102. Chapter 102

AN: I posted a holiday oneshot last week called 'Making the Most.' Please check it out if you have a chance. I needed to write something happy and upbeat.

AN2: I'm super sorry about the delay in updates. It's busy time at work right now, and on top of that I'm going through some family issues that are demanding time and attention, leaving no time for ANTYHING, let alone writing. Seriously, it got so bad before Christmas that I couldn't even get to the grocery store for 3 weeks. The good news is I THINK things are getting better.

AN3: For those who are waiting on the next chapter of Here We Are... It'll be another few weeks, at the least. I tried to write the next chapter in December. And again this week. The thing is that it's a happy story, and I need to be able to be in a certain mindset to write it. And right now I just can't get into that mindset because I'm going through hell right now with everything that's going on in my life. When things start to improve I'll be able to get back to HWA. Trust me, I miss writing it and want to get back to it.

With her back pressed up against the wall next to a shelving cart, Meredith sighed. Footsteps echoed down the connecting hallway – the hallway she had just dashed out of to hide – and she closed her eyes. What she would have done had Lexie turned down the hallway Meredith was now taking refuge in, she didn't know. All she knew was she had looked up to see Lexie turn down the hallway towards her and she had panicked.

It was ridiculous, she knew, but ever since she had given in and walked Lexie through Susan's chart and the chain of events that led to her untimely death, Lexie had doubled her efforts to push for some sort of relationship. And Meredith was at the end of her rope trying to avoid the younger surgeon.

She was finally happy. Really and truly happy. And she didn't want to take any chances with that. Happiness was hard to find; she knew that all too well.

Her birthday weekend with Derek had been amazing. Not only had she spent forty-eight uninterrupted hours alone with her husband, but she had spent forty-eight uninterrupted hours without anything to dwell on. For two entire days she had been a normal, happy woman away for a romantic weekend with her husband. And that was it. There had been wine and steaks and desserts. And sex. Lots and lots of sex.

She had returned to the hospital Monday afternoon feeling refreshed and happy.

Unfortunately, the feeling hadn't lasted long.

She hadn't even been fully changed into her scrubs when she heard from a gossiping pair of residents that George and Callie's marriage was in trouble. Cristina had quickly confirmed there was truth to the rumour.

Three days later, Erika Hahn had been invited to the hospital to perform a heart transplant, and in the first hour she was in the hospital she had offended Cristina by accusing her of sleeping her way to the top. By the end of the day, Erika Hahn had been announced at the new Head of Cardio. She wouldn't start work at Seattle Grace for a few weeks, but Cristina had already relapsed into some kind of anti-Burke depression that only made Meredith feel guilty for being happy.

A week after Hahn's visit to the hospital, Meredith and Derek finally found a place they both wanted to live – only to lose a bidding war because they were both in surgery and couldn't be contacted by their realtor.

Another set of footsteps echoed from the adjacent hallway. Meredith held her breath, and then sighed when they started down her hallway. It was too late for her to leave now. She would have to stay put and hope whoever it was wouldn't see her.

She didn't get her wish.

"Meredith, what the hell are you doing?" Izzie's voice rang out as the blond surgeon stopped in front of her, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," Meredith responded, stepping out from her unsuccessful hiding place behind the shelving cart.

"Really, because it looked like you were avoiding me."

"I wasn't avoiding you."

"You leapt out of the hallway as soon as I saw you."

Meredith had to laugh at the misunderstanding, which only caused her friend to glare at her. "I wasn't avoiding you, I promise."

"Then who?"

"Lexie."

"Ah," Izzie said in understanding. "She's still bugging you?"

"Stalking me is more like it. She won't leave me alone. And it's impossible to be mean to her. So, I'm stuck hiding from her."

"She's really not that bad."

Meredith glared at her friend. "That's not the point."

"She's your sister, Meredith. You'll feel better when you just get over yourself and stop avoiding it."

"She's not my sister," Meredith insisted.

"You have the same dad."

"He's not my dad."

"Meredith..."

"He's not," she repeated.

