Chapter 4

Derek stepped out of the taxi, asking him to wait a few minutes while he went to get Meredith. Since she got the apartment she wanted for this year, she moved farther away from his building, requiring them to take a taxi or the subway if they wanted to see each other. He couldn't help but feel the butterflies in his stomach as he climbed up the stairs to her room, as if this was their first date all over again.

Derek knew he was being weird, to quote Meredith. However, he couldn't help it. As the days to Meredith's graduation passed by, Derek got more excited. He couldn't wait to propose to Meredith, to tell her he wanted to be with her forever, to see her reaction, and slip his mother's ring on her finger. He felt like a kid counting down the days until Christmas; he just couldn't wait. Which led him to be a big jumble of emotions around her, and he had to work to refrain himself from blurting out a proposal every time her saw her.

He was, however, a little nervous about what Meredith's reaction would be. She had gotten infinitely more comfortable with their relationship over the years; she didn't avoid or bottle up her feelings anymore, actually, she seemed to enjoy yelling at him about all of her emotions. However, she liked them to take things slow, and seeing how she freaked out a little about moving in with him, even though she wanted to, he couldn't imagine what she was going to do when he proposed. He could think of a million reasons why she might say no, the prominent reason being this: she was too young. And it's true, he thought to himself. Meredith was only twenty-two years old, and when he thought of himself at that age, he was nowhere near ready to get married. But then again, he hadn't been in a serious relationship for almost four years with someone he loved as much as Meredith. But the age thing would be all that Meredith would see; Derek knew that. He could easily picture her stuttering out a no, telling him she loved him (which he knew and believed), but that she was only twenty-two and he was twenty-nine, almost thirty, and she just couldn't be ready. And maybe it was because Derek was twenty-nine, but he desperately wanted to marry Meredith, or at least be engaged to her, so he needed to find the right words to say in order for her to say yes, to agree to be with him forever. They didn't even have to get married right away; Derek just wanted it to be official that Meredith would be his forever, so he had to ask soon.

Derek knocked on the door of Meredith's apartment, and the door flew open, revealing Izzie holding a mixing bowl.

"Oh, hey Derek!" she said, turning around and walking into the apartment. "Mer should be out in a second, she got off late from work, so she's running a little behind."

"Thanks Izzie," Derek said, moving into the living room to sit down. Looking up, he saw that Izzie was still staring at him, giving him a funny look. Derek smiled at her again before looking down at the coffee table and picking up a magazine. After a few minutes, Meredith appeared, wearing black jeans, a blue tank top with white sweater over it. Her hair was down and wavy, and she had just a touch of makeup on. Derek smiled widely at her; she took his breath away, and all he wanted to do was ask her to marry him.

"Hey," she said, pulling him from his thoughts. "Is this acceptable? You said we weren't going anywhere fancy."

"You look perfect, the outfit is great," Derek said. Marry me, he thought.

"Okay, good," Meredith nodded. Derek stood up, took her hand and pulled her into him, kissing her softly.

"Let's go," he whispered, leading her towards the door.

"Bye Cristina, Bye Iz," Meredith called as the two left the apartment. They kept their hands laced together as they walked down the stairs and into the cab. They sat in silence for a few moments, and Meredith gave him a funny look. He knew he was usually chatty, but he was afraid that if he started a conversation, he would blurt out the wrong thing, the question he desperately wanted to ask, but decided to wait for.

"So," Meredith said loudly, trying to cut the awkwardness that set in. "Where are we going?"

"To that sports restaurant on 73rd street," Derek answered. "The Yankees are on, and I figured you would want to watch," he teased; Meredith hated the Yankees.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, since I turned twenty-one, we have had more and more dates at restaurants with bars, or just bars. Apparently now that I'm legal, you think you don't have to impress me anymore."

Derek looked at her, feeling guilty. Maybe she wants more fancy dinners, he thought. I've been slipping. "I'm sorry Mer," he apologized. "I thought you liked this restaurant. If you want, I can call the Italian place you like and make a reservation for tonight, and we can go back and change…"

"Derek," Meredith cut him off, rolling her eyes. "I was kidding. Seriously, stop being so weird."

"I'm not being weird!" Derek insisted as the cab slowed down and came to a stop. Meredith didn't answer; she simply stepped out of the cab and headed towards the restaurant. Derek followed after her, resolving to act like a normal human being for Meredith's sake.

They managed to have a relatively normal dinner; Derek went back to his usual self, which caused Meredith to become increasingly happy and cheerful. But then again, that might have been the alcohol. Derek couldn't, however, keep out the stray thought of putting the ring in the bottom of each new glass the waiter brought to Meredith, or hiding it in her dessert. Derek worked through those thoughts throughout dinner, somewhat happy when he had paid the bill and was able to leave with Meredith.

"So, are you staying with me tonight?" Derek asked as he led Meredith out of the restaurant a few hours later.

"Why, you wanna get lucky tonight?" Meredith raised her eyebrow.

"Well," Derek leaned down to kiss her. "It will be the last time I'm going to have sex with a college student."

"Not necessarily," Meredith said, Derek's lips still against hers. "I'm sure there are plenty of girls that would still find you hot."

"Yeah, but you see, I think I'm more into med students now," Derek said into her mouth before he kissed her urgently, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

XXXXXX

Half an hour later, Meredith and Derek stumbled into Derek's apartment, lips fused together. Kicking off her shoes, Meredith hooked a leg around Derek's waist, and he lifted her up, carrying her to his room. Mark was in the living room, watching a late night talk show as the couple entered. He looked up at the sound of the door unlocking, his expression a mixture of disgust and jealousy as he watched the scene play out. As Meredith shrieked when Derek picked her up, Mark called after them. "Try to keep it down in there! Some of us need to sleep tonight."

Derek dropped Meredith at the foot of the bed, and they shed their clothes quickly. Falling backwards, Derek positioned himself on top of her. He pushed into her hard, causing her to gasp in pleasure. He thrust into her quickly, silencing her moans with hard, passionate kisses. They both came quickly, the clenching from her orgasm pulling him with her until he collapsed on top of her, both of them breathless.

Eventually, Derek rolled off of her, and Meredith rested her head on his chest. He loved this: the moment after sex. He loved holding her, feeling her breathing and her heart rate returning to normal, running his fingers through her hair and up and down her back. He loved when she played with the hair on his chest, lightly caressing him. There was no need for words immediately after they had sex; those could come in a little while. They simply basked in the completeness they felt in being together, and Derek never wanted that feeling to go away.

"That was perfect," Meredith sighed softly a few minutes later.

"Mhmm," was all Derek could manage. Marry me, was all he could think. Those words on a loop, chanting in his head.

"I'm glad you've moved on to med students," Meredith joked, though Derek could see her eyes were drooping. "I would hate to have to give this up."

"Yeah, me too," Derek said, pulling his arm tighter around her. "But you won't have to give this up. I love you Meredith."

"Love you too," she mumbled. "G'night."

"Night," he said, kissing her lips softly one more time before he closed his eyes.