Derek slipped out of bed quietly. He walked into the bathroom and started the water. Stripping of his clothes, he slipped under the hot water. Running late already, he jumped out, as quickly as he could manage. Derek found his dress pants and nice dark red shirt. Stretching his arms above his head, he couldn't help but yawn.
He looked towards his bed to see Meredith still sleeping. He scribbled a note out, then dropped a kiss against her hair before he was heading towards the lobby. "Told you I'd make it."
Derek looked over to see Mark, surprisingly alert. "Congratulations."
"Nice hickey." He smirked.
"Fuck you." He ran his hand through his hair. Thankful that the bus had already arrived, he grabbed a seat and stared out towards the shore line. Even though he felt like he was choking, Derek buttoned his shirt to the highest point. "I am not in the mood for this today."
"Late night?"
"I swear, you're worse than a girl when it comes to this."
"That is not true." Mark started rambling on about his night and the women he was surrounded by. Derek made it about two minutes before he wasn't paying attention anymore. "But, anyway. What did you get into after the club?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "We just went back to the room and drank a bottle of champagne. Ended up with this terrible headache."
"You know it's only going to get worse," Mark sighed as the bus came to a quick stop. "I hate journalists."
"Don't we all."
x.x.x
Blinking her eyes open slowly, Meredith slowly sat up with a bit of a struggle. Drinking champagne until five in the morning wasn't the greatest of her ideas, but recently, most of her ideas weren't the best.
Looking to her right side, she saw a water bottle and some aspirin, along with a handwritten note. M, just left for the press conference. I should be back around two. If you're hungry, order some room service, D.
She caught herself smiling like an idiot. "What the hell are you doing? Jesus, Meredith. Now you're talking to yourself. That's great." Grabbing the controller to the television, she flipped the channel to ESPN2. As each day went by, she was growing accustomed to seeing people she associated with on television.
Damn, he looked good.
Her ringtone blaring, made Meredith groan. The muffled sound meant it was hiding under some type of surface. Soon, she found it shoved between the bed and the wall.
One missed call from Cristina displayed on her phone. A text message appeared: CALL ME ASAP.
Meredith was about to call her, but she heard Derek's voice coming from the television. "How have you prepared for Sunday's game, compared to last week's battle against Dallas?"
Derek paused, "Personally, I watch tapes from the previous game, going into Monday morning. There were a lot of mistakes made by myself on Sunday. I've been working closely with Coach Westcott to address those issues to assure they don't occur again. I feel that our team is well-prepared to go into Sunday afternoon, without any distractions."
Are you okay?
The moderator pointed towards another reporter, "I know you just spoke of distractions. Recent pictures just hit the media today of you with a woman in Philadelphia and here in Miami. Do you think the mix of her and club visiting in the early hours of the morning would warrant some type of distraction?"
Meredith had never felt this emotion before. It was a mix between nausea, dizziness, and fear. Swallowing hard, she watched closely at Derek's response. His hand was clenched in a fist, tapping the table five times. "I don't know. Can you spend a night with friends, then go into work three days later?" Derek snapped, rising to his feet. "I'm done with questions."
Her hands were shaking. She started flipping channels until she landed on the right one. She saw four pictures of her and Derek on the screen. The first one was from Fogo De Chao, as they were walking into the restaurant. The second, she wasn't noticeable, because her back was towards them. The restaurant. The last two were from outside the club. Her hands were wrapped around his neck. She was beaming. Then, them kissing. "Are you fucking watching what I'm watching right now?"
Cristina just started laughing, uncontrollably, which was absolutely out of character for her. "I'm sorry. Shit. Okay. What the hell is this?"
Meredith ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know. I don't know." She paused. "Cristina, I don't know."
"Well, your mother's not too happy about it, that's for sure." Cristina heard Meredith make a sound that was in between a shriek and a groan. "We were all in the attendings lounge and I don't think I've ever seen her act like that before."
"I probably have. " Meredith laid down with a huff. "And now they're speculating on who I am. What does bachelor Derek Shepherd's new woman do for a living. I am no one's woman." Meredith kept ranting and raving. She wanted to throw up. "What if I lose my job for this?"
