Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Hi! As promised this is their date and I seriously might just love Derek even more now! I actually had to cut it short because it's already too long, I hope you guys don't mind :) Special thanks to those who reviewed, made my day! :)


White Christmas

That night the two of them were cuddled up on the sofa again. Addison had cooked dinner and he had been pleasantly surprised that even with the full drawer of takeout menus she still knew how to cook. Now his arms were wrapped around her as her back rested against his chest. They had started talking about everything that had changed and everyone who had moved away, started a new career, gotten married, or divorced.

"Wow, I never thought that Preston would ever leave Seattle, all he talked about was becoming the next Chief!"

"Yep, he's married now and has two daughters. But you won't believe where he moved, I mean, really, you just won't." Derek chuckled softly and smiled to himself at the realization that nothing much had changed about his Addie. Her hair still smelled the same, she still used the same perfume and she still made his heart melt.

"Hmm… Let me guess…" She pretended to think about it. "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore…"

"How did you know?!"

"Because I got a wedding invitation and then a Christmas card."

"Gee, someone was popular in Seattle…" He teased her.

"Yeah, with like three people." She had to laugh and rolled her eyes. "What else did I miss?"

"Well, you know about Miranda and Richard and Callie… So… Mark is engaged." He felt her body tense up at the mention of Mark's name but he knew they had to talk about all of that at some point.

"The same Mark who's never had a serious relationship?" She asked after a while, trying to be as fine with this topic as she could.

"He did have one… With you…" He saw her eyes closing and knew that tears were already threatening to fall. Derek hated that he had made her cry but they had to talk about their past.

"You can barely call that a relationship."

"What would you call it then?" His voice was soft and considerate and nothing like she had expected it to be. She knew that she had hurt Derek terribly and she had always regretted doing this and especially with Mark but a part had just wanted to hurt Derek for always leaving her but mostly she had just felt so sad and so alone and he had been there. Mark had always been there because Derek had sent him in the beginning and later because he felt bad for her.

"I was crying all the time because you had left and he… he stopped asking me what was wrong, stopped trying to comfort me because nothing worked… It was everything but a relationship." She felt him nod and then felt his arms tighten around her body.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and pulled her closer, his chin now resting on her shoulder. It broke his heart to hear her talk about the time after he had just left. "For being absent, for leaving, for Meredith and just for everything I did to ever hurt you. But I promise I'll do everything so we'll get past that."

"Me too." Her voice was barely above a whisper but she was certain that this time they would be able to make it work. Maybe this year she would finally be granted her Christmas wish that had been the same for years now.

xxx

"Man, you really have to chill, you know." Mark rolled his eyes at his best friend before heading out of the door. Tonight would be Derek's first date with the most beautiful woman he had ever met. Addison Montgomery was warm, smart, funny, incredibly beautiful and completely enchanting. And she had agreed to go out with him. Which was why he was so unbelievably nervous that he had gotten changed again and again and groaned when his hair just wouldn't stay the way he had wanted it to. And Mark, of course, had teased him about being even worse than a chick.

But all of those worries disappeared when she opened her door and all he could do was stare at her for a moment. Addison was wearing a dark green sweater and black jeans and he had never seen anything this beautiful.

"Hi." She smiled at him and grabbed her coat. He was so handsome in his dark brown leather jacket and the light blue shirt he was wearing underneath. Derek had asked her out after she had been waiting for him to finally do so most of this semester. They had been teamed up and he was the nicest guy she had ever met. He was sweet, considerate and smart. On top of that he was just so handsome and when he smiled at her it felt like nothing else existed.

"Hey." Derek finally found his voice and grinned at her. "Here." He handed her some flowers and noticed the smile on her face that matched his.

"And here they say chivalry is dead." She kissed him on the cheek and let her lips linger for a second before pulling back from him. His cologne smelled so familiar and it put her to ease. She had been stressing out over this date for ages and now that Friday had finally come she couldn't shake the feeling that this would be so much different than her other dates in the past.

xxx

So when Derek had made her lunch and pulled her closer in the kitchen to officially ask her out on a date that night Addison was just as nervous as she had been so many years ago. He had been so sweet and so much like the Derek who had asked her out in medical school. Everything about Derek Shepherd still made her nervous and caused the butterflies in her stomach to resurface. She had wondered if she would ever feel like this when she was still in high school and no boy had ever asked her out. Except for prom but that really was nothing to ever talk about. And now she was right back to where they had started even though she never would have thought that he still had that effect on her. Nothing had changed and even Addison was surprised that all that had ever been missing from her life was Derek.

