N/A: I have no excuse for not updating this fic in such a long time. Now I'm back at it and as proof, the next chapter is also done. Enjoy!
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Chapter 7 – The plan
Her head throbbed in pain as she started to wake up. It felt heavy, as did her eyes and her whole body.
Champagne. They had celebrated with many bottles of champagne.
They. Meredith snapped her eyes open, wincing at the light that streamed through the large windows of the hotel room. With the onslaught of light, the pain inside her head exploded. "Ow!" she cried out, wincing. A warm, steamy body snuggling her, followed her whimper.
Derek. She remembered Derek, her road trip partner. Slowly, everything started rewinding in her mind. They had wished for a sunny place; after a first failed destination, they ended up in Vegas. She remembered the gambling in the hotel's casino and the pot of 200,000 dollars she had won there. Meredith giggled quietly because she had never done something this crazy before. To be in Vegas with a stranger… Derek… Derek, the stranger, she bit her lip muffling a laugh as she thought of that.
Then, the harsh sunlight reflected on her finger. Meredith flinched and panic washed over as she looked down and saw a ring on her left hand.
The gondolas. Now she remembered the gondolas too.
"I have a brilliant idea." Meredith turned her look from over the water to Derek. Derek waited curiously to find out her 'brilliant' idea. If her idea would be as brilliant as her eyes were, they he would love it for sure. "Let's get married." Meredith revealed her 'brilliant' idea.
Derek was watching her even more curious now. "But I don't even have a girlfriend," he confessed.
"And I don't have a boyfriend." Meredith giggled loudly. It was her tipsy giggle. Derek continued to stare at her questioningly. "This couldn't have matched better." Meredith continued giggling. "If I'm not doing it now, I won't do it ever."
Derek stared at her in disbelief and shock in the same time. "You are crazy," he concluded and chuckled.
"And you are pretty," Meredith replied, laughing.
The champagne, Derek, the gondolas… she got drunk and got married in Vegas.
"I can't believe we've actually done it," Derek chuckled huskily as he put his left hand over hers and their rings met next to each other.
Meredith jerked her hand from his and pushed him away nervously. She jumped up in her seat and felt her head spinning because of the sudden movement. She furiously rubbed her temples, trying to banish the pain.
"It's the hangover," Derek stood up, rubbing her back slowly.
"You bastard!" Meredith shouted as she slapped his arm. "It's you, bastard! Not the hangover! What have you done to me?"
Derek widened his eyes in shock. He sighed then and closed his eyes briefly. "I knew you were too drunk," he muttered.
"That's right! I was too drunk and you took advantage of me!" Meredith snapped sharply at him.
"I didn't do anything against your will!" Derek retorted, extremely offended by her accusation. He moved to the other side of the bed and reached down for his boxers. He put them on and then got out of the bed. He started pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair, trying to think clearly about the consequences of his escapade to Vegas with Meredith. He had been drunk too since they consumed the same number of champagne bottles, but his memories from the previous night were still clear to him, unlike Meredith.
"Of course you took advantage of me!" she attacked him verbally again, as she trailed down from the bed, making sure she had the sheets around her. "I gained over 200,000 dollars last night!"
"I didn't do it for your money!" Derek snapped back. "I have more money than 200,000 dollars."
"Then why did you do it?" she spat.
"I didn't do anything!" he protested defensively.
"You didn't do anything?" Meredith laughed with bitter sarcasm. "This means nothing?" she asked, showing him her left hand.
"You proposed!" he defended himself.
"I was drunk!" she shouted. "Oh my God!" she cried out. "Of all the stupid things I've done, this is the stupidest."
"Calm down, Mer," Derek walked over to her, intending to comfort her.
"Don't 'Mer' me!" Meredith slapped his hand as he tried to touch her. "And I can't calm down. I can't calm down because I don't believe in marriage. I don't want a marriage."
"But we're married now!" Derek knew he had to point out the most important fact. "I'm sorry I accepted your idea, but there's nothing we can do now. We have to calm down and think clearly. Panic won't help us."
"I want a divorce," she muttered, biting her nails nervously.
Derek sat down at the edge of the bed, his back turned to Meredith. He didn't answer that. He agreed with her proposal because he had serious thoughts of trying a marriage with a woman, whoever that woman was. He liked Meredith from the first time he saw her, so he thought she would be the one.
"Don't even think about it," she warned him, after she saw his silence. "I don't want to try anything."
Derek shifted, turning to look at her. "We're married already. Let's just try… for a while. If it doesn't work, then we'll sign the divorce papers."
"Why do you want it so much?" she asked him.
"Because I don't want this to be the stupidest thing I've ever done," he confessed with sincerity.
"Don't tell me you're that perfect," Meredith rolled her eyes with sarcasm.
"Actually, I rarely do stupid things." Meredith rolled her eyes again at his confession. "This could be… an experiment," Derek said convincingly. "An interesting and … fun experiment. Let's give it a try. Let's say… for 6 months. We'll try for 6 months and at the end of those months we'll make a decision."
Meredith stared at him thoughtfully, which for Derek was a good sign. "You agreed to have an escapade with a stranger, now you're married to that stranger, so… try."
"You're crazy," Meredith muttered, shaking her head.
"No," Derek laughed. He smiled at her and reached out his hand to stroke her cheek. "Let's not make this be the stupidest thing we've ever done. Let's make it the craziest."
Meredith continued to stare at him. He had a point with that. She used to sleep with random guys, and that wasn't quite a responsible attitude, but to run away to Vegas and marry a stranger could be surely the most irresponsible. 'At least it would be the craziest,' she said to herself.
"I'm not crazy," Derek admitted as he misunderstood her silence. "I told you I work as surgeon… neurosurgeon, so my nervous system works on high standards," he chuckled.
"Fine, whatever! Let's try!" Meredith grumbled as she threw herself in bed.
Derek lay down beside her, propping his head in his hand. "Hey, try to see the best part from this story?"
"Oh," Meredith smiled at him with sarcasm. "Is there any?"
"Yes, there is," Derek smiled smugly.
"Let's hear it," she rolled on her side, propping her head in her hand and looking at Derek.
Derek laughed and leaned in, kissing her softly on the lips. "We didn't have sex last night with random people. We did it as married couple."
"That makes me feel better." Meredith rolled her eyes. As she looked at Derek again and met his bright smile, she couldn't help but smile too. "I don't even remember that part," she groaned. "…the part that was supposed to be the best from this story."
"That can be arranged," Derek chuckled. He flipped her onto her back and moved his body on top of her. "We're newlyweds, aren't we?"
Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling. "I suppose we are. So… we're going to try for six months."
"That's the plan," Derek smiled.
"That's the plan," Meredith repeated, smiling. Maybe it was because of Derek's strong body pressing against hers, his lips caressing her cheek, but the plan seemed reasonable to Meredith now.
