Under the Night Sky

Chapter 15: Blackout

Meredith groaned at the sound of her cell phone that rang from her nightstand. Couldn't she get any sleep? She groped around it, her eyes closed and she muttered sleepily, "Hello?"

"Hey, Mer."

Here we go again... Derek fucking Shepherd wasn't letting her get a good night's sleep... and not in a good way.

"I hope you don't mind me calling this early?"

"What is the tone of my voice telling you?" she huffed with irritation.

"That I should fuck off," he said quickly.

"Correct," she yawned.

"I'm sorry, I'll take two minutes of your time. I have problems with the plumbing."

"Excuse me?" Her eyes shot open. She spent a night feeling extremely sexually frustrated. Her fingers were of only temporary help. Now, here he was saying something like this...

He went on, "I woke up this morning and the pipe was stuck-"

"I don't need to hear your dirty-!" she gasped.

"What are you talking about?" he seemed genuinely surprised.

"What are you talking about?"

"The pipe under the sink in the kitchen," he said with obviousness in his voice. "What do you- Wait a minute! You thought-"

"Whatever," she grumbled disconcertedly. She could hear the satisfied smirk in his voice.

"And they say sex is all men think about..." he whispered seductively. "Women seem to be no better."

"I've never claimed otherwise," she stated boldly.

"Nice," he whistled. "You're stepping up."

"What's that plumbing problem again?" she asked disregarding his saucy tone.

"Which one? Now I have two..."

"The one with the bigger pipe," she shot viciously.

"Okay," he said happily. "So I had this dream last night-"

"What the hell?" she growled into her phone.

"You told me the bigger."

"Yeah, right, keep telling yourself that," she snorted. "What's wrong with the sink?"

"The water doesn't go down."

"Well, can't you unclog it?"

"Doesn't work."

"You're such a baby," she sighed getting to her feet.

"Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Derek was reading the news on his phone over his breakfast when he heard a car stop in front of the house. He peeked out and noticed with a pleasant surprise that it was Meredith, resolutely carrying a toolkit in her hand.

"You're a plumber too? In addition to being a doctor and a vet?" he greeted her with a smile when she strode into the kitchen without any knock on the door whatsoever.

"Yeah, I'm a specialist in blocked pipes," she smirked.

He coughed, choking on his pancake. She slapped him hard on his back as she walked to the sink. She shouldn't look at him, she definitely shouldn't look at him... Damn, why was she running hot and cold around him? It was so freaking frustrating... She shouldn't even be here, she could have well called one of the neighbors to give Derek a helping hand. But she couldn't resist coming herself, which was completely unreasonable giving the fact they would see each other in a couple of hours at the practice anyway.