Derek never thought he was someone who actively avoided anyone, but the grief that he had been receiving from his sister for the last hour of work had driven him to seek refuge in the family study as soon as he returned home. He eagerly sunk down onto the plush leather couch, letting out a content sigh at the comfort it offered.

If he wasn't already exhausted from a full day of school and football training, Amelia's endless gossip, exaggerated stories and surprise interrogation had worn him out for good. She'd been midway through a little rant about how unfair her professors were being, when Derek had thought sarcastically, Life as a lowerclassman sure has become dramatic.

He managed to block out most of her conversation, using the pretext of getting more stock from the back room to avoid having to input many opinions, but it seemed that Amelia had been planning her ambush and was not taking no for an answer.

"So, it's been a few months since you and Rose broke up," Amelia had said, watching Derek for some indication that he was listening. When he temporarily froze in his place stacking shelves, she had continued, "I know she's moved on."

Derek remembered trying to shrug nonchalantly but failing miserably. "I don't know where you're going with this Ames."

"It must be hard to talk about," Amelia stated. Derek grunted in response. "But you can't let her win the break up."

Derek grimaced at that, not because he was 'losing' the breakup, but because of the cliché of the whole idea that since Rose had found herself a new boyfriend – who was not Elliot Redman – she was doing better off than Derek. And in terms of relationships, Derek had been seeing Meredith for just as long, not that Amelia needed to know that piece of information.

"I don't care," he had said plainly.

Amelia shook her head, her brunette locks bouncing as she did so. "Derek, you don't have a heart of stone; I know you care."

"I don't care," he repeated with what he hoped was a more blunt tone.

"The only reason you wouldn't care is if you had moved on yourself."

Derek's eyes widened, but since he had turned away from his sister he knew he wasn't giving anything away. More than anything, he wanted to let out a sigh of relief at avoiding being caught.

"Derek Christopher Shepherd! Have you got a new girlfriend?"

Apparently his silence was enough to convince Amelia that he did have someone new in his life. He shot a deadly look in her direction, hoping it conveyed annoyance at a sibling's irrational suggestion rather than any kind of confirmation.

"No, I haven't," he lied.

Amelia raised her eyebrow. "You can't lie to me. Who is it?"

"Nobody," he said moodily.

"But you admit there is someone?"

Derek sighed at the way she was succeeding in getting information out of him. He resolved to silence for the rest of his shift, ignoring her multiple questions about his girlfriend.

If only she knew, Derek thought as he recalled the afternoon. It gave him a little satisfaction to know that his sister – who seemed to know just about anything about everybody – was unaware of his relationship with Meredith.

It had been a mutual agreement between the two to remain quiet on the subject of their relationship. While they were still figuring things out, they thought no-one else should have the right to try to do it for them. Neither Cristina nor Mark was clued in about the situation, although Derek was sure they both had their suspicions.

Despite how much he appreciated the privacy that they had received, Derek had that niggling feeling that all was going to be revealed soon enough.

He spent the next half hour rooted to the same spot on the couch, reading one of the detective novels his father stocked the bookshelves with. He was just getting to the autopsy of the victim when his mother called up the stairs.

"Derek, honey, can you help make dinner?"

Putting down the book, he was glad to be spared the gory details of the dismembered body before eating a meal. He swung by his room on his way downstairs, taking off his favourite grey hoodie and chucking it on his bed.

As he walked into the dining room, the first thing Derek noticed was how much effort his mother had gone to with laying the table for just him and his sister.

Were we supposed to be having guests?

He couldn't remember his mother mentioning the Kings coming round for dinner; it was something she always made a habit of doing to make sure Derek and his sisters were appropriately dressed ever since Liz rocked up in what was now referred to as her 'emo getup'.

"Who's coming for dinner?" Derek asked as he popped his head into the kitchen, where his mother was frantically running around with a ladle in one hand and a small pot of oregano in the other. He noticed how she visibly tensed.

Her face was rigid, not allowing Derek to figure out anything. Despite her cheery persona, Carolyn Shepherd had a mean poker face. "A friend," she replied hastily.

"Do I know them?"

"Yes," she replied briskly.

"Are you going to tell me who?"

"No."

"Come on Ma," Derek whined, not understanding her secrecy.

"No."

