AN: Sorry for the delay, I wasn't able to upload the chapter. It may be a little longer than the other ones, but that's more for you to read! Thanks for all the reviews. Please R and R!

Disclaimer: Own nothing

Chapter 4

"Mr. Erickson, I have good news, you should be able to go home tomorrow." Meredith told the elderly man she had been taking care of.

"Thank you Dr. Grey, thank you for allowing me to get to see my granddaughter, Alison. It's her birthday tomorrow, you know."

"Tell her I said 'happy birthday.'" Meredith replied. She made sure he was comfortable and walked out to the Nurse's station to check on another chart.

A few seconds later she felt two very strong arms wrap around her waist. She turned around and found herself looking right into Derek Shepherd's eyes.

"Hi," Derek said. Short, sweet, and to the point.

"Hello Dr. Shepherd," Meredith said smiling dazzlingly at him. "Whatcha doin?" She asked.

"Ah, I needed someone to hug. I've been hugging random people all day, some of them looked a little scared. I wonder why." Derek said pondering and tapping his finger on his chin.

"Seriously?" Meredith asked looking at him like he was crazy.

"Nope, I just like to hug you, you smell good." Derek said grinning broadly. "What are you doing when you get off of work?"

"I was planning on going to the animal shelter to look at some of the animals. Losing Doc was hard on me."

"I get off soon…now actually." Derek said looking at his Rolex watch.

"Would you want to come with me?" Meredith asked her eyes shining.

"I'd love to, when do you get off?" Derek asked.

"Right now," Meredith said smirking.

"Let's go then. I'll meet you outside in five minutes." Derek said giving her a kiss on the cheek and walked off to go get changed. Meredith giggled at the irony. McDreamy was hers.

"Aw, look at that one!" Meredith exclaimed. They were at the Seattle Animal Shelter, the one where she had gotten Doc.

"He is cute, but we should probably look around a little more." Derek replied. The dog was cute, it was a little Labrador puppy, but Derek had another one in mind. While he was waiting for Meredith to finish getting changed, he logged onto the Shelter website and searched around for a dog. He had found the perfect one. "What about this guy?" Derek asked pointing to a large white German shepherd mix.

"Happy," When Meredith said his name the dog perked up and started wagging his tail rapidly. "Hi, boy, you live up to your name, don't you?" Meredith said in a soft loving voice. Derek had suggested the right dog. Meredith had fallen in love instantly. "Derek," Meredith said suddenly jerking her head up to look into his dreamy blue eyes.

"Meredith," Derek said in response. He knew what she was going to ask him.

"If I adopted Happy, would you co-own him like you did with Doc? I would come over every day and take him for a walk and feed him and wash him and-"

"Of course, Mer, Happy can live with me. It wouldn't be a problem; the trailer is big enough for the two of us. I'll go get that lady." Derek told her referring to the woman who kept pestering them when they had first arrived about adopting an animal.

Meredith crouched down again to be at Happy's height. "You're coming home with me, how do you like that idea?" Meredith laughed when Happy barked.

"Meredith," Derek called. "She wants you to sign some forms, and then we can take Happy home today." Derek smiled. "I'll go buy him a leash and a collar." Derek told her walking into the little pet store they had in the shelter.

"Could I change his name?" Meredith asked the woman with the paperwork. She was a large woman with bright platinum blonde hair.

"Sure, it might take him some time getting used to but, he's your dog. Do you know the name you'd like?" She asked.

Meredith turned to Derek who had returned a few minutes before. "I like the names Jake and Rocky, which do you think would be good?"

"I think he looks like a Rocky. The Rocky Mountains are snow covered and he's white which the color of snow is." Derek replied explaining his logic.

"We'd like to name him Rocky." Meredith said turning back to the woman.

"Great, we'll make him a tag that has his name on it with your address, no charge. He's great with kids and other dogs and Rocky loves people." The woman said walking around to a custom dog tag maker behind the sales counter in the pet store. "What is your address?"

"Um, I guess we'll give her yours, right?" Meredith asked Derek.

"Yeah, then we'll put both our numbers on it." Derek told her. Meredith proceeded to give the woman the address and phone numbers.

"We just need to get Rocky checked out by the vet and then you'll be able to take him home." The woman told them dropping the warm metal heart shaped dog tag into Meredith's hand.

"That's fine. We'll just sit in the waiting room." Meredith told the woman smiling at Derek. This is what she had dreamed for every night since she had met Derek. Being with him was way better than missing him.

"Meredith?" A voice called out.

Meredith sat there shocked. Of all the animal shelters in the city, he had to work here today? "Hi, Finn."

"What are you doing here?" Finn asked smiling at her. The truth was, Finn still loved Meredith. She had broken up with him for a reason unknown. He still didn't know about Prom Night.

"I just adopted a dog."

"You're adopting Happy? Great, he really needs a good home." Finn obviously thought he still had a chance with her. He obviously didn't. "Oh, hello, Dr. Shepherd. What brings you by?" Finn asked already knowing the answer.

"I'm co-adopting Rocky." Derek replied sounding confident but feeling awkward.

"Sorry, Rocky?" Finn asked looking at Meredith. Had he missed something? Meredith was adopting Happy.

"We renamed him. Happy reminds me of the dog from 7th Heaven. That dog reminds me of Doc and then I get all sad again." Meredith told him patting Rocky on the head. He immediately started wagging his tail.

"Well, I'll just take a look at him and you can be on your way." Finn said awkwardly.

"Thanks Finn, we'll be here." Meredith told him smiling. That smile gave Finn a little hope that maybe they could get back together. The truth was that Meredith smiled when things were awkward, it made things less tense.

"I can't believe he's ours! Come on Rocky!" Meredith told the lolly-gagging dog. He immediately recognized his new name and bounded toward them.

"Here, let me just put his collar on and then we can go out for a celebratory lunch." Derek told her smiling at how happy she seemed.

"I'm glad I have tomorrow off, I can spend some quality time with Rocky." Meredith said aloud.

"Then I'll take him on Friday until you get off work." Derek suggested.

"That'll work. Then we can have some take-out or pizza or something at your place." Meredith told him.

"So, what you just invite yourself over to my house now, spending my money on food?" Derek teased.

"Exactly, but you should know I only like you for your hair." Meredith whispered teasingly.

"I thought so." Derek said with mock hurt. He smiled at her. "Meredith Grey, I love you." Derek told her giving her a heart-stopping kiss. McDreamy had a way of doing that. His kisses were so perfect that they stopped heartbeats.

"I love you too, Derek."

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