They were ten hours into their car ride, and it was officially dark. Meredith picked a stray thread off of the white sundress she had dug out from the back of her closet. It wasn't what anyone would call a wedding gown - it was too short and there was a red wine stain over the left breast. But it was white. People got married wearing white.

"I don't have a maid of honor," Meredith blurted into the silent car.

Derek glanced at her sideways from the drivers seat. "And I don't have a best man. Hell, I don't even have a ring."

"But… Cristina's getting married to Burke, and she asked me to be her maid of honor," Meredith trailed. "I figured I should return the favor."

"Meredith, I don't think they DO maids of honor at the Little White Chapel."

She bit down on her thumbnail and stared straight ahead. God. She was marrying Derek. This wasn't even his first wedding. He had probably married Addison in a Roman Catholic church with everything planned out in advance. Nice and traditional.

A delirious laugh escaped her lips. "You're right. We don't even have rings."

"Do you not want to do this?"

"No, I do. But no one is going to believe we actually got married if there isn't a ring to prove it."

Derek considered this for a brief movement before jerking the steering wheel to the left, towards the closest exit. Meredith was slammed against the car door. "What are you doing? We still have 50 miles -"

"We're going to get rings."

At almost midnight, they were the only two customers inside "Al's Pawn Shop", somewhere in Southern Idaho. The clerk behind the counter couldn't have been older than 19, and watched with vague disinterest as Derek sifted through a shelf of jewelry.

"How about these?" he held up two slightly tarnished silver bands.

Meredith shook her head. "I wear gold jewelry, Derek."

"But these are nice."

"You can't mix metals. That's not how it works."

Derek stared at her in awe. "That makes absolutely no sense." He put down the silver rings and dug up a thin gold band with a massive blue gemstone. "How about this?"

"Thats huge."

"I know. It will look nice on a necklace."

Meredith tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What?"

"Thats what a lot of surgeons do when they get married, they put their wedding bands on a necklace. Otherwise they would probably lose it, taking it on and off all the time. It's what Addison did."

It sounded great in theory, but Derek's earlier words still bounced around her mind.

You would be morally corrupt to administer an IV in your condition. Never mind step into an OR.

Meredith stared down at the floor, at her strappy white sandals and the chipping blue nail polish that had somehow lasted her months. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

For the first time that night she was reminded of the time sensitive grenade she was lugging around everywhere she went. Every car she sat in, every store she stepped into, every alter she stood at -

"Meredith?"

She cleared her throat abruptly. "Sorry."

She would likely never step into an OR again.

Derek frowned, his brow furrowing with concern. "I brought up Addison. Sorry, I shouldn't have -"

"Its not that. I'm just tired," Meredith interrupted, forcing a grin. She nodded at the ring in Derek's hand. "Thats a good one. And here -" She picked up one of the silver bands - "Just because I don't wear silver doesn't mean you can't."

"Alright," Derek said uneasily, taking it from her. He regarded her carefully for a few moments. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, Derek. Practically dying of anticipation."

AN: I do not endorse Meredith's opinions on mixing gold and silver. I have, on many occasions.