what i'm here for

Chapter 36: Healing together

Meredith wandered through the small display dining room, nodding her head in appreciation at the craftsmanship of the design. The table, chairs, hutch and china cabinet were darkly stained and beautifully shaped; large, smooth, intricately carved. The table seemed to be carved by hand, the edges wavy and layered, but perfectly symmetrical from all sides. The feet met the ground before curving back on themselves, matching the feet of the chairs. Light, powder blue pillows rested on the seat of each chair; and the backs curved inward, and then back out, before it too curled back on itself.

The small corner hutch was large and smooth, but much more discreet, obviously supposed to fade in the background, while still matching the set. And the large, upright china cabinet was tall and wide, boasting an array of drawers on the bottom and small cabinets on the top, each door holding a small, stained glass window.

Meredith slid her hand over the smooth surface of the shiny table and turned to smile at Derek, who had his back turned towards her, focusing on the list of features and prices posted on the tall china cabinet. She sighed and wandered up to him, her hands reaching out on their own to wrap around his waist. He shifted slightly at the contact, and then his left hand found her fingers. Meredith smiled into his back as she leaned into his warmth.

She remained silent and still while he finished his assessment of the posted stats, his fingers brushing over hers as his eyes shot back and forth across the paper. Then he sighed and leaned back into her embrace, turning slightly to survey the full display. Meredith turned with him, barely allowing her grip to loosen as she did so.
"It's nice," Derek finally spoke, his deep voice vibrating through his back. She revelled in the feeling and pulled herself a little closer. She could almost see him smiling as he slid his free hand back to rest at her hip.

"It is nice," she agreed evenly.

He snorted, his finger hooking through a belt loop of her pants. "Do you make all of your assessments without being able to see what you're assessing?" He asked, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "I'd hate to be one of your patients..."

She laughed against him. "Ha ha. I've already looked at it, while you were distracted with the poster."

"It's good to read the poster," he countered. "Then you know what you're getting into."

"Except you've read the poster on every display set, even the ugly ones. It's a waste of time on the ugly ones."

"I'm being thorough."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, you have your way, I have mine. I look first, and then read. It's more efficient," she told him, and then added, "Just like my way of house hunting."

He muttered something incomprehensible to her, but she let it go, knowing he was stumped for a comeback. She kept the fingers of his left hand weaved through hers, but released the added grip of her right hand to open it, and rub her palm up and down his lower torso. "It is nice," she repeated.

"But..." He prompted, intuitively knowing there was more to her assessment.

Meredith pressed her face into his back and breathed deeply before releasing her embrace and slid around him, making sure to keep her right arm around his back. He accommodated her move by draping his arm over her shoulder and allowing her to lean against him. "But... I think it's too nice," she said gently, not wanting to say a firm no if her liked the set. "It's really fancy, maybe a little ostentatious," she explained. "I'm just not sure it's us."

He nodded his agreement and pressed his lips down on the top of her head. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Really? Cause if you like it we can-"

"Really," he reassured her.

She smiled to herself. In the dozen or so display sets they had looked at that afternoon, Meredith had tried to convince him at every one of them that if he liked it, they could get it anyway. She wanted him to be happy with their choice more than she cared about their choice. And she knew he was getting tired of her inevitable question, but was tolerating it for her.