Chapter 7 – Turn me on

A/N: Thnx, dudes. Keep the love coming.

Like a flower, waiting to bloom

Like a lightbulb, in a dark room

I'm just sittin' here waiting for you

To come on home and turn me on

Like the desert waiting for the rain

Like a school kid waiting for the spring

I'm just sitting here waiting for you

To come on home and turn me on

(Turn me on – Norah Jones)

"Did you hear what happened in the OR Gallery last night?"

"I know! Dr Shepherd totally defended Dr Grey's honor!"

"Nuh-uh… that was like last month, Patricia! Keep up!"

"Then what?"

"He was like super-sweet… Kept looking at her and smiling the entire time. Like he was proud of her and stuff. He's so in love."

"Aw! It's so sweet. I hope they get together."

"You kidding? He's way too good for her."

"Uh, I don't know. Dr Grey is actually really nice. And she's incredible with a scalpel…"

"Yeah… Did you know that her mother is Ellis Grey?"

"What? The Ellis Grey?"

Meredith closed her eyes where she sat in her office. Her door was slightly ajar and she had a clear hearing of what was being said between two nurses outside. She and Derek had worked at Seattle Grace for a couple of weeks now and had gotten to know the place quite well. They found their way around and knew most of the people's names by now. Still, the rumor factory surrounding the two friends kept going strong. And spreading falsehoods, too. Derek was most certainly not looking at her in any way other than fond friendship. And what the hell was this gossip about Derek defending her honor about? She would have to speak to him later. For now she had too much paperwork to do.

Meredith sighed. This constant chattering about her behind her back made her head ache. Christina had insisted that it was normal and would go away naturally in a week or two. Yet here she was! Still suffering and trying to ignore the secret glances that were following her everywhere. It seemed whatever she did the crowd of hospital workers found some new way to twist it into an interesting love story. This morning she had bought two coffees, one for her and one for Christina. She hadn't yet walked two steps down the corridor before she heard it again.

"You think the other one's for Dr Shepherd? Aw, that's so cute," nurse Olivia (or syph nurse, as Chris insisted on calling her) whined.

What on earth has Derek done to create this type of rumors?

Right then Meredith's musings were interrupted by the object of said thoughts knocking in her doorway.

"Am I interrupting?" Derek asked with a smirk, leaning against the wall. Meredith shook her head and smiled at him.

"So I was just wondering if you wanted to get lunch." Derek sat down on her comfortable couch and nonchalantly took a piece of candy from a bowl on the small table next to it.

"Sure. Just have to finish this up, then I'm free," she responded and looked down on her papers, trying desperately not to look at the way Derek's well-styled hair touched his forehead in a way that made her want run her hands through it. He put his feet on the sofa, leaned back into a lying position and proceeded to watch her delicate features as they concentrated on the work before her. She started fidgeting in her seat.

Screw it. I'm not gonna get any work done with him staring at me like that.

Meredith sighed and put the papers away. Then she stood up and signed for Derek to follow her example.

"How's your day been so far?" Derek's cheerful voice asked beside her where they walked towards the cafeteria.

"Oh, you know… the usual. I had two liver transplants and lots of paperwork. You?"

"Meh, it's been pretty slow. I had no surgeries planned and nobody seemed to want to bash their heads in today either," Derek replied nonchalantly and shrugged.

"Speaking of head bashing…" Meredith interjected. Derek turned towards her with a raised brow and seemed to stand just a little bit too close for her comfort. She could clearly smell the scent of his cologne and see in close-up the small scar on his forehead (apparently from some sort of motor cycle accident that happened before they met.) Meredith swallowed. Now when she thought about it… scars were kinda sexy...

She woke up from her reverie when Derek's face turned amused.

"Yes, Mer?" he teased to her faraway stare. She blushed slightly and pulled on his arm to continue their walk towards the cafeteria.

"Right. So, I heard some nurses speaking outside of my office about a Dr Shepherd defending my honor in a OR gallery a couple of weeks ago…" Now it was Derek's turn to blush.
"Where is this rumor coming from and why have I not heard of it before?" Meredith's eyebrows were raised but she didn't look mad. Simply curious and a bit amused.

"Mer, you know the rumor mill around here…" Derek said with a strain of nervousness.

"Derek," she interrupted sternly. He sighed.

"Fine. So, Karev and O'Malley may have made some comments about your physical appearance that I thought were inappropriate." Derek swallowed. "I only told them to… to take it elsewhere," at this he smiled one of his dreamy smiles and Meredith's knees grew weak.

"Oh…" Meredith responded a bit surprised. This explained the fact that George hadn't wanted to meet her eye once when they met at Joes earlier that month. "Do I really need to tell you I don't need a knight in shining… whatever?" she questioned, but with a smile on her face. Truth was, she was a bit flattered. Mark had never been the protective kind, and she appreciated a bit of chivalry every now and then. Derek smirked back at her.

"Well, I can hardly leave you to the wolves! You're harmless." Meredith scoffed but Derek continued. "And just for the record, I am your knight in shining…whatever." With that he turned on his heel and went to grab some food with Meredith laughing and shaking her head behind him.

"So? You think he's hot. We all do. But he obviously likes you too or he wouldn't stare at you with those sex-crazed eyes all the time. I say shag him and get it over with," Christina stated, her mouth full of food later that day.

