A/N: An important chapter as things start to wind down… There will be two more chapters after this, and I hope to have both of them up before the release of the Season 3 DVDs on Tuesday. Thanks for all of the feedback! It's been really motivating!

Meredith sat impatiently at the bar, drinking tequila instead of coffee. She had finally gotten off her shift at ten, but Derek was meeting with Richard to work out some details of the new job. He promised he wouldn't be much longer, and they agreed to meet at Joe's once he finished. So Meredith waited, slowly constructing a mini-pyramid of shot glasses.

"Rough day?" Joe asked casually. Usually when Meredith made pyramids, it meant a bad day.

"Nope, just tired," Meredith mused, carefully stacking the glasses.

"Well, if you're tired, the tequila should help put you to sleep," Joe confirmed.

"Yep. Going to sleep soon. As soon as Derek gets here, I'm going to sleep…"

"Good luck with that," Joe teased before moving on to another customer.

"Meredith! Hi!" a bubbly voice cooed behind her.

Meredith rolled her eyes and turned around, not particularly excited about talking with Lexie. "Hi," she said back as warmly as she could.

Lexie pulled up a stool and took her jacket off. "Are you here alone?" she asked.

"No, just waiting on someone," Meredith admitted, resuming her focus on the shot glasses.

"Let me guess, you're waiting for Dr. Shepherd," Lexie stated coolly.

"Yeah," Meredith blushed. "I am."

"You know, I really wish you would have just told me rather than letting me make an ass of myself…an ass with you and him. I really don't need help in that department. I make an ass of myself well enough on my own," Lexie teased self-deprecatingly.

Meredith giggled a little. "That's what you get for trying to pick him up in a bar," she countered.

"Thanks for that tip. I'll keep that in mind," Lexie mumbled sarcastically before ordering a beer. "So, how did you two meet?" she finally asked.

"Oh, I picked him up in a bar," Meredith stated, grinning at her younger sibling.

"Of course," Lexie laughed. "We must be genetically programmed to do that."

"I guess so," Meredith sighed back. She was happy, and she didn't even mind letting Lexie in on that secret. She proceeded to spill all of the mortifying details of kicking Derek out of her house and finding out he was her boss the same morning. It made Lexie feel much better knowing that she hadn't made the mistake of letting her boss see her naked, and the two women laughed together as Meredith recalled the trials and tribulations of those first few weeks. A casual observer might even speculate that they were bonding.

"You two seem to be having a good time," Alex interrupted, amused.

"I was just learning the true identity of the mysterious Dr. McDreamy," Lexie admitted.

Alex smiled at Meredith, relieved to see his friend in such a good mood.

"Have you seen Cristina around?" Alex asked.

"No, not since earlier today. She's probably home already," Meredith responded.

"Oh, well if you see her, tell her that I need that twenty bucks," Alex responded, winking at Meredith while Lexie remained oblivious.

Meredith laughed a little.

"Are you short on money? I can get the drinks tonight," Lexie asked innocently.

"No, I just won a bet and need to rub it in to Cristina a bit," Alex replied.

"What kind of bet?" Lexie was now intrigued.

"Hot dog eating contest," Meredith interjected quickly, rescuing Alex from near catastrophe.

"Right. It's this thing we do at lunch sometimes," Alex agreed.

Lexie regarded both of them skeptically, but decided to let it go.

They continued to chat casually for a few minutes before Alex convinced Lexie to leave with him for the evening. Meredith said goodbye to both of them and returned to her drinking.

"That clearly took too long," Derek sighed, staring at the stack of shot glasses in front of Meredith.

"Not too long. I've been fine here," Meredith replied casually.

"I'm sorry about that. Are you ready to go?"

Meredith smiled at him, slightly intoxicated, and wrapped her arms around him. She was relieved that he was finally done so they could go home.

Derek let her hug him for a while. The scent of lavender mixed with tequila was particularly strong, and he was looking forward to taking her home so he could experience those scents even more.

"Did you want to stay here a while longer?" Derek asked, still waiting for an answer from her.

"No, take me home," she sighed, practically falling asleep against him.

"Home your place? Or home, the trailer?" Derek clarified.

Meredith sighed. "The trailer. Home, the trailer, I guess."

"Okay," he returned. He helped her stand up, paid her tab with Joe, and walked her out to his car.

The cool night air woke her up almost immediately, and she felt herself sobering up as she inhaled deeply. The air was moist from the Seattle rain and surrounding waters, and it tasted slightly salty to her.

"Did your meeting go well?" she asked as she settled into Derek's car.

"Yeah, we worked out several details, and I think this may be a pretty sweet gig," Derek said, smiling.

"Good," Meredith murmured, genuinely happy for him.

"The chief agreed to my scheduling request, by the way. Starting next week, we'll be on roughly the same schedule. Mostly the same shifts, even," Derek continued.

"Really?" Meredith gushed. She was still surprised that he had made that request much less gotten it approved.

"Yeah, Richard thought it was a good idea, especially since you're going to specialize in neurosurgery. It only makes sense that we have similar schedules so I can mentor you. He was very supportive of it, in fact… He cares a lot about you, Mere, and I might even go so far as to say that he thinks we're good for each other," Derek responded, reaching over to gently squeeze Meredith's leg.

"Well, duh!" Meredith joked back. "Of course we're good for each other!"

Derek laughed and continued resting his hand on her thigh. He liked having her in his passenger seat, especially after spending so much time apart. She was warm and inviting and his.

The ride to the ferry went by quickly. The traffic was light this time of night, and there weren't many people clamoring to board the ferry in comparison to their morning commute. They parked the car and walked up to the virtually empty passenger deck so they could see the Seattle skyline at night.

The air felt cold against Meredith's skin, and she shivered a little as they got to the outer rail overlooking the water. Derek wrapped his arms around her protectively, and she melted from his warmth.

"You know," Derek started quietly. "For a long time, I had a hard time getting back on the ferry…after the accident…"

Meredith gasped a little. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Derek…"

"I'd look out at the water and just…imagine you…floating there…lifeless…" he shuddered and gripped her tighter in his arms, as if he wanted to protect her by holding her captive. His breathing sounded slightly panicked as he was wrecked by the memories.

Tears filled Meredith's eyes. She didn't know what to say or do, so she just listened.

"I saw you and I thought that this was all my fault. I knew something was wrong that day…I knew and I let you tell me you were fine. I wanted to give you space, but I knew that you were depressed, and I should have made you deal with that…made you get help from me or Cristina or someone else. And I didn't, Mere…I didn't…"

"Derek," Meredith choked, trying not to sob. She knew she needed to hear this, and there was nowhere to run. She was pinned between him and the railing of the deck, and his grip on her showed no signs of letting up. "It wasn't your fault…"

"I know," he sighed. "I'm figuring that out, but I still regret it. I regret a lot of things…about us… When I thought you died…it was so much more to me than just losing you. You were my future, and I thought all of the plans I'd made were lost."

"You had plans?" Meredith asked. Finn had plans, not Derek. Derek never told me about plans…

"Of course I had plans, Mere. And I knew that if I lost you, I wouldn't be able to move on. I would never find anyone that I could love as much as you. That realization…devastated me…I was terrified that I was in so far and you…" Gave up. Left me. Died.

"I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry…I didn't…" Meredith sobbed, unable to hold herself back any longer.

"No…I'm not telling you this to get you to apologize…I'm just…I'm happy that I can ride the ferry with you. I think I'm handling things better now," he admitted. "And I'm making plans again…for us…with you…"

It was rare that he was so honestly vulnerable with Meredith, but something about it – about the moment, made it feel safe for him.

Meredith leaned against him even more, relishing the feel of having him so close to her.

"I'm not leaving you. I'm done…leaving you…You're it for me, too…" she confessed softly.

