You Are In Love

Chapter 2

The pair walked into the bar and sat on stools beside each other. Derek ordered his single malt scotch while Meredith ordered her beer. Derek stared into the drink in front of him until he finally tilted his head to the side to look at the woman next to him. "So- you respect me." He said in tone that made it clear he was making fun of her.

"Shut up." She replied with a small smile on her lips.

"Is that any way to speak to someone who you respect?" Derek replied causing Meredith to laugh lightly and continue drinking. After a few minutes, he finally said. "Are Ohio and Kansas really not in the Midwest?"

"I have no fucking idea." She said as she pulled out her phone and googled 'regions in the USA.' "The states in the Midwest are, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin." She listed.

He shook his head, "lying bitch." Just as he said that, the rest of the interns walked into the bar, deep in loud conversation. Meredith turned her head to see them and sighed.

"Great." Derek rolled his eyes.

"Want to come to my house, hang out, avoid the cast of the new Disney special?" Meredith asked.

"Sure." He replied.

They took Derek's car to Meredith's home and drove in silence. Once they arrived, Meredith guided Derek to the door and unlocked the house and stepped into the foyer. Derek looked around the visible rooms. The walls were blank and there were little to no furniture, the only loose objects that he could see were brown cardboard boxes in piles, and one couch in what he assumed would be the living room.

"Meredith." He breathed.

"What?" She asked dryly. Most likely knowing what he was referring to.

"Your house-" He started.

"If you have a problem with the state of my house, you can decorate it however you want." Meredith huffed.

"Okay." He responded as he walked into the living room and started to unpack the first brown cardboard box he can find.

"What are you doing?" Meredith asked.

"I'm unpacking your living room." He responded as he pulled a lamp out of the box.

"Seriously?" She asked.

"Yes." He responded, finding a coffee table and pulling it towards the couch.

"Okay." Meredith smiled, sat onto her couch, and put her feet up onto the table.

Derek meticulously cared for every object he pulled out of the boxes, placing them perfectly around the room. After he finished unpacking, he broke down the boxes and stacked the cardboard sheets in a pile by the door. All while Meredith sat on the couch and watched. As soon as he decided he was done with the living room, he moved to the study, Meredith following him so she could continue to watch. Around midnight, he had finished setting up the first floor of Meredith's house.

"Want some coffee?" She asked. The first time they had spoken in about three hours.

"Sure." He responded as she pulled out two mugs that he had recently placed in the cabinet, and poured the pot of coffee that she had recently made into them. Then she handed one of the mugs to him.

"Thank you." He said quietly as he sipped the coffee.

After they had finished their respective cups of coffee, Meredith said, "There's another floor, if you're interested."

"Sure." He said as he stood up and waited for Meredith to walk him up to the second floor. They went from room to room, Derek unpacking while Meredith sat on the beds, only standing up when Derek needed to make the bed she was sitting on. Until they reached the last room at the end of the hall.

"My bedroom." She said. He walked in and saw large piles of boxes, more than in any other room.

"Can I unpack this room too?" He asked.

"Yes." She said. "I'll be back in a minute." Then she disappeared down the stairs and he started to unpack the boxes with her personal belongings. A minute or so later, Meredith reappeared in the room with a carton of ice cream and spoon. She sat on her bed and started to eat, somehow getting a smudge of strawberry on her nose that she didn't notice. Derek continued to unpack the boxes until he found a polaroid camera, grabbed it, and turned to her, smiling at the smudge on her face that continued to go unnoticed.

He walked towards her laying on the bed, "Look up." He said pointing the camera at her, she grinned, then he snapped a picture. He shook the photo until the picture became visible, he smiled at it, then turned it to show her. She immediately frowned and used her fingers to wipe the ice cream off her nose.

"Hey." He said feigning anger, "I liked that aesthetic."

She glared at him, "How about this aesthetic?" She flipped him off with her ice cream covered middle finger. He smiled down at her, lifted the camera and took another photo. He placed the camera and the photos down on the nightstand and Meredith stood up to go wash the ice cream off her hands. She came back into the room, grabbed the camera and walked up to Derek. Their shoulders brushed as she held the camera in front of the two of them. Derek moved in closer, pushing his cheek against hers, smiling wildly as Meredith took the picture and placed it with the others.

After another hour or so, Derek finally emptied the last box and announced quietly, "I'm finished." He looked over to Meredith who was asleep on the bed, He laid down next to her, leaving plenty of room between them. Until Meredith curled into him, leaving absolutely no room between them.

In the morning, Derek woke to the sound of Meredith snoring, still sound asleep. He got up from the bed, grabbed the pictures from the nightstand, and placed them in his wallet. Derek then went down to the kitchen, got out a bowl, and started mixing batter. While the pancakes cooked on the pan, he grabbed some fibery cereal from the pantry and ate it quickly. After the pancaked were finished, he plated them, grabbed a fork and a bottle of syrup, then walked up back to the bedroom. He placed the food beside Meredith's bed and he went into the bathroom while he waited for her to wake. Derek found a pack of unused toothbrushes and brushed his teeth, washed his face. Then he went to his car and found the spare set of clothes he kept there just in case. He finally finished his morning routine, grabbed the paper, and headed back to Meredith's bedroom.

The noise of him entering again apparently woke her up.

"Morning." She groaned.

"Morning." He replied as he turned to leave, walk down stairs and grab two mugs of coffee, and placed one next to her pancakes. She sat up against the head board of her bed and looked at the food confusedly.

"You made pancakes?" She said as she turned to him.

"Yes." He replied, sitting next to her on the bed, sipping the coffee and reading the paper. She pulled the plate to her lap and quickly ate them.

"You want one?" She asked, offering the last pancake on her plate.

"I don't eat pancakes." He said, continuing to read.

"Then why did you make them?" She asked as she sipped her coffee

"You eat pancakes." He replied. Derek thought back, remembering the morning where they studied in the cafeteria while she ate pancakes.

"Oh." She smiled, eating the last pancake.

After a few minutes, he looked at his watch, "My shift starts soon,"

"Okay." She said.

"See you soon." He said as he got off the bed and walked towards the door.

"See you." She smiled as he left.

(My office's internet was out so I got to "work from home" today, which means I have done absolutely no work and wrote merder fanfiction instead. I really should be fired at this point.)