Trapped in my head

Chapter 8

As Andrew reached the room he gently knocked against the door before entering it, trying not to smile about the fact how much it smelled like her in here. "Hey." He said softly, making her look up. She had tears strains on her cheeks and her hands seemed to be shaking terribly. "A-Andrew." She stammered, trying to wipe her cheeks dry and appear a little more presentable.

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking a step towards her and placing the bouquet of flowers on the dresser. "Just a little nervous." She said, trying to laugh but failing horribly. He could see that she was scared. "Can I sit down?" he asked, pointing at the edge of the bed next to her and as she nodded he carefully sat down. "It's okay to be nervous Mer." He said, gently leaning sidewards so that their shoulders were touching as he hoped that some physical contact would calm her down a little.

"I just- I don't know how dates work I- I don't want to ruin everything." She admitted quietly, fidgeting with her hands on which her gaze was fixed as well. "Meredith, there is no- definition of dates. We're going to have dinner together and we'll talk, get to know each other a little better and afterwards we'll see what happens." He said, trying to make her a little more comfortable. "What could happen after dinner?" she asked silently, making him chuckle. She was cute. It wasn't her fault that she didn't understand nor picked up on simple social activities or cliches like dates or similar events so that he was willing to explain it to her.

"I don't know, if we decide that we're tired and dinner was already exciting enough I'll bring you home, if we decide we don't want to end the night yet we could go on a walk. Whatever we want." He said, looking at her from the side. She nodded, before turning her head to look up at him. Even though she seemed to be unexperienced in terms of dating she was somehow, probably even unintentionally, very good at flirting. Just like all those days before they had gotten stuck in that elevator together she had been teasing him, smiling at him but still managing to push him away so that from the outside it didn't seem to him as if she was unexperienced when it came to dating. It was cute though, very adorable and he somehow liked it. It was as if she had build up a wall around her that separated the surgeon Meredith at work from the private Meredith that struggled with anxiety and scrunched her nose up when she was sleeping. And just by spending a few hours with her he had been able to pull that wall down and get to know her a little better. And he couldn't wait for them to get even closer.

"Ready?" he asked, standing up and smiling at her, being able to trigger a smile to appear on her face as well. "Yeah." She gave back, making sure that the massage balls were in each of her pockets. "By the way, you look very beautiful." He whispered, smiling even brighter now that she blushed. She was wearing a white blouse with a beige fabric pants while her hair was falling loosely around her shoulders in soft waves. "Thank you." She mumbled, looking down as she was a little embarrassed about how red cheeks were getting.

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"So, I've been wondering the whole time what you might picked from the menu I send you. A salad? Pasta? Or a pizza?" he asked as they were sitting in the car and he was driving to the restaurant Meredith had chosen from his list. "A pizza. A simple pizza margarita." She said, smiling at him from the passenger's seat. "Pizza margherita is simple but for sure the best pizza." Andrew gave back.

"La Pizza Margerita è la regina di tutte le pizze!" (pizza margherita is the queen of all pizza) they both said at the same time, looking at each other surprised before breaking into laughter. "I love that commercial it's so funny." Andrew said, smiling brightly. "Yes! It's an amazing commercial. It led me to try pizza for the first time and I absolutely fell in love within a matter of seconds." She chuckled, starting to relax more and more. "You know what I'll take a margherita too. Nothing goes above a simple pizza margherita." He said, more than happy with how the evening was going so far. After Meredith had been uncomfortable and nervous in the beginning she was now laughing and seemed to be enjoying everything so far.

And throughout the rest of the evening it only seemed to get better. To Meredith it felt as if they had know each other for years and she felt bad for trying to avoid going on a date with Andrew for so long.

After dinner he helped Meredith back into her coat before gently taking her hand and leading her outside. "What about we take a walk through the park?" he asked, smiling at her as he noticed how she leaned her shoulder against his while walking. "Sounds good." She whispered, taking a deep breath and looking around. It was dark, although the moon was shining and the streetlights were spending some light it was still dark what scared her a little. Andrew seemed to notice that she was trembling a little so that he took off his jacket and laid it around her shoulders since he wasn't cold anyways and she seemed to need it. "You okay? I can also drive you home Mer." He said as they stopped on top of a bridge over the small lake going through the park. "No, I'm fine. I really liked having dinner with you." She said, smiling up at him adorably.

"I liked having dinner with you too." He said, carefully stroking her hair out of her face and cupping her face. He wanted to kiss her but he wasn't sure if she would want that too nor if she would be okay with it. "Can I kiss you?" he asked quietly, smiling even brighter as he saw her biting her lip but as she nodded he then leaned in, carefully pulling her into a long and passionate kiss.

"Wow." He said after they pulled apart again. It had felt so amazing, so perfect. Just- right. "Can I ask you something Mer?" he asked, smiling at her lovingly. She had been very gentle and shy while kissing him so that he just needed to ask her. "Mhm." She nodded, her cheeks bright red but she was also smiling. "Was that your first kiss?" he asked, stroking her soft cheek.

"It was bad right? Did I do something wrong?" she asked, starting to panic but Andrew quickly took a step closer to her, laying his arms around her waist. "No, not at all. It was amazing Mer. I just wanted to know." he replied. Somehow the fact that this had been Meredith's first kiss ever had made everything even more magical and perfect. "Did you like it?" he asked, trying to make sure she was comfortable. "Yeah." She smiled, her cheeks getting even redder now. "Good, me too." Andrew gave back, leaning in again, pulling her in for a second kiss full of sparkle and love.