Disclaimer : I own nothing. Grey's Anatomy is the property of Master Shonda Rhimes.
Author's note : Once again, thank you sooo much for your reviews. I must've read them 3-4 times each cause they make me soooo happy! And thanks to Uniquegrl7 for explaining the review thing; it makes a lot more sense now! This chapter is the continuation of the last one (hence the part 2). One last thing : I realized that my profile page was blank so I updated it, if you're interested. :)
Chapter title (Escapar) is a song by Kudai.
Enjoy and review (even if it's just one word, it'll make me happy)!
Meredith had just finished her shift and was walking in the bar's alley. She was tired but not too tired to go to Joe's. She felt like she hadn' t had a good night out in years, when it had been only a couple of weeks. She knew the reason for it : Finn. She loved him, she still had feelings for him. Finn still had some of the qualities that made her fall in love with him two years ago. It's just that lately his flaws had been outweighing his good side and Meredith had a hard time dealing with the situation. He had changed so much since they had moved in together and it was difficult to keep up. On top of all of this, she felt guilty. Ever since she met Derek Sheperd, she had found herself daydreaming about the neurosurgeon. She knew he had a fiancée and obviously, she was taken but even those facts couldn't stop her wild imagination.
God, what is wrong with me?! I keep screwing things up with Finn and instead of trying to fix our relationship, all I can think about is Derek. Derek Sheperd. With his dreamy blue eyes and dreamy shiny dark hair and dreamy smile.....
Once again, Meredith was drifting away thinking about Derek. She had reached the bar's entrance and was about to open the door when a "Hey, Meredith!" put a halt to her action.
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Derek had just finished a succesful brain tumor removal and was heading towards Joe's. He was in need of a drink. Something strong enough to make him temporarily forget about this morning's events. He was still angry about Rose trying to sell his trailer.
How can she be so....so selfish. She knows how much that trailer means to me and she was ready to sell it. I can't believe this!
However, anger was not the only thing he was feeling. That dream was still occupying his mind. He was still troubled by Meredith Grey. Naked. About to pleasure him. Just the thought of it had upped his body temperature by a few degrees. He was hoping to catch a glimpse of her today at the cafeteria but she was nowhere to be seen.
He was grateful that Mark had invited him to Joe's. It was a simple place, not fancy but not totally sleazy. Nothing like the fancy restaurants Rose worshipped. As Derek approached the bar, a familiar silhouette walking ahead of him assured him he was going to have a good night.
"Hey, Meredith!", he shouted, running to reach her.
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She turned around to face the man running behind her. When Derek got in front of her, he spoke.
"Strange how we keep meeting randomly like this", he stated, smiling.
"Yeah, it is", she replied, surprised to see him but not in a negative way.
They got lost in each other's eyes for a minute or two before Meredith snapped out of his penetrating stare.
"Are you here alone?", she asked, troubled by the way his blue eyes could make her escape reality.
"No, I'm meeting ? Ar-are you here with..ummm..with your boyfriend?", he stammered, hoping she would say no.
"No, he's in Miami for a buisness trip. I'm meeting friends too.", Meredith said with a small smile.
"Oh, ok."
Derek stepped forward to open the door behind her. He gestured for her to go first , to which she responded with a thank you and another smile.
"Mer! Over here!", Cristina shouted as she spotted her friend walk in.
"I guess I'll see you around", Meredith said, as she saw Cristina waving her hand at her.
"Yeah", Derek responded, also spotting Mark and Addison sitting at a table in the back.
They both went their separate ways : Meredith with her friends and Derek with his.
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Meredith made her way to the table where Alex, Izzie, Cristina and Owen were already seated; everyone with a drink in hand.
"Hey, guys!", she greeted as she sat down between Cristina and Izzie. They were talking about some weird surgery but stopped when Meredith arrived.
"Hey!", they all replied.
"Why were you talking to Dr. Sheperd?", inquired Izzie. All eyes turned to Meredith, which brought a nice shade of pink on her cheeks.
"Umm...what? Derek? You know him?", she asked, trying to hide the nervousness she was feeling at the mention of his name.
Four pairs of eyes widened in surprise as Meredith referred to him by him first name. Only Alex didn't look too shocked by what his sister had just said.
"Whoa, you're on first name basis! I see you know each other pretty well!", Cristina replied.
"We met a couple of days ago. What's the big deal?", asked Meredith.
