We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This

Love Story

It was the night before Christmas Eve, and she had been sat on the couch in her mother's brownstone in New York for almost two hours now. Her only saving grace had been the wine her mother had poured her as soon as she stepped in the door. It wasn't tequila but it did the job. She hadn't heard from Derek yet, so she assumed he was still in the surgery he had been pulled into an hour before her plane had left Seattle.

"Have you thought anymore on where you're going to do your fellowship?" Her mother asked, sat on the couch opposite Meredith, beside Richard.

"I've been looking into Boston Children's or Seattle Children's," she said with a shrug, taking a sip of her wine.

"Hm, the Boston programme is run by Dr Fuller, yes?" Her mother asked, but Meredith was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, it is," she nodded, "it's definitely the better of the two options."

She also had the added thought that, even though she didn't want to base her decision on where Derek would be next year, he also hadn't decided on where he was going to do his fellowship. In fact, he'd barely spoken to her about it.

"Are you sure you want to stay in the hotel, Meredith?" Ellis asked her, a slight frown on her face.

Stay in her old room in the same house as Ellis and Richard who haven't seen each other in over a month, or go to a nice hotel room, where she could get Derek to come and stay with her who she hadn't seen in almost three months? It was a no-brainer really.

"I'm sure, Mom, I'll be fine at the hotel," she said with a smile against the glass as she finished off the last sip of her wine, placing the empty wine glass down on the coffee table, "I really should get going now."

"Okay, do you want a ride? We can take you," her mother offered. She was acting very weird and it was freaking Meredith out a bit.

"Mom, I'll get a cab, I'll be fine," Meredith said with a soft laugh as she stood up and put her coat on, "I'll be back for lunch tomorrow."

A car horn sounded from outside as though it was right outside the front door, and Meredith's confusion with her mother's behaviour grew when she looked as though she was expecting someone to arrive. "Okay, at least let me see you out then," Ellis said, standing up from her seat and following Meredith out into the hall.

"Alright," Meredith said warily, as she picked up her bag and rolled her suitcase into the hall with her mother close behind her.

Just before she could open the front door, Ellis placed both her hands on Meredith's shoulders, "Meredith, just... it's okay, and bring him over with you tomorrow." Before Meredith could say anything or make sense of the words, her mother had opened the front door and was ushering her outside into the cold, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Meredith just shook her head in slight disbelief when Ellis closed the door and was just about to lift her suitcase down the steps when she heard a familiar voice from the street.

"Meredith?" She looked up to see Derek leaning against a car with his usual charming smile that she loved so much.

"Derek?" She breathed out, not trusting what she was seeing right now, "What are you doing here, outside my mother's house?!"

He chuckled softly as he climbed the steps to join her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close as her arms slid around his neck, hugging him close to her as he held her close, murmuring softly against her ear, "Don't worry about that. God, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," she returned, and pulled her face back a little to press her lips to his, despite the fact she was still standing on her mother's front step.