99. Chapter 99

AN: I really hope you like this chapter. It's very fluffy. I'm having a bad week, and I needed to write something drama free. I also started watching season one on a whim, so there's hints of that in here too. One scene in particular, I had wanted to save for chapter 100, but it fit so well in here that I couldn't wait another chapter. This will be the last double digit chapter (how did THAT happen?), so I really wanted to thank everyone for sticking with this story for so long.

Derek sighed as his brain found consciousness. His eyes were closed, but he could sense it was no longer dark. He had gotten home late the night before – after midnight. He had been exhausted, and it had been all he could do to drive home after his marathon shift. Meredith had been fast asleep when he had quietly crept into their darkened bedroom, stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed next to her. She hadn't stirred, even when he had leaned over to press a kiss against her cheek.

She was obviously awake now, though, as he could hear movement next to him. He stretched his legs downwards and then rolled onto his back. A series of crinkling noises accompanied his movements. He felt his brow furrow. "What...?" Propping himself up on his elbows, he glanced down, frowning at the newspaper covering the bedspread. He turned his head to the left.

"Morning," Meredith offered. She was sitting upright beside him, her lips pursed and her attention on the newspaper in her hands.

"This is new," he commented.

She giggled, momentarily dropping the newspaper in her hands to her lap, and reached her hand towards him, burying her fingers in his hair. "I've had enough."

"Enough?"

"Enough," she confirmed with a nod.

Derek yawned and ran his hand over his face, wondering briefly if he was still asleep and this was some kind of strange dream. He rolled onto his side, facing his wife. "Enough of what?"

"This." She gestured around her.

He glanced around their bedroom. "Uh..."

She giggled at his lost expression. "The house. The roommates. I've had enough. And we said two weeks ago that we were going to start looking for a new place to live, but we haven't yet. And we finally have a day off together, so I thought we should start looking.

Derek finally actually looked at the newspaper, recognizing pages related to rentals and house sales. He smiled. "You've had enough," he said knowingly. He shifted so he was sitting against the headboard right beside her.

"I had a shower when I woke up this morning and Izzy knocked for like five minutes straight." They had installed the new lock over almost two weeks ago, and it wasn't being accepted as well as Meredith would have liked.

He chuckled. "So, we're looking for a place to live."

She nodded. "I wasn't sure what exactly to look for, so I brought up ads for, well, everything."

Derek reached for the closest page of newspaper ads – the one that had been resting on his chest. "Good thinking." He scanned the page. "Are we looking for a mansion?"

Meredith shrugged. "I haven't looked at those pages yet. I don't really think we need a mansion, but if you want to look at them..." She trailed off, leaving the offer open ended, knowing he wouldn't want such a large home either.

"I think we should live here," Derek said, pointing to a massive stone house on a ten acre estate.

She laughed and leaned close to rest her head on his shoulder. "We'll put it on the list," she joked.

"I guess we need to decide what we're looking for before we start looking..."

"My only criteria right now is no roommates."

"Yesterday you told me you loved your roommates and never wanted to leave," he pointed out. They had dragged themselves out of bed late – a product of being newlyweds – and after rushing through showers and getting dressed, they had discovered exactly two travel mugs worth of hot coffee waiting in the pot in the kitchen and pancakes sitting on the stove. Meredith had, of course, had no qualms about cold pancakes and had gushed about how much she loved their roommates as she somehow put away four pancakes in the time it took them to drive to the hospital. Even after a year together, he hadn't been able to shake her belief that cold leftovers were an acceptable way to start the day.

She laughed again. "Yesterday no one had pissed me off."

He chuckled. "Remind me not to piss you off again until after we move out. I don't want to end up stuck here while you're living it up somewhere else."

She continued laughing and reached for his hand. "Never."

