"Meredith!"

Her heart stopped as she heard his voice, and she turned around to see him standing there. His hair was a mess, his shirt slightly wrinkled. She blinked a few times, frozen to the spot as he continued to move closer to her. Only when his arms were wrapped around her, did she allow herself to fall into him, to release the breath she'd been holding.

"I'm so sorry, Meredith," he murmured softly against her hair, holding her tight against him, "My flight was cancelled, and my phone died and I hadn't packed my charger because I was in a rush to catch my flight in the first place."

"I thought you weren't coming," she mumbled,

She buried her face buried against his neck and moved her arms around him as he continued to hold her close.

"I'm here, I'm here now," he said as he pulled back to look at her with a soft grin on his face, "You look beautiful. We should go in."

"Wait, your hair," she said with a small frown, reaching her hands up to run her fingers through his hair to try and fix it.

"No one is going to be looking at me, tonight is about you," he said, pressing a kiss to her lips a moment before taking her hands in his with a gentle squeeze.

"It's just a nomination, Derek," she said with a roll of her eyes and a soft laugh.

"Well we'll never know if we stay out here," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

His arm slid around her waist as they went into the function room, quickly finding the table where Richard and her mother were already sitting down with Cristina. He gave them a quick nod in greeting as they had already begun speaking up on stage. He held her hand tight under the table, knowing she was nervous about the outcome. He could feel that she wore the engagement ring on her finger rather than it's usual place on a chain around her neck, making him grin softly and glance at her a moment. He couldn't help but feel so lucky to call her his. They had a long way to go until they could really be together again, but knowing they were waiting for each other, still supporting each other, that was enough for now.

He watched her reaction closely as her name was called, and he was the first one she turned to, her eyes widened slightly in shock as an applause erupted around them. He stood up with her, pulling her into a close embrace as she seemed to still be in shock.

"Well done, Mer, you deserve this. Go on," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek before releasing her so she could walk up on to the stage to accept the award.

He joined in with the applause of everyone in the room, watching her approach the stage to accept the award. He knew how nervous she must've been, but it didn't show at all as she spoke the acceptance speech he knew she had practiced over and over, even if she was adamant she wouldn't win. His glance shifted to Ellis, who looked at her daughter with pride, and he was glad to have witnessed it, it wasn't something Meredith experienced from her mother often.

"Thank you, everyone," she said with a soft grin as she finished off her speech.

He watched as she had her picture taken a moment with Catherine Fox before she left the stage, walking back over to the table, apparently unable to stop smiling. He stayed back as Ellis embraced her, hugging her close, speaking to her quietly a moment before letting her go. After a short conversation with Cristina, she sat back down in her seat beside Derek, and his arm draped over her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm so glad I didn't miss this," he said to her as she turned her head to look at him.

"I'm glad you didn't miss this either," she said with a soft laugh as the ceremony came to an end and the room started to empty.

"We'll be having plenty of tequila soon to celebrate, but I think you have some catching up to do," Cristina said, gently nudging Meredith, "Good to see you made it, Shepherd, but I'm being paged to the hospital."

"Good to see you as well, Cristina," Derek said with a chuckle.

"I'll see you soon, Cris," Meredith said, pulling away from Derek a moment to hug her before she went off ahead of them.

"Meredith!" Her mother called to her and she turned to face her as she came up to them, her hand held out for Meredith, "Come with me, you too, Shepherd."

"Okay," she said with a soft laugh, taking her mother's hand as she led her elsewhere and Derek followed close behind.

"They want our picture, Meredith," Ellis said, "I'm going to frame it and hang it in the house."

"Mom, you haven't even got my graduation picture up in the house," she said with a laugh, but stood with her for the picture anyway.

Once that was over and done with, they were approached by Catherine Fox who seemed eager to speak with Meredith. She glanced over to Derek with an apologetic look, but he just shook his head a little, happy to stand back and wait. He was more than anxious to get her alone after not actually seeing her for almost two months, but he knew it wouldn't be too much longer.

"You're dealing with this a lot better than Richard did when I won," Ellis said from beside him.

"I'm happy for her, Dr Grey, she works hard, she deserves it," he explained.

"I know I don't show it to her a lot, but I am proud of her," Ellis said to him, almost thoughtfully, "I'm glad she has you."

"I'm glad to have her," Derek said with a soft chuckle as Meredith walked back over to them.

"Okay, now we can get going," she said with a relieved smile.

"One more thing," Ellis said, holding her hand out, "Pass me your phone, I want to take a picture of you both."

Meredith laughed softly with a shake of her head but passed her phone to Ellis anyway before Derek's arm went around her middle, pulling her close and pressing a kiss against the top of her head as Ellis took pictures of them. Meredith lifted her head, giving Derek the chance to press his lips to hers a moment in a soft kiss, resisting the urge to deepen it further.

"I love you," he said in a quiet voice, his eyes locked on hers.

"I love you too," she said with a soft grin.

"Okay, now we can go," Ellis said as she passed Meredith her phone back, pulling out her own phone, "Richard has asked me to come to the hospital. I'll get a cab, and we'll have dinner tomorrow."

"Okay, Mom, I'll see you tomorrow," Meredith said to her before she went off ahead of them.

"So, how do you want to celebrate?" Derek asked as they walked out of the hotel venue, his arm around her middle.

"I really want to go home, and do nothing for a few hours," she said with a soft laugh, "I feel exhausted."

"That sounds like a great idea," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she leaned into him.

"I'm so happy you're here," she said softly as he led them to his rental car, "I did wonder where you'd put your bag."

"It made more sense," he said with a soft laugh, unlocking the doors and opening the passenger side for her to climb in.

He climbed in himself to drive them back to her apartment, his hand resting on her thigh for the drive back.

She let them into her apartment, putting her things down on the kitchen side before taking her heels off. Derek followed in behind her, setting his bag down in the hall by the door and closing the door behind them. He walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, pressing a kiss against the nape of her neck, brushing her hair out of the way.

"Now I finally have you alone," he murmured softly, his lips moving up her neck with soft kisses.

"You have me alone for most of the week, you know," she said with a soft laugh, turning in his arms to face him with a soft grin.

"Not all of the week, though," he said with a playful pout, "You're working a couple of those days, and tomorrow is dinner with your Mom and Richard, and we really should spend time studying."

"You make a good point," she said, pressing a soft kiss against his lips, her hands gently gripping the lapels of his suit jacket as she did so, pushing up on to her tiptoes, "We should definitely take advantage of this alone time."

"That's definitely something I want to do," he murmured softly, his hands flat against her lower back as he held her against him, "I'm so proud of you, and I love you so much."

"I love you too, and I've missed you, a lot. Like, embarrassingly a lot," she murmured, kissing him again, slowly and softly.

"I've missed you too," he whispered, returning her kiss, "Let me show you just how much I've missed you."

These are the hands of fate,
You're my Achilles heel,
This is the golden age of something good,
And right and real,