Ambivalence

7

Stickiness and the heavy scent of tequila was the first thing Meredith recognized as she rolled out of her slumber. Her body was splayed across her bed and a can of beer that she was sure was the cause of the sticky feeling on her skin made a crunching noise when she squeezed it while yawning. Shower. She needed to rid herself of the repulsive stench that coated her nostrils, and the shower attached to her bedroom was the perfect place to do so.

Only as she stumbled into the bathroom she wasn't met with the inspection-proof area that she was used to, but a pile of clothing; men's clothing.

Just as she was about to make the unwanted visitor aware of her entering, the man that she hoped and prayed wasn't the one she brought home stepped out of her shower and reached for her towel with a devious grin on his face.

"Good-" was the only word he managed to let out before she cut him off with her stampede of questions.

"What are you doing here? Your parents? How did you get in my house?" she interrogated in one breath.

"Meredith, my parents left yesterday morning. After that we went drinking and-"

"Oh no," she shook her head repeatedly and her eyes grew wide at the thought. "Did we have sex?" she asked in a panic.

"If you would stop cutting me off you would hear me tell you that you crashed as soon as you got home," he assured her. "So no. We did not have sex."

Meredith sighed, relieved that even intoxicated she didn't slip up and end the night in bed with the ex that she was determined to stay away from.

"Not yet, anyway." Derek mumbled.

Meredith continued wiping the sleep from her eyes, only to be met with a clear visual of water droplets sliding down a chest that she hadn't seen bare in years. Before she realized her body's disobedience, her eyes were dropping lower, focusing on the towel - her towel - wrapped around his waist. She cleared her throat instantly when he snapped his finger in her face. "Not ever!" she reprimanded. "You didn't answer the question. Why are you in my bathroom?"

"I'm taking a shower. If you want I can hop back in and you could join me?" He placed his left foot in front of his right and took a step closer to her as Meredith kept her distance and walked backwards. Neither could forget the days that started with the two of them in the shower and resulted in them both being late to class.

"Why are you here?" she emphasized, raising her voice at his false oblivion. "In my house!"

"You don't remember?" Derek questioned.

"No, that would be why I asked in the first place," she answered and furrowed her brows when he opened the mirror cabinet above her sink and proceeded to go through it.

"After my parents left you let me stay over, which was a mistake and a complete waste of my time as all I did was watch you clear out your liquor cabinet," he explained. "Then, when you ran out of that you made me drive you to a bar where you spent the rest of the night until I had to drag you home before you got arrested for public intoxication."

"You're joking right?" Meredith asked him worriedly. "I'm such an idiot." She ran her fingers through her hair and paced around the steam-filled bathroom.

"That's something we can both agree on," he joked and Meredith didn't find it amusing.

"That's my towel!" she crossed her arms and brought her pacing to a halt as she stood in front of him demandingly.

"Well I'm using it," he argued and squeezed her toothpaste onto a new toothbrush that he found in her cabinet.

"I need to take a shower," she stated. "When I get out of the shower I'll need something to dry off with. You're using my towel. Do you see the problem here?" she patronized.