That's How We Met ('tis the damn season) [Merder]

Into Your Arms

It was around ten am when Derek opened his eyes. He was woken up by this weird sound that he couldn't recognize yet. It all started making sense when he opened his eyes and realized it was Meredith snoring. He found it charming. He found everything about her charming, even her annoying habits. He loved finding out little details like this about her, it made him feel closer to her. He kissed her temple and closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep.
Meredith woke up a little later, finding herself securely wrapped in his arms. It made her feel safe. Everything about him made her feel safe. She loved that she could be her true self with him.
"Hey" Derek whispered in her ear as he saw her opening her eyes.
"Hey" she smiled as she snuggled closer to him.
"How'd you sleep?" he asked, kissing her cheek.
"Good. You?"
"Me too."
"Have you been awake for a long time?" she asked.
"Not really, just a little while. I'm a light sleeper."
"So something woke you up."
"It's no big deal," he said, trying to not hurt her feelings. She was staring at him, trying to get an explanation out of him. "It's just that... You snore a little" he said, trying to not make a big deal out of it.
"What? I do not" she whined as she swatted his arm.
"Yes, you do. I love it. I find it charming that such a big noise can come from such a little person." he said sweetly and kissed her forehead.
"Shut up" she whined again and tried to move away from him, but he wrapped his arms around her tighter, not letting her go.
"Alright, I'll shut up. Just stay in my arms for a little longer." He told her, not wanting to let her go.
"Alright," she snuggled closer to him. She wasn't ready to give up his touch yet either. "Don't you have to go to the hospital?" She asked after a while.
"Yes, but I don't wanna go yet."
"That's not exactly how having a job works, you know that right?"
"I'll go if you want me to." He said playfully.
"No, don't," she said quickly, not wanting to lose his touch.
"Alright, I won't." He bought her face closer to his and kissed her. She kissed him back, climbing on top of him. They spent more time in bed than they intended to as they lost themselves in another round of lovemaking.

It was around noon when Derek finally left for work. Meredith was in her hotel room, thinking about last night's events and what this meant for their future, or if there even was a future, when she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in Amy, it's open" she yelled, remembering that she forgot to lock the door when Derek left.
"So how did the date go?" Amelia asked impatiently as she run into the room and sat on the bed next to Meredith.
"So good that I don't think you wanna be sitting there" Meredith smiled at her.
"Ewww," Amelia said jumping away from the bed, landing on the floor.
"You okay?" Mer asked in between laughs.
"Yeah, no broken bones. I'm okay." Amelia whined as she got up from the floor and sat on the couch near the bed. "So..." she started again, wanting to know everything.
"So... the date went great. We talked and talked, and cried, and talked some more... And, you know... He left about half an hour ago." Meredith rambled.
"I'm kinda disgusted but you two are so adorable together." Amelia smiled at her best friend's rambling.
"So you're really okay with it?" Meredith asked again just to make sure.
"Yes, mer. How many times do I have to tell you? I'm more than okay with it as long as I don't have to watch you two suck each other's faces." They both laughed at that. "You look happy, it's kinda weird," Amelia said, pointing out Mer's not-so-happy history.
"I know, right?" Meredith smiled, realizing for the first time that she's never in her life been this happy. She was a world-renowned surgeon with a successful career, but she always felt like there was a missing piece. He made her feel loved and appreciated. He made her worries go away. She knew it was totally crazy to feel this way for someone she had only known for a few days, but she was falling in love with him, and there was no denying it.

