Hello lovelies!

I have good news. I was maybe 75% finished with this chapter when I noticed it was already almost 8,000 words. I know it will probably be 10,000 by the time I finish so I decided to just chop it down the middle and go ahead and give you half – so this chapter is probably slightly shorter than some of my others.

The good part is that I'm almost done with part two so you have my word that I will not vanish for six months after this chapter like I did last time. Although, c'mon. Me getting married is a pretty good excuse, amirite?

A quick note about this chapter:

I do not know if they ever said what Alex's mother's name is on the show. If they did, I don't remember and I made up my own. The same goes for his hometown. These seem like pretty small details, so I didn't bother digging to try to find them. If I'm wrong about any of it, I think we'll all survive.

This chapter is pretty Alex and Meredith centered. I've been so digging their friendship in the current season that I wanted to incorporate their closeness into my story as well. I know that Second Chances takes place several seasons earlier when their relationship may not have been quite so deep, but again, this is a fictional story and I'm hoping you won't mind.

I really really really hope you enjoy this chapter. It has been very difficult to write this kind of confrontation with his mother in this chapter and the next one. I'm mostly pleased with the emotions I tried to convey, but I'm still kind of nervous to post it though because it's kind of intense stuff about his past. So I hope I did y'all proud!

Ok, I'm rambling. Love you all. Bye bye.

XXXXXXX

Alex yanked his book-bag out of the tray on the security table and slung it over one shoulder. He re-collected his cell phone and wallet and double-checked for any text messages before putting his belongings back into his pockets. It was Saturday and he knew that Amber wouldn't be awake for another hour or two, but he nervously checked his phone every few minutes anyway.

It took everything in him to not bolt out of the airport. The reality of what he was doing was finally sinking in and it was nearly too much to handle. He stopped by a coffee bar to buy a banana and a shot of espresso before making his way to the gate.

The flight was already beginning to board those with small children and disabilities when he approached. He had shown up as late as possible on purpose – less time to chicken out.

There was a lot going through his mind at that moment. Most of it was fear – fear that the information he had received about his mother's whereabouts was wrong, and even more fear that it was correct. What if she had relapsed? Or worse, what if she was better and wanted Amber back? What if she wouldn't sign the papers? What if she refused to even talk to him?

To make matters worse, he was also feeling guiltier with each passing minute. He had every intention of sitting Amber down last night and explaining what he was trying to do. He had a whole speech planned out in his mind and several counter arguments prepared for when she tried to convince him to take her with him. The thing he hadn't planned on was getting absolutely shit-faced and coming home far too drunk to have such a critical discussion.

He did the only alternative he could think of that didn't involve trying to speak with her at 5:00 in the morning. He woke up thirty minutes early and wrote her a note. She deserved more and he knew that, but this was something he still had to do. He would deal with the fallout later.

He hadn't even asked Amber's opinion on the idea of adoption yet. It mostly because he didn't want to get her hopes up that he could make their situation permanent when the looming threat of their mother still existed.

Realistically, he knew that no judge of sound logic would ever grant her custody after what happened. Then again, Alex had spent a fair amount of time in the system as a child. He had been forcefully taken from his parents many times and sent right back a month later. Sometimes, it was obvious his mother had put in an effort to get them back. Other times, it appeared he was returned to her simply because there were more serious cases to be dealt with and he happened to have a mother willing to put up a small fight with the system. He wasn't willing to take the chance that things were still run in a similar fashion.

In his peripheral vision, Alex could see that the person next to him in line was standing a little too close. He breathed in deeply through his nose to keep from snapping at them. He was hung-over, irritable, and terrified – a horrible combination.

"The only seat left on this damn flight is the last row, right next to the bathroom," a familiar voice sounded. "We'll be lucky if I manage to keep my breakfast biscuit down."

Alex's head snapped to his left, eyeing the person who was standing far too close to him. "You have got to be kidding me, what the hell, Meredith?" He blurted out incredulously.

"When are you going to finally get how this works?" She gestured between the two of them.

