Disclaimer: Shonda Rhimes is the goddess of all things writery and good. We're just lowlives compared to her brilliance. Happy Grey's day!

The door loomed in front of me. For some reason nerves made this door look more frightening than anything else in the world. I wasn't feeling confident anymore, I wasn't trusting Dillon's plan, even though I wanted to desperately. Now there was a nawing in the pit of my stomach that said I wasn't going to be let in, that I had really lost her and there was no chance to ever get her back again. I clutched the flowers close to me and tightened my grip on the bag with the strawberry ice cream. Flowers were a mistake. They were lame. This was a mistake. No, not a mistake. Just, worrisome. I stared at the door, trying to calm my breathing as I reached up to ring the doorbell. I couldn't lose her. I had to be with her. She was my life. Dillon was my life. They were my family.

My heart thudded as I waited for someone to answer the door, the most irrational fears running through my head. Maybe Dillon had accidentally told Meredith of our plan and she was going to ignore me. Maybe she had seen my car pull up. Maybe something had happened to one of them. The butterflies refused to rest in my stomach, until I saw the dirty blonde head approach the door. She opened the door slowly, a look of confusion masking her features. As she stood before me, everything seemed to melt away. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and her hair was up in a messy ponytail, but she looked absolutely beautiful. "Derek?" she stared at me.

"Meredith," I squeaked, nerves not allowing my voice to come out properly. I cleared my throat. "These are...these are for you," I said thrusting the flowers towards her, silently ashamed at how much I sounded like a kid on his first date.

She stared at the flowers for a minute and then back at me, her eyes wide. "What...what are you doing here?"

"Your son invited me over for dinner," I said, attempting to smile and sound light hearted and failing miserably.

She rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, stepping aside and walking towards the kitchen. "Dillon Grey!" she called out. "You are in big trouble, mister!"

Taking this as acceptance into the house I entered, running after her and gently grabbing her elbow. My fingers tingled at the slight touch, even though it had only been three days since I last touched her. "Mer, don't get mad at him. He's just trying to fix things."

She looked at me, and then at my hand on her arm, and for a minute, I thought she'd say something. But she turned away from me and went to the spaghetti sauce on the stove, stirring it slightly. "Derek!" Dillon came running in. "Hi!"

"Hey bud," I smiled as he flung himself around my legs.

"Did you bring flowers and sawberry ice cream?" he whispered loudly.

"Yep, I did," I whispered back, shooting a glance at Meredith who was apparently pretending neither of us were there.

He nodded and then stood up, walking to Meredith. "Mommy, Derek's gonna say sorry. And then you have to say sorry too. And then you can eat sawberry ice cream. Okay?"

Meredith looked at her son, smiling but I could see tears in her eyes. "Dill, honey, it's not always that easy."

"Yeah it is," he nodded. "When I say sorry at school, Mrs. Phelps says everything is okay again. You have to learn forgiveness, Mommy."

"Bud, how about you go play and give us some time to talk. I'll come get you when it's time to eat," I suggested gently, as I put the ice cream in the freezer.

"Okay," he nodded and then started walking away. "Mommy, be nice. Or no dessert and you have to go to bed early."

"I'll try," Meredith answered sounding shaky and unsure.

"And Derek, you be good too!" he ran off and up the stairs, softly humming to himself

I laughed gently at his matchmaking attempts. Meredith was still standing by the stove, not stirring the sauce but still staring at it. "Are you sure you should be cooking?" I joked, hoping to cut the tension that hummed in the room. She didn't say anything, she simply continued staring at the sauce, her shoulders drooping a little as she held back tears. "And now you're not talking to me," I sighed. I walked slowly towards her, completely unsure of the situation. I still wasn't even quite sure why she had ran and now that she wasn't talking. I had no idea what was going on. I was used to knowing things, I'm a neurosurgeon, I know things. But with Meredith right now I was clueless. "Meredith, say something," I urged her.

"I ran," she said softly. "I ran and told you to go away. And now you show up here."

"Of course I showed up. Why wouldn't I? Do you not trust me?" I asked her.

"I do," she insisted, turning to me, her eyes filled with tears.

