Hello!
I know I'm ridiculously late in posting an update but I want you all to know how grateful I am to those of you who have stuck around and sent words of encouragement. Despite the writers block and the bust schedule, you are the ones I write for :)

Some of you may have seen this already but there is a poll regarding the future of this story up on my profile and I would greatly appreciate it if you all went and participated! Only takes a second!

Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait (or that you accept my apology for this being late, lol).

Enjoy!

Chapter 14

"Where do you live?"

Cristina looked up from the grapes she was fine tuning her suturing skills on, a rather unamused expression gracing her facial features. "Excuse me?"

"I need my own place. Like, now," Meredith fretted, turning the page in her newspaper, scouring the multiple sale ads.

"Mommy catch you doing McDreamy again?"

"Uhg," Meredith recoiled as the memory of the driveway scene played again in her head. "But she does know about our…" Dating? Were they dating?

Their dinner had been wonderful and they'd shared breakfast and a few lunches together since in the past few days but it wasn't like anything was official.

"Eye sexing each other in elevators?" Cristina finished, not looking up from her fruit.

"Cristina!"

"What? I've been with you two in those things and I feel like I need a shower afterwards."

"We're not that bad," she mumbled, hiding her blush behind the newspaper.

"Mhmm," her friend grunted, unconvinced. "I live across the street."

"What?"

"You asked where I live. I live in the apartment building across the street from the hospital."

"Need a roommate?" Meredith asked, not really expecting a 'yes'.

"We're 5th year residents, not freshmen sorority sisters in college. We spend 80 hours a week together, you wanna live together too?"

Meredith let her forehead fall to the cafeteria table in defeat. "No," she groaned. "I just need to get out of my parents' house."

"There are probably some units available. You could start there," she offered, finally attempting to be helpful.

"Really?" Meredith pathetically looked up from her place at the table.

For the rest of their lunch break, the two chatted about rent, amenities, and promising apartment locations.

Later that night, Meredith strode down the halls towards the locker room and casually attempting to ignore the gossip she knew surrounded her.

She had naively thought that perhaps they would have gotten tired of talking about the resident "sleeping" with her attending, but obviously nothing more scandalous had happened in the past week so she and Derek were still the talk of the town.

'Speak of the devil,' Meredith thought with coy smile. She would know that head of hair anywhere and the man it belonged to was currently addressing the interns who would be monitoring their patient overnight. Deciding to veer from her previous course, she meandered over to Derek just as he dismissed the two young doctors. His face immediately transformed from his normal, stern, professional stare to a heart melting smile Meredith had officially given up trying to avoid giving in to.

"I was just thinking about you," Derek greeted, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Not at the hospital," Meredith softly scolded.

"I'm officially off duty," he pouted. "And I thought you were too."

"I am, but we work here. I don't want to give anyone, especially my mother, a reason to think we can't be professional while we're here."

"A kiss on the cheek is hardly enough to warrant a write up."

"I'm just being cautious," she defended.

"Okay, okay. No PDA," Derek amended, putting his hands on her waste and pulling her towards him. His actions only proving to her that he didn't really mean it. "Anyway, I don't want to argue. We have dinner plans," he smiled widely.

"We do," she agreed with a smile of her own. "And while I love good food and your company as much as the next guy, why are you so…giddy?"

"Giddy?" He chuckled at her word choice.

"You're practically bouncing out of your lab coat."

"I'm just excited," he explained simply. "We have something to celebrate."

Meredith's nose wrinkled after a minute. "You're not one of those weirdos who celebrates things like two week anniversaries or something, right?"

"No," he laughed at the disdain in her expression. "Different type of celebration."

"And you're not going to tell me," she guessed.

"Now where's the fun in that?" With a quick wink, Derek released her waist and started walking in the direction of his office. After a few steps, he glance over his shoulder, shooting Meredith yet another dazzling smile. All she could do was amusedly shake her head as she watched him disappear in the crowd.

Dinner was very informal, as the couple headed straight to the restaurant from the hospital. However, Meredith wouldn't have changed a thing.