"I am fully aware that our relationship has a delightful lack of personal boundaries," he confirmed, "but this is something I need to do on my own."

"I already bought a ticket. Last time I checked, it was a free country and you don't have the authority to keep me from getting on that plane."

Alex scratched the back of his head as what seemed like a thousand emotions rushed through his brain like a swarm of angry bees. Deep down, the idea of not going solo was comforting, especially when it was someone as non-judgmental as her. Their friendship was one-of-a-kind and getting angry with her was next to impossible. She was just unapologetically…Meredith.

"Does Derek know you are fleeing the state?"

"Derek gives his full support," she responded cheekily.

"So he knows?"

"Yes."

"And Jackson knows?"

"Yes."

"So basically everyone except for Amber knows?" Alex groaned.

"Did you not tell her last night after you finished vomiting?" Meredith questioned.

"Well…."

XXXXXXX

Amber sat on the edge of her bed in disbelief. It was the third time she had read it and was nowhere closer to figuring out how she felt about the words that were scrawled on the piece of paper in her hand.

Amber,

Please go easy on me for letting you know about this through a note rather than telling you in person. You have no idea how hard this is for me and I put off telling you for too long because I couldn't figure out how.

By the time you read this, I will be on a plane to Iowa. I need to go see mom, Amber. And I need to do it alone. I've been thinking about everything you've said and about how much you want to stay with me. I can't risk losing you and I want to resolve this before it ends up with you having to testify in a courtroom. I need her to sign the papers and I'm not leaving until she does.

I'm confident I'll be back by tomorrow evening, but if I'm not, please don't be afraid. Nothing worth fighting for comes easy. And you, you little pain in the ass, are worth fighting for. Here's a second chance for me to actually do that. Let's see if I can manage to not screw it up.

Listen to the gang. I'll see you soon.

I love you,

Alex

Amber read it two more times before folding the paper in half. Her mind began to race a million miles a minute, but only briefly. She roughly folded the note a few more times before jamming it in her pocket and shaking her head, as if trying to rid herself of her thoughts.

There was nothing she could do about it at this point. Alex was likely already there and Amber made a silent promise to herself to try her best to not think about it. She stood up and yanked her fuzzy robe off of the hook on the back of her door. The downstairs of this house was almost always freezing in the morning.

She walked into the kitchen quietly and made a bee-line for the refrigerator. A magnetic dry-erase board rested on the center of door. It was April's brilliant idea that they have a chart for everyone to write down their shifts at the beginning of the week. Its purpose was to know in advance if Amber was going to be home alone for too long of a period of time so they could make other arrangements for her. She thought it was over-kill at first, but in all honesty, it had become something she checked habitually every morning to find out who would be home.

Amber scanned the chart for Saturday and ran her finger down. Unsurprisingly, "off" was scribbled next to Alex's name. What she didn't expect was to see it next to Meredith's name too. Amber could have sworn Meredith had been lamenting about how she was going to regret going out drinking when she had to work in the morning.

Another thing that didn't add up was that Derek was supposed to be off. Now, the board read that he wouldn't be home until tomorrow. She dismissed it without too much thought, assuming that Meredith was too hung-over to work and Derek had stepped in to save the day by covering her shift.

Amber heard footsteps coming down the hall. Jackson walked into the kitchen looking surprisingly normal and alert considering how he spent his Friday night. His eyes scanned her attire and he furrowed his brow slightly. "Hey, I thought you were going to the hospital today for your project?"

"Did you know about this?" She demanded, ignoring his question and pulling the crumpled note out of the pocket of her pajama pants.

Jackson sighed. "He didn't tell me until last night. Honest."

"I wish he'd told me last night."

"Are you mad at him?"

Amber played with the ends of her robe tie and gave it honest consideration. "No, I don't think I am," she admitted with a shrug.

"Can't say I was expecting that."

"What were you expecting?"

"Teenage dramatics?"

Amber laughed and shook her head lightly. "One way or another, I guess I'm about to know what's going to happen to me. I just hope it doesn't involve going to court."

