Hello! :)

I've been doing some more writing recently, instead of revising, so, hopefully, I should manage to post consistantly from now on (but still not as frequently as I wish, unfortunately).

We're still having a little trip down memory lane and exploring Derek and Lizzie's relationship (she's my favourite of the 3 wolves, if you couldn't tell) but many of you will pick up on some of Meredith's behaviour, and that's where we'll be going for the next few chapters. Then, there may or may not be an infamous canon event occurring from early grey's, which I hope you'll love.

Enjoy! :)

"Ah, the infamous parking." Liz sighed as Meredith turned the engine off.

She smiled. "Mmm. As we discussed, it's the determining factor in our love."

"As we then corrected, it was actually the fact that I'm super nice and caring and stuff that made you fall in love with me, right?" Derek pushed.

She smirked as she opened her door. "Yeah...right."

He waited in his seat with the door pushed open a little until Meredith reached his side with his chair for him to get out. As always, she helped him with the minor issues and made sure to shut the door when he was out of its vicinity.

"Your legs are shaking." Liz observed once he was settled.

"I know." He acknowledged with a very brief smile before returning to his concerns over his coat, finally managing to rip the fabric out of his zipper.

"Is that not like- a problem?"

"No. They just...do that." He replied. Liz wasn't a neurologist or neurosurgeon, but she'd spent her intern years doing neuro cases, studied the specialty at med school and, of course, read a lot after she heard what had happened to her brother. Despite her wealth of knowledge, Derek understood why her brain often malfunctioned when it was him exhibiting the symptoms. "See, they've stopped now. Just spasms- clonus."

"Um. Okay." She agreed, not sure what else to say.

He looked to Meredith for a second, seeing as she'd now joined them on the passenger's side, to see her looking a little unimpressed.

"Oh- um-" He faltered. "I get it fairly often. That kind of clonus comes with moving- so like transfers, but lots of spams come from not moving for too long. But they're generally the smaller ones- the ones that come from sitting still for too long. I don't really feel them at all. But I feel those ones- the ones I just had- and they're rather annoying. Sometimes I get cramps too. Cramps hurt, but the other two don't really hurt enough for me to feel the pain of them, just the movement, if that makes sense."

"Right." She agreed with a nod. Despite her composed expression, she was rather confused why he'd gone from quiet to a Wikipedia page (albeit not a very concise, confident Wikipedia page) at Meredith's single, one-second look.

"Shops now then?" Meredith asked, shooting him a different look this time.

"Mmm. They sell this really good jam in Seattle and I'm determined to find it and enjoy it while I'm here."

"Okay...well, off to the- jam-selling shop we go!"

"What's that?" Derek pondered as he joined his girlfriend. After failing to locate Liz's precious jam in a health food shop, they headed to a tourist shop in the hope that it might be there, as it was clearly only sold in Seattle.

"Mmm...just a little book." She said with a simple shrug.

"On dragons and dinosaurs? Oh, cool."

She smiled. Of course he thought it was cool. "Mmm. They have some nice drawings."

He took it as she passed it over. He flicked through the pages. "It does. Realistic, but not too realistic. I feel it's a possibility dragons and dinosaurs may not be as cute as books and toys portray."

"Weren't they all like- scaly and stuff? They would make awesome pets, but they wouldn't be nice to hug or pet like cats or dogs, would they?" Meredith pondered aloud, before correcting herself, "Well, dinosaurs, not dragons. Obviously dragons aren't real."

"The majority of dinosaurs, yes, we do believe to have some kind of tough, probably rather rough skin. Plus, you know, they had spikes so that isn't quite so cute." He agreed. "And most western depictions of dragons are based on reptiles, so are therefore also rather un-huggable as well."

She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as he spoke.

"What?" He asked, suspicious.

"You're such a nerd, you know?"

"Ten years of being told you're being a nerd tells you that you're a nerd, Mer, so yes, I know."

"Who called you a nerd for ten years? Were you bullied or something?" She asked, worried.

He smirked. "Mark, Meredith. Mark bullied me for ten years- still does to this day, actually."

"Oh-" She breathed. "Right. Okay. Fair enough."

"They have little keychains as well-" Derek acknowledged, placing the book on his lap to free his hands and moving to the display.

She smiled as she joined him, and picked one up. "It's really cute."

"Mmm. And, again, kind of anatomically correct. Plus, there's like 10 different species- this Ankylosaurs, this Brontosaurus- Triceratops- Spinosaurus- oh, even a Parasaurolophus."

"So this is definitely a Derek-approved shop then?" She half-joked, although her focus still didn't shift from the keychain she had picked up.

"Oh, most definitely." He agreed.

"Right. I've located my jam. Don't know what it's doing in here, but it is here and I've got four pots." Liz said as she joined the pair. "I'm gonna be having a lot of toast, I think."

He smiled. Liz really did adore this jam. "Great. Ready to go, Mer?"

"Huh?"

"Liz has got her jam, are you ready to go?" He repeated.

"Oh- um-" Her eyes finally broke away from the keychain. "Yeah, of course."

