Derek Shepherd: Professional cricketer. Meredith Grey: Surgical resident. Can the two mix?
A/N: Ok so I'm finally back with the other fic that I was working on a while ago. This fic is going to be cricket based but I figured there was no reason that Meredith couldn't introduce some friendly banter into the equation in the form of mentioning baseball! I watch both sports and I think they're both great so there's no difference for me really, but naturally both nations will try and prove their point ;). Anyways, let me know what you think.
I am by no means a professional cricketer so I don't know the ins and outs of how leagues work and things like that, but I will try my best!
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Grey's Anatomy.
Enjoy!
No matter how much Derek had always loved Ireland with its rolling hills and extensive love of rugby, nothing would ever match up to the rush he felt as soon as he was on England turf. Just walking through the airport, trailing one of his bags behind him, it felt like he was home.
He supposed he was lucky, being able to feel practically the same way as he stepped off the plane onto Irish tarmac as he did here. Ireland was familiar to him as his childhood, his past. England was his future. He'd spent the winter in Ireland with the rest of the family, the liveliness of his childhood home never ceasing to amaze him. When he'd been younger, when it had been like that it had annoyed him; doors kept slamming or his sisters were hogging the bathroom and all love was lost over a game of Monopoly or something to that effect. But as an adult, returning to it all was something he cherished, and it tended to be filled with the next generation of Shepherds at some point or another.
But now, he was back in England with the prospect of playing cricket again after a cold winter. He had trained of course, but the cricket season was the most amazing time of year for him. Cricket fans tended to be pretty crazy, it wasn't all private school blazers and afternoon tea, although that most certainly was a factor, it included roaring cheers the second you smashed a six, and people in costumes parading around the stands. It was a feeling that was unmatched, and with the varied play he got, from test cricket to T20s, it meant that there was never a dull day.
"Shep!" he heard a booming shout from behind a bunch of travellers he was ambling behind.
He saw Mark's head above the people in front of him and a grin split across his face as he weaved through other passengers.
"Mark," he chuckled, bringing his brother into a hug as he reached him.
Mark slapped him on the back, returning the gesture.
"Was Mom pissed?" he asked as he retracted, starting to lead Derek back towards the exit.
"A little. Claimed that a holiday is a holiday and you should have taken the time to at least call," Derek replied with amusement.
"So she's pissed," he sighed, "great."
Mark had left early to catch up on some physio training so he could be ready for the season to start, and it was safe to say that Carolyn Shepherd hadn't been best pleased when her adopted son had left early with such short notice.
"Cheer up Sloan, we have cricket practice starting Tuesday," he grinned.
"I swear, if it wasn't for you, I'd be playing Irish league rugby instead of playing a pansy ass sport like cricket," he complained. And there was a grain of truth in what he said, he could have easily played rugby at a club level if Derek's father hadn't converted him.
"It's not pansy," he replied, rolling his eyes.
"Well I know that. But the girls don't. They date footballers, who are all dim witted by the way. Cricket doesn't get enough coverage," he complained again.
"Poor Mark," Derek chuckled, "struggling with the ladies."
"Like you can talk Shepherd, you barely know the meaning of the word sex," Mark retorted.
Derek merely rolled his eyes; this discussion was had too often as far as he was concerned.
"I see you're not denying it," his brother smirked.
"I'm not denying it because the fact that you would say it is just inaccurate, and completely and utterly wrong," he replied, rolling his eyes again.
"Whatever man, you still need to get laid," Mark shrugged, walking ahead of him to catch the lift.
Derek sighed a withering sigh and trailed after him, his mind choosing to focus on the prospect of playing cricket again rather than Mark's jabs.
Since he'd been old enough to hold a bat, his dad had taught him how to play. Growing up in Ireland, his dad had loved the game and had spent a lot of his time cheering England on from overseas. It was one of the earliest memories of his father he had, he had lifted him up and spun him round telling him that England would win the Ashes after they won the first test. They hadn't of course, but seeing the spark in his father's eye had made Derek fall in love with the sport even more.
It wasn't played so much over in the States, and his friends were never able to comprehend why he chose to play cricket over baseball. But now, at the age of twenty-eight, he couldn't be more grateful for it. Cricket was often the place where he found the most peace. Much how a surgeon felt in an operating room he supposed, especially when he was bowling. He was in control, he knew his next move, and he was surrounded by people who supported him no matter the outcome.
His teammates were his family, and out on the field was the best place he could wish to be. He'd been playing for Surrey all of his professional career and after being called up last year to play for England, he was hoping that this season would do as many wonders for him as it did last year. Cricket was a magical game, who knew what would happen?
xxxxx
Meredith sighed as she walked purposefully and quickly into the hospital, hopping a few steps to increase her pace without full out running. She was late, but not late enough to warrant running into the resident's lounge out of breath. So walking, she was walking. Because she had a big surgery today and she didn't have time to deal with her useless interns who couldn't tell the difference between their heads and their asses.
She'd come to England almost as soon as she had graduated med school. Her estranged father had reached out to her and against her better judgement, she had decided to move across the pond to live here. She assumed it had something to do with the death of her mother, even if they had never exactly been close, but nevertheless, across the Pacific she had come. She'd been moderately surprised to find that she had two half-sisters, one of which had started working at the same hospital as her this year. It hadn't been easy adapting to being an eldest sister, or even a sister at all, but looking at her life now, she knew she wouldn't change it for anything.
