Day 4!

This 5x15 request was from 'guest' on ao3. :)

I'm pretty sure Meredith's loft was converted into bedrooms, but we can ignore that for this little one-shot.

Enjoy!

Meredith couldn't help but pause when she reached the top of the stairs. How odd.

"Um...hi?" She called out, hoping someone would reply and give her an explanation about what was going on.

"Hey." Derek's recognisable voice greeted back.

She stepped to the ladder, and looked up into the loft. "You okay?"

"Just looking for something!" He called down to her.

"Right. Something of yours or something of mine?"

"Oh. Something I put up here when I moved in. I'm sure I'll find it in a minute."

"Right...okay. Well, I'm going to get changed and ready for bed now. Shout if you need any help." She said, a little confused about what else she could reply.

"Will do!" He replied.

She didn't move for a second, both because of her intrigue and her confusion, before walking past the ladder and heading to the bedroom to get ready for bed.

"Why Meredith?"

"What?" She asked, confused. She didn't turn around, becuase she could see him in the reflection of the cabinet's mirror, but she did look at him through it.

He leant in the doorway. "Why are you called Meredith?"

"Because my mom liked the name?" She supposed. "Or maybe my dad...he was around at the time."

"You're sad."

That got her to turn around. She had no idea why he went from asking her about her name (which was random enough) to this, but she ignored that confusion. "Maybe a little."

"You met New-York Derek today when he was with his friends."

She swallowed. "I did."

"And it made you feel...like you didn't know me."

She didn't reply for a second, in awe of how easily he understood her before nodding.

"I played the guitar, and I wrote Addie a song to profess my love. And I sang too, of course." He said.

"I heard." She replied. "And you also used to ride motorcycles. But we know why you don't do that anymore."

"Yeah. A lot has changed. But...some of me hasn't." He returned. "Now, I have a surprise to cheer you up. I think you'll hate it, but that's the point."

"Hate it?" She echoed. She was pretty sure a surprise that she hated would worsen her mood, not improve it.

"Just...trust me." He said as he took her hand, and led her to their bedroom across the hall.

"Oh my god-" She breathed as he left her in the doorway, and sat down cross-legged on the bed.

"Now-" He started as he reached for his guitar, and positioned it on his lap. "-the reason I asked about your name is because there are no words that rhyme with Meredith and it's really freaking annoying. I was hoping that you had a good reason to have such an unrhymable name."

She smirked for a second at his joke, before a simple smile settled on her lips.

"Now, sit. And I shall...attempt to sing."

"You wrote me a song?" She half-stated, and half-asked (out of pure shock). The response was a little late - she'd figure that out a while ago - but it just took her so long to find the words. She couldn't help but feel flustered with...love. He was so sweet it made her cheeks darken.

He beamed. "I wrote you a song."