"And no matter what everyone else says, don't take more than six shots," Derek said as Meredith ran her hair straightener over her hair.
Meredith rolled her eyes as she looked at him in the mirror. "I know how to take care of myself, Derek," she said.
"I know," he nodded. "But I still have to tell you. It's my job."
"Your sister is pregnant, Derek," Meredith said. "And two of your other sisters are underage. It's not going to be a crazy bachelorette party."
"You never know," Derek sighed. "And I do know that there will be alcohol involved."
"And strippers," Meredith giggled.
"Which I still don't like."
"It's not like you're going to have strippers," Meredith pointed out. "Mark planned your party."
"Just...don't go crazy," Derek said, getting off the bed to wrap his arms around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder.
"I won't," Meredith said softly, her hand moving into his hair as she looked at their reflection in the mirror. "Look at us, Der."
"We look good together," Derek smiled, pressing a quick kiss to her neck.
"You're wearing your good looking shirt," Meredith giggled.
"Got to make sure I look hot," Derek nodded. "It is my bachelor party."
Meredith smiled as she turned in his arms. "I have to go," she said, leaning forward to kiss him. "Otherwise Addison will come drag me away."
"Hmm," Derek nodded, kissing her one last time before stepping back to look at her. "You look hot," he frowned.
"So?" Meredith asked. "I'm supposed to look hot, it's my bachelorette party."
"Not so hot that other guys are going to hit on you."
"Don't worry, this will scare them away," Meredith smiled, holding up her left hand so engagement ring sparkled in the light of the room.
"Good," Derek nodded, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. "Now go before I take advantage of you."
Meredith giggled as she picked up her purse. "You can take advantage later tonight," she said. "Love you."
"Love you too," Derek's voice drifted into the hall as she made her way down the stairs.
"Finally," Liz rolled her eyes. "I thought we were going to have to pry you and Derek apart with the jaws of life."
"Haha," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"
"Just put this on," Addison said, handing her a plastic crown with a veil attached to it.
"I'm so not wearing this," Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Mer," Caitlin giggled. "We're all wearing bridesmaid tiaras."
"Not until you tell me where we can having a bachelorette party with two underage girls and a pregnant girl and still get alcohol," Meredith replied.
Addison sighed dramatically. "You really want to know?" she asked.
"Yes," Meredith nodded firmly.
"We're going bowling."
"Bowling," Meredith repeated.
"Yes," Addison nodded. "They have late night bowling in the city. Every thing glows in the dark, and there's a bar and a dance floor, but it will also be fun for those of us who can't drink."
"Oh," Meredith said, a smile slowly spreading over her face. "Bowling."
"Now let's go," Nancy said, moving towards the door. "We have to catch the last ferry into the city."
Meredith giggled as she hooked her arm through Addison's. She'd never thought she would go bowling for her bachelorette party, but she couldn't deny that it sounded like fun.
XXXXX
"Seriously?" Derek asked as he turned to Mark as they stood on the street in the city, surrounded by Chris and Matt and a handful of friends from high school that they had kept in touch with through college. "The strip club's closed, Mark."
"I can see that," Mark rolled his eyes as he looked at the building that now boasted a sign for a preschool. "It wasn't a preschool last summer."
"Well, now what the hell are we supposed to do?" Derek asked. "I knew I should have asked someone else to be my best man."
"Dude, you don't have any other friends," Mark rolled his eyes. "And we'll find somewhere else."
"You better find somewhere else," Derek snapped. "Because if Meredith finds out how pathetic this party is, she'll never let me forget it."
"You are so whipped," Mark said. "Do you think of anything besides your..."
"Do not insult Meredith," Derek said evenly, stepping closer to Mark, anticipating his best friend's comment. "I swear to God, Mark..."
"Bowling!" Chris suddenly yelled, causing Mark and Derek to turn from each other.
"What?" Derek asked.
Chris pointed to a neon sign down the road, advertising a bowling alley. "We can go bowling."
"That's the lamest thing I've ever heard," Mark said, turning to Derek. "Your niece better get Kath's genes."
"No, he's right," Matt said. "We'll just rent out a private room and call some strippers."
Derek sighed. "Fine," he said. "Let's go."
They made their way into the bowling alley, and Mark smiled as he walked up to the counter, leaning close to the blonde working behind the desk. "Do you have any room for a bachelor party?" he asked, flashing her a brilliant smile.
The girl smiled politely before she looked into her book. "We do have an open room," she nodded. "This must be a popular time to get married. We've got a bachelorette party here tonight too."
XXXXX
"Strike!" Meredith shouted, pumping her fist in the air as she turned back to her friends. "I so won that round."
"You can't win a round," Kathleen rolled her eyes. "You win a game."
"Whatever," Meredith giggled as she reached for her apple martini. "No one else has gotten a strike yet."
"Okay, that puts Meredith' in...fifth," Liz announced as she looked up from her scorecard.
