27. Season 2 finale part 2prom

AN: Sorry for the delay. I wanted to take my time and make sure this part was right to set up for the next several chapters.

If the Chief thought a few hours away from surgery and stuck being tortured by means of prom-planning with teenage girls would be enough to break down their resolve, he was very mistaken. Bailey's interns were a notoriously close-knit group. They were very loyal to each other. Meredith knew none of the four who had gone before he had said anything. And she wasn't about to tell the Chief anything he wanted to know.

When she was called into the small conference room, Richard was sitting on the far side, hands clasped in front of him, looking menacing and authoritative. A number of files were stacked beside him on the table, the spines separated far enough to show their number and thickness. There was no doubt that there were the personal intern files. It was all just a ploy for control and power.

Meredith met his gaze as she shut the door behind herself and stepped across the room. She made sure not to glance at the files or note book on the table before him. She would not give him the satisfaction.

Sitting across from him, Meredith linked her fingers together and averted her eyes, picking a spot on the wall to the side and staring. She would remain silent as long as he would. And there they sat for several minutes. Meredith didn't move.

Finally, the Chief sat forward in his chair. "I've known you for a long time," he began, his tone even and controlled. "I knew your mother and father..."

Meredith's fingers clenched together involuntarily. He, evidently, knew her mother very well.

"...And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you did not cut those L-VAD wires."

Meredith continued to stare at her arbitrarily chosen spot on the wall.

"Meredith, I need you to tell me who did."

Something inside of her snapped and she turned to him; was he seriously expecting her to help him? "I've been going over this and over this in my mind, trying to piece this together." She paused, almost stopping to take pleasure in the fact that he had no idea what she was about to say to him. "It was you," she accused. "You're the reason my parents broke up."

He slowly sat back in his chair, and his silence destroyed the smallest fragments of doubt still lingering in the back of her mind. She ploughed onward with her accusations. "And it wasn't just an affair; she really loved you. It wasn't some cheap thing where she didn't tell you she was married." The man had knowingly slept with her married mother. "It wasn't all a lie. She left her husband for you."

Still, Richard said nothing.

"But you stayed with your wife, because it was the right thing to do...maybe safe, but she was the right person for you to be with. Let's face it...my mother? Nothing wrong with being safe, being with the good guy, because he's good. And we are talking about forever here." She sniffed and swallowed hard, fighting the stinging sensation behind her eyes. Derek really loved her. He had left his wife for her. He had chosen her. And she had been there, ready to start a life with him. She could barely imagine how crushed and pained he would have been had she decided that she didn't really want the lifetime with him. She would never have been able to forgive herself.

And that's exactly what the Chief had done. He had promised Ellis Grey a lifetime, and had reneged after she had taken the necessary steps to have that life. He had left her; broken her. And he didn't seem sorry. "You've never regretted your decision," Meredith continued. "You've never looked back, right?" She needed him to admit it. She needed him to look her in the eye and tell her he didn't hold any regrets; that he had forgiven himself for his callous actions. She needed to feel justified in hating him.

He sighed and looked away when she failed to break eye contact. "Meredith," he began after a long delay. "What you're talking about happened a long time ago-"

"For you maybe," she countered. "But for my mother, who has to relive her residency every day, it's happening now."

"I'm sorry."

"Are you?"

He looked back at her. "I never meant to..."

"Never meant to what? Promise her a lifetime and then leave her? Force her to leave her husband and end up alone? Get involved with a married woman in the first place? Destroy her?"

He sighed heavily. "I loved your mother. But I also love my wife."

Meredith scoffed. "If you really loved her, you wouldn't have hurt her like that."

"Meredith, I had to let her go. I wouldn't have been able to make her happy-"

"No!" She cried, abruptly leaping to her feet. Her chair slid back and toppled over. It clanged to the ground and the noise echoed around the small room. "No." She repeated. "Do you have any idea how much you hurt her? Do you have any idea what you did to her? You destroyed her! She lost everything! I haven't met a single other member of my family since I was five years old because she cut all ties. She had no one. No one."

