Chapter 63: Marry Me

There was a plane leaving from JFK at midnight, but it was booked. Stupid booked flight. Nancy hated her. She understood why Nancy was so protective, but this was low. Meredith didn't feel like she could belong here. Everyone else was amazing and great. However, Nancy had managed to make her feel like scum. Even if she was just being protective. She continued looking at flights as she sat on the bed, with Derek's laptop on her lap. She looked up, to find Derek opening the door before she groaned and looked back at the screen.

"Hey." Derek whispered, slowly shutting the door.

"There is a flight leaving at four in the morning..." Meredith sighed, looking at the screen.

"You're looking at flights..."

"Uh huh..."

"I'm going to kill Nancy." Derek muttered, running his hand through his hair.

"You can't...she's your sister."

"Before you...book a flight...Can we talk?"

"Your sister is protective."

"My sister was being a bitch."

"Derek..." Meredith groaned, going to another website to book a flight.

"Please...can we just talk?" Derek whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Talk...fine with me."

"I'm sorry...I'm just...I'm sorry."

"It's not a big deal." She whispered; her eyes glued on the screen.

"It is a big deal." Derek sighed. "She had no right to say those things to you...and I should have done a better job of defending you."

"I don't care."

"Meredith..."

"Maybe coming to New York was too soon..." Meredith groaned, looking at another listing.

"Nancy is...Nancy. And I should have prepared you for that...and myself. But just...you can't leave..." Derek whispered.

"I'm taking Dawsyn home with me...you can come home after Christmas."

"Mer...please...Talk to me."

"I'm talking."

"I'm sorry...That wasn't fair to you...And Nancy knows that she's just...I don't really know. But she thinks she can say those things."

"It's okay."

"It's not okay."

"Is the Indiana airport nice?"

"I don't know..."

'Tomorrow is Christmas eve and that would put us home at six..."

"I don't want you to go home."

"Okay..."

"My mom doesn't want you to go home...You don't have to see Nancy again..."

"Christmas Day..."

"She's going to her husband's family."

"Damn it." Meredith groaned, hitting the keys on the keyboard.

"What?"

"Nothing..."

"Can you look at me for a second?"

"Can you go pack Dawsyn's stuff?"

"Talk to me...for five minutes. And if you still want to leave...I'll go pack her stuff, and we'll leave." Derek whispered.

"Fine." Meredith bit her lip.

"My sister...was completely out of line." Derek whispered, taking her hand. "You know...that I don't believe any of those things that she said...I love you. And I want to marry you and build a house with you. I just...I know this is big and scary but she's my sister. And as much as I hate to say it, I love her. But I love you too...And you and Dawsyn are the most important people in my life right now."

"She's being protective, and I get that..."

"She doesn't have anything to protect me from."

"You want to know why I'm not leaving?" Meredith slammed the laptop shut, handing it to him.

"Why?" Derek asked, putting the laptop on the night stand.

"Because I can't afford the only available flights."

"Do you really want to leave?"

"I don't know."

"If you really want to...we can." Derek whispered.

"No."

"No?"

"I don't...I mean I do because before you...leaving was easy." Meredith whispered.

"But now..." Derek breathed.

"I can't." She murmured, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

"Yes you can...Tell me and we'll go..."

"No...because right now my daughter is downstairs, playing with kids who...they like her and Kathleen's husband gave her a piggy back ride and they're treating her like she belongs."

"She does...and so do you..."

"And I felt...with the exception of Nancy I felt that way. I don't hate Nancy...I like her and she worries about you."

"She likes you too...She's just...too stubborn to admit it."

"I just feel like maybe...this is all really fast Derek and maybe Nancy's right."

"I knew this was going to happen..." Derek sighed, standing up.

"I just...we've moved in and Dawsyn thinks your her Dad and you want to get me pregnant...it hasn't been this long."

"So...what?"

"So what?"

"What happens now?"

"I...I don't know." Meredith shook her head.

"You want to leave...but you can't...and now everything is too fast..."