Derek didn't question further. When his mother made up her mind, there was no changing it. Instead, he offered his services and found himself stuck mashing the potatoes when the doorbell chimed to announce the arrival of the mystery guest.

Carolyn excused herself. With keen ears, Derek heard her footsteps drift towards the front door. She opened it, welcoming the guest inside. The voices were muffled from the distance, but Derek soon realised who was visiting when he heard her nervous chuckle.

Abandoning the mash, Derek stepped into the hall to be faced with Meredith. She was wearing all black – her signature look – and had the look of confusion etched onto her face. It seemed she was as unaware about why she had been invited as Derek was.

"Derek, can you entertain Meredith for ten minutes before dinner is finished?" Carolyn asked conspiratorially. It didn't take long for Derek to realise that she had figured out the pair. "Amelia's up doing her homework, so don't you dare disturb her."

"I wouldn't dare," Derek said, and gave a mock salute to his mother. He felt slightly awkward as he watched her exit the room and walk down the hallway. He turned to Meredith, who couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"Aye Aye, Captain," she joked. The two moved into the living room to avoid being overheard by Derek's mother and when there, her tone fell more serious as she questioned, "She knows, doesn't she?"

Derek nodded. "I think so. I don't know how."

Meredith feigned sadness. "I'm going to miss being fake single; it's been so much fun."

"Me too," he chuckled. He quickly closed the gap between the two and kissed her gently on the corner of her lips.

Meredith grabbed the collar of his polo neck, pulling him even closer. "You've got to stop kissing like a wimp." And with that, she allowed her lips to crash against Derek's. He soon reciprocated the gesture, the kiss gaining intensity as the seconds passed by.

Derek had just moved his hands to Meredith's hair when the sound of the Shepherd egg timer began to rattle throughout the house.

The pair jolted apart at the disruption. They looked at each other before Meredith smoothed down her tunic and grinned at Derek.

"Can we try denial one last time?" she asked with humour in her voice.

Derek reciprocated her smile and said, "Of course."

"I haven't seen you around school for ages, Mer," commented Amelia, tucking into her supper. Meredith had just smoothed her napkin onto her lap and slowly lifted her gaze to meet Amelia's inquisitive one.

Meredith shrugged. "I've had a few extra projects to complete recently."

It was part of the truth. With exam season coming up, she had a lot of coursework to complete. The main reason she hadn't been so visible in the public eye, however, was because she and Derek had been sneaking around, stealing kisses behind the bleachers – even though she cringed at how that sounded – and having secret lunches behind the art building.

Soon they would have to tell people they were an item, though. Carolyn already knew, so it was only a matter of time before the gossip machine that was Amelia caught on. Meredith found it oddly painful to lie to Cristina; more so than it was her own mother. Not that her mother would care if she was dating the neighbour.

"That's a shame, dear," Carolyn said with a knowing gleam in her eyes. "I hope you're coping with all these projects."

Meredith saw Derek swallow deeply at his mother's comments. She stifled a laugh and responded as seriously as possible, "Of course. I was actually thinking of doing some voluntary work at the hospital as well."

"That's wonderful," Carolyn exclaimed. "If only these two were as committed to their future as you are, it'd be perfect."

Meredith's brow furrowed for a second before she said, "I don't actually know if I want to be a doctor, though. It's just an idea."

"A good one though," Carolyn commented. "What puts you off it?"

"Just that it'd be awkward," was Meredith's reply.

"How so?" Amelia asked, stirring her mashed potatoes round her plate with her fork.

"I'd feel like I'm constantly being compared against my mother. She's a renowned surgeon, but who's to say I'd be any good at it." Meredith mumbled, staring at her plate.

"Mer," Derek said softly. Her head snapped up to see him looking at her attentively.

Meredith cut him off before he could say anything incriminating. "Being a doctor is something Cristina would be good at."

"Cristina?" Carolyn questioned offhandedly.

"Mer's best friend," Amelia offered.

"She's hard-core, already watching recordings of surgeries and reading the first year material," Meredith said, chuckling. The thought of surgeries was enough to put her off the meal in front of her.

Carolyn made a tut-tut sound. "That can't be healthy for her."

"Try telling that to her," Derek grimaced. "She'll bite your head off."

Meredith raised her eyebrow warningly at Derek but couldn't hide the grin on her face.

