How Sweet It Is

7

Meredith's hand hit the wooden door lightly as she held a bottle of wine in her hand. For some stupid reason she had agreed to watch a movie with him and the only thing she could think to bring with her was wine. She figured Mrs. Shepherd loved a good glass of wine so it would be perfect. The sound of the nearby storm was getting closer, making her glad that she would be inside before it started over head. She took a deep breath and smiled as the door opened. "Hey Derek."

"Hey." He grinned.

"I brought wine." Meredith held a bottle up before rolling her eyes. "Ok you probably figured that out by the bottle and if you hate wine I'm sorry...but I couldn't bring scotch and wine is probably stupid but your Mom likes it and..."

"Wine is great." Derek laughed.

"Okay...." She nodded nervously from his front porch.

"You can come in...You don't have to stand out here."

"Right." Meredith looked up as the sound of thunder came closer.

"'I'm glad you came." Derek replied, closing the door as she came inside.

"Oh um...I didn't have any other plans." She replied, handing the bottle of wine to him. "I should go find your Mom."

"My mom?"

"Yeah." Meredith smiled, pulling her coat off as she walked towards the kitchen. "And I'm going to close the porch screens before the storm."

"My mom isn't here." Derek said, following her.

"Oh is she running late? We can wait for her."

"No...She's not here."

"But she's going to be here right?" Meredith asked as they walked through the kitchen.

"Not unless Kathleen and her husband get back from Vermont early." Derek answered.

"She's not coming?" Meredith turned before she made it to the back patio.

"She's babysiting."

"But what about movie night?"

"We're having movie night."

"Just you and I?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Meredith swallowed; moving the close the windows as lightning filled the room.

"I'm sorry...I thought you...I guess I should have been more clear when I asked you." Derek said.

"No...it's fine I was just expecting but...it's okay." Meredith replied as she locked the last window.

"I didn't know what movie you'd want to watch so I rented a few."

"Oh...okay." Meredith wrapped her sweater tightly around her body as they left the patio, the sound of rain slowly hitting the house.

"There's popcorn and some cheese and crackers." Derek said, as they walked into the living room.

"Cheese and crackers?" She replied, standing over the couch.

"Yeah...my mom had it in the fridge so..."

"That's good...really good."
"I'll get wine glasses too."

"Okay." Meredith whispered as he left the room momentarily. She sat down on the couch, looking around the familiar room. She had thought Mrs. Shepherd would be here and now she wasn't. Bad, this was bad.

"Do you want some?" Derek asked, coming back in with two glasses and a cork screw.

"Sure."

"Here you go." He breathed, pouring them each a glass and handing one to her.