Flash forward- 7 Years. June 5th, 2018-
"Jackson Grey Shepherd! I am going to kill you!" Katie screamed as she ran out of her bedroom following after her seven year old brother and his six year old accomplice.
"Wait, wait, wait…. There will be no killing. What's going on?" Meredith asked, stepping in front of her twelve year old daughter as she stomped down the hallway.
"Did you look at them?" Katie asked, pointing at her brother and his best friend hiding behind Meredith's leg.
Meredith turned around and looked at the two children, they had red lipstick underneath their eyes, on their forehead and up and down their arms. "Jackson and Charlotte, what on earth are you two doing?" Meredith scolded.
"We're Indians Mama!" Jackson exclaimed.
"Trying to get away from the evil Cowgirl!" Charlotte finished his sentence.
"Charlotte Burke, your mother is going to kill you, or me." Meredith said as she lifted the little girl and carried her into the bathroom to clean up. "Jack, don't touch anything, you're next!" she called as she walked into the bathroom.
"I won't!" he said as he continued to smear the lipstick from his arm onto the white wall.
Later that Evening
The phone rang at a little past seven that evening, and Katie lifted the receiver quickly.
"Hello? Oh! Hi Aunt Crissy! Yeah, he's here, I'll get him." Katie said into the phone. "Dad! Aunt Crissy is on the phone for you!" Katie screamed on top of her lungs.
Derek walked in from the next room. "Katherine, I was standing right there, I could hear you talking, you don't have to yell." Derek said as he reached for the phone.
"Whatever!" Katie said as she handed off the phone to Derek and stormed off into the kitchen.
"Hello? What? They did what? She had what in her pockets? You have got to be kidding me! This is the third time that she came home with worms in her pockets. I'll talk to him. Hey, don't blame me because your daughter is a tomboy. Ok, ok… I'll tell him to stop daring her to put gum in her hair too. Thanks Cris. Yeah…. Love you too." Derek hung up the phone. "Jackson Grey Shepherd! Get your butt in here now!" Derek exclaimed. As he waited for Jackson to appear, the phone rang again.
"Hello?" Derek answered.
"Hey Matty. Yeah, she's here. Just a second." Derek walked into the living room where Katie is sitting in front of the television. He stood in front of her. "Katie! Matthew is on the phone!" He screamed loudly.
"Dad! You are such a dork!" Katie laughed, standing up and grabbing the phone from him and running into the kitchen. "Hey Matt!" she giggled.
Suddenly, Jack ran through the front door, soaking wet in his shorts and tee shirt. "What Daddy?"
Derek looks at his son, looks up to the ceiling. "I don't even want to know!" Derek said as he turns and sits down on the couch.
Fifteen minutes later-
"I hate you! I hate you, and I never want to speak to you again!" Katie screamed into the phone as she ran through the living room. She threw the phone at Derek as she passed, crying.
Derek watched her pass him and thought about whether or not he should follow her. Meredith walked into the house, just as Katie ran up the stairs, crying.
"He must have told her." Meredith said, a concerned look crossing her face.
"Must have told her. Should we go check on her?" Derek asked.
"No, give her a little time." Meredith said, looking up the stairs. "On another note, Do you have any idea what your son is doing outside?"
"I don't even want to know." Derek said, putting his hand to his head and leaning back on the couch.
Ten minutes after that—
Meredith lightly knocked on her daughter's bedroom door.
"Leave me alone! I don't want to talk to anyone!" Meredith heard the muffled reply through the door.
"Katie, let me come in sweetheart. I know you're upset about this, but you can't be mad at Matt about it. It's not his fault." Meredith said through the door.
Katie swung the door open, her brown curls hanging down in her face, her cheeks a bright red from crying, her eyes bloodshot. "You knew?" Katherine screamed. "You knew that they were moving, and you didn't tell me?"
"Well, your Aunt Rebecca does work with me and your father sweetie. I've known for a couple of weeks now. Matthew wanted to tell you himself, he didn't want you to be hurt."
