A/N- Here it is, part four of their proposal. I love this chapter with all my heart, but it was hard to get across exactly how beautiful it is in my head, so I hope I've done it justice! I've hated some of the stuff that I've put them both through, but this makes it almost worth it! Enjoy
Disclaimer- I don't own Grey's Anatomy!
Meredith watched Cristina walk away before sliding her finger under the seal of the envelope in her hand. She was certain that her best friend's willingness to join in with the game she'd been playing all day meant that there was something amazing coming, and she was totally missing any clues she may have been given. It made her feel a little stupid, it was probably blindingly obvious but she just wasn't fitting the pieces together. But it was nice not knowing, maybe she was a surprise kind of girl after all. She read over the words twice to be sure that they were saying that she was finally free of the hospital. She loved it there, but it was exhausting, and today, even though she hadn't done any doctoring, she was equally as exhausted. And there was only one place she wanted to be and one person she wanted to be snuggled against.
Your home is where you grew up, it's where you took in friends and strays and made an entire intern group feel like a family. You made many of your big decisions there, and you started your internship year by inviting your boss to stay the night void of clothing. Pack up your stuff, venture back and find a nice outfit to go with your new shoes. Wear those new panties and tie your hair up so we can see those ears. Take an old dress dancing Dr. Grey.
Home at last. Meredith was ready to go home. Ready to see Derek, and make him feed her and hold her and make love to her. She quickly made her way back to the residents lounge, shimmied out of her scrubs and packed up ready to go home. The lounge was empty, which was unusual, but she knew she'd see her friends tomorrow. She'd've seen them at home no doubt, but what she had planned for her and Derek did not involve leaving their bedroom for very long.
The drive home had her at peace, but the fact that her day wasn't officially over, according to the cards, meant that she couldn't relax completely just yet. She called out as she opened the front door listening out for any signs of life. Hearing none she made her way towards her room, opening her closet to do as the card had told her. Every one of her dresses had a post it on it, with not this one scribbled across it, she pushed each one aside looking for the one deemed the one she was supposed to wear to wherever she was going. Then she spotted it. The dress she wore the night she met Derek. The one the subsequently ended up on her living room floor along with every scrap of clothing they had each had on that night. She pulled it out and sure enough there was a little blue post it with the words this one printed on it. She pulled her new underwear from its various hiding places and put them on slipping her dress over the top and pulling up the zip. She turned her attention to her hair pulling the waves into a sleek bun, pushing her fringe to one side and touching up her make up. She put in her new earrings and fastened the pendant around her neck. She added bangles to her wrists and reached into the box for her new shoes. She threw her phone and some cash into a little clutch bag checked herself over in the mirror before making her way to the front door, totally unaware of where she was going. She'd left her flowers in the car, along with her envelopes, so she decided to take them out before she rang anyone to see where she was supposed to be. As she got there, she noticed a white envelope taped to the back of the door. How had she not noticed that on the way in? She pulled it off and opened it, knowing this would probably be the last one, and the one that told her where she was going that evening. She pulled the card out savouring the words of her final task.
You're just a girl in a bar, huh?
Meredith grinned. That was what she'd said to Derek that night at Joe's. She'd tried to convince him that she was just any other girl at any other bar, but he knew different. He knew she'd end up loving him, just as soon as she got to know him. He was right. The perfect haired man in the nice red shirt had been right. She did love him. She always had. As soon as she was done she'd find him, and tell him, and remind him that she wasn't going anywhere without him, ever. She got in the car, trying not to damage her shoes or ruffle her dress. She may not have been sure why she had to dress up, but she wasn't going to do the dress a disservice after she'd paid so much for it. Partly to impress her bosses and colleagues the night of the mixer, but also because it was in the first shop she looked in. Meredith was never one for shopping, particularly when it came to clothes, but she'd got lucky with that dress, in more ways than one. She made the short drive to Joe's and smiled when she saw him standing at the door, dressed smartly, worlds apart from his usual shirt and jeans combo. He'd even done his hair. This had to be a real celebration. She picked up her flowers and pushed the envelopes into her clutch locking the car behind her and walking towards the bar owner.
"Dr. Grey!" she gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I see you've made it and you brought your bouquet."
"I did, how did you know…" he cut her off by handing her another envelope, and taking her flowers and placing him to a vase he had hidden behind him, watching delightedly while she opened her correspondence.
You've been back in time a lot today. But here's the very beginning. There's a guy in a bar waiting to be your knight in shining whatever, you just have to go in and find him.
