Meredith slowly lifted her leg out of the warm bath water, watching the liquid droplets roll down her skin and drop into the water. Her hair was half-way drenched, her shampoo and conditioner left untouched on the edge of the bathtub. She could still feel Derek's hands on her body, his lips on hers. She felt more satisfied from those mere kisses than from anything else she'd experienced her entire life.

Her bathroom door flew open, causing Meredith to slip into the water a little deeper in surprise. "What the hell?"

"You are in so much trouble," Katherine smirked, closing the door behind her as she walked over to the bathtub and sat on the edge.

"What do you mean?"

Katherine looked at her sister, smugly. "Apparently Francis blabbed to Mom. I overheard everything. He said he wasn't going to say anything, but he's seen you come back with him a few times and this time you two were kissing. Like really kissing. And he's apparently below our standards, so he felt it necessary to tell Mom."

"You have got to be kidding me."

'Nope, but I see house arrest in your future. Or resort arrest I guess. Which really can't be that bad considering the number of spas, restaurants, pools, and pretty much everything else here. I don't see why you ever leave," Katherine said, completely missing how serious this was for Meredith.

"Well, what did Mom say?" Meredith asked, not sure if she actually wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Something about talking to you about sticking with your own kind. And she blamed Richard for giving you permission to ever step off the resort in the first place."

There was a knock at the door to Meredith's suite, causing them both to turn their heads. "Shit…" Meredith mumbled under her breath, sinking completely under the water.

Katherine laughed a little to herself, enjoying her sister's suffering before she left the bathroom. She opened the door to Meredith's suite, finding April.

"Tell your sister that your mother will be by in fifteen minutes. She expects Meredith to be out of the tub and in something decent by the time she arrives," April instructed, knowing full well what was coming.

"Okay," Katherine answered, turning back to Meredith's bathroom where her sister was quickly trying to rinse shampoo out of her hair. "So Mom is going to be here in fifteen minutes to have a 'talk' with you, so I'm going to disappear. Good luck!"

"Thanks, really," Meredith answered sarcastically, moving to the conditioner. The entire time she cleaned herself and got out of the tub, she tried to rehearse reasons as to why she should be allowed to see Derek, other than the very blunt fact that she was eighteen. She wasn't too keen with throwing that out there as she was still entirely dependent on her mother. She didn't care that much about being disinherited, but she'd prefer her mother pay for her college tuition.

She quickly unplugged the tub and threw on her silk robe before trying to get as much of the moisture out of her hair as possible. She ran a brush through her long hair, parting it and trying her best to look half-way decent before she hurried over to her closet. Before she could put on her pajamas, there was a knock on the door, so Meredith instead slipped on a pair of underwear and closed the door, trying to keep things in perfect order.

She opened the door without giving her mother the chance to knock twice, knowing that she'd be in so much more trouble had she not. "Hi, Mom," Meredith said, trying to smile and pretend like everything was okay.

"Meredith." Ellis answered, brushing past her daughter and into the room. Ellis took a seat in the small seating area, facing away from where Meredith was standing. Not needing an invitation, Meredith walked over to her mother and took the adjoining seat. "I'm sure you know why I am here."

"Yes, I do."

"What's his name?" Ellis asked, her eyes still fixated on something in front of them, ignoring Meredith's eyes.

"Derek Shepherd."

"Does he live on the island?"

"Yes."

"What do his parents do?"

"Why is that relevant?" Meredith snapped, finally losing her decorum.

Ellis finally turned to look at her daughter, "Because you are a Grey-Webber and you have-"

"No." Meredith clarified, knowing she'd probably made a mistake by not only interrupting her mother, but contradicting her as well. "I am a Grey. And honestly, I'd rather be neither. Just Meredith would be perfectly fine for me."

Ellis cleared her throat, dismissing Meredith's comment altogether. "Obviously whatever they do is not sufficient. Otherwise, you would have openly told me. Whether you like it or not you are both a Grey and a Morgan through birth, both families having a long and important social history, aside from your father. By extension you are a Webber as well. You have a place in society in which you were born into. You need to realize this before you embarrass both yourself and this family more than you already have in the past couple of years."

