A/N: Okay. To avoid confusion ahead of time, this chapter is set the same as the last one. The difference is it's from Meredith's perspective. It does, however, continue on into the story. Thanks to all for the reviews!

Enjoy!


Meredith was in a daze.

After she finished her shower, she had wrapped herself up in an oversized towel, and made her way back into her bedroom.

Upon entering, she discarded her towel onto the floor and threw on her robe. She unthinkingly made the bed, then moved into her private bathroom to finish getting ready.

She currently stood with her head flipped over as she ran the blow-dryer back and forth across her wet hair.

Her mind wasn't blank. It wasn't suppressing the situation. It was just… There. With her. Making her do all the usual Meredith things. Something was different, though. Something about her felt different. She was… Calm. Relaxed. Tranquil.

She flipped her head upright and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

And then it happened.

She smiled.

She had no idea where it came from. She wasn't elated from the circumstances by any means, but she felt… somewhat pleased. She had agreed. Agreed to babysit. With Derek. And she was determined to make the best out of it. Nothing was going to bring her down. No one was going to make her feel bad about it. Not even herself.

The sudden echo of a noise distracted her, breaking her stare. She looked back toward the bathroom door, which she had left open behind her, and turned off the dryer.

Nothing.

Deciding to ignore it, she turned the blow-dryer back on. As she spun her head back to continue, she avoided the mirror.

I want to do this. The thought repeated in her mind.

Sighing deeply, she kept her eyes locked on the floor and went on drying her hair. A few moments later, the noise interrupted her again.

"Derek?" she called out as she leaned against the doorjamb of the bathroom.

Nothing.

Her bedroom was empty. Just as she left it only minutes before.

She tilted her head back into the bathroom. As she saw herself in the mirror once again, she frowned.

Apparently her blow-dryer sucked.

Her hair wasn't even remotely dry and the wavy texture of it was beginning to show. She shrugged softly. "Good enough," she mumbled as she turned away.

Meredith covered her mouth as she yawned and shambled over to her closet, deciding it was probably a good idea to finish getting ready.

She pulled open the door of her wardrobe and grabbed the first t-shirt she saw inside. It was black. Plain and simple. Perfect for a day like today. She clenched it in a fist and pushed the door closed a bit too hard. It slammed shut, creating a loud thump and a slight breeze.

From the corner of her eye, she saw something had fallen from her standing mirror next to her. She leaned over towards the ground and picked up a loose picture.

Not bothering to hide the grin that grew on her face, she gazed down at it, remembering the very moment the shutter had snapped.

It was a recent one of her and Derek that he had taken with a stupid disposable camera she found while cleaning.

Okay. Izzie found it cleaning and passed it on to the duo.

Derek had snatched it and finished off the roll before Meredith even had a chance to react.

The camera flashed and the wheel was cranked, resulting in the final product she held in her hand- A self-portrait of Derek kissing her on the cheek while her head was bent down reading a magazine, not realizing her photo was being taken.

Meredith smiled, remembering the chase that followed as she tried to retrieve the camera from Derek while screaming something about a death wish.

She stared at it a few moments more, and then tacked it back into the side of her mirror, just where Derek had originally put it. It was a good memory. She liked good memories. For her, they didn't come around too often, so when they did, she would do anything to hold on to them.

Even let Derek keep an awful picture of her.

Maybe today would be okay. Maybe it would be a good memory day.

Maybe.

She wanted today to be good. She also knew that Derek would do everything anyway. She would just be there to lend him a hand if he needed it. Not really sure what she would do if he did need it. But she would try.

She loved him enough to try.

Her smile faded. But only slightly.

Good. Think good.

She exhaled. As she walked over to her dresser, she opened the bottom drawer to get out her jeans. She pulled out a pair of sweatpants. Two. Three. Four pairs. Where were her jeans? Shorts. More shorts. A small pile started to form next to her on the floor.

Meredith shoved the drawer closed and pulled open the middle one. More sweatpants. Sweatshirts. Running clothes. Scrubs.

"God. Is this all I wear?" she uttered to herself.

Not even bothering to close the drawer, she pulled the top one open. Underwear. Bras. No jeans.

"When are my pants?" she said getting frustrated and placing her hands on her hips.

She shifted and almost all at once opened the three drawers parallel to the others.

Derek's clothes.

Derek's clothes.

More sweatpants.