"I highly doubt that's going to happen. Listen, I have a page. Keep me posted."
Meredith hung up her cell phone with a frown. She turned the television off abruptly. Every doubt she had in her mind about this was coming to life. She wasn't going to sacrifice everything she had worked so hard for, for what? A fling? Grabbing all of her belongings, Meredith left Derek's hotel room and headed back towards her own.
x.x.x
Derek played around with the food on his plate. It was Saturday morning, which meant the entire day was spent between light practice and classroom playbooks. He took a sip of the orange juice in front of him and sighed. "What's going on with you? You went MIA after yesterday."
He glanced at his best friend. "I'm alright."
"Did you talk to her?"
This was the first time Mark had brought up Meredith without referring to some type of lude innuendos. "Barely."
Derek knocked on Meredith's hotel room. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying to be patient. When she opened it, he could tell she had been crying. Her eyes and nose were a light shade of pink. Derek walked inside, closing the door behind himself. "I am so sorry. Are you okay?" He reached for her hand, shocked when she took two steps back.
"Derek, I can not do this. I'm sorry." Avoiding eye contact with him completely, Meredith moved towards the dresser, dancing her fingers along the oak. "I worked my ass off to get where I am. I refuse to give that up for a… a hook up. I shouldn't have let it gotten to where it did."
"Is that what you think this is?" Derek stared at her. "A hook up?"
"Do you know what they're saying about me? Jesus, Derek, according to the last one, I'm a fucking escort."
"No one believes that bullshit. Meredith, I'm sorry this happened, but that doesn't mean we have to throw this away."
"What? This? Two people who decided to make out is now something? Please, just go. I can't lose this. Please, just go."
Derek sighed, defeated. He couldn't get through to her right now. He knew he had to leave.
"I'm sure she's just upset," Mark patted his shoulder, "Let's just get this day over with."
"Right," Derek looked at his phone again. Nothing. "Let's go see how much I'll get fined today."
Mark chuckled, "I heard it was five thousand dollars, but that seems a bit drastic for week two."
"It wouldn't surprise me at all."
x.x.x
Meredith stayed in the shadows today. Never removing the sunglasses from her face, she just watched as each drill was called. "You're famous."
She glanced towards Alex. "Apparently."
"Don't sweat it. They'll talk about it for two days, maybe, then someone will do something even stupider and you'll be old news." Alex shrugged, receiving a glare almost automatically.
"Alex, I like you. You're a great PT and possibly a good friend, but I will throw you into the ocean." Meredith looked towards the field to see Derek, looking towards her. "I'm sorry, that was rough."
He smirked, "I like the backbone, kid. Down for a drink after this?"
Meredith breathed out a yes almost immediately. Her heart started racing when Alton Anderson made his way to stand next to her. She had never seen an owner on a field before, especially when it wasn't game day. "Good afternoon, sir."
"Dr. Grey. Do you mind coming into my office Monday morning at ten o'clock?" He always had such a monotone voice and expression. You couldn't even start to attempt to try to figure out what he was thinking.
"Absolutely sir," She forced a smile to the best of her ability. Without another word, he was walking towards the golf cart that would bring him away. Placing her head in her hands, Meredith begrudgingly answered her cell phone. "Mom, I can't talk-"
"What the hell are you doing, Meredith? Are you a doctor or a trophy wife? I didn't raise you to be this… this ordinary! Do you understand how this makes me look? My daughter is gallivanting with some athlete? Drinking at three in the morning?" Ellis went on and on.
"Mom-"
"Now I have to try to explain to my colleagues what exactly you're doing with your medical degree, because by the looks of it, it doesn't look like much. This is an embarrassment to me."
"Mom-"
"I hope you know what you're doing, because your reputation is not going to be the same after this stunt. I'd like to sit down with you when you get back from Miami. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I think I'll be busy. You know, gallivanting, apparently. I'm sorry I am so disappointing to you, Mom."
Meredith turned her phone off immediately. Her hands were shaking. That feeling came right back from yesterday afternoon. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible.