In A Faith Forgotten Land

7

Present Time

Meredith coughed violently as smoke filled the trailer. She looked up at Addison with wild panicked eyes. "We have to get out of here!" She grabbed the redhead's arms and tried to guide her towards the door, but she stayed frozen in place. "Addie! Baby we have to go!" She coughed heavily as tears rose in her eyes, soon cascading down her cheeks. "Baby please! Come on!"

"We can't." Addison whispered as she reached up to cup Meredith's face in her hands, brushing the blonde's tears away with the pads of her thumbs. "I am so sorry, but I heard Derek's shotgun. If we go out there, he's going to shoot us."

"So no matter what, we die?" Meredith's eyes widened as Addison nodded. She let go of Addison's arms, a lost look in her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

"Come lay down darling." Addison said gently as she led Meredith over to the bed, helping her lay down before climbing into the bed next to her and pulling a blanket over their entire bodies. "It's probably going to get unbearably hot under here very quickly, but it's better than breathing in all that smoke." She pulled the blonde into her arms and just held her. "I am so sorry." Her voice broke as a painful sob escaped her throat. "Baby I am so fucking sorry."

"It's not your fault." Meredith whispered. "You didn't do anything wrong." She reached up to run her hand over Addison's face. "This isn't your fault." She stated firmly as she leaned in and lightly kissed the redhead on the lips. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"You can tell me anything and I promise that I'll take it to the grave." Addison joked with a wry smile causing Meredith to give off a watery giggle. "I knew that Meredith Grey, child of darkness, would get a kick out of that." She chuckled and kissed the blonde's forehead. "What's your secret?"

"I was using you too." Meredith confessed as she stared into Addison's eyes, her emerald green irises cutting through the dim darkness under the blanket. "When we first started seeing each other, I was using you. I was just so angry at Derek for lying to me and turning me into the hospital laughing stock that sleeping with his wife behind his back seemed like a good way to get revenge. Even if he didn't know that I was sleeping with you, it still made me feel better, at first anyways. After the first couple of times we slept together, I stopped caring about the fact that Derek hurt me because I was too busy falling in love with you." She smiled softly. "Are we really going to die, Addie?" Her cracking voice broke Addison's heart. "We were supposed to have forever."

"I know babygirl, I know we were." Addison choked on a sob and pulled Meredith closer to her. "But it's either we stay in here and burn or we go out there and Derek shoots us. If I'm going to die anyway, I'd rather spend whatever moments I have left with you."

"What if we call 911?" Meredith asked, her voice the smallest and most vulnerable that Addison had ever heard it. "They might make it in time, they could get us out." She coughed and buried her face in the redhead's chest.

"We're in the middle of nowhere Mer, they wouldn't make it in time. I am so sorry." Addison sobbed. "Please forgive me. I never wanted this. I am so sorry." The redhead cried into Meredith's hair, coughing heavily as smoke continued to crowd the trailer, the air under the blanket becoming thick and suffocating.

"Stop blaming yourself!" Meredith snapped as the stress began to wear her down. "This is not your fault! You didn't set the trailer on fire, Derek did. This is Derek's fault, you are not to blame for that dick for brains being able to handle rejection." She coughed. "Even if this was your fault, I told you earlier that I would forgive you for anything. At least we're together." She intertwined her fingers with Addison's and closed her eyes as they settled into a heavy silence. After a couple minutes Meredith quickly sat up and lifted her head from under the blanket only to find the trailer completely overcome with thick, black smoke and the flicker of flames. She coughed loudly and violently, her eyes watering as she was taken over by a sudden wave of lightheadedness. Addison pulled her back under the blanket and hit her on the back as she continued coughing.