The small, hole in the wall diner was homely and comfortable. Perfect for a quiet evening after a long day at work.

"How's your soup?"

"Delicious," Derek grinned, watching her swirl one of her french fires in the pool of ketchup next to her burger. "I'm glad you suggested this place. I haven't had minestrone this good since my mom's."

"She's a good cook?"

"The best," he smiled again. Meredith shared his smile, noticing how his eyes lit up with a mixture of adoration and sadness at the mention of his mother.

"Does she live far away?" she ventured. They hadn't really talked about Derek's family.

"Back in New York with the rest of my family."

"You miss them."

"I do," he nodded, not looking up from his bowl. "The move out here was somewhat sudden and I haven't been back since."

"You haven't seen your mom in five years?!"

"You sound like my sisters," he almost laughed. "No, I haven't. And believe me, I've gotten more than an ear full because of it. But we did promise that we would make it out this year for Christmas this year…Or I guess now it'll just be me," he corrected.

"Do they…Does your family know about that you filed for divorce?"

"Yeah, I called mom last week. She said she'd tell the girls. One of the drawbacks of having four sisters is having to make five phone calls when there's bad news."

The waitress came over and took their plates away with the promise of coming back with dessert. Derek reached across the table to entwine their fingers.

"Speaking of my divorce," Derek began. She didn't know why but Meredith tensed at his words. "That's sort of what I wanted to celebrate."

"You mean…"

"It's final, Mer." The happiness radiating off of him was infectious. "I got the call this morning."

"That's great, Derek! I'm so happy for you. Oh…" Her nose scrunched up at her words. "Is that something you're allowed to say when someone gets divorced?"

"I think it's okay here," he reassured her before leaning across the small space to softly kiss her lips.

It wasn't until she'd heard the words that Meredith realized how much Derek's impending divorce had been weighing on her. Now that he assured her that his marriage was legally over, it felt as if this relationship could finally begin.

But despite all of the emotions surging through her at that moment, all she could was gaze into his shining, blue eyes and smile.

The couple only broke the gaze when the waitress returned with a slice of cheesecake and two forks.

Meredith sighed deeply as she leaned more of her weight against the front desk of the main nurses' station. With as good as last night has been she had been hoping to hold on to the feeling. However, the moment she saw the scans for Derek's new patient, she knew this wasn't going to be a good day.

"Malignant glioma?" The man now reviewing her patient's scans let out an appreciative whistle. "That thing's huge. Guy's pretty much a goner."

Meredith glanced over her shoulder at the man analyzing her scans. "Sensitivity. I like that in a stranger," she replied sarcastically. "Are you new here?" She didn't remember her mother mentioning hiring a new attending.

"Passing through," he clarified. "Confounded by all the rain no matter how many times I visit."

"You get used to it," Meredith replied dismissively picking up her folders and moving to the other side of the counter.

Her new friend seemed to have other ideas. "Makes me want to stay in bed all day," he continued, following closely behind her.

She eyed him suspiciously as he crossed behind her. "We just met and already you're talking about bed? Not very subtle."

"Subtle's never been my strong suit," he said with a cocky grin. "So, do you ever go out with co-workers?"

"Uhh…It actually does seem to be a habit of mine," she confessed more to herself than to this stranger.

"Then you have no idea how much I wished I worked here." Everything about his demeanor told her that he didn't get turned down often.

"Are you hitting on me?" she asked with slight disbelief. "In a hospital?"

"Would that be so wrong?"

Meredith raised her eyebrow. "I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate it very much."

He took a small step closer to her, causing Meredith to step back in response. Ignoring her reaction, he leaned in to whisper. "Ten minutes in an on-call room and I can guarantee you won't even be able to remember this boyfriend's name."

Before Meredith could come up with a response or even comprehend what was happening, a fist came out of nowhere. The once confident stranger fell to the ground as soon as the punch connected with the side of his face.

It took a moment to realize that the fist belonged to Derek, who was currently enjoying the repercussions of punching someone in the face.

"What the hell was that?!"

Derek's face grimaced in pain, examining his already bruising knuckles before looking up at his very confused girlfriend.

"That was Mark."

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