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scurvyknaveryOriginally posted 27 March, 2008.
Title: sisters (no takebacks)
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy
Challenge: Requested by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
beerbad as part of the January 08 round of Sweet Charity
Word Count: 1,472
Pairing: Gen. Meredith, Lexie, and Cristina.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Lexie is a maudlin drunk.
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
Lexie is a maudlin drunk.
Somehow, this is probably Meredith's fault.
Not that it should be, or anything. After all, Lexie is an adult. And as an adult, she's responsible for things. Like keeping track of how much she drinks - and, okay, possibly that's a little insensitive considering the drunk daddy issues (and the fact that they share the same drunk daddy) and everything. But, whatever. Even if Lexie isn't responsible for how much she drinks when Meredith invites her over for the Meredith-and-Cristina equivalent of girl talk (mostly tequila shots and curse words) - which, by the way, she totally is - Lexie's definitely responsible for knowing that she's going to turn into a weepy mess after three shots of tequila and, you know, not crying into her shotglass at Meredith's kitchen table when they're trying to complain about boys.
That's just part of being grown up.
But - and she's just guessing here, because it's not like she's had any practice - Meredith has this awful, sneaking suspicion that another part of being a grown up might be taking care of one's little sister when she forgets that she can't hold her liquor.
Meredith stares at Lexie, red-eyed and sniffling over a big glass of water, trying to decide if acting like an adult is worth the hassle.
Somewhere in here, there's probably a lesson.
"Lexie?" Meredith says, in the Very Quiet And Calm voice she usually saves for disruptive patients. Lexie sniffles something that might be a yes. Over her head, Cristina gestures, wide-eyed, like she's worried Lexie's going to start breathing fire, or something - and in a scary way, not a cool, "publishable medical anomalies" way. "Lexie, are you okay?"
She nods, once, and takes a sip of water. That's good. Sipping is better than crying. Meredith tries again. "Are you. . .sure you're okay?"
Cristina puts a hand on Lexie's shoulder, like she's trying to help. "Because you kind of look like a mess."
Lexie's eyes get huge and bright with tears again, and Meredith just wishes she could go upstairs and crawl into bed until everyone not currently paying rent to live here went away. "Cristina.your sister, just - " Cristina sort of waves her hands, vaguely. "Fix her."
"I'm trying, that's why I think you should go."
"What?"
"You did sort of assign her a number for the first month of her professional career." Meredith shrugs. "I think maybe she's sad."
"About that?"
"No, just - just sad, but I don't think that's helping."
Cristina snorts. "Well, I think she's being whiny."
"Cristina."
"Whatever," she says, and grabs the bottle of tequila. "I'm going to sleep. Have fun."
Lexie watches as Cristina wanders up the stairs, and her eyes get even bigger. "Did you know that she's going to your bedroom?" she says, suddenly very serious. Meredith just sort of. . .blinks at her, because she's not quite sure how to respond to that, and Lexie shakes her head. "You people are very confusing."
And again. It's like she's never even heard of the unspoken rules of things Meredith doesn't talk about. "Oh."
"I'm sorry. It's okay if you're confusing." Two enormous tears drip down her cheeks, and she wipes them away defiantly, looking all of five years old. "I just thought you should know."
This is getting ridiculous. And weird. And, appropriately enough, confusing. Because Meredith doesn't know what to do with a crying, maudlin drunk who's not failing her as a parent, or better friends with somebody that isn't emotionally crippled. She feels like she should be calling George, or something.
Except George would probably just tell her to deal with it, in the name of sibling bonding. So he's out.
Meredith moves around the table to grab Lexie's elbow and give it a gentle tug. "Okay. Why don't we get you somewhere. . .not the kitchen, so you can sleep."
Lexie just sort of nods, and takes another drink of water.
