"I will dream with you, until they all come true. I will spend my whole life through, falling more in love with you."
After Audrey passed away, Meredith read a lot of books that were supposed to help her deal with the grief. While most of them were complete and utter bullshit, one of them resonated very powerfully with her. Its author didn't bother summarizing the convoluted process of grief with simple steps or stages. They acknowledged the fact that grief is not something that magically disappears. In the book, the author described finding what they call an anchor. This is something that grounds you, and keeps you from drifting away in your despair. In Meredith's case, her anchor turned out to be a someone: Derek. He thinks it's a pretty lame metaphor when she shares it with him, but Derek also couldn't deny that it fits perfectly. They are each other's anchors, and that becomes very special to them over the next three years.
Derek continues playing the saxophone in his high school's marching band, and tries out for their hockey team on a whim. He makes the cut, and finds his time on the ice to be very cathartic. He works for Sean during school vacations, and does odd jobs when he can. He somehow still manages to find time to spend with Meredith, and his family.
Volunteering in the oncology ward turns into a part-time job for Meredith, and her grades remain exemplary. There is no more mention of being sent to a boarding school. It actually becomes a private joke between her and Derek, how ridiculous the threat was. When one is unreasonably annoyed by something, the other suggests St. Beatrice's Preparatory School as a solution. They forget what they are so annoyed about.
At the suggestion of Derek, Meredith auditions for her school's debate team. By the time she is a senior, she is captain, and she tries to not ever dwell on the fact that the suggestion to join the debate team came after a particularly nasty argument. Derek swears he meant it as a compliment, and she believes him. They keep living their lives. Meredith matriculates enough credits to be eligible to graduate a year early. They are both accepted to a number of renown colleges and universities, and they decide to attend Dartmouth. Not because of each other, but because of the opportunity the school offered.
Meredith is hesitant to go to Derek's senior prom, until she learns that his parents had met at a dance. It was about more than dressing up, and taking entirely too many pictures. For him, she buys a dress, and smiles in almost every picture. This is what makes her his anchor. He holds her close while they dance, and he paints a beautiful picture of their future together. He envisions what sounds like a hell of a life, and she enjoys hopeful Derek. Meredith sees that side of him more than most, but she still didn't think it happened nearly enough as it should.
They complete their respective senior years, and Derek graduates the Salutatorian of his class. He gives a very moving speech about perseverance at his commencement ceremony that takes place a week before Meredith's. Even though it had been three years, it hurts to not graduate with his sister. He never thought Danielle's name wouldn't be called before his to receive a diploma, but he smiles through it. The pain of his father not being there is just as hard to smile through, but Meredith helps. They visit the cemetery after the ceremony.
Meredith graduates number four in her class, and any disappointment from Ellis is ignored. Meredith was proud of her accomplishments, even if the GPAs of those ahead of her didn't quite add up. Derek sits in the front row of the audience with this hilariously unimpressed look on his face during the Valedictorian and Salutatorian addresses. After the ceremony, he jokes about the amount of times they used to term vis–à–vis. These were the things that made him her anchor.
When it became official that she would be graduating early, they began planning a trip to Europe with Mark. It had been Mark's idea originally, since he would not be attending Dartmouth with her and Derek in the fall, but she had managed to get very excited about this trip. Meredith had even convinced a few of her friends from school to go with them. They had saved money for months, and spent hours researching the places they were going. It was going to be incredible.
Her excitement fades when she wakes the morning they are scheduled to leave for London with a horrible feeling about the trip. Meredith is someone who trusts her instincts, and her instincts were telling her to not board the flight to Heathrow Airport. She tries calling Derek, but he isn't home. She is unpacking her suitcase when he walks into her bedroom, expecting her to be ready to leave.
"I thought you already packed?"
"I did." Meredith shrugs. "Now, I'm unpacking."
"Why?"
"I'm not going."
"You're joking, right?"
"No, I'm not boarding that plane."
"We have been looking forward to this for months." Derek sits on her bed. "Why don't you want to go?"
"I have a really bad feeling about it."
"You're just anxious." Derek nods. "Once you're there, you'll feel better."
"I don't think I will."
"What has you so freaked out about this?"
"I don't know." Meredith puts her suitcase in her closet, and Derek sighs.
"There has to be a reason."
"I can't explain it."
"We don't have time for this." Derek becomes frustrated. He is not about to go on their dream trip without her, and he starts rapidly shoving clothes into a duffle bag he finds. "You're going."
"Stop touching my clothes, and get out of my room." Meredith rips the bag from his hands, and pushes him out the bedroom door before slamming it.
"Fine." Derek agrees, exasperated. He'd throw her over his shoulder, and carry her to the airport if he had to. "I really don't care if the only clothes you have in Europe are the ones on your back. More chances of you being naked."
"Don't you have a flight to catch?" Meredith retorts, removing her clothes from the duffle bag.
"I'm not leaving without you."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm being ridiculous?"
"There is no reason you should miss out on this trip." Meredith insists. "Go."
"You were excited about this trip yesterday." Derek sighs. "What happened?"
"I told you, I have a feeling."
"A feeling you've refused to elaborate on." Derek reminds her. "Feelings have a cause, Meredith."
"Not always." Meredith slowly opens the door, and stands next to him.
"You appreciate how frustrating this is, right?"
"I do."
