Merlex [Meredith and Alex fanfic]

Chapter 5 ~ Perfect Penny [Guess Who's Comin' To Dinner]

• Meredith POV •
[flashback] I was at the hospital were Derek died. In his room. Then she came in. The doctor who killed him. Ready to unplug him. Dr. Penny Blake.

It's the day before New Years Eve so I decide to throw a dinner party.

So far Maggie, Amelia and Alex are here (because they live here). Arizona, April, Jackson, Owen, Bailey, Ben and Edwards (Stephanie) are also here.
I'm getting out some ingredients when the doorbell rings. 'Must be Callie.' I think.
"I'll get it!" I say.
When I open the door I'm shocked.
"Uh..Hi!" I say trying to be normal.
"Hey Mer!" Callie says. "Meredith this is Penny. Penny, Meredith." She says to her new girlfriend. And if you haven't guessed already. Callie's girlfriend Penny is the same Penny that killed my husband.
"Come in." I tell them. "I you can put your coats in there." I say gesturing to the family room. "Would you like anything to drink? Beer? Margarita?"
"Oh, Margarita sounds nice but I'm on call so club soda with lime for me." Says Callie.
"Nothing for me." Penny says.
"Come on! I'm the one on call not you." Callie says to her. "White wine for her." She tells me.
"Coming right up." I say.

I walk into the kitchen where Amelia is freaking out.
"This looks like ingredients for dinner not actual dinner!" She says pointing at the counter.
"Then roll up your sleeves and chop some stuff! Help me out here!" Exclaims Maggie.
"Food preparation is not one of my strong suits." Amelia tells her.
I roll my eyes and grab two wine glasses.
"Need some help?" Edwards asks me.
I hand her the glasses. "Club soda with lime for Callie and white wine for her friend." I tell her and she goes off to get it while I make some margaritas.
While blending I stare at Penny and Alex notices.
"You're acting weird." He says.
"No I'm not." I say.
"You're smiling, a lot." He tells me.
"Well I am having a dinner party." I tell him.
"Yeah but you're smiling like you're in a hostage video or something. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong!"
I pour up the drinks and set them out then head back to the kitchen where Amelia continues to panic over the food.
"We should order pizza! Let's just order pizza! How many pizzas should I order? I'll order ten! Ten pizzas!"
"I'll cook." Says April. "Stephanie, you'll assist."
"And to think, I thought I was off work!" Says Edwards.
"I'll help." I offer and begin to chop stuff.
"Mer, you don't even know how to cook." Alex tells me.
"I can cook just fine." I tell him and then cut my finger. I drop the knife.
"See, I told you so." Alex says grabbing a paper towel and wrapping my finger.
"You just distracted me." I tell him as he leads me to the bathroom. He cleans the cut with alcohol swabs which burns.
"Ouch!" I say pulling away.
"Suck it up!" Alex says laughing and puts a bandaid on it. "There. Done. All better." He says to me putting away the first-aid kit.
"Thank you." I tell him.
"Do me a favour though. Don't try and cut food anymore." He laughs and so do I.
"Cross my heart." I say.
Then we head back to the so called 'party'.

A few minutes later April calls us all to the table for dinner. There are carrots and peas and corn and potatoes and chicken. I sit down and take up some food.
"Could you pass the rolls Calliope?" Penny asks in her polite 'perfect Penny' way.
"Awe, Calliope, I used to call her that." Says a drunk Robbins as Callie passes the bread down the table.
"Yeah," starts Penny. "It's kinda like a joke with us because my name is Penelope."
"Penelope Blake! That's how I know you! Your name is in my calendar. I have a meeting with you on Monday." Bailey says.
"A - a meeting about what?" I stammer nervously.
"Dr. Blake here may be joining the residents program at Grey Sloan." Says Bailey.
"Yeah, the hospital I was previously working at was shut down." Penny tells us.
"Oh, really? Where were you working before?" Jackson asks.
"Dillard - Dillard Medical Centre." I but in. I just couldn't hold back anymore.
"Wait, isn't that where?.." April begins.
"Yes. That's where Derek died." I cut her off. "Please excuse me." I say abruptly pushing back from the table and then I run upstairs.

• Alex POV •
Everyone sits in silence for a moment just looking at one another. Then a hash whisper breaks out as people whisper to whoever's next to them.
"I'm gonna go check on Mer." I say, getting up, to no one in particular.
I grab a bottle of tequila - Mer's favourite - and head upstairs.
I find her sitting on the bed, facing the wall, crying. She wipes a tear from her face when she hears me come in.
"I'm fine. I'm really fine." She says, though new tears gleam in her eyes.
"Mer, you say that word so often it doesn't even sound like a word anymore." I tell her.
She walks over to the dresser to get a tissue then slumps down in front of the door. I go over and sit across from her. We stare at each other for a moment before she says,
"You know you can go back downstairs with everyone else. You don't need to sit and watch me cry."
"Yeah I do because I'm your person now and it's my responsibility to make sure you're ok." I say to her giving her a half smile. "Plus, what are you going to do if I leave you alone anyway?"
She nods to the bottle of tequila between us. I laugh, then pick it up, take a swig and hand it to her. She drinks, hands it back to me and I drink some more before setting it back down. We sit for the next hour and I listen while she talks about good memories about Derek. When we go back downstairs to clean up, everyone is gone. Amelia and Maggie have gone to bed and after cleaning up Mer and I head to bed too.