Merder: Different Circumstances

Chapter Four

Meredith's smile grew on her face at Derek's reaction, taking the flowers off him when he extended them out to her. She welcomed him into her house momentarily whilst she was placing the flowers into some water, noticing how he looked around and payed close attention to the now decorated rooms.

"It's looking a lot more homely since I was last here." Derek commented, as he looked at the layout of the lounge.

What was once a single couch and a rug in the middle of a room surrounded by boxes was now a much more welcoming environment, with more than one area to sit and a large coffee table covered in medical books and the same rug in the centre of it all. Derek smiled to himself as memories of their night spent together played in his head, and he could only hope there would be another occasion like that one again soon.

"Well I decided I couldn't live out of boxes forever." Meredith chuckled as she walked back into the room.

Together they left the house and being the gentleman he was, Derek opened the car door for Meredith, making her smirk as she knew all of the obvious tricks pulled by men to impress women on the first date. When they arrived at the restaurant, they were seated in a more secluded area and within the first minute of them being sat down a bottle of wine was ordered and soon brought over to the pair.

"So, tell me about yourself." Derek began, wanting to learn more about the woman he had been constantly thinking of for the past two weeks.

"Not until you answer my question first, who are you always leaving the hospital with?" Meredith insisted.

"Promise me you won't run? That you'll let me explain it all and then you can shout or whatever you want to do?"

Meredith raised her eyebrows, the worst imaginable scenarios running through her head. Was it his wife? Was she on a date with a married man, making her a home wrecker?

"Yes, I promise." She agreed, unsure of what explanation he was going to give.

"When I told you I moved from New York because my previous relationship had no hope of working I was telling you the truth, just not the whole truth. When I was in medical school I met someone, Addison, and we started dating. We found out that she was pregnant when she was 23 and I had just turned 24, so with my mothers help we decided to keep the baby. On October 7th my daughter was born. Her mother never formed a bond with her, and she has always been a daddy's girl. Addison and I got married when our daughter had turned four in hope of saving the family we had both wanted but it didn't work. We tried but we just couldn't make ourselves happy, but the final straw was when I walked in on her in bed with my thought to be best friend. The divorce was evident and when Richard offered me the job here the only thing that made me hesitant was my daughter, but she too made it obvious that she was ready for a fresh start to her life. Ash is the light of my life, but god Meredith I'm drawn in by you." Derek explained, the end of his story making Meredith's breath catch in her throat.

Meredith was stunned into silence and Derek allowed her a couple of minutes to process everything she had just been told. A daughter. A divorce. Drawn in by her. It was all enough to make Meredith consider running, but she too couldn't help but know she wanted to spend more time with the man in front of her.

"Where's your daughter now?"

"She's at Richard's house with his wife, she thinks I had a night shift tonight."

Meredith couldn't help but let her heart ache momentarily for the young girl. She too spent a lot of her childhood with Adele, although she was much younger and the habit stopped when she had soon turned 4, and almost felt guilty that she was somewhat the cause for someone else to live the same life. As lovely as Adele was, Meredith knew that in her teen years, despite living in Boston, there was nothing more she wanted to do then be out with her friends, rather than be stuck at home.

"How old is she?"

"15."

This process continued for all of 20 minutes until a waitress came over to take their orders for their meals. Meredith would ask a question about Ashley, or Derek's previous lifestyle and he would answer with a short response.

"So you don't want to run?" Derek asked once the waitress had walked away.

"Oh no, I considered grabbing my bag and running as fast as these heels could let me," she answered making them both laugh, "but then I realised that I couldn't because honestly I would be stupid to."

This made Derek beam, glad that he hadn't scared away the woman he was so quickly falling for and that his confession of his admiration half an hour ago hadn't made him appear as a fool in her eyes. He hesitantly reached across the table and took her hand into his, flashing the same eyes he had done when he arrived at her door.

"Just promise me one thing," Meredith asked, to which Derek nodded slightly to show he was listening, "you won't always make Ashley stay with Adele Webber, she's a lovely woman but no teenager should have to spend her days constantly with her." then her voice went quieter as she admitted something she rarely opened up to people about. "and because I know what it's like to have an absent parent growing up and its really sucks."

"I promise." Derek said, his heart swelling at the way Meredith had already began to care for his daughter.

Rather than pushing her last statement, Derek stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, signalling that he would listen if she wanted to explain but she had no obligation to do so.

"My father left when I was four. Lexie Grey, she's my half sister from his second marriage. Then my mother moved the two of us to Boston a couple of years later, she was so engrossed with medicine that I was raised by nannies."

"Meredith, I'm so sorry." Derek sympathised.

For a first date, their conversations had been anything but light-hearted, yet for the first time in a long time, Meredith felt genuinely happy and genuinely safe. Their night ended where it had started, at her doorstep, with Meredith insisting that Derek was to save his daughter from the activities of Adele. When he leaned in to kiss her cheek, Meredith was sure to quickly turn her head and catch his lips in hers.

The kiss was short but all the still filled with passion and admiration. Once they pulled apart, the both of them took a minute to catch their breath and a grin formed in their faces. Promises were made for a second date and Meredith watched as his car drove down the road and out of view, wondering how she could fall for someone so fast.