I'll Look After You

Chapter 7

I'll look after you
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"She ruined her marriage and now she's ruined mine," Meredith scoffed. Her drunkenness getting the better part of her. She looked over at Layton and gave her a lopsided grin. It's been two days since Meredith last saw Derek. She heard that he went on a little soul-searching trip and left SGH on the trustful hands of Burke. "You probably think I'm nuts now."

"I don't think you're nuts, Mer," he shook his head and placed a kiss on her forehead. Something that a friend would do. Because that's what they've decided to be. For now, anyway. "You're human. And you have the right to act like this when you've been stepped on."

"Spoken like a true lawyer," she giggled a little. She leaned her head on his shoulder and she continued on giggling. "You know. It's nice having you around."

"It's nice having me around, too," he playfully bantered.

"You're hopeless," Meredith rolled her eyes and propped herself up and looked at him. "You're still in a suit, you know. I haven't seen you in nothing but a suit. It makes me wonder if you have any regular clothes..." Her head leaned sideways a little. "Do you?"

"Business trips equals business suits, Meredith, all I have with me are suits, unless you want me to come here in my sleeping attire," he teased. "Do you?"

"If it'll get you out of that suit," Meredith shrugged. "Then why the hell not!" She then realized something and her eyes went wide in horror. "You don't sleep in the nude, right?" Her facial expression made Layton laugh out loud, his smooth laugh that Meredith always desired to hear. He shook his head at her and just continued on smiling. She playfully hit him on the arm. "What!"

"My sleeping attire constitutes silk pajamas with my initials embroidered in the front pocket," he told her. She didn't know if he was joking or not but she shrugged and accepted his answer. As long as he didn't sleep in the nude then he could come to Joe's in his sleeping attire.

"Derek wore flannel pajamas and an old ratted shirt," she muttered. The pain in her eyes from earlier were there again. She picked up an olive and threw it back down. She looked sheepishly at Layton. "I'm sorry, I'm going nuts again."

"Meredith? Have you considered going on a vacation? You know, take some time off and do some soul-searching, I heard it helps a lot," he said. When she didn't look at him, he figured she wasn't open to the idea. "Or not."

"Where do you think should I go?" she suddenly asked.

"Anywhere," Layton told her. "Anywhere you want to go, Mer. Just take some time off for yourself. Maybe it'll help."

"Someplace where I could think, huh?" she asked him as if making a mental note and thinking of where exactly she should go. "Heaven looks promising." She joked.

"At the way you're talking and thinking," Layton looked at her seriously. "It's not heaven you're going to, it's the one under." He turned in his seat and he turned her to face him, his hands firmly held on to her shoulders, and he looked at her, really looked at her. His blue eyes boring into hers. "Don't you dare do anything drastic, Meredith Grey, your husband could rot in hell. But you? You don't deserve anything of that sort."
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