Except she also sort of moves in the direction Meredith's pulling her, and leans over, and then there's water all over her lap and - well, mostly just all over her lap. And now Lexie is wet and drunk and sobbing - which she mentions to Meredith, in case she hadn't already noticed - and that's even worse than before, and man. Being an estranged half-not-sister is a lot of work.
Somehow - there is some cajoling, and some begging, and, naturally, some more crying - they make it upstairs to the bathroom.
That's when Lexie takes off her pants.
Which, Meredith understands, is not so unreasonable. After all, she spilled on them. But it is sort of a shock for Meredith, when one minute she's brushing her teeth and the next she's turning around to see Lexie stripped down to her underwear.
And, okay. Possibly yelling wasn't the best response, because Lexie is apparently fragile, and it's not like Meredith hasn't seen Izzie and Cristina wandering around her bathroom in much less than a t-shirt and panties. But Meredith's had a bit to drink, too. She's entitled to a few inappropriate emotional outbursts.
Anyway, the point is, Meredith yells. And Lexie sort of squeaks back, in a Bambi-and-the-hunter sort of way, and then she jumps into the bathtub, because. . .Meredith has no idea. She just does.
If she had to guess, she'd say the tequila was at least partly to blame.
They both say "sorry" at the same time, Lexie hugging herself in the bathtub and Meredith holding her toothbrush out in front of her like a shield, and for a second Meredith just has to stop and close her eyes. This is why she doesn't hang out with her family - her fake-family, the adopted one with happy siblings who have mostly good memories of growing up and probably don't dread Mother's Day - because of the constant apologies. The brittleness, the weird, half-hugs and awkward gestures, Meredith just can't - Lexie's crying again.
Of course.
And this time she's sinking down to sit in the bathtub, so Meredith joins her on the ground, sock feet cold against the tile floor while she leans against the outside edge of the tub. If she turns her head just a little, she can look Lexie in the eye. (But she doesn't have to.)
"I think," Meredith says, twisting to look at Lexie, "That you should go to bed. Because I'm a little drunk, and you are. . .also."
"Yes, I am. I very am. I just - god, this is so stupid, you know? I'm stupid. I - " Lexie shuts her eyes tight for a moment, then opens them. She shakes her head, and for a half-second when she looks up she's completely sober and dry-eyed. "I'm really sorry. This is weird."
"No -" Meredith starts to disagree, and she tries to sound as sincere as she can, but Lexie just raises her eyebrows. "Okay, yeah. It's kind of weird that I invited you over tequila and bitching about men and now you're sitting in my bathtub, sobbing for no reason."
Lexie pulls a very-serious-drunk face, and nods. "Thank you."
And that's all pretty much true. But - weirdly, because Lexie isn't her sister, and they're not friends - Meredith sort of doesn't mind it. Not in a way that means she's going to be inviting Lexie back over for drinks and inappropriate emotional outbursts anytime soon, just. In this weird way that sort of makes her think of Izzie.
Not because Izzie spends tons of time crying in strange bathrooms, or anything. (At least that Meredith knows about.)
But because this is the kind of thing Izzie would want to do. Finding a waifish, weepy half-sibling with family issues in the bathroom and instinctively taking care of her like a chipper mother duck isn't really a Meredith thing. It's an Izzie thing.
For a half second, Meredith thinks about calling her.
Except she'd probably just give the same family bonding speech as George, only in a way that made Meredith feel guiltier, and Meredith's pretty sure she doesn't need to deal with that right now. Especially not when there's a cool, damp hand resting nervously on her shoulder.
"Hey, Meredith?" Lexie says, eyes huge but not teary, her face inches from Meredith's. "Where am I going to sleep?"
And as much as family bonding is bullshit - as much as she shouldn't have to deal with this, because Lexie is an adult and they're not siblings and all the boundaries that should go with that - Meredith smiles, and helps Lexie up. "With me."
"And Cristina?"
"Don't worry," Meredith says, picking up Lexie's jeans on the way out. "She'll make room."