"I'm not going to stop seeing Derek," Meredith said concretely, making sure she marked her position before things went any farther.

"There is absolutely no point to this relationship, Meredith. After the summer, he will stay on this island and follow his father's footsteps in whatever meager career he does partake in, while you will attend Harvard in the fall. This is not negotiable."

"I wasn't negotiating," Meredith countered. "I know I am going to Harvard. I've worked too hard to give that up. That has nothing to do with Derek or what I do this summer."

"Yes, it does. It has everything to do with it. I will not have you be distracted the entire fall semester because you're moping over some boy that won't amount to anything," Ellis scolded. "Besides, you need to catch up on your summer reading and get your head out of that stupid journal of yours."

"I read all of those books years ago. I know them all cover to cover. There is no point in me reading the Iliad again. I have read it in English and Latin. There is nothing wrong with what I'm doing with Derek, so just go back to your socialite friends and stop pretending that you actually care about my wellbeing."

Ellis eyed her daughter carefully, watching as Meredith caught her breath after her rant. She swallowed carefully, thinking through her words before speaking. "I expect to see him at dinner tomorrow night. Seven o'clock sharp."

With that, Ellis stood up and left Meredith's room, leaving her daughter speechless and slightly stunned.

Derek padded down the stairs only half awake, finding his father already downstairs in the kitchen. Since Derek had started helping his Dad out on a normal basis, he'd always been the first to get up, start coffee, and wait for his father to come down. The change in roles led to a raised eyebrow from his father, but Derek ignored it as he silently ate his breakfast.

The two men remained silent until the old truck stopped near the docks. "Is that her? It's not even six o'clock in the morning."

Derek looked over in the direction his father nodded to, sure enough seeing Meredith hurrying down the side of the hill. He shook his head and then looked at his father for approval.

"Go, but I need you back here in twenty minutes, got it?" Andrew asked, slightly amused by his son's new infatuation.

Derek practically jumped out of the car, no longer feeling the exhaustion that had consumed him only moments before. He ran over to the hill and climbed up a bit, grabbing on to Meredith's waist to balance her. "Derek, you scared the shit out of me!" she squealed, jumping at the feeling of his hands on her.

"What are you doing out here so early?" Derek asked, releasing her waist and grabbing her hand instead, leading her carefully down the hillside.

"Umm, well, Francis, you know the doorman?" Meredith asked, stumbling over her words.

"Yes…"

"Well, he saw us last night. You know, saw us," Meredith explained, hoping she was at least making sense to him.

Derek nodded, "Okay…."

"And, he told my Mother. About us. Which would be fine if I had any other mother, but I don't. I have mine. And she went all crazy on me," Meredith continued, averting her eyes from his.

"What did she do?" Derek asked, his hand coming to her chin and bringing her face up to look him in the eyes.

"Invited you to dinner tonight."

Derek laughed, "That's your mother going crazy?"

Meredith sighed, shaking her head. "Well, other stuff happened before that, but that's just how it ended. She said seven o'clock sharp. Tonight. Which is a big dinner thing for my step-dad's business. Meaning tux, Derek."

Derek placed his hands on her shoulders, steadying her body and bringing his attention to him. "Meredith, breathe." His words were met with a slightly frustrated look from Meredith and he had to bite back a laugh. "I have a tux for special occasions. When my Dad and I get back, I'll shower, get in the tux and be at the resort before seven for your peace of mind. It will be okay. I promise."

"You don't know my mother."

"It doesn't matter. She's not going to scare me away," Derek reassured.

"Promise?"

"Promise," Derek said, gently kissing her. "Now I have to get back before my Dad kills me. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Meredith said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him again.

"Relax. Go swimming. Spa. Do that journal thing you like so much. Just breath," Derek instructed as he turned to walk away. "Things are not as complicated as you think."

"You've yet to convince me of that," Meredith called out, watching him head over to the docks.

"One of these days, Meredith Grey," Derek smiled, walking backwards so he could keep looking at her. "I will teach you all the wonders of blissful simplicity."

"That's not reality!"

"So you say."