The Story Of Us (Grey's Anatomy one-shots)

Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore (merhayes)

Cormac Hayes was tired. Tired of being torn apart. Tired of how things have been lately. Tired of life. The news of Owen and Farouk surviving made him release the breath he didn't know he was holding, so he let himself go to the bar he had started feeling comfortable in lately. He ordered a scotch and sat down in the empty chair, immediately met with the familiar smell of lavender.
"Hey," she said as he noticed her.
"Hey" he smiled at her, finally letting himself feel comfortable in her presence. Earlier that day, when he almost died, in those few seconds when he was hanging on the side of the cliff, he had thought about everything. Everything, including her. His whole life flashed in front of his eyes, everything that led to this. Everything that led to her...

"So, everyone survived" she stated, smiling at him.
"Yeah" he smiled back at her. They spent the next few seconds in comfortable silence, letting themselves gather their thoughts.

"I" She started, pausing, not knowing if she should say it or not, "I'm glad you didn't die today, Cormac." She said, referencing what he said to her a few months earlier, when she had just gotten back to work after surviving covid. The special thing about it was that it was the first time she had called him by his first name. They always used each other's last names, until maybe now.

"Me too, Meredith," he says, referencing her words, calling her by her first name for the first time. It strikes a new emotion in her, the one she hasn't felt in a while, or ever, to be honest.

"Would you be able to forgive me if I lied to you?" He asked, his eyes looking anywhere except at her.
"I... I guess," she answered, not having any idea what all of this was about.
"I lied to you about Austin," he said lowering his tone like he was ashamed of himself. "He's not having panic attacks. He was at first but after a few visits with a shrink, he started feeling better. It's been a while since then. I didn't tell you because I didn't know if I was ready to start something with you, or anyone for that matter. Are you mad at me?" He asked, not knowing what she was thinking. In the past three years, he had gotten to know her pretty well, but some part of her was still pretty unpredictable to him.

"I don't know what to say." she started, trying to understand her own feelings. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just sad that I'm not a friend good enough for you to trust. I would've understood if you told me, you know." She said with sadness in her voice.

"You are more than s good enough of a friend for me and there's no one I trust more than you.  In all the years since Abigail died, you're the first person who got it. You make me feel less alone. You made me believe that there might be a life after Abigail. Thank you for that." Cormac said generously. Meredith just smiled, not knowing how to respond.

"This morning, my whole life flashed before my eyes. Everything that led me here, you know. Everything that led me to you. And I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I'd never get to experience what it's like to love you. That made me feel so stupid for lying to you. You're my best friend, but I'm hoping that you could be more than that." He flashed her a smile as he stopped talking.

She froze. She didn't know what to do or say. She wanted to run. That was her first response to everything: running, as fast as she could. In all the years, since Derek died, there were times, when she felt like dying, and there were some that gave her hope, but this... This was different. He was the first person since Derek that she knew she wanted to have a future with. And that still scared her, but it also excited her. He made her feel things she hasn't felt in years. Maybe this was it. Maybe it was time to stop running and just be. Maybe it was her time to be happy. And at that moment, she decided she'd never let anyone or anything take her happiness ever again from her. "I hope that too," she said after a few minutes of thinking and smiled at him.

They sat next to each other, looking one another in the eyes, forgetting the world around them. He caressed her cheek with his thumb, leaned his head closer to her, and kissed her. At that moment, there was just him and her, two lost souls that had found each other.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed <3