A/N: Helloooooo lovely people!

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this for a while! I've been so busy the last few weeks, and I kind of lost my inspiration for this story, but I pushed past the block, and I'm hoping to at least start the next chapter tomorrow :) I have the next few chapters planned out, so they shouldn't take me too long, with any luck!

For everyone who is patient enough to still read this when I eventually get around to updating, thank you for sticking with me! I know it can be frustrating when authors take a while to get chapters out haha

But anyway, here it is! Let me know what you think! And I'm always open to ideas, if you have any :D Reviews=love ;)

Thank you!

xoloveJBox

Chapter Four

It took a few days for life to settle back down for Alex and Katie, especially at school, and Alex patiently listened to his sister grumble every morning. From what he could gather from the very little Katie actually told him, the whispering and snickering was still there, but gradually lessening, and as much as he told her to grow a pair and ignore it, he secretly did feel bad for her. The whole ordeal had him thinking, and it wasn't until he'd heard that O'Malley had moved in with Callie Torres that he had an idea of what he could do.

As their intern year was drawing to a close, Alex realised that between his own work loads and Meredith's, it was suddenly a lot harder to get his friend alone.

He finally managed to catch her while she was on the way to steal some sleep in an on-call room, and he was hurrying back with some lab results, and didn't really have the time to stop, but he knew it could be a another few days before he caught Meredith again.

"Hey Meredith," He called after her just before he ducked into an on-call room "did I hear you've got a room going now that O'Malley moved out?"

"Yeah, there is," Meredith replied tiredly.

"Any chance there's two?" Alex asked hopefully, shooting her the most charming grin he could muster.

"No, I'm sorry," Meredith told him, stifling a yawn. She couldn't help but notice how disappointed he looked.

"Alright," he sighed dejectedly "Thanks anyway."

He started to walk away and Meredith felt guilty enough to call after him.

"Why, what's going on?"

"It's nothing," Alex responded as he stopped and turned back to her "Katie and I are just looking for a change of scenery, that's all. Forget about it."

Meredith thought for a moment before shooting him a warm, though weary smile.

"Look, Alex, there is another room," she told him, and it didn't escape her attention that he perked up noticeably again "I mean, it's small and full of boxes, so I wasn't going to rent it out, but it would be big enough for Katie. If you can get the junk in there up to the attic and clean it up a little, you guys are more than welcome to move in."

Alex beamed at her and quickly pulled her into a hug.

"I owe you one Mer!" he exclaimed as he started to hurry back down the hallway. Meredith was about to tell him that she'd bring a key over later that afternoon, but he was gone before she had a chance, so she simply let herself into the on-call room, and the bed that she was gratefully awaiting.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by for Alex, and before he knew it, it was two thirty, and the end of his shift. It wasn't often that he finished before Katie, so he changed quickly, and took the opportunity to pick her up. The drive to Katie's school was a short one, and his sister, unaware that he was there and not expecting him, almost walked past towards the bus.

"Hey, Angel-face!" he called through the open window from where he'd parked across the street, and he saw the confused look on Katie's face when she spotted him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bewilderedly as she approached.

"What, I can't pick my favourite little sister up from school now?" he asked jokingly "You can get the bus anyway, if you want?"

"No thank you," Katie scoffed as she climbed into the front seat next to him. "What's the matter with you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"You're cheerful." Katie answered, and she was only more thrown off-guard when he let out a laugh.

"I'm always cheerful," he answered, but Katie looked at him sceptically, with her eyebrows raised, so he added "I just have some awesome news for you, that's all."

"Really?" Katie questioned, a grin creeping onto her face "What is it?"

"You're going to have to wait until we get home." Alex told her, and his sister groaned dejectedly.

"Come on Al," she whined pleadingly "Please?"
"Nope," he smirked "Now shut up, or I won't tell you at all."

Katie was obediently silent for the rest of the drive, but by the time they pulled up outside of their apartment building, she was near on bouncing with excitement in her seat, and she bounded towards the door the moment Alex stopped the car. He could feel the energy emanating from her every pore as they made their way to their apartment, and Alex had barely closed the door behind them before his sister started her interrogation.

"Ok, we're home, now spill!" she blurted out on one breath, like she couldn't get the words out fast enough.

"We're moving!" Alex exclaimed happily, though he tried not to notice the way the smile fell off Katie's face.

"We're what?" she asked, looking like she hoped she'd heard wrong.

"I know it's sudden, but I-" he started, but Katie quickly cut him off.

"You're damn right it's sudden!" she interjected "When did you decide this?"

