Holiday in Handcuffs

Chapter 13

Derek could hear Meredith's bedroom door slam shut as he stood in the quiet hallway downstairs. The argument she had with her mother was still ringing in his ears as he stood there and contemplated what to do. On one hand he could enter the family room and inform Ellis that he was not Meredith's professor, that he hardly knew Meredith, and that all of this was one big misunderstanding. On the other hand, he could climb the stairs to Meredith's room and talk to her about everything and make sure she was OK.

Ellis' words to Meredith repeated in Derek's mind like a broken record. If he confronted Ellis now and told her the truth the situation would only get worse. And as mad as he was that Meredith got him into this situation, a part of him felt sorry for her that she had to endure such painful words and unnecessary grief from her mother at Christmas time. Ellis had told Meredith that she was incapable of loving. Although Derek couldn't see the reaction on Meredith's face in person when her mother uttered those words, her eyes when she rounded the corner and nearly ran into him spoke volumes of how her mother's words truly affected her.

Without another thought, Derek climbed the stairs and began making his way towards Meredith's room. Just as he reached out to open the door, Victoria appeared at the top of the stairs. She gave him a once over and then shook her head.

"It won't do you any good to go in there. She won't talk to you. She doesn't talk to anyone, except her weird friend, Cristina, when she and her mother have a fight. Meredith is a difficult person, Dr. Shepherd. She's selfish and spoiled. I'm surprised you haven't figured that out yet." She said with disgust as she pushed past him and and went into her room, leaving Derek alone in the hallway once more.

He took his hand away from the door and let Victoria's words sink in. For all he knew, Victoria could be right. But, then he remembered how rude and down right criticizing she had been during dinner. The comments she made about Meredith possibly making up some boyfriend for 2 years baffled him. He couldn't see Meredith, or anyone for that matter, do such a thing. But, then again, she had kidnapped him and brought him here. He wasn't sure, but he got the feeling that there was a lot more to this Meredith Grey than her mother and step-sister gave her credit for. Sighing to himself, he placed his hand back on the doorknob and decided not to rely on anyone's opinions but his own.

When he entered the bedroom, he could just make out Meredith's slender form as she lay across the bed in the dark. She was on her stomach, her face buried into her pillow. If it wasn't for the light sniffle he heard her emit, he would have thought she was asleep. He stood at the end of the bed and kicked his shoes off before climbing over the covers and lying next to her on his stomach. He lay his head on the soft pillow and turned to face her.

"Are you OK?" He asked softly as he peered at her through the darkness.

She replied by burying her face deeper into the pillow.

"If you want me to go back downstairs and tell your mother that despite the hot sex we're having you're still acing everything on your own, I will." He laughed.

Meredith pressed her face into the pillow even harder.

"Look, if you really want to suffocate yourself, can you please allow me time to exit the bedroom? I don't want to be witness to your suicide. It complicates things." He teased her.

"Stop it." Meredith replied, pulling her face from the pillow and turning her head away from him.

"Stop what?"

"Stop being nice to me. And stop pretending like you care." She muttered, shutting her eyes as a hot tear rolled down her cheek.

"What if I told you that I'm an extremely nice person and that it's in my blood to care?" He asked softly.

"Then I'd say you're full of shit." She whispered as she sighed wearily.

"Meredith." He breathed, willing her to look at him with his mind.

"What?"

He sighed and tugged softly at a strand of her hair. "Look at me."

"No." She stated adamantly.

"Please?" He begged.

"Why should I?" She asked. "I'm the reason you're caught in the middle of this mess. I held you here against your will. With a freaking water gun. Why don't you just get your bags and get the hell out of here already? I'm not going to stop you. Just.... go." She said sorrowfully as she fought back the tears in her eyes.

"I'm not going until we talk about this." He stated matter-of-factly.

"There's nothing to discuss." She replied.

"Yes, there is. You're mother thinks that I'm your professor and that we are dating. Your mother.... is a very well-known surgeon. She has connections, Meredith. She runs in the same circles as I do. All it would take is a phone call to one of my peers and I'm done. One phone call. That's it. My reputation is on the line here, too." He reminded her.

Meredith let out a grunt of frustration. "You're just like her!" She growled. "All you're thinking about is how YOU are going to look. How typical!"

"That's not fair, Meredith. You brought me here against my will, without any plans on your part, I might add." He replied. "All I'm asking you to do is face me and help me figure out how we're going to resolve this."

"There's nothing to resolve, Derek. Just get your bags and get the hell out." She grumbled. "Why are you even wasting your time trying to make me feel better? Why do you even care?" She asked as she turned her head to face him. "You don't even know who I am." She said as her eyes sought his in the darkness.

There had been a moment. One fleeting moment when Derek felt the urge to kiss her. She had turned her head to look at him and when her blue-green eyes finally landed on his in the darkness of the room, his mind went blank and the urge to kiss her had come at him full force. He didn't even know where that feeling came from, or why, but he managed to push it down deep enough to where he wouldn't be able to feel it again.

What was happening to him? What was it about the look she had given him that made him suddenly want to feel her lips on his? He was vaguely aware of the tingling in his fingertips as he fought to keep his mind from wondering how her hair would feel between his skilled surgeon hands.

Stop it. He told himself. Stop it right now.

In the next moment, the feeling was gone and he was staring back at Meredith with a blank expression on his face as she continued to stare at him. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she peered at him through the darkness. Her voice slapped him back to reality as she shifted on the bed and lifted her head.

"All you know about me is that I'm a crazy not-so-great kidnapper, that I'm Ellis Grey's daughter, and that I don't get along with any of my family members." She said to him as she leaned against her elbow and rested her head in her hands.

Derek smiled a little as he shifted his position on the bed so that his body mirrored hers. "Well, maybe we should change that, then." He said softly as he looked her right into the eyes.