-1Meredith
came down the steps in a rush one morning, her long hair flying
behind her as she quickly made her wait into the kitchen.
"Where
are you going in such a hurry?" Derek asked pouring her a cup of
coffee.
"I'm running late. I have a meeting before
class."
"You're taking classes? It's summer." He said
confused.
"I've been in classes for four weeks."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Sweetie you've been gone the last
few weeks." She reminded him as she gulped her coffee. "Can you
watch Bella today?" She asked.
"Yeah. What classes are you
taking?"
"Derek…" She said, pushing at his chair, trying
to slide past him.
"Sorry." He apologized moving his chair.
"Who are you meeting with?"
"Candidacy mentor." She said
briefly, looking around for her phone.
"Top of the fridge."
Derek said softly.
"Thank you."
"You're starting your
candidacy again?"
"I tried to talk to you about this when
you were home for the night two Saturdays ago."
"I'm sorry.
I'm home all week. Do you want to go out tonight?" He asked.
"We
don't go out."
"That's because we spend so much time out
with church meetings." He reminded her. "We never feel like being
out. When will you be home?" He asked.
"Three?"
"We'll
go out to dinner?" He suggested.
Meredith sighed. It had been
a long few weeks for her. She was taking too many classes. She had
decided to take more than a full load for the summer session in hopes
she'd be able to graduate a semester early.
"Casual?" He
suggested.
"Okay." She agreed, bending down to kiss him.
"I
love you…" He called after her. He heard the front door shut and
her car start up. "And I love you too Bella boo." He said sweetly
picking up the tiny puppy letting her cover his face with kisses.
"C'mon pretty girl, are you spend the day with Daddy?"
Later
that afternoon Meredith texted Derek to let him know she would be
later than she expected, he responded with a sweet okay. She sighed
flipping her phone closed and hurrying off to another meeting that
had just been scheduled.
She was so stressed out from all the
decisions she was making and her course load. What made it worse was
Derek being gone all the time. Of course since it was summer he did
have retreats. She knew this is what would go on, but it still was a
difficult adjustment. Especially considering they had only been back
together for about a week before the retreats started.
It
frustrated her that she was so upset. Derek was home for a few days.
Her meeting with her candidacy mentor had gone good, amazing even.
But she felt rushed and frazzled. She needed to spend some time with
friends. With Derek gone there was nobody at the house. David was on
an internship in DC. And Cristina was up north with her professor.
She sighed again as she thought about that. She hadn't had the
energy to do anything but crash the moment she got home lately. And
it was starting to really wear her down.
She ran a hand through
her hair flipping it out of her face before she knocked on the door
to the office. Entering when she heard the man's voice beckoning
her in.
A bit later Meredith finally got home. After dropping her books purse and shoes in the chair she went into the kitchen to pour herself some juice. She didn't feel well, shaky and dizzy. She had skipped lunch because she had been too hyped after her meeting with her candidacy mentor to be hungry. And now it'd had just been too long. She didn't notice Derek in the office. He leaned back in his chair and watched her pour herself something to drink.
"Are you okay?" He asked, startling her, causing her to drop the glass. It shattered as it hit the floor, pieces scattering everywhere. Bella ran in from the office to inspect the noise, bending her nose down to lap at the spilled juice.
"No Bella!" Meredith exclaimed taking a step towards her puppy before she licked up a piece of glass, inadvertently stepping on the glass herself. "Owww!" She cried switching her weight to her other foot only to grind shards of glass into that foot as well.
Derek was at her side in a flash, scooping her off her feet and carrying her to the den, calling for Bella as he did. He gently placed her on the couch, setting Bella in her lap. "I'm going to clean that up. You hang tight Mer."
He returned to the den after a few minutes and handed her a fresh glass of juice, leaving the room again for a few minutes. He came back with supplies this time. He kneeled down by her feet, carefully removing one sock, then the next as he inspected her feet. As easily as he could he removed the small shards of glass from her feet. When he finished he pressed a kiss to each of her feet, moving to sit on the couch with her feet in his lap.
Bella jumped off the couch happily dragging a toy or two under the coffee table as Meredith and Derek sat in silence. After a moment she emerged from under the table and stood in Meredith's sight. She glanced up at the two of them on the couch before squatting down to make a puddle.
"Bella…" Meredith sobbed, hitting a breaking point. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as the puppy dashed back under the table.
"Mer it's okay." Derek whispered pressing a kiss to her forehead before letting Bella outside. When he brought her back in he put a baby gate up confining her to the kitchen for a few minutes.
He knelt in front of Meredith, pushing her hair out of her face, waiting for her to look at him. "Mer…?" He asked, trailing off. "It's all taken care of. I got it." He soothed. She leaned forward, melting into his arms, burying her face in his neck as she cried harder.
He held her as she drained herself, waiting for her to explain what was wrong as his heart broke for her. After a few minutes her sobs slowed and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her eyes. "Blow." He ordered with a smile. "Finish your juice." He said handing her the glass. "Mer what's going on?"
"I forgot to eat today."
"There's more to it than that…" He said knowingly.
"I'm taking six classes and you haven't been home for more than twelve hours in three weeks. Things are just…intense."
"Why are you taking so many classes?" He asked confused.
"So I can graduate in January."
"January?" He repeated. "You're packing a master's degree into a year and a half?"
"Yes." She replied stubbornly.
"Care to explain why?"
"I can't. Not until I make a few decisions."
"Meredith, I'm your boyfriend. I deserve details."
"You'll get details. But right now this is between me and God."
"Does this have to do with candidacy?" He asked thoughtfully. When she didn't answer he sighed. "Fine I give up. I'm guessing you don't want to go out. How about we order something in?"
