invisible string

year 16

Life was really strange for Derek right now. Most every night he was going out, he had never done that before, but now, apparently he was. He found himself needing to. Because Meredith was going out every night. At some point in the past couple of years Meredith had turned into the most gorgeous woman alive. When he left for college she was a pretty and cute fifteen year-old. Then after he left, she had gone through an angry pink hair and black clothes phase. Before their fight, she was a cute girl with hot pink hair and black clothes, but that's not what she looked like now. Now her hair was back to being blond and she wore normal college girl clothes and she had given up the thick eyeliner. She had grown up and everyone who saw her could see that she was completely beautiful.

But part of her phase that she hadn't grown out of was the partying. She liked partying just about as much as Mark did, and she liked sleeping with strangers the same amount, and that thought made Derek sick. He had no idea when it happened but the thought of any other guy touching Meredith made him want to throw up. And then kill the guy. So he would go out with Meredith. When Meredith went out with Derek, she never went home with any other guy. Instead she would end up asking Derek if she could crash at his place because she hated her roommate. Then she would fall asleep curled up next to him on his bed.

He couldn't say he necessarily disliked their pattern. He loved hanging out with Meredith and having Meredith curled up next to him made his chest tighten but he wasn't sure if it was a sustainable way of living. He really didn't like going to parties, they were way too loud. And he was sure that at some point Meredith would find Derek to be too boring. But for now, the partying worked for them and it's not like Meredith disliked him. In fact, she had recently informed him that he was going to go to Columbia for med school. He had no choice in the matter, and he didn't really want one. If Meredith wanted him around, there was no way he was going to say no.

"Derek, drink." She said as she held out a red solo cup that had a small amount of a clear liquid that he hoped but not too optimistically was water.

"What is it?" He asked as he sniffed it, figuring out that it definitely wasn't water.

"umm..." She paused to think. "Vodka I think."

"Well, as kind as it was for you to get me this mystery drink, I think I'm going to go get a beer." Derek smirked.

"Coward." She rolled her eyes.

"That may be, but I'm still not drink that." He laughed and walked away. By the time he got back some guy was already talking to Meredith.

"Hey Mer." He said as he walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Oh is this your boyfriend?" The guy asked.

"No." She answered quickly, "He's my- we're not dating."

"Ok, well." He eyed Derek, "I'm going to go back to my friends, nice meeting you." The guy said as he disappeared into the party.

"Ok, what was that." Meredith said as she turned to Derek.

"What?" He asked a bit confused.

"The whole peeing all over me thing." She said then grimaced at her choice of words.

"Ew." Derek responded with a frown.

"I- not my best wording, but you saw me talking to that guy so you put your arm around me and glared at him until he left." She said.

"Oh I-" He trailed off not really knowing how to respond. Meredith looked at him expecting an answer. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't really say that the thought of that guy touching her made him want to do something that would land him in prison. "I just didn't like that guy."

"Do you know him?"

"No." He answered.

"So how do you know you don't like him?" She asked.

"I just didn't." He said as she eyed him carefully.

"i- ok. Want to dance?" She asked.

"Sure." He gave her a small smile as they walked slowly towards the living room of the house. She stood close to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and moved slowly to the music, not looking him in the eye. They had never done this before. They had danced but it was more Meredith jumping up and down while Derek moved sheepishly mostly laughing at Meredith's jumping. But now Meredith was standing inches away from him, and was dancing like he had never seen her before. She always got lost in her own world when she danced but now she was inviting him with her. After the song was over, Meredith said quietly, "I'm tired, I think I'm going to head home."

"Are you crashing at my place again?"

"No." She shook he head. "Back to the dorm."

"Oh, ok." He responded as he lead her out of the house. "I'll walk you home."

"Okay." She smiled. They walked for about ten minutes in silence until they reached her dorm building. "This is me."

"I know." He laughed lightly.

"Okay so..." She said chewing her lip.

"See ya tomorrow." He responded.

"Yea, see ya." She responded not turning to go in.

"Okay." He said, then she stepped forward and quickly pressed her lips against his then walked into her building. He had no idea what just happened. Actually, he did. He was pretty sure Meredith had just kissed him but that really didn't sound right. Meredith didn't kiss him, that wasn't what they did. They hugged and sometimes held hands but they definitely didn't kiss. Meredith didn't kiss boys. Well, he actually assumed she did, but he assumed that when she kissed boys they were generally naked and strangers. But she had pressed her lips against his. Why did she do that? He couldn't even begin to figure out a good answer to that.