Izzie stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "It wasn't Lexie's fault, you know? Everything that happened with Thatcher."

"Izzie," Meredith warned.

"I'm just saying."

"I have a family," Meredith said.

"I know," Izzie said, offering her a smile, "But she could be your family too. There's no rule saying you can't add to your family."

"I don't know about that; there definitely seems to be a rule. It always ends badly."

Izzie sighed. "Not always. You have us."

Meredith smiled. "I know."

Izzie patted her on the shoulder. "Good. Just think about the Lexie thing," she said, before disappearing back down the hallway.

Meredith sighed and headed the other way, grateful that Izzie was trying to make her feel better, but knowing that Izzie just didn't get it. She couldn't hate Lexie Grey, but she still hated the idea of her. And she felt that she was fully within her rights to hate the idea of her and to not want any sort of relationship with the younger woman. History told her it would only end badly.

Having been on call the night before, Meredith's energy level was dragging. She had been on her way to the coffee cart when she had spotted Lexie in the hallway. A glance at her watch told her she now didn't have time to make it to the coffee cart and make it to the OR floor in time to scrub in with Bailey. She would have to go straight there.

Muttering under her breath, she let herself into the stairwell and slowly climbed the two flights of stairs to the OR floor. The only good news was that, barring any major complications or an influx of emergency surgical patients, she would be able to go home after the surgery. Derek was off as well that evening. They had plans to order pizza and curl up together on the couch; something Meredith had been looking forward to for days.

She had started her current shift at six the previous morning. Derek had been on-call the night before that. He had been on his way to his car when she had pulled into the parking lot. They had shared a short kiss and quickly made plans for the current evening. She hadn't seen him since. He had been off the day before and was scheduled for today, but their paths hadn't crossed once.

Exiting the stairwell, Meredith made her way down the hall to the scrub room for OR three on autopilot. Bailey was already there when she arrived.

"Grey, you're early."

She offered a small smile. "So are you."

"The OR cleared up faster than expected. I was just about to have you paged."

Meredith stepped up to a sink and started scrubbing her hands. "Thanks for letting me scrub in." She had been so busy with her interns that she felt like she got less OR time than when she was an intern.

"You're doing a good job with your interns. That deserves a reward." Although not a rare procedure, the patient required a tumour removal that would be complex and interesting. "I may even be inclined to let you do more than just assist."

"Thank you." Meredith smiled. Maybe things were looking up. An interesting surgery and an evening with her husband. She finished scrubbing in and joined Bailey in the OR.

True to her word, Bailey let her former intern open, and perform a fair amount of the tumour removal. When the surgery was over, they spoke to the family together.

"You did good work today, Grey," Bailey told her as they stepped onto the elevators together to return to the patient floor. "I'm repairing a hernia tomorrow. You're welcome to scrub in if you're free."

"Yes, I'm free," she said quickly.

"Good. Surgery is scheduled for nine. Bring one intern to observe."

"Thank you." It made her smile to realize that Bailey was regarding her more like a peer than a subordinate.

Bailey grunted something in response as the doors opened and left without another word.

Meredith rode up another floor and quickly checked on her patients – all of whom were stable. She then took the stairs up to Derek's office. They had agreed that she would meet him there when she was done her shift. As she approached his office, though, she frowned. No light shone from under the door. She knocked anyway, but all she was met with was silence.

With a sigh, she headed back down to the lower floor to check the OR board. Her spirits lifted when she didn't see his name there. If he wasn't in surgery, they had a better chance of having their evening together.

Deciding he would contact her, she headed for the Residents' Lounge, as she would need to get changed before she went home regardless of where her husband was.

She was smiling when she pushed open the door, but the smile quickly fell away at the sight before her. George was sitting at the small table, his head in his hands and his wedding ring absent. The room was empty other than him.

"George," she said softly as she let the door close behind her and walked carefully towards him.

He sucked in a breath and wiped at his face. She pretended not to notice.

"Hey," he offered after a moment.

"Hey," she echoed, sitting beside him. "Are you...okay?"

