Chapter 16: Afternoon Problems
When Meredith went downstairs, having taken her shower, Derek was already in the practice, chatting with Izzie.
"Morning," she announced her presence avoiding his eyes as she donned her lab coat.
"Morning, Mer."
"Morning. Again," he quipped.
She felt shivers run down her spine at the cockiness in his voice. It inadvertently took her to two hours earlier when they shared a screaming orgasm. She definitely shouldn't look at him.
"How was your breakfast?" he asked with amusement. Damn bastard, he was both teasing her and asking if her freak out was over. "A good day starts with a good breakfast. I had a very good one today… with a bit of interruption but still very good."
Izzie raised her eyebrows questioningly feeling something was slipping her attention.
"I… er, we've already seen each other today Iz-"
"Oh, yes, we have," grinned Derek cutting her midsentence. "Meredith helped me out with my morning problem.
Izzie's eyebrows rode even higher while her coffee mug hung midair.
"A pipe, Iz…" Meredith muttered in a random explanation while making wide warning eyes at him to shut the hell up. He got a chance to fuck her, what else did he want?
"A pipe…" repeated Izzie, the corner of her lip twitching.
"The drain from the sink in the kitchen!" rattled Meredith raising her voice. "It was blocked, and I helped to unclog and… that's it…"
"Well, your help was invaluable," he declared with a smile.
"Okay…" Izzie frowned at them suspiciously. "Am I drunk, or have I just stepped into a parallel dimension? You're… nice to each other. You're never nice to each other."
"Is it that much of a problem?" Meredith asked sourly. "Because we can yell at each other-"
"No! No! That's fine," Izzie assured her quickly. "I prefer fine, it doesn't give me a headache. I just need to get used to this sudden and very unexpected change."
"We are both… adults…" shrugged Meredith.
"Who do adult things," added Derek with a grin.
"Wow, it's getting dense with steam here," Izzie chuckled, getting to her feet. "I'm gonna get myself a glass of juice. You want something to cool down that fire?"
"Izzie! I could do without your running commentary!"
"That would be a no," Derek said apologetically.
"What the hell was that?" she threw at him as soon as the blonde nurse disappeared up the stairs.
"What was what?"
"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about!" she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Ok, fine," he dropped the smile. "Do you want to pretend like this morning never happened? What, are you ashamed you had sex with me? I'm not up to the town's standards or what?"
"No, I don't want to pretend anything," she hissed with frustration. "What happened this morning… it happened. Because I wanted it. But that doesn't mean we're some happy couple on honeymoon. It also doesn't mean I want the whole town to know the details of my sex life. A little bit of privacy is all I'm asking. Especially as we're figuring the things out."
"Sorry, I was over the line," he sighed. "I just thought… that you were going to ignore me. I knew I'd get a reaction by infuriating you."
"We're not fifth graders, Derek," she rolled her eyes at him. "You don't pull on my braids to catch my attention."
"It has worked just fine so far," he gave her a small smile and she couldn't help reciprocating it.
The first patient entered the practice, and she shook her head at him, silently asking him to behave.
"Mrs. Lawson, come on in," she smiled at the woman leading her into her office. "What's the matter?"
"It's really nothing, it's just a tick," she waved her hand dismissively. "I wouldn't have troubled you at all if my son hadn't been so stubborn."
"Your son is right, Mrs. Lawson," sighed Meredith putting on a pair of latex gloves. "Ticks can carry dangerous diseases. Thankfully it doesn't look bad," she muttered, inspecting her forearm.
"Told you," smiled Mrs. Lawson. "Anyway, how's the new doctor doing?"
"Er… he's adapting quite well I guess," Meredith answered nonchalantly, focusing her eyes on the job at hand.
"Chloe Bishop's family, mostly the female part, have been singing praises of him since the birthday party. He's quite a catch."
"Oh?" Meredith's eyebrows raised innocently.
"You look good together."
