Disclaimer: I don't own them. Wish I did, but I don't so I'll have to make do with writing fanfics about the amazing characters I've come to love.

Would you call it being "stood up" if the person you always meet for lunch didn't show? I mean, technically it's not a "date" so what would you call it? I can't believe he left me waiting for half an hour without so much as a page. A page to say he's running late, or will be busy in surgery and can't make it, or at least to tell me he's alive. Oh he'd better be alive so I can kill him when I see him! Why do I always get so worked up over him? It must be the lack of food. Yeah, that's it. It's because I'm hungry and irritable and, and, and… Great! I'm rambling to myself like a crazy person.

Still fuming from her thoughts, she headed to the nurse's station stopping first at the OR board to scan for his name. He didn't have anything scheduled until much later this afternoon. She continued on to the nurse's station, briefly noticing two young nurses off to the corner talking in hushed tones and stealing glances in her direction every once in a while.

Damn gossipmongers!

"Hi Linda. You wouldn't happen to know where Dr. Shepherd's at, do you?"

Linda is one of the best nurses at Seattle Grace which is why she's her favorite scrub nurse. She looked up from a patient's chart, gave her a tentative look and said "He's…um…in his office."

With a quick "thanks", she starts to head in the direction of his office when Linda called out to her.

"I don't think he wants to be interrupted."

"Wha…why not?" she asked

Realizing the two nurses at the corner were now staring at them with peaked interest, she walked over and whispered "He seemed preoccupied earlier and said no one was to disturb him unless it was an absolute emergency."

"Oh, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I interrupt him." she patted Linda's arm and walked off.

Derek sat staring at the computer monitor, but he wasn't focusing on the CT scan of the patient he was supposed to operate on later today. Instead, he was thinking about the envelope he received in the mail yesterday. The same envelope that laid unopened on his desk. He didn't have to open it to know that it was a wedding invitation.

She's getting married? I don't hear from her after all these years and the first piece of correspondence I get is an invitation to her damn wedding!

Still caught up in his thoughts, he didn't hear the knock on the door before it opened to reveal a petite woman standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"You are in so much trouble, mister! Wait. What are you doing sitting in the dark?" she could see his silhouette but there was no answer.

"Derek? Are you okay?"

There was a long deafening silence then she thought she heard him mumble something that sounded like "she's getting married".

There he finally said it…out loud. He knew he said it and heard himself say it, but the reality of it still didn't sink in.

"Okay. Is this your warped way of making me forget how mad I am that you stood me up and more importantly, made me miss lunch? If it is, it's not funny! And can we please get some light in here?"

She switched on the lights which snapped him out of his thoughts for forced him to turn to face her.

"Wh-what. Meredith! When did you get here? Is it lunch already?"

"Lunch was over looking at her watch an hour ago. What happened? I sat there like an idiot and waited forever!"

Okay, so it was more like 22 minutes but that's not the point. The point is that I waited and now I'm hungry. Besides, I had a crappy morning and missed you and really looked forward to seeing you which is why I'm upset. There I go rambling like a love-sick puppy again. Love? Where the hell did that word come from?

"Oh, sorry. I was busy looking at Mr. Rinaldi's scan and must've lost track of the time."

"Oh you were busy looking at scans and lost track of time? I see. Well, he must have some rare condition because I've never seen scans like that before" she said disbelievingly and looked past him at the computer monitor.

His eyes followed hers to the monitor and he couldn't help but laugh. The screensaver was flashing across the screen which clearly meant he wasn't working. Standing up from his desk, he placed the envelope inside the top drawer and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry I missed our date. Let me make it up to you by buying you drinks tonight after work. How about meeting me at Joe's at 7:30?"

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy. Tequila isn't going to help you get out of this. You are taking me to a very expensive restaurant and I'm going to order the biggest, most expensive steak there is. Hell, I may even order the whole damn cow!"

He tried not to smile, but seeing her stand there with her ineffectual fists clenched together was enough to lighten his mood. She always knew how to make him feel better even when she tries to pretend she's mad. It was entertaining, to say the least.

Seeing his eyes soften to their usual deep blue color, she couldn't help but smile too.

"I have to go prep for surgery. See you later. And don't stand me up again 'cuz all the tequila and steak in the world will not help you again." she turned and tried to focus on mentally preparing for Mr. Johnson's aortic valve replacement.

Four hours later, Meredith left the OR room happy with how the surgery went. She checked her watch and saw that it was 6:00pm which gave her plenty of time to go home, shower and get ready for dinner. As she walked out of her office, she ran into Derek.

