Meredith looked suspiciously down the hallway, both directions, before stepping off the empty elevator car. After the surprise attack from her new sister, she had been actively avoiding a confrontation. She made her way to the nurse's station and picked up the phone, her fingers automatically dialling the ambulance bay to be put through to the dispatcher. She really needed to find that arm. She spoke to several people, none of whom had seen the arm, but promised to look. She wondered how it was possible to lose an arm.
"That's right, Grey. Okay. Thanks." She hung up the phone with a sigh, her fingers coming up to grasp the chain around her neck, a habit she had picked up over the past two weeks. She dropped her hand and turned, feeling his presence before he spoke.
"Hey," Derek said.
"Hey. I'm looking for an arm. A severed arm. Have you seen it?" she questioned, knowing how absurd she sounded.
He smiled. "Have I seen your severed arm? No, no I haven't. But I'll keep an eye out for it," he joked.
Meredith shook her head and smiled. "Thanks," she muttered sarcastically. And she was about to continue when a newly familiar figure, now etched permanently into her memory, appeared in front of her.
"Hi," Lexie said. "Look I'm sorry about before. Don't block the bay doors, I know that now. I was just so nervous about meeting you..."
Meredith regarded her quietly, cursing herself inwardly for having been caught in the open like this. She had no idea what to say to the girl. No idea.
"Hey, aren't you the girl from the bar?" Derek was asking.
Lexie turned her head, as if only just taking in his presence. "What?"
Derek nodded. "You're the girl from the bar." He stated with more confidence.
Meredith narrowed her eyes, realizing exactly what Derek was talking about.
"Oh! Yes, oh my god," Lexie stumbled. "Yes, hi. Sorry, I didn't recognize you right away. Oh. My god. That's so funny. What are the odds?"
"Yes, Dr. Shepherd, what are the odds?" Meredith asked. She knew it wasn't his fault, knew he had told her the truth when he told her about the girl hitting on him in the bar. He hadn't done anything wrong. But how the man had managed to catch the attention of a new intern two years in a row, and her sister of all people. Well, she wasn't going to make it easy on him, not right now. She was exhausted and stressed, and was actively trying to avoid Lexie.
Derek scoffed at her question. "Hey," he started, but didn't continue, knowing she wouldn't want to have this conversation in front of a new intern, who had tried to pick him up at a bar. Their bar.
Lexie seemed unaware of his hesitation, turning her attention towards Meredith. "I really am sorry," she repeated. "I just really want to talk to you. I was hoping we could..." But Meredith was shaking her head, backing away.
"I have to go check my patient," she muttered.
Derek gave her a questioning look, wondering why she was so eager to take off. He was sure she wasn't trying to avoid him. "Meredith..." But she was gone.
Beside him, Lexie sighed. "She hates me. My sister hates me."
This caught Derek's attention. "Meredith is your sister?"
Lexie nodded. "Half-sister. We just met today. I didn't even know she existed until a few months ago." She looked at him and seemed to snap out of it. "Wait, you're Dr. Shepherd, right?"
Derek nodded, trying to assimilate the knowledge he had just been given. Really, what were the odds? He sighed, trying to see which was Meredith had turned at the end of the hall.
"I'm supposed to be getting you for a consult. Dr. Yang said it was really important."
"Okay," he allowed her to lead him down to the pit, wishing he could have gone after his girlfriend.
000
Hours later, Meredith sat slumped in a hard, waiting room chair, waiting for Derek to finish checking on his patient. Her surgery had been a success, and she was optimistic that her patient would keep her arm. She was absolutely exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, in her own bed, with Derek's arms wrapped tightly around her for the first time in more than two weeks. She closed her eyes for several seconds, basking in the thought.
"Meredith?" The questioning voice broke through her trance and she sighed as she opened her eyes, meeting an almost matching pair.
"Dr. Grey," she greeted the other doctor, feeling weird using her own name.
Lexie regarded her half-sister warily. "Look, I really am sorry about blocking your path earlier, I was just so nervous about meeting you. It won't happen again."
Meredith nodded. "Okay." She just couldn't deal with this right now. If she closed her eyes again, would Lexie just disappear?
"Okay," Lexie repeated. "I, uh, do you have a few minutes? I thought that maybe we could talk?"