"Savvy, what the hell am I supposed to wear?" She stood in front of her walk in closet and stared at her clothes and all the labels, the sequins, the expensive fabrics. But she didn't even know where he was taking her! How do you dress when you don't know where you're going?!

"Oh, hey, Addie, is it twenty years ago because this feels like a déjà vu and I still have all those wrinkles…"

"Savvy!"

"Alright, I'm sorry, this isn't the time for jokes." Savannah had to laugh because she knew the look her best friend most likely had on her face.

"Would you just please help me? Because, just like twenty years ago, Derek didn't tell me what we are going to do and I hate that!"

"No, you love that and even I love him for that because you need that in your life, Addie, just a little spontaneity. Just wear what you wore twenty years ago." She could hear the annoyed groan on the other end of the line. "Not the exact same thing, Addison! How you ever made it through medical school, I do wonder sometimes…"

"Thank you, Savvy… Do you think that I'm making a mistake?" Her voice sounded unsure and vulnerable, afraid of getting hurt again.

"No. I think that he's really serious about you." Savannah had hated Derek and everything he had done to break her best friend but she also knew that the only person who could ever fix this again was Derek.

"I love you, Savvy."

xxx

"So, I was thinking…" Derek took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around her waist. He was so afraid that she would pull away because she didn't want him this close to her. After she didn't take a step away from him and he even had the impression that she had moved just a little closer, but it probably was only his imagination playing tricks on him. "Since you're from Connecticut I'd like to show you the greatest place in the city." His voice was soft and velvety and she couldn't help the shiver that went through her body when he led her up a very familiar road.

"Are you taking me to your apartment?" Her voice didn't sound nearly as annoyed, as it probably should have at the idea that he'd probably consider his bed the greatest spot in the city. But Derek wasn't like that.

"Uhm, no. I'm kind of offended you really think that. But just bear with me for another moment and you'll see what I mean." He saw her nod and was relieved. Mark had told him that if she would agree to this, then there was nothing she wouldn't agree to and Derek had resisted the urge to hit him right then and there because that wasn't why he had asked her out. He had asked her out because there was a connection between them and he hadn't ever felt happiness like he did whenever she was around.

He led her up to the roof where he had put two of those reclining beach chairs, a few blankets and takeout from their favorite Italian restaurant.

"Since you said that you hate never seeing stars anymore because of all the buildings and that that really was the only downside of New York, I figured I'd show you the stars." Derek had this charming smile on his face again and she had to fight the urge to just kiss him and thank him for being the most wonderful person in the world.

xxx

"Derek! Can you get the door?" Addison called when she heard the doorbell. She was almost finished with her makeup and sighed when Derek didn't answer her. So she quickly finished and ran down the stairs when the person rang the doorbell again.

"Hi." A grin spread over Addison's face when she saw Derek standing on the other side of the door.

"Hi. I figured it was only appropriate to pick you up properly for our first date." And then he handed her a beautiful bouquet of white lilies, just like he had twenty years ago.

"Thank you." Her voice was barely above a whisper and he couldn't believe how much better it felt to be there with her again. He had been dreaming of this for so long but reality surpassed imagination every day when it came to Addison. She was wearing dark jeans, a dark top and a crème colored knitted cardigan and her auburn hair fell over her shoulders perfectly.

"So where are you taking me?" She looked over at him when they walked through the snowy streets of their favorite city. Derek only shook his head at her question and wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer. He seemed so much more at ease than he had all those years ago and it helped to calm her down.

"Since it's winter and kind of cold, I really had to come up with a new plan because I'd hate for you to freeze because I do intend on keeping you around…"

"Well, you could always keep me warm." She suggested in a soft whisper and walked as close to him as possible. Before Derek could answer, a grin already on his face, she gasped when she realized where he was taking her. "The museum?" She raised her eyebrows at him in question. Why was he taking her to the Museum of Natural History?

"Patience is a virtue, Addie." He teased her because he knew that that might be her biggest flaw, the lack of patience. And he knew she was rolling her eyes right now but resisted the urge to say something. "Thank you, Donald." Derek smiled at the man opening the door for them and shook his hand after he had given him a key.

"So you aren't planning on murdering me somewhere in this museum, right?"

