You Send Me
Title: You Send Me
Pairing: Meredith & Derek
Show: Grey's Anatomy (duh!)
Timeline: About 2 years in the future. Ferryboat & Susan dying did happen. Finale? Did not. So Post 3.22/23 The Other Side of This Life
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Shonda Rhimes. Not Me.
So I think... hope! maybe you'll get a better glimpse of where I intend to go with this story.
Part 2
Derek cursed his profession and everyone in it when his pager went off at eight A.M. He was curled up in bed with the love of his life naked in his arms, enjoying the best sleep he’d had in months when the vibration had begun. And continued after he’d ignored it several times.
Groaning loudly, he released Meredith, waking her as he reached for the device to read the message.
“Wha?” She mumbled groggily, rolling over to regard him through barely open eyes.
“Shit,” he cursed lewdly, leaning down to kiss her ardently. “I gotta go. Emergency-”
“Mmmm,” she moaned in frustration, rubbing sleep from her eyes to open them wider and stare clearly at him. “Will you come to my place later?”
He nodded, grabbing her face to kiss her again. “Sleep as long as you want, okay?”
“Mmmk,” she murmured happily, turning back to her stomach, reaching out with her arms to pull his pillow into her body. Instantly his scent flooded her nostrils and she exhaled again, vaguely aware of him stroking her hair, leaning over her, hovering, watching her the way only he could.
And she hadn’t yet slipped into uconsciousness again when he leaned down, pressed his lips to her ear and murmured, “I love you.”
She sighed, goosebumps flying over her flesh as his words struck her, amazed her like they always did, and she clutched his pillow tighter to her chest. And then she was asleep and he was gone.
~
“I’m going to ask Meredith to marry me.”
Mark looked up in surprise as Derek sat down across from him. It was a lovely day in Seattle and all the doctors had taken to eating outdoors. Mark was perusing a plastics journal when his co-worker, brother and oldest friend approached.
“And you’re telling me?” Mark looked both incredulous and incredibly pleased.
Derek scowled. “Burke’s in the OR, I had to tell someone.”
Mark ignored the slight jealous pang he felt knowing Preston Burke had replaced him as Derek’s go-to guy. “She’s a great woman, Derek.”
Shepherd’s eyes flashed, nostrils flaring. “Back off, Mark.”
Sloane rolled his eyes. “Come off it, Derek. I’ve been here two years. You know I’d never touch Meredith.”
“I used to think you’d never touch Addison.”
Mark ignored that. “Any idiot can see that you’re crazy about her. I’m just surprised it’s taken you this long to decide to pop the question.”
“I was a bit burned by marriage the first time around,” Derek said coolly, nostrils flaring again as he stared Mark down. “As you might know.”
“You and Meredith and you and Addy are like night and day. Two completely different relationships,” Mark shrugged.
It annoyed and infuriated him that Mark was right. “What’s your point?”
“You know my point.”
Derek sighed, running his hands down his face in exasperation. Over thirty years of friendship and of brotherhood, yet he still didn’t really understand Mark. “Meredith is-”
“Good for you,” Mark said with another one of his patented casual shrugs.
“And Addison wasn’t?”
“Not in the end, no.”
Derek laughed but there was no joy in it. “You think you’ve got everything figured out, don’t you? But who do you go home to, Mark?”
Sloane’s eyes flashed almost dangerously but then just as quickly the look was gone. Derek knew he struck a nerve and instantly regretted it. He didn’t want to be cruel.
“You’re the one who came and sat down to talk to me, Derek,” Mark said tightly. “You could have waited to tell Burke. He goes home to Yang; he could definitely give you some real advice, congratulations, sycophantic bullshit, whatever you want. But you came and you told me.” Mark jabbed his finger into the table for emphasis. “Why is that, Derek?”
~
Alex and Izzie were both home when Meredith got back to her place about noon. Not much had changed in the last two years. Occasionally Meredith marveled over how ridiculous it was that the three of them still lived there but it suited them nonetheless. They was a comfort to come home to. Family she’d never had. Them, on top of Derek and Cristina and George, and, well, her life was pretty full in that department. She didn’t want a single thing to change, ever.
