Meredith's pleading look hadn't been enough to stop a very smug Jackson Avery from dragging Cristina and Alex away to hang out with Owen and Nathan at the campfire and abandoning his supposed best friend in the shadow of an old oak tree with the one person she'd been trying to avoid talking to.
"You're gonna want this. She can be kind of a bitch." had been Cristina's parting words as she'd refilled her own water bottle before offering the hobo margarita thermos to Derek, who had taken her spot on the old fallen tree that lay a few steps away from Meredith.
"So I'm guessing we should probably talk?" he asked.
"I don't see why." Meredith responded calmly. "Thursday night happened. We've acknowledged that. Now we're working together and we'll move on and be professional."
Her words were harsh and her face stoic, but every muscle in Meredith's body tensed at the memories of what Derek had done to her in that hotel room.
Derek's throaty chuckle didn't do anything to help matters, either. Meredith downed the rest of her drink in an unsuccessful attempt to numb her feelings and unscrewed the lid of her water bottle, holding it out to Derek expectantly.
"Don't tell me you've never had a summer camp fling." Derek said simply as he reached out and filled Meredith's bottle up about halfway before taking a sip from the thermos himself and making a face at the taste before setting it down on the ground between them.
"What part of one night stand doesn't make sense to you?" Meredith responded, taking another sip of the mediocre beverage. She knew she should walk away. She should stand up, walk over to her friends, and ignore Derek for the rest of the night. Still, she felt as though she physically couldn't. There was something inside of her that was attracted to Derek Shepherd and wanted to know more about the man that Carolyn had been gushing about for years.
Derek laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "I've had plenty." he said, as casually as if they were talking about different brands of tequila. "You're the one who seems uncomfortable being around me."
The smirk on Derek's face brought her back to that night in the bar where she'd been absolutely enamored by the blue-eyed man.
"Mer, what are we doing here?" Jackson asked as Meredith dragged him into a swanky bar in downtown Boston after she'd grown tired of watching baseball at the sports bar across the street. "There's not much fun and exciting about a richy rich bar."
"Except the men." Meredith responded. Lately she'd had a thing for picking up older men at nicer bars. Not too much older, most were probably between 25 and 30 if she had to guess. She'd become bored with the same old college boys and started hitting up spots where the men were more worldly, more attentive, and more experienced in the bedroom. They also tended to be less clingy than their college-aged counterparts; easier to get rid of in the morning.
Jackson sighed but followed Meredith up to the bar where she ordered a top-shelf tequila and was handed not a shot glass filled with gold liquid, but a rocks glass that was half-filled with a clear version of the drink.
Jackson looked around the lounge-esque bar before sighing, ordering a beer, and turning back to Meredith. "You're gonna have to break this down for me." he said. "I don't see it."
Meredith laughed and gestured to a man at the far end of the bar. He was wearing a red shirt, nice jeans, and a pair of black dress shoes. His black curls were slightly messed up, just to the point that Meredith thought it might be intentional, and he held a glass of whiskey in his hand while scanning the bar himself.
"See that man over there? He's here alone, no annoying friends to ditch. Men alone in a bar on a Thursday night are either alcoholics or business travelers. If it's the latter that means he's got a room, making it easier to sneak away in the morning and absolutely zero chance I run into him in the future." Meredith stated simply. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get laid."
She stood from her seat and offered Jackson an innocent smile before heading towards her target. They locked eyes as she approached and Meredith felt turned on by his gaze alone.
"Hi." Meredith spoke softly as she slid onto the stool next to him. "You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.
The man smiled and shook his head. "How could you tell?"
"Lucky guess." Meredith offered, giving the man her best coy smile.
"I'm Derek." the man said, offering Meredith his hand.
"Meredith." she replied, feeling a tingling in her body as their hands touched. She had a good feeling about the rest of her night as she stared into Derek's deep blue eyes, tossing her hair behind her shoulder and taking a sip of her tequila.
"Meredith." Derek repeated, his mouth forming a small smile.
"Meredith?" Derek repeated, his smirk still firmly in place on his face.
"What?" Meredith asked, shaking herself from her memories.
Derek laughed. "I asked if you wanted to get out of here, since you're clearly uncomfortable talking to me around everyone else."
Meredith sighed and picked up the thermos from the ground between them. "Come with me." she said. A moment later she was certain that the words hadn't escaped her lips out of her own free will, but sure enough, Derek was following her down the back trail that led towards the stables.
"Look, Derek." Meredith finally spoke, when she was certain they were far enough from the crowd of camp counselors to not be heard if she got angry. "The other night was great, but I was a girl in a bar looking to get laid. You showed me a great time, which I definitely appreciated, but now there's a line between us. A big, thick line."
"That's not the only thing that's thick." Derek whispered as he stepped closer to Meredith.
"Derek." Meredith warned. "Line."
She waved the thermos in front of her to illustrate her point and Derek's lips curled up into a smile.
"So this line…" he prompted hesitantly. "Is it imaginary or do I need to get you a marker?"
Meredith's jaw dropped at Derek's teasing words and, despite her better judgement, she dropped the thermos of tequila to the ground and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around Derek's neck and pressing her lips to his in a tequila-fueled kiss, which he eagerly returned.
As Derek took control and pressed Meredith's body against a large tree, she closed her eyes and allowed the memories to come rushing back to her - Derek pressing her body against the door of his hotel room, pulling her panties down and kissing her breasts on top of his desk, and gripping her hips so roughly there had been bruises there the next morning. She hadn't remembered it during her hangover, but now that she was feeling his lips against her neck again and his hand had made it's way to the button of her shorts it was all coming back to her much more vividly than she'd wanted and she couldn't deny that Derek Shepherd, the son of her beloved mentor, was indeed the best sex she'd ever had and as much as she knew she shouldn't, she wanted more.
"Derek." Meredith whined, pushing back against his chest. "We can't."
Meredith slipped herself out of Derek's grasp and took a deep breath as she shot him an apologetic look only to be met with his amused gaze and those same sapphire blue eyes that had been making her melt since Thursday. She shook it off and turned away. Derek Shepherd was off-limits and she was going to stop this before it got any more complicated.
She fixed her ponytail, picked up the discarded thermos, and walked away back towards camp without another word, very aware of just how turned on she was and knowing that it was going to take some serious effort for her to get herself to sleep that night.
The marker line was one of my all-time favorites in the series. I love how snarky Derek gets and that it seems to completely un-do Meredith's resolve. More to come next week, including Mom-Mode Carolyn!
The big question - this story has potential to get a lot sexier and a lot steamier. How do you all feel about the rating going up to M? I can keep the language tame if a T rating is preferred, but will go with what the popular demand seems to be in the reviews.
xx Lissa