Where You Belong

123

Derek jolted as the door to his office flung open. It hit the wall loudly and then shook on its hinges. He looked up to see his wife standing in the doorway, scowling darkly. "Are you ready to go home?" She practically snapped.

He stared at her for a moment, feeling his heartbeat slow back down to normal after the shock of her dramatic entrance, before glancing at the time. He hadn't expected her for another twenty minutes, at least.

"Uh, sure," he said carefully, looking back to Meredith, who was still scowling. She was dressed in jeans and a long sleeved top, her coat clutched in a ball under her arm. Her hair was pulled haphazardly into a ponytail and her eyes were red, making her look harried. He stood. "I didn't expect you this soon." It had become routine for Meredith to meet him in his office when she was finished with her sessions with Dr. Wyatt. He would finish with his patients and then go to his office to work on paperwork. She would get changed first and then meet him there. Sometimes they would talk through her session in his office, and sometimes, especially when she'd had a tough session, they'd wait and talk it through at home.

After several weeks of therapy, he was starting to understand better why she needed this. She had discussed each session with him, and eagerly accepted support and encouragement every time she needed it along the way. He had encouraged her to allow Wyatt to ask questions about her past. He had held her for an hour while she cried after struggling to tell Wyatt about just the basics of her childhood. He had laughed with her as she told him about trying to explain to Wyatt how she had called his mother while high on morphine when she had been suffering from appendicitis. He'd patiently listened to her rant when she was frustrated with the lack of progress.

This, however, was new. She'd never been angry before. She'd ranted in that rambling Meredith way that he couldn't help but find adorable, but she'd never looked like this.

"I didn't expect to be done this soon, either," she said flatly, not offering any more information.

He hesitated before continuing with, "Is there a reason-"

"I fired my shrink," she snapped, cutting him off. "I'm done with therapy. It's not helping."

Derek wasn't sure he agreed with her last statement, but he knew now was not the time to argue. She needed to calm down before she could discuss this. He reached for his coat. "Okay," he said simply.

"Okay?" She echoed. "That's all you have to say?"

He sighed, trying not to react to her mood. "What do you want me to say?"

"You just don't want to gloat that you were right. I never should have done this in the first place."

"I never said that."

She scoffed. "You've been against this whole thing from the start. You never wanted me getting therapy. Well, guess what? You get what you want. I'm not going anymore."

He didn't want to have this conversation here, but he wasn't about to let her twist his feelings and reaction into this. "Don't you put words in my mouth," he snapped, catching her by surprise. Her lips parted as if she was going to speak, but she didn't. Taking the opportunity, he walked up to her and placed one hand on each shoulder. "If you want to stop therapy, that's your decision. Just like it was your decision to start it. And I will support that decision, too. So don't you dare tell me I've been against this for a moment." The words came out harsher than he had expected, and clearly harsher than she had expected as well, as evidenced by the film of tears developing in her eyes. He sighed, and every ounce of frustration fell away. Despite her hesitance to tell Wyatt much about her past, she was slowly opening herself up to the therapist. He had noticed that even though she was more stubborn than usual, she was also more vulnerable. "Mer..."