They sat across from each other in the booth at a diner just down the road from the hospital. Meredith has driven them both to the hospital and they had walked down, hopefully not seen by anyone they didn't want to see them driving in together.

They had stopped by Derek's hotel that morning so he could change and grab his suitcase. Instead of wearing his suit from the previous night, he had jeans and a shirt on now while Meredith wore her familiar jeans and simple top ensemble she would normally wear into work before changing into scrubs. Part of her couldn't wait until she started her fellowship and to not have to wear scrubs all the time - they made her look far much younger than she was and patients would often underestimate her authority and experience while she wore them.

Don't ask me
What you know is true
Don't have to tell you
I love your precious heart

I, I was standing
You were there
Two worlds collided
And they could never tear us apart

Seeing the way Derek looked at her, though, you'd think she was still wearing the dress from the night before. He couldn't seem to keep her eyes of her, and their hands were constantly joined together, whether in the car, walking down the street, or on the table between them, as though they were afraid to let the other go.

Meredith started opening up to Derek a lot more than she had when they'd been together in Hawaii, not feeling restricted by the secret of her mother's identity. She wanted Derek to get to know her and she wanted to get to know him more. She was pretty sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him... or was it too soon to decide that? They had known each other just over four years now, both of them just weeks into the fifth year of residency.

"What have you got scheduled today then?" Derek asked her, the small grin still on his face that hadn't left since he'd woken up with her in his arms.

"Well, I'm starting a clinical trial with Dr..." she told him, realising she's hadn't mentioned this to him yet.

"Oh? What kind of clinical trial?" Derek asked, genuinely interested, knowing it would be neurosurgery based.

"It's a treatment plan, to treat inoperable malignant gliomas, by injecting the tumour with a virus, theorising the virus will attack and shrink the tumour," she explained, watching the interest on his face as he listened to her.

"And Dr... chose you to assist?" He queried, wanting to know more about it. Normally, he was up to date about up and coming research in neurosurgery, but this was something he hadn't heard about, which was strange to him because he followed the work of Meredith's mentor, Dr...

A slight blush rose on Meredith's cheeks and she grinned slightly at him, suddenly feeling very shy about the whole thing, "Well, no, not exactly. I came up with it. She's supervising because I'm only a resident still..."

His eyes went a little wide as she spoke, a surge of pride running through him and he grinned wider, if it were possible, squeezing her hand gently, "I can't put into words how proud I am of you right now."

She shook her head with a soft laugh, "it's just a theory, it might not even work."

"Can I have a look at the proposal when we get to the hospital?" He asked, keeping his grip on her hand.

"Sure," she shrugged, still smiling at him. She'd have to get this smiling under control before she got to the hospital, before people started asking questions, but she was just so happy.

They finished off their respective coffees before heading back toward the hospital, hand in hand. As they entered the hospital, their hands pulled back from one other, although they walked shoulder to shoulder up to the residents' lounge so that they could both change into scrubs.

There was no one in there when they arrived, and Meredith pulled her top off as if it weren't anything she hadn't done a million times before. Derek's eyes didn't stray from her once as she stripped to her underwear before pulling the scrubs on.

"Are you sure you can't come away with me for today instead of being here?" She turned to look at him, just as she had pulled her lab coat on, seeing the desire in his eyes matching that in the tone of his voice.

"And you think no one would notice we were both missing?" She raised an eyebrow at him, slightly amused at his primal desire, but also quite turned on by it as she bit her lip slightly.

He moved closer to her as he took his shirt off with a low chuckle, smirking slightly, "I wouldn't care, I'd have you all to myself."

Her eyes glanced over his torso, watching as he took his jeans off as well as he moved closer to her, depositing them with his shirt on the bench. "You're just asking for trouble now..." she said as she backed up against the wall.

His voice lowered and he leant one hand against the wall beside her as their faces were inches from each other. Meredith's breathing became laboured at his proximity, his lips moving to just under her ear as he spoke in a husky whisper, "So, Dr Grey, where can I get some scrubs?"

"Meredith!" At the sound of Cristina's voice, Derek pulled back from her as though he had been given an electric shock, "What the hell is going on here? What are you doing to her?"

"Cris..." Meredith started, "Dr Shepherd was just grabbing some scrubs," she said with a pointed look toward him and a gesture toward the fresh scrubs. He followed her direction and grabbed some scrubs while Meredith spoke with Cristina. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she walked over to her, "Whats up Cristina?"

"Your mother was looking for you... and something about Shepherd not being at the hotel this morning at breakfast," Cristina narrowed her eyes at Meredith, "Wouldn't know anything about that would you? Anything I need to know?"

Meredith didn't have to speak any words to her person, just looking at her a certain way gave her the answer she needed to know.