Meredith repressed the urge to laugh in her face. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what you expect to happen here, but I'm exhausted. I haven't slept in three days."
"Oh, okay," Lexie was obviously disappointed. "Maybe tomorrow...?" She ventured timidly.
Meredith sighed, trying to swallow down all the feelings and emotions that came attached to being in the presence of the half-sister who grew up with everything she hadn't. She knew it wasn't Lexie's fault, but she really didn't need the reminder of what she didn't have, a reminder of what she was lacking.
Before she could say more, Meredith spotted Derek cautiously approaching them, and she was suddenly reminded at what she did have. She sighed in relief and stood, nodding at Lexie. "Night, Dr. Grey."
She walked up to Derek, fully aware of Lexie's eyes on her back. Meredith was not a jealous person, but she was exhausted and confused and taken completely by surprise by her half-sister showing up in her hospital. The younger woman had everything Meredith missed growing up, and she was in Meredith's hospital. But Meredith was going to make it perfectly clear that her McDreamy was off limits.
"Ready to go?" Derek asked, his expression obviously apprehensive over the way she had taken off earlier. She hadn't had a chance to speak with him since. She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, let's go home." She took looped her wrist through the crook of his elbow, and let him lead her out the front doors towards the parking lot.
It wasn't until they were settled in his car that he spoke again.
He turned his body, as much as could behind the wheel, to face her. "Look, Meredith-"
She shook her head, placing a finger on his lips to silence him. "I know, Derek. I know. And I'm sorry. It wasn't about you. I had just found out she was my sister, and then that she was the girl from the bar..." She shook her head. "I just couldn't deal. I'm sorry."
Derek removed her finger from his lips, threading his fingers through hers. He gave her the look, their look. "Meredith, let me get one thing straight. You will always be the girl from the bar for me."
Meredith snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Seriously," Derek said.
She smiled. "And you will always be the guy from the bar."
He smirked. "Yeah, the one you took advantage of."
She scoffed at him. "You seriously want to re-start that now? Seriously?"
Derek shrugged. "There's no re-starting anything. It's a fact, always been a fact. I was vulnerable and good looking and you took advantage. Oh, and I love you more," He added with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes, using his hand to pull herself over the centre consol to meet his lips. She kissed him for several seconds before pulling away, "You're an ass," she muttered, settling herself back on her side of the car.
Derek laughed and dropped her hand to start the car.
000
Meredith jolted awake at the hand on her shoulder. She sat upright, blinking her eyes to find herself in her own driveway. She barely remembered leaving the hospital. She yawned and looked over at Derek, who was observing her with a bemused expression.
"Tired?" he asked.
She nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. Wow, I didn't think I was that tired." She laughed and stepped out of the car. Together, they made their way inside, Meredith shaking her head at a snoring Cristina flaked out on the couch. Cristina had made it perfectly clear that she was not going to sleep in her old apartment ever again, and had jumped at Meredith's offer to crash on the couch until she found a new place.
"I guess you two have something in common," he whispered in response to Cristina's snoring and she smacked him. He laughed and shook his head, stepping back to let her lead the way up the stairs.
Once they were in the safety of the bedroom, Meredith sighed with relief. Derek was right, something was going on with all of her friends. Bailey was different. She had to get used to reporting to Callie, especially since she was technically her boss's husband's boss, which was weird and awkward. And now she had a sister to deal with on top of all of it. But Meredith was determined not to let her sister be the straw. She had been through too much to allow something like this to break her.
She and Derek took turns in the bathroom. "Thanks for doing laundry, by the way," Meredith said, as she stepped out of the bathroom, her teeth now minty-fresh. "I told Cristina, and she thinks you're whipped."
Derek turned towards her, clad in only boxers and an old, thinning tee. He scoffed. "I am not."
She laughed. "Suuuuurrrre you aren't."
He narrowed his eyes at her, but remained silent. Whether he couldn't come up with a retort, or knew it was true so he didn't bother, Meredith didn't know. She smirked and stripped off her shirt as she wandered towards her dresser for pyjamas.
Derek surprised her by hooking an arm around her waist as she tried to walk by and spinning her to settle against him, wrapped in his arms. "I missed you," he muttered, as he buried his face in the crook between her neck and shoulder.