Title: sisters (no takebacks)
Fandom: Grey's Anatomy
Challenge: Requested by
beerbad as part of the January 08 round of Sweet CharityWord Count: 1,472
Pairing: Gen. Meredith, Lexie, and Cristina.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Lexie is a maudlin drunk.
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
Lexie is a maudlin drunk.
Somehow, this is probably Meredith's fault.
Not that it should be, or anything. After all, Lexie is an adult. And as an adult, she's responsible for things. Like keeping track of how much she drinks - and, okay, possibly that's a little insensitive considering the drunk daddy issues (and the fact that they share the same drunk daddy) and everything. But, whatever. Even if Lexie isn't responsible for how much she drinks when Meredith invites her over for the Meredith-and-Cristina equivalent of girl talk (mostly tequila shots and curse words) - which, by the way, she totally is - Lexie's definitely responsible for knowing that she's going to turn into a weepy mess after three shots of tequila and, you know, not crying into her shotglass at Meredith's kitchen table when they're trying to complain about boys.
That's just part of being grown up.
But - and she's just guessing here, because it's not like she's had any practice - Meredith has this awful, sneaking suspicion that another part of being a grown up might be taking care of one's little sister when she forgets that she can't hold her liquor.
Meredith stares at Lexie, red-eyed and sniffling over a big glass of water, trying to decide if acting like an adult is worth the hassle.
Somewhere in here, there's probably a lesson.
"Lexie?" Meredith says, in the Very Quiet And Calm voice she usually saves for disruptive patients. Lexie sniffles something that might be a yes. Over her head, Cristina gestures, wide-eyed, like she's worried Lexie's going to start breathing fire, or something - and in a scary way, not a cool, "publishable medical anomalies" way. "Lexie, are you okay?"
She nods, once, and takes a sip of water. That's good. Sipping is better than crying. Meredith tries again. "Are you. . .sure you're okay?"
Cristina puts a hand on Lexie's shoulder, like she's trying to help. "Because you kind of look like a mess."
Lexie's eyes get huge and bright with tears again, and Meredith just wishes she could go upstairs and crawl into bed until everyone not currently paying rent to live here went away. "Cristina.your sister, just - " Cristina sort of waves her hands, vaguely. "Fix her."
"I'm trying, that's why I think you should go."
"What?"
"You did sort of assign her a number for the first month of her professional career." Meredith shrugs. "I think maybe she's sad."
"About that?"
"No, just - just sad, but I don't think that's helping."
Cristina snorts. "Well, I think she's being whiny."
"Cristina."
"Whatever," she says, and grabs the bottle of tequila. "I'm going to sleep. Have fun."
Lexie watches as Cristina wanders up the stairs, and her eyes get even bigger. "Did you know that she's going to your bedroom?" she says, suddenly very serious. Meredith just sort of. . .blinks at her, because she's not quite sure how to respond to that, and Lexie shakes her head. "You people are very confusing."
And again. It's like she's never even heard of the unspoken rules of things Meredith doesn't talk about. "Oh."
"I'm sorry. It's okay if you're confusing." Two enormous tears drip down her cheeks, and she wipes them away defiantly, looking all of five years old. "I just thought you should know."
This is getting ridiculous. And weird. And, appropriately enough, confusing. Because Meredith doesn't know what to do with a crying, maudlin drunk who's not failing her as a parent, or better friends with somebody that isn't emotionally crippled. She feels like she should be calling George, or something.
Except George would probably just tell her to deal with it, in the name of sibling bonding. So he's out.
Meredith moves around the table to grab Lexie's elbow and give it a gentle tug. "Okay. Why don't we get you somewhere. . .not the kitchen, so you can sleep."
Lexie just sort of nods, and takes another drink of water.
Except she also sort of moves in the direction Meredith's pulling her, and leans over, and then there's water all over her lap and - well, mostly just all over her lap. And now Lexie is wet and drunk and sobbing - which she mentions to Meredith, in case she hadn't already noticed - and that's even worse than before, and man. Being an estranged half-not-sister is a lot of work.
