Where You Belong

110

It was late afternoon when Derek pulled the rental car into his mother's driveway and shut off the engine. Meredith was dozing next to him in the passenger seat, as she had been for most of the drive. He reached his hand across the center consul of the car and rubbed his hand over her thigh. She didn't react.

He smiled softly at her, wishing he could let her sleep, or at least only have to wake her for the time it took them to get the car unloaded and get inside, but he knew that wouldn't be possible. His sisters had all already arrived, as evidenced by the multiple cars in his mother's driveway. They would all stay here tonight, and then at the resort hosting Lauren's wedding Friday and Saturday night. They had universally decided to come alone to their mother's house prior to the wedding and meet their respective families at the resort the next day. It gave the Shepherd sisters time to focus on Lauren's wedding and prevented the kids from missing school. Most would return to their respective homes Sunday, but Meredith and Derek were returning to Jane's house for Sunday night, and would then fly home to Seattle on Monday.

"Mer," he prompted quietly, rubbing his hand along her leg.

She sighed in her sleep, but didn't wake.

He paused for a moment before trying again. She had a right to be exhausted, as she hadn't slept much for the past couple days. The night after Thatcher had reappeared in her life she had tossed and turned for hours. It hadn't been until Derek had rolled into her and spooned her tight in his arms that she had slept. And the day before, with the ambulance crash, she had said her mind was too full to sleep. He had stayed up with her until she had finally grown tired.

Derek had woken early that morning and shut off the alarm before it woke his wife. He had quietly padded around the house, preparing everything he could before returning to the bedroom and waking Meredith with a soft kiss. She had been groggy when they left the house.

It hadn't been until they had arrived at the airport that Derek had realized how much anxiety he had about his wife and the trip. Knowing his anxiety was most likely unnecessary and hoping everything would turn out okay, he had tried to hide it from Meredith in an effort to not hurt her. But she had figured out what was bothering him on her own – he should have known she would – and she had rid him of any leftover anxiety in a matter of minutes.

She was truly amazing.

He smiled and lifted his hand from her thigh to cup her face, pausing a moment to marvel at how lucky he felt in this moment. She was beautiful and here and his. It still caught him off guard at times, taking his breath away. He had never been so happy with his life. "Mer," he murmured. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

She moaned.

"We're here," he announced softly.

Her eyelids opened, revealing the soft, green-grey eyes he loved.

"Morning, sleepyhead," he teased.

Despite her grogginess, she still managed to glare at him.

He laughed at her expression.

"We're here already?" She asked, her voice raspy with sleep.

He nodded. "And it looks like everyone else is already here, too." He motioned to the other cars parked around them.

Meredith blinked as she glanced at the rest of the driveway. "Okay. I guess we should...go in," she said, but didn't make a move to exit the car. She stared uncertainly at the house for a long moment. Derek stayed silent, giving her the time she needed to collect her thoughts. He understood her better now than ever, and knew that as much as she wanted to be here, it was still intimidating. She needed to not be rushed, as she handled things like this much better on her own terms. She had done wonderfully with his family during their first visit, and he knew she just needed to get over the hump of walking in and greeting everyone to be comfortable here again.