Where You Belong

88

The moment the bedroom door was shut behind them, Derek stepped up behind Meredith and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. He pressed his nose into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. "I love you."

She relaxed at his touch and leaned back against him. Her fingers closed around his forearms. "Mmm, you too."

He pressed one, two, three kisses to the soft skin at the crook of her neck and shifted to rest his chin there, rubbing his cheek against hers.

She pressed her cheek against his. "You're awfully clingy all of a sudden."

"I'm happy."

"Me too."

"I'm really, really happy," he added. "You're here. Things seem to be going well." Although the conversation that afternoon had centered mainly around him and his embarrassing moments growing up, he had enjoyed himself. Because she had enjoyed herself. She had been bright and happy the whole time. Dinner had been casual. A barbeque. Outside. He had watched her interact with the kids. She had been hesitant at first, but had been great with them. A natural. And even though he knew it was a long time away, he couldn't help but picture her with their kids. It made his chest ache because it was the last piece of the puzzle. Then he would have everything he could possibly want.

"Things are going well," she agreed. "Better than I expected." She paused, clutching at his arms a little tighter. "They're really nice. And they...they really seem to want to like me."

"They do like you," he assured. "I'm sorry I left you alone today."

"It's okay."

"I never meant for it to be so long."

Meredith turned in his arms, snaking her arms around his neck. "Really, Derek, it's okay. I think maybe it was good, actually. It forced me to...take the jump, or whatever."

He raised an eyebrow. "Jumping without me now?"

"I think sometimes I have to jump by myself." Her eyes welled, but she smiled. "Just not the big jumps. Those I save for you."

He kissed her. "Good."

She leaned back in his arms. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything."

"Your sister and Nathan... I don't want to push, but I feel like everyone else knows something I don't..."

He sighed and kissed her again, before releasing her and moving to sit on the bed, leaning up against the headboard. Without him having to say anything, she followed, curling up against him in a position that mirrored that of their talk the night before.

"Lauren's been a single mom for a long time. Emily's father..." He shook his head. "Lauren met him in her last year of college. They moved in together. He was...harsh. We didn't like him, but she loved him. She stopped coming to family events because he didn't want her to. He made her drop out of medical school, but we didn't know until she found out she was pregnant. Then she came home one day and he was gone. She was devastated. Didn't want anyone to know." He shook his head as he recalled finding his sister that day, almost ten years ago. After she hadn't made it to the umpteenth family gathering in a row, and wasn't answering his calls, he had gone looking for her.

She had answered the door pale and dishevelled, and he had had to push her to tell him what was wrong. She had sobbed in his arms as she told him she was pregnant and alone. That she hadn't been in school for months. He had helped her pack up her things, and he had taken her home. She had stayed with him and Addison for months.

"She stayed with us for a few months. And then he came back and asked her to take him back. Said he had made a mistake. She was about seven months pregnant, and didn't want to raise a baby alone. She took him back, despite how much we pushed her not to. She moved back in with him, had Emily. Things seemed to be okay. And then when Emily was almost a year old, she showed up on my doorstep." He paused as his jaw clenched in anger. "He'd been hurting her for months, years probably. And when he turned his anger towards Emily, she snapped and finally left him for good."