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Seriously McMarried; Mr. & Mrs. -- The end
Topic Started: Aug 4 2008, 06:35 PM (1,955 Views)
McGrey Aug 4 2008, 06:35 PM Post #1
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 Most of the passengers from the flight 5429 from Massachusetts to Seattle had recovered their luggage by now and many of them were hugging the beloved ones right in that moment, while just one passenger was fuming because the airline company had lost two of her suitcases.

“God, what a wonderful way to start your new life in this stupid, annoying city! There is nothing more depressing than the rain!” she sighed, frustrated.

She walked out from the transit area and started survey the waiting area. Someone had to be there waiting for her, one of her parents or maybe her best friend. She spotted two people collapsed in two chairs, looking as though they were asleep, resting on each other.

She giggled as she recognized her father and her best friend. Her mood lighted up a little bit, so she started dragging her suitcases and headed towards them.

When she arrived in front of them, she let the suitcases down together with the hand-carrying bag, slamming the last one on a chair beside them. “I wasn’t that late!”

They both stirred and jumped to their feet when they saw who was standing in front of them.

“Meredith!” Her father was the first one to pull her into a tight hug.

“Hi dad,” Meredith wrapped her arms around him, very happy to see him after such a long time.

Thatcher stepped back a little bit to be able to look more carefully at his daughter. His eyes were so happy, almost filled with tears. He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, smiling and not even blinking. “I missed you so much, Mer!”

“I missed you too, Dad!” Meredith smiled wide, her eyes reflecting the same affection as her father’s eyes. “How is Mom?” she asked, stepping back from his arms.

“She is stuck in hospital- as usual.” Thatcher rolled his eyes, amused; Meredith must have already known how common that was for Ellis. “She sends you all her love and she hopes that you will stop by hospital and see her”

“I’ll see what I can do. I have to stop by Seattle Grace and talk with Chief Webber, he is expecting me today,” Meredith stated, smiling, and then turned to her best friend. She threw her arms around her. “Cristina!”

“Hey Mer!” Christina hugged her back. “What were you doing for so long in there? Screwing the captain?”

Meredith pulled away laughing and slapped her arm. “Christina!” She pointed out her father’s presence to her best friend.

“Sorry, Mr. Grey!” Christina grinned, unashamed, even though she knew she was inappropriate.

Thatcher gave her a disapproving glare in response to her cavalier attitude. Sometimes he wondered how his little girl could be friends with such a rude and bitter person as Cristina. Sometimes he was fearful that his daughter might be exactly like her friend, but that was as fear that was never founded.

“I waited for my entire luggage to come out, but everything stopped at one point and I just found these!” Meredith stated, rolling her eyes in annoyance. It was great to see her family and friends again, but the incident with the two missing suitcases was still pissing her off.

“Incompetents!” Christina hurried to support her.

“Morons!” Meredith seemed to get back her good mood, so she joined her friend.

“Idiots!”

Thatcher watched them with an amused look on his face; that scene was one of those that typified their friendship.

“Ok, now, you two stop and you go and fill out a form to get your stuff back,” Thatcher interrupted before their verbal indignation could be noticed by any of the airports workers.

“Yeah, we’ll go and beat their lazy asses a little,” Christina stated while she smacked a fist into her palm.

“Try not to do it too badly, because I don’t want to have to bail you out of jail!” Thatcher warned her.

“Don’t worry, Dad, we will be gentle,” Meredith stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

“Ok. It doesn’t matter if you go to Mercy West today and see your mother or not, but we will wait for you for dinner tonight!” he told Meredith.

“Alright, I will be there!”

Thatcher gave his daughter a kiss and a tight hug. “I am so glad to have you back!”

Thatcher left and Meredith handed Christina one of her suitcases, heading in the opposite direction.

“How is Lexie?” Meredith asked her remembering her cousin. “How come she didn’t come with you?”

“Oh, forgive her. She is so hangover that she can’t even to get out of the bed and pee!”

“Wild party, huh?” Meredith giggled, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah, and you know very well what tequila does to you, but speaking of Lexie,” Christina stopped, turning to her. “If you still want to live with us, then you have to share a bedroom with her, because we got a new roommate.”

“Come on, Christina!” Meredith whined, visibly unhappy with the news. “Why did you have to rent my room?”

“First of all, it’s not your room, and secondly, we asked you to be here two months ago, but apparently it takes your moron boyfriend dumping you to get you here.”

“He didn’t dump me,” Meredith jumped to clarify that gossip immediately. “I dumped him,” she said, very convincingly.

“Ok,” Christina nodded, letting her know that she hadn’t been that convincing. “Let’s get your things back.”

--

In the meantime, in the same town and the same airport, but at a different flight and a different gate.

“Finally, Derek!”

The waiting area was not very crowded anymore, so Derek could easily spot the black woman who was calling his name. His scowling look lightened up at the sight of that person and he quickened his footsteps pushing the cart heavy with luggage.

“Hi Adele!” Derek set his luggage aside to go and greet the woman he had known for almost a lifetime. Once he got to her, his arms flew around her, bringing her into a strong hug.

“Hello Derek! It’s so good to see you again!” Adele hugged him with the same tenderness, very happy to see him.

Derek pulled back, still holding her hands to look more carefully at the woman who had been like a second mother to him. He hadn’t seen her for almost two years now, but she was the same charming and smiling lady he knew. “It’s good to see you too, Adele.”

“But what happened? Why did it take you so long to come out?” Adele asked him a little worried.

“Oh.” Derek let out a sigh of frustration. “The airline must have lost a suitcase.”

“Did it have anything valuable in it?” She asked.

“No- not really; just clothes.”

“Don’t worry too much then! Fill out a form and you will get it back.”

Derek nodded, his letting her hands go and returning to his cart “After this incident, I must say that I might not like Seattle that much.”

“Oh, you’re silly, Derek! This town is great,” Adele chuckled, gently patting his back as comfortingly.

“Not to mention, how much I hate the rainy weather.” Derek needed to add one more point on his list of frustrations.

“The rain can be very romantic,” Adele laughed very convincingly. She knew better.

“I can’t see anything romantic in getting soaking wet, but whatever,” Derek chuckled and gave up. He knew that Adele could be very convincing at times.

“You will love Seattle!” Very cheerfully, she sneaked an arm around his and walked by his side.

Derek looked at her, smiling. “Promise?” he asked as a little child asking for its mommy’s comfort because a mommy always keeps her promises.

“Promise. Otherwise I wouldn’t have worked so hard with your mother to convince you to move here,” Adele smiled.

“By the way, Mom sends you a hug.” Taking a hand from the cart, Derek wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “And she wants me to remind you that you haven’t visited her in a while.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Maybe now that you are here, he will take it easier with the work and then I can to leave him alone without worrying.” Adele shook her head referring at her husband.

“It’s great that you have been able to live with a workaholic man.” Derek stated with admiration.

--

As they got to the claims office, an officer escorted Christina out.

“Let go of me right now!” she shouted at him and jerked her arm out of his strong grip. “I need to go be with my friend.”

“Sorry, but I can’t let you in again if you are going to behave like that.” The tall double-sized man from security remained firm and blocked her way, when she tried to pass by him and go back in the office.

“How do you expect me to act if you clearly don’t know how to do your jobs?” she responded, freeing her arm from the officer’s grip again. She gave him a nasty look, ready for another nasty comment.

“That’s it ma’am!” The officer held out a hand to stop her. “You sit right there and wait” He said loud and very harsh pointing. She was about to say something to him but he stopped her. “In silence or I will have to arrest you,” he warned her.

She let out a sigh and sat on one of the chairs. Derek and Adele could not help, but laugh at the whole scene. Cristina noticed them and just turned her head away, disgusted. In the meantime, Derek and Adele reached the officer.

“Excuse me, officer, we need to go into the office as well; one of my suitcases is missing,” Derek said politely. The officer looked at the two of them, scrutinizing them “It’s ok sir, but I’m going to have to ask you to go alone; we have had many problems with the companions today.” He looked at Cristina as he made that remark.

“Oh it’s okay, officer. I can assure you this lady is going to behave in there,” Derek chuckled.

The officer thought about it. They looked like decent people.

“It’s ok, Derek. I think I’ll just wait here,” Adele interjected, smiling.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you go ahead,” Adele smiled and sat down, four chairs away from the one that Christina was sitting in.

Derek walked into the office. As he stepped in, the officer handed him a bunch of forms, “Here sir, you have to fill these out first, please,” he said to Derek.

He looked at the papers in her hands and let out a sigh. All these papers for a suitcase?

“You can sit next to that lady, so you’ll be more comfortable.” The officer pointed to the desk where Meredith was.

Derek kept looking at those papers trying to decide if it was really worth it to try and get that suitcase back. He went to the desk anyway and then, immediately something else caught his attention, rather someone; a beautiful blond girl, angrily filling out the same forms he had to. He chuckled watching her struggle with all the papers and sat next to her.

She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn’t seem to be disturbed by Derek’s presence at all. He broke her concentration when he talked to her. “Wow, I guess you never thought there was so much paper work to do over a simple suitcase, right?”

He kept admiring her as he spoke, but she responded without even looking back.

“Mhmm”

“Makes you wonder if it is really worth it.” He anxiously waited for her response, but all he got was a simple “yeah” from her, again, without catching the color of her eyes.

“Well, maybe for me it isn’t. It was just clothes after all. I think I might just buy some in here and a new suitcase,” he laughed, but all he managed to do now, was annoy Meredith a little.

She was in a hurry and this man kept distracting her with nonsense. She put the pen down and turned to look at him to tell him to shut up for a minute, but couldn’t quite get the words out. As she met his dreamy smile, all she could do was smile back at him and then she took the pen and went back to her forms.

‘Ok what was that?’ she thought to herself ‘seriously, what was that?’ she kept repeating to herself, giggling in the back of her mind.

Derek was still trying to decide if he should file the complaint or not. He stood up and started to walk away. He made it a couple of steps, then, he stopped, turned around and started walking back to the table. He didn’t really have the time for this, so he turned around once again to leave the office.

The officer who had watched his back and forward movements curiously, decided to interfere. “Aren’t you going to fill out the forms, sir?”

Derek looked down at the papers in his hand. He really didn’t want to do that, but then turned to look at the girl sitting by the table.

“Yeah … I think I’m going to fill these after all,” he said to the officer, then sat down next to Meredith again.

This time she turned to see him. “I thought this wasn’t really worthwhile for you,” she said.

He smiled at her again. “Yeah well, I really like those clothes.”

They both smiled this time and for the first time, Derek met her cute giggle and Meredith met his dreamy smile.

“What about you, is this really worthy of your time?” he asked her, now feeling more relaxed in her presence.

“Yeah, there is something really important for me in that baggage, so I really have to do this.” They both laughed

“So, looks like we are going to be stuck in here for a while,” he said.

“Yeah,” Meredith responded.

“I’m Derek, by the way,” he said with a smile, sticking out his hand. Meredith hesitated for a second, and then shook Derek’s hand. “I’m Meredith.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Meredith!” Derek smiled charmingly. When she returned his smile, something made him say something more. “I was starting to hate this town, but now that I met such a pretty woman, I might like it here.”

Meredith’s gaze froze over him, surprised by his last statement.

Derek noticed Meredith’s shock and immediately he realized what he had said and how that must have sounded. “I… uh…. I didn’t mean to be rude… or inappropriate.”

Meredith nodded and a small smile started growing on her face. His compliment was cute, but his way to excuse himself was even cuter.

“It’s fine. I know what you meant,” she assured him.

Derek chuckled, calmed by her smiling nonchalant at him, and sighed in relief. He nodded, a little embarrassed, and tried to focus on his papers.

The silence fell back over them as Derek resumed his writing and Meredith resumed hers, or at least that was what she would have wanted. She found herself watching Derek discreetly from the corner of her eye. He was a good-looking man with such gentle facial features, smiling slightly as he focused on those papers.

Derek felt her eyes on him and tried to ignore them. He tried, but he felt as if her eyes were calling him, so he raised his head and looked up at her. He smiled as he caught her eyes on him. Meredith looked down and tried to pretend that nothing special had happened. Maybe a second had passed when Meredith cursed as she shook her pen. “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked her, a little worried.

“This pen doesn’t want to write anymore,” she sighed as she threw it on desk. Derek smiled and, after he searched through his briefcase, he offered her a pen. “Take this one.”

Meredith smiled gratefully as she took it from him. “Thank you!” Her smile went straight to his heart. He found himself staring at her with a foolish grin.

“You may want to finish your papers,” Meredith giggled sweetly, pointing to his papers.

Derek snapped back to reality and smiled, trying to hide his embarrassment at being caught. He looked down at his papers without another word, letting Meredith giggle silently.

No other words were spoken until Derek finished with his form. He put the pen inside his coat and sighed as he looked at Meredith. “Uh… good luck, Meredith!”

Meredith looked at him smiling. “Good luck to you too, Derek! I hope that you won’t have problems again in this town.”

“I have this feeling that I am going to fall in love with this town,” he replied as he stood up. He smiled dreamily at her before he nodded and left to drop off his forms.

Meredith finished with her forms, and as she put the pen down she realized something: Derek forgot to take his pen back. She couldn’t help but feel bad for making Derek lose his pen. She decided not to leave it there and took it with her.

She returned her forms to the officer and then went outside where Christina looked as if she was about to fall asleep again. Meredith was already drained physically and emotionally, so she trailed off until the chair where Christina was laying. “Get up!” Meredith made her stir as she hit her leg.

Christina jumped to her feet, scared and panting. When she saw her friend’s amused smile, she shot her a glare. “Are we ready?”

“We’re ready,” Meredith answered smiling.

On their way out from parking lot, out of nowhere, a car came out from the same place as them and stopped one inch away from their car. Christina pressed hard the brake pedal, jolting both of them.

Nervous, she pressed the horn shouting at the other driver. “Where is the hurry, you idiot?”

Meredith was pretty pissed off by the incident too, but when she leaned over Christina, she recognized the person who almost hit them. She pulled back instantly and pulled Christina back too. “Stop it! That is Derek.”

“Who?” Christina looked at her, confused.

Meredith realized that she hadn’t talked with her about the man she met, so she gave up. “Never mind! Let’s just go.”

Meredith looked again at Derek, and Derek recognized her too. He smiled, waving at her as he mouthed, “I am sorry.” And gave her the sign to go ahead.

Meredith smiled back and Christina drove away.

“Oh no!” Meredith sighed after a while.

“What?”

“I should have returned the pen to Derek,” she stated, disappointed.

Christina looked at her confused. It was obvious that she had forgotten about the man who almost hit their car.

“Derek… I forgot to give him his pen back.”

Christina looked at her as if she was about to burst into laugh. “Did you have sex with that guy in there?”

Meredith laughed and lightly smacked Christina’s arm. “Watch the road!”
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McGrey Aug 4 2008, 06:40 PM Post #2
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 They finally made it home. Cristina helped Meredith with her bags.

“Seriously, what are you carrying here? Rocks?” Cristina asked her as she struggled with the weight.

“Oh, like you are such a light packer. I’m moving back in, Cristina; it’s not a temporary thing. I need all my stuff.”

They entered the apartment. Lexie was watching some TV program in the living room when she saw Meredith. She ran up to her and put her arms around her. This caught Meredith by surprise and made her drop her bags. She smiled and hugged her cousin back.

“It is so great to see you Lexie!” She had not seen her in months and she wasn’t ready to let go of her just yet.

“Oh my god! I missed you so much, Meredith!”

“Well apparently not enough to come pick me up at the airport but whatever.”

Lexie frowned, feeling a little guilty. Meredith shook her head and started laughing

“I’m kidding. Cristina told me why you couldn’t make it. We all know that the same thing would have happened if it was me so…”

“… So you are not mad?” Lexie smiled hopefully.

Meredith gently rubbed her arm. “No, I’m not mad.” Lexie smiled, relieved. “So, can we get to our room now? I have had the longest morning. I would love to take a bath.”

“Yeah, let me help you with this,” Lexie said as she tried to lift one of the suitcases up. Meredith could see her struggle.

“God, Meredith! What the...”

Meredith interrupted her. “Oh, shut up!!”

They got the suitcases to the room. It was a big room with two beds, one for Lexie, one for Meredith. She was so tired. All she could do at first was throw herself on the bed, but Lexie cleared her throat.

“What?” Meredith asked confused.

Lexie gave her a look. “That is my bed Meredith”

Meredith groaned and reluctantly got out of Lexie’s bed and climbed onto hers. She let out a sigh as she laid her head down on the pillow.

“God! It is great to be home.” Lexie smiled, watching her cousin.

“Its great that you are here!” she said. “We missed you a lot”

“Yeah, enough to give my room to someone else.” Meredith giggled. Lexie gave her a nasty look. “And that was my final complaint… I swear,” Meredith replied, laughing. Lexie gave her half a smile. “It will be fun sharing the room with you anyway, it has been so long since we did that, remember?” Meredith continued.

“Yeah, I remember,” Lexie said. “You used to come to our house after school, when we had to do those insanely…”

“Long projects,” they both finished and laughed, remembering how it was when they were kids. They had the same age, so they went to school together. They always felt more like sisters than cousins and they used to do everything together until Meredith started to travel so much. Lexie was happy she had her sister home again.

“Can you believe that we are about to start our residency?” She let out a sigh and turned to look at the ceiling

“Yeah, I know, do you think we’ll all make it? They say the first year is hell!”

“We will make it Lexie, and it’s going to be great because we are going to be together again, you, me, and Cristina.”

“Yeah...and Izzie too” Meredith turned to Lexie looking confused

“Izzie?” Lexie smiled. “Yeah, she is our roommate, and she is getting into surgery too, isn’t that cool?”

Meredith frowned; she was a little territorial when it came to her friends. She would have to meet this Izzie person before she decided if it would be good for her to hang out with them.

Lexie just shook her head, she knew Meredith pretty well and sometimes she could easily read her thoughts. “She is really nice, Meredith; you will love her.”

“If you say so…”

Suddenly, she jumped out of the bed. “Ok, I’m going to take a bath. Want to go and grab something to eat after I’m done, maybe… a drink too?” Meredith smiled widely, but Lexie quickly shook her head, remembering all the drinking from the night before and the big hangover she just went through.

“Only food … no drinks for me, thank you.”

Meredith laughed. “Yeah, I though so.”

“Ok, I’m going to tell Cristina and Izzie.” Once again, she got a frown from Meredith when she mentioned Izzie, because for her right now, Izzie was just the person who took her room.

“Meredith!” Lexie snapped.

“What?! I didn’t say anything,” she said innocently.

“Oh, just get into the shower. We’ll wait for you in the living room.”

“Fine.” With that, Meredith went into the bathroom.

Several minutes later, she came in to the living room to find her three roommates sitting there laughing. She let out a sigh and said, “hello there,” which made all of them turn around to face her. Izzie stood up and walked up to her, smiling unusually wide to Meredith’s way of thinking. “Hi! I’m Isobel Stevens, but everyone calls me Izzie.”

Meredith hesitated a little before finally shaking Izzies hand. “Hi Izzie, I’m Meredith.” She smiled at her too. ‘Well, at least she seems nice,’ Meredith thought.

“Can we go now?” Cristina said, because she was really hungry. “I’m starving here.”

“Yeah, lets go,” Meredith said, grabbing her purse.

They got a table in their favorite restaurant, and sat there talking while waiting for their food to be served.

“So how was the Mixer? We already know Lexie had some fun,” Meredith said laughing and got a “shut up” from Lexie.

“Oh yes, Lexie had some fun last night,” Cristina playfully raised her eyebrows as she said that to Meredith which made her get all confused, she frowned and Lexie shot Cristina a warning look.

“Shut up Cristina!!” Cristina just laughed and raised her glass

“Oh, come on Lexie, it’s not so bad,” Izzie said.

“You two! Great, this is great, I have the best friends in the world, the best secret keepers, the...”

Meredith interrupted her. “Alright Lexie, enough with the rambling. Out with it already!”

Lexie mouthed something but Meredith couldn’t quite understand it

“What? I didn’t hear a word you said.” She was about to say something else when Cristina spoke up

“Well, she didn’t have fun alone, if you know what I mean.”

“Thank you, Cristina,” Lexie said, feeling really uncomfortable under Meredith’s stare.

That was something she would do, something she would expect even from Cristina, but not from Lexie. She had always been the good girl, so Meredith’s jaw dropped when she heard what Cristina said. Then, she turned to Lexie and raised her eyebrows.

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed! Was it fun? Is he hot? Come on, I want details!” Meredith urged her, laughing.

Lexie opened her mouth, not saying a word for a second, but then she felt lightheaded again; she was still hangover after all. “Oh my god, I need to go to the bathroom”

Meredith and Cristina laughed. “I’ll come with you,” Izzie said and followed Lexie to the bathroom. Once they were alone, Cristina stared at Meredith for a second.

“What?” she asked Christina with a funny look.

Cristina was waiting for her to comment on Izzie; she knew as well as Lexie what to expect from Meredith on this matter.

“So Izzie...” Cristina said to give her a hint as Meredith started playing with her napkin

“Well I admit… she seems like a nice person.” Cristina smiled at Meredith’s answer. “A little too nice,” Meredith added. “But it is ok.” She smiled.

“Oh, thank God you are here, Meredith.” Meredith gave her a funny look “Yeah look, Lexie and Izzie, they are like… really alike. God! Their names even rhyme and you are more like me so now there it’s like a tie at home.”

Meredith laughed out loud. “You are crazy, Cristina.”

“Seriously,” Cristina said. “I like Izzie, but she is too Izzie sometimes and has Lexie to back her up and now my back up is here.”

Meredith shook her head and gave her friend a big smile “Well, you know I’m your person.”

“Mhm.” They raised their glasses and continued with their drinks. As Lexie and Izzie returned to the table, the four of them continue talking, Lexie told Meredith all about her guy. They talked some more about the party, and getting ready for their internship. They still had a few days before they had to start but they were really anxious and a little nervous about it.
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McGrey Aug 4 2008, 06:43 PM Post #3
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 It was another rainy summer evening in Seattle and an SUV was rolling down the highway. Inside of it, Lexie was driving, while Meredith was leaning her head against the window on the passenger side.

“Mer?” Lexie smiled as she checked her cousin with a glance. For a while now, Meredith seemed to be daydreaming.

Meredith’s thoughts were replaying flashbacks from the past years while Lexie was driving them to the dinner with her parents. She left Seattle alone. She and Lexie had made plans to go together, but when Meredith was admitted at Dartmouth and Lexie at Harvard, their lives took different paths. They needed to get on their own without families and enjoy the freedom.

In college, Meredith met Cristina and since day one, they had become the best friends, although Cristina transferred her studies to Stanford one year later. One year was enough for them to form a life-long relationship. All three of them talked and decided to reunite in Seattle.

Meredith was the one who came up with this proposal. Why? Because she had to face the real world and discovering she was a grown-up, she freaked out. She thought that Seattle, back home at her parents and family, was the best place to hide from responsibilities. Maybe she was right… or maybe not.

“Mer!!” Lexie shouted to bring her out of her trance.

Meredith flinched, covering her chest with her palm as she felt her heart jumping out of chest. “What?” she snapped back, annoyed and scared at the same time.

Lexie calmed down and instantly grinned at her. “Aren’t I good?” Meredith looked at her strangely. Lexie chuckled and pressed the gas peddle to drive faster. “Where were you?”

“Where was I when?” Meredith questioned, confused, although she knew what Lexie was referring to.

Lexie didn’t want to let the road out of her sight, so she quickly glanced at her cousin. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Meredith answered simply.

“You miss Matt,” Lexie stated. She glanced at Meredith again, checking for her answer.

“Kind of.” Meredith always found it easy to open up in front of Lexie.

“Regret him?” Lexie asked.

Meredith shook her head. “Surprisingly… no. It’s just… the custom… you know.”

“That’s good then.” Lexie smiled at her warmly. “You can find many McDreamies here in Seattle.”

Meredith looked at her and her face expression looked as if she was about to crack up. “Mc…Dreamy, huh?” Meredith hardly contained her laughter.

Lexie gave her a nasty look as she saw her mocking her.

Meredith shook her head, giggling. “Now, seriously, Lexie,” she started. “We are going to be surgeons, for God’s sake … hardcores. You have to stop dreaming of fairytales. Fairytales don’t match with surgeons.”

Lexie rolled her eyes. “You think you know them all, but one day you will find out that you don’t.” She stated knowingly and refused to let her cousin’s words hurt her.

Meredith felt a little guilty for the way she talked to her, although she still believed in what she said. “I am sorry! Now, tell me about this new McDreamy of yours.”

“How do you know I have a new McDreamy?” Lexie asked curiously.

Meredith giggled and rolled her eyes. “We are talking here about… McDreamies, so? Spit it out! You never mention that name unless there is an owner of it in your life.”

Lexie smiled as if she was a teenager in love.

“Besides,” Meredith added. “Christina hinted something about it last night.”

“His name is Alex.” Lexie finally decided to confess. She lifted her foot slowly from the gas peddle to be able to talk and drive safely at the same time. “He is a surgical intern like us.”

“Oh, so you are going to be co-workers, huh?” Meredith smiled suggestively.

Lexie giggled. “He is cute.”

“Lexie, you can’t fall for a man that you only got to know in bed.”

Lexie looked at her with an eyebrow lifted. “You are the one to talk,” she stated with sarcasm.

Meredith faked a smile, annoyed by Lexie’s truth. She was a one-night stand person as well, but she never fell in love for any of them; she just had a few crushes. But love? No.

“You do believe in fairytales.” Meredith spoke, more to herself. “That’s good.” She finally admitted, looking at Lexie.

Lexie smiled warmly and her right hand found Meredith’s hand. She gave it a gentle, comforting squeeze. “Maybe you will believe in it one day like you did when you were a little girl.” Meredith smiled, grateful for her encouragement. “Or at least to believe in love. You only need courage, Mer! That’s all it takes to make you happy.”

“Yeah,” Meredith sighed, leaning her head against window. She thought she was brave, but life and its responsibilities proved her wrong. She was weak.

--

The two girls soon arrived at the Greys’ house. It was a new place for Meredith. Her parents decided to move into a quieter neighborhood, somewhere closer to Mercy West.

She looked at all the look-alike houses spaciously spread on each side of the road. They were all big houses, extravagantly decorated by their rich owners. Meredith felt strange in this place. Nothing was familiar. Lexie, who was standing beside her, was the only familiar thing.

Lexie had pulled the car in front of a long pathway, which led to one of the houses. “So this is their new place?” Meredith asked, scanning the entire structure.

“It’s a very nice place,” Lexie said with admiration. Meredith noticed Lexie’s gaze, though she wasn’t there for the first time, she understood. That was what Lexie was dreaming of. That was her dream house and her dream neighborhood for her dream family.

Meredith looked back over the house. Yeah, it looked pretty.

A big drop hit the top of Meredith’s head and made her aware of the impending rain. “I think we should go inside,” she said, wiping her head.

Lexie looked up over the sky and then was the first time she felt the rain. “Yeah,” she agreed cheerfully and grabbed Meredith by the hand, dragging her after her.

They stopped on the small porch and Lexie rang the doorbell. She was part of the family, but she had been taught to be respectful to everyone.

Meredith smiled, amused to see that they were actually ringing and waiting at her parent’s house. She had never done that before, in all her homecomings.

Lexie rang once and waited patiently for an answer. It was a lovely August evening, despite the slow rain; the air was still warm and fresh. While waiting to be invited inside, Meredith turned around to give another look to the surroundings. The lawn was huge. They didn’t have something like that when she was a child, but she didn’t regret it. A huge lawn could have meant more work for her. She would have had to cut the grass or clean it. She couldn’t help wonder who was taking care of their lawn. Tiny bushes marked the boundaries with the neighbors’ yards and the sidewalk.

The answer to their call was late to come, so Lexie rang the doorbell again, while Meredith decided to make the time pass faster. She noticed the small lamps hidden between bushes and analyzed the distance between them. There was a lamp at every third bush.

“I think we should just walk in,” Lexie said with a sigh and made Meredith turn to her.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to realize that.” Meredith giggled and grabbed the doorknob. She twisted it once and the door clicked. She pushed it open and walked inside, closely followed by Lexie.

As she stepped inside, Meredith found herself in a large, very poor lighted hall. On what looked like wooden tapestry were hanging small pictures with cats. Meredith smiled at the familiar arrangement. Her father loved the cats.

Muffled voices could be heard coming from somewhere further in and what startled Lexie and Meredith was the loud sound of metal hitting the floor. They looked at each other for a second and then Lexie grabbed Meredith’s hand and urged her to follow her at a sprint. They turned right at a corner and then they turned left, making Meredith feel like she was in a labyrinth.

They stopped in front of what looked like a dining room/kitchen. Did they just pass through a labyrinth to get to kitchen? Meredith giggled silently. She was happy she didn’t live there otherwise she would starve.

Arriving in the doorway, the girls found the two hosts bent over a pot that Ellis had apparently dropped. “I told you to stay away from my pans, Ellis!” Thatcher Grey shouted nervously at his wife while they were picking up the few potatoes and carrots that had dropped from it.

“This is my kitchen too, Thatcher and if I want to do something for my daughter, I don’t need your permission for it.” Ellis wasn’t late to retort.

“You can impress your daughter using other methods, not making her starve.” Thatcher cut her off and stood up to bring the pot back to the counter. In that moment, he saw Meredith and Lexie standing in the doorway. “Meri!” he exclaimed happily, making Ellis leave her cleaning and hurry to her.

“Meredith, honey!” She came over to her daughter and gave her a strong hug. “It’s so good to see you!”

