73. Chapter 73

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! – This chapter has been re-uploaded with a new second half. This first half was posted a couple weeks ago, and has not changed, but somehow the second half did not get posted with it. So, I took down the original chapter 73 and reposted with the second half so everyone gets a chance to read it before the next chapter (which should be up soon) is posted. Sorry about the confusion; I'm having some 'minor' computer problems... The second half is all Derek's POV.

**

When Meredith awoke that morning, she did so smiling. It was early – the sun was just starting to rise into the sky – and she had the day off. Normally on days like this, where her internal intern alarm woke her up far earlier than necessary, she would grumble and complain to herself before rolling over and burying her head under her pillow as she struggled to get back to sleep.

But not today.

Today she woke up smiling even though it was crazy early and she didn't need to be up for hours. Because today she awoke with a ring on her finger and the arms of the man she loved wrapped tightly around her middle. His bare chest was pressed against her back, and she could feel his every exhale brushing through the hair on the back of her head.

If she could wake up feeling like this every morning, she would never feel the need to sleep in again.

She stretched her stiff legs down, brushing against the front of Derek's knees and shins. He groaned in response and shifted behind her as he too began to wake. "What time is it?" He asked, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep.

"Early," she mumbled, turning in his arms so she was facing him, settling with her head and left arm resting on his chest as he rolled onto his back. "Really early."

He closed his arms around her again and pressed a kiss against the top of her head. "Why are you awake?"

"I don't know."

He ran his hand along her bare back. "You should sleep. It's not like we got much sleep last night..."

Meredith smiled at his words. There had been a lot of celebrating the night before. They couldn't have gotten more than a couple short hours of sleep. "Hmm, good point."

Derek ran his fingers along her left hand, feeling for the ring, before lacing their fingers together. "Still a yes?"

She smiled. "Still a yes."

He pressed a second kiss against her head. "Good."

Meredith giggled. "What would you do if I said no?"

"I'd have to convince you to change your mind..."

She lifted her head to meet his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "And how might you go about doing that?"

He rolled them over so he was hovering over her, his lips inches from hers. "Probably do something like this," he whispered, kissing her hard.

"Sounds good to me," she mumbled when the kiss was eventually broken.

Derek cocked his head and smirked, "But I don't have to change your mind, because it's still a yes, right?"

She reached her hands into his hair. "Let's pretend for a couple minutes I'm unsure."

He gave her a look. "It'll be way more than a couple of minutes."

Meredith giggled. "I so didn't mean it like that."

"I guess I'll just have to prove it to you."

"I guess you will..."

**

When Meredith awoke the second time, it was to someone banging against the bedroom door. "No..." she mumbled, burying her head into Derek's chest. "Make it stop."

"It's your friend," he mumbled back.

"How do you know that?"

"Because your cell phone already rang."

She groaned and shouted, "Go away."

"I'm giving you ten seconds to open the door," Cristina's voice came from the hallway, "And then I'm coming in. And Izzy and Alex said they could hear you this morning, so I know you're naked." There was a pause. "Ten seconds, Mer. I'm serious."

"We're sleeping," she responded. "Go away."

"Nine. Eight."

"She sounds pretty serious," Derek whispered, pulling the comforter up around them, but making to move to actually make her answer the door, or to even let go of her.

"If you love me, you'll tell her to leave."

"Seven."

He chuckled and pressed a kiss against her forehead. "You and I both know she wouldn't listen to me."

"Six."

"Good point."

"Five."

Meredith huffed, rolled unhappily away from her very warm fiancé and stood up.

"Four."

She pulled on a robe and sent Derek an apologetic look. "I'll make this as fast as I can."

"Three. Two."

"I'm coming," she muttered, swinging open the door and glaring at her best friend. "Seriously. It's our day off. Why are you waking us up so freaking early?"

"Early?" Cristina retorted and Meredith closed the door and ushered her towards the stairs. "It's almost eleven. I thought I was giving you more than enough time."

"Enough time until what?"

"Studying."

Meredith groaned and buried her face in her hands. "No. No studying today."

"Meredith, the test is in two weeks. We need to be prepared."

"We are prepared. You've had us studying for months."

"Exactly. Now's not the time to start slacking off. We're in the home stretch."

