It's been a while, eh? Well I'm sorry about that. I didn't plan on writing on this ever again but I was sick in bed with only my blackberry to keep me company and came across my own fic. That mixed with the occasional email saying someone has added this story to their alert list or favorites, which made me feel slightly guilty for not updating, made me want to update. So yeah, sorry. I'm going to try to continue this story as much as possible but summer isn't for another month so I wouldn't expect many updates (if any) before then. And if I get a job or decide to take some summer courses at the nearby college, there might be less over the summer.

Another thing, I completely lost track of where I was going with this. Tell me if it sucks and I'll change it, I'm down for ideas.

Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's Anatomy, I'd know what was going to happen on tomorrow nights finale. That said, I only know what spoilers I could get a hold of.

Here goes nothing….

The rest of dinner was decent, except for the few rude remarks Ellis made towards Derek, but Richard and Adele always cut in with another topic. Ellis received a call and left right as they were finishing up, saying she had important business to attend to. Richard and Adele left shortly after that, leaving Meredith and Derek alone outside the restaurant.

"Do you want to talk a walk," Derek asked softly. Meredith simply shook her head in response and began walking down the sidewalk. They walked silently for a minute, Derek having grabbed her hand somewhere in between. "You've been quiet," he stated.

"Yeah, I've..." she paused shortly and looked up at him, "I guess I've been thinking."

"Care to be more specific?" he sighed, wrapping an arm around her as they walked.

She leaned into him and sighed, "It's an amazing opportunity, you'll get to meet so many people that could help your career and really learn a lot."

"But being with you is an amazing opportunity as well," he smiled down at her.

She slowed down and turned to face him, grabbing his arms so he would stop. "That's… you know I love you: I love you for saying that, I love you for being you, I love you for loving me… the point is that we love each other."

"I hope you know this is only making me want to stay more," Derek interjected.

Meredith laughed slightly before continuing, "Shush and let me finish here. We're in love, you'll only be gone a month. It's not a big deal. People do it all the time… just promise not to find a girl with an accent to replace me and I trust you, I can only hope you trust me. We're fine, Derek. You should go. In fact, I'm making you go."

Derek suddenly got an amused face, "making me go?"

"Yes," she nodded sternly. "If you don't go… I- I won't have sex with you! Ha!" She giggled as Derek's face fell flat, but stopped when he smirked and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh really now?" he asked as he pulled her closer, burying his head in her hair and kissing her neck softly, slowly moving down."

"Public, we're… in public, Derek!" She moaned softly as he hit her weak spot when he came up to her neck. She pulled herself together and gave him one hard kiss on the lips before gently shoving him away and grinning. "Really… no sex unless you go."

He sighed dramatically and began walking back towards the restaurant, "as clever as you think this whole 'no sex' policy is, I've got a few things you should know." He stopped and turned to look at her.

"Oh really now?" She giggled, causing him to smile.

"Yes, really. A… I can live without sex. B… You'll give in before long. And C… And I do believe this is the important one, winning argument… Sex, it's not what I care about in this relationship. I mean don't get me wrong, it's fantastic, mind-blowing, even, but it's not as important to me as everything else… like your tiny ineffectual fists, or the adorable way you ramble on and on, or the way you scrunch your nose up when you're frustrated, or your ratty Dartmouth t-shirt you always wear, and your hair…"

"My hair?" She interrupted with a laugh.

"Yes, your hair… it smells good, like some kind of flower," he smiled and nuzzled his face in her hair.

"Lavender," she stated simply as he pulled back, "my hair smells like lavender." She laughed as he sniffed it and continued walking towards the restaurant.

Three days later, Derek was sitting at his place drinking a beer and reading a medical journal when he heard a knock at the door. He set down his beer and went to open the door, to find Meredith on the other side with a large brown bag in her hands. She shoved it at him and stated "you're going," before turning around and walking back to her car, leaving Derek standing in the doorway with a confused expression.

After watching her leave with nothing but a wave goodbye, he shut the door and walked back to his couch. Opening the bag, he was initially confused by the contents. As he pulled things out, he began to laugh. Inside was a large bottle of Meredith's lavender conditioner, a Dartmouth shirt that was larger than Meredith's, and a manila envelope with his name on it and a heart next to it. He smiled as he opened it and pictures of Meredith poured out, along with a letter. He decided to read the letter before opening the pictures.

"Hey Derek! You're going to that medical conference. I got you everything you need: my lavender conditioner (which you better use), a Dartmouth t-shirt (okay so you can't fit mine so I washed that one as many times as possible and wore it to bed the past few nights. I'm pretty sure it even smells like me),"

He did smell it and it smelled exactly like her.

"and now pick up the pile of pictures."

He picked them up and smiled at the top one, a candid shot of her and him at her house one night that he never knew was taken.

"The top one is us one night, apparently Izzie took it or something. I don't know, Christina got it for me after telling me how dumb my plan was. And the next one is me in my 'ratty' Dartmouth shirt. Then there's one of me scrunching my nose (I tried my best to make it look real). Then there's… well, you're going to be without me so I figured this one might keep you company? Or maybe away from girls with accents? Either way, it's there if you, well, need it. Not that I'm the only thing you could. Look at but yeah, its there. See, I'm rambling! Well, I love you and you're probably wondering why I just left. There are a few reasons. A. Christina said I should shove it at you and leave. B. I'm a little nervous about that last picture… and the whole no sex thing wouldn't go well if I was there and you saw that. And C. there's still no sex until you agree. And Christina seems to think I won't last so as much as I'd like to spend time with you, my threat is on the line. I love you, Mer."

He smiled as he set the letter down and put everything back in the envelope. He was going to France… and to his girlfriend's house.

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