A/N: Please read and review, they make my day :)

Chapter 5

"Izzie, can you do my hair please? It just doesn't look right," Meredith said, pulling at her hair with a brush. She wanted to look as close to perfect as possible; Derek's entire family was going to be there, and Carolyn called her last night, informing her that they would be taking plenty of pictures, so Meredith had to look good.

"Give me a sec, Mer," Izzie called from her bedroom. Cristina's mother had swept her away early this morning, leaving Meredith and Izzie to get ready alone. She hadn't put on her robes yet; she wanted to wait until she got closer to the arena where she was graduating to put them on. She was wearing a white sundress that fell at her knees, and she was in the process of pulling parts of her straightened hair back. She went to her closet to grab her shoes, and when she turned back to the mirror, she saw Derek in the reflection, leaning against the doorframe.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, looking at him through the mirror while continuing to fix her hair. He pushed himself off of the doorframe, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist before kissing her neck.

"Just wanted to see you," he said, resting his head on her shoulder.

"And you couldn't wait two hours because?" Meredith asked.

"Because in about forty-five minutes, you will be getting into alphabetical order, preparing to process to your seats. And then, you will start freaking out, and Cristina, Izzie, and Alex are on opposite ends of the alphabet from you, so you will have no one to calm you down. Therefore, I'm here to prevent a nervous breakdown." Derek spun her around to face him, kissing her firmly on the lips. "Congratulations. You are amazing, and I am so proud of you. You will be perfect during the ceremony. You will not trip, you will not grab your diploma or shake hands with the wrong hand, and you definitely will not make a fool of yourself. You're lucky, your school is so big you don't even have to walk across the stage to get a diploma; you get to just stand up with everyone else. I love you, and you are going to rock this graduation."

Meredith smiled up at him, brushing her lips against his. "Thank you," she said before leaning into him. "You know just what to say. But you're still being weird."

"I know, that's why I'm here," he chuckled. "And I promise that I'll stop being weird very soon."

"You better. So, are we going out to dinner with your family after? As like a graduation party thing?" Meredith asked.

"Nope, tonight you're all mine. I'm planning your party for a later date," Derek said simply.

"Why are we going to be alone? And I don't need a party, I'm already planning a party for your birthday, so you shouldn't have to plan one for me too," Meredith insisted.

"I want to celebrate alone with you first, so we can do the family thing later. And you don't need to have a party for me, it's fine."

"Well, I don't want a party either," Meredith frowned, before she smiled slowly. "Or we could have a combined party. That way we don't have to do the family thing twice, and Cristina and Izzie wouldn't have to come down for two separate weekends."

"We could combine them, if you really want to," Derek said. Seeing Meredith's eager expression, he laughed. "Well, I guess we're combining them then."

"Good," Meredith said, kissing him. She turned when she pulled away from him, looking at the time. "Crap! You have to go. Because you need to get your seat. And Izzie said she'd do my hair, and I can't finish getting ready with you distracting me."

"Okay, I'm leaving," Derek said, kissing her one more time before stepping away from her. "I'll see you in a couple hours. Good luck, I love you."

"Thanks," Meredith responded. "I'll see you soon."

XXXXXX

An hour later, Meredith was processing into Yankee Stadium, where her graduation was being held. She looked out into the crowds, but couldn't see the Shepherd family. Not that she was surprised, there were thousands of people filling the seats, and she could barely make out any faces. She wondered if her mother was in the crowd somewhere. She had reminded her mother of the date and location of her graduation when she was home for Easter, but Ellis had shrugged it off, so Meredith took it that she probably would not be attending.

She sat through the President's speech, then through one of her classmate's speech, followed by the honorary degrees given out to invited individuals. Then came the part Meredith was most excited about. Since NYU was so big, they didn't have everyone graduate at once. However, the deans pick select students that represent each school at the University and have them receive a diploma to symbolize all of their classmates. And Meredith had been chosen. She didn't tell Derek or any of the Shepherds, she wanted them to be surprised, but it did make Meredith a lot more nervous. Everyone was going to be watching her; she could easily trip and fall or do something stupid; that was how her life worked. She and Cristina would be representing the School of Arts and Sciences, but she would be announced before Cristina, and since their school was first, she would be the first one to walk across that stage.

"And now," the dean of the college began. "We would like to invite a couple of exceptional students to the stage to receive their diplomas, symbolizing the graduation for the whole class, beginning with the colleges of the Arts and Sciences. First, I would like to introduce Meredith Elizabeth Grey, who is graduating summa cum laude with a degree in Biology. Meredith was an active member in the Biology Club and worked as a tutor for underclassmen. She volunteered and worked at NYU Medical Center on the weekends and during the summer. She will be attending Columbia Medical School in the fall."

With that, Meredith rose to her feet and walked slowly towards the stage. She was very careful at each step, smiling to herself when she didn't trip. She shook hands with the Deans and the President, each who smiled at her and said "Congratulations Meredith." Meredith could only smile in response before focusing all of her attention on making it back to her seat without embarrassing herself. She thought she could hear Derek cheering for her, so she looked up at the crowd briefly, smiling at the many people, hoping Derek knew she was smiling at him.

The rest of the ceremony flew by. At the end, once the graduates threw their caps in the air, family members rushed the field to try to find their loved ones. Meredith quickly found Izzie, Alex, and Cristina, and Izzie insisted that they take picture, for it would be one of the last times they would all be together for a while. After ten minutes, Meredith began searching the crowd for Derek, knowing he would be around here somewhere.

"Come on Meredith, you can look for Derek later, can we just take the freaking picture!" Alex said, and Meredith smiled towards the camera, wrapping an arm around Alex. Just as Izzie was about to take the picture, Meredith felt arms around her waist. She was suddenly lifted off the ground and spun around in circles, and Meredith couldn't help but shriek with laughter.

When her feet finally touched the ground again, she faced Derek, who had a wide grin on his face. She didn't even notice the rest of his family standing around as he kissed her, only pulling apart from him when she saw the bright flash of the camera. Meredith glared in the direction of the flash, and saw that both Izzie and Amelia had taken a picture at the same time, smirking at her and Derek.

"Hey!" Meredith said, turning red.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Amelia shrugged.

"Congratulations," Derek whispered in her ear, holding out the flowers he got for her. "Why didn't you tell me that you would actually be walking across stage?"

"Thank you," Meredith said as she took the flowers, putting them up to her face and inhaling. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Meredith dear, congratulations!" Carolyn said as she pulled Meredith into a hug. After chatting with Derek's family and taking what felt like a hundred pictures, the Shepherds, as well as Meredith's friends, departed. Carolyn winked at Derek, saying "good luck," as she walked away, which Meredith found odd. However, she put that out of her mind as Derek's lips brushed against her cheek.

"So," Meredith sighed. "Where's my present?"

"You'll get your present later," Derek smiled. "Now we're going to go eat."

"Can you tell me what it is?" Meredith asked.

"Nope, it has to be a surprise."

"Please? Just a hint?" Meredith looked up at him, pouting a little.

"My lips are sealed."

"Fine," Meredith huffed. "But it better be worth it."

"Trust me, it is," Derek smiled down at her. He pulled her close to him, kissing her hard. Meredith completely lost herself in the kiss until she heard someone clear their throat behind them. Pulling apart slowly, Meredith looked around. When she saw who was standing near them, she pushed Derek away from her.

"Hello Meredith," the person said, disparagement dripping from her voice.

"Hello Mom," Meredith responded meekly.