"Hey! Listen, I'm going to head home and get cleaned up first. I've been in surgery for four straight hours and I feel "ick" so…"

"Yeah, I was going to do the same. Our reservation is at 8pm, so I'll be by your place around 7:30."

All through dinner, they talked about the surgeries they had performed which usually gave Meredith a high, but tonight it was…lacking. Something was nagging her and she needed to get it off her chest.

"…so I had to keep the skull flap open because…"

"When are you going to tell me about that mysterious envelope?" she blurted out anxiously.

"What? Oh…you saw."

"Yes, I saw it and normally I wouldn't ask, but you're different tonight. I mean you're still you, but…different. Something is preoccupying that brain of yours and I suspect it has something to do with the envelope."

"It's a wedding invitation."

Seems harmless enough…

"The invitation," he continued "is from my ex-fiancée who is getting married this weekend."

Boom! That is the sound of a ton of bricks crashing down over my head. When was he engaged and how come he never told me?

"Are you going?" she asked hesitantly, trying to regain some composure.

Please say no.

"I'm not sure. I mean it's been years and I'm over it…over her."

"So how did you…I mean when were you…engaged?" she almost choked on the last word.

"We went to medical school and did our internship together. She eventually went into Gynecology/Obstetrics and I…well, you know."

She sat there motionless, still reeling from the news that Derek used to be engaged! She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"She was offered a fellowship to a private hospital in Manhattan," he continued "So I suspect she's still there now."

"Was that when you broke up?" she knew she was prying but she needed to know.

"I came home to our apartment one day to find her packing. She was going on about how excited she was to be offered the fellowship and that it was an opportunity of a lifetime – which it was. When I asked her about the engagement, she gave me this sad look and said something about being absent from the relationship and that it was never going to work."

Clearly, she's an idiot! Actually if she hadn't left Derek, I wouldn't have my chance with him so maybe she's not an idiot. But, I still hate her on principal. Now I have to figure out how to tell him that I love him and that I've been in love with him since…forever.

"Absent? That was her reason for breaking the engagement?"

"Yes. She said we were both absent from our relationship and that it was obvious neither one cared enough to fix it. Looking back now, I guess she was right. We were both too caught up at the hospital and everything – our relationship, our family, our friends – came second."

"Do you regret not going after her?"

"At the time, I was too numb to do anything. I became a robot and spent almost all my time at the hospital. Until one day, I got a call from Richard offering me a fellowship and I took it. Two weeks later, I walked into the halls of Seattle Grace and that's when I met you. You saved me. I felt like I was drowning and you were like coming up for fresh air."

"But you're still considering going?"

"Yeah. Isn't that crazy? I mean, I'm over her but I feel this need to prove something to myself."

"You don't have to prove anything."

"I just…I don't want her to think she left me alone and defeated. Maybe it's the surgeon-ego thing, but I have to prove to her that I'm doing fine, better than fine. What I need is someone to take with me."

"The wedding is in four days. Who are you planning to ask at such short notice? Syph nurse?"

"Ha ha…very funny. I'm not that horrible looking, you know. I mean, I can find someone fast. Don't you think I'm a good catch?"

"Yes!" she said with more enthusiasm than she would've liked and hoping to salvage what's left of her dignity, she continued "If you're into the tall, dark and handsome type which clearly, I'm not."

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

"So I'm not your type?" he asked with a slight note of disappointment.

Feeling trapped she got on the defensive and immediately said "Why are we talking about me? This isn't about me. You're the one with the ex-fiancée that's getting married this weekend and you want to go but don't have a person and you're thinking of syph nurse and, and, and…"

Way to go, genius!

"First, I never said I was taking syph nurse and second, I have a person, you are my person." Grabbing her hand, he continued "Mer, I need you. You are my person and I wouldn't trust anyone to stand by me. Please say you'll come with me."

A/N I know this story is starting off a little slow, but I wanted to set the foundation. Here are a few items to note:

1) Derek and Meredith are attendings at Seattle Grace. He's head of neuro and she's head of Cardio. I wanted to make them equals since the backstory is that their friendship started when they did their residencies at SGH.

2) Most of the characters won't be in this story, except Cristina. I mean, she IS Meredith's person. There may be the addition of two more characters, but you will have to read to find out who.

4) Meredith and Derek did not sleep together, but this is a Mer/Der fic and I'm a die-hard Mer/Der lover so it's inevitable that they'll get together. Again, you will have to read to know when and how that will happen.

5) All thoughts are written in italics.

Please read and review. This is my very first fanfic so your comments will pretty much decide whether I should continue or not. Thanks!