“Hey,” she greeted warmly as she sauntered into the kitchen.
“Hey,” her housemates said in unison. Alex was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand, flipping through Maxim with a bored expression on his face and Izzie was, naturally, baking. Something. Meredith wasn’t sure but her nose suggested there was chocolate in it. Her stomach stirred.
“Are you two off today too?”
Alex shook his head. “I’m on call.”
“And I don’t have to go in until tonight.”
“Oh.” Meredith frowned, pulling out a chair to sit across from Alex. “I was at Derek’s last night.”
“Figures,” Izzie grumbled with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, rigorously stirring dark brown batter in a stainless steel bowl. “We heard about Alan.”
“We don’t mind, though,” Alex shrugged; getting up to walk around the counter toward Izzie, peering over her shoulder to inspect her progress. “No all-night-sex-marathons keeping us up.”
Meredith watched her roommates closely. Alex was still standing over Izzie’s shoulder but was no longer looking at the bowl in her hands. Instead, it appeared that he was . . . hovering.
Hmm, she thought to herself, tilting her head to the side in realization as Alex suddenly dipped his finger into the bowl. She watched with interest as he brought it up to his mouth and licking it clean, then turned and walked away. That’s . . . interesting.
“Yeah, we can be a lot louder at the trailer,” Meredith said conversationally, not bothering with sarcasm because it was, in fact, true. Still, she studied them.
Izzie turned back to look at Alex peering into the fridge. Her face was flushed.
Again - interesting. She really had not been paying too much attention to her friends lately. She’d been spending a lot more time at Derek’s place. They tended to swap off and on, months at a time mostly at her place then months at a time mostly at his. They’d done this for over two years and it . . . well, it worked for her.
Now, watching the obvious sexual tension between two people she thought had long since been over each other, people she thought she was closer than close to, she realized she was extremely out of the loop. What. The. Hell?
Abruptly, she missed Derek. She wished she could tell him about how funny it was that suddenly, after over two years of living and working together, after other lovers and loves and lies and life, Alex and Izzie were finally making their way back to one another.
Since when had she been such a romantic?
“What’s going on with you two?” Meredith finally asked, unable to hide her curiosity. And she almost burst out laughing when both stiffened, blushed and immediately began offering overzealous denials.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing’s going on!”
Meredith grinned so hard her cheeks almost hurt. “You guys are so sleeping together again, aren’t you!?” And she had to bite down on her lower lip to prevent laughter from escaping at the way her roommates gaped at her in horror. It was one thing to see Izzie become ridiculously undone - but Alex? Oh, this was too much!
Alex’s pager went off before anyone could say anything else and now Meredith did burst out laughing at the relief on his face. He pulled the device off his belt, checked the message, and the relief doubled. “Gotta go.”
Apparently conceding the fact that they’d been busted, Alex went for it and Meredith watched, amazed, floored, as he leaned in and quickly kissed Izzie on the lips. “Bye,” he whispered to her softly, and her tall, blonde roommate blushed, grinned, waved slightly. “Bye,” she said, avoiding Meredith’s gaze as Alex left the room.
Meredith waited until the front door slammed before she whooped loudly, clapping her hands in delight. “You and Alex? Again? Yes!” She pumped her fist into the air.
“Why does this excite you so much?” Izzie asked, forcing herself to pour the batter into a pre-greased 8 x 10 pan to calm her shaky hands.
“You? Hot. Alex? Hot. The two of you together? Hot!” Meredith watched Izzie’s face closely. “After everything with Denny and then George-”
“It took me a long time to get over Denny. And even longer to get over George,” Izzie whispered softly.
Meredith nodded, still completely weirded out by that entire situation. “I know. But I think Alex is good for you. I definitely think you’re good for him. He’s always loved you, Iz. Always. Even when he was being a jerk. What he did for you the night Denny died? It was so obvious that he loved you.”
