I'd rather run the other way than stay and see
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As the end of her 3-day stay in D.C. drew near, Meredith Grey didn't want to go back to Seattle. Seattle meant going back to see Derek and Addison. And wherever they were, there was pain. But Seattle also meant going back to see her friends, and going back to doing what she loved the most—surgery. She was confused and Layton was not helping her by being so kind, understanding, and supportive.
When she arrived in D.C., he picked her up from the airport, treated her for lunch and brought her to the hotel. He offered his home to her but she declined. She needed at least a bit of freedom. And it was too early for her to be accepting home-stay invitations from him, she didn't want to take advantage of him.
"Tell me something I don't know, Layton," her eyes waited for his to meet hers. His blue eyes turned to her and he smiled. They were at a restaurant downtown for lunch. She was leaving the next day and he was desperately trying to make her stay.
"You're going to be fine, Mer, you don't think it now but you'll be fine," he gently told her. He reached out and gently ran his fingers down her cheeks. "Tell me something I don't know, Meredith."
"I don't want to go back to Seattle," she said it out loud.
"Then stay here," he took her hands and enclosed it in his. "I already looked at the hospital right across my firm, their surgical wing's very promising, Mer. It's one of the best in the east coast. You can stay here, forget about Seattle."
Meredith gave her a sad smile. "If only it were that easy. My friends, Seattle is where my friends are. I can't leave them."
"Then let them come here too," he spoke quickly as if he already planned everything. "My Father's a doctor, you know. He's the head of the board of directors there. I can make a donation and they'd make room for you five."
"You don't know me all that well to be offering me the world, Layton," she looked at their hands and she untangled hers from his.
"Meredith, I'll give you the world if that's what it gets for me to know you," Layton gently told her.
"I don't want the world, the world doesn't want me..." Meredith muttered.
"Just think about it, Mer," Layton told her.
When Meredith did not say anything, Layton probably felt that it was time to talk about another thing. He took a sip from his coffee and clasped his hands together. "Do you like kids?"
Meredith looked at him, thoughts streaming into her mind.
(Flashback)
Hey, you look glum, what the hell's wrong with you?" Christina found her sitting on one of the hospital beds in the basement. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her curiously. "Hey!"
Meredith muttered a 'nothing' to Christina and rolled over to face the wall and away from Christina's unwavering gaze.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Christina repeated once again. "Did Derek go out with on a celebratory dinner with Satan again?"
"It's nothing," Meredith replied.
"If you don't tell me this instant, I'm going to barge into your husband's office and demand him to tell me what's wrong with you and tell him off about his dinner with Satan the other night," Christina warned her. Meredith gave out a sigh of defeat and turned over to face her. "Now tell me."
Meredith took a deep breathe before saying what she had to say. "I think I'm pregnant."
"WHAT!?"
"I'm not sure though. I'm 3 weeks late. I think it's just the stress though," she added quickly.
"Did you take a test?"
"Not yet."
"You've got the worst timing in the world, did you know that?"
"What?" Meredith protested. "What's wrong with my timing?" Christina shot her a look and she knew what she was talking about. "Do I tell Derek?" Meredith asked her after letting out a deep sigh.
"Not until you're sure," Christina told her. "Have you talked about having children?"
"No," Meredith shook her head. "I don't think he wants children."
"I thought you haven't talked about it? How could you even think about that?"
"He's been with Addison for 11 years, Christina, 11 years! And they didn't have any children... Doesn't that imply anything?" Meredith asked her.
"Maybe she's infertile," Christina shrugged. They both shared a look and then laughed out loud at the same time. "Seriously, maybe she is." Once again, they laughed out loud, pulling some sense of satisfaction from their momentary laughter.
Meredith went to Derek's office that afternoon. She knocked on the door a few times and entered. He looked up from the papers he was reading and smiled at her a bit. "Derek."
"What brings you here?" he asked her.
"Dinner. Tonight."
"Ahh," Derek suddenly cringed. "I've got a long night... I have a surgery... Rain check?"
