Disclaimer: In honor of Grey's Day, we present you with a date. Hopefully tonight, we'll be presented with IW being tortured mercilessly on the show. Team TR!
Saturday, somehow time had finally passed and it was Saturday. No week of my life had ever gone by slower. It had felt like forever. Of course that's what happens when you can't get a tiny insignificant blonde out of your head. But I couldn't wait to see her again, to talk to her again. To hold her again. She inundated my thoughts, even at the most inappropriate times, like when poking around someone's brain.
It was weird feeling this all over again, this obsession with a girl. I hadn't felt it since Tina Adkins when I was sixteen, but Tina was nothing compared to the way Meredith ruled my world. Every decision I made before our date was all in the effort to look as good as possible. Shave or leave a five o'clock shadow? Casual or dressy? I finally settled on a pair of black dress slacks and a blue button down shirt. But even then, I wasn't sure.
The feeling of someone standing above my table pulled me out of my thoughts as I looked up to find a smiling Meredith. I jumped up to greet her, nearly tripping over my chair in the process. Smooth, Derek, real smooth. "You look beautiful," I greeted her, reaching over to pull her into a hug. She looked wonderful, a red dress that showed her gorgeous body perfectly, her hair softly curled.
"Um, thanks," she said nervously as I kissed her on the cheek, catching a whiff of that flowery scent. I really needed to ask her what it was, and soon. "I, uh, wasn't sure about the dress. I don't own a lot of dresses, um, but Izzie, well, she said this would be okay. I wasn't sure though."
"Izzie gives good advice, you look amazing," I said, as I pulled our her chair for her to take a seat, grateful that my mom had taught me years ago how to be a perfect gentleman.
"Thanks," she said again. "You look good too. The blue, it uh, suits you."
"Really? Thanks," I said in an eager voice. An overly eager voice by the unbelieving look on her face. "I wasn't sure either," I admitted my own nerves to her.
She giggled as she reached for her water glass. "I didn't think guys actually got nervous about what to wear on dates."
I certainly had a way of making myself appear like the cool, debonair guy I knew myself to be when I was around her. It was probably a small miracle she hadn't run the opposite direction yet. "Yeah...well...most guys don't have you to impress," I responded, proud of myself for finally saying something that sounded like I might have some brain function remaining.
She blushed slightly at that and looked down at the menu our waiter was placing in front of her. "I'm not that special, Derek."
Meredith was amazing and she had no idea. But with just five words she had made my heart ache for her, wondering what exactly it was in her past that made her pull away from us occasionally, and what made her think she wasn't as special as she was. I reached across the table and held her hand, rubbing my thumb gently over her knuckles. "Yeah you are, Mer. You're something else."
She looked down again, the blush deepening, her curled hair falling into her face. After a couple seconds, she looked up at me. "How was your week?"
"Long," I said with a gentle laugh, allowing her to change the subject from my praise of her. "Yours?"
"Also very long," she nodded, taking her hand gently from mine and opening the menu. "Any interesting surgeries?"
She asked me about surgeries, I liked that. So many of the woman I had dated had been so clearly impressed by my job and so disinterested in it. Meredith was the complete opposite. "Did a corpus colostomy yesterday which was pretty amazing, but I don't need to bore you with the details."
"Oh no," she shook her head, smiling. It was the first time I had seen her so animated, so excited. "If I had stayed in medical school, I would have gone for neurosurgery. It really sounds so amazing, and well, I mean, it's someone's brain. You wouldn't be boring me at all."
"So now the truth comes out as to why you're dating me. Planning on living vicariously through me, aren't you?" I asked laughing, not bothering to ask exactly what had happened in med school that made her leave. She was it for me, we had our lifetimes to figure out all the small details. I'd hear the story eventually.
She giggled for a second, reached for her glass, and then stopped, the panicked look coming back into her eyes. "It's okay, isn't it?" she asked, wringing her hands. "I mean, to ask you about surgeries? I haven't dated in a while, and um, well, not really long, just...well, long. And I don't know...is that okay?"
"Meredith, it's fine," I said, reaching out to pull her hands apart and slipping one into my own, giving it a tight reassuring squeeze. "Ask whatever you want. Say whatever you want. I like you, Mer, every bit of you. Even the occasional girly flip outs. There's no need to be so scared of me Mer, no need to be scared of us. I'm not going anywhere, you're not chasing me away."
"Not yet," she sighed, almost under her breath, but just loudly enough for me to hear. "You don't know everything about me, Derek."
"I don't know everything about you," I said nodding and smiling at her. I didn't quite understand her, but that was okay. "But I want to know everything about you, Meredith. And I promise no running away."
She nodded, a look coming into her eyes that I had never seen before, that I couldn't identify. Guilt? Shame? Desperation? She used her free hand to take a sip of water and then looked at me again, the look fading away. "My friends call you McDreamy."
