Meredith and Addison walked down the busy hall of the dorm, their eyes wide with excitement. They had arrived on campus an hour ago, signed in for their room assignments and keys, and now they were about to see their room for the first time. As they stopped in front of room 421, Addison took a deep breath and put the key in the lock, opening the door to reveal a fairly large room, empty save for a bed, desk, and dresser for each of them.

"It's…cute," Addison said hesitantly.

"I like it," Meredith said, walking over to the bed in the corner. "I got the good bed."

Addison rolled her eyes as she placed her bag on the bed that ran along the wall between the windows, looking around the room unsurely.

"We'll make it our own," Meredith continued. "Pictures or whatever."

"Yeah," Addison said, a smile spreading across her face. "This is our room, Mer."

Meredith smiled. "Let's get more stuff from the car," she said as she walked towards the door, stopping as she bumped into someone walking down the hall. "Oh, sorry," she said, looking up to set eyes on a boy with dark curly hair and crystal blue eyes. "I, um, I didn't see you there."

He swallowed hard before he smiled softly. "Don't worry about it," he assured her before she turned to walk away. He stared after her as she walked down the hall, a red head hurrying to join her on her way towards the stairs. He didn't know what had just happened to him, but he was pretty sure the enchanting blonde he'd just collided with had something to do with the wonderful tingling that was running down his spine at that moment.

He turned and shook his head slightly as he walked into the room across the hall where Mark was hanging a dartboard over his desk. "Dude, if we bunk our beds we can totally fit a couch in here," he said over his shoulder.

Derek rolled his eyes. "We're not bunking the beds," he replied.

"Why not?" Mark asked. "I'd even let you have the top. It's not like you're going to get laid anyways."

Derek chose to ignore the image of the girl he'd just bumped into in his arms, her body squirming underneath his. "Forget it," he said.

"Fine," Mark replied. "Speaking of getting laid, have you seen the redhead across the hall? That's some hot stuff."

"You're sick," Derek stated. "You better stop talking like that before Mom comes back up."

"Talking like what?" his mother asked as she walked back into the room, a box of cleaning supplies in her arms, followed by his father.

"Nothing," Derek replied, taking the box out of her arms. "Seriously, Mom, we don't need any of this stuff."

"Just humor me, Derek," Emma said. "I know how you boys are, but it makes me feel better that there are at least supplies in this room even if they're not used."

"For my, sake, humor her," Michael added. "If she doesn't leave these here, I'll I'm going to hear about is how messy this room must be."

"Fine," Derek replied, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Thanks, Mom."

Emma nodded as she looked around, obviously trying to find a reason to stay for longer. "Are you sure you have enough hangers in your closet?" she asked, moving to open the door to Mark's closet.

"It's fine, Emma," Mark said gently.

"What about your bed?" Emma asked smoothing her hand over the navy blue comforter. "Are you sure the sheets are tucked in enough?"

"Mom, everything's fine," Derek said. "Thank you for making sure."

Michael cleared his throat and placed a hand on Emma's back. "We should go, Em," he said gently. "We have to be back for Liz's soccer practice."

Emma nodded, tears filling her eyes as she looked at the two boys in front of her. She first reached for Mark, leaving Derek to say good bye to his father.

"I'm proud of you, Derek," Michael said as he patted Derek on the back. "You're going to great things, I can feel it."

"Thanks, Dad," Derek said. "I um…I'll be home in a couple weeks and we can go out to the lake?"

"Sounds wonderful," Michael said as he took his only son into an embrace. "I love you son."

"I love you too," Derek said, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than he had in a long time, about to be by himself for the first time in his life.

Michael pulled back to reveal Emma reaching her arms out to him, her eyes already filled with tears from saying good bye to Mark. "Derek," she whispered as she wrapped him in his arms. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Derek whispered, burying his face in his mother's shoulder. "I'll be home in a few weeks, Mom. And you've got Liz and Alexis to keep you busy."

Emma nodded as she pulled back to look at him. "I'll talk to you tonight," she stated firmly.

"Okay," Derek said gently, pressing a kiss to her cheek before Michael gently took her hand and led her out the door.

Once they were gone, Derek and Mark stood in the middle of the room, each absorbing the overwhelming sense of independence they felt as they had their first moments of college.

The moment was quickly broken when Derek was drawn into the hallway by the melodic sound of laughter. He walked into the hallway to see the beautiful girl he had seen earlier giggling as she and her roommate stood on her bed, trying to hang up curtains. As he watched her, he felt Mark come up beside him and shake his head. "Man, that red head," he said softly. "She'll be putty in by hands by the end of the week."

"Whatever you say," Derek said, his eyes fixed on the blonde. Her jeans were snug around her hips, giving him the perfect view of her rounded curves, and her entire upper back was exposed above her halter top. Surprising both himself and Mark, he walked across the hall and knocked gently on their door before he asked, "You girls need some help with that?"