"What?" Meredith let out a gasp almost dropping the tick to the floor.
"Oh, sweetie, everyone has seen the way he looks at you," Mrs. Lawson grinned knowingly. "And you've been looking at him with a keener eye too, from what I saw today."
"He's working here, we can't shout at each other all the time," Meredith mumbled embarrassedly.
"Me and my first husband shouted at each other all the time…" she smiled wistfully. "But there were some real fireworks in bed afterwards. With my second husband, we were the most agreeable couple in the world… but the passion was not the same…"
"Okay…" Meredith felt the blush expanding on her cheeks. Yeah, there were some real fireworks between her and Derek, they didn't even make it past the kitchen.
"You'd have cute kids," Mrs. Lawson went on. "He has good stuff, genes or whatever you call it. After all, his family comes from here."
Oh, yeah. She knew, she saw the good stuff firsthand this morning.
"Mrs. Lawson, honestly," Meredith let out a short laugh. "Derek… Dr. Shepherd is here for two months. I really-"
"That's more than enough to make a baby," she winked. "I'm sure he would stay for a kid…"
Meredith's mouth hung open in shock. Unbelievable… Did her patient just tell her to get knocked up in order to trap Derek in Rachel? She needed to pinch herself.
"You're all set to go," she cleared her throat instead.
Mrs. Lawson got to her feet with a sigh. "Ah, the young today… so unwilling to commit. If I was twenty years younger, I wouldn't let such an occasion slip through my fingers."
She barely left when Meredith's forehead heavily collided with her desk. She was so screwed…
Since Izzie didn't yet come back from her lunch, Meredith went to the storage room to check the state of supplies herself. Their supplier from Vegas was toeing the deadline was once again. She really needed to look for another one, who didn't treat their less well-off clients like shit. Suddenly, a pair of strong decisive hands closed around her waist.
She jumped around to see Derek trapping her in his arms, a crooked smile on his face. Her lungs constricted; his presence seemed to fill the whole tiny storage room. She was not surprised; he was very good at filling…
"You need something?" she breathed out.
"I… I think I need you…"
His admission both took her breath away and stirred up fear in her heart.
"Meredith, don't pull away," he pleaded feeling her body going rigid under his palms. So, he did the only thing that came to his mind. He came after her to coax her into talking just as she had promised. He valued her friendship too much to lose her. He knew that if they didn't talk heart to heart soon, their sexy romp would become an elephant in the room.
But she had this glint in her eyes. Just like when they had kissed for the first time in the storm. He could see it in her eyes, something close to fear. He panicked, lunging his lips to hers, engaging her in a drugging kiss. They practically didn't kiss this morning in his kitchen. It was like they were in heat, desperate to spend the sexual energy coiling in their bodies, mounting since the moment they met.
However, it was so not out of their systems. Not out of his system certainly. He wanted more than a quick fuck. Usually, it had been enough for him if he met a woman that caught his attention. Not with Meredith. He was far from drinking his fill of her. It should scare him, it should scare the shit out of him. He had never wanted a woman this way. And yet, it filled him with a strange calmness. The only thing that marred the picture was the anxiety that she would run away screaming.
There was so much about her he yearned to discover, explore. Her body held so many secrets still to unravel. How she looked in the nude, what made her moan and writhe in pleasure, it remained a mystery he had to solve.
Breaking in through her soft lips, his tongue entered her mouth to stroke its sweet recesses, mate with hers, imprint himself on her.
"Der…" his name fell from her lips in the form of a moan when he redirected his attention to her neck. His cognitive functions were shutting down fast as the violent tugs on his hair spurred his passion.
"Meredith…" he panted. "I'd normally be game for all sex and no talk but… not with you…"
"Why not with me?" she breathed out.
"Because you're special…" he confessed looking her deep in the eye.