"You know Alex is a difficult man to say no to," Jackson reassured her.

"I just feel bad that he actually has to see her," Amber mumbled. "I hope I never have to again."

"Me too kid, me too." Jackson put a hand on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze.

He turned around and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl resting on the counter. "You should eat something and get dressed if you want to be ready in time to ride with Meredith."

"Not hungry," she stated, ignoring the look Jackson was giving her and made her way towards the cabinet that held the glasses. She pulled the Brita filter out of the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of water.

"Besides," she said after taking a sip, "Meredith's off today."

"No she isn't," Jackson corrected her, walking over to the chart to prove her wrong. He pointed at her name and lined it up with the date, his eyebrows raising as he realized Amber was correct.

"Oh…weird. Well, I'm probably heading over in a couple of hours to check on my rats. I'll take you."

"Weirdest chief resident project ever."

"You leave my rats out of this."

"Wait a second," Amber changed topics suddenly as the vacant driveway caught her attention through a window. "Meredith's car isn't here."

The two exchanged a glance, a silent conversation passing between them.

"You don't think…."

XXXXXXX

Alex nervously tapped the side of his hand against the steering wheel of their rental car as they sat at a stoplight. It was drizzling out and traffic was somewhat backed up.

He focused on anything he could to keep his mind busy: the very present 'rental car smell' that surrounded him, the wavering intensity of the rainfall, Meredith's light humming along with the radio. But each mediocre thought he attempted to distract himself with was fleeting, immediately bouncing back to the singular truth that was consuming him – he was about to see his mother for the first time in seven years.

Much to his surprise, it hadn't been all that challenging to locate her. He started by calling Wendy, the social worker who brought Amber to him seven months ago. Wendy gave him the name of the hospital his mom had been brought to after her overdose and even went slightly against protocol to provide the names of one of her doctors.

After that, it was a long day on the phone following trail after trail, but he hit little to no red tape. Alex had been his mother's emergency contact since the day he turned 18 and as such, her records were released to him fairly quickly. He found out that after becoming medically stable and going through detox, she was transferred to the hospital's psychiatric ward for reevaluation. Without the drugs to mask her symptoms, she needed to be regulated on new antipsychotics for her schizophrenia.

From there, providing the name of Steve's dealer along with a mandatory 30 days in a rehabilitation center in Des Moines kept her from serving any jail time. As far as he knew, she only returned home for a few months after that. For one reason or another, she eventually voluntarily checked herself into a new program in Cedar Rapids and had been there for quite some time now.

Alex was thankful for the gossip of their small town. He likely never would have found her otherwise. It only took a few phone calls to old friends to find someone who knew where she had gone. An older woman who used to be a close friend to his mother was even able to tell him that she was paying for her stay with the left over money that Alex used to send Aaron.

Alex assumed that when Aaron started spiraling out of control, the money had fallen into his mother's control and had been used for drugs or medicine. However, she rarely took her medicine and she mostly got her fixes from Steve, allowing the money to accumulate over time.

"I'm actually really glad that she isn't in Dunlap," Alex admitted as they edged forward in Cedar Rapids traffic. "I don't think I could handle being in my hometown, especially now that I know what Amber went through the past few years."

"Yeah, but you still would have done it," Meredith offered as a compliment. "It just would have sucked more than it already does."

"Yeah…you're right. I would have."

Meredith fumbled with the radio for a minute or so and eventually settled on some kind of rock station.

"How much farther?" She asked

"Probably about 10 minutes," he sighed, glancing at his phone GPS in his lap.

They remained silent for the rest of the drive. Alex gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he could to keep his hands from shaking. He followed the signs off of the highway towards "Cedar Haven," growing increasingly nervous by the second as the building came into view.

The parking lot was far from crowded and Alex was immediately able to pull into a space. He shut off the car, unbuckled his seatbelt, and stepped outside. The air was quiet – the whistle of the wind the only audible sound.