"Good." He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her hand, his heart tugging at how happy he felt. Meredith was the love of his life – he had known that for some time. And she had made him happier than he had ever been. But something had changed in the last three weeks. They had changed. Not remarkably. Not in a way that was obvious to the outside world. In a way only they could feel. Because even though she was still recovering from the many challenges life had thrust upon her in such a short period of time, she had, if anything, opened up to him more. Her character had a new lightness to it.

She was happy.

He smiled at the knowledge that he made her happy.

"So, what are we looking for?"

"I have no idea. It would be nice to stay close to the hospital."

"Walking distance close?"

She shrugged. "That would be nice, but not necessary."

"How much space do you want?"

"Mmm," she murmured thoughtfully. "I like the idea of having some extra room, but nothing crazy."

"So, in other words, we can toss the ads for the mansions."

"Exactly."

He made a show of crinkling up the page of mansions into a ball and tossing it onto the floor. When she giggled, he joined her. He then reached for a page of condos and held it up for the two of them to look at together.

"That one looks nice," she commented on a two bedroom loft near the hospital.

"Mmm-hmm," he agreed. "There's a few that look promising. Maybe we can make some calls this morning and go see a few this afternoon?"

"Sounds good."

He set aside the page and reached for another.

"What time did you get home last night?" She questioned.

"Around one. You were out cold."

"I was exhausted," she said. "I went to bed at nine."

"It'll get better," he assured. The first few weeks with interns were always the hardest. The residents needed to be around the hospital more than ever for the sake of supervision. Meredith had been at the hospital for at least two days before she had finally been able to leave. Having expected to be able to leave with her at a reasonable hour, he had been stuck in emergency surgery until almost midnight, and had found a note on his desk from her saying she was hitching a ride home with Alex. Her excessive hours were the main reason they hadn't officially started their house hunting yet. On the one day she had had off in the past two weeks he had been stuck in surgery all day.

"I hope so," she said. "I thought becoming a resident meant I'd be getting more sleep; not less."

"Just think of how little sleep you were getting a year ago."

She made a face. "I think I had blocked that out."

He chuckled.

"But I still think it was more sleep then." She sent him a smirk. "I didn't have you keeping me up all night. Not yet, anyway. I just had to deal with you stalking me in the hospital."

He scoffed. "I didn't stalk you. You were all over me at work."

"I was not!"

"Were too. It was sad."

She elbowed him in the ribs. "You were the sad one. I wanted nothing to do with you."

"How do you explain jumping me in an elevator?"

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Derek smirked, knowing he had her.

Meredith huffed. "I was having a bad day. One time."

"You also jumped me at your party."

"Okay, first, that was not my party. I'm still mad at Izzy for pulling that. And two, I so did not jump you. I was perfectly happy by myself that night."

"You were drunk and dancing by yourself on the porch. With a bottle of tequila in your arms," he pointed out.

"Exactly. I was drunk. You took advantage."

"We are not starting that one again."

"I so didn't initiate that. Why were you even there?"

He shrugged. "It was a party-"

"That you weren't invited to. A fact that you made sure to point out."

"I was invited," he insisted.

"No, you weren't. You even told me," she reminded. "Earlier that day. Remember? I asked how you even knew about the party, because I still thought it was going to be small."

"I do remember. But then you texted me from the party and asked me to come."

"I did not."

"You did," he insisted.

"I did not," she repeated.

He chuckled at the realization that she truly didn't remember. "You did," he said again, only this time leaving the joking tone behind. "Remember how the day before you had given me crap for kidnapping your phone while you were scrubbing out and putting my number in it?"

She stared at him for a long moment. "I remember that, but I didn't text you."

Derek couldn't help but smile at her tenacity. "You didn't invite me to the party, even after I hinted. And you refused to go out with me that night, so I was stayed late at the hospital. I was on my way to the ferry to go home that night when your text came through, asking me to come over. And when I pulled up, there you were, dancing on the front porch. I thought you were waiting for me."

"You're not making this up?"

He shook his head. "You really asked me to come over."

She made a face. "So, you're telling me the whole getting caught naked in your car by Bailey was my fault?"

