Enjoy :)

Chapter 8

"Why am I wearing this again?" Meredith asked as she grabbed the dress from Derek, stepping into the slinky, black material.

"Because you look hot in it and I'm asking nicely," Derek smiled at her as he buttoned up his red shirt. His good looking shirt, he amended in his head.

"Derek, I haven't worn this dress in years, I don't even know why I still have it. Besides, it has to be out of style by now; I bought it four years ago!" She snapped at him. He was being very demanding, and she didn't know why. "And why am I even getting ready so early? The party isn't even for another four hours!"

"Meredith, black dresses don't go out of style, especially dresses like that. And we have some stuff to do before we get to the party. It'll probably take us an hour to maneuver around all of your boxes to even get out of here!" Derek and Meredith had brought all of her boxes in the night before when they got home from Boston, and though Derek couldn't wait for Meredith to unpack, he had no idea where all this stuff would go; she owned too much.

In response to the dress, Derek chose not to tell her that she still didn't have it, but that he had saved it. It was the dress from their first dinner date, and he wanted to keep it. He also decided not to tell her that they were leaving the apartment four hours early because he wanted to have enough time to propose. That would ruin the surprise.

"I'll wait for you in the kitchen," Derek said as he finished buttoning his shirt. Stepping towards her, he kissed the back of her neck. "And don't forget to where your hair down, and wavy."

"You're very demanding tonight," Meredith said.

"I know what I like," Derek joked. "And I want you to look hot."

"So I don't usually look hot?" Meredith turned around to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"You always look beautiful," Derek amended, kissing her. "I'll be in the kitchen."

"Fine," she whispered as he shut the door behind him.

Meredith pulled the straps over her shoulders and zipped up the dress. She didn't get why Derek was so insistent that she wear it. She was pretty sure the last time she wore it had been at a Christmas party a few years ago at least; she was surprised it even still fit her. Other than that, the only time she could remember wearing it was on a date with Derek. She smiled at the memory; it had been early in their relationship, only their second real date. He had taken her out for a perfect dinner and ice cream, followed by the best sex Meredith had ever had up until that point. She had begun falling in love with him that night, and counted herself pretty lucky to have found him. Snapping out of it, Meredith grabbed her brush to start fixing her hair, then reached for her shoes. Fifteen minutes later, she left his room. Their room, she corrected internally.

She went to the kitchen, clearing her throat as she stood in the entrance. Derek looked up, a slow smile spreading across his face. She grinned back at him, turning slowly to give him her full appearance. "How do I look?" she asked as she faced him again.

Derek didn't answer; rather, he crossed the room and pulled her into his arms, kissing her hard. Meredith moaned as Derek's tongue invaded her mouth. When they finally broke apart, they were both panting. "You look amazing," Derek managed to say. Wordlessly, he pulled her towards the door. As they stepped out of the apartment, Derek reached for his pocket, suddenly jerking away from Meredith.

"What's wrong Derek?" she asked.

"Um, nothing, nothing at all. I just left something in the room, let me go find it," Derek stuttered.

"I can help you find it," Meredith offered, starting to follow him.

"No!" Derek exclaimed, and Meredith stopped dead in her tracks. "I know exactly where it is. Just stay here." He headed back into the apartment, leaving Meredith confused in the hallway. He came back about a minute later, looking a little relieved.

"Are you okay Derek?" Meredith asked cautiously, not wanting to be snapped at.

"Yeah, I'm good," he smiled at her. "Let's go, there are a few places we need to go."

Fifteen minutes later, they reached a familiar bar, and Meredith was utterly confused. "You wanted to go to a bar before our party? The party that in fact has an open bar?"

"Just come on Mer, humor me," Derek said as he dragged her inside. He led her to a table, forced her to sit down, and stuck out his hand. Looking at the bartender, he ordered for them. "Hey, can I have a single malt scotch and a shot of tequila please?" Derek paid for the drinks, handing one to Meredith. After she finished her shot, he put his drink down and stuck out his hand, smiling.

"Hi," he began. "I'm Derek Shepherd."

"Huh," Meredith half laughed, looking at him like he was insane. "What are you doing?"

"We met at this bar, you remember? We met and, well you said, uh 'I'm just a girl', and I said 'I'm just a guy.' And we started this thing; we started this thing and you didn't know anything about me. The good, the bad, the age difference. You didn't even know my name," he smile grew wider as Meredith stood next to him, smiling but confused. "You didn't know me. And I'm glad you got to know me. You gave me a chance when you didn't want to, when you had been hurt before, and I love and appreciate that so much, and I want to recreate the first time we met." He stuck his hand out again. "So hi, I'm Derek Shepherd."

Meredith had no idea what was going on. She was wearing this nice dress because Derek insisted on it, and then he took her to a bar. Why? Just to be romantic? She didn't get it; she didn't understand why he was doing the romantic thing. It wasn't their anniversary, her birthday was months ago, and they were going to a party to celebrate her graduation and his birthday, so what the hell was he doing?

"This is ridiculous," Meredith finally said, and Derek's face fell a little. "Why are we here? Did you screw up or something? Because now would not be the time to tell me, not right before we face your family and my friends."

