Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or Ben & Jerry's ice cream… but I'm about to go eat some!

Part 10

It was dark outside. Meredith checked her cell phone, it was 12:30 AM and Mary was not awake. Derek had been in earlier to check on them, but had left soon after. She must have fallen asleep for a while. Suddenly, Meredith heard someone speak; she had thought she was alone in the room. "She still hasn't woken up. She has thirty minutes." Him. She sighed. "Derek, how long have you been sitting there, and how long have I been asleep?"

"Well, the answers are 30 minutes and 1 hour. You're so peaceful when you sleep." Derek smiled. "It's been a long day, but I don't think she's going to wake back up."

"She might still make it, Derek. She has thirty minutes, and anything could happen."

Just then, they heard a small cough. Meredith looked over at Mary, whose eyes jolted open, as if they were full of new energy and life.

"Well hello there." Derek said. He proceeded to tell the patient exactly what had happened…

Some time later, both Meredith and Derek walked out of the room, completely satisfied and happy that Mary had woken and was doing well, with her family on the way to see her. "Listen, Meredith, I'm going to talk to the family, and then, if you're still interested, I'd still like to take you out to dinner. Since it's so late, I was thinking you could change and then I could pick you up at your house around… say 1:30?"

"Are you crazy, Derek? For one, it's almost one o'clock in the morning, there's no restaurant open. And second, I probably should think about sleeping sometime soon. I sure didn't get much last night, and I doubt I'll get any tonight either!"

"Come on, Meredith, let's go. Be spontaneous. I'm all for the spontaneity!" Derek smiled, but Meredith just laughed. He was making no sense; obviously, he needed to catch up on his sleep too.

"You know what Derek, today my glass is going to be half-full. Let's go for it. But seriously, there's no place open to eat this late."

"Don't worry about that, I have a plan. Just be ready to leave from your house in an hour. That way you can drive home and get ready, but don't forget, dress comfortably, we're still going to the same place I had planned for earlier."

Meredith changed and got ready to leave the hospital. Nobody was still on shift. George, Izzie, Cristina, and Alex had all left earlier, and even Bailey had gotten off around 10 PM. Meredith found her car and drove home, with the radio turned up to keep her awake. Once she got home, she stayed quiet as she went up the stairs. George and Izzie were sound asleep; she could hear snoring from both rooms. Once she got up to her room, she forgot every ounce of reason she could have been tired. She changed into some jeans and a t-shirt, while packing a bag with an extra set of clothes. She was off from work tomorrow and had no idea where tonight might take them. Soon she saw headlights from the window in her room and knew Derek was there. She grabbed her bag and purse and headed quietly out the door to meet Derek, leaving a note saying she would be home in the morning, so George and Izzie wouldn't worry too much, if they cared.

She headed down the driveway, where Derek was parked on the street. He had cleaned up as well, his hair, recently showered, was still wet and he was wearing an oxford shirt with jeans. Meredith smiled and he opened her door, motioning for her to get into the car. As they had done yesterday morning, Derek headed out of the city toward the forestry area they had gone to before. However, this time, they ended up following a long driveway, which at the end had a small, tin Airstream trailer. Meredith wondered where in hell they were; there was no possible way this could be Derek's residence. He was a neurosurgeon who made over two million dollars a year, he must live in a mansion, right?

However, the car finally stopped in front of this trailer. Derek had a smirk on his face, and finally explained a little of his secret dinner plans.

"When I moved here from New York, I vowed to start over… no more fancy materialistic things- I don't need them. So tonight, if its ok with you, I'd like to keep things simple and cook you an amazing meal at my simple, yet very nice… trailer. I make very good trout."

"Well, Derek Shepherd, that sounds like the most romantic date I've ever heard of. And for the record, I love trout."

-

With that, Derek was satisfied. To find a woman who wanted him, not his money or anything else he had… that was an once-in-a-lifetime find. He finally saw it. He had a future here that he had never had with a woman before, and there would be no screwing this up again… this relationship was here to stay.

-

Meredith looked over at Derek and smiled. He was the most perfect man she had ever been with, despite all of his flaws. She leaned over and kissed him. She couldn't help it; it was hard to keep self-control around him. As they sat there kissing, enjoying each others company, Meredith felt completely comfortable.

It seemed as if they had forgotten the trout altogether. Derek went for Meredith's shirt and pulled it over her head and Meredith began to unhook Derek's pants. The two somehow made their way over to Derek's small bed, and Derek, completely unclothed by this time, landed on top of Meredith and gave a soft groan. He knew how to work her and was not disappointing her this time. She began to search his body, making her way down and saving the very best for last. "Are you still hungry?" Derek asked.

"How can you be thinking of food at a time like this? Just shut up and come closer."

Derek grinned and jumped back in to please Meredith to the best of his ability….

Meredith woke early the next morning, to the grumbling of her own stomach. The sun was barely rising, but Derek was nowhere to be found. Meredith saw Derek's shirt from the night before at the end of the bed and put it on, in search of the shirt's true owner. She stepped out onto the porch and saw Derek with a mug of coffee and another sitting at the table in between the two chairs. Meredith sat down and grabbed the mug, assuming it was for her.

"Good Morning," Derek said, "I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm just getting used to an early schedule. Last night was so great, but I'd better get home early today Derek, to patch things up with my friends, because I know we're not quite ok yet."

"I wish I could convince you otherwise, but I really understand. I'll take you home and maybe we could go out for an earlier and actually real dinner tonight. I'll call you, ok."

"Thanks, Derek." With that, Meredith got dressed and Derek dropped her off back at home. When she walked in, she finally realized how exhausted she still was. She looked in the freezer, grabbed a half-eaten pint of Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and sat down at the kitchen table. Soon, she heard footsteps and looked up. It was George.

"George." Meredith said under her breath.

"Meredith, I, ummm… I was just leaving." George said, obviously wanting nothing to do with Meredith.

"George, wait." She pleaded, "Just give my five minutes to explain."

George reluctantly grabbed a spoon and sat down with Meredith, digging into her ice cream uninvited. Meredith didn't mind though, she was just lucky he was talking to her, although she didn't understand why this was so much harder for him than Izzie or Cristina. Meredith proceeded to tell George the whole story with Derek, and George listened intently, but he didn't say a word. At the end, Meredith asked George if he was all right.

"Yea, Meredith, this is weird and all, but I'm happy for you. Just don't let him hurt you. You deserve the best person ever because you are one of the most wonderful people I know."

"Thank you, George. But, I'll tell you something I haven't told anyone yet. With him, I feel like the best and most wonderful person. He does that to you, you know."

"Actually, I've never gotten that feeling around him, but I got really happy when he told me I did a good job on the last surgery I worked with him on." George smirked. He could be such a smart ass, but he was a caring friend, and Meredith was thankful for people like him.

"This thing between us, it's not a fling. I think I'm falling in love and I can't breathe. I can't breathe whenever I think about him. And I'm pretty sure that's the way its support to be."

With that, George picked up his spoon and dived into the ice cream. George and Meredith sat together and Meredith was finally happy, knowing that now she had it all, and life couldn't get much better.

(A/N: I just reread this for the first time in like four months, and I realized that the "I can't breathe" part was exactly like in the finale, crazy since I wrote this before the finale…seriously! Shonda is picking my brain! I'm kidding, but I really hope you enjoyed this story… I love all of my loyal reviewers!)

See you soon!