Okay, so the vote was pretty much unanimous as to whether Mer stayed in med school or not, and thank you so much for all of you who let me know! I really love hearing what you all would like to read about and making it come true.

On another note...I have never been to med school, so I'm not really positive what it's like. I'm assuming that it's similar to college just more intensely focused, which is how I'm going to portray it in this fic. If that's wrong...I'm sorry for those of you who actually know what it's like!

Enjoy :)

Derek groaned as he rolled over in bed, unsure of what had woken him. He'd been sleeping soundly for once, and then all of a sudden he was wide awake for no apparent reason.

He reached over to cuddle with his wife, hoping that her soft breaths would lure him back to sleep, but instead found an empty bed and the reason he was awake. With a sigh, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, frowning when he heard the soft murmur of the TV drifting upstairs from the living room. He sighed as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and made his way towards the stairs, determined to find out exactly what his wife was up to.

She'd been distracted over the past week or so, and he knew she was trying to decide what to do about her future. She was freaking out, just like she always did when any big change was about to occur in her life, and he couldn't help but hope that she would decide to go to med school with him, if for no other reason than he would actually have someone he knew he could count on there with him.

"Hey Mer," he said softly as he walked into the dark living room, with only the TV providing light.

"Derek," she jumped as she turned to look at him as he sat down beside her on the couch. "What are you doing up?"

"I was lonely," Derek said softly as he leaned forward to take her hand. "What are you doing up?"

"I'm watching these old surgery tapes," Meredith replied, her eyes sparkling. "My mom's about to do a stand still surgery. And in this one," she continued, holding up another tape. "Your dad cuts a man's brain in half. In half, Der."

Derek laughed as she rambled about the surgeries she had just watched. Obviously she was getting the same feeling he got every time he watched a surgery. "I remember, Mer," he said. "So does this mean what I think it does?"

"It means," Meredith sighed, taking a deep breath. "That I want to be a doctor. I'm going to med school, Der."

Derek smiled warmly as he leaned forward to kiss her. "Congratulations Mer," he said. "You're going to kick ass as a doctor."

"I hope so," she whispered. "I'm still scared, but…I want to do it. I don't want to back down just because I'm scared, because I think this really is where I'm supposed to be. Maybe it is because of my mom, but it's who I am. So I'm going to do it."

Derek smiled as he reached to tuck some hair behind her ear. "I'm glad," he whispered. "Can we go back to bed now?"

"No," Meredith giggled as she leaned for the remote. "I have to watch the end of this surgery."

"Mer, you can watch it in the morning," Derek sighed dramatically, leaning into her. "I'm tired."

"Then you go back to bed," Meredith giggled, pushing him off of her. "I'm going to watch surgery."

"I can't sleep without you," Derek replied.

"You're pathetic," Meredith rolled her eyes.

"That's mean," Derek frowned.

"So is talking through my surgery video," Meredith replied. "Now I have to start it over."

"No," Derek insisted, reaching over to scoop her off the couch. "No more surgery. We're going to bed."

"Derek," Meredith giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm not sure I like this."

"What, me being romantic and sweeping you off your feet?" Derek asked as he tossed her gently onto the bed.

"No, you kidnapping me and putting me in bed," Meredith giggled. "I could press rape charges."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Of course," he said. "Because everyone would believe that."

"It's true," Meredith nodded. "I've seen Law and Order. They take rape very seriously."

Derek laughed as he pulled her into his arms. "You're something else, Meredith Shepherd," he sighed. "You know I would never hurt you."

"I know," Meredith sighed as she settled into his arms. "I'm scared, Derek."

Derek sighed against the top of her head. "I know," he whispered. "I am too."

Meredith pulled out of his arms to look him in the eye. "You're scared?" she asked. "Because I thought you knew what you wanted to do, ever since high school."

"I have," Derek said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not scared. Being a doctor is hard, and I sometimes wonder if I can do it."

"You can," Meredith nodded encouragingly, running her fingers through his hair. "Derek, you're amazing. And you don't even have to study half as much as I do. You're not going to have any problems."

"I hope you're right," he whispered into her hair.

"I am," Meredith whispered. "You've worked hard for this, Derek."

"So have you," Derek whispered. "I'm glad you're not giving this up, Mer. You know I would have loved you either way, but you've worked so hard for this and it would have been a shame to see you give that all away."

Meredith smiled as she reached up to kiss him gently. "Thank you, Der," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," Derek smiled as he tightened his arms around her, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to come.

XXXXX

Meredith stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the clock above the stove as she tapped her fingernails nervously against the counter.

10:07.

She had her first class at 11, and she knew if she left now she would be twenty minutes early, and she refused to be that girl. But Derek had left two hours earlier for his first class, and she had found herself completely and totally bored in the apartment without him as she waited for it to be time to leave.

She'd already picked up the dirty clothes from the floor of her closet, done all the dishes by hand, and vacuumed the living room, and somehow only an hour had gone by. Now she stood in the middle of the kitchen, biting on her thumbnail as she looked around the room, trying to find something to occupy the next twenty minutes of her life.

"Mer?" Derek's voice called from the doorway, causing her to rush out of the kitchen.

"Derek!" she cried. "How was it? Was it scary and horrible? Do you have a million things to do now? God, you probably don't even have time to talk to me, because you have so much to do. I have to go anyways, even though I'm going to be early, but I guess it's better to be early than late, so I'll just go and you can start your homework…"

"Meredith," Derek laughed as he stepped forward and took her into his arms. "I always have time to talk to you. And I have some reading to do, but nothing too time consuming."