"I am not studying today," Meredith repeated. "I am not opening a textbook. I am not answering a single quiz question. I am ignoring the fact that I am an intern today."

"Meredith, you can't do this now."

"Yes, I can and- Wait. Didn't you just get off a twenty-four hour shift? You should be sleeping."

Cristina shrugged. "So? This is more important than sleep."

"For you maybe."

"Meredith," Cristina said, her voice full of irritation. "We have a test to study for."

"I don't care; not today."

"Give me one good reason why today is different than any other day?"

"Because Derek asked me to marry him last night."

Silence.

Meredith crossed her arms over her chest. "So, yeah. I'm taking one day off to celebrate with my...fiancé." The word sounded foreign coming out of her mouth, but she still smiled. "Because I'm happy. We're happy. And I don't want to ruin the happiness with studying. So...one day. That's all I'm asking for here. One day to act like a happy, regular person who doesn't have a huge test in two weeks."

"So McDreamy finally worked up the nerve to ask?" Was Cristina's response. "Please tell me he had private violin music and a massive ring hidden in the dessert or anything."

Meredith laughed and shook her head. "No music. No hiding the ring anywhere. And it's not that big." She hesitated before holding out her hand for her best friend's inspection. The ring was definitely understated; big enough to be seen without being huge, sparkly and beautiful with a hint of purple.

Cristina stared at the ring for a moment without making a move to touch it. "Nice. You know, Burke got me a ring. It was huge; four karats. Seriously, who would wear that? It would be so impractical at the hospital."

Meredith nodded. "I haven't decided yet if I'm going to wear it at work."

Cristina nodded, silently accepting her statement. "Where did he ask?"

"Joe's."

She looked surprised. "I saw him as a five star restaurant type."

Meredith laughed. "Joe's was good. It was very us. There was no fancy meal, or violin music, or getting down on one knee. No big speech. Just asking me to marry him where we first met."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "He's turning you into a sap."

"He's not."

"He so is."

Meredith muffed. "For today I'm allowed to be a sap. I'm allowed to be happy. I am happy."

"Fine. I'll let you have the day off. Just don't come crying to me when you fail the exam and have to redo your intern year."

It was Meredith's turn to roll her eyes. "I'll keep them in mind."

Cristina turned for the door and then turned back. "I...congratulations."

"Is this a moment where we're supposed to hug?"

Cristina made a face. "I don't think so. We didn't hug when I told you I was engaged."

"I was barely conscious and lying in a hospital bed with hypothermia and fractured ribs after coming back from the dead," she pointed out.

"Still...I don't think this is a hugging moment."

Meredith giggled. "I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Cristina nodded. "They'll be lots of studying tomorrow. You'll have to catch up."

"Whatever."

Her best friend made a face before turning back to the door and letting herself out.

Meredith locked the door and quickly made her way back up the stairs and into her bedroom. Derek was exactly where she had left him, only facing the other way. She dropped the robe onto the floor and crawled into bed behind him, her arm going over his waist as she spooned him.

He mumbled something incomprehensible and laced his fingers through hers.

"I really, really love you," she whispered into his back.

He sighed and whispered, "I love you too."

**

"Cheers to us," Derek stated, hours later, as they sat across from each other at the small kitchen table. Derek was wearing jeans and his old college tee. Meredith matched him in sweatpants and her long sleeved Dartmouth tee.

"Corny," she commented, but humoured him by clinking her glass against his.

"You know you love me anyway."

She smirked. "Unfortunately."

He rolled his eyes in good humour. "Do you want to eat or not?"

"Absolutely, I'm starving." They hadn't managed to pull themselves away from their bed until late in the afternoon.

"Then be nice to me."

It was her turn to smirk as she reached her foot forward under the table and ran it up his leg. "And here I thought I was being more than nice to you all day..."

Derek groaned. "You can't do that now, or we'll never eat today."

She giggled and stopped. "Good point."

He smiled at her. "I hate that we have to go back to work tomorrow."

"Me too. But just two weeks left before we actually get a vacation."

Derek smiled at her words. They were set to fly to New York three days following the intern exam, stay for five days, and then fly south from there for a week and fly home right in time to go back to work the next day. "Are you excited?"

She made a face. "No."

He sighed and cocked his head. "Meredith..."

