Against All Odds

15. Hiking Together

"Don't drop me!"

Derek rolled his eyes and shifted her more securely on his back.

"I am not going to drop you."

"Yes, you are. I am sliding down your back."

"If you would stop wiggling, you wouldn't be." He pointed out. "Now be still."

"Don't tell me what to do." She said.

"I'm your boss, that's my job."

"You are my boss at work, this is not work." She informed him.

"That's what you think." He muttered.

"I heard that!" She said, loosing her death grip around his neck and slapping him on his chest.

"Feisty. I like that in my women." He smirked.

"Your women?" She asked. He would swear on a stack of bibles, her eyebrow was raised. He glanced back and chuckled. Yep. It was raised.

"Yep. I am very popular you know. I mean, with the hair, the eyes, the smile, the body...how can women resist me?" He teased.

"I know one who is going to start right now if you don't shut up." She taunted.

"Shutting up." He said quickly and was rewarded with her giggling against his neck. She pressed her soft lips on his clavicle and relaxed as much as she could with her bouncing with every step.

It was day three of the Grey-Shepherd Reconciliation Plan and things were going well. They were communicating but yesterday had been rough. There were a lot of accusations flying around about whose fault it was that their relationship was like it was and Meredith had stormed out to her car, intent on leaving. However, her keys were on the counter and Derek had lounged lazily in the doorway watching her frantically look for them. It had taken everything he had not to laugh when she looked up and saw him with her keys dangling from his finger. If looks could kill, he would have been a dead man.

She had then stormed back into the trailer and sat down on the bed, arms crossed, pouting. She looked so adorable and it took him back to the days where he had fallen for her. He wanted so desperately to have that back.

So they had talked it out, all of it, from start to finish. Everything. His deep seated anger issues which had stemmed from him seeing his dad killed to Addison's affair to his always feeling like he had to protect his family from everything bad. They had talked about her extreme abandonment issues stemming from her mother, her relationship with Ellis now, the pressures of her job that made her feel like she wasn't a good mom. They had laid it all out of the table and had dealt with it, little by little. They had fallen into bed, exhausted, at 3 am.

So when they had woken up, Derek had suggested having a lighter day. So here they were, hiking around his land. Well, Derek was hiking and Meredith was riding piggyback because her boots were made for fashion not hiking.

They were smiling more, as if they had a lighter load on their shoulders. They were not done working on them, but as Meredith said, they never would be. Not if they wanted this to succeed.

A strand of Meredith's hair swept by his cheek, leaving her scent behind as she tucked it behind her ear. He breathed deeply. He loved her scent, it calmed him faster than anything. It was home to him. It was like, no matter where they were, as long as she was there, he was home.

He didn't know when it had happened, but along the way, he had started seeing her as Michael's mom. And while that was okay, she was so much more than that to him. She was his everything. And it scared him to think how close he had come to losing her over a woman who had hurt him. He had built up so many defenses when Addison had betrayed him and he had alienated so many people with his resulting behavior. It had only taken a feisty, argumentative petite blond to crumble his walls down and make him fall to his knees.