. But no. He plays stupid. he's waiting for me to kick him out. I come home with a hickey on my shoulder. A hickey! For god's sake, like I'm some sex-crazed teenager. Which, let's face it, these days, I am. And what does Thatcher do? Pretend he doesn't see it," Ellis rambled.
"I want to go home," Erin mumbled, curling into a ball on the sofa. Meredith sighed.
"Mom, we've got to get to the hospital, okay? We'll visit next weekend," she said.
"Say hello to Richard for me," Ellis smiled. They nodded and hurried out of the nursing home.
"I don't think I will be ever saying anything to the chief now I know all about his bedroom abilities," Erin rubbed her temples.
"Yeah, me either," Meredith said.
"I see a baby!" Erin gasped, almost dropping the files in her hands. She shoved them to George and ran up the corridor towards Bailey and baby Tuck. "Oh, the little man is absolutely gorgeous!" she cooed. Bailey grinned and handed him over to Erin.
"I need to pee," she said. Erin nodded and bounced Tuck while Bailey hurried to the toilet. The others joined them and then Bailey came back. "The ORs back up and running?" she asked.
"Yeah, just some smoke damage to the corridor," Meredith nodded, stroking Tuck's cheek.
"And you two? Are you up and running?" Bailey eyed them.
"Yeah," Meredith smiled.
"Yes we are, yes we are," Erin cooed to Tuck. Bailey watched with a sad smile. Erin would've been doing this with her own baby in just over a month's time if things hadn't gone wrong.
"Get to work," Bailey eyed the other interns. They nodded and began moving. "You stay, Erin," she said.
"Gotcha," Erin grinned at Tuck, stroking his cheek again. Bailey waited until the other five interns had left the corridor.
"I heard you got engaged," Bailey said. Erin snorted.
"Rob proposed but it was the adrenaline and stuff talking. We aren't getting married," she said.
"You should tell that to Addison. She has been stomping around this place with a look that rivals mine," Bailey said. Erin rolled her eyes.
"Addison is none of my concern. She's fixing her marriage," she said. Bailey nodded.
"And you're happy with Rob?" Bailey asked. Erin shrugged.
"I'm happy. It's better than going home to an empty bed every night, at least. Love will come later, if we let it, but we enjoy what we have and that's what matters," Erin said.
"That's good. You're young and you should make your mistakes now," Bailey said. Erin smiled and bounced Tuck.
"You know, I think Quinn is the best mistake I ever made," she said. Bailey smiled slightly.
"She wasn't a mistake. She was an accident. A happy accident," Bailey said. Erin giggled and Tuck smiled at her.
"Yes she was, yes she was," she cooed. Her pager beeped and she sighed, checking it quickly. "I better get going. One of my patients wants to know if he can have cigarettes after having his lung replaced. No, sir," Erin pouted at Tuck.
"I have a question before you go," Bailey said. Erin looked up.
"Yeah?" she said. Bailey cleared her throat.
"You can say no-"
"Okay, I can't say no. You're Bailey. We say yes, regardless of what the job is. You're our hospital mom," Erin said.
"No," Bailey said.
"Yes. Hospital mom," Erin grinned.
"Back to my question," she said.
"Back to your question," Erin said.
"George helped me deliver Tuck. That's why his middle name is George. But I was hoping that you would consider being Tuck's godmother," she said. Erin bit her lip.
"You don't want anyone else? You want me? The train-wreck, child genius with mommy and daddy issues?" Erin said. Bailey chuckled.
"Yes, I want you to be Tuck's godmother. You're my favourite, remember?" she said. Erin smiled widely and hugged Bailey before she could object.
"You're my favourite, too, Bailey. I'd love to be his god-mother," Erin said. She handed Tuck back to a blushing Bailey. "I would love to spend some time with my god-son but I think I better go and rescue the nurses from the smoker. He's an angry guy," Erin said.
"Stare him down," Bailey advised.