"I'm glad we're going," she said before he could say more. "But no, I'm not excited. I'm freaking nervous."

"You have nothing to be nervous about."

"Are you freaking kidding me? May I remind you that I spoke to your mother for who knows how long without any sensors? Who knows what stupid and embarrassing things I said to her?"

As much as he tried, Derek wasn't able to hide his smile. "I'd forgotten about that..."

She huffed and kicked him under the table. "I'm going to have that riding above my head for the rest of my life, aren't I?"

He shrugged. "Probably."

"Derek! You're supposed to be helping."

"I'm just being honest. Do you want me to lie to you?"

"No, just...not helping."

"It's not a horrible thing to have done. It's far from the most embarrassing thing that's been done in my family."

"That depends entirely on what it was I said to her."

He laughed. "You didn't say anything that bad."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"Fine; it's of my opinion that nothing you said was damaging. It's also of my opinion that you're too worried. Everything will be fine."

Meredith sighed and tilted her head as she observed him. "Promise?"

He gave her his patented smile; the one that made her feel like she was the most important person in his world. "I promise."

She offered him a smile. "Okay. I'll try to stop stressing."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Wow. That's awfully optimistic of you."

She giggled. "What can I say? I guess I'm finding myself in a much more optimistic place today..." She glanced at her left hand before meeting his eyes again.

He smiled warmly at her.

Meredith shrugged. "Though, I have to warn you. It is me, so this whole optimism thing will probably be gone by tomorrow morning."

This time he laughed. "True."

She giggled again. "I love that you get me..."

He chuckled. "You're definitely unique."

"Shut up."

"I love you."

She scoffed and looked down at her food, trying to avoid the smile that was playing at her lips. He had so much power over her, even with such a short statement. His foot brushed against her shin under the table, forcing her to look up. And when she met his eyes, she couldn't help but smile. "I love you too."

He smiled back. "We're getting married."

Her soft smile grew into a huge, beaming thing, where it felt like her lips were curled up to her eyes and her face may actually start to hurt if it stayed like this too long. "We're getting married," she echoed quietly.

The moment was broken by the sound of the front door opening, and a myriad of feet shuffling into the front hall. The door slammed shut and footsteps made their way towards the kitchen.

Meredith sighed as she waited for the kitchen door to be pushed open, wishing now more than ever that she and Derek lived alone. They had agreed months ago to wait until her internship was over before talking in any depth about moving out on their own, but now she was wishing they had a place of their own.

The door opened, and Alex, Izzy, George and Callie walked into the kitchen, arms laden with textbooks and notepads.

"Hey!" Izzy greeted brightly. "Are you guys almost done? We need the table."

Meredith stared at her roommate, her fork paused half way to her mouth. "Excuse me?"

"We need the table to study." She shrugged. "You can join us if you want...but Cristina told us you were taking the day off studying. And then she ditched us and went to study on her own," Izzy continued, making a face.

"Well, we're eating," she explained, exchanging a look with Derek, who looked amused with the situation.

"That's okay. We can share the table." She dropped a pile of books onto the table beside Meredith's plate and pulled out a chair.

"Okay, seriously," Meredith muttered. "We're using the table. Can you really not wait?"

"Nope," Alex mumbled, dropping into the chair between Izzy and Derek. "Callie O'Malley here has offered to share her cards." He shrugged. "We need all the help we can get if we're going to beat Yang."

"I am not studying today."

George sat beside his wife, the two of them sitting between Meredith and Derek on the opposite side of the table from Izzy and Alex. "You probably wouldn't want to beat Cristina," he said to Alex. "She's kill you."

Meredith dropped her fork onto her plate with a clang. "Okay. Seriously. We are trying to eat."

"Then eat. It's a free country," Izzy said with a shrug, opening her textbook.

She huffed. "Seriously, can you guys not give us ten minutes?"

"You've had the house to yourselves all day. It's our turn." Izzy retorted.

Alex nodded his agreement.

"But it's my house."

"What's your point?"

Meredith groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Why can't I just have one freaking d-" She was cut off by the sound of Izzy squealing. And then her left hand was being pulled away from her face.

"Meredith! Oh my god! Are you engaged?"

Before Meredith could begin to say a word, Izzy squealed again and threw her arms around her.