Izzie smiled, blinking away sudden tears in her eyes. “Funny, I’d say the same thing about McDreamy. I secretly hated him for a long time for what he did to you but I can see now how much he’s always loved you.”
Meredith smiled, pleasantly taken aback by the comment. “Yeah. Derek’s . . . yeah.” She blushed, looked away. Derek was a dream come true, plain and simple. A day didn’t go by that she didn’t thank God or fate or whatever for bringing him into her life.
But she’d never say that. Not even to him.
“So what’s going on with you two?” Izzie wanted to know.
Meredith frowned, stolen from her reverie. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you’ve been together since we were interns and he still lives in a trailer and you still live like you’re in college.”
Meredith stiffened. Just like Izzie to be blunt and judgmental. “It works for us.”
“Does it?” Izzie tilted her head to watch Meredith. “I mean-”
The sound of the front door opening cut her off and Meredith sagged with relief. Seconds later, “Hello?”
She perked up with surprise as she recognized Derek’s voice. “Kitchen!” Her heart literally soared when her tall, dark, and gorgeous boyfriend stepped into the kitchen, looking as delicious as ever in a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater.
“Stevens,” Derek nodded, smiling cordially at Izzie as he walked over to Meredith and kissed her hello.
“Shepherd,” Izzie grinned, nodding back. “I’m making brownies. They’ll probably be ready in a half hour.”
“That’s another thing,” Meredith said in between kisses. She turned to look at her housemate. “All this time, I thought you only baked when you were sad.”
Izzie perked her brow at that. “No, I like to bake when I get laid too.”
They all laughed at that, Derek included, even though he had no idea what they were talking about. They moved on to lighter topics, the weather, the Mariners, the hospital, and Meredith secretly said a prayer of thanks that her conversation with Izzie had been interrupted.
Things between her and Derek were fine. There was absolutely no need to ever change anything about their relationship. They’d stayed happy and in love and Parent-Death and Super-Secret-Wife Free for nearly two years now and that, to her, was more important than anything else.
She and Derek would be fine. As long as nothing changed, they would be better than ever.
Pairing: Meredith & Derek
Show: Grey's Anatomy (duh!)
Timeline: About 2 years in the future. Ferryboat & Susan dying did happen. Finale? Did not. So Post 3.22/23 The Other Side of This Life
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Shonda Rhimes. Not Me.
So I think... hope! maybe you'll get a better glimpse of where I intend to go with this story.
Part 2
Derek cursed his profession and everyone in it when his pager went off at eight A.M. He was curled up in bed with the love of his life naked in his arms, enjoying the best sleep he’d had in months when the vibration had begun. And continued after he’d ignored it several times.
Groaning loudly, he released Meredith, waking her as he reached for the device to read the message.
“Wha?” She mumbled groggily, rolling over to regard him through barely open eyes.
“Shit,” he cursed lewdly, leaning down to kiss her ardently. “I gotta go. Emergency-”
“Mmmm,” she moaned in frustration, rubbing sleep from her eyes to open them wider and stare clearly at him. “Will you come to my place later?”
He nodded, grabbing her face to kiss her again. “Sleep as long as you want, okay?”
“Mmmk,” she murmured happily, turning back to her stomach, reaching out with her arms to pull his pillow into her body. Instantly his scent flooded her nostrils and she exhaled again, vaguely aware of him stroking her hair, leaning over her, hovering, watching her the way only he could.
And she hadn’t yet slipped into uconsciousness again when he leaned down, pressed his lips to her ear and murmured, “I love you.”
She sighed, goosebumps flying over her flesh as his words struck her, amazed her like they always did, and she clutched his pillow tighter to her chest. And then she was asleep and he was gone.
~
“I’m going to ask Meredith to marry me.”
Mark looked up in surprise as Derek sat down across from him. It was a lovely day in Seattle and all the doctors had taken to eating outdoors. Mark was perusing a plastics journal when his co-worker, brother and oldest friend approached.
“And you’re telling me?” Mark looked both incredulous and incredibly pleased.
Derek scowled. “Burke’s in the OR, I had to tell someone.”
