Brace Yourselves, 'Grey's Anatomy' Fans, A MerLuca Breakup Could Be Coming

After Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) died on Grey's Anatomy, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) took a long break from romance. After all, Derek was Meredith's great love, and so there was no way she could have simply bounced back from a loss like that. So last season, when Meredith started dating Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), it gave audiences hope that she might have found a new, lasting love. But, after the first few episodes of this season, a lot of fans are worried about the couple's fate. Will Meredith and DeLuca break up on Grey's Anatomy? The end of Season 16 Episode 4 teased some trouble for the happy couple.

DeLuca really proved his love for Meredith at the end of Season 15 when he covered for her insurance fraud crime and went to jail in her place. Once Season 16 picked up, though, the two seemed to be in a good place in their relationship, even despite his arrest. Meredith ended up fully taking the fall for her crime, and DeLuca was released from jail. Since then, Meredith's been completing community service hours while waiting to find out whether her medical license will be revoked or not. But none of that has actually seemed to cause any tension between Meredith and DeLuca. Instead, they're butting heads over what Meredith's been choosing to do with all her new free time.

Frustrated with the state of healthcare, Meredith wrote about her issues with the medical field for a website, and in the process ruffled a bunch of feathers. Then, she skipped out on her community service hours to try and make things right with Bailey at the hospital. Because of all this, at the end of Season 16 Episode 4, DeLuca asked Meredith why she couldn't just quietly do her community service instead of going out on a limb. Meredith explained that she had no plans to just "sit on [her] mountain of privilege," and if he thought that's what she would do in this situation then he doesn't know her at all.

Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff hinted to TVLine that there would be some tension between Mer and DeLuca this season. She explained, "They've got to navigate the complexities of a new relationship in the wake of Meredith having been fired and having broken the law. There are stressors on their very new relationship coming from the ramifications of those decisions last season."

With all of that in mind, the promo for the next episode of Grey's Anatomy hints at Meredith questioning her relationship with DeLuca even more. In the promo, she wonders out loud, "He's sexy and he's fun. I don’t know if he'll ever be more than that."

DeLuca is a lot younger than Meredith and more carefree than the much more serious Derek was. But, for what it's worth, the actor who plays DeLuca is rooting for MerLuca to work out. Gianniotti told Good Housekeeping:

I hope that fans can get on board for their relationship and see that even though she's lost the great love of her life, she deserves to also be happy by finding companionship and other meaning in her life, too. Fans should be excited to see her having fun — she deserves it.

Even though Gianniotti hopes Meredith and DeLuca work out, a lot of signs are pointing to Meredith breaking things off between them. Fans will just have to tune in to find out Meredith's true feelings and the fate of this new relationship. Season 16 of Grey's Anatomy continues on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.