Meredith quietly rolled out of bed, laughing quietly
to herself as Dereks arms tried to hold onto her.
Even though he was sound asleep he had a good grip on
her and she had to wiggle out of his grasp. She then
gathered her clothes and slipped into the
bathroom down the hall, not wanting to wake him as he
had had a late surgery the night before. After washing
her face and getting dressed, she returned to the
bedroom collecting her bag and laying a light kiss on
his head.

"Good luck," he murmured with a faint smile, before
falling asleep again.

Today was her last exam and after she had sat her
boards in three hours and twenty minutes, she will
have finished medical school and will be a doctor.
Meredith smiled at the prospect. She was only one
step away from becoming her dream, a surgeon, like her
mother.

-------------------

The exam had gone well. She only got stuck on
one question and had finished with fifteen minutes to
spare. Walking out with her arm linked in Izzies' she
laughed when George came hurtling towards them, arms
out like an airplane.

"It's over," he cried, sweeping Meredith, Izzie, and
Christina into a warm hug.

The girls and George laughed in delight, jumping
around together in a circle chanting, "It's over it's
over."

Derek chuckled from his perch outside their exam room.
He faintly remembered doing the same thing with his
friends when they completed their final exam. As the
group settled, he got up and slowly walked towards
them, opening his arms and catching Meredith
mid-flight as she bounded towards him, the smile on
her face almost splitting her cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" She cried as he enveloped
her in his arms and spun them around.

"I have the morning off," he grinned, kissing her on
the nose, "And I thought I would come and congratulate
you in person," he added lightly setting her on the ground he made his
way over to their other friends, shaking hands with
George and Christina, but giving Izzie a kiss on the
cheek.

"Come join us at the café," George invited him, "There
is a whole group of us coming, sort of a last hoorah,"
he grinned.

"Yeah come for a bit," begged Meredith, "When are you
due at work?"

"Four," Derek replied "I'll come for a bit. Sure I'm
not cramping your style?" He asked her, wanting to
give her the opportunity to go and celebrate alone with her
friends.

"You?" She laughed cocking an eyebrow, "You are my
style," she grinned, wrapping her arm around his waist
and directing him towards the cafeteria.

They had decided to meet everyone there because most
people were going to see lecturers and tutors or
bypassing the library to drop off books before going
to the café.

Finding a booth near the back, Meredith sat with her
legs over Dereks, and arms wrapped around him with
her head on his shoulder. One of his arms was draped
around her shoulders while the other rested on her
legs.

"So how did it go?" He asked, kissing her hair.

"Good. I only got stuck on one question, but I
finished with enough time to go back over everything
and get an answer down."

"That's great," he grinned as his fingers from the
hand draped around her shoulders found the soft skin
of her neck. She nuzzled his neck as they continued
to talk about the exam, each ordering a coffee when
the waitress came to take their order.

"Derek," she murmured, her hand clutching at his
shirt, "Someone will see."

"No they won't," he chuckled, letting his fingers to
continue their decent down her chest, stopping to
caress the beginnings of her breast under her shirt
"Besides I have missed you."

"I've missed you too," she said into his chest, as a
slight shiver over took her body from his touch, "I
love you."

"I love you too," he smiled.

They sat in silence for a while, her clutching his
chest while his fingers danced just below the neckline
of her shirt until George, Izzie, and Christina piled
into the booth surrounding them, followed by Taylor.

The look on Georges face was priceless. He simply
gawked at Taylor, who was accepting Dereks hand to
shake.

"Hi." Derek said his hand out stretched, "I'm Derek."

"Taylor," he replied

"Taylor as in ex-boyfriend Taylor?" Derek questioned,
replacing his arm around Meredith's shoulders.

"Ok, so this is awkward," Christina interjected before
George changed the subject, asking what everyone was
doing over their three-month break. The conversation
continued with ease, Meredith ignoring Taylors
blatant staring while resting her hand on Dereks leg
and drawing light pictures with her finger tips.

At three thirty Derek made a move, "I've got to go,"
he announced as the others moved to let him out of the
booth, "Work calls," he smiled.

"I'll walk you out," offered Meredith, following him
out of the booth and slipping her hand in his.

"So what are your plans for this afternoon?" He asked.

"I'm going to go for a bike ride, clean up a bit, then wait
for you to come home," she grinned. "So when will you
be home?" She asked when they reached the door,
slipping her arms around his neck.

"About ten," he replied, pulling her closer.

"That's not a very long shift."

"They introduced that 80 hour work week and I'm
already up to 74."

"That's great," she grinned leaning into kiss him, "So
want to stay at yours or mine tonight?"

"Maybe we should stay at mine," he whispered huskily
into her ear, "I have some plans for you this
evening."

"Oh do you now?" She laughed, "Go to work then so you
can come home earlier." She continued to push him
away, but not before accepting another kiss.

----------------

Inside the cafeteria, Taylor looked on jealously as
Meredith and Derek stood close to each other and
spoke. His hand clenched into a fist as he watched
Derek whisper something into Merediths' ear before
tugging on her earlobe with his teeth.

"You dumped her," Izzie reminded him as the rest of
the group got up to leave.

"And she is happy, really happy. She is in love,"
Christina added, following the rest of the group out
and leaving Taylor fuming in the booth alone.

-----------------

"I'm going for a bike ride? Meredith called out from
the front door.

"Okay," George called back from upstairs.

"Tell Izzie I'll be home to help with dinner," she
added before stepping out the door.

As Meredith set off down the road towards the lake she
let her mind wander and enjoyed not having to worry
about study or exams for the time being. She did two
slow laps around the lake before heading home.

It had been planned that the housemates would have dinner together before going their separate ways, Izzie out on a date, Meredith to Dereks while Georges' girlfriend was coming over to stay.

She was rounding the last corner before their house
when suddenly a car didn't stop at the intersection.
The screech of the tires was the last thing she heard
as she sprawled through the air, landing on the curb
of the road. The pain in her head equaling that in
her ribs, Meredith's eyes slowly closed on the
bustling world around her.

--------------------------------------------

Ok so there it is…hope you like the cliff hanger.

Thanks to MJ for editing for me.

Love Specialfrog