Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 8: Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey

Y/N woke up early to the sun streaming in through a part in the curtains. The one window in the room was east-facing: her biggest bedroom pet peeve. She was a little dazed - her head was lightly pounding - and it took a second for her to orient herself.

She was in a bed. She was not in her own room. She was in the cabin. She was on vacation. She had been sleeping on the couch, but she wasn't on the couch.

She turned her head and froze. She wasn't alone.

Chris was in the bed beside her. This was Chris' bed. She was in Chris' bed. She was naked and in Chris' bed.

Y/N could tell he was still asleep, which was perfectly fine with her. She lay as still as possible while she took stock of her situation. After a few moments listening to Chris breathe and realizing he was still sound asleep, Y/N decided to make her escape. She tried to move slowly in order to avoid waking him. She saw her pajamas discarded on the floor. Her top was right near the door, as if it had been removed immediately after walking in.

Oh my god, she thought. We really wasted no time last night.

The memories of the night before hit her like a freight train. She had to get out of there now. She gathered and put on her pajamas as quickly as possible. She made sure to be quiet. Y/N would not be able to deal if Chris woke up.

Once dressed, she crept over to the door. She opened it as quietly as she possibly could and slipped out. She shut the door silently.

Y/N let out a sigh - she'd managed to escape without Chris waking up - and turned around.

In the kitchen, she saw Mickey with a mug of coffee. He was sitting at the table, leaning on his elbows, and staring directly at her. His dark eyes had dark smudges underneath. He looked like he had died and risen, but his eyes were knowing.

"I can never sleep when I'm hungover," Mickey told her. "And when I came out here, I was a little worried when I didn't see you on the couch. I was wondering where you went. I guess now I know."

Y/N stood rooted just outside of Chris' room. She didn't know what to say. How was she supposed to explain what happened last night? She didn't even know why she had been so bold. She somehow got her legs moving and walked into the kitchen.

Despite the obvious age of the kitchen, there were a few more recent updates. Y/N was glad there was a brand new fancy coffee machine, because she felt like she could use a cup. She felt Mickey's eyes on her back as she made her coffee. She didn't say anything.

Y/N walked over to the table and plopped into the seat across from Mickey. He looked at her with a small smile. He just sipped his coffee and stared.

"Edward told me Chris asked if you wanted to share a bed, but you didn't really strike me as the type to take him up on the offer."

"I... don't know what happened," Y/N managed to say after a moment. "Yesterday, he was teasing me on the ski lift about making out in the hot tub. And then yesterday in the hot tub, he almost kissed me. And then last night I caught him in the kitchen, and he joked again about sharing a bed and... I don't know. I called him on his bluff?"

Y/N buried her head in her hands. With her eyes closed, she could see flashes of the previous night in her mind's eye. Sloppy kisses, fumbling hands, awkward negotiations of 'put your hand here' and 'ouch, you're on my hair' and 'my leg doesn't bend that way.'

She was baffled by how out of character this was for her. The only thing she could blame it on was the hot tub-wine combination. And maybe the fact that she'd been smothering how lonely she was for months.