A/N- I know I promised the weekend, but it's here now, the final piece of our pre-proposal puzzle is here. It's far from perfect, but I think it does a good job of getting Derek to the right place, and calming Meredith down a little too. But enough rambling. Enjoy!

Disclaimer- Grey's isn't mine, I just like to play with the characters!

Derek had taken Bailey's advice, and whisked Meredith off to a tiny restaurant close to the hospital with a good view of the ferryboats. He knew he could have called in favours at nearly every restaurant in Seattle, but the tiny intimate venue seemed more appropriate that evening, so after a good bottle of wine, and, on Meredith's insistence, something they could share, they snuggled up in front of the outdoor fireplace and watched the ferryboats drift across the moonlit water. Meredith was far more at ease with him than she had been earlier in the day. He could sense her distrust, but she was clearly making an effort to rid herself of those thoughts. She held onto him tightly, like a baby koala, never wanting to let go. He spent much of the evening just looking at her, trying to decipher what it was that she was thinking about. He could only hope that it wasn't about him and how awful a person he had come across as in the last week or two. He never wanted to hurt her, but somehow, it always ended up that way and he hated himself for it. Instead of dwelling on it, he stared out at the water with her imagining what it would be like when she said yes the next day, if she said yes. His heart told him that there was no doubt about it, but his head said that it wasn't a definite thing until she walked through that door at the end of her shift. It was Meredith yawning that prompted him to get the check and drive home, knowing that if he left it much longer, she'd be falling asleep on him, which would result in him having to wake her up, and she'd only resent him for that.

She could barely keep her eyes open by the time they got to her house, and although she was too stubborn to ask, Derek knew that she wanted help getting changed and into bed. He pulled out her favourite autumnal pyjamas, only to be worn 'when the leaves are falling', tiny maple leaf motifs covering the soft material, worn slightly with age, but apparently all the more comfortable. He watched her scoot under the covers trying to get as warm as she possibly could, the night air having given her a slight chill. Quickly he swapped his jeans and shirt for comfy pyjama pants and an old 'The Clash' tour t-shirt, before snuggling in beside her. She nestled her face into his chest, breathing deeply, the way she did when she wanted to be comforted by his smell. He watched as she got closer and closer to sleep, not quite snoring but far from being awake and coherent.

"Thank you Derek," She whispered into his chest. "It was nice tonight." Before adding a soft "I love you." She stifled another tiny yawn, wriggling a little to get comfortable before becoming still, her breathing light, a peaceful look on her face. It was moments like this that Derek loved to watch her, the drama of the day melting away, leaving her happy and sated and, if it were possible, even more beautiful.

"I love you too." He whispered into her hair as her snores began to echo around their quiet bedroom, closing his eyes in an attempt to get some rest before tomorrow, his fears letting him do anything but.

Derek tossed and turned in the bed, he knew he should try and get some sleep, he didn't want to face the day on the two measly hours he'd gotten so far. He went and grabbed a glass of water, then opened the medical journal he'd been reading, but his mind wandered too far to be able to focus on anything but the next day, though the clock on his nightstand informed him that it was actually today at this point. When he'd started planning, he had an image in his head of exactly what the day would be like, how Meredith would react. As they got closer, his fantasy was being realised, but his image of Meredith's reaction changed as time went on, getting more and more negative until now, all he could imagine was her saying no, or not even getting to the finish line. He'd spoken to Mark, the chief, even Bailey but he couldn't shake the feeling that he could lose it all tomorrow. He was perhaps for the first time in a really long while, beyond nervous about what Meredith would say. He tried to shut his eyes, but he was haunted by the nightmare that Meredith would go, leaving him alone again. He glanced at the clock 2.53, his mother would be eating breakfast by now, tidying things ready for her duty as grandmother later in the day. He pulled the phone from Meredith's nightstand and pressed the familiar numbers, listening to the ringing sound until he heard the line connect and his mother reel off their number.

"Hi Mom," Derek whispered into the phone, looking back at Meredith to make sure she was still sleeping before he closed the door and headed out onto the porch swing for a little privacy.

