Hello all!

I know it has been a long time since my last update, but as I warned you time and time again, I am a full time student with a part time job and I have to prioritize. Unfortunately, many things in my life have to come before writing.

So to those of you being nasty and negative, what part of leaving me mean reviews makes you think that will make me write faster? In fact, it makes me not want to update at all.

For those of you leaving lovely, supportive reviews, you all are AWESOME! You remain the reason I haven't just deleted this story all together.

In other news, I just posted a new story titled 'Overjoyed' that I would love for you to check out if you have the time :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 17

The weeks following Meredith's revelation passed in a blur of paperwork, hours in the lab, and more paperwork. She had definitely underestimated that side of starting a clinical trial.

However, being locked in a small office with Derek Shepherd and boxes of take-out for hours on end wasn't exactly something she was complaining about.

The long hours and consequent lack of sleep had taken up a lot of their time for 'physical activities', but she would almost say it was worth it for all the quality time they were getting to spend together.

She had learned more about Derek in two months than she had learned about Alex in a year.

She now knew he had four sisters and a total of 14 nieces and nephews. His sweet of choice was coffee ice cream and single molt scotch was his drink. He never danced in public (save for the occasional slow dance) and had a faint scar on his forehead by his hairline. When she asked him about it, he explained the story behind why he never road motorcycles anymore.

She had mocked him endlessly for his choice in literature and even more at his choice in music. But despite the teasing, she surprised him one morning with The Clash's Greatest Hits CD she had found while shopping and couldn't resist buying for him.

And along with all the seemingly useless information she had gathered on him, he had also opened up to her about some personal things.

Like how he went fly fishing every chance he could because it reminded him of all the fishing trips his dad had taken him on before he died. And how he had always wanted kids, but Addison had never been ready; How that made learning that the child his ex-wife was carrying wasn't his was both a relief and a punch in the gut.

With every piece of himself that he reviled, Meredith only fell for him more.

Her life had actually been going so well lately that she hadn't even cared when the hospital was abuzz with the gossip of Alex and April becoming a couple. She was able to be civil and professionally detached when she was forced to work with them, but other than that, she wanted nothing to do with either of them.

Even her mother was lightening up on her 'ditching cardio' once she had caught wind of her and Derek's clinical trial. Derek proudly reminded Ellis that Meredith had been the one to come up with the initial idea and had been instrumental in developing the virus cocktail they were preparing to use on the first patient. The last time she had seen her mother look remotely this approving was the day she graduated in the top of her class from medical school. The supportive wink Derek sent her was enough to put Meredith over the moon that day.

The cruel screeching of her alarm clock was Meredith least favorite way to wake up in the morning. The two strong arms tightening around her torso almost made up for the fact that she was being forced to wake up before she wanted to.

But only almost.

Managing to wiggle out of Derek's tempting embrace, she trudged out to the kitchen to prepare some much needed coffee only to discover she was out of grounds.

Once she got over the fact that she had been stupid enough to let her coffee supply get that low, she walked two doors down the hallway to barrow some from Cristina.

She was just about to near her friend's front door when it unexpectedly opened to reveal the last person Meredith would have expected.

Standing frozen in shock, she watched in awe as Owen Hunt hurriedly pulled on his coat while turning back around to face the threshold he had just come out of. Cristina appeared from inside the apartment, wrapped tightly in a dark blue robe before Owen pulled her into a chaste but passionate kiss. As soon as they parted, Owen sprinted down the hallway and turned the corner towards the elevator.

The slightly dazed smile immediately disappeared off of Cristina's face the moment she noticed Meredith's stunned figure in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh, crap."

"Cristina, what the hell do you think you are doing?!"

As soon as Meredith broke from her shocked daze, she strode the few remaining steps up to Cristina's door and hauled her back into her apartment.

"Ow! Oh my god, you are freakishly strong for such a tiny person!"

"How long have you been sleeping with an attending?!"

"Okay, was I this judgmental when you started sleeping with McDreamy?"

"This is not the same thing. He is married, Cristina!"

"So was Derek! No way you get to judge me!"

"We got drunk and slept together once after he had already decided his marriage was over. BOTH he and Addison knew it was over. And we waited to do it again until his divorce was final. Does Dr. Torres know you're sleeping with her husband?"

"It's not as bad as you think," Cristina groaned, collapsing in a kitchen chair.