"Derek…" she whispered, her breath catching in her throat as she realised that he'd done all of this. Every last detail had come from him. The entire day she'd convinced herself that someone had done this as a way to humiliate her, or just to make her realise how good she already had it. But it was him, and he was waiting for her. This was what he'd been hiding, why everyone had been staring and whispering. She bit her lip as she fought the tears that were building in her eyes, willing them not to smudge her mascara as she fitted the pieces of the last few weeks together, not even daring to dream about what might be waiting for her inside. She took a deep breath and nodded towards Joe, signalling that she was ready for whatever Derek had decided to reward her with. Joe opened the door and she gasped when she saw the transformation that had been made in the bar. There were flowers everywhere, purple and white bunches on every surface. Bunches of lavender hung at various points around the bar. Creating a smell that she recognised as not being dissimilar to her conditioner. The one Derek regularly commented on. He'd made her promise never to switch, because the smell was part of her, and he didn't want to lose any part of her. Even more fairy lights twinkled than normal giving the entire space an heir of magic and mystery. She looked straight across the room and met the eyes of her Mcdreamy, wearing his nice red shirt and madly grinning at her. He held out his arms, gesturing to the rest of the people, whom she hadn't had time to recognise yet, and tilted his head from side to side forcing her to look and see all of her friends, Izzie, Alex, George, Lexie and Cristina as well as Bailey and Webber and numerous other members of the surgical staff all smiling in anticipation of her arrival and what that meant. She took a few steps towards Derek, her hands going straight to her face as he got down on one knee and reached out for her hands. She reached out and placed her hands in his, Cristina taking her clutch from under her arm. Derek looked into her eyes and said:
"Meredith, from the day I laid eyes on you I knew you'd be the one I wanted to spend all my days with. When I found you again at work, I knew that the fates wanted it to. From that moment, I have been so in love with you Meredith, so in love that I want a lifetime with you, I want kids and a dog and a house out in the woods. I want to wake up beside you, and I want you to be the last thing I see at night. I want to share with you my every success, my every fear and my every heartache. I want to live everyday with you and live my life for you and because of you. I want to know that however crappy work is, I have the most beautiful woman in the world to come home to. I want to be safe in the knowledge that I am always running towards something wonderful. I want to share my everything with the one person that showed me what it is to love and to be loved. I want to experience everything that life will throw at me with the woman who gave me a reason to keep breathing. I want you Meredith, so please." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a midnight blue velvet box. Meredith's eyes brimmed with tears as she realised what was about to happen, what all of this had been for. Derek eased the box open, the stones instantly catching the light, obscuring her vision even more. He took a shaky breath before uttering the words he'd been dying to say for weeks. "Meredith Grey, will you do me the enormous honour of becoming my wife?" he held out the ring to her as the tears fell from both of their eyes.
She didn't even need to think about her answer, she was biting her lip not to scream yes before he'd finished asking her. "Yes," she whispered so that only he could hear. "Yes." Louder this time. "I'll marry you." He slid the ring on her finger and took her into his arms kissing her passionately on the lips, lifting her off her feet. The bar erupted with cheers and congratulations. She pulled away so that she could look deep into his eyes, even bluer with the tears that had trailed down his cheeks and those left unshed. Meredith lifted up her hand to admire the ring Derek had placed there. She gasped when she realised where she'd seen it before. "This is the one I…" she croaked. Derek nodded. He pulled the piece of paper, crinkled from its adventures, out of his pocket and passed it towards her.
"I saved it from when you were drawing with Izzie, and then when mum gave me her ring to give to you I had it adjusted and made to look like this one." Meredith didn't even try to stop the tears now as she put her arms around Derek's neck and sobbed into his shoulder. It was by far the most beautiful and wonderful thing anyone had ever done for her. The getting to this moment had been amazing, but the knowledge that he loved her so much that he would make her engagement ring made her heart swell with love for him. She felt his arms wrap around her tiny torso, strong and safe and she knew that there was no way she was ever going to leave them. This was it, this was the start of her happily ever after.
"Hey," he said, "don't cry, I didn't mean for you to cry, I thought you'd like it."
"I do," she sobbed. "I love it, it's perfect and I love you. These are unequivocally happy tears. I spent the whole day just wanting to be with you, to tell you that I loved you and how grateful I am that you're in my life. I was coming home to tell you that I wanted a forever, that I was finally ready for everything that you have planned and you were here waiting all ready, and it's just… it's perfect Derek. Thank you." She laid her head on his shoulder for a second more, before turning in his arms and lifting her hand so that everyone could admire the ring on her finger. The crowd encircled them, her hand being pulled in many directions as her friends fought for a look at the ring that bound her and her Mcdreamy. They were both hugged and congratulated so many times that they were grateful when Joe fought his way into the crowd with a bottle of champagne and some glasses, pouring enough to toast the happy couple.
