Thanks for all the reviews. Means a lot.

About the characters of Thatcher and Molly. I see Thatcher as the bad person, obviously. So if you are a fan of his character or just don't want to see him get kind of crazy then probably not the fic for you.... Also, I'm more of a Lexie fan than a Molly fan. Therefore she may be OOC - even though we don't really know how she is - I consider she will always support her dad....

This chapter doesn't have a POV (I like to swap a lot between character POV's and just normal..)

I'm Aussie! Therefore we drive on the left side of the road, so the driver is on the right hand side of the car - Remember that.

Enjoy!

----------------

Derek enjoyed waking up before Meredith. He had pushed himself onto his side and was now leaning on his elbow watching her. He liked seeing her so natural and unafraid. It was unusual to see her at such an ease. Her face relaxed and almost adopted a slight smile as she slept. It made him happy that she could avoid her difficult life, even for just a little while. She could avoid her mother's death, Susan's death and her father. She could avoid everything. He wished he could provide her that sanctuary when she was awake.

It had taken a long time before she had eventually succumbed to sleep the night before. She had told him that she was fine, and although he knew it wasn't the case, he didn't push her. Talking had never been one of her strongest attributes. In fact, talking about issues in her life had never been an option before. It was going to take a while for her to realise that it was now.

He sighed and gently pushed a stray lock of her hair out of her eyes and she snored peacefully. He knew he should wake her up soon. Today was the day of the most important test in her intern career as well as the funeral of her 'fake-mommy'. He didn't know how she would be able to concentrate in the test and had told her many times that she should ask the chief to allow her to do it the next day but she had boldly refused. He didn't know if she would cope at the funeral, he didn't even know what kind of grief she was holding back. They were all unknowns, but there were three things he did know. One, he was going to be there every step of the way - he had gone and got the dreaded black suit out of the wardrobe at his trailer. Two, he wasn't going to let her push him away. He knew what she was like when it came to these things. She'd rather deal with it herself than talk it out - today that wasn't happening. Finally, Three, and it was the big one that he had no doubt about. He loved her with all his heart and while today would be hard, he was going to make it that little bit easier.

He felt her stir beside him and pushed his thoughts away as he rolled back onto his back. He thought she was sure to wake up but she felt for his presence and snuggled into him more firmly. He grinned, even her unconscious knew she needed him. He gave her a few more moments rest before deciding that it was time to face reality.

"Mer..." he whispered caressing her face as he did so. She mumbled a reply that he couldn't understand but didn't move.

"Meredith" he said a little louder this time. He then heard her groan and she opened one eye to look at him.

"Time to get up" he said and she stubbornly shook her head.

"Nope, I'm good here" Derek laughed and proceeded to get out of the bed forcing her to move.

"Hey! Pillows aren't supposed to move" Derek smirked

"So all I am to you is a pillow?" He pouted at her and she got up and perched herself on the end of the bed beckoning him to come to her. She put her arms around his neck and leaned into him and then whispered in his ear. "Yup" she giggled and ran off, out the door and into the hallway.

He ran after her and caught her at the stairs. She screamed "No fair, you have longer legs than me"

"You shouldn't run away, take it back"

She turned in his arms "Take what back?" she asked innocently.

He grinned and then started tickling her. She screamed in delight "Okay! Okay! Okay! I take it back" He stopped tickling her and let her go.

"Not" she yelled and ran away screaming again, and he followed her just as quickly.

Izzie opened her door, bleary eyed and looked across to Alex, who was doing the same thing.

"The calm before the storm" she declared and turned and shut her door.

-----------

"Meredith, ready to go?" Derek yelled up the stairs as he waited by the door. He heard a soft yes and then Meredith appeared looking much less playful than she had been only an hour ago.

Derek gave her a small smile and opened the door, herding her out.

"We're going, Izzie, Meredith will be at the hospital just before the test" Derek yelled and when he heard an okay in response he slammed the door behind him and followed Meredith to the car, unlocking it on his way.

