Meredith collapsed onto the bed, crossing her legs in front of her as she scooted away from the edge, and turned to face Derek, who was sitting up against the head of the bed, legs strewn out in front of him, his eyes darting back and forth as he read the contents of the medical journal in his hands. He glanced up and smiled warmly at her before going back to his place on the page. He knew from the look in her eyes that she needed to talk, but he also knew she needed to organize what she was going to say first. She was silent for several minutes as Derek quietly read about a new clipping technique. She sighed, and he blindly reached out to take her hand.

"We could just not tell them," Meredith finally spoke.

He looked up, dropping his journal to his lap. "What?"

"My friends. We could just not tell them that I'm moving."

Derek felt the corners of his mouth curl up despite himself. "You don't think they'd notice?"

She shrugged. "They're all very caught up in their own problems right now. They may not notice."

He laughed at her joking expression. "They'd notice eventually. Izzy would barge in one morning and you wouldn't be there, and that would at least make her suspicious, especially if she finds Cristina instead."

Meredith scrunched up her nose. "Yeah, okay. I guess you're right." She sighed dramatically. "I just don't know how to tell them."

"Well, it's okay if you want to take some time..."

"Derek!" She exclaimed. "Stop offering me more time. Let me tell you one more time just how much I want to live with you. I don't want to wait."

Derek smiled at her as he felt his insecurities melt away at her words. Every time he voiced them she would scoff and yell at him. But every time her reaction told him the same thing. She really did want to live with him. She really didn't want to wait.

"Okay, just making sure," he told her.

She rolled her eyes, squeezing her hand as she did so. "Well, stop making sure. I'm not used to being the calm, rational one."

Derek laughed. "Well, you're doing a very good job for someone not used to being rational, but I promise I'll try to get back to it as soon as possible so you can go back to being the irrational one."

She mock glared at him, though her sparkling eyes gave her away. "Thanks for that," she muttered.

"You're welcome."

It had been a week since they had found the apartment and had heard that morning that the paperwork had gone through. They would officially take possession first thing Monday morning. It was currently late Saturday evening, and they both had the following day off. They had decided to head out to the trailer for the night, with plans to pack up Derek's remaining stuff. However, once they had arrived, they quickly realized he didn't have much left there that he would need at the new apartment. They would leave all of his fishing gear and what Meredith had termed his 'out door man stuff' at the trailer. After that, there wasn't much left for them to pack up and shove into his trunk.

Meredith sighed and leaned forward, sinking her head into her hands. She made a strange strangled noise.

Derek chuckled as he reached a hand to run through her hair. "What can I do to help?"

She tilted her head so that she was resting her chin in her hands and could look him in the eye. His hand slid down her head to cup her cheek. She smiled. "You're already doing it."

"Well, I'll have to keep doing it then."

She smiled, and he lost himself in her eyes for several moments before she spoke up again. "It's going the change everything," she admitted.

His smiled faded and he nodded. "It will change a lot. Are you-"

"Derek Christopher Shepherd! If you ask me if I'm sure one more time!" She sat up straight, effectively pulling away from his hand.

He laughed despite himself. "Hey, that's totally uncalled for, bringing the middle name into this. I was going to ask if you were okay with this, the fact that things will change with you and your friends."

She regarded him through narrowed eyes for several moments. "Fine, I apologize for bringing in the middle name." She sighed, and reached for his hand. "And I'm fine with things changing. I'm looking forward to it, actually. I want to move forward, Derek. I just feel... guilty, I guess, like I'm leaving them behind. There's the whole Izzy and George thing, that holy crap, I so didn't see coming," she spoke of the revelation that had only come days before. "And Alex is still sulking and shacking up with Lexie," she rolled her eyes. "And Cristina... well, she's just not doing well. She's still getting over Burke, even if she pretends she's fine, and Hahn is shutting her out of all of her surgeries..."

"You can still be there for them," Derek offered. "It's not like you're ditching them. And I would never keep you away from them."

"I know," she told him. "I know you'd never do that. I guess I just don't know what it's going to be like. I've never lived with a guy before. I have no basis to know what it's going to be like."

"It's going to be great," Derek spoke. "You and I will work together every day, and then come home together every night. And we'll have a room that Izzy can't barge in whenever she and Alex are fighting over the bathroom. And you won't have to worry about walking in on your sister naked."

"Good thing," she cut in.

He rolled his eyes good naturedly and continued. "And we won't have to dig Alex's old laundry out of the machine when we need clean clothes."