"I never meant to-"

"But you did! And you lied about it. I came to you and I asked you if you knew why they split up. And you looked me in the eye and told me you didn't know."

"It's not something I'm proud of."

"Whatever." Meredith crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes stinging again as anger and pain welled through her body. "Are we done here?"

"Meredith..."

"I'm not telling you anything."

He sighed. "I know it wasn't you."

"You don't know me."

"Meredith, I-"

"It's Dr. Grey." She glared at him. Where did he get off thinking it was alright to call her by her first name? "Can I go?"

He sighed and nodded.

Meredith turned on her heel and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

000

After storming down the hall, Meredith found the closest on-call room and yanked open the door. It wasn't until she was fully into the room with the door shut behind her that she recognized George on the bed to the right. He was sitting up, leaning against the wall, one leg straight out in front of him and the other bent at the knee and tucked up to his chest.

He looked up at her, surprised. "How was your meeting with the Chief?"

She scowled and collapsed beside him, tucking both legs to her chest as she leaned against his shoulder. "I don't want to talk about it. What's got you all mopey?"

He sighed. "Callie said no."

"No to what?"

"Prom. I asked her to go to prom with me and she said no."

"Why did she say no?"

"She's mad at me." George sighed heavily, mirroring her position as he leaned back against her. "She told me she loved me."

"And?"

"And I didn't say it back."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Do you love her?"

"I...don't know. And she said it out of nowhere, and then Izzy was there dragging me to help her with Denny..."

"So she thinks you're avoiding her."

"I guess."

"When I first told Derek that I loved him, he didn't say it back right away," Meredith offered.

"It's not that I don't want to say it; it's that I don't want to say it and not mean it." He shrugged. "I don't know what to do."

"Tell her that."

He turned to meet her eyes. "Wouldn't that hurt her more?"

"It's better than lying or leaving her thinking you don't care."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Why is this so hard?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that."

"Life sucks."

"Yes, it does."

"Okay, you're turn. What's got you all mopey?"

"I told you; I don't want to talk about it."

"Did you say anything to the Chief?"

"I said a lot to the Chief, but nothing about Izzy."

George chuckled. "Me too."

Before either of them could continue, the door opened again. Meredith glanced up and smiled as she met familiar, comforting blue eyes. "Hey."

"Hey," Derek responded. "One of the nurses told me you had come in here and that you looked upset..." Concern creased his forehead and his eyes showed nothing more than love and support.

She patted the mattress beside her, and Derek wasted no time in coming to next to her. She reached for his hand and shifted her weight so that she was leaning against him instead of George. Warmth penetrated her through the contact and she smiled at the comfort she took from his closeness.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

He threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed supportively. "How was your meeting with the Chief?"

She exhaled tiredly and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll tell you later."

His thumb shifted to rub the back of her hand. "I have to go out to the trailer before tonight."

"How come?"

"I need to get my tux for tonight." When he had officially moved in with her, he had moved most of his belongings, but a few rarely used items had been left behind. "How long will you need to get ready? I can drop you off and then go to the trailer if you need a while. If not, I can go get my tux and come back to get ready, or we can pick up your stuff first and drive out to the trailer and you can get ready there..."

Meredith pursed her lips and shifted her hand in his grip to look at her watch. There was almost three hours left before prom was scheduled to begin. "I need to shower and stuff...should take me an hour or less once I get home..." She smirked at him. "I doubt it would be efficient for us to both be trying to get ready in the trailer at the same time."

He growled, deep in his throat. "There you go, mocking the trailer..."

She giggled, going so far to laugh when she felt George fighting his own laughter on the other side of her. "Why don't you just go out to the trailer and meet me back here? I'll find a way home and back."

George nodded quickly beside her. "Iz and I can drive you. We were going to leave in about an hour."

