Chapter 63: A Drunken Night

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Derek asked, a begging note in his voice, as he pulled up across the road to Cristina's inn. There was music spilling outside along with loud chatter and laughter. Under The Alien was filled to the brim, as usual in the evening.

"The alternative is to forego dinner… since you forbade us to go to town and do the necessary shopping," reminded Carolyn.

Derek let out a sigh. He probably seemed paranoid to his family. He simply didn't want to risk the possibility of them being cold-shouldered or looked down upon because of him.

"There are some eggs in the fridge…" he proposed weakly. "I could go out of Rachel to do the shopping tomorrow…"

"Oh, for the love of God!" Carolyn unbuckled her seat belt and energetically got out of the car. "What happened to your philosophy of not giving up? Besides, we're just going to have dinner. What is it you're worrying about?"

"Well, he did get that black eye in here," Mark said airily as he scrutinized the building's façade with curiosity.

"He got what?" Carolyn gasped and turned to look at her son, as though expecting to see the traces of the injury.

"It was nothing! Just a misunderstanding," he tried to convince her but even Addison and Mia started to look apprehensive. "Thanks, by the way, Mark."

"You're welcome," he quipped. "But it's true, Mom, don't worry. He was happy to get his ass kicked. He scored some brownie points with the feisty doctor."

"Really, Derbear?" Mia was now on the verge of bursting into a fit of giggles. "Playing wounded to get into her pants? How inventive."

"I did not play wounded, I actually was wounded," he explained patiently. "But I didn't get my ass kicked!" he added quickly seeing the alarm on his mother's face. "And yes, it enabled me to get closer to Meredith so everything turned out just fine in the end… or it will."

"Let's go inside," Carolyn only shook her head, lifting her eyes up to the heavens. "Before I change my mind."

"I think I might have just changed my mind," Mark grimaced as they went in and were able to discern the music, or something that was supposed to be music, and more specifically Gloria Gaynor's 'I will survive'. "Is someone being tortured here?"

Amongst the general noise of the place, they could clearly make out three female voices singing at the top of their lungs, the overall effect not exactly being admiration-worthy. Derek had no problem recognizing their owners – Meredith, Izzie, and Cristina. The perspective of staying at the inn more than five minutes seemed less and less appealing.

"Yeah, you don't want to subject your ears to that, do you?" Derek said innocently, quickly turning back towards the door. Maybe they'd be able to clear out unnoticed.

"Man up!" Amelia smacked him on the back. "It's just karaoke. The song won't last forever."

He had no other option but to follow them through the foyer to the restaurant area.

"Isn't that your girlfriend?" Mark asked as they halted at the entrance. "No offence, but singing isn't really her strong suit."

"None taken," Derek answered, surreptitiously scanning the room. They had already been noticed, some of the patrons were glancing at them furtively, others staring unabashedly. When he planted his eyes back on Meredith who was swaying uncoordinatedly on a small makeshift stage, her arms thrown around Izzie's and Cristina's necks, his heart squeezed painfully. The expression on her face, her movements, the quality of her voice… it was as clear as day that she wasn't sober. He had never seen her drunk, she never drank much.

Before any of them could make any comment, Owen approached them with a tray in his hands, a pencil behind his ear and air of general nervousness about him.

"Derek, hey. This is… perhaps this is not the best time…"

"I realize that," Derek nodded quickly. "But we'd just like to have some dinner, really."

"Okay… I think we can find you a booth in a secluded corner."

"Are they… are they ok?" Derek asked him, throwing worried looks at Meredith over his shoulder.

"They've had… too much to drink. I took the tequila away as soon as I got back from the practice but obviously, it was already too late. The good thing is that they won't poison your food."

"So… you didn't possibly have a chance to…?" Derek asked Owen hopefuly.

"I'm sorry, man," Owen shook his head apologetically. "I'll try to get her to read the article tomorrow. She will be so hangover I might actually not be kicked out on the curb."

"By the way, this is Owen Hunt, Cristina's boyfriend. He's a doctor and he now work with Meredith. Cristina's Meredith's best friend in Rachel. Also, the owner of this inn," Derek explained to his family and in turn introduced them to Owen.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Hunt," Carolyn couldn't help but smile in relief. It looked like Derek had some friends in this town after all.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am," he nodded. "I hope you're not too displeased with Rachel. The people here have hearts of gold, but they tend to take solidarity to a whole new level. How long is your visit going to be?"

"Not too long. Mark, Addie and Mia are going home next week, they have their jobs in New York. I'm going to stay until… things settle down a bit," she said euphemistically.

"That might take a while," chuckled Owen as the last sounds of the song finally died down. A few people applauded, but probably out of relief that the performance came to a long-awaited end. "You know, I should probably take you to your table-"

"Oweeeen!"

He cringed. He should have been smarter and led the party straight to their table. Now they were spotted by Cristina, who was even more unpredictable under the influence of alcohol as it erased all her inhibitions. Now she was giving him the deadliest glare he had ever received from her.

"Ya lost yer friggin' mind?" she bellowed. "You chattin' with him? What, you're best buddies now?"

"Cristina, calm down," he implored her, immensely grateful for the thoughtfulness of one of her employees, thanks to whom music was already blasting everyone's ears thus preventing them from overhearing the heated tirade.

"Don't you tell me to calm down, traitor!"

"Yeah, men are all the same," Izzie backed her up, her speech slurring.

"I'm sorry for this," Derek looked at Owen apologetically.

"Damn right you should be, you dick without a penis!" Cristina shouted.

"Man, is there something else we should know about?" Mark patted Derek on the shoulder sympathetically while the latter flushed furiously.

"I'm not sure I want to know…" Amelia couldn't help but grimace.

"Cristina!" Meredith, who was purposefully dragging at the back until now, hissed at her and pulled her away. "Let's just… go… Leave it." She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole, at least that part of her brain that was still working did. It was supposed to be a carefree evening, but of course that plan completely backfired on her.

"Leave it? It's my place!" argued Cristina, as she stumbled back into Meredith.

"Cristina, you promised!"

"I… Fine!" Cristina growled in defeat and turned towards the door, thus crashing into Izzie. Meredith was nothing short of relieved as she followed her friends out, desperately trying to walk in a straight line. Unfortunately, the walking out part was taking longer than usual, given their state, and it allowed a certain someone to catch up with them.

"Meredith!"

She felt as if she was going to spontaneously combust. Derek was suddenly right beside her, his lips not that far from her ear, while his hand was firmly planted at the small of her back. If she was fully responsible for her actions and capable of controlling them, she would have flinched from that offending hand instantly. Now, some strange mysterious force kept her spine plastered to that hand. Because it felt good, she didn't even try to convince herself that it didn't. She felt as if she had stepped into a furnace instead of the cool evening air. Her skin seemed to be on fire, her cheeks burning.

"Meredith are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"Does it look like I'm alright?" she gasped, finally turning to him, staggering a little as she did so. It was even harder to face him than usual as she was seeing everything in slow motion. "You're everywhere! Your face is everywhere! In my dreams, when I'm awake, even when I'm drunk! You're in my home, you're in my practice, you're here! And I can't breathe so just stop!"

She raised her hands as if shielding herself from him and stomped after Cristina and Izzie who were walking slowly, their arms around each other's necks.