Derek leaned against his car- a wide smile playing on his lips- as he watched two tiny lights playing in the soft wind beside the lake. Someone was pacing nervously around what looked like a table and Derek could easily guess Meredith's silhouette. He chuckled to himself as he started walking that direction.
"Finally," Meredith groaned, irritated, as she saw him approaching. "You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago," she scolded.
Derek laughed and checked his watch. "Now I am here, exactly 2 minutes later," he teased her.
Meredith scoffed and turned her back on him to go take a seat at the table she had arranged for their special dinner. Derek was right behind her, holding the chair out for her.
"You can't live 2 minutes without me, can you?" he chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
Meredith smiled and shoved his hand off her shoulder. "Dinner was getting cold," she mumbled as she unfolded her napkin.
Derek was surprised to see the food that lay already in two plates. It looked … messed-up and that made Derek believe that Meredith had not ordered their dinner. He sat down, across from her, unfolded his napkin and laid it onto his lap. He cleared his throat, trying to hide his amusement. She had cooked and he had to be supportive, though their dinner didn't look so appealing. "This is a surprise," he smiled at her.
Meredith carefully checked his sincerity and then she relaxed, giggling. "I know it doesn't look like in the picture, but… it could taste good."
"It could?" Derek laughed.
Meredith wriggled her nose, smiling to his comment.
"I appreciate the gesture," he reassured her. "There's a beginning for everything. Here we are a month later after our so-called-wedding, so I am sure that you'll figure it out how the cooking goes."
"I bought wine," she said, pushing a red wine bottle towards him.
Derek took the bottle and laughed. "At least this looks like in the picture."
"Shut up now," Meredith laughed along with him.
Derek opened the bottle of wine and filled their glasses. "To our first wedding anniversary," he toasted, holding up his glasses.
"We could call it like this for real," Meredith nodded, holding up her glass. "I do feel like we've been married for a year now."
"This is a good thing, right?" he asked her.
"I guess," she giggled.
"So…" Derek put his glass down and picked up his fork. "What do we have here?"
"It's called… marinade fish, with lemon, fennel, potatoes and some weird-called herbs," she explained.
"Weird-called herbs?" Derek raised his brows suspiciously. "I don't like the sound of that."
"They're not poisoning," she rolled her eyes. "It's good," she encouraged him.
"You guess," he added, now looking more reluctant at Meredith's dinner.
"It's trout. Your favorite," she said.
"Hmm," Derek faked excitedly. He sliced a piece of fish and decided to add a potato too just in case. He didn't want to look rude and spit the whole food as soon as he had it into his mouth. Derek smiled at Meredith and took the fork to his mouth. As he started chewing it, Derek had the sensation he was eating something so unfamiliar… bad. The fish had a weird flavor… of 'some weird-called herbs' flavor and the potatoes didn't seem like they had been through any thermal process. He chewed and tried to look genuine. "You know…" he stuffed the food to a side into his mouth as he looked at Meredith. "It's considered rude to stare at people while they eat. It's not poisoned I hope," he said and quickly picked up his napkin, ready to spit the food no matter if it was poisoned or not.
"No," she stopped him, giggling. "It's not poisoned," she reassured him, although Derek didn't agree with her. "I just want to know your first impression."
Derek chuckled nervously and started chewing again, hardly fighting against the urge of spitting the food. "Let me taste it first, so please eat," he told her, anxious to get rid off her questioning stare, but also curious to see if she liked what she had cooked.
Meredith picked up her fork and started eating. Derek was now the one staring at her. He smiled, hopeful, as he saw her hesitating after the first bite, but then she took another piece of fish. Derek had to admit to himself that he was a little scared now of Meredith's tastes. He focused on his food, determined not to eat more than half of it.
"You didn't eat your food," he noticed when his plate was half-empty while Meredith's was still full.
Meredith shrugged. "I wasn't so hungry," she lied.
Derek furrowed his brows, visibly displeased with her lie. He pushed his plate away and took a gulp from his glass of wine.
"How was it?" she asked him and Derek sighed discreetly when he saw the hope in her eyes.
"Not so bad for the beginning," he lied. "You still need practice."
Meredith had tasted from the food too and Derek was wrong when he thought that Meredith was having weird tastes. It tasted bad for her too. She smiled gratefully and stood up as she walked around the table and wrapped her arms around Derek's neck.
