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

'tis the damn season

"Mer, wake up." She could hear someone trying their best to wake her up.

"What do you want?" She asked as she lazily opened her eyes.

"Mer, it's almost evening and you still haven't packed," Amelia complained as she got in bed next to her. "And it looks like you've been crying. Have you been crying?" She asked, concern coming over her.

"No." Meredith lied, closing her eyes, not wanting to talk about it.

"You keep forgetting that I know you too well, don't you? Come on, tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened."

"This is about us leaving, isn't it?" She asked, finally realizing the reason for her tears. "He did something stupid, didn't he? He felt the need to ruin everything at the last minute. Idiot." She muttered, causing Meredith to slightly giggle.

"He didn't do anything." She told her as she finally opened her eyes, sadness evident in them.

"Then why isn't he here?" Amelia asked.

"He came over and we were talking about me leaving, but he was paged to the hospital."

"So you decided it was the best idea to cry in bed the whole day instead of packing or talking to him?"

"Fine, I'm getting up to pack," Meredith said, getting out of bed.

"No, you're not. You're gonna get dressed and you're going to the hospital and spend some time with him, even if it means you have to sit in the gallery the whole evening waiting for him." Amelia told her as she got out of bed, searching for Meredith's clothes for her to wear.

"I can't, I have to pack."

"Yes, you can. And you will. I'll pack. Now put on these clothes and get out of here before I kick your ass." Amelia commanded.

"Fine," Meredith muttered, catching the clothes that Amelia threw at her.

"Good. Now go. Figure it out. Stay over at his place if you have to, do whatever it takes to not cry yourself to sleep when we go back to Seattle." She told her as she stepped closer to her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "You've got this Mer." She whispered before she finally let go of her.

"Thank you." Meredith smiled and quickly left the apartment.

Her cab drive to the hospital was filled with sadness, thoughts about Derek and Seattle, and of course, Taylor Swift's songs.

♫︎ Sleep in half the day just for old times' sake
I won't ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay
So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends
Who'll write books about me, if I ever make it
And wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles I'm fakin'
And the heart I know I'm breakin' is my own
To leave the warmest bed I've ever known
We could call it even
Even though I'm leavin'
And I'll be yours for the weekend
'Tis the damn season ♫︎

The sun was setting when she reached the hospital. It didn't take her long to find him. She found out from the nurses that he was in the OR two, clipping an aneurysm. She didn't want to disrupt him by walking into his OR, so she found the way to the gallery and sat there, watching him as he peacefully did his job. The only time she'd seen him this peaceful was when he was asleep. She wondered if he was thinking about her. She was almost certain that he was.

"Thank you, everyone." She heard his voice. She didn't even notice when he finished his surgery, but it looked like everything had gone well. She watched him as he walked out of the OR. She let a few moments pass, gathering her thoughts and giving him some time to update the patient's family. Then she walked out of the gallery, once again in search of Derek.

"Hey." She heard his soft voice as she was asking the nurse about his whereabouts.

"Hey" she couldn't help but smile when she saw his smile as she turned around to face him.

"I just finished the surgery and was about to call you." He told her, walking up to her, gently kissing her lips.

"I know, I watched you." She told him, giving in to his kiss.

"You watched me?" He asked.

"From the gallery. I wanted to talk to you but I didn't wanna interrupt you, so I waited till the surgery was over."

"I wanted to talk to you too. Let's grab dinner and talk at my place, okay?"

"Okay." She took his hand in her as they walked out of the hospital together.

They drove to Derek's house in his car, neither of them saying a word. They held each other's hand the whole drive, not wanting to let the other one go.

"Mer?" Derek asked after they finished eating, wrapping his arms around her from behind as she was washing the dishes.

"Hmm?"

"You don't have to do this. I'll take care of it later. I think we should talk now." He suggested.

"I need a few more minutes to gather my thoughts, okay?"

"Okay." He rested his chin on her shoulder, kissing her neck. She relaxed in his touch, letting go of her ghosts for a moment.

"I don't want to lose you." She stated, still washing the dishes.

"Good, 'cause I don't want to lose you either." He tightened his grip on her, moving his body closer to hers.

"How are we gonna do this when we're kilometers apart from each other?" She asked, unsure of what would happen next.

"A lot of people do it, we could do it too." He assured her.

"How?"

"Well, you're gonna visit, and I'm gonna visit. We're gonna call each other all the time. It's gonna be perfect."

"No, it's not." She became tense in his arms.

"Mer, what are you talking about?" He asked, clearly confused by the quick change in her behavior.

"It's gonna be perfect for a while. We'll call and visit each other until we won't. We're just gonna end up hurting each other, Derek. This has no future. There's no point in leading each other on." She told him as she freed herself from his arms, pacing in the room.

"Mer..."

"Don't Derek. You're perfect. You're gonna say perfect words that are gonna make me believe that this will work but this relationship has no future if we're on the different ends of the country. It's not gonna work."

"So, what are you saying?" He asked, scared to hear the answer.

She was silent for a minute. Then she walked up to him, taking his face in her hands as their lips locked in a passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her small frame closer to his. He didn't want to let go of her, 'cause he knew that this might be the last time he's holding her. Tears were streaming down both their faces as they broke apart, still out of breath.

"Goodbye, Derek. You truly were the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thank you for everything." She told him, walking out of the house before he had a chance to say anything. He sat in the room in silence for hours, not being able to comprehend what had just happened. As night became day, he started to understand the truth.

Hii! I'm so sorry it took me this long to update! I had no idea how to write this but I already have an idea for the next chapter and I'll do my best to update asap! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Leave your thoughts in the comments! (Also, this song is the title of the story for a reason...) ❤️