By: sunset543
Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Grey's Anatomy. Not the characters. Not the plot. Not anything. Nor do I own anything to do with the NHL. At all. But it would be pretty cool if I did.
Derek and Meredith were relaxing in the living room, Aiden had disappeared in search of one of his toys and they were just enjoying the comfortable silence.
"Can I ask you something?" Meredith asked.
"Shoot," he replied, intrigued.
"You can say no, I won't hold it against you. But, er, willlyougototheinternmixerwithme?"
"What was that?" He laughed.
"Will you go to the intern mixer with me?"
"Yeah I'd love to," he grinned.
"Seriously?"
He nodded.
"Do you even know what it is?"
"Yeah, my sisters, Kathleen, Nancy, Amy, they go to theirs every year. It's mainly for the interns but they want the residents and attending to go as well," he shrugged.
"Okay you do know what it is. Are you sure you want to go? They're normally really boring."
"Of course, I want to go Mer, I want to go with you."
"Okay, thank you. Oh! And you need a suit, or a tux."
"I can do that," he smiled.
"And it's next week, Thursday. Which I think is a stupid day to do it, I mean, right in the middle of the week." She ranted slightly.
"What was your mixer like?"
"Oh, I didn't actually go, I went to the bar across the street instead."
Derek laughed, "Really couldn't face it huh?"
"No. Plus I knew I'd drink less at a bar than stress drinking at the mixer. And I had Aiden to get home to."
"Well I guess that's fair enough," he kissed her lightly, putting an arm around her shoulder. Aiden came back, holding his possession triumphantly and they turned their focus back to the chatty 5-year-old in front of them.
xxxxx
Derek was ready, he had been off for three days and he loved spending it with Meredith and Aiden, but he was itching to be back on the ice. They had ended up losing after he had been taken off the ice after Braden freaking Point shoved him into the boards. But they were only 1-0 down in the series. It was hardly over. But he had been welcomed back warmly and now he was warming up; they were all in fine form tonight and Derek was sure of their win.
His Meredith was back at home, probably scared out of her mind but he was still glad she was watching. She had held onto him for dear life when he had left earlier, making him promise that he wouldn't get hurt this time. He could only hope that he never got seriously injured because of how hard it would be on her. He had told her he loved her and that he would do his best. But she was watching, and so was Aiden, he just wanted him to win!
They started play and Derek eyed Point carefully and skated his best game trying to outplay the Bolts. They had beaten them in the round robin, why not now?
They were proving to be better than them when Derek skated to the face-off circle for an icing. "Careful Shepherd, don't hurt yourself this time."
It was said in sportsmanship rather than a threat, the player opposite him was an old teammate of his but it still put him on edge. He started playing badly enough that AV took him off. He gave himself a pep talk and his spirits were lifted when he watched Kubes rip one from the blue line. He skated back on, not letting his focus stray from the game. He paid attention, his eyes flicking around, watching the play. He drowned out the fans and focused on the sound of skates on the ice, the satisfying tap of the stick. He played well then, creating leads and opening spaces. It was down to the last few seconds of regulation time, the score tied at 2-2. Hayes took a wrist shot from the top and it came flying between the blue defensemen, though it was heading straight for Korpisalo's glove. He edged out his stick, redirected it into the bottom corner. The goaltender hadn't stood a chance.
The crowd roared and his teammates swarmed to him, he was taken into a giant group hug of hockey players and he grinned to himself. They could win this series.
xxxxx
A week had passed, the Flyers now 3-1 up in the series. But for now Derek was focusing on the night out tonight. While he would rather spend it with just Meredith, he was happy that she wanted to take him to events. If he was honest, he was surprised the press hadn't got anything out of him yet. They came close sometimes, but he held his tongue, respecting Aiden and Meredith's privacy. But that was beside the point right now. He was becoming a bigger, more permanent part of her life and he loved it. He was standing in the hallway, waiting for her to come downstairs and when she did, he couldn't draw his eyes away. She was astoundingly beautiful. Her red gown was striking and highlighted her beautiful curves. Her soft golden tendrils framed her face, green eyes shining.
"Wow..." he uttered.
"It's okay right?" she twirled in front of him.
"It's... amazing."
"Good," she giggled.
"Everyone will be jealous of me. You'll be the most beautiful one there." He kissed her.
"Well you don't look so bad yourself," she ran a hand down his chest.
He smiled and led her out of the door.
They arrived at the mixer and Derek placed his hand on the small of her back.
