Capítulo 33: 33. Living the Dream
Wrapped in Derek's strong arms, Meredith was fast asleep, lost in her dream world. A dream world that contained only her and Derek and a large, comfortable bed, and all the time in the world. And even in her unconscious state, a smile graced her lips.
That is, until a loud thunk from hallway pulled her to consciousness.
She groaned as her dream world fell away, leaving her bereft as she blinked wearily at the sudden onslaught of the real world. Derek was still right there with her, still sharing the bed, but his even breathing on the back of her neck told her he was fast asleep, lost in his own dream world, and not doing the things to her he had been doing in her dreams. Or maybe he was, she mused, wondering suddenly what Derek Shepherd dreamed about.
Burrowing herself deeper into his arms, Meredith closed her eyes again and pressed her face into the covers, willing sleep to take her again.
However, a second, equally loud, thunk from the hallway, this time coupled with her roommate's cursing, prevented any chance she had of returning to her dream.
With an irritated moan, Meredith pried Derek's hands away from her middle, leapt out of bed and hurried to swing open the door.
"I was having a really good dream and you ruined it," she muttered to George as she caught sight of him attempting to dodge the array of boxes that lined their hallway.
"Sorry," he responded quickly, replacing the last box he had inadvertently knocked over. He was scowling and wore rumpled lounging clothes. He obviously hadn't showered yet. "There's these boxes... All these boxes. Callie said she was bringing her stuff over and...uh...it's all here."
Meredith shrugged. What was a fifth roommate when you already had four sharing one house? And really, they were all surgeons and so weren't home all that much anyway. "It's okay, George. I don't mind." She offered him a tired smile and leaned against the door jam.
"I don't mind either, nah. I don't mind a bit," he mumbled as he stepped closer to her, stopping when he was only inches away. "Kick her out."
"What? I can't kick her out. You're the one who told her she could move in," she retorted.
"I said she could stay for a couple of days. A couple of days? It's been over a week. And now there are boxes. And she's using my computer...and she's here all the time. Would you kick her out?" He met her eyes straight on as the bathroom door opened behind him. "Kick her out now," he begged.
Dressed only in a red towel, and oblivious to their conversation, Callie strode past them. "Hey, you guys might want to wait a while. There's no more hot water." She paused, back still turned to them, as she sifted through one of the many boxes she had brought with her.
"Do it," George prompted. "Why do you hate me? Do it."
Meredith shot him an incredulous look and shook her head. "No."
The third bedroom door opened at the end of the hall, catching all three of their attention. "Hey," Izzy said. "Can I get a ride with you guys to the hospital?"
"You're going to the hospital?" Meredith asked for confirmation. It had been a little over a week since she and George had convinced their resident to come home with them to talk to Izzy. And it had been decided that Izzy would stop the incessant baking and come back to the hospital, but she hadn't been ready yet. This was a very good sign.
"Yeah," Izzy said quickly. "I'm going to go in and talk to the Chief...see about coming back." She swallowed hard. "Anyway, just let me know when you're leaving," she said before disappearing back into her room.
"That's great," Callie called, turning to face Meredith and George. "Izzy's coming back. That's...great, right?"
"Mmm-hmm," Meredith mumbled with a smile and a nod as she bit back a smile at George's sudden change in demeanour.
"That's my towel," he spoke, his voice low and stilted.
"Oh, sorry," Callie said as she stepped towards them, her hands making quick work of puling it off herself and handing it to George, leaving herself completely naked in the hallway before them.
George looked completely lost as he took the towel from her and turned to head into the bathroom, having given up on Meredith kicking out his girlfriend.
"Wow, he's really moody in the mornings," Callie said to Meredith, completely unabashed by her nakedness.
"Yeah, he's..." Meredith trailed off as she felt a hand on her back. And there was a horrible, awkward moment where she knew exactly what was about to happen, but had absolutely no way to prevent it.
"Morn- Whoa!" Derek called as he quickly spun away from the hallway, his gaze planted firmly on the door now in front of him.
"Dr. Shepherd!" Callie screeched, her hands moving to cover herself in sudden embarrassment. "I...I...shit. Sorry," she said quickly as she turned and hurried down the hall to George's room.
