Can't Help Falling in Love

5

Meredith stared at the TV as she shoved a spoonful of strawberry ice cream into her mouth. A week ago, she had been expecting to be out tonight with Derek, and now she was sitting on the couch dressed in her pajamas as she held a pint of ice cream in her hands as she watched stupid cheesy movies about stupid love with Lexie and Izzie.

"Are you sure you don't even want to talk to him? Izzie asked. "He's called every day this week."

"And maybe he should call his stupid girlfriend," Meredith snapped. "I don't care what he wants from me. It's not going to happen."

The doorbell cut through their conversation, and Lexie sighed as she pushed herself off of the couch. "I'll get it," she said.

Meredith shoved another bite of ice cream into her mouth as she watched the stupid happy couple on the TV kiss, the bride's white dress billowing in the wind. Stupid. She wasn't even sure what the hell she was watching, but she knew it was stupid.

"Um...Mer?" Lexie said from the doorway to the living room. "There's someone here to see you."

"Tell them I'm not here," she said, her mouth full of ice cream.

"That hasn't worked on the phone all week, I'm not about to start falling for it now," Derek's voice said as he stepped into the living room beside Lexie.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up quickly and setting her ice cream on the table.

"It's Friday," he shrugged. "And since you haven't been answering any of my phone calls, I thought I'd come over to ask you out for dinner in person."

"Well, you wasted your time," Meredith said.

Derek frowned as he looked at her for a moment, glancing at Lexie and Izzie who were staring at the two of them without even trying to disguise their interest. "Um...can we go somewhere more private?" he asked quietly.

"Definitely not," Meredith shook her head. "Look, I'm not going to go out with you. If you want to go out to dinner tonight, maybe you should ask your girlfriend."

"My...what?" Derek breathed, suddenly realizing what was going on.

"You know, I actually thought that I was seeing the real you at the coffee shop the other day," Meredith said. "But your niece, you know the talkative one? She just happened to mention her Uncle Derek's girlfriend in school. So I guess I was right about you to begin with. All the stupid sexual innuendos were all just you trying to get me to sleep with you. And I'm not that girl so just....go home."

"Meredith," Derek sighed, running a hand through his hair as he moved closer to her. "I didn't...I'm sorry. I did have a girlfriend. And the second you left the coffee shop the other day, I went to break up with her. Because I met this cute, charming blonde that loves children, has a passion for life that I've never seen before and has this amazing giggle that I can't get out of my head."

"Oh," Lexie breathed, turning to Meredith. "Mer, you should listen to him. He's... wow."

Meredith rolled her eyes as she stood. "Come on," she said, grabbing Derek's arm as she pulled him towards the door, stepping onto the front porch as she tried to ignore the chilly night air. She moved to sit on the porch swing and looked at him as he stood in front of her. "Sit," she commanded.

Derek smiled softly as he sat down beside her. "You're bossy," he commented.

"I'm a teacher," she replied. "Bossy comes with the job."

"I guess," Derek smiled, turning to face her. "I'm really sorry if I led you on, Meredith. I was with Rose, but I wasn't happy. If you hadn't come along, I would have broken up with her very soon anyways."