His heart was pounding so forcefully that it physically hurt his chest. He tried his best to steady himself, but it wasn't until Meredith reached over and squeezed his arm that he actually caught his breath.

"I know I gave you shit for it at the airport, but I'm glad you're here," he divulged, staring straight ahead at the door of the center.

"You don't have to stand up to her alone this time."

"You don't need to come in with me," Alex replied swiftly.

"Why don't we save ourselves a few minutes and not do this," Meredith suggested. "We both know that eventually I'll convince you to let me in with you. Quit stalling."

Alex smirked. There were many reasons his friendship with Meredith Grey worked, but maybe the most important was that she never took any of his crap.

"Alright," he nodded, putting a hand on the door handle. "I'm ready."

The two of them walked inside and were both equally surprised at how nice the place was. The lobby was warm and resembled that of a nice hotel. A fountain trickled peacefully from the corner and there was a small step down off to the left that led to what appeared to be a reading nook. A few people sat near a fireplace, flipping through magazines or making notes in journals.

Meredith hung back a few feet while Alex spoke with the woman at the front desk. Her nostrils flared slightly as she took in an overwhelming scent of potpourri. She watched from afar as Alex nervously grabbed for his ID and spoke quietly with the receptionist. After signing a few wavers, he beckoned Meredith over.

They were instructed to leave behind all personal belongings other than their cell phones and the folder Alex was carrying that held the documents his lawyer had drawn up.

"Follow me." The receptionist emerged from behind the desk and led them down a narrow hallway. Alex took a deep breath as they approached the visitor's center. "You can wait in here. A member of the staff will bring her in momentarily."

Alex stood frozen in the doorway. Meredith gave him a few seconds grace before placing her hand in the center of his back and giving him a push. He looked at her over his shoulder and stepped inside the room.

For some reason, in his mind, he had been picturing almost an interrogation room – gray cement and wall-to-wall mirrors with a single table in the center of the room and a blinding fluorescent light above.

This, however, was perhaps the farthest thing from what he had envisioned. The room was carpeted with no visible stains and the wallpaper was a calming, pastel blue. There was scattered artwork and a long mirror on the back wall. A wooden table with six chairs took up one half of the room; a couch, two love seats, and a coffee table owned the remaining space. A shelf was adorned with self-help books and classic novels. Alex ran his fingers along the spine of "To Kill a Mockingbird," almost chuckling at how normal the place seemed. This situation was anything but normal, but his surroundings seemed to try to feign feelings of a casual visit.

Alex quickly spun around at the sound of the door opening. His breath hitched as a staff member appeared with a thin, somewhat frail woman following closely behind.

Again, he had pictured something entirely different in his head. He had been expecting for his mother to look like a zombie. However, despite the fact that she had clearly lost a great deal of weight and was rather pale, she really didn't look all that different. She had always been small, much like Amber. Her hair was slightly more silver and her lips were a little bit cracked, but she still looked like his mother.

"Are you alright if I come back to check on you in a little while, Adeline?"

"That's fine."

The door closed and Alex made reluctant eye contact, suddenly feeling the remaining effects of his hang-over. His head pounded and he could feel his pitiful airport lunch climbing up his throat.

Adeline's eyes shifted from Alex to Meredith and back to Alex. She took a few steps farther into the room. "Alex…it's certainly been a while."

He swallowed, willing himself to get a grip. "That it has."

She glanced in Meredith's direction. "Is this your girlfriend?" She paused for a moment. "Wife?"

"More like a sister," Meredith spoke up.

"We've worked together since our first day at the hospital," Alex added. "And we're roommates."

"That's right," his mother nodded, as if suddenly remembering something. "The last time we really talked, you were still a student. But you're a real doctor now."

"Yeah, I am."

"Did you go into plastics like you always said?"

"I'm on track for pediatrics."

"Not surprising," Adeline smiled and tugged on the shawl she had draped around her shoulders, wrapping it tighter. She took a few steps farther into the room and sat herself at the table.

