Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.

Author's Note:
I'll admit, I'm a fan of a wild ride, but just a short one. Most of my stories have fewer areas of conflict than I think people are used to, fewer cliffhangers, more fluff and all that jazz. It's my personal belief that when a ride is too wild, you get nauseous and you start to expect something bad to happen at every freaking turn. In my experience, having more feel-good scenes makes the tragic scenes that much more heart-wrenching and I understand that this theory also goes the other way, but I try to be an optimistic person.
Hey, guess what? I appreciate you!

Read. Review. Hopefully, enjoy.

Change can be big and scary and inexplicably hard to wrap your mind around. Change can feel so big, nearly monumental as if everything happened all at once. However, the truth about change is that it doesn't happen all at once, it's gradual. Even those changes that seem to occur at the drop of a hat have been in the works for hours, weeks, months, and even years. Each decision that is made brings an individual on step closer to a significant or even insignificant change.

When I was little, my dad took me fishing every weekend. It started before I could even hold the weight of the fishing pole on my own and continued until the day before he died. Within that span of time, we spent hours sitting on the edge of a lake in camp chairs, sometimes quietly, but most of the time speaking in low whispers about the events of the week.

After a while, when Mark and I became close, he would come with us too. I had my first beer out there in the tattered blue camp chair with my dad sitting next to me in his red one. After he died, Mark and I only went a few times before we decided we just couldn't anymore. It wasn't until I had moved to Seattle and bought the land that I started up again. Now, every chance I get, I set up those blue and red tattered chairs down by the lake and sit there for hours drinking beer and catching fish with the memory of my father.

I had just gotten off a long shift, Meredith and I had lost another patient, and the trial's expiration date was looming over us. So upon finally reaching the land, I decided against climbing into bed with a clouded head and chose to gather up my fishing gear and trek out to the one place I knew could make life seem clearer. It was early, so early that the sun was merely an orange blip in the distance.

I was just about to cast my line when my phone began to buzz in my pocket. Taking it out, I looked at the screen and noticed it was an unknown number, expecting it to be a telemarketer, I place it back in my pocket and finished my cast. However, just as my line plopped into the water, it began to buzz once more, the same number.

"Hello, this is Dr. Shepherd," I said into the receiver.

There was no response, only the sound of fumbling, sniffling, and whimpering.

"Hello?" I said again, "Who is this?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"D… Dr. Derek," a tiny voice whimpered into the phone quietly.

"Annie?" I asked in surprise, "Annie is that you?"

"Mmhmm," she whimpered, her breath hitching as it sounded like she was trying not to cry.

I set my fishing pole down and ran a hand through my hair, "What's wrong, Sweetie?" I asked, slightly

frazzled and expecting the worst.

The little girl released a sob to match her size and failed to utter a word. For a moment, I stood there by the tattered camp chairs, listening intently to what was happening on her end of the line. Past the sniffles and crying, I could hear yelling from both a male and female.

"Annie," I said, "Are you in a safe place?"

"Yeah," she whimpered with a hiccup, "I hided in the closet."

"Good, that's good," I sighed, scuffing a foot against the dirt and gravel below me.

"Dr. Derek, I'm scared," she whimpered, "I don't know what to do. I don't wanna get hurt," she whined.

I couldn't help but smile sadly, "I know you don't," I told her, "You just stay right where you are," I said tenderly, "Stay really quiet and I'll tell you a story. Ok?"

Annie sighed, this time a little less frantic, "Ok," her small voice replied, still rough from crying.

Smiling widely this time, I responded with an enthusiastic, "Ok," before racking my mind for a story to tell. Taking in my surroundings and the cool air that blew through my rain jacket, it came to me.

When I was younger, my dad and I had taken the boat out to go fishing and the moment we reached the middle of the lake, the skies opened, thunder boomed, and lightning cracked through the skies. That was the first time I had ever heard my dad swear. He stood up, angry at mother nature, and lost his balance, falling into the lake with a giant splash. I was scared, having thought that would have most definitely made him angrier, but his head breached the surface of the water and a large laugh radiated from his chest as he rolled onto his back to float. We were both very sick for the next week, but it was worth it. All of it was.

For what felt like an hour, I paced around the tiny lake, speaking softly into my phone as I recounted that day on the water moment by moment to a scared little girl. By the time I had finished the story, I could hear a light snoring coming from her end of the line, "Sleep tight," I whispered before hanging up and shoving my phone back into my pocket.

Worry plagued my mind and I could barely resist the urge to call social services at that very moment. However, not only was it entirely too early in the morning, but Annie wasn't in any immediate danger. It was a fight. People fight all the time and getting social services involved in a small spat may just make things worse for her. I could only imagine what would happen if her foster parents were to find out she had called me. I had to admit to myself that I knew very little about their situation and as hard as it as, I had to keep myself from getting too close to it.

