Secret smile

55

He was happy. He was actually really honestly and deeply happy. He couldn't stop being happy. Not since his date two days before, the date that had been so perfect on so many levels that he wasn't exactly sure he had wrapped his head completely around it yet. He had had a perfect date. He had this amazing date, possibly the best date of his life, with the woman he had adored for months. Meredith Grey was no longer Derek Shepherd's best friend, that just sounded ridiculous. Now, she was the woman he adored, the woman he wanted to go on more dates with, the woman whose breathy, drunken giggle had kept him up all night and nearly caused him to orgasm well before she had gotten a chance to put her lips around him. The date had been completely incredible.

He had been so afraid that it would be awkward. They knew each other too well, he was too out of practice, it was too soon. He had been so stressed out about how badly it could have gone. And it had been awkward, at first everything about them had been awkward. And then something had changed and he couldn't stop smiling about it. His date with Meredith had been amazing.

Over the last two days, she had been beyond busy and he had barely gotten to see her. But he had talked to her, he called her as often as he possibly could, and he loved hearing her voice, loved hearing her giggle when she accused him of stalking. She had had a great time too. That night, after they had fooled around like teenagers who had broken into the liquor cabinet, she had told him she had loved the date, that she wanted another one, if he did. He loved the way her face lit up when he had agreed. By then most of her make up was gone or smudged. The perfectly curled hair from earlier was a complete mess and the dress was on the floor but the way her face had lit up when he had kissed her gently and said they definitely needed a second date, he was pretty sure it was the most beautiful she had looked all night, even if her eyes had been slightly out of focus.

He couldn't believe how long it had taken him to see it, to realize it. Meredith was gorgeous, she was incredible, and he wanted nothing more than to date her, really date her and be her...something. He wasn't even sure why the thought kept creeping into his head. But he was head over heels for her, he couldn't stop thinking about her, about the smile on her face, the smile he had never seen. She had been happy. Meredith Grey, who had never had a date before, had been happy. He had been trying to make her that happy for the better part of a year and if he had known that was it would take...well he hadn't actually been ready for this before. He still wasn't sure if he was. He didn't even know how to be ready for this. He just knew he needed another date with her. He knew he looked like an idiot. Mark was next to him, fishing in silence, but every once in a while, Derek could feel his brother's eyes on him, definitely thinking he was an idiot. Or a chick. But Derek didn't care. After the perfect date, after holding Meredith in his arms all night, he didn't care if he was an idiot or a chick. All he cared about was...Meredith. He cared about Meredith and seeing her happy.

He needed to figure out a second date. He wasn't exactly sure what second date protocol was, because it had been eons since he had done it but he wanted to see her again. There was nothing new in wanting to see her, he always did but this was different. Since the date everything had been different and now he just wanted to watch her giggle and smile and he needed to kiss her. Right now, Derek wasn't sure how he had ever lived without her kisses. Any of them, because Meredith had a lot. She had the soft little kisses she gave him when she was just waking up. Or the quick kisses when she was in a hurry to leave. Or the soft sensual kisses that took his breath away. He needed all of them, which meant he had to figure out second date protocol as quickly as possible.

"Mark?" Derek asked, clearing his throat slightly. This was weird. Mark Sloan wasn't generally the guy you went to for dating advice.

"Yeah?"

"You and Lexie, you're a couple. You go on dates."

"Yeah," Mark shrugged.

"And you went on dates when you first started going out, right? There was a first date and a second date."