The Release

Chapter 13

Meredith heard Derek come down the stairs, she had been up most of the night consoling Lexie. She was so stressed about the first day of the merger. She was more worried for the fact of Mark had become distant. Meredith told her over and over again Mark just needed a little space, he would come around eventually. She didn't actually know if he would, she didn't know Mark but she had hope.

"Good morning," he smiled widely as he walked around her, grabbing the pot of coffee to pour himself some.

"Morning," she tried to smile back as she cracked the eggs into the bowl. She wasn't sure what she was doing, she had never been much of a cook.

"Did Lexie sleep over?" He questioned.

"She did, she is so worried about Mark. Talk to him," she said in a hushed tone.

"I'll try. I'm going to spend most of my day avoiding Satan," he chuckled lightly.

"Who?"

"Addison," he sighed. He watched her struggle trying to make what she thought would be breakfast.

"Why do you call her that?" She asked, whisking together the eggs adding a touch of salt.

"Because, she does nothing but cause hell in my life. We are civil, we try to make things easy for Grace but it's mostly me giving in to what she wants. I could manage living here with her from afar, but now I'm going to have to see her everyday," he sighed as he shook his head.

"Should I be worried?" Meredith questioned.

"No. If anyone should be worried, it should be me. Here let me do that," he laughed a bit as he watched her struggle.

"I got it!" She said as she poured the eggs into the hot skillet which immediately began to stick to the pan.

"Mer, we all know you can't cook," he took over for her and quickly tried to fix the instant mistake she made.

"I'm trying, ok?" She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"You're cooking?" Cristina said groggily as she went into the kitchen.

"I figured you'd be at the hospital by now?" Meredith asked.

"Night shift tonight and the rest of the week," she shrugged.

"You've been working nights a lot lately," Meredith said as she stepped back and watched as Derek finished breakfast for them. She hated to admit it but he was right, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

"Best shift. No attendings breathing down your neck, basically makes me in charge and I get the good late night stuff," she smirked. She grabbed a banana before turning and going back toward her bedroom. Lexie came in after her, yawning as she sat down on one of the stools.

"Thanks for letting me crash here," she offered a smile as she laid her head down on the counter.

"No problem, I was going to make you breakfast since we have a big day," she started as she looked over at Derek.

"You were going to make me breakfast?" Lexie asked, knowing that Meredith was hesitant to even get close to her. Meredith had grown to have a connection with Lexie, she wasn't sure exactly what it was.

"It's not a big deal," Meredith said as she went to sit beside her.

"Why is Derek cooking?" Lexie asked.

"Because Meredith would burn the house down," he chuckled as he placed the omelette on to a plate before handing it to Lexie.

"Thank you for being so nice," Lexie smiled.