How do we move on from this?

13.

Derek sat at the lake, his line casted into the water and a beer resting in his free hand. The sun was warm as it shined down on him, soaking it up as he stared straight a head at the calm water. Every now and then he would run his fingers through his hair, sighing as he took a sip of his beer.

The sound of car pulling up alerted his senses and he turned, smiling and waving as Mark climbed out of his car. Mark walked over and took a seat next to Derek, who handed him a beer.

"Thanks man." They clinked their bottles together before taking a sip from their own beers. "Meredith told me you was here, you only ever come up here when you need space or need to think." Mark watched as Derek turned to look at him, taking another sip from his beer. Derek smiled before shaking his head then directing his eyes down to the ground, the smile falling from his face and sighing.

"I forgot you know me to well." He ran his fingers through his hair and sitting back up. "Life is so fucked up man, I mean first Sophie and now this. It's not fair." He finished the last of his beer before placing the bottle down on the ground and grabbing a new beer, taking a sip from that one. "Mer's pregnant."

Mark started choking on his beer, staring at Derek with wide eyes and wiping away at the beer that had dribbled down his chin. "Shit man, I didn't even know you was trying again, I mean with everything."

"We wasn't. Well, before...before we lost Sophie we'd decided we would try for one more, we didn't want Sophie being on her own." Derek laughed awkwardly. "Cause that's worked out real good." He downed the rest of his beer, throwing the bottle on the ground, joining the large collection of empties that was starting to form.

"Dude, it wasn't your fault." Mark placed his beer down, knowing he would be the one to be driving them home. He placed his hand on his shoulder. "You need to go home Derek, you can't be sitting here drinking yourself to death, it won't help. Also, Meredith needs you, they both do."

"I know, I know. I just needed some space to breathe." He went to reach for another beer but Marks hand stopped him and he brought his hand back to his lap. They sat in silence as they stared out at the calm water, the sun now starting to set casting golds, red and oranges across the still water. "You can't tell Mer that you know she's pregnant, she's not ready. Not ready for people to know, just don't say anything." Derek's voice broke out in a slight whisper.

"I won't man, I'm happy for you, as shit as it is, I'm happy for you." Mark slapped Derek on the back and watched as he attempted a smile, wiping away his few tears. "Come on, let's get you home."

They quickly packed away his fishing gear and Mark threw in the boot, watching as Derek staggered to the car. Mark opened the door, helping him before moving round to the drivers side. Mark drove the usual way, casting casual glances in Derek's direction watching as his eyes fought to stay open. Mark smiled sadly to himself before diverting his eyes back to the road, focused on getting him home.

Pulling up to Meredith's and Derek's house, he parked the car and moved towards the front door, knocking quietly. He waited until Meredith pulled open the door, her dressing gown wrapped tightly around her. Now he knew, he could tell, the belt of her dressing gown resting just above the small swell of her stomach. He smiled quickly before pointing towards the car.

"Derek's in there, drunk, I'm sorry." Mark said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's not your fault Mark." She reached out and squeezed the top of his arm before slipping on some shoes and moving toward his car. "We've had a rough week, it's been overbearing he needed this. Just thank you for bringing him home." She smiled at him before pulling open the car door.

Mark stood back and watched as Meredith manoeuvred Derek out of the car and onto his feet. Derek leaned on Meredith as they laughed about something on of them said. Mark could see it, their sparkle was slowly, very slowly coming back to their eyes. He smiled to himself knowing they had this and would get through this.

Meredith waved as she walked back into the house and closed the door behind them. Mark climbed back into his car and pulled his visor, pulling out the small photo that he had placed there months ago. Sophie was sat on his lap, smiling widely. He ran his finger over it before placing back into its secure place. Reversing out of the drive he set off for his own home, smiling for the once time in a long time.