"Yeah, what's the big deal?", chimed in Alex.
"You really don't know who Derek Sheperd is?", insisted Cristina.
"All I know is that he's a neurosurgeon at Seattle Grace.", Meredith replied with a blank stare. The Asian woman looked at her with an incredulous stare.
"You must beliving under a rock. We're talking about the man who save a little girl's life last month by removing half her brain!"
"I saw the sugery and let me tell you this : this man is a rock star, people. A kick-ass rock star!", replied Izze.
"He's a great surgeon, world class.", added Owen.
"Oh!", suddenly realized Meredith, "I remember that case with the little girl! That was him?". She wondered how come she had never heard him.
I really must be living under a rock.
"Yes!", Izzie and Cristina exlclaimed simultaniously, irritated by how long it took her to connect the dots.
"I need a drink. Be right back", Meredith quckly stated, cutting the conversation short. She knew Cristina and Izzie would keep asking questions about Derek she didn't want to tell them about him. Not yet, at least.
"I'll come with you", offered Alex. She got up and went to the bar, followed by her brother.
"Hey Joe!", Meredith greeted to the tall man behind the counter.
"Meredith! One shot of tequila?", he asked with a knowing smile.
"You know me too well", she replied, laughing. Alex and her both took a seat on a stool. Joe came back and gave Meredith her shot. She swallowed the liquid and winced as it burned the inside of her throat.
"Hey...ummmm..you know when you asked me not to talk to Finn about the fight you had?", Alex hesitantly started.
"Yeah", she nodded apprehensively.
"I kinda did", he confessed, proving Meredith's fear to be true. She knew her brother enough to know he wouldn't mind his buisness and would confront Finn.
Damn it! I knew he would open his big mouth! Why did I have to cry in front of him?! I never cry! Finn is probably so mad at me right now!
"Alex!", she scolded. "I specifically told you NOT to do that! Why are you always interfering with my love life?! Notice the emphasis on «my»! What did you say to him?"
"Nothing! I just politely told him that I don't appreciate seeing you upset.", Alex responded, obviously hiding the true nature of his encounter with Finn.
"Well, I don't believe you! I'm sure you threatened him!", she replied, accusingly waiving her finger in front of his face.
"Mer, I'm your big brother. It's my job to protect you!", he explained. That statement got an eye roll from Meredith, to which Alex responded with a sigh.
"Listen.", he said with a serious tone. Meredith looked into her brother's eyes, seeing he had something important to say. "Ever since Mom and Dad died, it's been you and me. Just the two of us. I have to look out for you because sometimes, you're not looking out for yourself. That's how it's always been and I won't stop just because you find it annoying. That's my job, Meredith."
She smiled tenderly at her brother, knowing he had good intentions. She couldn't be mad at her brother because he didn't know how Finn reacted when he was angry.
"Come on", she said. "Let's go back to the table.". Alex put his around his sister's shoulders and she put her arm around his waist as they made their back to their table.
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"Derek!", Addison exclaimed as she saw him walking towards where she and her husband were seated. He pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Hey Mark, Addie.", he greeted back.
"Mark told me about your fight. Where's Rose", Addison asked.
"I have no idea and right now, I don't really care. Let's not talk about her, okay?", Derek replied.
"Fine by me.", said Mark. Addison's reply was nod and a discreet smile.
"Oh Mark, did you see the woman I entered the bar with?", asked Derek.
"Yeah, I did. Why?", he asked, with a quizzical expression on his face.
"That's her, that's Meredith. The girl from the dream.", he stated.
"Dude, she's hot!"
Addison looked back and forth between the two men, not understanding the current conversation.
"Who's she? What dream? Explain because I don't speak «guy»."
"It's a guy thing", Mark casually explained
"Yeah", Derek added in the same tone.
"Come on! I wanna know!", she insisted. "You know I won't stop bugging you until you answer." Addison changed her tactic and tried pouting instead. She held this expression for several seconds. It seemed to work because Derek and Mark exchanged a look that clearly showed the red head had won.
"Fine", sighed Derek." I met this girl, Meredith, a couple of days ago and I kind of can't stop thinking about her. Then, two nights ago, I had a dream about her. A sexy dream."
"Yeah, that's about it", chime in Mark.
The men observed Addison's reaction. A big smile appeared on her face.
"Oh my god, you have a crush!"