"What. The hell." She was already getting overwhelmed.

She ran her hands through her hair, contemplating where her pants could be.

Meredith dashed over to the chair in the corner of her room. She grabbed the pile of clothes that had been tossed on to it and started sifting through them. Two shirts. Khakis. Bra. Derek's pants. No jeans.

She thought about checking under the bed. Then decided against it realizing that was stupid. The problem was she just couldn't think straight.

She sighed, trying to force herself to think.

Closet. Duh.

She moved to the other side of the room and once again opened her wardrobe. One by one she tugged the hangers looking for her pants. Shirt after shirt went bye. Jackets. A sweater or two. Skirts. Her dress from prom (the only one she owned). Then she found some pants. But not her jeans. Corduroys. Brown ones. Tan ones. Black ones. Dress pants. Nothing that she could wear to hang out with kids all day. She wanted her jeans.

She closed the door and leaned up against it. Where were all her jeans? She had a ton of them. Evidently not as many pairs as sweatpants, but she at least had six of them. That much she knew. How could she not find any? Practically, that's all she wore.

Then it hit her.

Meredith rushed back into her bathroom and lifted the lid to her hamper.

Empty.

Did Derek do the wash? she thought. Or Izzie…? Maybe? Hopefully…

She quickly reentered her bedroom and got dressed into what she could. All she was missing were her pants. If Derek did the wash, he could tell her where they were. He would know. Hopefully.

She didn't bother with putting on a pair of pseudo pants; instead she immediately rushed out of her room. What did she care? It was just Derek and her in the house and he had seen a lot less on her before. She was on a mission now.

Meredith frantically rushed down the hall to go find Derek. Her mind continued to scrutinize on other places her pants could be if Derek didn't know.

Somewhere else downstairs? Maybe Izzie took them by mistake? I bet they are under the bed.

As she reached the landing, Derek's voice broke though over her thoughts. But she didn't hear him. She was in her own world and her mind continued to race on.

She descended down the staircase. Step by step. One by one.

Should I check her closet? Step.

Wait… living room? Step.

Maybe…

Step.

She heard him again.

"Derek, have you seen-"

As her foot hit the base, her eyes fused with others. But not Derek's.

"My pants."

Crap.

Surprised as hell, she stood before Kathy. Feeling a bit underdressed and a lot overexposed next to the attire Kathy presented herself in. She wore a dark tweed pencil skirt with matching blazer and heels that made her legs look 400 miles long. Her long dark hair was tired half back, letting the slight curl it had drape around her shoulders. She looked smart. Professional. Elegant. Pretty much the exact opposite of how Meredith felt. And no doubt she was being judged. Seriously, how could she not be? She was damp, half-naked, and now… Now she was rambling.

Something about her pants. Losing them? Or leaving them? She really had no idea what she was saying. All she wanted was to not be there. In front of Kathy. Defending her pants. So she rambled. She rambled until Derek stopped her.

"Laundry room, Mer."

I knew that… I think I knew that…

She introduced herself, trying to at least be polite, given the situation and all.

"Okay," Kathy responded. Meredith could see her lips beginning to curl.

She had to get out of there. She raised a hand, her attempt at waving, then departed as quickly as she could before anything else could be said.

Run. Now.

Her speed heightened as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. "Fantastic."

Meredith didn't stop moving until she was in the laundry room with a death grip on the washing machine, holding herself up from the puddle of embarrassment she knew would become of her if she were to let go. She couldn't let this get to her. Not now. Not ever, really. Nancy was one thing. But Kathy… Kathy was supposed to be the good one, right? She wouldn't care about this?

She loosened her grip, now just using the machine for balance. Nothing was going to bring her down.

She sighed. "Okay," she muttered to herself, trying to keep calm. "Okay, I came in here for a reason. Pants. Where are you?" Meredith released her hold completely and backed away from the washer. She started roaming around the laundry room, now determined. Suddenly, the heal of her foot bumped into something. She stopped and turned around. Two baskets of folded clothes sat on the floor behind her.

Then she saw it.

Sticking out from the side of one was a little bit of denim. She bent down and reached her hands into the clean, neat pile and tugged the material. When it didn't come as easily as she hoped, Meredith moved the laundry that was trapping it into the other basket. When she looked again, a sigh of relief overcame her. Yep. There were her jeans. All six pairs. Washed. Folded. Stacked nicely in a little pile just waiting to be worn again. She grabbed the top pair and stood to her feet, hugging the pants tight against her body. She had never been so happy to find an article of clothing in her life.

