A/N: I ended up not going on that college trip. I had a really bad day at school that resulted in my sitting in the hall for 6 hours because I didn't want to go on the senior trip and my principle was being a…well you know. Then I had to work last night and didn't get out until late and there was no point in going because we wouldn't have gotten to the hotel in time for our reservation. I would have updated earlier but I slept until noon and then had errands to run with my dad. Enough with the rambling and on with the story…

Chapter 29: Black and Blue

Surprisingly, both Meredith and Derek were quite relaxed for the rest of the night despite the confrontation they had had with Tyler. Meredith apologized repeatedly and Derek kept telling her that was no need for her to apologize.

After eating their food and watching a movie, they were both exhausted and decided to go to bed because they had to back at Derek's parent's house by 11am the next day for brunch with his sisters and a few other members of the family.

Meredith woke up first and rolled over in bed to face Derek. She was shocked to see how his eye looked. It was extremely black and blue and still a bit swollen. She felt so bad to have caused him pain.

Not only was she worried about how much his face was going to hurt, but about what his family was going to think when they got home later in the morning. She started to get out of bed when Derek wrapped his arm around her to keep her from moving.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he began to kiss her shoulders and neck.

She laughed, "I was going to get in the shower."

"Without me?" he said, pretending to be insulting.

"Of course not. Let's go," she said, pulling him out of bed.

It wasn't until then that the pain of his black eye hit him and he grabbed his eye. "Holy crap, this hurts like hell."

Meredith felt so bad because she knew that that was going to happen. She sat down on the bed and started kissing his face around the black eye, like her mom used to do when she had a scraped her knee or cut her finger.

"Any better?" she asked.

"As much as I love you kissing me all over, it doesn't make my head throb any less."

"I'm so sorry Derek. I wish I could do something to help you."

"Meredith, for the millionth, it's not your fault. And you can help me. Get in the shower with me."

Meredith smiled, "Okay. Let's go."

She took his hand and led him out of bed and into the bathroom. Meredith turned the water on so it was nice and hot and they undressed each other. Derek stepped into the shower first and then helped Meredith in.

They were facing each other, kissing, and enjoying the sensation of the hot water beating down on their bodies. Derek helped Meredith wash her back and she did the same for him. He kissed her neck and down her chest and she just enjoyed the special attention that he was giving her.

All of a sudden Meredith stopped him, "Derek, we have to get going. We have to be back to your parent's house in an hour."

He stopped and rested his head on her shoulder, "You're right. But I don't want to leave. I just want to be alone with you."

"We've been alone for a whole day when we were on a trip to visit your parents." she said running her hands through his wet hair.

"I know. But it wasn't long enough."

He kissed her on the lips passionately and she couldn't resist him. She put one arm around his neck and ran the other up and down his wet chest.

Half an hour later, they got out of the shower, very happy and very satisfied. Derek had brought clothes for them to change into because he had been the one who planned the New Years night stay at a fancy hotel.

They both got dressed and packed up the rest of the stuff that they had brought on their little trip. They left the room and went downstairs and Derek checked them out. They put their stuff in the car and they were about to pull out and start heading home.

"Derek, I'm really worried about your eye. I mean, do you want to see a doctor? And what are you parents going so say? It's all my fault and they're going to hate me."

"Relax. I don't need to see a doctor. It's just a black eye. We'll tell my parents what really happened and they won't hate me. I promise. Okay?"

"Okay."

Derek gave her a kiss, turned the car on and drove out of the parking spot heading back to his parent's house. Meredith fell asleep on the ride home, the activities of the night before and the morning having worn her out.

When they got back, all of Derek's sisters cars were parked outside of the house along with a few others. His father's parents were coming as well as his mother's sister. The nervousness that Meredith had felt when meeting just his parents returned to her.

"Derek, I'm nervous."

"We've been through this once already. It's going to be fine. My grandparents are great. Oh, and my mother's sister. Don't mind her. She says what she thinks all the time no matter what."

"Great," Meredith mumbled.

Derek laughed, "Relax. My grandparents are more like my sisters. Laid back and they like you. They love you. Not as much as me, but they love you."

"Thank you. You're the best."

He gave her a kiss on the check and got out of the car. They got their bags and went inside the house to see everybody sitting in the living room eating breakfast. They all stopped talking when they saw Meredith and Derek walk in.

"Welcome…" Derek's mother stopped in the middle of greeting them when she noticed Derek's bruised face and black eye.

"Derek Shepherd, what in the world happened to you?"

"Happy New Year to you too, Mom," Derek said, trying not to laugh.

He walked over and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. She put her food on the table next to her and stood up, touching Derek's face.

"How did this happen"

"I got into a fight."

"You got into a fight? You're a surgeon, Derek. You're not an 8 year old. Who in the world did you have to fight with on New Years?"

Meredith felt bad that Katherine was blaming the whole thing on Derek. She wanted to explain what had really happened but was afraid any progress that she had made before would go down the drain. She decided that she needed to tell her what happened.

"It was my fault, Katherine. I was in the hotel restaurant getting us some food and I ran into Tyler, an ex-boyfriend of mine."

Katherine turned around and looked glaring at Meredith. It was the look that she had on her face when she had caught the two of them in the hallway wearing only towels.

"This guy, Tyler, he was very possessive of me. He grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me go. Derek tried to make him let go of me but Tyler ended up punching him."

"This guy Tyler sounds like an ass," said Marcia, Katherine's sister.

Jen, the sister who Meredith had bonded with the most, was very aware of the tension in the room.

"Meredith, why don't I help you take your stuff upstairs," Jen offered.

"Thanks," Meredith said, handed her one of the bags.

They walked upstairs and Meredith dropped their bags on the floor and sat down on the bed.

"I thought things were going better and then I get her son a bruised face and a black eye. No wonder she doesn't like me."

Jen laughed, "Meredith, she doesn't dislike you. Before you two got home, she was telling our grandparents and Marcia how much she liked you and how much in love with you Derek is."

"Seriously?" Meredith asked, perking up a bit.

"Seriously. Let's go downstairs. We can eat breakfast and you can meet my grandparents."

Jen started walking out of the room when Meredith called her name. "Yea?" she said turning around.

"Thank you so much for all of your support during this whole trip. I don't think I would have been able to get through it without you."

"No problem," Jen said, smiling at Meredith and going back downstairs.

When they got downstairs into the kitchen, Katherine was standing there pressing an ice pack to Derek's face. Derek looked a bit annoyed that his mother was treating him like a little kid, but he took it because he didn't want her getting any angrier than she already was.

"Let me do that," Meredith said, taking the ice pack from Katherine's hand.

"Okay," she said calmly. "Just keep it on there for 5 minutes and then take it off. When you're done, grab some food and come into the room with everyone else."

"Alright," Meredith said, smiling, glad to see that Derek's mom wasn't completely pissed off at her.

A/N: As always, review. Did you all like this chapter? I don't. I'll probably update tomorrow morning because I won't be able to until Tuesday after school because Sunday night and Monday is a Jewish holiday.