"Are you sure?" Derek asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah; Bailey's got us doing prom prep still anyway. I have to make sure the tables and stuff are set up before I leave."

"Okay, but I'll pick you up at home and bring you here."

She raised an eyebrow at his demanding tone. "Why? George and Izzy have to come back anyway-"

"Because," he said, cutting her off.

"Derek..."

He smirked at her and shook his head. "I'm putting my foot down."

"But-"

"No buts." He leaned close to kiss her cheek before standing up. "I'll see you in a couple hours...at home."

She briefly debated continuing to argue, but ultimately decided against it. Even if she didn't understand, his expression told her it was important to him. "Okay."

His face lit up. "Good."

000

"Hold on!" Meredith called as she hurried down the stairs awkwardly, one foot strapped into a high heeled shoe and the other bare, the skirt of her dress clutched in her left hand to keep herself from tripping. Izzy was in the shower and George had already headed back to the hospital to make sure everything was going well with last minute things, leaving Meredith as the only one to answer the door.

After having spent the entire previous night awake, Meredith was beginning to run low on energy. She had, at very least, slept late the previous day, but she had still been awake for well over twenty-four hours. It hadn't been until she had collapsed into the backseat of George's car that she had realized just how tired she was, and she had been surprised when Izzy had shaken her awake in their driveway. Then, what was supposed to be a short cat nap had extended to a little over an hour long nap. And now, she was running late, having rushed through getting ready, and had been on the floor, half under her bed looking for her matching shoe when the doorbell had started to ring. Cursing to herself, she had taken one last swipe, triumphantly pulled out her shoe's pair, and rushed for the door.

The doorbell rang once more right as she reached the front hall. She swung open the door and paused, blinking several times as she took in the sight before her. Derek was standing on the doorstep, wearing a black tux that served only to improve his already dreamy appearance and his trademark smile, a small box in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

His lips curled into a smirk. "Picking you up for prom."

"I know that, Derek," she chastised. "I mean, what are you doing ringing the bell? You live here."

"Not tonight, I don't."

She glared at him. "Yes, you do. You can't just decide not to live here for a night, Derek. Because if you don't live here tonight, then I don't live here. Because I like living with you. I have to live with you now; you've completely ruined me. And if I do live here tonight, and you don't, then we have a problem, because I'm a girl with abandonment issues and-"

His lips crashed down on hers.

She tried to push him away, to continue her rant, to make him understand, but his talented lips were doing wonderful things, and her own traitorous mouth was parting already. His warm hands had found the exposed skin of her back, creating small sparks of electricity at every touch.

"I guess that's what I get for trying to joke with my neurotic girlfriend," he whispered huskily when he finally came up for air.

"I'm not neurotic."

He grumbled and kissed her again.

"I'm still not neurotic," she repeated when he pulled away the second time.

"You are sometimes, but I love you for it. Now, let me start over. Neither of us have done the prom thing before, so I want for us to do it right. And that starts with me picking you up at the door, and..." he trailed off for a moment to lift his hand and open the small box, "...giving you this."

Meredith stared down at the small purple flower he had revealed. "I..."

Derek shifted closer and smiled warmly at her when she flicked her gaze back to him. "It's a corsage," he offered.

"I know what it is," she said quietly. "I just...wasn't expecting...this."

"Well, get used to it." He carefully lifted the small flower out of the box and, after setting to box onto the side table, moved to pin it to her dress. He smirked at her as he shifted one hand to the inside of the black material to guide the pin through. "This is the part where I play the gentleman who accidentally feels you up..."

Meredith laughed as his hand brushed against her to emphasize his point. "That didn't feel very accidental to me..."

His lips quirked upwards and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it was."

Still laughing, Meredith placed her hands against his chest, her fingers running along the smooth material of his tie. His chest was firm beneath her touch and she could feel the rise and fall of each breath he took as he gazed down at her. Her hands ran up the lapels of his jacket on their own accord, wanting to touch every part of him. The only time she had ever even seen him in a suit had been the day of the memorial for the fallen bomb squad members. He had looked good then, but now... He looked delicious.

