Hi guys, welcome to my new fic Still. I wasn't going to post until next week, but I'm really excited for this fic. Now, I haven't made myself through all the fanfic stories, so I hope my ideas are at least somewhat original. In this story, Meredith is 25, just finishing med school and on a vacation with her friends. Derek just happens to live where she's vacationing, and you'll see what happens ;). My Derek is pretty canon, because I love Derek, but Meredith is a little out of character. Ellis doesn't have Alzheimers, and Meredith isn't a drunken slut like she's portrayed in the first couple of seasons of Grey's (I love dark and twisty Meredith, I do, but this Meredith needs to be different). Just a heads up, in this fic, there is no Addison, and no Rose. There are, however, references of Finn, but I'm not a hundred percent sure that he'll make an appearance in this story. And, I'm warning you all in advance, they will not always be together, but they will end up together, as they always should. I really hope you like the story, I've kind of based it around the song Still by Matt Nathanson (I recommend you all listen to it, it's one of my favorites). Anyway, let me know what you think
Oh, and this is told in first person from Meredith's point of view, with occasional input from Derek. Let me know if you like it or not, I can easily change it.
Still
Still by Matt Nathanson
I remember hearts that beat yeah, yeah
I remember you and me,yeah, oh yeah
Tangled in hotel sheets
You wore me out
You wore me out
I remember honey lips and words so true
I remember nonstop earthquake dreams of you
You're coming on fast like good dreams do
All night long
Still can feel you kiss me love
Still can see your brown skin shine, shine
Still can feel you kiss me love
Come on and drive me wild (me wild)
And you move like water, yeah
And you broke like waves
I've never been deeper, so far gone
Your sister in the next room with the television on
Still can feel you kiss me love
Still can see your brown skin shine, shine
Still can feel you kiss me love
Come on and drive me wild
Come on and drive me wild
Come on and drive me wild
I remember hearts that beat,yeah
I remember you and me
Tangled in hotel sheets (for hours)
Still can feel you kiss me love
Still can see your brown skin shine, shine
Still can feel you kiss me love
Come on and drive me wild
Still can feel you kiss me love
Still can see your eyes like diamonds, diamonds
Memories are strong enough
To come on and drive me wild
Come on and drive me wild
Chapter One: Call me Maybe
"Come on Meredith!" Sadie said, grabbing my arm and pulling it towards the club.
"Coming," I groaned, still not a hundred percent sure why I agreed to come along tonight. But then again, I didn't want to be alone in my house in a strange country by myself all night while my friends were out partying.
I guess you could say that I've always been a good girl. I had a rebellious phase my freshman and sophomore years of high school, but I straightened up quickly when I realized the best way to get back at my mother was to prove her wrong. If the great Ellis Grey was convinced that I was going to make nothing of myself, then it was my new goal to make myself better than her. I got into Dartmouth College, a top ranked school, by the skin of my teeth, and I worked my ass off to get into their medical program. Along the way I met Sadie, Izzie and Cristina, and we became friends fast. But now, it's the middle of May, and we all just graduated Med School. Izzie, Cristina and I will be doing our internship on the west coast, while Sadie will stay close to Boston and work in a morgue before applying for her internship. As a graduation present to ourselves, the four of us rented a house in London for the next two months, and we were all determined to have a good time.
Except I didn't want to go to a club.
I partied a little in college, but I was so hell bent on being better than my mother that I didn't go out every night of the week, get drunk, and hook up with a random guy. I wanted to, but I had my future to think about.
"Stop complaining Meredith, and live a little! We let you stay all uptight and bookwormy for the past eight years, and now it is time to loosen you up!" My 'person' Cristina said as she showed the bouncer her ID. She was by far my closest friend, and we got each other in a way that Izzie and Sadie didn't. She understood me, and rarely judged.
"I'm not complaining!" I insisted, entering the club and met with earthshattering sound. Some kind of hip-hop was playing, which personally wasn't my taste, but I could probably start dancing if I had something to drink.
A half hour and three shots later, and we were all feeling a little giggly. Sadie had gone off to dance with some hot European, but the rest of us were just hanging out.
"Oooh, why don't you go dance with that one Mer?" Izzie said, pointing to a guy with blonde hair. He was really hot, but he didn't seem like my type.
"Eh, no thanks," I said casually.
"Why, do you think Finn would get mad?" Cristina said sarcastically.
"Cristina, we broke up three weeks ago!" I snapped, not wanting to talk about it.
"It's alright that he dumped you Meredith," Izzie said sympathetically.
"He did not dump me, I dumped him! We weren't right for each other, we wanted different things."
"Yeah, he wanted to fuck you because you hadn't put out after two years and you said no," Cristina shot back, and I could feel my cheeks turning crimson. She was right, Finn had been very patient, but after two years, he was pressing me to sleep with him. It was one of the many things we fought about towards the end of our relationship, and was probably part of his 'we want different things' argument. He wanted to settle down and get married, and I couldn't, not yet.
"No, he wanted to get married and have kids, and I wanted to start my career first." I hissed before looking around the club, looking for a bathroom I could lock myself into for a little while. While scanning, I locked eyes with a very intense stare across the room, causing me to blush again. The guy staring at me was probably about 5'10 or 5'11, with wavy dark hair and what I assumed was a great body. He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling, and I felt something that I had never felt before, not even with Finn: a spark. We stared at each other for a long minute until we were interrupted.