"This morning." He answered simply, and he could have sworn he saw flames in his sister's eyes.

"When were you planning on telling me?!" Katie questioned sharply.

"I'm telling you know, aren't I?" Alex replied, trying to keep the tone light, but he could tell his sister was mad. "It's a house Kate," he appealed "With a big yard and a front porch."

"A yard stopped being important to me when I was ten, Alex." Katie retorted with a biting undertone.
"Yeah, well, you're going to have a whole house full of people looking out for you."

"I don't need a whole house full Alex, I have you. You said that, remember?" Katie stood with her hands on her hips, and Alex couldn't help noticing how much she looked like their mother when she was pissed.

"You can change schools." Alex told her, and if he was really honest, he'd pictured the conversation going a lot differently.

"Maybe I like my school!"

"Oh don't give me that crap," Alex answered "I know you hate it there. But you don't have to, if you really don't want to. That's your choice."

"What happened to us being a team?" Katie demanded bitterly when she realised that was at least right about her hating her school. But that wasn't the point.

"We are a team!" Alex shot back defensively "But at the end of the day, I'm the adult here, and what I say, goes!"

"Then I guess that's just it then isn't it, asshole?" Katie snapped harshly, not bothering to keep her anger from her voice.

"Yes it is!" Alex retorted "And watch your mouth young lady!"

"Who are you, my mother?!"

"You're damn lucky I'm not your mother, or you'd have soap in your mouth right now!"

Katie rolled her eyes "Oh don't do me any favours Alex."

Alex was about to answer when he was interrupted by a knock at the door, and when he answered it, he was a little surprised to see Meredith standing there, but he was too caught up in the argument with his sister to show it. He simply left the door open and turned back to his sister, hoping Meredith would know to let herself in. In the brief distraction, Katie had begun to stomp angrily to her room.

"Are you changing schools or not?" Alex asked irritably.

Katie got to her doorway and turned to him, her face flushed with rage. "Of course I am! There has to be some perks to you pulling the rug from under my feet, jackass!"

If he hadn't been so annoyed that Katie didn't seem to share in his enthusiasm, he would have been able to think more clearly. But, in the heat of the moment, he didn't think about his words before they tumbled from his mouth.

"That's it!" he yelled "Go to your room!"

Katie gave him a look that clearly said 'are you an idiot?' before answering "I'm already in my room!" and slamming the door.

Alex was silent for a moment, and he let out an exasperated grunt.

"I see you told Katie about moving," Meredith commented from behind him, feeling slightly awkward about it. If she'd known that he hadn't bought the topic up with his sister before approaching her-which he obviously hadn't- she might have told him to get her opinion before agreeing.

"What gave it away?" Alex sighed, leaning on the kitchen counter, and he scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Aren't you worried about the fact that she doesn't want to leave?" Meredith questioned, wanting to make sure Alex knew what he was doing.

"She's a kid Mer, I'd be more worried if she did want to leave." He answered, looking over at her wearily. "I mean, who wants to uproot everything they know for no reason? But she'll get over it."

Meredith crossed the space between them and put a hand on Alex's arm comfortingly.

"You're a good brother Alex," she told him, and the almost relieved look on her friend's face told her that it was what he'd needed to hear "I'm sure Katie knows that, but like you said, she's a kid. Give her some time, she'll come around, and she'll know that you do what you think is best for her."

Alex shot her a grateful smile as Meredith gave his arm a quick squeeze and pressed a set of keys into his hand before she grabbed her coat and let herself out. Not for the first time in their friendship, Alex was left wondering how Meredith pretty much always knew what to say, even if he didn't always want to hear it.

Letting out a long breath, Alex stood up and looked around their small apartment. They might not have had much, but it was still going to take a lot of planning to figure out what he needed to move to Meredith's, and what he was going to do with what he didn't. He grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, and for an hour or so, starting making lists, and even if he hadn't actually done anything, he felt like he'd made a start. He only really looked up when he heard the slight creak of Katie's bedroom door, and when he glanced over, his sister was peeking out at him. When she saw that he'd noticed her, she threw open the door and walked over to him in a few large strides. Alex straightened up just in time for Katie to wrap her arms around him tightly.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk," she muttered apologetically into his chest.

"You're fifteen Kate, you're supposed to be a jerk." Alex joked, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head before continuing "I should have talked to you about it first, so I'm sorry too."

"Yeah, you should have," Katie agreed, looking up at him with a smirk "but it might not be so bad."

"You never know, you might love it," Alex added with a grin "Now come on, we've got a lot of packing to do."