This one is for you

CHAPTER 61

On the day that we were suppose to leave Paris, Derek woke me up extra early in the morning, making me want to kick his ass if he didn't knelt beside the bed with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and his best McDreamy smile on his face.

"Good morning gorgeous!" He said cheerfully, offering me the coffee.

"You're too cheerful." I groaned as I sip the coffee.

"You need to wake up." He pointed out, kissing me quickly on the nose.

"What time is it?" I asked, still cuddled up in my blanket, and not wanting to leave the bed anytime soon.

"About seven." He shrugged, looking at his watch.

"And why am I up at seven?" I asked, raising my eyebrow, feeling a string of curses ready to release from my mouth.

"Because I have a surprise for you." He said, with an oh-so-joyful voice.

"Does it involve food?" I asked.

"Umm...after." He said thoughtfully.

"This better be good." I grumbled as I padded over to the washroom to get ready.


We were walking down Champs-Elysee, me wrapped in a sweater in Derek's arms. It was pretty sunny, which pierced my eyes, and I was slowly waking up from the cold crip air.

"Derek?" I whispered into his ears.

"Mmm?"

"Where are we going?" I asked in a raspy voice, putting little kisses along his earlobe.

"Nice try, but I'm not telling." He said with a glint in his eyes as he looked at me. I pouted and refused to look at him.

"What's so special about this place other than the fact that Mark nearly maxed out your card here a week earlier?" Remembering the shopping excursion I took with Mark, where we came back with arms loaded with so many bags from Armani, I thought I was going to fall over and die.

"Be patient. We're almost there." He chided me softly, pulling me in tighter, as if that was even possible.

"Is it a store? Cuz mister, in case you forgot your brain somewhere, these expensive boutiques don't like to open until the sun's down!" I retorted.

"Hush...don't get so worked up. You'll like it." Derek soothed, kissing my forehead lightly.

"I like sleep." I grumbled as we came slowly to a stop in front of a store.

"Derek, why are we in front of Mikimoto?" I asked, looking up at the gigantic sign.

"Because my surprise is here." He answered with a smile.

"When the store's closed?"

Then, a men in a dark suit opened the door from the inside. "Monsieur Shepherd? We're ready for you." He said with a polite smile.

Derek nodded and stuck his hand out for me to take, a challenging glint shining in his eyes. "How did you do that?" I asked, wide-eyed.

"Cuz I told them to." He said cockily as me led me into the store. We slowly did a tour around the store, me pointing and oohing and aahing over the pearls and jewelry as Derek stood beside me and asked the men to let me try them on.

"So, what's the surprise?" I asked with a smirk, when we ended the tour around the store.

Derek nodded to the men who was helping us and said, "Follow me."

We came to a side of the glass table and waited while the men came back with a small black leather case. He opened the case slowly, and sitting in the black velvet in the middle of the box, was a large black lipped culture pearl wrapped around the rest of the diamond ring. It was simple and elegant, and gave out a soft glow that was both enticing and soothing.

"Wow..." I could only whisper as my eyes grew big and stared at the pearl in awe.

"Meredith." Derek said, calling me back to him. I looked up and saw him gently take the ring out of the box. "Meredith, this ring...don't worry, it's not an engagement ring." He said with a chuckle, seeing the way my eyes grew bigger when he took the ring into his finger. "It's a promise ring. It's my promise to you that I will always love you, and protect you. It's my promise for my commitment to you, it's for you to keep. And it's a promise that someday, maybe someday in the future we will get married, and have a family. The first time I saw you, though it was not that pleasant, I was still drawn to you. And as I began to know you more, it became more clearer to me that you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, that you are the one I want. You're it for me, Mere, and I love you. And I know that we had our ups and downs, and I can't promise you that there won't be anymore in the future, but I'm going to try my damn hardest to make sure that you are loved, and that you are protected. So please, accept my promise."

He looked at me with eyes pure with love and admiration and respect. I reached my hand out, and touched the pearl with my finger, feeling the cold smoothness against my skin. I'm usually not someone who falls for money, jewelry and all that fake stuff. And I usually connect jewelries of any kind with girls who are too preppy that it's sickening. But the pearl was so calming and beautiful, I couldn't help smile as I took it from his hand and held it close to my face as I study it.

"Mere?" He asked, standing closer to me. I probably got lost admiring the pearl that I forgot his question. I looked up at him, a large smile widening my lips. "Yes! Yes!"

He quickly took me into his arms and kissed me hard on the lips. The kiss was passionate and emotional, it was a moment. We broke apart and Derek lay his forehead against mine. We stared into each other's eyes, as if we could see each other's soul. The men beside the table coughed politely in his throat, bringing us back down to earth again. Derek looked at him, and quickly fished out his wallet, and pulled out his card and slide it across the table.

"Ooops." I giggled, and leaned against his chest, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"Here." He took the hand resting on his chest, and slide the ring on my middle finger.

"Thank you, Derek." I said sincerely as I stared at me hand, studying the new look.

"But?" He asked, sensing my unfinished sentence.

"But don't you think it's kinda big? Half of my hand kinda disappeared....not that I'm complaining, I'm not complaining. I love it, but still, it's kinda big!" I said, giggling and rambling at the same time, something I'm very good at.

"It's okay. It's suppose to cover half your hand. I love you so much it's overwhelming." He said as he held me close and I moved my hand, watching the pearl's glow catch the light.

Derek signed the receipt and we walked out of the door, feeling happier than ever. It was a step, a large step for us in the good direction. I used to feel scared about these kind of steps, sometimes I don't even make it this far into a relationship. But with Derek, cheesy as it sounds, it felt right.

Derek wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I played with the pearl, catching the sunlight, making it shine even more. He watched me with a smirk on his face.

"You're not gonna stop playing with that thing, are you?"

"Nope." I said firmly, shaking my head with a smirk, as I figured out another way to make the ring shine.

"How about some food? Keep you distracted from the ring for a while." He suggested, tugging me towards a cafe down the street.

"You know people are going to see the ring right? It's so big, I think anyone across the room will see it." I said, following him in.

"That's why I bought the big ring, so that everyone will know that I love you, that you're mine." He whispered as we neared the hostess, who greeted us and her eyes immediately went wide as she saw my hand.

"Told ya."

The End.