He released a frustrated laugh. "I..." He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Callie?"

"We're getting divorced," he whispered.

Meredith felt her mouth fall open. She knew they had been having problems, but divorce seemed so...final.

"I know we were stupid to just run off and get married. I know that. But I still thought we could make it work. I thought I could make it work. I thought it was right."

She carefully laid her hand on his back. "I'm sure it felt that way at the time."

"I love her," he said quietly, "But I don't think I love her enough. And I don't think she loves me enough. We're not... We're too different. We tried. We've been trying. But now..." He trailed off. "We talked all last night. And this morning we decided."

"George, I'm so sorry." She laid her head on his shoulder. He leaned into her.

"I just wanted to be happy. I wanted to make her happy. I...I wanted to make my dad proud."

"I get that," she told him honestly.

He sighed heavily. "I feel like a failure."

"I get that, too."

"How am I going to tell my mom? She loves Callie. They all do."

"You tell her you did everything you could."

George laughed at her advice. They told people that every day.

"Sorry, that was...bad," she said, also laughing as she sat up straight to look him in the eye.

"No. It was good." He sighed. "We did do everything we could. We went to counselling."

"You did?"

"Since we finished our internship. And it was okay, but the problem is..." He trailed off to collect his thoughts. "We get along. We're not fighting. We're not hurting each other. We're just not feeling what we're supposed to be feeling. So, we're getting divorced."

"I'm sorry."

He offered her a small smile. "Me too."

"You always have a place to stay," she told him. "For as long as you need."

"Thank you."

She bumped his shoulder. "You're family, George."

He bumped her shoulder back. "You too."

Meredith's mind was buzzing as she headed across the parking lot towards her jeep. She had been unable to locate her husband after she had finished talking with George and had gotten changed out of her scrubs, and so she had decided to go home. She had sent him a text with her plans. With any luck, he was already at home, and if not, she could only hope he would be home soon. She just didn't want to be at the hospital any longer.

The moment she collapsed into the driver's seat, her eyes welled. George was getting divorced. George, who had gotten married two months before her, was getting divorced.

Divorced.

It was so final. So extreme.

It was something she never wanted to consider.

George had said that he and Callie had started counselling when his internship was over. That had been two months into their marriage.

Meredith was two months into her marriage now. Life was stressful and work was demanding, but she and Derek were good. She was pretty sure they were good.

She was pretty sure they loved each other enough.

She put the keys in the ignition, but didn't start the car. She laid her hands onto the steering wheel and focussed on breathing in and out. In and out.

George was getting divorced.

And Cristina hadn't made it to the altar.

And Izzie's fiancé had died.

Her vision became blurry as her eyes welled. The steering wheel squeaked as her hands tightened their grip. A hollow space started developing in her chest. Her breathing hitched, and then hitched again, so she laid her forehead between her hands on the steering wheel.

In and out.

In and out.

She regained control before she lost it completely. The hollow space in her chest slowly shrunk but she couldn't help but think that this wasn't how life was supposed to be. Of the five of them, four had made some attempt at marriage in the last year. And it seemed that she was the only one who was currently successful in her endeavour.

Meredith sniffed and raised her head. Her eyes landed on her hands and she stared at the empty space on her left ring finger before reaching for the chain around her neck, needing to feel the cool, comforting bands against her skin.

The chain unlatched easily – her fingers had quickly learned the latch – and she carefully slid the two rings off of it before refastening it around her neck. She slid the engagement ring onto her finger first, followed quickly by her wedding band. Having never been overly sentimental or materialistic, Meredith was still surprised by how much she liked her rings; by how much she had come to depend on them. It comforted her to know that Derek was wearing the matching pair to her wedding band. It comforted her to know the work forever was engraved on the underside of the platinum. And it comforted her even more to know that Derek had slid both rings on her finger without an ounce of hesitation in his blue eyes.

They were good, she reminded herself. She and Derek were happy and strong and committed. She could be there for her friends without feeling like the rug was being pulled out from under her.

She nodded to herself. She could do this. She could be the supportive, normal friend with the strong marriage.

