A/N: Hi, so I forgot to mention this in my last update, but there has been a little bit of a time jump. Last chapter was supposed to take place around July or so, and this one takes place in late August, with the next one taking place in September. So, Meredith and Derek have been married for over a year, just so everyone knows. Anyway, this update is a filler, I just wanted Meredith and Rose to meet and such, it kind of sets some stuff up for the next chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 28

Meredith could feel someone watching her. She also could feel that it was too early for her to be awake, but apparently her body felt as though that she got enough. She rolled over, Derek's hand slowly caressing her hip. If Derek was still in bed, it must be really early, she thought.

Slowly opening her eyes and rubbing the sleep away, she found herself looking at Derek. He was propped up on one elbow, shirtless, and smiling down at her as if she was the best thing he had ever seen.

"Good morning," Derek said, kissing her quickly.

"Good morning," Meredith murmured, kissing him back. "You brushed your teeth.

"I did, I didn't want to disgust you so early in the morning."

Meredith laughed, stretching out across the bed. "You came home late last night."

Derek's expression turned apologetic. "I'm sorry. I went out for drinks with Mark and some of the nurses that he's trying to pick up, and he needed a wingman. Apparently Addison doesn't seem interested."

"Oh, okay," Meredith nodded. "What time do you have to go in?"

"Umm," Derek rolled over, looking at the clock. "In about an hour. What about you? Anything planned for the day?"

"I was going to meet Sadie to study for our boards around three, but other than that, nothing. I might clean, do some laundry."

"Really?" Derek waved his eyebrows. "You are going to attempt to clean?"

"Hey," Meredith said, shoving his shoulder. "I know how to clean. Just because I'm not OCD like you doesn't mean that I don't do an adequate job. The apartment always looks acceptable, and you know that you aren't around often enough to clean how you like to."

"True," Derek amended. "But I still sometimes tidy up after you."

"Really, when?"

"Usually when you're asleep. It's nice, I can make all the noise I want and you can't hear anything because of your snoring."

"You know what?" Meredith snapped, rolling out of bed. "I was going to be really nice and give you shower sex and then offer to come visit you for lunch, but if you're going to be an ass you can forget about it."

Derek jumped out of bed after her, taking three long strides to the other end of the room. Giving her a very sincere look, he placed his hands on her arms, looking deeply into her eyes. "I'm very sorry that you think that I was being an ass. I was just kidding; your cleaning skills are quite extensive. And you don't snore loudly at all."

A flickered across Meredith's face for a moment, but it turned serious again. "Thank you."

Since she seemed to be acting stubborn, Derek decided to continue speaking. "Can I make it up to you?"

With that, Meredith raised her eyebrows. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, maybe some shower sex," Derek said, leaning in to place kisses along her neck. "I could do the bendy thing."

"Hmm," Meredith assented. "Will you buy me lunch at the hospital this afternoon?"

"I would love to," Derek responded, his hands moving to the small of her back.

"Alright," Meredith said slowly. "You're forgiven."

"Good," Derek said, almost growling, as he lifted her up, and Meredith wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bathroom.

XXXXXX

Meredith looked up at the hospital, pausing before going in. It was a little bit more intimidating than NYU Medical Center, maybe because the buildings that made up Mt. Sinai were so much more massive than the ones she worked in. She still couldn't believe that Derek worked here, that he was a real surgeon. It was, by far, one of the best hospitals on the east coast, and he had been recruited to work there. Not only that, but he wasn't a resident anymore; he wasn't taking orders from attendings anymore or simply assisting in surgeries, but he was the one giving the orders and running the OR.

Taking a deep breath, Meredith entered the main lobby, immediately overwhelmed by how large it was. It was very bright, and white with what felt like hundreds of people milling around. She didn't even know what direction the surgical wing could possibly be in, so she maneuvered her way to the reception desk as quickly as possible, bumping into several anxious patients and frazzled doctors along the way. Asking the receptionist where the surgical wing was, the woman, who looked to be in about her mid-fifties with a heavyset build, gave her a strange look, but said nothing, simply pointing to the large directory to her right.

"Oh, right. Thanks," Meredith said before turning to the very large blue and white sign which listed the location of various departments and offices.

"Surgical department," Meredith said quietly, reading the sign out loud. "Left and then third right," she replied before heading in that direction.

About ten minutes later, Meredith finally made it to the main nurses' station in the surgical lobby, ad glanced around. Derek was nowhere to be found, so she decided check his office, which was just up a flight of stairs and to the left. Meredith took the stairs two at a time, hoping to surprise him with her early arrival to the hospital for lunch.

'Doctor Derek C. Shepherd, Neurosurgery' the bronze plaque on the door read, and Meredith couldn't help but smile. She was so proud of him, and couldn't wait for him to give her a grand tour. However, he didn't appear to be in his office; the lights were off. Meredith tried knocking anyway, just in case he had decided to take a nap, but there was no answer. Stumped, Meredith went back downstairs, deciding to check the OR Board. Derek had said he didn't have a surgery scheduled until two thirty, but he may have been mistaken.