That was probably not what he wanted to achieve right now but she couldn't resist throwing her arms around his neck and reclaiming his mouth possessively. With a growl, his hands moved from her ass to grip her thighs and lift her up, as light as a feather. Her legs hooked around his waist bringing him shamelessly close to her already hot core. He buckled against it impatiently, hardening instantly. Damn, they were really in heat.
"Oh, God…" her sweet moan filled his ears as they kept grinding against each other.
"Condom?" he managed to asked hopefully.
"Supply room, Derek," something between a moan and a chuckle escaped her throat and she groped around the shelves. "Supply room… condom… yeah…" She couldn't utter a full sentence as her mind was focused on one thing only – his big member stretching her deliciously just like this morning.
But that was not meant to happen, at least not now…
"Dr. Shepherd, Meredith!" Izzie's impatient shriek sounded over their moans and groans. They halted abruptly, their hearts beating like mad. "Sorry to interrupt! Mer, I understand you're taking care of, uhm, Dr. Shepherd's afternoon problem," Izzie didn't even try to hide her amusement, "but… you either… you either come or come out this instant. Mrs. Jordan is royally pissed that I'm keeping her outside without a reason!"
"Shit!" Meredith cursed under her breath, banging her head against the wall in frustration.
"Exactly," he sighed, letting her down to her feet while she readjusted her clothing trying to groom it to a more respectable state.
"I'm… gonna go," she mumbled apologetically.
"Yeah," he nodded leaning against the wall, his two arms outstretched while he waited for the tension in his body to disperse. He looked at her imploringly, "Later?"
After a brief hesitation she answered, "Later." She was not going to kid herself. If they found themselves in a situation like that again, alone, their bodies so close, they would go at it again, any reasonable thought flying out of the window.
She quickly left the small room closing the door behind her and was met with Izzie's full-fledged smirk. "So…"
"So?" Meredith looked at her challengingly.
"So how long have you been taking care of Dr. Shepherd's problems?"
"How long have you been perving on other people?" Meredith bit back sourly.
"I was not perving!" she laughed. "Trust me I would have to be totally deaf not to hear you two. You're kinda loud."
Meredith blinked. Loud? They didn't even get naked…
"Mer? I'm really happy for you," Izzie's face expressed nothing but happiness for her friend.
"Happy about what, Iz?" sighed Meredith. "That I'm one the best way to become a philandering whore?"
"No, that you're taking your life in your hands. You're long overdue, if not for love, then for fun. And… he's fun."
"It's… certainly not love," snorted Meredith. "Fun? I don't know. I don't know what it is. I can count on your discretion, right?"
"You don't need to ask. But you know you won't be able to keep it quiet for long… literally," the blonde wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Nor this one," remarked Meredith as Mrs. Jordan started to thud on the door once again. "Hello? What is going on in there?"
If I only knew… she sighed inaudibly.
Derek was pulled away from an article in the online edition of Journal of Neuroscience by a soft knock on the door to his office. Theoretically the workday was over, but he didn't feel like going home at all. For various reasons. He had a computer here, he could catch up with the real world. He didn't want to go back to the big lonely house where he would get hard just looking at the kitchen table… And he still hoped that maybe he and Meredith would have that much needed conversation.
The door opened and Meredith peeked inside holding a jug and two glasses. "Hey, I've got cold lemonade. You want some?"
"Sure, thanks." Not that he was particularly thirsty. But he knew it was a pretext. Meredith tried to initiate their talk in a light way.
She took a chair in front of his desk, directly from across him and for once, he was grateful for the distance. They would have unavoidably jumped at each other again had it not been for the piece of furniture separating them. And even though he'd absolutely love to jump Meredith again, it was imperative they explained a thing or two.
"So-"
"I-"
They spoke at the same time, their words mingling together.
"You go first," he nodded.
"No, you," she shook her head.
"Thank you for coming," he said gratefully.
She giggled over her glass of lemonade. "Sorry, porny thoughts," she announced unabashedly breaking the tension.