Alex counted to three in his head as he felt his tempter surge. Not surprising? As if she knew him. As if she had spent enough time with him growing up to know that he had a soft spot for children. As if she knew anything about his character or the medical path he would choose.

No, definitely not. This woman knew nothing about him. As far as Alex was concerned, she was a stranger who just so happened to have supplied half of his genetic make-up.

"As much as I would love to catch you up on my life, this isn't a social call," he replied calmly.

"How is my girl?" Adeline ignored him.

"Amber is wonderful," Meredith chimed in, physically stepping in front of Alex to block his view of Adeline momentarily. His blood was most likely boiling and she didn't want him to destroy his chances at resolution before he had even shown her the papers.

Alex side-stepped Meredith's interference and came back into view. "And that's why we're here." He pulled the folder out from underneath his arm and flipped it open.

"This is a custody transfer agreement," he informed her, placing the sheet of paper on the table. "It relinquishes all of your parental rights and allows me to fast-track the adoption process."

"And why on earth would I sign something like that?"

"Because it's the freaking right thing to do!" Alex yelled – not as loud as he could have, but enough that a small echo bounced through the room.

"Why do you think I'm here, Alex?" Adeline questioned. Her voice was firm and flat. "I came here voluntarily to make sure that I'm well enough to bring her home. I am not going to just give her to you when I've worked so hard to get better for her."

XXXXXXX

"So, did that give you most of what you need?" Callie spoke with Amber as the two of them left the surgical wing.

"I think so," Amber smiled and glanced down at the notebook in her hand. "Thanks again for helping me. I'm sorry that I had to ask you so last minute. I was supposed to watch Meredith do an appendectomy, but…"

"But reconstructive knee surgery was a lot more exciting, right?"

Amber grinned and nodded. Nothing had changed – it still thrilled her beyond belief to watch surgery from the gallery. When her English class assigned a descriptive essay called the "A Day in the Life Project," she immediately knew she wanted to do a day in the life of a surgeon.

"So what happened to him?" She inquired.

"He was a high school baseball player," Callie informed her. "Believe it or not, he was walking backwards to make a catch in the outfield and stepped into a ditch. It caused one of the worst meniscus tears I've ever seen."

"Do you think he'll ever play again?"

"I sure hope so. From what his parents tell me, he was on the track for a scholarship."

"Wow," Amber's eyed widened. "I can't believe all of that from just stepping into a ditch."

"The human body is insane," Callie commented. "I get people in here who have fallen down mountains or who have been hit by cars and walk away with a minor fracture or a single broken bone. This kid just stepped the wrong way and his career could be over before it even began."

"Oh that's good stuff," Amber mumbled, flipping her notebook back open and jotting down a few more quotes as they walked. Callie eyed her from the side and giggled.

"What?" Amber questioned, clipping her pen back into the spirals of her notebook.

"You're just already so much like a surgeon. It makes me giddy."

"How so?"

"Well first of all, the writing while walking," Callie teased. "But mostly…it's just that this stuff never seems to make you cringe. On the contrary, it kind of makes you alive. You have this spark in your eye anytime surgery is involved that reminds me of me. Hell, it reminds me of all of us."

"Thanks," Amber grinned from ear to ear. It was maybe her favorite compliment to date. "I guess I come by it honestly."

"I think you do."

They walked into the elevator and came up to the main floor. It was there that Amber saw Derek leaning against the nurses' station reading through a chart.

"I've got to ask Derek something," Amber said, stepping out of the elevator quickly. "Thanks again, Callie!"

She power-walked towards the nurses' station and Derek caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. He closed his chart and attempted to casually walk away.

"Hold it right there, Shepherd!" Amber called out to him.

"Oh, so it's Shepherd now, huh?" He spun around, a somewhat amused expression on his face.

"It is when you try to run from me," Amber narrowed her eyes. "And why would you run unless you have something to hide?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Derek replied nonchalantly and began walking down the hall.

Amber sprinted a few feet to catch up with him. "It's alright, Derek," she assured him in a hushed tone, pulling the note out of her pocket. "He told me where he went. You can stop taking evasive action."

