Disclaimer: If we owned Grey's Anatomy we'd be at the Golden Globes right now. We're obviously not there. So apparently we don't own Grey's Anatomy.

"Hey, you're getting pretty big," I smiled at my five year old niece as she skipped back from the measuring tape at the doctor's office. My younger sister had called me in an absolute panic just a few hours earlier, rambling about strep throat and doctors, and if I would please take my adorable favorite niece to the doctor. I had agreed, of course and now here I was, apparently seeing a doctor :
with the last name Mer.

"Uncle Der, that's because I'm a big girl now!" Talulah said, skipping ahead of me towards the exam room. Her energy astounded me, she never stopped, she never even slowed down. Even at the doctor's, she was a ball of energy. "Can we go for ice cream?" she asked me excitedly, turning around to look at me and squarely running into a woman's legs.

"Hey!" I heard the woman laugh as I tried to grab my niece. But the laugh stopped me. That laugh. It wasn't possible. No, it definitely was not possible. I looked up from my niece's dirty blond curls and felt my jaw drop when I saw her. Meredith Grey.

"Meredith!" I said surprise tinging my voice. I had hoped to run into her again, almost everywhere I went I hoped to run into her. Which made me feel like I was a teenager all over again, but I couldn't help it. Even though she never called, I wanted to see her again. I hadn't quite planned on running into her here though. My eyes swept up and down her. "I knew you'd look good in anything," I said

She blushed as she swept her eyes away from me and down to my niece. I had forgotten how beautiful she looked when she blushed, of course, I had forgotten how beautiful she was at all. "Uncle Der, this is Mer!" Talulah smiled up at me. "Mer, this is my uncle Derek! He's taking me for ice cream today!"

"Is he? That's pretty nice of him," Meredith said smiling down at my niece. She smiled at Talulah differently than she smiled at me. There was no teasing in, no fliration, just warmness. It was just as beautiful though.

"So, uh, you're a doctor?" I managed to stammer out as she took Talulah's hand and led her to an exam room. She hadn't said a word to me, hadn't even really acknowledged my existence. "I didn't know you were a doctor."

"I'm not," she responded, flushing slightly again. "I mean, I'm not a doctor. I was going to be a doctor but then...well something happened. It was nothing. But I'm not a doctor. I'm just an assistant."

"Oh," I nodded sympathetically. Most soon-to-be doctors found themselves dropping out halfway through med school, mostly because of money. Or the stress. "Well, you realize that this is fate, don't you?"

She had been looking away but with this her gorgeous green eyes whipped around to meet my blue ones, nervousness widening hers again. I just smiled at her, I couldn't help but smile at her. "What are you talking about?" she asked, sounding completely unsure and confused.

"Third time's the charm," I winked at her. "Obviously, you have to give me your phone number. I think it's meant to be." Lame. Another lame line. But I had to get her number, she obviously had lost mine. Or thought I was a freak. Either way, I needed to have the ball back in my court.

She smiled. I could see the battle within her eyes as she smiled, she didn't want to smile, but she did anyway. "Umm...well ummm..." Meredith said. It was adorable the way she stumbled over her words when she was nervous. "Meant to be?" she finally managed to get out. "I don't think..."

"Definitely meant to be," I confirmed quickly and then turned to my cute five year old niece for help. "Talulah, what do you think? Should Mer give me her phone number so I can take her to dinner on Friday?"

Talulah smiled at the two of us and nodded quickly. "Mer, Uncle Derek is really nice. He won't pull your hair or nothing," Talulah said, smiling even more. Oh, she was definitely getting ice cream after we left here.

"Really?" Meredith smiled at my niece and then looked back at me, her eyes a little bit darker, her smile falling into more of an amused smirk. "You won't pull my hair, Derek?"

I could pull her hair if she wanted me to, but somehow I didn't think that was the best thing to say, my sister would have me fried if Talulah ever repeated something like that. "No hair pulling. I swear I'll be on my best behaviour," I said, chuckling softly.

She looked down at Talulah's chart, absent-mindedly reading some notes, a smile playing at her lips. I had her. She was about to say yes. I had to send my sister flowers, and buy Talulah a lifetime supply of ballerina Barbie. But just as suddenly as the smile appeared, it was gone. "As nice as that offer sounds, Derek, I'm not sure that's appropriate."

Meredith was the most confusing woman I had ever come across. One second she was hooked, she was right where I wanted her, right where I needed her. One second she was mine. And then the next she was pulling away again. She was confusing. And quite frankly it pulled me to her even more, because she was different. "What? Why?" I said, in confusion.

"Yeah!" Talulah echoed. "Why?" She was playing her part perfectly, and I was thankful for it. Because Meredith took one look at Talulah and broke into a smile again. That amazing smile. God, I loved her smile.

"Talulah, I'm sure your uncle Derek is a very nice man, it's just..." The smile faded from her face as she tore her eyes away from my niece and looked at me again, her face contorting into an adorable grimace. "It's complicated, Derek...and it's just...just...you don't really want to go out with me."

"Meredith," I smiled softly at her, her name leaving my mouth in one breath. "Please."

"Derek," she said, smiling back at me softly but a tentative look in her eyes. "This is a mistake."

"How do you know?" I asked her, taking a step closer to her. "One date."

She looked at me again, gently bitting her bottom lip in the most alluring of ways, her eyes staring into mine as if they were looking for an answer. I was tempted to pull her up against me but that had failed the first time. "Derek, you...you're going to regret this," she said, frowning slightly.

I reached out to brush a strand of hair off her face and then murmured, "Give me a chance, Mer."

A smile battled it's way across her face again and my heart tripped with hope that she might finally be giving in. But she was Meredith, and I didn't want to get my hopes up. A smile meant nothing. "Derek..." she said, searching my eyes with her, as if she was trying to make me understand something. "It's not you who needs the chance," she finished, looking down at Talulah's chart again.

"Meredith," I said, wondering what I could say to that. She needed a chance. But why? Why was she so hesitant. She was single, unmarried. A consenting adult. "I'm giving you a chance. Say yes." It wasn't a command, though it came out sounding like one. It was my last ditch effort. I was begging. Derek Shepherd was begging. This never happened. "Please."

Indecision filled Meredith's eyes. I knew she wanted to go out with me, I knew she was attracted. I also knew something was holding her back. I just wish I knew what. "Derek...just...I don't know."

"About what?" I asked. "Meredith, you just have to take this chance. One dinner. You can do this." I felt as if I were speaking to Talulah, as if I were teaching her how to ride a bike for the first time. "You can."

Meredith looked at me and I met her eyes with what I hoped was my most encouraging look, the one I gave patients when they needed that extra reassurance. Her eyes held mine and I gently let a smile stretch across my face, hoping that she'd give this a chance, no matter what was holding her back. She suddenly sighed and turned around to write something down on a small piece of paper.

She folded it in half and handed it to me, a small smile on her lips. "There you go, Dr. Shepherd. I think that should help. Now, Talulah, why did your mommy send you here today?" I looked down at the piece of paper in my hands, opened it up, and saw her name and number scrawled in the usual messy doctor's handwriting.

"My throat hurts!" Talulah whined to Meredith but I could barely hear her. Meredith had finally given me her number. She was finally taking the chance, finally giving in to whatever this was. I still didn't know what had held her back so long, but I had her number. Meredith had given me her number.

A thousand other boys could never reach you, how could I have been the one?