I'll Look After You

Chapter 10

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!?"