With damp cheeks, but dry eyes, Meredith started her jeep and began the drive home, hoping her husband would be there, having simply forgotten their plans to meet at his office. They had stressful jobs and worked long hours, so sometimes plans got forgotten. It wasn't a big deal.

She and Derek were good. Their marriage was good. It would continue to be good. She had faith now, more so than ever before. George's news would not be enough to send her over the edge like Cristina's failed attempt at marriage had. It would not be enough to make her feel like the world was spinning out of control like she had felt after Denny had died and she had witnessed first hands its effects on Izzie.

Meredith just needed her husband right now. A few minutes in his arms would rid the tightness in her chest. He had really great arms. Strong. Supportive. And a solid chest. The combination made for very comforting hugs. And they fit together just so that she could stick her nose into the crook of his neck and breathe him in.

She really needed a hug right now.

The drive home seemed to take twice as long as usual, but when she pulled into the driveway, she smiled when she parked her jeep beside Derek's car.

He was home.

Wiping any remaining dampness from her face, she grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and headed towards the front door. Only hers and Derek's vehicles sat in the driveway now. Hopefully, they would be able to enjoy an uninterrupted evening together. She was pretty sure Izzy was working and Alex spent a lot of time at Joe's when he wasn't at the hospital so he wasn't home very often.

"Derek?" She called as she stepped into the front hall.

No answer. Nothing and no one stirred on the ground floor.

Meredith slipped off her shoes and left her purse on the floor by the closet as she headed for the stairs, determined to find Derek as quickly as possible. She was handling George's news maturely, and wasn't generalizing his failed relationship to her own. That was significant progress for her. But even though she didn't automatically assume that the sky was falling and all marriages ended in divorce, she still needed to find Derek and have him tell her it would be okay. Because when he told her things like that, she believed him.

She needed him.

The upper level was quiet as she padded down the hallway towards their bedroom. Maybe he was in bed reading. He liked to do that. She had come home to find him sitting up against the headboard, book, magazine or journal in hand, more times that she could remember. It was quieter upstairs in their bedroom than anywhere else in the house. He often took refuge there when she wasn't home.

The bedroom door was ajar, but when she pushed it open and stepped into the room she didn't find him reading in bed like expected. What she did find caused her heart to jump into her throat and her lungs to suck in a breath in sudden, unexplainable panic.

There was a suitcase lying on the bed. Derek's suitcase. The lid was open, revealing his things packed inside. His clothes. His hair products. His phone charger.

Meredith clutched her hand to her chest as she suddenly struggled to breathe. This wasn't happening. She was imaging her husband's suitcase on their bed. He wasn't leaving her.

She stepped forward and reached out a hand. A small sob escaped her mouth from somewhere deep inside her as she confirmed the suitcase to be real. This wasn't happening.

They were good. Really good. Sure, things had been stressful. They still hadn't found a place to live, but they had been looking every chance they got. Sure, she had asked months ago that he put up with the roommates only until she finished her internship, and now it was two months into her second year of residency and they weren't any closer to being on their own, but it wasn't her fault they couldn't find something suitable.

It wasn't a deal breaker. She'd live anywhere with him in a heartbeat. Anywhere.

And they had plans for that night. Plans they had made barely thirty-six hours earlier. Nothing drastic had happened in that time, so this couldn't possibly be happening. Because they were good. And they had plans.

"Derek?" She called out, half expecting him to be hiding somewhere in the room.

No answer.

She turned and stepped back into the hall. The bathroom door was closed. She turned the knob and pushed the door open, grateful to find it unlocked. The shower was running.

"Derek?" She called again, stepping into the room. He didn't answer, but she recognized his form behind the foggy glass. He probably couldn't hear her under the spray of the water.

Reaching out her hand, she swung open the glass door as hard as she could.

Derek yelped and turned to face her. "Meredith," he said breathlessly, his chest heaving as he caught his breath after being surprised. "You scared the shit out of me."

She glared at him. "Do you care to tell me why there's a suitcase on our bed?" She demanded.