"Oh, hello sweetheart, I was hoping you'd ring, are you all ready for tomorrow? Today? You know what I mean!" Derek could sense the excitement in his mother's voice, it seemed that she too was wrapped up in the proposal, much like everyone at the hospital. The place was buzzing when he'd gone back with Mark to check on a patient and grab Meredith for dinner. His relationship had frequently been the source of gossip at Seattle Grace, and it pleased him that people were chatting positively about the pair of them aside from the jealousy of a few nurses, and the occasional glances at Meredith's abdomen to see if she was pregnant or not, as if that was the only reason he could possibly want to marry her. He wanted to shout from the roof that he was totally in love with Meredith, the gossip train meant he didnt have to.

"I think so," He sighed, "I nearly ruined it earlier today, Meredith, she heard people talking, and I sent a message that fell into the wrong hands. I've been so afraid of blurting it all out that I've hardly been home in the last few days, she picked up on it and honestly, I don't know how she even let me back on the house. It honestly looked like i was having a relationship with her best friend. I hurt her again while I was trying to do something good." He felt the tears fill his eyes, he hated lying to Meredith, hated seeing her upset, and most of all he hated being the one to upset her. "To be honest mom, I'll just be glad when it's over. Part of me thinks I should've just kept it simple, taken her on the ferry and pulled out the ring. This whole thing tomorrow, I mean what if she hates it. What if she gets to the end and says no? I'm just terrified mom, I love her so much..."

"Sweetheart, how long have you been working on this?" Derek could almost hear her rolling her eyes, sitting down ready to give him one of her motherly lectures.

"Er, i don't know, I started seriously thinking about it maybe a month ago, maybe longer, but I've wanted to marry her for like a year, so..." He hadn't really thought about it, it was always a given to him that one day they'd get married, have kids and a dog and a life. He never really thought about when that would start.

"And how many people did you ask before you even set the whole thing rolling?"

"With you, I don't know maybe half a dozen, I had to be sure mom, I can't lose her again, I just..." Carolyn cut him off again before he could make any more defeatist remarks.

"Darling, this whole time, you have been thinking about her, you have been making sure that she will be fine with this. You've spoken to her friends her colleagues and the people she calls her family. You let me meet her, you let Mark meet her. Addison even knew that she didn't hold a candle to her, that's why she made the effort to be friendly. And do you know why you've made the effort for Meredith?" Derek sighed, but the answer was easy, it was the only answer he could give.

"Because I love her, she makes me happy, I need her, and it… just nothing makes sense without her there."

"Exactly, you've spent so much time, so much effort on this because you want the moment to be perfect, you want Meredith to know how much you care for her, how much she means to you. She is aware that you're not perfect, that you make mistakes, and you think with your heart and not your head. How even though you're a neurosurgeon, you rarely actually stop and use that brain of yours. She knows that, yet you still went to so much effort to remind her that she is the most important thing in your life. She will in all likelihood be embarrassed and emotional but she'll play along, she'll do it for you. The girl has been hurt so many times she doesn't find trust easy, I get that, but Derek, she trusts you even though that terrifies her. she knows you're acting in her best interests. You have nothing to worry about. Dad would be beaming if he were here, I'd have to tie him down and stop him coming over there to join you. Sweetheart, as long as you both love each other that's all that matters, she wouldn't mind if you asked her at breakfast tomorrow! Honestly, though I think she'll love what you've done. The way that girl looks at you, I know she'd say yes however you do it. Don't give up on it all when you're so close to the end. You know, it took your dad a full week before he asked me, and when he did, i knew he'd thought about it and about us and it was perfect. Yours will be too. Nerves are normal, nerves mean that you care, and if you care about something so much that it hurts, it means..."

"You have something to lose. You're right, of course you're right. I just... It was never like this with Addison. As long as it was flamboyant and there were loads of people around she didn't care about the rest. Meredith is different, and I think I love her more than I ever did with Addy, if she says no, I feel like I lose so much more than just a girlfriend, if i mess up, i lose my world."

"I know honey, but she loves you, I guarantee she wants this at least as much as you do, she might not know it yet but she'll know when she sees you tomorrow, she will see the effort you made and how much her friends support her and the doubt will go away. Before your father, I didn't know if I wanted a marriage or kids, but when I saw him on one knee, everything just sort of clicked, now I wouldn't be without you, any of you, I'm so proud of everything all of you have done, and I know that I found true love. you have seen love, known love your whole life, this is new for her, she may not know what she wants until its there in front of her. have a little faith Derek."