"It is fast...and I'm okay with that because that's us but maybe the people around us aren't ready for it."

"I don't care about that Meredith!"

"Maybe we should!"

"We're us...and you just said you were okay with that!"

"Derek I met you in August...it's December!"

"Then what do you want to do?" Derek yelled.

"I don't know!"

"We should probably figure it out."

"You were talking about a baby just an hour ago."

"Because that's what I want...What we want."

"I know!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know Derek! I want this stuff...I've said time and time again that I want things I never realized I wanted. Things I never thought I could have!"

"Then what's the problem?" Derek repeated.

"Clearly us."

"Yeah..."

"Maybe I should go."

"Maybe..."

"Okay." She whispered, wiping at her eyes.

"This is what you want?" Derek sighed.

"I should pack Dawsyn...I think we could go catch a bus."

"Meredith..."

"I just..."

"I can't..." He whispered, sitting back down.

"We can talk about everything when you get home." Meredith murmured.

"Mer..."

"Yeah?"

"Will you marry me?"

"What?" Meredith froze from her spot on the bed, her eyes red.

"Marry me..." Derek whispered.

"What...I..."

"Be my wife...And the mother of my children...And my family."

"But we...we were..."

"Meredith, will you marry me?"

"You...seriously?"

"Seriously."

"You...you were about to let me go home and then you...what?"

"Is that a yes?"

"What was the question again?" She whispered.

"Will you marry me?" He smiled.

"Yes."

"Yes..."

"Hmm..."

"You're...Yes..." Derek smiled, kissing her.

"I..."

"Shh..."

"I...what?"

"Are you changing your mind?"

"No."

"I love you."

"I love you too.:" She whispered.

"Mmm..."

"I just...this is...I'm freaking out a little."

"Me too..."

"You were about to let me leave." Meredith whispered, her heart beating heavy in her chest.

"I wouldn't have let you get past the door." Derek whispered.

"I...you proposed." She breathed, her was a dark shade of pink.

"Mmhmm..."

"I think...I mean we weren't doing so well and then you..."

"I would never...never let you go."

"You wouldn't?"

"Never."

"Okay." She whimpered.

"No matter what anybody says...or how fast this is going...I would never let you walk away. Not without a big...big fight." Derek whispered.

"A fight."

"A huge...crazy...over the top...battle." He chuckled.

"Okay."

"And even then...I don't know if I'd let you go."

"I'm scared..." Meredith whispered, tears coming down her cheeks as he moved to lay her back on the bed.

"I know...You're allowed...I am too." Derek breathed, pushing her hair off her face.

"I just...I didn't mean to freak out."

"You have every right..."

"Everything was going so perfect and then Nancy pointed out things I was afraid of and...I'm not upset...I agree with her in some ways...I'm just scared."

"Nancy's...You shouldn't listen to anything that she said.'

"But I did because...I just worried that someone would get that idea."

"But we're us..."

"And apparently fast is working."

"It is."

"And...I mean we're okay?"

"We're getting married."

"Oh God."

"Backing out?" Derek whispered

"No..." She smiled, her eyes were glistening her tears.

"I do have a ring."

"What?"

"A ring...a ring that I'm supposed to have and get down on one knee..."

"Oh." She frowned, tilting her head up at him. "That's okay..."

"It is?" He whispered, stroking her cheek with his thumb

"If you don't have a ring that's okay."

"I do have one."

"Oh...yeah..."

"It's hidden in the bottom of my bag." Derek chuckled.

"Okay..." She giggled, wiping at her eyes.

"I'm sorry..for yelling and...for Nancy." He whispered. "I love you...more than anything."

"That's okay."

"The ring..."

"Hmm...it's in your bag."

"I'm going to get it...right now." He smiled, kissing her.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Okay." He smiled, kissing her again before getting off the bed and digging through his suitcase.

"We just...we're not ordinary at all." Meredith giggled, still lying back on the bed as she listened to him fumble through his luggage. She couldn't believe this, she was scared, terrified and all she could do was say yes. That was because as scared as she was, she only wanted him to take that away. "Dawsyn's going to flip."

