Where You Belong

90

Meredith felt her heart leap as the phone she had pressed to her ear stopped ringing after only three rings. She knew from experience it took six rings to get to voicemail. She had reached the voicemail more times than she could count.

"Hello?" Izzy's voice filtered through the phone.

"Finally! I've been calling you for days."

"Meredith! Hey! How's New York?"

Meredith sputtered slightly. "Do you not realize I've been leaving you messages for three days?"

"I tried to call you back."

"Once." Meredith had been trying to get a hold of Izzy and Cristina since the lay over between her second and third flight between Hawaii and New York. She was worried about her best friend. That morning, she had discovered a missed call from Izzy, but no message, on her cell phone.

"I'm on vacation; what do you expect?"

Meredith sighed. "Is she okay?"

"Cristina? She's fine."

"Really?" Meredith knew she had made the right decision to join Derek in New York, but she still felt guilty for abandoning her best friend. "Is she there? Can I talk to her?"

"She's out on the beach," Izzy responded. "I just came up because I forgot my sunglasses."

"Is she...mad at me?"

Izzy sighed, and there was a long delay before she responded, "No."

"Okay, I so don't believe you."

"She's not mad. At you. She's mad at Burke. And I...I mean, I'm her friend, but it's clear she'd rather you be here than me. But she gets it. And we can do...single stuff; that you wouldn't be interested in doing and wouldn't be fun with you moping around because you miss McDreamy."

Meredith sighed. "She told you to tell me that."

Izzy laughed. "Some of it. You're where you need to be right now. And we're where we need to be right now. Cristina is doing fine. She's pissed at Burke. And she's pissed at herself for letting it get to that. But she's not pissed at you."

"And she's okay?"

"She's okay. I promise. We're having a good time, actually. Lots of fruity drinks and cute boys to keep us amused."

Meredith sighed and lay back on the bed. The day was getting cooler, and the Shepherds were planning an outdoor barbeque for dinner. Meredith had headed upstairs to get a sweater for the evening when she had decided to try Izzy one more time. "Good."

"So, how's New York?"

"New York is...good."

"How happy was Derek to see you?"

"He was...happy." Meredith smiled at the memory. "Really happy. I was afraid he'd be mad, but he wasn't." She had never expected a negative reaction to her appearance, but maybe the cold shoulder for a day. Despite knowing just how good a man Derek was, she had still be surprised by the level of understanding she had received. He had been ecstatic to see her. They had talked through everything that had happened. He had admitted she had hurt him, but hadn't held a single thing against him.

"And how are you doing with his family?"

"Surprisingly well. It's...not what I expected. They're really nice. And I...I think they like me. They definitely don't hate me."

"Why would they hate you?"

"Because...families don't like me."

Izzy huffed. "Give yourself more credit."