"You doing okay?" he asked, trying to ascertain what kind of mood she was in.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said. He pulled out of the drive and made his way to the church where the funeral was to be held. Meredith had moved her body, her head was slumped in a very uncomfortable position against the window. Her hand sat on her thigh as she nervously kept moving it.

Derek sighed and took her hand in his left as he drove. She looked over at him and smiled.

"I'm Okay, Derek. Really I'm okay" he wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or him but he just nodded and squeezed her hand.

They made it to the church in only ten minutes. It was a beautiful church, just how he remembered the one when he was only young and attending his own father's funeral. He remembered all the people outside and when he had turned up with his sisters and his mother all eyes had switched to them and you could see the sympathy in their eyes. He knew now that he was much too young to seriously understand the concept that he would never see his dad again. As he got out of the car, the same thing happened. All eyes switched to him and he felt like he was there all over again. Meredith came around to meet him and he immediately looped his arm around hers.

"Want to go in?" Derek asked quietly, willing everyone to not look at them anymore.

"No, I just want to wait here for a bit" she said back as she got her sunglasses out of her bag and put them on. It was a sunny day, which was very rare for Seattle. Derek thought it was quite ironic, the one day where gloomy weather seemed appropriate and it turned out to be a fine sunny day.

They waited against the car and eventually everyone returned to their conversations. It wasn't long before two dark black cars entered into view. Derek sighed and hoped that Thatcher wouldn't cause a scene.

"Maybe we should go inside, Mer." He commented, deciding that maybe it was better to stay clear of Thatcher and the other family members, but Meredith didn't seem to mind, obviously she was thinking about other things entirely.

He watched as Thatcher exited the car and then Molly and Lexie were soon at either side of him. All of this was so sad. Susan was really bridging the gap between Thatcher and Meredith, she was trying to do good things. Derek knew that Thatcher wasn't intentionally being a bad person, he was completely overcome by grief, and Derek knew what that felt like.

They walked towards the church doors and everyone was starting to follow when suddenly Thatcher turned his head and saw Meredith and his face became full of anger. He marched over, despite both Molly and Lexie trying to hold him back.

"What are you doing here?!" he yelled and Derek's grip on Meredith inreased, pushing her behind him.

"Leave her alone, Thatcher." Derek said, trying to defuse the situation.

"You don't get to be here. You killed my wife! She was... everything... to me...you killed her"

"No, Thatcher. Meredith did not kill Susan. It wasn't her fault" Derek tried to stay calm, but he could smell the alcohol that was coming of Thatcher, and he knew this could turn nasty very quickly. He looked to Lexie, and she seemed to take the message.

"Come on dad, mum's inside" she whispered, using more strength on his arm and tugging him towards the door. He started to obey and allowed himself to be led inside.

"Come on Mer, we'll just sit in the back okay?" Derek asked her and tried to hide her from the prying eyes.

She could only nod, but seemed to be happy to stay behind him for the time being. He waited until everyone had gone inside before leading her in and sitting on the farthest seat from the front. She immediately leant her head on his shoulder and he could see that she was going to start crying again, but this time he knew it was necessary.

He hadn't cried for his dad at his funeral, he had simply sat between two of his sisters as they wept, looking for someone to jump out and say it was all a joke. That noone was going anywhere. Yet, at the same time, even at that young age, he seemed to realise that it wasn't going to happen. Yes, he might not have understood what was really going on, but his young mind had known something was just not right. He understood what grieving meant after he cried for his father. He understood that sometimes crying was a way of letting out all those words inside of you that you just can't say. It was also a way of complaining to the universe. Why did you have to go and do that?

It wasn't fair, life wasn't fair. He had wondered why for a long time after fully comprehending what had happened to his father. Why had his father died? Why so young? Did he choose to go? Did he not love his only son anymore? It was years after before he understood. Life just wasn't fair and sitting back in a church watching as another family said goodbye to someone who wasn't meant to die made it all seem so much more true. His father wasn't meant to die. Susan wasn't meant to die. Life was unfair.