It was a typical Seattle morning boasting with cumulonimbus clouds, dark skies, and a light drizzle of rain when I found myself snuggled up in a small chair on my deck. A warm woven blanket was wrapped around my shoulder and I held a toasty mug filled with robust coffee as I sat and gazed into the woods that were laid out before me, thinking about the last few weeks.

Derek and I seemed to be closer than ever, almost overnight. So much so that I began to question the speed of everything. I couldn't help but think that maybe we were moving too fast and sooner or later one of us would change paths and the other wouldn't, resulting in a high-speed crash of mammoth proportions that shattered every particle of our relationship to pieces. However, the more I contemplated it, the more I realized that this relationship didn't get to where it was overnight and it couldn't be broken overnight. Derek and I became friends as a result of relationships gone wrong. We helped each other through them and over time discovered more and more about each other.

Gravel began to crunch and churn as Lexie's car appeared from farther down the driveway and came to a stop a few feet from mine. The moment she stepped out of her car and slammed the door, I knew something wasn't right.

"Hey," I said as she hurried up the steps.

"Hi," she muttered as she bolted past and slammed the trailer door.

Releasing a sigh, I stood up and made my way into the trailer behind her, "What happened?" I asked, placing my mug in the sink and leaning against the wall as I watched her put her things away, "You were with Jeremy, right?" I asked knowingly, "Did something happen between you two?"

"I don't want to talk about," Lexie groaned, shrugging her jacket off and flopping onto her bed.

Knowing better than to keep badgering her, I turned around and grabbed her favorite mug out of the cupboard before pouring a near half-and-half ratio of coffee and cream into it and placing it on the counter to cool. She always liked her coffee at room temperature, borderline cold, which I knew I would never understand.

My blanket still wrapped around my shoulders, I walked up to her bed, "Scooch," I told her, nudging her arm with my knee. Lexie moved over with a groan and I climbed in next to her.

I started playing with her hair in a way that always calmed her down and after a couple minutes she sniffled and told me, "He's moving to New York."

"New York? Why?" I asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Lexie groaned and moved closer, wrapping an arm around my waist and resting her head on my chest, "Because I told him to," she whispered.

"Because you told him to" I repeated a bit too wryly, failing to mask my slight judgment.

"He got a deal with some big shot publishing firm in New York," she admitted, "he found out last week and he didn't even say anything until last night," she continued angrily, "he asked me what he should do and I told him that he had to choose. I told him that he could either have me or he could move to New York," she said, her breath hitching as tears gathered in her eyes again, "and he chose New York," she sobbed, grasping onto me tighter.

I held her close and rubbed her back, "Why would you do that?" I asked softly with a sad laugh.

"I don't know," she sobbed, shaking her head, "I thought he would choose me. Meredith why didn't he choose me?" she whimpered.

"Oh, Lex," I said tenderly, kissing the top of her head, "Men are idiots, that's why."

We stayed there for almost a half an hour without saying a word before Lexie had stopped crying and started picking at the blanket that was still around my shoulders, then suddenly she piped up, "Can we go to Derek's and make him make us breakfast?" she croaked.

A grin erupted on my face and I giggled, "Let's go."

Lexie rolled over me without skipping a beat and I laughed a groan before following her, the now-cold creamer with some coffee I had set out for her sat forgotten on the table.

We put our slippers on and I threw another blanket at her for warmth before we made our way out of our trailer and bolted across the lawn and around the fire pit to Derek's door. We went inside quickly to get out of the rain.

"Derek," I called, before noticing a lump that shifted on his bed as Lexie shut the door behind us.

Lexie gave me a devious look with her splotchy eyes before we made our way to his bed and climbed in on either side of him, "So I was thinking pancakes for breakfast," Lexie said, snuggling into his bed.

"Ooh pancakes sound good," I joined, "with eggs and bacon," I finished, bringing my face to Derek's and kissing his nose.

Derek groaned loudly and smacked his lips, "Shhh," he said sleepily, "Sleep, it's time for sleep," he groaned as his mouth stretched into a wide yawn as he shifted onto his back and nudged his arms under our shoulders, pulling us both in tightly, "Go to sleep," he continued.

"I want food," Lexie giggled, poking his ribs.

"You go get food," he said gruffly, pulling his arm back and giving her a light shove before wrapping me in his arms tightly and breathing in my hair, "We'll sleep," he sighed, kissing the top of my head.

"I want food too," I said, my voice slightly muffled against his shirt as I wrapped my arms around him in return.