Mark ignored the slight jealous pang he felt knowing Preston Burke had replaced him as Derek’s go-to guy. “She’s a great woman, Derek.”
Shepherd’s eyes flashed, nostrils flaring. “Back off, Mark.”
Sloane rolled his eyes. “Come off it, Derek. I’ve been here two years. You know I’d never touch Meredith.”
“I used to think you’d never touch Addison.”
Mark ignored that. “Any idiot can see that you’re crazy about her. I’m just surprised it’s taken you this long to decide to pop the question.”
“I was a bit burned by marriage the first time around,” Derek said coolly, nostrils flaring again as he stared Mark down. “As you might know.”
“You and Meredith and you and Addy are like night and day. Two completely different relationships,” Mark shrugged.
It annoyed and infuriated him that Mark was right. “What’s your point?”
“You know my point.”
Derek sighed, running his hands down his face in exasperation. Over thirty years of friendship and of brotherhood, yet he still didn’t really understand Mark. “Meredith is-”
“Good for you,” Mark said with another one of his patented casual shrugs.
“And Addison wasn’t?”
“Not in the end, no.”
Derek laughed but there was no joy in it. “You think you’ve got everything figured out, don’t you? But who do you go home to, Mark?”
Sloane’s eyes flashed almost dangerously but then just as quickly the look was gone. Derek knew he struck a nerve and instantly regretted it. He didn’t want to be cruel.
“You’re the one who came and sat down to talk to me, Derek,” Mark said tightly. “You could have waited to tell Burke. He goes home to Yang; he could definitely give you some real advice, congratulations, sycophantic bullshit, whatever you want. But you came and you told me.” Mark jabbed his finger into the table for emphasis. “Why is that, Derek?”
~
Alex and Izzie were both home when Meredith got back to her place about noon. Not much had changed in the last two years. Occasionally Meredith marveled over how ridiculous it was that the three of them still lived there but it suited them nonetheless. They was a comfort to come home to. Family she’d never had. Them, on top of Derek and Cristina and George, and, well, her life was pretty full in that department. She didn’t want a single thing to change, ever.
“Hey,” she greeted warmly as she sauntered into the kitchen.
“Hey,” her housemates said in unison. Alex was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in his hand, flipping through Maxim with a bored expression on his face and Izzie was, naturally, baking. Something. Meredith wasn’t sure but her nose suggested there was chocolate in it. Her stomach stirred.
“Are you two off today too?”
Alex shook his head. “I’m on call.”
“And I don’t have to go in until tonight.”
“Oh.” Meredith frowned, pulling out a chair to sit across from Alex. “I was at Derek’s last night.”
“Figures,” Izzie grumbled with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, rigorously stirring dark brown batter in a stainless steel bowl. “We heard about Alan.”
“We don’t mind, though,” Alex shrugged; getting up to walk around the counter toward Izzie, peering over her shoulder to inspect her progress. “No all-night-sex-marathons keeping us up.”
Meredith watched her roommates closely. Alex was still standing over Izzie’s shoulder but was no longer looking at the bowl in her hands. Instead, it appeared that he was . . . hovering.
Hmm, she thought to herself, tilting her head to the side in realization as Alex suddenly dipped his finger into the bowl. She watched with interest as he brought it up to his mouth and licking it clean, then turned and walked away. That’s . . . interesting.
“Yeah, we can be a lot louder at the trailer,” Meredith said conversationally, not bothering with sarcasm because it was, in fact, true. Still, she studied them.
Izzie turned back to look at Alex peering into the fridge. Her face was flushed.
Again - interesting. She really had not been paying too much attention to her friends lately. She’d been spending a lot more time at Derek’s place. They tended to swap off and on, months at a time mostly at her place then months at a time mostly at his. They’d done this for over two years and it . . . well, it worked for her.
Now, watching the obvious sexual tension between two people she thought had long since been over each other, people she thought she was closer than close to, she realized she was extremely out of the loop. What. The. Hell?
