Derek pulled the door closed behind him, letting out the breath he hadn't known he was holding before he answered his phone.
"Martin." He said with a grimace.
"About damn time." The man on the other end fumed. "I've been trying to contact you for bloody ages!"
"Your English accents back." Derek sighed. That was never a good sign.
"Of course it is. It appears when I'm pissed off. There better be a damn good reason you're on the other side of this country!" Martin ranted, his voice rising with every word.
"I had six weeks." Derek reminded him, gripping his cell phone tightly.
" 'Had' being the operative word." Martin snapped. "You had six weeks and now you don't."
"And you're telling me this now?" Derek snapped back, his own temper flaring.
"I warned you this could happen." Martin pointed out tightly.
"Weeks ago!" Derek responded, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "When you never got back to me, I assumed the deadline had not changed."
"Look, I only found out a few days ago myself." Martin said tiredly, sighing into the phone. "I've been ringing you for days until I realized you weren't home. And since you don't seem to be replying to emails..."
"I've been busy." Derek said tensely.
"Writing, I hope." Martin interjected.
"No, not writing. Because, as far as I knew, I had six weeks!" Derek exploded, worry and panic slamming down on him.
This book was special, it was different from his previous novels and he wanted to get it right. Two weeks didn't give him the time he wanted to make sure things went perfectly. This book was more important than anything he had ever written. Now he was so confused and unsure. Did he tell her or not? For his own peace of mind he wanted to, but for hers he was willing to wait. It wasn't even that he was willing to make the sacrifice, it was more that he was unwilling to be the reason she left. Maybe she'd stay without him. That thought didn't last long. Meredith was strong, she could stay by herself and be perfectly fine, but she was loyal and she loved him, as a friend and as something more than that. She'd come home if only for the simple reason that he was going home. He doubted she'd stay by herself, and he didn't want her to have to. But god, how he longed to tell her. It was what they did, what they had always done. They talked. About stuff. Anything. Everything. Always. It felt so strange to be hiding something from her. So wrong and unnatural. In a way, his actions were completely selfish. He didn't want to be the reason she came home before she was ready. On the other hand, she was going to kill him if she ever found out. It wouldn't be pretty, he knew that. There would be pain. And yelling. And more pain. And definitely more yelling. But she wasn't going to find out, it was as simple as that.
He could hold it in. He could. Although...this was definitely something he would normally vent to Meredith about. She'd let him rant and rave and then she'd say something Meredith-y and he'd feel better. But this time he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her that he was now totally screwed. Or he felt like he was totally screwed. In reality, he could probably do this. If he calmed down enough to think it through he could totally do this. Probably.
There was that word again. Probably. There was the possibility that things just weren't going to work out to his advantage. Crap happened. Stuff often hit the fan. Life got complicated. And he really had no idea how long Meredith intended to stay in Seattle. In fact, he had no idea whether or not she planned to attend the wedding. She had said she would stay, but for what? To see George? To see Ida? To go to the wedding? To poke Thatcher in the eye with a very large stick? Derek really had no idea, though in truth, he hadn't even asked. He had sort of been basking in the fact that he had managed to live out a few of his fantasies, and they were all much, much better in reality. The imagination could only take you so far. But reality...oh, reality has some tricks up her sleeve. Good tricks. Great tricks. Mind-blowingly amazing tricks. Tricks he wanted to repeat, and then when he had finished, he wanted to start all over again.
"Forget about the six weeks! They're gone. This book has to be ready for the shelves by Christmas." Martin retorted stiffly, pulling Derek out from the rapidly porny directions his thoughts were taking.
"You can't take an entire month off me, Martin." Derek said fiercely.
"I'm not. It wasn't my decision, but it is a fact now. Two weeks, Derek."
"I need three." Derek responded immediately. "Three weeks, Martin."
Martin let out a deep sigh, his exasperation seeping down the phone. "Derek..."
"Three weeks." Derek urged. "Just...a little longer, that's all I need."
