Where You Belong

73

When Meredith awoke that morning, she did so smiling. It was early – the sun was just starting to rise into the sky – and she had the day off. Normally on days like this, where her internal intern alarm woke her up far earlier than necessary, she would grumble and complain to herself before rolling over and burying her head under her pillow as she struggled to get back to sleep.

But not today.

Today she woke up smiling even though it was crazy early and she didn't need to be up for hours. Because today she awoke with a ring on her finger and the arms of the man she loved wrapped tightly around her middle. His bare chest was pressed against her back, and she could feel his every exhale brushing through the hair on the back of her head.

If she could wake up feeling like this every morning, she would never feel the need to sleep in again.

She stretched her stiff legs down, brushing against the front of Derek's knees and shins. He groaned in response and shifted behind her as he too began to wake. "What time is it?" He asked, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep.

"Early," she mumbled, turning in his arms so she was facing him, settling with her head and left arm resting on his chest as he rolled onto his back. "Really early."

He closed his arms around her again and pressed a kiss against the top of her head. "Why are you awake?"

"I don't know."

He ran his hand along her bare back. "You should sleep. It's not like we got much sleep last night..."

Meredith smiled at his words. There had been a lot of celebrating the night before. They couldn't have gotten more than a couple short hours of sleep. "Hmm, good point."

Derek ran his fingers along her left hand, feeling for the ring, before lacing their fingers together. "Still a yes?"

She smiled. "Still a yes."

He pressed a second kiss against her head. "Good."

Meredith giggled. "What would you do if I said no?"

"I'd have to convince you to change your mind..."

She lifted her head to meet his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "And how might you go about doing that?"

He rolled them over so he was hovering over her, his lips inches from hers. "Probably do something like this," he whispered, kissing her hard.

"Sounds good to me," she mumbled when the kiss was eventually broken.

Derek cocked his head and smirked, "But I don't have to change your mind, because it's still a yes, right?"

She reached her hands into his hair. "Let's pretend for a couple minutes I'm unsure."

He gave her a look. "It'll be way more than a couple of minutes."

Meredith giggled. "I so didn't mean it like that."

"I guess I'll just have to prove it to you."

"I guess you will..."

When Meredith awoke the second time, it was to someone banging against the bedroom door. "No..." she mumbled, burying her head into Derek's chest. "Make it stop."

"It's your friend," he mumbled back.

"How do you know that?"

"Because your cell phone already rang."

She groaned and shouted, "Go away."

"I'm giving you ten seconds to open the door," Cristina's voice came from the hallway, "And then I'm coming in. And Izzy and Alex said they could hear you this morning, so I know you're naked." There was a pause. "Ten seconds, Mer. I'm serious."