Derek smiled and pushed the chair back so that he could bring her onto his lap. She took his face between her hands and brushed her lips against his, licking the strong wine flavor off them. His arms locked around her as he held her pressed against his body. Meredith shifted her position onto his lap so that she was mounting him, her arms around his neck, her lips brushing along his jaw. "Do you want to celebrate it in here or inside?" she moaned in his ear.
Derek moaned but something made him reluctant towards Meredith's suggestion; something inside his stomach. He grabbed her waist and pushed his chair back so that he could stand up and run.
"What's…" Meredith frowned at first when Derek brutally dropped her off his lap, but then she looked worried and hurried after him, seeing him throwing up. "What's wrong?" she asked, gently rubbing circles over his back.
His stomach calmed down and Derek wiped his mouth with the napkin, panting. "I am fine now," he smiled faintly at her, reassuring her.
"You're not fine," she argued. "You just throw up. Why?" but she answered herself to that question as she understood. She hadn't liked the food so she didn't eat it, but Derek did. "It's because of what I cooked," she muttered.
Derek smiled apologetically as he caressed her cheek. "I am sorry."
"Why did you eat it if it wasn't good?" she scowled at him.
"I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I do appreciate the fact that you tried and I want to be supportive," Derek smiled softly.
Meredith angrily slapped his hand. "You're so stupid."
"Why am I stupid?" Derek frowned.
"You don't eat a thing you don't like, especially if you could get sick just to please somebody," she scolded. "Seriously!"
Derek stared at her, dumfounded. She was the angry one though he had been poisoned and not her. "You're unbelievable."
"I am unbelievable!" Meredith spat angrily. "You are unbelievable. You ate the food though you didn't like it only to act like a victim now."
"Not true!" Derek retorted. He sighed with frustration and ran both hands over his face, angry. "Why do you always have to pick up the fight?"
"I am not picking anything," Meredith glared.
"Yes, you are," he disagreed. "That's exactly what you are doing now."
"We are not fighting," Meredith frowned.
"We are not using the fists but it's still called fighting," Derek found the mood to chuckle.
"I don't know I have put it up with you for a whole month," Meredith grumbled, turning on her heels to walk away.
"You had to put it up with me?" Derek laughed bitterly, making Meredith turn back to him. "Look at us, Meredith. This was supposed to be a pleasant evening."
"Great, now you're accusing me of ruining the evening, only because I tried to cook,"
Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down and not to burst nervous again. He opened his eyes and made a step towards her, reaching for her hand. Her arm stiffened at first, but as Derek didn't want to let it go, Meredith stopped fighting and let Derek pull her into his arms.
"I do appreciate your intention of romantic dinner," he said softly, looking into her eyes. He smiled and ran his thumb against her cheek. "It was indeed very stupid of me to eat it, but…" he sighed as he looked for the right words. "Next time I will help you. I will teach you," he promised.
"I am not the one who always picks up the fight," Meredith grumbled.
Derek pressed his lips against her forehead. "Yes, you are," he contradicted her.
"No, I am not," Meredith refused to accept the truth and slapped his hand again, pushing him away.
"See?" Derek pointed out. He chuckled when Meredith sniffed like a baby. As response, Meredith threw a fist in his chest. Her action seemed to have revolted his stomach again, because Derek turned his back on her in a sudden and started throwing up.
"I am going to make you a tea," Meredith said and turned to walk back to the trailer.
"No," Derek stopped her, grabbing her hand.
"It's just tea, Derek," she rolled her eyes at his complete distrust. "Tea bag and hot water. I will add some honey too," she jerked her hand as Derek refused to let her go.
Meredith did his tea and came to bring it to him outside on the porch. She found him lying in a chair, looking exhausted, with droplets of sweat on his forehead. "You should lay down," she said, running her hand over his forehead.
Derek nodded and stood up slowly, led by Meredith inside the trailer.
"How much did you throw up? You didn't eat much," Meredith wondered.
Derek felt too weak to answer; he just shrugged as he trailed to the bed and crashed on it.
"I can't believe I poisoned you," Meredith muttered and rolled her eyes with a smile as Derek grinned at her. "I know. I admit. Here," she handed him a cup of tea.
Derek looked at her suspiciously, not daring to take the cup from her. Meredith took a sip from it and smiled pleased of its content. "I can make tea," she reassured him.