Her lips parted and her tongue darted out to moisten them as she met his scorching eyes. His breathing deepened under her hands ever so slightly and his hands landed on her hips; very low on her hips, his thumbs brushing over the waist band of the black panties he loved.

"Thanks for the corsage," she whispered, surprised at how dry her throat was. It had been eight months and she was still taken aback by what he could do to her, just by looking at her. Not only was her throat dry, but her heart was fluttering in her chest like she really was a teenage girl going to prom, her knees were floundering and her stomach was doing somersaults.

He leaned close, his lips a hair's breadth from hers. "You're very welcome." The heat from his breath against her cheek created an array of goose-bumps across her body. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look?" He asked, his voice low and throaty.

"Nnnn..." She shook her head, her throat so dry that she couldn't even form a simple word.

"Hmmm." He pressed his lips against hers for just a moment. "Well, you do, look beautiful that is." He kissed her again, just as quick. "Gorgeous." Kiss. "Sexy." Kiss. "Perfect." This time when his lips captured hers, Meredith held him close.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she whispered when she released him.

He raised his hand to brush a lock of hair out of her face. "Thanks."

Meredith swallowed hard. The look he was giving her was more intense than anything she could remember receiving before; filled with passion and love and desire and need. Part of her knew she should pull herself from his arms and make a move for the car. The other, larger, part of her wanted nothing more than to take him upstairs and take full advantage of that look.

She groaned despite herself, and he smirked. "We should go," he prompted.

"Yeah..." Meredith could barely stay upright on her own, and was actually concerned about her ability to continue to do so after his supportive hands left her side. She had no idea how she was supposed to spend hours that evening dancing and socializing, not when everything she recognized in his eyes was mirrored in her body. She needed him. She wanted him.

His lips found hers once again, only much more chaste this time. "We won't stay too long," he promised.

Attempting a half smile, Meredith nodded. "Good."

Derek smirked, fully knowing, and revelling in, his effect on her. "Are you ready?"

She crouched to pick up the shoe that she had dropped when he had first touched her, and, one hand clutching to him for balance, pulled it on her bare foot. "Now I am."

He laughed.

"Iz!" She called, turning towards the stairs. The shower had stopped at some point since she had made her way down the stairs.

The bathroom door creaked open upstairs. "Yeah?"

"We're going. Did you want to come with us, or drive yourself?"

"I'll drive myself," Izzy called back. "I don't even know what I'm going to wear yet, and I've only narrowed it down to three dresses."

"Okay. We'll see you there." She smiled and turned back to her handsome date. "So..."

He smiled back, offering her the crook of his elbow. "Shall we?"

She nodded and hooked her wrist through his arm. "Lead the way."

000

"I thought you said you didn't ever dance in public?"

The hospital prom was already proving to beat her expectations. The balloon and banners and array of other decorations were tasteful, and the music was not quite her taste, but pretty okay. The punch was terrible, but the food she had ordered was wonderful. And the fact that she could spend as much time as she wanted tucked up close to Derek or in his arms on the dance floor just made everything else pale in comparison.

She swayed back and forth in his arms, surprised by how strong a lead he was for a man who claimed not to dance, and raised a questioning eyebrow to him.

His fingers clutched ever so closer to her lower back. "Slow dancing doesn't count, especially with you."

Meredith felt her cheeks blush, and buried her face in the crook of his neck in an effort to hide it from him. She knew she had been unsuccessful, but he said nothing, only ran one hand up her back to rest between her shoulder blades. "I like slow dancing with you, too," she mumbled into the soft material of his suit.

"We've never done this before."

"No."

"We should do it more often," he whispered into her hair. "I like it."

"Me, too." She sighed and closed her eyes, revelling in the feeling of being in his arms as he led them slowly side to side.

It was several minutes before he spoke again. "What happened in your meeting with the Chief, that you didn't want to talk about in front of George?"