"But he can't move! He's my best friend!" Katie cried.
"Sweetheart, Uncle Mark got a really good job in Portland. It's not that far away." Meredith tried to explain.
"But he can't move mom, he can't go." Katie said, giving her mother a hug.
"I know sweetheart, it is hard when people go away. He'll always be your best friend though, don't ever forget that." Meredith said, giving her daughter tighter hug.
May 13, 2023
"Are you sure you want to do this sweetheart?" Meredith asked her daughter as she tied the bow on the back of her prom dress.
"Mom, it's my senior prom! I have to do this, didn't you go to your senior prom?" Katie asked, putting her blush on her cheeks and checking for stray hairs that may have come loose from her hair clip.
"Nope. I wasn't really a dress up kind of girl, you know that. You are sure you want to do this without a date? I just don't want you to be uncomfortable." Meredith explained, looking in the mirror with a concerned look.
"Dork." A voice said as it passed by the bathroom.
"Mom!" Katie exclaimed.
"Jack, get in here." Meredith called.
"What?" Jack said from the doorway.
"Apologize to your sister, now."
"I'm sorry you're a dork." Jack replied.
"Mom!"
"Jack."
"I'm just saying, why is she even bothering to go? She doesn't have a date, sounds like a waste of time to me. Even I have a girlfriend." Jack said with a laugh.
"Jackson, having a weekly spitting contest with Charlotte Burke does not constitute a relationship!" Katie exclaimed.
"Whatever." Jack replied.
"Jack, get out." Meredith said.
"You called me in here."
"Out!"
Katherine walked to the bottom of the stairs, where Derek stood waiting. "Well aren't you just the most beautiful thing I have ever seen?" Derek said to his daughter, making her smile.
Katie walked over to Derek and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, daddy." She smiled.
"You're sure you want to do this alone?" Derek asked.
"Daddy, I have my friends, they'll be there. You're starting to sound like mom." Katie laughed. Jack stepped down from the stairs, whispering something to Katie, Katie gave him a dirty look as he passed. He walked in front of Derek, who promptly gave him a little smack on the head.
"Be nice to your sister." Derek said in a warning tone. Jack just continued on into the kitchen.
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Hmm…. I wonder who that could be…." Derek wondered out loud.
"Daddy!" Katie laughed. "Are you expecting someone?"
"Maybe." Derek said with a sly grin. "Go answer it." Derek smiled.
Katherine walked to the front door and opened it slowly, revealing a young man is standing at the door, dressed in a tuxedo, holding a bouquet of flowers. "Matthew0!" Katherine exclaimed.
Matthew looks over at her, a twinkle in his eye as he handed her the bouquet of flowers. "Ms. Shepherd. I would be both delighted and honored if you would accompany me to the prom this evening."
"You want to take me to the prom?" Katie asked, looking over at her father, who was beaming. "You did this?" Katie asked with a giggle.
"You needed a date, and he needed his friend." Derek said.
"I love you daddy!" Katie said, running to her father to give him a big hug.
"I love you too, now you two get going. Have a good time. Matthew, take good care of my little girl." Derek said.
"I always do, Sir." Matthew said with a smile. "I'll have her home at a reasonable time and all in one piece." Matthew said as he looped his arm. Katie smiled at her father as she hooked her arm in Matthew's and walked out the door.
Meredith smiled down at Derek from the top of the stairs. He looked up at her and grinned. "Am I good, or am I good?" Derek said with a McDreamy smile.
Meredith walked to the bottom of the stairs and put her arms around his neck. "Oh, you're good alright." She said seductively, as she pressed her lips against his.
Jack walked out of the kitchen and saw his parents kissing, making him cringe with a laugh. "Oh gross! Get a room!" Jack said before turning around and going back into the kitchen.
That evening—
Katie and Matthew danced closely, spending the entire evening catching up from the last time they had talked, enjoying one another's company.
"So, did you like the surprise?" Matthew smiled, his green eyes shimmering in the dimly lit ballroom.