Meredith hugged her back, but pulled away. She loved her parents, but she wasn’t really a person that likes the hugs. “It’s good to see you too, Mom! What are you two doing in here?” Meredith asked, looking amusedly at her father who was wiping the floor from Ellis’s mess.

“Your mother tried to help me,” Thatcher answered.

Ellis looked back at him with a deadly glare, before sweetening her look for her daughter and her niece. “Hi, Lexie!”

“Good evening Aunt Ellis, Uncle Thatch!” Lexie greeted them and stepped into the kitchen to go help her uncle. “Let me take care of this,” she offered, taking the rag from him to clean the floor.

“Thank you, Lexie!” Thatcher answered gratefully and moved to his other pots and pans. “It looks like we won’t have garnish for the roasted chicken.”

“Shut up, Thatcher!” Ellis said. “We don’t like your vegetables anyway.” She quipped, smiling at Meredith. “Let’s go sit down and you can tell me what you think about Seattle after all these years.” Ellis led Meredith to the dinning table and both women sat down. “Are you going to live with your friends in that small apartment of yours?”

“Mom!” Meredith groaned. “We can’t afford to live in our old house.” Ellis opened her mouth to say something, but Meredith anticipated her words. “Don’t even think about it, Mom. We want to be on our own and that is what we are doing. We don’t want our parents to pay for our housing.”

Thatcher’s attention was on their dinner, but also to the discussion between the two women. He looked up at his brother’s daughter and saw her sighing. He knew Lexie would have wanted something bigger. She had always been daddy’s little girl and received everything from the second she expressed her wish. Meredith was 6 months older than Lexie and therefore she was like a role model for her cousin. Meredith’s ambition of being on her own determined that Lexie would follow her example, but people who knew her could see what big efforts she was making. The Greys’ old house was bigger and more comfortable than their small apartment. Thatcher squeezed Lexie’s arm and winked comfortingly. Lexie answered with an ashamed smile, knowing that she had been caught.

“Fine, I am done with this.” Ellis decided to drop the topic about the girls’ housing. “How are you post-Matt?” she asked her daughter.

Meredith giggled. “You are saying it as if someone died. I’m fine…really,” Meredith said in a convincing voice, looking at her parents, in particular at her father. “We weren’t a match, so someone had to take this step.”

“That’s good, Meredith!” Ellis said proudly and put her hand over Meredith’s hand. “You are a surgical resident and your career has to remain your first priority. You are young and you still have plenty of time to build a family.”

“Ellis!” Thatcher interrupted nervously.

“What?” Ellis shouted back. “Don’t worry! You will live long enough to see your daughter as a wife and mother.”

“If you keep giving her encouragement like that, then I’ll be 99 years old to meet my son-in-law and my first grandchild.”

“I’m a doctor, Thatcher! Your daughter and niece also have great futures in this field, so your medical insurance is guaranteed.”

“Mom!” Meredith cut her off nervously. “Can you please stop talking about death? We’ll see where the future leads us. Maybe I’ll get pregnant next month or I’ll decide to get married to the first man I meet.”

Ellis made a frightened face, as if she was having a heart attack. “If you want to see me buried at this early age then do it.”

“Don’t dramatize, Ellis!” Thatcher came over to table bringing with him the bowl with the soup. “But your mother is right! I want to see you settled at your house with your family, but do it only when you will feel ready for it and after you found the right man,” he told Meredith.

“I was just joking, Dad.” Meredith smiled, ashamed. “I’m taking a break from men for a while. I’ve had enough of them.”

“You sound more like your mother each day.” Thatcher shook his head as he took Meredith’s bowl to fill it with soup.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ellis retorted, offended.

“It means that I feel sorry for the man you will decide to settle in her life,” Thatcher replied calmly and, together with Lexie, they sat down at the table.

“If you want to get married, at least do it with a doctor,” Ellis whispered to her daughter. “Preferably a surgeon and the same thing is valid for you too, Lexie!”

“Eat, Ellis!” Thatcher pushed the bowl closer to Ellis and put a spoon in her hand to make her shut up.
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McGrey Aug 4 2008, 06:44 PM Post #4
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 As Derek and Adele arrived at the Webber residence, Derek got out of the car, went to the other side, and opened the door for Adele. It was already raining so he opened an umbrella for her, and they started walking toward the door.

“So, how do you like it so far?” Adele asked him, but seeing his expression, she could tell what answer she would get

“Rainy weather Adele, rainy weather,” he said, running his finger through his already wet hair

“You will get used to it, darling.” She smiled warmly at him, and pulled him a little closer so he could get under the umbrella. He shook his head, she quickly opened the door and they stepped inside.

“Have a seat, dear! I’ll go and get Richard,” Adele invited and walked along the spacious hallway and disappeared behind a door, which Derek presumed was Richard’s office.

As he walked into the living room, Derek examined the surroundings. The house was big and everything was so neat and elegant, reflecting Adele’s taste. He had just sat down on the couch when Adele came in fuming.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked her fearfully, though he suspected the reason for Adele’s anger.

Adele smiled kindly and shook her head. “I’m sorry!” she said, smiling politely. “It’s just… Richard, you know. I asked him to stay home today and be here for your arrival, but he can’t stay away from his true love.”

Hearing Adele’s words, Derek looked at her, worried. “Oh no, no.” Adele giggled guessing his thoughts. “Medicine… sometimes I have the feeling that he doesn’t love anything else but medicine.”

“Adele.” Derek stood up, smiling and came over to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. “He would be lost without you.”

“Let me give you some advice, Derek!” Adele smiled, taking Derek’s hand in hers. “When you find the right girl and you put a ring on her finger, stay faithful to your love for her.”

“Richard loves you, Adele. He just has some different ways of showing it,” Derek replied warmly.

Adele chuckled and gently patted his cheek. “You are a good boy, Derek, and the girl who finds you will be the luckiest girl in the world.”

Derek smiled and shook his head. “I should have been born twenty years earlier,” he said.

“You’re charming, Derek.” Adele laughed and wrapped an arm around his to lead him back to the couch. “I have to say that any old woman like me would be more than pleased to hear a compliment like that.”

“You’re not old!” Derek replied as if that was the silliest thing to say.

“Now you are becoming too cheesy,” Adele warned him, but very amused by his pleasant company.

They stayed there chatting for a while, mostly about Derek’s mother, Helen Shepherd. Adele and Helen used to be the best of friends in High School and kept a strong relationship until the day that Richard Webber had to start his internship in Seattle. Despite the distance and all the years that had passed, Adele and Helen continued to stay in touch with each other and they spent most holidays together.

Adele stood up and took Derek’s arm when she saw him yawning. “You must be tired and I’m keeping you here for the latest gossips from Manhattan. Come, you need to lay down for while.”

Derek agreed, yawing again and stood up to follow Adele. He was indeed tired, so a bed was sounding better than anything else was in that moment.

--

Later, when Derek opened his eyes, darkness had fallen over his room and rain was dripping along the window.

A little confused, Derek stood up and checked his watch. Then he gave a look around him and everything came back to his mind. He got up from the bed and walked over to the window. Leaning his forearm against the window, he let his forehead rest on it watching the wet street and the rain forming larger puddles with each drop.

Such a depressing town, he thought, but depressing was his life too. Maybe he should have gone somewhere sunny… California maybe. Yeah, he could try that; one of his teachers from Memorial Hospital where he did his residency, was a chief of surgery in L.A.

Derek’s thoughts were soon interrupted by some voices, which were sounding more like shouts. He decided he should return to his hosts and see what was going on.

Coming down the stairs, Derek met Adele who was coming upstairs.

“Oh you are up,” Adele said, smiling and stopped to take Derek. “I was coming to check on you. Dinner is ready,” she continued. “Did you sleep well?”

Derek nodded, smiling. He wasn’t quite sure about how well he slept, because he never could sleep well in rainy weather, but he had been too exhausted to feel or hear anything else.

Adele led him downstairs and they stepped into the living room together, where Richard was reading a newspaper by the light of a lamp.

From the moment he heard them coming in, Richard put the newspaper aside and stood up to greet Derek. Richard had deep admiration for Derek and was truly happy to have him in Seattle, better yet working for him at the hospital.

Adele let go of Derek’s arm to let him greet one of his mentors and watched them shaking hands.

“It is great to have you here, Derek.” Richard patted Derek’s shoulder affectionately.

Derek smiled awkwardly at Richard’s warm greeting and at Adele’s hospitality. He was still not sure if moving to Seattle was a good idea. “Good to be here,” he replied politely.

They sat down and started talking; they had so much to catch up on since both families were very close. The talk went pleasantly until Adele checked her watch.

“Now, where is that son of yours?” she asked Richard.

“Oh, he is only mine now?” he replied, smiling.

“Yes, he is, when he does things like this. He knew we had company; he should have been here a long time ago.” Richard rubbed her arm

“Relax, honey. He must be at the hospital.” Adele pulled her arm away from him

“Exactly, and see why I say your son? He got that from you! You two can’t stay away from that damn hospital for 5 minutes.” She was a little mad now; she loved her husband and son, but sometimes she felt a little abandoned, because they were always working. Richard took her hand. “Life as a surgeon, Adele. Our time isn’t our own sometimes.” She just shook her head.

Derek looked at them. He was feeling a little uncomfortable now.

“Uhmm, you know, about that... I could find my own place you know, I don’t have to move in with your son... I-”

Adele cut him off. “Oh that is nonsense, darling; his roommate just moved out, so he needs a new one anyway, and it will be good for you to have someone you know around. Remember how much you used to hang out together when you were kids?”

Derek thought about it and decided to give it a try. After all, Adele was right. They were the only ones he knew in the city so far... Well. them and a certain blonde that crossed his mind. As he started thinking about her, a smile came across his face, but Adele interrupted his thoughts about Meredith. “So, you like the idea, do you?” she asked Derek, thinking that his smile was because of that.

Derek cleared his throat. “Oh yeah… sure” He decided to just avoid the subject.

Suddenly, they heard the door open. “Finally,” Adele said as her son stepped into the living room. He walked to them and kissed his mother’s forehead. “I’m so sorry, Mother.” Adele gave him a disapproving look at first, but she could not resist his son’s charm for long, so she smiled. “Long time no see,” Derek said to him.

“Derek,” he said as he held out his hand.

“Preston,” Derek replied as he shook his hand.

Richard stood in the middle and put his arms around both of them “It’s going to be great having you two boys working at the hospital.”

They both gave him funny looks. “You do realize that we are grown men, right, Richard?”

Everyone laughed. Then they went to the table to have dinner. It was a little awkward now for Derek and Preston; they had not seen each other in a long time. Adele was right, they were really good friends when they were kids, but grew a little competitive when both of them decided to go to med school. They remained friends in spite of that; it was a good thing that they had both picked different specialties.

“So, how are the brains going?” Preston asked, trying to break the ice a little with Derek

“Brains are good, and I must say, I was surprised to hear you were going for cardio. I figured you’d choose general, like Richard.” Richard smiled. He was really proud of his son, even if he opted for a different specialty than his.

“Well, what can I say? I’m a heart man,” he replied as he grabbed another bite of food.

“I hope you keep that in mind when you find the right woman for you, darling,” Adele added, also trying to turn the conversation around. She was trying to make it a little less about medicine.

“Here we go again,” Preston said shaking his head.

“What? I’m just saying it wouldn’t be wrong if you had that woman now, you know, instead of a different one every week.”

“I do not...” Preston protested. The whole thing made Derek laugh.

“Yeah, Preston, maybe it’s time for you to settle down, have kids.”

Preston almost choked on his food as Derek continued. “I bet your mom would love to have grandchildren,” Derek added as Preston shot him a look.

“You give them to her then. She is always saying how you are like a son to her.” He smiled. Now it was Derek who was choking.

Richard started laughing. “Just like old times,” he said. “You two were always teasing each other.”

“Well, I’ll take grandchildren from either of you or, better yet, both," Adele said, looking hopefully at both of them. Derek and Preston just shared a terrified look.

“I... I’m going to go back to my food now,” Derek said.

“Yeah, me too,” Preston added.

They needed to get off the subject already. Preston was nowhere near ready to be a father yet, or even settle down with one woman. He loved being single. Adele’s comments freaked Derek out a little too. He was more stable in terms of relationships than Preston, but he was not ready to have kids, and then there she was again in his head, the blond girl from the airport... Meredith. ‘Seriously, why does she keep popping into my head?’ he thought.

They resumed eating and then had some beers and Adele had some wine before Preston and Derek left for their apartment.
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McGrey Aug 4 2008, 06:45 PM Post #5
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 Preston showed Derek the place and helped him put his bags in the bedroom.

“Wow. This is a nice place,” Derek said.

“Yeah, it is!” Preston agreed with a nod. “So Seattle... I’ve never pictured you coming here.”

“Yeah, I still don’t know...I guess I wanted a change of scenery,” Derek replied as he started unpacking a few things.

“Great, then! You don’t have to work tomorrow, right?” Preston asked.

“No, not yet,” Derek answered, taking more clothes out of a suitcase.

“Well, I don’t have to work until tomorrow afternoon, so we could go grab some beers. I’ll show you around a little,” his friend suggested.

“Sounds good,” Derek agreed reluctantly. He wasn’t really in the mood to go outside and get soaked. He also didn’t know if there was anything interesting to see in this city.

They got out of the apartment and went to one of Preston favorite places: Joe’s bar. They had a few beers and, after a few minutes. a girl that Preston knew came by the table. He introduced her to Derek and some minutes later, she went to the bathroom. Preston took the chance to ask Derek for a favor. “Hmm, Derek?”

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Would you mind taking a cab home? I’m really sorry but...” he glanced in the direction of the bathroom and Derek got the hint.

“It’s ok, don’t worry,” he smiled, shaking his head.

“Thanks, man.” Preston patted Derek’s back.

“Just go make your mom a grandchild.” He laughed while Preston gave him a nasty look.

A minute later the girl was back at the table and Preston left the bar with her, leaving Derek behind. He moved to the bar and started talking with Joe, who Preston had introduced when they got there.

“So he ditched you for the girl?” Joe said, more a statement than a question.

“Ha-ha, yeah, but it’s ok! It’s the men’s code.” Derek sighed, a little disappointed, though he smiled politely at Joe. Now he was abandoned in Seattle.

“Do you want me to call you a cab?” Joe kind of felt Derek’s disappointment and offered his help.

“No it’s ok!” Derek assured him. “I think I will have a couple of beers before I go home.” Joe nodded and went to get Derek another beer.

--

The evening went by pleasantly at the Greys’ residence. They spent most of the evening talking about families and memories they shared together.

“You know you can stop by Mercy West whenever you want, if you want to take a peek in the OR,” Ellis told the two girls while she and her husband were walking them to the door.

“I think we will accept your offer, Aunt Ellis.” Lexie smiled and looked at Meredith for her approval.

“Yeah, we will,” Meredith agreed.

“But only you two. I’ll give you some scrubs because I don’t want anyone to notice people from outside the hospital,” Ellis warned them.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Lexie assured her.

“Good night, Mom! Good night, Dad!” Meredith waved to her parents from the doorway.

“Good night!” Lexie waved to them too and followed her cousin to their car.

Lexie’s SUV left the driveway and sped up as it reached the highway.

“Where are we going?” Meredith asked her when she saw that Lexie was taking her a different route.

“Some place cool.” Lexie smirked at her. “At our future workplace.”

“Seattle Grace?” Meredith asked, surprised. “Are you crazy? What are we going to do there at this hour?” She asked amused.

“At this hour, there aren’t too many doctors, so we could take this chance and pay the place a visit,” Lexie explained.

Meredith smiled at her. It sounded like a great plan, but it was a dangerous one also. “I bet we’ll meet Cristina there.”

“We will, along with Izzie and Alex,” Lexie said, smiling excitedly.

“Oh, so I am going to meet McDreamy, huh?” Meredith giggled.

Lexie glanced at her, smiling, then returned her attention to the road. “I would prefer not to call him McDreamy. He is not that type.”

“How many times did you sleep with him?” Meredith asked her curiously.

Lexie rolled her eyes, kind of annoyed by her cousin’s curiosity. She decided to answer. “Once.”

“Then how can you say you know anything about him? See? This is the difference between you and me. I never fall for my one-night stands,” Meredith said, rolling her eyes and leaning her head against the window.

“Getting to know him over time is much more fun,” Lexie replied, very convincing. “It’s like a constant joyride.”

Meredith gave her a strange look. “Do you realize how stupid that sounds?” she asked her. Lexie frowned at her question, offended. “I’m sorry,” Meredith apologized when she saw her cousin upset. “Why waste the time in getting to know a man who you probably won’t want to spend the rest of your life with when you can try and learn more about him quickly so you can get rid of him in time if he is a dud.”

“I don’t even know why I am bothering to have a talk with you about love. You’ve never been in love,” Lexie said calmly. She was always very convinced in her beliefs. “Don’t!” Lexie held out a hand to cut off Meredith’s words when she saw her ready to reply. “Your crushes weren’t the same thing as love. You will find true love one day and then you will understand my words.”

Meredith rolled her eyes and dropped the topic. She never felt comfortable talking about love, maybe because she was jealous of her cousin. Deep down, Meredith was curious to find out what love was.

Several minutes later, Lexie pulled her SUV into the parking lot of Seattle Grace Hospital. The second the engine died, someone showed up at Meredith’s window, starling her. “Cristina!” Meredith protested, furious and pushed the door open purposely hitting her friend.

“Ouch!” Cristina protested back and stepped back from Meredith’s door. “Nice greeting,” she said, sarcastically.

“Hi Mer! Hi Lexie!” Their blonde friend showed up, too cheerful as she greeted her friends.

“Meredith,” Meredith retorted, a little annoyed by Izzie’s too friendly attitude and shut the door.

“Mer!” Lexie snapped at Meredith, scolding her for her rude behavior.

“That’s ok,” Izzie interjected as cheerful and kind as always. “She must be tired.” Meredith groaned in annoyance and passed by Izzie to go ahead. “Or just unfriendly,” Izzie added.

Lexie shot another look at Meredith and she knew she had to apologize. “I’m sorry Izzie. I am kind of tired actually, and I’m still trying to adjust here, and well on my first night back on Seattle we are breaking and entering.” Izzie smiled, letting her know she had accepted her apology, and the others just laughed.

“Oh come on! The hospital is a public place. It’s not like we are here to rob or anything like that,” Lexie argued.

“Oh, you know what I meant! We are not supposed to be here,” Meredith said, still not understanding the sudden need her friends had to be here at this hour.

“Ok, Meredith…shut up. Let’s go inside already,” Cristina said to her, giving her a warning look.

Meredith pouted, before finally following her friends, who were looking back at her waiting for her to move

“I bet this was your idea. This has Cristina written all over it.” Cristina gave her a nasty look for her comment, then, she just grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. They got to the locker room.

“Ok, what are we doing here?” Meredith asked her friends; they all shared a look and then looked at Meredith, smiling while they pulled blue scrub uniforms out of their purses.

“What is that? Oh my God, you brought scrubs!” She was astonished. Her friends had lost it for sure.

“Duh! How else did you expect us to walk around the hospital at this hour?” Cristina replied.

“No civilians allowed after visiting hours, remember?” Lexie added.

“You guys are crazy, did you know that?” Meredith said in a rather annoyed way.

“Hey, don’t worry we brought some for you too,” Izzie said with a smile as she got some other scrubs out of her purse and handed them to Meredith.

Meredith rolled her eyes. She could not believe her friends, but there was no way out of it now, so she simply took them. They all got into the scrubs, then, Meredith once again turned to her friends, holding her clothes on her on one hand. “And what are we suppose to do with these?”

“Don’t worry, Mer, we already got locker assignments although since you weren’t here before….” Lexie said to her.

“Great, so you all have lockers but me?”

“It’s ok, you can share mine until you get yours. I tell you the combination,” Lexie offered in her usual kind way.

They stashed their things in the lockers and left the room. As they wandered the halls of the hospital, they noticed how empty it was. Meredith gave disapproving looks to her friends the whole way. She was more of a party girl, even though she really loved the fact that she was becoming a surgeon. She’d rather be out at the moment, having fun while they still could. She knew as soon as their residency started, the party would be over. As they walked through another empty hall, a hand came out of a room and made the girls scream. A guy came out of the room, nervous about all the noise they were making.

“Would you just shut up, they are going to hear us,” he said in a loud whisper.

“Oh my god! Alex, you scared the hell out of us. You don’t jump out at people like that,” Lexie said as she hit his arm.

The others were shocked as well.

“Jesus! I almost had a heart attack,” Izzie said, holding a hand to her chest.

Cristina on the other hand recovered pretty fast from such a scare and hit Alex. “You moron, you almost got us caught!”

Meredith didn’t say anything at first. Then, as she realized who he was, she spoke up in a slightly high voice. “Oh my god! You are Alex!!”

Everyone raised their hands and motioned for her to shut up.

“So, you told her about me?” Alex said proudly, giving Lexie a smirk.

She felt embarrassed and everyone could see that in her face.

“I still think this is stupid! We will get to do this in a few days, and we won’t need to sneak in.”

“Well, I have a good case on my hands right now. Come on, Lexie.” He grabbed her hand and opened the door of the room he had just come out of. Cristina tried to follow inside but Alex stopped her.

“Where do you think you are going? We are going to be crowded in there, go get your own case, Yang. There are plenty around.”

Cristina shut him a look. “Ok…seriously what do you see in him, Lexie? He is…. Uhmm.”

“Let me help you with that,” Alex interrupted, immediately cutting Cristina off. “Hmm… handsome, sex God, soon to be one of the greatest plastic surgeons in the world.” He smiled in a teasing way.

“Oh, just shut up and get in there, Evil Spawn!” Cristina replied, feeling a little annoyed by his rudeness.

Alex and Lexie went into the room as the other three girls made their way to the OR floor. As Lexie entered the room, she went to check on the chart but the look on her face revealed it was not one of those cool cases she expected to find.

“Ok, what is this? This is just an old semi comatose guy,” Lexie said to Alex, demanding an explanation.

“Exactly.” He smiled in a dirty way, letting Lexie know of his true intentions.

“Seriously? Do you expect us to have sex in here, with the old guy?” Lexie answered, feeling a little disgusted.

“Well, I had plans for one of the on call rooms, but all those were busy,” he replied, acting all innocent.

“Whatever, I’m not going to do it in here.”

“Oh come on!! It’s not like the guy can hear us.” He was pleading a little this time.

“My answer is still no. You promised me a good case and this is not it.” She folded her arms against her chest.

“Hey, I have a good case, but first…” He walked close to her and put his hands on her waist. He pulled her closer and started kissing her neck. This made Lexie let out a moan of pleasure; she closed her eyes and let go a little but when as she opened them again she met with the image of that man on the bed and pulled away from Alex.

“Ewww no! I can’t! I can’t do it, Alex! I’m sorry!”

He let out a sigh. He knew he was not going to win this and at that moment he wasn’t feeling like it was such a great idea either. Then something else came to mind. He shot her another dirty look. “Supply closet? I bet those are free.”

“That will do.” She didn’t need much convincing about this. She wanted this so badly and a supply closet sounded just perfect at the moment, so he took her hand and pulled her out of the room. He was in such a hurry to get her out of her clothes. They started making out the minute they opened the door to the closet and, as they closed it, they started undressing each other. They were there because they could not wait until their internships started, but at the same time they were deeply attracted to each other and sex in a hospital, even if it was in a supply closet, felt so good to them. They would have time to get to those cool cases later.

In the mean time, up on the OR floor, Meredith, Cristina and Izzie wandered the halls in a suspicious way. Meredith had to admit at that point she was feeling really excited to be there. The three girls turned a corner and almost bumped into a blonde surgeon.

She was wearing red scrubs and a flower cap. The three girls shared nervous looks. They were busted. They were going to get kicked out of the program for sure and they hadn’t even started. The blonde woman stared at them. She was really serious and quiet at first, which made the girls get more scared, if that was possible. Then she finally spoke to them

“Are you interns?” She continued to stare at them.

Meredith’s lips opened up to say something but her two friends stood in front of her and answered first.

“Yes, we are,” Cristina and Izzie said at the same time.

Meredith shot them an accusing look. They were in enough trouble already, lying was not going to help that.

“Good, I’m here on a special consult. I’m about to go into surgery and I need two interns.”

Cristina and Izzie were quick to raise their hands; Meredith just let them have it, although she was tempted to do the same.

“Fine. You two are scrubbing in with me on a valve replacement,” the woman said. This made Cristina’s and Izzie’s eyes grow wide with excitement. They were scrubbing in on an advanced procedure. Meredith could not believe her friends; she just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Tell your resident you are scrubbing in with Dr. Erica Hahn and then come meet me in the OR,” the blonde doctor said to them, turning around and walking away, leaving a giggling Cristina and Izzie and a speechless Meredith. Cristina and Izzie turned to her and their smiles faded a little.

“Oh, don’t worry, honey. We will get you a cool procedure too,” Izzie said, rubbing her arm.

Meredith shot her a deadly glare. “I hope you two enjoy this, because after you get caught this will be your last surgery.”

Cristina mocked her. “You are just jealous because you don’t get to scrub in.”

“What? I am not!” Part of her was, but she would never admit it.

“Oh my God! Let’s go already! We are going to rock this,” Izzie said with an overly excited tone in her voice.

“So what are you going to do now?” Cristina asked Meredith.

She raised her eyebrows and asked her friend in teasing way. “Oh, you think I’m going to miss this? I’m so going to the gallery now, and I’ll be a witness when you two get killed in there.” She started laughing.

Cristina frowned. “Oh just shut up! Come on Izzie! Let’s go!”

“Yay!!” Izzie was trying hard not to jump up and down. She was way passed her usual happy state at the moment.

“Let’s not get carried away, shall we?” Cristina gave her one of her usual comebacks, although she was just as happy as Izzie at the moment.

The two of them left for the scrub room while Meredith found her way to the gallery. She observed from up there as her friends got in on this cool surgery. She was so jealous at the moment. Being up there, watching the OR made her realize how badly she wanted to be down there.

She had a tremendous weight on her shoulders being Ellis Grey daughter. Sometimes she had doubts, and she frequently found herself questioning whether or not this was really what she wanted, or if she did it only to please her mother. She also asked herself so many times if she was good enough to be a surgeon, but at that moment, all her doubts left her. This was it. This is what she really wanted. She was a surgeon. Well, she wanted to be one and if she was down there in that OR, she knew she would have to totally rock it.

At first she was sitting, but when Dr Hahn said, “Scalpel,” she stood up in front of the glass, pressing her hands on it as if she wanted to go through it, looking intensely at the procedure. She also haa a few laughs every time she got a glimpse of her friends. She shook her head when she saw how nervous Izzie looked. And Cristina, she was more of a hardcore person, but she was her person and Meredith knew her so well, she could tell, even if she was not showing it, that she was scared to death. After some minutes, she could see them getting a little relaxed. Several minutes passed, it was a long procedure and soon Meredith found herself sitting again and feeling a little bored. Suddenly, something made her jump up.

“Are you new?” a young man asked her.

She was speechless for a moment. First of all, he had given her quite a scare, and second, she was not suppose to be here. Lexie was doing God knows what with Alex and Cristina and Izzie were scrubbing in on a surgery and she is the one to get caught. She just nervously stared at him and then he offered his hand.

“I’m William! I’m a second year resident.”

She hesitated a little before finally shaking his hand. “Meredith.”

“What year are you in?” That question made her want to run.

“I hmm I’ve got to go. Sorry!” She got out of the gallery as fast as she could.

That was close, she thought as she made it around a corner and leaned her back on the wall, trying to catch her breath.

That’s it! I have to get out of here, she thought. She found the locker room again and changed into her clothes. She shoved the scrubs into her purse and started walking out of the hospital.

As she passed by one of the nurses’ stations, she heard them talking about this bar across the street.

I could have a drink, she thought. Since her friends were having fun with their fancy procedures, she decided to have some fun on her own with one of her best friends... tequila. She made her way across the street and entered the bar.

As Meredith stepped inside the bar, she discovered what a popular place it was to hang out after work. People were laughing, chatting, some of them were already tipsy; it was crowded and loud. She decided to give it a try and walked straight to the bar. She easily spotted the only available barstool at the bar and hurried to occupy it.

A big, tall man behind the bar was chatting with each customer, which made Meredith realize that all those people were regular customers, part of the hospital’s staff. She looked around her at all those people: her soon-to-be co-workers. She sighed and twisted around on the barstool, propping her forearms on the counter.

“Hey.” The bartender greeted her cheerfully. “Another new face!” he exclaimed, coming to stand in front of her. A friendly smile crossed his lips, a natural one from what Meredith could see.

She smiled back and nodded. “But please stop saying it as if another alien has landed in this bar.” She giggled.

The bartender smiled at her while drying his hands and through the rag on a side of the bar. “I remember faces.” He winked.

“Good! Then memorize mine.” Meredith giggled and glanced at the well-stocked bar. This could be one of her favorite places in Seattle.

“So you are going to work across the street as well,” the bartender concluded and held out friendly his hand. “Joe.”

Meredith smiled and shook his hand. “Meredith”

Meredith seemed to be a word that produced a reaction in one of the customers, one seat down from her.

Meredith and Joe noticed the strange reaction immediately. Meredith glanced discreetly in the direction, but the glance turned into a gaze.

Was he… Derek?

She broke the gaze, hiding her flushed face from his sight.

One seat down from Meredith, Derek was playing with his now almost empty bottle of beer. Nothing in particular had crossed his mind in the nearly two hours he had spent there. He would have wanted to find some company as his old friend, Preston had, but no one seemed interesting enough for him. With his mind blank, Derek continued to listen to small parts of his bar neighbors’ conversation. The bartender, Joe, seemed very friendly and pleasant as company, so he mostly followed Joe’s interaction with the rest of the customers.