He opened his mouth, but she cut him off.

"A freaking suitcase, Derek. Filled with your things. On our bed. Our bed."

"Meredith-"

"Don't Meredith me. I want some freaking answers. Because I know life has been stressful, but I thought we were good, so you don't get to just-"

"Richard's sending me to Atlanta for a consult," Derek announced, taking a page out of her book and cutting her off.

Meredith blinked. "What?"

He stepped close to the open door of the shower, as close as he could get to her. His hands gripped at the edges of the open doorway as he leaned towards her. "There's a VIP patient in Atlanta. Richard's sending me there on an overnight flight tonight."

"A consult."

Derek nodded. "And likely a surgery. He said to expect to be gone a couple days."

"Richard's sending you."

"Yes."

"For a couple days. On a consult."

"Yes," he repeated. His eyebrows pinched together with concern.

Meredith felt her cheeks heat up as she avoided his eyes. "I thought..." She trailed off as a wave of embarrassment washed over her. Why did she have to do that? Why did she have to react without all the information? Had she really thought he was leaving? Of course not... "I'm sorry. I'm overtired and George said things today and... I'm sorry. I'll just...go."

She turned away, but he called to her.

"You could make it up by joining me."

She turned back to him. Now that the anger and the fear had dissipated, she was able to appreciate the fact that her very dreamy husband was standing in front of her, naked and wet. His eyes were still filled with concern, but his lips curled into an aroused smirk and his head tilted ever so slightly. A fire ignited inside of her. Instead of answering him verbally, she slipped off her shirt and tossed it towards the door. Her pants quickly followed. And then her underwear.

He watched through hooded eyes as she undressed for him and then stepped naked into the shower. His hands found her hips the moment she stepped under the spray of water with him. She opened her mouth to apologize again, but his lips crashed down on hers, absorbing any words she managed to get out. She reached out blindly to shut the shower door and then buried her fingers in his hair.

After very literally kissing her breath away, his lips left hers and found their favourite place at the crook of her neck. She closed her eyes as his hands migrated from her hips, up her sides, and then to the small of her back as he cradled her body between his own and the wall.

A wave of comfort washed over her, more real than the spray of the shower. Safe. When he held her he made her feel safe like nothing else in the world ever could. Her fingers left his hair as she wrapped her arms around him as best she could, pulling him even closer. His lips left her neck as he tucked his chin onto her shoulder and hugged her back. He could always recognize when she needed a moment.

"I'm sorry," Meredith murmured, apologizing for both stopping their current activities and practically accusing him of leaving her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Meredith," he assured her. "Not now. Not ever."

"I know."

He pulled away far enough to meet her eyes.

She offered him a small smile. "I know," she repeated. "I really do. I just... I'm exhausted. And I've barely seen you this week. And we were going to meet in your office, but you weren't there. And then George told me he was getting divorced. And I spent the entire drive home being grateful that you and I were good, that we love each other enough and that we want the same things. And then your suitcase was on the bed and...snap judgment. I'm sorry. It was stupid. I just...freak out sometimes. But I'm working on it. And I'm sorry you married such a freak." She released a breath and buried her face against his chest.

He rubbed her back. "I'm sorry about George and Callie."

"Me too," she murmured against his wet skin. "But we're not them." She volunteered the information, knowing it would be the first thing he said to her. They were Meredith and Derek. Not George and Callie. Not Cristina and Burke. Not anybody but themselves.

"We're not," he agreed, running his hand along her spine.

"I was prepared to yell at you," she admitted, lifting her head to meet his eyes.

"So I noticed."

She giggled at his amused tone. "I'm an idiot. And a freak."

He chuckled as he leaned in to kiss her softly. "No, you're not."

"I am," she insisted. "I know better than this. And I trust you. I do. I just...freaked out. Because I'm a freak."

"That's okay," he assured her. "I liked your little rant. It was charming."

She giggled, feeling almost all of the tension leak out of her body.

He laughed along with her. "But let's get one thing straight; my wife is not a freak."

She leaned into his bare chest. "I feel like one sometimes."