"I loved the surprise!" Katie said, hugging him close. "You'll always be my best friend." Katie said as she gave him a squeeze, tears begin falling from her crystal blue eyes. She lifted her face to look at him.
"You're crying." He said, concerned. He reached out and caught her tears on his finger tip and put it to his lips. "There is no crying." He smiled.
"I haven't seen you in almost a month. Your letters are becoming farther apart, I thought that you didn't want to be my friend anymore. I am so glad that high school is almost over. I hate it here. No one likes me, they think I'm a nerd or something."
"Katherine Shepherd, a nerd? Give me a break. These girls here have nothing on you." Matthew whispered.
"Well, tonight I am with the most handsome boy here, so I think everyone is a little bit envious at this point. Maybe you really are Prince Charming." Katie said, glancing around the room at the other students dancing.
Matthew blushed a little at her reference, his smile slowly turning to a frown. "Katie, there's something I need to talk to you about. Something that has been on my mind for a couple of weeks, and I had to tell you. You know, since you are my best friend."
"What is it?" Katie asked, concerned.
"It's about college. I am going to be going away for a few years. I'm going to study abroad. I'm not sure what I'm going to major in yet, but I would like to study in Europe." Matthew said quickly.
"You're going to leave me?" Katie asked, her heart breaking, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"Katie, I have to do this for me." Matthew said in her ear.
"Do this for you? For you? What about me? I know it sounds selfish, but I thought we were going to go to college together so that we could hang out all the time. That was our plan, that was what we planned way back when you moved from Seattle." Katie cried.
"Sometimes plans change." Matthew said simply, his comment coming across to sound more flippant than he had intended.
Katie immediately stepped out of his embrace in the middle of the song, he tried to take her into his arms again, but she pulled away sharply and took off running out of the ballroom, crying.
Matthew chased Katie out of the ballroom and into the parking lot. She stood there, frantically looking for where they parked the car. She had been feeling warm and uncomfortable and couldn't stand being in his embrace for one more second, her tears rolling down her cheeks as she played over and over what he had said.
"Katherine, wait!" Matthew called across the parking lot. He ran to catch up with her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't you touch me, don't you dare touch me!" Katie growled at him. "You cannot do this to me, you can't tell me that you'll be my friend, tell me that you'll always be there, show up here all perfect and handsome and then tell me that you're going to leave me and expect me to want to be near you. If you think that Matthew Sloan you have to be the stupidest person that ever walked on this planet" Katie wailed as she marched toward the car.
"Katie, wait!" Matthew called again, he touched her shoulder again. "Just listen, please?" Matt said as she swung around and gave him a dirty, angry, hurt look.
"What do you want from me?" Katie asked under her breath.
"I want you." Matthew said, stepping forward, locking his lips with hers. At first, she wanted to pull away, she even tried to pull away, but when it came down to it, all she wanted, all she had ever wanted was to be loved by Matthew Sloan. He pulled away and stared into her crystal blue eyes. Her cheeks were now flushed with a rosy pink hue as she realized what had just happened.
"Let's go someplace a little more private." Matthew whispered, breathless as he took Katie's arm and led her to the car.
Two hours later, Matthew and Katie sat in the car getting dressed after their night of after prom fun. Katie found herself in deep thought as she fixed her hair.
"I'm sorry." Matthew said, as he zipped his pants and stared at the foggy windshield.
"Sorry?" Katie asked. "Why are you sorry? That was the most amazing experience I have ever had." She looks at Matthew. "I think I love you, Matthew." Katie whispered.
Matthew refused to look at her, he just kept looking ahead. "I'm sorry." He repeated, turning his head, looking Katherine in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Katie."
"What Matt? What are you so sorry about? You're scaring me." Katie asked, panicking.
"I still have to leave. I am so sorry. I leave in two weeks." Matthew whispered.
"But Matthew! Look at what we just shared! Don't you love me?" Katie cried out.
"I'm sorry Katie." Matthew whispered again. "I will come back to you, I promise."
"If you leave me, then I don't want you." Katie whispered. "Take me home now." Katie whimpered.