Chapter 13 – Be Gentle With Me
Meredith awoke slowly, not sure where she was or who it was she was lying against. Looking around her, she saw Derek's eyes open, watching her, as she sat up and stared at the various people sleeping in her living room.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Derek asked her quietly, trying not to disturb the rest of the room. He sighed to himself as she pulled away from him and stood up.
"Yeah, fine." She pushed her fingers through her tangled hair and headed toward the kitchen. "I think I'm going to make breakfast."
Derek followed her. "You can cook?" he asked, surprised.
"How hard can it be?" she retorted.
A half hour later, Meredith stood in the kitchen with her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the side in confusion. "I don't understand… I thought I followed the recipe." She turned to Derek. "What do you think?"
Derek thoughtfully studied the black mess in the frying pan, trying to stifle his laughter. "What were you trying to make?"
"Pancakes," she said unhappily. "I don't get it…" She glanced at his face, and the expression on hers finally made him burst out laughing.
"Derek! It's not funny!" she said, shoving him playfully. "Could you do a better job?"
"Meredith," he said, in between bursts of laughter. "I think anyone could do a better job."
"Fine, then," she said, handing him the spatula. "You do it."
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Fifteen minutes later, Meredith wrinkled her nose at the smoking mess Derek pulled out of the oven. "What is that?"
"They're supposed to be rolls," Derek said.
"They're cut and slice type rolls, Derek. How do you burn those?"
Derek shrugged innocently. "I think your oven might be broken."
Meredith raised her eyebrows at him as Burke walked into the room. "What's that smell?" he asked.
"Derek's burnt rolls," Meredith announced promptly.
"And Meredith's burnt pancakes," Derek said pointedly.
"Okay," Burke said slowly. "Both of your cooking skills definitely leave something to be desired." He moved to the counter and looked down at the charred messes that were their attempts at cooking. "This is disgusting. I'll cook breakfast. You two, get out of the kitchen. You'll ruin something just by standing here."
Derek and Meredith exchanged mock-offended looks and stepped out of the kitchen. Meredith peered into the living room. "Everyone else is still sleeping."
"Do you want to go outside? This way we won't wake them up."
Meredith nodded, and they went outside to the backyard and sat on the stone wall, with its view of Seattle.
Derek looked appreciatively at the skyline. "It's nice back here."
Meredith nodded woodenly. "My mother liked the view. Not that she saw it that much anyway, but still…"
"Why didn't she see it?" he asked curiously.
"She was too busy working."
Derek nodded. "She was a great surgeon. I'm guessing she wasn't as good a mother?"
Meredith shrugged. "As good as Ellis Grey could be, anyway. I knew her patients always came first." She stood up and began walking away from him on the wall, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. "I always hate it when adults complain about how traumatized they were by their childhoods, don't you? I had everything I could ever want growing up."
Except a mother and a father, Derek thought to himself. "Who took care of you when you were little?"
Meredith pivoted gracefully on one foot and began walking back. "I had a bunch of different nannies. During the time in between each one, I usually went to the hospital after school."
"Did they change a lot?" Derek asked neutrally.
Meredith flashed him a brief, ironic smile. "Fairly often."
"Why?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, how many nannies do you think could keep up with the famous Ellis Grey?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.
"Just that most nannies want a break. They don't want to be stuck looking after a 7 year-old all weekend, night and day, because her mother's working a 48-hour shift at the hospital. Or longer."
"Doesn't sound like the best way to raise a child."
"It was fine," she said sharply. "I grew up and was fine."
He held up his hands in capitulation. "It's just me, Meredith. You don't have to be so defensive."
She sighed and sat back down next to him. "So, she wasn't the world's greatest mother. So, what? What's your point?"
"I don't have a point, Meredith. I was just trying to find out more about you. That's what friends do, isn't it, they talk about their lives?"
She looked at him skeptically. "Is that what we are now, we're friends?"
"Aren't we? You invited me over for a movie night." he reminded her.
She shrugged. "I really have no idea what we are or whatever it is that we're doing together."
He leaned in closer to her and put out a hand to trace gently along her face. "I know what I'd like us to be doing together."
