Thank you for all the reviews. Like I said before, this is my first GA fic so I really appreciate your support.

Derek wondered if Meredith was avoiding him because she was still mad, or if it was because she knew he wanted to discuss her crazy idea. Either way, he hadn't seen her for most of the afternoon. He'd been called into surgery a couple of hours ago and he knew he shouldn't be mad at a patient's misfortune, but it had prevented him from tracking down his wayward girlfriend.

"There he his."

Derek looked up and saw Cristina, Izzie, George and Alex heading toward him. From the look on their faces, he could tell they weren't happy. They came to a halt in front of him and stared him down in a manor Bailey would have been proud of.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked, aiming for casual.

"We heard you were making Meredith go under the knife," Karev said, blunt as ever.

He opened his mouth to protest, but Cristina beat him to it. "It's just a bit of snoring, what's the big deal?" Cristina asked.

He looked to George and Izzie. "Come on, you guys are her housemates. You can't tell me it doesn't bother you?"

"I can sleep fine with her in the room," Cristina told him.

Izzie shrugged. "I grew up next to a freeway. It really doesn't bother me."

"I kind of like it," George admitted.

Derek shook his head. "Excuse me? You like it?"

"Oh, please, Bambi was in love with her, nothing she did would bother him."

That stung and it must have shown on Derek's face, because Cristina grimaced and mumbled a half-hearted apology.

"It's nothing to do with that," George defended. "It's just that when I hear her snoring I know she's home, she's safe. After..." he glanced at Derek. "Well it was just good to know."

"The point is, she's not doing this for us," Izzie told him. "She's doing this for you."

"So you're the one who has to knock some sense into her," Cristina concluded.

He sighed. "And what do you suggest I do?" he asked.

"You mean besides staying in bed with her?" Cristina bit out.

"Merry Christmas," Alex muttered, shoving a package into Derek's hands. Derek looked down and saw it was a packet of ear plugs. "Now how about making her happy for a change?" Alex suggested, before stalking off. The others followed him, each shooting him a glare as they left.

Derek sighed and looked down at the ear plugs. Could it be that simple? He'd happily put plugs in his ears if it meant he could cuddle up to Meredith all night, but he had a feeling that fixing this wouldn't be quite so simple. If Mark was to be believed, she hadn't been sleeping and she was so scared of losing him she was willing to have invasive surgery to try and keep him in her bed.

I'm a girl with abandonment issues...

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. God, she hadn't been kidding, had she? By going back to Addison, he'd done nothing but show her that everyone she loved left her. How could he show her that he would never leave her again?

He saw a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye and looked up just in time to see the object of his thoughts quickly turning the corner ahead of him. "Meredith," he called, even though it was obvious by her hasty retreat, she was still avoiding him.

"Damn it," he muttered, hurrying after her. He wasn't going to let her get away again. It was time to talk. "Meredith!" he called, as he spotted her heading into the elevator. He picked up the pace, all but running to catch the closing doors. He slid in just in time and he could see Meredith's shoulders fall as she realized she was stuck.

Her chin jutted out slightly as she glared at him. "I'm trying to avoid you," she told him.

He chuckled slightly and reached for the emergency stop button. "So I've noticed."

"Derek! What are you--" he cut her off with a searing kiss.

"I love you, Meredith Grey. I love you. I love everything about you and I wouldn't want you to change anything about yourself for me."

Her eyes, which had softened from his kiss, grew hard again. "So you don't want to sleep with me?" she asked. "You prefer sleeping on the sofa to being in my bed." She shook her head. "I'm doing this, Derek, whether you like it or not."

"Meredith, you don't need this," he insisted.

"Yes, I do. I can't keep going on like this, Derek. I can't keep looking at you and wondering if I'm the reason you look so tired. I can't keep wondering if your fatigue might cost someone their life--"

"Mer--"

"--I can't keep wondering every time you move in bed if it's because you're about to get up and leave me alone again." She sniffled. "I wasn't kidding when I said I had abandonment issues."

"God, I'm sorry," he murmured, pulling her to him in a tight hug. "I'm sorry that I hurt you so bad that you can't trust me anymore."

She tried to pull out of his grasp. "What? Derek, I trust you."

He sighed, touching her cheek and then tangling a hand in her hair. "No, you don't and I understand why. I left you. I made the worst, most stupid mistake ever and I left you."

She opened her mouth to reply, but he placed a finger over it, silencing her.

"But, Mer, I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving to you that you can trust me. That I'm never going to leave you again."

The tears were sparkling in her eyes and he moved to kiss her. She dove into the kiss and Derek's heart felt lighter by the response. She wanted to trust him, of that he was sure.

He pulled back and looked at her. She was beautiful, but she wasn't happy and he knew it was up to him to make sure she was happy for every day of her life. "If you want this," he began. "If doing this will make you feel better, make you feel more secure, then I want you to know I'll support you." Her eyes brightened. "Just know that I'd never make you, that I don't expect you to do this and that I would never leave you because you snore."

Her smile was bright and she kissed him again. "Thank you."

I would have liked this part to be a little longer, but I wanted to get this out before I went away for the weekend. I'll be back Monday, so I'll get another update out when I return. If you're enjoying this, I'd love to hear from you.