Can't Help Falling in Love

8

"Mer, I didn't..."

Meredith shook her head. "It's fine," she said. "But we can't talk about it now anyways."

"Okay," Derek said. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, do you have a costume?" she asked.

Derek frowned. "Of course I do," he said. "I'm wearing it."

Meredith stared at him for a moment. "You're wearing scrubs."

"I'm a doctor."

"That's not a costume, that's your job."

"I'm not a doctor yet," Derek argued.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she giggled. "I'm going to run across the hall if they have extra paper cups. Make sure no one tries to fly with their Superman cape or pretend one of the other kids is a dragon so they can slay each other?"

"Sure," Derek laughed. He watched as she moved quickly out the door, turning to look at the rest of the class, jumping when he saw his sister standing directly in front of him. "Kath, a little personal space would be nice," he said as he took a step back.

"You're sleeping with her," Kathleen stated.

"Okay, we are not going to have this conversation in the middle of a first grade classroom," Derek replied. "And for the record, I'm not."

"I'm not stupid, Derek," Kathleen snapped. "I saw the way you were flirting with her."

"Kath," Derek sighed. "Look, I don't want to get into this right now, but it's not that. I love her."

Kathleen stared at him for a moment, not knowing what to say. After a long moment, she grabbed his arm and hissed, "She's Meg's teacher."

"I know," Derek sighed. "Look, Kath, let's just talk about this later."

Kathleen stared at him for a moment before she sighed. "Fine," she said. "But I swear to God, Derek, if my daughter gets treated any differently...."

"She's not," Derek shook his head. "I've been seeing her for a month and a half."

Before Kathleen could answer, Meredith hurried back into the room, cups in hand. "Alright everyone," she announced, shoving the cups into Derek's hand without looking at him. "Who's ready to show off our costumes?"

A chorus of cheers rang through the classroom, and her students ran over to the door where she was standing. "Okay, line up and remember not to talk in the hallway," Meredith said. "Our parents are going to stay here and get ready for the apple dunking and games later this afternoon." She opened the door and smiled brightly at Derek before she turned to lead the class into the hall.

"Alright," Kathleen said as soon as the classroom was empty. "Derek, what is going on?"

"It's not a big deal," Derek shrugged. "Or it is, but...we've been seeing each other for about a month and a half, and I love her. It's not sex. We haven't even...it's not sex."

"Is that why you broke up with Rose?" Kathleen asked.

"Yes," Derek sighed.

"Does anyone know about it?" Kathleen asked.

"No," Derek replied. "Well, her roommates do. But Meg doesn't, and Mer doesn't want her to. She won't get it, and Mer's afraid that she'll want special attention."

"Fine," Kathleen sighed. "But Derek, you have to understand that I'm worried about how this will effect Meg. She's my main concern."

"I get it," Derek nodded. "And Mer and I are worried about her too. But has she acted any different in the past month? Mer's not treating her any differently than any of the other students, and it's really none of Meg's business who her uncle dates or who her teacher dates."