"I'm glad you came with me this weekend."

"Me too."

"When we get back to Seattle, what do you think about moving in with me?"

"Move in together? Isn't that kind of fast?"

"You think this is fast? We've been in love with each other for three years and have only told each other about it now. Some people would already be married with a baby on the way," he teased.

"Give me time to think about it, okay?" she pleaded.

"What's there to think about? We know each other better than anyone. We're practically best friends and the 'love thing doesn't hurt either," he said, trying to lightened the mood after seeing her frown.

"Derek, please… You just told me that you love me, gave me the best morning sex a girl can ask for and suggested moving in together in less than an hour! Please try to understand if I need time to think this through," she said.

He looked sad and she hated herself for being the cause of his pain. Reaching for his face, she said "I want you to know that I love you desperately and that is not going to change. I promise I will give you an answer before this weekend is over, okay?"

"Okay." Pulling her in close, he whispered in her ear "Is there something I can do to help persuade you?"

Slapping his arms away, she said "Oh, I think you've done enough. Besides, I can barely form a thought with you touching me like that." Pulling back the covers, she got up and started getting dressed."

"Where are you going?" he grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back into bed.

"I am going down to the gift shop to buy some headache medicine. You need to get up and get ready if we're going to make it to the wedding on time."

"Forget about the wedding. Why don't you come back to bed and I will give you a massage for your headache," he said with a devilish grin.

Truth be told, she didn't need the headache medicine since Derek obviously cured her of that. She needed to think about his proposition and seeing him in naked in bed was not helping her at all.

"Fine. Be a spoilsport and go, but I'll be waiting," he winked and walked to the shower.


It only took Meredith the time it took to go to the gift shop and return before her decision was made. She simply has no self-control where Derek's concerned. They've wasted three years and she wasn't going to waste another minute being apart from him. Walking back to the elevator, she spotted a flower shop and decided to get some for him.

Derek was getting dressed after his shower when he heard a knock on the door. Smiling to himself, he ran over without looking in the peephole to see who it was.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me for too…Addison?" He stopped dead in his tracks, when he saw Addison standing at the door. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your wedding?"

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Actually, I would prefer that you say what you need to say right here. Meredith is going to be back soon and I don't want her to see you. She saw you kiss me yesterday and I don't want to upset her more."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Fidgeting nervously with her keys, she said "Mark told me what happened yesterday after we docked, and I want to explain but not in the hallway. Can I please come in for a few minutes?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he moved aside and let her in. She walked over to the sitting area and sat down while Derek remained standing.

"Make it quick, Addison. I want you to be gone before she gets back. I almost lost her yesterday over the kissing fiasco and I'm not going to risk losing her again."

"You must really love her," she said.

"More than life itself." The realization from that single statement hit him like a ton of bricks.

A lump formed in her throat and clearing it, she said "Um…I came here to apologize for kissing you. I don't know why I did it." Looking down into her hands, she continued "I guess seeing you after all this time brought back a lot of memories. I mean, we kind of ended our engagement pretty suddenly and never had any real closure."

"If closure is what you need, then you have it," his tone sounding rather abrasive.

Seeing the hurt look that flashed across her face, he let out a deep sigh and moved to sit on the chair opposite hers.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you when I left. I was selfish and didn't consider your feelings when I should have."

"I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't affected when you left. I went through a myriad of emotions – depression, frustration, anger. Sadly, it was the anger that kept me going. I became an empty shell and worked ridiculous hours to try to get over you."

"Is…is that why you never came after me?" she asked, not sure that she wanted to hear the answer after having asked it.

"I thought about it, but just as the anger kept me going, it also kept me from coming after you."

"Do you think we could have made it work?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that everything happens for a reason," he said, thinking of Meredith. "If we hadn't broken up, I never would have gone to Seattle and met Meredith."

"I see."

"When I came to Seattle, my life was at its lowest. Meredith changed all that. It's hard to explain, but she saved me and I will always be grateful to her for that."

"How do you know that this feeling you have is love and not a sense of obligation to her for 'saving' you?"

"When she's near me, I feel home – warm, safe, loved. That's all I know. The rest, I will have to take on fate."

Biting back tears, Addison stood up and said "I should go."

"I hope this gave you the closure you needed. We'll see you at the wedding."

"Um…yeah…sure," she mumbled and walked to the door with Derek following behind.

