Title: We'll Make it Anywhere[1/1]
Rating: T
Words: 1,400
Pairing: MerDer
Spoilers: None. Because I haven't seen any.
Summary: M/D oneshot. Meredith meets the McFamily. / They're in the air now and there's no alcohol on the plane, apparently, and she's completely screwed.
This is ridiculous.
Meredith isn't sure why she hasn't realized that before. At a time when she could do something about it. Because she had had chances, plenty of chances. She had a chance when Derek had cornered her in the airport. He'd cornered her, saying things like are you sure and it's not too late but… she had seen the hopeful look in his eye, so she didn't change her mind. And she also happened to believe it when she said no, I'm fine and he said Meredith fine? and she countered no, Derek fine and that was that.
But it's ridiculous, she realizes that now. The problem is, she can't do anything about it.
Because they're in the air now and there's no alcohol on the plane, apparently, and she's completely screwed. They're landing soon. His mother is meeting them at the airport even though when they land it'll be three in the morning in New York, and she'll be with the horde of sisters. The entire fleet of sisters. At three in the morning. Because 'that's what family does', and she kind of thinks that maybe they're all insane. And of course she and Derek will be expected to be charming and witty because it's only midnight for them. And they will talk. In the car. There will be talking and then they'll get to his house, because the drive will be eons and there can't possibly be that much that she'll be willing to talk about.
Crap. She completely and totally did not think this through.
Meredith looks over at him. He's asleep, his chair reclined at the maximum two degrees and the paper-thin coach blanket they managed to obtain is draped across his lap. The other half is over her feet. His eyes are shut, which makes sense, since he's asleep and all.
"Derek," she hisses, because apparently some people can sleep when entrapped in pieces of metal hurtling through the sky. "Derek."
He ignores her, which, to be fair, is probably because he's asleep. But still. "Derek," she repeats, louder. She accompanies the words with a carefully-placed poke to the ribs.
"Ow," he mutters, forehead furrowing. She thinks it's worked until he resettles, facing the aisle. His arms are crossed protectively over his chest and Meredith rolls her eyes. The least he could do is be awake. He promised to help her this weekend and, seriously, this is not called helping.
"Derek!" she says, right in his ear. His eyes pop open and he bolts upright, which isn't difficult because they're flying coach and he was practically upright to begin with.
"What?" he grumbles. He squints at her in the dim 'you're supposed to be asleep' plane lighting. The engines roar around them as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ears.
"Wake up."
"I'm awake." He rubs his eyes and resettles in his seat. "Okay. What's up, doc?"
"You are so corny," she rolls her eyes. "You're lucky I don't divorce you."
"I don't think they'd let you divorce me for being in love with you," he smirks.
"Ass."
"Thanks."
"Anyway,I was saying."
"Yeah?"
She blinks at him, ready to tell him off for not talking her out of this, or making her talk him out of this, or something—she's not sure what, but she knows he screwed up. Somehow.
"Mm?"
"Nothing."
But then he presses a kiss to her forehead. "My mom's going to love you," he assures her.
"And your sisters?" she retorts.
He smirks. "Menacing but harmless."
"Not helping!"
"Mer, seriously. You'll be fine. Fine fine."
She deflates. It's not that she thinks he's lying. Really. He believes that. He believes that his family will just… get along with her. Like it's that easy.
"I… I was just going to say… that… I'm gonna go pee." She tries to swallow. "I'll be right back."
"Okay." He smiles at her and she attempts a grimace in return. Climbing over him to get to the aisle, she makes her way to the back of the plane.
She doesn't think he's lying. Really. He probably genuinely believes it. Which, admittedly, she can't really believe herself. Because he knows what happens when Meredith meets mothers. They hate her, and they die of really lame things. And, well. She kind of likes Derek's mother. She is her mother-in-law and Meredith's wearing her ring and everything, for god's sake. She's wearing her ring. Meredith wants Carolyn to like her but she was the reason Derek hadn't been back in years or called that much and they'd met in a bar and he'd only had two girlfriends before Addison and she was a whore, a complete whore and she'd told Carolyn she had sympathy for a serial killer! Of all stupid things to say. A murderer. And she knew Derek's father had been killed.