"Meredith? You're here," a tall African-American man came up to them.
"Good evening Chief. Dr Webber, this is my boyfriend, Derek Shepherd." Derek swore he saw her blush. He held out his hand, "It's great to meet you."
"You too, please, call me Richard. Enjoy the party, both of you. I have to do some more mingling." And he disappeared into the throng.
"Come on Der, I think I saw George and Lexie over there." Over the months, Derek had met her friends, mainly as an interrogation to make sure he was good enough for their friend, and thankfully, he had passed. They ambled up and were brought into the conversation, Derek could just about keep up with his limited knowledge of medicine. They talked amicably until Derek thought he should probably start being a good boyfriend tonight. "Mer, do you want a drink?" he murmured.
"Yeah, just get me a margarita please?"
"Sure."
"Thanks Der."
He left the group and leaned against the bar. His elbows were resting on the counter when he heard a familiar voice and spotted a familiar head of ginger hair. He and Owen had been part of the baseball team in high school. Neither of them had been that good, they had been dragged in because they were good at sports. Him, ice hockey and Owen, football.
"Owen Hunt?" he said, flabbergasted.
"Yes?" the man turned. Recognition cleared his eyes, "Derek Shepherd?"
"Oh man, I haven't seen you in years." He brought him in to a quick hug. "How are you?"
"I'm great, I'm a trauma surgeon here at Seattle Grace now. I spent some time in the army and, obviously, came back. It's great to be back home."
"That's great." He grinned.
"What about you? You play professionally now, don't you?"
"Yeah, Philadelphia Flyers. I'm being transferred here though to be part of Seattle's new team."
"That's awesome. I'm happy for you, I am, but why are you here?"
"Oh," he laughed. "I'm here as my girlfriend's date. Meredith Grey."
"Grey? The neuro resident?"
He nodded.
"She's a good person. And a hell of a surgeon."
"Oh I know, I'm being the proud boyfriend tonight," he grinned.
"Good," Owen laughed, "we should catch up. Come and find me whenever, I'll probably be at the hospital."
"Yeah that would be great, I'll see you around Hunt. You were never very good at baseball, I'm glad you found your passion," he joked.
"Shut up Shepherd, you were no better than me," Hunt laughed, patted him on the back and went back in the direction he'd come from.
Derek chuckled softly to himself, got the drinks and went back to Meredith. The group seemed to have dissipated and he scanned the room, finding Meredith laughing with a man he didn't recognise; he couldn't help the jealousy that surged through him. He came up behind Meredith, handed her the drink then kissed her temple and wrapped an arm around her waist protectively.
"Thanks Der. Derek, this is my attending, Dr Patrick. Kevin Patrick, Derek Shepherd."
"Pleasure to meet you," Dr Patrick greeted, sticking out his hand.
"You too," he shook his outstretched hand.
"I was just telling Dr Patrick about Aiden tackling you the other day and you went straight down onto the ice."
Derek laughed at the memory, and with relief that this attending wasn't trying to flirt with his Mer.
"You mean when he rammed into me, completely illegally, by the way, then tripped me up."
"Yes. Though Aiden was pretty proud of himself," Meredith's eyes sparkled.
"Well you would be if you managed to trip up the Flyers' star centreman."
"Oh, so you're the star now," Meredith giggled.
"I am, who's getting transferred to the Seattle Kraken because they were described as a 'multi-talented centreman?"
"Just because you're multi-talented doesn't mean you're a star. You can't be too cocky Derek," she mocked.
"You love me," he smirked.
"I do."
"So you love the cocky."
"No," she rolled her eyes, "I love you in spite of the cocky."
Kevin Patrick watched the couple in front of him with interest. He was by no means a friend of Meredith's, but he was a dear friend of Webber's, who had told him to look out for the woman who was like a daughter to him. Over the three years he had seen Meredith at the hospital, she had never seemed this happy. Not with her friends, not even with Aiden. But with Derek Shepherd, she was totally comfortable, and you would have to be blind to not see the connection and love they had.
xxxxx
Meredith and Derek enjoyed the rest of their night and woke the next morning in each other's arms. Aiden was being dropped off before school because Lexie had to go to her shift. Sure enough, the doorbell went, and they set about making breakfast and getting ready. Derek took Aiden to school because Meredith had to work, and he had enough time before he had to be at the rink.
They all got ready as quickly as they could and left in their separate cars. Aiden, once again, was enjoying Derek's company already, but this time more for his standing as a well-known hockey player.
