43. Chapter 43

"Snorkelling."

"What?" Meredith asked, sending Derek a questioning glance.

He smiled and sidled closer to her, his hand moving from hers to hook around her waist. "You told me to think about things to add to the list," he explained. "And I want to try snorkelling."

"Like, with a mask and a snorkel, in the water?"

"Mmhmm," he murmured, pulling her close as they stared out at the water before them, both leaning on the ferry railing.

"We can do that," she responded. "Well, you can do that. I'll buy you a mask and a snorkel and watch..."

"Hey, I went trail riding with you."

She giggled at the memory of his initial fear. "Yes, you did. But snorkelling involves swimming."

"Then we'll just have to do the swimming thing first," he replied. "I don't want to go by myself."

"How long does it take to learn how to swim?"

"Not long," he said softly as he thought back to helping teach his nephew how to swim. Caleb, Kathleen's oldest, had been four. An hour in the pool with water wings had been enough for the boy to get the hang of it. "It's mostly about coordination." He had to bite back a smirk at the thought of buying her a set of water wings as a joke. She'd probably kill him; but it would be worth it.

"That's good. You can teach me, and then we can go snorkelling in your pond."

He scoffed. "You can't snorkel there."

"Why not?"

"Because the point is to go somewhere you don't live to snorkel."

She shot him a look. "You don't live at the trailer. You live with me, remember?"

He laughed at her tone and pressed his lips against the side of her head. "Of course I remember. How could I ever forget?"

She grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

"And I meant that you need to go away to go snorkelling. Like, go somewhere tropical and look at all the colourful fish," he clarified.

"Oh, now I get it. Somewhere tropical, huh?"

He nodded. "We could go somewhere."

"Like, a vacation?"

"Exactly."

"For how long?"

"As long as we wanted... Or really, as long as we could get off work."

She giggled at that, but didn't respond right away.

Derek leaned his head against hers and sighed, not wanting to push her. Things had been wonderful between them for a while now. Ever since she had admitted her fears about going to New York and he had realized how deep they lay, he had gained a better understanding not of who she was but why she was who she was. She was in this, he knew, but she sometimes needed some time to warm up to new ideas. And although they had rescheduled their trip to New York (for the second time now), a future vacation could mean something completely different in her head.

"I have time off after my test," she mumbled suddenly, taking him by surprise.

"What?"

She pulled away from him far enough to meet his gaze. Her eyes didn't convey fear or uncertainty. He smiled when he realized she had been silent because she had been thinking, and not because she had been avoiding.

"After my intern test, at the end of the year," she clarified. "I have two weeks off. It's still a couple months away; you could still apply for time off."

Derek smiled. "I could."

"And then we could go somewhere tropical and swim with the fishes..."

He rolled his eyes as his girlfriend giggled at her own statement. "What am I going to do with you?"

She tucked herself into his arms and kissed him, hard. "I can think of a few things," she whispered seductively.

"Hmm, and what would they be?" He asked, pressing closer to her, even though his mind was telling him to pull away before he started to respond.

With one eyebrow raised, she glanced around them to make sure no one was within ear shot. "Have you ever done it on a ferry boat?" She finally whispered.

Her words took him by surprise and he gaped at her for a moment.

She laughed at his expression. "I'll take that as a no..."

Derek coughed as he recovered. "That's a definite no. But something I'm definitely adding to the list."

Meredith giggled. "You and your ferryboats..."

"You brought it up."

She smirked and pressed her pelvis into his, purposefully taking his statement the wrong way. "Did I now?"

With every ounce of strength he had, Derek pulled back. "Don't be making comments you can't follow through on." Regardless of how serious she was being, the ferry was very close to the docks now, meaning there was no way they had time for what she was implying.

She made a face when he pulled away, but refrained from any further comments. It wasn't until they were heading below deck to his car that she stopped him and pressed her lips against his. "One day," she promised.

"Mmm," he kissed her back. "It's definitely on the list now."

With one last kiss, she released him and continued for the car. They had the day off and had planned to get away the night before, but an emergency surgery had extended his shift, and by the time he had gotten off it had been late and dark and pouring rain. It hadn't been a hard decision to stay in town over night and drive out in the morning. They would have less then twenty-four hours before they were needed back at the hospital, but it was well worth it to get some time alone.

