Say when

44

It's a week before finals start and Meredith is stressing as usual.. she sits in the center of the library with a group of classmates as they decide they need to up their game and study together...

Meredith yawns looking at the time and realizes the group is almost over and the library will be closing soon..

"Hey guys." She yawns again as she reaches fro her purse "I need to go call Derek really quick he has the car tonight."

"Ok." Her friend Sophie replies with a smile as she shuffles the flash cards one last time..

"Hey Mer." Josh jumps in "If you want, I can give you a ride.. I have to go in that direction anyways."

"Are you sure?" she asks...

"Of course." He says with a soft smile...

"Crap." Sophie mutters, "Mrs. Burns is giving us that look guys.. I think we'll have to finish this up tomorrow."

They all grumble as they gather their things... Meredith follows Josh out to the parking lot and her jaw drops to see his brand new BMW Z3 convertible...

"Wow." She gasped "And here I thought med students drove crappy cars."

"Yeah." He chuckled "Its may father... he likes to make sure I'm in good hands."

"Oh." She smiled as she climbed in the passenger seat "That's a lot how Derek is with me.. but not so fatherly.. just protective."

"So Derek is your boyfriend right?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yes." She smiled...

"How long have you been together?" he asked curiously..

"Three years." She said smiling shaking her head "I cant believe the time has gone by so fast."

"I cant imagine anyone being with someone for that long."

"Really?" she asked "I cant imagine anyone else.. the first time I saw him I just knew.. that I would spend the rest of my life with him."

"Hmm." He said skeptically "So where did you meet?"

"Oh um." She said nervously "At work?"

"In New York right?"

"Yes." She said furrowing her brow "How did you know."

"The accent." He smirked..

"Oh." She giggled "Really Derek always tells me I have a Boston accent... or more so when I get mad."

"Maybe I should get you mad some time so I can hear it for myself." He joked...

"I guarantee you wont like the outcome of that." She giggled.. "Oh this is me." She said pointing to the building... he looked up at it as he parked along the street..

"This is a pretty nice building."

"It is." She smiled "Derek takes very good care of me."

"Good." He smiled "Have a good night Meredith."

"Night Josh." She smiled as she grabbed her things and got out of the car..

She walked into the building hearing him pull away and smiled thinking it was really nice to finally have some nice people to be friends with.. people that have more of a goal than where to get their next hit..

She got to her floor and walked up to her door finding it unlocked as usual and walked in to find Derek pacing the floor.. she looked at him with a cocked brow as he gasped with relief...

"There you are!" he breathed out as he walked over to her grabbing her and giving her a hug "I was worried about you."

"Oh god sorry." She gasped "I forgot to call and tell you that Josh gave me a ride home."

"Josh?" he asked taking a step back with a curious look on his face.. she rolled her eyes...

"Yes Derek, Josh.. he's just a guy in my class we were all studying together and he offered to give me a ride home so I wouldn't have to bother you."

"Should I be worried?" he asked feeling a knot in his stomach..

"God no." she giggled as she walked over to the refrigerator grabbing them both a beer... "He's just a friend.. nothing like that.. besides I love you."

"I love you too." He said taking one of the beers she handed him but still a pout on his face "But it doesn't mean I don't have competition."

"No competition." She said kissing him lightly on the lips "He's just being nice."

Derek nodded and painted a smile on his face as he pulled her in for a deeper kiss before heading off to bed... he tried to let her reassurance comfort him but for some reason he still had an uneasy feeling in his gut.