Meredith found her husband's name quickly. 'Emergency Spinal Decompression' the messy scrawl read. So that explains it, Meredith thought. The Board said that the surgery started about three hours ago, which means he would be finishing up soon. Maybe she could catch the end of it, if she could ever figure out where OR Two was.

"Can I help you?" A voice said to her right, and Meredith turned her head. A woman a little taller than her, with brown hair and eyes, was staring at her curiously. Meredith didn't blame her, she must look pretty weird standing in front of the OR Board wearing street clothes, studying it. The woman next to Meredith was wearing green scrubs; nurses' scrubs, Meredith assessed to herself.

"Um, yeah," Meredith began. "Can you please point me in the direction of OR Two's gallery?"

"Why?" The woman said, continuing to study her.

Meredith had to think quickly. This nurse seemed pretty hardcore, there was no way her would let me in the gallery just because she was Derek Shepherd's wife.

"I'm a med student," Meredith began. "I'm doing a clinical rotation here, and I'm supposed to be observing neurology cases. I uh, was sick last week, so I'm supposed to make it up by watching a surgery. And, and the one in OR Two seems interesting, and I know the surgeon."

"Oh, you know Dr. Shepherd? He's one of the best surgeons we have here, which is impressive for someone so young. He's great to watch, and his OR is always a great thing to be a part of."

Meredith smiled, trying not to roll her eyes at the woman gushing over her husband. "So I've heard."

"The gallery is right down that way," the nurse said, pointing down the hall. "There's a sign on the door, you can't miss it."

"Great. Thank you… uh…"

"Rose," the woman provided, smiling.

"Thanks Rose," Meredith smiled. "I'm Meredith."

"Nice to meet you," Rose said as she turned away from Meredith.

"You too," Meredith said, racing towards the gallery.

Derek was still in there as Meredith snagged a seat in the back corner. It was so weird to see Derek actually doing a surgery completely by himself, and teaching some of the residents in the OR with him. She had seen him fly solo before, but he was wearing dark blue scrubs; something she had never seen him wear before. He was wearing the ferry boat scrub cap he gave him, and she was still a little surprised that he actually wore it.

As if he could feel her eyes on him, Derek glanced up into the gallery, and did a double take when he saw Meredith out of the corner of his eye. He looked back up at her, and she smiled and waved, watching as the skin around his eyes crinkled and he nodded his head in response.

He finished closing within a half an hour, and quickly left the OR when he was done. The few people in the gallery trickled out, and Meredith decided to stay up there and wait for him. He would know to come here if she wasn't waiting for him outside the scrub room.

After five minutes, the door to the gallery opened and Derek walked in, a wide grin on his face. He plopped down on to the chair next to her. He kissed her quickly before settling back into his chair.

"You're early," he stated.

"I am," Meredith nodded. "I wanted to surprise you, but you were in surgery, so I decided to watch."

"Well, it definitely was a surprise," Derek smiled at her. "What did you think?"

"You were amazing. I liked watching you boss people around." Meredith laughed. "Plus, you look really great in dark blue."

"Thank you, but I look great in anything," Derek said without cracking a smile, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"You are so conceited," Meredith laughed, but leaned into him anyway. "So, do you want to give me a tour before we get lunch? I'd love to be shown around by a hotshot doctor."

"It would be an honor," Derek got to his feet, reaching for Meredith's hand to help her up. "And I'm glad you are willing to admit what an important surgeon I am."

"Shut up," Meredith giggled, slapping Derek's arm lightly as they walked from the gallery hand in hand.

XXXXXX

"Derek," Meredith whined, turning away from her closet to look at him. "Do we have to go?"

"Yes Meredith, we have to go," Derek fake whined as he pulled on a black suit jacket. "It's a benefit for the hospital; all of the employees are required to go. I got to miss the last one because I just started working at Mt. Sinai, so we have to go to this one."

Meredith turned around to fully face him, only wearing matching black lacy bra and panties; she looked at him quizzically for a few seconds before her eyes suddenly lit up as she began to speak.

"Well, that's the explanation as to why you have to go, but why do I need to be there?"

"Oh no," Derek interjected. "There is no way you're getting out of this. If I have to suffer, so do you. Besides, I want to show off my incredibly hot wife."

"Why do I have to suffer along with you?"

"Because it's in your wifely duties." Derek said, nodding firmly.

"It's in my wifely duties?" Meredith said disbelievingly. "Really? But what about when I'm suffering, like when I have my period; how do you fulfill your husbandly duties and suffer along with me?"

"Oh, I suffer along with you," Derek said, wincing at past memories. "You snap at me constantly for three days. And then I'm denied sex for a week."