"Oh," Meredith nodded. "So it wasn't super scary?"

"No," Derek laughed. "You'll do fine, Mer, it's not that different from college. Just doctors instead of professors."

"Okay," Meredith said, biting her lower lip. "I guess I should go."

"You'll be fine," Derek laughed. "Just try not to raise your hand and then ramble for ten minutes like you did on the first day of Brain Mind and Behavior."

Meredith scowled as she slapped his bicep. "I'm still mad at you for not stopping me," she said. "I'm leaving now."

Derek laughed as he pulled her close, kissing her firmly. "It was cute," he said. "And I love you."

She sighed as she gave into his embrace, leaning into him for a moment before she took a deep breath and pulled out of his arms. "I love you too," she whispered, pressing her lips against his. "I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Mer," Derek laughed, pushing her gently out the door before he turned to the couch, pulling some new textbooks out of his bag.

XXXXX

Meredith leaned against the wall outside the classroom, looking around the room at the other students gathered in the hallway, wondering why she felt so nervous. Derek had been completely calm that morning, and no one else seemed to be panicking. But she was completely and totally freaking out, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Suddenly, the doors to the large lecture hall opened and students poured through the double doors. Meredith swallowed hard as she moved to step through the doors, bumping into someone as she walked through the doors.

"Sorry," she said automatically, looking up at the person she'd bumped into.

"No problem," the blonde man said with a smile. "My fault."

Meredith smiled faintly before she stepped away from him, moving towards the front of the classroom. She sat down and pulled a notebook out of her bag, frowning when she saw the man she'd just spoken to approaching the lecture podium. She rolled her eyes to herself, silently chastising herself for virtually ignoring him. She sighed as she opened her notebook, hoping that she could just act like a normal person for once.

As the class progressed, Meredith began to relax as she realized Derek was right; classes in med school really weren't that different from college. She felt even better when she realized at the end of the lecture that she hadn't even been confused once. She smiled slightly as she slid her notebook back into her bag, standing to leave when Derek's advice from earlier that morning popped into her head.

"Kath and Nancy swear by the fact that getting to know your professors will get you through med school. They'll remember your name and know that you really care, and when the time comes they may even be able to get you an internship."

With a deep breath, she turned and walked back down to the podium, cautiously approaching it. "Dr. Brown?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" he asked, smiling as he looked up at her.

"Um…I'm Meredith Shepherd," she said. "I just…I wanted to introduce myself and say I'm really looking forward to this class. I love neurology, and I just wanted to tell you how much I'm looking forward to learning with you."

Dr. Brown smiled as he reached for shake her hand. "I'm happy to hear that, Miss Shepherd," he said. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully, and if you have any troubles, you can contact me anytime."

"Thanks," Meredith smiled. "And, um…it's Mrs. Shepherd."

"Oh," Dr. Brown nodded, his eyes flickering down to her left hand before returning to her face. "My apologies."

"It's fine," Meredith smiled. "A common mistake."

"Well, I must say that your husband is a very lucky man," Dr. Brown smiled. "To have a wife as charming as you."

Meredith frowned, not having expected him to say that. "Thanks," she said hesitantly. "I have to go, but I'll see you on Wednesday."

"Looking forward to it," Dr. Brown said with a smile as Meredith turned to walk away, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the interaction that had just taken place.

She spent the rest of the afternoon finding her way around campus, grabbing a quick lunch, buying textbooks and attending another afternoon class before she finally decided to go home. She was curious to see how Derek's day had been, and she wanted to tell him about her classes as well.

"Der?" she called as she entered the apartment. "Are you home?"

"Hey," Derek called from the living room. "How was your day?"

"Great," she called as she moved towards the couch. "Hey Nathan."

"Hey," Nathan said from his spot in the armchair.

"What are we watching?" Meredith asked as she collapsed onto the couch beside Derek, reaching for his beer.

"Yankees Mariners game," Derek replied with a smirk. "How was your day?"

"Good," Meredith nodded. "I had a couple classes, spent way too much money on books…you know."

Derek laughed as he squeezed her hand. "Sounds familiar," he laughed. "How were your classes? Ridiculously hard? Did you ramble?"

"Shut up," Meredith rolled her eyes. "I did not ramble. And they were good. Although…" her voice trailed off as she debated whether she wanted to tell Derek about the weird feeling she'd gotten when she'd introduced herself to Dr. Brown.

"Although what?" Derek asked, knowing that she was hiding something.

"Nothing," Meredith shook her head. "What's for dinner?"

"Beth's making dinner," Nathan supplied, sensing Meredith's need to change the subject.

"Meredith," Derek insisted. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really," Meredith sighed. "Just…I introduced myself to one of my professors, and he made a comment that was just weird, but it's fine."

"What kind of comment?" Derek narrowed his eyes.

"Derek, please don't go all caveman on me," she rolled her eyes. "He just called me Miss Shepherd and I corrected him and said it was Mrs. Shepherd, and he said that my husband was lucky. It was really nothing."

Derek frowned. "He shouldn't be saying that," he said.

"It's fine," Meredith shook her head, leaning in to kiss him gently. "I'm going to go wash my face before dinner, okay?"

"Okay," Derek said slowly. "Mer…"

"Derek, don't," she shook her head as she stood and made her way towards the stairs.

Derek sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, watching as she made her way up the stairs. He was going to believe her if she said it was nothing, but he still wasn't sure he was comfortable with this whole situation.