A/N – Thank you everyone for your comments. It's what motivates me to continue writing.

Here's a new update. Please read and review.

"Oh…right. Sorry" she said apologetically.

"Have you told him that you love him yet?"

"N-no…" she responded, waiting for Cristina to yell.

"Any why not?!"

"It's just…There was never a good time." she lied, silently berating herself for not thinking of a better reason.

"Let me see if I get this straight. You've been in love with McDreamy for the past three years, you work together in the same hospital in which you spend practically all waking hours in, and you didn't tell him because "there was never a good time"?" she asked with a hint of frustrated sarcasm.

"Well when you say it like that…"

"It sounds stupid?" she finished for her.

"Sort of…" she admitted with a sad laugh.

"Look Mer," she gave an exasperated sigh "I have to get going. I have this thing pauses…I have to do this thing. See you later." And with that, she hung up the phone leaving Meredith sitting there in shocked silence.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Meredith took special care in avoiding Derek and almost succeeded in doing so, until she literally ran into him as she walked out her office.

"Crap!" she exclaimed when she looked up and saw that it was him.

"Crap?"

"I'm leaving."

"You're avoiding me and don't think I haven't noticed."

"Yes, but I'm also late." Letting out the breath she didn't realize she was holding, she continued "I have this thing. I need to leave to do this thing." She moved past him and started walking as fast as she could.

"You can't avoid me forever, you know. We still have to talk about the weekend and the wedding!" he yelled after her.

His last comment immediately caught the attention of the doctors and nurses standing nearby. He gave them a knowing smile and walked away. Laughing to himself, he knew the hospital would be buzzing with gossip about him and Meredith tomorrow. The latest will probably be of them getting married. 'Dr. Meredith Shepherd' does have a nice ring to it; he thought to himself and smiled.

Right when Meredith turned off the shower, she caught the end of a message that was being left on her machine.

"…need to talk to you soon. Call me on my mobile." Then the caller hung up.

She knew it was Derek calling again. He had left two messages earlier. She was in the middle of towel-drying her hair when the doorbell rang.

He just doesn't give up, does he?!

She ran downstairs, mad at him for not giving her space, yet also excited to see him again. With a little more force than she had intended, she threw the door open.

"Derek, I told you I had a….AAHH!" she squealed in shocked delight when she saw who it was.

Standing there with her thick mass of dark curly hair was none other than Cristina. In her excitement, she threw her arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Uh Mer, I don't hug." Cristina said in a flat, uncomfortable tone.

"I know, but you're here and I was talking to you on the phone earlier and…now you're here!" she rambled like an over-excited child.

Finally letting go of her friend, she moved into the hallway so Cristina could follow her inside. Once they settled on the couch, she asked "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until the weekend."

"I was, but I changed it so now I'm here."

"Was the hospital okay with that?" she asked with concern.

"Mer, you're forgetting that you are talking to the Chief. Besides, I was already scheduled to come out so it wasn't too difficult to push it up a few days earlier." She kicked off her shoes and stretched her legs out on the couch.

"I'm glad you're here."

"I know. Now tell me what you were saying when you opened the door."

"Derek's been trying to talk to me about this weekend and I've been avoiding him."

"Isn't it a little too late for that now?" she asked rhetorically. Taking a long sip of her wine, she asked "What do you know about the ex?"

"Nothing, except that she's an OB/GYN."

"Ah…the Gynie Squad." she said with dry humor. Finishing what's left of her wine, she slipped her shoes back on and said "C'mon, get dressed."

"Dressed? Where are we going?"

"We're going shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Is there an echo in here? Yes! We're going shopping. You and I are going to shop for a fabulously sexy, over-priced dress that will make Shepherd squirm and lust after you."

"I don't want him lusting after me" she said unconvincingly even to herself.

"Sure. Look…" she let out a long agitated sigh "I am out of my element here. I don't do the girly shopping, bonding thing. Get your butt dressed before I change my mind."

The next day, Meredith was sitting in her office massaging her temples when Derek came barging in.

"Mer," he said before pausing to catch his breath "we really need to talk about this weekend. There's something I've been meaning to…"

"Well, if it isn't Dr. Shepherd." said a voice from behind "Am I interrupting something?"

He turned to see Cristina standing in the doorway. "Dr. Yang. What a surprise to see you here."

"Yes, there seems to be lots of surprises lately." She gave him a questioning look.

"Ahem!" Both doctors turned to look at Meredith.

"Meredith, are you okay?"

"Yes. My throat was just a little dry, that's all" She looked past Derek to Cristina; her eyes pleading with her not to say anything about Derek's ex-fiancée. Cristina gave her a defiant look, but nodded her head slightly as if to say she'll play nice.

Derek looked back and forth between the two women and decided that what he had to say to Meredith will have to wait until tonight, preferably without Cristina around.

"Meredith, I'll call you tonight."

"Oh, I'm sorry Dr. Shepherd but I'm afraid Meredith will be busy. You see, I'll only be here until the weekend and seeing as how she'll be with you," she said with disdain "she and I have a lot to catch up on. I hope you understand."

"Yes, of course. Well, I'll leave you two to talk. Dr. Yang." He gave a polite nod and left.

What an infuriating woman! It's a wonder how Meredith ever became friends with her. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her. Hopefully, she won't be too mad when I tell her.

The alarm sounded at 6am, signaling for Meredith to get up and get ready. She knew that Derek would be by at 8am to take her to the airport, but she was too exhausted to get out of bed. After work, she and Cristina went to Joe's and spent half the night drinking and playing darts. When they got back to Meredith's house, they drank some more until she finally fell into bed at 4am.

As expected, Derek arrived at her house promptly at 8am, dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a dark blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled back. Before he had a chance to ring the bell, Meredith opened the door, casually dressed and wearing a pair of big dark sunglasses with her suitcase in hand.

"Sorry, I can't invite you in. Cristina is still asleep and she's cranky when she gets disturbed from her sleep." She shuffled him further out onto the porch and quietly closed the door.

By the time they arrived at the airport, checked in, and boarded the plane, Meredith was on the verge of collapsing. The last time she remembered being this sleep-deprived was when she was an intern.

Derek waited until the plane reached its cruising altitude before he got up enough nerve to say to Meredith what he's wanted to say for two days.

"Meredith. There's something I need to tell you. You see, when I called to RSVP to the wedding, I may have told…Mer? Are you awake?" Reaching over, he pulled off her sunglasses to discover that she had fallen asleep.

He sat there looking at her for a few minutes, noticing how soft and delicate her features really were. She was smiling in her sleep, which made him smile as well. She mumbled something incoherent and shifted in her seat so that her head lay rested on his shoulder and her small hand placed gently across his chest. The first and only thought that crossed his mind was that they fit well together. He put his hand over hers, his thumb gently stroking her soft skin and closed his eyes.