[For Meredith] These few doubts disserve me.

[doubleomalley]

It wasn't like George wasn't aware of his faults. He knew he was a coward when it came to important stuff, and he knew it was way past time to tell Izzie the truth about certain things. She deserved to know; making excuses about it being too much for her to take at the moment could only last so long.

George could only last so long with something

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[drownondryland]

In those moments when Meredith actually stopped to think about it, she found it annoying that she had so much time on her hands, that she was so often home, that her life had changed this much. More often than not, though, she didn't think about it anymore. This was how things were now, a hell of lot better than they used to be, no matter the faults she could find. She could pick at anything until it fell apart anyway.

It was a relief even so, hearing someone at the door, and it didn't take her long to come over and open it (even if that part, the part where they knocked now, was still weird even for her. Necessary, but weird). "George, hi," she said, stepping back to let him in. "What's up?"

[doubleomalley]

"I have to tell her," George said as he walked in past Meredith, not even bothering with pleasantries or small talk. He spun around to face Meredith, eyes wide. "I mean, I should, right? I can't keep not telling her, it's like I'm not telling her every single time we talk, which is every single day and I think I'm going kinda crazy not telling her."

That he was talking about Izzie was something George trusted and expected Meredith to understand.

[drownondryland]

Meredith just closed the door and let George prattle on, nodding as she followed after him though she hadn't quite grasped what he was talking about yet. After a few moments, she made the intuitive leap, mouth opening as she took a deep breath, a kind of silent oh.

"Izzie?" she asked, just to be sure, because unless George had decided to start in on something she knew nothing about - possible, but she was guessing not - there were only so many options. "You mean about the two of you...?" The vague, circular gesture she made with one hand was somehow supposed to indicate their relationship.

[doubleomalley]

George nodded, looking at Meredith as though he expected her to come up with some answer that would make everything seem clearer, even though he knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Yeah, that."

[drownondryland]

"Oh." Meredith's brow rose and she looked somewhere past him, processing that. Not mentioning it to Izzie had grown easier as time went on, the same way not telling people they were fictional had done, though she wasn't sure how good that was. Looking over at George, she considered just getting that over with, too, but now clearly wasn't the time.

"Well, okay, yeah," she said after a moment, "you should. You should tell her. Just... just get it out there."

[doubleomalley]

"I should tell her," George repeated, nodding. Now that he had that sorted out, it just came down to him actually telling her. That was going to be the hard part, and generally that's where the whole coward thing came into play. "How do I tell her?"

[drownondryland]

"Well, you..." Meredith hesitated. She didn't have the first clue, really, since, in his shoes, she probably would have just kept quiet until she blurted it out at, like as not, the least convenient moment possible.

"I don't know," she said, "you just have to sit her down and - and say it. And no drinking, I did the drinking thing, but you don't get to do it. That's how you two make mistakes. No drinking."

[doubleomalley]

"Definitely not drinking," George agreed, though he gave Meredith a look for even voicing what was only the truth. Drinking was what got them in trouble in the first place, and half the reason he watched himself around Izzie now, if Meredith wasn't there with them.

"So...I just tell her, and hope she doesn't hate me."

[drownondryland]

"She won't hate you," Meredith said, barely even registering the look George gave her. "You're George.. She can't hate you. Izzie is physically incapable of hating you. Just be gentle about it. And clear. I mean, you're just telling her, you're not... are you?"

As far as she could tell, that was over for George, but she couldn't always be sure of these things, wrapped up in her own life as she was. She hadn't seen it coming when he'd first got together with Izzie, after all.

[doubleomalley]

"I'm not what? ...wait, I'm not -- oh, no. No way, I'm not." The defensive tone George took on was the only way he knew how to tell Meredith she was crazy for even thinking that, which -- he wasn't. It had been a huge mistake, and moving on had been for the best.

"No, I'm definitely just...telling her. Because she needs to be told."

Which he'd covered already. Multiple times.

[drownondryland]

If breathing a sigh of relief was rude, Meredith didn't care. "Good," she said, nodding emphatically, "great. I mean, you guys are - I love you, both of you, I do, but I can't hear about that again. I really just... can't, so... but yes. Yes, she needs to hear and she has to hear it from you." If for no other reason than Meredith had already had to deal the cancer card and the 'we're fictional' one. There was no way she was covering future relationships, too.

[doubleomalley]

"I don't know how to tell her," George admitted, shoulders slumping visibly under the weight of all the crap his choices in life had led him to. "I can't just blurt it out. How did you tell her?"

[drownondryland]

Meredith shrugged, shaking her head, all sympathy. If anyone knew about crap life choices and how tough they could be to face, it was her. At least, she thought so. "I told her I needed her to know something," she said. "That I had information she needed to know, but it wasn't a problem because... I was going to make sure it wasn't. I am going to make sure it isn't. But it's not the same, George."

[doubleomalley]

"I know it isn't," he replied, trying not to feel too miserable about the entire situation. It was one thing to go through it all, but to have to relive some part of his stupid decisions because it was the right thing to do was just twisting the knife.

"It's a big problem and I know she won't hate me and it'll get better eventually, but until it does, there'll be all this - this awkwardness between us. And knowing I'm walking right into that is...it sucks."

[drownondryland]

The trouble, Meredith knew, was that there probably wasn't a thing she could say to George that he hadn't already thought of - over and over and over. It was too easy for them to stay inside their heads about their problems. She still had to try.

"But it will get better," she said. "Faster than if she finds out you knew this and didn't tell her. Things will get better. She needs you. And she knows she does. It'll be okay."