Abruptly, she missed Derek. She wished she could tell him about how funny it was that suddenly, after over two years of living and working together, after other lovers and loves and lies and life, Alex and Izzie were finally making their way back to one another.
Since when had she been such a romantic?
“What’s going on with you two?” Meredith finally asked, unable to hide her curiosity. And she almost burst out laughing when both stiffened, blushed and immediately began offering overzealous denials.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing’s going on!”
Meredith grinned so hard her cheeks almost hurt. “You guys are so sleeping together again, aren’t you!?” And she had to bite down on her lower lip to prevent laughter from escaping at the way her roommates gaped at her in horror. It was one thing to see Izzie become ridiculously undone - but Alex? Oh, this was too much!
Alex’s pager went off before anyone could say anything else and now Meredith did burst out laughing at the relief on his face. He pulled the device off his belt, checked the message, and the relief doubled. “Gotta go.”
Apparently conceding the fact that they’d been busted, Alex went for it and Meredith watched, amazed, floored, as he leaned in and quickly kissed Izzie on the lips. “Bye,” he whispered to her softly, and her tall, blonde roommate blushed, grinned, waved slightly. “Bye,” she said, avoiding Meredith’s gaze as Alex left the room.
Meredith waited until the front door slammed before she whooped loudly, clapping her hands in delight. “You and Alex? Again? Yes!” She pumped her fist into the air.
“Why does this excite you so much?” Izzie asked, forcing herself to pour the batter into a pre-greased 8 x 10 pan to calm her shaky hands.
“You? Hot. Alex? Hot. The two of you together? Hot!” Meredith watched Izzie’s face closely. “After everything with Denny and then George-”
“It took me a long time to get over Denny. And even longer to get over George,” Izzie whispered softly.
Meredith nodded, still completely weirded out by that entire situation. “I know. But I think Alex is good for you. I definitely think you’re good for him. He’s always loved you, Iz. Always. Even when he was being a jerk. What he did for you the night Denny died? It was so obvious that he loved you.”
Izzie smiled, blinking away sudden tears in her eyes. “Funny, I’d say the same thing about McDreamy. I secretly hated him for a long time for what he did to you but I can see now how much he’s always loved you.”
Meredith smiled, pleasantly taken aback by the comment. “Yeah. Derek’s . . . yeah.” She blushed, looked away. Derek was a dream come true, plain and simple. A day didn’t go by that she didn’t thank God or fate or whatever for bringing him into her life.
But she’d never say that. Not even to him.
“So what’s going on with you two?” Izzie wanted to know.
Meredith frowned, stolen from her reverie. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you’ve been together since we were interns and he still lives in a trailer and you still live like you’re in college.”
Meredith stiffened. Just like Izzie to be blunt and judgmental. “It works for us.”
“Does it?” Izzie tilted her head to watch Meredith. “I mean-”
The sound of the front door opening cut her off and Meredith sagged with relief. Seconds later, “Hello?”
She perked up with surprise as she recognized Derek’s voice. “Kitchen!” Her heart literally soared when her tall, dark, and gorgeous boyfriend stepped into the kitchen, looking as delicious as ever in a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater.
“Stevens,” Derek nodded, smiling cordially at Izzie as he walked over to Meredith and kissed her hello.
“Shepherd,” Izzie grinned, nodding back. “I’m making brownies. They’ll probably be ready in a half hour.”
“That’s another thing,” Meredith said in between kisses. She turned to look at her housemate. “All this time, I thought you only baked when you were sad.”
Izzie perked her brow at that. “No, I like to bake when I get laid too.”
They all laughed at that, Derek included, even though he had no idea what they were talking about. They moved on to lighter topics, the weather, the Mariners, the hospital, and Meredith secretly said a prayer of thanks that her conversation with Izzie had been interrupted.
Things between her and Derek were fine. There was absolutely no need to ever change anything about their relationship. They’d stayed happy and in love and Parent-Death and Super-Secret-Wife Free for nearly two years now and that, to her, was more important than anything else.
She and Derek would be fine. As long as nothing changed, they would be better than ever.