Ever The Same

44

Today had to be one of the worst days that Derek had had in awhile. He had gotten yelled at by Meredith too many times to count and it was barely noon. She seemed to be following him around the house, criticizing everything that he did, even telling him that he was breathing too loud and giving her a headache. He wasn't exactly sure where this had come from. The day before she had been in a perfectly good mood, and she did have her days, but today was especially bad.

Bad to the point that he was now avoiding his wife, and going into another room when he heard her footsteps and mumbling as she walked around the house, apparently correcting everything that he had done wrong. Now all he was trying to do was fold the towels in the bedroom, and get them put away before Meredith could come upstairs and yell at him for not putting the dishes back in the cabinet facing the right direction.

"Derek!" Meredith called, her footsteps coming closer, causing Derek to curse to himself.

"I'm almost done...I'll be right down." He called back, hoping she wasn't coming into their room.

"Okay." She replied, walking into their bedroom.

"Hi." Derek said, straining to put a smile on his face.

"What's taking so long?" She asked, reaching for a magazine on the bedside table, before sliding down onto the bed.

"I just got up here." He replied.

"No you haven't but it's not a big deal." Meredith groaned, opening her magazine.

"I'm almost done." Derek sighed, stacking the towels and sheets on top of their dresser.

"Okay."

"Did you need something?

"No." Meredith replied, her face focused on her tabloid magazine. His sisters had suggested magazines as a way to get her to sit down and enjoy herself.

"Do you want some lunch when I'm done with this?" Derek asked.

"I don't care."

"Well, are you hungry?" He groaned.

"I'm always hungry."

"Then I'll make lunch."

"Do you think Jennifer Aniston is pretty?" His wife asked out of nowhere, looking up from her magazine.

"Do I what?" Derek asked, turning around to face her.

"Do you think Jennifer Aniston is pretty?" She asked, looking at him innocently.

"I...Yeah. Sure." He shrugged.

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Nothing...." Meredith asked, looking at her pager on the night stand.

"Mer...What's going on?" Derek asked, putting down the towel he was folding.

"So when you say she's really pretty...."

"She's pretty."

"So in an alternate world if I didn't exist, would you have sex with her?"

"Seriously?"

"It's just a question."

"Isn't she married?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay."

"So if I never existed....would you fuck her?" Meredith asked again.