Chapter 61: Excitement

Meredith passed her fingers over two airline tickets. She was counting the hours until the end of her shift when she was going to kidnap Derek for a romantic evening in a five-star luxurious hotel suite and an even more romantic weekend in Sonoma during which she was going to ask him to move in together. Yes, forty-eight uninterrupted hours of Derek and the best liquor in the wine country, she couldn't wait. It required a little sneaking on her part and abusing her power of the chief to make sure that all surgeries would be covered during the absence of two leading neurosurgeons in the hospital.

"Boo!"

Meredith jumped up and the folder with the tickets slipped from her hands. She managed to catch it, pressing it to her knees.

"Doing something you shouldn't?" laughed Addison from the doorway, smirking at Meredith's acrobatic position.

"Addie!" hissed Meredith. "Close the damn door! Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret in this place?"

"Do tell," Addie grinned pitilessly and slumped on the chair in front of Meredith's desk. "You and Derek must have brought this art to perfection."

Meredith rolled her eyes and followed Addison's lead and sat down.

"So, excited about tonight?" Addison wiggled her eyebrows.

"Pretty much," answered Meredith noncommittally. "Excited about having the whole house for yourself and McSteamy? Just clean after yourselves, okay?"

"You're disgusting, you know?" Addison scrunched her face. "Just that you and Derek are a pair of nymphos doesn't mean that me and Mark are too! Besides, we'll be packing most of the time."

"I can't believe we won't be living together anymore," Meredith smiled melancholically.

"Yeah," nodded the red head. "It actually feels weird. But we've grown up, right? The past is in the past. Besides, I'm sure you'll be much fonder of your new roommate."

"Yeah," Meredith mumbled under her breath, remembering the horrible vision she had only a couple of hours earlier.

"Meredith? Are you having… any doubts?" asked Addison recognizing the change in her friend's mood.

"Doubts? No, absolutely not," Meredith denied quickly. "I don't have any doubts whatsoever. Derek is my future, I believe it but… Addie, the past… you can't escape from it. You can't lock it up and throw away the key."

"Mer?" Addie studied her face carefully.

"I… had the dream," she admitted reluctantly.

"What dream?" the red head looked at her questioningly.

"The dream, Addie. Remember the nightmare with Chace?"

Addie opened her mouth, "You mean the one where… on the floor… and…?"

"The very same," sighed Meredith. "I have no idea why I dreamed about it. It's been gone for years."

"It might be just the stress, you know?" wondered loudly Addie. "Taking big steps and all that. You'll be living with Derek. Maybe it has something to do with this?"

"I don't know," shrugged Meredith. "But that's just the half of it. The dream was different. I kissed Chace and… and there was this freaking Harry Potter thing when he turned into Derek…"

"You dream about Harry Potter?" snickered Addie.

Meredith let out an impatient huff, "Addison, I'm dreaming about dead Derek!"

"You used to dream about dead Chace, and nothing happened," Addie argued reasonably.

"Yeah, because he was like… already dead," bit back Meredith. "You think it might be some weird sign? Not to board a plane or something?"

Addison quirked an eyebrow, "You're superstitious now?"

"No, I'm… I guess I'm really nervous about today. I want it to be perfect," concluded Meredith.

"I'm sure it will be. Derek's still in the dark?"

"He didn't mention a word about his birthday," giggled Meredith. "Either he thinks I forgot about it or he forgot himself."

Addison laughed, "No way! Even Markie remembered!"

According to popular belief, it was women who got excited over shiny expensive things. However, watching Derek Shepherd that particular Thursday one might get a completely reverse impression. He had thought that the actual fact of having the ring would calm down his nerves, but it was the opposite case. When he decided to buy it, he wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to wait to pop the question when the right time came. But once he got it in his hands… the impatience to put it on Meredith's finger completely conquered his thoughts.

The ring was beautiful, subtle, discrete and of course costly, though that certainly wasn't a problem. He'd buy the sun and the moon for her. She'd love the ring, she had to love the ring… if she didn't bolt in fear beforehand that was.

As on multiple occasions that day, Derek reached into the confines of his lab coat pocket and drew a scarlet little box. Wherever he was alone he stared at the sparkling piece of jewelry imagining how Meredith would look wearing it and more importantly, how he would get Meredith to wear it.

"So, are we going out to celebrate the big day?" Mark's booming voice snapped him out of the trance.

Derek shut the box and tightly clasped his palm around it. It was stupid of him to ogle the ring in the corridor where anyone could have a good look at it.

"What do you mean by the big day?" he asked his friend nervously.

"What do you mean by what do you mean?" frowned Mark. He had an idea what was going on. They always celebrated their birthdays over a drink at the bar, nothing fancy. But now Derek was pussy whipped, and probably eager to wriggle out of their yearly tradition to spend some quality time with Dr. Grey. Not that he blamed him; from what he heard Meredith was a volcano in bed.

"What?" muttered Derek utterly confused by their verbal exchange.

Mark shook his head, "I've got lost between some of the whats. I wanted to know if you're bailing on having a birthday toast with your best buddy."

"Birthday…" Derek's brain started to work on fast motion. "It's my birthday today…"

"Don't tell me you forgot," smirked Mark, folding his arms over his chest.

"I've had… more important things on my mind," shrugged Derek laughing at himself.

"Yeah, I've never thought I'd ever say it but too much horizontal mambo might seriously screw your brain."

Derek chuckled, unfazed, "I wonder why any of the girls didn't call… They always woke me up at the crack of dawn. And I didn't get a piece of cake from the nurses…"

"You're off the market, they don't need to make the effort. And about the Shepherd sisters, uhm, it may be because you haven't bothered to get in touch with them for months, don't you think?" Mark raised his eyebrows innocently.

"Okay, I'm guilty, I confess," nodded Derek though he didn't look remorseful in the slightest. "It might all change soon…"

"What do you mean?" asked Mark. "Hell, no, we won't get anywhere with this question."

Derek glanced furtively around and discreetly opened his fingers with a small smile.

"What is that?" Mark's eyes went wide open.

"What you think it is," chuckled Derek hiding the box into his pocket.

"That's dangerous! People who carry guns are more likely to fire 'em."

"Oh, I'm ready to fire it," assured Derek. "That's not the problem. She's the problem. She spooks easy. I have to fire at the right time, in the right way, otherwise she'll panic and bolt. She's not ready. Do you think she's ready?"

"I don't know," muttered Mark despite his open mouth. "All I know is that you're rambling."

"I guess I am," shrugged Derek and caught Mark's arm in warning, "Just don't tell anyone, especially Addie, because that equals telling Meredith."

"Okay, my lips are sealed," reassured him Mark. "You want to do it tonight?"

"I… maybe… I don't know, I want to…" Derek burst out laughing at his own incommunicativeness.

"Good luck with it, you'll need it," Mark patted his shoulder. "And Happy Birthday!"

Derek shook his head with a small laugh. He was absolutely certain it would be the happiest birthday in his life, the first one of many with Meredith at his side. He entered the laboratory with the happy pounce in his stride.