He smirked. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

She laughed, burying her face into his chest. "All this time... I thought you just showed up."

He laughed, hugging her tight. "And all this time I thought I had been making progress. I was thrilled when I got your text. It renewed my efforts to woo you."

"I blamed you for the whole Bailey thing," she mumbled into his chest.

"That's okay."

She lifted her head. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"How was I supposed to know you didn't remember?"

"So, you didn't know I didn't know?"

"No. I mean yes. I mean... I didn't know you didn't know." He ran his hand up her arm and across her shoulder to cup her cheek. "Why do you think I was so insistent we sneak inside?"

"You thought I invited you over," she said in understanding.

He nodded. "And now, a year later, I find out I was just a vulnerable soul who fell for a drunken text..."

She laughed and leaned in to kiss him. "Thank you for coming over that night. Even with the Bailey thing, it was memorable."

He kissed her back. "It was my pleasure."

"Actually, it was our pleasure."

"Good point." He kissed her again. "Though, I still would have won you over eventually."

"You were very insistent."

"With good reason."

"You had no way of knowing at that time that we would end up...here."

"I did," he insisted. "I fell for you the moment I saw you."

"I think that was the alcohol."

"That may have helped with the nerves."

She cocked her head. "You really knew? At Joe's?"

He took a breath and then exhaled slowly, thinking back. "No. I was definitely drawn to you at Joe's, and after. But when I knew? I think that was when you finally agreed to go out with me."

"Yeah?"

He nodded, smiling at her expression. "I asked. You said yes. And I was so surprised after being turned down so many times that I didn't know what to say. And you were just so...nonchalant about it."

Derek was tired after spending the past twenty-four hours in the hospital – he was still adjusting to a hospital setting after spending the years since his residency in private practice – but wasn't as exhausted as he would have expected. It was exciting working in a hospital again. His patients were more interesting. His surgeries were more exciting. And – as his new favourite intern walked past him – the company was definitely much better.

It was very early morning, so early the sun hadn't begun its rise into the sky yet. He could see his patient asleep in the hospital bed down the hall, recovering from having several nails removed from his skull. His very supportive wife was curled up in the chair next to him, prepared to spend the next ten years with a man who looked like her husband, but didn't remember her or her love of red, should the upcoming tumour removal not go as hoped.

It wasn't a situation he envied. But he did envy their relationship.

Meredith paused, halfway between him and the patient's room. She turned towards him, her upper incisors biting into her lower lip – a habit he had begun to recognize. "They're still going along with the surgery?"

He nodded.

She sighed, but said nothing, turning back to the patient and staring down the hall.

"It's their choice," he offered.

She turned back to him, stepping closer. "Are you operating today?"

"No. I'll give him a few days."

"To recover from yesterday's surgery?"

He stared at her, not quite knowing what to say. Apparently, though, he didn't have to know which words to use. She understood.

"You think he's going to lose his memory." It wasn't a question.

He ran a hand through his hair. "I hope not," he offered.

"But you're giving them some time. Just in case."

There was a glint in her eyes that he couldn't make out. "Yes."

She nodded. "That's good. Time is...good."

"Mmm, it is." He offered her a smile, which grew in size when she smiled in response. And when she averted her eyes and looked away, almost as if she were embarrassed, he felt his heart tug. She certainly was something special.

"So," he started, changing the subject, "I don't have anything scheduled for the morning."

"I'm off today. Well, I was supposed to be off..." She glanced at her watch, "...Eleven hours ago." She sighed and leaned onto the counter in front of her, reaching for a chart.

Derek sidled up to the counter beside her. She didn't look up, but he didn't let it deter him. "I was thinking about going out for breakfast..."

She said nothing, dutifully making notes in the chart.

"You could come with me?" He asked lightly, "Breakfast can be better than leftover grilled cheese."

"Okay," she said quietly, with a shrug.

"And don't even get me started on the cold pizza. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

She looked up from her chart. "I said okay."