"So Derek," Carolyn interjected. She put down her knife and fork even though she still had all her vegetables left on her plate. "When were you going to tell me that you and Meredith were dating?"

Amelia's jaw dropped and Meredith could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment.

She had thought that Carolyn would have a little more tact and mention the subject in private rather than in front of Amelia. There was no stopping this now.

"Mom, I don't know what you're talking about," Derek said unconvincingly.

"Your girlfriend is Meredith?" Amelia asked with shock. "How could I have missed this?"

"No," Derek kept up his denial, "I'm not dating anyone."

He looked at Meredith for assurance. She shook her head and turned to Amelia and Carolyn. "It's true."

"Not to sound cliché," Carolyn said. "But a mother is never wrong."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Thanks mom, now the whole school will know."

"You don't give your sister enough credit." After a few seconds she added for good measure, "What's so wrong with being in a public relationship anyway?"

"We didn't want anyone who didn't have the right to be involved in what we do," Meredith said. She had to hand it to Carolyn; she knew exactly what she was doing. What Meredith really wanted to know was how Derek's mother had worked it all out.

Carolyn tilted her head in thought. "They can't if you don't let them."

"Easier said than done," Derek said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.

"I'm sure you two will work something out."

There was a pause before Amelia began squirming in her seat, obviously wanting to grill Derek. Meredith could've sworn she saw Amelia inhale the biggest breath she'd ever seen before saying, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that it was Mer? How long has this been going on? Who else knows?" She stopped suddenly and asked one last question in a slightly childish manner, "Are you in lurve?"

"Ames," Derek warned. She stared back determinately. "You don't need to know every little detail about my life. But since I know you won't give in until you've got something, it's been six weeks."

"Jeez," Amelia griped. "I didn't know you could be so secretive."

Meredith could see Derek feeling a little proud at that and smiled fondly at him. It was only when she saw Carolyn looking at her questionably that she forced it off her face.

"I guess this means I need to enforce some ground rules," Carolyn began. "I don't want any closed doors. Not too much PDA when the rest of us are in the room please. Derek, you will let the rest of the family know at some point in the near future. And for God's sake, no more sneaking around."

Meredith nodded eagerly, with Derek seeming a little less enthusiastic.

"Good."

With the whole group finished eating, Carolyn stood up to clear away the plates. She called Amelia to help and, reluctantly, she agreed. Both said a warm goodbye to Meredith before exiting the room.

Meredith walked to the hallway to begin putting on her coat. Derek soon joined her and helped her thread her arms into the sleeves. "This was unexpected," he murmured. "I'm sorry about the ambush."

"I know," Meredith said. She turned to look at Derek. "It's a good idea though, right?"

Meredith gauged Derek's expression and was relieved to see his comforting smile. "Yeah, it'll just be weird at first."

"It'll probably shock quite a few people."

"Or it might explain why I've been talking so fondly of you recently," Derek said while chuckling.

"I'm flattered." She raised her eyebrow. "I'm sorry I didn't even attempt with Cristina. She'd shoot them all down anyway."

"You're bruising my ego here," he joked, pressing his hand against his chest dramatically.

"You sound exactly like Mark," Meredith taunted.

Derek shook his head. "Not exactly what I aspire to be in life."

They stood still for a little while longer, both with idiotic smiles plastered on their faces. Meredith broke out of her trance first and leaned over to peck Derek on the lips. She pulled back and said, "Bye Derek. I'll see you tomorrow."

It seemed so odd that all their efforts had been completely undone in one night. Meredith was apprehensive about how the news would be received at school the next day. She didn't doubt that it was for the best - that this signified the pair moving forward in their relationship - but it was going to take some time to get accustomed to the change that would surely occur. Blocking out the negative thoughts, she focused on how good it would feel to eat anywhere but behind the art block or beneath the bleachers.

Back in the present, she had barely opened the door and stepped onto the porch when Derek reached for her hand and followed her out, taking her by surprise. She looked at him confusedly while he explained simply, "I'm walking you home idiot."

Without hesitation, she accepted his answer and squeezed his hand to begin the short journey back to her home.

A/N: I have succeeded in my mission to update in less than four months! Thank you all for your reviews. You guys are too sweet ^_^

I hope you have a wonderful week (damn alliteration), I hope to update soonish :) xxxx