Chapter 77: Addie's Moving

They decided not to let their friends in on the details of their reunion, "details" being the euphemism for therapy. With large pleading eyes, Meredith asked Derek to keep the information to themselves, at least until they were better, and for once Derek agreed that silence was for the best. She had an extremely hard time confessing to him, another two people would be just overwhelming. Addison would be over concerned while Mark would certainly crack some less than appropriate jokes. He was pitiless on them already since they hinted, they were taking things slow.

However, they put aside all the challenges they had to face for one evening to enjoy a dinner together. They had packed the rest of Addison's stuff into Mark's car and spent a very pleasant and carefree two hours over a meal and a drink. It felt like the good old times.

Maybe too good… "Guess what we're gonna do when we leave this place?" drawled Mark with a teasing voice.

"Let's think, keep unpacking a box after box?" gritted Derek dangerously. He knew all too well where the conversation was heading.

"Nah, unpacking can wait… A little housewarming, now," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, a lazy grin playing on his lips. "Housewarming can't."

"Like you didn't it already," muttered dryly Meredith. "On many occasions."

"A bit more can't hurt, right man?" Mark eyed his best friend with superiority.

"I'm going to help Addie in the kitchen," threw Meredith curtly getting up from the table.

"You can't resist, can you?" berated him, Derek.

"The real question is: how can you?" shrugged Mark.

"I've already told you. We're taking our time. We want to make it work."

"That means no sex because?" frowned Mark.

"Because…" sighed Derek. "It can overshadow our real problems."

"You're such a pussy-whipped… girl?"

"Like you aren't," snorted Derek.

"Even if so, I get some action for it. A really good action."

"Huh," Derek let out a derisive laugh. "You don't even know what sex is. When me and Mer are back in the saddle, we'll make Seattle melt!"

"Right," Mark squinted at him. "Me and Addie will make Antarctica burst in flames!"

"With your little Sloan?" snorted Derek maliciously.

"Oh, no!" growled Mark. "You're not bringing that argument up again! Besides… it's… it's completely inaccurate!"

"That your tiny-"

"Shut up!"

"We can always ask the girls," Derek smiled in vengeance, bringing his hands lazily behind his head. "I'm sure they already shared experiences."

"Had to salvage yourself with an escape?" laughed Addie when Meredith joined her in the kitchen.

"They're comparing their… you-know-whats!" Meredith rolled her eyes. "I think they're going to start throwing food at each other any second!"

"You-know-whats?" Addie chuckled wiping her palms. "You mean-"

"Don't say that!" stopped her quickly Meredith. "I have enough trouble controlling myself as it is."

"I'm truly impressed with your self-control, you know?" laughed gently Addison.

"Not more than myself," sighed Meredith.

"But you're okay, right?" the redhead caught her wrist determined to get a sincere answer. "Please, don't lie to me anymore, Mer."

Meredith gave her a small reassuring smile, "I can truly say I am good, getting better every day even if… uhm, my carnal desires remain temporarily unsatisfied."

"Are you sure?" insisted Addison. "Because I can stay-"

"No," said firmly Meredith squeezing her hand. "It's time to take a leap, for both of us."

"Yeah, you're right," nodded Addie vigorously and cleared her throat noisily. She started to blink rapidly but her eyes became moist anyway. She twisted her hand out of Meredith's grasp and instead brought her arms tightly around her.

"Addie!" Meredith rolled her eyes while strangled by her best friend, but her voice came out equally emotional as she reciprocated the hug. "You know that my plans to go to Africa were thwarted, right?"

"Don't even joke about that!" sniffed Addie. "Sorry, I never thought I'd fall apart like that. It's not like I'm moving to another state!"

"I know!" said Meredith with a tiny voice. "Thank you for being there for me… always…"

"Hey, you've been there for me, too," she replied as the pulled away. "Since we met."

Meredith let out an uncontrollable giggle. "Feels like yesterday… We were so lost, literally and figuratively."

"I remember," smiled Addie. "Good that we've found home eventually. We did grow up."

Suddenly, they were startled by a loud thud near the doorway which turned out to be Derek and Mark fighting their way into the kitchen, the latter panting nervously, "Don't listen to him!"

"They didn't," commented Meredith with a smirk.

"Boys will be boys," agreed Addison with a knowing look. "Mark!" she barked at him sternly. "Are you five? Let go of him."

"But-"

"Now!" she ordered him and turned to Meredith again. "I think it's..."

"Time," smiled Meredith.

"It is," she nodded. "It's late. We'll just grab what's left and be heading out."

When they were at the door, she pushed her belongings into Mark's arms and faced Derek and Meredith with a dangerous expression.

"You," she pointed at Derek. "If I ever hear about your lips on a woman other than Meredith, labor pains would seem a pinch compared to what I'd do to you."

He furrowed his eyebrows together but nodded obediently deciding it would be safer not to protest.

"And you," she rounded on Meredith. "If you ever try to run again-"

"I won't," Meredith cut her off quickly. "I learned from my mistakes."

"Good," nodded Addison and picked up her handbag. "So… we'll see each other at work."

"Isn't it time for you as well, Shep?" smirked Mark following his girlfriend out, determined to have the last word.

With a murderous scowl, Derek kicked the door after him violently. "The nerve of him…" he muttered turning back to Meredith. "I should have saved the world from him when I was still underage and not fully responsible for my actions."

She laughed at his complaining tone but as they remained alone in the quiet foyer it quickly died on her lips.

