What Should Have Been From The Beginning

Time Stands Still

DEREK'S POV

I stood over the balcony, patiently waiting for Meredith to finish getting ready and as impatient as I am, I didn't mind her making me wait because I knew when I saw her come out of the bathroom, looking like an angel and a goddess, that the thought of time would fluently pass over my head. She made my world stop and I couldn't wait to start my life with her. When we were back in Seattle, I knew things would obviously be different and we most likely wouldn't get to spend every minute of every hour of every day with each like we had this past week, but I was going to try my best to spend all the time I could with her. Even just seeing her on rounds or in the scrub room where I could see her through the gap in the door after someone had entered, made me excited. I was elated by the thought of those moments and the episodes where I would get nervous around her because of how perfect she is. I heard the bathroom door open and the sound of heels walking across a white granite floor and, before I could turn around, I felt two petite arms hug me from behind and I felt Meredith rest her cheek on my back. I turned around desperate to see how fantastic I knew she was going to look and there she was. I was stunned and my breathe was actually taken away.

She wore a white collared dress, with the sleeves finishing in the middle of her triceps and the bottom of the dress, flowing down and ending just below her knee. She looked so elegant and sophisticated but at the same time she looked flirty and fun. The buttons on her dress were done up until the middle of her cleavage where they allowed her to breathe and show off her chest whilst still remaining modest. She matched it with a pair of soft brown espadrille wedge heels that strapped around her ankle and she had a wide brimmed, woven straw hat to keep the sun off her porcelain face. Her hair was in light curls and she wore a gloss on her lips. I noticed and endured every single aspect of the woman stood in front of me and I appreciated how lucky I was to be marrying her. I looked her up and down, slowly realising a grin was making its way across my face and Meredith looked confused.

'What's that grin for?' She asked picking up my hands into hers.

'I'm in love.' I laughed back to her, still smiling and locking eyes with hers then I leaned forward and kissed her passionately. I received the same amount of love back from her and as I pulled away to get some air and be on our way, she grabbed my bottom lip in her teeth and giggled whilst turning around, grabbing my hand and interlocking our fingers then walking towards the door.

She had no idea what I had planned for her. This whole time, I knew she was worried about what people were going to think about us when we went back to work. I knew that she was confused about whether or not the engagement was the right thing, even though she hadn't said it, I knew deep down that she was worried. I had walked out on her once and I killed myself for not getting to spend those moments with her, but I was going to make it up to her. I was going to make sure she knew how special she was to me, how I wasn't going to settle for anyone other than her, that our lives were meant to be spent together. She's my everything and I know I couldn't live without her. Every night, when she thought I was asleep, I would close my eyes along with her and wait until she was asleep but then I would submerge myself in her love and the feeling of actually being with her. To anyone who hadn't been through what we had, this would probably be weird and somewhat obsessive but for me, every night, even when I was with Jennifer, I had dreams and nightmares of waking up and she not be breathing. I had nightmares that when I threw myself on her to move her out of the direction of the car coming towards her, that I had physically crushed her and she wouldn't be breathing anymore. The trauma haunted me from the day it happened and I can't remember the last night where I slept without waking up to check if she was still breathing. It was my job now to protect her with my whole being and give her my heart. It was my responsibility as her soon-to-be husband, to make sure not a single person laid their hands on her. 

Once we had spent the rest of the afternoon in the town and admiring all the sites, we eventually arrived at where I had planned for us to be and we reached the man who was to be our guide through tonight until we were alone. It was 5:15 pm and thankfully since we were in Italy, the nights were long and it still looked like the middle of the day with only a soft hue of orange in the distance as we approached sunset which was approximated to be at 8pm. I held my hand on her back as we walked up the small hill to stables where there were two white horses, grazing on hay bails.

'I really hope that we are riding them.' She gasped at first sight of them and turned around to ask me about tonight, with her green eyes glistening.

'Of course we are. Why else would we be at stables?' I told her, with a huge smile at her excitement.

The guide introduced himself and then us to the horses. Apparently they were named, Addie and Finn, which I thought to be unusual names for horse. I helped Meredith onto her horse, Finn, placing my hands on her hips to stabilise her as she climbed up and she leant down to peck me once she was situated. I did the same, climbed up onto the horse and off we went on what I hoped to be a magical last evening in Italy.