It's been a while, hey! Sorry about that. I'm on break now, so, hopefully a few more updates!
Hope you're all still interested!

"When's our next test?" Meredith asked Derek, stretching back in her chair. Her earphones fell as she yawned and let her chair rock back onto two legs. He looked up from his text book and thought for a moment. They had been studying in silence for close to two hours and he had to adjust his thinking back to the immediate world.

"Week after next, maybe?"

"Thank goodness." She exhaled, letting the chair drop back onto all four legs.

He wasn't quite sure how to reply to her relief. He knew they were all happy for the break between assessment, but she seemed overly relieved for an academically gifted student.

"... Not understanding the content matter?" He questioned, taking a swig from his water bottle.

"It's more the boredom factor. If it's next week, I can invite you out tonight and not feel guilty that I'm not studying."

Even though he laughed at her reply, he knew exactly how she felt. Even if she was sitting in her room at night not studying, it somehow made you feel less guilty that being out with friends. "So, how bout it?" She asked, shutting her textbook.

"How about what?" He asked, playing dumb to her invitation.

"Would you, Derek Shepherd, like to come out with me, Meredith Grey, tonight?"

"Hmmm..." He pretended to think really hard. "I'm not sure how my girlfriend would feel about that..." He trailed off.

Meredith decided to play along, looking serious for a moment, "She says it's fine."

"That's lucky." He agreed, "because I probably couldn't say no."

She beamed, slammed her text book shut and stacked her books on top. "It's coffee time." She announced. "You in?"

"Of course." He laughed, closing his books and sliding them into his bag.

"Maybe food too. I didn't get lunch."

"If I'm paying for dinner tonight, though, why are you eating?" Derek asked, holding open the door for Meredith as they stepped out into the courtyard. A cool breeze tostled her hair.

"Who said you were paying for dinner?"

"... I always pay for dinner." He replied, grinning.

"Then you should let me pay." She rebutted, even though there was no way she was going to win this one.

"I'm not going to let you pay."

"But you should!" She insisted. "I'm inviting you out. It was my idea. It's not fair if you pay."

"Well," he smiled, throwing his arm over her shoulders pulling her in for a sideways hug as they continued to walk, "it's lucky that I like you then."

"Coffee is on me." She insisted.

"I can settle for that." He nodded, "I need to get to an ATM."

Meredith slumped into the worn red couch at the back of the coffee shop, dropping her bag at her feet.

"I. Am. Exhausted." She gulped from her cup, and dropped her head back onto the headrest.

"Me too." He agreed, dropped his bag against the table leg. "Oh! I forgot to say!" He sat up in the chair, attracting her attention, "It's Mum's birthday in three weeks and I'll be heading home for the weekend. I was wondering if you'd like to come? It's a bit of a big deal this year… Kath talked Mum into a party, and with the size of my family it'll be bigger than Ben Hur… "

She took another drink as she thought, "Yeah… Your family won't mind?"

"Mind?" He laughed, "Fairly sure they love you more than me."

"I'll have to buy her a present." She stated.

"Plenty of time for that. Why don't we head out to the football field and heckle Mark as he trains? He got caught out by the coach for texting during training last night so he has to run 20 laps today in under 45 minutes ."

"That sounds like a lot of fun." She agreed eagerly grinning, pulling her bag onto her back. They headed out to the football field and watched Mark run laps from the bleachers, yelling and hooting at him as he began to look more and more pained by the lactic acid.

"JEALOUS!" He would holler back, flexing his muscles, grinning.

"Did you hear that Mum found out about Lexie?" Derek laughed, spinning his finger around the top of the paper coffee cup.

Meredith just shook her head and laughed. Poor Mark, she thought. At least her meeting the family had been a surprise, so there were no expectations, but Lexie now had to work to gain approval from the family. Lexie was a sweet girl, good grades and a lovely smile, but with Derek and Mark's family, especially his sisters, anything at all could tip the scales and you would be on the bad side.

"So anyway," Derek continued, "Mum found out and rung Mark last night and spent a good 30 minutes interrogating him on the phone. He had to dodge 3 calls this morning from Amy, then another 2 from Kathleen and Liz. Nancy's going to have his ass…" Derek continued to laugh. Meredith felt kind of sorry for him.

"And then, Mum invited her to come to the party!"

"Has Mark asked her yet?" Meredith asked. Even she was even a little nervous about seeing his whole family again, so she couldn't understand how fretful Lexie would be feeling.