Somehow - there is some cajoling, and some begging, and, naturally, some more crying - they make it upstairs to the bathroom.
That's when Lexie takes off her pants.
Which, Meredith understands, is not so unreasonable. After all, she spilled on them. But it is sort of a shock for Meredith, when one minute she's brushing her teeth and the next she's turning around to see Lexie stripped down to her underwear.
And, okay. Possibly yelling wasn't the best response, because Lexie is apparently fragile, and it's not like Meredith hasn't seen Izzie and Cristina wandering around her bathroom in much less than a t-shirt and panties. But Meredith's had a bit to drink, too. She's entitled to a few inappropriate emotional outbursts.
Anyway, the point is, Meredith yells. And Lexie sort of squeaks back, in a Bambi-and-the-hunter sort of way, and then she jumps into the bathtub, because. . .Meredith has no idea. She just does.
If she had to guess, she'd say the tequila was at least partly to blame.
They both say "sorry" at the same time, Lexie hugging herself in the bathtub and Meredith holding her toothbrush out in front of her like a shield, and for a second Meredith just has to stop and close her eyes. This is why she doesn't hang out with her family - her fake-family, the adopted one with happy siblings who have mostly good memories of growing up and probably don't dread Mother's Day - because of the constant apologies. The brittleness, the weird, half-hugs and awkward gestures, Meredith just can't - Lexie's crying again.
Of course.
And this time she's sinking down to sit in the bathtub, so Meredith joins her on the ground, sock feet cold against the tile floor while she leans against the outside edge of the tub. If she turns her head just a little, she can look Lexie in the eye. (But she doesn't have to.)
"I think," Meredith says, twisting to look at Lexie, "That you should go to bed. Because I'm a little drunk, and you are. . .also."
"Yes, I am. I very am. I just - god, this is so stupid, you know? I'm stupid. I - " Lexie shuts her eyes tight for a moment, then opens them. She shakes her head, and for a half-second when she looks up she's completely sober and dry-eyed. "I'm really sorry. This is weird."
"No -" Meredith starts to disagree, and she tries to sound as sincere as she can, but Lexie just raises her eyebrows. "Okay, yeah. It's kind of weird that I invited you over tequila and bitching about men and now you're sitting in my bathtub, sobbing for no reason."
Lexie pulls a very-serious-drunk face, and nods. "Thank you."
And that's all pretty much true. But - weirdly, because Lexie isn't her sister, and they're not friends - Meredith sort of doesn't mind it. Not in a way that means she's going to be inviting Lexie back over for drinks and inappropriate emotional outbursts anytime soon, just. In this weird way that sort of makes her think of Izzie.
Not because Izzie spends tons of time crying in strange bathrooms, or anything. (At least that Meredith knows about.)
But because this is the kind of thing Izzie would want to do. Finding a waifish, weepy half-sibling with family issues in the bathroom and instinctively taking care of her like a chipper mother duck isn't really a Meredith thing. It's an Izzie thing.
For a half second, Meredith thinks about calling her.
Except she'd probably just give the same family bonding speech as George, only in a way that made Meredith feel guiltier, and Meredith's pretty sure she doesn't need to deal with that right now. Especially not when there's a cool, damp hand resting nervously on her shoulder.
"Hey, Meredith?" Lexie says, eyes huge but not teary, her face inches from Meredith's. "Where am I going to sleep?"
And as much as family bonding is bullshit - as much as she shouldn't have to deal with this, because Lexie is an adult and they're not siblings and all the boundaries that should go with that - Meredith smiles, and helps Lexie up. "With me."
"And Cristina?"
"Don't worry," Meredith says, picking up Lexie's jeans on the way out. "She'll make room."
Nice!
Date: 2020-07-06 11:16 pm (UTC)