000

"Mmm," Meredith purred, having finally caught her breath. She rolled to lie against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Mmm is right," Derek responded, his hands finding her naked back. "We should do this more often."

She giggled and lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Because we haven't done enough of it today?" Since they had arrived at the trailer, they had spent hours together in bed; only leaving the bedroom for food.

"Well, maybe we've done enough for now," he conceded. "Because I can barely move, let alone...you know."

She giggled again. "Admitting weakness, Dr. Shepherd?"

"Not weakness, just a healthy respect for biology."

She shook her head, her eyes sparkling. "Worried I'm going to think less of you as a man?"

He growled, knowing she was teasing, but unable to let it go. "I'd like to see you go again right now."

"Hmm," she murmured, stretching up to kiss him. "I'm with you. I can barley move right now. You wore me out."

Derek allowed himself a smile at her words. As much as he liked to think himself above such thoughts, he was proud of what he could do to her. She was close to a decade younger than himself, and yet he could still keep up to her, could still make her writhe and moan and scream his name. And he loved that she wasn't afraid to express that, was never afraid to tell him how he made her feel. "Yeah, well, you wore me out too," he mumbled.

She sighed and lay her head back down on his shoulder, the fingers of her left hand playing absently along his chest. "It's getting late."

One glance through the window told him she was right. The sun was setting quickly; it was nearly dark. "You hungry?" It had been a while since they had pulled themselves away from the bed for lunch.

"Maybe a little. But I should shower first so my hair can dry."

"Me too."

She lifted her head again, her eyes still sparkling. "We could save time and share a shower..."

He smirked. "I like the way you think, Dr. Grey."

"Why thank-you, Dr. Shepherd." She stretched up to kiss him on the lips before rolling away from him and staggering to her feet.

Derek followed suit, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of his girlfriend, in all her glory, smiling back at him as they met at the foot of the bed.

"It's too bad we're worn out," she murmured, hooking her hands around the back of his neck.

He cocked his head and ran his hands across her sides to the small of her back. "Why's that?"

She smirked. "Because now we can't do the bendy thing."

He laughed and kissed her. "It is too bad," he finally agreed. "But if we get up early, we can do it tomorrow..."

"We better get up early then."

"We better," he confirmed, releasing his hold on her to turn for the shower. It was a small, square shower stall, not allowing much space when you were in there alone, let alone with another person. But he couldn't think of many situations that were better then spending twenty minutes with his naked, wet, warm girlfriend, especially when the whole shower smelled of lavender.

They both eagerly stepped into the shower and remained under the stream of hot water until the steam stopped forming and the temperature began to fall. With a sigh, Derek shut off the water and ran his hands through his wet locks.

Her hands quickly replaced his, her palms sliding from the sides of his head to the center, pulling his hair up into a wobbly Mohawk.

He gave her a pointed look. "There aren't many people I let mess with my hair."

She giggled. "But you love me."

"I do," he agreed, kissing her, even as he reached up to fix his hair.

"No," she chastised, pulling at his hands. "Leave it; it's a good look. I think you should wear it like that to work."

His lips curled upwards inadvertently. "Oh, yeah, that would go well. Nice to meet you, I'm the head of neurosurgery here at Seattle Grace. Please ignore my hair; my girlfriend's a little insane."

"I am not insane," she retorted.

"Well, your fashion sense is." He reached his hand up, only for her to stop him again.

"At least look at it in the mirror before you ruin it."

He rolled his eyes. "You just want a chance to get your phone to take a picture."

"You know me too well."

"I'll look at it in the mirror, but there will be no pictures." He pecked her lips before finally pushing open the door of the shower and reaching for a towel.

Derek stepped out of the shower, Meredith right behind him, but stopped dead, his heart jumping into his throat as he suppressed the urge to yell; instead it came out as a strangled yelp.

"Hello, stranger," the figure sitting cross legged on the foot of the bed called, a smirk on her face. And not one trace of sympathy for his situation.

Meredith, who had walked right into him when he had stopped so suddenly, gasped at the unexpected voice and remained silent, glued to his back.

"Nancy," he sputtered, his heart still finding its way back to the right place in his chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was planning on spending some quality time with my baby brother, but it seems like he's already spending some quality time with someone else... A different kind of quality time, mind you."

