The Ga on call room

Dance lessons pt 2

"It's about damn time you got your lazy asses here." Mark scolded them, as he did an exaggerated look at his watch.

"We're literally one minute late." Meredith replied, incredulously.

"Ah, yes, but it was one minute too long for Mark." Derek said, "Especially when he had to deal with Izzie's bridezilla complex."

"You are damn right Derek." Mark admitted. 'You would think that we were coming here to learn how to compete in the world dance championships." He joked.

"Oh, stop it you two! Izzie just wants everything to be perfect." Meredith reprimanded. "Speaking of Iz, where is she?"

"Inside already, talking to Melanie...Melanie's the woman who will giving us the lesson." Mark added, when he saw Meredith and Derek's curious looks.

As if on cue, Izzie came back outside. " Finally! Its about time you two got here...and by the looks of things you arrived together..." Izzie smirked

Mark stifled back laughter at his fiancé's lack of subtlety, while Derek smirked at Meredith's glare.

"Let's just go inside, okay?" Meredith suggested, deciding to ignore Izzie's remark.

The studio was virtually empty except for the woman who Meredith guessed was Melanie, and another man.

"Hi, you two must be Meredith and Derek." A brunette woman said, as she held out her hand. "I'm Melanie, and this is my husband Alexander." She finished, gesturing to the man standing next to her.

"It's nice to meet you." Meredith and Derek replied, shaking hands with the couple.

"You too." The couple said. "So Izzie has informed us that you all have two left feet?" Melanie joked.

"Speak for yourself Izzie." Meredith laughed.

"Yeah, don't put Mer and me in the same category as Mark." Derek replied, acting offended.

"Shut it Shepherd." Mark warned, before they turned back to their instructors.

"Okay!, so, we figured that the most important dance to show you guys today is some form of a waltz." Alexander stated.

Mark, Meredith and Derek had a slight look of horror flash across their faces at the thought of having to master such a complex dance.

Seeing their looks, Melanie let out a hearty laugh. "Don't look so frightened." She told them. "I'll show you the basics first and then maybe add something else in, but don't stress it's nothing too hard."

Mark, Meredith and Derek's collective sighs of utter relief could be heard echoing throughout the room.

"Okay, so let's get started." Alexander stated, clapping his hands in a rounding up movement.

"Let's!" Mark replied, clapping also, but stopping at Izzie's warning glare.

Meredith and Derek shared a smirk at Mark's obvious lack of excitement.

"First thing to do is to take your partner's hand." Melanie told them. "Take their hand and look in their eyes...and don't roll them Mark."

This earned Mark a slap from Izzie.

Derek slowly took Meredith's hand, relishing the silky smoothness of her skin.

Meredith looked into his eyes, and he looked back; they were both lost in the kaleidoscope of green and blue that merged as a result of their unwavering gaze.

"The bridal waltz is one of the pivotal moments of the wedding. The bride and groom allow their guests to see them in a vulnerable moment; a moment that allows the audience to capture a private moment of pure love between the couple." Melanie told them.

Mark's discomfort was by no blaringly obvious.

"That is why the waltz is smooth, not rushed; it glides, in a rise and fall action. Your shoulders should move parallel with the floor and not just straight up and down." Alexander continued.

"The male's head must not look directly over his partner's shoulder." Melanie added, coming up behind Derek and moving him to the right stance.

Alexander and Melanie showed the group a simple first step, and then got them to repeat it.

The two couples took the first step forward, with their weight on their heel, then onto the ball of their foot, gradually rising to their toes.

Meredith ended stepping on Derek's foot, which resulted in a teasing glare.

"And to think that you were accusing me of being a bad dancer one hour ago." Derek scolded.

"Oh shut up." Meredith laughed.

Derek couldn't help but melt slightly at the crinkle of Meredith's forehead, which only ever became present when she was concentrating hard.

"You're so cute when you concentrate." Derek smiled.

"Do you want me step on your foot again?" Meredith asked, with a smile in her voice.

"God no, I think you broke my toe." Derek teased.

"Stop speaking." Meredith said, as they tuned back in to Alexander and Melanie's instructions.

Soon enough the two 'couples' were following to the beat of 'one, two, three, and lower to the fourth position.'

Mark was stumbling over Izzie's feet, and received exasperated sighs in return.

"Mark, could you at least try?" Izzie asked, frustrated and sore from being stepped on.

"I am, it's not my fault that the steps don't agree with my feet." Mark insisted.

Derek had to laugh at this. "Mark, don't blame the dance that has been around since the seventeenth century on your lack of coordination." Derek told him.

"God you are such a suck up, ' a dance that has been around since the seventeenth century', this is the whole cake testing fiasco all over again." Mark grumbled.

" Mark! Turn your head in the direction of the turn!" Melanie yelled.

"Sorry." Mark replied sheepishly.

"If you weren't so busy complaining Mark, perhaps you would be able to understand the steps." Meredith laughed, as she and Derek turned past Mark and Izzie.

"Oh, yes, just like you and Derek. By the way, you guys look quite comfortable." Mark taunted.

This caused Meredith to tense up for a moment, but the rub of Derek's hand on her back was enough to bring her back to the dance.

"Don't listen to Mark." Izzie told them. "He's just worried you guys will outshine us when it comes time for the reception...and by the rate Mark is going, you probably will."

Meredith and Derek's bodies moved in perfect harmony. They fit like puzzle pieces; rise and fall, heel to toe, and back again. They were so caught up in their dance, yet they had never felt so far apart.

At that moment in time, they were one, but in the outside world there were still barriers to their lifelong love.

Looking from the outside, a person could not be blamed for assuming that Meredith and Derek had already lived their whole lifetime together, and possibly their past life, based on the proximity and motions reflected from their movements.

Their hearts were so close, as they changed direction once again, that they could feel the other's beating. Suddenly the outside distance between them was no longer an obstacle, but just a beautiful reminder of just how strong their love was; just how true and everlasting it would remain. It had survived four years, and it would survive for eternity.

Meredith and Derek were intoxicated by the other's presence. They were in their own world, following the steps to a dancer, all the while doing a dance of their own.

In that moment they were just Meredith and Derek. There were no boyfriends or Roses or Londons or growing up to do. In that moment there was just the two of them.

People say that only the truest of soul mates fall in love over and over again; and while Meredith and Derek glided, they did just that.

They fell in love all over again.