"Everyone is gonna be so jealous," he said smiling.
"Of the car?" Derek asked dumbly.
"No Derek, of you, cuz you're like, the best skater of all time. But the car is cool too."
Derek laughed and parked in the school's parking lot. "Does your mom normally come in with you or do you go by yourself?"
"Mom comes with me, she has to sign a thing saying that she'll pick me up, or if someone else is then there's a weird code thing."
"That sounds very confusing, I'll come with you."
They both got out, Aiden's book bag in Derek's hand while Aiden took his other. Derek felt the whispers of the older kids who apparently knew who he was, he was hoping no one would come up to him. It was okay if he was by himself, but he didn't want to have to deal with it when he was dropping off a boy who meant so much to him. Thankfully no one did, and they got to the classroom safely. Aiden hugged him goodbye at the door and ran off to find his friends. Derek smiled and found where to sign him in.
"I haven't seen you here before, will you be picking up Aiden later?" The teacher asked.
"I haven't been here before, Derek Shepherd," he put out his hand, the teacher taking it, "Rebecca Wheeler."
"I'm not sure if I'm picking him up later, I'll have to see what Mer's day looks like. If she does then I'll probably be with her anyway."
"Okay," Mrs Wheeler smiled, "I'll just put you down for pick up and if it goes wrong then hopefully Meredith can sort it out later."
"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear that," Derek laughed. He excused himself and went and found Aiden surrounded by building blocks. "I'll see you late bud, it'll either be me or Mom picking you up okay?"
"Kay," he hugged him, and Derek kissed his head. "Have fun," he stood up and walked back out of the classroom.
xxxxx
Meredith walked through the hospital doors the next day only to be immediately tag-teamed by Dr Webber and Dr Patrick.
"Meredith, I need you to give a prospect resident a tour today."
"Uh, okay, but I have surgery today."
"I know, you'll walk her through how we work, and you will both assist Dr Patrick today."
"She's a neuro resident?" Meredith smiled.
"Yes, she might be transferring from Mercy West, and we want her here, she would be a great addition."
"Of course, Chief, when is she getting here?"
"Well, she's already here, I told her to get some scrubs and she'll probably be waiting outside the intern's locker room. I told her you would find her as soon as you were ready. And you have rounds, so..."
"Okay, that's fine. Does she have a name?"
"Oh! Of course, sorry. Amelia Shepherd."
xxxxx
Meredith's eyes bulged out of her head in horror and alarm. She walked in a panic to the resident lounge. It would have to be okay; she couldn't call Derek, he would be at practice by now, and her person was nowhere in sight. It would be fine; Derek had said that Amelia would be the one she'd get on with most. Meeting his mom had gone well, so why couldn't meeting one sister?
She got ready as quickly as she could and practically ran to the intern locker room where she found a brown-haired, blue-eyed woman leaning against the wall.
"Dr Shepherd?" She would try and be professional.
"Hi, I'm sorry, Dr Webber didn't tell me your name."
Meredith swallowed, "Meredith Grey."
Now it was Amelia's turn for her eyes to go wide. "You're Meredith? As in, my brother's girlfriend Meredith?"
"I am yeah, you're his youngest sister, right?"
"Yeah, but clearly I am much smarter and mature. I mean come on; he plays ice hockey for a living."
Meredith laughed, she definitely liked Amelia, "I cannot believe I haven't used that one on him yet."
"Oh, you should. Bruise his ego a little," Amelia giggled.
"Let's get this tour started. And you can tell me embarrassing stories from his childhood."
"Oh, I have plenty of those," Amelia smiled wickedly.
"Let's go then," Meredith smiled, but before she could open the door, Amelia's hand stopped her.
"Meredith? Please don't tell Derek I was here today, I just want to see if this hospital would fit me, and I only told my husband. I think I could get more from this program, but Derek would probably think I was trying to spy on you. He is fiercely protective of you, and Aiden, even when you're not there."
"I won't. And I know he is," Meredith giggled, "Last night, we had the intern mixer, and the attending, Dr Patrick, was talking to me. Derek walks over and puts his arm around me and kisses me, like he was marking his territory. He would have done it anyway, but I could tell he was jealous. But it is insanely hot."
"Ok, steering away from this conversation because I do not want to hear about how hot my brother is."
"Sorry," Meredith giggled again, "and don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Come on, let's go."
The two of them proceeded to spend the rest of the day working on cases together and consequently, getting to know each other. Maybe Derek's family didn't scare her so much after all.