Our eye sex was interrupted by the bartender, who came over to refill our drinks. I quickly ordered a double tequila shot and looked back to the guy, but he had vanished. Damn, I swore to myself as the bartender came back with our drinks, and I took a sip of the burning amber liquid.
"Uh, excuse me?" A deep, masculine voice said behind me. I turned around, and there he was, the hot stranger. He was looking at me with interest, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Hi," I squeaked out, turning red again. Smooth Meredith, real smooth.
"I uh, was wondering if I could buy you a drink?" he asked, stuttering a little. If he didn't look as hot as he was, I would say he was nervous. He was wearing jeans, and I red button down shirt, left unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows, revealing a white tee shirt underneath. Plus, he had an American accent, which I wasn't expecting considering the fact that I was in England, but it sounded good coming from him. He looked like a model, a hot, hot model.
"That would be nice, but I already have one," I said, smiling at him and raising my shot of tequila.
"Oh, I see," he said, dismayed. But suddenly, his face lit up like a light bulb had gone off in his head. "Well then, do you want to dance?"
What?
My mouth hung open in shock until Izzie coughed loudly and Cristina nudged me. "I um, I I don't think that's a good idea," I stuttered out, and I could hear Cristina groan audibly beside me.
"Oh, why not?" the hot stranger looked perplexed, as if he couldn't see a good reason for me to turn him down. And honestly, I couldn't really think of one myself.
"Well, for one, you… I …." I struggled for a reason behind my decline, and then it clicked. "I don't know you," I said, almost triumphantly.
"Oh, well that's easily fixable. I'm Derek Shepherd."
"This is Meredith," Izzie said before I could even open my mouth. I glared at her, but she just smiled back at me.
"Meredith," he repeated with a smile, and the way he said my name made me want to turn to jelly. My name had never sounded better than the way he just said it. "So Meredith, do you want to dance with me?"
"Well…" I began, trying desperately to think of an excuse to turn him down, but I was interrupted.
"Of course she will."
This time, the voice came from Cristina, who shoved me off of my chair, causing me to stumble right into Derek's arms.
"Yeah, sure fine," I muttered to him, looking back at my friends with murderous looks before letting him lead me to the dance floor.
When we reached the hardwood floor, I turned around, and he placed his hands on my hips. I grinded with him for a song, with my back and ass pressed against his front. I had to admit, I kind of liked it. I was never a very good dancer, and could never really move with a beat, and it didn't seem like he could either. We found ourselves laughing as we struggled to move with the song, and I really liked his laugh. As the song ended and another heavy, hip hop song played, I stepped away, but he turned me around and pulled me closer to him. It was then that I realized that his eyes were the most amazing color blue, and I found myself unable to pull away from him, even though I did only promise him one dance.
Rather than pull away like I intended, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and pressed myself closer, grinding into him for the next several dances. We chatted a little, but we mainly just stared at each other, and when he looked at me with those blue eyes and smiled, I got lost in his expression.
After three or four songs that I didn't really know, an annoyingly addictive song from home came on the radio. We continued to dance until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Cristina smirking at me, and I instinctively stepped away from Derek, though he still held on to my waist.
"We're leaving now, do you want us to wait for you?" Cristina asked, glancing between me and Derek.
"Oh, yeah. Yes, definitely. I'll be right there," I managed to answer, but Cristina gave me a knowing look before turning and walking away.
I wasn't looking for this
But now you're in my way
Your stare was holdin'
Ripped jeans, skin was showin'
Where you think you're goin' baby?
"This was great Derek," I said, stepping back from him. "But I have to go."
He let go of my hips and smiled at me. I was about to turn away when he blurted. "Can I give you my number?"
"What?" I exclaimed, shocked. "Why?"
"So you can call me," he answered, rolling his eyes.
"Um, I'm not sure it would be a good idea," I said slowly, though a part of me really wanted to say yes.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because I don't know you!" I said, recalling our conversation from an hour ago. "For all I know you could be some crazy psycho killer who prays on innocent tourists. You might not even be American." I took a step further away from him.
"Meredith, I promise you that I'm American, and I'm just asking for coffee. Once. If you don't like me, you can never see me again. But I'm just asking for a chance." He grabbed a napkin and pulled out a pen, scribbling his number down and handing it to me. "Please," he asked softly, cocking his head to the side and giving me an adorable smile.
I was torn. A part of me really wanted to say yes, he was gorgeous, and our chemistry was undeniable. I felt more intensity when simply staring into his eyes for an hour than I had felt in the entire two years I was with Finn. But this was crazy; I was in England for two months, and then I'm beginning a rigorous internship program. Do I really want to start something and risk getting attached to a guy over a fling that can't go anywhere?
Hey, I just met you
And this is crazy.
But here's my number,
So call me maybe
I thought about it while Derek gave me his puppy dog eyes, and maybe it was all of the alcohol, or maybe it was just him, but I made a quick decision. I grabbed the pen out of his hand and pulled his hand towards me roughly. I knew this could end badly, but I scribbled my international phone number down on his hand, and when I let it go, I gave him a smile as I leaned into him.
"Call me maybe," I whispered into his ear in time with the song, smiling at him as I turned around and headed to the exit where my friends were waiting.