"Well, enlighten me then because it looks like you're sleeping with your boss's husband who happens to be your boss as well."

"That argument really doesn't hold a lot of ground coming from you," she shot back defensively.

Meredith merely sent her a 'so not the point right now' look and waited for her friend to continue.

"It just happened," Cristina confessed softly. "I picked up a late shift in the ER and ended up working with him on a gun-shot victim that had come in. I don't know if it was the high from a difficult save; I don't even know who kissed who first. But before I knew it we were in an on-call room and I didn't want to stop."

"Where did this come from?"

"I don't know!" Cristina exasperatedly jumped from her chair. "There had been looks and sexual tension for months, but it's like you said, he's married. So I didn't do anything about it. But then it just…broke."

"How long have you been seeing him?"

"A few weeks now," she confessed, picking at an invisible crumb on the countertop.

"Do you know what you're going to d-"

"We're gunna be late for work!" Cristina interrupted before propelling herself out of the kitchen, leaving Meredith to wander back to her own apartment, confused and still without coffee.

When she got back Meredith was greeted by her half naked boyfriend standing at the stove, flipping pancakes onto a plate. Understandably so, all thoughts of Owen and Cristina were effectively forgotten about for the time being.

"Good! You're just in time," he grinned, noticing her entrance. "I was wondering where you went. Did you go to Christina's?"

"Yeah," Meredith answered hesitantly, eyeing the pancakes he just placed on the breakfast bar in front of her.

"What? You don't like pancakes? Wait, I know you like pancakes because you ordered them when we went out to breakfast a couple weeks ago." Meredith continued alternating her gaze between the breakfast and the man who prepared it. "What's wrong?"

"What?"

"You look like it's going to jump up and bite you."

"You cook?" For some reason she just didn't picture this side of him.

"Somebody in this relationship has to," he snorted. "The closest thing I've ever seen you eat that remotely resembles breakfast was a slice of cold pizza that morning after you moved in here and, let's face it, that's just sad."

Derek quickly served the remaining pancakes on to his own plate and sat himself in the stool across from Meredith.

"I make coffee!" Meredith defended, as she proceeded to drown her breakfast in the syrup Derek brought over.

"So doesn't count as an adequate breakfast," he bantered. "That's even sadder than the cold pizza."

Meredith was slowly caring less and less about the fact that he was mocking her severe cooking limitations with every sweet bite.

"Fine, Betty Crocker, you can be in charge of breakfast from now on."

"That doesn't seem fair." He managed to feign a pretty convincing pout but the playful glimmer in his eyes gave him away.

"Whatever, but if you ask me to do my share, your options are either cereal or leftover pizza. Or grilled cheese. I heat up a mean leftover grilled cheese."

Derek laughed at her teasing wink. "How did you ever properly nourish yourself before I arrived?"

Meredith pointed her fork in his direction as a playful threat. "I got on fine, thank you very much."

"I guess I'll just have to stay from now on to make sure you don't waste away," Derek chuckled.

But Meredith wasn't laughing. Instead, she had stopped eating and was now staring thoughtfully (albeit, slightly freaked out) at the man across from her.

Did he mean that as a hint? Or a harmless joke?

It wasn't as if he wasn't already at her place the majority of the time. Rarely a night passed when they weren't either at her apartment or his trailer if they had time for the commute.

Half her closet was taken over with his clothing and his toiletries lined the bathroom shelves along with her own. And the fact that winter was coming and his trailer lacked central heating would certainly be another plus for him. And her if she wanted to keep her boyfriend hypothermia free.

Maybe Derek moving in wasn't the worst idea.

"Meredith?"

Derek's concerned voice managed to break through her minor freak out.

"Mer? It was a joke, ya know? I'm not trying to push us into anything before you're ready."

"I know that," she waved it off, before looking back down at her plate. She spent a good minute pushing the remaining pieces of pancake around before gaining the courage to speak.

"But what if you did decide to stick around?" she asked looking up from between her lashes.

Derek searched her face for a few moments, trying to gage the true meaning behind her simple question. "I, uhhh…I think I could manage that," he finally replied in an attempt to seem nonchalant.

The couple barely lasted three seconds at acting indifferent about prospect of moving in together before they both broke out in huge grins. Derek quickly dropped his fork and rushed around the breakfast bar to pull Meredith into a tight hug, capturing her lips in an earthshattering kiss.

Needless to say, they were both late to work that day.

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