I Love You In a Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me Kind of Way

I Am Right Here

Beep Beep Beep

Derek and Meredith were awoken once again by the annoying sound of their alarm clock. It was Monday which meant back to work for the both of them, but only 4 more days till the Holiday Season was in full swing. Derek rolled over and wrapped his strong arms around Meredith, "Good morning," Meredith said kissing Derek's cheek. "Good morning beautiful," he said kissing her back. "You sure you're okay to go back to work? I'm sure you can take another day off, you never miss school anyways," Derek said concerned. "I'm fine, Alex said all the kids miss me," Meredith said looking into his eyes. "Okay, call me if you need anything at all. Even if all you need is a hug," Derek said. "I will, why don't we get around and then go get coffee," Mer said rolling out of bed. "Sounds good to me," Derek replied giving Molly some love. Derek walked downstairs and fed Molly while Meredith got dressed and then came back upstairs to get around while Meredith finished up. "What would be the point of makeup? I'm most likely not going to get through the day without crying," Meredith mumbled staring into the mirror. "Honey, you don't need makeup anyways, you're beautiful just the way you are. It's okay to cry too, your mother just died out of the blue," Derek said embracing her in a hug. "Thank you," Meredith said fighting back tears. "That's what I'm here for," Derek said kissing her head. They stayed there for a couple of minutes, Meredith didn't want to leave. She felt safe, she felt protected, she knew this is where she belonged. Derek didn't want to let her go, this is when he realized that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the woman who spilled her coffee on him on a Thursday morning. The one who rambled on and on about anything, the one who loved him just as much as he loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life protecting her and loving her.

Eventually they got around and went to the coffee shop where they met for their morning coffee. Derek dropped Meredith at school and went to work. Boy did he need to talk to Mark. "Look who decided to show up for work, how's Meredith?" Mark chimed as Derek walked over to his desk where he had a mountain of paperwork. "She's not fine, but she's not okay either. Her mother died of a heart unexpectedly while we walked down to the cafeteria. Meredith then got dehydrated and passed out and was in the hospital for the night. We cremated her mother and threw the ashes in the ocean. Then I moved in," Derek rambled. "Wow, I'm so sorry," Mark said not really knowing how to respond. "Oh and I have a question," Derek said staring at his computer. "Hit me," Mark said. "Well, I want to propose to Meredith, Christmas is in a week and I don't know if I should do it then or wait," Derek said. "Hmm... I don't think you should do Christmas, it's only a week away and from what you just told me happened last week I think Meredith is in a fragile state. You don't want to throw anything at her too quickly. Then I think that you guys should go on a vacation over spring break and then maybe propose in May or April..." Mark said. "Actually, Mark that sounds perfect thank you. Where should we vacation to though?" Derek asked tapping a pen on his desk. "What about somewhere like Omaha or Branson. Small but still has plenty of things to do," Mark replied after thinking a minute. "I'll look into it, thanks again brother," he responded. "No problem," he said walking back into the shop.

Meredith's students were quite excited to see her back at school, for a while she actually forgot about what had happened the last week. Her students gave her a big card to welcome her back and Izzie even brought in cookies. Meredith wasn't back to normal by any means she was still moping around and out of it all day. "You doing alright Mer?" Alex asked her at lunch. "I'm fine," Mer said poking at her food. "Don't tell us that you're fine, you have taken like 3 bites of your food. Mer, tell us the truth," Izzie said. "Well, this morning Derek and I had a moment, it was one of the moments where you just know that that's where you belong. You feel safe, ya know?" Meredith said still looking down at her food. "Okay, but what about you know, last week," Alex said. "I'm still freaked out about my mom of course. I mean she died out of nowhere. Nobody saw it coming," Meredith said. "Well, if you need anything come to my room or go to Izzie," Alex said putting a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks guys," Meredith said getting up.