Meredith finally let loose a torrent of giggles when she heard the door slam shut. "It's okay, she's gone," she said, turning to where Derek had pressed his forehead against their door. He didn't move and she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, sighing as she pressed her face against his back. "Derek?"
"I thought the hallway was a PG area?"
This only succeeded to increase her laughter. "I thought so too."
He grumbled, but reached a hand down to tangle with hers. "Was this a one time thing?"
"One can only hope," she responded, removing her arms to pull him into their room and close the door.
He turned to her with a wry smile. "You need to warn me if there's a next time."
She shrugged. "I didn't have a chance to warn you. Sorry," she stepped close, resting a hand against his chest before pressing her lips against his.
Derek responded immediately, his hands finding her waist, and then running up underneath the thin fabric of the Dartmouth tee he loved on her.
She moaned into his mouth as his talented fingers found her breasts and she was reminded of her dream. "Derek," she mumbled as his lips left hers to trail downwards. "We don't have much time."
"Hmmm..." he responded, kissing and licking and sucking along the tender skin of her neck.
"Derek..." She whined as he lifted her top over her head.
He tilted his head and smiled at her. "You are the only one I want to see naked in the mornings..."
She glared at him.
Derek laughed. "Ever," he corrected. "You are the only one I want to see naked ever."
"That's better."
He laughed again. "Come on," he pleaded. "We can be quick. I need my Meredith fix, and since I'm banned at work..."
She gave in a kissed him. True to his word, he was being very well behaved at the hospital. And, truth be told, she needed her Derek fix. For a short amount of time, at least, they could live the dream.
000
"Callie just called my house home," George stated as he dropped his tray onto the table. "Where does she get that? It's not her home."
"It is now," Alex shot back. "Dude, you let her move in and stay a week. You're as good as hitched."
"I did not let her move in!" George hissed. "I told her she could stay for a couple days while she found a place. Nowhere in there was moving in an option."
"Just tell her, George," Meredith told him. Beside her, Derek nodded his agreement.
"It's not that easy. She's already moved herself in. You saw her this morning."
"Yeah, I did see her this morning," Meredith agreed. "And seriously, George, you can wimp out all you want on the moving in issue, but you have to tell her she needs to stay dressed outside your room and the bathroom. Because the rest of the house needs to be PG."
"How not PG was she being now?" Cristina asked, having, of course, heard the naked peeing story from weeks before.
George groaned and buried his face in his hands.
Meredith laughed at him and turned her attention to her best friend. "She was naked in the hall."
Cristina shook her head. "She's lucky McDreamy didn't come out of your room."
It was Derek's turn to groan. "I did."
Alex laughed. "Way to go, man. What was that like?"
"Alex!" Meredith scolded.
Alex shrugged, unaffected by her tone. "You may have him wrapped around your little finger, Grey, but he's still a man."
"She does not-" Derek began, but was cut off.
"She so does," Cristina said quickly. Alex and George nodded their agreement.
"It's kind of sad, man," Alex added. "She's got you whipped."
Meredith giggled as her boyfriend glared at her friends. "She does not," he countered. "I am a free man."
Cristina, Alex and George obviously didn't agree, but weren't going to argue with their attending at lunch. Derek sulked beside her, knowing he hadn't won.
Meredith playfully bumped him with her shoulder, and laughed when he wrapped one hand around her waist and reached to steal a handful of fries off her plate with the other.
"So, seriously, how was it?" Alex prompted again.
Meredith glared at him.
Derek shook his head and tightened his arm around his girlfriend. "It was nothing. I turned around immediately. There is only one woman I want to see naked from now on."
Meredith blushed and avoided eye contact with her friends. Cristina snorted. "And you think you're not whipped..."
000
"Megan!" Meredith called out as she quickly searched an unused patient room for a lost girl she had never even met. "Megan?" She sighed as she realized Alex's young patient was not in the empty room. And she needed to be found before she bled out into her abdomen, as she was afflicted with a chromosomal condition that led to her not being able to fee pain.