"Here it is..." Derek smiled, getting back on the bed.

"You...it's in a box." She pointed to his hand.

"I wasn't going to keep it in a ziploc bag." He laughed, holding the small black box in his hands.

"I know."

"Can I do this right?"

"Yeah." She whispered, sitting up against the headboard.

"Okay." He smiled, taking her hand. "Come here..."

"Oh...you're going to put it on."

"Uh huh."

"Wow." She breathed, as he opened the box to reveal a beautiful platinum ring, with a stunning diamond.

"Will you marry me, Meredith Grey?"

"Yes Derek Shepherd." She giggled.

"Good..." He smiled, taking the ring out and slowly slipping it onto her finger.

"We didn't even look at this ring and I love it."

"It's...wow."

"I'm glad you like it...future Mrs. Shepherd."

"Uh huh..." Meredith bit her lip, watching the diamond sparkle in front of her.

"I'll let you stare at it." Derek laughed, kissing her forehead.

"It's big."

"Hmm..."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"This..."

"You're welcome."

"And...I...I mean I know this is cheesy but..." Meredith took a deep breath, her head feeling a little bit more clear.

"What?" Derek smiled.

"I just...I don't know. I feel like maybe it's okay now. That I can do this...with the family thing. A ring can't make me that much more...I don't know."

"You're in a happy cloud."

"Yeah..." Meredith breathed.

"Me too."

"I just...we were fighting and...I was really going to go home." Meredith whispered; her eyes focused on the diamond. "I mean I...I wanted to leave."

"Because of me?"

"No...yes..."

"We're gonna fight...and make up...and have make up sex."

"I wasn't leaving because...I mean we were fighting but I was leaving because everything was perfect. Your mom, your sisters, your nieces, and nephews...they were great. And I just felt like Nancy was right because it was the same thing I was saying from the start." Meredith whispered, swallowing her tears. "I just...I know she didn't actually mean those things because she was so nice at first but...I just want to be good enough for you."

"You are." Derek whispered. "You're more than good enough."

"Even with my clearance rack sweater?"

"Yes..." Derek laughed.

"I like my sweater."

"Me too."

"Okay." She looked at him, smiling weakly through her tears.

"Still want to marry me?"

"It depends."

"On what?" Derek smirked, kissing her forehead.

"Is Dawsyn still apart of the deal after she told everyone at the dinner table that we're very loud?"

"Yes...She is." He laughed.

"Then, I still want to marry you."

"She was telling the truth."

"I know."

"I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered.

"Let's stay up here.

"Only for a little while." She replied, as he moved closer to her on the bed.

"Why only for a little?" He whispered, his hands on her waist.

'They're going to wonder where we went."

"Hmm..."

"Hmm?"

"They can wonder all they want."

"Der..."

"Yeah?"

"Everyone is downstairs." She whispered.

"Uh huh..." He breathed.

"Derek!" Meredith gasped, as he pushed her back against the pillows.

"Yeah..." Derek laughed.

"Everyone is downstairs."

"So..."

"Shouldn't we go...say something...oh."

"Definitely...not..." He breathed, pushing his hand under her sweater.

"Hey..." She giggled.

"We could be really..really loud."

"We can't do that." She gasped, as he slid his hand under her bra.

"Who said?"

"It has to be like a rule." She moaned.

"Nope..." He whispered, kissing her neck.

"Oh."

"We have to make-up...and celebrate..."

"Right..."

"Love you..."

"I love you." She whispered, as he kissed her deeply, his hands moving along her body. She was about to leave; she didn't actually leave but she was thinking about it. But here was the thing, he loved her. She was madly in love with him and all she could do was let him take control.

Nancy was being protective, she knew that. It had just been everything she had worried about and when his sister had said them, she freaked out. But when he proposed, something changed. Something let her know that it was going to be okay. That no matter what, she was going to be his wife. That was all that mattered because with that ring, everything was okay. She knew that now.