"Don't text him," Cristina said as she popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth, she looked at Meredith with a look of annoyance.
"I wasn't going to," Meredith said, lying through her teeth.
They had gotten to Mystery Diagnosis shows before Cristina finally said something two hours later.
"You're staring a hole into that cell phone and I swear if you touch it again and put it down I will take the battery out."
Meredith nodded, taking the bowl of popcorn from Cristina and replacing the void in her hand with her cell phone. "I realize I look a little pathetic right now," Meredith admitted. She hadn't necessarily checked her phone or even turned on the back light but every few minutes she would grab it in an effort to summon up the courage to text Derek but she ended up putting the phone back on the couch next to her.
'A little?" Cristina asked with an eye roll.
Meredith bit her lower lip, hoping Cristina wouldn't detail just how pathetic she seemed in this situation. It wasn't like Meredith to wait around for a phone call or text or to check her phone often either for that matter.
"Fine," Meredith sighed, "a lot. I told him I was too busy today."
Cristina took the remote and turned off the TV.
"So? Did you hurt McDreamy's feelings or something?" Cristina joked.
Meredith shook her head, "no, but the party last night was…definitely not my scene. I think he thinks those girls scared me off."
"Well they weren't exactly nice to you," Cristina pointed out.
Meredith nodded, "Yeah, they're gems," she said with sarcasm.
"You can always see him later, Mer, you know that."
"yeah, I just hope he doesn't think I'm mad."
Cristina sighed, "if he does then he doesn't know you well enough and if he does and decides that that means you can't handle his preppy pompous world then he can walk off into the sunset with same faceless girl in a mini skirt."
Meredith laughed, it was blunt and to the point and borderline offensive but it was exactly what she needed to hear to make her feel better. Cristina had a knack for figuring out the right thing to say Meredith in her times of need.
Cristina turned the TV back on as they watched another medical mystery show.
"Oohh," Cristina said pointing to the TV screen, "this is the one with the lady who has F.O.P. and the stupid doctor calls it chronic pain," Cristina said with a proud smile.
"I love this episode," Meredith concluded, "how weird would it be to see someone with F.O.P.?" Meredith asked, knowing how rare that disease in fact was.
"That'll never happen," Cristina added, always the realist, "that disease is so incredibly rare, it's a once in a lifetime disease," she added.
"Crap on my parade," Meredith said jokingly, "one day we will, I don't care what you say," Meredith said as she relaxed into the couch.
"Not crapping on your parade, that's reality Meredith," Cristina said in a serious tone, taking on the tone that her step father, an oral surgeon, often took at home. He was loving enough to count as a father figure but most of all he was the realist, who would point out absolute worst case scenarios instead of dwelling on the what if's in life. Cristina surprisingly took after him, Meredith had always noticed. Cristina's mother liked to sugar coat things whereas Cristina preferred things rough around the edges and bluntly honest.
After two more episodes of medical shows and an empty bowl of popcorn Cristina decided it was time she should leave. She went upstairs to change back into her horrendous dress and head home.
"Oh yeah," Cristina said as she came out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her original clothing, "here's your cell phone back," Cristina said, handing Meredith back her phone. She had confiscated it earlier when Meredith was staring at it for too long.
"Right," Meredith said, she had forgotten that she was missing it after an hour.
"Wish me luck with my mother," Cristina said as she scrunched the waist of her dress.
Meredith raised her eyebrows, "Are you trying to piss her off?" she asked, noting the newly formed wrinkles on Cristina's dress.
Cristina shrugged, "No. No wrinkles mean I didn't wear it. It has to look believable," Cristina pointed out as she walked towards the stair case.
Meredith nodded, not thinking of that, she didn't have a mother to hide things from.
"You amaze me, Cristina Yang," Meredith said as she headed down after her.
Cristina smiled, "I know," she said in her somewhat cocky and confident attitude. Cristina was always self assured even if she was bullshitting her way in something.
Meredith locked the door behind Cristina as she went to go wash the dishes they had made in the few hours she was over. They had ordered a pizza earlier in the day, and finished it off by themselves. Somehow though, hours later, she was hungry again.
Meredith put her phone next to the sink as she washed a few dishes.
She finished up quickly as she grabbed her phone. There were no new messages or calls. She was sure Derek was busy with his own thing but deep down inside she was wondering whether or not he had completely given up on her. She let out a deep breath as she texted Derek, "If you're up for it, we could watch a movie or something," she texted to him. Something vague and general with no lines for friendship or romance, nice, Meredith thought to herself- she couldn't be a bigger avoider if she tried.
Meredith sat down on the counter, lightly kicking her feet against the cabinets as she waited for a response from Derek.
Her phone buzzed minutes later, startling her, Meredith rolled her eyes at her own idiocy as she flipped her phone open. "Yeah, I'll walk over in a few…lady's choice." He said with a smiley face. Meredith nodded as she headed over to the DVD collection in the living room and hunted for the perfect movie to watch.
Too scary. Too sad. Too childish. Too sexual. She said to herself as she scanned the titles in front of her…by the time she decided on a title, the doorbell rang. She popped in the DVD and answered the door, forgetting that she was wearing her laziest clothing. Meredith shrugged, oh well she thought. She opened the door to see Derek in worn out jeans and a faded tshirt. She smiled to herself, "Hey," she said as she let him in.
"Hey yourself," Derek said with a smile. "Your plans cleared up?" he asked looking at her attire.
"Yeah, I found some extra time,"
"Good," Derek said with a smile, "I'm happy to have gotten time with you at all," he joked with her.
"Oh well you know, I was out shopping with all those girls from the party…yeah we were giving each other makeovers and trying on a montage of hats to Brown Eyed Girl," Meredith joked as they made their way to the living room.
Derek laughed a bit, realizing that that would never be a reality.
Meredith pointed to her outfit, "Clearly, I got the best one," she joked as she sat down.
"I like it," Derek joked back.
"Yes, I think one of the girls called it hobo-chic," Meredith joked as she pressed play on the DVD.
Derek grabbed the box from the coffee table, it was a movie unfamiliar to him. Moonstruck, he read out loud.
"It's a classic," Meredith said with a beaming smile.
"Never heard of it," Derek said looking at her.
Meredith opened her mouth in feigned surprise, "well it's going to knock your socks of Derek Shepherd."
"It has Cher in it?" Derek asked as he looked at the cast list.
Meredith snatched the box from his hands, "Don't mock, she's brilliant in this," Meredith said. This was one of her favorite movies of all time, she was going to gauge his reaction to it and judge him for it even though she would try not to.
Derek smiled, "Fine, open mind here," Derek said as he leaned back and watched Meredith select play. He was glad she had come around, he was well aware that she could feel uninvited in his circle of friends and that she may never want to see him again. Meredith may have told Derek it was fine, but Mark told Derek this morning that he shouldn't take her words at face value. He wasn't going to get into details about why, but Derek trusted Mark's opinion.
"I'm glad you invited me," Derek said with a smile.
Meredith moved closer to him on the couch, "Yeah," she said as she leaned back into the couch, she was glad she invited him too. He was in no way like those girls at the party, she just needed to be reminded of that.
And be near,
Just for the moment,
Stay here,
Never go home.
:::::::
More to come.
Viv