Meredith revelled in the feeling of his hands on her bare back. She sighed and wrapped her arms loosely around his middle, simply enjoying the closeness. His hand moved up and down her back, lulling her gently. She closed her eyes and let her head rest against his shoulder as they stood there. It was unspoken, but understood, that neither of them were up to doing anything tonight. It had been a long gruelling shift, so there would be no welcome home sex tonight. And there would be no continuing of a certain conversation tonight. But right now, delaying sleep for this purpose was more than tolerable.
Derek's hand slowly wandered higher, heading up towards her hair in large, lazy circles, when his fingers caught the chain on her neck. She gasped as she realized, and pulled back, grabbing hold of his hands as they left her waist. She smiled at him, suddenly self-conscious, but not because she was standing in front of him in only scrub pants and a bra.
"Thank-you, Derek," she whispered, her eyes held steady by his. "I wanted to thank you in person. Then I was late and forgot," she winced at her own words. "But I love it. It meant... Thank-you. Though, you really didn't have to..."
He smiled at her. "You are most welcome," he said, combining his hold of her hands into one of his to raise his free hand to run his fingers along the simple gold chain around her neck, running them down to stop at the custom pendant hanging from it. "It's looks good," he said.
Meredith bit her lip, remembered finding the enveloped as she was unpacking her suitcase.
She swung her suitcase onto the queen sized bed with a sigh. Cristina was doing the same beside her. After a marathon shift, a long flight and an extended argument with the resort manager whichresulted in Cristina having their reservations changed from the honeymoon suite to a regular suite for which Meredith was grateful, they were finally here.Not that she didn't love her best friend, but she would prefer not to spend the next two weeks dodging questioning glances from other vacationers and hotel staff. Although she was certain she would have to deal with that from Alex when she got home anyway.
She unzipped her suitcase, smiling at the neatly folded clothes. A glance at Cristina's suitcase told Meredith they packed alike, and she laughed as Cristina pulled out balled clothing and shoved them into the drawers on her side of the room.
Meredith turned back to her own belongings, trying to be careful to keep everything nicely folded as she arbitrarily assigned her drawers to different categories of clothing. Her pants going in the bottom, followed by shirts. It wasn't until she was on the third drawer up; pyjamas, that she pulled out her favourite sleep shorts and old tees she had stolen from Derek's wardrobe that an envelope fell out of the pile as she was walking from bed to dresser.
She placed the clothes in the drawer and stooped to pick it up. Flipping it over, she read her own name, scrawled in immediately recognizable neat, cursive writing. She smiled to herself and shook her head. She hadn't even had a hint of him sneaking something into her suitcase. Glanced over at Cristina, who was still unpacking, Meredith placed the envelope down on the bed for the time being. Cristina didn't need her to open it in front of her right now.
Once they were both finished packing, Cristina announced she was going to have a shower, so Meredith decided to go for a walk. She pocketed the envelope and grabbed her cell phone, planning on calling Derek while she opened the envelope.
However, when she had wandered out onto the beach and took a seat on an empty chair, Meredith realized her cell phone was not going to work. Something about roaming capability not being installed She cursed the phone, technically she was still in the US. The thing should work. She tried one more time before giving up and dropping the useless communication device onto the small bar table next to he. It really was a nice resort, a number of table and chair sets of different sizes were strewn across the beach, and she spotted a waiter wandering the occupied tables, obviously taking drink orders. She shook her head when he glanced at her. Drinking could wait until later.
She surveyed the happy vacationers strewn out across the beach. It was mid afternoon, but it was somewhat cloudy and a little on the cool side, so it wasn't too busy. She had some peace and some privacy, which was just what she needed.
Meredith pulled the now slightly bent envelope out of her pocket, flattening it across her thigh before carefully tearing open the top. She pulled out a card, the front displaying a universal 'congratulations.' Upon opening the card, a small satin bag fell out, landing on her lap. It was tiny, fitting easily in her palm, but heavy enough that she knew it held some form of precious metal. Rubbing two fingers on either side, she felt a chain Even though she wasn't one fore jewellery, Meredith was pretty sure it was a necklace.
She sighed, trying to balance her emotions. Happy that he had thought of her, and that she obviously meant enough to him to warrant this. Uncertainty of receiving a gift from him, especially something that was obviously going to be jewellery. She hoped he didn't think she expected this kind of thing. She closed her fingers around the bag and opened the card.