She held her breath as he leaned in closer, and lightly touched his lips to hers. When she kissed him back, he pushed his hands into her hair and pulled her even closer.
"Breakfast!" Burke called from the back door. Startled, the two of them quickly jumped apart. "Oh, I guess I'm interrupting something out here… Just come in when you're ready!" When they looked towards the door, Burke had gone back inside.
"I guess we should go in," Meredith said reluctantly.
"We could go inside," Derek agreed. "Or we could stay out here for a little while longer."
Meredith looked at him impishly. "Doing what?"
He leaned toward her again. "I have a few ideas."
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When they went back into the house ten minutes later, everyone else had woken up. Cristina smirked at Meredith as she went over to the counter to get breakfast.
"So what were you two doing out there?"
Meredith blushed slightly. "Nothing," she said unconvincingly.
"Really?" Cristina asked. "Because it sounded like Burke interrupted something."
Meredith shrugged and smiled. "Maybe he did."
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After her Saturday off, Meredith went back into the hospital Sunday morning. She pressed the button for the elevator and leaned against the wall. She didn't hear the footsteps come up behind her, and shrieked as arms wrapped around her waist from behind. Twisting around, she exclaimed, "You scared me!"
"Sorry," Derek said, pulling her closer, clearly not at all apologetic. "So," he said, inhaling the lavender scent of her hair, "Any interest in brain surgery today? I'm performing a craniotomy later. Removing a tumor from the frontal lobe."
Meredith smiled up at him. "I'm not sure where I am today. It depends on where Bailey puts me."
"Let me worry about Bailey," he said, leaning down to kiss her just as the elevator doors opened. He reluctantly let go of her, and both their eyes widened as they turned towards the elevator. Addison and Mark were in there, so close they were almost fused together.
Derek turned to Meredith. "I guess we're not the only ones who consider the elevator a romantic spot," he said dryly. Hearing his voice, the pair sprang apart. Derek and Meredith entered the elevator.
"Hey."
"Hi." Addison replied. "Don't worry, the elevator is still your spot. We don't consider it especially romantic."
Derek raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? You don't?"
Mark put his arm around Addison's waist and pulled her towards him. "We're just celebrating."
"What are you celebrating?"
With a grin, Addison held up her left hand. "Our engagement - Mark proposed!"
"Oh, my god!" Meredith moved to Addison to see her ring. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you." Addison looked at Derek quizzically.
He smiled back at her, genuinely happy for the two of them. "Congratulations, you two." He reached out and shook Mark's hand. Meredith and Addison began talking about wedding plans, and Mark looked at Derek and shook his head.
"I'm leaving it all up to her."
Derek nodded. "Probably the best plan."
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Addison and Meredith got off on the 3rd floor, while Mark and Derek stayed on the elevator.
"When did Mark propose?" Meredith asked curiously, as they headed down the hallway.
"On Friday," Addison replied, twirling her emerald engagement ring around her finger. "You don't think it's too soon for me to get engaged, do you?"
"Addison," Meredith said reassuringly. "The divorce was finalized months ago. And besides, when are you two planning on getting married?"
"Not for at least six months. I mean, I need time to plan a wedding! Mark said to do whatever I want, and he'll just show up." Meredith nodded her agreement with this plan, as Addison continued, "And I want you and Izzie to be my bridesmaids. My best friend Savvy's going to be my matron of honor."
Meredith was slightly taken aback, but pleased nonetheless. "Sure. I'd be happy to do it. You'll have to ask Izzie, though"
Addison grinned. "I'm so excited."
Meredith smiled back. "So this is why you two didn't join us for movie night?"
Addison nodded. "We went out to dinner, and Mark proposed, and after that, we just spent Friday night and yesterday together. We just figured we'd tell everyone today." Her expression turned sly. "Apparently, the movie night was a success. You two are back together?"
Meredith shrugged. "I think we're dating now. Who knows?"
"I don't think Derek wants to push his luck. He really wants this, you know," Addison said.
"I mean, he stayed at the house almost the whole day yesterday. Everyone fell asleep on the couch Friday night."
"So are you two going to go out on a real date anytime soon?"
"I'm not really sure yet." She pointed to Addison's ring. "Enough about me and Derek for a minute. I want to hear about your plans for the wedding!"
