For this I was inspired by Gold, The Olympic games. I thought why not give it a go and do a short story about Meredith and Derek competing at the Olympic games and finding and creating these beautiful memories. I don't know how many chapters it will be but it won't be too long. It is totally AU as well. So hopefully you enjoy.

…

This was my high. This is where I got my rush from. My rush was the moment before the big race. The moment before they fired the gun and the moment I pushed off the starting block. The moment my foot hit the track and I raced to win gold. The moment I outrun everyone and crossed that finish line and the moment the crowd went from complete silence to on their feet waving my countries' flag. That was how I got my high. No drugs. No alcohol. The fact of winning the 100, 200 or 400 metre was how I got my high and the way I got it was a wonderful way.

The flashing lights. The roaring crowd. The beating of my heart inside my chest. This is what I trained for. This is what I have looked forward to ever since I remember watching my first Olympics when I was 8 years old and I was sitting at the hospital waiting for my mother. I was more interested in the starting gun then playing in the morgue. The athletes crossing that line and being awarded with a medal.

This is what I have dreamt of for 12 years. Standing on the track and competing against all the others worlds in this one race that can change my life forever.

I can feel it now. The thumping of my heart inside my chest as I warm up. The thumping getting louder and faster as they call us. I can feel the atmosphere of the stadium and the crowd. I can feel every inch of my body cover in goose bumps as we take our lanes and line up. The moment when the crowd goes silent before they fire the gun and the moment I feel my heart clench in my chest before the gun sounds. It's one of the best moments. It's a scary moment because I never know what is around the corner but I still enjoy every moment of it.

From the moment I sat in front of the TV every 4 years to watch the Olympics I watched every event and that is when I convinced my mother to put me into little athletics and swimming club and gymnastics and any other event that I watched on the TV. I was good at swimming and all the other sports. The only two good things I was really great at were gymnastics because of my unbelievable flexibility compared to the other girls I competed with and then my running ability. I wasn't the fastest but once I trained and trained I was the fastest of them all and I was winning all the races. That is when I knew I wanted to compete at the Olympics in running or gymnastics.

I went to every representative carnival and gymnastic event and I took home gold all the time. I was destined to head to the Olympics at 16 but an injury put those dreams on hold and I focused on my studies while I rested and repaired that injury. The last four years I pushed myself and I made it to the finals of running and gymnastics. I had to make a sacrifice and choose just one and I agonised over the decision for days and my mother told me to look deep inside and decide what I would want to really win in. I told her my running was my best strength and she smiled and said that was what I should do.

I had my sights on for the 2008 Olympics when I was 20 but another injury and family drama got in the way and I sacrificed those hopes of competing to be at home.

So now I am moments off getting off that plane with my fellow American competitors and to complete my dreams of winning.

Though I almost pulled out just recently when I found out that my mother was sick. I was that inclined to drop out and be with her but push from her and family and friends told me this opportunity only comes every 4 years and this could be it. Do it for your mother.

I am competing at London for my mother. Ellis Grey. Dr Ellis Grey. In fear that this could be the only chance of coming here and my mother's only chance of watching me.

And for a present my, Aunt Wendy and Richard Webber organised to bring my mother and twin girls to London to see the sights and watch me compete. My mother's condition we are told is deteriorating before our eyes so this is now or never. Watch me now or never watch me ever again.

"Meredith, were landing." My coach James says shaking me awake.

I open my eyes in a daze and look around. This plane is full of athletes competing. It is mainly the track and field competitors with all the others arriving in other planes or having already arrived but there is one athlete who is out of place. A road cyclist. He couldn't fly with his cycling team yesterday because a family issue came up so he swapped his ticket with a competitor and flew with us today. He sat across from me.

He was a third time competitor. He competed 4 years ago and won a bronze medal in the road race and he just missed on getting gold in the time trials by less than a second but he was back again this year with gold in his mind. In his first Olympics he was only young and won bronze in the time trials. His track work was praised highly and they just missed out. But in the road race he was favoured to win. He broke out from the pack but a collision behind him involving his teammate saw him stop riding and going back and helping his mate up and the two of them crossed the line together. He was the most talked about rider that year and was awarded a medal for sportsmanship and courage for helping his teammate cross the line by sacrificing his own first place spot.

