Meredith awoke to the sound of the ocean. She felt the warm breeze coming in from the open door on the balcony. She glanced at the clock and realized it was early, but she was wide awake. The idea of watching the sunrise was appealing to her, especially in this tropical paradise. She could feel Derek's easy breathing behind her and felt his exhale on her neck. He was sleeping deeply and she did not want to disturb him. She slowly maneuvered her way out of his warm embrace without disturbing his slumber. She threw on a t-shirt and pair of shorts and decided to walk to the beach to watch the sun rise above the water. She scribbled a quick note to Derek, knowing he would worry if he woke up and she was nowhere to be found. His overbearing ways had driven her crazy and felt smothering in the beginning, but she was learning to appreciate just how much he truly cared about her. She grabbed one of the keys and left the room. Walking with the boot had become second nature to her and she had minimal difficulty even walking on the beach. She sat down in the sand and relaxed, seeing the sun start to peak over the horizon.

She was so lost in thought over her incredible night with Derek and watching the sunrise that she did not notice the approaching figure until she spoke. "Meredith?" The voice spoke in a hesitant voice. Meredith looked up to see Rose standing beside her, biting her lower lip and wringing her hands nervously. "Rose," was all she managed to say as her wonderful world was interrupted by a woman who she had come to loathe. Even her name was enough to make her nauseous.

"I….I hope you do not mind……I wanted to……I wanted to talk to you…..I feel so terrible about…..everything. I had no idea……that Andrew……was such a…….monster." Rose was stumbling over her words terribly. She had no clue how to get into Meredith's good graces. The only thing she did know was that Meredith was a woman of compassion. She would have to use that angle.

"There are a lot of things I had no idea about, Rose." Meredith started. She had much she wanted to say to this manipulative bh. "Like how you could be so desperate to steal my man that you risked my life to have him. Last time I checked, nurses were supposed to be compassionate and try to save lives….not destroy them. You have some serious nerve, even coming up to me. Derek would kick your a if he saw you out here with me. How you can actually have the guts to approach me….look at me……talk to me…..hell even be in my presence……knowing that I suffered tremendously because of you. I almost died. Of course that would not have been a real problem for you now would it?! It probably would have made your catch of Derek even easier…..or so you think." Rose tried to interrupt, but Meredith held up her hand and gave her a threatening look. "I am not finished. I do not really care what you did to me, you scheming tramp. What I do care about is what you did to my boyfriend. He was hurt by this, too. His life will be forever affected by what happened. And you have yourself to thank for that. The truth is you do not care about him. You do not give a rat's a about anyone but yourself and what you want. Well, guess what? You will never have him. EVER. You lost your dream man. You also have no career left, but that is actually a good thing because God knows what you have done to patients to get what you want. If I have anything to do with it…..you will never get a job in the medical field again. Period."

Rose was crying as she listened. She knew she had blown her chance at happiness and had lost…..she had lost everything. "Wh….what….do you want? What can……I do……..to make up for what I did?"

"You can leave Seattle. Hell, leave Washington State. I never want to see your sorry a again. Anywhere. Ever. I want you to leave Derek and me alone. Move away and start a life somewhere else….hopefully one that does not include hurting others for your gain. I hope Derek and I haunt your dreams at night and you envision how happy we are and will continue to be. I am going to have his children….marry him……spend the rest of my life with him. You…..I have no idea what will become of you. But….I hope you get everything you deserve. I hope others are as compassionate to you as you have been to them. My wish for you….is that you will reap every seed you have sown." Meredith looked away from her at this point. She could not stand the site of a woman so selfish and uncaring.

Rose pulled out the last card she had to break Meredith. "Well….I am sorry you feel that way. Derek will not feel that way when he finds out that I am carrying his baby." She stopped to let the words sink in for her arch enemy.

Meredith did not buy it for one second. "Seriously?! Are you still playing this stupid game?! You think I am going to believe anything you have to say????? Do you, you dim-witted bimbo? Derek was not dense enough to sleep with you. Get over yourself. You can only wish that he had slept with you. Believe me….it is a life altering, orgasmic experience unlike any other." She laughed at Rose and her last ditch effort to come between her and the love of her life.

"So he told you we did not have sex? Of course he said that. What else was he going to say? He wanted you back. He is a man, Meredith. Men lie all the time to get what they want." Rose was not giving up without a fight. She was beyond frantic and starting to lose rational thought.

"You want me to believe you over Derek?! Do you?! Really?! Please, Rose….the liar in this group is you. You pretended to be engaged to Derek to keep us apart. You are out of ideas and spouting off senseless gibberish. Your words mean nothing. Cut your losses and let go, whiny beggar. No one wants to hear your lies or pathetic pleas for understanding. Get out of here! I am trying to enjoy a quiet moment in paradise and have no more tolerance for you! If you do not walk away now….I assure you, you will regret it!" Meredith was livid. She normally did not allow someone as shallow as this wretched female to upset her, but she was to the point where she was ready to blow.

"Are you threatening me?" Rose asked with raised eyebrows. She was so close……maybe Meredith would hit her…..that could help her case.

"I am not threatening you, I am promising you! If you do not get out of my sight RIGHT NOW, I am going to kick you're a!!!!" Meredith was now yelling with a look that could kill.

