You're Not Ready For This

Do You Want To Go Away With Me?

AN - I know the story has been a bit repetitive and too similar to the show but I needed a backstory and from this chapter forward it's going in a completely different direction.

Everything was perfect. Derek spent the day grinning from ear to ear after their encounter in the elevator when he'd convinced her to go away with him for the weekend. He wasn't expecting her to accept his invitation as quickly as she did and with little persuasion.

"Hey!" he chimed as he ran into the woman he couldn't seem to stop thinking about.

Meredith jumped, startled with her head down and a clipboard in hands, "hey! I'm uh..." she caught her breath. "I'm on my way home and I was just...what should I bring? I mean clothes yes, but is there anything else or..." she rambled.

Derek reached for her hand and held it in his, a bold move on his behalf but she didn't seem to pull away. "Bring anything, it's not like you're gonna need clothes as we'll be-"

"Naked the entire weekend," Meredith finished his sentence seductively and bit her bottom lip. "Perfect," she cheesed.

"Perfect," he mimicked her giddy expressions. "I'll pick you up at eight?" he asked.

"Eight," she repeated and her smile managed to grow wider, Derek let go of her hand and went on his way towards his patient's room.

"Derek!" she stopped him. Meredith waited for him to fully turn around as she contemplated letting him know what was on her mind.

"Meredith?"

"I'm really looking forward to this. I think..." she murmured, "I think it'll really help us."

Derek didn't know how to react. Hearing her admit that there was something between them worth fixing was the only thing he'd been searching for for as long as he could remember. "Me too," he confessed and tried not to let his relief show.

"Eight o'clock?" she confirmed.

"Eight o'clock," he nodded.

The four hours of operating and performing routine procedures couldn't have gone slower.

Meredith's smile didn't fade a bit as she searched through her closet to pack her suitcase. She knew there was no use in bringing many clothes, but there was one article that she was determined to find. She tossed hangers around her room, not caring nor considering how large of a mess she was making.

"What is going on?" her perky roommate stuck her head in the door before walking in completely with Cristina right behind her, "just making sure there are no naked brain surgeons flaunting their junk around for everyone to see it," she teased and looked around jokingly for Derek, only to be met with piles of scattered clothing.

"No, he should be here in a few hours," Meredith continued searching for the shirt that had no significant meaning other than the fact that Derek said it looked good on her.

"Why are you so..." Cristina pointed her finger in every direction and stared at her closest friend bewilderedly, "happy?" she asked as if it was the most unusual thing in the world.

"Is it not normal for me to be happy?" Meredith asked, already knowing the answer. "Derek and I are going away. Taking some time to ourselves,'' she explained and immediately recognized the concern on her friend's face. "Don't look at me like that Cristina, it isn't like that. It's...a weekend of sex,'' Meredith threw her hands up and dug through her third drawer in search of the ratty tee.

"A weekend of sex?'' Cristina restated and crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe and staring at Meredith judgmentally.

"Oooh, that could be fun!" Izzie jumped in, "there'll probably be roses and chocolate. Champagne,'' she attempted to bring Meredith back to the happy place that she was in before Cristina shut it down.

Meredith shook her head in a panic. "There will be no roses. No chocolate or champagne,' she corrected her. "Sex. Sex only!"

"Yeah right,'' Cristina commented. "Derek isn't the 'sex only' type of guy. You know that Meredith."

"Well I'm not the flowers and puppies and white picket fence type of girl and he knows that. I've been nothing but clear about our rules and he wouldn't...'' she shook her head. "It's just sex."

"If it were just sex you wouldn't have been smiling like you just won the lottery,'' Cristina pointed out. "Orgasms don't make anyone that happy.''

"Speak for yourself,'' Izzie's rebuttal earned her shocked stares from the two other women in the room.

"Look Mer,'' Cristina helped herself to the opened bag of potato chips on Meredith's bed and plopped down on it, not considering moving the clothes out of her way. "I want you two to work, and I know a part of you wants the same, but are you really gonna fool yourself into thinking Derek has the same look on things that you do. Him saying that he's willing to wait until you're ready and actually giving you the space and time that you need are two different things and you don't deserve to live in oblivion."

Meredith knew that there was truth in Cristina's words but she didn't want to admit it. She needed to believe that Derek heard her when she said she wasn't ready for a relationship. This weekend was supposed to be about venturing away from all the drama that consumed them in the past.

Derek took a much needed sigh of relief and the smile that was previously on his face when he ran into her near the elevator returned. He spent the entire duration of the ride fantasizing about the fun they were hours away from having. Their room was booked and their reservations were set, all that he needed was her.

His window unfogged with the wipe of his sleeve and Derek relied on the now clear reflection to make sure he looked presentable. He made an effort to conceal his readiness as he approached her door, taking a step up the porch and pulling his free hand out of his pants pocket to hold her bouquet of roses steadily. He knocked on the door once. Nothing.

"Meredith?'' he called out for heut again, Nothing.

"Mer!' The panic in his voice wasn't by choice, but stemmed from fear. He was already on edge worrying that she might bail, but the look of certainty in her eyes when he ran into her that afternoon made him think that it would all be fine. That she was finally growing up and making an effort to take steps in the right direction to eventually lead them to their happy ending.

"Meredith,'' he exhaled when the wooden door creaked open slowly, allowing him to see a portion of the house interior and the woman standing in front of him that was not the one he was looking for.

"She's not coming.''