A/N: So the reasons my chapters have been so short is that I'm afraid that I'm going to go into too much detail and make it too long. I'm also still a little insecure about my writing. I promise to try and make them longer.
Chapter 9: You Care And You Show It
Meredith had gotten a message from a nurse that Derek was running late due to complications in surgery and would probably be an extra half an hour. Meredith wasn't at Derek's apartment until she got the message, so she sat down outside of the penthouse door, and took a magazine out of her purse, when she heard a woman's voice "So, you must be Derek's new girlfriend." Meredith looked up to see a tall woman with red hair in a blue knee length skirt, white blouse, and stilettos. "I'm Addison," she said, extending a hand to Meredith. Meredith put the magazine down, stood up and shook Addison's hand, "Meredith." "So, how do you know Derek?" Meredith asked. "Oh, we used to date. We were engaged actually." "Oh. Okay," she answered a little surprised.
Meredith was slightly angry but realized that she had never asked Derek about his previous relationships and had no reason to be mad at him; she hadn't told him about her previous relationships either. "Let me warn you about Derek," Addison said slyly, "First few weeks, he's great, attentive, all that. Then, he spends more and more time at the hospital and then you barely ever see him. And then…" Before Addison could get the rest of the sentence out, Meredith had pushed her up against the wall. "You shut up about Derek. He's kind and sweet and caring. He pays attention to me, and if he has to go into surgery he tells me, and he makes it up to me. So you shut up," Meredith yelled, letting go of her, neither of them realizing that Derek had just gotten off of the elevator. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, slightly peeved. "She attacked me," Addison said, trying to get pity from Derek. As soon as Meredith heard that, she went after her again, but before she could grab her, Derek stopped her. "Meredith!" he said, restraining her. As soon as he felt her relax he turned around to Addison, "Get the hell away from me and stay away from my girlfriend." Although they had been dating for a few weeks that was the first time Derek had referred to Meredith as his girlfriend, and it made Meredith happy to know that she felt the same way he did.
Derek unlocked the apartment door and took Meredith inside. "I'm so sorry Derek," Meredith said. "It's okay. Look, um, what did she tell you?" he asked, a little bit worried. "She said that you were engaged. She also said that after awhile, you'd spend more time at the hospital and not really care about our relationship," Meredith said, praying that it wasn't true because she was starting to have really intense feelings for Derek. "Mer, I promise that's not going to happen. Addison didn't tell you the whole truth. First, I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you about her sooner, but I just couldn't find the right time," he told her. "No, it's fine, I understand," she said, taking a bottle of water out of the fridge. Derek continued to tell her about Addison. "The reason I started spending less time with her was that she cheated on me," he said, talking a deep breath, "I agreed to stay with her, but I just couldn't stand to be around her because every time I saw her, I would picture her having sex with another man. I started spending more and more time at the hospital, and then we finally broke it off." Meredith listened intently, and felt bad for ever being angry with him for not telling her about Addison. She could see that it was painful for him to recall. "I'm sorry," Meredith said, walking over and giving Derek a hug. "You are the total opposite of her, Meredith. You care and you show it. I love that about you." Meredith couldn't help but smile, "Thank you." "Lets go to the store okay?" Derek asked. "Yea," Meredith said, giving him a kiss on a cheek and following him out the door.
A/N: I took the fight scene from the Alex/Meredith fight when Derek walks in and tweaked it a little bit, hope I didn't ruin it. Oh yea, and the reason Addison was there is because she lives in the same building as Derek, but she's not a doctor. I know I promised some good stuff this chapter but if I had included both the fight and the good stuff it would be way too long, so that's coming soon, promise. Just a little something to hopefully keep you all reading.