"Yep, this was my plan, Addison." He chuckled and rolled his eyes at her as he led her towards the planetarium. "I'm taking you star gazing and I figured this would be more comfortable." She watched him walk over to a bag right in the middle of the planetarium. He took out two fluffy blankets, a bottle of wine and a takeout container.

"How did you do this?" A big smile was on her face when he turned on the lightshow and some soft music.

"Well… Donald is about to retire to spend some more time with his wife. He's the curator here and his wife had a brain tumor. The doctors had recommended me to operate on her so they came out to Seattle and I removed the tumor. He told me that if I ever need anything, all I had to do was give him a call, so I did." He shrugged his shoulders and laid the blankets down before motioning to her to sit down before he joined her on the floor.

"This is incredible." She whispered when he lay down and smiled up at her.

"You know, the last time we went star gazing, I really had no idea about all the different stars and whatnot…"

"So this time you read up on that?" She turned her head to the side so she could look at him, their faces only inches apart.

"No." He chuckled softly. "But now go watch the stars."

Addison laughed and leaned in to kiss him. Her fingers ran over his chest and then along his shoulders as her lips moved against his lightly. Derek smiled against her lips and tangled his fingers in her hair when he drew her closer to him so he could deepen the kiss before pulling back rather abruptly.

"You didn't do that the last time." He grinned, brushing some of the auburn locks out of her face and then ran his fingers over her bottom lip. Addison pecked his lips again and turned her gaze towards the star installation above them, a smile on her face when she felt him take her hand in his.

xxx

Addison, now also on Derek's chair, had snuggled into Derek. They had been looking up at the stars and had talked about everything for hours and she had never felt this comfortable around anyone else. His arms were wrapped around her body and his breathing was even, almost as if he was about to fall asleep. But he wasn't, he vowed himself not to fall asleep when he was spending time with her because every moment was precious.

"Tonight is wonderful, Derek." She whispered after a few minutes of comfortable silence and opened her eyes to look at the stars again. Derek had tried to tell her where which star or cluster was but he had about as little of a clue as she did. They had ended up laughing about this and just looked at the sky and how beautiful and peaceful everything seemed from up there. "And the stars are beautiful from up here."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you." He whispered into her hair and inhaled her scent. It was a mixture of her shampoo and the perfume he loved so much. And he couldn't remember when he had ever had a first date that had been this comfortable and yet exciting. Scratch that, he had NEVER had a date like this and neither had he ever thought he'd ever be so lucky.

xxx

"I can't believe you managed to make this date even better than the first one we ever had." Addison pecked his lips again, hardly able to control herself any longer. He had been a perfect gentleman and hadn't made much of a move and she felt like she was about to lose her mind. It was far past midnight because they had gotten lost in their talks, in the stars and in each other, just like the first time he had taken her stargazing.

"I'm very glad to hear that." He helped her into her coat and ran his hands over her shoulders and along her upper arms before she turned around again. Derek gave her a smile and leaned in to kiss her ever so softly before he pulled back again, not letting her deepen the kiss. "Ready to go home?"

Addison nodded her head and smiled when he took her hand in his as they walked out of the planetarium. She chuckled when he made a remark about getting a copy of the key as long as he still had it so they could sneak in whenever they pleased and then they walked home through the snow again.

"Hey Addie…" Derek said softly after a while and she looked up at him, her eyebrows rose in question. "It started to snow." Her eyes widened and the smile on her face grew even bigger at the mention of snow and at the sight of thick snowflakes.

"You think that the universe is trying to tell us something?"

"Probably that it's winter?" He had a very amused look on his face and she knew that he was just trying to tease her for sounding so very corny.

"You really know how to ruin the mood, don't you, Shepherd?" She grumbled and nudged him playfully.

"Oh, come on." He pulled her closer and turned her around in his arms so she was facing him again before he kissed her again and with that erased the annoyed look she had had on her face only seconds before. He stroked her cheek tenderly and looked into her eyes, their lips still only inches apart. "I don't think I need the universe to tell me that I love you." He whispered and smiled at the look in her eyes that mirrored his completely. Derek knew that he had never stopped loving her and he was glad that she felt the same way about him. He was certain that they would be able to make it work again.


So, was that cute or entirely too much? :D I stand firmly on incredibly cute, but that's just me.
They did talk about Mark and the whole thing a little, there will be more in the future though. So just bear with me for a little longer!

Reviews are love!