The next day Meredith woke up early, she got some coffee and breakfast with Mark before they went to her mother's house to supervise the people taking her mother's things. She watched them take away the remnants of her childhood, getting a little sad over having to move all of her mother's things to New York, without the help of any of her loved ones apart from Mark. She was eternally grateful to Mark, she didn't know if she would be able to get through this without him.

The shipping people had been done pretty quickly, so Meredith had some time to think about what she was going to say to Derek. She knew that once she saw him she'd probably have some trouble saying it, and she'll probably get emotional on him. She cursed him for that. Before she met him she was able to hide her emotions amazingly, but he had gotten her to open up and reveal her innermost thoughts, and now she wasn't able to reel them back in. But she did know that despite not quite being able to forgive him just yet, she was willing to give it a try. If not for her own peace of mind then for their marriage vows. They said they wouldn't run, and even though he had, she was not willing to go back on a vow.

When Meredith arrived at the docks it was pretty quiet, a ferry had just left, and so there were more people leaving than there were arriving. She looked out at the water, watching all the movement around her. She started to think about the first time she had been on a ferryboat with Derek.

Flashback

Meredith was wearing a tight fitting black dress, her hair was loosely curled and loose around her shoulders. She wore black heels and some light makeup. She often checked to make sure her hair looked alright and not too windswept. She looked to her right and there he was, looking out over the water. He looked so calm, peaceful, she wondered why he wasn't freaking out like she was. This was, after all, their first date, and Meredith was already completely smitten with him.

"I can't believe you've never been on a ferryboat before. How long have you lived in New York?" He asked her, turning to face her. "I moved from Boston six months ago. They don't have ferryboats in Boston." Meredith answered, slightly embarrassed that she had never actually been on one before. She had to admit, they were pretty great, but that could be biased because she was here with an amazing, cute, funny, intelligent guy. He shook his head, "Still unacceptable," he joked with a small laugh, "Stick with me and you'll forget about a life without ferryboats." Meredith laughed, she didn't quite understand his obsession with them, but she found it cute that he was so passionate about them. "I'll keep that in mind," Meredith smiled at him. Derek nodded and grinned at her.

Meredith smiled at the memory, that had been hands down the best date she had ever been on. He had taken her to a fancy restaurant and romanced her the entire night. It was from that night onwards that she started falling in love with him, and every day she fell even more, up until around four months ago. With that thought the smile on Meredith's face instantly faded. The last time she had been on a ferryboat with Derek hadn't been quiet so sweet.

Flashback

Meredith had her arms crossed over her chest as she stared intently at the water passing them by. "You can't just up and move to Seattle without even considering how I feel about it." She said frustratedly. "Meredith, this is an amazing opportunity for me, it's everything I've worked for. It's everything my life has lead up to." Derek said, leaning on the banister of the boat. He didn't bother looking at her, he knew what her expression was. He knew that she was angry and hurt, but he needed to do this for himself, he knew that he would end up resenting her if he didn't take this position, and he really didn't want that. "Well what about my amazing opportunity as an intern at Mount Sinai- it's one of the best hospitals in the country Derek!" She said incredulously, he was being selfish, it was like he didn't even care about her career. "There's a position for you to do your internship at Seattle Grace, it's an amazing hospital." He tried to reason with her. Meredith shot him an angry look. "No. No, I will not become my father. Thatcher only got his job at Seattle Grace because they wanted Ellis so badly, no, I will not make my career off of being your wife. I am not Thatcher." Derek then whispered, "No, because you're behaving just like Ellis." Meredith glared at him, "What did you just say?" She asked angrily. Derek sighed, "I said you're behaving just like Ellis. You're being selfish, Mer. Please just do this one thing for me. It's all I've ever wanted." Meredith was shocked at his last sentence, it hurt her that he thought his career was more important than their relationship, and that he wanted it more than he wanted her. "Fine. Go, just go, then. Enjoy being a fancy hotshot head of neurosurgery." Meredith walked away from him then, her arms still crossed over her chest. They had made the transition of trying to keep everyone out, to trying to help her hold herself together. Her head hung low as she looked for a place to sit while the boat continued on its journey.

After that argument Meredith spent the night at a friend's house. When she arrived home the next morning he had left, with not so much as a note to say goodbye. Her eyes hardened as she looked back on her memories, he had hurt her so much, and that was even before all the cheating.