"This is so exciting! Congratulations!"

"Uh...thanks," Meredith said carefully, closing her arms around her roommate.

"I'm so happy for you," Izzy continued, before releasing her roommate and leaping to her feet. She hurried around the table and hugged Derek around the neck from behind. "Congratulations!"

Meredith raised an eyebrow as she exchanged a smile with her fiancé. "Thanks, Izzy," he responded when Izzy's arm released its tight hold around his neck,

"Congratulations, Meredith," George offered, standing up from his seat next to her to offer her a hug.

She stood and accepted the hug. "Thanks, George." She was also given a hug from Callie and a half-hug from Alex, before being accosted by a very enthusiastic Izzy once more.

"When did he ask? Was it romantic? Where did it happen? When are you getting married? Have you set a date? Where is it going to be? Can I come dress shopping with you?" Izzy continued, her attention focussed solely on Meredith.

Meredith stammered slightly as she tried to keep up with the questions. "Uh...last night. At Joe's. And...no, we haven't talked about anything..."

"We'll have to get started on that," Izzy said brightly. "But seriously, can I come shopping with you?"

"Uh...maybe."

Izzy scoffed. "You need me to go with you. Your only other option is Cristina."

Meredith couldn't help but laugh. "If I decide to wear a dress, you can come with me."

"If you decide? You're getting married, Meredith. You can't not wear a dress."

She exchanged a look with Derek, suddenly worried about what he thought. In the last months she had started to think about what it would be like to spend her life with this man. In the last weeks she had thought about what it would be like to be married to him. And even though he had proposed nearly twenty-four hours earlier, she hadn't actually stopped to consider the wedding.

Derek offered her a supportive smile.

"I guess we still have to talk about stuff."

"So, let's talk." Izzy said excitedly, pushing her textbooks away and pulling out a notebook. "The first thing we need to talk about is venue. If you want someplace big, you may have to wait longer. But if we do some research tonight, we can make some phone calls first thing tomorrow morning and see what the wait times are like."

"Gee, Iz, I didn't realize you, Meredith and Derek were getting married," Alex spoke.

"Shut up," Izzy snapped. "It's Meredith. She's obviously going to need help if she actually wants to pull this off."

"Hey, that's not fair," Meredith found herself retorting.

"Meredith, seriously, do you know anything about planning a wedding?"

"Well, no-"

"That's my point."

"But it's not like you have any experience either."

"Yeah, but I wasn't a child of darkness."

"Hey!" She exclaimed, glaring as all of her friends – and her fiancé – laughed at her.

"I'm just saying."

She huffed and set down her utensils. "I'm going to bed. You people can take care of the dishes, seeing as you've taken over my kitchen table and ruined our dinner." And with that, she stood and strode out of the kitchen.

She made it all the way upstairs to their bedroom before Derek caught up to her, catching her at the door and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind so that they entered the room together. "I love you," he whispered, his chin resting on her shoulder.

Meredith closed her fingers around Derek's forearms. "I love you too."

"Izzy's just excited. Don't be upset."

She sighed. "I'm not upset," she explained, turning in his embrace and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm frustrated that we can't even seem to have dinner together today without being interrupted. And...Izzy has a point."

"What do you mean?"

"I have no idea how to plan a wedding."

"We can figure it out together."

She scoffed. "You've done this before."

He chuckled. "Do you really think I had a say in a single thing when I married Addison? I didn't even get to pick out my own tux."

She furrowed her brow. "Oh."

"Yeah." He offered her a smile, before releasing her and wandering over to their bed. He sat against the headboard and motioned for her to join him.

With a smile, Meredith sat beside him, cuddling close. "I feel stupid. I've thought about what it would be like to be married to you, but I never actually considered the whole wedding thing."

Derek snorted. "That's what makes you who you are." He tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Meredith. The marriage is important to me, not the wedding."

She blinked hard, feeling a stinging in her eyes. "So, you still want me, even though I have no idea what I'm doing?"

He laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yes. And we're going to figure this out together."

Meredith felt herself relax against him. "I'm not really a big wedding type of bride. Or a church wedding bride."

"Me neither."

"And you'd probably look pretty stupid in a wedding dress."

Derek sighed. "Not what I meant..."

She giggled. "I couldn't help it."