"I guess I missed a lot not going to that gala..." Cristina's eyebrows rose as she spoke, out of Derek's earshot, "are you sure about this?"

Meredith glanced over to where Derek stood on the other side of the room, busying himself with his phone to give her some privacy with Cristina, she looked back to her twisted sister, "I'm sure."

"I'm actually proud of you, and happy for you, if he hurts you though," she spoke a bit louder now so that Derek could hear her, "I will cut off his balls and feed them to him on a plate."

Meredith laughed softly at the slight panic on Derek's face and she gently nudged Cristina's shoulder with her own, "Go on, I'll go deal with Ellis."

Cristina rolled her eyes, leaving Meredith and Derek alone again in the residents' lounge. She turned to walk over to him, "We really should be more careful, that could've been anyone."

"I'm not getting your point… why would that be a bad thing?"

"Don't you understand how hospital gossip works, or have you just never been subjected to it? My mother would find out in minutes. Your last year of residency shouldn't be any harder on you than it already is."

"And you have been subject to hospital gossip?" He raised an eyebrow, pressing a kiss to her forehead before they made their way out of the room.

"That's nothing you need to concern yourself with," she said with a gentle pat of his upper arm and a slight smirk on her lips.

"Now I'm even more interested," he mused as they walked along, him just following wherever she was going.

"You can be interested all you like," she quipped back as they walked out on to the catwalk towards the Chief's office, the place she thought first to check for her mother, "I'm not telling you anything."

"Aren't you going to drop the mystery act then?" He said, sneaking a playful jab into her side.

She flinched a little at the contact, "I'm definitely not going to now."

Meredith knocked on the door to the Chief's office, having realised the privacy blinds had been pulled down, so she couldn't actually see if anyone was inside. She heard a faint "One moment!" from inside the office, and waited for the door to be opened.

After a moment of waiting in silence with Derek a little too close beside her, the door opened and Richard stood there, blocking the view of the room, a little out of breath, "What can I do for you, Meredith?"

"Oh, I was just looking for my mother… have you seen her?" Meredith raised an eyebrow, finding herself slightly curious as to the reason behind Richard's demeanour, and then wishing she hadn't been.

"Meredith!" She heard her mother's voice from inside the room and Richard widened the door, motioning for Meredith and Derek to enter the office.

Meredith's eyes darted between Richard and Ellis, feeling a slight blush rising in her cheeks when she realised exactly what they had been up to, "What the…"

"I see you've found Dr Shepherd. Where were you this morning?" She pointed the question towards Derek, as Meredith stood there in slight shock and embarrassment at the situation in front of her.

"I went to the ferry boats," he answered instantly, almost as though he had rehearsed his excuse, "and then I came to the hospital and ran into Meredith."

Meredith nodded as if to validate his version of events, "Cristina said you were looking for me?"

"I wanted to know if you had an explanation for leaving early last night," Ellis crosses her arms over her chest as she spoke, her eyes on Meredith as she tried to read her.

Meredith just shrugged, avoiding her mother's scrutinising gaze, "I was tired. I stayed for the important parts."

"Right, well, we're heading back to New York this evening. I want you to come to visit at Christmas."

Meredith's brow furrowed, "Why? We don't do holidays."

"There's a first time for everything, the leave has been approved now anyway. You will fly out on the 23rd with Richard and be back before New Year's."

"Wait, have I missed something here…" Meredith knew she hadn't missed anything, but there was something more to it. She looked to Richard for an answer who just looked to Ellis, as though getting permission to let Meredith in on what was going on.

"Fine. You'll hear about it soon anyway. We're getting married, Richard and I," Ellis told her, gesturing between Dr Webber and herself.

"You're…. what?" Meredith looked at her in disbelief.

"Getting married. Keep up. Not a big thing, just at the courthouse next month."

Meredith was speechless, she didn't know what to say. Her first instinct was to run, to remove herself from the room. And so she did just that.

Derek watched as she bolted out of the room, without a word. He almost followed her out of the room, but realised at the last second, he probably shouldn't otherwise they'd realise something was definitely going on.

"Right, Shepherd, go and keep yourself occupied, learn things. The car is taking us to the airport at 6:30 sharp, your father is around here somewhere. I think he wanted to check out the ER," Ellis told him as though Meredith hasn't just bolted from the room.

"Okay, Chief Grey. And, congratulations to you both."

"Thank you, Dr Shepherd," Dr Webber nodded over to him and Derek left the room, finally able to go and see if Meredith was okay. The only problem was, he had absolutely no idea where she could be.

He made his way to the ER, figuring it would be a good place to start and in any case, his father should be there. Things didn't seem overly busy in the ER, but they definitely weren't quiet. As he wandered through toward the admissions area, he heard his name being called, and he turned to see Meredith stood with his father.