"And there'll be no evil stares across the breakfast table any more..." She smirked.

"Exactly." He smiled at her. "And they'll always be welcome. They just won't all be there all the time." He really didn't mind her friends, and it had been novel practically living with them for a while. He had been married so young, that he hadn't truly experienced the whole roommate thing. But their constant presence and demand for Meredith's attention was starting to wear on him. He was looking forward to taking this step with her more than he could believe. The thought of being able to spend an uninterrupted evening with her without having to escape to the trailer for it was comforting.

"But, how do I tell them?" She questioned.

He shrugged. "That's for you to decide. You know them best."

She huffed, making him smile widely at her pouting expression.

"You could start with Alex," he suggested. "You said before that he wouldn't care."

She shook her head. "No, Cristina would kill me. I have to tell her first; it's a thing."

"A girl thing?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I just know I have to tell her first. Oh!" She exclaimed. "I could tell Cristina first, and then just tell Izzy. She'll tell everyone else anyway, it could save us the trouble."

He laughed, using their joined hands to pull her close to him. She laughed and collapsed into his chest, her arm automatically snaking around his torso. They lay in comfortable silence for several minutes, Derek running his hand up and down her back as he closed his eyes and listened to her gentle breathing. Her hand began to draw loose circles around his side, causing shivers to run through his body.

"So," he began.

"So." She repeated.

"This could be our last time staying in the trailer."

"I thought it was going to be our 'vacation home' for when we actually have any time to get away?" She held up her hand and made quotations with her fingers.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, but technically this is our last night staying in the trailer with the trailer being a permanent home for me."

She scoffed. "Like you ever stay here anymore," she muttered.

He almost laughed at her obliviousness. "But it's still my official home, and we're here for the last time."

"Oh!" She said, laughing as she pulled her head away from his chest. "I get it. Sorry, I was a little slow on the uptake there. You're obviously feeling sad." She raised an eyebrow at him. "So we need to find some way to say a proper goodbye to the trailer." She manoeuvred her body as she spoke so that she was kneeling beside him, her face leaning in close to his.

He could feel her hot breath against his cheek. "I am. Very sad," he spoke. He lowered his voice down to a raspy whisper. "How do you think we could say a proper goodbye?"

She giggled. "I'm sure we'll think of something..." And she pressed her lips against his. Derek responded eagerly, wrapping his arms around her, steadying her body as she moved to straddle him. She sank her weight down onto his lap and ran her hands up his chest to curl her fingers through his hair. He groaned into her mouth.

"Feeling less sad?" She questioned, pulling her lips only far enough away to be audible.

"Mmmhmm," he mumbled, his hands working to pull her lips back to his.

000

Meredith jumped as she heard the front door slam shut. She dropped the unfolded towel into the box on her bed and stepped quickly away from it, turning as she did so. Both of her suitcases had been dragged up from the basement and lay open and half full on her floor. There were a number of smaller cardboard boxes strewn across her bed. Derek was carefully wrapping up the pictures from her wall. He laughed at her reaction, and stuffed the frame in his hands into the closest box to him.

"Jumpy much?"

"Shut up," she muttered at him, making him laugh. She quietly pulled open her door just a few inches, listening for any movement on the stairs. There wasn't any and after a few moments she heard the television come on downstairs.

"It must be Cristina," she whispered.

"Okay," he spoke, surprising her when his voice came from right over her shoulder. She jumped.

"It's not nice to sneak up on people." She closed the door.

He closed his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you; you were a little busy spying on your best friend."

She scoffed. "I wasn't spying. Spying suggests stalking. I was eavesdropping."

Derek snorted. "Fine. I wasn't sneaking up on you. You were just too distracted by your eavesdropping to hear me."

She leaned the side of her head against his forehead. "That's better." She sighed. "I should go tell her. No one else is home. It may be my only chance."

"Okay," Derek said, loosening his hold on her, but making no move to pull away until she did. She gripped his hands and sighed. Derek followed suit as he buried his nose into her neck.

"I don't want to hurt her," Meredith admitted quietly.

"I know."

"But she'll be happy that she gets a real room with a real bed, right?" It had been a very short discussion that had led to the unanimous agreement between the two of them to buy new bedroom furniture that would just be theirs, not ever shared with anyone else. Meredith would leave her furniture with the house until she decided what would be done with it, assuming her friends ever moved out.

"I'm sure she will. And she'll get the on suite bathroom, which will make Izzy jealous, so she'll be happy with that."