He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. "We can get married wherever you want, and you can wear whatever you want."

"I just want to be married to you," she said with a sigh. "I really have no ideas about the wedding."

"We could just go to City Hall tomorrow..." He said lightly.

"Are you in a hurry or something?"

He shrugged before snaking his arms around her waist. "I need to get you to say 'I do' before you change your mind."

Meredith laughed. "Trust me, Derek, I'm not changing my mind."

"Mmm, good to know," he mumbled, placing another kiss on the side of her neck.

"And City Hall..." she sighed. "I don't want anything big or whatever, but I think... I want more than just City Hall. I want...something."

"Something?"

She nodded. "Exactly."

He chortled. "How very specific of you."

"Give me a break; I'm new at this."

"We don't have to decide right now. There's no hurry."

"Okay," she said with a small smile, knowing just how lucky she was to have him; with the dreaminess and the patience. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I think we should get naked and get married in a field of flowers."

She snorted. "I am not a naked bride."

"Come on, it's a great idea."

"It's a horrible idea. What would the pictures look like?"

"Seeing you naked any time is good. I think the pictures would be great."

She elbowed him. "We need to have at least one normal picture."

He shifted so he was somewhat protected from her elbows. "Why?"

"So we have something to show our kids one day."

Derek fell silent for several moments, his arms tightening their hold and his chin coming to rest on her shoulder. "Something to show our kids, huh?"

Meredith sighed and allowed herself to completely relax against her fiancé. "Yeah...I want to have something to show them."

"To prove that we actually got married?"

She laughed. "To show them how happy we were."

He sighed, his arms tightening around her. "We'll always be happy, Mer. There won't ever be a time where all you have left is a picture to prove we were happy. I promise."

Tears stung the backs of her eyes, so she closed them and allowed herself to imagine the future while in the safety of Derek's embrace. "I know we'll be happy," she whispered. "I know."

**

**

The next day, Derek yawned as he scrubbed out of his successful morning surgery. It had been his only scheduled surgery of the day, and he hoped to have an early day.

Well, he hoped he and Meredith could have an early day together.

One day off to celebrate their engagement was not enough. He wanted more time to spend with his...fiancée.

The term made him smile. Nothing had changed between them in the last two days. They had already been planning their life together. But now... She wasn't just his girlfriend anymore. She was his fiancée. It denoted permanence. It meant forever.

A newly found sense of relief had passed over him the moment she had smiled, looked into his eyes and said yes without a hint of hesitation. Nothing else mattered but her. A year earlier, he had moved across the country in order to start his life over. He hadn't planned on falling in love. He hadn't planned on getting married again.

But Meredith had changed all of that. She had appeared in his life in the blink of an eye. And in the next blink he had fallen for her. And now he had something to live for; someone to live for. Nothing else seemed to matter all that much. He had found what he was looking for; what he needed to be happy for the rest of his life.

With one last rinse, he shut off the water and reached for a towel to dry his hands. He yawned again. His one day of celebrating hadn't exactly been restful.

"Two more weeks," he mumbled to himself. In two weeks, he and Meredith finally had extended time off together. He couldn't wait to introduce his fiancée to his family. And he especially couldn't wait to spend a week with her in a tropical resort, with no hospital, no roommates and no interruptions.

"Are you so determined to avoid me that you're stuck with only yourself to talk to?"

Derek resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he turned to face the plastic surgeon that had the uncanny ability to appear out of nowhere.

"I'm not avoiding you."

"You were this morning."

"No, I wasn't," he retorted, although it wasn't entirely the truth. He had been in a hurry that morning, not wanting to leave his very warm and sexy fiancée in bed. He had arrived at the hospital and hurried across the lobby to a waiting elevator. Once inside he had caught sight of Mark heading for the same elevator, motioning for him to hold it. But Derek hadn't exactly hurried to press the 'door open' button. And he hadn't exactly been able to hold back his smirk when the doors had closed with the plastic surgeon only feet away.

Mark made a face, telling Derek he didn't believe him. "If you had been courteous enough to hold the elevator for me this morning, I could have talked to you earlier."

"Ah, my loss," Derek said sarcastically, "And I guess you don't have time to talk now, seeing as you're on your way into surgery, and I know how strong your work ethic is."

