In my bones

Chapter 10

The crowd roared and his teammates swarmed to him, he was taken into a giant group hug of hockey players and he grinned to himself. They could win this series.

xxxxx

A week had passed, the Flyers now 3-1 up in the series. But for now Derek was focusing on the night out tonight. While he would rather spend it with just Meredith, he was happy that she wanted to take him to events. If he was honest, he was surprised the press hadn't got anything out of him yet. They came close sometimes, but he held his tongue, respecting Aiden and Meredith's privacy. But that was beside the point right now. He was becoming a bigger, more permanent part of her life and he loved it. He was standing in the hallway, waiting for her to come downstairs and when she did, he couldn't draw his eyes away. She was astoundingly beautiful. Her red gown was striking and highlighted her beautiful curves. Her soft golden tendrils framed her face, green eyes shining.

"Wow..." he uttered.

"It's okay right?" she twirled in front of him.

"It's... amazing."

"Good," she giggled.

"Everyone will be jealous of me. You'll be the most beautiful one there." He kissed her.

"Well you don't look so bad yourself," she ran a hand down his chest.

He smiled and led her out of the door.

They arrived at the mixer and Derek placed his hand on the small of her back.

"Meredith? You're here," a tall African-American man came up to them.

"Good evening Chief. Dr Webber, this is my boyfriend, Derek Shepherd." Derek swore he saw her blush. He held out his hand, "It's great to meet you."

"You too, please, call me Richard. Enjoy the party, both of you. I have to do some more mingling." And he disappeared into the throng.

"Come on Der, I think I saw George and Lexie over there." Over the months, Derek had met her friends, mainly as an interrogation to make sure he was good enough for their friend, and thankfully, he had passed. They ambled up and were brought into the conversation, Derek could just about keep up with his limited knowledge of medicine. They talked amicably until Derek thought he should probably start being a good boyfriend tonight. "Mer, do you want a drink?" he murmured.

"Yeah, just get me a margarita please?"

"Sure."

"Thanks Der."

He left the group and leaned against the bar. His elbows were resting on the counter when he heard a familiar voice and spotted a familiar head of ginger hair. He and Owen had been part of the baseball team in high school. Neither of them had been that good, they had been dragged in because they were good at sports. Him, ice hockey and Owen, football.

"Owen Hunt?" he said, flabbergasted.

"Yes?" the man turned. Recognition cleared his eyes, "Derek Shepherd?"

"Oh man, I haven't seen you in years." He brought him in to a quick hug. "How are you?"

"I'm great, I'm a trauma surgeon here at Seattle Grace now. I spent some time in the army and, obviously, came back. It's great to be back home."

"That's great." He grinned.

"What about you? You play professionally now, don't you?"

"Yeah, Philadelphia Flyers. I'm being transferred here though to be part of Seattle's new team."

"That's awesome. I'm happy for you, I am, but why are you here?"

"Oh," he laughed. "I'm here as my girlfriend's date. Meredith Grey."