"Like I told that bloody friend of yours, that isn't possible. Two weeks. Two. Him threatening to hunt me down and kill me isn't going to give you an extra week." Martin said firmly.
Derek snorted as a reluctant smile crossed his face. "He threatened you?"
"He barely covered it up with that grin of his, but yes, he did." Martin growled.
"He called you, how could you possibly know if he was grinning or not." Derek rolled his eyes, scrubbing his hand across his face.
"I could hear it." Martin grumbled. "The guy is an idiot."
"Huh. Funny." Derek said dryly. "He said the same about you."
"Not exactly the way to go about getting an extra week, Shepherd." Martin pointed out.
"You just told me it wasn't possible. I don't really have anything to lose." Derek reminded him, exhaling slowly.
"I'm sorry, Derek. I am."
"Yeah. Great." Derek mumbled.
"No, I really am. Look, you've done it before when you thought you couldn't." Martin prompted.
"That's not the point." Derek replied immediately, narrowing his eyes in frustration. "I had no distractions then."
"So get rid of your distractions."
"You make it sound so easy." Derek sighed, tugging on his hair.
"Dump your current distraction." Martin advised. "Pick her up again later."
"Not an option." Derek bit out, the so-called advice not helping his mood.
"It was a joke." Martin said in surprise, reacting to the vehemence he heard in Derek's voice.
"Yeah, well, it was a bad one." Derek muttered.
"Look, Derek, I have to go. I'm sorry, mate. I really am." Martin said slowly.
Derek ended the call without another word, slipping his cell phone into his trouser pocket with a deep, heart-felt sigh. He began to pace backwards and forwards. He had wanted more time, and he wasn't going to get it. Now he needed something different, something that gave him the time he needed to write, time to make the necessary changes to his work while still keeping Meredith close. He needed a miracle.
"Turn the page." Ida said smiling, settling in beside Meredith on the sofa.
"That's my grandfather?" Meredith asked, her eyes scanning the pages of the album.
"Yes. You would be about...oh, three or so in that photo." Ida nodded slowly.
"He's handsome." Meredith said softly, studying the man whose lap she was seated on in the photo, his arms enfolding her close to his chest. The image did not prompt even the slightest memory.
"Yes, he was." Ida laughed. "He had quite the following of women, let me tell you. He was considered a catch."
"But you won him, right?" Meredith grinned, turning the page over with a quick flick of her wrist.
"Yes, but it took a while. He wasn't the settling down type. Or he wasn't until he met me." Ida chuckled.
"He changed his mind, then." Meredith smiled, tilting her head as she flipped through the book, page after page of photos from her past.
"He did. Quickly, too." Ida smiled softly, rearranging the cushions behind her back.
"That's me up the Space Needle!" Meredith exclaimed, a broad smile breaking out over her face.
"Yes. That was your first visit." Ida nodded, tilting the album to give her a better view. "You loved it."
"It's an odd thing for a child to enjoy." Meredith mused as she turned yet another page.
"I think you liked the elevator, to be honest." Ida grinned. "You had a captive audience. You chatted the whole way up and the whole way down, babbling on about something or other."
Meredith giggled before she froze, her eyes now coming to rest on a baby she didn't recognize, a baby with brown hair instead of blonde, the dark eyes wide and curious.
"That's George." Ida said simply, watching Meredith closely as she stared down at her baby brother.
"Oh." Meredith replied, turning page after page until she reached the end of the album, the silence in the room palpable.
"Meredith?" Ida prodded gently, taking the navy blue album out of Meredith's stiff hands.
Derek leaned against the door frame as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. Meredith and Ida sat side by side on the couch as they gave their attention to the book in front of them. The fact that they were willing to sit next to each other told him that things had gone okay, at the very least. They looked a damn sight happier than he felt right at this moment. They were laughing and smiling as they turned the pages of the album, their faces animated with delight and the newness of a family they had both been missing.
