Neighbours

Fancy bumping into you

Early the next morning, Meredith stretched her arms above her head and rolled over to look at the time. Noticing it was still quite early, she pulled herself from the bed and got ready to go for a jog. As she wasn't quite aware of the area yet, she was just going to jog round the block. Dressed in shorts, sports bra and vest top, she threw on her trainers and placed her headphones on before heading out the door.

Locking up the door and quickly stretching, she set off down the path. She was completely in her own little world, when she felt her body slam into something solid before she fell to the floor. Smacking down onto the concrete, she felt the pain radiate through her elbow.

"Shit Meredith are you alright?" She felt a figure crouch down beside her and looked up to be met with Derek's baby blue eyes. Concern and worry filled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm good, my elbow is just killing me though. I don't suppose you could help me up." Meredith smiled at Derek, before she felt him place his hands under around her back and pulled her to her feet, holding on to until she was steady.

"Let me check your elbow out for you. It's the least I could." Meredith was about to deny his request until she saw he was pleading with her. "Please."

"Yeah, let's go." They made their way back over to Derek's house, with Derek resting his hand on her lower back, guiding her forward.

"Once again Mer, I am so sorry. I was just completely in my own little world, you know running just clears my head. Just yeah I am sorry." Meredith could see the guilt filling Derek's eyes and she could see how bad he really felt.

"Derek, honestly, it happens. Well, it would happen to me. What I'm trying to say is, relax. I'm fine. As for the running, I get it. Today was my first time running in a while and I plan on carrying it on, once I know the best places to go." She smiled at him as they walked up to his door, watching as he opened it and let her in first.

"Well, on my days off, if you want, we could tuning together? You know, I know some good tracks and places to go,up to you but the offer is there for." He kept his hand on her lower back and guided her into the kitchen. He pulled out a chair for her and let her sit before moving across the kitchen to grab an ice pack.

Pulling her chair up in front of her, he placed the ice pack on her elbow and place the other on top of her knee.

"Yeah, I would like that, as long as you don't knock me off my feet again." She looked up and winked at him. She had no idea where this was coming from but it felt right to be flirting with Derek. For a while now she had stayed clear from boys but it was impossible with Derek. She gasped as he pressed the ice pack to her elbow with a bit more pressure.

"Oh, I'm sorry. And I can't make no promises about knocking you off your feet again, I will try not to." He raised his eyebrows at her causing Meredith to roll her eyes and giggle at him.

Before they knew it, time had completely got away from them and the conversation never stopped flowing. Eventually, they were interrupted when the front door opened and someone burst through the kitchen door.

"Derek, you'll never guess what? I scrubbed in on another surgery today, almost did the whole thing by myself. The adrenaline is rushing through me, we need to go out for a drink and celebrate." He stopped in his tracks when he saw Derek and a mysterious blonde sitting close together. "Woah, am I interrupting something here?" He raised his eyebrows at the two of them.

Derek rolled his eyes and sighed before introducing the two of them. "Mark, this Meredith, our new neighbour. Meredith, this is Mark, my brother."

Meredith stood up and reached out to shake Marks hand. "Hey, nice to meet you."

Mark eyes her up and down. "It is indeed a pleasure to meet you, where have you been all my life?"

Meredith giggled, then smirked at Mark. "Mark you're too kind but don't you have a girlfriend? Don't think Addison would appreciate that comment."

"I like her. Keep her around." Mark said before heading to grab a glass of water. He made his way out of the kitchen. "Meredith, drinks tonight, you're more then welcome to come." He left the kitchen, leaving the two of them to it.

Derek stood up from his seat before making his way over to Meredith. "I'm sorry about him, he, well he is Mark. Flirting is part of his personality. But he does love Addison. However, he is right you should come for drinks tonight, if you're free." He placed his hand on the bottom of her back again and watched as she turned to face him.

"Honestly, it's fine. It will be fun to wind him up. Also, I can do drinks tonight, what time are thinking?" Meredith asked Derek.

"I would say about 8? I'll come and get you from a yours and then we will all go from there?" Derek replied as he slowly ran his hand up and down her back.

"That works for me. Right I need to get going, I've got things to do and I need to make myself all pretty for tonight. So see you later." She squeezed the top of his arm before making her way out of the house.

The smile never left Derek's face from the moment she left, he was excited to see where this would go. Seeing that it was still early, he wiped up himself some quick breakfast before heading to do some revision for his upcoming test.

Meredith made her way back home with a small spring in her step, if Cristina could see her now, she would completely make fun of her. She was becoming the girl they usually make fun of. But she had only known Derek a day? Could she really be catching feelings for him already? For all she knew, she enjoyed his presence right now and was excited for the evening. In a few days, she would be starting her new job so she was going to enjoy her next few days of freedom.