"Rose, don't you have a plane to catch?!" Mark interrupted from behind the two in a angry voice of his own.

"I….I…..yeah…..I do." Rose looked at Meredith one last time before heading back to her room to grab her things. She was being forced to return to Seattle to be fired from her position at SGH. Without income, she was going to have to sell her home. She had no idea where she would go. She realized that she was defeated.

"Thanks Mark." Meredith smiled gratefully at him as he sat down beside her.

"I never liked that bh. Never even tried to sleep with her. There was something about her….I don't know." Mark stared off in the distance. "I did try to get Derek to date her, though. I thought he needed to get over you……..I was so wrong. Sorry, Mer. I did not mean to hurt my favorite dirty mistress or my best friend."

"You thought you were doing the right thing, Mark. No need to apologize. I thought I needed to move on from him, too. I thought I was not good enough for him and could not give him what he needed." Mark started to protest, but Meredith continued. "I know now how ridiculous we both were being. We are fixing things and communicating. We are going to work out…..no matter what obstacles come our way. I am confident and content in that now. Our problems had nothing to do with you." Meredith finished softly, placing a comforting hand on Mark's arm.

He looked over at her and smiled. "Derek has found the right woman. He always did have a knack for finding women who are hot and have substance. I always just wanted a good time. He was never the type to look at women as objects."

"I think you are being tamed at this point in your life by a very dear friend of mine." Meredith smirked, returning her hand to the sand for support.

"Yeah….I think I am…..Izzie is different. She is very hot, but she…….she is not just a conquest. Her smile lights up my soul. I have never experienced this feeling with anyone before…..not even Addie, and I really thought she was the one for me." Mark replied thoughtfully, before adding, "this conversation is confidential, Dr. Grey. Please remember that." He smirked and winked at her.

"You got it, Dr. Sloan. The Dirty Mistresses Club is full of secrets." Meredith laughed, glad that Mark and Derek were friends again.

"Shall we?" Mark stood up and offered his hand to help Meredith stand. She gladly accepted and they headed back to their rooms to see their significant others and start a beautiful day in Maui.

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Meredith opened the door to the room she shared with Derek to find him sitting in a recliner on the balcony reading a tourist guide. "Hey." She said as she joined him, sitting beside his right leg and giving him a quick kiss.

"Hey yourself." He replied with a smile, kissing her back. "Did you get to enjoy your sunrise?"

"I….yeah…..it was okay." Meredith was a terrible liar and she knew it. She did not want to bring up her conversation with Rose. They were in paradise and she was ready to enjoy her time with him. Bringing up Rose would only empower her and would be exactly what she wanted. She would not give her the satisfaction. She added with a sexy grin, "It would have been better if I had you with me." She knew that would change the subject from the sunrise to his macho arrogance that she secretly loved.

"Of course it would." Derek winked at her cockily. He gave her a smirk and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You think you are so hot." Meredith rolled her eyes as she giggled.

"Babe, I don't think things…..I know them. You think I am hot, at least you thought so last night." Derek was enjoying his knowledge of what he did to her way too much.

"Yeah….I did not hear any complaints from you either." She started to warm up just thinking of all the wonderful things he did to her last night until she remembered where they were and that she had new territory to explore. She swatted him playfully then changed the subject. "So…..what are we going to do today?"

He noticed her change in direction and showed her a few ideas he had found in the tourist book. They circled all of the things they wanted to do during their week in Hawaii. They agreed not to overdo it as they wanted to both relax and enjoy each other's company. For today, they opted to drive to the rainforest to see the waterfalls. Derek had already planned a special night for them but decided to surprise Meredith so he let her think that they were going to come back to the hotel and have dinner. She would find out soon enough that they had other plans. He smiled to himself, thinking how happy Meredith would be. He was so busy congratulating himself on his great idea that he failed to realize Meredith was speaking to him. He was brought out of his daydream when she smacked his chest. "Derek? Earth to Derek? Have you heard anything I just said?" Meredith was clearly annoyed that his mind had wandered away from their conversation.

"OUCH! What? Sorry…." He mumbled as he realized he had no clue what she had been talking about. "What did you say?"

"I do not feel the need to repeat myself. If what I said was important to you, you would have been listening!" She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Mer – I am sorry. Honey, really. What you have to say is more important to me than anything…..except maybe for the things you do to me….." He added the last line when he saw her resolve crumble and her mouth curve upward into a smile. She rolled her eyes, but giggled. He knew he was forgiven. "So….what do we do now?"

"I was saying that I think we should invite Mark and Izzie to go with us." Meredith stated for the third time.

"Yeah…..okay. That sounds good." Derek liked the idea the more he thought about it. He really enjoyed hanging out with his friend……And he liked the idea of seeing Mark whipped into shape by this woman who seemed to have captivated him.

Meredith got up quickly. "Okay. You call Mark and ask him and then order room service for breakfast. I am going to go shower."

"Yes ma'am, your bossiness." Derek replied with a smile.

"I….I did not mean that you have to…….aw, screw it…..yes I do mean it." Meredith grinned as she leaned down to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you and your bossiness." Derek said. He really did. And seeing that she had regained her bossy nature made his eyes glimmer with hope and adoration. He had missed her bossy side. And he was certainly not going to do anything to suppress it.