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Meredith was paged to the ER with the notification that there were coming in multiple injuries. She quickly made sure her hair was pulled tight and then put on a gown, having heard by then that a bus had crashed and that multiple injured students would come there. It was bound to be hectic.
In the few minutes she stood there, waiting for a case, she couldn’t help but think back to the day before at Joe’s. Derek had been on a date with Sydney Heron and she couldn't help but laugh a little. If there were two people that didn’t fit together, it was them.
She didn’t care that he was on a date, surprisingly, and that made it all the more clear that her decision to break up with Derek at the end of her intern year had been the right one. She felt free and liked that feeling.
By that point, an ambulance came in and she focussed on her job, treating the high school students that came in. It was hectic and she loved it. Every single minute of it. Of course not the part where teenagers were injured, but the part where she could help them, where she felt in her element.
She was working on her patient, when she swore she saw a flash of blonde and a face she hadn’t seen in a long time. Meredith shook her head seeing as it couldn’t be and focussed on her patient.
The day took a turn for the worse, when her father was brought in, drunk. She helped him clean up and stitched him up, before she approached Lexie about it. There she learned that her father was actually a drunk and that Lexie had been taking care of him as best as she could, but that it clearly wasn’t easy.
So she was a bit lost in thought when she wandered on the pediatric floor, as she wanted to check up on her patients from that morning.
Of course, she once again saw that flash of blonde hair, but this time it was very clear that it hadn’t been part of her imagination. “Arizona,” Meredith muttered and it seemed like the woman heard her.
Arizona turned around and her eyes immediately found Meredith's, shock clearly visible on her face as she started to walk towards her, the conversation she had been having completely forgotten.
Meredith only had time to open her arms before Arizona was in them, it was like she had glided towards her. “Meredith,” she spoke almost reverently. “I missed you.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that, after the shitty day she had, it was definitely getting a lot better. “I missed you too. I’m so sorry I never called again. My mother took away my cell phone and destroyed it. And you…”
“And I had only just gotten a new number, so you probably didn’t know it by heart.” Arizona finished and she actually held her closer. “I’m normally a very nice person, but your mother’s a bitch.”
“Was a bitch,” Meredith muttered, but it was clear that Arizona had heard as she looked up at her. “She died about half a year ago after suffering from Alzheimer for years.”
Arizona merely resumed their hug again and it just felt so good to have her in her arms again. “I can’t believe I found you again. When I didn’t hear from you anymore, I knew that something must have happened. I even wrote you a letter, but I never got any reply…”
“I never got your letter.” Meredith said, her hatred for her mother going up a notch again, but her voice broke a little. Falling out of contact had almost broken her and she was surprised she even managed to get through her last year of high school.
It seemed like Arizona also noticed this and also realized that they were still in the middle of the pediatric ward, so she took Meredith’s hand and led her to a more secluded hallway.
When they were there, Arizona put her hand on Meredith’s face. “I never got to tell you this and I’m not going to chance anything stopping me from saying this, but I love you Meredith.”
Meredith felt her heart hammer in her chest at those words. “You love me?”
A slightly sad smile appeared on Arizona’s face, like she was thinking about the years they had been separated. “I always have.”
At those words, Meredith almost couldn’t stop herself from kissing the blonde, but knew she couldn’t. Not yet. “I never stopped thinking about you. I loved you then, even though I never said it, and I don’t think it ever went away.”
Those feelings from ten years before came back, or better said, she accepted them again, after she had tried to lock them away. A small tear appeared at those feelings and the fact that they had lost so much time.
Arizona carefully wiped away the tear, but held her hand there. “Is there someone else you’re seeing?”
Meredith could only shake her head before she felt Arizona’s lips on hers again and she couldn’t describe the feeling. It felt like coming home.
It was only a soft kiss, but it was a kiss that spoke of new beginnings, of new chances and Meredith wouldn’t want it otherwise.
She laid her head against Arizona’s. “I can’t believe you’re here. I thought I’d never see you again. I tried to send a letter as well, to you university, but without much more contact details than your name, I didn’t have much hope that you would get it.”
“I came back to Boston after my first year, but by the time I got there, your house was put up for sale and I thought that was my last chance to see you again.” Arizona mumbled from where her head was reston on her shoulder.
Meredith placed a kiss on Arizona’s temple, trying to comfort the woman. “My mother accepted a place at Mayo and I took off for college instead of moving with her. I couldn’t stay in the same house anymore.”
They stood there for a long time after that in silence, just holding each other. It didn’t surprise Meredith that she hadn’t been paged seeing as she had been on the end of her shift, but she was surprised that Arizona hadn’t been paged yet. “You became a peds surgeon? Like you said you would?”
Arizona hummed a little. “What about you, you’re in your second year by now?”
“I am, although I must admit that I avoided the pediatric ward as much as possible. It reminded me of you and it just hurt.” Meredith admitted, knowing that while it hadn’t even been consciously, she had avoided the place.
This made Arizona look up at her. “That’s a shame. You were always great with children and you were almost more interested in peds than I was.”
“Maybe that will change now,” Meredith merely said, especially if that meant that she would work together with Arizona.
“Maybe it will.” Arizona replied before looking up at Meredith again. “Can I take you out on a date?”
“I’d love that,” Meredith replied, happiness spreading through her chest, a feeling she probably hadn’t really felt in ten years.
Arizona merely looked at her, “I love you.”
Meredith kissed Arizona again, because how could she not. “I love you too.”