He was like me though. He was great at a lot of the sports. He showed great potential at swimming and diving. His track and field work was always credited. His fencing won him medals going through school. He was a winner at the triathlons he competed in. He was an all-rounder but his cycling was the standout sport for him. He was a mountain biker. He was a road cyclist. He was a track cyclist and a BMX rider. Though this year he is only here for the road cycling and track cycling.

Our plane was 5 minutes off landing. It was a whole different time and a whole new day. We had been on the plane for 10 hours and I was already felt jet lagged because of the changing time zones and the fact that it is night time Boston and now it is morning in London. I was exhausted already and I had slept for most of the trip.

The out-of-place cyclist had sat beside me and to distract myself from checking him out I slept.

"Have a nice sleep?" He asks me.

I look at him and his dreamy blue eyes are staring at me. I felt somewhat safe when I stared at him.

"I slept fine. I am exhausted though."

"Me too. I suppose you would be exhausted with twin girls."

I smile at him. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Not at all."

"That was stupid." I say smirking.

"Well when I have someone beside me snoring it's a little hard to sleep."

I felt my cheeks redden. "I don't snore."

"Yes you do. I'm surprised that such a loud noise can come from such a little person."

I don't answer him and look ahead to save myself from even more embarrassment and from getting lost in his eyes.

"So I haven't properly introduced myself yet." He says. "I'm Derek Shepherd. I'm a cyclist."

I turn to see that his hand is out to be shaken.

"I'm Meredith Grey. I'm a runner." I say shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you Meredith Grey. I have heard great things about you."

"Really?"

"Yes I have."

"What have you heard about me?"

"Just that you are one of the favourites this year."

"It's my first Olympics. I'm just excited that I am here. I don't really care about winning."

He smiled at me. "It's surreal."

"What?"

"Being your first Olympics it's a surreal feeling just being here. Being at the Olympic village with all the other competitors. Being where the crowd is. Standing on your starting line. It's surreal."

I smile and lean back in my chair. "I haven't even gotten off the plane yet and I'm already excited."

"I was the same. I was so excited I was like a kid in a candy store."

"Good because being a kid in the candy store is how I'm feeling right now."

He smiles at me and we stay silent while the plane lands and as we wait to be allowed off the plane.

"So when's your first race Derek?"

The first day."

"You ready for it?"

"Yes and no."

"Well you have 8 days to relax and enjoy London before you race. At least your events are over quicker."

"That is true. You don't race until day 5?"

"7."

"Well I may come and watch you take out your gold medal then."

"I may do exactly the same." I say. "You're doing track racing as well aren't you?"

"Yeah I am but that will be over and done with. I'll be a familiar face in the audience."

I smile at him. "I will already have a familiar face in the audience."

"Who?"

"My family."

"Well I'll be another face."

I waited for the other athletes to leave the plane before stranding up. I opened the overhead compartment and Derek pushed me aside.

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"I'm being a gentleman." He says handing me my pack.

"Well you could have said excuse me and not pushed me aside."

"I like to be dramatic."

I shake my head and put my pack on my shoulders before leaving the plane. Derek follows close behind me and we meet up with everyone else who was on the plane to go through quarantine and customs. Derek walked beside me with his camera around his neck and his important documents.

"So why did you fly out today?" I ask him.

"Family emergency."

"Can I ask what happened or is it too personal?"

"Well my sister had a baby 3 weeks early and an issue with one of my other sisters."

"You're an uncle?"

"I surely am." He says smiling.

He takes his camera and I see him move through the images and he holds the camera in front of me.

"This is my niece Abby."

I look at the picture of the baby swaddled in a white baby blanket and a pale pink cap on her head.

"She's adorable."

"She really is. She's my 3rd niece. I have a nephew. He was only born a month ago."

"That's very cute. They are going to be very close in age."

