Author's Note: Hey y'all! Sorry it's been so long. I just wanted to continue to say thank you for your kind words. Please, review! Thanks again xx

Meredith pulled on her nicest outfit. She wore a black pencil skirt match with a red blouse. Staring into the mirror, she exited the bathroom, knocking on the door of Mr. Anderson's office.

After being let in by a secretary, she sat down across from him. "How was your first away game, Dr. Grey?"

"It was good, sir. I really am enjoying my position here and again, would like to thank you for the opportunity."

Alton waived his hand, stopping her from continuing. "Dr. Grey. I did not want to meet with you to discuss any relationships that may occur outside of these walls. It is not my place to position input on any of those situations. Especially, since the team still won and played greatly yesterday."

"Yes, sir."

"I called you in here to see if you wanted to attend a conference in five weeks. It runs Monday through Friday, so it would be a long two weeks of work for you."

"I am absolutely interested."

"Perfect. I'll have my secretary send you all the information. You do have a passport, correct?"

Meredith looked up. "Yes, sir. I do."

"Perfect. After Sunday in Washington, you'll be flying into London. You'll spend the week there and reconnect with the rest of the team on Saturday. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect, sir. Thank you."

"I'll email you more information."

"Yes, thank you." She quickly exited the office, heading towards her own. Opening the door, she saw a small bouquet of flowers sitting on her desk. Meredith frowned, reading the note. I'm so sorry.

Meredith put the card down when her phone buzzed against her leg. Her heart dropped when she received and SOS text message from Cristina. She wasn't the type to ever have to use that card, so it was imperative that Meredith found out what was happening.

She flew over to the bar across the hospital to see Cristina fiddling with the peanuts. "What's up, Cris?"

"Life sucks," She chucked the shell into the basket in front of her.

"Ah, this game," Meredith sat down. "My life sucks, too."

Cristina hadn't looked up yet, "You don't want to play with me." Meredith was waiting for the next sentence to come. She had to lightly elbow her side for a reaction. "I'm pregnant."

Meredith stopped everything, breathing included.

"That looks like my reaction."

"Pregnant?" Meredith said below a whisper. "What are you doing to do? Did you tell Burke yet? Holy crap. Cris, what are you going to do?"

"Burke isn't going to know," Cristina finally looked up. "Do you know what happens to pregnant interns? Listen, I need you."

"Anything. But, you don't think he should-"

"I have an abortion scheduled next week. I had to give them someone to help me afterwards. I put your name down. You're my… person."

They sat there in silence for awhile. If Cristina wanted to cry, her shoulder was readily available. Although, Meredith was positive that wasn't going to happen at the bar right next to the hospital.

"Okay, enough about me. Did you make up with McDreamy, yet?"

Meredith finally cracked a smile and let out a laugh, "McWhat?"

"He's hot," She shrugged. "But he's got that whole perfect hair and I can undress you with my eyes thing going on. It's dreamy. McDreamy."

Meredith shook her head, no.

"Don't be stupid. He didn't take pictures himself. Go talk to him."

"I'll see him on Thursday," She shrugged.

Cristina gave her a sharp look. "Don't be stupid."

Derek stared at his ceiling. He watched the ceiling fan circle, slowly. When his phone rang, he answered it. "What's up?"

"So, you're probably busy and I'm sorry for just calling like this. I should have texted you. I uh, oh! It's Meredith, by the way. I found your number through the work directory."

"You ramble when you're nervous."

"What? I…I'm not nervous."

Derek chuckled, "I happen to think it's cute. What can I do for you, Meredith?"

"I think we should talk," She sighed.

"I agree. Do you want to come over to my apartment? Or I can meet you somewhere?" Now Derek was about to start rambling. Talking to her and knowing he was going to see her soon made the butterflies reappear in his stomach. He never had this feeling before.

"I'll come to you. I'm right near Temple Emergency Room."

Derek had given her directions and how to gain access to his apartment. He jumped up, trying to clean the house to the best of his ability. He closed the door to his bedroom and to Kyla's bedroom.

As quickly as possible, he loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and shut the door, right before there was a knock on his front door. Derek took a breath before opening the door. "Hey, come in."

Meredith looked around the apartment. It was huge. The kitchen alone was bigger than her entire apartment. "This is beautiful."

Derek watched as she looked around. She was absolutely stunning. She placed her purse on the kitchen table. Derek sat down on the couch, indicating for her to do the same. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I may have overreacted a tad bit on Friday." She admitted. "I just am not used to being around the media like that. I'm a doctor for crying out loud. I was so scared that I was going to lose everything I worked so hard for."

Derek nodded, "I understand where you're coming from. Meredith, like I've told you, there's something about you. You're something special, you know?" He noticed her tense exterior start to relax. "When I first saw you, you kind of took my breath away. I could barely focus. And Thursday night? I haven't had that much fun in such a long time."

"Really?" She looked at him.

"Really. I'd like the chance to take you out, Meredith. You know, bring you to dinner and have you as my date next month for our charity event. I don't give a shit who's around."

"Okay," Meredith exhaled the breath she didn't realize she wasn't holding in. "Okay."

Derek reached over and took ahold of her hand. He ran his thumb along her palm slowly. "So, this is what I think we should do," Derek smiled. "We spend the day here, watching movies, ordering Chinese food, and just being normal. How does that sound?"

"That sounds really nice."

"Can I go grab you some comfier clothes?" He smiled, climbing to his feet.

"Yes," Meredith squeezed his hand, gently. "Derek, can I... kiss you." She felt red flush over her face.

He tipped her chin up and pressed his lips on hers. It was slow at first, until Meredith danced her tongue along his. She pulled back with a smile. "You can do that anytime you'd like."

x.x.x

"No. No way. You've lost it," Meredith shook her head. She had just shoved a full fork full of lo mien into her mouth. "You really think DC is better than Marvel? How?"

"DC is better."

Meredith placed the food container on the table. "So you think Batman, Superman, the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman can really take on, let's see, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool, and even Loki, on some days?"

Derek was amused, "Loki is a bad guy."

"He had some brief moments of clarity," Meredith shrugged. "I think you're insane."

"We'll whose the one here, huh?" He smirked, easily pulling her onto his lap, "Which I'm really happy you are."

"Well, I'd hope so," Meredith giggled. "Tell me more about this charity event that we're going to."

"It's a huge banquet dinner. It's for No Kid Hungry. Every penny raised goes towards feeding underprivileged children across the country. It's a city wide thing, so a lot of people are going to be there. We'll be at a table with Mark and his date, Alex and his, and I believe Coach and his wife."

"That sounds really amazing. I'll have to go buy a dress," She smiled.

"We'll so shopping."

Meredith looked at him, slightly shocked. She had never had a boyfriend, or anything close to that, offer to go shopping with her. "I think you might regret that."

"I think we'll be okay."