Chapter Six

The Grey-Shepherd Nudge

Seattle, Washington - June 2022

"We just need to give them a little nudge." Meredith said as her and Derek stood outside watering the plants, they were kneeling on identical kneeling pads to protect their knees and were discussing the latest gossip of the cul-de-sac. That's what they were calling it now that there were four of them and they had a little community of houses in the street. Cristina had taken a little apartment across from them which was now coated in half a layer of dirt from four months of use, and the floor was positively flooded with all sorts of clothes, bags, shoes and the like. Owen on the other hand, had taken to living in the back of his truck, which he'd hooked up to Derek's RV to make a sort of shack for himself in the road. Meredith wasn't entirely convinced about the practicalities but he seemed to like it just fine.

"What do you mean?" Derek replied. They were discussing Owen and Cristina's love life, as theirs had all but worked itself out.

Meredith sighed, putting down the hose and rolling her eyes at the fact he wasn't reading her mind and had already worked out what she was planning. "That we set them up, plan an outing for the four of us and then back out last minute. Say I got sick or something. A little nudge in the right direction."

The plan was all set up, Meredith even had four cans of soup laying next to the sink for her 'being sick' stunt. You know, in case they needed proof. Meredith had invited everyone to meet up in their kitchen where she would tell the others what they were going to do. But as they arrived she began pouring the soup into the sink, Derek carefully guarding her as she made horrendous vomit noises.

"Err, what's up with Mer?" Cristina said as she walked in with Owen, they'd been chuckling to each other about something, but then the sounds penetrated through the wall and a sudden concern became apparent to Cristina. Derek was holding Meredith's hair back off her face and made some sort of gesture to the others that indicated Meredith's sickness. But not that she was so sick that they needed to help.

"She's got a stomach bug, don't worry. You guys go, I can look after her on my own." Derek said, handing them both a flyer for the local arcade and crazy golf course across town at the pier. Meredith herself gave Cristina a thumbs up and then went straight back to the Oscar-winning performance she was making of 'sick woman.'

"Well if you think you'll be alright." Cristina questioned, she was a nurse after all, and she didn't want to just leave if her friend was sick. But the other part of her was excited about a day with just Owen. She could've asked him herself, but would it be proper, would it be appropriate? At least this way they were being thrust together in a way that was unavoidable. And they had to go, it wasn't like they could just refuse if Mer had gone to the effort of planning the thing.

"Yes, we're sure, now go, it might rain later." Derek finished, stroking Meredith's back in a way he thought was comforting. As the pair left the kitchen for their 'date' Meredith brought her head back up out of the sink, and her and Derek watched them with turned backs. Back to the joke they were making earlier and flirting for no other apparent reason than they were both intensely attracted to each other.

After a long day of playing long-shot golf at a tiny putt-putt place, Owen and Cristina had ended up in the gift shop. Wanting a little privacy, they were sitting on the desk sipping beer that was living out of cooler box Owen had brought from his truck. There had also been some competitive go-kart racing that lead to some playful punching on the arm. Which lead to some even more playful staring into each other's eyes. And from there the emotions pent up between the two of them collided into a mesh of warm fuzzy feelings.

Owen leaned in first, his hand attaching to her cheek before she even realised this particular moment had come. His lips tasted like the warm hum of light-headedness that came with a bottle of beer. And his hands were rough to the touch like she expected them to be. He was a soldier after all. But his kisses weren't rough, they were forceful but passionate. Cristina kissed back with enough gusto that he was seriously considering taking her to bed at that every moment. His hands were in her hair and his tongue played across her lips with a smile as he laid her down on the arcade counter.

That night was like heaven rolled into a mattress, they'd decided on Cristina's apartment simply because of the expanse of room. Then with a flick of the radio it'd gotten stuck, the cd tripping every four and a half minutes to repeat the same song over and over. Then eventually it kind of became their sex song, and they couldn't 'perform' without it.

Seattle, Washington - Two days later

Meredith and Derek were sitting in bed, trying to sleep, but there was a rather loud melodious distraction in the form of Lionel Richie's All Night Long playing heavily in the background. They believed it must be coming from Cristina's apartment rather than Owen's truck as it could've been louder. "Do you think at some point they'll have to stop, like it won't be physically possible for them to keep it up?" Derek said, but he had a smile on his face. It wasn't like he had work in the morning, otherwise he'd be annoyed by the lack of sleep. In fact, him and Mer had been using the time to catch up on some well earned bonking themselves.