She reached the resident's lounge and when Cristina asked where the hell she had been, she couldn't help the smirk on her face. Charlie had made her late this morning; turned out British men weren't so bad. He was no Leonardo DiCaprio, but god did he know what he was doing.
Cristina rolled her eyes at the lack of reply, only needing the expression on her face to tell her everything she needed to know.
"At least someone's getting some," she sighed.
Meredith chuckled to herself and turned back to her locker.
"Watch where you're going Evil Spawn," she heard behind her.
She turned to see that Alex had his eyes glued to his phone screen, barely focusing enough to give her a scowl before he sat on the bench and distractedly started taking his shoes off.
"Um, Alex? What are you doing?" Meredith asked him, completely confused about what was so damn interesting on that screen.
For a split second she thought that maybe she didn't want to know but he replied before she could get any further.
"Arsenal highlights," he mumbled, still looking at the screen.
"You know you could just watch it on the tv? Like a normal human being?" Cristina asked.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I am a surgeon for a living. I had a surgery when it was on last night," he said, looking up to scowl.
"And now I missed a goal, thanks Yang."
"Whatever," she said, "you can skip back to it anyway."
"At least you're not like Lexie, she was up all night the other month because she wanted to watch a full replay of a dumb cricket game," Meredith replied.
The two of them looked to her slowly.
"What?" she asked, under their scrupulous gaze.
"You know you basically just insulted a national sport right? I mean granted it's boring as all hell but we're good at it. Some of the time," Cristina replied with a laugh.
"Speak for yourself, if you watch a good game it's worth it," Alex shrugged.
"That's what Lexie keeps telling me, but I'll believe it when I see it," Meredith replied, "it just seems like a lot of men standing around on a field."
"And baseball isn't?" Alex smirked.
"Ok you realise now you just insulted a national sport?" Meredith raised her eyebrows.
"Besides, the Red Sox will always be the best sports team in the world," she grinned playfully.
"A lot of people would disagree with you but then again, a lot would agree. So I'm not gonna fight you on this one, mainly because we're late," Cristina said on her way out of the door.
Meredith snatched a look at her watch and agreed, quickly pulled her hair into a low ponytail before she set off to find her interns.
xxxxx
Derek unlocked the door to his apartment, letting Mark in after him so he could drop a few bags down.
"Jesus Shep it's like you're moving in," he groaned.
Derek chuckled as he threw his rucksack on the sofa, relieving his body of the weight.
"Well excuse me if I wanted to get some practice in over the winter."
"Mom cannot have been happy about that," Mark laughed.
"I told her I was helping out the kids, I think she saw through me though," he chuckled.
"Up for beers tonight? Cap is tryna get as many of us down there before we go to training."
"Yeah why not? Feels like we haven't seen them for a while," he shrugged.
"You do realise we're gonna be with them all season right?" Mark replied.
"Well I know that but it'll be good to have a get together."
"Such a girl," Mark retorted.
"You say that like it's an insult," Derek chuckled, "besides, I grew up with four sisters, what do you expect?"
"So did I!" Mark retorted playfully.
"Not for the first eight. The youngest years are the most impressionable."
"Whatever," his brother groaned, "I'll see you there I guess."
"Joe's?"
"Is there anywhere else?" he laughed.
Derek joined in as he started lugging one of his bags towards his bedroom. It had always been the place they went to for a night out. There were other places obviously, this was England for crying out loud, but there was always some comfort in going there. Mark called it his lucky pick-up pub, which all their teammates joked about, but for Derek, it was just a place of familiarity. A place to relax and enjoy himself.
Mark shouted a goodbye to him, and he heard the door slam shut, leaving him in peace. Coming back out into the main space and observing the carnage of his packing, Derek sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have taken so much kit.
xxxxx
"Why have we come here? Don't we normally go to the Diamond City bar?" Meredith whined as she trailed after Cristina.
"Because we never go here and they have better sport coverage," Alex said, giving her a quick slap on the back as he chased down Cristina who was already marching through the door, desperate for a drink.
It had been a long day for all of them and they just wanted to unwind. Of course, she could have gone to Charlie's, but he was working, and she wanted to hang out with her friends. But she had counted on doing it somewhere else. It wasn't that she was against trying somewhere new, it was that she preferred where they normally went; it was nice, and they had a wide range of tequila. Nowhere else had such good taste. However, as she sat herself down next to Cristina who was already flagging down the bartender, she spotted her good friend José a few feet ahead of her, stacked against the wall.
She breathed a sigh of relief and tagged onto Cristina's order. The man, Joe apparently, nodded and set about getting their drinks.
"Maybe this isn't so bad," she shrugged.
"Because of the tequila?"
"Obviously because of the tequila," she giggled.
"Only you Mer," Cristina replied.
Meredith just pointed at Cristina's own shot glass by way or reply and she was graced with a good-natured scowl. Meredith grinned at her as she downed her shot. Tonight would be good.
A/N: Let me know what you think! Hopefully it's worth sticking around. ;)