"They're perfect," Meredith sighed as she looked at the rings that sat side by side in the box in her hands. "Our wedding rings, Der."
"I know," Derek said with a smile as he glanced at her, sitting in the passenger seat as the rings shined brightly in her hand. "Pretty soon we'll be able to wear them."
"Is it bad that I'm not excited about graduation?" Meredith asked. "Because right now, the last thing I want to do is go up there. I want to stay here, with our family, and plan for the wedding."
"I know," Derek nodded. "I feel the same way. We'll go graduate, Mer. Mom and the rest of the sisters will be there, so we won't be missing anything here. And then...we can get to come back here and get ready for the wedding."
Meredith sighed, closing the ring box and putting it back in her bag. "We have so much to do," she sighed. "But I guess we'll have all summer to furnish the apartment and find jobs and move everything down from Boston..."
"Not all summer," Derek interrupted.
"What?" Meredith asked, turning her head to face him. "What are you talking about?"
Derek laughed slightly as he pulled the car into the line for the ferry boat and put it in park, turning to face her. "Well, it's something most people call a honeymoon," he explained.
"Honey...." Meredith's eyes widened. "Oh my God. How could I have forgotten to plan the honeymoon? Your mom planned everything from the DJ to the flowers, and Addison helped me pick out my lingerie for the wedding night, but...how could I have forgotten? How are we going to plan something this late. Why did no one tell me...."
"Meredith," Derek laughed, an amused expression on his face. "We already have plans."
"What?" she asked.
"I was wondering when you would figure this out," Derek laughed. "I've got it all under control, Mer."
"Where are we going?" Meredith asked.
"Oh, no," Derek laughed. "That, my dear, is for me to know and you to find out."
"But...I need to know what to pack," Meredith said.
"Addison's got it under control," Derek smiled. "And you won't be needing many clothes."
Meredith frowned before she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, staring straight ahead of her.
"Don't be dramatic, Mer," he said. "I promise, you're going to love it. You'll get lots of sun and lots of tequila and lots of me."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "But no sex until you tell me."
"No...what?" Derek frowned.
"If you're going to keep secrets from me, then I can keep sex from you," Meredith said, knowing she sounded stupid, even to her own ears.
Derek stared at her for a moment before he nodded, a sly smile playing over his lips. "Okay," he said.
"What?" Meredith frowned, not having expected that reaction from him.
"Okay," Derek shrugged. "My bachelor party's coming up, I'm sure seeing a few strippers will help me out with any problems I might have."
Meredith rolled her eyes. "You won't touch them, right?" she asked, all teasing draining from her voice. "I know it's like, a requirement, for bachelor parties to go see strippers, but you won't touch them right? Or let them touch you?"
Derek smiled softly, wishing the insecurity she had in herself would disappear. "I won't touch," he nodded. "And Mer? None of the strippers in the world could do what you do to me."
Meredith giggled slightly. "Maybe I should strip for you before your party," she said. "Just so you don't forget what you have at home."
"I'll never forget," Derek promised as he drove onto the ferryboat and got out of the car, Meredith following suit. They met on his side of the car and made their way towards the top floor balcony. "Today was amazing," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"It really was," Meredith said as she leaned back into his embrace. "I love you."
"I love you too," Derek replied. "So much."
"Meredith?" a voice from behind their right interrupted their intimate moment, and she turned in Derek's arms to look address the voice.
"Dan," she stated flatly.
"Dan?" Derek asked, not sure he liked Meredith's tone.
"Wow, it's a small world," Dan smiled as he moved forward towards them, eyeing Derek carefully as Meredith stayed wrapped in his embrace. "How have you been?"
"Really great," Meredith smiled. "This is Derek. He's my fiancé."
Dan looked at Derek carefully for a moment before he held out a hand. "Nice to meet you," he said. "Meredith and I go way back."
"Really?" Derek asked. "How do you two know each other?"
"High school," Meredith shrugged. "You know. But um...it's really great to see you again, Dan."
"You too," Dan nodded, clearly feeling the discomfort of the situation. "Um... congratulations on your wedding."
"Thanks," Meredith smiled faintly as he stepped into the inside of the ferry.
"Well that was awkward," Derek said as soon as he was gone, turning Meredith around so he could look her in the eye. "Ex-boyfriend?"
"No," Meredith shook her head. "You're the only guy I ever dated, Derek, you know that."
"Okay," Derek nodded. "So...how do you know him?"
"He...dated Addison," Meredith replied. "But then he decided he wanted me."
"He dumped you for her?"
"Not exactly," Meredith sighed. "Look, Derek it was a long time ago."
"I want to know," Derek insisted.
Meredith sighed. "He just...tried things with me before he broke up with Addison."
"Did he..." Derek felt his blood run cold, anger bubbling inside of him at the thought of anyone hurting his Meredith.
"No," Meredith rolled her eyes. "You're such a caveman. He didn't hurt me, he just caused a lot of drama between Addison and I and he broke her heart pretty badly, and it was just...bad, every way you cut it. So there you go, nothing exciting."
"Hmm," Derek sighed.
"What?" Meredith asked, looking carefully at him.