He leaned in and kissed her neck. "I know, Mere. I know…"

Meredith closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his lips moving along the curve of her neck and up to her ear. He nibbled gently, and she could feel her whole body reacting from the attention. She squirmed against him a little, feeling his own arousal building slightly.

"Things are definitely different this time," Meredith sighed, still enjoying the attention but wanting to continue their conversation.

"Mmmm-hmmm," Derek agreed, slowly working his cold hands underneath her shirt. The feel of his cold fingertips caused her to jump a little, but she slowly adapted as they warmed from the friction against her skin.

"We're better together," Meredith continued, trying not to let herself get too distracted.

"Definitely," he mumbled as his hands tugged gently through the lace of her bra. As much as he was getting over the pain of nearly losing her, he still urgently needed the physical confirmation of her presence. Fortunately no one else was out on the deck with them.

Meredith sighed and gave in to his touch. She would have to wait to tell him about her therapy session and the new insights she was gaining. She didn't have it all figured out yet anyway. Just the most important part, and he was already holding her.

Meredith woke up alone in the trailer, a quickly scrawled note placed in the spot typically occupied by Derek's body.

Shift ends at 7pm. Meet me for dinner. I'll call later with details. Love, D

Meredith sighed and leaned back against her pillow. Her mind was still a little hazy with exhaustion and tequila despite the fact that she had been asleep for nearly eleven hours. The two had tormented each other for the entire ferry ride, building themselves up for some pretty intense sex once they got home. It had been the final straw for their over-tired bodies, however, and both had fallen asleep within minutes of climaxing. She felt bad that Derek needed to be back to work by seven and didn't have the day off like she did. His involvement in the thirty-six hour shift they had worked was mostly voluntary, and he still had several surgeries scheduled this week. She tried to get him to call in sick, but he wouldn't hear of it. Instead, he reminded her of how good it would be when their schedules were synchronized and encouraged her to sleep.

Meredith yawned groggily and fought with the blankets to let her out of bed. Her head hurt a little from dehydration, and her muscles were tense from sleeping in the same position for too long. She stumbled over to the kitchen to find some breakfast, and grabbed her iPhone from her tote bag along the way.

No new messages…Damn…

She opened a web browser and started looking through the classified ads. If Cristina wasn't going to be proactive about finding an apartment, Meredith would do it for her. She missed her own bed.

The ads seemed to show many of the same apartments that Cristina had already found fault with, and the ones that were new listings were no better. She scanned the list one last time, and found her eyes focused on one apartment – the last one they had visited with the huge windows and scenic views.

Meredith reviewed the ad, remembering all of the details.

"How can you not like this place, Cris? It's perfect! You could walk to work…and to Joe's…and you can see both the city and the mountains…"

"It's a little too Zen for me, and I don't meditate. But I promise that if I don't find a place of my own in a week or so, I'll consider it…"

While the pictures on the website were often misleading and showed apartments in their best possible light, Meredith thought these particular pictures didn't do justice to the amazing apartment.

"How do you and Derek feel about having roommates?"

"We hate it. They constantly walk in on us, and they don't give us a lot of privacy…"

Meredith continued studying the ad, replaying her therapy session in her mind. Why did she have roommates? Why did she continue living in a house that she hated? She was struggling to come up with answers to these questions.

Without wasting another moment, Meredith impulsively clicked on the phone number and dialed the realtor in charge of the apartment.

The realtor answered immediately and explained that the apartment was still available and could handle immediate occupancy. She took all of the necessary information to fill out an application and scheduled an appointment to meet later in the afternoon once the application was processed. If things went smoothly, Meredith could have keys before dinner.

Meredith began jumping up and down in the trailer before she even got off the phone, nearly hitting her head on the low ceilings. She was beyond excited. She was ecstatic. The apartment was going to be hers – potentially hers and Derek's – and confirmation couldn't happen soon enough.