With her prize in hand, she headed towards the exit. She stopped herself mid-stride when she realized what she was actually doing. Then cringed at the thought. That had actually happened. It wasn't in her head. She wasn't having one of those dreams where you end up standing in front of the class in your underwear. No. To her, that only happened in the real world. In front of her boyfriend's sister, which whom she only wanted to impress. Well… she did make an impression, to say the least.

Yeah, that had actually happened and no way was she going to go through that again.

She slipped into her pants, making sure to secure the zipper and every button along the way. She wasn't taking any chances this time. When she knew for sure everything was good and she had nothing left to prolong her absence, she sighed heavily.

"All right." Let's get this over with.

Meredith stepped back into the kitchen. Savoring the aloneness while she could. She knew Kathy would say something about it. Maybe not flat out be all, "Oh, you lost your pants", but if her bloodline ran the same as Nancy's, she would weasel it in at some point.

As she got closer to the kitchen door, she heard a voice she didn't recognize. It was a small voice. Very girly. Very bubbly.

She rested her palm against the doorframe and peeked into the foyer to see Kathy balancing a baby on her hip. Meredith found herself dumbfounded. She would never have been able to picture her like that, had she not see it with her own eyes. Kathy just didn't appear to be the mothering type. Especially not in those heels. Her eyes roamed a bit lower to see another child a few years older amusing herself by tangling her arms into Derek's. Undoubtedly, that was the voice she had heard.

Meredith sucked in a breath and turned, flinging her body against the wall entirely out of eyesight.

Crap. I can't do this.

Her lack of pants didn't seem much like an issue to her anymore.

She positioned her hands by her sides, bracing herself against the wall, and tried to blink away the fear. There was no way out of this. She couldn't tell Derek she changed her mind. They were already there. Maybe she could leave, though? Sneak off at some point and not come back until much, much, later. She didn't have to be there.

Meredith rolled her eyes at herself. She was being pathetic. And immature. And dramatic. Not to mention selfish. What was she going to do? Leave Derek to hand two little girls while she ran off to hide somewhere? No. She had to suck it up. She told him she would be there. So she would. She could do the kid thing.

For a day.

She pushed the hair out of her face and tried to prepare herself to go back out there. That is until she saw a light steam coming from her Hello Kitty mug on the counter across the room.

She sighed happily. Thank. God. Something else for her to detain her existence from the other room. The other room with the children. With Kathy.

She strolled over to the counter, making sure to take her time. Why should she rush? She wasn't really in a hurry and it's not like they expected her to come right back in a flash. For all they knew, she was still looking for her pants. Besides, it was just coffee. It's not like she was hiding out in there. Not on purpose anyway. They knew where she went. It was perfectly logical for her to stop and take a few minutes to have a cup of coffee. It was just coffee. She always had a cup in the morning. Was it her fault that she didn't get a chance to drink it before they showed up?

Meredith was about to pour the sugar into her mug, but stopped when she saw that it had already been done. It was just sitting there. Waiting for her. And she knew that it was Derek who did it.

She took a sip and smiled. It was perfect. Exactly how she liked it. She found it amazing how well he knew her sometimes. Sure it was just coffee. But to her it was more. No one ever knew how she took her coffee before. No one ever cared enough to know. And no one sure as hell knew her favorite mug had Hello Kitty printed on it.

But Derek knew her.

He knew what her "fine" really meant. He knew she didn't really want to babysit, that she was scared to. And she was pretty sure he knew she was still in the kitchen out of avoidance rather than just looking for her pants.

She put down the mug and stared deep into the hazel colored liquid. As she settled her elbows on the counter, Meredith jerked her head into the palms of her hands and sighed in disgust. This was getting ridiculous. It hadn't even been long enough for her to try to attempt anything and her emotions were already all over the place. She didn't even know how she felt. She knew was nervous about babysitting, but she wanted to be there for Derek. He never asked her for much. He didn't even force her into it. But she knew, deep down, he would have been heartbroken had she refused.

Babysitting. Was it really that big of a deal? People did it all the time. Meredith never did before. She never had the opportunity to do so. But still… It was just babysitting. Couldn't be that hard, right? If thirteen-year-old girls could willingly do it for extra cash, she could do it.