"You shouldn't miss out on this trip either." Derek pleads, crossing his arms.
"I don't want to." Meredith admits, still contemplating why travelling suddenly filled her with dread.
"Then don't." Derek tells her. "We'll take it one step at a time."
"Something is telling me not to go."
"So you've said." Derek listens. "I'm telling you that everything will be fine."
"You don't know that."
"You don't know that it won't." Derek argues. "Neither is a reason to miss out on going to Europe. So, pack your things before I do."
"I can't just ignore the way I'm feeling."
"I'm not asking you to." Derek says calmly. "I'm asking you to trust me that even if this trip is a disaster, we'll get through it."
"I don't think it will be a disaster."
"Great! Then pack."
"Six weeks is a long time to be away from home."
"It's the longest either of us have been on our own." Derek now understands.
"Is it weird that I'm more nervous about my mother and aunt being on their own?"
"No, I'm terrified to leave my family, and Amy will never let me forget that I went to Europe with my girlfriend." Derek shares, and gently holds her hand. "It's why we need to be out on our own."
"I promised I wouldn't leave her." Meredith leans her head on his shoulder. "The night my mother tried to kill herself. I was five, but there I was, comforting her. It was okay for her to ship me off to wherever she wanted, but I have never broken that promise. And my aunt has no one..."
"They'll be fine, I promise." Derek kisses her head.
"I feel selfish."
"It's alright to be a little selfish sometimes."
"Why did I unpack?" Meredith groans, and Derek laughs.
"Because you're crazy." Derek chuckles, and she pushes him away. He pulls her back. "I'll help you pack, if I'm allowed to touch your clothes again."
"You are."
"I still don't care if you only have the clothes on your back."
"Shut up."
"Only if I've convinced you, for the second time I might add, to go on this trip."
"Keep flattering yourself." She kisses him. "I'm going to pack."
Derek smiles, and follows her to her closet. He helps her pack, and jokes about panties he's offended he hasn't seen. She's pretty sure he has seen them, and they leave for the airport they get too distracted. They are the last of their group to arrive at the gate, and are met with questioning looks.
"You're late." Cristina, whom Meredith met in advanced chemistry, glares. "Oh, my god. Were you two that couple that fights right before a vacation?"
"Doubtful." Mark quips. "It's far more likely they weren't able to keep their pants on."
"Nah, they look all flustered." Cristina decides. "They totally fought."
"Are you two done?" Derek puts his messenger bag down, and asks.
"What did tall, geeky, and lanky over there do this time, Mer?" Cristina wonders. "Did he forget your birthday?"
"Her birthday was almost a month ago," Derek defends himself, "and I made it very special."
"Yeah, he did." Mark laughs, implying something dirty, which was not what Derek had meant. He had been referring concert they went to, not the sex they had.
"Not as special as that blizzard last March." Cristina scoffs, and Derek blushes. Meredith immediately regrets sharing anything with her best friend. "Meredith's mother got stuck at the hospital, and Derek got stuck at her house..."
"He practically had it written all over his face the next time I saw him." Mark teases Derek.
"Why do we tell them anything?" Derek wonders, and ends the conversation.
"I don't know." Meredith answers. "Please tell me they're not sitting anywhere near us on the plane."
"I'm sitting right behind your ass, Grey." Mark smirks, holding up his boarding pass.
"Wonderful."
"You still haven't told us if you fought."
"Why do you care?"
"Because I'm bored," Cristina whines, "and I want to be right."
"Fine, we fought." Meredith rolls her eyes. "Curiosity satisfied?"
"Told you." Cristina sticks her tongue out at Mark.
Meredith takes a seat next to Derek, and he wraps his arm around her. A small boy is playing with his father across from them. "Do you think we'll have kids?"
"Hopefully," Derek smiles, "after college and medical school."
"Before would be bad."
"Your mother..." Derek cringes.
"Both of our mothers..." Meredith amends his statement.
"Hey, we made it through high school without any pregnancy scares." Derek grins, and holds his hand up. "High five."
"I am not giving you a high five for that."
"Come on..."
"It isn't funny."
"You should lighten up before we go to Europe."
"I'll lighten up when I feel light."
"I love you, but that doesn't make any sense." He shakes his head, and kisses her.
Their trip to Europe is the opposite of a disaster, and they have the time of their lives. They start classes at Dartmouth in September, and help each other through terrible roommates and homesickness. They are very glad they didn't add a long distance relationship to the list of things to deal with. They move in together before the start of their senior year, and it is an adjustment for them both. They graduate, and start medical school a month later. They survive sleepless nights during rotations, and Amy learning how to drive. They decide the second they step foot in an OR that they want to be surgeons, and it does not surprise either of them that they have completely different reasons. They are accepted into different internship programs, but thankfully the hospitals are in the same city: Boston. Mark is accepted into the same program as Meredith, something he is way more excited about. Derek proposes the night they graduate, and they are married a year later on a secluded beach north of the city. They have two sons, and adopt a daughter. Christopher is born during their third year of residency, and is a little carbon copy of Derek. Andrew is born a few months after Derek begins his neurosurgery fellowship, and bears more of a resemblance to Meredith than his brother. They adopt Zola when Andrew is four, and Christopher is six. They build their dream house, and grow old together. He always insists that Meredith was the chatty one the night they met, and she lovingly calls Derek farmer boy, even if he isn't wearing a flannel shirt.