A.N.: Sorry this took so long, I had some computer problems and then finals hit, but here we are. And, of course, the events in the finale never happened in this story. Now on with the story!
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Meredith had precious few hours of sleep before her alarm clock went off the next morning. She stayed at the bar for a few hours talking and joking around with Izzie and George before she went home to a night of staring at the ceiling and thinking of what Derek had said and what exactly that meant for her in the days to come. She thought of Finn, comfortable and slow and sweet, and how much she needed someone like that at that moment in her life. She thought of Derek, intense and charming and passionate, and how that relationship turned her world upside down. When she first met him at the hospital he endlessly pursued her – despite the fact he had a wife, a voice in her mind whispered. As she got ready for the day, she started preparing herself for another chase like before.
She met Izzie and George, who only recently had moved back into the house, downstairs to head for the hospital and when they arrived there, she half expected to see Derek waiting inside the doors, chasing her down asking for a date, to give him another chance. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and reminded herself that she was dating another man, a good, decent man, and that she shouldn't expect to see Derek waiting for her at the hospital. She told herself last night, and reminded herself again, that she had changed and moved on and that she should ignore any of his advances towards her.
But Derek hadn't been waiting for her inside the doors of the hospital, or at the nurse's station, or even intentionally ran into her during rounds. In fact, she hadn't seen him at all until several hours of work passed and she briefly caught a glimpse of him rounding a corner with a chart in his hand, with nothing but a smile and nod from him. She was confused by this but couldn't spend much time pondering on that fact as she had to grab some labs on one of her patients.
The fact that she had barely seen Derek all day didn't last too much longer since one of her patients had been diagnosed with a tumor and she was to sit it on a surgery with him that evening. She knew she should keep focused on the surgery, and she was excited about being close up on another amazing procedure, but she would be lying if she didn't admit that she was also a little excited about being close to him again in a setting where they, in the past, had small moments of glances and words. This would be the first opportunity since last night's declaration from him to actually see close-up if he had a plan or not.
It wasn't long before she was in the operating room with him and the rest of the team, prepping for the surgery. There were the general pleasantries exchanged, but not much else causing a vague suspicion to show in Meredith's eyes. Maybe he had a little too much to drink the night previously and wasn't going to follow through on what he said, Meredith thought to herself, but she was certain that wasn't the case. Derek had recited his little mantra and then began the surgery motioning to the nurse to turn on the CD player placed in the room for the surgeons. Derek liked to listen to music while operating, as many of the other doctors did as well, and generally played some classical music or something similar, something soft to listen to but wouldn't interfere with his concentration. Although he enjoyed The Clash and similar bands, he would never play it in the operating room. So when the music came on and a voice started singing, she was a little surprised. As she listened to it, she quickly realized this wasn't The Clash or, well, any band he liked, but rather The Eurythmics, a personal favorite band of hers. He hated the band, telling her once that he couldn't stand Annie Lennox's voice, yet there she was singing on the player. She was startled and looked up at Derek who was giving her a grin and looking over at her through the glasses and realized that maybe he wouldn't be chasing her like before, this was going to be more subtle and she shivered. She could handle the chase, she was prepared for the chase and how to turn him down, all big actions and words and gestures, but subtle? Subtle she certainly wasn't ready for.
"I'm
so full of desire
When you set my head on fire
I need to be
right by your side"
