For the First Time

Where Do We Go From Here?

After the whole episode in the parking lot, Derek refused to let me drive home alone. So he walked me to his Porsche and insisted on driving me home. I have to admit, it was nice having someone there for an emotional breakdown. Cristina used to do it all of the time but she's been way more invested in her work than usual. When Derek pulled out of the parking lot I put my hand on the middle console, and Derek reached over and put his hand on top of mind. He gently rubbed his thumb on the palm of my hand, which I didn't mind. I had to give Derek directions to my house since he's never been there. He wanted my address whenever I was off of work since my mother died so he could come over and talked, but I ignored most of his texts. Derek was still holding my hand as he put the car in park in my driveway.

"Holy cow," he muttered. "Are you the only one living in this place?"

"Yeah, it was my moms, then she got Alzheimer's so she went into a home, and figured I couldn't let it sit here, or let alone sell it, so I moved in and made it my home," I explained.

"How many bedrooms is this place?" he asked. He was obviously fascinated by its size.

"Five bedroom, four bath," I said. I opened my door hoping that the topic would get dropped and I could go inside my house in peace. But instead Derek also got out of the drivers side. He walked me up to the front door and waited for me to get the door open.

"Well I'm glad you made it home safely," he said. "I'll let you go."

"You can stay," I said, "only if you want." I couldn't believe what I just said. I was flabbergasted by my own actions. Although it was kind of nice having someone around and someone to talk to.

"I shouldn't. I don't just want to barge in," he said.

"Well you aren't barging because I invited you," I said while laughing. Derek laughed too.

"Well alright then," he answered. He stepped into the house and began to look around. He was fascinated. "Mer this place is beautiful."

"Thanks," I said. "The only reason why it's so clean is because the cleaning lady came this morning. It's hard to keep the place clean whenever you barely come home for 12 hours a day."

"I get it," he said while looking at me and smiling. I began my way towards the kitchen and Derek followed. I opened up the fridge and forgot that I didn't have anything but 'dead mother casserole' and I was not going to eat that for the fourth night in a row.

"You cool if we order in pizza?" I asked. "I've had casserole for the past three nights and I'm not in the mood to have it again." He laughed.

"Perfectly fine with me. I can't remember the last time I had time to order in a pizza," he answered. Derek picked up the phone and called in a large sausage pepperoni pizza and a side of breadsticks. It was kind of funny how we both liked the same type. When the pizza arrived Derek took the liberty of paying, which I insisted he shouldn't do. He was a gentleman. Instead of eating at the dining room table I voted for eating on the sofa in the living room, which he seemed fine with.

"You on call tonight?" I asked. He shook his head no. "Okay, good." I went into the kitchen and opened up the liquor cabinet. New Year's Eve he was drinking a single malt scotch, so that's what I made him. I filled up a couple shot glasses of tequila and cut up a lime. He smiled whenever I appeared in the living room with the booze. "I figured this is what you wanted," I said while handing him his glass.

"Thank you," he said. "Ahhh, straight up tequila. Pretty risky for a woman your size."

"What's that supposed to me," I asked while laughing.

"Nothing, you just don't normally see petite people like you down shots of tequila like that!" he said. I went to go get the rest of the bottle of tequila in the kitchen and brought it out into the living room.