They both turned to look at him, and Meredith stumbled slightly on the bed. "Oh," she said, glancing at Addison. "Um, no I think we can handle it."

Derek flashed her a smile as he leaned against the door. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I'm very good at hanging curtains."

Addison rolled her eyes and turned back to the window, but Meredith giggled, obviously amused. "Really?" she asked. "How many curtains have you ever hung?"

Derek was thrown off for a moment. "Well, none…but I could still help," he said feeling like an idiot and choosing to ignore Mark's snickering from behind him.

"Okay, well, I think we've got it under control," Meredith said as she turned back to the curtains, whispering something to Addison before they both dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Defeated, Derek turned and walked back to Mark, who was snickering not so subtly. "Man, that was awful," he laughed. "No wonder no girl's ever given it up for you."

Derek scowled. "First of all, that's not true," he said. "Second of all…I doubt you could do any better."

Mark puffed his chest up, accepting the challenge. "I totally could," he replied.

Derek gestured to the open door across the hall. "Be my guest," he offered.

Mark stared at him for a moment before he took a deep breath, walking across the hall to the girls' room, knocking gently on the door before he leaned in, raising his eyebrows in a seductive manner towards Addison. "Ladies, I do believe that this requires a big, strong man to be done well," he said in a deep voice.

Addison rolled her eyes and jumped off the bed. "If that was a pick up line, you need to learn a thing or two about women," she stated before she shoved him out the door and began to close it. "We are able to hang a curtain rod by ourselves. And we would have had it done about twenty minutes ago if we hadn't kept getting interrupted."

With that, the door was closed in Mark's face, leaving him with a frown on his features and Derek echoing his earlier smirk. Finally Mark turned and stormed back into their room, Derek following with an amused smile.

"This does not happen to Mark Sloan," Mark stated, moving to his dresser and digging through the drawers, effectively ruining the neat piles Emma had created earlier that day.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked.

"Making myself irresistible," Mark replied as he held up a light blue shirt and threw it aside before he picked up a navy blue one, nodding as he tore the shirt he was wearing off and pulled the new one over his head. "She'll crack eventually."

Derek rolled his eyes. "They're not interested," he replied.

"Not right now," Mark replied. "They just said goodbye to their families, they're scared about college. But we're going to be living across the hall from them all year. Running into them as they come back from the shower. Watching them get ready to go out at night. Supporting them when they are upset about classes. There for them, Shep."

"You're sick," Derek said. "Do you ever think of anything besides sex?"

Mark thought for a moment before he said, "Science. And doctors. That's about it."

"You need help," Derek replied.

"Whatever, Shep," Mark said as he reached for his cologne. "We'll see which one of us gets our girl."

"I don't want a girl," Derek lied. "I'm here for school."

"And that's officially the lamest thing you've ever said," Mark replied. "We're in college now, Shep. We can do whatever we want. And you can totally reinvent yourself."

"Why do I need to reinvent myself but you don't?" Derek asked, clearly annoyed.

"Because the great Mark Sloan doesn't need to change," he boomed.

"Clearly you do if you want the girl across the hall," Derek pointed out.

"We're talking about you," Mark replied. "And you want that blonde, I can tell."

Derek rolled his eyes, but he didn't deny it. He wasn't sure he could think about not wanting the charming girl across the hall, and he smiled slightly as he opened his orientation packet, already formulating ways to get her attention.

XXXX

Across the hall, Meredith and Addison sat giggling on Addison's bed.

"Can you believe them?" Addison asked. "They think they're all charming and wonderful."

Meredith smiled. "Seriously," she said. "I mean, do they really think they can just make us bow at their feet?"

"They're going to be fun to mess with," Addison smiled. "Especially the cocky one."

"They're both cocky," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Although neither one of them really has anything to be cocky about."

"Well, you have to admit they're a little hot," Addison said. "Did you see the arms of the blonde one?"

"Mmmm," Meredith said. "I noticed the eyes."

Addison nodded as the two of them thought in silence for a moment. Finally Meredith giggled. "This is going to be so fun," she said.

"What?" Addison asked.

"We're living across from them," Meredith replied. "All year. They obviously already want us. So we can tease them. Wear our towels to the shower. Get all dressed up in short skirts and high heels. Leave the door open a crack to think they might get a peek at us while we change."

Addison's eyes gleamed with excitement. "I like the way you think, Meredith Grey," she said. "This is going to be amazing."

Meredith giggled, but she couldn't help wondering about the boy with the perfect hair and amazing eyes across the hall. He was definitely hotter than any boy she'd ever seen in high school, and she couldn't help the tingle that ran down her spine when she thought of the way his eyes had looked at her, like he could offer her things that she had never known before. And she couldn't help being drawn to him. He was...completely captivating, and she wanted to know more about him.

Of course, it would be fun to watch his reaction to her teasing as well.

This college thing wasn't bad, not at all.