WARNING: This post contains spoilers.
Any fan of Grey’s Anatomy knows that its love stories are epic.
The Seattle Grace team have been falling in and out of love to a Snow Patrol soundtrack for 14 seasons now.
And their love stories are never, well, simple. They usually involve some kind of complicated love triangle, a last minute death bed marriage, and the imminent danger of a bomb threat or plane crash.
To help you reminisce about your favourite ~ most tear-jerking ~ Grey’s Anatomy moments, we’ve ranked the most iconic Seattle Grace couples:
Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd
Obviously Meredith and Derek were going to top this list.
Their love story was one for the ages, kind of like the Romeo & Juliet of 21st century hospital-based dramas.
There were so many tear-inducing, heart-clutching moments in their story – like when Meredith asked Derek to ‘Pick me. Choose me. Love me’.
When Derek made an outline of their dream house using candles. When Derek proposed in the elevator at Seattle Grace.
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They also faced a whole lot of heartbreak together – miscarriages, a shooting, that time Meredith almost intentionally drowned herself.
Their love story didn’t exactly have a happy ending – in season 11 Derek died.
But before he died, Derek realised that Meredith was the most important thing in his life and that the most important day of his life was when he first met her in that bar.
Izzie Stevens and Denny Duquette
Be still our broken yet beating hearts.
Remember when Izzie rushed towards Denny’s deathbed in her ball gown in season two? Yeah, you do… grab those tissues.
Izzie and Denny’s love story was so epic because it was over before it even began.
Denny makes that “I get to choose now and I choose you, Izzie Stevens” speech and then they get to spend some short-lived dramatic time together just before Denny dies.
It’s… perfect.
Cristina Yang and Preston Burke
Yang and Burke was another dramatic yet short-lived romance.
Burke spooned Yang after her surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. Yang helped Burke hide his hand tremor after he was shot. They danced together in the kitchen and gave each other epic speeches in the change rooms at work.
And then it was all abruptly over when Burke left Yang on their wedding day.
We’ll probably never forgive Burke… or his yellow turtlenecks.
Jackson Avery and April Kepner
It’s… #Japril.
Jackson and April first hooked up in the bathroom in season eight after Seattle Grace and Mercy West merged. April was a virgin at the time and later felt guilty for betraying God.
From there they had a pretty tumultuous relationship.
April tried to marry someone else, but Jackson turned up at the wedding and confessed his love to April while she was standing at the alter.
They later got married but then separated after the loss of their baby son, Samuel.
But it looks like they might eventually reconnect…. we hope.
Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins
Callie and Arizona’s relationship was one of the longest in Grey’s Anatomy history, but it was never easy.
The show’s first same-sex couple were never the same after Arizona lost her leg in the plane crash.
While they tried to fight for their relationship, they only ended up making each other miserable.
Richard Webber and Ellis Grey
Richard and Ellis’ secret love affair was nothing short of heartbreaking.
While we witnessed their relationship in flashbacks, the most gut-wrenching moment came when Ellis saw Richard at the hospital in the present day.
Ellis had Alzheimer’s disease and Richard seemed to be the only person who calmed her down.
At one stage she returned to the hospital while she was lucid and they got to tell each other how they really felt.
But then, in a instant, Ellis was gone again.
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Mark Sloan and Lexie Grey
Mark Sloan (McSteamy) and Lexie Grey (Meredith’s half sister) never seem to really get it together.
They’re meant to be each other’s person but their timing is always off until one day Lexie finally tells Mark how she feels.
She tells him how she can’t sleep, she can’t eat, and she can’t breathe without him.
Only days later, Lexie and Mark die in a plane crash.
Izzie Stevens and Alex Karev
Izzie and Alex could have been something great – if it wasn’t for the whole Denny Duquette thing and then Izzie eventually leaving the show.
Remember when Alex scooped Izzie off Denny’s dead body and comforted her? Yeah, that.
The pair eventually got married but then Izzie left. It remains one of the most unfinished storylines in Grey’s Anatomy history.
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