Locked Away

Chapter 35

"Don't hurt me! Please! Don't cut my hair!" Meredith screams.

"I'm not going to cut your hair. It's okay Mer!" Mark hands the scissors to Carolyn, who puts them down on the counter. "The scissors are gone now. No one will cut your hair or hurt you. I promise Mer. I was just going to cut the tags off of the blanket. That's all I was going to do."

Meredith's breathing slowly starts to calm back down to a normal speed. "You promise?" She asks, looking up at Mark.

"I promise." Mark smiles at her. "Would you want to cut the tags off of the blanket yourself? Would that make you feel better?"

Meredith hesitates and then nods.

Mark goes to get the scissors and then hands them to Meredith. Meredith takes them and cuts the tags off of the blanket.

"Thank you for my blanket Mark. I really love it. It's really soft." Meredith says softly.

"You're welcome Mer! I'm glad you like it! I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too." Meredith says softly. "I'm sorry. I'm just scared. I- I don't do well with men. I mean I'm getting better with Derek but I haven't seen you much yet. And cause of Finn I'm really scared of men." She rambles.

"Don't apologize Mer. I completely understand. You'll get used to having me around. After all, I am your big brother. You can't get rid of me that easily." Mark jokes to her.

"Hey Mer, I have an idea. Why don't we look at these old pictures of all of you kids. That might help you become more used to being around Mark and Derek again." Carolyn suggests.

"That's a great idea Ma." Derek says with a smile.

"Yeah... I like that idea." Meredith says.

"Can I sit next to you Mer?" Derek asks.

Meredith nods.

Derek goes and sits next to her on the couch. "You... You can use some of my blanket if you want." Meredith says softly.

"Thank you!" Derek pulls some of her blanket over him. "Great choice on the blanket Mark!"

"Only the best for Meredith!" Mark says.

Carolyn comes back into the room. "Okay! I grabbed few photo albums for us to look at." She smiles at Meredith and Derek sharing the blanket.

Carolyn sits down on the other side of Meredith and Mark sits next to Carolyn.

"Okay, can everyone see?" Carolyn asks.

Everyone nods.

"Look at Amelia! She was so little! She must have been what - four here?" Derek says.

"Yeah, she just turned four." Carolyn says with a big smile.

They look through a few more pages.

"Awwww. It's Meredith, Amelia, and Derek. What are you guys doing?" Mark asks with a chuckle.

"The girls were trying to bury me in the sand. It was Amelia's idea I think." Derek says, laughing. "We had gone to the beach for Amelia's eighth birthday."

"It was Amelia's idea." Meredith says smiling. "And then she sat next to them still buried in the sand eating her ice cream. I remember Derek begging her to let him out so he could have ice cream too." She laughs.

"Meredith, do you know what my first memory of you was?" Mark asks.

"What?" She asks.

"It was the very first day we met you. You six and Derek and I were eleven." Mark says. "You had just moved in next door with your mom."