Um, hey there...

It's been forever, heck even more than forever, and I know it's unforgivable. I had never envisioned this hiatus to stretch for so long, but now I'm updating again, and I can almost assure, it will be for good. I'm in a good place in Hope, so it seems easier to be writing for this one too, plus actually being on holiday helped the creative juices.

Alright, a little recap: We left our beloved characters in Prague, sprawled on a couch after their mothers had yelled at them. There are a lot of secret feelings involved, and they're blossoming.

Good Occasion is a song by Marble Sounds, by the way. Oh, I missed writing songs up here!

Chapter 14 - Good Occasion

The following long-distance train brought Meredith and Derek to Berlin, and they immediately felt the vitality of the city. There were young people everywhere, locals and tourists, students and workers, all blended together to create a vibrant atmosphere that almost cast a spell on the two explorers.

They walked along the Berlin Wall, snapping photos at the guards at Checkpoint Charlie, they visited the older city and the newer buildings, museums and churches for two long days, indulging in a little shopping, postcards-sending for Derek and a sweet treat or two for Meredith.

Last on their list of sights to see was the zoo. Meredith had admitted shyly that she had never been to the zoo as a child, because her mother never brought her, so Derek decided to take her and make one more memory during this trip. Even if Knut the polar bear was not a cub anymore, the number of animals was enough to make up for it.

Watching how Meredith's eyes twinkled in fascination as they entered the zoo together made Derek feel like he was with one of his nieces back in New York.

"Derek!" she yelped, turning to him excitedly. "Lions!"

She took off at a jog and came to stand as closer to the bars as possible, grinning madly and looking a lot like the toddler bouncing in her father's arms next to her. The lion circled the cageand she followed the magnificent beast with her eyes, mesmerized.

"Lions are such powerful animals," Meredith whispered, not even bothering to turn towards Derek while she spoke to him.

"Daniel's favorites when I take him there. My nephew."

"So you're that uncle," she finally turned to him, matching his smile. "You're gonna be such a pushover with your kids."

He grinned at her, but a long-haired little girl standing next to Meredith grabbed his attention. She was a tinier carbon copy of the young woman, giggling and slurping an ice cream, giddy with sugar and happily commenting on each one of the animals. Looking at the young girl and Meredith from behind, it was easy to mistake them for mother and daughter, and suddenly he thought what their kids would look like, one day.

He shook himself from the reverie right away, imagining their children was bad, especially considering the fact that they weren't even in a relationship. He was in too deep, but he couldn't help it.

"Otters!" Meredith yelped then, making him laugh.

"You know, I'm gonna be an uncle again when I come back from this trip. My sister Lizzie is pregnant for the first time, it's an event in the Shepherds household."

"Really?"

"Well, I am older, so I was supposed to get married before her. She beat me to it." He grinned, then beamed. "It's a boy."

"Now I understand why it's such an event." Meredith laughed, and he joined her brightly.

They kept sharing the lighter atmosphere until, tired of looking at the otters, she turned to look around for her next target.

Derek followed her, watching again as the fascination grew on her features and he fell even deeper into the same reverie he was before, unable to block the daydreams from surfacing.

"Do you want cotton candy?" He smirked, and watched as her cheeks flushed.

"Never had cotton candy." Her confession made him smile sadly.

Derek left her at the penguins display and went to the candy cart, purchasing a bag of pink cotton candy. The vendor smiled at him, nodding at Meredith's fascinated face. Derek's smile simply widened.

He came to stand next to her and tapped her shoulder. She broke out in a grin when she noticed the stick in his hand.

"You shouldn't have." She sighed, but accepted the treat. "Aren't they cute?" She stated, pointing at the otters, before chomping the cotton candy.

"Surely cuter than lions. And a little less deadly for humans." He gave her a lopsided grin and she giggled, happy and relaxed. Despite they were moving north, her cheeks and nose were slightly tanned and she looked radiant. There was a lock of hair escaping her ponytail that blew softly with the breeze; she tried to unsuccessfully push it back in place with puffs of air or her free hand. He grinned, his fingers automatically reaching out to help her, then he brushed her cheek almost in a reflex.

Meredith swallowed thickly and stared deep into Derek's blue eyes. The blue of the pool at her side disappeared and paled, in comparison to the blue of his eyes; the excited shrieks of the children and the voices around them lowered to a hum, and her whole world became Derek. She had no idea how, or why she couldn't tear her focus away from his lips and his eyes, or stop herself from leaning closer and closer to him.

She knew it was wrong, but every instinct inside of her screamed that she was right though. So damn right. She moistened her lips in anticipation; Derek's mouth was barely a few inches from hers.

Suddenly, Derek plummeted nose-first into her cotton candy. He grumbled in surprise and frustration, as a man mumbled an apology behind them.

Just like that, the moment was gone.

Meredith was blushing, but she managed to giggle loudly as Derek's face emerged from the cotton candy, a piece of it was stuck in his stubble. It was awkward, and he chuckled nervously. Her laughter became hysterical as he slurped all the cotton candy stuck on his face, and he had to join in.

They tried to forget about the moment as they moved to the tigers' cages, then all the way through the reptiles and the other African herbivores. They pretended that they hadn't almost kissed, that every time they locked eyes their gazes didn't slip down to each other's lips, eager to taste the lingering sweetness of the cotton candy. They were masters of denial, after all.

At some point, Meredith decided to intertwine her fingers with Derek, frustrated that they couldn't kiss but needing to feel him there. She had never been the type to hold hands, but it felt good to be doing that with Derek. It felt like they fit and suddenly she had no idea where to go from there, because she really wanted to kiss him, but she was so afraid that a kiss could mess up the beautiful friendship they were building, and she really needed a friend. She needed Derek to be her friend.

Her life was suddenly a tad bit more complicated now.

I know chapters are incredibly shorter compared to Hope, but that's the way this story comes out. I also know you've waited forever, and you deserved more, but I don't think I can keep up a schedule like I do with Hope. A lot of factors need to be considered here, so it's probably going to be harder to maintain a fixed timeline. I can promise you I'll try to be consistent, though, and work around my schedule.

This one was an intense chapter, right? A good comeback? You have waited pretty long to see them almost kiss, uh?

Alright, that's all folks! Thank you for still being here after all these long months of hiatus, and welcome to those who found this story for the first time. I'm very glad you're all here once again.