She breathed and lifted her head off of his shoulder, meeting his concerned gaze. She knew she could tell him. She could tell him anything. "It was him," she said quietly.

Derek furrowed his brow. "What was him?"

She sighed and clutched at the dark fabric of his jacket with her fingers. "He was the man my mother had the affair with."

For several seconds his expression didn't change. Then he blinked twice and his face morphed into anger. "That... I should have known. He told me, last night, he told me he had had an affair during his residency." He shook his head. "I didn't put it together."

"It took me until now to put it together." She shrugged. "Or maybe I just didn't want to see it before. But it was him. They were together for years. And at the end of their residency, they agreed to end their marriages and move on together. My mother left Thatcher, but the Chief didn't go through with it. And my mom moved us to Boston."

"And you lost your father," he supplied.

"Yeah."

His arms tightened around her. "How did you...?"

"I figured it out. I accused him point blank. He didn't deny it. And then he gave me some excuse about how he loved her, but he also loved his wife, and how he never meant to hurt her. And how he wouldn't have been able to make her happy." She shook her head as tears formed behind her eyes. "If he had really loved her, he wouldn't have done that to her. He would never have left her. You have no idea how crushed she was, how..." Her voice cracked and she trailed off.

"Shh..." He whispered, his hand running up and down her back reassuringly. "Shh..."

She sniffed. "He destroyed her."

Derek offered her a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

She nodded.

"I don't know what to say to make it better."

She attempted a small smile. "I doubt there is anything to say."

"I love you."

This time she was successful with her smile. "I love you too."

He smiled back. "Mer, all I can do is promise you that I'm not Richard Webber. I know what I want, who I want. I love you, and I want a lifetime with you. I'll never leave, I promise."

Meredith closed her eyes as her breathing hitched. When she opened them, he was staring back at her, his features fuzzy through her tears. "I promise, too." And she meant it, even though, in the back of her mind, she was still freaking out about all the steps she had taken, and even though she was nervous about getting on the plane to New York in two days time. She meant it.

He pressed his lips against her forehead. "Good."

She sighed and nuzzled into the crook of his neck again, seeking comfort in the closeness. He did the same, his arms closing tightly around her and his chin coming to rest on her shoulder. The slow song ended and was replaced with one slightly more fast paced, but neither noticed, remaining just as close, wrapped in each other's arms as they swayed together.

"My mom called this afternoon," Derek whispered, breaking the comfortable silence after several minutes.

Meredith sighed and lifted her head off his shoulder.

He offered her a warm smile. "She's looking forward to meeting you."

"Okay."

He tilted his head as his eyes narrowed. "You still doing okay with this?"

Meredith's heart suddenly tripled it's rhythm, pounding against her chest. Her throat was dry and she swallowed hard. Her limbs were trembling. No; she wasn't doing as okay with this as she would like to be. She felt like she was stuck on a rollercoaster, moving at a hundred miles an hour. And she wanted to reached the end of the ride, she really did, but she really wanted to slow down, to prepare for the next set of loops she had to get through. Eight months was a long time. It was the better part of a year. It was long enough to settle into the routine of a hospital and discover she loved the job she had gotten into for all the wrong reasons. It was long enough to meet the guy. And it may even be long enough to fall in love with, move in with and make plans with the guy. But, for Meredith at least, it suddenly didn't feel like long enough to be making these steps.

She wanted the lifetime with him. She wanted to wake up with him every morning and fall asleep in his arms every night. She loved him and he loved her. She wanted to do things like this with him, dance together, go out together, talk about things and discuss their lives. She never wanted to lose him, never wanted to do any of these things with another man. Meredith was done. She had found the guy she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

But eight months wasn't enough time. Eight months was too fast. Too fast to be getting on a plane and flying across the country to spend three days in New York, surrounded by his family. She may never have done this before, the relationship thing, but she had heard the stories about meeting one's boyfriend's family. And she knew the Shepherd's would have opinions. She knew she would have misperceptions to overcome. Would eight months be long enough to be able to convince them of just how much she loved Derek? Would it be long enough to support her through three days?