Meredith. Now that was a word that made him jerk his head to the side hopefully. His gaze froze as his eyes met the owner of the name.

Was she… Meredith?

When the girl hid her face shyly behind the other customer, Derek smiled knowingly.

He jumped up from his seat and slowly patted his bar neighbor on the shoulder.

With a tired, or more, bored movement, the man looked at Derek.

“Do you mind if we switch the places?” Derek asked him very politely and gallantly, smiling at him. He was determined to check if that girl was the same Meredith he had met earlier that day.

The man simply shrugged and stood up to take Derek’s previous seat.

As she guessed Derek’s intention, Meredith felt her seat grow very uncomfortable. She felt her cheeks burning and her stomach flipping.

“What can I get you?” Joe’s question made Meredith try to compose her posture. “Uh…”

She mumbled with her mind hazed of the new companion beside her. “One shot of tequila,” Meredith ordered.

Joe and Derek shared a surprised look. “Are you sure?” Joe asked her a little uncertain.

“Shot me.” Meredith stared straight in his eyes with a stern look.

“You are going to be sorry in the morning.” The bartender smiled sympathetically, but he set a shot glass in front of her. He took the bottle and the liquid poured from a spectacular height filling the small glass in a second.

Meredith smiled as she replied, with her fingers twisted around the glass, “I am always sorry in the morning.” With one swift move, the glass emptied down her throat. Meredith grimaced as the tequila burned her throat and shook her head because of a chill.

“Maybe you don’t want to feel sorry tomorrow morning,” Derek interrupted after he had watched her swallow the liquor. A smile of pleasure for recognizing her features and of surprise was on his lips as he sat down beside Meredith.

“Do you want another beer … Derek, right?” Joe asked him.

In that moment, as Derek’s name was mentioned, the glass slipped from Meredith’s fingers.

Derek grinned and shook his head as a negative answer for Joe, without moving his gaze from the girl beside him.

“This isn’t a small town.” Meredith wiped her lips with the back of her hand as she commented, surprised to have the man she had just met beside her in a bar.

“Fate.” Derek chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, but you don’t look like you are having too much fun here.”

Meredith smiled a sheepish smile as she glanced at him. “You don’t look you’re enjoying either,” she said. “Or is picking up girls in a bar something that is very entertaining for you?” Meredith asked him, with a friendly giggle. She rarely got rid of the men who were picking her up in a bar and right now she wasn’t in the mood for flirting, but this was Derek. The fact that he was Derek wasn’t as relevant as the fact that she had met him and spent a few minutes in the claiming office of the airport with him. He was a stranger to her, a stranger named Derek who she had met there and that was now next to her in a bar, right across from the place where she would start her career as doctor.

Derek smiled, his eyes wandering over her face. The way that her lips were lifting with each smile she was offering him, her honey blonde hair that in the dim light of the bar still held some of its brightness, her clear eyes oscillating between green and blue, everything seemed to impress him. “Am I being inappropriate?” Derek asked, leaning back a little to let her breathe and not scare her, although he could see from her smile and gaze that nothing was inappropriate in their interaction.

“No.” Meredith shook her head. Her fingers played with the empty glass, twisting it from side to side.

“Good, because it’s refreshing to have a familiar face having a drink with me.” Derek tipped the bottle and the last drops of the beer poured down on his throat.

Meredith’s brows lifted in surprise. “Familiar?” she asked him, surprised. “But you don’t know me.”

Now it was Derek’s turn to feel the embarrassment. The truth was that this girl, Meredith, hadn’t left his mind since they met, so to him she was already a familiar face.

Meredith giggled as she felt some shyness from Derek. Smiling, she looked back at the bar where her empty glass was still twisting in her fingers. “I assume that you don’t have anyone here.”

“I have some family friends here,” Derek answered, playing with his now empty bottle of beer.

“They must be old then.” Meredith smiled, checking Derek from the corner of her eyes.

Derek returned the smile impressed by her intuition. “Kind of.” He laughed. “How about you?” Derek asked in a cautious tone. He stopped immediately as the last word came out and looked down at his bottle to avoid any possible glare from Meredith.

Contrary to his fear, Meredith laughed; a soft melodic laugh, as Derek would have described it in that moment, between all the loud noises around them. “I have my whole family here actually,” she replied.

“Good to see that each of you has a friend now!” Joe interrupted again, placing two clean glasses in front of them. “What else?” he asked them referring to their drinks.

“One more shot for me,” Meredith ordered.

“Nothing else for me,” Derek answered, still smiling at Meredith. “I have everything that I need now.” He chuckled, flirty and more comfortable with his new companion.

Meredith giggled, avoiding any eye contact with him that might bring her to do something embarrassing.

Joe poured Meredith another glass of tequila. This time, Meredith took it and had only a sip from it.

“Is it that bad, the returning home?” Derek asked her, more serious this time.

Meredith looked at him, surprised by his question. “What makes you ask that?” She returned the question.

Derek shrugged. “You swallowed the entire glass of tequila earlier and … I don’t know… you seem like something affected you… like tequila-affected.”

“Tequila-affected?” Meredith laughed.

“Yeah; usually when people suffer a disillusionment, they try to numb it with the help of the tequila.” Derek replied knowingly.

Meredith smiled and shook her head. “Wrong,” she said. “I’m immune to tequila.”

“Nobody is immune to tequila,” Joe showed up again beside them and stated, very convinced.

“Nobody is immune to tequila” Derek seconded Joe’s statement.

Meredith laughed again, the same laugh that Derek seemed to enjoy too much already. “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes with the same amusement on her face. “It’s not that bad.”

Meredith finally came up with an answer to Derek’s question about her homecoming. “It’s… I don’t know.” Meredith shrugged feeling the depression again. “I think it’s the rain.”

“I know.” Derek groaned, agreeing with her.

Meredith laughed, surprised. “Not a fan, huh?”

“Of getting soaked? No!” Derek joined her laughter.

“Are you just visiting?” Meredith asked him before sipping from her tequila again. Her face winced as the strong alcohol reached her throat again.

“No,” Derek answered, watching, amused at Meredith’s pleasure in torturing herself with the tequila. “If my boss wasn’t my friend, I would have left Seattle by now.” This time, for the first time since he joined Meredith at bar, his voice and thoughts were serious again.

“Is it that bad?” Meredith asked him with a mixture of sympathy and regret in her eyes.

Derek turned his gaze to her. He smiled, hoping that he didn’t ruin their good time. “I’ll survive.” He chuckled.

“If your boss is also your friend, then I can go home now and sleep peacefully.” Meredith laughed, mocking him a little.

With a smile spread on his lips, Derek looked as if he was about to say something, but his words remained voiceless.

“What?” Meredith asked curious.

“You just gave me an idea,” Derek replied, smiling, running his fingers through his dark curls. “A great idea actually.” He almost laughed, surprised and thrilled by Meredith’s unconscious hint. Derek watched Meredith lifting her eyebrows in curiosity before revealing that great idea of his. “I am going to take a nice vacation before the work starts. Somewhere sunny…” He revealed now contemplating with his mind and eyes somewhere far away from that bar. “Would you like to join me?” Out of nowhere, he looked at Meredith and asked.

Meredith giggled. She was slightly amused, but also confused. His voice and attitude when he asked her that were serious, like he meant his question. “You want me to go on a vacation with… you?” she asked him in disbelief.

Derek didn’t take her answer as a no. “I know you don’t know me, but we both kind of look prisoners in this city. I was thinking that a short sunny vacation would be exactly what we need if we want to acclimate to life in Seattle.”

This time, Meredith’s look didn’t give him any credit. “You said it… I don’t know you. You are a stranger,” she said. “Besides, I am sure that your friend would understand if you want to leave this city and your new job.”

Derek nodded reluctantly and a wave of embarrassment and guilt washed over his mind. “You’re right!” he muttered. “That was inappropriate.”

Meredith played with her still filled glass of tequila while Derek simply stared at the wooden counter. “You should grab another beer,” Meredith suggested unwilling to lose his company so soon.

Derek looked at her questioningly and smiled. Then he looked at Joe who seemed to have overheard Meredith’s suggestion because he was already looking questioningly at Derek. Derek answered him with a nod and then Joe showed him a bottle of beer and a glass. “The bottle.” Derek gestured for him to take the glass.

Joe opened the bottle and sat it on the counter in front of Derek. Without being really thirsty after all the beers he had had, Derek still took a gulp from it.

They both turned quiet, only watching their own drinks. For both of them, it felt like a very awkward moment.

Meredith knew that once she offered for him to stay longer with her, she should be the one breaking the silence.

Derek, on the other hand, felt stupid for their awkward moment. He felt like he owed Meredith a conversation since she was kind enough not to send him away after his inappropriate proposal.

They shared a few sheepish glances, until Derek got up the guts to try his luck again and get involve in a conversation. “So…” He started hesitantly, still not looking at her. “Are you a doctor?” His eyes looked up at her impatiently, waiting to read her expression. He sighed, relieved as her lips formed a smile.

“Yes. Actually I am only an intern… soon-to-be intern,” she babbled and let an ashamed giggle enchant him.

That made Derek’s smile grow wider. Now at the end of his first day in Seattle, not all the things looked so gray and rainy anymore. “Seattle Grace?” he asked her with excitement. As she replied with a nod, Derek almost felt happy to be in that city. “Really?” he said, more as a statement than a question, because Meredith’s answer had been clear enough. “In that case, I am going to be your boss.” A smirk broke out across his face.

Meredith’s eyes widened and her mouth fell. “You?”

“Me.” Derek laughed more cheerful again.

“If you stay here.” Meredith reminded him of his thoughts of ditching his friend and go back from where he came from.

Derek paused, expressionless. Damn, he cursed himself. He had seriously thought about not going on with Richard’s proposal of being the new head of the neuro department. He could get somewhere else as well. He never had second thoughts… so far. “If,” Derek replied, smiling.

Their talk moved forward from Meredith’s fresh career as a doctor, to Derek’s already experienced one, and then to weather, families, and friends. They found themselves laughing and really enjoying the chat.

As Derek finished his ttale about his summers in the Hamptons and Meredith finally let her cheeks relax from all the laughter she had had, she looked around her and realized that the bar looked different. Less crowded and less noisy. She checked her watch and sighed.

Derek followed her gestures and did the same thing as her. They sighed simultaneously and laughed at their similar reactions. It was very late, so their chat had to end. “I should go now.” Meredith reluctantly stood up from her barstool. She opened her bag to search for her wallet, but Derek guessed her intention and held her hand while he put some bills on counter.

“Can I walk you to your car?” Derek asked her, with the same reluctant movement as he stood up.

His question made Meredith remember something. She slammed her bag on counter. She had come there in Lexie’s car and since Lexie was probably already in Alex’s arms. She might not have a ride home. Fumbling through her bag, she finally reached a set of keys. Now she remembered that Lexie had thrown them in her bag. “I…uh… I have the car parked across the street,” Meredith finally replied.

“Oh. so you’ve paid a late visit to the hospital, huh?” Derek chuckled. Meredith frowned, a little embarrassed. “Don’t feel bad about it. I did it too when I started my internship.”

Meredith smiled, grateful for his kind assurance and waved goodbye to Joe, who was attending one of the customers at the other side of the bar. Derek did the same and followed Meredith outside.

Stepping outside from the warmth of the bar, Meredith felt her face get chilled by a cold wind and a strong rain started out of nowhere to wash over them. Meredith slowed her steps and she got pinned to a spot. Her face lifted to the sky watching how the rain was pouring over her face.

“Meredith?” Derek’s confused shout broke her gaze and made her look in his direction. He had stopped a few feet in front of her after he had noticed her absence. “Are you ok?” he asked her, worried, and took a step towards her.

Suddenly, Derek’s idea of a sunny vacation sounded exciting in Meredith’s thoughts. Why not? she thought. She still had a few days left until her internship was due to start, so somewhere sunny… with Derek, might be fun. She started laughing as she ran to him and took his hand. “Take me somewhere sunny, Derek!”

Derek was caught off guard. He stared at her in disbelief. She hadn’t drunken more than two tequilas, but yet her reaction seemed too hyper. “Are you sure what you are saying, Meredith?” He asked her checking her.

“Yes.” Meredith gave him a firm nod. “I really need a vacation,” She said serenely. “Are you still up for it?”

Derek chuckled, totally shocked by her reaction. He meant it when he launched his proposal, but he also gave up on it as hopeless. “Sure,” he hurried to confirm. “How about leaving now?” Derek felt surer of his chances now and dared to ask more.

“I don’t have my passport on me,” Meredith replied without taking his second suggestion as too much.

“I don’t have it either, but we could meet at the airport,” Derek said. “How long does it take you to get there?”

“Uh.” Meredith thought seriously about it. 15 minutes until home and it was almost midnight so the traffic should be flawless from her apartment until airport. “One hour.”

“Great! I will meet you there in one hour then,” Derek agreed with the same excitement as Meredith.

Derek walked her to her car and watched her driving away. When her car disappeared in the dark, Derek became aware of his stupidity. He had no car.

Desperate, he looked around him hopefully. The luck was on his side. A cab had just brought a couple to hospital. He sprinted to catch it and offered his help to the man who was helping his laboring wife outside. Once the couple was heading towards the entry, Derek slid inside the cab.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 05:27 AM Post #6
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 Meredith drove as fast as the legal speed allowed her. All the way back to her apartment, her mind stayed blank, simply focusing on the road. Something inside her was excited, making the adrenaline flow through her veins as if she was doing some extreme sport.

In the same rush, she climbed up the stairs until the 5th floor; almost breathless stormed inside the apartment, straight to the bedroom she shared with her cousin. In that moment, she stopped as the rationality hit her. “What am I doing?” She laughed, incredulous at her actions. “Where am I going? That guy must have been joking and you took it as real.” Meredith shook her head disappointed in herself. She let out a sigh and threw herself on her bed. Lying crosswise on bed, one hand over her stomach, her eyes staring at the ceiling, Meredith sighed again. This time she sighed, disappointed, because she wanted Derek’s invitation to be real. She was thrilled with the idea of doing something out of the ordinary, like running away somewhere sunny with a stranger. She had really enjoyed Derek’s company and felt like he was a decent man.

“Hell, I am going!” she finally decided and jumped back up on her feet, very determined. “If he was mocking me, so what? I’ll come back home, curse myself for stupidity and move on,” she said to herself. Then, without any other thoughts, she started preparing a small handbag.

She was about to walk out of her room, when her foot froze in the door way and she spun around walking back in her room. If Derek wasn’t going to be at the airport as they had discussed, then she would go on a vacation by herself. She took out of the closet one of her suitcases and threw everything she thought she would need for her escape inside it.

--

Derek wasn’t as discreet with the speed limit as Meredith was, so his car ran through the pouring rain, the red lights being the only traffic signs he respected.

When his car pulled in the parking lot of the airport, the rain had lost some of its intensity. Stepping out of the car, Derek looked up, watching the sky. Even the sky looked clearer and the atmosphere seemed warmer. In that moment, a wave of fear swept through him. “I hope she hasn’t changed her mind,” he muttered under his breath.

Derek leaned back to his car and grabbed the small bag from the passenger seat. He locked the door and walked to the entrance of the airport. Inside, the airport wasn’t very crowded; the few people that were heading to their boarding gates for their night flights were rushing or walking unstressed to a certain destination. Derek’s feet froze to a spot in the middle of the lobby as he realized that he had no set destination. He hadn’t told Meredith where to meet him. They hadn’t even talked about a destination for their sunny escape, so that they would know where to meet at the airport. There were many sunny destinations for them to choose and the airport was too big to be able to accidentally meet a known person. Derek sighed nervously and cursed himself for his stupid plan. Maybe she didn’t even believe he was serious when he suggested the vacation and she took it as a joke… though she looked very interested in it too. Derek went over to the chairs and collapsed in one of them, with his bag at his feet. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs ahead and rubbed his face in the sound of his own groan. “Stupid, stupid, stupid Derek,” he continued to curse himself.

Derek stayed there in that position for a few more minutes, looking as if he was sleeping and trying to think of what he should do next. He really wanted this vacation, but the idea of going alone made it look less exciting.

He finally decided to stand up and leave. He was definitely a horrible trip planner. Walking through the sliding doors of the entrance, Derek felt his heart skipping from his chest when Meredith showed up in his way. She was looking at him with disappointment and, at the same time, confusion in her big eyes.

“You are leaving,” she muttered, more to herself than to him.

“No,” Derek hurried to clarify the situation, lying about his first intention of leaving. He felt more relieved now that Meredith was there. “I … uh…” He stammered a little confused, still not believing that Meredith was there for real. “We hadn’t talked about a place to meet so…”

“Oh,” Meredith cut him off as she just realized that. Looking at him, a smile formed on her lips and she let out a giggle. She hadn’t thought about that either. Same as Derek, she hadn’t realized that before leaving from home. “So… are we still in?” she asked him.

Derek smiled and nodded. “Sure… if you still want to?” he asked, afraid of a no.

“If I got here…” Meredith giggled. “I … uh.” She wanted to say something, but then she stopped feeling too embarrassed.

“What?” Derek asked her curiously.

“Don’t be offended…” she started, smiling, embarrassed. “But I didn’t think that you would come for real. I was thinking that you might have been joking or something.”

“It’s a crazy idea, isn’t it?” Derek asked her, chuckling.

Meredith answered with a nod. “I was planning to go somewhere anyway even if you weren’t serious.”

“But I was serious,” Derek said, smiling. “Are you joining me?”

“Sure.” Meredith nodded smiling. Both of them walked inside the airport and stopped in the middle of the lobby. “Where are we headed to?” she asked Derek. Derek smiled and shrugged. “So this was indeed spontaneous.” Meredith giggled.

“Usually I am not a spontaneous guy, that’s why I decided for once to check out how it is,” Derek confessed with a charming smile that made Meredith’s heart flutter.

“I’m not spontaneous either.,” Meredith admitted. “Let’s decide on a destination,” she suggested. “The first place that comes to your mind.”

“Miami,” Derek answered immediately. His answer was spontaneous as Meredith suggested.

“Great. Let’s board.” Meredith smiled.

Just when they started walking again, Derek noticed Meredith’s suitcase. It was a medium sized one, but still big compared to his luggage. “Are you planning to move there?” he asked her, laughing, with a hint of sarcasm too.

Meredith frowned as she looked up at him with a glare. “I didn’t…” At first, she wanted to justify her luggage, but then she noticed Derek’s bag. “I’m not going to ask you to drag it so ignore it.” She sniffed, annoyed and walked again.

Derek found her childish attitude very cute. He chuckled and called after her. “Meredith?” But Meredith was too stubborn to look back at him and kept her pace, dragging the suitcase after her. “Meredith!” Derek called after her laughing. Laughing at her wasn’t a good idea, because Meredith refused to stop. “You can’t board any plane if you don’t buy a ticket first!” That announcement made Meredith stop dead in her tracks. Reluctantly, she spun around and walked back to him, irritated and avoided his amused look.

Derek tried to control his amusement while he was waiting for her to return to his side. “Though you are little… you could sneak inside unnoticed.” Derek leaned to her ear and whispered. “But I suggest you try it without the suitcase.”

Meredith gasped, offended by his little joke and frowning, shot him a deadly glare. “Mind your own business.” She smacked her fist on his arm as much as she could, causing him to whimper in pain.

“Maybe you should stay home,” Derek said wincing, but without losing the amusement in his voice.

“You go home!” Meredith snapped and walked ahead, this time towards the first airline company she saw.

“You go home!” Derek protested, this time acting more like Meredith. He walked after her, trying to adopt her indignant attitude.

They reached the ticket office at the same time, where a young man greeted them. “Good evening, sir!” He smiled at Derek as he addressed him and turned another polite smile to Meredith.

“I was here first.” Meredith protested.

The ticket agent looked at them confused. Because the airport wasn’t very crowded and because a customer only came to buy an airplane ticket rom time to time, the ticket agent had time to watch their little tiff and believe that they were a couple.

“I’m sorry,” the agent apologized, slightly embarrassed for the confusion and asked Meredith for an ID. “What destination?” he asked her.

Meredith looked stern at Derek. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not changing my destination.” Derek shook his head. He leaned against the counter watching back and forth at Meredith and the ticket agent who was staring at them even more confused. “We had planned to have this vacation together, but Miss Grumpiness here might not be pleasant company.” Derek chuckled as he explained the situation to the agent. His heart startled when Meredith’s cheeks flushed. He knew he was playing a dangerous game with this silly fight of theirs and the risks involved in losing Meredith’s company. The flush from her cheeks made him believe that his chances of joining her on a vacation were still standing. “Meredith, you know I was joking about your suitcase and your stature, right?”

Meredith didn’t know that but she was hoping. As Derek assured her of that, she smiled and nodded. “Two tickets to Miami,” she said to the ticket agent.

After they bought the tickets, Derek took Meredith’s suitcase and they walked together to the gate number 8, where boarding was to start in two hours.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” As they were both sitting in the waiting area, outstretched in their chairs, Derek looked questioningly at Meredith.

Meredith giggled at his question and turned lazy to look at him. “You’ve known me for … less than 24 hours and we are going together in a vacation, so I think we both have the right to ask some questions.”

“That’s fair,” Derek agreed, smiling. “Do you want to start first?”

Meredith nodded. “Why did you move here, to Seattle, if you hate the rain so much?”

“Ow.” Derek winced, smiling. “Hate is such a dramatic word,” he admitted. “The Chief of Surgery from Seattle Grace promised me a chance at his job after he retires.”

Meredith stared at him in awe.

“What?” Derek asked her chuckling.

“I’m going in vacation with my soon-to-be boss.” Meredith laughed.

“In this situation, you might get some favors from me… since we are already friends.” Derek smirked at her, amusing himself even more when Meredith sent him a glare. “I’m joking.” Derek leaned to her ear, whispering, “I can leave aside the personal life when I am at work.”

“Sure.” Meredith rolled her eyes, obviously not trusting in his words too much. “I think I should just quit at this silly idea,” she said, making a gesture to stand up.

Derek jumped on his feet faster, panicked that Meredith might leave him alone. “Seriously, Meredith, I was joking. Look… for example, my sister did one year of residency in our psychiatric clinic, where one of my best friends was working, and I didn’t interfere in any way for her.”

“You must be a horrible brother then.” Meredith frowned.

“Actually, I love my four sisters.” Derek admitted through a melodic laugh that each time made Meredith join in his amusement with teenage giggles. “How about you? Why did you move back to Seattle if you don’t like the rain?” he asked her.

Meredith’s smile froze and she looked away as if she was trying to hide the embarrassment at her thoughts. She didn’t want him to know that her boyfriend dumped her after she had refused his proposal of marriage.

“You didn’t murder anyone, I hope.” Derek fought back a laugh. “Not that I’m judging you, but I don’t want to have unpleasant surprises during this vacation.”

In less than 24 hours, Meredith discovered how good and relaxed she felt in Derek’s presence. His kind and relaxed attitude, the perfect gentleman in him and especially his cheerful behavior made Meredith trust him and accept his invitation to go on this vacation.

“My father really wanted to have me back here and my mother helped him. She said I could get some extra specialization here with her,” Meredith answered in the end, telling him just part of the truth.

“Wait a minute.” Derek suddenly seemed to have remembered something. “When we bought the tickets… your last name is Grey…” he trailed off, confused. “And your mother asked to come in Seattle for extra specialization… Are you related in anyway to Dr. Ellis Grey?”

Meredith smiled sheepishly, biting her lip. “Ellis Grey is my mother actually,” she mumbled, looking away.

After the shock of the moment passed, Derek chuckled. “So you won’t need my favors anyway,” he admitted jokingly. It had been far from his thoughts to offend her, but involuntarily, he did it and Meredith scowled at him. “Don’t you have a little sense of humor at all?” Derek asked her with the same chuckle ready to escape his throat.

“I do,” Meredith hissed nervously at him. “But you are not funny.”

Derek’s expression froze instantly as she said that. “Ok, that was harsh.” He pretended to wince, offended.

“Still not funny.” Meredith gazed at him, this time more relaxed, with a small smile playing on her lips.

“I’ll just stop then.” Derek smiled and rearranged his position in his chair.

“Finally.” Meredith smiled back as she leaned in her chair making herself more comfortable, stretching and yawning.

“It’s almost 1 o’clock. We still have an hour till we board,” Derek said after he had checked his watch, and looked at Meredith. He shrugged his shoulder as an offer for her to put her head down.

Meredith had to admit that she was exhausted. This was going to be her second flight for that day and the hours she had slept in the last 24 hours weren’t that many. She smiled gratefully and put her head on his shoulder, immediately feeling her shoulder covered by the warmth of his arm.

As soon as she put her head down, Meredith fell asleep. Her sleep seemed exhausted too, making her fuss in her chair very often. Derek decided to set her in a comfortable position and moved her to rest her head on his lap. It felt unusual, and yet so pleasant to have Meredith sleeping in his arms.

The lack of sleep of the day also forced Derek to close his eyes for a while. When Derek stirred minutes later, he found his fingers slowly brushing Meredith’s hair. He yawned and rubbed his face trying to regain some consciousness. He checked his watch and became more alert as he saw what the time was.

“Meredith.” He shoved her shoulder gently as he whispered, “It’s time to board now. Wake up,” He continued.

Meredith moaned sleepily and reluctantly straightened up in her chair, not realizing where she had slept. “Already?” she asked him, yawning.

“Yes.” Derek nodded. “This is your last chance to change your mind,” He told her jokingly but fearfully at the same time.

At first, Meredith seemed not have heard Derek; she stood up and walked ahead, she looked back at Derek flashing him a smile. “Are you backing out?” Derek shook his head smiling. “Do you want to change the destination?” she asked him again. Derek answered with another shake of his head. “Then do you need to be led?” Meredith asked him and Derek answered with a nod.

Meredith turned to him and held out her hand for him. Derek jumped to his feet, grabbing his bag at the same time and took her hand.

--

Meredith and Derek stared out the glass window of the airport in Miami. Thunder and lightening were breaking outside in the dark storm.

“We are haunted,” Meredith mumbled, astonished.

“We are,” Derek agreed.

Both of them stared out the window, looking as if they were outside in that storm.

“No sunny place for us?” Meredith asked as she looked at Derek like a disillusioned child.

Derek looked at her and shrugged apologetically.

“What do we do now?” she asked him.

“Do you want to go home?” Derek asked her back.

Meredith shook her head.

“Then come with me.” Derek took her hand and walked with her to another travel office.

--

Meredith and Derek were waiting for their luggage, actually hers. Derek was a light packer and he couldn’t believe that Meredith needed a big suitcase for such a little trip.

He gave her an amused look and shook his head. Meredith scowled at him. “I know what you are thinking so shut up about it,” she hissed.

He just laughed. “Come on. How much do you need to bring?”

She stared at him, her hands on her hips. “I need all the stuff in that suitcase, ok?”

“Ok, ok. I just hope they didn’t lose it this time,” he replied, smiling.

“Oh my God, they better not! I can’t stand going through that again,” she gasped remembering the long process she had to go through to recover her bag.

He could see her start freaking out a little about that and his first impulse was to take her hand. That startled her a little and sent chills down her spine. She didn’t quite know why but she smiled at him trying to look amused and relaxed her hand in his. He felt a little embarrassed but didn’t let go her hand; he cleared his throat and pointed towards a suitcase.

“Isn’t that yours?” She smiled, relieved.

She waited until the very last minute possible to try to let go off his hand while the suitcase travelled on the band and got to where they were standing, but as she tried to do so Derek pulled her back and didn’t go of her hand.

“I got it.” With his free hand, he got Meredith’s bag, then they walked out of the airport after he had given her another look for how heavy the bag was. Meredith simply rolled her eyes. He took his small bag and put it on top of hers and they walked out together.

As they step outside, they noticed what a beautiful morning it was; the sky was clear, cloudless. It was a sunny morning and Derek was happy about it. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, this is wonderful, don’t you think?” She smiled at him with thrill in her eyes.

“Sun. Do you even know what that is living in Seattle?” he replied.

“I do and may I remind you, I wasn’t living in Seattle until about a day ago.” She laughed, remembering the fact that they actually wanted out of the city just a few hours after they got there.

“See? Sun is better.” He smiled back at her.

“Well too bad for us … we are stuck with the rain in Seattle for now, or at least I am,” Meredith said. “You can pass on that job, but I need to do my internship,” she said, already wishing that he wouldn’t do it.

He smiled again. “Yeah, I know, but I think I’ll give it a try. Ok, enough about rainy and depressing Seattle; let’s enjoy the fun and sun in Vegas”

“Ok, I can do that.” Meredith giggled.

But they both stood there for a second, thinking about rainy and depressing Seattle and how they both were about to start a new chapter in their lives and yet there they were trying to get away from it. Little did they know, rainy and depressing Seattle was going to become the place they were going to call home, and a place that would always be in their hearts because it brought them together.

They took a cab. The driver helped them with the bags and they got inside the car. “Where to sir?” the driver asked.

Meredith looked at Derek, questioning him too. He opened his mouth a little not saying a word.

“You don’t know where we are going?” Meredith asked him, a bit angry and panicked.

“Well it’s not like this was a planned trip, right?” he replied feeling attacked.

“I know but...oh ok so where are we going?” she asked him again, trying to stay calm.

“Hmmm let me think...ok… could you recommend a good hotel?” he asked the driver.

