Where You Belong

53

Meredith was moving on. She wanted to live the rest of her life free from her mother's voice in her head. Meredith was determined to have a bright future.

"I have an idea," Derek said suddenly.

"What?"

He said nothing, simply kissing her quickly and then rolling out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Patience, woman," he called as he disappeared into the bathroom.

"Don't call me woman!" She yelled after him as she giggled to herself. Every once in a while he would use some stereotypical pet name as a joke, and even though she knew it was a joke, and went along with it by giving him shit, it still made her heart flutter. Because he loved her that much.

He was only gone for a couple minutes, and she heard water running before he stepped back into their bedroom. She narrowed her eyes at him as he appeared before her. "What are you doing?"

"We are going to take a bath."

She tried to bite back the smile threatening across her lips. "We are, huh?"

He nodded, stepping closer to the bed and pulling the blankets off of her. "We're obviously not going to get back to sleep," he explained. "And we could use some relaxation. It's not going to be an easy day."

Meredith shook her head in agreement. It wasn't going to be a good day. Her mother's heart surgery was relatively straight forward, and was being performed by one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the country, but she knew she would still be anxious throughout her shift. And she wouldn't even have any surgeries of her own to keep her mind occupied, as she would be stuck in triage drills all day.

And even if she didn't have triage drills, she knew her resident and Chief of Surgery wouldn't let her near a patient with a scalpel today, no matter how many times she insisted she was fine to work.

She mock glared up at him as she found herself exposed to the cool morning air, as he had removed all of her blankets. "It's cold."

He nodded. "Hence the warm bath."

Meredith made a show of sighing as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. "Fine."

Derek rolled his eyes in good nature, and reached for her as she neared. "Stubborn," he mumbled, his hands finding her hips as he ducked his head, pressing his nose and lips into the wave of hair by the crook of her neck and inhaling deeply. "Stubborn, stubborn woman..."

She giggled, looping her arms around his neck. "I told you not to call me that..."

"Which one; stubborn or woman?"

"Both."

He laughed. "But both are true."

"No, they're not."

Derek smirked. "So, you're not a woman? Because I could swear you have a-"

"Derek!" She exclaimed, swiping a hand at him. "You so know what I meant. Stop being an ass."

He laughed. "Sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're not."

Using his hand to pull her hair away from her neck, his lips moved over her smooth skin. "I kind of am. Let me show you just how sorry I am..."

"Derek," she moaned his name. "I thought...bath...water running..."

He groaned and reluctantly pulled away. "Bath first."