Would it be long enough to stand up against the twenty-eight years she had spent not believing in true love, happily ever afters and relationships? Would she be able to get through the weekend, or would she fall back into her old habits and run?

"Mer?" He prompted, concern lining his beautiful eyes.

She offered him a wobbly smile. "I'm fine."

He scoffed.

A nervous laugh escaped her lips. "Okay, so I'm not fine fine. I'm..." She swallowed hard. "...freaking out...a little."

"You have nothing to worry about."

She nodded; she had lost count of the number of times he had repeated that to her. "I know. I just... Does it feel fast to you?"

His lips captured hers in a short, reassuring kiss. "No," he told her when he pulled away, his expression bright and cheerful and encouraging. "It's not fast, Mer. I knew it was you the day I met you. I would have taken you home last fall."

Meredith melted at his enthusiasm. He was so excited, so happy to be introducing her to his family. She couldn't crush that by letting him in on her thoughts. He was right; it would be okay. It was only three days. "That I wouldn't have agreed to," she offered lightly.

He chuckled. "Which is why I waited until now." He paused and smiled reverently at her. "They're going to love you."

Meredith had to remind herself to breathe while she fought to keep her feet from moving off the floor. Somewhere while they had been discussing this particular topic, they had stopped moving. Her feet were firmly planted underneath her, still and even, masking their sudden, unexplainable, desire to run. She swallowed hard and gripped onto him a little tighter as she gazed into the comforting blue of his eyes. She would never run from him.

But she needed to talk about something else. "Did you hear about Izzy and Denny?" Came flooding from her lips. It was the only thing she could think of.

His expression shifted, a hint of a question floating behind his eyes at her abrupt subject change, but he respected that she had done it for a reason and followed suit. "No, what?"

"He asked her to marry him."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"She said yes." Meredith felt the corner of her lips curl at the memory of her exuberant roommate. When she and George had finally found Izzy, she had floating in engagement bliss, having just told Denny yes. "She...was so excited."

"Good for them."

Meredith nodded. "Yeah..."

Derek tilted his head and motioned towards her with his chin. "What?"

"It's just something that Izzy said last night."

He stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. They hadn't yet discussed the previous night, and he would let her make the first move.

"She and Cristina were arguing. Cristina kept saying how stupid the whole thing was, that Izzy should never have gotten involved in the first place, that if she had valued her career at all that she would have run. And Izzy told her she would rather be running towards someone than away."

Derek nodded, his brow furrowed as he fought to discern Meredith's point with the conversation.

"I used to be like Cristina," Meredith admitted quietly. She sighed and leaned into Derek, initiating a new round of dancing, and she didn't continue again until they were swaying back and forth together once more. "I would have run. Hell, I did run. A lot. Like, all the time. From everything and everyone. But...some time in the last year...I guess I started to become more like Izzy. I want to run towards you, or with you, or whatever. But the point is...I've changed."

"But it's a good change, right?"

She nodded, smiling to reassure the worry in his tone. "It's a good change; scary sometimes, but good."

"I'm sorry it's still scary."

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for, Derek. You're the reason it's scary sometimes, and not all the time."

The concern behind his eyes all-but disappeared. "Well, what can I do to make the sometimes become never?"

She shrugged in his arms. "Just time, I guess. Eight months isn't all that long."

"It's long enough for me to know everything I need to know." Any lingering concern or doubt left his gaze, replaced by a familiar heat.

Meredith felt herself melting under his scorching expression. The couples dancing around them faded into the background and she felt her chest hitch as she was captivated by the blue of his irises. "Yeah..." She mumbled, all of the feelings and emotions from earlier falling back to her. Maybe she should have just dragged him up the stairs when he had come to pick her up.

They were already pushed close together, in each other's arms, but he shifted just so to press into her. "Meredith..."