"McDreamy?" I asked, trying not to grimace at the awful nickname bestowed upon me.
She nodded, a smile playing at her lips. "You're Dr. McDreamy. Cristina says you're the most eligible guy at the hospital. And Izzie says our first date was so perfect you're either dreamy or gay."
"I'm definitely not gay," I quickly responded. "And I guess that makes you pretty lucky, doesn't it?" I asked, giving her my best smile.
"I guess," she smiled back. "Dr. McDreamy."
The way she said it that time made the nickname sound a lot less awful. She made it sound perfect actually. I think I might learn to like Izzie and Cristina. "Tell me about them, your friends. What are they like?" I asked, hoping to find out even the smallest little detail about the girl I was falling head over heels for.
She laughed, again becoming perfectly animated, almost the way she was about neurosurgery. "Well, Izzie, she's a teacher. And married to a doctor. You might know him, actually. Alex Karev?"
"Alex Karev," I said slowly, rolling around the name in my brain to see if I remembered it. Oh yes, ob/gyn. I had never worked with him but the things I heard about him had been less than flattering. "You're friends with Karev?"
"We all went to med school together," she nodded. "Alex is, well, he used to be known as Evil Spawn. But he's actually not as bad as he may seem. Izzie keeps him in line, I think."
"What about the others? What are they like?" I asked again, so hoping to get this mystery to open up about something, even if it was something so small. But she lit up when she talked about her friends, it was obviously a safe topic. And she looked so beautiful all lit up like that.
"Oh, there's George," she smiled. "He's a postal worker. Cristina calls him Bambi."
I laughed, even though it might be rude to laugh at her friends, but sometimes one just couldn't help themselves. "You have a friend who's a mailman?" I asked.
"Yeah," she nodded. "He always says it's because he's dependable. And he is. He's my rock, sometimes. He's just been so great with, um, with everything."
I couldn't help myself but to wonder exactly what everything was. And even though I had no clue as to what it was that held her back, that obviously haunted her, I couldn't help but hope that one day I'd be her rock, that I could be great with everything. "I'm glad you have them, Mer."
She just nodded, that look coming into her eyes for a second and then swiftly disappearing. "What about Mark?" she asked.
"Mark is...you have to meet him to really appreciate him," I said, trying to explain the strange man I considered my brother. "He's a plastic surgeon, according to him he's the best plastic surgeon. Of course according to him he's the best everything. Most of it's not true."
"Most of it?" she asked, curiously.
"He's damned good at his job, but if you tell him I said that I'll deny it," I said with a laugh. "Really, he's a great guy, you'll love him."
There was a lull in conversation as our waiter came and took our orders and then she turned back to me. "Tell me more about your family," she urged. She seemed much more relaxed than she ever had before. I wasn't sure if it was the wine she had now taken to drinking or my effect on her. I hoped it was me.
"What do you want to know?" I asked, taking her hand back in my own, glad that she wanted to hear about them.
She shrugged, but leaned forward a little. "Anything," she smiled. "I mean, the Shepherd family is pretty extensive, I'm sure you have stories. Being the only boy growing up."
"Oh I have stories, but none I think I should share on a second date. I don't want to run you off," I said laughing. "Hmm...let's see. My mom is that mom, the one from the movies. The type that's far too protective and always in your business. That's my mom. She had so many questions about you on Sunday when I was over there," I said casually.
"You, uh, told her about me?" she asked quietly, the panicked look returning. It really was discerning to see it on a date so often.
"No," I responded quickly. "God no. But apparently my niece has a bigger mouth than I give her credit for. She told Erin, my sister, about it and Erin, being the annoying sister that she is brought you up. I didn't tell them, I know you want slow."
I felt her relax and then smile. "So Talulah told her mommy about us?"
"She did," I said laughing softly. "I guess it teaches me my lesson about flirting in front of my 5 year old niece."
She laughed. "Was your sister aware that you used your five year old innocent niece to get me to say yes to a date?"
God, I loved that laugh. "It worked, didn't it? And yes, my sister is all to aware of the tactic."
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow. "Used it before?"
"Not me. I've never had to use it before, women usually fall at my feet. Mark on the other hand..." I said, laughing and letting the sentence trail off.
She laughed right along with me, squeezing my hand. "You and Mark were those guys in college, weren't you?" she asked. "You know, the guys who could get A's from female professors just by winking at them?"
"Are you questioning my intelligence, Ms. Grey?" I asked pretending to be insulted. "I'll have you know, all of the good marks I got were well earned."
"I'm sure they were," she rolled her eyes jokingly. "So there's Talulah, and then eight more nieces?"