Addison grinned excitedly. "Okay, so I was thinking probably in about a year, maybe next September or October. I have to find a dress, and a place to have it, and figure out colors for the wedding… I don't really have any plans yet."
"Okay, well it sounds like you have plenty of time."
Addison nodded. "Yeah, I'll start figuring it out eventually."
Meredith shrugged. "That plan's always worked for me."
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Derek and Mark got off on the 4th floor. "So… good job, man." Derek congratulated him. "That's exciting."
"It is," Mark said, nodding. "And you and Meredith seem to be back together, right?"
Derek smiled. "I think we are." He corrected himself. "Hopefully, we are."
"Well, congratulations on that." Derek nodded his thanks. "And I wanted to ask you to be my best man. I think Addison's going to ask Meredith to be a bridesmaid."
"Sure, I'll be your best man." Mark grinned at this final reparation of their friendship. "When's the wedding?"
"Not for a while. But I think at the latest, next September or October."
"Wow." Derek shook his head in shock. "It's pretty amazing."
"It really is, man. So when are you and Meredith going to get married?" he asked jokingly.
Derek's smile faded slightly. "If I thought she'd agree, I'd propose and fly to Vegas this weekend." He shrugged. "I think I'll just stick to the path I'm on."
"Well, congratulations to you too, then. I'm happy you guys are finally together again."
Derek nodded. "I'm happy too."
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At the end of the day, Derek walked into the intern's locker room where the four of them were changing. He stopped by Meredith locker, and she smiled up at him as she pulled on her shoes. "I'll almost done."
"Well, can I walk you to your car?" When she nodded and stood, he picked up her jacket and helped her into it. "Ready?"
They walked to her car in relative silence, except for a few remarks about their respective days. When they reached her car, Derek stopped Meredith before she could get in.
"When's your next day off?"
She stopped to consider it. "Well, Thursday I get done at six."
"Do you want to go out to dinner Thursday night?"
She looked at him skeptically. "Don't you have to work?"
He smiled at her. "See, that's the advantage of being an attending over an intern." He leaned down closer to her and kissed her. "We have better schedules."
"Thursday night?"
"Thursday night," he confirmed.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."
He opened the car door for her. "Drive safely."
She got in. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later."
He smiled at her. "You definitely will."
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Meredith walked into the house later that night, and found Izzie at the kitchen table, leafing through the newspaper.
"So, what's new in the world today?"
Izzie closed the newspaper and frowned. "Nothing, really. The world is horribly depressing." Meredith nodded her agreement. "I think I should find something to do during the day."
Meredith hid her hopeful expression. "You could always return to the hospital. I'm sure that if you talked to the chief, he'd-" Izzie was shaking her head. "What?"
"I'm not talking about going back to the hospital. Maybe I could find a smaller practice around here and work there." Meredith's disappointed expression was palpable. "I appreciate you guys wanting me to come back, but I'm not going to."
"But, Iz-"
"So are you and Derek back together?"
Meredith frowned at her friend. "Don't change the subject."
Izzie held up her hands. "I just wanted to know."
"Well, I want to know what you and Alex are doing first."
"We're being friends." Izzie said firmly. "That's it." She looked expectantly at Meredith. "You and Derek?"
"We're going out Thursday night," Meredith confided.
"That's a good night," Izzie said hopefully.
Meredith nodded. "Thursday night," she whispered to herself.
As usual, reviews always appreciated, and thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter 12! I was very pleased with the all the reviews I got, and it is because of them that I am now posting Chapter 13.
Okay, so I have finally updated! To tell you the truth, I would rather be doing this than doing my homework, so this got done a lot faster than I expected. I got a great response to Chapter 12, and if I get the same kind of response to this chapter, I might update a lot sooner than I plan to. I will definitely try my best to get another chapter done by Thanksgiving, and that's plenty of time, so it should get done. I really love the season so far, and I hope everyone else does too. I have also decided that I will write on my profile how the next chapter is coming, meaning how close to being finished it is and when I will probably be posting it. So if you're eager for the next chapter, check my profile and you will know when it's coming! Okay, I think I have talked for long enough, so enjoy the upcoming weeks of the season, and hopefully I will update soon!