“Well the Venetian is awesome, sir. I will take you but it would have been good if you had reservations because at this time a year hotels are fully occupied,” he said looking through the rear-view mirror at now very preoccupied Derek and Meredith.

She slapped his arm to release some of the anger she was holding in. “This is great!” she said folding her arms across her chest.

“Hey don’t blame this on me,” Derek protested, rubbing the spot she had hit. “How was I supposed to know?”

They continued discussing this the entire ride to the hotel until they finally got there and got a look at that wonderful place. It had a romantic aura around it even though it was Vegas; they both forgot about what they were talking about at the moment and just enjoyed the view of the stunning place.

They went to the receptionist and asked if there were any available rooms. “You are lucky, sir,” she said smiling at them.

Derek gave an I told you so look to Meredith, which she tried to ignore and smiled relived; but their smiles fade away when the lady continued. “We have the honeymoon suit available. Like I said you are very lucky,” she said, pleased thinking of them as a young couple; but then got confused seeing the look on their faces.

“This is just great,” Meredith mumbled nervously.

“Could you please check again? We need separate rooms” Derek asked the receptionist.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I double checked. That is all we have available at the moment,” she said apologetically.

“Ok, we will have to find another hotel, Derek,” Meredith said firmly.

“Can I have a phonebook please?” Derek asked the lady.

“Of course, sir.” The receptionist looked strangely at them, but then reluctantly, she put a phonebook on the counter. “Here you go.”

“Ok. what are you doing?” Meredith asked him, sounding more irritated now.

“Looking for a hotel but you heard what the taxi driver said. I’ll call from my cell and if I can’t find anything, we will have to stay here, Mer.” She glared at him. “edith,” he continued getting by her look than he was not allowed to call her that yet or ever. He didn’t know her well enough… yet, to know if she liked to be called like that.

Meredith knew Derek was right; if they were leaving this hotel, they would risk losing this room as well, so she sat in the lobby while he made the calls. He called every good hotel but he couldn’t find anything and gave up. “You can take the bed. I’m sure there is something I can sleep on,” Derek suggested.

“Ok, we will talk about sleeping arrangements later. Let’s go tell her we take the room,” Meredith agreed.

“Ok.” He had to admit that he didn’t really think it was so bad, sharing a room with Meredith. A naughty smiled played on his lips at that thought.

They checked in and went up to their room. They were amazed by the place from the first step they took inside the room. It was so big, and beautiful that at one point they both were mesmerized and smiling until their eyes met and they became embarrassed, both having thoughts at the moment of everything could happen at that room; but those thoughts were quickly shook off by reality. They did agree to go together to this trip but they were in fact not together; they weren’t even friends. They had just met and once again they reached the point of thinking that this had probably been a mistake. If it was, now it was too late. They were stuck in Vegas, together, in a honeymoon suit.

“So, what do we do now?” Derek asked trying to break the ice and make the situation less uncomfortable.

“Hmmm, I don’t know. Do you want to go down to the casino?” she suggested.

“Aren’t you tired?” Derek asked her.

Meredith smiled, shaking her head.

“Well, I’m not so good at gambling, but it sure sounds fun.” Derek flashed one of his stunning smiles that always made her heart pound.

They changed their clothes and made it down to the casino.

“So what do you want to play” Meredith asked him.

“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not a big fan of these places,” Derek admitted.

They started walking around and stopped beside the roulette tables. Derek gave Meredith a look asking for her approval to bet on that one. She nodded and they both came up to the table and Derek placed his bet at black 19.

“Make it red,” Meredith suggested and he changed it without any second thoughts.

The roulette started spinning and Derek and Meredith started laughing when they saw where the ball landed.

“19 red!” the dealer announced, and everyone at the table started clapping and cheering them.

“Wow. She is a keeper, son,” one of the other players, an elderly man, said to Derek with a smirk.

Derek looked at Meredith awkwardly when another player patted his shoulder. “He is right, you found your lucky charm here, and talk about lucky, she is really pretty,” the other man said causing both of them to blush.

They returned their attention to the table, as it was time to bet yet again. Derek looked at Meredith before placing his bet. He wasn’t so much into this gambling thing; he just wanted to have fun and, being with Meredith, for him that was fun. It was so new and refreshing, exactly what he needed. He was so consumed with his thoughts that he didn’t even realize that they had won again. He woke up from his thoughts when everyone at the table started screaming and congratulating them.

“Wow. What do you know? This is our lucky day,” Meredith squealed, excited for Derek. He smiled in a confident way, as he was about to place another bet. She stopped him grabbing his arm. “Let’s go play something more interesting than this now”

“More interesting?” he said, feeling a little curious. “Like what?”

“Hmm…” She tried to think of something more fun; she was not a big fan of the Roulette. “Poker,” she said excited

“You know how to play poker?” Derek asked amused.

“Mhm,” she replied nodding.

“Wait, you know enough to play with those guys?” Derek asked her.

“I do, ok?” she said confidently as she approached the poker table.

“Where did you learn?” Derek asked.

“Nowhere.” She rolled her eyes and Derek raised his eyebrows, giving her a look. “Ok! Strip poker in college,” she finally admitted.

Derek laughed. “Really?”

“Hey, I was never naked pal. I’m good.” She gave him a dirty look and then she found a place at the table.

“Ok, what ever you say...pal.” He sat next to her, laughing, even though he was not going to play this time. She had been his lucky charm today, but he was sure he wouldn’t do well at poker, so he just let her play.

He was impressed. She was quite a pro and an expert at bluffing. She made 5,000 on the table and was having fun, but she noticed Derek had started to get a little bored so she decided to make this one her last hand. The dealer gave her two cards. She discreetly looked at them not making any sign of amusement at what she saw. She was, in fact, good at bluffing. She was glad Derek didn’t get to see her cards because he wasn’t quite good at it and would have given her away. It was a queen and an Ace of hearts. She had a chance at a royal flush here and she was very happy.

She placed her bet. Two other players got in too. Then the dealer took out the 3 flop cards; they were a 10 of hearts, Ace of spades and a Jack of diamonds. She still had the chance for the flush with those cards but it would be perfect if she got the Jack and king of hearts she needed to make the perfect Royal flush. When the dealer took out the turn, it was a Jack of hearts. Yes she thought, again not making any sudden movements.

The dealer asked them to place their bets again. She was cautious and raised only a little so the other players wouldn’t fold. They called her bet and the dealer was now about to take out the “river card.” All she could think about was come on king of hearts over and over again while looking at Derek who looked as dreamier as could be. He caught her looking at him and gave her a smile that made her feel a little embarrassed. She turned her attention back to the game as the dealer uncovered the final card. “The river!” he announced.

In a sudden movement, Meredith turned to Derek and kissed his lips. This surprised him; he knew she had been drinking but he thought she was still ok.

Meredith was as surprised as him by her own reaction, and, once again, she was embarrassed as she pulled apart from him. All they could do was smile at each other.

“What was that for?” he asked curiously, mesmerized by the taste of her lips that was still lingering on his.

She slowly turned her cards up. “Royal flush,” she said in a low, childish tone still feeling so embarrassed by the whole situation. The other players couldn’t help but laugh even if they had lost the hand and a lot of money. Derek was out of it for a moment. All he could do was focus on her beauty, but then it hit him.

“Oh My God, Meredith! You won! That is more than 200,000!” He was so excited he stood up, hugged her and started spinning around with her in his arms. They were definitely having a lucky day and they were both very happy.

As Derek put her down, they stared into each other eyes for a moment. A sudden urge to kiss swept through them. Derek was the one who made the first move, leaning his head down a little while Meredith answered by lifting hers. Both of them felt that scenes like playing in slow motions on TV. Lost in feelings, their lips were almost touching now. Also as in movies, the climax had to be cut before it started. Meredith felt an arm wrapping around her waist.

“Congratulations, Blondie” a man that had been playing at the table said.

Both Meredith and Derek cursed under their breaths as the man spoiled the moment.

“Thanks,” Meredith muttered, not sounding so enthusiastic and pulled herself from the man’s arm.

“You know what? Now you have to buy us drinks,” another man said.

Derek and Meredith laughed, and then she nodded. “One round of whatever everyone is drinking here and a bottle of champagne please?” she asked one of the waitresses.

“Champagne?” Derek asked, giving her a playful look.

“Well, we have to celebrate, don’t we? This has been a lucky day,” she said, smiling back at him.

“So lucky,” he added, almost amazed by the thought.

They made arrangements to collect the money later or the next day since there was a lot to do. When the waitress came back with their champagne, Derek took the bottle and the glasses from her, holding them all with one hand. “Come on,” he said to Meredith, offering her his free hand.

She hesitated a little before she took it, but as she did, she felt calmer and the joy sweeping through her body. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know, just...out of here. Come on, we are in this wonderful place. Let’s not celebrate in the casino,” Derek suggested.

“You are right,” she said agreeing with him.

They walked around the place for a while. It was magical, so magical that they didn’t even notice that they were still holding hands. After a few minutes, they found a spot where they could see the gondolas. They sat on a border and Derek poured some champagne in the glasses, handing one to Meredith. Then, he raised his to her’s. “To our lucky day,” he toasted, smiling.

“Cheers,” she replied raising hers.

They sipped from their glasses and then their gazes fell over the beautiful view again.

“Too bad we have to go back,” Derek muttered, more to himself, with an evident note of regret in his voice.

“Yeah,” she said, feeling the same disappointment. Being there at that moment with him was perfect… unexpectedly perfect… already familiar.

“Wow, what is that?” he said pointing to the canals, almost laughing, surprised.

A young couple was riding in a gondola, in each other’s arms, while a minister was reading something to them.

“Are they getting married in that gondola?” Meredith laughed in disbelief.

“Talk about crazy people,” Derek added, watching the scene in shock.

“Well, at least it’s not Star Trek,” she admitted.

“Hey! Start Trek was pretty cool,” Derek protested, glaring at her.

“Oh my god! You were a geek in high school, weren’t you?” Meredith laughed at him.

“What? I was not!” Derek shouted offended. “I just happened to like the show,” he confessed, feeling a little embarrassed.

“I bet you would get married here in the Star Trek style, admit it,” she said, laughing.

Derek smiled sheepishly at her. “Of course not... well ok... maybe.” He rolled his eyes, pouting and looking over the canal again.

Meredith felt pity for him, but she could not hold back the laughter.

“Ok, what theme would you have picked?” he asked her curiously.

“None,” she said, her laughter freezing.

“Oh, come one, pick one.” Derek found this a good opportunity to tease her about the subject.

“No. I don’t want to think about marriage,” Meredith replied irritated.

“Oh I see! You are one of those people, aren’t you?” Derek raised an eyebrow, smiling at her.

Meredith gave him a look. “Which people?”

“Yeah, afraid of commitment people,” he clarified.

“I am not,” she said back to him, acting a little offended by his comments.

“I bet you will never get married,” Derek concluded.

“Oh shut up! I will!” She glared at him and then paused to think about it. “Someday!”

“Someday, huh?”

“Well, I bet you will marry like millions of times, since you seem to be so in love with the idea,” Meredith teased him back.

“I will not! I’m just saying it is nice to have someone you love by your side for the rest of your life. Don’t you ever want to have that?” he asked her. This time, he was more serious.

She didn’t say anything at first, just thought about it for a moment. They kept talking about marriage and before they knew it more than an hour had gone and they had finished the bottle already. Derek asked Meredith if she wanted to order another and she didn’t see anything wrong with that, so they did. He opened the new bottle while Meredith started the marriage subject again, trying to get Derek to think more like her.

2 hours and 2 bottles of champagne later, they were kind of on the same page, a happy medium. Both of them admitted that marriage had its funny sides, or at least Derek convinced her of that.

They were once again looking at the canals when Meredith spoke up again. “Gondolas,” she muttered. Derek looked at her, confused. “If I ever were to get married here in Vegas that would be my theme,” Meredith continued. “I mean look at that, it’s so beautiful, so...”

“Romantic,” he added for her.

“Yeah,” Meredith smiled, staring ahead.

After witnessing at least 3 weddings in the time they were there, they could not deny how great the whole thing was.

“It is definitively better than Elvis, right?” Derek said.

“Right,” she agreed, laughing again.

“So I’m not going to change your mind, am I?” Derek chuckled.

“Come on.” Meredith whined smiling. “I thought we dropped the subject already. I even picked a theme for you.”

Derek smirked at her and then silence fell over them. It was because of the lack of sleep from the last 24 hours, but it was also because of their thoughts. Meredith leaned her body against his side and put her head down on his shoulder.

“Do you want to join me for a ride?” he asked as he held out his hand.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 05:29 AM Post #7
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 Her head throbbed in pain as she started to wake up. It felt heavy, as did her eyes and her whole body.

Champagne. They had celebrated with many bottles of champagne.

They. Meredith snapped her eyes open, wincing at the light that streamed through the large windows of the hotel room. With the onslaught of light, the pain inside her head exploded. “Ow!” she cried out, wincing. A warm, steamy body snuggling her, followed her whimper.

Derek. She remembered Derek, her road trip partner. Slowly, everything started rewinding in her mind. They had wished for a sunny place; after a first failed destination, they ended up in Vegas. She remembered the gambling in the hotel’s casino and the pot of 200,000 dollars she had won there. Meredith giggled quietly because she had never done something this crazy before. To be in Vegas with a stranger… Derek… Derek, the stranger, she bit her lip muffling a laugh as she thought of that.

Then, the harsh sunlight reflected on her finger. Meredith flinched and panic washed over as she looked down and saw a ring on her left hand.

The gondolas. Now she remembered the gondolas too.

“I have a brilliant idea.” Meredith turned her look from over the water to Derek. Derek waited curiously to find out her ‘brilliant’ idea. If her idea would be as brilliant as her eyes were, they he would love it for sure. “Let’s get married.” Meredith revealed her ‘brilliant’ idea.

Derek was watching her even more curious now. “But I don’t even have a girlfriend,” he confessed.

“And I don’t have a boyfriend.” Meredith giggled loudly. It was her tipsy giggle. Derek continued to stare at her questioningly. “This couldn’t have matched better.” Meredith continued giggling. “If I’m not doing it now, I won’t do it ever.”

Derek stared at her in disbelief and shock in the same time. “You are crazy,” he concluded and chuckled.

“And you are pretty,” Meredith replied, laughing.

The champagne, Derek, the gondolas… she got drunk and got married in Vegas.

“I can’t believe we’ve actually done it,” Derek chuckled huskily as he put his left hand over hers and their rings met next to each other.

Meredith jerked her hand from his and pushed him away nervously. She jumped up in her seat and felt her head spinning because of the sudden movement. She furiously rubbed her temples, trying to banish the pain.

“It’s the hangover,” Derek stood up, rubbing her back slowly.

“You bastard!” Meredith shouted as she slapped his arm. “It’s you, bastard! Not the hangover! What have you done to me?”

Derek widened his eyes in shock. He sighed then and closed his eyes briefly. “I knew you were too drunk,” he muttered.

“That’s right! I was too drunk and you took advantage of me!” Meredith snapped sharply at him.

“I didn’t do anything against your will!” Derek retorted, extremely offended by her accusation. He moved to the other side of the bed and reached down for his boxers. He put them on and then got out of the bed. He started pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair, trying to think clearly about the consequences of his escapade to Vegas with Meredith. He had been drunk too since they consumed the same number of champagne bottles, but his memories from the previous night were still clear to him, unlike Meredith.

“Of course you took advantage of me!” she attacked him verbally again, as she trailed down from the bed, making sure she had the sheets around her. “I gained over 200,000 dollars last night!”

“I didn’t do it for your money!” Derek snapped back. “I have more money than 200,000 dollars.”

“Then why did you do it?” she spat.

“I didn’t do anything!” he protested defensively.

“You didn’t do anything?” Meredith laughed with bitter sarcasm. “This means nothing?” she asked, showing him her left hand.

“You proposed!” he defended himself.

“I was drunk!” she shouted. “Oh my God!” she cried out. “Of all the stupid things I’ve done, this is the stupidest.”

“Calm down, Mer,” Derek walked over to her, intending to comfort her.

“Don’t ‘Mer’ me!” Meredith slapped his hand as he tried to touch her. “And I can’t calm down. I can’t calm down because I don’t believe in marriage. I don’t want a marriage.”

“But we’re married now!” Derek knew he had to point out the most important fact. “I’m sorry I accepted your idea, but there’s nothing we can do now. We have to calm down and think clearly. Panic won’t help us.”

“I want a divorce,” she muttered, biting her nails nervously.

Derek sat down at the edge of the bed, his back turned to Meredith. He didn’t answer that. He agreed with her proposal because he had serious thoughts of trying a marriage with a woman, whoever that woman was. He liked Meredith from the first time he saw her, so he thought she would be the one.

“Don’t even think about it,” she warned him, after she saw his silence. “I don’t want to try anything.”

Derek shifted, turning to look at her. “We’re married already. Let’s just try… for a while. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll sign the divorce papers.”

“Why do you want it so much?” she asked him.

“Because I don’t want this to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” he confessed with sincerity.

“Don’t tell me you’re that perfect,” Meredith rolled her eyes with sarcasm.

“Actually, I rarely do stupid things.” Meredith rolled her eyes again at his confession. “This could be… an experiment,” Derek said convincingly. “An interesting and … fun experiment. Let’s give it a try. Let’s say… for 6 months. We’ll try for 6 months and at the end of those months we’ll make a decision.”

Meredith stared at him thoughtfully, which for Derek was a good sign. “You agreed to have an escapade with a stranger, now you’re married to that stranger, so… try.”

“You’re crazy,” Meredith muttered, shaking her head.

“No,” Derek laughed. He smiled at her and reached out his hand to stroke her cheek. “Let’s not make this be the stupidest thing we’ve ever done. Let’s make it the craziest.”

Meredith continued to stare at him. He had a point with that. She used to sleep with random guys, and that wasn’t quite a responsible attitude, but to run away to Vegas and marry a stranger could be surely the most irresponsible. ‘At least it would be the craziest,’ she said to herself.

“I’m not crazy,” Derek admitted as he misunderstood her silence. “I told you I work as surgeon… neurosurgeon, so my nervous system works on high standards,” he chuckled.

“Fine, whatever! Let’s try!” Meredith grumbled as she threw herself in bed.

Derek lay down beside her, propping his head in his hand. “Hey, try to see the best part from this story?”

“Oh,” Meredith smiled at him with sarcasm. “Is there any?”

“Yes, there is,” Derek smiled smugly.

“Let’s hear it,” she rolled on her side, propping her head in her hand and looking at Derek.

Derek laughed and leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips. “We didn’t have sex last night with random people. We did it as married couple.”

“That makes me feel better.” Meredith rolled her eyes. As she looked at Derek again and met his bright smile, she couldn’t help but smile too. “I don’t even remember that part,” she groaned. “…the part that was supposed to be the best from this story.”

“That can be arranged,” Derek chuckled. He flipped her onto her back and moved his body on top of her. “We’re newlyweds, aren’t we?”

Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling. “I suppose we are. So… we’re going to try for six months.”

“That’s the plan,” Derek smiled.

“That’s the plan,” Meredith repeated, smiling. Maybe it was because of Derek’s strong body pressing against hers, his lips caressing her cheek, but the plan seemed reasonable to Meredith now.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 05:30 AM Post #8
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 The light was bright orange in the hotel room when Derek woke up later that day. He moaned softly as he stretched his body slowly. Meredith was sleeping beside him, resting her head on his chest. She rubbed her nose sleepily as Derek’s movement disturbed her and then she snuggled back in his arms, continuing to sleep soundly. Derek smiled as he looked down at her, watching her peaceful features as she slept. He chuckled quietly as he realized that he was holding his wife in his arms. A woman he just met was now carrying his name. He knew how crazy that was, but he didn’t care; having her sleeping so close to him, feeling her breath tickling his chest, her chest moving against his body, he could sense the bond between them.

He slowly brushed the hair out of her face, caressing her cheek gently. She responded with a moan and a smile as she sleepily wrapped her arm around him. Derek cradled her in his arms and leaned in to kiss her softly on the forehead. Then he glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand behind Meredith. It was 6 o’clock in the afternoon already. They had spent the whole day in the hotel room like newly weds. Derek winced as he realized he should call home in Seattle and let the Webbers know where he was. He was supposed to show up at work the next day, but being in Vegas with Meredith, he knew he wouldn’t get there.

Derek slowly rolled to his side, easing Meredith down on the bed carefully. He pulled the sheets over her before he climbed down from bed and looked for some clothes to put on him. He fumbled through his pants’ pockets after his phone. As he found it, he noticed the battery had died. Derek sighed unhappy and put it down on the table. He took the hotel phone from there and went inside the bathroom with it.

He dialed a number and after only one ring, a female voice greeted him. “Dr. Webber’s office.”

“Patricia?” Derek asked. “It’s Derek Shepherd.”

“Dr. Shepherd!” Patricia replied with relief. “Dr. Webber is looking frantically for you. I’ll put you on phone with him.”

Derek sighed, preparing himself for Richard’s lecture.

“Derek Shepherd, where are you?” Richard asked him, sounding furious.

“In Vegas,” Derek chuckled, though he knew he shouldn’t sound amused to Richard.

“Leave the jokes, Derek, because I’m not in the mood. Where are you? Where did you disappear like that? Adele is worried sick about you and I barely convinced her not to call your mother and alarm her.”

Derek rolled his eyes, as the Webber family seemed to treat him like a child. “I’m in Vegas, Richard,” he answered calmly. He could hear Richard’s breath at the other side of the line, but no words came from him. “I’m in Vegas for real,” he added.

“What are you doing in Vegas?” Richard asked him, confused.

“I decided I wanted a vacation for a few days. I wanted to go somewhere sunny. Look, I’m sorry for not calling you in time, but it was a last minute plan,” Derek answered as he looked down at his ring.

“You decided to go on a vacation to Vegas. You wanted to go somewhere sunny,” Richard repeated what Derek said, sounding dumbfounded.

“Yes,” Derek answered.

“Are you there alone?” he asked him, though you could tell from his voice that he already knew the answer.

“No,” Derek chuckled.

“Behave, Derek! Don’t do anything stupid there and come back soon, because the new interns are due to start in three days,” he announced.

Derek froze for a moment as he heard Richard’s announcement. Meredith was one of the interns due to start her internship at Seattle Grace. Derek was staring blankly, dumfounded himself. He was going to be her boss, his wife’s boss. She was going to be the boss’s wife.

Derek continued to repeat that in his head until Richard’s shout made him start.

“Derek!”

“Yes,” he answered quickly, still giddy after his revelation. He hadn’t thought about that and Meredith surely hadn’t done it either.

“Did you hear what I said?” he asked, angrier.

“No,” Derek chuckled embarrassed.

“Argh!” He could hear Richard’s nervous growl. “I said you’ll be working with Dr. Bailey’s interns from now on.”

“Dr. Bailey’s interns,” Derek repeated. “I got that. Ok then.”

“When will you be back in Seattle?” Richard asked him.

“Uh, I’m not sure. In a few days maybe or sooner,” Derek muttered.

“Make it sooner,” Richard warned him very bossy. “I want you here when the interns are coming.”

“Ok,” Derek agreed reluctantly. He smiled as he looked past the closed door of the bathroom. ‘I have one of your interns with me, actually’ he said to himself, muffling his amusement. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t intend to lose my fortune on gambling,” he chuckled.

“Have fun, Derek,” Richard replied dryly, not sharing his sense of humor.

“Goodbye, Richard,” Derek said and hung up the phone.

When Derek came out of the bathroom, after he had taken a quick shower, he found the room sunk in a dimmer light than half an hour ago and Meredith still sleeping, tucked between sheets in the middle of the bed. He walked over to the bed and lay down slowly beside her.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he whispered in her ear after he had brushed her hair away. “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked her in a soft voice as Meredith started groaning.

“Mhmm,” she moaned sleepily and brushed her cheek against his hand.

“Wake up then.” Derek smiled at her gesture. “Let’s see what other crazy things we can do in Vegas.”

Meredith opened her eyes slowly, smiling sleepily at him. “Crazier than getting married to a stranger?” she asked.

Derek pretended to be thinking of it and then smiled at her, shaking his head. “There’s nothing crazier than getting married to a stranger.”

“Then it’ll be boring,” Meredith whimpered childishly.

“That’s true,” Derek agreed, laughing. “We could try to spend 200,000 dollars in one night. Wouldn’t that be fun?” He asked, smirking.

Meredith looked at him thoughtfully. “Do you think we could do it?” she asked him with sudden interest.

“We could try,” he laughed.

“Nice,” she muttered, smiling with thrill at Derek’s suggestion. “What time is it?” she asked.

“A little past 6:30,” Derek answered as he glanced at the alarm clock.

“Did I sleep all day?” she whimpered.

“No,” he laughed. “Because the whole morning we had other activities,” he rolled on top of her, propping his forearms on each side of her head. His lips brushed against hers slowly as she moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I like this marriage thing… I think,” she giggled.

“Me too,” Derek laughed, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. “Let’s get ready to go out.” He rolled down and stood up, holding out his hand for Meredith. “Oh and you should call home and tell them where you are or at least that you’re ok.”

Meredith pulled the sheets over her head, whimpering. She had completely forgotten about her friends and family. The last time she talked to any of them was before they split at Seattle Grace. How was she going to tell them she was now a married woman?

Derek pulled down the sheets from her face, smiling at her frowned expression. “You don’t have to tell them right away. Just tell them you’re ok. We’ll tell them together about our wedding rings.”

“Did you tell anyone?” she asked him.

“No,” he smiled. “Not yet. I don’t want to produce drama in Seattle via Manhattan so soon.”

“I don’t want to either,” she agreed, sighing. “I say we should let Seattle live in peace for at least another day,” she giggled softly at him.

“I agree,” he smiled at her. “Get up now. I’ll go take a look around downstairs to give you privacy,” he said as he grabbed his shirt and put it on.

“Ok.” Meredith sighed. “I’ll go shower first,” she said suddenly and stood up from bed, wrapped in sheets.

“You don’t need to prepare a speech, Meredith.” Derek laughed as he had guessed her hesitation and fear of calling home. “Besides you’re a grown woman so you shouldn’t be scared of what Mommy and Daddy say.” He smiled teasingly.

Meredith didn’t appreciate his joke, mostly because he was right. She was a grown woman now and she had lived on her own for a long time; why was she so afraid of her family’s reaction? Probably because they didn’t know how independent she had been throughout her youth.

When she came out of the bathroom, Meredith found the room empty. Derek hadn’t returned from downstairs. She smiled slightly as she thought of Derek. The fact that he gave her privacy for a simple phone call at home brought another point of sympathy, after he had gained some other points during the morning and probably during the wedding night.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed before she reluctantly picked up the phone and dialed.

“Meredith?” The familiar voice greeted her before Meredith could say a word or make a sound.

“How did you know it’s me?” Meredith asked her curiously.

“It’s not that difficult, Meredith,” Cristina said in annoyance. “You’re the missing person and who else could have called from another state in this situation. Where in the world are you?”

“I’m in this world,” Meredith replied, giggling teasingly.

“Oh please,” Cristina retorted with the same annoyance. “At least you seem cheerful and that’s a good sign,” she concluded. “Now spit it out. Where are you?”

Meredith bit her lip hesitantly before she answered. “I’m in Vegas.” she cleared her throat and tried to sound casually.

Then a worrying silence fell between them. From the other end of the line, no sound was coming; not even breathing, though Meredith knew the connection was still on.

“That’s right, Cristina. I’m in Vegas,” Meredith repeated, knowing that her friend had heard her the first time.

“What in the hell have you done?” Cristina asked her in a low, stupefied voice.

Meredith felt a lump form in her throat as she heard Christina’s question. “How do you know I’ve done something?”

“You’re in Vegas!” Cristina shouted her lungs out. “This can mean only two things. You’re either married or broke and since you can’t be broke because you’re not quite that rich, I tend to believe that you’re married.”

Meredith sighed and Cristina heard that. “So you’re married,” she concluded. “Who is the guy?”

“Derek,” Meredith mumbled.

“Who’s Derek?” Cristina asked with fake interest.

“The guy I met at… at…” she stammered, unable to find the courage to admit.

“It sounds like the ‘at’ that place is a very interesting place,” Cristina stated sarcastically.

“At the claiming office,” Meredith muttered quickly.

“That Derek,” Cristina said to herself as if she knew him. “So… you married a guy you just met.”

“Yeah,” Meredith sighed.

“Is he at least good in bed?” Cristina asked her.

“Cristina!” Meredith spat, irritated.

“I guess there is a bright side to this story. He wasn’t a one-night stand. You had sex with your husband.”

“That’s what Derek said too,” Meredith giggled.

“What have you done, Meredith? How could you be so stupid?” Cristina couldn’t see the fun in Meredith’s act. “How could you marry a guy you just met?”

“He’s a nice man, Cristina,” Meredith said defensively.

“I’m sure he is,” she replied sarcastically. “He married a woman he had just met, didn’t he?”

“We were drunk,” Meredith retorted.

“Oh, so he is also irresponsible, not just nice,” was Cristina’s sharp reply.

“Shut up,” Meredith muttered. “You’re going to like him.”

“I doubt it, but whatever. When are you coming home?” Cristina asked her.

“I don’t know,” Meredith sighed. “Probably tomorrow. Don’t tell anyone,” she warned her. “We’ll tell my family.”

“You fell in love with him, didn’t you? I knew that it had to be something more than the alcohol that clouded your mind,” Cristina said.

“I did not fall for him,” Meredith muttered, frowning.

“And you have no intention to divorce,” Cristina continued.

“Not right away,” she muttered.

“Whatever, just come home already. Oh and where are you planning to live with that guy?” Cristina asked her.