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Meredith woke up feeling like crap the next morning. She thought she was gonna die for a moment. Her throat was sore and she clearly had a low fever. She wanted nothing other than to sleep, but someone had a different idea. She felt like her head was exploding when she heard her phone ringing.
"Ugh, stupid phone. Stupid people." She groaned as she opened her eyes and reached for her phone.
"Hi" she was met by a familiar soft voice.
"Hey," she said as softly as her sore throat would let her.
"Did I wake you?" He asked.
"It's okay."
"Sorry, I'm calling you this early. I just got out of surgery and I wanted to hear your voice." she couldn't help but smile at his cheesiness. In a different case, she'd be annoyed by it, but he made cheesiness look sweet.
"I'm glad you called." She admitted.
"Me too." He smiled, getting in his car. "Would it be okay if I came over?" He asked shyly, not knowing if it was an appropriate thing to ask.
"No." Her tone came out harsher than she insisted.
"Oh, okay," he said disappointedly, but not surprised.
"No, no, sorry that sounded a little harsh. I think I caught a cold. Trust me, you don't wanna be with me right now."
"Did you take medicine? Is Amelia there to take care of you?" He asked. She smiled at his thoughtfulness.
"Not yet, I just woke up, but I will. And she's not here, she said last night that she wanted to visit your mother in the morning, plus I don't need to be taken care of. I can take care of myself."
"Okay, I'm coming over. I'm gonna take you to my house and make you a soup. It'll make you feel so much better." He said, turning his car around.
"You don't have to, really. I'm fine," she said coughing.
"I know I don't have to. I want to." He said sweetly. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't hang up, just talk to me for a few minutes." He told her, not wanting to hang up yet.
"Okay." she agreed, as she got out of bed and started getting ready, leaving the phone on the speaker. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked, not being sure what to say.
"Anything," he said.
"Alright. Tell me about your surgery."
"Okay. My patient was a 35-year-old male. He had a spinal schwannoma, malignant. I removed it. It was successful." He said, wanting to talk about something else.
"That's it? I want all the details of the surgery. How big was the tumor? Where there any complications? How long did the surgery take?" she said, asking question after question. He laughed at her impatience.
"You really are a surgical junkie, aren't you?" He asked, still laughing.
"I haven't been in the OR for three days, this is to be expected." She laughed along with him. Hearing her laugh made his heart flutter.
By then, she was already dressed and ready to go. She heard knocking on the door. In a second, it was opened and there was him standing in front of her, looking at her lovingly.
"Hi," he said, smiling at her.
"Hi" she smiled back at him.
He took a few steps forward, stopping next to her. He leaned closer and kissed her forehead. She put her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, as he wrapped his around her shoulders.
"Thank you for coming" she murmured in his chest, almost impossible for him to hear.
"My pleasure." He said as he kissed the top of her head, breathing her scent in. "Ready to go?" he asked as she pulled away from him.
"Yeah." She answered and they left the hotel room heading to his house.
"Wanna listen to Taylor Swift again?" She asked as they got in the car.
"Not if it's gonna make you cry again," he said.
"Just so you know, normally, I don't cry that easily", she stated.
"It's okay to cry." He said matter off factly. "Kathleen says so. You know, how the shrinks are." He added as he saw a mix of confusion and amusement on her face.
"Yeah, I know. They're really annoying 99 percent of the time." She said, remembering the time she used to go to therapy.
"So, I guess, you've been to a therapist?" He asked, trying to find out more about her.
"Yeah," she said, trying to avoid talking about it. "Have you?" she asked back.
"Yeah, after my father died. My mother thought I was bottling up all my emotions inside, so she made me go to one. I told him all about that place that I took you to. He told my mom to take me there sometime but she was always busy and tired, raising five kids on her own. But, enough about me. Amelia tells me you had a horrible childhood?" He asked.
"Yeah, you could say that. Do we really have to talk about it now?" She asked, not wanting to think about her worst memories.
"Of course not." He reassured her by taking her hand in his, gently caressing it.
"Thank you for understanding." She smiled at him. She couldn't quite explain it, but there was something about him that made her want to embrace the happiness and stop running away from it.
"Of course." he smiled back at her. "Here we are." He said as he stopped the car.
"Wow, it's beautiful." She said as they got out of the car.
"Thanks." He replied, walking to the house, holding her hand.
As soon as they went inside, Derek headed to the kitchen.
"I'll start making a soup for you, you can lie down in my room, get some rest. It's the second room on the left. I'll wake you up when the soup's ready and then maybe I can give you a house tour." He told her.
"That sounds great, especially the lying down part." She smiled weakly, the cold getting the best of her.
"Okay, go get some rest" he smiled at her.
"Okay," she said, turning around to leave.
"Wait, you forgot something." He said stepping closer to her. He leaned in, kissing her lips lightly.
"Alright, you can go now" he said, kissing her cheek this time.
"Okay," she chuckled.
She had no trouble finding his room. It was surprisingly clean. She decided to lie down, but she didn't want to sleep in her clothes. She decided to search in his closet, finding his shirt that was oversized for her, but it was better that way. She took off her clothes and put on his shirt that smelled exactly like him. She got under the sheets, getting comfortable as she drifted off to sleep.
About an hour later, she was woken up by him kissing her forehead.
"Hi, sleeping beauty," he said smiling at her.
"Hi", she smiled at his cheesiness again.
"Soup's ready, wanna go to the kitchen or should I bring it here?" he asked.
"It's okay, I'll come to the kitchen," she said, remembering the mess she made the other day while eating in her bed. That was the last thing she needed now.
After eating the soup and filling him with compliments about his cooking skills, they spent the rest of the day exploring the house, and later that evening they were laying in a hammock, their bodies tangled together. He picked her up and brought her to his room after finding her snoring in his arms. He laid her down on his bed and laid down next to her, securely wrapping his arms around her. He could get used to this. He could get used to going to sleep and waking up with her. Forever.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! ❤️

Tell me what do you think. Do you like where it's headed? What do you want to see next? Leave some ideas<3 ❤️🤗