He met her eyes, surprised. After weeks of hearing the word no, he hadn't processed her first yes. "Okay," he practically whispered.

She shrugged again. "Okay." The corners of her lips quirked upward, as if she couldn't prevent a smile.

He smiled back, unable to hold back his own smile. He had started to worry he would never get a yes. "Okay," he said again, now with much more confidence.

Her gaze flickered, as if she would look away. But she didn't. Her gaze remained trained on his.

Derek had to remind himself to breathe. Her eyes were sparkling, despite her obvious exhaustion, and with the soft smile on her lips he felt like he could see her. And she was definitely something special.

"Don't make a big deal out of it," she said quietly. "It's just breakfast."

His smile grew. "Just breakfast," he agreed, before cocking his head, "For now." She's said yes to breakfast, but they both knew this would be more than just breakfast. It was a big deal.

He eyes remained on his for a few more seconds before it became too much for her and she looked away, focusing on her chart again. He could just make out her incisors pressing down into her lower lip again.

Derek chose to keep quiet now, knowing she was conflicted. But the fact that she was finally saying yes made his heart beat faster. She was saying yes even though she was an intern and he was an attending. That meant she was feeling what he was feeling too.

He smiled to himself at the knowledge. He was definitely hooked.

"I think I knew by then, too," Meredith said, pulling him back to the present. "As much as I knew it was wrong and knew I should just keep saying no, I just...couldn't."

"I'm glad. You were starting to ding my ego saying no every time."

She laughed. "I think your ego is strong enough to take some rejection."

"Maybe, but not from you."

"Well," she said with a shrug, "You won't have to worry about that anymore." She held up her left hand to prove her point. "You've got me."

He smiled, reaching for her hand and running his fingers over the thin strip of metal on her ring finger. "You've got me, too," he echoed her words truthfully. He had never expected to be this happy, and now that he was, he never wanted it to end.

Releasing her hand, he wrapped his arms around his wife. "I'm sorry we didn't get to go to dinner last night." They had planned on going out before he had been called into emergency surgery.

"Me too," she responded, snuggling closer, "But at the same time, I'm not sure I wouldn't have fallen asleep at the table..."

He laughed. "That wouldn't have been good."

She giggled. "We could go out tonight instead?"

"Sounds good." He pressed his lips to the top of her head. "How was the rest of your shift?" He asked. "Other than long?" The previous day had been so stressful that neither of them had had much of a chance to talk.

"It was..." She sighed. "I don't know."

"Lexie again?" He asked knowingly. Despite her persistency that she didn't care, Derek knew better. She was afraid of getting hurt, but she still cared. She always cared. About everyone. All the time.

"Yeah." She sighed again. "I was working in the pit with her. A trauma came in – MVA – and the guy was clearly DOA. Probably died on impact. I had Lexie do an intubation. It's something Bailey had me do countless times," she added quickly.

"I know," he reassured. "It's something we've all used to teach."

"Yeah, well, Lexie didn't think it was a good training exercise. She yelled at me. Told me I was too cavalier and didn't do everything I could." She paused. "There was nothing I could have done."

He rubbed her back, knowing she felt every loss, just like he did.

"And then she went to Bailey and told her I hated her and..." She trailed off.

"And?" He prompted.

She lifted her head from his shoulder to meet his eyes. "She told Bailey I hated Susan."

"Oh, Mer," he murmured, brushing his thumb across her cheek. It had only been six weeks since Susan Grey had died.

"Bailey lectured me. Said I hadn't been nice to Lexie, so it was fair that she felt the way she did. And I...I guess she has a point. So I..."

He cocked his head. "What?"

"I got Susan's file and I walked Lexie through everything that happened that day. And I...I told her how much Susan meant to me. And she was just so..." She trailed off again with a huff. "She's too freaking nice. And I hate that she's nice. Because it makes it hard to not care."

"Meredith..."

"She cried," Meredith said. "When I told her about Susan. And then when it was over she thanked me and she...hugged me. And I couldn't... I didn't know what to say. She's not my sister. I don't want a relationship with her. But she's so nice that I don't know how to not know her."