"There's something you're not telling me."
Meredith sighed, wondering why she thought she could have hid anything from Derek. "It has nothing to do with me," she shook her head. "It's Addison's past."
"Okay," Derek nodded. He sighed as he leaned closer to her. "It's weird that we had a life before each other."
"Not much of one," Meredith sighed. "And I'm not the same girl I was in high school."
"As horrible as it sounds, I'm glad that you and I didn't meet in high school," Derek sighed.
Meredith giggled. "Why, you didn't think the girl with the pink hair would go for the band geek with the afro?" she asked, looping her arms around his neck.
"It was not an afro," Derek sighed. "And no, I don't think you would have given me the time of day. So I'm glad it happened in college."
"I've seen pictures. It was an afro" Meredith replied. "And...I'm glad we met when we did too. It was perfect."
"What, with you turning me down for weeks?" Derek asked. "Or you falling of the bed and breaking your leg?"
"All of it," Meredith giggled before she turned serious, resting her head on his shoulder. "God, Derek, I don't even know what I would have done without you these past four years."
"Well, that makes two of us," Derek sighed, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Meredith, when I look back on everything these past four years...Dad dying, Kath getting married, and just life in general, I have no idea how I would have done it without you. Especially when Dad died. I honestly don't think that I ever would have made it through that. You made me the person I am today, Meredith, and I'm so grateful for that. Because I know that no matter what happens, we'll always have each other to remind us of who we really are."
"That's...probably the corniest thing you've ever said," Meredith giggled as she leaned closer to him. "But...it's true for me too."
"Good," Derek nodded as he kissed her forehead, looking out over the water as Long Island came into view. "We should head back to the car."
Meredith gripped his hand tightly as they made their way down to the car, each of them buzzing with anticipation of the months to come.
XXXXX
Meredith stood in the middle of the empty apartment the next afternoon, looking at the shell of what had been her home for the past four years, her first real home ever. She and Derek had got home earlier that morning to find that Mark and Addison had packed up a majority of the apartment, ready to move out when their lease expired the week after graduation. Now, as Derek was packing the last of his clothes in the bedroom, Meredith stood in the middle of the living room, remembering any moment she could from the cozy apartment she had loved.
She smiled as Addison walked into the room, moving to stand beside her best friend. "We've got a lot of memories here," she said.
"We do," Meredith smiled. "Remember the time we switched all the ingredients in the kitchen and pissed the guys off?"
Addison laughed. "Mark was confused for weeks as to why his coffee was so bitter tasting." She looked around for a moment before she offered, "how about the time you and Derek had sex on the couch and Mark didn't even realize it til halfway through."
Meredith giggled. "He was actually stupid enough to believe that we were just cuddling under that blanket."
Addison sighed as she linked her arms through Meredith's. "We've gone through a lot here," she said.
"And next week we graduate," Meredith continued. "And you're going to L.A. with Mark."
"I still can't believe he managed to get in at the last minute," Addison smiled. "I guess his father is good for something."
"Hmm," Meredith nodded.
"And you and Derek will be married," Addison continued. "At Columbia."
"I'm going to miss you," Meredith whispered. "You've always been right there. I don't really know what I'm going to do without you."
"Yeah, there will be no one to eat ice cream with in the middle of the night when the guys are idiots," Addison said.
"We're hardly ever idiots," Derek said as he came into the room.
"Oh, I disagree," Meredith laughed as she reached for his hand. "It's so empty, Der."
"I'm going to miss this place," Derek sighed. "But we'll have plenty of time to make new memories at our new home."
"Yeah," Meredith sighed. "We should order a pizza tonight. Drink some beer and then watch Mark and Derek try to out drink each other."
"Like the first night we were here," Addison nodded.
"I'm okay with that," Derek said. "Especially if we can replay later on that night," he murmured in Meredith's ear.
"Shut up," she hissed.
"I'm just saying," Derek shrugged. "I don't think I've packed the handcuffs yet..."
"Shut up or you will never use those handcuffs again," Meredith said with clenched teeth.
Addison laughed from her place beside her. "Mer, it's not like we don't know everything about each other's sex lives," she said. "Mark and Derek probably talk about it as much as we do. Mark even admitted to taking tips from Derek."
"I did not take tips from him," Mark boomed as he walked into the apartment, two pizza boxes in his hands. "I just asked him what made Grey make that noise when she..."
"Oh look pizza!" Meredith said loudly. "Let's talk about that. Pizza is really delicious and hot and...greasy."
Derek laughed as he ran a hand through Meredith's hair. "We'll stop embarrassing you now," he said. "Even though I could fight back with just as much dirt on Mark and Addison."
"Okay, new conversation," Addison said. "Let's talk about the wedding. Meredith and Derek are getting married soon."
"And I've got one hell of a bachelor party planned," Mark laughed.
"I don't even want to know," Meredith rolled her eyes.
"We'll have just as much fun," Addison reassured her. "We can have fun without these idiots."
"Not too much fun," Mark warned.
Meredith giggled as the four of them sat down on the floor, opening beers and pizza boxes as they enjoyed the atmosphere of their apartment one last time before they graduated.