He groaned, "No you don't," he said, "you want sleep. Food later."

"Well if you're not gonna make me food," Lexie started slyly as she rolled off his bed, "then I guess I will," she finished.

Before she could step away from the bed, Derek released me and grabbed the back of the blanket she was wrapped in, pulling her back onto the bed, "And burn down my trailer? No thanks," he said, his voice still thick with sleep as she bounced on the bed with a giggle.

"I hate you both," he groaned, still sitting up on his bed with his head in his hands.

"Liar," Lexie and I said together, before sharing a look and a laugh.

After taking a few moments to wake up a bit more, he slid between Lexie and me down to the edge of his bed and got up, grumbling something about regretting the decision to let us move in next to him as he went into the bathroom.

"That's not where you keep the food," Lexie called to him, giggling as she rolled closer to me again and we got under his covers.

Derek bolted out of the bathroom, moving the fastest he had since we'd invaded his space. With a mischievous smile on his face, he snatched a pillow from the bed, "You little," he said, shaking his head with a laugh before chucking the pillow at Lexie's face causing both of us to lose it as he ducked from Lexie's reciprocation and ran to the bathroom.

Lexie pulled a free pillow over her head and groaned a laugh, "He's such an ass."

I sighed whimsically, "He does have a nice ass," I told her with a smirk, earning a punch in response.

"Eww, Meredith," Lexie groaned before muttering, "I'm too under caffeinated for this shit."

Groaning, I shoved the covers off myself and whipped my legs to the edge of the bed, "I'll go make some coffee," I said, throwing her a smile and a wink as I got up and moved toward Derek's kitchen.

Just as I walked past the bathroom door, Derek popped out and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close, "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, kissing my cheek and shoving his face into my neck with a low growl.

"Making coffee," I replied with a laugh, stretching up to kiss him quickly, happily discovering he had brushed his teeth.

"You make good coffee," he said pensively, before kissing me again, "but don't think about touching anything else," he chuckled, walking past me and pinching my butt a little too obviously.

"Ugh stop, please," Lexie groaned, "Some of us have relationship issues over here," she told us loudly, snuggling deeper into Derek's bed.

"Relationship issues?" Derek mouthed toward me, his brows knit with confusion.

"That's a conversation for later," I said, filling the coffee pot with water, "and by the way," I told him, rolling my eyes, "I only burnt those eggs in here that one time, it wasn't that bad."

Derek scoffed, "Not that bad?" he asked rhetorically, "I had to throw away the frying pan!" he argued, waving the new one around a bit as he took it out of the cupboard.

There was something special about mornings like this. They felt normal. Like a family. Like we could do this every day for the rest of our lives.

A few hours later, Meredith and I were on the top deck of a ferry, on our way into the city for dinner. We had been for a few months now and had only been on about three real dates in that time. So to celebrate our once in a lifetime day off together, we decided to do just that.

"You warm enough?" I questioned, swinging my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, rubbing my hand up and down her arm.

"I am," she whispered back, looking up at me for a moment and smiling.

After returning her smile, I kissed the crown of her head lightly, "Good," I said with a sigh, "So how's the Lexie situation?"

"Complicated," Meredith groaned, leaning her head against my shoulder, "She's just so impulsive about everything," she continued with a tone of concern as a large gust of wind blew past us and she snuggled closer, "I mean this morning? When he told her about the job offer, she just gave him an ultimatum right on the spot and just before I left the trailer we had a fight because all of a sudden, she wants to move to New York," she finished with a snort, shaking her head slightly.

I glanced her way in surprise, "What about school? I thought she wanted to go to school in Seattle so she could stay with us?"

"I thought so too," she agreed a bit forcefully, "but she's not thinking straight," she argued, "A few months ago she lived on the streets and now she wants to move out of a perfectly stable living situation to the most expensive city in the country," she continued, obviously upset as she turned, still close to me with her back against the rail. I crossed my arms and tilted my head, looking her in the eye as she continued, "Derek, I'm really worried about her," she admitted quietly, looking down at her feet.

"Meredith," I said softly, knowing she was fighting back tears.

She shook her head softly, "Don't say everything's gonna be ok," she began, "because you don't know that. We just found each other, Derek, she's my sister, I don't want to lose her already."

"You won't lose her," I spoke softly, regretting it almost immediately as she looked up at me with a forceful look, "Meredith," I spoke again, uncrossing my arms and bring my hands to rest on her sides, "We don't even know if she's going to New York yet."

"She's dead set on it Derek," Meredith snapped, wiping her eye before a tear could break free.

