what i'm here for

Chapter 34: As the walls come down

Derek sighed happily and pressed his lips against the back of Meredith's neck, right above the center point of her shoulder blades, for the umpteenth time in the past half hour or so they had spent snuggled together on his couch, only the thin blanket that usually rested over the back of the couch and each other to keep them warm. He smiled as the edge of his lips brushed against the cool, thin chain hanging gently around her neck. She never took the necklace off. Meredith responded by tilting her head towards him, her neck craning as far as it could. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I love you so much," he whispered as she returned her head to face forward, and he laid his momentarily overtop.

"Mmm," she mumbled in response, pressing her check upwards against his. "I love you, too." She squeezed his hands evenly with each word.

He smiled, but his contentment with the situation faded as he felt her shiver in his arms. "You cold?" He questioned as he tightened his hold around her naked body, his limbs reaching out to wrap further around her, as if he could touch every square inch of skin at once if he tried.

"Getting there," she responded, but made no move to leave the comfortable confines of his arms. For the moment at least, the comfort of lying with him was outweighing the oncoming cold.

He smiled and pushed his face into the back of her head, breathing in the lavender scent he loved wafting from her hair. And for several more minutes he held her close, her gentle breathing matching his. Then she shivered again. He sighed and kissed the back of her head one more time before slowly disentangling his limbs from hers.

He sat up, bringing her with him and did his best to keep her covered in the small, thin blanket.

"I guess I'll need to invest in a warmer blanket for my office," he said, as he reached for his boxers and scrub pants. "And maybe some pillows."

She rolled her eyes. "What makes you think this is going to happen again?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Cause I know you can't resist me." He smirked as he expertly tied the draw string of his bottoms.

Meredith laughed, her eyes dancing as she shook her head at his antics, causing him to smile. After the many mini dramas that kept playing through their relationship, it was comforting that they could always fall back into the easy process of gentle banter. He tossed her the light blue scrubs that were strewn haphazardly across his floor, and then set to work pulling his top back on and adjusting the electronic communication equipment that sat along his waist; phone, beeper and sidekick needed to be on and aligned. Meredith dressed quickly, and smiled up at him as he turned to her and reached to even out the collar of her lab coat, and then made to smooth down her messy hair. Her fingers joined his and she sighed.

She turned a joking glare towards him. "Look what you did, Derek. Now everyone's going to know." Her fingers furiously dragged down the length of her dirty blonde strands as she struggled to untangle them.

Derek smirked, dropping his fingers to her waist. "I don't seem to remember you complaining at the time..."

She rolled her eyes and glared at him again, but she couldn't contain the smile pushing through her lips. "Whatever," she muttered, unable to come up with anything else to retort.

He leaned in and kissed her, smiling as her hands floated away from her hair and landed in his. "So," he stated when he pulled away and her hands drifted down from his hair to rest gently on his shoulders. "What are you up to this afternoon?"

"I'm scrubbing in with Dr. Hahn on a valve replacement."

He nodded. "Cardio, hmm? Not nearly as exciting as neuro, but I guess it'll have to do."