He continued to rub his hand along her spine.

Meredith allowed herself to bask in the feel of being in his arms for several long moments, and then she leaned in to kiss him. "When do you have to leave?"

"In a few hours. I was done early. Thought I would come home and pack so that we could spend as much time as possible together before I have to leave. I was going to call you before your shift ended, but I guess I lost track of the time." He sighed. "I'm sorry about not calling. Richard didn't exactly give me much warning. You were already in surgery."

She kissed him again, ignoring his apology. "I wish I could go with you." It had only been two weeks since her birthday weekend, and two months since their vacation to New York and the Bahamas, but she already craved more alone time with her husband. Life was so much simpler away from the demands of the hospital and their friends.

He smiled. "Me too. I like going away with you."

"You don't know how long you'll be gone?"

He shook his head. "Three or four days, probably."

"We're going to miss out on a lot of sex," she deadpanned.

He laughed out loud. "You're right. What are we going to do about that?"

She shrugged. "I guess we'll have to bank as much sexy time together before your plane leaves."

"I like the way you think," he whispered huskily, right before his lips crashed down on hers.

Tucked between her husband's warm body and the back of the couch, Meredith lay with her head on his shoulder and her hand stretched across his chest. She felt safe and loved and sated after three rounds of sex is as many hours. The back of her mind knew Derek was leaving soon, but she refused to allow herself to allocate it any conscious thought. Right now she could close her eyes and imagine she could fall asleep and wake up the next morning still in Derek's strong arms.

The television played quietly across the room, but neither of them had paid it much attention since they had finished their pizza and reclined together.

"Hmmm," Derek murmured softly, his hands running along her spine. It was an uninhibited noise, meant to verbalize how content he felt. He made lots of non-worded sounds, and she knew them all.

She smiled against his chest, grateful for the man she had fallen in love with; for the man who had fallen in love with her.

She still felt stupid for her reaction to the suitcase. Of course there was a reasonable explanation. Of course he wasn't leaving her. And if she had taken a moment to consider the possibilities, she would have realized right away how crazy she was being. But she was overtired and life was stressful and old Meredith had popped in for a visit, bringing with her all kinds of crazy. New Meredith had been there too, though. And she had easily countered old Meredith's desire to run and avoid by forcing Meredith to confront her husband. It was just too bad she couldn't have done so calmly. And with far less anger.

A laughing breath bled out of her lungs at the memory. At least she knew he loved her, despite the crazy.

"What?" He whispered.

She lifted her head. "I'm sorry I went to a crazy place earlier." She had apologized before, but right now, when she couldn't think of a more comfortable place to be, she felt the need to say it again.

The corner of his mouth twitched. "It was very memorable, other than the fact that you scared the hell out of me by slamming open the shower door."

"I'm sorry for that too," she said with a laugh.

"The rant was very cute. I kind of wish I'd given you the opportunity to continue, but part of me thought you might start pummelling me with you small, ineffectual fists."

"If you'd let me continue I may have done just that."

He chuckled. "Life is definitely more interesting with you around..."

"Shut up," she demanded weakly.

His arms tightened around her. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Meredith laid her head back down on his shoulder. "Me neither."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Derek. So much." She closed her eyes and allowed his presence to soothe away any remaining tension or worry. His warm exhales brushed by her hair and she could feel his heart beating under her hand. And he was so freaking warm. And safe.

Always safe.

Despite her determination to stay awake until he had to leave, in order to take advantage of every moment they had together, she felt sleep pulling at her consciousness. She opened her eyes, but they quickly fell shut again under their own volition. She was too tired and too comfortable to fight it.

000

Meredith jerked awake a short time later to a knock at the front door. Derek stirred beneath her, having also succumbed to sleep.

"What..." She mumbled, trying to burrow unto his chest and return to sleep.

Derek groaned. "That must be the shuttle service." Richard had arranged for him to be shuttled to and from the airport for the trip.

"The what?" She asked, confused. Weren't they just sleeping a minute ago? And couldn't they go back to that?

