It takes Meredith a few moments to hear his familiar moans when she walks through the door. It's been a long three days and she wants nothing more than a few shots of tequila and a hot bath before crawling into bed with Mark. A weight has lifted from her shoulders now that she has taken the board exam, and though she is utterly terrified at what the future will bring, it's a relief to be at the end of her residency.

Leaving her suitcase in the hall, she slips off her coat and heads to the drink cabinet to fetch that much needed bottle of tequila when she sees two empty glasses on the coffee table. Her heart beats a little faster when she sees the dark red lipstick stain on one of the glasses. Meredith turns to the stairs in disbelief and listens, really listens, and then she hears them, hears him.

She prays to a God she has never believed in that she's sleep deprived and maybe she's imagining it because seriously, how could he do this to her? Hell, she prays that he's watching porn at this point, but there's no mistaking the manly grunts of his pleasure and the soft moans of a woman that echo down the stairs.

He's always been a vocal lover, she thinks and almost laughs at the absurdity of it all.

She's back early. Sitting in a bar in San Francisco had been the last place she wanted to be, so she got an early flight back.

She briefly wonders if this is the first time that he's done this, brought another woman to their home without her knowledge, but she dismisses the thought as soon as it comes. She's done. Done with this life and trying to make it work, done with him, done with them.

Done with trying to be happy.

After five years she's tired of fighting a losing battle. He's obviously given up. Having the audacity to bring a woman into their home, fucking her in their bed was his own way of telling her that it was over.

He doesn't want her anymore.

Meredith slips her wedding ring off of her finger. The heels of her shoes click on the wooden floor as she walks into the lounge and leaves the ring on the coffee table.

Her feet are carrying her up the stairs before she can talk herself out of it. The urge to run like the coward that she is battles against the fury that burns through her body. With every step she hears her mother's judgmental voice running through her mind. "He will ruin your life, Meredith. He'll break your heart." She paid her mother no heed the day she said those words, thinking what does Ellis Grey know about love? Now she wishes she paid more attention to her. Things had to be fucked up if she regrets not listening to her mother. Ellis Grey would have left him long ago, when he started treating her like a stranger and not his wife. Ellis Grey would never have let herself be put in that position.

Hell, Ellis Grey would never have fallen in love in the first place.

Hesitating, she lays a hand on their bedroom door. She doesn't want to do this. She doesn't want to see him with another woman in their bed.

"You're weak Meredith. Loving him will only get you hurt."

She pushes open the door, and immediately wishes that she hadn't.

Meredith doesn't pay any attention to the woman who is on her hands and knees. No, her attention is fixed firmly on her husband as he fucks her from behind, his face twisted into an angry snarl. It's the girl who notices her first. "Shit!" she cries, scrambling away from Mark and reaching for Meredith's sheets to cover herself with.

Meredith barely spares her a glance. Her eyes are remarkably dry as she meets her husband's gaze.

"Meredith," Mark whispers in horror as it dawns on him what is happening.

"You bastard," Meredith breathes, her voice little more than a whisper, and yet it's louder than any screams or shouts could ever be.

"Mer wait," Mark says, not bothering to cover himself up as he jumps off of the bed and cautiously makes his way towards her as though she's about a terrified animal who's about to make her escape.

He knows her far too well, for she's already backing away.

"Meredith, don't go-"

Meredith shakes her head, tears finally beginning to cloud her vision. "How can you do this after everything?"

"Just wait, please."

But it's too late. She does what she does best.

She runs.

"Meredith!" Mark shouts, his voice shaking with anger and guilt. She does not turn as she hears him following after her, her only thought is to get away from him before she breaks down. She stumbles blindly down the stairs and is almost at the front door when his strong hand wraps around her arm tightly and swings her around to face him.

"Get off of me!" Meredith cries, wildly struggling against him as he attempts to pull her to his chest.

"I'm sorry-"

"Just let me go!" Meredith pushes against him with all of her strength, and it's only when they hear a floorboard creaking upstairs does he get distracted enough to loosen his grip on her. Meredith wrenches her arm back and slaps him cleanly across the face. Mark stumbles back from the force of it, his surprise clear on his face for her to see.

She's out the door before he can so much as take a step towards her. She prays that even Mark Sloan has some modesty to not come outside, but she's wrong as he trails after her.

She races to her car and manages to climb in and lock the door before he can reach her.

"Meredith, just talk to me." Tightening her hands on the steering wheel, she forces herself to breathe despite his pounding on her window and his pleas.

God, she's so fucking stupid. She had tried so hard to believe that they could get through this, that they could eventually get back to normal. There was no hope of that. He'd seen to that.

He'd done the one thing that he knows that she would never forgive.

She doesn't want to lose him, she needs him in her life and she despises it. She despises him and the whole fucked up world for putting her into this position.

She had the guy, the house, her budding career and just in one day Meredith Grey's perfect little life got fucked up. She may hate feeling vulnerable, but she hates being pitied more. The pitying looks she gets throughout the hospital haunt her every step. Hushed conversations about how the once legendary couple are falling apart and how long it will be until the divorce papers are be signed.

Fuck them for being right.

But then the memories come, the day that they met, when he told her that he loved her, the day they got married, and when everything fell apart. She pushes that particular memory away and starts the car. Mark's shouts echo throughout the street, but she pays them no heed as she wipes away her tears.

She starts the car and drives away from him.

She's Meredith Grey. She's going to be the greatest neurosurgeon of her generation. She is not a weak little girl, she's strong and can get through this.

She will not let a man break her.

Not even Mark Sloan.