Freedom was a heady feeling.
Weeks after his divorce from Addison, Derek had the complete freedom to do whatever he wanted without another pair of eyes watching his every movement, at home or at the hospital. He could go fly fishing in the morning and bring the trout he caught inside and cook it for breakfast. Or he could go fly fishing in the evening and bring his catch in for dinner. Basically, he could fish without any yelling about bringing the fish inside when that person really wanted to yell about living in a trailer on a vast expanse of land.
He could also go to Joe's and order a scotch without worrying about meeting anybody there or having to go back home early to be his wife. He was able to make his own choices, his own decisions, without having a responsibility to anyone else. For weeks he was able to do this and had almost no desire to change his current way of life. The key word there: almost. Despite all this freedom, he still desired Meredith Grey. Now that he was a free man, he could spend his time going on walks with her and Doc or talking with her at the hospital without Addison showing up unexpectedly, smiling sweetly at Meredith and acting like friends. He didn't believe that Addison actually wanted to be friends with her or even that she just wanted to keep her "competition" close; she was just keeping an eye out for any warning signs, the same signs that she had exhibited when she began her affair with Mark. She hadn't been worried about Meredith making a move on him; she was worried about him making the first move. But he had remained faithful, though still distant. So they had come to the mutual agreement to end their marriage.
Now, the nurses had begun whispering again of a relationship between him and Meredith, not trusting either of their denials or the fact that Meredith insisted she had a new boyfriend. This didn't deter the nurses and other doctors from talking. As long as no one outside of Meredith's close friends had seen him, they didn't actually have to believe or admit he existed. Yet, Derek knew he existed, even met him once a few weeks back when he walked Meredith out of the hospital, where Finn surprised her by showing up to take her to dinner. The meeting was awkward and tense, a short handshake, followed by Derek quickly taking leave of the couple.
In the present day however, Derek was able to enjoy all the perks of being a free man, but missed being in a relationship, coming home to a lover to spend his time with. He missed waking up with someone, and sharing his bed, and his food, and more and more he began missing Meredith. He wasn't sure about the "correct" way to recover from a divorce or the right timeframe to do it in; all he knew was that his marriage had been over long before they actually divorced. And while he knew there might be many obstacles in his way, he thought about moving back into a relationship again.
And at the same time, across town, Finn and Meredith were curled up on a couch watching a movie. Meredith was resting her head against Finn's chest, his arms wrapped around her, and the legs entwined together. After a long day at work for both of them, they got take-out and enjoyed a simple night together watching movies at Finn's.