"Lexie's been dead set on about a million things since you took her in, Meredith, that doesn't mean anything," I told her seriously, "Like you said, she's impulsive. She doesn't know what she wants and now she has a lot more options than she has in a long time," I reminded her.

Meredith shoved her hands in her pockets, "I just," she groaned, "I thought she was happy here. I thought we had a plan and that she was gonna be ok, but now," she shrugged, drifting off.

I couldn't help but sigh heavily, "I know," I told her softly, pulling her into my arms and holding her close. She wrapped her arms around me and relaxed against my chest.

We stood like that for a few minutes, connected and peaceful before the sound of Meredith's phone ringing popped our bubble, "What now," she groaned, still holding onto me with one arm as she reached for her phone with the other, "This better be important," she said honestly, pulling away from me lightly to lean against the rail again. From the tone of her voice and the topic of conversation, I knew it was the intern doing paperwork for our trial.

"What did she want?" I asked, crossing my arms once more as Meredith hung up and shoved her phone back into her jacket.

She looked up at me with an apologetic look on her face, "You're gonna hate me," she whispered with a smile.

I couldn't help but chuckle, "What are you talking about?"

"One last patient, Derek," she said in a nearly pleading voice, grabbing onto the lapels of my coat in a sweet way with that face she always gave me when she knew I would get mad.

"Meredith, the trial's over," I said seriously, "We're out of time. It didn't work. We have to let it go," I told her, trying to keep my voice soft and keep frustration from seeping in.

"Technically," she added mischievously, "It's not over until midnight."

"Great so we have…" I paused, glancing at my watch, "about eight hours add another name to the list of people the trail failed," I snapped.

Meredith pulled back, "Derek we were close," she said sternly, "We were so close to being successful and you know that. This could be the one, Derek, this could be it," she said, a certain fire ignited within her eyes as she became frustrated and determined all at once.

"We haven't even met the patient, Meredith," I said, a bit exasperated, "With all of the paperwork we' have to do not to mention the surgery itself, Meredith it could take well over eight hours."

"But it could work, Derek," she bit back, "It could really, seriously work."

I shifted and shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans, "This is ridiculous," I said seriously, raising my eyebrows at her, "It's crazy," I continued, running a hand over my mouth.

"There's a bottle of champagne in your fridge that we've been staring at for weeks. I really want to open it and I know you do too," she added forcefully before smiling at me as she reached up and kissed my cheek, "Please," she continued, "We need to do this," she finished, her tone becoming a bit more somber.

"Your mother's gonna kill me," I told her seriously, shuffling my feet for a moment before reaching my hand out for hers.

"That a yes?" she giggled, following behind me before catching up as we walked back to my car.

"You know, you were right," I retorted with a smirk.

"About what?"

"That I would hate you," I said with a chuckle, squeezing her hand and winking at her.

Meredith simply rolled her eyes, "You didn't hate me in on-call room four yesterday," she laughed.

"That's very true," I said with a shrug matter-of-factly as we approached my car in the lineup, just in time for the announcement of our arrival over the loudspeaker.

We climbed into the range rover on our respective sides and waited patiently for our turn to exit the ferry, just as I shifted the car into drive to begin moving, I felt a slight, warm pressure on my thigh as Meredith reached over. Turning my head, I met her gaze, "Do you trust me?" she asked me softly.

"Of course, I do," I responded truthfully, "I'd trust you with my life," I added, smiling softly.

Meredith nodded and with a small smile playing on her lips, "Me too."

"You trust you with your life?" I joked, raising my eyebrows at her with a chuckle.

Rolling her eyes again, she smacked my gut lightly, "Shut up," she giggled, "I have a good feeling about this," she finished confidently.

"Good," I nodded, "That's good," I whispered, tearing my eyes from hers as the car behind us honked its horn.

Despite my reservations about the situation, I did trust her. I trusted Meredith in a way I hadn't trusted anyone else in a very long time. There was a time when I trusted Addison before our marriage blew up in our faces, but I can honestly say that I never trusted her as much as I trusted Meredith in that moment.

Not all change is bad, some change is for the better. It's the kind of change that opens your eyes to the way things should be. The kind that shows you the extent of your potential whether in love, in school, in finding a profession, or just in life in general. Despite the good that comes along with some change, the very same form can be hard to wrap your mind around. Realizing your potential opens so many pathways that were previously seen as unapproachable and that can be daunting.

Thanks again for all of your kind reviews! I'm glad that you all still seem to be enjoying this story!

This chapter may feel a bit like a filler, but it's not, I promise. It's important to the story progression and it really lets you guys get a good look at the relationship dynamics we have going on here. It also introduces some subtle and not so subtle areas of possible conflict later on.