Derek had told Meredith that he would pick her up at ten o'clock, that meant she had now ten minutes left to pack up the last things she needed for the weekend at his parents' house. Just as in about every other cleaning and organizing aspect in her life, she was kind of lacking. She didn't have any structure; stuff was thrown around her bedroom, put away at easy access places she later on couldn't remember or simply lost somewhere in the chaos.

She was darting through her room, dancing and grinding, some soft music playing on the background. Thankfully she had started early with packing and was now nearly done. She only had to change into her clothes for the day, put on a small layer of make-up and then pack up the last toiletries.

'Hi...' she saw his head popping around her bedroom door. 'I honked, and then knocked on your front door but I don't think you heard me. So... I figured this was where you would be and took it upon myself to check it out. Quite the chaos..' he laughed, looking around her room.

'Uhm, yeah... Didn't hear you. Almost.. Done..' she stated while strolling in to her ensuite bathroom, rummaging through the drawers to find what she was looking for. 'Could you grab some pyjamas for me?'

'Sure. Where?' Derek answered, finding her completely amusing. Clothes were spread around the floor of her room; there was a small suitcase open on top of her bed where her clothes were in, to his surprise everything was neatly folded and stacked, next to it was another bag with Christmas presents sticking out of it.

'Left dresser, top drawer.' she yelled out from the bathroom. 'Close the suitcase after you put them in, will you?'

'Yeah, will do.' he responded. Oh damn, he nearly growled out loud, He had found the jackpot inside of her dresser, from now on this was his favourite drawer in her house. There was lace, see through and satin, babydolls and chemises, in blue, green, red, black and purple. Of course, there also were the more appropriate pyjamas, in silk and fleece, but she did let him pick something, right? Quickly grabbing a couple of the nighties, he put them in her suitcase and closed it.

Not long after, Meredith came out of the bathroom, dressed in a creme coloured bootcut jeans and semi-lowcut oversized striped jersey. Her hair was up in ponytail, her curtain bangs hanging loosely around her face. She was wearing some mascara and something what seemed to be a small layer of Chapstick or some other shiny substance on her lips. It was simply, yet it was phenomenal and completely Meredith, she was utterly breathtaking.

'Ready to go?' he asked her, while he walked over taking her in a tight embrace. He was breathing her in slowly, enjoying the feeling of her soft curves against him. The smell of her hair, the freshness of her clothes, a slight hint of parfum and something uniquely Meredith, it was so intoxicating. Like she was some kind of drug he couldn't get enough off.

Turning her head up, she gave him a small kiss on his cheek. 'Yes, ready as one can be. Are you?'

'I am excited.' there was a glee on his face she had only seen couple of times she had known him, a look of content happiness. 'And ready to face the craziness. Thankfully everybody will arrive tomorrow, so we can get a bit accustomed before the nuthouse starts.'

'Yeah.. The Shepherd madhouse..' she laughed a bit uncertain.

'They all love you; you will do fine. Now let's go, your coffee is getting cold..' he grabbed the suitcase and bag from her bed and started to walk down the stairs to his car. She quickly grabbed her backpack and followed him down the stairs, locked the front door, and went to his car where he was already loading her bags into the trunk. She threw in her backpack and took a seat in the passenger's seat.

Derek's parents lived in the suburbs of Seattle the drive was relatively short, only thirty-five minutes. She was enjoying her coffee in silence, enjoying the scenery they were passing by. That was another thing she liked about Derek; with some people you always felt the need to talk. If there fell any silences in the conversation, they were awkward, so you kept preventing them from happening, resulting in stupid and meaningless conversations just to fill the void. With Derek it felt good to be silent, there was an understanding, not every word needed to be spoken to be understood. Enjoying the silence of being alone within each others presence, it was easy and comfortable.

'The exam is coming up shortly, right?' Derek broke the silence.

'Only two weeks away.. I have been studying like crazy, it's a lot to comprehend. But you already know that.' she let out a soft giggle.

'I could still help you!' his voice was sincere. 'We could do some form of interpellated.'

'You know what happens when we spend time together..' she smirked at him.

'I can behave... The question is, can you?' he gave her a quick look, wiggling his eyebrows at her, before focussing on the road again.

'We will see this weekend, who is best in behaving.' she laughed.

'If I had known, I had to behave this weekend we wouldn't have left your house so quickly. Would have taken you up for some alone time..' he teased.

'Ah, poor baby.' she teased back. 'This weekend is going to be long and hard for you..'

Her emphasis was so clearly, he let out a throaty laugh. 'You little vixen.'

She grinned back a beamy smile at him, before settling back in to the comfortable silence they had shared before.

A couple of minutes later it was Derek again who broke the quietness. 'It's not only sex, Meredith. Your friendship means everything to me, and as your friend I want to help you pass you exam. You don't have to take me up on my offer, but please know it stands nevertheless. Also, if you change your mind.' he gave her thigh a reassuring squeeze.

'I know. That's why I lo-like you.' it had left nearly her mouth before she had clearly thought it through. She meant it, of course, as a friend, but she never said it out loud. She had never told anybody she loved them, maybe her parents when she was really young. But that was not something she could actually remember; she didn't even know if she could really count that. What could she have been, five years? You aren't really capable of processing those feelings when you are that little.. She couldn't remember if they ever said it back, and now she had nearly said it to Derek, out loud for God's sake.

His mouth was gaping open and closed, like a fish on dry land, but there weren't any words coming out of him. It was as if he was trying to digest what she had actually wanted to say. Was it too early for him to say it out loud, to let her know that he loved her too. He felt it, of course he felt love for her. A lot actually, it was quite a scary feeling. They just never said something like that, and he didn't want to push her away. He didn't want to give too much, too soon, making her run for the hills. He knew about her relationship with her parents, and she had just broken up with Finn. She didn't need her best friend shoving words and feelings in to her too. He needed to wait for the right moment.

'I.. Me too.. I like you too.' he stammered, just before he turned his car up on to the driveway of his parents' house. His mother already coming out of the house, impatiently waiting for the duo to step out of the car. He turned to look at her once he parked the car, she did exactly the same. He lifted his head, giving her a small kiss on her forehead, while he cupped her cheek. Their eyes held for a moment, both finding the reassurance they were looking for.