so hi, I'm anatomycd, the author of the Crash Into Me. Yes, I'm still working on that story, but this is a fluffy MerDer story I wrote a few months ago, and it makes me feel all warm and good inside, so I thought it was time to post it. I have written the entire thing, but I'm going to put it up little by little. I'm going out of town for a few days, so I'll put the first two or three chapters up before I go.

This is an AU story that would have taken place around Seson ONE ep. 4, this is before MerDer had the "car incident with Bailey" That never happened in this story. Anyway, this is really old compaired to where Meredith and Derek are now, but I love it, so please READ & REVIEW and I'll LOVE YOU!

Love Isn't Always on Time

Part 1

Meredith awoke with a start. Her eyes popped open from the sound of her old doorbell. Damn, she needed to get it fixed, or maybe have it turned off. The sound of that doorbell reminded her of being five years old and screeching every time it sounded. But, nevertheless, it had woken her up; she looked across the bed at her alarm clock: 4:16 AM. Great. She was awake, when she could have been sleeping for the next 45 minuets. Her shift started at 6:00 today, rather late, compared to yesterday's 4:45 call time. This morning Mr. Tribble had a craniotomy scheduled for 7:30, enough time to get in her rounds before going over pre-op notes with the patient and Derek… Dr. Shepherd, as he was formally referred to, but then again she didn't know many people who had sex with a man and then went back to calling him by his last name. She sat in bed and thought about him; he had been good, Cristina hit the nail on the head. Squishing her pillow next to her chest, she dreamed it was Derek she was holding on to. But no, it couldn't happen, not again, she was an intern, he was an attending, and besides, why should he want her anyway…

Finally, her mind thought back to the reason she was awake so early… the doorbell. She could hear Izzie and George fumbling around downstairs. As much of a pain as they could be, she did enjoy their company. She grabbed her bathrobe off the side of the bed and hobbled downstairs, eyes still half closed, where she saw Izzie and George dressed and ready for work. Meredith remembered that their shift started at 5:00 AM; they looked rather perky for this early. Meredith assumed they had answered the door, but she asked anyway. "Hey Izzie, did you hear the doorbell this morning?"

"Oh is that what that thing was? I thought that the oven was on and so I rushed down to check, but it was off. I decided to make pancakes since I was already awake. Want some?" Izzie said through a mouthful of food.

"You know, I think I saw a delivery truck drive by this morning, but I forgot to look out on the front steps." George added.

"Thanks Izzie, but I'm not really hungry yet. I'll go check the front door thought." Meredith made her way into the front hall from the kitchen and opened the door. She looked down on the biggest arrangement of daisies and lavender she had ever seen. God, did she love the smell of lavender. She picked them up to look at the card, sadly assuming that they were for Izzie, and she came across a surprising note:

Meredith,

I can't stop thinking about

you and how ironic this whole

situation is. Meet me for

breakfast at the diner two

blocks over from Joe's.

Please!

-D

Meredith read the note and smiled. Maybe picking up guys in bars wasn't so bad after all. Who says that everyone has impaired vision when drunk, she certainly didn't. She knew she shouldn't go, but she needed to stay on his good side, after all, they were going to be in surgery together all morning. She tried to sneak the flowers back in the house without drawing attention. She got past George, but Izzie saw through the kitchen.

"Meredith, are those for you? They're gorgeous! Who are they from?" Izzie yelled.

"Umm... yea they are for me, but I don't know who they're from," Meredith said, hiding the card in her robe pocket, "I'm going to take these up to my room and umm… I have to leave early this morning." So much for being discrete. Meredith was not good with lying, not to her friends, or her family, and especially not to herself. It was a trait she defiantly needed to work on, if she wanted to make it as a doctor.

Izzie started to yell something back to Meredith, but she was already headed up the stairs, not listening to a word Izzie said. She was oblivious to everything else as she hurried to get ready, even though she had no idea what time Derek would be at the diner; she didn't want to hurry too much and seem desperate, of course. She decided on a nice pair of jeans and sandals with her Dartmouth t-shirt (the one with the hole in the back of the neck.) She wanted to stay casual, as if to say, "Yes, I am excited to be on a date with a hot brain surgeon, but I just threw this look together." Big statement for a ratty shirt. She carefully did her hair and makeup, grabbed her tote and scrubs, and ran out the door with a quick "goodbye" to George and Izzie.