Never Leave Your Heart Alone

Chapter 20

Meredith took one last look in the mirror. She was wearing a knee-length deep red gown. She had her hair in a soft up do. She put on a little lip gloss. She slid on her shoes and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Izzie was baking a cake.

"You look good." Izzie noted, while smearing the frosting on the cake.

"Thanks." Meredith said with a smile. "Are you alone tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah. Alex is on-call. And George is staying at Callie's." Izzie whined.

"Well, I won't be long." Meredith said with a smile.

"Sure." Izzie joked. "So, you've been having some hot sex lately."

"Yeah, well-" Meredith started. "It's my thing" Izzie laughed.

"So who was that guy two nights ago? You were half naked before you even made it upstairs." She asked.

"Just a guy I met in the corner bar." Meredith told her, licking the frosting off of the knife. "Joe refused to serve me in the morning, so I went down there. I brought him home. Two nights in a row!" Meredith boasted. "It was pretty good."

"So who was the guy last night?" Izzie asked.

"Some guy from Joe's. Lots of piercings. It was actually pretty damn hot!" Meredith laughed. "He was trying to talk me into going with him and getting my nipples pierced. I don't even know him..." Meredith said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know, maybe I should?" She laughed.

"I heard that it hurts like hell." Izzie said with a smile. The front door opened.

"What hurts like hell?" Derek said as he walked up.

"Getting your nipples pierced. Mer's think about it." Izzie said, received a sharp glance from Meredith.

"Really?" Derek said raising his eyebrows.

"You never know..." Meredith said suggestively. "Are you ready?"

"Of course. I'm always ready." He said with a smile.

"I seem to remember a time when you weren't." She giggled. Izzie gave them both a funny look. "Let's go. I'm starved."

"Aren't you always?" Derek said. He felt a punch in his arm.

"You guys have fun." Izzie said as they walked out.

"Oh yeah. I think I am going out with the dullest people in the world." Meredith giggled.

"I'm not dull!" Derek said, dragging her out to the car. He opened the door for her. It made her smile. She sat down and watched him walk around to the other side.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked, glancing over at her.

"What are you, my freaking psychiatrist?" Meredith snapped.

"If I have to be..." Derek retorted with a cheesy grin.

"I am fine, Derek. I am okay." She said quietly.

"Good." The shared an awkward silence. "So about the kissing..." Derek said with a smile. He saw her roll her eyes in his peripheral vision.

"Kissing? What kissing?" Meredith said flippantly.

"Oh, the kissing where you had your tongue halfway down my throat." Derek replied.

"Oh, that kissing. It was nothing." Meredith said quickly. "We're friends."

"Friends who kiss?" He questioned.

"Yeah, whatever." Meredith said distractedly. She had her mind on the restaurant they passed. The last time she was there, she was seven. She remembered it vividly. She was wearing a yellow dress, and her hair was up. It was right before her dad left. She and her father waited over an hour before Ellis showed up. There was a big fight, ultimately ending in Thatcher backing down. That's how it always went.