Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments.

"She's looking at us." Meredith whispered into Derek's ear as the flight attendant walked by.

"No, she's not."

"She just looked at me again."

"She's not looking at you. She's looking at me."

"Your eyes are closed. How do you know she's looking at you?"

"Because I'm hot and she wants me."

"Arrogant much?"

"You like it when I'm arrogant," he smirked, opening his eyes to wink at her.

Meredith wanted to smack him on the head, but he did speak the truth. His arrogance annoys her to no end, but she loves the control that is borne out of that arrogance.

"She knows."

"So what?"

"So…she knows."

"Mer," he said, straightening in his seat to look at her. "I don't care if everyone on the plane knows that you and I had amazing sex a while ago. You're my wife. I'm your husband. We're married and that's what married people do."

"We don't look married, Derek. Our last names aren't even the same," she reminded him.

Derek shook his head in defeat and reached inside his pant pocket. "Give me your hand."

"Why?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Give me your hand," he repeated.

"Not until you tell me why," she continued to stubbornly resist.

"I must really love you to…," he muttered to himself as he tugged on her reluctant fingers.

Meredith tried to pull her hand away, but stopped resisting when he pulled out a small black velvet box. Her mouth was agape as her eyes darted eagerly from the box to Derek's face, then back to the box.

"I was going to wait and do this with my family around, but now seemed like as good a time as any to show you how much you mean to me." He flipped the box open and Meredith's eyes widened in shock when she saw the most beautiful diamond ring nestled between the small velvet slit.

"Oh my god, Derek…," she whispered, her eyes teary as her body was wracked with emotion.

"Meredith Grey, you have bewitched me from the first moment I laid eyes on you and have held me captive to your love, beauty, and inner strength ever since," began Derek, his voice cracking from the overwhelming emotion that shook him to the core. "Before I met you, I was lost in a deep abyss of unhappiness – an empty shell of a person that was not worthy of anything. These past few months have been the happiest I've ever been and that's all because of you. We've had some tough times and it was during those times that I found myself needing you by my side more than I needed air to breathe. I almost lost you once and that is something I vow never to let happen again. You're my wife, my lover, my confidant – all the things I hold close to my heart. You've made me complete again and I love you so much. Please take this ring as a symbol of my undying love and devotion to you."

For the first time in a really long time, Meredith was completely and utterly speechless. This was all so unbelievably unexpected and now as she sat staring at the ring before her, she was at a lost for words. Derek threw her for six with his wonderful speech. His words swam in her head and made her mind fuzzy to all that was going on. She felt her hand lift, in slow motion, toward Derek and watched in a magical trance when he slipped the ring onto her wedding finger. It was a perfect fit.

"Derek, I don't know what to say."

"Say you love me and promise to spend the rest of your life with me."

"I…," she stuttered before she pulled her hand away and turned her back to him.

"Meredith? What are you—?"

"Hold that thought," she said over her shoulder as she reached inside her bag, obviously searching for something.

Her actions made Derek nervous. He was certain she would love the ring. He had practiced the speech over and over again in his head and even went so far as to imagine how she would react. Never in his mind did he envision her pulling away from him and now he felt nauseous as the unease settled into the pit of his stomach.

Just then, she whipped her head around and held her small hand out to reveal a small box.

"What's this?"

She held the box closer to him and said, "Open it."

Derek shifted in his seat to face her and tentatively reached for the box. The nervousness and excitement swirled in his head as he opened the box.

"When? How?," he asked, his eyes teary as he look up at her.

"A month ago. Do you remember that night I couldn't join you for the Attending's annual dinner?"

"Yeah," he said, remembering the argument they had. He had been angry with her because he thought she didn't want people to know that they were married and his frustration got the better of him. It was bad enough that she had made him promise to keep their relationship professional at the hospital, but the dinner was his chance to socialize with his fellow colleagues and he wanted to show off his beautiful wife. He was proud to call him his wife and he wanted everyone to know it.

"That was the only night the jeweler was available since he was going out of town for two months. I knew the dinner was important to you and I really wanted to go, but this…" she gestured to the ring, "was more important. There's a message inside."

Derek carefully pulled the ring out and brushed the tears from his eyes as he read the engraving:

I'm glad you were there to catch me. I love you. M

"I love you," Derek whispered, his voice hoarse as he leaned over to give her a kiss that was filled with so much love and passion.

"You're going to be great. My family will love you just like I do," Derek said as he wrapped his arms around her slim body while they stood pressed against the passenger door. "C'mon baby, let go of the door."

"No."

"Meredith."

"I can't do this, Derek. I thought I could, but now…I…I just can't."

It had been fifteen minutes since they arrived at the vast estate home and the nervousness that Meredith had worked so hard to control since she blindly agreed to come with him came crashing down into a tumble of nerves when they drove through the heavy wrought iron gates.

Derek tried to keep her mind preoccupied by talking to her on the drive and pointing out various locations he used to hang out during his youth. He had succeeded in putting her mind at ease but that changed immediately when he turn down the long, winding, private road that led to his parent's home. Meredith didn't utter a word of protest as the car slowed to a crawl on the gravel driveway, but the way her body stiffened and her teeth nibbled on her lower lip, he knew.

It took a little bit of persuasion on his part, but when he finally managed to convince her to get out of the car, she held onto the door handle so tight, he was sure she would pop a blood vessel.

"It's only for two days. I promise it will go by so fast, you won't even notice it."

"How many people did you say were coming?" she asked, eyeing the house and thinking it could fit a few hundred people in there.

"Just family and a few of my parent's closest friends. It's a small, private affair," he assured her.

"Two days, right? We're going to be here for two days and then we leave right after, right?" she continued to ask, her fingers getting redder as she tightened her grip on the door handle.

"Two days," he confirmed. "We leave for the airport at noon on Sunday, so really, it's just a day and a half and if you exclude the time we're asleep, it doesn't even amount to a day."

"You're mocking me."

"I'm not mocking you. You're nervous. I get that." He leaned down and kissed her forehead before looking deeply into her eyes. "It will be over before you know it."

"Promise?"

"I promise, now can we please go inside before my family sends out a search party for us?"

"They…they would do that?" she asked, thinking how Ellis wouldn't have cared if she'd gone missing.

"I was joking, Mer."

"Oh."

"Are you ready?" he asked, his hands gently prying her fingers away from the door.

"Ready."

"You're going to need to loosen your grip a little," he smirked when her fingers were unyielding to his hand as they gently pulled.

"Here goes nothing," she said with a deep sigh before she released her numb fingers to lace together with his.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear. "Just remember that and we'll do fine." The smile and wink he gave her made her heart melt and putting on the biggest smile she could muster, she let him take the lead as they walked into the house.