After half an hour of waiting for him, Meredith was just about ready to leave. She thought he had changed his mind and didn't want her back, that he had gone back to his redhead girlfriend, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Derek sat down next to her on the bench, he looked nervous, his hair wasn't its usual perfect self, instead it was quite messy, conveying to Meredith that he had ran his hand through his hair a lot, something he only did when he was stressed or anxious. "You're late." She said coldly, consciously trying to rid her voice of any emotion. "Surgery overran," he said shortly, another sign that he was nervous. Meredith sat back against the back of the bench and crossed her legs. She clasped her hands together in front of her and continued to look at the ferryboats, one was just about to dock into the harbour. After a few minutes of silence, and Meredith staring at the water, and Derek staring at her, Derek finally spoke up. "So… you wanted to talk?" He even sounded nervous, which almost made Meredith smile. She simply nodded her head in response, feeling the overwhelming urge to run in the opposite direction. When she didn't say anything, Derek had to prompt her once again. "What did you want to talk about?" Meredith shifted her gaze from the water to her hands. "Why didn't you call?" She asked, skirting around her original purpose of asking him here. "I didn't think you wanted to hear from me." He replied. "For two months?" She questioned. He simply shrugged in response, not knowing how to explain his actions towards her. "So what? You got lonely, turned on the charm, and found yourself a girlfriend?" Meredith gulped, trying to swallow down her emotions. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, "Listen, I didn't come here to argue with you, as much as I'd like to, that wasn't the purpose of being here." She glanced at him quickly before looking back over the water. He was looking at her, watching her every move. She started playing with her fingers, something she did when she was nervous, she clicked her fingers and then balled them into fists. "Unlike some people, I take our wedding vows seriously, I vowed not to run and so I won't run. I'm willing to give us another try, but this isn't me forgiving you, you've still got a long way to go before that. And I don't know if I can trust you, so you're going to have to find a way for that to happen again. And I still don't want to move to Seattle, and I think you're an asshole for moving to Seattle. I also think you're an ass for not even calling me, and you're the biggest ass for cheating on me with someone who's way better than me. But most of all you're just an asshole, and I don't trust you, and I certainly don't like you right now." Meredith rambled, trying to get a grip on her emotions. "You're willing to forgive me?" Derek asked, sounding surprised and hopeful. "I'm willing to try to forgive you," she amended his question. Derek couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face, he was certain she was going to ask for a divorce. "Thank you, Mer, so much, you have no idea how much this means to me. I'm going to do everything possible to make you trust me again." He said, sounding a little desperate. Meredith nodded and looked at the silver watch on her wrist, "I should probably get going, don't want to miss my flight." She stood up and looked at him, "Bye, Derek." Derek, too, stood up. "Wait, let me drive you to your hotel, save you from getting a cab." Derek asked, wanting to spend more time with her, even if it was going to be awkward. Meredith just shook her head, "I'm fine getting a cab," she insisted. "It's really no problem at all," he persisted, knowing that if he persisted enough she'd just give in and say yes. Meredith sighed, "Fine," she said, not wanting to argue with him anymore.

The car journey home was painfully awkward, before they had their fallout they could sit in silence for hours and have it not be awkward, they would just enjoy each other's company. However, know the air was filled with tension; he wanted to speak to her about everything, but he knew if he did then he would blow his chance with her, and she just wished she was alone, wanting to evaluate the situation and maybe even have another cry again. When they pulled up outside her hotel, Derek turned to face her, "Thank you so much again, Mer. It really does mean a lot to me that you're going to give us another try." He sounded pleading, almost uncertain of his own words. Meredith nodded, "Mhm," she simply responded as she took off her seat-belt. "I'll see you soon," Derek said, it didn't sound like a statement, more like a question, as if he needed her permission to see her. Meredith nodded once more and got out the car. "Bye," she said softly before she closed the door and walked into the hotel. Derek watched after her, "Bye," he responded, even though she couldn't hear him.

Meredith walked straight into Mark's room, not even bothering to knock. She used the spare key he had given her. She sat on his bed and waited for him to come out the bathroom. When he finally did come out, he was far from decent. He was drying his hair with a towel, letting everything else hang freely in plane sight. He screamed when he saw her, she screamed and immediately covered her eyes when she saw him. "Oh my god, my eyes, it burns, oh it burns." She shouted, only half joking. "You know, most women would pay to see this," he said, a smirk forming on his lips. He covered himself up with the towel as Meredith spoke, "Yeah, but I am not most women," she pointed to her wedding ring, whilst still covering her eyes. "Speaking of, how did it go?" Mark asked her as he pulled on some boxers. "Is it safe?" She asked, wondering if she could remove her hands from her eyes. "I mean, I'm always safe, but yes." He joked as he pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. "I told him what we discussed, not quite in the manner we decided on, but I still told him." She explained. Mark nodded, "How did he respond?" He asked her. "He was happy, said he was glad we're giving it another try." Mark sat down next to her, "And how do you feel about that?" He felt almost like her therapist, but he knew she needed to talk about it all or she'd just bottle everything up. "I don't know." She rested her head on his shoulder, a tear slipping out of her eye. His arm snaked around her waist, holding her close to comfort her.

So, some of you asked for more backstory, so I've decided that the next few chapters will include flashbacks- they will most probably be of the months they spent apart and occasionally before Derek moved to Seattle. You have also asked for some Mama Shepherd scenes, and I promise, there is at least one coming your way. I'm not promising it'll be in the next chapter, but it'll definitely be soon!

I just wanted to say thank you to Patsy, Gina, and MerderCute for your reviews, they really make me smile and give me a lot of inspiration and motivation to write.

Thanks for reading, and please remember to review. :)