"Really?" Meredith sounded hopeful and then shook her head in disgust at her own thoughts. "Ugh. I can't just shag him. It would complicate everything! His friendship is the only good thing that has come out of this shit with Mark and Addie…" her voice trailed off and Christina gave her a murderous stare. "Except for you, of course," Meredith quickly continued. Christina stared at her for a while before shrugging and continuing to eat from her sandwich.

"I'm screwing Owen," Christina stated flatly. Meredith spilled coffee all over her chin and proceeded to cough harshly until she had tears in her eyes. Christina continued to eat but patted a light hand on Meredith's back.

"You're doing Hunt? The chief of surgery?" Meredith's voice was hoarse and she looked utterly baffled. Christina didn't answer.

"Oh my god!" Meredith stared at her Asian friend for a moment before shaking her head and laughing slightly. "Oh, man… Is he good? I mean… it looks like he'd be good." She asked and leaned back against the wall. They were seated in an abandoned corridor waiting for their interns to page them about some tests. Christina smiled devilishly. Then she pulled up her scrub top slightly to show her side where numerous fingermarks and love bites were spotting her fine skin.

"Hot damn…" Meredith sighed appreciatively.

"I'm ordering pizza! What do you want?" Meredith yelled through the walls towards the living room where Derek sat playing on the Nintendo. They had finished about the same time from work that day and Derek decided to drive the both of them home in his brand new BMW.

"Pizza again?" Derek yelled back. "Mer, I've gained 6 pounds since we moved here! Maybe we should eat something… I don't know. Healthier?" At this Meredith stuck her head out of the kitchen with a phone in her hand.

"Um, sure. So, what do you want? We could order some Thai or Lebanese… But not Chinese, I hate Chinese," she rambled and brought out some menus from a cupboard over the sink. Derek laughed.

"You know, we could actually make our food for a change. And for breakfast, why don't we eat something other than cereal or cold pizza?" Meredith looked horrified.

"I don't cook!" she exclaimed and stood in the doorway, entirely lost. Derek thought she looked so darn cute that he couldn't help walking over to her and hugging her.

"Don't worry, Mer. I'll cook." He stroked her hair softly and he couldn't but feel that this position felt so right. He could honestly say he had never felt this comfortable with anyone since the beginning of his and Addison's relationship. Before she became such a kick-ass surgeon who demanded of him to do everything her way. They stood that way for a while and Meredith reveled in his warm embrace, completely forgetting the fact that she had a husband back in New York and that the man she was currently having dirty thoughts about was also married, and to her ex-best friend at that. When too much time had passed, Derek realized what was happening and let her out of his embrace. The both of them felt the loss and shivered at the sudden coldness of the room. Then Derek took Meredith's hand and pulled her towards the door.

"Um, where are we going?" she asked, desperately wanting his arms around her again. Derek turned his face around and gave her another one of his award winning dreamy smiles before picking up his car keys from the bureau.

"We're going grocery shopping!"

The food was delicious. Meredith felt like she could die of contentment where she lay on the couch in the living room, watching Derek try to put life into the fireplace in the corner of the room.

It was getting chilly outside and the cold autumn wind mixed with the Seattle rain had left the both of them shivering and wet as they rushed from the car into the house. They then proceeded to take a shower, separately of course, before starting on dinner, which ended up being Rigatoni with grilled peppers and onions. Meredith was determined that Derek was the best chef in the world, to which he laughed when she told him. She had almost fallen asleep when she felt Derek sitting down on the other side of the couch, pulling her feet into his lap. It all felt so goddamn right. Meredith just wanted to lie like this forever.

Instead, she sat up like in a trance. The fire crackling in the fireplace made the silence between them magical. Without thinking she laid her head on his shoulder and curled up next to him. Derek leaned his head on hers and took her hand in his, playing with her fingers.

"Derek…" Meredith whispered. He hummed in response.

"Why did you defend me that time in the gallery?" Her voice was low and vulnerable. Derek's intention of saying the same thing as that morning faltered. He hadn't sent the men out of there simply because they were being inappropriate. He was feeling possessive. That was the truth. And Meredith… Meredith deserved the truth. So Derek closed his eyes for a second and pushed away the thoughts that what he was going to say was wrong and that he had a wife, technically anyway, back in his hometown. Then he sat straighter and took Meredith's cheek in his hand. He looked into her eyes and read the openness and anticipation in there.

"Meredith…" Her name slipped out of his mouth like a prayer. Then he smiled softly but defeated at her. "I think I'm falling in love with you," he whispered. With that he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against her in a passionate kiss, so filled with love and tenderness that Meredith felt the strange urge to cry. It took a while before she responded, but when she did it was with reverent surrender. She gave everything she had left of herself to him in that kiss.

Her hands snaked up into his hair and she felt his hands finding their way under her burgundy sweater. Without thinking she straddled Derek's lap and started unbuttoning his shirt. When her hands traced a pattern on his chest he let out a groan, before pressing her closer to him and starting to place kisses down her neck until he found a piece of skin behind her ear that made her shiver in pleasure. When he heard her soft moan he felt, distinctly, the crossing of the line pass. There was no turning back now. They were done for. With reverent hands he laid her down on the couch beneath him.

Derek had forgotten for a while what true happiness was. Now he remembered.