Finer Feelings – Chapter II

Meredith sat back down on the grass and put down the two champagne glasses she had brought from the trailer next to the bottle of champagne she had left among the candles. Lying propped on the grass, Meredith closed her eyes and felt the soft breeze blow past.

"So," A low voice appeared behind her. "You want to build us a house." Meredith looked over her shoulder to see Derek sauntering through the line of candles into their living room. "Should I take this as sign to start chopping down trees?" Derek smiled softly, a twinkle in his eye.

Meredith tracked Derek silently as he moved in the hallway and sat down beside her on the grass, staring contently (and, she had to say, quite dreamily) into her eyes. "About that;" Meredith tried to keep her inhibitions. "We might have to get some men in. I don't think I'm very good at building, I'll probably burn the whole place down."

"I'll get you a fire extinguisher." Derek murmured as he moved close to Meredith and took her in with a kiss. A wave of emotions rushed through him. He had missed kissing Meredith, oh, how he had missed kissing her. All the complications that came before disappeared into nothing the moment he smelt the lavender of her hair, the flowery scent intoxicating him as he moved from her lips and kissed the crook of her neck. They were finally together. Finally.

Derek pulled back.

Meredith looked like someone had split a bucket of cold water on her. "Seriously?" She looked at him exasperatedly, wondering why the hell the kissing had stopped. "What is it this time?"

"Champagne." Derek smiled as he leaned over Meredith and grabbed the bottle that lay beside her. "We had a promise, remember?"

Meredith watched as Derek tore off the gold foil around the top and unscrewed the metal stopper. Gently pulling out the cork with a loud pop, he raised the bottle to the glasses Meredith held out and poured the champagne into both. A smile that formed when he brushed Meredith's fingers as he took his glass now faded as he took it to his lips. With tired eyes, Derek looked at the champagne in his hand. "This," he murmured, "this is for Phillip Robinson, Darren Covington, for Jeremy, and for all our patients who gave their lives to help us achieve the impossible."

In thoughtful silence, they both brought the glasses their mouths and drank to their patients; patients, they knew, that they'd never forget. Meredith leant over and rested her head in the crook of Derek's neck who then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, then in turn rested his head on hers.

For a while they looked out over the dark horizon, content just to be in each other's world. Derek peered down at Meredith as she took another sip of her champagne. "You're all whole and healed?"

Meredith looked up at him. "I am."

"How did you manage that?" Derek asked softly.

"I saw a shrink."

A smile appeared on Derek's face. "I feel sorry for the shrink."

"Hey." Meredith whacked him in the side. "It wasn't entirely my fault."

"I know," He looked down at her. "I am partly to blame for what happened to us."

"That's all I need to hear." She nodded in triumph.

Derek peered over to her again. "So now, if I say you're the love of my life, you won't want to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction."

"Now," Meredith smiled. "I can tell you you're the love of my life, and not want to run as fast as I can in the opposite direction."

"Well, in that case – " Derek got up and grabbed the bottle of champagne by the neck. "You're coming with me." With one swift move, he grabbed Meredith and swept her up in his arms.

She put her arm around Derek's neck. "Where are you taking me?"

"We're going to finish what we started." Derek smiled and trudged past the candles with Meredith in his arms, heading to his trailer.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000

NB: Ok, yeah, I know – short chapter, I just wanted to get that night out of the way so I can do the morning after for all characters. Or, at least, the majority of them. Still need to figure out whether to make a new character for Cristina but when I read other fics with new characters, I don't know – they don't seem to work.

But yes, shall try and get the new chapter up soonish, and I hope that I'll be able to get a bit more action in rather than just padding and stuff, but the padding does need to be done. So yes – REVIEW!!