"To the future Dr. and Dr. Shepherd." He raised his glass, as everyone followed suit.
"To the Shepherds." Everyone agreed clinking their glasses and sipping the champagne. Derek looked back at Meredith, getting lost in her eyes as he leaned in for another kiss. She'd said yes, and now they were getting married. He'd asked her, and she'd said yes. He couldn't think of a single moment where he was happier. Meredith grinned at her fiancé, rubbing her thumb over her ring to make sure that this was all real, that it was really happening. This moment was perfect, he'd done everything, and worked so hard and she loved him. He loved her and she loved him back. No ex-wives or vets or inappropriately placed kisses were in the way now. It was just them, the future Dr. and Dr. Shepherd, and right then she was totally happy, there was nothing that could've made any part of this moment more perfect. She had wonderful colleagues, amazing friends, and she was going to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved more than life itself. This was real, this was it, and that, for Meredith was perfect.
As the night wore on, the pages came in, and much of their little party was called back to their jobs, returning to the hospital to save lives. By eleven, it was just Meredith and Derek wrapped in each other's arms swaying to the sounds from the jukebox holding each other as if they'd never let go. Neither wanted to, as perfect as this moment was, both were painfully aware that eventually they'd have to go back to work, and back to their lives, so they were savouring every second of their first night as a betrothed couple, and the subsequent weekend off that Meredith had been craving.
"Er, doc." Joe interrupted them eventually, not wanting to burst the bubble that the two were floating in. "If it's alright with the two of you, I'm gonna start locking up, my regulars all knew there was a private party going on tonight, so I'm not expecting anyone else. You can stay a while if you want. I'm happy to get you a few more drinks."
"Oh no it's fine." Meredith told him. "I kind of wanna be getting home. It's been a long day." She smiled as she rested her head on Derek's chest breathing him in. he kissed the top of her head, breathing in the lavender and Meredith smell that he loved, still holding onto her waist as she gathered her things and walked towards the doors.
"I'll come by for the rest tomorrow." Derek told Joe gesturing towards the flowers and the lights.
"Sure thing dr. shepherd." He replied smiling.
"Thanks so much for doing all this Joe, it means so much that you were a part of this." Meredith gushed, even more tears escaping. "You've done so much for both of us. I'm just really glad this is where I met him." She chewed on her lip, before the tears took over again. Derek saw the tiredness in her tears, how overwhelming the whole day had been, and began guiding her up the stairs, waving to Joe as he took his future bride to his car, ready to go back to the place they had first had sex, to make love to his fiancée. Joe watched as the pair left, proud that his bar had created such a beautiful couple, and been the place where they'd gotten engaged. The symmetry to him was a wonderful touch, one that only the like of Derek Shepherd could really pull off. He'd have to start telling customers that the fates worked their magic there, so much of their relationship had happened there, the good and the bad, all under his watch, but it looked like the prince had found the princess and they might just get their happily ever after after all. He'd owned the bar for a long time, he'd seen the good and the bad relationships, dealt with first date nerves and bad break ups. Meredith and Derek though, they were something else. Much of their love for each other was unspoken, as though words would only ruin the beauty of it. He had watched from afar as the pair had seen their ups and downs and finally begin working together towards forever. Joe had seen love, and he'd seen falling out of love. He was in love himself, but only once had he seen love in its purest form, raw and painful, but with a little nurturing, totally and utterly beautiful. Many of the people who had gathered in his bar that night had seen the worst that love could offer, but by showing up, lending their support to the happy couple, it proved that they believed that it was possible to find true love, that Meredith and Derek, despite their eventful past, gave everyone else a little hope for their future.
A/N- It makes me smile to see my Meredith and Derek all grown up at the same time without it being laced with drama! As much as I've loved getting them to this point, I am so excited for the next stage of their life! I'm very aware that I have nothing solid for the next few chapters, I know what I want to happen, I just have to get there! The Grey's timeline in the early seasons really confuses me, and that's probably reflected here! In my head it's the mid to end of October but who knows where it should really be! Apologies if my next few updates are random, it's the middle of semester and I get a week off so I'm all over the place and may not be able to update. Until then, let's just bask in the MerDer bubble on the show and in the fic! I'm certain that things wont be smooth sailing for the rest of the fic, but they will stick by each other despite anything that happens to or around them. It's been a long road to get them to grow up enough to commit, so thank you all for persevering. Here's to what I hope will be another 30 chapters!