Carolyn's going to completely hate her.
The next morning Derek wakes early, to sunlight streaming in the window.
He's gone downstairs to get coffee when Carolyn comes in.
"Derek?" his mother says, taking his arm and leading him out of the kitchen. "We have to talk."
"About what?"
"About that girl."
"What girl?"
"Your… about Meredith."
Derek's hackles rise. "What?" he demands. "You said she was perfect."
"Derek, I—" Carolyn pauses, pursing her lips. "She seemed so nice there in the hospital. But… she's so…"
"What?"
"Well, the girls have…"
"The girls have what?"
Kathleen and Nancy pop their heads around the door. "She's so slutty, Derek," Nancy says frankly. Derek gapes at her, too stunned to even formulate a reply. She had told him; she'd told him they wouldn't like her, but… he hadn't believed her.
"Exactly," agrees his mother apologetically.
"Why are you telling me this?!" he demands.
Carolyn traces her ring finger. "I'd—I'd like my ring back."
"Excuse me," says a sister he doesn't have.
"What?" he grumbles.
"Excuse me sir, I'm terribly sorry to wake you," she continues.
Derek's eyes pop open with a jolt. A woman is leaning over him. "It's just that," she continues. "Your wife has been in the bathroom quite some time, and we're getting concerned."
"Oh." Derek cracks his neck and nods. "Okay."
The flight attendant directs him to the bathroom and he knocks tentatively on the door. "Mer?"
There's a sniffle from inside and he can hear her clear her throat. "I'm fine."
"That's what I was afraid of," he says, understandingly. "Mer, please open the door."
A long pause.
"Meredith. I'm right here. I can talk to you through the door like this with a horde of flight attendants listening"—they scatter—"or you can open the door. Please."
She cracks the door. "It's not like I'm freaking out or anything."
"Okay."
"I'm not."
"Okay."
She lets him in.
"Kathleen, Nancy, Olivia, Jane."
"Jane then Olivia," Derek interjects.
"Kathleen, Nancy, Jane, Olivia. Married to Dave and Bill and Lucy and Robert."
"Mer, you'll be fine. Nobody will expect you to know them all."
"Is it Nancy that has the twins or Kathleen?" Meredith demanded suddenly.
"Olivia. And Kathleen." Derek fidgets. "Olivia has two."
"Of course she has two, they're twins."
"No, I mean. Uh. Two sets of twins."
"What?" Meredith says icily.
Derek knows to tread carefully. "Olivia has two sets of twins. The boys are two and the girls are five. Kathleen's are eight."
"And you haven't mentioned this before because…?" she demands.
"It didn't seem relevant!"
"What do you do, clip coupons or something? Two for the price of one?"
"Mer." Derek tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and lifts her chin to look into his eyes. "It will be okay."
"We should probably go back to our seats now," she says sheepishly. She looks at herself in the mirror. "I look fine, right?"
"You look beautiful."
"Derek." Meredith rolls her eyes once more. "I haven't showered in two days. I'm getting dehydrated, I haven't slept in thirty-nine hours, and I think the kid in 2413 gave me a cold.—Why are you kissing me? You'll get sick."
"We could—"
"Derek. No."
"Nobody will notice!"
"NO!"
"Okay." Derek's hand darts up to her breast.
Ohgod.
"Or, you know," she moans. "Whatever."
They resettle in their seats as the pilot announces their descent.
"You are never, ever getting away with that again." Meredith smirks.
Pause.
"Until the flight back."
A/N: I seem to be almost incapable of writing MerDer without sexing. Possibly because they seem incapable of being MerDer without sexing.