"Addie! I'm getting married in three weeks! Soon-to-be married guys don't have crushes.", he stated. Of course, Derek had a crush on her but there was no way he would admit in to his friends.
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It was now getting late and Meredith thought it was time to go home.
"I'm gonna call it a night, guys.", she announced, stretching.
"You're leaving", asked Cristina.
"Yeah, I have an early shift tommorow."
"You need a ride?", proposed Alex.
"No, my car is in the hospital's parking lot. Thanks anyway.", she smiled.
"Goodnight, everyone!", Meredith said as she got up.
They all said their goodbyes. Meredith walked across the room to exit the bar.
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Derek was absentmindedly looking around the bar, a bit bored by Addison and Mark's argument over some movie quote when he noticed her leaving. Her.
Meredith's leaving! Maybe I can catch up with her.
"I'm gonna call it a night guys!", Derek said suddenly as he got up."See you tommorow!"
He took his coat and ran to the exit, hoping to catch up with Meredith, leaving Addison and Mark completely dumbfounded.
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"Hey, Meredith", Derek (once again) shouted, out of breath as he reached her side in Joe's Alley.
She turned round to (once again) face Derek and started lauging when she saw who was calling her name.
"Twice in one night? We're gonna set a record!", she joked which made him chuckle.
"I just saw you leaving and it's dark outside and you know, it's dangerous to wak alone when it's dark and you're pretty.", he blurted out.
Why did I say that? She must think I'm a creep. A stupid creep!
Meredith smiled at his rambling and at the fact that he said she was pretty.
"My car is in the hospital's parking lot. You can walk me to it if you want.", she suggested.
"Yeah sure, I need to exercise anyway.", he said trying to sound casual. In truth, he didn't want her to realise how much he wanted to be near her, even for a few minutes.
"Okay", she replied.
He so does not need to exercise. His chest is perfect and his arms look so strong. And his ass...
They began walking side by side towards the parking lot, across the street.
"You know , the first time we met, on the bench? You seemed sad. You had a whole «I hate being a surgeons» speech. You just-you seemed sad. Are you okay now?", she inquired, looking at him.
She cares. She still remembers about that!
That thought brought a bright smile to Derek's face and warmth throughout his body.
"Yeah, I'm good now. It was just a bad day. Thanks for asking.", he said genuingly, his eyes looking at hers.
"You're welcome", she replied, smiling sweetly.
They got close to the street. Derek was about to cross it when Meredith put her arm on his chest, stopping his step.
"Wait!", she exclaimed
She looked at both sides of the street before crossing, Derek following her.
"What was that for?", Derek asked, confused.
"You didn't look before crossing. It's dangerous!", Meredith replied.
Derek cocked his head to the side, looking at her, still confused. Meredith noticed the expression on his face.
"I know it's weird but my parents died in a car crash and ever since it happened, I always make sure to look on both sides efore crossing. It's an obsession.", she explained, with a sad smile as she remembered the accident.
"I'm sorry about your parents", Derek whispered.
"It's fine, it was a long time ago."
Soon, they had reached her white Honda. They stood beside it, facing each other. Neither one of them seemed willing to leave. Their eyes were locked into each other, releasing lust and intensity.
"Thanks for walking with me, Derek", Meredith said, breaking the slience.
"It's my pleasure, Meredith", Derek replied. He loved the way his name sounded coming out of her mouth. She too found the way he said her name sexy.
"Goodnight", she relunctanctly said. She unlocked her car and opened the door.
"Do you want to grab a cup of coffee with me tommorrow?", he blurted out.
She quickly turned around to face him.
He wants to what? Like a date? He's asking me out? Oh my god!
"W-what? Coffee?", was all she could reply.
"Yeah, coffee since you know, we're friends now and we can do friendly stuff like have some coffee. Together. Only If you want.". He knew that having coffee with another woman he found sexy and intoxicating when he was getting married soon was probably not a good idea but he didn't care.
Finn's not here and it's just coffee. With my guy friend. Nothing wrong with having coffee with a friend.
"Yeah, I'd love too!", she said, with maybe a bit too much excitement.
Derek smile and reached into his pocket. He took out his buisness card, and gave it too Meredith.
"Call me tommorrow morning at my office and we'll set up the place and the time, okay?"
"Yeah, okay", she replied.
Meredith got inside her car and drove away. Her random encounter with Derek had put a permanent smile on her face.