The throaty way he said her voice took her breath away as she began to pant. Her body was on fire, fuelled by every inch of contact between them. One of his strong hands left her back to brush a lock of hair out of her face. His rough fingertips left a tingling trail behind on her cheek as she shuddered under the assault of her arousal. She could feel his own arousal growing against her. "Derek..." She moaned his name before leaning in to press her lips against his.

She lost herself for several moments, fully supported by his strong arms. It wasn't until his tongue was darting against her lips that she remembered where they were. "Derek," she said, breathless. "We...we..." She trailed off and breathed deep, fighting for control over her own body. "We're at prom," she finally managed.

Derek nodded, equally breathless. He said nothing, but his arms tightened around her as he continued to sway them back and forth. She could feel him breathing against her, fighting to keep his own desires in check.

Meredith clutched at the coarse fabric of the back of his jacket, wanting nothing more than to pull it off of him and rub her fingers over the soft cotton of the white shirt he wore underneath. And she didn't want to wait until later. She didn't want to wait through another few hours of prom things and a drive home until they were alone in their room. She wanted him now. She needed him now.

"Come on," she mumbled, breaking away from his grip and dragging him by the hand off the dance floor.

He released her hand, his coming to rest on her lower back as he kept himself close behind her. After they had, hopefully discreetly, left the dance behind, Meredith paused at an intersection of hallways. They weren't overly close to any of the on-call rooms. Before she could begin to make a decision, Derek was pushing her forward down a quiet hallway and into an empty exam room.

The moment the door had closed behind them, she turned to him and his lips were on hers. Her fingers made easy work of the few buttons along the front of his tux, and she pushed the jacket off, over his shoulders. He moaned into her mouth as her hands began to roam along his body, only separated by the thin fabric of his white shirt.

He pressed against her, and Meredith found herself backing up until she met the exam table. It was only a moment before his hands shifted down to her hips and he lifted her to perch on the table before him. She hooked her legs round him and let her hands travel down to buckle of his belt.

His lips left hers to work down her neck to her chest, his finger pulling at the fabric of her dress for access to more intimate areas. Momentarily overcome, Meredith's fingers fell away from his belt to bury in his hair, subtly directing the movement of his talented lips. It was always like this between them. It was always overcoming. She had never had this before. She had never known this much desire for another person.

He ground against her and she moaned, returning to her task of undoing his belt. Once the garment was out of the way, she moved to his fly. He was ready. They didn't say anything; they didn't have to. Meredith shifted on the table, helping him to remove her panties. And then they were pressed together once more, nothing to left to separate them.

When they were finished, Meredith sat gasping on the table, her arms and legs still around him, holding him close. He panted against her, his hands resting along her spine.

"Well, so much for us not carrying out our relationship in the hospital..." She said lightly.

He chuckled and kissed her swollen lips. "Something else the Chief doesn't need to know about."

Meredith giggled.

He kissed her again. Her lips. Her cheeks. Her forehead. And then he reluctantly pulled away, releasing her to tuck in his shirt. He offered her a wry smile. "So, what do you think this means for us now?"

She snorted and raised an eyebrow. "How about that we have no self-control?"

He laughed. "Sounds about right."

She nodded and pushed herself off the table. "Have you seen my panties?"

Derek smirked. "I have."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Smart ass," she muttered, glancing around the small room. "Well, I can't find them. Where did you put them?"

"Why do you think I lost them?"

She mock-glared at him. "Because you took them off."

"Good point."

He made no move to help her, still tucking in his shirt and doing up his pants. She sauntered over to him, her hands reaching up to his neck.

"What are you doing?"

She smiled up at him. "Fixing your tie."

The corners of his lips twitched upwards and he opened his mouth to retort, but the door swinging open across the small room broke them apart.

Meredith jumped and turned to meet Callie's surprised expression. "I, uh..."

Callie shook her head to cut her off. "The nurse said you were in here. You have to come with me, it's Izzy."