"Mer?" Derek asked, looking at the pale, fragile girl clinging desperately to him. "What is it?"

She shook her head as tears sprung into her eyes and she clung desperately to his jacket. "Der," she gasped. "I…I need…I need…Derek."

"I'm here," he soothed gently. "What is it, Mer?"

"Mom," she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. "Derek…"

"Mer, let me see," Derek said gently, easing the letter out of her hands. "It's okay."

Her grip loosened on the piece of paper, and he gently took it, his eyes searching over the paper.

Alzheimer's.

The word stuck out on the paper like a sore thumb, and Derek inhaled sharply, knowing that this would traumatize his poor girlfriend. "Meredith," he breathed softly. "Oh, Mer, come here."

Her entire weight was practically leaning on him, and he gently scooped her into his arms, carrying her to the elevator and holding her close as they rode up to their floor. When they were safe in the privacy of Derek's room, Meredith finally let herself go and allowed sobs to overcome her body. Derek held her closely, letting her cry herself out before he managed to calm her down at all. When her sobs finally managed to subside, she remained curled on his lap, clinging tightly to him.

"Mer," he whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Meredith whispered. "No. I don't know what to do, Derek."

"Do you want me to drive you home?" he asked gently.

"No," Meredith shook her head. "She would just want me to come back, to keep working at school. And I could never explain you to her."

Derek decided to ignore the sting of her not wanting to introduce him to her mother in favor of comforting her. "Okay," he said softly. "Mer…what do you want to do?"

She was silent for a moment before she whispered, "I want to call her."

"Okay," Derek nodded.

"Can you…" Meredith started. "I mean, it's okay if you don't want to. Never mind, forget I even asked, it's stupid."

"Can I what?" Derek asked, ignoring her ramble.

Meredith avoided his eyes as she whispered, "can you come with me?"

"Oh, Mer, of course," he said. "You want to go over to your room?"

She nodded, and he stood, grabbing her hand to pull her to her feet. They walked across the hall to her room, and she curled onto Derek's lap on her bed as she grabbed her phone and dragged it onto the bed, punching in the numbers to her house.

"Hi, Mom," she said softly. "I…I just got your letter. Do you want me to come home?.... That's what I thought….Well, if you've got Alzheimer's, I don't think you should be operating either…I know, Mom, but maybe it's for the best. You can come visit me, we can do some traveling before it gets too bad…Oh….well, if that's what you want to do, that's okay. Just…be safe okay?...I know, Mom…I just wanted to talk to you, make sure you're okay…okay, I will…Mom? I love you…okay, bye."

She gently placed the phone back in the cradle and Derek eased it out of her hands before wrapping his arms tightly around her again. "What did she say?" he asked gently as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"She's mad because she had to stop cutting," Meredith replied. "And she's going to spend some time writing, getting her affairs in order. She wants me to stay here and focus."

Derek nodded, trying to hold back his criticism of Ellis Grey's parenting style. He didn't think any child should have to learn something like this through a letter and then be dismissed over the phone after offering to help. "I'm sorry, Mer."

She shook her head slightly. "I guess…there's nothing that I can really do anymore," she sighed as she pulled out of his arms. "Let's move."

"Move?" Derek frowned.

"I want to move into your room," Meredith replied. "Please, Der?"

Derek looked at her for a moment, sure that she was avoiding the issue completely and not sure how to handle it. Finally he nodded as he stood. "Okay," he replied. "Let's do it."

"Thank you," Meredith said, yanking her dresser drawers open as she grabbed an armful of clothes and marched across the hall, dumping the pile onto Derek's bed. He sighed as he reached under her bed for a suitcase, hoping to be a little more rational than his girlfriend when it came to packing to move in with him.

XXXXX

That night as they lay in Derek's bed, his fingers trailing up and down her spine as she nestled tightly in his arms. After several minutes of silence, Derek finally buried his face in her hair for a moment before he whispered her name.

"Hmmm?" she asked quietly.

"I know this may make you freak out," he said softly. "But hear me out before you do so."

Meredith tilted her head to look up at him, curious. "What is it?" she asked.

"I know you're going to be having a hard time with this," Derek started. "And I'm here for you, you know that. But I was thinking…my grandmother died from Alzheimer's when I was in middle school, and my mom…I think she would be someone who could really support you and know how you're feeling. If you want to meet her, I mean."

Meredith sat up and stared at him with wide eyes. "You want me to meet your mom?" she asked. "And probably your dad too. Derek, I…"

"I know you probably don't want to," he said quickly. "And I haven't even told her that you might want to. But…the offer's there if you ever need support. She'd be more than happy to meet you."

She stared at him for another moment before she relaxed against his chest again. "Not yet," she whispered. "I just need to deal with this on my own, and I can't think about meeting your family right now."

Derek nodded as he pressed his lips against her forehead. "No pressure," he whispered.

Meredith nodded against his chest, silent for a moment before she whispered, "Tell me about them."

"What do you want to know?" he replied.

"Just…tell me about your family," she replied. "About who they are and holidays and family stories…I want to hear about them."

"Hmmm," Derek whispered. "Well, I'm smack dab in the middle of four sisters. Kathleen and Nancy are older, and Elizabeth and Caitlin are younger. I met Mark in third grade, and when my mom found out how much time he spent alone at his house, she insisted that I bring him home so he could get a proper home environment. My dad takes me out a couple times a year for camping and fishing. He says that we need to get away from the estrogen in the house every once in awhile, so we just go and spend time just the two of us in the woods."

"What's your mom like?"

"She's…incredible," Derek replied. "She makes sure that all of her children are well mannered and taken care of, and she's usually pretty laid back. But when one of us gets in trouble, she has this look that will make you want to cower into the floor. And she and my dad…they're so in love. I think that's where I get my inspiration for life from. They'd be lost without each other, and they have the relationship I hope my marriage will be like."

"You think one day we could be like that?" Meredith whispered so softly he wasn't sure if he'd imagined the words.

"Yeah," he replied, tightening his arms around her. "I think we will be, one day."

"Me too," she whispered. "I love you, Derek."

"I love you too," he replied.

"We have October break in a few weeks," Meredith sighed. "I was going to stay here, but now…I think I'm going to go home."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Derek asked softly.

"No," she shook her head. "You should go home and enjoy your family. It will be weird though."

"What will?" Derek asked.

"Not being with you," Meredith admitted. "Addison will be there, but I don't talk to anyone else from high school. And if Mom's not working, then she'll probably be home, but I've never really been home with her for long periods of time. I don't think she'll even want me there, but I have to go."

Derek nodded. "I get it," he said. "I'll miss you too. But we'll talk all the time."

Meredith giggled. "Will your sisters get mad at you for taking up the phone line?" she asked.

"I'll just be making up for all the time they didn't let me spend on the phone in high school," Derek laughed.

"From what Mark's told me, there weren't exactly a ton of people calling you," Meredith giggled. "Besides the director of the band, I mean."

Derek frowned for a moment before his hands found her hips and began tickling her. "Well, Meredith Grey, you are going to pay for that comment," he threatened, rolling over her so she was pinned to the bed.

"Derek, stop!" she giggled, trying to wiggle out from underneath him as he tickled her mercilessly. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, she felt all the stresses of dealing with her mother's sickness fade away as she focused on Derek and how amazing he made her feel. As long as he was here, she suddenly knew that she could do anything.