"Hasn't summoned up the courage yet, have ya Mark?" Derek yelled out as Mark ran the straight in front of them.

"Stop talking about my private life!" Mark yelled back.

Meredith smirked and slid away from Derek to lie down on the bench. The sun moved from behind a cloud, and illuminated the green field. The days were heating up as it they approached Spring Break, only a few more tests before the week of freedom.

"I should probably also say," Derek started, rubbing his face, hunched over his knees, "It's the 12th anniversary of Dad's passing that weekend…"

"Oh, Derek…" Meredith replied, sitting up and moving closer to him. She leant in to him, and placed her hand on his knee.

"12 was Dad's favourite number. Kath wanted Mum to have her birthday party so we could be happy and also celebrate his life."

"I'm really sorry, Derek."

"We usually go to the cemetery in the morning, and then Mark and I go out to the lake then we have a family dinner, but this year, I really want you to come too. And Lexie, if Mark ever sums up the courage to ask."

"Whatever you want." Meredith offered genuinely. She of all people knew what it was like to lose a parent. She'd done it twice.

XOX

"So, I'm looking forward to next Saturday night." Meredith said light heartedly as she leant back on Derek's bed. She tossed the tennis ball against the wall above the door, catching it in the opposite hand.

"Me too." Derek smiled, looking over to Mark who was sitting against the wall. A look of dread and guilt washed over his face, causing Derek to smirk.

"What's happening next Saturday?" Lexie inquired, playing with her scarf. Her position mirrored Meredith, but across the room on Mark's bed. After breakfast, they'd all wandered back to Mark and Derek's room discussing the latest Anatomy tutorial, but had gotten distracted since.

"You haven't told her yet?" Derek laughed at Mark's guilty expression.

"Told me what?" Lexie asked, hazardously.

Meredith sighed and decided to rip off the bandaid, "It's Carolyn's birthday party," Meredith explained, "Their family found out about you and Mark and now they want to meet you."

"Oh… But, it's only been just over a month." Lexie replied, suddenly looking nervous.

"A month is a miracle for Mark." Derek laughed, and caught Meredith's eye. She smirked at his comment, but it was lost on the other two.

"I was going to tell you tonight…" Mark meekly said, "I was just waiting for the right moment…"

"Oh my goodness, they are going to eat me alive." Lexie stated, her hands starting to shake, "Your sisters are going to hate me."

Derek let out a small laugh as he weighed up the possibilities, "Hmm… No. Well, it's unlikely all of them will hate you. Maybe Nancy… but as I've said many times. Nancy hates everyone."

"Lex, Carolyn welcomed me with open arms when I arrived bloody and bruised on her doorstep. She cooked me dinner when she found me in the supermarket, she looked after me when I vomited in her living room, bathroom and her son's bedroom, she bought me new clothes and visited me for hours when I was in hospital… You of all people… Noone could possibly hate you. You're the perfect girlfriend. You're grades are impeccable, your smile is perfect, you excel in every cocurricular you try. Just be yourself." Meredith reassured her. Lexie looked over at her, and nodded her head. She hadn't wiped the look of terror off her face. "Plus, you'll have me!" Meredith smiled at her warmly, "I'm still a little terrified whenever I walk into that house and the whole family is there… If it gets too scary, we can hide together."

Lexie just nodded, and slowly breathed out, "It'll be great." She forced a smile as Mark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Derek just shook his head and laughed. He was glad he wasn't meeting the family for the first time.

XOX

"I forgot to mention that it was black tie, didn't I?" Derek cringed, as he sat crosslegged on Meredith's bed, watching her pack.

"Um, yes. You did." Meredith rolled her eyes, "but this time, you're really lucky."

She dug into her wardrobe and grabbed the hanger, holding it out of view. "Shut your eyes." She instructed him.

"Why?"

"Because I said so." She laughed.

He tipped his head back and closed his eyes as she quickly pulled the dress from the cupboard and folded it into her bag, zipping it up.

"Can I open them yet?" he whined.

"Not yet." She instructed, walking over and leaned in so her face was only centimetres from his. "Now. I'm ready to go."

He quickly pecked her lips. "Let's go!"

XOX

When he pulled up her doorstep, she jumped out of the car and grabbed her bag from the backseat. Skipping back to the open window from her front seat, she leaned back in.

"I'll be back in two hours." He told her.

"I'll leave the front door open. Come in when you're ready." She leant out of the window and waved.

He turned his attention back to the road, pulling his sunnies back over his eyes.