"So…" Derek shifted on the spot and spoke up, desperate not to let the awkwardness settle between them. "It seemed… pretty hard for you and Addie."

"We were inseparable for all these years," she shrugged with a small smile. "Getting each other's backs… Even during those last weeks when I was a total bitch and doing the whole not-talking thing, she stayed."

"I can't say I was that reluctant to part with Mark after med school," remarked Derek dryly. "Leaving the constant mess and porn site? One of the happiest days of my life."

They laughed together for a short while only to eye each other clumsily, confused by the indefinite borders of their relationship.

"So… it is late-" started Meredith, talking to her shoes.

"Oh," Derek sighed with clear disappointment. "I guess… I'll get my keys."

"Your keys?" repeated Meredith with a frown. "That's not what I meant! I was actually thinking…" she bit her lip. "It's late and it's dark… and the roads out of town are pretty much covered in snow… I don't want you to drive out to the trailer tonight…"

Derek felt himself relax and let out a deep calm breath. She wasn't throwing him out, she wanted him to stay.

"I mean," Meredith went on, not sure what to make from his silence. "We are… both adult people… we can just… and not… you know?" she gesticulated with her hands.

"Yeah, sure…" he smiled nervously. "I... a… if you could give me a blanket so I still can move my limbs tomorrow… after a night on the couch…"

"The couch…?" Meredith's voice was puzzled. "Oh, I actually… meant my bedroom…"

And your bed… Derek finished her sentence in his thoughts.

"Listen, I know it's kind of weird… but I think the couch idea is stupid. We know each other, we love each other, we're in a relationship. We had amazing sex together, we saw each other naked a thousand times… We can act like a couple of rational responsible people."

"Sure," he agreed quickly. If you say so… Somehow his body was telling him something completely different, but he wasn't the one to willingly refuse the place in Meredith's bed, he fought for it too long.

An hour later, he started to regret his hasty decision. The couch would have given him a stiff back, not exactly an uncommon thing for a surgeon spending hours in the OR. What was a thousand times worse was the unnerving stiffness in his groin that made its painful appearance when Meredith announced she was going to have a quick shower. Yes, the sole thought of Meredith's naked body, glistening with pearls of water gave him a hard-on. As embarrassing as it was, it was true, he had a libido of a teenager. He registered with panic that he wasn't even sure he was going to last two minutes when they would… get back to business.

"Damn," sighed Meredith as she opened her closet to draw clean towels. "I completely forgot."

"What about?" he asked absent-mindedly as he contemplated whether sitting down on her soft bed that was the stage of their many trysts would make him cum instantly.

"You've got nothing to sleep in," she faced him putting her hands on her hips and biting her lip while searching for a solution.

"I… eh…" he eyed the bed confusedly.

"No," she flicked her wrist dismissively, her cheeks pink. "I mean, you don't have any clothes to change into…"

"Oh," he breathed out and reached to loosen the collar of his shirt. He actually did have a spare set. The irregular working hours plus the amount of time he lately chose to spend at the hospital made him always keep fresh clothes in his office or at least his car. For the briefest of seconds, he verged on leaving Meredith in the dark about this little detail wondering if she would let him sleep naked beside her. He gulped audibly, no, it was too much. He wouldn't be able to control himself. "I… I've got my laundry from the cleaners, it's… it's in the car. I'll go get it."

"Oh, great," nodded Meredith though her voice betrayed disappointment. "So, I'm going to the shower," she let out a small nervous laugh. "You can wait or… use the second bathroom." She practically ran to the door not looking him in the eye. With a deep sigh, he decided to get his things from the car and head to the corridor bathroom immediately. He was in a desperate need of a cold shower.

Taking cold showers? Overrated. The seven minutes he spent under the icy stream of water were as unpleasant as they were unhelpful. As soon as Meredith walked out of the steamy bathroom all pinky fresh, clad only in her Dartmouth t-shirt and a pair of black panties just peeking out, he knew he was a goner.

He fidgeted in his place under the covers as he watched her tiptoe to the other side of the bed. He caught the quick sharp looks she was giving him; she was equally nervous.

"So, I… I'm turning off the light?" her voice dropped almost to a whisper.

"Yeah, sure," he nodded quickly and eased out on his back, breathing deeply as he let himself sink in her bed linen. It felt so good, like home. The material was so soft, the sign it was already used for a couple of days. Her sweet scent was everywhere.

The light went off with a click and they were momentarily blind before their eyes adjusted to the feeble moonlight that sneaked inside through the curtains. The obscurity seemed to take away some of Derek's tension. He remarked with relief that Meredith wouldn't be able to see the huge tent he was making with the comforter. But she had other plans. Apparently, she was not going to lie modestly beside him.

The bed creaked under her slight weight as she slid under the covers. He heard her pause in her movements with hesitation. Eventually, she inched closer to him… and closer… and lay down with her back pressing to his arm, and her backside… She reached out her hand behind her and wandered loosely around his body until it found his left arm. She laced her fingers with his and pulled him so that he found himself spooning her tightly, remembering with a soft smile that it was Meredith's favorite sleeping position. Ideal for cuddling in the night as well as a quickie in the morning. He shifted trying to keep his raging loins at a distance from her enticing butt of which he still held very fond memories. Yet he abandoned the attempts and finally scooted as close to her as it was possible when he heard her tiny voice, "I missed you… so much…"

"I missed you too," he whispered burying his face into her hair.

"Good night, Derek," she muttered rubbing his hand affectionately.

"Good night, love."

Surprisingly, it wasn't long before sleep claimed them both in a warm embrace.