"Give it a break, will you? I'm trying to help you here."

"What could I possibly need your help with?"

"So many things," Mark retorted. "But right now, one in particular."

"Do I even want to know? I have a heap of paperwork on my desk, Mark."

"Are you saying you'd rather do paperwork than talk to me?"

"Do you even have to ask me that?"

Mark huffed. "I'm trying to help you, man."

Derek sighed and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest, giving Mark his attention.

"I've been thinking about your problem."

"I don't have any problems."

"You're a coward."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. You've been hoarding a ring for god knows how long. Grey's hot. The only thing keeping you from getting down on one knee is you being a coward."

Derek opened his mouth, but couldn't decide which comment to address first.

Mark took the opportunity to continue. "You just have to decide on a situation and go for it. Holding onto the ring and the idea of a perfect proposal is messing with your head."

"But-" Derek tried to cut in.

"It's not right. Proposals are all about making the chick feel special. Just get dressed up and take her to her favourite restaurant, and make sure you have strawberries and whipped cream for when you get home-"

"Okay, seriously, you need to stop. I don't need your help."

"You've always needed my help."

Derek scoffed. "I have not."

"You have," Mark insisted. "I'm only trying to help-"

"I don't need your help."

It was Mark's turn to scoff. "I care to differ-"

"I asked her two days ago," Derek finally cut in, expecting to see shock on the plastic surgeon's face. Instead, he saw a flash of pain, reminding them both that there was a time not so long ago where neither of them would have waited two days to share big news.

Mark recovered quickly. "And?"

"Like I told you; she said yes."

"Well...congratulations, man."

"Thanks."

There was an awkward pause. Once upon a time, when the two men had been having a very similar conversation, Mark had been appointed best man at this point. But now, almost fourteen years later, neither seemed to know what was to be said next.

"So, when's the big day?"

Derek smiled and shook his head. "Haven't had a chance to think about it. We don't even know what we want."

Mark nodded. "Well, I need to scrub in. My patient is waiting." He moved to the sink.

"Thanks for the...help," Derek offered, his tone half sarcastic.

"Any time," Mark returned, with the same tone.

Derek moved to the door, but hesitated before leaving. "You'll be invited."

Mark turned half way from the sink, nodding at his former – and maybe future – best friend. "I'll be there."

**

Derek sighed and ran his hand through his hair, struggling to focus on the mass of paperwork stacked in front of him. The last place he wanted to be right now was stuck in his quiet office. And the last thing he wanted to be doing was paperwork. Especially after the happiness of the last two days.

He had looked for Meredith at lunch, but she had been in surgery, so he had bought a salad and a bottle of water, and had retreated to his office. That had been hours ago. He had made progress on his paperwork, but there was still so much left to do.

With a groan, Derek covered his face with his hands and leaned back in his chair, wishing the day could just be over.

"Are you okay?"

The familiar voice caused him to pull his hands away from his face, meeting the worried eyes of his very perfect fiancée. "Meredith."

"Is this a bad time?" She asked, her hands holding a plate of something in front of her.

He leaned forward and quickly stood. "No, it's a perfect time." Hurriedly, he met her by the door and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I missed you."

She giggled. "You saw me this morning."

Careful of the plate in her hands, he hooked his arms around her waist as he hugged her from the side, pressing his lips to her temple. "It's been a long day. I hate paperwork."

She giggled again. "So, you're using me for a distraction?"

He kissed her temple again. "A very, very welcome distraction."

"I'm glad I could be of help."

He released her and finally glanced at the contents on the plate in her hands. Many, many slices of cake. "Do I even want to ask?"

She set the plate down on his desk and collapsed into the closest chair. "It's wedding cake."

Derek sat back down in his desk chair across from her. "So, I guess the whole not planning the wedding right away thing kind of went out the window?"

Meredith laughed. "It's not for our wedding. It's for Cristina's. Burke went crazy and took over a conference room with wedding cakes, trying to force Cristina to make a choice."

"So, you stole someone else's wedding cakes?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just some slices. And they were up for grabs. Bailey took an entire cake. I thought I'd be a nice fiancée and bring you some, seeing as I knew you'd be catching up on paperwork and would be in need of a distraction."

He smiled warmly at her. "You're a wonderful distraction. But you know I don't like cake."