The ceremony passed with many tears, but nothing out of the ordinary for a funeral. Meredith hadn't moved and when the final words were being spoken and he had tried to suggest they move, she didn't want to. He was worried about what would happen if Thatcher saw them. But she was grieving and she needed to do it.

The last of the people started to filter out of the church, and he saw Thatcher get up with his teary daughters and while the daughters talked to the priest he headed towards the exit, head down. They needed to leave now, he didn't want another argument. Noone wanted that.

Too late.

"I thought I told you not to come here?!" Thatcher growled

"We were just leaving" Derek said calmly, pulling Meredith up with him and leading her out of the church. He was starting to get worried that she wasn't speaking up.

"You know you can't protect her" Thatcher yelled through the open church door and Derek pushed Meredith into their waiting car and turned to face him. This had gone on long enough.

"Listen to me, Thatcher. Meredith did not kill Susan. Do you get that? She did not kill Susan. She came here today to grieve, just like you. Okay? I was being nice to you because your wife had just died but this has gone on long enough. She's your daughter and Susan was bringing you two together."

Then Thatcher started laughing "Together? She's no daughter of mine. These two girls next to me are my daughters. That girl there? She's a product of her mother. Too stuck up to realise who she hurts. She'll kick you around for a while then move onto the next one. Just like her mother"

"I'm not like my mother" Derek whirled around to see Meredith standing behind him, and before he could say anything she continued.

"I didn't do anything to Susan. Don't you think that I would have helped her if I could have? I'm not like Ellis Grey, because I care" she whispered

"You killed my wife. My Susan. I don't care what you think and you'll pay for what you did. At least your mother could actually perform surgeries and save people. Watch out" he spat the last words.

"Dad!" Lexie screamed at him and then pushed him towards their car.

Derek watched him go in complete amazement. Grief did funny things to a person, but that was totally uncalled for. He watched as Meredith sunk to the ground. He ran to catch her.

"Whoah... Mer... you okay?" She shook her head and then started to sob. He gently rocked her back and forth.

"It wasn't your fault, Meredith, none of it was" he said quietly and lifted her up to the car and sat her in the passenger side. She stopped crying only a few minutes later and looked at him.

"I'm sorry" she said. His expression changed to confusion.

"What are you sorry for?" he questioned.

"For being distant"

"We don't have to talk about that now, Mer. Do you want to talk about Susan?" he asked.

"No... you know what I learnt from Susan?" Derek shook his head in answer

"That life is short and stupid and never goes the way you want it to. I died, I actually was dead for a long time, Derek. I had this weird... experience... when I was dead. I know I'm going to sound crazy but just go with me here"

Derek look puzzled, but said okay just the same.

"Denny was there, and the bomb guy? He was there too as well as Doc" she smiled for a moment "I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back, Derek. I really wasn't sure. I had all these things going through my mind and then Denny said something" she stopped.

"Uh... what did Denny say?" he prompted

"He started talking about you" she smiled " he told me that you were waiting for me and that if I didn't come back to you, I'd change who you were"

"He was right" Derek sighed and Meredith saw his eyes start to become glassy she grabbed both his hands and forced him to look at her.

"I came back for you, Derek. I came back for you" Meredith smiled "Susan? She was a good person. She didn't deserve to die."

"I know" Derek whispered "I'm glad you came back, Mer"

"Me too" she said back, and leant in and kissed him.

Meredith didn't know what the future held, but of one thing she was sure. She loved Derek. There was nobody else in the world like him, nobody that was so optimistic, loving, caring and funny. It was her time to make history. Her mother had made history through the surgery world and Meredith had learned to realise that making history didn't have to mean making a new surgery technique. It just meant that you had to do something special. While she sat, looking at the church which had been the final location of a life that was cut way too short, she promised herself that she would do that something special. What was that something special? She would love Derek Shepherd until her last breath and she would be the only person to do it. And today?

Today was the day to start making history.

-----

Hope you enjoyed that.... Tell me your thoughts :)

Amelibum xx