That took Meredith by surprise. She hadn’t thought yet about how her life with Derek would go on after they return from Vegas. Cristina pointed out an important thing. “We’ll see,” she muttered. “I have to go now.”

“Sure,” Cristina replied, still annoyed. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

Meredith hung up the phone and sighed. She lay down on the bed, closing her eyes and trying to wrap her mind around what she had done by marrying with Derek. There was more to marriage than sex. They were handling the sex very well, but how would they manage to control the rest?

That’s how Derek found her when he returned from downstairs. “It didn’t go that well,” he said as he lay down beside her.

Meredith shook her head in response. “I have a very smart friend, so … it didn’t go that well,” she sighed.

“Are you scared?” he asked her softly.

“Of marriage?” she asked him as she turned to look at him. Derek nodded. “Yes,” she sighed again.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked her cautiously.

Meredith frowned at his question. “No,” was her straight answer. She knew for sure she should be afraid of Derek’s presence.

“It’ll be an interesting experience, Meredith,” Derek said softly, caressing her cheek. “No harm will be done,”

“Promise?” she looked at him, smiling playfully.

“Promise,” he leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

“Ok,” she smiled gratefully. “Are you ready to spend 200,000 dollars in one night?”

“I am,” Derek smirked. “Are you?”

“It’s a tempting challenge,” Meredith giggled.

“More challenging than the marriage?” he asked her, laughing.

Meredith thought about it for a moment, before she answered. “At least as challenging as the marriage.”

“Let’s go.” Derek stood up and helped Meredith up as well. “We need to feed our stomachs and our curiosity,” he said, wrapping an arm around her.

“Curiosity?” she asked him, confused.

“We need to find out more about each other,” he pointed out.

“Oh,” Meredith wrapped her arm around him as well and nodded in agreement.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 03:02 PM Post #9
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 “We’re pathetic,” Derek chuckled, shaking his head as he drove to the restaurant.

“Excuse me?” Meredith smiled sarcastically.

Derek glanced at her, smiling and then he looked ahead, paying attention to the road. “We are,” he said. “We couldn’t spend 200,000 dollars in one evening.”

Meredith rolled her eyes and smiled as she looked out her window. “I don’t think anyone can do it… unless they gamble and lose it.”

“One dress and one pair of shoes? Seriously, Mer,” Derek laughed as he glanced at her. “What kind of woman are you?” he asked teasingly. “Even I did better than you and I don’t like shopping.”

“Oh shut up,” Meredith giggled. “You should be happy because this means you won’t have to worry each time I have your credit card. Besides, I’m not like any other woman,” she admitted proudly.

“You’re right on that,” Derek chuckled.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Meredith scowled at him as if he had said something offending.

“I mean you’re right about your carelessness regarding my credit card,” he laughed. He glanced at her, seeing her smiling. “And you’re right about the other thing too,” he added, carefully looking for her reaction. He took her hand as he saw her frowning out her window and kissed it. “You’re brave,” he said softly, still cradling her hand in his.

“For getting married to a stranger?” she giggled. Derek chuckled and nodded. “No,” Meredith laughed now, shaking her head. “I’m insane.”

Derek let off her hand so that he could hold the steering wheel more carefully and laughed. “We’ve just found a first thing we have in common,” he said and smiled at her. “We both have a little bit of insanity.”

“That’s not good for a neurosurgeon,” she laughed.

“Oh and here’s another one,” he glanced at her, smirking. “We’re both doctors, so we should get along pretty well regarding our careers.”

Meredith gasped and looked at Derek, shocked.

“What is it?” Derek asked her, slightly worried.

Meredith continued to stare dumbfounded at him before she could gather her thoughts. He was… “You are…” she babbled. “You’re my boss. I’m married to my boss,” she muttered, stunned of her revelation.

“You’re slow, Dr. Grey,” Derek chuckled teasingly. “I suppose this means you won’t stick around me in neuro too much.”

Meredith gasped again.

“What now?” Derek laughed.

“I don’t know your last name! I don’t know my last name!” she shouted, suddenly panicked.

Derek sighed and his smile faded. That wasn’t a good thing, no matter how much they were trying to call it crazy. “Derek Shepherd,” he muttered.

“Meredith Shepherd,” she muttered under her breath. She looked out her window, thoughtful. Again, the idea of continuing this marriage seemed like a bad one.

This time, Derek shared her thoughts.

They had tied their lives to each other… two strangers. Maybe that was a crazy thing, but it was also stupid.

As she was staring blankly out her window, Meredith felt his hand covering hers. She looked at him; he was gazing out the windshield. “Are you freaking out?” she asked him quietly.

Derek looked at her and smiled slightly as he nodded. “A little.”

“Do you want to back out?” she asked him in the same quiet voice.

“No,” he answered sincerely. His fingers caressed her ring before he let go of her hand. “Do you?” he asked her back.

Meredith rested her head against her seat, looking at him as she thought. “Me neither,” she answered. He looked confident in whatever was going to happen for the next six months and that was encouraging for her.

Derek smiled at her and then looked out the windshield as he turned off the engine. “Here’s a good restaurant,” he said.

“Have you ever been here before?” she asked him as she looked at the restaurant.

“In Vegas? No,” Derek chuckled. “But they do have a restaurant in Manhattan too.” He unfastened his seatbelt and got off the car. He walked around and held the door open for Meredith.

“So you’re from Manhattan,” she said, taking his hand.

“Yes,” he smiled, shutting the door behind her. “Now you know another thing about me,” he chuckled cheerfully. “Let’s get inside, because I’m curious to find out more about you and I’m excited to tell you more about me.”

“Are you that exciting?” she asked him, laughing.

“I thought you knew that already,” he frowned teasingly.

--

“Let me start first,” Derek suggested after they both sat down to the table and the waiter had handed them the menus.

“Before you start,” Meredith cut him off. “Do you know my last name?” Derek smiled amusingly at her. “I mean… my maiden name,” she rephrased her question.

“Grey,” he answered and smiled smugly as he saw the surprise from her face. “I held our airplane tickets,” he said.

“Oh ok,” Meredith nodded. “So… your full name is…”

“Derek Christopher Shepherd,” Derek answered. “I was born on the 17th of January in Manhattan. Do I have to tell my full biography, like all the pre-schools and school I attended?”

“No,” she giggled. “Tell me about your parents.”

Derek cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, smiling at Meredith. “My father passed away 5 years ago of heart attack,”

“I’m sorry,” Meredith said sincerely.

“That’s ok now,” he smiled at her. “His name was Christopher Shepherd. My mother’s name is Elisabeth Marie Malone-Shepherd, but everyone calls her Ella and she lives in South Hampton now, so you can expect a revolution all across America after we announce our wedding,” Derek chuckled. “I have four sisters, Anna Caroline Edward, married to Robert Edward and they have four children, 3 girls and a boy, Alex…”

“Let’s limit ourselves to your sisters’ name only,” Meredith cut him off, already dazed by his big family.

“It’s a little too much, isn’t it?” he laughed.

“Just a little,” she giggled.

“Ok,” Derek chuckled. “So I have Anna, she is the oldest, and then there’s Kathleen and her husband’s name is James. They have 5 kids. Then there is Nancy; she’s newly divorced, but they have two kids together and then there’s me, and then my youngest sister, Ashley. She is single too.”

“Single too?” she asked him, amused. “Who else is single?”

Derek realized then that he was no longer single and that his sister was his only sibling unmarried. “Sorry about that. I have to get used with the new status.”

“That’s ok,” she laughed.

“Now it’s your turn,” he pointed to her. “Tell me about your birth place, parents and siblings.”

“I don’t have siblings. I am the only child. I was born in Seattle on the 15th of September. My father’s name is Thatcher Grey and my mother’s name is Ellis Grey and that’s it.”

“Wait,” Derek folded his arms across his chest and leaned over the table. “Your mother’s name is Ellis Grey?”

Meredith rolled her eyes amusingly. “I knew you would bring that up. And yeah… she is the Ellis Grey you think she is.”

“Wow,” Derek chuckled, impressed. “I’m Ellis’s Grey son-in-law now.”

“Get over it, she will hate you once she meets you,” Meredith smiled teasingly.

“And your father’s name is Thatcher Grey?” he asked her with the same amazement in his voice as in his previous question.

This time, Meredith looked at him, confused. “Yes; why?”

“Wow,” he chuckled again. “I’m Thatcher Grey’s son-in-law too.”

“Why are you so proud of it?” she asked him, amused by his amazement.

“I’m a fan of your father’s,” he confessed.

“I didn’t know my father was such a celebrity.” She rolled her eyes. “Besides being Ellis’s husband,” she said. “And Meredith Grey’s father,” she added jokingly.

Derek laughed along with her. “I read most of your father’s researches about the marine habitat. I like the fishing ones the most.” Meredith rolled her eyes at his statement. “So you’re not a big fan of fishing or the outdoors,” he concluded.

“No, I’m not a big fan,” she admitted. “I like it, but I’m not obsessed with it.”

Derek frowned as he heard that. “So you’re calling me obsessed?”

Meredith looked away and smiled teasingly as an answer.

In that moment, the waiter came to their table to take their orders. Scowling at Meredith, Derek picked up his menu and opened it. “Is your favorite food listed on their menu?” he asked Meredith.

“No,” Meredith mumbled, looking over her menu. “I’ll have roast potatoes with sage and orange and baked chicken breast,” she gave her order to the waiter. “I don’t have favorite food. I eat anything,” she informed Derek.

Derek smiled and then gave his order. “I’ll have baked fennel with garlic butter and vermouth. That,” he said, turning to look at Meredith, “Is my favorite food so keep that in mind.”

Meredith raised her brows, amused. “I don’t cook so I don’t care what your favorite food is.”

“This means that I have to be the perfect husband?” he chuckled.

“Only if you want to, but I can be the perfect wife too,” Meredith giggled. “As I said, I eat anything, so you shouldn’t worry about what you cook.”

“Excuse me,” the waiter cleared his throat interrupting them. “Would you like to have a drink? Wine? Beer? Champagne?” he asked them.

Meredith and Derek looked at each other and they both smiled as they gave the answer in unison. “No, thank you.”

“Ok,” the waiter smiled nervously at them as if he had offended them with his question. “Any dessert?” he asked them hesitantly.

“I’d like a slice of cheese cake,” Derek answered quickly and then looked at Meredith.

Meredith thought for a second and then made a decision. “I’d like a strawberry ice cream.”

“Alright,” the waiter noted down Meredith’s order too and smiled at them. “Your food should be here in about 20 minutes.”

“Take your time,” Derek smiled at him. “We have a lot to catch up on with each other,” he grinned as he turned to look at Meredith.

“So… I assume cheese cake is your favorite dessert,” Meredith looked at him questioningly.

“And strawberry ice cream is your favorite dessert,” Derek replied and smiled as Meredith nodded. “Ok, so now we know general stuff about each other like names, parents and siblings. I like baked fennel with garlic butter and vermouth while you’re a junk food eater,” Derek chuckled teasingly while Meredith grinned sarcastically. “I like cheese cake for dessert and you like the strawberry ice cream,” he continued. “Oh and you don’t cook, which leads me to believe that you don’t do housework either and I’ll be the wife.”

“Shut up now,” Meredith warned him, laughing.

“Ok, what else should we find out now,” Derek leaned back in his chair, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully.

“Are we going to live together?” she asked him.

“Of course,” Derek rolled his eyes. “How else can we make this marriage work if we live apart?”

“Where?” She asked him straight.

Now that was a hard question for Derek. He was sharing an apartment with Preston, but that place was one for bachelors so he couldn’t take Meredith to live there. “Don’t you have a house to live?”

“I do,” she answered. “Are you willing to share an apartment with three other women?” she giggled as she saw the grin on his face. “And share the same bedroom with me and my cousin?” Derek’s expression turned slightly into a grimace. “Make a note of that,” she laughed.

“What?” he asked her, confused.

“You don’t like threesomes, which is actually a shame because a threesome could be really fun,” she said casually, purposely teasing Derek.

“Hey, I really like you!” Derek exclaimed enthusiastically.

Meredith grinned knowingly, giving him a moment to enjoy it before giving him a reply. “I only like the 1 woman for 2 men pairing.”

Derek’s enthusiasm faded and shook his head. “Rather not,” he muttered.

“So we don’t have a place to live,” she said. “Or… no, never mind,” she changed the thought immediately.

“You have a place where we could live together. Or at least you know of one,” Derek concluded, watching her suspiciously. “I’m your husband, you can’t let me sleep on your doorstep,” he said jokingly.

Meredith was too focused on her thoughts to smile at his joke. She did have a place where she could live with Derek. “The place where I lived as a child,” she muttered.

“So we got that covered,” Derek said.

“But it needs a lot of work. Nobody has lived there for almost 6 years.”

“Yet it’s still a safe place to live, right?” he asked.

“Yeah. My parents wanted a new neighborhood, closer to Mercy West Hospital,” she said.

“We can clean the place. How big can the mess be? Besides, we’ll start by cleaning the most important rooms: our bedroom, the kitchen and the bathroom. We’ll do the rest in time,” Derek said enthusiastically. Then he stopped as he saw Meredith’s discomfort with the discussion they were having. “You don’t want us to live together?” he asked her softly.

Meredith was now staring down at the table, playing with her napkin.

“Mer.” He touched her hands gently, making them stop crumpling the napkin.

“I think we should take this thing slower,” she muttered. She met his comforting smile as she glanced up at him.

“Slower than marriage?” he asked her.

“This marriage is only on paper for now, Derek,” she said as she looked into his eyes. “Living together means …this means living with the marriage. We should take it slower. Let’s get to know each other better. Like dating, for example.”

“Dating could be fun,” Derek agreed, smiling at her. “I guess you have a point with that. That’s why we ended up married in the first place,” he sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “I went too fast.”

Meredith looked at him as she nodded in agreement. “We could start cleaning the house… slowly. This before we move in together,” she babbled.

“Ok,” Derek agreed. “We could do that.”

“Ok,” she smiled, more relaxed now.

At that point, they had managed to talk and clear some aspects of their new life without involving serious fights, only teasing and cheerful quarrels and that was encouraging for both of them.

“So I’m married to my boss,” Meredith sighed and tried to pick up their conversation about themselves. She leaned back in her chair, a smile growing on her lips as she watched him smiling at her.

“Don’t get too excited over this because I won’t favor you,” he warned her in a more serious tone.

“I wasn’t going to ask you for favors,” she huffed. “Actually nobody from the hospital should know that we’re married. I should go by my maiden name.”

“That sounds fair,” Derek nodded in agreement. A crooked smile spread across his face as he leaned over the table to her. “Since I’m going to be your boss at work, I allow you to be my boss at home.”

“Gee, thanks!” Meredith squealed with sarcastic enthusiasm, which made Derek laugh. “Do you know who your resident is? Maybe we’ll get to work together a lot during your residency.”

“No,” Meredith shook her head. “I haven’t found out yet. I know there are teams of doctors, right?” she asked him curiously.

“Yes,” Derek nodded. “Each resident and its interns get certain attendings to work with. For example, the Chief has just told me I’ll be working with Dr. Bailey and her interns. I’m the head of Neuro Department, by the way,” he added, smiling smugly at her.

Meredith just rolled her eyes. “I heard about her,” Meredith said, referring to Dr. Bailey. “My mom was impressed with her when she had to attend a critical patient at Seattle Grace a while ago.”

“I heard she’s one of the best residents that Seattle Grace has,” Derek said.

“You said your boss is also your friend or something like that,” Meredith said as she remembered what he had told her the night they left for their sunny vacation.

“That’s right,” Derek chuckled as he read the shock on her face. “You’re on high horses now because of this marriage, Meredith.”

“This will go very badly,” she growled quietly as she threw her head back and closed her eyes briefly.

“It won’t go bad,” Derek reached out for her hand and gave it a light squeeze of encouragement. “Let’s try to make it well. We’ll separate the work from our personal life.”

Meredith looked at him as he spoke and nodded, unconvinced.

“It will,” he assured her, winking at her. “Back to our personal life now,” he suggested. “What are you hobbies, Meredith?” he asked her.

“I don’t have hobbies,” she answered simply.

“Ok… what do you like to do with your free time?” he rephrased his question.

“Well...” she cleared her throat and looked at him smiling. “I only have free time in the evening because until not too long ago, I was in Med School studying and soon I’ll be at the hospital, working and learning so, I either hang out with my friends, or I stay at home, eat junk food and watch crappy television programs.”

“How old are you?” he asked curiously.

“That’s not an appropriate thing to ask a woman,” she giggled teasingly.

“Yeah but you’re my wife now, so I have to know,” he grinned back at her.

“25,” she answered, smiling at him. “Should I call you grandpa?” she asking him teasingly.

“That depends,” he laughed. “Do I look and perform like a grandpa at 36?” he asked her, still laughing.

Meredith laughed too. “How should I know how a grandpa… performs?”

“The difference is not that big,” he said, a little more serious now.

“It’s not,” she agreed, smiling. “Do you have other hobbies besides fishing… and my dad?” she asked him.

Derek chuckled at the last part of her question. “I like reading,” he said. “Oh and I look forward to meeting your dad.”

“I wouldn’t,” she giggled. “You married his little daughter without his blessing, so I doubt that you two are going to be friends.”

“I charmed his daughter, so I won’t have problems making him like me.” Derek cleared his throat and smirked smugly at her.

“You got his daughter drunk,” she pointed out, giggling.

“Yeah, but I convinced her not to divorce me, didn’t I?” he replied smugly.

Meredith rolled her eyes and decided to give up and not feed his ego more.

During the dinner, Meredith told Derek about Cristina and Lexie and Derek told her about his best friend Mark and about the permanent competition between him and Preston Webber. He also told her about his goal of becoming the Chief of surgery one day, while Meredith said she didn’t have another goals besides becoming a great surgeon.

Meredith had her head resting on him, with his arm around her shoulder, holding her to his chest while they were watching down the canal where a gondola was just passing by, carrying a young happy couple.

“I don’t remember when we got on the gondola,” she muttered as watched the loving way that the woman was looking into her man’s eyes.

“You stumbled a little, but I was there to catch you,” he said softly, his lips breathing against her forehead. He smiled as she looked up at him.

“I don’t even remember anything from the ceremony,” she sighed as she drew her eyes back down over the water.

“I only remember one thing,” he said, his eyes still on her. She looked up at him again as she could feel his gaze. “I remember your eyes,” he said, looking into her eyes. He leaned in as he lifted her chin and kissed her softly on the lips. “You’re a beautiful woman and I have enjoyed your company these last two days more than you believe. I’m optimistic, Meredith.”

Meredith closed her eyes briefly, fighting back the tears and put her head on his chest again. She had enjoyed his company too. “Derek?” She looked up at him and smiled as she looked into his eyes. “Nice to meet you, Derek,” she said softly.

“Nice to meet you too, Meredith,” he smiled back, caressing her cheek.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 03:08 PM Post #10
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 Derek watched how her foot continued to tap the airplane’s floor in a nervous rhythm and the way her teeth were nibbling on her bottom lip. “You’re going to crush the plane,” he whispered in her ear as he put his hand on her leg to keep it still.

Meredith looked at him, wrinkles of worry marring her forehead.

“It will be fine,” he smiled reassuringly. He shifted closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “We’re taking it slow, remember? We’re still in the dating phase,” he said softly while her gaze turned out the window.

“We should wait a couple of days before we tell anyone,” she muttered. Though Cristina knew already about her marriage, Meredith knew she could trust her that she would keep it secret.

“Ok,” Derek sighed. “Just so that you can get used to the idea and gain some courage,” he agreed.

Meredith looked at him, confused. “Aren’t you afraid of what people will say about you?”

“No,” he frowned. “And you shouldn’t care either. I thought you were more independent than that.”

“I am,” she grumbled, displeased. She folded her arms across her chest and glared out the window.

“Then stop worrying. You’re a grown woman who has the right to make whatever decision she thinks is good for her,” he said.

“Getting married wasn’t exactly a decision I made by myself,” she muttered as she continued to stare out the window. She could see Derek’s reflection in it, as he was watching her. “The alcohol made it for me.” She turned and looked at him. “And you,” she said with a hint of reproach in her voice.

“Now please don’t throw all of the blame on me for this,” Derek retorted, irritated by the easiness she was blaming him each time the fear of marriage was getting to her. “You could have said no to all those bottles of champagne or you can get out of this whenever you want to. I’m not keeping you hostage.”

He pulled back his arm from around her shoulders and shifted to the other side of his seat, further from her.

Meredith leaned her side to the window as she looked outside. She felt bad for what she said. He was right.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence and tapping her foot against the floor, Meredith sighed and repositioned herself in her seat. “I’m sorry,” she muttered and held out her hand to him.

Derek looked at her and then at her hand, back to her face as he saw her faint smile. He smiled back and took her hand. “I think we had a great honeymoon.”

“I think we did,” she smiled at him.

She actually did have a great honeymoon and funny, pleasant moments with Derek. She put her head on his shoulder and his arm hugged her shoulders again while he moved closer to her. It felt good to both of them.

--

After she had dropped Derek at the hospital, Meredith drove herself back home; back to the real world, because what she had lived with Derek in for the past days had been more of a fantasy than a reality.

The reality of her marriage was just now starting to roll out.

“Finally!” Lexie’s sigh of relief greeted her before she could even step inside the apartment.

“Meredith, where have you been?” she showed up in the doorway in a flash. “Cristina told us you were on an expedition or something? Where have you been? Why did you disappear like that? Why did it take you so long to call us?” As the questions were flowing out of her mouth, the worry in her voice was also turning into reproach. “You abandoned us at the hospital without the car. Alex had to drive us back home. Seriously, Meredith, you have a serious explanation to give us.”

“Move out of the doorway,” Meredith growled, stepping ahead and pushing Lexie back inside the apartment.

In the meantime, announced by Lexie’s intense lecture, Izzie and Cristina showed up in living room. Meredith saw Cristina’s smirk as Lexie was lecturing her about her disappearance.

“Expedition, huh?” Meredith chuckled as she made her way inside too.

Lexie followed her closely. “That’s not funny, Meredith!” she spat.

“It’s not that funny, indeed, but I don’t need to give you any explanation,” she retorted. Earlier that day, Derek had doubted her independence and now Lexie was underestimating her too. “And we should stop depending on one car.”

“Now let her breathe, Lexie,” Izzie interfered, pacifying everyone. “She will tell us where she has been until today after both of you calm down and she gets some rest.”

Meredith noticed a weird smile on Izzie as she said that. She decided to ignore her, thinking that it was just one of her weird smiles.

“Yeah, she needs rest after such an exhausting expedition,” Cristina chuckled, taking Meredith’s suitcase and heading towards her room.

Meeting Lexie’s glare, Meredith chose to follow Cristina, preferring to deal with her mockery than explaining anything to her cousin.

Cristina was already sitting at the edge of the bed, when Meredith walked in and closed the door.

“So the newlywed is home,” Cristina smiled teasingly at Meredith.

Meredith ignored her comment and went to take her suitcase, which Cristina had left beside the bed. She picked it up and threw it on her bed.

Cristina saw she was being ignored, but she wasn’t going to give up so easily. “You confessed to me that you were married, so now spit it out. You can’t leave me like this.”

“First of all,” Meredith started calmly. “I didn’t confess anything. You guessed. Secondly, I can leave you like this.”

“You have to tell me at least your new last name,” Cristina insisted.

Meredith unzipped her suitcase, ignoring her again.

“Meredith.” Cristina smiled knowingly at her. “I know you too well,” she said. Meredith looked up at her curiously. “I know you need to share this with someone,” Cristina continued. “Who else is better than me to keep your secrets?”

“And mock me for life,” Meredith smiled flakily.

“True,” Cristina chuckled. “But you still need me,” she pointed out knowingly. She moved to the middle of the bed, beside Meredith’s suitcase and faced her, waiting.

Meredith sighed, giving in. Cristina was right. She made herself room at the edge of the bed, watching thoughtful her left hand. “Shepherd,” she muttered.

There was no reply coming from Cristina and that made Meredith look up at her. She saw her then staring at her, inexpressive.

“Say something,” Meredith groaned, rolling her eyes annoyed by Cristina’s silence.

“What should I say?” Cristina answered. “You said shepherd. What about shepherd?”

Meredith groaned louder. “That’s my new last name,” she said. She rolled her eyes and looked away as she saw the amusement creeping on Cristina’s face.

“So the loser’s name is Shepherd, huh?” Cristina cleared her throat, hiding her laugher.

“He’s not a loser!” Meredith spat.

That took Cristina by surprise. “You really like him.”

“I do not like him,” she grumbled.

“Then he must be rich,” Cristina concluded.

Meredith just glanced at Cristina.

“You married him for money?” Cristina burst out laughing. “I didn’t know you were so eager to become rich.”

“I am not,” Meredith grumbled. “And I don’t know if he is rich,” she continued. “But he has a well-paid job.”

“Ok, so… what’s the shepherd doing?” Cristina asked mockingly.

“Stop calling him that!” Meredith scowled at her friend. “His name is Derek.”

“Derek sounds better,” Cristina nodded, adopting a fake serious posture. “Ok so … what is Derek doing for living?” she reformed her previous question.

“He is a neurosurgeon,” Meredith answered, now smiling smugly at her.

Now Cristina was quiet and thoughtful. “He is a neurosurgeon,” she muttered under her breath.

“What now?” Meredith groaned.

Cristina looked into her eyes, still thoughtful. Slowly, the corners of her mouth twisted into a smile. “Derek Shepherd is Dr. Derek Shepherd, the new head of neurology at Seattle Grace,” Cristina said calmly. Then she burst, shocked. “You are married to your boss now!”

“I may not directly work with him,” Meredith said, shrugging and trying not to look stressed about it.

“Nice,” Cristina smiled, impressed. “You scored high.”

“Stop saying that!” Meredith snapped. “I didn’t know he was my boss when I first met him and besides that, we agreed that we won’t mix the personal life with the professional one.”

“When exactly did you meet him?” Cristina asked, interested.

“At the airport; at the claiming office,” she said.

“So you met a guy during the day and by the end of it you were married to him.”

“Kind of,” Meredith muttered.

“I still don’t understand why you agreed to stay married,” Cristina stared at her, thoughtful. “You don’t make a commitment to any man. You must like him more than you liked the others.”

“Not really,” Meredith looked away as she muttered and Cristina knew she was lying. “It’s more like a challenge,” she continued, trying to sound convincing.

“Yet, he must be one hell of a man if you accepted a challenge like this,” Cristina pointed out.

“What do you want me to say? He is good-looking… and smart… and good in bed,” Meredith trailed off. “But I don’t know him well enough to know if I like him.

“You say he is good in bed, so to me it sounds like you like him… at least a little bit,” Cristina said.

“Just a little bit,” Meredith grumbled.

“Ok, so what is going to happen now?” Cristina asked.

“What do you mean?” Meredith looked at her, confused.

“With you and your husband. Are you two moving in together? Having babies?” Cristina asked. “Oh…” she gasped as she remembered something. “Is he going to meet your parents? Are you going to meet his parents?”

“Right now we’re taking things slow. We are dating,” Meredith stated.

“You’re not going to tell them,” Cristina concluded.

“Not yet. How do you want me to go tell them tomorrow that I am a married woman now?” Meredith rolled her eyes. “And besides this, to tell them that I am married to a man which I just met?”

“You’re right on that one,” Cristina agreed. “So you’ll continue to live with us.”

“Yes,” Meredith nodded. She sighed then and looked down at her ring, playing with it. “Do you think this is stupid?” she asked and glanced up at her best friend.

“Yes,” Cristina answered straight.

Meredith sighed again. “Derek says we should make this the craziest thing we’ve ever done and not let it be the stupidest.”

“That might work,” Cristina said. “Now tell me everything about how did it happen?”

“What?” Meredith asked, confused.

“The whole marriage thing,” her friend cleared out, rolling her eyes.

Meredith groaned, unpleased. “I don’t remember much, so I have nothing to tell you,”

“Relate what you remember,” Cristina suggested, unwilling to let go.

Meredith scowled at her, but she did indeed need someone to talk about her adventure in Las Vegas and Cristina was the only person she could trust she wouldn’t tell anyone. “We gambled and won over 200,000 dollars, then we…”

“Wait,” Cristina cut in. “You won what?” she asked, shocked.

“200,000 dollars,” Meredith smiled smugly. “This, by the way, means that I will buy myself a car right away.”

“So you won the money, not him,”

“Well no. We kind of both did… but mostly me,” Meredith answered.

Cristina looked at her frustrated and still confused. “Who has the money now?”

“I do,” Meredith said.

“All of it?” Cristina checked.

“Yes,” Meredith frowned. She was now the frustrated one with all the questions about her money.

“Where is it?” Cristina asked.

“In my suitcase,” she shrugged nonchalantly.

“Are you crazy?” Cristina burst and started throwing clothes out of Meredith’s suitcase.

Meredith shrugged again and smiled as she watched her friend looking for the money.

“It’s not here,” she looked at Meredith, worried.

“Of course it’s not. I have it in my bank account,” Meredith rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Did you really believe that I would carry so much money in my suitcase?”

“Well, I didn’t believe that you would ever get so drunk and get married either,” Cristina retorted sarcastically.

Meredith hissed but she didn’t retort, knowing that her friend was right.

“So, you are Meredith Shepherd now,” Cristina drew the conclusion.

“But only you know it,” Meredith warned her.

Cristina smiled and shook her head in a disapproving way. “Happy to be your friend,” she chuckled.

“Don’t make fun of me,” Meredith scowled.