In an Instant, she knew how she truly felt. Foolish. She was getting so worked up over something that was nothing. She was so flustered, her heart was almost bursting through her rib cage and she couldn't focus on what was actually important.

So she stared into her coffee. At least it was calm there.

"Mer?"

She knew it was Derek who called her name, but she didn't bother turning around. She was aware of his presence, but the calmness and still of the coffee pulled her in. She didn't want to leave it so soon.

"Meredith?" he attempted again. "What are you doing?"

Before responding, she took several deep breaths to try and keep from breaking down completely and getting upset. It was pointless to do so. Giving in to it would only make things worse and she knew it. But she could feel his eyes on her. She could sense the smile pulling softly at his lips. And she could hear him moving closer every moment.

She let out a heavy breath. "Loathing in self-pity."

Derek chuckled softly, trying to keep the mood light. He knew she wasn't too happy about what had happened. It's certainly not the day they had planed originally, but he still wanted it to be decent for her. Try to make the best out of it, at least.

"Meredith."

She picked up her head and looked past him. "I'm fine."

He smirked at her. "Yeah, you're fine," he mocked.

Meredith met his eyes, astounded that he would challenge her. He would ask what's wrong and she would say she's fine. That's how it worked. That's how it always worked. They both knew she was lying every time. Sometimes he would press her on it. Other times they just let it go. But he never teased her about it. Not like this. And it actually… It actually made her smile a little.

Yeah, he knew her.

"All right. I'm not fine," she started. "But I will be."

Leah also had her eyes locked on Meredith. She gurgled in Derek's arms, letting them both know she was there.

"And who is this?" Meredith asked in the friendliest upbeat tone she possibly could.

She changed the subject. And for now, just for now, he would let her. Derek did know she was hiding out to avoid Kathy, but he also knew her confidence about being with kids was incredibly low, and that had a lot to do with her absence as well. He had to get her confidence up. He was intent on making her swoon over the children before the day was done. He just wasn't sure how yet. And until he did, he would let her "fine" slide.

"This. Is Leah," he said lifting her a bit higher to face Meredith.

Leah just stared on. Examining Meredith. Absorbing everything about her she possibly could.

Meredith did the same in return. She assumed the baby looked more like her father. She didn't really resemble Kathy, and Kathy resembled Derek. So she assumed Leah had more of her father's genes than her mother's. With her shaggy blonde hair and dark brown eyes, she was practically a contradiction of Derek's family. But an incredibly cute one.

"She's adorable." Meredith said faintly, not taking her eyes off of her. Then the grin broke through.

Derek was gushing on the inside. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to change Meredith's mind after all. "You want to hold her?"

Then again, maybe not.

Meredith froze up and her smile completely dropped. Me, hold the baby? Is he kidding? I'll probably drop her or something.

He blew it. "You don't have to, Mer. It was just an offer." It just slipped out. He knew it was too much to quick, but since he asked, he wanted to keep the opportunity open. "If you want to, you can. Whenever you want. Whatever you want."

She slowly nodded her head, acknowledging his invitation. "Okay," she whispered.

"Okay," he repeated, feeling more like an ass than anything.

From the foyer, they head the storm door open and slam shut. A second time. Third.

Meredith looked over his shoulder to the open door of the kitchen. "What's going on?" she questioned.

"Oh, Kathy is just bringing in the kid's things."

The door slammed again and Meredith flinched at the sound. "Jeez, how much stuff do they have?"

Derek just looked on amused. "Oh, you'd be surprised," he chuckled.

"Der?" Kathy called from the other room.

Derek followed the direction of Meredith's eyes, then faced her again.

"Are you ready?"

Meredith looked deep into his eyes. "Do I have a choice?"

"You have to be ready," he shrugged.

She looked back at the open door. This was it. Her last chance to get out of it. But for as scared as she was, as unsure as she was, she knew she would do it.

Her eyes met his once again. She cleared her throat and nodded again. "Okay."

Derek mimicked her nodding and turned to lead the way back. "All right," he reciprocated. "Let's go."

Meredith followed closely behind as she stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. She could be pleased about that if nothing else.

She took a deep breath, trying as hard as hell to believe that by now having pants on would make a world of a difference. "Yeah," she mumbled, "Let's go."

Thanks for reading. More to come! Again, reviews are appreciated!