Where You Belong

102

With her back pressed up against the wall next to a shelving cart, Meredith sighed. Footsteps echoed down the connecting hallway – the hallway she had just dashed out of to hide – and she closed her eyes. What she would have done had Lexie turned down the hallway Meredith was now taking refuge in, she didn't know. All she knew was she had looked up to see Lexie turn down the hallway towards her and she had panicked.

It was ridiculous, she knew, but ever since she had given in and walked Lexie through Susan's chart and the chain of events that led to her untimely death, Lexie had doubled her efforts to push for some sort of relationship. And Meredith was at the end of her rope trying to avoid the younger surgeon.

She was finally happy. Really and truly happy. And she didn't want to take any chances with that. Happiness was hard to find; she knew that all too well.

Her birthday weekend with Derek had been amazing. Not only had she spent forty-eight uninterrupted hours alone with her husband, but she had spent forty-eight uninterrupted hours without anything to dwell on. For two entire days she had been a normal, happy woman away for a romantic weekend with her husband. And that was it. There had been wine and steaks and desserts. And sex. Lots and lots of sex.

She had returned to the hospital Monday afternoon feeling refreshed and happy.

Unfortunately, the feeling hadn't lasted long.

She hadn't even been fully changed into her scrubs when she heard from a gossiping pair of residents that George and Callie's marriage was in trouble. Cristina had quickly confirmed there was truth to the rumour.

Three days later, Erika Hahn had been invited to the hospital to perform a heart transplant, and in the first hour she was in the hospital she had offended Cristina by accusing her of sleeping her way to the top. By the end of the day, Erika Hahn had been announced at the new Head of Cardio. She wouldn't start work at Seattle Grace for a few weeks, but Cristina had already relapsed into some kind of anti-Burke depression that only made Meredith feel guilty for being happy.

A week after Hahn's visit to the hospital, Meredith and Derek finally found a place they both wanted to live – only to lose a bidding war because they were both in surgery and couldn't be contacted by their realtor.

Another set of footsteps echoed from the adjacent hallway. Meredith held her breath, and then sighed when they started down her hallway. It was too late for her to leave now. She would have to stay put and hope whoever it was wouldn't see her.

She didn't get her wish.

"Meredith, what the hell are you doing?" Izzie's voice rang out as the blond surgeon stopped in front of her, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," Meredith responded, stepping out from her unsuccessful hiding place behind the shelving cart.

"Really, because it looked like you were avoiding me."

"I wasn't avoiding you."

"You leapt out of the hallway as soon as I saw you."

Meredith had to laugh at the misunderstanding, which only caused her friend to glare at her. "I wasn't avoiding you, I promise."

"Then who?"

"Lexie."

"Ah," Izzie said in understanding. "She's still bugging you?"

"Stalking me is more like it. She won't leave me alone. And it's impossible to be mean to her. So, I'm stuck hiding from her."

"She's really not that bad."

Meredith glared at her friend. "That's not the point."

"She's your sister, Meredith. You'll feel better when you just get over yourself and stop avoiding it."