He raised an eyebrow as he walked over to them, "Hey, Dad, Meredith."

His dad placed a hand on his shoulder, "I was just speaking with Meredith, she was telling me how she'll be in New York around Christmas and I thought she could come over for dinner on Boxing Day with us."

"I'd have to check what my mother's plan is, Dr Shepherd," she turned to look at Christopher again, still slightly unnerved about the recent announcement from her mother, "I have to get going. I'll see you both again before you leave."

Derek watched as she gave a polite smile and walked off before either Shepherd could respond to her and Christopher turned to look at Derek, slightly confused, "Is she okay?"

"She's just found out some… surprising news, to say the least," he said in a slight murmur, wanting to go after Meredith.

"It's okay, Son. Go. I'll meet you out front at half six this evening if not sooner," he gave his son a knowing smile as he patted his shoulder again.

"Thanks, Dad," he gave him a slight nod before heading in the direction Meredith had just gone, even though he had no idea where she might be. His first guess was to head in the direction of the neurosurgical department.

"So do I get to see this proposal then?" She heard him ask, and she lifted her head from the papers in front of her to look at him.

"You found me," she said with a half smile, before looking back at the papers in front of her.

"You're not that difficult to find, Meredith," he said with a short laugh, moving to sit in the chair beside her, wheeling it closer to hers. "Why are you hiding from me anyways?"

She shrugged, still focusing on the papers, the end of the pen she held between her teeth.

"We don't have to talk about what your mother announced just now," he spoke quietly, placing his hand on her thigh under the desk to try and give her some comfort, or reassurance.

She was silent, covering her hand over his on her thigh a moment, before passing a pile of papers over to him, "Here's what we have so far."

I told you
That we could fly
'Cause we all have wings
But some of us don't know why

I was standing
You were there
Two worlds collided
And they could never ever tear us apart

He'd spent most of the day shadowing her, spending as much time with her as possible before he had to leave to go back to New York. When she'd finally gotten a break in her day, an hour before he was due to head back home, they'd locked themselves in an on-call room so they could spend more personal time together, lost in each other.

"It's time to say goodbye, Meredith," Derek murmured against her hair, holding her close against him in the bed, and he chuckled softly as her lips starting kissing his neck, "You're going to make me miss my plane…"

"Would that be such a bad thing?" She laughed softly, gently nipping at the skin on his neck as his hands moved to her waist, moving her over him with a slight groan

"And you have a job to do, baby," he pushed her hair back with his hand as she moved her lips to his, with the intention of keeping him quiet. He was glad he'd brought up needing to leave fifteen minutes before he actually had to be heading out to the car that would be there for them at half six.

"Can't you just stay…" she murmured against his lips, her fingers tangling into his hair as she pressed up against him.

"I really wish I could, I've only just got you and I hate having to leave you," he murmured back, lowering his arms around her waist to hold her against him. She giggled softly as he pressed a series of kisses against her lips, speaking between each one, "But we'll see each other again before you know it. Three months until Christmas. Maybe it's a good thing Ellis is dragging you to New York."

"Oh, crap. My mother," she rolled her eyes at the thought, "I'm going to have to tell her aren't I?"

"You don't have to. At least not until after the boards, hm?" He chuckled softly and she nodded, kissing him again eagerly.

"I promise," she grinned softly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Come on, get some clothes on before I get too distracted," he murmured, and she groaned softly before climbing off the bed and finding her scrubs, pulling them on as he did the same with his own clothes, having already ditched his scrubs earlier.

"Maybe I should see you off here," she said, his arms around her again once they were both dressed.

"Are you sure?" He asked, lowering his forehead against hers.

"I'm sure," she said with a small smile, pressing her lips to his, "Call me when you get home safe, okay?"

"I promise," he murmured softly, pressing another kiss to her lips, "It won't be too long until we see each other again, okay?"

"Okay," she pressed her lips to his a little harder, for the last time, "Go on, before I drag you back to bed."

He chuckled softly and hugged her close one more time before pulling back, reluctantly, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," she said with a sad smile as she watched him leave. This was going to be a long couple of months until she could see him again, but at least this time there was no hurt between the pair. Maybe it would be harder this time, to finally have him and not have him at the same time. At least before she could try and put him out of her mind.

She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath before leaving the room and heading to the front of the hospital, just in time to see Derek climbing into the waiting car with his Dad to take them to the airport. This somehow hurt more than it had before, but she couldn't let it show. She turned on her heel and headed back to work.

You, you were standing
(Don't ask me)
(You know it's true)
I was there
(Worlds collided)
Two worlds collided
(We're shining through)
And they could never, ever, ever, tear us apart