Something changed | Merluca

Part 9

“Where have you been on Friday?” Alex was asking.

Meredith and he were currently in the OR together, operating on a little girl. They were mostly working in silence, since there were quite a few bleedings, but it seemed like they had gotten it under control now.

“What?”

“Friday evening, I saw you at the party in the cafeteria, but I couldn’t find you later that evening.” He paused for a moment.

“I- I was with Andrew. Did you need something?” She hesitantly answered, quickly asking what he needed afterwards, hoping it would get her away from further questions.

“So, you’re sleeping on his couch, now?” Alex was mocking her, with a grin on his face. He wasn’t even trying to hide his amusement at the thought.

“What? No.” Meredith must look so bewildered at his comment that when he realized that she really meant it, it actually made him stop in what he was doing, looking completely confused at her.

“What were you doing?” he asked, obviously not putting the pieces together.

“You told me to talk to him.” Meredith answered in a weird way of half shouting and half whispering, disbelieving that her friend could be so oblivious sometimes.

“You did?” He answered, seemingly not believing that she had actually followed his advice.

Meredith was shooting him a look, which must’ve been enough confirmation for him.

“How did that go?”

“I-“ she felt herself going back to the moment she ran away, because her feelings terrified her.

“Just say it.”

“He invited me to dinner, and then- We kissed and- I got scared.” She said, trying to leave the small part of embarrassment out of her voice, adding the last part more forceful than necessary, almost sounding annoyed at herself, but trying to justify her actions.

“You ran away.” Alex concluded how the evening ended. And if it were anyone else, she would’ve strangled that person for mocking her because of it, but Alex did it in a way that always made her smile at herself again.

“How did he take it?” He added after another moment.

“He came to talk to me on Friday and then he took me to his place and-“

“and you couldn’t keep your fingers from each other.” He ended her sentence.

“Alex!”

“What?” Alex asked, receiving Meredith’s ‘are you serious’ face. “Mer, I’m happy for you.” He let his teasing attitude down, his expression softening a bit. “He is good for you.”

…

Meredith had just finished her shift, her sister, Maggie, had offered to go downstairs already to pick up the kids from daycare for her, so she could bring the last patient chart for the day back to the nurses station.

As she was about to wait for Maggie in the lobby, Andrew had come her way. They haven’t seen each other, except for one surgery he assisted her on. And while she didn’t have more time that day, she also didn’t want to not use that chance to at least talk to him.

“Hey.” Andrew was taking her hand, letting his thump stroke over the back of it. He must have sensed that kissing in the middle of the hospital wasn’t where she saw herself, yet.

Just as she was about to respond, she heard her girl Ellis, already calling her. She gave Andrew a smile, before she turned around to welcome her little girl in her arms, followed by Bailey close behind. Zola was already home with the nanny, since her school ended a few hours ago.

When they disentangled themselves from their group hug, her kids realized Andrew standing behind them.

“Are you Mommy’s boyfriend? Mommy didn’t want to answer us yesterday.” She couldn’t believe her son’s words, feeling herself panicking again. She heard Maggie chuckling behind her, and her sister could be glad that she was focusing on trying to get out of this situation right now and didn’t have time to concentrate on her teasing.

She saw how Andrew was kneeling down beside her, so he was at Bailey’s height, before he started “You know Bailey, sometimes you need time to figure out what you are, but-“ Andrew was looking up at Meredith for a moment, before he turned to the boy before him again. “I do like your mommy a lot.” He must have felt her uneasiness with the situation, and she was more than thankful for him to jump in and at the same time respecting that she wasn’t there, yet. To admit to that term, yet.

“Funny, adults are weird sometimes.” The boy gave back, not completely able to understand yet, what Andrew meant.

“We are.” Andrew chuckled, agreeing with the boy, who joined him and started laughing.

“Why don’t we guys already go out, and give your mom a minute?” Maggie was the one, who took charge over the situation, offering her a few more minutes with Andrew. And while she wanted to yell at her sister just minutes ago, she was already feeling bad for that and was thankful for her interfering now.

Just as they walked away, she heard her little Ellis chuckling “Adults are weird.” Obviously thinking it must be something funny, since the other’s laughed about it before.

Meredith was smiling to herself, shaking her head slightly. She heard Andrew chuckling behind her, before she turned around and looked up at him again.

“Thank you.”

He was giving her his warm and genuine smile, nodding almost unnoticeable, showing her that he understood it, somehow.

After a moment his curious side started to come through “You told your kids?”

“My sisters, they- weren’t able to realize the kids were still listening.” Meredith rolled her eyes at remembering the conversation from the day before. “But, I’m glad they know.” She added, letting him know that she didn’t regret telling them.

“Seems like you had quite the conversation.” Under any other circumstances she would have thought he was teasing her, but seeing him looking at her like he did, with his intense gaze, still smiling with so much warmth; she figured it was his way of letting her know that he was happy about it, without getting too serious.

She returned his, with a small timid smile herself. And while she found herself being more open and ready for a relationship they could have, the way he looked at her still overwhelmed her. But she was willing to try, to give them a chance.

“I need to go.” She said almost whispering. Not really wanting to go, but also wanting to be with her kids.

“I know. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Meredith found herself smiling. She had her family, her kids and sisters, she had her job; And wherever this, what seemed to become a more serious relationship day by day, would go; she was looking forward to it. She was looking forward to seeing him again, to spend more time with him. She was starting to want to feel all these feelings, she had when she was near him, again. She found herself happy.