A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews. It was so nice to hear everybody's thoughts. No Grey's for the next few weeks. What a downer. Hope this will help a little- especially after Rose and Derek's kiss a week ago. At the end, I couldn't quite tell if Derek thought the two of them just needed to move on or he was happy that Meredith was willing to make a "commitment". I'm hoping for the latter. I'll stop rambling now and let you get to the story. Again, Please R/R.

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"On that starry night
Lost my sense of time
I don't know how I
Got my fingers burned
Maybe I got too close"

Night of the Dancing Flame--Roisin Murphy

He felt her hand grab his arm before he really got the chance to process the fact that she was standing there waiting for him. Meredith walked briskly down the hallway- pulling Derek along behind her. She turned into a more deserted hallway and turned to face him once she was sure there was nobody around to hear them.

Derek could tell she was angry, but he couldn't keep himself from smiling. What could he say? She was cute when she was angry.

However, Meredith didn't feel the same way. "What the hell, Derek?" she questioned. "Did you not hear a word I said to you this morning? This can't happen." She motioned to the two of them and his smiling face, "Last night was a mistake. Nothing more. You have a wife, and you can't go staring at me like that."

Meredith hit him gently, and Derek's eyes quickly diverted to something else. Then he turned to look at her again. "What's the harm in looking?" he said, almost in a mocking tone.

Meredith placed a hand on her hip and ran the other through her hair, "You don't get it, do you? Someone could see us." Silence.

"Addison could see us," she said, letting Derek know her worst fear.

Derek took a step closer to Meredith closing the space between them. "Why does it matter? I mean she of all people knows about cheating," he whispered in her ear.

Meredith pulled away instantly, "That doesn't make it right."

Sighing, Derek leaned against the wall. "Maybe you're right," he replied telling Meredith what she wanted to hear. "Addison and I are supposed to be working on our marriage. Just because she cheated doesn't mean it makes it okay for me to do the same thing."

Meredith nodded.

"Now would it be cheating if I kissed you?" he questioned, pulling her to him and caressing her cheek.

She melted under his touch but mustered up the courage to answer him. "Yes," she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her slender body, and this time Meredith couldn't find the courage to stand up to him. She needed him. More than she'd ever realized. His lips crashed onto hers and he began sucking. He needed to taste her.

Meredith ran her tongue along his teeth begging for entrance. Her hands explored his dark locks as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She needed to be closer to him. She needed him inside her.

He began fingering the hem of her shirt, and Meredith instantly came to her senses, "We can't do this here. Someone could see," she mumbled into his mouth.

She slid her legs down so she was standing in front of him. Neither of them could find the willpower to separate from the other, yet Meredith knew she had to stop it. She pulled away from him and pulled her scrub top down trying to straighten it out. Stroking his cheek gently, she whispered into his ear, "This is wrong." She sighed, her arm dropping down to her side, "We need to stop this. All of this."

Meredith left him there with nothing to do but watch her retreating figure. She had had enough. It was over.

They were over.

---

Meredith slammed her tray down on the table causing everybody sitting there to turn to her. She pulled the chair out in front of her and threw herself into it. Glancing up from her tray, Meredith was instantly aware of the looks everybody was giving her. Then she saw Izzie give Christina a look, a look she was sure meant "keep your mouth shut".

"What's wrong with all of you?" Meredith questioned picking at her salad. When nobody responded, she continued, "Why do you guys keep looking at me like that?"

Christina started to laugh, but instantly cleared her throat after seeing the looks Meredith was giving her. "God, Meredith, what's got your panties in a twist?" she asked trying to keep her composure.

Izzie on the other hand had totally lost it and started giggling uncontrollably. That's when Meredith knew that Izzie had blabbed. She gave Izzie an angry look, and Izzie started to ramble to explain herself. "Sorry Meredith," she said gasping for air, "Christina's got a very persuasive way about her."

"I'm sure it was all Christina's fault," Meredith replied rolling her eyes.

Christina laughed, "Yep. I just begggged tinker bell here to tell me all about what happened last night, especially after she kept saying 'you'll never guess what happened last night.'" She paused, "Anyway, Izzie tells me that McBastard spent the night. Did anything happen?"

"First off, I never said that Derek spent the night," she said turning to Izzie. "Secondly, it's none of your damn business."

"So something did happen?" Christina pressed.

"No. Nothing happened. Derek just gave me a ride home. I was drunk. Nothing happened."