"Yeah they are. Micah and Abby. It's crazy that I have 3 nieces and a nephew already and I'm only 26."

"At least you will have them. I won't."

"Don't say that. You may find a guy who has them and they can be yours to call your own niece and nephew."

I smile to myself. He was so nice and caring. He was like a prince.

"You'll make a girl very happy one day." I tell him.

He shrugs off the comment and smiles.

"Well you will make one guy very happy as well."

We walked through the airport side by side. My heart was beating inside my chest like crazy. At one point Derek's hand brushed the back of mine accidently and I felt Goosebumps go across my body and that is when my heart started beating like crazy.

"Which bags are yours?" He asks me.

"Um… that one and this one." I say pointing to my suitcases.

He picked them up off the turnstile and he grabbed his own bags.

"Are you okay?" He asks me.

"Yeah I'm fine."

In all honesty if he had heard about me before and heard about my personal life he would probably run for the hills.

"You sure?" He asks as we continue to walk.

"Derek I am fine." I tell him smiling. "I'm just going to ring my mother and let her know that I arrived."

"Okay."

He stands beside me while I call my mother.

"Meredith?"

"Hi Mom. We landed about half an hour ago."

"How is it?"

"We haven't even left the airport yet."

"Oh, well make sure you take plenty of photos for us. We want to know what it is like so I can get Matilda and Maddy excited."

"I will Mom. Are they awake?"

"No. They are asleep. They were waiting up for your call but they fell asleep. Poor girls. They're very excited to see you on the TV but they will be so much more excited to see you."

"Me too. It's only been 12 hours and I miss them a lot. Well when they wake tell them I love them and I will see them so soon."

"I will dear. I will let you go. I'll see you tomorrow but I will call you before we go to the airport so you can tell them and talk to them."

"Will do Mom. Bye. I love you. Kiss them for me."

"Bye Mer."

I hung up the phone and placed it into my pocket.

"So your mother gets here tomorrow?"

"She surely does with Matilda and Maddy."

"How old are they now?"

"3." I say with a smile.

"I bet you they are beautiful."

"They are." I tell him. "Is your family coming?"

"My mother and two younger sisters are."

"When do they fly in?"

"Not until the 25th."

"Family is good."

"It really is."

We walked through the airport and passed the cameras and reporters and onto the bus. All of our training gear had been sent earlier. Our kits were at the village. All we needed was our own personal luggage.

I took photos for my mother and walked onto the bus I wanted peace and quiet but I didn't mind Derek being with me. We sat on the bottom floor of the bus and Derek sat down beside me.

"It's quite beautiful isn't it." I say.

"It is. A place to make history and memories."

The bus took off with a roar and we travelled through the city to the Olympic village. The trip only meant to be 45 minutes but after an hour on the bus we realised that we had missed the turn off and were going around London instead of heading to the village.

"We're lost aren't we?"

"I'm afraid so." Derek says. "The Olympic lane isn't working as well as it should."

"Well we get to see the sights of London." I say.

"That is true."

So we snapped photographs of London as we passed through the city. Buckingham Palace, The London Eye. Everything that was so beautiful and different to America. Matilda and Maddy were really going to love it here especially seeing where the Queen lived.

"So what are your plans for when we get here?" He asks me.

"I'm going down and getting my kit, doing all the necessary paperwork and going to my room and having a sleep and then going to dinner with a few people."

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

"No I wouldn't." I say smiling. To be honest I really enjoyed Derek's company.

Our trip to Olympic Village took 3 hours and we saw the sights of London. That was one thing crossed off the list to do. We were given our rooms and I was sharing it with 3 other runners. Derek was across the hall from me and his team mates didn't arrive for another 3 days and he had the room to himself.

He followed me down to get his kit and check that his bikes were there and he walked me back to my room and told me he would see me later. The girls and I took over the room and made it feel like home with the American flag and by hanging it over our balcony. I showered and then fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I woke 4 hours later to an empty room. I got up from the bed and changed for dinner and the girls came back with different London things and changed before we all went and met in the lobby for dinner. Derek arrived dressed up in a suit and the girls went crazy. I smiled at them all and we walked to the restaurant were Derek pulled my chair out for me and sat beside me.

