what i'm here for

Chapter 15: Small talk

His mind was fuzzy as it fought to stay in the recess of sleep, and it took all the cognitive ability he could muster in his mostly unconscious state for Derek to wonder why he was waking. Eyes still shut tightly, he tried to close off his mind, struggled to return to the unthinking recess of sleep. He was just about to drift back off into blissful oblivion when the answer came to him. At first he was confused by the dull static noise coming from an indiscernible direction, but he soon came to the realization that the noise was coming from the alarm clock. It must have been bumped off its set radio station and was caught trying to produce signal from a point between two radio waves.

He groaned and pulled closer to Meredith, burying his face in the back of her hair, hoping the noise, and attached connotation, would just go away. He tightened his already shut eyes, as if pretending he didn't need to get up made it true. The annoyance continued. Derek sighed. He was so tired. He just wasn't sleeping well these days. The noise was still there, and he knew he had to bite the bullet and get up.

It was then that he realized Meredith was wrapped tightly in his arms, the warmth from her body heating his. He frowned, trying to remember her coming home the night before. He couldn't. He took a deep breath and pulled away from her, lifting himself up on an arm and reaching across his still slumbering girlfriend to turn off the alarm. She didn't stir. He smiled.

Settling back down, he re-wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulling her closer, manoeuvring her so she was more on her back. He wiggled as close as he could possibly get, resting his head up, above her shoulder, his face nestled in against her cheek. His arms were still wrapped possessively around her small frame, and his legs were now threaded through hers.

"Mer," he whispered to no response. "Meredith." A little louder. "Time to get up." Even louder. She groaned and shook her head. He smiled and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Morning."

"Whhhatimeissssit?" She mumbled.

"Almost seven," he told her, knowing she had a shift at eight. The successful interns were being given two weeks off to recover from their year before they would be expected to take on their own batch of interns. And Meredith had just one shift left before her time off.

"I d'wanna go t'work," she muttered, turning her head into his, and pulling closer, her right hand finding one of his. "Stay here. Sleep."

He smiled. She could be so cute in the morning. "You have to go to work, Mer."

"Why?" Her eyes were still closed.

He smirked. "You can't miss your first day as a full-fledged resident, can you?"

This brought a smile to her face, and when she opened her eyes they were sparkling.

"There you go," Derek said.

She turned in his arms, her smile now directed at him. "Morning," she told him, finally returning the greeting. She leaned in, and their lips met for several seconds. When they pulled back, she sighed and let her head rest on the pillow, just inches from his. His slipped his fingers through hers.

"Yes, and speaking of mornings, when did you get home?"

"Late," was her answer. "You were out for the count. Didn't even flinch the whole time I got ready for bed."

He shrugged as best her could in the position. "I guess I was tired. I haven't been sleeping great."

"Everything okay?" She was concerned.

He nodded. "Fine, just a stressful week. Haven't gotten much sleep."

Her look darkened slightly. "Are you sure that's it?"