"I will," Erin grinned, running away to get to her patient before the nurses paged her again.
"Mermaid!" Erin hurried over to Meredith, who was talking to a man with greying blonde/brown hair and big blue eyes.
"Erin!" Meredith smiled.
"Who's the pretty lady?" the man grinned at Erin.
"My baby sister. My baby, very big baby, sister, who has a boyfriend," Meredith said. Erin grinned back and held her hand out.
"Erin Grey, nice to meet you," she said.
"And you must be Meredith," the man turned to Meredith.
"Yes," she said. Derek charged over and punched the man in the face.
"Woah!" Erin screeched, jumping back in surprise. "Holy shit, Mcdreamy! Killer right hook," she knelt down to check the man's face. "Oh, he did a real number on you, man," she whispered.
"What the hell was that?" Meredith shouted.
"That was Mark," Derek panted. Erin stood up and stepped back from the man immediately.
"As in, cheating on you with Mark, Mark?" Erin said.
"The very one," Mark grunted.
"Oh," Erin said. "Well, I think I'm gonna go and have a cigarette so I can escape this weird atmosphere," Erin said.
"Don't you dare-" Meredith started, but Erin was already halfway to the doors. "Erin, you're a nightmare!" Meredith groaned.
"Love you, too!" Erin grinned back, slipping out of the doors.
"Grey, my service," Addison barked as Erin hurried down the hallway.
"Just dropping these labs off!" Erin ran to the nurses desk and handed them to the nurse. She ran to keep up with Addison, skidding to a stop at her side. Addison didn't even look at her. "What case are we on?" she asked.
"A girl has uncontrollable orgasms. We need to work out why," Addison said. Erin raised her eyebrows.
"As in how?" Erin asked.
"As in, she has orgasms," Addison said.
"Yeah, I gathered that part. How are they uncontrollable? Won't that be something in the brain? A nerve or something?" Erin said.
"Perhaps. That's what we're going to find out," Addison said stiffly. "Get her down for a CT and MRI with Stephens and O'Malley," she said.
"Got it," Erin nodded. She grabbed the file for the girl and walked into her room. "Hey, I'm Dr. Erin Grey and I'm gonna be taking you down for your MRI and CT. You ready to go?" Erin smiled at the girl.
"Yeah," she smiled back.
"Great. Let's get you down there," Erin stepped forward and began wheeling her down towards the lift.
"Stop, stop," Erin pushed Rob off of her.
"What?" he groaned.
"My phone is ringing," Erin slid out of her bed and grabbed her phone from her scrub pants. She flicked it open, answering the call without seeing who it was. "Hello?" she said.
"Erin?" Meredith cried.
"Meredith? Are you okay?" Erin asked.
"I went to see dad," she said.
"Oh, shit. Where are you?" Erin asked.
"I'm gonna go to the bar. I know you're with Rob so, so stay with Rob and I'll be home later," Meredith said.
"Mermaid, I can come to the bar if you need me to," Erin said quietly, looking at Rob still lying on the bed waiting for her to finish her call so he could have sex with her again.
"I'm okay. I'm okay, I promise. He just turned me away like I meant nothing. I'm just kind of coming to terms with the fact that maybe he did want to leave. Maybe it wasn't just mom's affair. Maybe it was us, too," Meredith sniffed.
"Okay, I'm coming to the bar," Erin said, reaching for her underwear.
"No! No, I'm gonna be home in two hours. Stay with Rob and I'll say hello when I get back. Promise me you'll stay with Rob?" Meredith said.
"You're upset. Of course I'm going to come and comfort you," Erin scoffed.
"No, you're not. I'm being a brat. You stay with Rob and I'll be home later. Please, darling, just listen to me," Meredith said. Erin closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
"Are you sure?" she said.
"Yes," Meredith said instantly.
"Okay. Come and talk when you come home," Erin said.
"I will. Love you," Meredith said.
"Love you, too," Erin ended the call and threw her phone back onto the floor.