And then Meredith froze. For a second he considered announcing his presence, walking in to see if she was alright, but instead he stayed where he was, his eyes narrowing as he waited to see how this played out. The next words out of Meredith's mouth tugged a smile onto his face.
"Do you...do you have a recent picture of him?" Meredith asked carefully, wringing her hands together as she waited.
"Oh." Ida said in surprise. "Of course I do. It's over there, on the piano. That's the most recent one I have."
Meredith pushed herself to her feet, walking across the room, her feet digging in to the soft carpet as she reached out a hand and picked up the wooden frame, holding it in front of her as she stared down at the face of a brother she didn't know. He was sitting on a rock Meredith recognised as the one in the backyard of Alice and Thatcher's place. His hands were pressed together, braced between his legs as looked straight into the camera. He was hunched forward ever so slightly, making the artist in Meredith want to reach into the photo and adjust his posture. He did look an awful lot like Thatcher, even in the way he sat. But what caught her attention the most was his hair. And once she noticed it was hard to look away. She started to giggle, the sound light and musical as she shook her head, more giggles escaping with every second that passed.
"Well, what on earth are you laughing about?" Ida asked, relaxing as the sound of Meredith's laughter filled the room.
"Blue. It's blue. He has...blue hair." Meredith replied, pressing a hand to her lips as her shoulders shook.
"Oh." Ida replied with a frown. "Yes, somehow I had forgotten about that."
"I had pink hair." Meredith grinned, turning to face her grandmother.
"I beg your pardon?" Ida asked, her eyes widening.
"Pink. My hair was pink." Meredith repeated, the tiniest laugh spilling out.
"You didn't!" Ida gasped.
"Oh yes, she did." Derek replied, striding into the room, the sound of Meredith's amusement filling him, for now chasing away his worries. "Bubble-gum pink. Although it did make her easy to find."
"It was my own personal rebellion." Meredith shrugged, grinning at Derek before glancing down at the photo she still held firmly in her hands.
"But...pink...really, Meredith." Ida said, unconsciously patting her own gray hair.
"Yeah." Meredith nodded. "Pink."
"How long did that phase last?" Ida asked, shaking her head though her eyes shone with something a little like amusement mixed with shock.
"About 6 months." Derek answered, walking over to stand beside Meredith and staring into her eyes. "She wore a lot of black too."
"I did." Meredith confirmed, matching his gaze, heat traveling up her spine at the unexplained intensity she read deep inside him. "A lot of black."
"I liked the pink hair." Derek murmured.
"Really." Meredith murmured back.
Meredith felt herself get lost in his hot gaze, his eyes searing into hers, their connection stronger than ever until she forced herself to look away, her heart beating that little bit faster.
"Really. I thought it was very daring." Derek said in a low voice, reaching out a hand to run a strand of her honeyed locks through his fingers as he leaned close to whisper in her ear. "But I like the blonde better."
Meredith felt his breath tickle her skin, her knees weakening slightly as his mouth lightly touched her ear before he moved back, the blue of his eyes dark with something she couldn't quite grasp.
"So you don't want me to change?" Meredith asked slowly, her breathing a little uneven.
"No. Not a damn thing." Derek murmured fiercely, reluctantly letting her hair fall back onto her shoulders.
"You're telling me that both my grandchildren aspired to look like cotton candy? Multi-colored cotton candy?" Ida asked indignantly, shaking her head in exasperation as she watched the interaction on the other side of the room. "Or a character from a Dr. Seuss book!"
"Seems so." Meredith smiled, her whole body warming in response to Derek's answer.
The smile remained on her lips as she placed the photo back where it belonged on top of the piano, her gaze once more falling on her brother. He had blue hair. Her brother had blue hair. Maybe they were more alike than she thought. Granted, she'd never met him. He'd never met her. But he had blue hair. She'd had pink hair. It was probably silly that she even cared, but for now it was a start.
"So that went alright." Derek mused, opening the car door for Meredith as she slid out.
"Yeah." Meredith nodded with a smile. "How was your phone call?"
