Where You Belong

77

Lost in a sea of white, Meredith bit down thoughtfully on her lower lip as she searched her way through aisle after aisle. Rack after rack of fancy, white dresses surrounded her. It would have been overwhelming if she had been dress shopping for her own wedding. She could understand how her best friend was feeling, being forced into this experience, with her mother and mother-in-law standing between her and the exit, forcing more and more dresses on her.

She definitely felt bad for her best friend.

But it didn't mean she wasn't going to take advantage of the situation.

Her lips curled up into a smile as she spotted exactly what she was looking for. She took the dress of the rack and hurried back to the dressing area.

"Cristina," she called, "I found a perfect dress for you!"

Callie snorted when she saw the dress Meredith was holding, taking in the long sleeves, very poofy shoulders and a skirt so round it was almost horizontal at the waist.

Cristina stepped out of the change room, Izzy on her heels, looking just as thrilled to be there as she had when they had arrived two hours before. She was wearing at least the fiftieth dress the mothers had picked out for her. "I swear to God, Meredith. If I could move in this thing, I would kill you."

Meredith laughed. The dress Cristina currently had on was skin tight almost to the knees, where it seemed to flip outward. "Well, I think you should try it on."

"Why don't you try it on," Cristina shot back at her.

"Cristina," her mother chastised, "Be nice to your friend. She's only trying to help."

Cristina looked like she was about to reply harshly to her mother, but Mama Burke appeared from the racks of wedding dressed, and she forced herself to bite her tongue. "It's taking longer than I had expected to find...the perfect dress," she managed to say. "I think we should start looking for bridesmaid dresses too...so we don't run out of time."

"What a wonderful idea," Mama said, smiling. She motioned to Cristina's mother. "Let's go and pick some out."

"Now who's laughing," Cristina said when they were out of ear shot.

Meredith shrugged. "There's about a million more wedding dresses in this store than bridesmaid dresses. "You're still going to suffer."

"This isn't about suffering," Izzy spoke up. "This is exciting. Why can't you two be excited? This is fun!"

Shooting Izzy a glare, Cristina turned and shuffled back into the change room. "You guys just wait," she called over her shoulder, before mumbled a series of unhappy words Meredith was pretty sure she wouldn't want to repeat had she been able to hear what was being said.

"How bad could it possibly be?" Meredith questioned, looking to Callie, who shrugged.

"Not that bad."

How wrong they were.

Ten minutes later, Meredith stood in front of a mirror, staring in horror at the sight before her.

Pink.

Ruffles.

A train.

Poofy shoulders.

She made a face.

"Come on, Meredith," Izzy called, banging on the door. "Hurry it up in there. We're waiting."

"I am not coming out looking like this," Meredith called back. "Get me something else to put on."

"Not a chance. We need to see it."