Listen to the song before you read this story. I'm telling you, it screams MerDer. Right now, go.
Ghost by Justin Beiber.
Go.
Done?
Okay. Read on.
Young blood thinks there's always tomorrow
Ellis Grey was wrong.
If it wasn't even more disrespectful to speak ill to the dead, Meredith would tell her just how wrong she was, basking in the added satisfaction that Ellis hated being told that.
She wasn't just good enough, she was extraordinary. She was talented and brilliant.
She was also loved. All that she was and wasn't, he wanted. To have and to hold. To love and to cherish.
"Mer?" Derek called out as he walked onto the deck of the trailer, finding her peacefully sitting on his hammock watching the sunset.
She was clad in his thick Bowdoin hoodie, deciding to camp out there as soon as he headed to the bathroom for a shower. "Over here."
They had spent the whole day together, a much-needed break after spending hours in the hospital. They hardly got to celebrate being engaged.
He looked down at her as she bent her legs and scooted to the left, smiling at him as she offered him room to sit beside her. He couldn't help but note the sparkly stone that sat on her finger. She said she'd wear it for 24 hours and see how she felt about being a "ring person".
Her skin was clammy as her sweat from their night and day's fun activities had cooled down from the breeze of the outdoors, while Derek had already smelled so fresh. She rested her head on his shoulder, fitting comfortably against his body as his arm stretched behind her.
"So, have you decided about being a ring person or not?" he chuckled as he took the hand that rested on his chest to study her perfect fingers.
"Hmm," she shrugged holding it out for them to look at. She had to admit, it suited her if she said so herself. The diamond sat on a silver band that was a little loose on her, but the rock glinted in the light in such an entrancing way.
"Your dad had good taste," she told him, earning her a chuckle. "If I was, I would definitely wear it," her eyes met his, telling him how much the gesture warmed her.
"But you're not," he finished for her while planting a kiss on her temple. He laughed softly at how badly she tried to want to be that girl, but Meredith Grey simply wasn't. He loved that about her. "I told you, I don't want you to wear it. You're not a ring bride. Keep it safe somewhere. It's yours."
He got her. She's never had that with anyone else. They'd been engaged for 72 hours now, and Izzie spent the entirety of yesterday dressing her in scratchy poofy white dresses that went against everything she and Derek had hoped for.
They didn't care, though. The wedding? That was for Izzie. The marriage was for them.
"Well, I also don't really know how I'd feel about an engagement ring your ex-wife wore," she said amusedly. She wasn't a jealous person, per se. They were able to talk about her now without any lingering tension, but it would be weird wearing a ring that once signified forever for her fiance and someone else.
"I, uhm, actually never gave her that," he clarified. "I didn't know about this ring until Ma visited to meet you," he cleared his throat lightly, not entirely sure if that was going to make her even more nervous.
"What?" she laughed with disbelief. "What about when you proposed to Addison?"
"I gave Addie a big-ass ring I could barely afford at that time from a snooty jewelry store on Fifth Avenue," he snickered. God, that price tag made him dizzy as a medical student with loans. "I had no idea this ring existed until a few weeks ago."
Meredith's mouth could only drop speechlessly. All these years, including the eleven that Derek was married to Addison, Carolyn banked on the idea that Derek was going to meet someone else. Sanctity of a marriage aside, his mom prayed for the idea of her. The idea that the person who was meant for her son would finally present herself.
That person was her. After all these years, here she was.
"She gave it to me and said that… my dad wanted me to have it. For the right girl. I guess she felt like Addie and I were never right for each other from the beginning since she never gave it to me then," he smiled at her adoringly.
Meredith looked at her fiance incredulously. A blush crept up her cheeks as she took in Carolyn's train of thought. All he had mentioned was this was the same ring that his father had proposed to his mother with, she had assumed Addison had gotten it as well. "Well, you didn't tell me that part."
"She's right," he amused when she descended into a whispered, trying to hide how she was thoughtfully flattered. "You're it for me."
"Well, I certainly hope so." She smiled, closing her eyes as Derek rubbed her shoulder. Everything just felt so right. Call it fate or whatever other cheesy word people throw at happy couples, she was right where she finally belonged.
At one point, she had convinced herself unlovable. By her mother, her father, and every boy interested in her long enough just to take advantage. She had believed it. No one had stayed and that had to be okay for her.
But Derek pushed. He crossed every personal and professional boundary. He tore down her defenses brick by brick until day by day, she didn't even notice how much she needed him.
Her mother had more than once called her unfocused. That her boyfriend was bad news. That love was ordinary and he was nothing more than an egotistical man in a position begging to be praised by a subordinate.
She was wrong. Derek looked at her like she was light. He showed her all his imperfections and asked to be loved.
"I love you," she whispered to him as the sun descended on the edge of the horizon, setting as the sky turned dark.
"I love you too, Mrs. Shepherd," he teased knowingly before yelping when that earned him a pinch on his side.
"Ow! I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he chuckled as she glared playfully at him. "I love you, Meredith Grey."
This was it. The beginning of the rest of her life with Derek Shepherd. She for one, could not wait.
A/N: I have a problem continuing things I start. I promise to update the others soon, but I'm really excited about this one. The last chapter's already been written out and I'm psyched to reach that part already.
Would love your review so far!