"Fifth?" Meredith frowned. "I just got a strike."
"And that was the first time you've even knocked any pins down," Caitlin pointed out.
"Oh," Meredith said. "It seems," she announced as she drained the last of her drink. "The more I drink, the better I get."
Addison laughed as she reached for Meredith's arm. "Maybe so," she said. "Let's go get another round."
"Okay," Meredith smiled, following her friend to the bar. "Thanks for letting me take off that stupid crown," she said. "It was totally hurting my game."
"I'm sure that was it," Addison said as she leaned over the bar. "Three margaritas and three cokes," she said to the bartender.
"Excuse me," Meredith heard a voice say from her left and she turned as she felt a hand brush her lower back. "Hi," a tall, blonde man said as he smiled down at her. "I'm Dave."
"Hi," Meredith said cautiously, smiling politely.
"So...this is a pretty cool place, huh?" Dave asked as he leaned against the bar.
"Um...sure," Meredith said, turning to Addison. "I'm going to go back to the girls," she said.
"You have to help me carry the drinks," Addison said apologetically as she looked at her.
"What are you drinking?" Dave asked, leaning closer to their conversation. "I'll buy it for you."
"Actually, I'm..." Meredith blinked in surprise as a punch came out of nowhere and suddenly Dave was on the ground. "Derek?"
"Derek, what the hell are you doing here?" Addison demanded.
"Oh," Derek frowned, clenching and unclenching his fist slowly, trying to see if anything was broken.
"Are you okay?" Meredith asked, reaching for his hand.
"Don't touch him, Mer, he's not supposed to be here," Addison said. "Where the hell is Mark?"
"In the private party room," Derek said. "With the strippers."
Addison rolled her eyes as she stormed towards the party rooms in the back of the alley. Meredith pulled Derek away from the bar, into a more quiet corner as she examined his hand as best she could in the dark alley.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked as she ran her fingers over his knuckles.
"He was hitting on you," Derek shrugged.
"So you punched him?" Meredith asked. "Derek, I was about to show him my ring. I'm sure that he would have backed down as soon as he knew I'm engaged."
"Oh," Derek said, suddenly feeling stupid. "Sorry, I just...saw red."
Meredith rolled her eyes as she finally met his eyes, then leaned in to kiss him. "My big strong caveman," she sighed. "I can take care of myself, Derek."
"I know," he sighed. "That doesn't mean I don't want to take care of you though."
She nodded as she reached for his hand again. "I don't think anything's broken," she sighed.
"Good," Derek nodded. "I can't have a broken hand ruining my wedding day."
"You should have thought about that before you punched an innocent person," Meredith said.
"Well, Ms. Grey, almost Mrs. Shepherd," Derek smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "It seems that my best man and your maid of honor think alike."
"It seems that way," Meredith giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. She leaned in to kiss him, but was distracted when shouts started coming from the other side of the room.
"I don't care!" Addison shouted. "I booked this months ago, Mark. Months. You stumbled on it because you were to lazy to plan a real party. So you and your pathetic party have to leave."
"My party is not pathetic!" Mark yelled back. "And why doesn't anyone have to leave."
"Brides and grooms can't have their bachelor and bachelorette parties in the same place," Addison rolled her eyes. "They'll just end up having sex in the corner of the room."
"I'm okay with that," Derek murmured in Meredith's ear.
"Shut up," she replied automatically, slapping his arm. "We have to stop them before they cause a scene."
"I'm sorry, have you met Derek and Meredith?" Mark was saying. "Those two have some sort of weird radar when it comes to each other. I could have planned a party all the way across the city and they still would have ended up having sex in some sketchy alley or something."
"Oh my God," Meredith whispered, turning into Derek. "Please tell me people aren't looking."
Derek laughed as he moved a hand up to her hair. "No one knows who we are, Mer," he said. "We could leave."
Meredith pulled back and narrowed her eyes at him. "You just want to prove Mark right," she rolled her eyes.
Derek opened his mouth to respond, but then frowned. "No," he said.
Meredith bit her lower lip for a moment as she looked at him. She glanced over her shoulder at Mark and Addison who were still arguing heatedly, at least in more hushed tones, his sisters having made their way over to tell them to stop drawing attention to themselves.
Meredith turned back to Derek and edged closer to him, rubbing her hips against his. "We could prove Addison right," she purred.
"Wha...what?" Derek asked, his head starting to feel fuzzy at the feeling of Meredith's body against his.
"Addison said if we stay here, we'll end up having sex in the corner," Meredith whispered, slowly pushing him back to the corner where they had been standing moments before. "We could prove her right."
"Okay," Derek managed to choke out before he smashed his lips against hers, turning to pin her to the wall as she wrapped a leg around his waist. As she ran her fingers through his hair and gently moved her hips against his, he felt all thoughts leave his head, except for the pure desire for the woman in his arms.
This bachelor party wasn't turning out so badly after all.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
Happy Friday!
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