Falling in Love with You | A Merder Story

The First Date

"You're hovering," Meredith said to Derek who was standing next to her while she was putting books in her locker. 

"I'm not," Derek said. 

"Dude, just ask her out already," Meredith's friend Alex said, who was standing on the other side of Meredith. 

"Dude, don't call me dude," Derek said. "I barely know you." 

"Whatever, dude," Alex said as he walked away. 

"You know, if you want it in good with me, you have to be in good with him, too," Meredith said as she shut her locker door and started walking. 

"Yeah.. I know he's your person or whatever," Derek said. 

"He's all I had growing up. His parents are dead beats and my mom was never around.. so we were there for each other," Meredith said. 

"Go out with me," Derek said. 

"Were you even listening to anything I just said?" Meredith asked.

"Go out with me, and we can talk about your life and everything that I don't already know about you. Come on, it'll be fun," Derek said. 

"Derek..," Meredith said. 

"Meredith," He said back. 

"Fine. We can go out," She said. 

"I have practice tonight, but if 8 isn't too late, I can pick you up and we can go eat somewhere," Derek said. 

"8 is fine," Meredith said. "I will see you then," She said as she walked into her class. 

"You're swooning," Derek's friend Mark said as he caught up with Derek who was walking to his class. 

"I'm what?" Derek asked. 

"Swooning," Mark said. "You're falling in love," 

"So what if I am?" Derek asked. 

"You got a future in the NFL man.. you can't let her ruin that for you," Mark said. 

"Who even knows if this is going to last that long," Derek said, knowing that she would last long. 

"You're right," Mark said. "You're you, I forgot that you don't know how to deal with relationships," he said before him and Derek walked into their class.

As the day went on Meredith finished her classes and headed home, while Derek stayed after school for football practice. 8:00 came a lot faster than Meredith thought it would. 

Meredith heard the doorbell ring. She answered it. 

"Hey." Derek said as Meredith opened the door. 

"Hi." Meredith said as she stepped out to lock the door. 

"You look.." Derek said. 

"Thank you," Meredith said with a slight smile. "You're not bad yourself. I never thought I would see Derek Shepherd out of a lettermen's jacket." 

"Yeah.. I never thought so either," Derek said. "We should probably get going, I made the reservation for 8:30." 

Meredith and Derek arrived at the restaurant and started talking, immediately. 

"So, tell me about you and.. Alex Karev, is it?" Derek asked. 

"We met in 2nd grade, he was the kid that sat alone and didn't have many friends. His parents ended up buying the house next door to mine, and we've been friends ever since," Meredith said. "Tell me about you and.. Mark Sloan, is it?" 

"Mark is like a brother to me. We grew up together. He never really had a family, so my mom and dad in a sense took him in. He gets along with my family well, and my sisters adore him," Derek said. 

"How nice," Meredith said. "So, you're kinda a hot shot, why would you ever want to go out with me?" She asked. 

"Hot shot?" He asked. "I'm really not. Just because I'm good at football and have good hair, doesn't mean anything. I don't consider myself a hot shot at all," He responded. 

"I hear things.. I hear a lot of things, that I don't necessarily want to hear, I've heard a lot of things about you. But, so far.. none of those things that I've heard are even remotely true," Meredith said. 

"Is that a good thing?" Derek asked. 

"Very," Meredith answered. "But, I'm damaged goods so it's hard for me to trust people."

They went on to have their dinner and he took her home afterwards. 

"So, am I getting a second date?" Derek asked. 

"Maybe," Meredith said. 

Derek leaned in and kissed her. It was a solid kiss. Not too short and not too long. It was.. perfect. 

"How about now?" He asked. 

"Yes," Meredith said with a smile. "Thank you for a great night."

"Anytime," Derek said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, you will," Meredith said before sneaking another kiss in before she got out of Derek's car and walked into her house.

"Dude. She's the one." Derek said to Mark on the phone while he was driving back to his house.