Can't Help Falling in Love

36

"What time is it?" Meredith mumbled as Derek stirred beside her the next morning.

"Six thirty," Derek whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Go back to sleep, I'm just getting in the shower."

"No," she sighed, sitting up. "You...have to go to work."

"I know," Derek smiled. "But you don't have to wake up. I'll call you on my lunch break."

"It's okay," she sighed, sitting up. "You go take a shower. I'll...make breakfast or something."

"Please don't," Derek laughed.

"I think I can pour cereal into a bowl," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Get in the shower. And brush your teeth before you kiss me again."

"Bossy," Derek laughed as he slid out of bed and moved towards the bathroom, the water starting a moment later.

Meredith giggled as she reached for one of his t-shirts. "Just shower, Dr. Shepherd," she giggled. She walked into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, turning to look into their small living room as she did so.

Their apartment was small, but they didn't need much room. They'd bought a couch and TV, and Derek had insisted on purchasing a leather recliner, ignoring Meredith's protests that he was never going to be home to sit in it. Their kitchen table, too small to actually fit in the kitchen, sat beside the island counter that divided the kitchen from the living room, and their bedroom door peeked open from beside the TV on the other side of the room. She sighed as she settled down at the table, looking at the pictures of Europe that Derek had developed and framed the day after they'd moved in.

She'd lived here for less than a week, but she already felt more at home here than she had anywhere else. She and Derek had made this apartment their own, and she completely loved it.

"Hey," Derek sighed as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head on his way into the kitchen.

"You nervous?" she asked as she watch him place a frying pan on the stove and pull a carton of eggs out of the fridge.

"A little," he sighed. "It's just my first shift, though. I'll run labs, learn my way around the hospital. Probably nothing too major. They'll just torture us unmercifully, make sure we know we're nothing."

"Hmm," Meredith nodded, moving to stand beside him and wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder as he cracked the eggs into the pan. "And you'll be home tomorrow night?"

Derek smiled as he leaned into her comforting warmth. He still couldn't believe that the word home was associated with Meredith, and would be forever. "Wednesday morning," he corrected with a sigh. "Forty eight hours."

"Which sucks," Meredith frowned.

"It won't be so bad when you're back at work," he smiled, scooping some scrambled eggs onto a plate for her, then one for himself. "What are your plans for the next couple days?"

"I have a meeting with the other teachers in my unit tomorrow," she said. "I'll probably go in tomorrow, air out my classroom and set everything up."

"Good," Derek nodded. "Every free moment I have...I'll call you."

"Well that will be awkward to explain to my date tonight," Meredith giggled, moving to the table.

"Not funny," Derek frowned.

Meredith sighed as she watched him shove the last of his eggs into his mouth. "I'll miss you," she admitted quietly.

Derek smiled as he reached to pour his coffee into a travel mug. "I'll miss you too," he said. "You want to meet for lunch tomorrow?"