It's been a long time

Chapter 7

Meredith 18, Derek 19

"I miss you." Meredith said into the phone. Meredith was in the middle of her senior year of high school, and Derek was in the middle of his freshman year of college at Dartmouth. "I miss you too, Mer. How's school going?" He asked. "It's fine. Boring. Don't have many friends." Meredith answered. "What about you?" She asked. "It's fun. I love it. I've been taking some bio classes and anatomy classes, and I'm doing really well. My roommate, Mark, is my closest friend right now." Derek explained. "I wish you were here." Derek added. He missed Meredith more than words could say. "Me too Der. Maybe I'll go to the same college. I'll have to see if I get in." Meredith replied. "I hope you do." Derek said.

"Well, I gotta go study for this stupid AP bio test. I miss you and I love you." Meredith said. "Wait! Do you want to come visit this weekend? It's not too far away." Derek asked before Mer hung up the ohone. "Sure. What days?" She asked. "Well I was thinking you could come on Saturday morning and then sleepover until Sunday? It's Thursday so you have time to pack and everything." Derek explained. "Sounds good. Bye Der. Love you." Meredith said. "Love you too." Derek replied as she hung up the phone.

"Yo Derek! Who were you talking to?" Mark asked. "My girlfriend." Derek replied with a smile. "Who is she?" Mark asked. "Her name is Meredith. We've been dating for 3 years." Derek answered. "Is she our age?" Addison, marks girlfriend asked. "No. She's a senior in high school." Derek replied. "Oooooh Shep. Going for the younger girls. I like it." Mark yelled. "I've known her since she was 4, when she moved in across the street. We've been best friends since. We started dating when she was a sophomore and I was a junior." Derek explained. Addison nodded. "You think she'll come here for college?" Addison asked. "She's thinking about it. She's probably going to be a pre med too." Derek replied. "That's awesome Derek." Addison replied as she snuggled up to Mark on the couch. "She's actually coming to visit this weekend, if that's okay." Derek said. "Sure! Does she drink?" Mark asked. "Yes, she does." Derek replied with a chuckle. "Do you think she passed as 21 or do we drink here!" Mark asked. "I don't know. She's small." Derek replied. "Okay." Mark replied.

Meredith was tired. It was Friday afternoon and she started packing a bag for when she visited Derek. Her phone rung and she jogged over to answer it. "Hello?" She answered. "Hi Meredith. Your mother here won't eat for some reason, and she needs to eat so she can take her meds. Do you think you can swing by and try to encourage her?" The receptionist asked. "Uh, yeah I can come by. I'll be there soon." Meredith replied with a sigh as she hung up the phone.

Meredith quickly finished packing and started to her car when she was met by Carolyn. "Hi Meredith!" She called as she walked over. "Hi Carolyn. How are you?" Meredith asked. "Good dear. How about you? Where you headed?" She asked. "I'm good. Uh my mom isn't eating so I have to go try to make her eat, which isn't going to happen but it doesn't hurt to try. Oh, and uh I domt know if Derek told you but I'm going to visit this tomorrow morning and sleepover until Sunday." Meredith explained. "I'm sorry about your mother Mer. And Derek did tell me. He was very excited about it." Carolyn said with a smile. "Well, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later?" Meredith asked. "Of course dear." Carolyn said as she pulled her into a hug. Meredith smiled and got into her car.

20 minutes later, she arrived at rose ridge and entered the building. "Ms Grey. Your mother is right this way." The receptionist said as she led Meredith into the dining area.

Meredith walked over to her mom at the table and sat down. "So mom, the nurses tell me you haven't been eating." Meredith said. "No time. I have 2 surgeries in an hour. I have to study." Ellis said. "No, mom, you don't. You have to eat so you can take your meds." Meredith insisted. "Meredith, go away. I don't have time to coddle you." Ellis replied. "Mom-." Meredith started before a punch to face. "Meredith, go away!" Ellis yelled. Meredith brought her hand up to her cheek in disbelief. "Okay mom. See you later." Meredith said.

She went out the door and into the car to drive home. She got home and cleaned the cut up that her mother left from her ring. She sighed and went to cook dinner, which consisted of box Mac and cheese.

Meredith sat down and right when she was about to eat, the doorbell rang. She grumbled and answered the door. "Meredith, can you take this-." Carolyn started. "Oh my dear, what happened to your face?" Carolyn gasped. "Oh. My mother wasn't too happy to see me." Meredith explained with a nervous chuckle. "Does it hurt?" She asked as she examined the wound. "No. It's fine." Meredith lied. "Okay." She said skeptically. "Anyways, I was just wondering if you could bring this to Derek? I made it myself for him." Carolyn asked as she handed over a box full of cookies. "Sure." Meredith replied. "Okay. You Sure your okay?" Carolyn asked before leaving. "Yes. I'm okay." Meredith replied as Carolyn left.

Meredith went back to her mac and cheese and dug in.

Meanwhile, Carolyn was busy texting Derek. "Make sure Meredith is okay tomorrow. I think she had a fight with her mom." Carolyn sent. Derek instantly replied. "Is she okay? What happened?" Derek sent back. "Not entirely sure. Showed up at her doorstep to ask her to bring you something and she had a nasty cut on her cheek. It was swollen and red. She said her mother wasn't happy with her." Carolyn explained. "Damn. I'll make sure she's okay. Thanks for looking out for here." Derek replied. Carolyn shut her phone and continued making dinner for the rest of her family.

Meredith got into bed and sent Derek a text. "Going to bed. See you tommrow ❤️." Derek once again instantly replied. "Goodnight. Love you so much." He replied. Meredith smiled and put the phone down and shut her eyes.