"It's always raining here, Derek, we shouldn't let the rain be a reason," Meredith muttered angrily and walked out of his office. She didn't know what made her mad, that he didn't follow her or that he wouldn't be there tonight as she takes the pregnancy test.
It was around 11 PM that night that Derek arrived in the trailer. Meredith was in bed, silently shedding her tears, her thoughts running to the negative pregnancy test that was in the trash bin. She kept her eyes closed as she heard him shuffle around the small trailer, and after a few minutes, he was already in bed and beside her.
"You're still awake?" Derek quietly asked.
"How do you know?" she asked him, not turning around.
"You're not snoring," he simply said. "What's the matter?"
"It's nothing," she shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Are you sure?" he prodded.
"Yeah," she lied. "I'm alright." She didn't want to tell him that her pathetic tears were over a pathetic negative pregnancy test. She didn't even know whether or not she wanted a child at that moment or not. All she knew was that it hurt... It really hurt...
(End of Flashback)
If you keep on doing that spacing out thing," Layton's voice broke her reverie. "I'd be offended that you don't find the things I say interesting."
Meredith offered him a small apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking of something. What were you saying?"
"I said, maybe you could have dinner over at my place tonight, you could meet Ethan," Layton told her. "I bet he'll be happy to meet you, I've been telling him all about you." Layton smiled a little, probably remembering something. "He said he wanted to meet you but I told him I'd ask you first."
"How old is he again?" Meredith asked.
"See? You're not listening," Layton gently kidded her. "He's turning 6 next month. But according to him, he's already 6. He's adorable, Meredith. You'll love him."
"When can I meet him then?" Meredith asked with a smile,
"Dinner tonight."
"Meri! Meri! Wake up! Wake up!" Ethan jumped up and down on her bed. "Wake up!"
Meredith opened her eyes after a few seconds and smiled at the little boy who was jumping up and down. Once he saw that she was awake, he laid down on his stomach beside her and looked at him with his bright blue eyes. "Good morning," Meredith greeted. They had dinner last night and Meredith immediately fell in love with Layton's nephew. The little boy has immediately charmed her into just spending the night at their house.
"Good morning, Meri," Ethan greeted her. "Uncle Lay's down there. We're having pancakes!"
"Let me just go brush my teeth, okay?" Meredith asked her. Ethan nodded and watched as Meredith went into the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later. Ethan stood on the bed and stretched his arms up to Meredith and she carried him downstairs.
"Good morning, Uncle Lay!" Ethan greeted.
"Good morning," Layton greeted the two, placing the newspaper he was reading down on the table. "Did you have a good sleep last night, Mer? I made sure you had a good wake up call today..."
Meredith nodded. "You're not using him to make me stay, now are you?" Meredith smiled at Layton, pertaining to the child in her arms.
Layton raised his brow and smiled. "Is it working?"
Ethan looked at Meredith, waiting for her reply. Meredith smiled down at him. "Maybe I could stay for a few more days..."
"Did you hear that Ethan? We did it!" Layton gave Ethan a high five.
"Yay!" Ethan cheered, placing a big kiss on Meredith's cheek.
"You came back," Christina stated as she watched Meredith place her bags inside her locker. "I thought you were never coming back."
Meredith glared at her. "I've been gone for a week, Christina. It's not like I was gone for a year."
Christina scoffed. "From the looks of your ex it looked like you died. The man hasn't shaved, hasn't left his office..."
"Could you please stop mentioning him around me from now on?"
"That one week did you good, Mer. Usually it was tears that accompanied Derek's name. Now it's anger. I like it," Christina nodded appreciatively. "I'd have to say McGorgeous did his job well." In the mention of Layton's McNickname, Meredith sat down and looked Christina seriously. "What?"
"What do you think of D.C., Christina? Their surgical programs, I mean."
"You're not thinking of moving, are you?" Christina looked at her friend, trying to search her eyes of what she was planning or thinking of doing. Meredith kept still for a few seconds, not uttering a word.
"I already requested for transferal forms before I went here."
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