Where You Belong

75

And he would let her.

After the minty-ness of her toothpaste had long since stopped tasting, she rinsed her mouth and joined Derek in the kitchen.

The omelettes were well under way as she took her normal position, sitting on the counter far enough from the stove that she wouldn't get burned but close enough that she kept Derek company.

"Am I allowed to kiss you now?" He asked, setting down his spatula.

She smirked as he sidled up to her, stepping between her legs, his arms snaking around her waist. Her hands ran up his chest to his shoulders on their own accord, and she hooked her heels around the backs of his legs to keep him close.

Derek skilfully closed his lips over hers, kissing her good morning.

"Derek...food..." She finally had to mutter between kisses.

He groaned and pulled away in time to save the omelettes from being burnt.

"Careful, Derek," she chastised jokingly, "We want to be able to eat our breakfast..."

He grumbled and sent her a sideways glare as he expertly scooped the omelettes onto plates. "I'd like to see you do better."

With a giggle, she hopped off the counter and ran a hand along his back as she passed him to get two sets of cutlery out of the drawer beside the stove. "I'm not allowed, remember?"

He chuckled. "I do. You tried to burn down my home."

She smacked him on his side as she walked back past him. "This isn't your home."

With a growl, he caught her just before she was out of reach, causing her to squeak in surprise and drop the cutlery as she suddenly found herself pulled against his chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her. "You're being neurotic again..." He whispered against her ear.

"I'm not," she countered, unable to say more.

He pressed his lips against the side of her neck. "Very, very neurotic," he murmured before kissing her neck again.

Finally finding her voice again, Meredith turned in his arms. "I am not the one who forgot where my home was."

He chuckled. "I didn't forget. That morning, when you almost burned down the trailer-"

"I did not almost burn down the trailer," she cut him off. "There was a small...cooking related incident. I had everything under control."

"You were looking for a fire extinguisher."

She made a face. "Only in case things got out of control."

"Oh, things were out of control. I had to get new oven mitts."

She scoffed. "We're getting off topic. The point is, maybe the trailer was your home back then-"

"The trailer was never my home." It was his turn to cut her off. "It was never my home," he repeated, his face breaking out into his trademark smile; complete with the sparkle in his eye that told her he was letting her in without any of his walls up at all.

Her heart skipped a beat just the way it did every time he looked at her like that. "Derek..."

Still smiling, he cocked his head to the side. "I was in Seattle for four days before I met you," he whispered. "The trailer is where I stayed for a while, where we stay together sometimes, but it has never been home."

"But..." She began, before trailing off when she realized she had nothing to say.

He cupped her cheek with his warm hand. "Without being accused of being sappy again...my life changed the moment I met you, Meredith. You're home to me. It doesn't matter where I am; if you're there it's home."