"You going?" Rob asked.
"No," Erin turned back to him and climbed onto the bed. He grinned and pulled her beneath him, settling himself between her legs.
"Good," he grinned.
The doorbell rang and they both groaned.
"I'll go," Erin muttered. She climbed out of bed and yanked Rob's shirt on, buttoning it up as she walked down the stairs. The blinds on the front door were shut so she opened the door, not knowing who was on the other side. "Addison?" Erin blinked.
"You're..." Addison trailed off, catching sight of Erin's legs in the shirt that barely brushed her thighs. It was clear she was naked underneath and Erin knew that the collection of hickeys on her collarbones and thighs were not making a good impression. She shuffled to hide a bit behind the door.
"Are you okay?" she said.
"I shouldn't have come here. You're with Rob and-"
"Addison, what's wrong?" Erin said.
"Nothing, nothing," Addison shook her head.
"Baby? Who is it?" Rob called.
"I'll be back now, wait there!" Erin called up the stairs.
"Hurry up! It's cold up here without you," Rob said. Erin turned back to Addison with flushed cheeks.
"I'm sorry for coming," Addison said, turning and walking away.
"What's wrong?" Erin called after her.
"Nothing," Addison waved her hand. Erin watched her get in her car and drive away. She sighed and closed the front door, leaning her head against the wooden pane.
"Erin, come on!" Rob called.
"I'm coming, shut up!" Erin shouted. She groaned and walked back upstairs to deal with her boyfriend.
"George and I had sex. And it was really bad," Meredith flopped on the bed beside Erin. Erin opened one eye, taking note that Rob was gone and there was a note on the side saying he was working early. Yeah, right. She knew he was going to screw his assistant again.
"You had bad sex with George?" Erin mumbled.
"Yes. You can't tell anyone," Meredith said. Erin mimed zipping her lips shut.
"Addison turned up here last night. After we got off the phone. She left without really saying much," Erin mumbled.
"Why would she turn up?" Meredith asked. Erin shrugged.
"Probably because her ex boyfriend has turned up asking for her to give him another chance and her husband is clearly still in love with you," Erin said. She groaned and stretched her arms, the blankets falling from her chest.
"Holy shit. Did you get mauled or something?" Meredith poked the collection of hickeys on Erin's chest.
"Rob's possessive," Erin yawned, rolling onto her stomach and burying her face into her pillow.
"Yeah, I can see," Meredith trailed a finger along one of the scratch-marks on Erin's back.
"Oh, they're from when I fell over trying to move the fridge yesterday," Erin said.
"How?" Meredith asked. Erin shrugged.
"It's me. How do I do anything?" Erin said.
"Good point," Meredith said.
"Erin," Bailey called. Erin spun around, grinning as she saw Bailey charging towards her with Addison behind her. It wasn't that that made her happy. It was baby Tuck in her arms, cooing happily.
"Oh, there's my baby boy," Erin scooped him out of Bailey's arms, kissing his fluffy hair gently.
"I need you to watch him while I do something with your mistress," Bailey nodded her head at Addison, lingering a little bit away so she didn't have to talk to Erin.
"She turned up at my house last night. Interrupted the deed with Rob," Erin whispered.
"What did she say?" Bailey asked.
"Nothing. That she was sorry she came and then she left. I think Mark being here has thrown her," Erin whispered. Bailey rolled her eyes.
"All of this drama. I won't be long. He should be alright in regards to feeding and changing. If he does, I assume you know how to make a bottle and change a diaper?" Bailey asked.
"Yeah, I've been practising while I've been on peds a lot," Erin said.
"Good. I'll page you when I'm done," she said.
"Okay. Say by mommy," Erin waved Tuck's chubby hand and Bailey grinned, poking Tuck's stomach before leading Addison away. "What should we do today? Should we go and see if there are any surgeries for us to watch? I know mommy takes you to them a lot and tells you all about how smart we are," Erin cooed. Tuck babbled something ineligible back.