“I won’t,” Cristina rolled her eyes, smiling. “Actually, I have some things to learn from your ‘expedition’,” she smiled smugly, making air quotes.

“You do?” Meredith asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” Cristina nodded. “I’ll get so drunk before my wedding ceremony that I won’t be able to remember anything afterwards.”

“You don’t commit either,” Meredith pointed out.

“Oh, I do. I just hate the whole wedding thing,” Cristina said. “You know my mother and her pleasure of doing fancy and girly parties. Imagine how she would act with my wedding preparations.” She rolled her eyes, irritated just thinking about it.

“Ok, Shepherd,” Cristina grinned at Meredith as she stood up. “I’ll let you get some rest. I’m sure that being a ‘Shepherd’ is not an easy thing,” she said mockingly.

“Shut up,” Meredith scowled at her.

Cristina kept on smiling as she walked to the door. She walked out and sneaked her head inside again. “Shepherd,” she whispered loudly and hurried then to close the door, before Meredith’s pillow could hit it.

Meredith giggled and pushed the suitcase down from bed, lying on her stomach, smiling. “Shepherd,” she muttered under her breath. “Stupid.” She giggled and rubbed her face against the pillow, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

--

The rain was pouring down her window and a thunder sounded. Meredith stirred, her eyes fluttering as she woke up. It was dark in her room and she struggled to recognize the room. Her short vacation to Vegas had been exhausting from many points. She sunk her face back into the pillow. She remembered then that she was no longer in Vegas with Derek and that she was back in Seattle.

Meredith turned her face and looked at the alarm clock from her nightstand. It was a few minutes past 7. She closed her eyes again and gave herself a few more minutes of sleep.

A strong noise, coming from the other room, made her jump upright, scared. She looked confusedly around, trying to understand what happened. Meredith glanced at the clock again. She had slept only five more minutes.

Meredith noticed then the unusual silence in the apartment. Cristina loved to have the music playing loudly and Lexie was usually arguing with her because of it. Probably things had changed in the meantime, but Meredith still needed to check. She crawled out of the bed, stretching her body and ran her hands through her messy hair, gathering it in a ponytail.

She trailed out of the room, being greeted by the darkness of the hall. She thought then that nobody was at home and maybe the noise that woke her up had been in her dream. Meredith headed towards the kitchen for a snack, as she hadn’t eaten since she and Derek were in the airport in Vegas.

There was light and noise as if someone was cooking coming from the kitchen, so Meredith wasn’t home alone as she thought. Walking inside, Meredith saw Izzie decorating a chocolate cake.

“Did I wake you up?” Izzie asked her as she saw her coming in.

Meredith just nodded and walked sleepily to the refrigerator.

“I’m sorry,” Izzie said, watching Meredith looking for something to eat. “There is some cold pasta if you want to heat it,” she said helpfully.

Meredith didn’t answer, but she immediately looked for the dish with the pasta. She shut the door and went to put the food into the microwave.

In the meantime, Izzie continued with the decoration of her cake, just from time to time glancing at Meredith. She put the spatula down and sighed as she looked at Meredith. “I don’t know why you don’t like me, but I think it would be nice of you if you’d try to,” Izzie said, sounding a little irritated by the coldness that Meredith had treated her with since she came in Seattle.

Meredith looked up at her, surprised by Izzie’s words. Then she understood she had been too harsh with Izzie and she was feeling sorry for it. “I’m sorry,” Meredith mumbled. “I may be a little weird sometimes and this is a period of many changes for me.”

“Like getting married?” Izzie asked her.

Meredith’s head jerked up, looking at her shockingly. Had Cristina betrayed her confidence?

Izzie smiled at her and then she moved her attention back to her cake.

“How… how do you know?” Meredith stammered.

Izzie looked at her from the corner of her eyes, smiling. “You’re wearing a wedding ring on your left hand, which you didn’t have before you disappeared from home,” she pointed out, looking at Meredith’s ring.

Meredith frowned. She wanted to hide her marriage, but she had forgotten to take out the ring.

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise,” Izzie smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure that Cristina knows though.”

Meredith nodded reluctantly. The microwave stopped then, so Meredith opened the door and took out the steamy dish of pasta. She hurried to drop it on the table, before it could burn her fingertips. She shook her hand in air wincing and then she went to take a fork.

Meredith returned then to table and took a seat down, throwing the fork into the dish. She let out a sigh as she looked back at her wedding ring. “Does Lexie know too?” she asked quietly, glancing up at Izzie.

“No,” she shook her head. “She would have mentioned it if she had known. Although she is very observant, so maybe you should take it off if you want to keep it a secret,” she suggested.

“Yeah,” Meredith mumbled, playing with the ring around her finger.

“Why don’t you want anyone to know about this?” Izzie asked her curiously.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Meredith grumbled, glaring at her.

Izzie nodded and gave up. “You can have a slice after you eat,” she said, bringing the cake on the table.

“Thanks,” Meredith smiled faintly. “Where are the others?” she asked then, remembering her cousin and her friend’s absence.

“Cristina is out and Lexie went to visit her parents,” Izzie answered.

“Oh, ok,” Meredith nodded. She picked up the fork and dug it in the food, twisting the pasta around it. She was about to take it to her mouth when she heard her phone ringing in her room.

Meredith dropped the forked and ran to get to her phone. She didn’t have time to read the caller’s ID and answered immediately. “Hi,”

“Meredith?” the man’s voice asked.

Meredith looked then at the display screen and read ‘Derek’. “Yes. Hi, Derek!” a smile spread across her face as she said his name.

“Did I interrupt anything?” Derek asked.

“Yes; my dinner,” Meredith giggled.

“Oh,” he sighed then, but Meredith knew he was acting. “I’m glad to see that you’re still a faithful wife,” Derek chuckled teasingly. “I got scared by your panting.”

Meredith laughed. “I was actually cheating on your cooking skills with my roommate’s food,” she said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

“Ouch.” Derek winced teasingly. “Try not to do it next time, because it hurts a little,” he said, chuckling.

“Get to the point, Derek,” Meredith laughed.

“Am I not allowed to call you from time to time to make conversation and make sure that …” he lowered his voice then, “my wife is ok?”

“I suppose that’s alright to do,” Meredith giggled.

“But yeah; you are right now,” Derek said. “I called you for a reason. I called you to invite you to dinner… on a date.”

Meredith couldn’t help but keep on smiling as she listened to him. “Ok,” she agreed.

“So we have a first date,” Derek said.

“Right after our honeymoon,” Meredith laughed.

Derek laughed too. “Don’t you love it more like this?”

“I might,” Meredith laughed.

“But I need you to do something… unusual for me,” Derek said then, sounding a little uncomfortable.

“Do you want me to pay for the dinner?” she asked, laughing teasingly.

“No,” Derek chuckled. “I need you to come with your car and pick me up from the hospital. I still didn’t get to buy me a car.”

“I can’t,” she answered immediately.

“Why?” Derek frowned.

“Because I don’t have a car either,” she said. “I had to steal my friend’s car when I met you at the airport.”

“Steal it again,” he suggested.

“I can’t. She is out and took the car,” Meredith answered. “I’ll take a taxi and I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Ok,” Derek agreed reluctantly. “This isn’t how I had planned our first date.”

“You have weird plans, Derek,” Meredith stated, giggling.

“I guess I have,” he sighed. “Meet me here in an hour?”

“Ok,” Meredith agreed.

“Ok,” Derek smiled. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Bye,” she said.

“See you later,” he replied.

Meredith waited for him to hang up first, but apparently, Derek was waiting for the same thing. They both chuckled as they realized that and shut the phones at the same time.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 03:11 PM Post #11
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 Meredith first tried a lacy white top with a matching black skirt, then she switched them with a soft cashmere blouse and another skirt; afterwards, she tried on a blue tank top, added over it a white shirt, leaving its buttons open, and chose a black pair of pants.

She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. In that moment, she regretted she wasn’t a shopping fanatic.

“If he doesn’t like it, he can divorce me,” she muttered under her breath. She ran the brush through her hair a few times and spread it free over her shoulders. “Make up?” she asked herself. She looked around the nightstand and through its drawers. In the top drawer, Meredith found Lexie’s make-up products. She applied a little mascara on her eyelashes and lip-gloss on her lips. “Done,” she decided, looking at herself in the mirror again.

There was a knock on the door. “Meredith, did you call for a taxi?” Izzie asked through the closed door.

“Perfect,” Meredith muttered. “Yes! I’m coming in a second!” she answered. She fumbled after her purse and stuffed her wallet and her phone in it.

“Wow!” Izzie exclaimed as she saw her coming out. “Hot date with the hubby?”

“Stop calling him that,” Meredith warned her, scowling.

“Sorry,” Izzie smiled, pulling an imaginary zipper over her lips. “Have fun.”

“Yeah,” Meredith grumbled as she stomped out the door.

--

As the taxi pulled into the parking lot in front of the hospital, Meredith took out her phone and dialed.

“Meredith, hi,” Derek’s voice greeted her at the other end of the line.

“Hey, I just got to the hospital. Should I hold the taxi and wait for you?” she asked him. She heard him sighing as she said that. “What’s wrong?” she asked, a little worried that he may cancel their date.

“Something came up,” Derek said apologetically.

Meredith let out a discreet sigh. “That’s ok,” she said, trying to sound convincing.

“You know what?” Derek came up with an idea. “Come up and meet me at the nurses’ station on the third floor,” he said.

“Are you sure? That’s ok if we can’t have dinner,” she said, though she wasn’t being honest.

“Come and meet me here,” he reassured her.

“Ok,” Meredith answered, confused. She hung up, paid the driver and got out of the car.

--

As the elevator doors opened, Meredith saw Derek, leaning against the counter and writing in a chart.

Meredith smiled to herself, admitting that she had a handsome husband. She giggled quietly and walked towards him.

“Hi,” she said as she drew closer to him.

“Hey,” Derek looked up as he noticed her presence, greeting her with a wide smile. “Sorry for this,” he said, glancing down at his scrubs.

“That’s ok,” Meredith smiled reassuringly. “So what’s your new plan?” she asked him.

“An unusual one,” he assured her, smiling wickedly.

Meredith arched her brows suggestively. “Shock me,” she giggled.

Derek chuckled. “There has been a collision on a highway nearby so I have to scrub in for an emergent surgery,” he said.

“Ok,” Meredith looked at him, confused.

“Would you like to assist to my surgery?” he asked her, smiling crookedly.

“What about not applying favors to your spouse?” Meredith frowned.

“Just this time,” he smiled innocently. “I feel bad for ditching our first date, so this might make up for it,” he said. “Don’t you want to assist me?” he acted pouted.

“I do, but what if something happens?” Meredith asked, hesitant.

“What could happen?”

“I don’t know… during the surgery,”

Derek chuckled and shook his head. “Nothing is going to happen because you are not going to touch any surgical instrument. It’s just a small favor so you can see.”

“I don’t have scrubs,” she pointed out.

“Come with me.” Derek came to her side, put a hand on her back and led her towards an office. “Come on in,” he said, opening the door for her and inviting her inside.

“Is this your office?” she asked, giving a short look to the room.

“My office is your office,” Derek chuckled, closing the door. He closed the blinds as well, taking Meredith by surprise.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Derek, you’re not serious.”

Derek frowned as he turned and looked at her. “Why?”

“We can’t have sex in here. No favors, remember? Besides this little favor you’re offering to me today,” she added.

Derek smiled crookedly as he walked slowly towards her. He put an arm around her waist and brought her to him, while he ran his other hand through her hair. His head leaned down slowly to her, his lips barely brushing against hers teasingly. “I feel this carving of kissing you,” he said softly and his lips covered hers.

Meredith gave in instantly, wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss, her tongue caressed by his.

Derek broke the kiss as he took her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. “Wait me here. I’m going to find you some scrubs,” he told her.

“Ok,” Meredith whispered, still dazed by the taste of his kiss.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he told her, letting her out of his arms. “I’ll be right back.”

“Ok,” she said quietly and watched him leave his office. She took a deep breath and shook her head, banishing the porny thoughts.

Meredith walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair, looking over the well-arranged desk. He had blank papers in a tray, a stack of folders beside them, and a set of photos as well. Meredith paid more attention to those photos now. There was a photo of an older woman, another one with the same woman beside an older man; Derek’s parents, she thought.

There was a family photo as well; that photo frightened her a little. There were women and men together with children gathered somewhere in a backyard on a sunny day. Meredith recognized Derek easily, standing beside a brown haired woman, holding a blond little boy in his arms. He didn’t have children otherwise he would have told her, she thought.

Meredith picked up then the photo of Derek’s parents. Derek inherited his mother’s eyes and her look. He had his father’s curls, probably his hair color as well, as his mother had her hair dyed a dark blond shade, and his father’s smile.

It felt weird and very uncomfortable for Meredith to see photos of her new family. His family definitely looked different from hers. She didn’t remember ever having crowded gatherings on holidays; most of the times it was her and her father. Lexie and her family rarely visited as they used to live in another city.

She wasn’t in the mood to get worried about Derek’s family. Derek was ok, so, for the moment, it was all that mattered.

Meredith looked again over his desk and found a medical journal about neurology. She opened it and started browsing through it, waiting for Derek to return.

She was so caught up in the article she was reading, Meredith started when the door opened and voices came in. Meredith watched two young nurses walking inside, one of them carrying a chart in her arms.

“You’re so lucky to take care of his patients,” one of the nurses told the other, both of them not noticing Meredith’s presence in Derek’s office.

“I know,” the other one giggled. “Your knees go soft when he smiles at you,” she stated, continuing to giggle.

“Rose rubbed it in my face earlier that she has spent 3 hours in the OR, this morning,” they stopped in the entrance still chatting and still not noticing Meredith.

“That’s nothing,” the other nurse replied with a smug smirk. “They don’t have any eye-contact in there,” she said. “They…” she gasped as she turned to Derek’s desk and saw Meredith.

“Hi,” Meredith smiled calmly at both of them, hiding her amusement. They were talking and drooling over her husband.

“Hi,” the nurse who bragged that she had received a smile from Derek said quietly, looking confusedly at the other nurse.

“Who are you?” the other one asked, smiling politely at her as she thought that Meredith might be one of Derek’s friends or even relatives.

“Dr. Shepherd asked me to wait for him here,” Meredith said, avoiding the question.

“Are you here for a consult?” the same nurse asked her.

“Kind of,” Meredith nodded. “You two were talking about him, weren’t you?” Meredith smiled at them.

The nurses shared an uncomfortable look.

“He is hot,” Meredith stated with convincing enthusiasm, which made the nurses believe that she might be one of his patients.

The nurses chuckled, while one of them put the chart on his desk. “You shouldn’t sit there though,” she said, now with a glare in her eyes.

“You’re right,” Meredith faked the embarrassment as she stood up and walked around the desk to go sit on the other side. “I don’t want his wife to walk in and find me here,” she said, sitting down.

“His wife?” one of the nurses asked, looking curiously at Meredith.

Meredith looked up at them and nodded apologetically. “I just noticed his wedding ring.”

“He doesn’t wear a wedding ring,” the other nurse stated, though Meredith could tell she wasn’t absolutely sure of it.

“You should check now before he scrubs in,” Meredith suggested.

“Damn it,” one of them muttered under her breath and Meredith smiled discreetly.

Meredith didn’t look but she listened with satisfaction to their displeased grumbling as they walked out the office. “I hope he doesn’t mind,” she giggled as she lifted her hand and looked at her ring.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. “I’m back,” Derek announced cheerfully as he walked inside.

Meredith switched her position in her chair to look at him.

“Here you have the key to your locker, your batch and a pair of scrubs,” Derek said, handing her the stuff.

“You took them all?” Meredith asked, taking them from him. “So you told someone else about me.”

Derek chuckled and walked over to his desk. “You’re the only intern who hasn’t taken their things,” he said, sitting down. “Patricia expects you to come in tomorrow and sign in for them and don’t worry, I reassured her that I wouldn’t let you in the OR,” he smiled, leaning back in his chair.

Meredith was staring confusedly at him now. “Am I or am I not assisting you in the OR?”

“You are, but I couldn’t let her know that. Be aware though,” he told her, looking seriously at her. “You’re not allowed to touch anything in there, ask or talk to anyone because someone might notice you immediately.”

“Am I allowed to breathe?” she asked in sarcastic curiosity.

Derek rolled his eyes, smiling. He took the chart that the nurse had left on his desk and flipped it open. He scrawled something in it quickly and closed it back up. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, smiling at Meredith.

“Yeah,” Meredith answered, thoughtful. She hesitated to stand up as Derek came beside her chair.

Derek gently put his hand on her shoulder and leaned down to her. “Are you scared?” he asked her softly.

Meredith looked at his hand on her shoulder. His ring was still there. “Nobody has noticed it?” she asked, still looking at it.

“I don’t think so,” he said, taking his hand off her shoulder and looking at his ring. “At least not Richard or Preston,” he added.

“Should we take them off?” Meredith asked, now playing with her own ring.

“We probably should,” Derek said quietly. He came in front of Meredith and sat down on the desk, facing her. “If we still want to hide it from the others.” He looked carefully at Meredith for her reaction to his subtle suggestion.

Meredith looked at him and sighed as she met his comforting smile. She looked at her ring again and took it off reluctantly. “Only for a while,” she mumbled.

Derek grabbed her hand gently before she could take it off entirely. “I like mine and the Chief is not around at this hour,” he said, smiling at her.

He felt her hand loosening in his grip. He released her hand and smiled as he saw her fixing the ring back on her finger.

Meredith avoided immediate eye contact with him and stood up, turning toward the door. “I have to go change,” she murmured.

“We don’t have time,” Derek replied. “You should get changed in here and you can take your stuff to your locker later.”

Meredith stopped in the middle of the office, still having her back turned on him, and smiled. She turned her head and looked at Derek over her shoulder, smiling. “You’re obsessed.”

“Obsessed with what?” Derek asked curiously.

Meredith continued to smile as she turned toward him. “You’re obsessed with seeing me naked,” Derek laughed at her statement. “I don’t think we can make it throughout these six months.”

“Whiney,” Derek cough.

“Shut up,” Meredith giggled.

Derek smiled genuinely at her. “I admit my obsession, but you must have one with me too,” he grinned smugly at her.

“I don’t,” Meredith hissed and looked away childishly.

“Change into your scrubs because more time means less chance for that man to be saved,” he urged her.

“You’re not going to give me privacy?” she scowled as she saw he wasn’t showing any intention of leaving.

Derek chuckled. “I can’t even remember how many times I’ve seen you naked by now, so we should be shameless regarding each other’s body.”

“Derek,” Meredith whimpered.

“I’ll turn my back,” he smiled wickedly, turning his back on Meredith.

“Don’t peek,” she hissed.

“I would leave you alone, you know, but I don’t want you to get lost on your way to the OR,” Derek said teasingly.

“You’re offending my intelligence right now,” Meredith frowned, unbuttoning her shirt.

“To be more entertaining,” Derek said as he turned slowly towards her. “You should act dumb so that I can help you with that shirt.” He winked, smiling wickedly as his eyes lingered on her chest.

“If you were smart enough, you would have known that you can do this some other time too,” Meredith smiled and then turned her back on him.

--

Derek rubbed both hands against his face as he leaned his head to back, exhausted after a long but successful surgery. He looked to his left and smiled, opening his arm for Meredith to come join him on the couch.

Meredith nestled beside him. “You’re good,” she said quietly.

“I know,” Derek looked at her, smiling smugly.

“You’re arrogant, you know that?” Meredith scowled.

“I know,” Derek chuckled, still cheerful after her statement.

“Ugh,” Meredith growled, rolling her eyes.

“It’s a surgeon thing,” Derek stated defensively. “I’m sure your mother has at least a little arrogance.”

“My mother is … almost as arrogant as you are,” she smiled up at him.

Derek brushed her cheek lightly, smiling at her. “Do you want me to take you home now?”

“No,” Meredith answered without hesitation.

“Then give me a suggestion of what I should do with you,” he said. “I think we have to re-schedule our first date.”

Meredith bit her lip, smiling sheepishly at him.

“You got me curious,” Derek narrowed his eyes, amused.

“I have an obsession with you too,” she giggled.

“I know,” Derek grinned arrogantly.

“Stop that,” Meredith frowned, but Derek continued to grin at her.

“You’re obsessed with my arrogance, admit it,” he smiled teasingly at her.

“That I hate the most about you.” she threw her fist in his chest lightly. Derek laughed, catching her fist and holding it in his hand. “And I won’t tell you,” she pouted childishly.

“Ok,” Derek shrugged. “I’m a smart guy so I’ll find out myself.”

“You’re not that smart,” Meredith giggled.

“I’ve just saved the guy, haven’t I?” he pointed out. “Ok, now tell me what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged.

Derek had a guess on Meredith’s obsession. “Do you usually take the guy home at the end of your first date?” he asked and smiled when Meredith looked up at him, surprised. “Do you?” he asked her, arching his brows suggestively.

“That depends,” she answered. Derek watched her, waiting. “If the first date goes well,” she added. “Was this our first date?” she asked him as she saw him still waiting.

“We could consider it so,” he suggested. “We’re not a normal couple so we could have unusual dates.”

“I guess we could,” Meredith giggled.

“So?” Derek waited for her answer. “Was it a memorable first date?”

“Well…” Meredith looked slightly unpleased.

“Oh please,” Derek growled. “I saved the guy. No one died.”

Meredith stood up and held out her hand to him. “Let’s go to your place.”

Derek jumped up on his feet, taking her hand. “You’re as obsessed with seeing me naked as me,” he whispered in her ear, chuckling.

Meredith elbowed him hard, laughing, but she didn’t deny it.
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McGrey Aug 5 2008, 03:12 PM Post #12
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 Derek already knew that he was going to have a bad day, even though he was still sleeping. Besides the minimal amount of sleep he got because of his night with Meredith, something else disturbed his sleep, kept shoving him in his legs.

Derek growled, frustrated, his face sunken into the pillow as he finally decided to wake up. He rubbed his face against the pillow and turned to look at Meredith, who was sleeping beside him, lying on her stomach and facing away. Then he saw the clock on the nightstand beside Meredith’s side. It was a little passed 6 o’clock.

Derek rolled onto his back and rubbed his hands against his face to banish the sleep. Then he felt Meredith’s leg kicking him again.

“Great,” he groaned quietly. He rolled onto his side and shifted closer to Meredith.

He drew the blanket over her bare back, lingering as he reached her shoulder, gently caressing her soft skin. Despite the discomfort she had given him during the night, Derek couldn’t help but smile at her image. He drew the blanket up over her shoulder as well, and leaned into her, brushing away the hair from her neck to kiss the line of her jaw.

Derek moved slowly to the edge of the bed and slid out slowly and quietly. He put on his boxers and walked outside in silence.

He crossed the large apartment he was sharing for the moment with Preston to go to the kitchen area.

Preston was sitting at the dinner table, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper when Derek walked in.

“Morning,” Derek saluted him sleepily.

“Good morning,” Preston answered, smiling as he watched him heading to the cupboard. “An old friend is visiting?” he asked as he turned to look at the newspaper. He glanced and smiled to himself as he saw Derek looking surprised at him.

“Not really,” Derek answered and turned to open the cupboard.

“Not really what? Not really an old friend or not really visiting?” Preston asked, now without looking away from the newspaper.

“Not really an old friend,” Derek answered as he looked carefully inside the cupboard. “Where do you keep the tray?” he asked him.

Preston looked up at him and smiled. “Down in the cabinet on the upper shelf.”

Derek looked down where Preston told him and took out the tray. He sat it on the counter and then looked back in the cupboard, taking two bowls and box of cereals.

“She is not a whore, is she?” Preston asked, suddenly disgusted.

“What?” Derek frowned, turning to look at him. “She is not a whore.”

“That’s great then.” Preston smiled. “She must be special though,” he added, his eyes locking the tray with breakfast that Derek was preparing.

“She is,” Derek smiled.

“Do I know her?” he asked him.

“You might,” Derek answered, pouring cereals in both bowls.

“Give me a hint,” Preston asked, interested.

“I can’t,” Derek answered.

“Are you afraid that I might steal her?” Preston asked, smiling as he stood up and walked over to him.

“That’s not possible,” Derek chuckled smugly.

“What are you doing?” Preston asked with tone of reproach in his voice as he looked at Derek’s tray. “Seriously, man,” he laughed. “I had to turn on the music to cover your laughs and moans. She deserves better than a breakfast of Muesli. Besides, you don’t serve a woman Muesli in bed.” He continued to laugh teasingly.

“Mind your own business,” Derek hissed and went to take the milk from the refrigerator.

When he looked back at his friend, Derek saw him removing the bowls from the tray. “What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

“Saving your reputation,” Preston answered simply, placing two plates on the tray. “Lucky for you I made enough breakfast this morning,” he said, now taking two cups out of the cupboard.

“Muesli is healthy food,” Derek retorted.

“I never said it wasn’t,” Preston answered. “I am all for healthy food. But you know it’s not very nutritious and she needs nutrients to recover,” he chuckled, smiling at Derek. “That is if you want to use her again tonight.”

“Stop making sexual comments about her,” Derek scowled.

Preston smiled reassuringly. “Just give her normal food,” he said, pushing the tray towards Derek. “Trust me. Muesli… not romantic.”

Derek rolled his eyes, taking the tray. He started setting it with forks and the food that Preston had cooked, adding a flower in a glass with water in the end.

Derek held the tray steady on his palm, while he opened the door with the other. He walked carefully inside and smiled as he looked up and saw Meredith, lying on the bed and smiling at him.

“Impressive,” she giggled. She sat up and leaned her back against the headboard, waiting for her breakfast.

“Thanks,” Derek chuckled, pushing the door closed with his leg. He carried the tray to the bed and placed it carefully on Meredith’s lap.

“You know this is the second time I’ve ever had breakfast served in bed by a man… who isn’t my father,” she confessed, laughing.

“Really?” Derek laughed, surprised of her confession.

“Yeah,” she smiled at him as she picked up the fork. “Just that the other man who did it, didn’t do it romantically.”

“How come?” Derek asked, curious.

“He was a fitness instructor so he had the bad idea of serving me Muesli,” Meredith made a grimace, remembering that. She saw then, how Derek was staring at her, suspicious. “What?” she asked him.

Derek was trying to see if she had overheard his disagreement with Preston from earlier. The coincidence would have been too big other way.

“You heard, didn’t you?” he asked her.

Meredith looked at him, puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

“You heard me and Preston talking,” he said.

“No,” Meredith answered sincerely. “I heard thunder outside and I watched the rain,” she said, tilting her head to the window.

Derek looked out the window. It was another day of bad weather.

He watched the rain pouring down the window, stirring when Meredith said something. “What?” he asked her again.

“The breakfast is cold,” she arched her brows teasingly.

“I didn’t make it,” Derek climbed up into the bed and sat down beside her. “My friend did it.”

“So you are also friends with Preston,” she said.

“You two know each other, don’t you?” he asked her.

“Not really.” Meredith shrugged, taking another bite of her omelet with cheese. “I met him a couple of times when we were kids,” she said, bringing a bite to Derek.

Derek took the fork in his mouth and then took it from her hand. He stabbed the fork in her plate and brought another piece of breakfast to her mouth.

Once they were done with the breakfast, Derek took the tray from Meredith, leaving only their cups of coffee. He returned to bed and snuggled under the blanket beside Meredith.

Meredith lay down and put her head on his chest as his arms hugged her. “Shouldn’t you hurry to work?” she asked him.

“No,” he answered, running his fingers through her hair, breathing in her floral scent.

“Good,” she smiled contentedly, closing her eyes and spoiling herself with his soft touch.

“Do you have any plans for your last day off?” he asked her.

Meredith opened her eyes and thought about it. She propped her chin on his chest, smiling cheekily at him.

“Are you going to share it with me?” he chuckled.

“I have to if I want to go on with this plan,” she smiled.

“What’s your naughty mind baking in there?” he laughed, knocking lightly in her head. Meredith bit her lip, smiling guilty. “It’s ok to share it with your husband,” he reassured her, amused.

“I could stop by the hospital,” she mumbled innocently.

“Patricia is waiting for you today, so yes you could,” Derek answered in a serious tone, guessing her intention. “Yesterday was an exception because it was our first date,” he told her.

Meredith frowned, displeased.

“You’re not playing fair, Meredith. You kept bugging me about how we shouldn’t mix personal with professional and now you want to break that rule?”

Meredith sighed resignedly. No matter how anxious she was to be in the OR again, Meredith knew he was right. After all, she would soon start spending a lot of time in there. She put her head back down on his chest.

“Good girl,” Derek patted her head teasingly, earning a slap over his stomach from Meredith. “Bad girl,” he winced, laughing.

Meredith let out another sigh. “What’s wrong now?” he asked her.

“Nothing,” Meredith muttered.

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she answered, mumbling.

“Ok,” Derek stretched his arm then to take his watch from his nightstand. He watched it’s hour and put it back, sighing. “I should start getting ready for work,” he said.

Meredith stood up reluctantly. “Derek?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” he looked at her, waiting.

“I think we should try,” she muttered, looking down at her hands.

“Try what?” he asked, confused.

Meredith continued to stare at her hands in silence.

“Meredith,” he said softly as he put a hand on her shoulder. “We should start feeling comfortable talking to each other.”

Meredith looked at him and nodded slowly.

“So?” he waited.

Meredith bit her lip nervously, looking at him. “We should try living together,” she muttered.

Derek was left speechless by her unexpected suggestion. He stared confusedly at her for a moment, making sure what he heard was true.

“Forget about it,” Meredith said quickly, pushing the blanket off her, discouraged by his silence. “I shouldn’t have suggested that,” she muttered under her breath.