He talked to me throughout dinner and we made an early break. We walked back to the hotel along the streets of London to our hotel.

"Do you want to come back to mine and talk?"

"If your offering." I reply with a smile. "Just let me change from my dress. You can come in out of the hallway."

He follows me into the room and I move to grab my sweats to change into.

"Are your daughters excited to be coming?" Derek calls out to me. He had already asked the question but he was trying to kill time.

I walked out from the bathroom because I was having trouble unzipping my dress. I turned around and pointed to it.

"Well we kept it a surprise from them. They thought that they would have to watch Mommy on the TV but I am going to ring them and tell them. Tell them that they are getting on a plane to come and watch me race. I can see their faces right now. They will not believe it and then they will and start smiling so big and their green eyes will go wide. They will be stoked."

Derek had unzipped me from my dress and Goosebumps formed over my skin again. I could feel his breath on my neck but I shook off the images that crossed my mind.

"I bet they will be."

I darted back into the bathroom and then followed Derek across to his room. He poured me a drink and we sat on the balcony overlooking the London nightlife.

"You're so lucky to have two beautiful girls."

"I know I am."

"Can I ask a question?" He asks me. I nod my head. "Why are you really competing this year?. You have twin girls. You have a lot on your plate."

I smiled at him. "I'm doing it for the girls." I tell him. I then go on and tell him why I am really doing this. Why I am competing.

I was doing this for my 3 and a half year old daughters Matilda and Madelyn. They were part of the reason I dropped out of the last Olympics. I had broken my leg and was pregnant. So I sat at home and watched the Olympics with my pregnancy progressing. My twin girls. I had quite a healthy pregnancy and had to deliver the girls early at 35 weeks. Their combined weight was 9 pounds and spent 4 weeks in the NICU. Matilda and Madelyn were my two daughters.

When I finally brought them home they were 6 weeks old. The father of the girls was quite distant and he liked the idea of being a father but he was very distant when the girls were 3 months of age. One day I left him with the girls when they were 5 months old and I came home to find him with Matilda and Madelyn in his arms crying and his body shaking and the girls being shaken. I stopped him from shaking the girls and copped a fair hit to my face.

He laid the girls down and took off to never be seen again. I took the girls to the hospital in a frantic state and the doctor told me that there had been some damage to the girls' brains. They spent time in the hospital to recover from their injuries they had sustained. I broke down in tears and cursed the girl's fathers name and vowed for him to never see Tilly and Maddy again. He had never been found until just recently.

They though started both showing signs of cerebral palsy and they were confirmed when their development stages of infanthood were not being reached when they should be. Like sitting up on their own. Crawling. Talking and walking. I found that they had cerebral palsy. From a result of a low birth weight and from the shaken baby syndrome that they had suffered by their father. They were both diagnosed with 'Spastic Hemiplegia' which effected the right hand side of Matilda's body and the left hand side of Maddy's. They were walking now with a prescribed ankle-foot orthoses and I took them to physical therapy, occupational therapy, orthopaedic help, massage therapy and speech therapy. They are perfect. They speak well. They can interact with others well and they are becoming smart little girls. They never complains about pain and I always make sure I follow the routine I have made for them and I encourage them to do everything by themselves and if they need my help I am there.

They are proving the doctors wrong when they think they would not be able to walk, they both walk and they now want to run. They want to be like their mother.

So as a treat I am surprising them with the trip to see me run and we are staying after the Olympics to watch the Paralympics. There is hope for them one day if they really want to be a runner.

I am now here at London for the Olympics when I really thought I would not make it here. I had almost lost my baby girls and now they have cerebral palsy which is such a high demanding job but being a mother is. I just have a good enough support team to have gotten me here. Especially my coach and my family.

I look at Derek and he was shocked but his lips softened from the frown and turned into a smile.