He hooked his finger into the collar of her shirt and pulled her close. She smiled softly as she leaned towards him, her lips easily finding his.

"Would it be the worst thing in the world to know her?" He asked softly when she pulled away.

"She's not my sister."

"She doesn't have to be your sister for you to know her. She could be your friend."

"I have friends."

He smiled at her tenacity. "Okay, she could be an acquaintance."

She smiled back at him, grateful for his attempts. "I don't know."

He pulled her close again, brushing his lips against hers before whispering, "You don't have to know right now."

"Thank you," she whispered against him.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside their room and then a door slammed. Meredith flinched and then laughed. "We really need to get on the whole house hunting thing."

He kissed her again and then released her, reaching for the discarded page of condos. "Agreed."

"I liked the second place we looked at," Meredith offered. It was hours later, and after spending much of their day looking – unsuccessfully – at potential new homes, they were having dinner.

He raised an eyebrow. "You mean the place with the yellow walls?"

She shrugged. "Okay, so it was too bright and shiny for us, but that's what paint is for."

"I don't think I'd ever be able to get the memory of the colour out of my head."

Meredith laughed, causing Derek to smile at the sound.

"I think we can do a lot better," he continued. They had only been able to get in to see a few places that day on such short notice.

She smiled at him from across the table.

He smiled back, cocking his head to the side at her expression. "What?"

She shrugged. "Nothing."

"Meredith..."

Her smile grew, and then she bit down on her lower lip for a moment. "I just...had a good day."

"Even though it didn't result in anything?"

She nodded. "I've never gone house hunting with my husband before. It was...nice. Makes me feel very grownup..."

Derek couldn't help but smile at how easily the term husband had fluttered from her lips. It had only been three weeks, and yet being married to her already seemed like the most natural thing in the world, other than the fact that his heart leapt every time she called him her husband. He could still picture the brilliant smile on her face when they had been pronounced husband and wife.

Derek was grateful they had decided to get married along the quiet end of the beach; the direction he and Meredith had taken their walk on the first night. There were very few people still out at this time in the evening and they could only hear brief wisps of the noise coming from the beach on the other site of their resort.

Having just finished speaking to the photographer from the resort – he had promised Meredith they would have a picture and he had made sure he kept his word – he turned towards the beach and his eyes found his very-soon-to-be wife standing along the very edge of the beach, her bare feet sinking into the sand at the water's edge.

She was wearing the white and purple dress they had purchased in New York as a 'just in case,' and he couldn't remember her ever looking as beautiful as she did at that moment. Of course, that could have just as much to do with the fact that she was about to marry him.

Also barefoot, wearing dark pants and a light shirt with an open collar, he padded up silently behind her, snaking his hands around her waist. "You look gorgeous," he commented into the soft skin at the crook of her neck.

She shivered slightly in his arms. "It's the perfect night," she murmured, her voice portraying nothing but contentment.

"Mmm-hmm," he agreed, resting his chin on her shoulder and his cheek against hers as they stared out at the ocean together. The sun was dipping down in the sky, but not so far that it could be considered dusk yet. The air was cool around them, but the water lapping against their feet was still warm. It was a perfect night. Of course, he would think that if they were in the middle of a tropical storm right now. Any day that she swore the rest of her life to him would be perfect.

"The water's not scary anymore," she murmured, leaning back against his chest.

"I'm glad." It was almost fitting that they were getting married here, along the edge of the water, because even though it had threatened to tear her away from him and destroy him in the process, it had instead made them stronger. They had overcome everything thrown at them, and they were here now, about to promise each other forever. "God, I love you," he whispered.

Her hands found his. "I love you too, Derek, so much."

He kissed her neck again. "You ready to do this?"

She turned in his arms, a gentle smile on her lips. "I really am." Her hair was wavy like he liked it, gentle almost-curls framing her face. Her eyes sparkled despite the low light.

