Glory Days
By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Chapter One.

Chapter Eleven: Fools Rush In

"So where do we go from here?" Meredith asked over dinner.

"That's up to you." Mark told her with a charming grin. "Do you want to go slow or rush all in? Either way, I want to get know you again."

"What about Addison?" Meredith asked slowly.

"I don't know." Mark said honestly. "I can't stop loving her overnight, but… She walked away from me, Meredith."

"It was more than a onetime thing." Meredith realized slowly.

"We were together from the time Derek left until she came to Seattle." Mark told her.

"So we both just got thrown to the side when she decided she wanted him back, huh?" Meredith asked in disgust. A weird expression crossed Mark's face, but Meredith dismissed it. "We need to get over them." She decided. "God… I really should learn that picking up men in bars leads to nothing but complications."

"Is that how you met Derek?" Mark asked with a laugh. "Wow, we really do have a lot in common." He looked at her seriously. "Do you regret it, Meredith?"

"Which one?" She asked wryly.

"Both. Either."

She'd tried for a lot of years to regret meeting Mark, but she couldn't. It had hurt, had left her a little broken inside, but it had also been beautiful while it had lasted. He'd been the first man she'd ever loved. As for Derek… It sucked that got her heart broken again and she hated that he hadn't told her about Addison, that he'd let her hope for a happily ever after and then chose someone else, but… No, she didn't regret it.

"No," she told him softly, "everything happens for a reason, right? And life is too short for regrets."

Besides, as much as she was fate's bitch, maybe there was a reason for everything. Meeting Derek had brought Mark back into her life and maybe there was a reason for that.

"We do need to move on though," she repeated. She let a little laugh. "Maybe it's crazy, maybe it's a bad idea, but why not try to move on together? I don't know about you, but I'm not having any success on my own."

Mark grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

"They'll think we're doing it because of them," Meredith warned, "to make them jealous."

Mark shrugged. "Let them." He took her hand and Meredith marveled at the effect that the smallest touch could have on her. "So will you help me look for a place to live?"

"Move in with me." Meredith said impulsively. "Let's rush all in."

Mark raised an eyebrow, but then he grinned. "That's the Merry, I remember."

Meredith just smiled sadly, knowing that she wasn't that girl anymore and part of her wondered if she had lost her mind and yet… So much had gone wrong lately, no matter how hard she tried, so why not give in and be impulsive?

"I have to go to New York tomorrow," Mark said after a moment, "I need to sell my practice and my apartment and hand-off a few patients, but I'll have stuff shipped to your place."

"Sounds like a plan," Meredith said, deciding to run with it. This could be the best decision she'd ever made or the worst… Only time would tell which.

"What's up?" Izzie asked. Meredith had returned from dinner with Dr. Hottie, or"McSteamy" as Christina had decided he should be called, and had asked her and George to come down to the living for a household meeting. To Izzie's surprise, Mark was with her.

"What's he doing here?" She asked, nodding in his direction. Mark was standing behind Meredith, one arm casually draped around her waist. Apparently dinner had been a success. Again. Izzie had had to listen to George bitching for the last couple hours about the fact that Meredith had come home in the early hours of the morning.

Izzie thought that George either had to say something to Meredith or get over her, but he seemed unwilling to do either and it was beginning to get frustrating. Still, Izzie dismissed thoughts of George for a moment and concentrated on Mark Sloane. Alex had been eager to tell her all the other man's professional accomplishments and there was no denying that he was an interesting addition to the drama of Seattle Grace.

Not only was he Derek's wife-stealing best friend, but apparently he was also Meredith's ex-husband. Who knew Meredith had ever been married? That information made the drama between Meredith and the Shepherds even more interesting.

"First of all, he is the new head of Plastic surgery, so be nice." Meredith scolded.

Mark just look bored. Izzie raised her eyebrow at the news and exchanged a look with George. The plot was definitely thickening.

"He's not going back to New York?" George asked in surprise, and a bit of dismay.

"No." Mark answered, speaking for the first time. "When fate gives you a second change, only a crazy man passes it up."

He gave Meredith a steamy look and Izzie resisted the urge to fan herself. She could see why Addison had strayed… So Mark was staying, but was it for Addison or…

"Actually, Mark's moving in." Meredith announced, smiling up at her ex-husband. "We figured that fate brought us back together for a reason, we may as well see where things go."

Izzie couldn't help smiling, it was actually pretty romantic… Well, when you took out the adultery angle, anyway.

"He's moving in here?!" George demanded, obviously not as charmed as Izzie. "Don't we get a vote?"

"No." Meredith told him flatly. "It's my house."

And Mark made enough money that he could easily cover all the bills, was the unspoken addition to that statement.

"It's fine with me." Izzie said with a shrug, not wanting to cause tension. She liked living there, besides having Mark Sloane move in would undoubtedly make things even more interesting…

"I can't believe that Meredith is letting that guy move in here, just like that." George griped to Izzie. As soon as Meredith made her little announcement, she and Mark had disappeared upstairs. "Doesn't she have more respect than that?"

"I think it's kind of romantic, actually." Izzie told him.

George rolled his eyes. "What that a decade after their divorce they both managed to have affairs with the same married couple?" George asked scathingly. "Oh, yes, that's the romance of the century."

Izzie sighed. "Let it go." She smiled sympathetically. "I know I'm the one who told you to tell Meredith how you feel, but maybe this isn't the right time. We've always known Meredith was a little damaged, maybe Mark Sloane is the reason why and maybe this thing between them will help her heal."

"Do you really think so?" George asked doubtfully.

Izzie shrugged. "Maybe."

George just stared at her, trying to decide if she really believed what she was saying or if she was just trying to placate him. "

Whatever happened in the past, between Meredith and Mark, I don't think she's ever really gotten over it. Even after Derek, I think her past with Mark still had a hold on her. Maybe especially after Derek." Izzie said softly. "Maybe what she needs is to get to know him again and to get closure. Who actually thinks they'll work out? No, they'll break up again, but maybe this time she'll finally be able to put that part of her life behind her."

George nodded, thinking that Izzie's theory made sense. Earlier, he'd be wondering if he even knew Meredith or if he had a crush on some idealized version and he still didn't know the answer. He had been attracted to Meredith since the night they met, but attraction wasn't love. She was his friend, but… He had to admit she had some characteristics that he didn't like, there was also a lot about her that he didn't know. Meredith was a puzzle, but George had the feeling that Sloane held a few pieces.

George might hate the guy and think that he was slime, after all he had slept with his best friend's wife, but… He was starting to think that Sloane might be the key to finally understanding Meredith and more than that, that this reunion might be what she needed to be a little less broken. Beyond his conflicted romantic feelings for her, George liked Meredith and he wanted her to be happy and if working through her past issues let her do that, then he would tolerate Sloane's presence.

Besides, how long could this reunion really last anyway?