"Is that your way of asking who I talked to?" Derek suddenly snapped, his sudden sharp tone surprising even himself.
Meredith frowned a little, slamming the car door shut before stepping back from him. "I...no. I assumed it was your mother."
Derek sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as he adjusted his shoulders and softened his tone. "No, it wasn't."
"Okay." Meredith murmured, side-stepping around him as she headed towards the house they had parked outside.
"Mer." Derek called out, quickening his steps as he chased her, laying his hand on her arm and stilling her movements. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
Meredith studied him for a moment before she nodded, turning to walk again as he tightened his grip on her arm.
"Mer..." He groaned, tugging on her gently in an effort to make her stop.
"It's fine, Derek." Meredith promised, pulling her arm away from his. "I'm not mad."
"No, but you are annoyed." Derek pointed out, sighing.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are." Derek reasoned, reacting to the glint in her eyes.
"No, I'm not." She said firmly.
"Yes, you are." Derek argued.
"Okay, now I'm annoyed." Meredith grumbled, frowning at him. "You're making me act like a two year old."
"I'm sorry." Derek said quietly. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I just...I don't know. I'm sorry."
"Okay." Meredith said simply, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Meredith..." Derek ran his fingers through his hair, his expression more than apologetic.
"It's fine, Der. Honestly." Meredith replied, nodding a little. "It's not like I never snap at you."
"Yeah...still..." Derek trailed off with a sigh. "Martin. It was Martin that called."
Meredith pulled a face. "Oh! Is everything okay?"
Derek watched as the concern filled her green eyes, her button nose wrinkling as she waited for his answer.
He took a deep breath and made his decision.
"Everything's fine. He just had a question for me. You know how he is." Derek lied smoothly, resisting the urge to grimace as the words tumbled out.
"Yeah." Meredith grinned. "I do know."
"Yeah. It's okay. I've sorted it out." Derek smiled weakly.
"Okay." Meredith replied. "If you're sure, then okay."
"I'm sorry I was an ass." He murmured, cupping her chin in his hand.
"You should be." Meredith breathed before his lips covered hers, pulling her bottom lip between his own and sucking gently. She gave a small moan and slipped her hands up his chest, winding her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with his dark curls. She clung to him as he feasted on her mouth, her body weakening until she could barely stand, her weight supported by the arms pressing her tightly against him. Derek ran his tongue over her lips, slipping it inside her and trusting deep, the movement stirring something within her. Longing. She shifted against him, his tongue, his lips, his hands working their magic as passion flared. As the power of the kiss grew, Derek felt a now familiar yearning beginning to build and he regretfully pulled away, desperate for air.
They were both panting slightly, Derek's eyes dark with incomplete passion as he stared down at her, rubbing her red and swollen lip with his thumb.
"We should probably stop." He whispered reluctantly, his hands caressing her hips.
Meredith swallowed hard, clearing her throat. "Um...yeah. Good. Good idea. Yeah."
"We're in a driveway." Derek pointed out slowly. "We should probably remember that."
"We should." Meredith nodded, breathing out slowly as her hands slid back down his chest, falling away to her sides.
"Maybe I'm not sorry I was an ass." Derek teased, tilting his head. "I like the response I get."
Meredith just shook her head, rolling her eyes a little as she leaned against him. "Yeah, for now you like it. Next time I'll kick you in the shins."
"You'd go from making out with me to kicking me?" Derek drawled out, rubbing slow circles on her back with his palm.
"Absolutely." Meredith grinned.
"You know, you're very, very bossy." Derek pointed out.
"Yep." Meredith smiled. "It keeps you in line."
"True." He laughed.
"Though to be honest, I think I prefer the kissing. More kissing, less kicking I say." Derek nodded seriously, his eyes sparkling.
"I'm sure you do." Meredith laughed.
"We should probably go in." Derek said, reaching for her hand.
"You could. Unless you'd like to suck face for a bit longer." A male voice called out lazily from behind them. "I'm easy."