"I hope so," Derek sighed as he trailed up on the pillows, leaning his head against the headboard. He carefully took the cup from Meredith and took a small sip. The hot fluid had a strong flavor of lemon and felt refreshing to his stomach.
Meredith nestled beside Derek with his arm around her shoulders, both lying in bed, watching through the small window from the hood the rain that had started dripping over their home in the meantime.
"How are you feeling?" she asked him, propping her chin on his shoulder after they had spent the last minutes watching and listening to the rain.
Derek smiled at her, stroking lightly her cheek, "Better."
"I guess there won't be any anniversary sex tonight," she sighed and put her head back down on his shoulder.
"It's too risky," Derek chuckled. He tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you."
She looked up at him, smiling. "Would you?"
"Yes," he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. "I just wish we could communicate more easily."
"We do communicate," she frowned.
Derek smiled and shook his head knowingly. "We do communicate, but not as easy as I wish. I want you to feel more comfortable with me."
"You're not intimidating me," Meredith answered, confused with his words.
Derek smiled and rolled to his side, facing her. "I love you," he smiled, looking into her eyes.
Meredith stared at him, her mind in complete haze. She wished he were just teasing, but she could read something in his eyes that showed he was somewhat honest. She had already admitted to herself that she was carrying some certain feelings for him; she just didn't know exactly what kind of feelings.
"See? You're not feeling comfortable with me," Derek pointed out as he interpreted her silence.
"I do feeling comfortable with you," Meredith muttered.
"Then why aren't you saying anything back? I know there's something in there," he said softly, touching her chest.
"How do you know?" she asked him, diverting from the main subject and gaining more time.
"Because I've got to know you. First of all, you wouldn't have stayed married for so long if there were no feelings and then, because… the sex has changed."
"The sex?" she asked, confused.
Derek chuckled and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. "You're more… loving while we have sex."
Meredith felt her cheeks flushing and she bit her lip to hide her smile. "I am not more loving," she grumbled.
Derek disagreed with another chuckle. "Do you want to pick up another fight? We are so close to it just because you don't want to admit it."
"I don't know," she rolled her eyes, acting slightly irritated. "I don't pay attention to myself while I have sex."
"But I do pay attention to you," Derek smiled genuinely. "Are you going to believe me now?"
Meredith smiled at him and shrugged. "Maybe… ok," she finally accepted his statement.
"Then tell me about your feelings," he challenged her.
Meredith rolled onto her back, folding her arms against her chest and glaring at the ceiling. "I don't know if it's love, so I don't know what to say about it."
Derek leaned down and kissed her, rolling her to her side so that he could spoon her. "Will you tell me when you figure it out?"
She smiled over her shoulder at him. "I will."
"Ok then," Derek kissed her on the cheek.
She rolled into his arms, facing him. "Are you in love with me for real?" she asked him, an impressed smile playing on her face.
"I am not sure either," he admitted and her smile vanished instantly. "But I know I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you."
Meredith tried to act unhappy with his statement but the smile in her eyes betrayed her. "More communication I say," she giggled and reached for his lips. Before the kiss could make their bodies heat, Meredith pulled away and rolled to the other side, letting Derek spoon her again.
"I heard a crazy rumor," Derek said. "I am going to become a father," he grinned as he waited for Meredith's reaction.
Forgetting about the lie she had told Rose days ago, Meredith jumped off his arms angrily. "You what?"
Derek kept grinning at her. "I know. It's shocking for me too," he teased her.
Meredith gritted her teeth and her hands rolled into fists, shaking of anger. "You told me you love me and now…"
"I didn't say I loved you," Derek cut in.
"You did say, but now we are talking about you becoming a father soon. How could you say what you said when you are about to become a father? You are going to have a baby with another woman! Who is she?" she demanded. "And stop grinning like an idiot!"
Derek stood up, laughing, and wrapped his arms around her, fighting against her anger. "With my wife!" he added.
Meredith froze in his arms and looked at him, terrified. Then she remembered her lie. "How do you know?" she mumbled.
It was Derek's turn now to freeze and Meredith hardly composed herself not to burst into laugh. "You really are pregnant?"
"Gotcha!" Meredith started laughing.
Derek sighed as he tried to calm his pulse down and ran his hand over his forehead. "Funny," he muttered.
Meredith giggled and leaned to kiss him. "I am sorry I poisoned you."
Derek smiled and nodded. "Apologies accepted."
They laid back in bed and snuggled in each other's arms… one month after their accidental wedding.