Meredith,
Congratulations, which you can kind of figure from the front of the card. Apparently hallmark doesn't really have a specialty card for every occasion. The closest I could find was 'congrats on your promotion,' but that doesn't really hold the right sentiment. So, I thought I would start from scratch with a simple congratulations.
So, congratulations, Meredith. You are going to make an extraordinary surgeon, and I'm not just saying this because I'm slightly biased, I'm saying it because it's the simple truth. And not because it's in your blood, not because of your mother. Because of you. Because of who you are. You're an amazing person, and I am so grateful that I get to be a part of your life.
So, feel good about yourself. You made it. You had the hardest internship than any other I've ever heard of, but you made it. You proved to yourself and everyone else that you, Meredith Grey, deserve to be here. That you belong here.
I know you don't think you deserve it, and I know you're not a jewellery person, and you're probably holding the bag in your hand, unopened, but I had to get you something to mark this occasion. It's what I'm here for.
Love Always, Derek
By the time Meredith had finished reading his words, she had tears in her eyes and she sniffed, wiping the back of her hand across her face. Why did he have to be so damn poetic? She glanced at the fist still tightly wrapped around the small bag. And why did he have to know her so well?
With shaking fingers, she pulled open the small draw string and flipped the bag over to spill the contents out onto her palm. She sighed with relief when she realized it was nothing too fancy, nothing sparkled, nothing gleamed in the sunlight. Slowly, she lifted the chain upwards towards the sky, watching as the two leads straightened into a line, eventually revealing the charm hanging loosely at the bottom.
She squinted. Was that a...? She hooked her other palm under it, pulling it in close for inspection. Then she started laughing. Laughing as tears streamed down her face. But she didn't care. He was truly amazing. How had she gotten so lucky? Without wasting any time, she unhooked the latch and fastened it around her neck, her fingers running down the chain on both sides once it was secure. One hand came to rest on the pendant, her fist tightening around it for several seconds. She smiled. The card went safely back into her pocket, and the chain didn't come off for the rest of her trip.
Snapping back to the present, Meredith smiled at Derek and tilted her head. "Thank-you," she repeated. "You are an amazing man," she whispered. "I don't know how I got so lucky."
He smiled down at her, dropping the pendant to settle against her chest once more. "I'm the lucky one," he whispered, leaning in to rest his forehead against hers. "I love you, Meredith."
Meredith closed her eyes, breathing in his simple nearness. "I love you too, Derek." She was reminded that, although they were close and they were talking, they still had a long way to go. But right now, at this exact point in time, she had nothing but faith. She knew they would get there. She knew without a doubt that they would work things out, they would get their happy ending. They would one day get to that endpoint, the one that still scared her, but suddenly not as much as before.
After several minutes, Derek placed a kiss on her forehead and they silently resumed getting ready for bed. Meredith pulled off her scrub pants and pulled on a large tee, before crawling into bed. Only moments behind her, Derek exited the bathroom, flipped off the light switch and then was under the covers beside her. He pulled her in close, his arms around her middle to meet with her hands. He wriggled a few times, getting comfortable before coming to rest behind her.
"G'night," he whispered through her hair.
"Night," she echoed, smiling sleepily as exhaustion overtook her and she was lulled to sleep by his even breathing on the back of her neck, the chain shifting so the miniature scalpel hanging from it lay against the pillow under her chin.
AN: WooHoo, 20 chapters! Yay for me, especially seeing as this story started as a one to two shot. Lol But I've really enjoyed writing it so far. And I would like to send out a huge thank-you to everyone who has been reading and giving me feedback. It's really helped me to sculpt this story into what is has become. I finally find myself with real internet access, so will be attempting to keep up with responding to my reviews from now on. I've tried to answer questions in the past, but have had to drag my computer into the school to get access to do so, and to simply post my chapters. So, big thank-you to everyone for the reviews and support. Your feedback has been amazing. And just on a funny note, two reviews in a row for the last chapters used the term 'more longer chapters I say,' which I thought was hilarious.
I know everyone is getting frustrated that they haven't talked yet. It seriously wasn't supposed to be so delayed, but the story just story of wrote itself like this. They will talk soon, I promise. Thanks for sticking with me. It was supposed to be this chapter, but I felt the story needed an upbeat chapter before it, and I loved writing this chapter.