"I'm proud of you for being here Meredith." He says kissing my forehead. "Matilda and Madelyn are lucky to have you as a mother."

I take my phone from my pocket and find pictures to share with him.

"This is the two of them after they were born. They spent time in the crib together and they were better in no time." I tell him.

"This is the first time I got to hold the two of them and I received a smile from both girls at that point."

"Their first baths and first time we dressed them. 6 zeros we had to dress them in and they were still baggy."

"The day we finally brought them home. They were about 10 pounds each that day."

"This is when they started smiling and laughing. They first rolled over just before they suffered SBS." I tell him.

"They are such beautiful girls."

I continue to show him every milestone they had reached. The first time they walked in their braces. The first time they watched me train. The moment they had run with me and their birthdays and Christmas'. Everything they did I showed him. I knew it was a lot but he seemed to not care he enjoyed seeing my daughters especially the latest photos from when I said goodbye to them before I got on the plane. They were dressed in mock up tracksuits. With white pants and a red and blue jacket. Their blonde hair pulled up into messy ponytails and their little converse shoes on.

"They are so adorable Meredith. They are breathtakingly beautiful."

"I know. I love them so much. If anything happened I don't know what I would have done without them. They are my rocks and have pushed me so much to compete for them and show them that anything is possible. They are proud of me but I am proud of them for being such fighters especially through everything."

"Their father doesn't deserve to know them especially after everything he done to them. Your strong for all that pain he put you through and strong for vowing for them to never see him. They deserve a loving father."

I smiled at him.

"Let's move inside because it's becoming quite cool out here."

We sat down in silence just staring at each other. I was missing my girls a lot but I knew in 12 hours I would see them.

"I'm so exhausted." I tell him.

"Me too."

"But over the hall is so far away."

He smiles at me. "Lie down here."

"Isn't that crossing a line?"

"No it's not. Those girls won't be home until the morning."

"How do you know?"

"Because I just do." He says. "So lie down and sleep because that is what you need."

"Okay. Fine."

I lie down on one of the beds and Derek pulls the covers over my body. It was like I was a small child. He kissed my forehead. "Night Meredith."

I started closing my eyes when my phone rang. Derek picked it up and answered for me as he sat down on the bed.

"Hello, Meredith's phone."

"Hi, I was wondering if I could speak to my daughter."

"Of course. I'll just put her on." Derek says passing me the phone. I take it from him.

"Hello."

"Meredith, it's me. I have the girls here. They want to speak to you."

"Put them on Mom." I tell her with a small smile coming to my face and I put it on loud speaker so Derek can hear the joy that the two girls bring to me.

"Girls, its Mommy on the phone." My mother says in the background. "She wants to say hello to you."

"Hello Mommy." Maddy says.

"Hi Mommy."

"Hey girls. What are you doing?"

"Eating breakfast. Nanny and Poppy tell us we are going somewhere so we have to eat out breakfast." Maddy says.

"Well what would you say if I told you that you two were coming to London to see me?"

"Are you serious?" Matilda says.

"I'm serious. You two are coming to see me race at the games."

"We get to see you Mommy?" Maddy says.

"You do. In about 13 hours."

That's when I heard them scream of joy. I smiled and tears came to my eyes. Derek smiled as well.

"We're going to London. We're going to London." They chant.

"Well girls I am going to let you go. You have a big flight to catch soon and you need to get to the airport. I will see you so soon that it is crazy."

"Mommy we love you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"No worries girls. I have someone special for you to meet. So have a safe flight and I will see you very soon. I'm going to get some rest. I love you two so much."

"Bye Mommy. We love you too."

"I love the two of you more. To the moon and back."

"We know. Bye Mommy." They say and with that they hang up.

Derek is smiling from beside me. "They are very special girls."

"They are."

We stare at each other for a long while. I was on a high from hearing my girls. Derek was in a somewhat good mood because he heard my daughters.

I leant in and our lips captured one another softly at first and then a passion tore through the both of us and we lost each other in a kiss so deep and full of excitement and love.

It was not a mistake.

Let me know your thoughts on this. I shall continue very soon.