A/N: Rating is K+ as there is some swearing, but I don't think there is anything else to worry about. My apologies if you think I applied the incorrect rating.

Dedication: This is dedicated to the reader of my previous Grey's fic who really wanted a MerDer ending, but never got it. I said I would write one, so here is chapter one of your story. Sorry it took so long to get it up for you.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Grey's Anatomy.

Chapter 1

Derek was sitting at one of the outdoor cafeteria tables with Meredith and the other interns that belonged to Dr. Bailey. It hadn't taken long for him to become fond of them, especially when Meredith was always hanging out with them. Because that meant he was hanging out with them too. Alex, Cristina, George and Izzie were all so different, but they managed to keep the balance within their friendship. At first Derek had felt weird hanging out with a bunch of interns instead of the other attendings, or even senior residents, but he had gotten used to it. They were Meredith's friends, so they were his friends.

It had been a busy morning for all of them as they were in a skills lab, and Derek was very amused at all their different reactions to it. It had been held by Dr. Webber so they wanted to look good for him, but Izzie and George were concerned that they had messed up and had looked foolish. Cristina was sure that she had blown the chief away while Alex thought he did pretty good but could have done better. Derek looked to Meredith who had yet to have said anything on the subject.

"What did you think, Meredith?" he asked her, drawing the others' attention to her. She looked around at all of them and sat up straighter.

"It was okay, but it was kind of boring." She said flatly. Derek chuckled and she threw her hands up. "It's not my fault! You're the one who has the best skills labs." She told him. He smirked at her words, but didn't say anything.

Cristina cleared her throat and looked like she was prepared for a battle. "I'm sorry, but are you trying to say that his labs are better than Burke's? Because they so aren't. He has all the best labs, hands down." she said, finishing by smacking her hand down on the table.

Everyone laughed and Cristina leaned back in her chair looking annoyed. Derek was about to say something but his pager went off. He quickly looked at it and stood. "I've gotta go. One of my patients needs to go back to the OR." He said to everyone at the table. Tucking his pager back into the little clip on the waistband of his scrubs, he put a hand on Meredith's shoulder.

"I'll see you later." was all he said before taking off. Meredith had nodded but wasn't sure if he'd seen it. When she looked back at her friends, they all seemed to be hiding a smirk. Meredith glanced from face to face and seemed to draw the same expression from all of them. She looked at Cristina and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

Cristina shook her head. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering when the two of you are going to cut the crap."

Meredith wasn't surprised by her answer. She had heard all of this from them before. "I told you guys I don't like him like that. He's a friend. That's it."

As soon as she stopped speaking Izzie jumped in. "Sure Meredith. If you say so."

Meredith glared at her and they laughed. After a few seconds Alex made a sort of 'quiet down' gesture with his hands. "Guys, guys, stop. If Meredith doesn't like the guy then there's no need to tease her about anything."

Meredith looked at him gratefully, but dropped the expression when Izzie spoke again. "Which is exactly why we are teasing her."

They all laughed and Meredith rolled her eyes. She'd heard this from them probably about fifty times and they never seemed to let it go. Only George seemed to leave her alone about it. Ever since Derek had started hanging out with them they thought that something else was going on with the two of them. And every time Meredith insisted there wasn't. And that was the truth.

The night before she started at the hospital, Meredith had ditched the intern mixer and went to the bar across the street, which was the same thing Derek did a little while later. He recognised her from earlier that night so they started talking. As the night went on they clicked really well and became friends. At first, they only hung out by themselves, but then they worried about what people might think of that. That was when she introduced him to the others as her friend. It was weird for a bit, but now he was one of them. Except for the fact that he was an attending, not an intern.

"You guys really need to get a life. Nothing is ever going to happen with me and Derek. So get over it."

Without letting any of them say anything else, Meredith got up and grabbed hers and Derek's abandoned lunch trays and walked away. As she did so she could hear the chattering of her friends behind her, but chose to ignore it. At first she had liked Derek, but it was obvious he didn't feel the same way, so she moved on and forgot about it. But with her friends always making comments about the two of them it was hard to keep the feelings she'd had away. But whenever she questioned her feelings towards Derek, she just thought of how bad it would be if they did get together and it didn't end well. That kept her from thinking about it too much.

But sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if he had ever had those same feelings for her.

A/N: Sorry this chapter was short, I'm just trying to ease in to the story. I hope you liked it though, and I'll update soon. -S