"You don't want that keychain, do you?"

She swallowed. He didn't mean to me rude. He didn't know why she was so intrigued by it. He didn't know anything. But it still hurt. She smiled, and agreed, because that was what was easiest, "Um- no. Of course not. Let's just pay and go."

"You know what you might want to eat?" Meredith asked Liz as they approached the restaurant.

"Um- I don't mind a surprise. Just nothing with olives."

"Uh oh-" She breathed. "Is this some kind of test?"

"Oh, no." Liz smiled. "I just don't really have any limit to my palette so I'm not so bothered. Just get something you know is good."

Meredith nodded. "Right. Great." She agreed before quickly hurrying through the door in front of Derek so she could hold it open for him from the inside.

After two quick 'thanks yous' from the pair, she let go of the door.

"Derek, do you know what you want?" Liz asked, wondering why Meredith didn't inquire.

"I just get the same thing every time. Mer knows what to order for me."

"Yeah." She agreed. "Now, let's find a table and then I'll go and order."

Liz nodded, and started heading through the restaurant. She stopped at an empty table for four. "This one okay? Or...I don't really- you know, we haven't really done this-"

"It's okay. Any table is fine." Derek reassured her.

"Sure?"

"Sure." He reassured her with a smile, watching Meredith out of the corner of his eye as she checked the table number, muttering 12 to herself.

When she finished her check, she gave him another look.

Right. This again.

"Normally we move one seat, I transfer, and then we put my chair there so it's out of the way." He explained to his sister. "It's more effort, but it's actually better for me to move seat when I can. Better- I mean, you know healthier. Less SCI complications, which is always nice."

"Right." She agreed with a short nod, again holding her composure. "Um- let's get settled, I guess?

"Are you okay?" Liz asked, now they were alone and he had finished his transfer to the table.

"I'm good." He answered quickly. She had phrased it as if she cared about his answer, but he knew she just wanted him to talk about why he wasn't okay. "Why am I not okay?"

"What's with the looks from Meredith?"

"The looks?" He repeated.

"You say something and then she gives you his look, and then you say something else. Seems a little odd." She clarified. "I made all those jokes about all sorts of stuff for why Meredith was in a relationship with you when she's so nice, but-"

"Liz."

"-I'm worried, Derek. Seriously. You know you're more...vulnerable to manipulation because of your mental health problems and it's hard for you to find an accepting partner-"

"Liz. Seriou-"

"-so I'm worried that you might be lying up or covering up some kind of-"

"She's managing my aversion therapy, Liz." He interrupted. "She is my aversion therapist, in fact. Or...my anti-aversion therapist, I suppose, as she's trying to make positive connections, not negative ones."

"Aversion therapy?" She repeated.

"We both know that your relationship with my disability is...not good. Really not good." He replied. "Meredith told me that I need to stop trying to be normal, because I'm not, and because that's the reason you are so...scared of it. So...I'm talking about it. I'm talking about my struggles and I'm talking about my disability so you can stop being scared of it."

"So this isn't abuse, this is...an attempt at positive development?"

"For me, and for you. And for Nance, probably. We know Kath is more than okay - or at least more than okay with being so extremely blunt about it all - and Mom is doing good as well so...this is for us."

"I still-"

"When you came and saw me in the hospital - after I got my brain back, I mean - I lied. A lot." He explained. "I'd say I was okay or act fine and when you'd ask me if I was in pain, I'd say no. Because that was easier. It was always easier for me to be fine and for you to be happy than for me to tell you the truth. I was in pain, and I wasn't often fine and...nowadays- I have clonus and spasms and twitches and neuropathic pain and- I'm basically a drug addict at this point because of all the pain. That is my life. And this isn't new to me and this isn't new to Mer, but this is new to you because...I was being a big brother."

It took her a long few seconds, a swallow and a lick of the lips before she could speak again. "You were...like dead. For a really long time. You didn't speak or move that much or-"

"I know. And I know that was so hard for you."

"But you were still trying to protect me? Even then?"

"Well- except calling you Lizard. That was a very purposeful dig- not being a good, protectionist brother."

"Derek-" She pleaded. "I'm not Kath but I could tell that was a deflection."

"I just...couldn't imagine what it would have been like if it was the other way around, so I just...I did what I could to make it easier for you." He continued. "But, clearly, that didn't turn out overly well seeing as you've developed some kind of phobia."

"I'm not sure I'd call it a-"

"Right now, this very second, without hesitation, say your brother has a disability."

"I uh-" She paused, her chest tightening.

"Yeah. Exactly. That's what I'm talking about, Liz." He replied. He didn't give her long, and he was sure she would have gotten there if she was given just a moment longer, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she shouldn't really need a single moment at all. "So...this is new me. Or...not new me, but rather- the return to me-me, curtesy of my amazing girlfriend, okay? It just- takes some prompting via looks from Meredith because this is a new idea, that's all."

"Okay." She sighed before smiling for a second. "But I've now gone back to being convinced that you're holding her at gunpoint because she's sounding too good again."