He glared at her, knowing she was enjoying this situation. "And you don't call first?" With his towel wrapped around his waist, he managed to reach into the bathroom for a second towel without removing his girlfriend's only means of cover from his sister.

"What, and ruin the surprise?"

Derek glared at his sister again as he passed the second towel behind him.

"Nice hair, by the way. I thought the craziness was only in giving up a million dollar practice and leaving New York for Seattle. But the fact that you messed with the hair..." She shook her head. "Should I be worried."

"Oh, you should be worried," he retorted. "But not about me."

She smirked. "So, are you going to introduce me to the girl you're so smitten with, or is she going to hide behind you for the rest of the evening."

"Nancy," he said warningly. He loved his sister, but she wasn't known for her tact.

"Derek," she countered.

He glared at her again.

"Fine," she said, feigning innocence. "Apparently I have to do it all by myself. Hello, Meredith," she called. "I'm Derek's favourite sister, Nancy. It's nice to meet you. It would be even nicer to actually see you..."

"Hi," Meredith said meekly, wrapped in a towel now, but still hiding behind Derek, her forehead pressed into his back. "Nice to meet you too, but...no...you're not going to see me...like this."

"Come on, Meredith," Nancy continued, ignoring her brother's pointed looks. "From what I hear, we're practically family."

Derek rolled his eyes. "That's it. Out," he demanded.

"Excuse me?" Nancy raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"You heard me. Get out. Stay out. Let us get dressed so we can do this properly."

"Fine." His sister made a show of sighing and slowly getting off the bed.

Derek reached one hand behind himself to guide Meredith as he turned and backed towards the shower, allowing her to disappear back into it while his sister walked by. Once the door had shut behind Nancy, Derek turned back towards the shower. Meredith was huddled inside, her arms wrapped around her torso.

"Well, that was embarrassing," she mumbled. "And I should know, because I've done a lot of embarrassing things before."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I had no idea she was coming."

"Can I just stay in here?"

He had to smile at her tone. "I'm afraid not. She's probably been sent to meet you and send back a report. She won't be leaving until she's accomplished her task."

"Crap."

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's not your fault."

"It's my fault for telling them where I moved..."

She giggled and finally stepped out of the shower, clutching tightly to her towel.

"Though they know I live with you in town," he continued, "Which means she must have gone there first."

"Which means George and Izzy told them where we were. Which also means George and Izzy are going to die tomorrow."

He chuckled as he pulled some clothes out his bag to change into. Meredith did the same, and quickly got dressed.

"You ready?" He asked when they were both decent.

"No."

"It's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Derek, we've cancelled twice on flying to New York. I, apparently, called your mother when I was high on morphine. And now your sister shows up at exactly the right time to catch us coming out of the shower together-"

"Hey," he cut in softly, his hands reaching for her hips. "First of all, we're both grown adults, so who cares if she walks in on us doing grown up adult things. And second...it's a good thing she didn't show up an hour ago."

Meredith groaned and buried her face into his chest. "I was supposed to be making good impressions..."

"The only person you have to win over is me, Mer, and you've done it."

"But you're not the only one," she argued. "They're your family, Derek, your freaking family. And they mean a lot to you. And they already see that you moved out here and met me right away. And they know I'm younger then you and that I'm an intern. They're going to think that all we do is have sex, and that-"

"Meredith, shut up," he demanded. "You're freaking out. I'm sorry this got sprung on you. I had no idea she was coming. But it's going to be okay. Okay? I promise."

She sighed and stared up at him, her brow furrowed. "Is this just divine retribution for messing with the hair?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Mmm, maybe," he conceded. "So, just to be safe, don't mess with it again."

She smiled back at him. "I'm freaking out."

"I know."

"Tell me it's going to be okay."

He smiled and pecked her lips. "It's going to be okay."

"Are you just saying that?"

Derek chuckled and kissed her again. "I mean it," he promised. "It's going to be fine. I love you. And Nancy will love you."

"Okay. Okay...I...am I dressed okay?" She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved tee shirt. "I didn't really bring anything fancy..."

"You don't need anything fancy," he assured. "You just need to be you."

"Okay. I...I'm ready."

"You sure?"