Meredith cracked a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, she will." She took a breath. "Okay. I'm ready. She pulled away from him and paused with her hand on the door knob. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Derek responded obediently. "And don't worry, it'll be fine."

Meredith smiled back at him as she swung open the door. "I hope so."

000

Meredith made her way down the stairs and collapsed onto the couch beside her best friend. "Hey," she started.

"Hey." Cristina mumbled, her hand resting on the arm of the couch as she keyed the remote, surfing through the channels. "There's nothing on," she muttered, hitting the power button and dropping the remote onto the table beside her.

"Nothing going on at the hospital?" Meredith asked, knowing Cristina was not scheduled to be in today, but had headed in earlier in an attempt to get in on a surgery.

Cristina sighed. "Nope, Hahn's still black listing me. She's got her new best friend in surgery with her. I couldn't even watch."

Meredith smiled sadly at her best friend, knowing how hard it was for her to watch Izzy favoured in the cardio department. "So you just gave up and came home?"

"I don't give up," Cristina stated immediately, causing Meredith to smile. "I'm strategizing."

Meredith laughed. "Good for you."

"And this isn't home," Cristina added.

"Well, you're certainly here a lot."

Cristina sighed. "I know. I'll find a place soon. I've just been so busy at the hospital."

Meredith sucked in a breath and regarded her friend for several moments before speaking. "Don't," she finally stated.

"Don't what?"

"Don't find another place. Stay here."

Cristina rolled her eyed. "Mer, I can't sleep on your couch forever."

Meredith shook her head. "No you can't. But you can have my room."

Cristina laughed. "We can't share a room permanently Meredith. People will start talking."

It was Meredith's turn to laugh. "Yeah, that would be bad." She paused. "How bout you stay there by yourself."

Cristina looked up, her expression changing as if she suddenly realized there was something more to Meredith's words. "And where would you live?" She asked carefully.

Meredith took a breath. "I'm, uh, I'm moving in with Derek."

Cristina's expression didn't change, but she was silent for several moments. "He's not making you move into the trailer, is he?"

Meredith smiled and shook her head. "No. We found an apartment, so I can be close to the hospital."

"When?"

"Well, we take possession tomorrow morning."

Cristina actually looked surprised at this. "How long have you been looking?"

"We found it a week ago, and just heard back on Friday that everything went through okay. We only decided to move in together a few days before that."

Cristina regarded her for several seconds. "As your person, I'm required to make sure he's not forcing it."

Meredith's heart went out to her best friend, the woman who had been put through the ringer in the past year. Burke had pushed her far past her comfort zone at every step of their relationship, including moving in, but Cristina had allowed it because she had loved him. And now she was a broken shell, trying to move on with her life personally and professionally. Meredith offered her a smile. "No, he's not forcing it. I actually asked him."

Cristina scoffed. "Yeah, like I'd believe that."

"I did! You'd be proud of me. I actually initiated a step in a real adult relationship. I'll admit I wasn't exactly calm and rational about it, but I did it. I want it."

"Are you scared?" Cristina asked quietly, her low tone and downcast eyes letting Meredith know she was allowing herself to be somewhat vulnerable.

Meredith shook her head. "No, I'm not scared. A little apprehensive maybe? Like I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm really looking forward to it."

Cristina sighed. "What's it like?"

"What?"

"Being ready."

"Oh, Cris..." Meredith slid over towards her friend, her arm moving up on its own to wrap around Cristina's shoulders.

Cristina allowed it for about two seconds, which to be honest was two seconds longer than Meredith expected. Then she shrugged her shoulders, ridding herself of the contact. "Hey, don't get all touchy feely with me."

Meredith laughed and pulled her arm back to herself. "Don't worry. I won't." She playfully bumped her shoulder into Cristina.

"Good." Cristina bumped back. "So, what does it feel like?"

Meredith sighed, a happy smile coming to her lips unbidden. "It feels pretty good."

"This is not to be construed as me being supportive or touchy feely or anything, but I'm..." Cristina trailed off and took a deep breath. "I'm happy for you," she mumbled.

Meredith had to fight off laughter at Cristina's hesitation. She didn't want to scare off her best friend, who had just taken a big step. "Thanks."

They were silent for several seconds, the closely knit pair both wondering how their relationship would change. Then Cristina spoke up.

"Izzy's going to be so pissed off that I get the good room."

AN: Life is still crappy, more updates are coming when I have a chance to write.