Chapter 26.

A/N: This chapter is the one that will wrap everything up. I'd like to thank every single one of you that has made it to the end of this story. You are all amazing and I love you so much. This story may have been one of my first, but it will always be the most memorable, because of you guys. Thank you so much, and enjoy the final chapter.

It had been a week since Derek told Meredith that he was okay, and not to worry about him, and Meredith felt lighter. She felt as though a weight had been lifted off her. She was sitting at a table at Joe's with Cristina, Alex, George and Izzie when she saw Derek walk in. He looked around, caught her eye, and smiled. She smiled back then brought her attention back to her friends.

Cristina and Izzie were talking nonsense and George was laughing hysterically at them. She honestly didn't understand what was so funny, and Alex didn't appear to either. They looked at each other and laughed. The two of them were closer than ever, but didn't fall away from their friends.

Tomorrow they had a thirty-six-hour shift, but it didn't start until six in the evening, so they weren't overly concerned about drinking tonight. Cristina and Alex were coming back to Meredith's house tonight so they could all hang out and study and stuff. They planned on ordering food when they got back. Things were going back to how they were before, plus Alex. He was never really part of the group, but he was now.

When Meredith decided that Cristina, Izzie and George had all had a little too much to drink, she pulled her keys out of her bag. She hadn't had anything to drink, as she just wasn't in the mood. Alex had had a beer, but that was it. The others, well, that was another story.

As Alex gathered them up and escorted them to Meredith's car, Meredith paid for their drinks. She turned to head for the door, but stopped in her tracks when Derek wandered up to the bar. He looked at her and smiled almost shyly. She smiled back and he stepped around her. Before she started moving again, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around and Derek smiled again, but it was a different smile. A real one. "Thank you, Meredith. For everything. And stay happy. Don't let him treat you badly."

Meredith nodded and Derek left. She looked after him, only for a moment, before heading to catch up with her friends.

By midnight, Meredith and Alex were the only two awake. Even though they had planned on doing something, that didn't really happen. Cristina had passed out soon after they got back, and she was currently asleep on the floor. George and Izzie had both lasted longer, and fell asleep shortly within each other. George was on the couch with one arm dangling off the edge and Izzie had gone upstairs to her room. Meredith and Alex were sitting in the kitchen, sipping on coffee. It had been at least an hour since all the others had gone to sleep, and they were only just starting to get tired. Alex stood up to stretch and they heard footsteps wandering in from the living room. When they turned to face those footsteps, they saw Cristina.

She yawned and glanced around the room. "I need a bed." was all she said. Meredith laughed and pointed towards the staircase. "You can sleep in my room." Cristina did nothing but turn around and head towards the stairs in reply.

Meredith turned back to Alex and he snickered. She laughed again and Alex finished up his coffee. He took Meredith's already empty coffee cup and placed both on the counter.

"Is she always like that when she gets drunk?" Alex asked. Meredith shook her head. "She has all different kinds of drunken attitudes. This is by far the best. Normally she either ends up crazy or overly happy. And I mean Izzie happy multiplied by like five."

"Woah."

"Yeah." She responded and turned back towards the hallway. Alex wandered over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Meredith put her hands on his arms and he kissed her cheek. Neither of them said anything, they just stood like that for a few minutes. Suddenly they heard a clunk in the living room and rushed to see what it was.

George had rolled off the couch and on to the floor, and was amazingly still asleep. They both stifled a laugh and backed into the doorway. Alex looked at the door and grabbed Meredith's arm. She looked over at him and he nodded towards the door, she understood and he reached for the doorknob.

They stepped outside and walked over to the swing that was on the porch, and sat down. They looked up at the sky and Meredith sighed. Alex looked over to her and her eyes were shining like the very stars they were looking up at. In that moment, he remembered one of the first times he saw her. He had called her a nurse and she took off, then George showed up. He had called her hot and George clearly had a thing for her. Only now, he didn't think she was hot, and he didn't feel flustered like George had that day. He watched her looking at the sky, and thought of how beautiful she was. How lucky he was to have her. And as though she could tell that he was watching her, thinking about her, she turned to look at him.

She didn't say anything, and neither did he. Instead, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped one arm around her and the other hand came over to hold hers. He kissed the top of her head and looked back out at the quiet street, quiet sky, quiet neighbourhood that surrounded them.

Meredith thought of everything she had gone through since she started her internship. Everything with Derek, with her mom, with her friends, with Alex... She thought about the amazing people that were sleeping in the house behind her and everything they had been through together. So much had happened in the little time they had been here, and they had come to depend on each other. They were like family.

Most of all, she thought about how close she had become to Alex. She never thought that the two of them would be where they are now, be what they are now. But she knew that she was happy that this is where she was. Of all the places she could be, of all the things that could have happened, she was glad she was here, with Alex.

He seemed to know what she was thinking, for what he said reflected on it.

"I love you, Meredith."

Meredith smiled and leaned further in to him, if that was even possible. "I love you too, Alex."

Alex nudged her shoulder with his hand and she brought her head up to look at him. "What?" she asked. Rather than answering her, Alex leaned his head down and brought his lips to hers. She sat up slightly and kissed him back. When Alex pulled away Meredith smiled widely. He smiled back and she let her head fall back on his shoulder.

They both looked up at the sky again and leaned into each other. Meredith smiled to herself and Alex felt it against his shoulder, making him smile too. And in that moment, they both thought that there was nowhere else they would rather be.

A/N: So, this is the end of our story. I'd like to thank everyone for reading and hope that this story was worth reading. You have made my first fic one worth remembering. As always, I love you all. Xx-S

*I would like to dedicate this story to the reader/reviewer who goes by Kay. You have made me a better writer and I want to thank you for following this story. I love you especially, and want to give you a personal thank you and shout out*

This is cookiemonster311 signing off.