Derek took the note from her hand and scanned it quickly, making sure he wasn't crossing any lines by engaging her in conversation about this. The last thing he wanted was to say anything that Alex didn't want her to hear.

Derek looked up and was met by her expectant expression. He nodded slightly and handed the piece of paper back to her. He placed his hand on her upper back as a gesture for her to walk with him. "I've got a few minutes. Why don't we get some lunch?"

Amber bobbed her head in compliance and fell into step alongside Derek. They didn't say anything as they walked to the cafeteria, nor did they talk as they got their food or stood in line. It wasn't until they took a seat at an empty table far away from the rest of the lunch room crowd that Derek spoke up.

"I'm sorry," he told her with sincerity the second he sat down. "I wasn't trying to keep you in the dark by avoiding you. I just didn't want to step on your brother's toes."

"I understand," she replied, picking at the edges of her sandwich. Her appetite had been non-existent the last few weeks.

Derek finished chewing and swallowing a bite of his lunch before speaking. "Are you alright?"

Amber nodded half-heartedly and stared off into space, but she could feel Derek still looking at her. She picked up a carrot stick and took a tiny nibble before returning the remainder of it to her plate.

"How long have you known he was going to do this?"

"He mentioned a few weeks ago that it was something he knew he needed to do, but I didn't know it was actually happening until this morning."

"I wonder if he had it secretly planned for a while or if he impulsively bought a plane ticket when he was drunk last night and decided to just go through with it."

Derek smirked. "I feel like both are equally possible."

Amber laughed lightly. She looked down at her tray and pushed it away from her slightly. While she wasn't necessarily upset, the mental image of Alex talking to their mom had left her stomach doing somersaults.

"You should try to eat something," Derek advised, taking notice of her body language. "You look like you've lost weight and you didn't really have anything to spare to begin with."

"What are you? My doctor?" She jested, but obediently took a bite of her sandwich.

"I mean…I kind of am?"

Amber giggled and felt the tension in her body begin to dissipate. She took another small bite, chewing slowly as she debated what her stomach was capable of handling. They made small-talk as they finished their lunch, but towards the end, their conversation shifted back to the matter at hand.

"I'm sure he'll call you as soon as he has anything conclusive to share," Derek reassured her.

"He probably will."

"And he's going to be fine. He's a tough guy."

"Yeah he is," she smiled.

"So, is it time to get back to your paper?" Derek asked, beginning to stand up.

"Almost," Amber replied quickly. Derek hesitated momentarily before sitting back down. "I have one more question."

"Fire away."

"Did Meredith go with him?" She inquired innocently. Her tone was so nonchalant, Derek almost wasn't positive he had heard her correctly.

"What?"

"Everyone around the hospital is saying she took the day off to attend some kind of pop-up medical technique conference, but I don't buy it. It's too convenient."

The look of shock on Derek's face answered her question instantly. "I'm not going to bother asking how you figured that out," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're so tiny and cute it's easy to forget how clever you are."

"Sometimes I count on that," Amber retorted with a half-smile.

Derek sighed. "Yes, she went with him." He scanned her face for any indicators as to how this was going to go over. Half of the time, she blew things out of proportion and responded dramatically like a normal teenage girl. But the other half, she tended to surprise them with a level of maturity that exceeded her fifteen years. Now, however, he had no idea what she would think about Meredith accompanying her brother on this trip instead of her.

Silence followed and Derek shifted his weight in his seat, waiting patiently for whatever reaction was about to surface.

"Good," Amber chirped. "That's good."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, looking him directly in the eyes for a few seconds before dropping her gaze to her lap. She shook her head slightly. "I don't want him to be alone."

To be continued...

XXXXXXX

Well, there you have it, folks!

I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll have part two out as soon as I can. Again, thank you to everyone who continues to review, favorite, and message me even when I'm on hiatus. Your reviews are what encourage me to open up my documents and keep writing. So thank you so much for your constant kind words - they mean the world to me!

Until next time

xoxoMaddie