what i'm here for

Chapter 44: Seventeen

Even through the deep, all-consuming haze of sleep, Meredith knew she was being watched. A vague dream floated along her subconscious, enough to keep her active brain occupied during her body's need for replenishment, but not enough to keep her completely oblivious to the external world around her. And her sixth sense was slowly seeping into her subconscious, telling her she was being watched. Derek was fast asleep behind her, his chest heaving against her back with each deep, even breath he took. But, she would have known it wasn't him anyway. It wasn't his eyes that had settled on her sleeping form. He did enough night time staring that she had long grown accustomed to his soft gaze. This was someone else.

She sighed and shifted in his embrace and slowly opened her eyes, blinking twice to reduce the blur as three sets of familiar blue eyes came into focus, and for the second time in six months she found herself being scrutinized while waking in Derek's arms. Meredith exhaled sharply as the numbness of sleep dissipated immediately into the realization that Derek's sisters were all in their room, and for a vague, suspenseful second, she hoped that she was simply dreaming. She blinked again, longer this time, but they were still there, staring down at her.

"Wha-" Was as she could manage to verbalize as shock washed over her. Was this something families normally did?

"Out of bed, sleepy-head," Anna called. "You're coming with us."

The haze of sleep washed over her again as the shock began to wear off. It was early. There was no sunlight streaming through the window. Why would they get up in the early hours of the morning while on vacation? Was this some sort of newcomer initiation thing? Crap.

"Come on, Meredith," Kathleen wrenched her arm away from Derek's grip and gave it a gentle tug. "Up and at it."

"Where are we going?" She mumbled as she stretched her legs downward along Derek's and yawned. It was far too early to be awake. They hadn't headed to bed until after midnight, and she and Derek had definitely broken the rules twice before curling up together to sleep.

"Shopping."

"Shopping?" Her sleep muddled brain spun to make sense of what was happening. Seriously, there was a good chance she was dreaming.

Nancy nodded emphatically. "Black Friday. Now, get your ass out of bed."

Meredith blinked in confusion. Nothing was making sense. Really, they needed to let her sleep for a few more hours before they started using words like shopping. Meredith didn't go shopping. Meredith didn't like shopping. And she definitely didn't get up at god-awful early hours of the morning to go shopping.

"Okay," Kathleen stated. "Time for extreme measures." Meredith didn't have a chance to process her words before Kathleen had grabbed fistfuls of the comforter covering her and Derek, and flung it off of her.

As the cold morning air hit the bare skin of her arms and legs, Meredith became infinitely grateful she had demanded they cover up for their activities that night. Before going to sleep, she had tidied the piles of clothing flung suspiciously over the floor, and had pulled on a pair of sleep shorts and one of Derek's old tees that she loved to sleep in. Expertly ignoring his mumbling about her having far too many articles covering her body, she had tossed boxers and a tee shirt at him and refused to get back into bed before he dressed.
"You're far too paranoid," he had told her as he obediently pulled on the clothing.

"And you're far too lax. You're seriously lucky I relented."

He had smirked and pulled her close as she settled in bed beside him. "You weren't calling me lax half an hour ago."

"Derek!" She chastised with a laugh and swiped at his chest in the small space between them. But really, he was absolutely right. Even in her commitment to be perfectly quiet his hand and lips had both come down on her mouth many times to prevent someone else in the house from becoming aware of their activities