Opening the door, he said "Have a good life, Addison."

Blinking away the tears that threatened to fall, she turned around and said "Meredith's very lucky to have you." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.


Meredith Grey is finally happy. The man she loves just told her he loves her back and asked her to move in. Life couldn't be any better. She was ready to make a fresh start with Derek.

Leaning against the elevator panel, smelling the sweet scent from the bouquet of tulips she was holding, she was glowing and wanted the world to see it. She couldn't wait to get back and tell Derek that she's ready to make the move with him. Walking out of the elevator, she felt like she was in a dream, floating instead of walking down the hall.

Her dream turned into a nightmare, when she heart faint voices coming from the hallway that she knew led to their rooms. The distinct the voice belonged to none other than Addison.

What is she doing here?

Poking her head around the corner, she saw Addison leaning in towards Derek. She let out a soft gasp that was barely above a whisper. Fearing that they heard her she whipped her head back around and stood motionless, leaning against the wall for support. She quickly snapped out of it and scrambled for a place to hide when she heard footsteps coming down the hall in her direction. Seeing the door to the linen closet, she ran over and prayed it was open, which thankfully it was.

Leaning against the door of the linen closet, she let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding when she heard the elevator doors close. Taking a few deep breaths, she slowly opened the door and peered outside cautiously to make sure no one was standing there. Seeing that the hallway was empty, she came out and began walking down the hall. She suddenly stopped a few feet short of reaching Derek's room. She was trembling and her legs would not carry her the rest of the way. She stood there staring at his door for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, the door burst open and Derek came walking out.

"You're back! I was getting worried and was just on my way down to look for you," he said, appearing a little flustered.

"I saw a flower shop on my way back and wanted to get you something," she said, holding up the bouquet to show him.

A smile flashed across his face and closing the distance between them, he pulled her in for a hug and kiss.

"You never cease to amaze me," he said still holding her. "The flowers are beautiful. Thank you."

"Derek, I thought about us moving in together and don't think…"

"C'mon, let's go inside," he said, trying to change the subject. He heard the hesitation in her voice and feared she was going to say no. He didn't think he could bear to hear her say no, not now…not ever.

"Okay, but only for a little while. I have to get ready for the wedding," she lied. The truth was, she was still distraught over seeing Addison here and needed to be alone to think things through.

Once they were inside, Meredith walked to the patio and stood staring at the ocean with her back to him. She heard footsteps behind her and knew he had followed her outside. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back lightly so her head rested on his chest. Together they stood in complete silence watching the ocean waves crash onto the shore.

"Derek, I wanted to say…"

"Shh…," he interrupted her. "Before you say anything, there's something I need to tell you first."

Meredith's body tensed and closing her eyes, she prepared herself for what he was going to say. He was going to tell her that he's still in love with Addison. Her ears were ringing so loud, she could barely hear him.

"You know I never want to hurt you, but I need to be honest with you if we're going to move on with our lives. Addison came by earlier while you were gone."

Meredith closed her eyes tighter to keep the tears that were threatening to fall from spilling down her cheeks. Her heart was breaking and she didn't know how to fix it. How ironic is it that a world-renowned heart surgeon like herself did not know how to mend a broken heart.

"She came to offer her apology for the kiss," he explained. "Her visit was unexpected, but I'm happy that she came. After all this time, we finally got to have a real heart to heart talk. It was a good talk and I think we've given each other the closure we needed."

"Closure?" she asked, a little confused by the choice of words.

Turning her around to face him, he said "Meredith, I love you more than life itself. I hope you realize that. Seeing how upset you were about the kiss, I wasn't going to tell you about Addison's visit. But if you and I are going to make a fresh start as a real couple, I want to always be honest with you."

"So, you don't want her back?"

"No. There's only one person I want and I'm holding her in my arms." Pulling her back into a warm embrace, he continued "I don't want to rush you into moving in together if you aren't ready. Take all the time you need. You have a choice to make and I don't want to rush you. I'll be happy as long as you let me be a part of your life."


A/N Did any of you pick up on the subtle connection between Derek's comment about feeling "home" when he's around Meredith and the title of the fic?

If not, here's my explanation... :-)

By now, we all know where Derek's heart lies. The "home" in the title is a metaphor for Meredith, hence..."Home Is Where The Heart Is".