The door creaks, and a tired looking Meredith plods out, her hair dishevelled, her robe loosely tied around her tiny waist.

"I heard your voice, you weren't in bed." She told him.

"It's mom, I didn't want to wake you." He told her, extending his arm so she could join him on the swing. She curled against him, breathing in the smell of her Derek, the outdoorsy fisherman who wants to live in the woods for the rest of their lives and as much as she hated to admit it, her everything.

"Can I say hi?" she ventures, having yet been brave enough to pick up the phone and talk to Derek's mother despite her insistence that she was welcome to any time.

"Ma, Meredith wants to say hi," Derek said into the phone, smiling slightly at the idea that she wanted to talk to his mother.

"Of course dear, pass her on."

"Hi Mrs. Shepherd, how are you?"

"I'm wonderful dear, and you know you can call me Carolyn, or mom, whichever."

"Sorry, mom." She breathed, it having been too long since she called anyone by that name.

"Oh, don't apologise dear. Has my son been treating you well? He said he'd made an idiot of himself again today." Meredith could sense Derek's mother's frown, and the tone of voice seemed to be well practiced, as though she'd had to use it against her son after his many misdemeanours growing up.

"It was just a misunderstanding, and I'm so tired that I can barely think straight, I jumped to a conclusion, it was just silly." She gestured with her hands, like she did whenever she wasn't entirely comfortable and Derek squeezed her tighter to him pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Oh nonsense, Derek has always been awful at hiding things, even good things. He used to drop hints whenever he'd brought something for mother's day, these huge great hints, and I just had to pretend that it wasn't blindingly obvious or he'd get this look in his eye, like..."

"Like you just ran over his puppy." Meredith interjected, laughing with Carolyn

"Exactly, you know when I was pregnant with him, he had to make it so obvious he was a boy, with the girls, you could see when you moved the scanner, they were all dignified, but Derek, he had his legs wide open, arms out the way so everybody knew he had a penis, he was terrible." Meredith laughed out loud at that, causing Derek to grin widely, the smile fading slightly as he wondered what the women could possibly be talking about.

"He's whisking me off this weekend, but he made it seem like he was doing something terrible, I thought another wife was about to pop up, or he was going to tell me he had a mass grave on his land. I nearly passed out when he said it was just the weekend."

"Oh, what am I going to with him? Listen sweetheart, I've got to be going really, Nancy's going to be dropping the kids off in a few minutes, but it's been lovely hearing from you again. If he does anything else remind him that I'm only a plane ride away, but sweetheart, he does love you, he has a stupid way of showing it sometimes but he does. Bye Meredith, I'll see you soon. Let me know how the weekend goes, I want to see pictures."

"Of course I will. Bye Mom," She passed the phone to Derek.

"Bye mom,"

"Bye sweetheart, and good luck for later, it's going to be fine, ring me over the weekend. I love you."

"Love you too mom, bye." He hung up the phone and pulled Meredith closer.

"The sky's so pretty tonight," Meredith marvelled, looking at his eyes once she pulled away from the star filled night.

"I know, it's unusual for October, it's chilly though, you must be freezing." He rubbed his hand up and down her skinny arms. "C'mon let's get you inside." He kissed her temple as the two walked indoors and towards their bedroom for their very last night as an unbetrothed couple.

Derek watched Meredith drift off facing him, before letting his own eyes slipped shut. The feeling of dread was gone, his mother having assured him that it would be perfect. Meredith grappled for his hand in her sleep, calming when he laced her slim fingers with his own. He rubbed his thumb against the bare skin of her ring finger, knowing that tomorrow night there would be a promise of forever wrapped around it. His mom was right, everything was perfect, he just had to not be afraid to embrace that perfection. Meredith would say yes, and his world would at last be complete.

A/N- There you go all set for the big day. I've had to split it up, because it is huge, and incredibly cheesy, but it's the reason for the whole fic so I'm sticking with it. I'm desperate to get it up, but uni work must come first, but this weekend is a very real possibility!