MEREDITH AND FINN

Meredith arrives at her house with only an hour or so to spare before Finn comes to pick her up. As soon as she's out of the shower, the door bell rings. "George, Izzie, someone! Could you get that?" Meredith hollers down the stairs. No one answers. The doorbell rings again. Meredith hastily throws on her robe, running down the stairs. She opens the door.

"Hi, Finn. Sorry, I'm running a little late. Give me like, fifteen minutes tops," Meredith said, running up the stairs.

"No hurry. I'm actually about half an hour early. Take your time."

Meredith threw on the dress she had set out this morning. "Thank God I was thinking ahead this morning," Meredith thought to herself. She was done in about ten minutes. She walked down the stairs to find Finn staring at her.

"You look amazing, Mer," Finn said, looking at her adoringly. Meredith had on a snug, black, spaghetti strap dress which came up to slightly above her knees.

"Thanks," Meredith said, blushing.

"Well, we better go if we're going to make the reservations," Finn said, helping Meredith with her coat.

At the restaurant, which happened to be an extremely overly priced French restaurant that Derek never would have taken her to, Meredith and Finn sat, enjoying a glass of fine wine.

"Finn, I want us to have a completely open and honest relationship," Meredith said, causing Finn to tense up a bit.

"I do too. Why do I feel as though I should run screaming for my life down the street?"

"You shouldn't. I just thought that you'd like to be informed that Derek left his wife."

"What? I thought you said he wouldn't leave her for you."

"I never thought he actually would. But I guess what we did at the prom forced him to accept reality and realize the marriage he and Addison shared was nothing more than pretend. They were basically just going through the motions, or something," Meredith said, trying to make it sound as though everything she had just said just rolled off her back.

"So?"

"So, what?"

"You know what I'm trying to ask Meredith," Finn said.

"You want to know if I'm planning on ditching you after tonight and running right into his open arms, at his trailer, where his wife is still living for the time being?"

"Meredith, I'm serious. If you want to be with him, just tell me. I'll be hurt and upset, but I understand."

"Finn, I told you, I want to be with you. Besides, Derek needs time to heal without anyone else to help put a band-aid over the wound. He needs to scar. The only way he'll be able to get over the wound is to let it heal completely, on its own. He'll heal with time."

"You really are a doctor, aren't you?" Finn said, laughing.

"Shut up."

Their food arrived, and they talked and laughed and talked some more. After they ate, Finn took Meredith back to his house. Once inside, Finn looked at her and said, "Meredith, I want us to always have an honest and open relationship."

"So do I," Meredith said, not sure what he was getting at.

"Well, to be completely honest, Meredith, I'm falling madly in love with you. And I know that you need time and that you need to work through your issues regarding your feelings for Derek. But I wanted to tell you that I'm falling in love with you, in a desperate hope and attempt to appeal to you and make you want to be with me."

"Finn-" Meredith starts, but he stops her with a kiss. They start out sweet and simple but become passionate quickly. She drops her coat and purse on the floor, while kicking off her shoes without her lips leaving his.

He starts caressing her arms, pulling the straps to her dress down, when he suddenly stops.

"We don't have to do this Meredith. I love you. I can wait-"

"Shut up and kiss me, Finn," Meredith says, unbuttoning his shirt. He picks her up in one smooth motion, and carries her effortlessly up to his bedroom. He lays her on his bed, caressing her body, causing her to moan in satisfaction. They had both shed their clothes when he stopped and just looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Meredith asked.

"You're just beautiful, Mer. Utterly and unbelievably beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that you don't have a clue just how much so. Which is probably a good thing, otherwise you'd start using your powers for evil," Finn said, before capturing her mouth with his.