Perfect strangers

Chapter 8

Today was the day. Today Mark and Lexie would become husband and wife. All the blood, sweat and tears had come down to this day and it would all be worth it in the end.

"Hey Meredith." Susan said as she stuck her head into Meredith's room.

"Susan, come in." Meredith said as she towel dried her hair. "Is everything alright? Is Lexie ok?" She asked before she went to sit down at her dressing table.

"She's having a little freak out but she will be fine. I just wanted to come and check on you, I felt like I haven't seen you in ages." Susan said as she lowered herself down onto the bed.

"Oh yeah I'm sorry work has been crazy and I've been spending a lot of time with De..." Meredith stopped herself before going to brush her hair.

"Meredith, I'm not stupid I know you're seeing someone, Lexie told me." Susan laughed as Meredith turned to her with wide eyes. "It's good, really good, you needed something other than work."

"Yeah." Meredith smiled at the thought of seeing Derek all dressed up in his suit later. "It's still quite new though and I don't want to rush it but..."

"You really like him." Susan said finishing off her sentence and watched as Meredith nodded her head. "Well, I will leave you to finish getting ready. Lexie just sent me up here to tell you that the hair stylist and make up artists will be shortly."

"Yeah, I'll be down soon." Meredith said, smiling at Susan as she walked over and squeezed her shoulder before walking out of the room.

Whilst Meredith wasn't the biggest fan of weddings, she was glad to see Lexie happy. Not only was she going to marry Mark, she was going to be a mother, all her dreams were coming true.

Meredith quickly dried her hair before throwing on a pair of shorts and one of Derek's tops before heading downstairs. But before she could get into the kitchen she was stopped in her tracks as the doorbell rang and she turned to answer it.

"Derek." Meredith smiled as she stepped outside with him and closed the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to drop the flowers off." He said holding up the box of flowers. "And to do this." He said as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

"Hmm, I needed that." Meredith said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Stressful morning?" Derek asked as he brushed her hair out of her face, smiling at her natural waves.

"Don't even ask. I mean I managed to escape for a shower so, but I've still got to get back in there and get ready." She said waving her hand up and down her body.

"Well I think you look perfect." He said eyeing her up and down. "Especially in this top." He ran his fingers across the bottom of the top and let his fingers graze across her stomach.

"You would say that." Meredith smirked at him as she heard cheering and laughing coming from inside. "I should get back in there, so I will see you later." She said grabbing his chin and pulling him in for a kiss before taking the flowers out of his hand.

"You will indeed." He said heading down the steps. "Save me a dance." He turned and pointed at her, walking backwards smiling at her.

"Of course." Meredith waved at him as he climbed back in his car and watched as he drove off before making her way back into the house and through to the kitchen.

"Meredith where have you been!" Lexie exclaimed as the hair stylist was curling her hair.

"I went for a shower." Meredith frowned. "Then Derek turned up with the flowers so I went to grab them." She said as she placed the flowers on the side.

"Well, at least you're here now." Lexie sighed. "Now sit, it's time for you to get your hair done." She waved her arms at the chair and waited for Meredith to sit down.

"Alright, alright." Meredith rolled her eyes before collapsing down into the chair, smiling as she saw Susan laughing and shaking her head.

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Meredith wasn't even sure what happened, the whole morning had been beyond crazy. But now here she was her hair falling down in loose curls past her shoulder, her make up was light and the green dress hugged her body perfectly. So here they were driving to the church.

"You ready Lex?" Meredith asked as the car pulled up outside the church.

"Yeah...I mean yeah." Her hand going down to rest on her stomach.

"Are you feeling sick?" Meredith frowned towards her and placed her hand on her back.

"No, just nervous." She said taking a big deep breath in. "Right, let's go." She said nodding towards Meredith.

"Let's go." Meredith said holding her hand out as she stepped out of the car to help Lexie out.

"Oh Lexie." Thatcher said as he walked over to them, pulling a tissue out of his pocket and dabbed at the tears that were streaming down his face. "You look gorgeous."

Over the years Meredith had formed a relationship with her father but it was still far from perfect. So she decided to leave Thatcher and Lexie to have their moment before the they followed her into the church.

The music was playing and Meredith was just waiting for her signal to go. Her stomach was doing flips, she hated having all the attention on her so walking down this aisle with everyone staring at her was the last thing she wanted to be doing.

But before she had any time to think about it the doors open and everyone turned to stare at her. She took a deep breath in before starting to walk down, her eyes immediately meeting Derek's as he smiled at her. That was the encouragement she needed as she smiled back at him and kept her eyes on his as she continued to walk down until she reached the bottom and turned to go and stand in her spot.

Molly, Sarah and Elizabeth, two of Lexies best friends were next to walk down the aisle and stand next to Meredith before the music changed and Lexie finally walked down the aisle.

Whilst everyone else turned to watch Lexie walk down the aisle, Meredith couldn't take her eyes off Derek. Green clashing with blue as they continued to stare at one another.

The whole ceremony was beautiful. Their vows were perfect, not a single person had a dry eye once they were finished. So here they were, walking down the aisle hand in hand as husband and wife.

Meredith and Derek walked over so they were stood side by side as they followed Mark and Lexie down the aisle. He held his arm out and allowed her to wrap her arm with his as they moved closer to one another.

To anyone else it looked innocent but both Carolyn and Susan had picked up on the stares between the two of them and the way they were immediately drawn to each other.

"So are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Susan said as she stepped next to Carolyn and nodded her head towards Meredith and Derek's retreating figures.

"Oh, definitely." Carolyn smiled and turned towards Susan.

This was the beginning to the rest of their lives, not just for Mark and Lexie but for Meredith and Derek as well.