"I have to go now," Derek told her in response as he carefully pulled out from underneath her to answer the door.

Meredith slowly sat up as she took in her surrounding, immediately recognizing her living room. A heartbeat later she realized what was going on. A sliver of panic cut into her chest. Derek was leaving. Sure, he was only going for a few days. But she didn't know exactly how long a few days was going to be. And he was going to be all the way across the country. The only time the two of them had spent sleeping apart since they had gotten married had been when one of them was at the hospital. And even then, they had shared an on-call room bed more than once.

By the time she had staggered to her feet and across the living room to the front hall Derek had passed his suitcase to the driver and was rifling through his leather carryon.

"Do you have your wallet and your cell?"

He nodded.

"And money? You'll need cash for the taxi when you get to Atlanta."

"I'll be picked up at the airport," he assured her.

"What about-"

He cut her off with a kiss. "The only thing I'll be missing is you."

She smiled up at him, not even tempted to mock him for his corny statement. "I wish I could go with you."

"Me too."

She hesitated, and almost didn't tell him, but then said quietly, "I'll miss you."

He smiled tenderly at her. "You too." He reached a hand to cup her cheek. "Try and take it easy with the crazy, okay?"

She laughed and nodded against his hand. "I will."

He leaned in to kiss her again. The driver honked impatiently, though, pulling them apart sooner than either was happy with.

"I have to go."

"I know."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He turned to leave, but she called after him, "Derek?"

He turned back.

"I don't want to sound all...housewifey, or whatever, but you'll call when you get there, right?"

He smiled warmly at her. "Of course."

"Okay. Good."

Ignoring a second impatient honk, Derek returned to her arms, kissing her one last time, before pulling away and pressing his forehead to hers. "Try and get some sleep."

"You too."

"I'll be home in a few days."

"Okay."

He replaced pulled his forehead from hers and placed a kiss right where it had been. And then he was gone.

Meredith stood in the doorway as she watched Derek get into the car. And then she watched the car drive off down the street. It wasn't until it was out of sight that she closed the front door and staggered back into the living room.

The room seemed suddenly empty. She didn't like it one bit. The couch they had been sharing still held warmth from their combined body heat. She settled herself down where he had been lying and pulled the blanket over top of herself. His scent lingered on the pillow. She tilted her head into it and sighed. He'd ruined her, really. Gone for barely three minutes and already she missed him. Maybe if they hadn't fallen asleep. Maybe if she hadn't been caught so off guard by his departure she may feel like their goodbye hadn't been so rushed.

It was just a few days. And then he would home. And they'd have sexy time to make up for. It was something to look forward to.

She just had to get through the next few days without him.

AN: Meredith is evolving. She's not perfect, and she's still going to have her moments, but when she does she's facing the problems instead of hiding from them. She never actually thought he was leaving, but what's a few moments of irrational panic between lovers? And what's better is Derek knows better how to deal with her in this universe. He's not offended by her moments – he gets her already.

I really hope you liked this chapter. It was a tough one to write, as it starts to set up the coming season 4 events. And speaking of season 4...

I'm going to try and make season 4 and 5 together span a year, like they (sort of) did on the show, but have the timelines make sense (like they kind of didn't on the show). The seasons may be 6months:6months, or they may end up more 5:7. I haven't gotten far enough to know for sure. And the events may not occur in order. For instance, I love the epi where Meredith goes trick-or-treating for ears. But that epi would happen next in order in season 4. The only problem with that is in this universe it's the end of August. And that epi is the end of October. If surgical years start in the beginning of July, there's no way four months have gone by already, and then all of the rest of season four, and then all of season five, before the beginning of the next July. No way. So, the events I want to include may be shuffled around a bit. Feel free to mention specific scenes/events you want to see included. I have my list, but there may be some I've missed. Also, in the trick-or-treating for ears episode, Derek pays the earless boy to pretend Mark is his father and Mark's revenge is to put the word out that Derek is 'Lookin.' Obviously that would have much less effect in this universe, but I really want Mark to get some sort of revenge, so if anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.

Thanks for reading!