"Well seeing that you were drunk and you keep saying nothing happened…"

"I swear to God nothing happened," Meredith huffed. She turned to Izzie, "See what you started? Now Christina thinks that something happened when what happened between Derek and I last night was innocent."

"Christina and Izzie aren't the only ones who think that," Alex chimed in.

"What do you mean?" Meredith snapped.

"I'm just saying, even a blind man could see the looks Derek's been giving you over the past few weeks, not to mention the tension."

"What tension?"

"Sexual tension if you ask me," he said taking a bite of his sandwich. "Seems as if it got resolved last night, though."

Alex gave her a wink, and she slapped him, "Oh shut up."

He laughed, "What? It's all in good fun."

"It's only fun if you're not the one who's getting made fun of," Meredith mumbled under her breath. "Will you three just stop already?" she begged. "Nothing happened. What happened between Derek and me isn't even worth having a conversation about."

"Oh… so something did happen."

Meredith rolled her eyes as she picked up her tray, "You guys need a life."

Alex turned to Izzie smirking at her, "I can't say I don't agree with her."

---

"So… are you going to just tell me what I want to know, or are you going to make me beat it out of you?" Christina questioned chasing after Meredith. "You know, Mer. You are exhausting. You are both mentally and physically exhausting." She reached out for her arm and made Meredith stop. "Slow down for Christ's sake. You're making this so much harder than it has to be."

"What's hard about it? I'm not telling you. It's not rocket science."

Meredith pushed open the door to the locker room, and Christina followed her in. "I guess I'll have to beat it out of you, then."

"Whatever," Meredith replied rolling up her eyes and giving up the argument. "I'm not arguing with you."

"Okay… so you're going to tell me?"

"I never said that. I said that I'm going to drop the subject- and so are you."

Christina threw herself on the bench. "That's all a matter of choice," she said with a smirk, "I still want to know what happened last night, so I'm not dropping the subject. Just tell me, Mer. Tell me, and then you don't have to listen to me for the rest of the day. Come on. I'm your person."

Meredith sat down on the bench next to Christina, "Look. It's up to me to decide whether I want to tell you our not, so don't go giving me ultimatums."

"So there is something to tell?"

"I'm not an idiot, Christina. You wouldn't be persisting like this if you weren't sure that something happened." She paused and laughed, "You just want to know the details because you have nothing better to do. It will be the highlight of your day."

"I guess I could agree with you on that. Okay… so stop stalling and tell me what happened." She was silent for a moment, "Start from the beginning. I want to know everything."

Meredith sighed rolling her eyes, "Okay, but you can't repeat this. So last night, I went to Joe's for a few drinks. Let's just say I wasn't in the best of moods and overdid it a little."

"A little?" Christina questioned skeptically.

"Okay… so maybe a lot, but anyway I got drunk. To make a long story short Derek showed up and came to my rescue. He took me home." Meredith stopped to see if she was getting a reaction from Christina.

"Is that it?" she said cocking and eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that's all that happened? Seriously, Mer? Even Izzie knew that."

Meredith shrugged, "What else do you want me to tell you? Nothing happened."

"I still don't believe you."

"What makes you think that I care if you believe me?" Meredith questioned standing up and making her way toward the door. "Everybody wants to believe that something amazing happened last night," she laughed. "Hey, even I do, but there's no use lying about it. All that does is cause problems." With that she let go of the door letting it swing shut behind her.

Meredith leaned against the locker room door. She wanted to tell Christina what had happened last night, but as far as Meredith was concerned, it was a mistake. There was no sense letting people know what they didn't need to know. Pushing herself off of the door, she sped down the hall trying to avoid anybody that would question her further about last night.

She had dreamt of being with Derek again- under different circumstances. In her dream there was no Addison. There was no dark and twisty past. There was just the two of them in a blissful, perfect relationship- as far from reality as she could dream it to be.

Meredith was sure that people like her didn't get the "happily ever after" endings, and even trying to reach for one would only lead to heartbreak. She couldn't have what she had dreamt of with Derek. He was married. He wasn't hers to have.

But that didn't mean she didn't want him.

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A/N: So Meredith's trying her hardest not to surrender to her emotions, but Derek is making it difficult. He finally realized that he chose wrong and that Meredith means everything to him. However, he and Addison are not quite ready to face that reality. So he goes around trying to "seduce" Meredith when all she wants to do is be left alone. On top of this Meredith's worst fear is coming to life- her friends suspect something. She's doing her best to hide it, but she can only lie for so long before everything spins out of control. That's it for now... more next Friday. Again, please review!