"Meredith," Derek said, almost pleading with her with his eyes. "Please?"

She looked at him for a long moment, and decided to let it go. For now. She didn't want to, but he was giving her the McDreamy face, and it melted her resolve.

"Hi," She said, sticking her hand out. "I'm Meredith Grey."

"It's very nice to meet you, Meredith," Derek shook her hand, pulling her slightly closer to him.

"It's nice to meet you," Meredith responded as she kissed him.

When he pulled away, Derek was smiling. "Come on," he said. "Let's go."

"What do you mean? We just got here," Meredith responded.

"Yeah, but we need to make a couple more stops," Derek said as they headed towards the door.

XXXXXX

An hour later, Meredith and Derek were still walking around, and Meredith had about enough. He had taken her to random spots in the city, and she hadn't really seen the point. And now he was saying they had one more stop to go before they could go to the party.

"Derek seriously, you need to tell me where you're taking me right now," Meredith snapped as he led her towards the NYU campus.

"Why?" Derek asked, his tone amused.

"Because I have to know!" Meredith exclaimed.

"Or you could just roll with it, be flexible," Derek said as they stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green.

"I'm not flexible," Meredith snapped.

"Haha, there I disagree," Derek said, smiling suggestively. Before Meredith could respond, the walk signal switched, so Derek grabbed her hand once again and pulled her across the street, finally stopping at Washington Square Park. "Now I'll explain," Derek said, taking both her hands in his. Meredith looked up, both confused and scared about what Derek was about to say.

"So, the places I took you today all remind me of you. The bar is the place we first met. This is where I first asked you out, and it took me almost ten minutes for you to say yes. Your dorm freshman year was where I kissed you for the first time. We celebrated our one year anniversary in Central Park. Each one of those places is where I fell in love with you a little more. Penn Station is where I decided to make plans with you because I loved you that much. We went to New York Harbor because that's where you found me when I lost a patient during one of my first solo surgeries. You told me that I would still be a great surgeon, that every doctor loses patients. You made me believe in myself again. That's when I knew I needed you," Derek squeezed her hands smiling at her.

Meredith smiled back at him. He was doing a big romantic gesture, and she knew she should hate it, but he was doing it in a way that she didn't mind at all. Or maybe she wasn't angry because she wasn't one hundred percent sure where was even going. Well, she there was a small idea in the back of her mind, but she couldn't think that yet; she might freak out over nothing. Before she could continue that thought, Derek began speaking again, and she focused back on him.

"You have been with me through everything; from when I've been too happy for words to the times I was so depressed I tried to push you away. But you never left, and you got me to move forward. You've let me in more and more over the past couple of years, and I revel in that, because it means you trust me to be there for you too. I know you say you're all dark and twisty; it's not a flaw, it's a strength, it makes you who you are," Derek's hand shifted to his side, and Meredith saw what she had been missing all night: a small square box bulging from his pocket.

Now Meredith had a definite idea of where this conversation was going, and she was trying to prepare herself for a freak out, and was trying to figure out ways to calm herself down. Surprisingly, the nervousness wasn't coming. And then Derek interrupted her thoughts again.

"I'm not going to get down on one knee. I'm not going to ask a question. I love you Meredith Grey, and I want to spend the rest of my life, with you."

He was silent for a moment, and Meredith processed what he had just said. He proposed. He proposed; he freaking proposed! This was really big, and she should be trying to run or stuttering some excuse to say no, but she couldn't, because she didn't want to. In the moment after he finished speaking, Meredith knew that, without a doubt, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Derek Shepherd; she wanted to marry Derek. She smiled at this realization.

"And I want to spend the rest of my life with you," she answered softly, not trusting herself to say more or to say it louder. She wasn't worried though, she knew Derek would get it.

And he did. He smiled widely at her, shaking his head once, almost in disbelief as he pressed himself against her, kissing her passionately. She kissed him back just as fervently, tangling her fingers in his hair. Meredith became acutely aware of people whistling at them, and finally tore herself away from Derek. Her fiancé.

"We're engaged," she whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"We are," Derek agreed. "Do you want to see your ring?"

Meredith nodded, watching Derek's face light up as he pulled it out of his pocket to show her. She knew he wouldn't put it on her finger unless she said it was alright, so she made it easy for him, sticking her left hand out, despite how much it was shaking. Derek took her hand, kissing it softly before slipping the ring, which she recognized as Carolyn's ring, on her finger, where it fit perfectly.

"I love you Mer," he whispered into her ear.

Meredith brushed her lips against his cheek before answering. "I love you too Derek."

"Come on," he said lightly. "We have a party to get to."

"Yeah, I guess we do," Meredith laughed, swinging their arms as they walked down the street.

A/N: I hope that you all liked the proposal, and it wasn't too ridiculous or anything. I'm a big fan of the elevator proposal, and I tried to think of a way that would encompass all of Derek's favorite moments with Meredith since she isn't a surgeon yet. Anyway, they're finally engaged! Please let me know what you think, I would really appreciate the feedback.