She took his breath away.

"Are you ready?" She questioned at his silence.

"Oh, Mer, I've been ready for...ever," he breathed. "I'm just..." He trailed off, unable to come up with the right verb.

"Me too," she whispered knowingly, pressing herself against him.

He kissed her forehead as her hands snaked around his waist, and for a few moments he just focussed on breathing, his chin resting on her head. This would be the last moment they shared as an unmarried couple; it was a moment he would always remember. She sighed, and he could feel the warm exhale of breath against his neck. And after another deep breath, Meredith pulled away, her eyes still sparkling like he'd never seen. She was as ready for this as he was.

"Come on," she murmured, grasping his hand and tugging him towards the officiator waiting patiently down the beach. They had opted against including any props in their ceremony. No flowers. No arch. No aisle. They would walk together to the officiator, just as they were doing now. There would be no more fitting symbolism than that.

When they arrived, Derek reached for Meredith's other hand. Her gaze didn't leave his as the officiator began. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest and he squeezed her hands. She squeezed back. They were really doing this. They were checking off the most important item on their list.

The introduction was short. There was no 'we are gathered here today' opening section because there were no guests. There was just a short, simple statement about marriage. It included words like 'love' and 'trust' and 'forever.'

Meredith's eyes welled as she said her vows, but her voice held nothing but certainty. He smiled and squeezed her hands when she finished, and by the time he finished with his own vows, her form was blurry through the tears in his own eyes.

Her hand trembled slightly when she slid the wedding band onto his finger. It felt cool and new, but perfectly welcome. She smiled tenderly at him as he slipped her matching band onto her finger, next to her engagement ring, and his heart melted at the amazed look in her eyes.

They were pronounced husband and wife.

Her previously soft smile flourished like he'd never seen, even after spending the last year of his life with her. She inhaled a shuddery breath, her damp eyes brighter than ever. Derek had to remind himself to breathe as he lifted his newly ringed left hand to cup her face. His thumb brushed at the tear track on her cheek as he took a moment to simply savour.

And then he kissed his wife.

"...And I guess I'm really looking forward to having a place that's just ours, even if it takes a while to find the right place. The process is fun," Meredith finished her explanation, pulling Derek from his memory.

His heart swelled at the enthusiasm in her tone. Despite the stress and exhaustion of the past few weeks – not to mention the half-sister roaming the halls of the hospital – Meredith had been nothing but open with him.

She cocked her head, her eyes narrowing. "I lost you there for a moment," she commented.

He nodded. "I was just thinking."

Her lips curled into a playful smirk. "I know how difficult that can be for you..."

"I was thinking about our wedding," he retorted.

The smirk transformed into a smile, not unlike the one she had gifted him with three weeks earlier. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She reached across the table for his hand. "It was pretty great, huh?"

"Best day of my life," he said honestly.

Her smile flared again. "Me too."

"Any regrets about doing it the way we did?"

She shook her head. "Nope." Then she laughed, "Though Izzy is still upset we didn't have a ceremony. Something about flowers and cummerbunds and dance lessons?"

He chuckled. "I can totally see us at dance lessons," he said sarcastically.

Meredith shrugged. "Izzy's weird."

"Unfortunately, I think it's us who are weird. A lot of people want big weddings."

She made a face. "I'm glad we didn't."

"Me too. Though..." He trailed off, thinking.

"Though what?" She prompted, just a hint of worry in her tone.

He smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm glad we got married the way we did," he said, "But it would have been nice to have a reception of some sorts. Even just a dinner with our friends."

"We can still do that. It won't be easy to find a time when everyone can come, but we can try."

"That would be nice. Maybe we could do it when we find a place to live."

She nodded. "It could be a combined reception and housewarming party."

"Sounds perfect."

"Then we just have one thing left to do."

"And what's that?"

She smirked at him. "Find a place to live."

He chuckled, knowing he should have seen that one coming. "We will. If we can get through the last year like we did, house hunting should be a breeze."