Derek lifted his glass, only to realize it was empty. He shrugged and glanced at his wild party of four: his new semi-friend, his ex-best friend, his ex-wife and himself. He shrugged; it was the best he could do on such short notice. Richard wanted to stay with Adele and everyone else had been busy. He had even invited Alex and George. Alex had seemed interested, but pulled out when he heard Addison and Mark would be there, and George had been scheduled to work that night.
Looking around the small table he noted that one, everyone's drinks were low, and two, it was his turn to buy. He mumbled his intentions and got up to head towards the bar. He was almost not the least bit wobbly on his feet. They had only had two or three rounds so far. Maybe four, but no more than that. All in all, it did seem to be going well. It was nice to be out with these people again. Addison occasionally sent him concerned glances, likely from their conversation earlier, but seemed intent to let it go, which he was grateful for.
And then there was Mark. As much as he hated to admit it, he did miss his friend. And ever since that fateful day where Mark had sat beside him on the floor for an hour, not speaking, simply belaying his support...well, it seemed to Derek that they had turned a corner. He found himself less angry at Mark, less motivated to cut him out of his life. He wasn't ready to forgive and forget quite yet, but the alcohol was definitely making him think that maybe one day...
Upon reaching the bar, he signalled to Joe for another round. The bartender nodded and motioned it would be a few moments. It wasn't until he felt a form bump his elbow that he was aware of a presence beside him. He glanced sideways and nodded a polite greeting.
"Hi," the brunette beside him said, smiling.
"Hi," he returned, glancing at Joe to see if there was any progress on the drinks front. Joe was busily mixing some sort of drinks that Derek couldn't make out from the opposite end of the bar, but he definitely wasn't pouring beer.
"Can I buy you a drink?" She spoke.
He was taken aback by her question, unsure of how to respond. "Wow, that's very forward."
The brunette shrugged. "Bad day," she said. "I get to be forward today."
"I know the feeling," Derek said. "I've had a bad day too. I've actually had quite a few bad days..."
She smiled. "So, what do you say, one drink?"
Derek blinked, trying to gauge how the conversation had led him here. Maybe there had been more rounds than he originally thought...or maybe he hadn't eaten much today, making the alcohol to food ratio far higher than expected. He shook his head slightly and offered the girl a small smile. "I'm actually with some friends," he tried to let her off easy. "It's kind of a bachelor party."
She nodded. "That's too bad."
Derek suddenly felt compelled to continue. "And I'm kind of in love with my girlfriend." A smile came unwittingly to his mouth at his own words. He would never tire of using the word love in relation to Meredith. He would tell the whole world if he could...she would kill him, but he would still do so.
The brunette seemed taken aback. "Oh, I'm sorry, you just seemed... kind of sad."
"Like I said, I had a bad day, actually kind of a bad week...month...year." He muttered the last two. "For the most part, anyway."
The brunette laughed gently. "Trust me, I know the feeling, at least about the last week. I could give you a run for your money." Her tone had changed, he noted, from one of enquiry to more camaraderie. He may be somewhat intoxicated, but he was pretty sure she wasn't a threat.
Derek scoffed. "Oh yeah, give me your best shot."
Then, before brunette had a chance to respond, something hard collided with the back of his head. "Owe!" he cried out as he whipped his head around to meet the glare of his ex-wife.

YOU ARE READING
what i'm here for
Romance"Meredith runs, but this time let's derek find her.." MerDer from Susan's death to "yes" with all of the steps in between.