Derek grabbed her arm before she could climb out. “Meredith,” he said softly, pulling her back to him. Meredith turned and looked at him. “I was the first one who suggested it, so I am all for it.”

“Are you sure?” she asked him.

Derek smiled genuinely. “Does your sudden change of mind have something to do with your obsession with me?” he chuckled, lightening up her mood a little.

He succeeded as Meredith giggled. “That and breakfast in bed,” she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. “Show me where the bathroom is,” she held her hand out for him.

Derek took her hand and crawled to the other side of the bed. “Let me check first if Preston has left.” He kissed her on the cheek and left the bedroom.

Meredith sat down at the edge of the bed, smiling while she touched her lips, and waited for him to come back and get her.

“All clear,” Derek announced, sneaking his head in through the half-opened door.

Meredith jumped up, running naked to him. Derek chuckled wickedly as he wrapped his arm around her waist and scooped her up into his arms.

“There’s a thing we haven’t talked about,” he said while he carried her to the bathroom.

“What about?” She asked him, hovering seductively over his ear.

Derek shivered at the sensation of her breath against his skin. “Birth control,” he answered.

Meredith’s teeth froze on his earlobe. She released it and looked up at him. “What about it?”

“Well, you don’t want us to have kids now, do you?” he pointed out.

“No, of course not,” she answered firmly.

“You’re on birth control then, aren’t you?” he asked.

No, she wasn’t and that frightened her. “We… we use condoms,” she stammered, anxiously waiting for confirmation.

“Oh Meredith,” Derek groaned exasperatedly as he understood what she was saying. “Of course we use condoms, but condoms can pop or we can forget to use one. Meredith!” He growled as he stopped and put her back down on her feet.

“Don’t turn into a victim,” she hissed. “You’re not the pregnant one here,” she threw a fist into his chest and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door in his face.

“Great,” Derek grumbled, unhappy.

The door flew open again and Meredith showed up nervous. “How long have we known each other?” she asked him.

Derek thought about it for a moment. “Four days, I think. Why?”

“Because I might have been in my unfertile period,” Meredith grumbled, opening the door.

Derek sighed with relief. “This means I can come in too?”

“Only if you bring a condom with you!” Meredith shouted from inside.

“Right,” Derek chuckled and turned back to his room.
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greys5824 Aug 10 2008, 10:07 PM Post #13
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 I really enjoy this story...please update soon
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Deleted User Aug 11 2008, 03:31 PM Post #14
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 love this story, great updates. more when you can PLEASE.
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McGrey Aug 11 2008, 07:21 PM Post #15
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 Two shiny white Chevrolets pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, seconds apart from each other.

Meredith was the first one who got out of one of the cars, nervously shutting the door and locking it as she stomped towards the entrance.

Derek got out of the other car, running after her. “You got to be kidding me,” he shouted while he kept the pace with her.

Meredith stopped and turned to him, glaring.

“What’s your problem?” Derek asked her, visibly irritated by her attitude.

“My problem is that the cars you bought practically scream ‘we are married’!” she shouted.

Derek looked around them, checking if they had any audience. Luckily, the rain was pouring heavily and people were hurrying to get inside the hospital before getting soaked.

“You’re overreacting, Meredith,” he said, smiling.

Meredith folded her arms across her chest, still glaring at him. “You could have at least parked it further away,” she grumbled.

“Silly Meredith,” he chuckled again, wiping the rain off her cheek. “You’re not going to stay here that long anyway so you don’t have to worry about that. They won’t have time to notice them.”

Meredith rolled her eyes dramatically.

“You don’t like my wedding present,” he concluded.

“I do like it,” she mumbled. “It’s nice and practical, but why did you have to buy the same car for yourself?”

Derek smiled wickedly. “I thought it would be… cute.”

Meredith rolled her eyes, but this time a smile crossed her lips. “You… I…,” she stammered, not finding the right words.

Derek took her chin in his fingers and lifted her face to him. “I took the morning off to go with you and buy these cars, so please try and look cheerful.” He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “Enjoy your wedding present and I look forward to seeing mine.” He smiled and started walking towards the entrance, leaving Meredith dazed in the middle of the parking lot.

Meredith sighed and lifted her head towards the sky, letting the rain wash her face. “He’s going to make this complicated,” she muttered under her breath while playing with her ring.

Then she woke from her trance and realized that her clothes were soaking wet. She started running, crossing the parking lot to enter the hospital faster. Once she was inside, out of the rain, Meredith shook the rain off her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times to rearrange it. She scanned the huge lobby, trying to see if Derek was still around, but he was long gone.

Relieved to know that no one would see them together or, even worse, catch them together, Meredith threw the keys to her brand new car into the pocket of her jacket and walked towards the elevators, in no particular hurry. She and Derek had talked about moving in together by the end of the day, so she had a plan about how she would spend the rest of her last day off.

The elevator dinged and the door opened at the floor where the Human Resources office was. She hadn’t had enough time to get familiar with the hospital, so she carefully followed the signs towards the office she was looking for.

“HR,” she read on one of those doors.

“May I help you?” a voice coming behind her made her start.

Meredith turned and saw an older woman, smiling politely at her.

“I…”

“You’re Meredith Grey,” the woman didn’t let her say more. “I was expecting you to come and sign for your documents and the other things. Come inside,” she said, opening the door and inviting her in.

Meredith followed her. Two desks, overloaded with folders were crowding the small room. The woman sneaked between the desks and looked through a folder she had set aside.

“Here,” she said, handing her a few papers. “I need you to sign these and here,” she said, now putting on the desk in front of Meredith something that looked like brochures. “You should have gotten these earlier, but you still have some time to look over them before tomorrow. You also have some internal rules in there.”

Maybe she was too tired, maybe that woman was talking too fast or maybe both, Meredith felt she was getting a headache. She was probably tired, she thought; being a wife wasn’t an easy job. She scrawled her signature on those papers and got the stack of brochures. “I got them all,” she said quickly, hoping to get out of there faster.

“Oh and my name is Patricia,” the woman hold out her hand. “I’m the Chief’s secretary.”

Fidgeting with her brochures and dazed by all of the information that Patricia had given her, Meredith didn’t realize that she had held out her left hand.

Patricia smiled and shook her hand. “You’re married,” she observed as she glanced down at her hand and continued to hold it.

Meredith closed her eyes briefly, cursing herself for not taking that off before. As much as she wanted to keep her marriage a secret, the news about it was spreading quickly. She pulled her hand away from Patricia, smiling nervously.

Patricia looked incredulously at her. “I didn’t know you were married. It doesn’t show up in your record,” she said.

“Newlywed,” Meredith answered simply. “Is this…”

“Congratulations,” Patricia said then, obviously delaying Meredith’s departure.

“Thanks,” Meredith smiled uncomfortably. “Is this all?” she asked her.

“Yes, but now I would like you to bring me some information about your spouse, a copy of your marriage license.”

Meredith swallowed a lump. She could not believe that. “Do I … do I have to?” she blabbered.

“Well yes,” Patricia answered as she looked at her suspiciously. “As a contact person in case of emergency,” she explained, “and because you need to have a complete record.”

Meredith felt like she was about to cry. “Ok,” she muttered.

“Ok,” Patricia continued to look suspiciously at her. Obviously, it was weird to see someone, especially a newlywed, panicked at the idea of sharing her marital status.

“Ok.” Meredith smiled nervously. “I guess that would be all,” she said and started making small steps backward.

“Yes,” Patricia nodded. “Just one more question,” she asked.

Meredith had turned her back on her already and groaned silently as Patricia stopped her. She turned and waited.

“Are you going to use your new name or you want to go by your maiden name?” Patricia asked her.

“Maiden name,” Meredith answered promptly.

“If that’s what you want,” she muttered more to herself. “That’s all for now. I’ll walk you out,” she smiled and opened the door for Meredith.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Meredith nodded farewell and turned to walk away. As she did that, her feet froze in place and she was sure she was in hell.

Richard Webber was coming in their direction.

“Meredith,” he greeted her with a kind smile and held out his hand.

Another groan of exasperation echoed in her head. “Chief Webber.” She shook her head, this time making sure she shook the right hand.

“Did she sign all the papers?” he asked Patricia.

“Yes, sir,” Patricia nodded. “I’m going back to work now. Oh and congratulations on your wedding again,” she told Meredith from the doorway.

“Thanks,” she smiled ironically. Now thanks to her, Dr. Webber had found out too.

“Wedding?” She swallowed hard as she heard the surprise from Webber’s voice.

Her smile had frozen on her lips, so she showed it to him as well. “Yes,” she nodded.

“I didn’t know you were married,” he muttered, now staring down at her left hand.

In that moment, Meredith was sure that her ring was possessed by a malefic power and she could even swear it had started burning her finger. However, that was just result of her panic.

“Newlywed,” she gave the same answer she had given to Patricia.

“How newly?” he smiled curiously. “I talked to your mother yesterday and she hadn’t mentioned a thing about it.”

Meredith whimpered in her thought. “Well… um… she… it happened fast. She didn’t have time to… you know…”

“Get used to the idea,” he helped her with her stammer.

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“I guess she is not a fan of her son-in-law, is she?” he smiled.

“She… she likes him,” she lied, though her mother hadn’t met Derek yet, at least not as son-in-law and she was almost positive that she wouldn’t like him when she did meet him either. “She’s just… feeling old now. You know… having a married daughter...”

“That doesn’t sound like the Ellis I know,” he said, surprised.

“Yeah well…” she sighed discreetly and looked away, hoping she would be out of the hospital faster. “I should go now.”

“Sure. I guess I should congratulate you.” He smiled.

Meredith smiled and shrugged nervously. She was staring get used to the congratulations; if only her parents would congratulate her as well.

“Congratulations.” He patted her shoulder. “How’s Thatcher feeling now that his little girl is a married woman?” he asked her conversationally.

‘Brilliant,’ she answered to herself. “Excited,” she answered to him.

“I look forward to meeting the lucky man then.” The Chief smiled genuinely. He wasn’t quite a family friend of the Greys’ but he and Ellis had a long-term friendship.

‘I hope you don’t,’ she replied to herself again and just smiled as answer for him.

“Well, go home now and get some rest because the next 48 hours will be the hardest of your entire career as surgeon,” he suggested. “And I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow, early in the morning for a tour of the hospital, though I found out that you already gave yourself a tour last evening. I don’t want to see that repeating,” he added in a more serious tone.

“It won’t,” she said reassuringly. “Goodbye, Dr…”

“Chief, I was looking for you,” a voice cut off Meredith’s words.

She sighed as she heard Derek’s voice behind her.

“Shepherd, what I can do for you?” he asked, looking over Meredith’s shoulder.

She didn’t turn to Derek, because she knew it was a matter of seconds anyway until he noticed her.

“Can you free OR 2? That one has all of the equipment I need for my surgery,” Derek asked, not yet noticing Meredith’s presence.

“Who has booked that OR?” he asked him.

“Dr. Hahn,” Derek answered.

Dr. Webber let out an exasperated sigh. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “I assume you already met Dr. Grey.” He tilted his head towards Meredith.

“Meredith,” Derek said cheerfully, unconsciously using her first name instead of the professional.

“And you’re friends already,” Dr. Webber concluded, visibly displeased.

Meredith smiled faintly at him.

“I don’t want you to favor any intern in particular like you did last evening,” the Chief warned him.

“But I don’t think I favored her in any way,” Derek answered. “She just watched the surgery inside the OR.”

“That’s a favor,” the Chief pointed out.

“I won’t do it again, then,” Derek assured him.

“And please use her last name,” he also suggested. “I don’t think you know her that well yet.”

Derek chuckled at his words.

Dr. Webber raised his brows suspiciously and Meredith’s eyes were shooting deadly glares towards Derek. Derek laughed nervously as he realized how inappropriate his reaction had been.

“I apologize,” he smiled. “I tend to be very friendly,” he chuckled.

“Don’t be too friendly with our interns,” Dr. Webber warned him. “And especially not with Dr. Grey, who is also a married woman now.”

“Really?” Derek acted surprised. “He is one lucky man… and a very special one too,” he grinned knowingly at Meredith.

“Actually, he is just a lame ass loser,” Meredith returned the grin.

Derek frowned briefly at her words. “You can’t be that smart then,” he retorted.

“Dr. Shepherd,” Dr. Webber snapped. “That’s inappropriate and Dr. Grey’s personal life should stay personal.”

“You’re right,” Derek smiled apologetically and Meredith saw he was going to continue to tease her. “Congratulations, Dr. Grey. You probably deserve him.”

“Derek!” Dr. Webber snapped, harsher.

“We deserve each other,” Meredith retorted, smiling at him.

“Enough,” Webber asked, exasperated by the taunting between Meredith and Derek. “You’re going to use your new name at work or are you going by the maiden name?” he asked Meredith.

“Maiden name,” Meredith answered. “The new last name is too… you don’t want to share with the others a name like that.” She smiled as she felt Derek’s glare on her.

“You go home,” Webber pointed to Meredith, “And you back to work,” he said to Derek. “I don’t want to see you wandering around the hospital again.” He looked back at Meredith, warningly.

“I’ll go straight home,” Meredith reassured him.

“She’s a married woman now. She needs to prove she is a good housewife,” Derek smiled teasingly.

“Shut up,” Meredith hissed.

“How well you know each other?” Dr. Webber asked them, finding it suspicious the way they were talking to each other, though they were supposed to have just met.

“Not that well,” Meredith denied.

“Exactly,” Derek approved her.

“Then you should revise your behavior,” Dr. Webber said. He rolled his eyes and walked away.

“You really have a problem with my last name?” Derek reproached.

“Not here,” she hissed and glanced around them.

Derek did the same and saw a couple of nurses peeking toward them, not very discreetly though. “Come in to my office,” he motioned her.

As Derek opened the door for her, Meredith walked into his office and went to sit down on the couch. She put the brochures aside and cradled her head in her hands. Her taunting with Derek had been refreshing, but now her secret was probably hours away from being revealed to her parents since Dr. Webber knew about it now.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked her, coming to sit down beside her.

Meredith just shook her head. She looked at ring and started playing with it as she took it off. “This ring speaks too much. It’s a tattletale,” she muttered.

“I know,” Derek sighed and leaned back into the couch. He took off his ring too and started playing with it.

“What happened to you? Does Webber know you are married?” she asked.

“No.” He shook his head, watching his ring, thoughtful. “The nurses found out though,” he said. “All of them,” he chuckled.

Meredith bit her lip, hiding her smile. She remembered the nurses she had informed about his marital status. “Oh well”, she shrugged discreetly.

“Is it bad?” she asked him.

“Not for you,” he smiled at her.

“I’m sorry,” she giggled.

“I’ll survive,” he laughed. He shifted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “So the Chief knows,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Meredith let out a sigh. “One of my mother’s closest friends.” She looked at him. “I have to tell them. They shouldn’t find out from someone else.”

“I will be there with you.” He squeezed reassuringly her shoulder.

“I know.” She smiled gratefully. That wasn’t a very comforting thought, but she had to admit that having Derek’s support was refreshing.

“We weren’t very cautious either. I guess you can’t keep a marriage secret,” he concluded.

“We can’t keep it secret,” she corrected him.

“We’re too in love,” he laughed.

“With each other?” she asked.

“No,” he smiled. “At least not yet,” he added, caressing her cheek. “We’re too in love with our rings.”

“Damn rings,” Meredith glared at hers.

“We should organize a dinner. We invite your parents, Adele and Richard and probably your cousin and Preston,” he suggested.

“Yeah,” she agreed halfheartedly. “How about your family?”

“I’ll call my mom and tell her,” he answered.

“I don’t like this, Derek,” she whimpered. The honeymoon had been perfect but what was coming afterward was unknown and scary for her.

“There’s a thing I don’t understand about you,” Derek had started to say, but his pager went off. “Ugh I have to go,” he groaned as he checked the message. “We’ll talk more about this tonight, ok?”

“You have the address,” she checked.

“I do.” He smiled. He gently brushed her cheek and leaned in slowly, kissing her on the lips. “Be an exemplary wife and put the ring back on,” Derek took her left hand and slid the ring back on her finger. After he did that, he put his back on. “Oh and…” he leaned to her ear, whispering. “Sexy lingerie wouldn’t be bad for tonight.”

“Go to work, Derek.” She pushed him away, giggling.

“And less worries, ok?” He smiled as he smoothed her forehead with his finger. “You’re starting to wrinkle prematurely.”

“I’ll see you tonight,” she smiled.
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Inlovewithmerder Aug 12 2008, 08:22 PM Post #16
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 Love this fic please update soon! can't wait to see what happens!!!
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McGrey Aug 14 2008, 05:30 AM Post #17
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 “Thank you so much, Mrs. Madison,” Meredith smiled gratefully as the woman turned to Meredith after she had left the house.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Grey and any time you need my help just give me a call,” Mrs. Madison offered with a kind smile.

“I will, but please no word about this to my parents,” Meredith asked.

“Don’t worry.” She smiled. “Have a good evening,” she waved while she climbed down the stairs.

“Goodbye,” Meredith said back and closed the door. She walked back into the living room and smiled contently. Using her parent’s maid was a great idea. She had saved a lot of time and the whole house was clean now and ready for her and Derek to live in.

She had talked to Derek on the phone once that day and she had promised she would prepare dinner the night. She really had meant it when she said it, but now she wasn’t really in the mood anymore. Derek should get home soon anyway, so she could pretend she had just started working on it as the house cleaning took her a lot of time.

Meredith walked into the old family kitchen, looking like new now and ready for use again. Everything was clean but Meredith had asked Mrs. Madison to leave everything in its place like her father had left it the last time he cooked in that kitchen. Thatcher Grey was also the family chef, actually enjoying doing it. Most of the things were still there since her parents bought all the stuff they needed for their new house. Meredith smiled as she saw the stereo on the counter. She remembered her father used to listen to classical music while he cooked. She walked over to the counter and opened the CD compartment. His CDs were some of the things her father took with him, so the CD compartment was empty.

Meredith was never a fan of classical music, but she would have loved to hear some of her father’s music and remember the time they spent together in that room. Any kind of music would be great she thought and turned on the radio.

She giggled and turned the volume louder, listening and dancing to the rock music as she went to the cupboard and took out a pot.

She filled the pot with water and took it over to the stove, putting the water on to boil. That was a good start for pretending to be cooking.

Dancing, she went to the fridge and opened the door. She took out a bottle of red wine and put it on the counter. She had done a little shopping, enough for one evening. She poured some wine in a glass and hopped up on the counter, giggling the whole time as she listened to the song.

She noticed then her mobile phone vibrating and lighting up on the counter beside the sink. She jumped off and hurried to get it. Derek was calling, but before she could press the answer button, he hung up. Meredith saw four missed calls, all from Derek. The loud music made her not hear the rings.

Meredith turned the volume lower and walked out of the kitchen, dialing Derek’s number.

“Meredith, I would have said I got lost if I didn’t see your car parked in front of the house,” Derek said as he answered. “I don’t have a spare key and the music is too loud. Have you filled the divorce papers already?” he asked her, joking.

Meredith answered with a laugh and hurried to open the door for him. She found him sitting on the porch in front of her house. “You’re very insistent so I am letting you inside this time,” she said.

Derek stood up and walked over to her. “I appreciate your generosity.” He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

“Come in,” she said, smiling.

“So this is where little Meredith grew up and became…” He paused as he looked amusedly at her. “A little bigger Meredith.”

“Rude,” she scowled, but right away she answered with a smile at his little joke.

“I didn’t know you like rock music. That’s a thing we have in common,” he stated.

“I am not a fan, but the song was good,” she answered, uninterested with the topic.

“What’s the name of the band?” he asked.

“Derek,” Meredith whimpered. “Change the topic.”

“Ugh, one thing we don’t have in common,” he groaned.

“Whatever,” she replied, rolling at her eyes. “Do you want me to give you a tour of the house?” she asked.

“Sure. Where’s our bedroom?” he asked her.

“Tired?” she asked, smiling.

“Exhausted,” Derek laughed and took her hand.

“Nice place,” he stated as Meredith led him upstairs.

“Thanks,” she smiled at him. Meredith walked him then to the end of the hallway. She opened the door and invited him in. “Here it is.”

Derek walked inside the bedroom and looked surprised.

“What is it?” she asked as she noticed his surprise. “If you don’t like it, you can choose the couch downstairs.”

“No,” he shook his head. “Was this your parents’ bedroom?” he asked her.

“No. This was my room,” she frowned, suddenly displeased. “We’re not going to use that one.”

“Why?” He asked her straight.

“Would you have sex in your parents’ bedroom?” she asked then.

“If they didn’t live there anymore, yes,” he answered genuinely.

“Well … I wouldn’t,” she shrugged and followed him inside.

“I am still surprised though,” he smiled.

“And why is that?” she asked him.

“Because I was expecting to find something more… pink… and ribbons,” he answered.

Meredith burst into laugh. “Do I look like a ‘pink’ girl?”

“No, but sometimes people do change once they grow up and from the bright and shiny pink, they get to the dark and twisty gray,” Derek said as he continued to look at the things from Meredith’s old room. A large bookcase, a desk and other usual furniture items were decorating her room, while the walls were painted in the baby blue color.

“I am not a dark and twisty person,” she frowned at his words.

“Oh I was just saying,” he smiled reassuringly. “I wasn’t referring directly at you.”

Derek went and sat down at the edge of the bed, trying the mattress. “How many special guys slept in it?” he asked her, unconsciously offending her.

“For your record, the bed is still a virgin,” she grumbled, displeased, whilst she made a turn to walk out the bedroom.

Hearing the anger in her voice, Derek became aware of the inappropriate question he had asked. He quickly stood up and grabbed her by her wrist. “I am sorry,” he said softly, his voice apologetic.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “I know this is not your dream house, but I bet that this isn’t the way you ever imagined getting married either.” She looked at him, hurt.

Derek pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. “I’m sorry,” he repeated softly, kissing her on the forehead. “I’m sorry,” he said again, now taking her face between his hands and looking into her eyes.

“That’s all I could find for the moment,” she said quietly, calmer after Derek’s embrace. “My parents don’t even know that I brought my husband to live with him in here. My parents don’t even know I have a husband.” She wrapped her arms around her and rested her head on his shoulder. “We are in deep shit right now, Derek.”

“I know,” he said, gently rubbing her back. “But it doesn’t stink yet,” he pointed out on a more optimistic note.

“Exactly,” she replied. “Yet.”

“Are you worried about what your parents will say?” He took her hands and led her to the bed.

Meredith lay on her back and Derek followed her, propping himself up on his elbow, tracing the line of her jaw with his finger.

“No.” She looked at the ceiling as she spoke. “But I…” she sighed, not finding the right words to describe her feelings. Derek caressed her cheek and she answered his gesture with a smile. “I don’t really care what my parents say about my marriage, but…” she let out another sigh. “The thing is … they will expect us to see us … married.”

“But we are married,” Derek pointed out.

“You don’t understand,” Meredith shifted on her side, propping on her elbow, same as Derek was. “You know… like a married couple.”

Derek looked confused at her, narrowing his eyes. “You’re right. I don’t understand.”

Meredith threw herself on her back again, sighing. “Doing marital things.”

“Like sex?” Derek asked her.

“Not just that,” Meredith answered.

“Then?”

Meredith shrugged.

“Meredith, if we tell them the real story of how we met and how we got married, then I can assure that no one is going to expect to see us like any other family. We won’t have children anytime soon and they will let us figure out if we can make this marriage work,” he explained. “I am sure they would at least be impressed by the fact that we’re trying.”

“Could we give them a different story?” she asked as if she hadn’t stopped listened to him.

“Did you hear a word of what I just said?” Derek frowned at her lack of attention.

“I did and you’re right, but could we?” she asked again.

“I don’t know,” he answered, thoughtful. “I guess we could.”

Meredith sighed as she looked back at the ceiling. “My problem is… this thing will become serious once people find out about it.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Derek groaned. He stood up at the edge of the bed, disapprovingly shaking his head.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“The fact that we are trying isn’t a serious thing to you?” he asked reproachfully.

“It is,” she answered quietly, caught off guard by Derek’s sudden outburst.

“Maybe it isn’t now. Maybe that’s exactly what we need… people to know about us. Our honeymoon will be over once they find out. We have to stay serious if we want to make this work. This isn’t a game, Meredith. It isn’t just sex. We are not doing it for fun!”

“I know,” Meredith retorted defensively.

“I don’t think you do know.” He shook his head. He stood up and started pacing around the room, now and then running his hands through his hair. Then he stopped and looked at her. “Tell me if you want to make this work,” he demanded.

Meredith looked at him, fearful. She wasn’t afraid of him and of his anger. She was afraid of the answer she was going to give him. “I do,” she mumbled.

“Are you sure?” he asked her in the same serious tone as before.

Meredith was silent for a second. “I do,” she answered. Then she saw the distrust was still there in his eyes. “I do,” she repeated, louder and more convincingly this time.

Derek finally calmed down. He sighed and came to sit down beside her. Both looked at each other; she was scared and he was confused. Derek took her hand and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her close to him. “We’re going to do it our way. I don’t know what expectations they will have, but we are going to do it our way.”

“What does that mean?” she asked him, looking at him.

“That means we are going to follow our plan. We’ve started getting to know each other; we kind of skipped over the dating part; now we live together and we’ll see what happens next.”

Again, Meredith found it comforting to know Derek was on the same page as her. He was older than she was and therefore, more mature. She found that a positive thing for their marriage. She needed someone well grounded to help her understand and go through such an important step as marriage.

Slowly, a smile grew on her lips and she leaned in and kissed him softly. Derek cupped her face, deepening the kiss. “Still virgin, huh?” he asked her, chuckling. “The bed, I mean.”

Meredith mounted his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Still virgin,” she giggled and her lips brushed against his.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked her.

“This,” she answered and traced kisses along his cheek, down to his neck.

“Mmm, I like the menu,” he moaned, his hands wandering over her back.

Meredith suddenly stopped and raised her head, looking at him, panicked.

“What is it?” he asked, slightly worried.

“I put water to boil,” she muttered.

Derek briefly closed his eyes and groaned. “I guess we should be thankful if we still find the pot,” he said.

Meredith quickly dismounted him and both ran downstairs.
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Inlovewithmerder Aug 14 2008, 07:20 PM Post #18
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 Please Update!! I'm leaving for 4 days with out a computer I want to have somthing to think about while i'm gone!!! I love this story one of the best I've ever read please update!!!
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McGrey Aug 14 2008, 07:38 PM Post #19
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 I've started working on the next update already, but really I don't think I can finish it this fast. I'll try though and in case I don't succeed, you could think of what rules Meredith has for Derek, because that's what the next update will be about :snigger:

Thanks for reading this story :flowers: It means a lot to me to have at least one comment on this board :bigx:
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Inlovewithmerder Aug 14 2008, 08:52 PM Post #20
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 Its no problem you story is like my favorite that I've read so far!!! Its making me happy while grey's anatomy is off the tv I can't wait for it to come back on!!!
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iheartmcdreamy85 Aug 17 2008, 08:45 PM Post #21
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 this is my favorite fic by far! What I love most about this is fic is its different from others and its unpredictable. alot of other fics i've read you just know what happens next, and thats not the case with this one which i love. please continue writing and dont stop! ;)
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McGrey Aug 18 2008, 05:14 PM Post #22
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 As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Meredith and Derek saw light reflecting on the floor.

“Stay here!” Derek said to Meredith and ran inside the kitchen. There, he found the pot burning on the stove. The fire wasn’t big, but Derek hurried over to the sink, wet a cloth and then went to turn off the gases and take the pot from the stove. He quickly threw it under the water stream, instantly filling the kitchen with a sooty steam.

Meredith had anxiously waited outside the kitchen until she smelt the burning. “Oh crap,” she muttered under her breath and a chill shiver of panic swept through her. She needed to know what was going on in there, so she walked inside and sighed with relief when she saw that Derek had extinguished whatever fire had set up. She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve and hurried to open the back door and a window.

“Meredith, what are you doing here?” he shouted. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her outside. “Are you crazy? Besides the fact that you almost burned down the kitchen, you also what to get intoxicated?”

Meredith was staring blankly, reflecting on something else. “Thank God I didn’t have the chance to activate the fire alarm,” she muttered and looked like stunned at Derek.

Derek was perplexed to hear that. “You really are crazy. How can you be grateful for that? What if the fire had spread?”

“It wouldn’t have.” She frowned. “I wouldn’t have stayed upstairs for long.”

“Well, I am sorry for pointing this out, but things were heating up upstairs as well and I doubt that we would have come downstairs anytime soon,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I would have remembered,” Meredith grumbled, displeased with the lack of faith he was showing.

“Sure you would have,” Derek agreed sarcastically.

Meredith drew in a deep breath and walked to the couch, crashing down on it.

“Are still reflecting over how great it is that the fire alarm wasn’t on?” Derek asked her bitterly as she continued to show the same blank stare.

Meredith looked up at him and shook her head. “The kitchen was in fire,” she muttered.

Derek gave up on reproaching her. He saw that the fire incident had scared her as well. Derek walked to the couch and sat down beside her. “Only the pot was on fire,” he said, squeezing her hand as comfort.

Meredith looked at him. “Crap,” she muttered.

“Yeah,” Derek chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his arms. “What did we lose from the dinner menu?” he asked her.

Meredith had her head on his chest when he asked her that, so her face was out of his sight and he didn’t see her smiling. “Spaghetti,” she answered.

Derek suspiciously raised his eyebrows as he felt the amusement in her voice. “And what did you save?” he asked her.