He flashed her a smile. "Thank you for every time you came."
"That was my pleasure," she quipped, and they shared a laugh. When she sobered up, she said, "You said things, Derek. That I'm not just a good lay."
"You're not. I mean apart from being a good lay, you are… I can't even explain it. You're fascinating, you're enthralling. You constantly challenge me, you make me feel the need to better up."
"I'm sorry."
"Haven't you heard the you're fascinating part?" he smiled. "And I love what you're doing to me, giving me a push forward. It's like I'm finding a new me thanks to you."
"Okay," she nodded pensively. "That's okay… that is okay, Derek. Because… I… I don't want to be used. I can't let that happen to me again," she admitted painfully.
"One-night stands?" he asked.
"No, not one-night stands," her voice shook ever so slightly but he picked it up with ease.
"Oh, my god, Meredith, were you-"
"No, I wasn't raped if that's what you thought," she sighed. "Some three and a half years ago… I was engaged three and a half years ago."
That was one of the last things he expected to hear from her. Meredith was engaged? His stomach was tied up in painful knots as his mind fabricated a silhouette of a man holding Meredith in his arms. It was irrational to be jealous of her past relationships. He berated himself immediately. Obviously that story didn't end up well for her.
"That's why you said you're scared and damaged?" he asked with all the gentleness he could muster, hiding all the plain curiosity from his voice.
"Yes, it… broke me, all of me," she said dejectedly. That note of bitterness that sometimes insinuated itself into her voice of her eyes struck again.
"There was another woman?" Derek couldn't believe there was a man in this world that could betray a woman like Meredith for someone else. It didn't make sense. No member of the fairer sex was remotely close to garnering his attention since he laid his eyes on her.
"No. I wish it had been," she confessed, surprising him.
"A man?" his eyebrow quirked curiously.
"No!" she burst out in laughter and he exhaled with relief. He was afraid that maybe he pushed too hard.
Too soon amusement vanished from her beautiful features. "I don't talk about it. It's… painful. And humiliating."
He drew a shaky breath. Again, he might be going too far but he needed to know… "Do you… do you love him?"
She let out a snort with filled with that bitterness that worried him more and more. "No, I loved the image of him. He wasn't real…"
"Mer… I'm… I'm the first man you let to touch you since then, am I?"
She fixed her eyes on his in a way she hadn't had before, a cold penetrating stare. But her expression soon softened, and she nodded her head. "I didn't ask for this."
"I didn't either…" he sighed.
Her eyebrow rose skeptically, "You're trying to tell me you didn't want to sleep with me?"
"Oh, I did," he nodded simply. "Of course, I did. What I didn't expect are the feelings. I care for you."
"Oh, so you want to go on with the knowing each other thing?" she asked nervously.
A nod of his head.
"And the sex thing?"
Double nod.
"What's the point though? You're leaving in two months."
"I am. But that doesn't change the fact that we can be friends."
"With benefits?" she asked amusedly.
"No," Derek grimaced somewhat. "It sounds so… crude. What we have is more than that. We can help each other."
"Before you offer anything like that you should know… I don't talk about myself. So… I would like to know you but there are some things I don't share. I just… I don't want to rake it all open."
"I understand. I'm not going to force you; I don't want to do that. You'll share with me only what you want to share with me," he assured her softly, reaching a hand towards her across the desk, his palm up.
"You sure?" she asked quietly eyeing his open hand.
"Definitely."
"So, we'll be… friends or whatever… for two months? No hard feelings afterwards?"
"Exactly. Meredith?" he cocked his head expectantly.
His lips stretched in a full-blown smile when she insinuated her smaller hand into his at long last.
"Okay."
"Okay."
"So," she grinned. "Dr. Shepherd, do you have an evening problem for me to take care of?"
"Actually, I do," he leaned back in his chair watching her avidly as she stood up and walked around the desk to him, their hands still connected. "And there's that afternoon problem that's still unsolved…"
