Disclaimer: Right now, I'm extremely happy I don't own the show. Because there's always back stage drama and well...I have enough drama in my own life

Okay, sorry for the delay! Sorry sorry sorry. It's just summer is winding down which is always a busy time and then I have a friend coming to visit next week so I'm busy getting ready for that and well...sorry. But here it is now.

Enjoy!

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"I can't believe you still don't know how to cook," Derek laughed from his place bent over the counter, sprinking something on the...she was pretty sure it was steak. She had never really seen it raw before but it looked like steak and he knew she loved steak so it was probably steak.

"I never did, Der," she shrugged.

"Which is exactly the point," he nodded. "When you were in college it was excusable, expected even, but now...it's just sad."

"I really don't see what the big deal about me not knowing how to cook is," Meredith giggled, grabbing for a mushroom from the bowl he had left sitting near the stove. "There's never been a reason."

"Feeding yourself is a reason."

"Restaurants and microwaves feed me," she grinned.

"Sad."

Meredith giggled as she grabbed for her glass of red wine that had been waiting for her when she got here, the amazing red wine that she definitely had to ask Derek where he got it and what it was because it was perfect. Tonight was perfect. She had just seen him a couple of days ago and she had definitely been planning on spending a quiet night at home alone but he had called and apparently Madie had a friend thing and Mark had been called in for an emergency surgery and now she was here.

"Maybe I just find cute boys to cook for me," she smirked.

"For that comment, I should teach you how to cook," he smiled. "It's never too late to learn and it might even save you money."

"Until I burn down your gorgeous apartment and you make me pay you back."

"Hmmm..." he sighed, pausing to look around the kitchen that looked like it had been ripped from one of those home magazines she liked to look at. It didn't look like a real kitchen at all. "I think I'll let it burn, insurance will cover it and I won't miss it."

"Oh," she nodded, glancing into the perfectly immaculate living room. She was pretty sure it would be rude to ask Derek if he bought it this way. That sounded like a rude question except the apartment looked nothing like she imagined him living in. His mom's house was warm and lived in and it looked like a home, not some wierd museum. "You'd still have to admit I started it."

"Get your ass off the chair and come over and learn."

"Bossy," she frowned, even as she moved to get up and do just as he said. She was pretty sure she should warn him others had tried and failed but she wasn't sure he'd listen.

"Thank you," he grinned.

"You're teaching me how to grill steaks?"

"Mer, that's far too complex for you," he laughed. "Stand at the counter and I'll grab some potatoes. You can make whipped potatoes."

"Whipped potatoes?"

"Remember those fluffy, really white potatoes my mom makes that you used to eat by the bucket full?"

"Yes."

"Those."

"I'm learning to make those?" she smiled widely, her stomach growling for effect.

"That at least is the plan," he nodded. "First you have to peel them."

"Oh...how?"

"With this," he laughed, handing her something that didn't look like it could do much of anything.

"Okay but...how?"

"It's easy," he laughed, grabbing the very strange looking object from her hand and moving to stand close behind her and suddenly Meredith really didn't care about how to peel potatoes. He felt completely different than he had years ago when they had first met, he wa s more solid and muscular and warmer or something. She had hugged him since seeing him again but somehow she hadn't noticed this, the way his chest now felt and how he smelled. Completely different and yet even though he wasn't holding her, just standing insanely close, the same sense of safety filled her.

"Oh...I..."

"And just run it over the potato like this," he murmured in her ear. "See? Simple as that."

"Simple," she echoed as he moved away, or not away at all, just moved to stand beside her, grabbing for the two steaks and placing them on the grill that sat next to the oven. Cold air replaced where his body had been along her back and the sensation made her tremble.

"I just can't believe you still can't cook," he shook his head.

"I...never learned..."

"When I talk to my mom next, I have to tell her you still don't know how to cook."

"Your mom wants to grab coffee with me sometime," she smiled, hoping that somehow the topic of his mother would make her forget about how good he felt leaning against her. It had to help because she couldn't spend the rest of the night wanting to touch him again.

"Really? When did you see her?"

"A while ago I ran into her when I went to my mom's house, her and Sophie, " Meredtih shrugged.

"You ran into her and Sophie and Soph didn't even think to tell me? And you didn't think to tell me?"

"Sorry," she giggled.

"Of course," he rolled his eyes, smiling as he moved to flip the steaks. "That should be enough potatoes for the two of us."

"Okay, what do I do now?"

"Let them cook."

"What?"

"The water is already boiling, you just have to...let them boil, they get soft and then we'll do the next step."

"So I just...watch them?"

"Well then they'll never boil," he laughed. "You relax, keep checking back on them to make sure the pot doesn't boil dry or boil over."

