Here's kind of 2 updates in one. Thanks for all the comments! And just so you're forwarned..the next few updates will be mature.
Derek drove slowly down his street later that night, after having a few drinks with some buddies who were also home from college for the summer. He started counting the cars that were lined on both sides of the street but gave up at fifty. He furrowed his brows as he noticed even more cars as he got closer to his house, now they were doubled parked, in front of driveways, on sidewalks, and throughout Meredith's front yard. Luckily there wasn't anything blocking his path as he pulled in and parked his jeep, shaking his head at the heavy stream of teenagers coming to and fro Meredith's house.
He closed the jeep door with a heavy push and turned to walk in when he noticed something in Meredith's front yard. He took a few steps closer, squinting in the darkness and sure enough his eyes settled on Meredith. She was dressed in a tight black dress, the silver graduation cap still settled carefully on the top of her head, as she swayed back and forth to music apparently she could only hear. Derek didn't miss the almost empty bottle of tequila she nursed gently in her hands.
He was frozen in place, completely entranced as the thin material clung to her perfect curves. She seemed to be moving to her own seductive tune and for the first time in his whole life… Derek was at a loss for words.
He cleared his throat and walked closer, shaking his head to clear it of all the inappropriate thoughts that seemed to be clouding it. As he got closer he could see the pain on her face. Indiscernible to the others partying around her, but completely obvious to the man who had wiped many of her tears as a young boy.
"What's going on Mer?" He said softly, breaking through her purposed isolation.
Meredith eyed him a moment before taking a long swig of the burning liquid from her bottle, not even flinching as the strong alcohol scorched down her throat.
"It's a party… I'm celebrating! This is supposed to be one of the happiest freaking moments of my life right? I got accepted to the best colleges around the nay...the ner... the noh…the world…" Meredith slurred. "And my very own mother couldn't give a horses hiney! She couldn't put her freaking scalpel down for two seconds to come to my stupid graduation! But why should I be surprised right? I should be used to this! This shit is my life! So… I'm havin a party Der-bear."
Derek sighed, tilting his head as he watched her take another long drink. This wasn't good. He wasn't sure what he should do or say, but his thoughts were interrupted by a group of boys around Meredith's age piling out of green truck and hurrying up her front lawn.
"Hey Meri baby! Come party with us!"
"Okay." She said nodding her head as if it were a command, turning to follow the rowdy males, all leering at her in her tiny tight dress.
"I don't think so Mer!" Derek called, grabbing her arm and swinging her back, shooting the young boys a look that let them know they weren't to come near her. They shrugged and hurried off, near the real fun going on inside.
Meredith stumbled, the heal on one of her fancy shoes catching in the soft grass and causing her to stumble, Derek's strong arms catching her and pulling her close to his chest.
"I didn't even know those boys." Meredith giggled.
"That's it Mer. No more alcohol for you." Derek said, struggling with her a moment until she surrendered her bottle and he poured what little was left of the tequila on a small bush to his side, earning a pout from the still very intoxicated Meredith.
Derek shifted her to his side, clasping one of her hands in his and supporting her wait with his other, aiming her towards his house, wanting to get her out of the scene.
He laughed as she fought to move, the task of putting one foot in front of the other more difficult than expected as they moved slowly. He looked up in time to see his father approaching, a small frown on his face as he took in the sight. Derek turned to his left to watch Dr. Webber from across the street approach him at the same time as his father.
The two older men greeted each other, sharing a knowing look. Derek looked back and forth between the two confused, but his father spoke before he had a chance to inquire.
"All right son, you go on and take her inside. Richard and I will break this up." He clasped his friend on his back. "Let's go announce the parties over."
"So sad." Richard replied sarcastically as the two men crossed the yard and disappeared into Meredith's full house, leaving Derek alone with Meredith.
Derek shrugged, figuring he'd talk to his father about it later and turned back to Meredith who seemed to only be half conscious.
"Come on Mer." He coaxed, trying to get her to move forward, only to have her stumble even more.
Derek bent down and swept Meredith up, an arm behind her back and the other under knee, cradling her close.
Meredith's face was only inches from Derek's and even though her breath was overpowered by tequila, something in the warmth made him shutter.
"Take me for a ride Derek." She whispered seductively, moving her lips to his ear, causing him to breath in an intoxicating aroma of flowers.
He laughed as he felt her body grow heavy, the alcohol getting the best of her and causing her to pass out. Derek continued inside his house, climbing the stairs carefully and reaching their guest bedroom. He found the door empty and stepped in to see his mother finish making up the spare bed.
She motioned for him to lay her down and Derek complied, resting her head on the soft pillow and pulling the fluffy covers over her thin dress and tucking them protectively around her small body, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat as he looked down on her, her features mature, yet innocent in a way that made his heart ache.
"How'd you know mom?" Derek asked, the way both his parents and Dr. Webber were acting, it seemed they knew something he didn't.
His mother sighed and rubbed her tired face as she leaned against the doorway. "I knew when I saw the first car pull up… I figured Ellis hadn't shown up to the graduation ceremony. We're used to how Mer decided to deal with these things…."
"This has happened before?" He asked shocked.
His mother nodded sadly. "Ya. A lot at first. There was the Honor Roll banquet Ellis missed, the time she was awarded first place on her science project, the mathematician award…" She let her voice trail off, signaling there was so much more. "We thought she had outgrown it though… we haven't had a party since the beginning of the year." His mother shrugged defeated. "I think it really hurt her this time."
Derek turned his back to his mother and blinked quickly, not willing to let her see the emotion in his eyes. A broad range of feelings swept over Derek. Pain, hurt, anger, regret, and most of all guilt. He'd been selfish and turned his back on his best friend. He hadn't bothered to find out what was going on in the life of the girl he'd vowed at a young age to take care of.
His mother noticed the pained look that crossed Derek's features as he stared down at Meredith. "It's not your fault Derek."
He struggled a moment to regain his voice. "Ya… but she's my Meredith. I should have been there for her. Not turn my back when she needed me the most."
His mother shook her head and sighed softly, turning and disappearing down the hall, leaving Derek alone with a sleeping Meredith. He stared down at her beautiful face and moved his hand to softly brush a strand of golden hair out of her face. His fingers lingered on her soft skin a moment before leaning down and pressing his lips firmly on hers.
She stirred a little and Derek jerked away. "Der-bear?"
"Ya Mer?" He whispered back.
"I love you."
Derek smiled and whispered again. "I love you too."
He watched her only a moment longer as she settled back to sleep, a smile creeping across his face. He turned and moved for the door, turning the light off and closing it behind him. He quickly decided that there wasn't a rush to hurry back to school. He had a few months before classes started up again and sticking around home might be interesting this summer. After all... home was where his Meredith was.
Meredith shifted back and forth on her bare feet, pressing her finger to the lighted button, listening as the door bell echoed through the large Shepherd house. She had avoided this place for three days. Waking up with an incredibly aching head and feeling more embarrassed then she could ever remember feeling that Saturday morning after her humiliating graduation party, she had snuck out of their house and proceeded to busy herself away from home at work, successfully avoiding Derek all together. She could only imagine how immature and ridiculous he found her and was glad he was long gone by now, probably already settling in to his new apartment.
She waited patiently for Nicole Shepherd to answer the door. She had grown close to Derek's mom in the last few years and wanted to apologize for her behavior a few nights before. She also held a book in her hand that she had borrowed from Michael a few months back and had come across it while packing up her room that evening.
The door suddenly swung open and Meredith took a few steps back in surprise, her eyes resting on the tall figure that stood in the door way. Derek smiled and folded his bare arms in front of him, the material of his sleeveless t-shirt pulling tight across his muscular chest as he watched amused at Meredith's stunned expression.
"Are you going to stand there and stare at me all night or would you like to come in?"
Meredith immediately snapped her mouth closed and tried to recover. "I…uh..I.. um…I was not staring! It's just that you're not supposed to be here. You said you were going back last night… and your jeep's not in the driveway… so I didn't expect… I was not staring!" She repeated, trying to pull her eyes away from Derek's tanned biceps, cursing herself for stuttering like an idiot.
Derek chuckled earning an annoyed huff from her as he held the door open and motioned her in, letting his eyes fall to the tight grey material of her tight thin cotton capri's, enhancing her back end curves in the most voluptuous way. She turned back to Derek as she passed and he had to look away as he immediately noticed the white t-shirt she wore was just as tight and her curves there were even more tempting.
"So.. uh..um… Drink! Would you like a drink?" Derek asked hurriedly, avoiding eye contact as he moved into the kitchen, Meredith following closely behind.
"Sure." Meredith answered, resting the borrowed book on the counter and leaning against it, folding her arms across her chest as she watched Derek dig through his fridge for the offered beverage. She noticed his legs were tan and his calves well shaped, the soft material of his workout shorts only barely coming to his knee and letting his formed quads peak.
"You know… as much as I loved drunken Meredith… I think I'm going to pass over dad's beer and offer you a coke."
Meredith rolled her eyes and giggled. "Coke will be fine."
Derek couldn't help but smile at the engaging sound of her giggle. It was a sound he had missed so much and didn't know how long he'd be able to go without hearing it again.
Derek handed her the cold can of soda and grabbed one for himself, leading her back into the living room and plopping down on the soft worn couch, patting the cushion next to him signaling for Meredith to join him.
Meredith hesitated a moment, taking a breath to calm her nerves. She was being silly. This was just Derek for crying out. Old Der-bear, the butterflies in her stomach must be for something else.
Meredith kept her gaze straight ahead on the television, groaning as the commercial break ended and a bunch of men in uniforms and baseball hats filled the screen.
"A game? You have got to be kidding me. Kill me now." Meredith teased.
"Hey!" Derek replied in faked offense. "It's the Yankees and the Cubs! You can't get better than this."
Meredith pulled her feet under her and settled into the couch, feeling more relaxed each minute. He was just Derek. This would be fun. Like old times.
They watched the game, innings passing like minutes to Meredith who had never sat still for an entire baseball game in her whole life. It was fun. She asked annoying questions while he pretended to be irritated that she'd forgotten everything he'd taught her years ago.
"But that was three balls. He's out!"
"No Mer… it's three strikes and your out… and you get four balls."
"Oh... right. So four balls and you're out?"
"No Mer… four balls and you get a walk."
"What happeneds if they run?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well what happeneds if someone gets a walk, but he runs instead. Is he out?"
Derek finally turned to meet Meredith's furrowed brows and couldn't help but laugh. He shook his head and pushed her shoulder.
"Hey! I was just asking Der-bear." She bit her lip to keep from laughing as he groaned and tried to glare, not succeeding very well.
The small phone tucked in Meredith's waist band began to sing and Meredith pulled it up, flipping open the screen to see she had a new text message. She quickly glanced at the sender's name and tried to flip it shut before Derek noticed, but not being fast enough.
The small device was plucked from her hands earning a surprised gasp.
"Give that back!"
"I don't think so! Who's…" He tilted his head and read the name. "…Troy?"
"No body! Give it back… I'm warning you!" She tried to sound serious but failed miserably.
Derek rolled his eyes, eyeing her small body. He continued to push buttons until the message was pulled up. "You looked hot Friday night…Wish we could've been alone… I want to see you… call me." Derek made a face. "Seriously?"
Meredith snatched the phone back and put it back in her pants, folding her arms and turning back to the TV. Her expression had changed and Derek wondered what it was. She wasn't really mad at him… it was something else and he didn't know what.
"I'm sorry Mer. I was just teasing. I shouldn't have read your message."
Meredith turned surprised. She studied Derek's handsome features a moment before finally talking. "Troy's my ex-boyfriend."
Her voice was soft and even though something inside Derek immediately screamed jealousy, he swallowed it and let her continue.
"He dumped me. A few months back. I thought things were good… I even thought I might like him… but then I found out he had been sneaking around with Kendall the whole time."
Her voice sounded hurt but Derek couldn't help blurting out. "Kendall Bones Jones... Kendall?" Years later he still remembered the little hoochie that almost everyone on his baseball team had scored with.
"Ya... her. Apparently I wasn't willing to satisfy certain needs… so he was having them fulfilled elsewhere." She laughed a disheartened laugh and shrugged. "You know it's funny though... almost ironic. I got stuck with this bad girl reputation… my mom's even called me a whore on more than one occasion… but I've never actually… you know…"
She laughed dryly as her voice trailed off. Derek furrowed his brows, comprehension not dawning. He studied her a moment before it hit him and his eyes widened and mouth dropped as he finally got what she was saying.
Meredith wacked him in the chest, her own eyes widening. "It's not that hard to believe Derek! I've just never been ready… I want my first time to be special… for it to be with the right person."
Derek rubbed the spot her small but powerful hand had left a bruise and nodded in agreement. "No..it's not hard to believe Mer… I think it's great. You're first time should be special."
They sat for a moment, the baseball game long forgotten, their minds whirling in thought as their arms gently touched.
"How did you know Derek? That your first was the right one?"
Derek shook his head and chuckled. "She wasn't. I wished I would have waited Mer. You only get that first time once. But I imagine…the right one… would be someone you're comfortable with. Someone I cared about more than life itself. Someone who's mere presence lights up the room and the simple sound of her giggle fills me with complete joy."
Meredith turned her head, noticing his voice grow lower and lower, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw his face was only inches away, his warm breath washing over her face and causing the hair on her neck to stand. His eyes lowered and studied her mouth as he continued, Meredith's heart racing frantically as she saw the blue in his eyes darken, a look that had never been cast her way, but a look she had dreamed about for so long.
"Someone who, when they're hurting and in pain, a piece of you actually breaks." Derek was now only centimeters from her mouth and Meredith found it completely impossible to breathe or talk or do anything for that matter. Her own eyes were trained on his large lips, slightly parted, and she involuntarily grazed her tongue across her bottom lip, preparing herself for what was inevitably to come.
"I'm going to kiss you Mer." It wasn't a question, it was a fact. His deep voice doing something to her insides as she nodded, the only response she was capable of supplying.
Derek's large hand moved up to the side of her face, cupping her perfect jaw as he pulled her forward. Their lips met, slowly and gently as they both experimented with the new sensation. This was Meredith, it shouldn't feel so completely right and so completely amazing to be kissing her. But it did. It felt way beyond amazing and he wanted more. He needed more.
Meredith thought her heart might pound out of her chest and she prayed Derek couldn't hear it. Her legs went week and something stirred inside her that she had never been aware of before. Derek's gentle hand became firmer as his other moved to her hair, pressing his lips harder against his, deepening the kiss.
She slightly parted her lips, cautiously, unsure if it was okay, but was met with Derek's demanding tongue, moving against hers in a seductive rhythm. It was almost too much, his taste, his smell, his strong hands moving through her hair, she opened her mouth further and soon their tongues were fighting for power.
A small moan vibrated through their mouths and Meredith was embarrassed to realize it came from her. It seemed to undo the last of Derek's resolve and, without pulling away, he quickly shifted, pulling Meredith flat on the couch and covering her delicious body with his hard one.
They continued the heated kiss, Derek very aware that his hard erection was pressed against her thigh as he grinded his body slowly up and down, enjoying the way Meredith lifted to meet each movement. He pulled away a moment, looking down in her flushed face and smiling at how beautiful she was, her lips swollen, eyes half closed it pleasure.
He moved his hand carefully and slowly until it found the bottom hem of her shirt, studying her face as he inched his hand up. His fingers played against the soft skin of her abdomen as he brushed past her tight stomach and found his goal. He waited a moment before continuing, taking her soft smile as permission, before moving his hand up and under her bra, cupping her full breast in his large hand. He massaged a moment, feeling it's peak harden against his hand and moving his fingers to tease her nipple.
He pinched and pulled softly, delighting in the way she moaned and arched her body in pleasure. His lips crashed down against hers again, needing to taste her, needing to be as close to her as possible as his hand continued to explore her body.
Abandoning her breast, he moved his hand down to her pants, slipping them in quickly and finding her panties wet. A moan filled the room, this time from Derek as he moved the silky material away, eager to feel her, eager to show her what real pleasure was.
Before Derek found his new target, a noise was heard at the front door, keys jingling and then the lock being turned. Derek sprung up, Meredith following as she fixed her hair frantically, crossing the room to the opposite chair and adjusting her blouse.
Seconds later Michael and Nikole entered the living room, home from their night out and smiled pleasantly surprised to see Meredith and Derek, watching the end of a baseball game.
"Meredith! I'm so glad you were able to come over and keep Derek company. I was afraid he'd be all lonely, watching his boring baseball all by himself." Nicole said cheerfully, perching herself on the couch next to Derek, who sat with a throw pillow clutched tightly to his lap.
Meredith stuttered, flustered beyond belief at what had just happened, and what had almost just happened between her and her childhood protector. "Um.. ya… no problem. I should actually be going… I was just returning your book… um thank you.. see you later!"
Meredith hurried out of the room avoiding eye contact with Derek as she smiled at both his parents and exited through the front door.
The three Shepherds sat in silence for a moment, not talking before Nikole broke the silence.
"So Derek, can you believe how grown up Meredith is now. She sure is beautiful. Why … I remember like it was just yesterday you two running around in your underwear through the sprinklers. My how time flies."
Derek only nodded, his heart still racing, his hands still tingling, and lips throbbing from her tiny bites. She was most definitely not little Meredith any more. He had only had a taste, and he quickly decided it was most definitely not enough. He needed Meredith, in more than one way.
But was this wrong? Was he taking advantage of her youth? Of her innocence? She was like a kid sister growing up. Sure he loved her… both the thoughts and feelings coursing through his mind and body was of a whole different ball game. Would it be worth it? Crossing this line was dangerous, and after he did… he knew there would be no going back to what they were before. He didn't know if he should risk loosing Meredith as his best friend. But worse of all… he didn't know if Meredith was even willing to take that chance.