She offered him a wobbly smile. "No."

He laughed and pressed his lips against her forehead. "Good to hear it."

Meredith giggled and allowed him to lead her into the kitchen.

"I love you," he whispered, as a gentle reminder.

"You too."

He squeezed her hand and turned for the door.

"Hello again, stranger," Nancy said as she stepped back into the trailer. "You look different then you did a minute ago...oh, that's right, you put some clothes on..."

Derek rolled his eyes as he pulled his sister into a hug. "Nice to see you too, Nance, but we could do without the sarcasm."

"Oh, come on, Derek. You'd be doing exactly the same thing if this little situation was reversed."

"No, I wouldn't, because I'm nicer than you are."

She laughed and pulled away. "Obviously you're still trying to impress Meredith."

He rolled his eyes.

Nancy turned towards Meredith and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Meredith. Sorry about before. I can never resist an opportunity to bug my favourite brother."

"I'm your only brother."

His sister sent him a smirk. "Why do you think you're my favourite?"

Meredith giggled as she shook Nancy's hand. "It's nice to meet you too...properly."

Nancy smiled. "At least you can see the humour, unlike my baby brother here..."

"You can stop calling me that any time, Nance."

She glanced at him. "Never. I'll always be older than you."

He rolled his eyes again. "By a year and a half."

Nancy shrugged. "Still counts."

Derek glared at her, but motioned for them all to sit down at the table. He sat next to Meredith, making sure she was doing okay. "So, how long are you in town for?"

"Trying to get rid of me already?"

"Of course not," he retorted. "I know trying to force you to do anything you don't want to do is an impossibility."

It was Nancy's turn to roll her eyes.

Derek smiled. "Well, I assume you have an agenda; that's why mom sent you, right?"

"Hey, you should be grateful I'm here. Mom was ready to fly everyone out. I offered to do some individual reconnaissance first."

"We're really sorry we've cancelled...twice," Meredith said, finally speaking up. "It was...my fault. But we've rescheduled, and-"

"No worries, Meredith," Nancy cut in. "Mom's just getting antsy. She's used to seeing us all the time. Derek's the only one of us to move so far away. And it's been nearly a year now. She just wants to know what your life is like."

"M-my life?" Meredith stammered slightly.

Nancy didn't seem to notice. "Your life," she repeated, "Yours and Derek's."

Derek couldn't help the smile that took over his face at how easily his sister spoke. He and Meredith had a life; together. And even though his family had never met her, they were aware and accepting of it. Meredith inhaled sharply beside him, evidently reaching the same conclusion as him, and reached for her hand.

"What have you been sent to find out?"

"The usual. Where you live. Where you work. Meet your friends." She smirked. "And Mom was very adamant that I come home with proof that you really do own a trailer."

Even Meredith laughed at that one.

"And I gotta say, baby brother, I didn't believe it until I saw it."

"What's wrong with it?" He countered.

"It's a trailer," she said dryly. "And you're a surgeon."

"Hey, just because I don't need to live like you-"

"Don't turn this on me, Derek. You lived like me until a year ago. I'll have to get a picture of the trailer tomorrow when there's light," she continued. "But I've already got a picture of the house in town that you live in." She turned to Meredith. "I believe it's your house?"

Meredith nodded hesitantly. "Sort of. It's my mother's. But she's sick. And I have power of attorney and everything, so I guess it's kind of mine..."

"It's a really nice house," Nancy said honestly. "Your roommates were home and gave me a tour before sending me here."

"Hmm, now I really am going to kill them," Meredith mumbled.

"They didn't even call to warn you?"

"Nope."

Nancy laughed. "Yeah, I'd kill them too if I were you."

Meredith giggled. "Well, if you already got a tour of the house, did you want a tour of the trailer?" She smirked. "It'll only take a second..."

Nancy laughed. "I think I saw pretty much everything."

Derek rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling at the realization that his sister and his girlfriend were getting along...even if it was at his expense. "It was only ever temporary. It's not like I live here anymore."

"You're lucky you managed to find a girl who would put up with it."

"Hey, Mer likes the trailer."

Nancy smirked. "Yes, I realized that earlier."

Derek glared at his sister as Meredith blushed beside him and momentarily buried her face against his shoulder. It was going to be a long evening.