"Denied sex? Seriously? When you get horny when I'm on my period, I'm pretty sure I blow you whenever you want."

"But I still suffer," Derek replied, but his bravado faltered, and Meredith knew he realized he had lost.

"Well," she said, smirking. "Why don't you see what real torture and suffering is in about a week when you don't get sex or blowjobs for the entire week."

Derek groaned as he pulled out a tie; a green one to match the dress Meredith was supposed to be wearing. "Mer, can you please just get dressed? I promise that we can leave early. I'm not working tomorrow so I can fake sick."

"Fine," Meredith huffed, pulling her dress out of the closet and slipping it on. She walked over to Derek and turned around wordlessly, which he took it is his cue to zip her up. As the zipper reached the top of the fabric, right below her shoulder blades, Derek let his hands trail to her waist as he kissed her shoulder.

"Ready to go?" he said against her bare skin, kissing her again.

"I suppose," Meredith said, moving out of his grasp to quickly run a brush through her hair one more time and grab her purse. "Let's get this over with.'

A half an hour later, Meredith was standing off to the side of the ballroom, waiting for Derek to come back with their drinks. She had been on the lookout for Mark and Addison since she got here, hoping that she would have someone to talk to rather than trailing behind Derek all night. She seemed to be out of luck, but thankfully Derek was on his way back towards her. She smiled appreciatively as he handed her a glass of wine, which she took a large sip of.

"Hey, slow down," Derek said, reaching to pull the glass away from her lips. "Just because it's an open bar does not mean you can use it as an excuse to get blackout drunk."

She knew that he was joking, but he was really not helping. "Shut up," she snapped. "Are Mark and Addison coming?"

"Yeah, they should be here soon," Derek said, smiling broadly. "Addison is Mark's date you know."

Meredith looked at him incredulously. "What? Why? You don't need a date to go to this thing. And he didn't need to ask her to be his date because she works here, and has to be here like him. So that was kind of pointless."

"I know," Derek laughed. "Which I think is part of the reason Addison said yes." Placing their empty glasses on a tray that a waiter was carrying, Derek reached for Meredith's hands, pulling her towards the dance floor where several couples were milling around. "Dance with me."

"Derek, you don't dance in public," Meredith answered, raising her eyebrow but following him to the hardwood floor regardless.

"I do sometimes. I danced at our wedding."

"Because there weren't many people there and you were close with them all. Other than that, I'm positive I can count the number of times you've danced in public on one hand."

"I can dance to this, it's just a waltz," Derek laughed, placing his right hand on her lower back and grasping her right hand in his left. Meredith smiled as she moved close to him, and Derek led her around the edge of the dance floor until the song ended. He pulled away from her and kissed her. "See, I can dance in public."

Meredith laughed at this. "Whatever you say."

"Come on, we have to go talk to the Board and the head of the hospital," Derek said, taking her hand and leading her back towards the bar. "I need proof that I was here so I can leave sooner."

"Good thinking," Meredith smirked, shaking the hands of so many different people, all of whom kept repeating how happy they were to finally meet Derek's wife.

They were seated at table for dinner next to Mark, Addison, and a cardio attending, chatting amiably until a voice broke through their conversation.

"Hi Derek," a woman said, and Meredith turned around to study the woman. It was the same nurse from a couple of weeks ago, when she had snuck into Derek's surgery.

"Hi Rose," Derek smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm well, considering how boring the benefit is," Rose laughed, Derek joining with her. Her eyes shifted to Meredith, narrowing slightly in conversation.

"Have we met before?"

"Umm," Meredith stuttered, not sure how much information to give Rose. She didn't want Rose to suddenly remember that this was the girl that lied her way into the OR gallery. "Perhaps," Meredith said off handedly. "I've been to the hospital several times, we must have run into each other."

"Rose," Derek cut in. "This is my wife Meredith. Meredith, this is Rose, she's a circulating scrub nurse."

"Nice to meet you," Meredith smiled, sticking out her hand.

"You too," Rose smiled back. "That would explain why you look so familiar."

"Yeah," Meredith laughed awkwardly.

"Alright, I should get back to my table, I just wanted to stop over and say hi," Rose said. "Are we still on for drinks this week Derek?"

"Yeah," Derek said, nodding and smiling. "The usual crowd will be there."

"You can count me in," Mark piped in from across the table.

Rose smiled. "Well, I'll see you all at work. It was nice to meet you Meredith."

"You too," Meredith called to Rose's retreating back.

"Are you alright?" Derek said, looking at her with concern. "You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine," Meredith answered. "I just got nervous. She was the nurse I had to lie to in order to get into the OR and watch your surgery. I didn't want her to connect the dots and remember and think that I'm a pathetic wife who needs to see her husband all the time or something."

Derek laughed at her rambling. "Don't worry, I don't think she caught on."

"Good," Meredith nodded, leaning in to rest her head on Derek's shoulder.