"Yep, and I won't bother with all their names as there is no way possible you'd remember them all. Just know that they're all adorable and all adore their uncle Derek," I responded.
She laughed again. "And how many nephews?"
"Five, a much easier number to deal with," I answered.
"That's a lot of kids around the holidays," she smiled.
"Good," she said and then hurried to say, "Not that I don't want to meet your family someday, it's just that, well, the most time I've ever spent around kids is at work. When they're sick or getting a shot. So they hate me."
I laughed gently. I couldn't imagine anyone hating her, let alone small children who loved everyone that took time to smile at them. Even if it was someone who gave them shots. "They'll all love you when the time comes. You make their uncle Derek very happy," I told her honestly.
She looked down again and then murmured, "You make me happy too, Derek. I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun."
"Really?" I sounded like a five year old that had just been told that if he ate all his peas he could have ice cream for dessert. But that was okay. Because I felt like that five year old. Meredith had seemed to enjoy herself, she seemed to be happy when she was with me. But she was hard to read with all her switching emotions. It was impossible to know. But now I did know.
"Yeah," she whispered. "It's been a long time. So, I don't know. But I have a good time with you. I was actually, um, well, looking forward to tonight."
"I was looking forward to tonight too," I whispered back in hopes of putting her mind at ease. "And I'm glad you're having a good time, even if it's been a long time."
She looked up at me, tears beginning to fill her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when the waiter came with our food. After he had left, she took a couple bites of her steak and then asked, "Favorite band?"
I wondered what the tears had been about but didn't ask. She was so fragile, I couldn't risk breaking this, I couldn't risk pushing too hard and having her leave. I'd find out eventually. "The Clash, yours?"
"Really?" she winced.
"What's wrong with The Clash?" I asked.
"Nothing," she laughed. "I just never would have pegged you as a fan."
"Don't peg me, I'm not peggable," I told her, smiling. "And you are avoiding the question. Is your taste in music that bad?"
She giggled. "Not unless you have anything against Duran Duran."
"Seriously? That's sad," I told her shaking my head.
"What's the matter with Duran Duran?" she laughed, slapping my hand gently.
"Nothing, if you have bad taste in music," I told her, laughing along with her.
"Oh, and The Clash is so great?"
"The Clash is amazing. Apparently you've never met anyone before to expose you to them properly. You're lucky I came along," I said, with a playful wink in her direction.
"Oh, so lucky," she said sarcastically, with a smile on her face though. "What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"
"Coffee," I answered, enjoying this game of getting to know each other. "You?"
"Strawberry," she grinned. "Best ice cream in the world. Your turn."
"Ummm...favourite book?" I asked her.
"Oh," she gasped a little, tensing up again. "Um, I really don't have time to read. You?"
"The Sun Also Rises," I said with a shrug.
For the rest of the meal, we chat amiably, joking and teasing each other. I couldn't believe how beautiful she is, how perfect she is. She even orders dessert, something most women would never do. And long after the strawberry cheesecake is gone, we're still sitting there, talking. She finally says something when the waiters start putting chairs on top of tables. "We should probably go," she giggled.
"Probably, before they kick us out," I told her, pushing my chair back and walking around to pull her chair out for her. "Tonight was amazing."
"It really was," she said as she got up and then took my hand. "Even if you do have terrible taste in music."
"Whatever you want to believe, Mer," I told her, starting to walk out of the restaurant, clasping the hand that fit mine so well.
"Derek?" she asked as we stepped into the cool Seattle air.
"Yes." I asked, spinning her around so we were facing each other.
"We're going to do this again, right?" she looked into my eyes earnestly. "I mean, this really was a good date?"
Meredith was unsure if I wanted to do this again? After all this time of me being worried that she wasn't interested, that she was pulling back because she didn't want to give me a chance. And now she was doubting whether I wanted to do this again. "Meredith Grey, that was an amazing date. And we are most definitely doing this again."
She giggled a little and then nodded. "Good," she whispered as she reached up and kissed me, softly at first and then deepening it. There we were, in the middle of the parking lot, kissing in the drizzle that was beginning to fall. I put my arms around her and pulled her close, amazed by how she felt against my body. She was it, for me. There was no one else. My sister was right, sometimes, you just know.
She pulled back but left her arms securely around my neck, staring up at me, a huge smile on my face. "So for our next date can I do the ferry boat and orchestra thing?" I teased her.
She giggled and then kissed me quickly on the lips. "Only if I get to tell Mark," she teased.
"So no ferry boats and orchestras. That's okay, I'll think of something better," I said with a wink. God she was beautiful in the street lights, her hair shimmering from the slight drizzle. I bit back the sudden urge to tell her how I felt, to tell her everything. I fought the urge to tell her I didn't want to spend another day without her. That I was falling in love with her.
"I sat beside you and became myself."