Meredith bit her lip and shrugged.

“You didn’t cook,” he concluded dryly.

Meredith just shrugged.

Derek leaned his head over the couch, groaning. “I wasn’t that hungry,” he mumbled sarcastically.

“Hey,” Meredith jumped, offended.

“Yeah?” Derek looked at her, waiting.

“I cleaned the whole house, which was very rude of you not to notice,” she said in her defense.

“You know what?” Derek chuckled. “I am sorry. That was rude of me not to notice,” he said as he gave a short look around him. “You must have been working all day to clean the whole place.”

“I did some shopping as well,” Meredith added.

“Really?” Derek chuckled with a fake dramatic voice.

“Shut up,” she huffed and Derek knew she was lying. “I asked for professional help,” she admitted.

Derek chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You did the right thing. Actually we should hire a maid,” he suggested. “We have enough money to hire a young girl as maid. You know… a girl we could help to make savings for college.”

Meredith gasped, outraged, and smacked his arm.

“Jealous?” Derek laughed.

“No,” she frowned and stood up quickly. “I’m glad you brought this up,” she said and knelt beside the coffee table, fumbling through some papers. She pulled out one and returned to Derek. “I set up some rules.”

“Rules?” Derek looked at her, confused.

“Yes. Rules for our living together,” she said as she sat down beside him. “Rule no.1: I don’t cook so don’t ask me to cook.”

“I agree with this rule.” He nodded. “This isn’t exactly our house so we can’t afford to burn it down.”

“Exactly. Rule no. 2: I won’t do your laundry.”

“Can I do yours?” he asked her teasingly.

“Don’t touch my laundry,” she glared. “Rule no. 3: The one who wakes up first in the morning makes the coffee before the other one is up.”

“Plus the breakfast,” Derek added. “See? Here’s a contradiction between your rules…”

“I said coffee,” Meredith cut off his explanation. “You can cook the breakfast only if you want to. Rule no. 4 now,” she said as she continued to read from the paper. “No parties allowed unless I am previously informed.”

“How about when you throw up a party? Shouldn’t I be informed too?”

Meredith thought about it for a moment and then she shrugged genuinely. “Not really. This is my house,” she said.

Derek disapprovingly shook his head.

“Rule no. 5: no hookers are allowed in here,” she continued.

“Does this rule apply to you?” Derek asked, cutting in again.

“Of course it does,” she rolled her eyes. “We are trying to make this work, aren’t we?”

“We are, so this rule shouldn’t be on your list.”

Meredith looked down at her paper and then she shrugged. “Let’s keep it as a safety.”

“Ok,” Derek smiled. “Was that the last one?” he asked.

“I still have a couple. Rule no. 6: If I ever get drunk, do not let me lay elsewhere. Take me to my bed.”

“Funny one.” Derek couldn’t help but laugh as he heard that. Then, he suddenly became serious. “You’re not an alcoholic, are you? I mean what happened in Vegas doesn’t happen very often, right?”

“Of course not,” Meredith snapped, offended.

“You’re not married to another guy…” Derek hinted.

“Derek, I like to believe that I am not a whore and I really wish that you wouldn’t see me as such,” Meredith said, offense in her voice and a glare in her eyes.

The guilt washed over him as he realized how inappropriate his joke was. “I am sorry, Meredith.”

“Yeah,” she grumbled as she looked back down in her paper. “I’ve started getting used to it,” she said sarcastically, as that was the second time that day when Derek made an inappropriate comment about her. She stayed quiet, not in the mood for reading anything.

“Whatever you are, I am too,” Derek stated quietly. He knew apologies weren’t enough now and what he just said was true. “Remind me of this whenever I say something offensive.”

Meredith sighed discreetly. She didn’t look at him, but she forgave him. She took a deep breath and continued reading her rules. “Rule no.7: don’t stick your nose in my mother’s stuff. Rule…”

“She still has her things here?” Derek cut her words off.

Meredith let out an exasperated sigh. “Rule no. 8: Stop commenting my rules.”

“This isn’t on your list,” he said quickly. “You just made it up.”

“Yes. It’s a new rule. Stick with it!” she glared.

“It’s not valid,” Derek replied, teasing her.

“Derek!” Meredith snapped. Derek gave her a cheerful smile, which made her roll her eyes and smile. “You’re not serious.”

“We have to joke from time to time,” Derek chuckled. “Especially when I am put in front of such strict rules. Not even my mother punished me so harshly.” Derek had a note of humor in his voice as he said that.

“Rules are necessary for us. We don’t know each other that well yet and we have to make this arrangement bearable,” she explained.

“I know and you’re right, but these rules you keep reading here are only for your own comfort. Don’t you think I need rules to help me accommodate with all these?” he asked her.

“Well…” She hadn’t thought about it but now that he pointed it out… “I guess you do.”

“Thank you,” Derek smiled.

“Tell me your rules,” she said.

Derek patted his pockets and laughed. “I didn’t do my homework for today, but I am smart enough to make it up right now,” he chuckled. “We have to communicate,” he mentioned his first rule.

“That’s easy,” Meredith noted it down.

“Whenever one of us is in trouble we should find help and support in each other,” he continued. “I think these two rules are enough to make the marriage work. If we respect them, then we can hope for more than 6 months of marriage.”

Meredith didn’t write that rule down. She sighed as she put the paper aside. Meredith shifted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “That sounds difficult, Derek,” she said quietly.

Derek raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder, resting his head against hers. “It’s not. Just try,” he said softly, kissing the top of her head. “Do you want to have pizza?”

Meredith looked up at him and smiled. “I’d love too.”

Derek leaned in and kissed softly the tip of her nose. “I’ll go order. Do have any preference?” he asked her as he stood up.

“No,” she said and stood up as well.

While Derek picked up his phone, Meredith walked back into the kitchen. It was raining outside and evening was windy; the smoke was all gone, but the temperature felt low in there. She shivered, rubbing her arm to warm up and went to close the door and the window. She took a glass out of the cupboard and then poured some wine in it. She had left her glass on the counter when Derek called. She took hers as well and walked back into living room.

“Pizza should be here in about 15 minutes,” Derek announced while he flipped his phone closed. He smiled as he saw the glass of wine and walked to her. “Thanks.” He smiled and took his glass.

“What do you think your mother will say about our marriage?” Meredith asked him.

Both of them returned to their previous seats on the couch. Derek held up his arm and she snuggled beside him.

“I am not sure,” he answered. The truth was that he didn’t really think of what his mother would say and now that Meredith asked him that, he knew it was better to try and think.

“Will she hate me?” she asked him.

“No,” he answered. “She doesn’t judge people she has never met before.”

Meredith repositioned herself in her seat and looked at him. “Let’s act it out,” she suggested.

Derek gave her a funny look. “The call?” he asked her.

“Yes. I’ll be you and you’ll be your mom,” she said.

“Ok,” Derek agreed, amused.

“Ok, but we are going to skip the blah-blah part,” she said.

“I agree,” he chuckled.

“Ok,” Meredith took a deep breath before she formed the first line. “Mom, I have some news to tell you.”

Derek found their acting amusing and couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m right here listening, son,” he replied to her line.

“Are you sitting comfortably?” she asked then.

“I … am,” Derek tried to act confusedly as his mother would be. “Oh my Lord!” he gasped then, still acting.

“What is it?” Meredith smiled, but still playing Derek’s role.

“You’re going to become a father!” Derek exclaimed. “Who is she?”

Meredith giggled.

“Is she the nice girl you met at the airport when you got to Seattle?” he asked.

Meredith frowned. “Did you say anything to your mother about me?”

“No. I didn’t talk to her that much. Actually, I haven’t called her since the first day I got here,” he answered. “It would have been too early to tell her about you. Now back to our acting.”

Meredith relaxed a little. “Ok.” She drew in the air and breathed out slowly. “I am not going to become a father,” she said.

“Then what is it?” Derek asked in his mother’s role.

Meredith paused for a moment. “I got married,” she said.

Derek opened his mouth to reply but he was speechless, probably how his mother would be too. He tried to think of what his mother would say, but nothing came into his mind. “Who is she?” he finally found a proper question to ask.

“You don’t know her,” Meredith answered.

Derek took a second to think. “Is she a girl you met in Med School?” he asked.

“No,” Meredith answered.

“Derek, I am old and I can’t take the suspense so please tell,” Derek said.

“She’s a girl I met here in Seattle,” Meredith replied.

“But you’ve only been in Seattle for a couple of days,” was Derek’s line.

Meredith stayed quiet, now waiting for Derek’s mom presumed reaction.

Derek couldn’t think of any other line. He briefly closed his eyes and let out a loud sigh. “I think I better wait for her answer,” he said quietly as he looked down at his ring. “I am the last one left unmarried,” he stopped as that sounded wrong. “I was the last one left unmarried,” he corrected himself. “She wanted a wedding and she wanted me in a strong and healthy relationship with the love of my life.”

Meredith lightly touched his shoulder as comfort. “And you ended up married to me,” she muttered under her breath.

“You’re not that bad,” he admitted, smiling at her. “You’re not bad at all actually.” He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. “She will want us to try and make it work. I am sure of it.”

“Everything is crazy,” she muttered. “I should be stressed because tomorrow I am going to start my career as a doctor instead of stressing myself with this marriage.”

“It shouldn’t be this way,” he said, kissing her on the forehead. “Stress yourself with this marriage after your first 48 hours as doctor,” he recommended. “Do you want to play Ellis’s role… or Thatcher’s?”

“I am not in the mood of hearing my mother’s lines,” she sighed. “Besides, you just said I shouldn’t stress myself about it right now.”

“I agree,” he said and kissed her one more time on the forehead.

Meredith looked up at him, smiling. She reached up for his lips and kissed him. He answered her kiss, deepening it.

Derek put his glass down on the coffee table and then he took hers. Slowly he started pushing her down on her back and he lay down on top of her, their lips inseparable. Her fingers clutched in his hair and her knee arched between her thighs. Derek groaned loudly as he felt the pleasure growing.

Meredith froze at his groan. “Derek,” she said quietly, even sounding worried.

Derek looked frustrated at her. “Am I doing something wrong?”

Meredith shook her head, but then she nodded and in the end, she shrugged. “We’re still low on condoms,” she stated.

Derek briefly closed his eyes, displeased. “We’ll be careful but you really should get on the pill.”

“I will… eventually,” she said as she wrapped her leg around his hip, giggling.

Derek smiled, shaking his head. “You’re going to get us into more trouble.”

“By myself?” she asked him teasingly. “I don’t think so.”

“Crazy,” Derek chuckled as he brushed the hair out of her face. His eyes wandered over her face and then he leaned down and kissed her.

“Derek,” Meredith interrupted again. “I forgot to mention an important rule,” she said, suddenly serious and struggling to push him off her.

Derek stood up, very frustrated. “Can’t it wait?” he groaned.

“One more, that’s it,” she said and stood up as well. “I always sleep on the left side of the bed.”

“Impossible.” Derek shook his head. “I always sleep on the left side of the bed.”

“You’ll have to get used to the right side from now on.” She shook her head too, refusing to give in.

“I’ve always slept on the left side,” he said.

“Me too,” she answered. “The only time I slept on the right side, I had horrible nightmares all night long.”

“Meredith,” Derek chuckled. “Have you noticed how many times in the last few days you have spent on the right side of the bed?”

Meredith just hissed.

“Besides, tonight we are both going to sleep in the middle of the bed,” he said and slowly started pushing her back down on the couch, lying on top of her. “That isn’t really a rule,” he whispered, brushing his lips against hers. “You’re just trying to torture me.”

“Pizza!” Meredith announced when the doorbell rang. She pushed Derek away and laughed at his frustration.

Dazed, Derek looked into the pocket of his jacket after his wallet. He went to answer the door, pulled a few bills out of the wallet and handed them to the young boy who was holding two steamy boxes of pizza. Derek handed him the bills and grabbed the boxes off his hands. “Keep the change,” he said and shut the door immediately.

“I took the glasses.” Meredith was on her feet, holding their glasses of wine when Derek returned in living room.

“I’m right behind you,” he said and both headed to the stairs.

They set aside the stress about their marriage, the stress about Meredith’s fresh career as doctor, for the moment. For the moment, they were stressed about … the condom.
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Inlovewithmerder Aug 19 2008, 01:18 AM Post #23
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 hey please update soon amazing story!!!
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iheartmcdreamy85 Aug 20 2008, 04:05 PM Post #24
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 great update! uodate again real soon :)
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McGrey Aug 28 2008, 07:33 AM Post #25
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 Hi, I am sorry it took me so long to come back with an update :flowers: Here it is now ;)
-----

It was very early the next morning when Meredith walked trough the doors of the hospital. Her feet trailed towards the elevator, while she tried to hide her yawns behind the mug of hot coffee. She left the house before Derek was up and she took care to apply one of her rules: “Coffee for Derek- hot and steamy. Meredith.”

The hospital hallways weren’t very populated at that early hour and Meredith hoped that a moment of peace would help her wrap her mind around what was going to happen when she had to treat her first patient. Her lack of sleep last night wasn’t due to her duties as a wife; the thought of how hard it would be to have the same exceptional career as her mother made her toss and turn most of the night.

Her tiredness was banished and her eyes snapped wide open when she entered the locker room and was met with the hustle of the other interns. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one anxious to start work. Meredith made her way to the locker room and wasn’t surprised to find that Lexie, Cristina and Izzie were also there.

“You’re up early,” Meredith said by way of a greeting.
“She’s alive!” Cristina’s exclamation made Meredith start. “I told you she’s alive,” she chuckled at Lexie.

Meredith rolled her eyes at her friend’s joke. Then she noticed Lexie’s uptight face as she looked at her. Lexie shut the door to her locker, after she had put her scrubs on, and stomped out of the locker room.

“What’s her problem?” Meredith asked, caught off guard by Lexie’s attitude.

As response, Cristina wriggled her ring finger. The panic washed over Meredith and she went to her. “She knows?” she asked in whisper.

“No. She wouldn’t ignore you if she did,” Cristina answered. “Your disappearance pissed her off.”

Meredith let out a sigh and returned to her locker. She wasn’t that worried about Lexie, knowing that at one point she would start talking to her again. Meredith opened her locker and tossed her bag inside, starting to undress.

“You’re up early,” Cristina pointed out as she came beside her locker. “Are you getting divorced already?”

Meredith ignored her friend’s comment. “You’re up early,” she returned the sarcasm.

“Yeah well, I look forward to work with the cardio Gods,” Cristina smirked. “So?” she waited for her question to receive an answer.

“The honeymoon is over,” Meredith answered dryly.

“Already?” Cristina chuckled, with the same note of sarcasm in her tone.

“Yeah,” Meredith answered. “Speaking of honeymoon and husband.” She stopped undressing and leaned against her locker, facing Cristina. As she did that, she could read a panicked expression on her friend’s face.

“You’re so pregnant,” Cristina muttered.

Meredith swallowed a lump as she heard her. That wasn’t what she wanted to say, but might be true as well. “I am not,” she muttered more to herself. “The chief knows too,” she whispered.

“About that baby?” Cristina asked.

“What baby?” Meredith snapped. “There’s no baby and stop saying the word baby! He knows about it,” she whispered, showing her ring.

“Oh, that’s not good,” Cristina muttered.

“I know,” she sighed, exasperated. “So now we decided we should tell our families.”

“Oh,” was all that Cristina could answer.

“Yeah,” Meredith agreed with her reaction.

“When are you going to tell them?” Cristina asked.

Meredith didn’t answer right away. She took out her scrub top and pulled it over her head, adjusting it over her body. “After my first 48-hour shift.”

“That might be too late,” Cristina said.

“It’s not that late. My mom is leaving town for two days and she may not talk to him.”

“But what if she does?”

Meredith shot her a glare. “Do you mind if I don’t think about this right now?”

“Fine, whatever,” she replied, slightly irritated. “How are you going to tell them?”

”We’ll invite them to a dinner,” Meredith answered.

“What time should I be there?” Cristina asked.

Meredith’s head jerked to the side, her eyes shooting deadly glares. “You’re not invited,” she gritted through her teeth, holding in her anger.

Cristina sensed the stress in Meredith’s voice and decided to drop the dinner topic. On the other hand, she found something else to tease Meredith with. “Who would have thought it would be this hard to be a Shepherd.”

Meredith rolled her eyes, groaning exasperatedly, reaction that made Cristina snicker. “You’re not capable of memorizing two names like Meredith and Derek?” Meredith groaned.

“Oh I am. I just love to see you rolling your eyes.” Cristina smiled and turned her back on Meredith as she walked back to her locker.

Meredith couldn’t help but rolling her eyes again. Cristina was probably the only person capable of annoying Meredith to death and still be her best friend.

“Hey, Mer!” Izzie’s cheerful greeting made her suppress a groan.

She turned and flashed her friend a smile. “Hi,” she said as she acted her role of friendly fellow. Meredith turned her back on them and looked for her scrub pants.

Of course, Izzie wouldn’t let her go that easily. “This is George.” She cleared her throat to have her attention again.

Meredith turned her head and smiled again, this time to the shy boy beside Izzie. “Hi, George.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Meredith,” George answered, fidgeting his hands as if he wanted to shake hands with her, but Meredith was showing no intention of doing that.

“He’s going to work with us,” Izzie informed her.

That reminded Meredith that she hadn’t found out yet who her resident was and also made her believe that she was probably the least prepared intern. As she turned to look to Cristina, Meredith heard her laugh quietly. Cristina stood up and came to her, smiling teasingly.

“You really don’t know, do you?” She smiled with satisfaction.

Reading behind Cristina’s smile, Meredith could guess the reason. She was going to work directly with Derek, which meant that she had Dr. Bailey as her resident.

“You have Dr. Bailey too?” she asked Izzie and George and both nodded.

Izzie leaned to her and whispered. “I heard he’s called the Nazi.”

“I thought Dr. Bailey was a woman,” Meredith answered, confused. Was she really that lost in time and space?

“She is,” Cristina grumbled. “Never listen to Barbie’s fantasies,” she added and grabbed Meredith’s hand, pulling her away from Izzie’s curious ears.

“This is going to turn bad if anyone finds out,” Meredith muttered.

“You wanted to experience the life of a married woman,” Cristina shrugged. “Let’s take a tour,” she said and started pushing Meredith out of the locker room.

“How about Lexie? Who’s her resident?” Meredith asked her friend.

Cristina shrugged. “I think her name is Sydney Heron,” she muttered, uninterested.
-------
After the hospital tour and welcome speech, Chief Webber let the interns scatter and go find their residents, each group going in different directions. Meredith, together with Cristina, Izzie and George, left to meet their resident at the nurses’ station.

“Great, the love boy joined us,” Cristina grumbled as on their way to the nurses’ station, Alex Karev joined them.

“You’ll slice your wrist when you see me stealing all your best surgeries, Yang,” Alex chuckled and walked past them, being the first one to meet Dr. Bailey, a short black woman with an imposing attitude. “Dr. Bailey,” he announced cheerfully his presence there. “Hi, I am Dr. Karev, ready to offer my service.” As his introduction ended, he stuck out his hand.

Meredith and the others smiled, anticipating already Dr. Bailey’s answer only by reading her glare.

“I have 5 rules. Memorize them!” she said, addressing to all of them. “Rule number one- don’t bother sucking up. I already hate you. That’s not gonna change.”

After just one rule, Alex stepped back, intimidated.

“Trauma protocol, phone list, pagers- nurses will page you,” she continued, already flying past the nurses’ counter and down the hall. Each intern hurried to take their things, struggling to keep pace with their resident. “You’ll answer every page at a run- a run- that’s rule number two! Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. You’re interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop and don’t complain.”

“Evil Spawn,” Cristina hissed, glaring at Alex. “This is all your fault.”

Dr. Bailey suddenly stopped, almost causing the interns to bump into her. She shot them a glare and picked up her tour of the hospital. “On call rooms!” she announced, entering in one of those. “Attendings hog them. Sleep when you can, where you can, which brings me to rule number three- If I’m sleeping, don’t wake me up unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number four- the dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only would you have killed someone, you would have woken me for no good reason. We clear?” she stared at her interns, waiting.

All of them nodded in an instant and followed her outside again. “Um… Dr. Bailey?” Meredith called cautiously.

Dr. Bailey stopped, but apparently not listen to Meredith, as she stared ahead, glaring at something.

“You said five rules. That was only four,” Meredith pointed out.

“Rule number five- don’t do attendings,” she said, still staring ahead as Derek was approaching them, carrying a wide smile on his lips.

“Good morning, Dr. Bailey, Doctors,” he greeted them cheerfully, his smile lingering on Meredith.

Cristina stepped in front of the other and stuck out her hand. “Good morning, Derek,” she smiled.

“Dr. Yang!” Dr. Bailey snapped at Cristina’s inappropriate onset.

Not only had Dr. Bailey snapped at her, but also Meredith did it, mutely though by glaring. Cristina smirked as she took back her place beside Meredith.

“Good morning, Dr. Shepherd,” Dr. Bailey answered dryly to Derek’s greeting.

Though he was her boss, Derek had to admit that Dr. Bailey was an intimidating person, so as he got his answer to his greeting Derek nodded once and walked past them, his eyes meeting Meredith’s in a glance.

“Now go play nice,” Dr. Bailey told her interns. “Grey, go cover the clinic and Karev, follow her and the rest of you, come with me.”

There, their directions took different paths, Meredith walking along with Alex towards the clinic. She just gave him a friendly smile and kept walking in silence. Meredith could still feel his eyes lingering on her. As she glanced at him, she caught him staring down her body.

“What’re you doing?” she hissed.

Alex drew his eyes up to her and smirked. “You look very hot in scrubs.”

Meredith stopped dead in her track, glaring at him. “The girl you date happens to be my cousin, so you better stop playing.”

Alex kept his smug smile on his face. “Some fooling around doesn’t count as date,” he snickered and turned his back on her as he made his way down to the clinic. “I bet you’re better than your cousin,” he said and glanced back over his shoulder, smirking at her.

“You bastard,” Meredith gritted her teeth, her fists trembling in anger. “You don’t just fool around with decent girls, but you also hit on married women,” she scolded as she tried to keep the pace with him.

His head turned then as he looked down at her left hand. Meredith read the displeasure in his eyes as he noticed her ring, but then he shrugged and walked ahead, mumbling. “Oh well.”

Meredith stared after him, outraged. Alex had taken a considerable distance between him and her, so Derek felt the perfect moment to talk to her.

“Dr. Grey,” he leaned in and whispered to her ear, causing her to start.

She smiled as she saw him and started walking slowly after Alex. “Dr. Shepherd,” she answered.

“Thank you for the coffee,” he said, following her.

“You’re welcome,” she giggled.

“But your note got me a little confused,” he sped up his pace so that he could have a full sight of her face. “I didn’t get the meaning of ‘hot and steamy’. Was it the coffee or was it…” he leaned to her ear, whispering again. “Hot and steamy Meredith?”

“The coffee,” Meredith laughed.

“That’s a relief,” he sighed, laughing. “I thought I had missed the hot and steamy Meredith.”

“Derek, what you are doing?” she smiled. “Stop flirting with your intern. It is unprofessional and immoral. You’re married.”

Derek smiled widely and slowed his pace, adjusting it to hers. “What if the intern is my wife?” he asked. “Is it still considered unprofessional and immoral?”

“Just unprofessional,” she admitted. “Derek, be serious,” she groaned.

“I’m probably the most serious person in the world,” he answered, teasing.

“Be the most serious person in the hospital too,” she replied.

Derek just smiled. “So Dr. Bailey, huh? She seems… nice,” he chuckled at his own words.

“She scared the crap out of you,” Meredith laughed.

“Just a little,” he shrugged as he smiled at her.

As they both looked ahead, they saw a tall, dark haired woman, coming towards them, or rather towards Derek, as she was carrying a wide smile on her face for Derek only and a cup of coffee in her hand.

“Good morning, Dr. Shepherd,” she greeted when the distance between them decreased.

“Good morning… uh,” Derek smiled awkwardly, not knowing her name.

“Rose.” She stuck out her hand and Derek shook it politely. “That’s ok,” she giggled. “This is for you,” she said, placing the cup of coffee in his hand. “I’ll see you in the OR.” Still smiling at him she walked past them.

Meredith had observed, surprised, that quick scene, her brows pulling into a questioning expression as she waited for Derek’s explanation.
Derek was just as surprised as she was and shrugged, confused. “Friendly… I guess,” he muttered.

“Lusty… I guess,” Meredith retorted sarcastically. “Don’t forget we have rules,” she said and grabbed the coffee cup from his hand, walking away.

Though he knew how bad that scene had looked, Derek couldn’t help but smile at Meredith’s reaction. She was serious and that was a good sign.

“I’m a ruler!” he said louder so that she could hear him.

Meredith looked back at him and smiled. “Sure you are!”

“Where are you heading?” he asked her.

“Clinic!”

“Find something good and come find me!” he winked and headed in the opposite direction.
-----------
It was late that day and Meredith was about to finish her first 24 hours as doctor, when she got a message on her pager.

“911, down in the basement?” she read, confused. It was a 911 so she had to go answer the call.

As she got down in the basement, she found Derek sitting on a gurney and reading a chart. Meredith stopped for a moment before going to him and looked around her. Nothing looked like it needed a 911. Was she in the wrong basement?

Derek caught sight of Meredith and looked up from his chart, smiling at her. “You were fast,” he said.

“You were the emergency?” she glared. Her day had been hectic enough, running through the whole hospital for labs and Derek found it appropriate to make her run a little bit more.

“My heart is aching,” he whimpered, faking.

Meredith let out an exasperated sigh and trailed towards him. “You would save me the cost of a divorce,” she muttered under her breath and hopped up on the gurney beside him.

“You’re a doctor, you have to see what’s wrong with me,” Derek continued with his cheap acting.

Meredith rolled her eyes and looked at him. “What’s the problem?”

“My heart aches for you,” he said, his lips pulling up in the corners.

Meredith giggled and leaned exhaustedly her back against the wall. “You’ll live.”

“Now that you’re here,” he smiled.

Meredith giggled.

“How was it?” he asked her.

“Fast,” she grumbled. “And not how I had expected it to be.”

“No surgeries?” he asked.

“No surgery would be the right question,” Meredith sighed. “Even George O’Malley had the chance to see the inside of an OR today.”

“It wasn’t so bad if you did well in the clinic with your patients,” Derek tried soothing her.

“Derek, I am a surgeon… actually that’s what I want to think that I am,” she sighed again. “My feet hurt but not because I’ve stayed too much in the OR.”

Derek put aside the chart and shifted at the edge of the gurney. He took Meredith’s leg, placing it onto his lap, and took off her shoe. Gently he started rubbing her foot, which felt like heaven to Meredith. She closed her eyes and moaned softly.

“You should consider yourself lucky. Usually they make it hard for the interns in their first shift. You got the chance to get used to your position as a doctor,” Derek explained. “You actually applied what you’ve been taught in med school and you helped people. If you were in the OR I doubt that anyone would have let you touch a scalpel.”

Meredith opened her eyes as she listened to him and shrugged, not entirely pleased with his comforting words.

“You have plenty of time to play in the OR,” he said then. “I am afraid that I might lose you soon when you’ll prefer to cut people open all night long,” he added in a more cheerful tone.

Meredith smiled and closed her eyes again. “Keep rubbing,” she muttered.

Derek chuckled and took her other leg onto his lap, taking off her shoe and massaging that foot as well. As he continued massaging her feet, Derek saw she had drifted to sleep. His hand loosened from her foot and Meredith moaned in protest, so he continued helping her to relax.

“Slow night, Dr. Grey?” Bailey’s voice echoed in the hallway’s silence, making both Meredith and Derek stir.

Meredith pulled her knees to her chest, swallowing hard and Derek hopped off the gurney. “I have a patient to check on,” he said.

“Sure you do,” Dr. Bailey muttered sarcastically and took a step aside blocking his way. “You must be newlyweds or in matrimonial therapy whatever, but I don’t want to see this again,” she told them.

Meredith and Derek shared a concerned look.

“I’m very observant,” she told them as she read their panic. “Especially when I suspect things that shouldn’t happen. Identical rings, identical cars,” she pointed out.

Meredith turned with a glare to Derek, as she still couldn’t get over the fact that he had bought identical cars for them. She proved to him now why she had reasons not to like his idea.

“Be wise, Meredith. He won’t be the one judged here,” she said. “There’s a patient with fever down in the clinic. Go see what you can do.”

Meredith nodded and quickly put her shoes on and jumped off the gurney. Together with Derek, keeping an evident distance between them, she headed towards the elevators. When they were out of Bailey’s sight, Meredith stopped and looked worryingly at Derek. “Do you think we’re in love?” she asked him.

“What?” Derek chuckled, amused by her sudden question.

“Are we?” she insisted.

Derek stared at her, confused. “I don’t know. Are you?”

Meredith hesitated briefly. “Are you?” she asked back.

“You answer first,” Derek challenged.

Meredith sighed and grumbled. “Then how does everyone guess that we’re married?”

Derek shrugged. “You must have been bragging,” he chuckled.

Meredith rolled her eyes. “What could I possibly brag about?” she answered, smiling. “I have nothing interesting to brag about.”

Derek narrowed his eyes, glaring, although he knew she was teasing him. “I’ll ask that Nurse Rose to bring me the coffee every morning from now on,” he threatened her.

“I wouldn’t do it. It tastes horrible. I think she spits in it,” Meredith retorted.

Derek laughed and stated before walking away. “I think we’re in love.”

Meredith couldn’t stop from smiling as she watched him leaving. She didn’t know if she was in love with him, but she knew she liked him… like a lot.
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