I took her hand gently in mine, smiling slightly when she made no move to pull it away, both our gazes looking at our entangled fingers. "Well this is how it works. You can run but I always come after you."

"Well, how am I supposed to know that?" she murmured as she tightened our grasp.

"You've never done this before," I smiled slowly.

"No," she sighed, "I've never done this before." She looked up at me, at my smile, and leaned forward a little, one hand moving up to my chest.

I felt my breath, that I hadn't even been aware I had been holding woosh out of me. This was going to be okay, we were going to be okay. "Hmmm," I sighed. "Okay. Well this - From now on you can expect that I'm going to show up. Even if you run, even if I run, I will always show up."

She nodded slowly and then leaned into me, her head against my chest. "I was scared," she admitted quietly.

I let go of her hand and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight against me, smiling like an idiot just to be holding her again. "I know, Mer. I know," I soothingly whispered into her hair.

"This...this is moving fast," she whispered. "Everything. And I was scared. And I love you. And the only person I've ever really loved besides my friends is Dillon. And now I love you. And, it's all so fast."

"I know it is," I nodded, running my fingers through her hair. "We can slow down, we can go as slow as a turtle if it will make you feel better," I offered, laughing gently.

I felt her giggle against my chest and then she looked up at me, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I missed you, Derek."

"I missed you too," I whispered, gently pressing my lips quickly against hers. "You didn't have to run, you could have talked to me."

"I don't talk," she sighed. "I'm an avoider. I avoid. I live my life under a banner of avoidance."

"You can't avoid me, Meredith. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. No avoiding me," I told her.

"I'm not too dark and twisty for you?" she whispered. "Because I am dark and twisty. I'm not...normal."

"You are not too dark and twisty for me," I reassured her. "I like exploring all your twists."

"I bet you do," she giggled as she kissed me lightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, smiling down at her illuminous face.

"I'm okay," she nodded and then pulled away. "I still can't believe Dillon invited you to dinner. He didn't call you again, did he?"

I shook my head quickly, knowing I couldn't lie to her but also not wanting to be entirely honest. "We ran into each other at the hospital today," I told her in what I hoped was a convincing voice.

"He escaped from daycare again?" she giggled. "He does that. He hates daycare."

I laughed along with her. "Him and Sam came looking for me."

She nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but Dillon poked his head into the kitchen, Sam securely in his arms. "Do you love each other again?" he asked.

"We never stopped loving each other, bud," I explained. "But yes, we did forgive each other."

"Good," he nodded and came running in. "That means we can eat sawberry ice cream."

"It means we can eat strawberry ice cream after supper," Meredith corrected him.

"Yeah yeah," he waved his hand at her. "Aren't you glad I made Derek come, Mommy?"

Meredith paused and looked up at me, a smile stretched across her face. "Yeah, I am. Although you shouldn't have been sneaking out of daycare. We've talked about this Dill."

"It was Sam's idea," he shrugged. "And anyway, I don't like daycare. And neither does Sam."

"Bud, you can wait in my office if you want," I offered. It was safer for him to do something in my office for a few hours than to be wandering around the halls of the busy hospital.

"Really?" he grinned. "Mom, can I do that next time? Can I wait in Derek's office?"

"Maybe, we have to see what your dad thinks," Meredith said. "And you can't bother Derek."

"I won't," he promised. "Derek, can I bring crayons and toys? Can I?"

"Yeah, we can set up somewhere that you can keep them," I smiled, loving the idea of my son spending time in my office.

"And Legos," he said thoughtfully. "And when you're not surgeoning, we can play Legos."

"Sounds good, bud," I said, ruffling his hair.

"Go wash your hands, Dill," Meredith told her son, watching us with a smile on her face and in her green eyes.

He left the room at a run as I pulled Meredith into my arms again, kissing her quickly and passionately. "I love you," I said.

"I love you too," she smiled, her hands moving up to play with my hair as we kissed. "Stay over tonight?"

"Definitely," I said smiling. The smile stayed firmly on my face. And I was certain it would never leave. I had my family back. With just a tiny plan from my tiny son and I had everything back.

Look in my eyes, you'll see a love that's deep and true, tender and strong and just for you