"Okay..."

"Boil dry means what it sounds like it means, all the water evaporate and the pot is dry. Boil over means it's too hot and there was too much boiling so it overflows the pot."

"And it shouldn't do either?"

"It should be good."

"Okay," she shrugged, backing up to grab her glass of wine and take a deep breath that didn't smell like him. She had no idea what was wrong with her. This was hardly her first time spending time alone with him, and since they had met again she was pretty sure they had managed to hug every time they saw each other but tonight she couldn't get past how good he smelled and how good he felt.

"Madie and I had a fight yesterday."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"We never fight."

"What?" she frowned, handing him his glass of wine.

"Madie and I, we never really fight. We rarely disagree and when we do it, it never becomes a screaming match but yesterday it did."

"What about?"

"The wedding."

"What's wrong with the wedding?"

"I hate it."

"You hate your wedding?"

"Mer, we got into a fight at a dance lesson, a ballroom dancing lesson where I was learning the basic steps to some kind of waltz. Which I'm expected to do while wearing a morning coat with hundreds of people looking at me."

"You...what?" she murmured, biting the inside of her cheek as she felt laughter bubbling up inside her.

"You hear me right."

"Oh..." she nodded, trying to take a fast desperate breath right before she broke into a fit of giggles that left her bent over, holding her stomach as the wine slashed in her glass. "Der..."

"I knew this was how you would react!"

"So...sorry..." she gasped, trying to make herself stop laughing. "It's just...the image...of morning...coat and..."

"Yeah, yeah," he groaned.

"I'm...okay, okay," she nodded, taking a deep steady breath as she moved forward to wrap her arms around his neck. "I will stop laughing...it's just...that's not...you."

"Hmmm..." he breathed, placing his wine on the counter before wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You...you'd be a simple wedding on your cliff with only friends and family."

"I would be," he nodded, a look in his eyes she wasn't sure she could even place her finger on, something that looked an awful lot like joy and shock and surprise and...she really didn't know.

"That would be...perfect. For you."

"Hmmm..."

"Derek."

"I've been thinking about things, about what you said."

"Oh."

"I'm...thinking."

"Good," she murmured, suddenly aware of exactly how close he was to her, how they were holding each other, leaning against the counter, far closer than they had any reason to be. And his chest was hard against hers, his arms were strong around her tiny waist and things were fuzzy. She had only had two glasses of wine so fuzzy definitely didn't make sense but they were fuzzy, really fuzzy. She leaned further into him, watching as his eyes closed in on her mouth, something she had noticed years ago he always did when he was thinking of kissing her and his tongue darted across his lips and this was crazy.

But she closed the tiny gap between their mouths anyway.

Something exploded as their lips met, it sounded wierd and cheesy but it was the only way she could describe the way her body suddenly melted as heat washed over her and she felt herself growing desperate, the kiss taking on an unexpected edge as he pulled her tighter into him, his tongue demanding entry into her mouth and she moved her hands into his curls.

It was a hell of a kiss.

"Der...Derek," she gasped as he she pulled back slightly.

"Mer..." he whispered, his eyes dark, his chest heaving against hers and she could feel his body trembling ever so slightly.

"That...I should...I'm..."

"I don't..."

"Derek..."

"I..." he breathed, his head ducking down to her again briefly, almost like he was actually going to let himself be a little insane again when he suddenly pulled back. "Something's burning..."

"Crap!" she swore, jumping out of his arms. "Potatoes, the damn potatoes..."

"And this is why you've never learned to cook," he laughed, sounding still pretty shaky.

"I...yeah, probably."

"We'll just start over."

Meredith bit her tongue to not ask exactly what they were going to start over: the whole night, the potatoes or the kiss that somehow still had her breathless because she had never been kissed quite like that, not even the hundreds of times he had kissed her before.

She had just kissed an engaged man, one she most definitely had feelings for, one she was pretty sure was starting to get really confused about his entire engaged status. She should be running. She knew she should be freaking out, terrified and making any excuse she could think of to get out of this apartment. It is what a sane woman would do, she was well aware of this. The last thing she should be doing was staying here and spending the rest of the evening thinking about wanting to be kissed like that again.

Instead, she grabbed for the potato peeling thing.

It's the moment when you started closin' in

First you're holding back, then surrenderin'

It can start a fire, light up the sky, such a simple thing.

Do you wanna try?

Are you ready to say good-bye to all these blues?

So they kissed. Because well...god knows that was a long time coming. They kissed and it was perfect and amazing and Meredith knows she should be running far far away but she just doesn't want to. So she doesn't. And that's all I have to say about that, haha.

Will try to update tomorrow!

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