"You don't eat cake," she corrected. "I know you like it. You share mine all the time. And," she pulled two forks out of her pocket, "I brought two forks so we could share."

"You're going to be the death of me," he muttered, as he reluctantly took a fork.

"Shut up," she retorted. "The chocolate one is really good."

"Which chocolate one?" He asked, eyeing the many varieties.

She smirked. "All of them."

"How much have you had today?"

She shrugged. "It's been my breakfast and lunch."

He made a face.

"Hey, you kept me pretty busy yesterday," she said, raising an eyebrow, "I needed the sugar."

"That's a good point," he responded easily, taking a small bite of cake.

She rolled her eyes. "Do you think of anything else?"

"You brought it up."

She fell silent, carefully using her fork to create a bite with several varieties of cake. "This is really good. Do you think we could get all these cakes in one for our cake?"

"Our cake, huh?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't even realize this was something we would have to think about until Burke brought in the cakes."

"I guess its something we have to add to the list."

She sighed. "There's a lot of stuff we have to add to the list. Cristina's been ranting all day about the stuff Burke is making her decide on. Did you know if you have your reception in certain halls you have to choose the cutlery? And the glasses and plates and chairs and napkins. Seriously? Who cares what the napkins look like? They stay on your lap most of the time anyway."

"That does seem a little extreme."

"A little?! I'm completely out of my element here, Derek. There are things to be decided on that I don't even know need to be decided on."

Derek furrowed his brow as he struggled to make sense of her words.

"How can I help you make decisions if I don't even know what decisions need to be made?"

"We don't have to make all of those decisions, Mer."

"But Cristina's told me about so many things-"

"Hey," he cut her off, reaching across the desk between them for her hand. "We're not them, Meredith. I am not Preston Burke. I don't care where or when we get married, as long as you marry me."

"So, you really don't care what the napkins look like?"

He laughed as he shook his head. "Absolutely not. Or the cutlery. Or the plates. Or the glasses."

She sighed and squeezed his hand. "There's just so much to think about."

"There's no rush, Mer."

"You say that, but-"

"Hey," he cut in again. "Like I said; I'm not Preston Burke. I'm not going to make you do anything you're not ready for."

"But I am ready," she whispered back to him. "I want to marry you, Derek. Soon. It's the idea of a wedding that's got me lost." She shook her head. "I was never that girl, Derek. I never dreamt of the perfect wedding. I don't know anything about planning a wedding. I don't know how to choose a wedding dress...I don't even want to wear one. I don't care about cutlery and plates and napkins. I don't care about flowers. I don't care what the food is, or the wedding cake. I-"

"I don't care either," he cut in, squeezing her hand. "You need to breathe, Mer. We can have any kind of wedding we want."

"You don't care if I don't wear a wedding dress?"

"As long as you don't care if I don't wear a tie."

She smiled. "Deal."

He smiled back. "We'll figure something out."

"Soon."

"Soon," he echoed. "In two weeks we finally have time off. We'll be able to talk then."

"One day wasn't enough."

He nodded his agreement. "It wasn't."

"You're off on Sunday too, right?"

He nodded again. Attendings rarely worked on Sundays, but since meeting Meredith, Derek had adjusted his schedule so he was off on most of her rare days off.

"Why don't we go out to the trailer after work on Saturday? We can drive back in Monday morning. It'll give us some time alone."

"Sounds great."

She sighed. "We just have to get through the next few days." She glanced at her watch. "Which means I should get back to work. I don't want to piss off Bailey so that she makes me work all weekend."

"Take the cake with you when you go."

Meredith smirked and shook her head. "Nope. I'll leave it with you. Make a note of your favourite, so if we have a wedding cake, at least that's one decision down."

"I thought we were making these decisions together?"

She shrugged. "I told you; I like them all. And I brought them for you."

He glared at her as she stood, causing her to giggle. "You know you love me."

Unable to help it, Derek felt a smile flitter across his lips. "I really do."

She leaned across the table to kiss him. "I love you too." She pulled away and offered him a smile before turning and leaving his office, leaving Derek alone with a plate of cakes.

AN: Sorry again about the confusion. I never realized until now that only half the chapter was posted the first time. And I promise to make it up to you by having the next chapter up ASAP.