Meredith stepped back out into the hallway and paused as she glanced around the empty hallway. If you wanted to hide where no one would look for you, where would you go? Patient rooms were pretty obvious, and the girl was smart enough to stay away from them. The door to the supply closet caught her attention, and Meredith quickly stepped across the hall to pull it open.
"Megan?" She called again as the door swung open. "Oh..." She trailed off as she caught sight of the woman who was sitting on an upturned bucket before her. She had evidently been right about the hiding spot; just not whose hiding spot it was. "Hi..." She offered weakly to her boyfriend's ex-wife.
Addison looked up at her and sighed heavily. "Hi."
"I, uh...I'll just...go...yeah...sorry..." Meredith stuttered as she moved to shut the door. However, she hesitated halfway and re-opened the door. She knew Addison and Derek were on much better terms lately, and Addison had been friendly towards her many times. It was Meredith's turn to reach out. "I...are you okay?"
After regarding the younger woman for several seconds, Addison nodded. "I'm okay; just having one of those days."
"That's good. I mean, that you're okay, not that you're having a bad day. It's good that you're okay... I'm glad. And don't worry, everyone has bad days. I know I've had plenty..."
A smile crept onto the older surgeon's face. "Grey."
"Sorry, I ramble when I'm..." She trailed off.
"Nervous?" Addison supplied.
"Yeah, sorry."
She waved her hand. "It's no reason to be sorry. And you have no reason to be nervous."
"Okay." She hesitated. "Do you...need anything?"
Addison sighed. "It's not easy, you know? Trying to start over, to start fresh."
"It's not," Meredith agreed. She gripped tightly to the door knob still, but leaned against the door jam, prepared to stay and talk.
"And I see how happy Derek is now, and I wonder why I can't be happy too?"
"I..." Meredith stumbled, but trailed off.
Addison offered her a comforting smile. "He's happy with you, Meredith. It doesn't take a genius to see it. I've moved on; I just want to get my happy ending too, you know?"
Meredith nodded hesitantly. "He still cares about you," she offered. "He wants you to be happy too."
She smiled gratefully. "That's something." She sighed and shook her head. "I never meant to hurt him."
Meredith nodded less hesitantly. "I know. And he knows." She paused. "He, uh, told me that you were seeing someone?"
Addison scoffed. "I was...kind of."
"Oh, sorry."
She shrugged. "He was a nice guy, you know? Kind. Polite. We went out four times, and then he ended it because I was, apparently, not taking it seriously enough. I wasn't committed enough because I had to cancel a few times."
"But you need someone to respect your job, because you're a surgeon," Meredith supplied.
"Exactly."
"I'm sorry, though..."
Addison waved her hand. "I'm not. He wasn't..." She shook her head. "I wasn't imagining a future or anything. But he wasn't supposed to break things off because of my job... I'm a surgeon, for crying out loud. What did he think?"
A quiet giggle escaped Meredith's lips. "And let me guess, he worked a regular nine to five job?"
Addison laughed back and nodded. "That he did."
"So, you're not upset to see him go?"
"No."
"Then...why?"
Addison took a seep breath. "I did something stupid... At least I think it was stupid. I...after her broke up with me, I was pissed off and...I called Mark."
"Oh," Meredith said, surprised. "Are you...?"
"I don't know. I...he's Mark. He's not anyone's idea of the perfect guy. And yet...I miss him sometimes."
"Did you love him?"
"I don't know," Addison said quietly. "At the time I convinced myself I did. And then after I came here, I told myself it had only been to excuse what I had done. But now...I wonder..."
"You don't always expect it to happen," Meredith offered.
Addison met her eyes straight on. "Falling in love?"
Meredith nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. I...wasn't expecting..."
She nodded, and went so far as to smile. "I believe you. And I don't think he was expecting you, either. I thought he had changed, when I first came out here. I thought he was different, but now...I think he was always this person, but he hid it away for so many years, from himself, even. I didn't see it, at the time, but he was never happy in Manhattan, he was never allowed to be himself. I'm glad he can be himself now. I'm glad he has you now."
"Thanks...Addison. That means a lot, coming from you."
The older surgeon nodded and stood. "I should get back to my patients."
Meredith stepped back and opened the door in full. "Me too. We really need to find this little girl."
"I'll see you later, then," Addison offered as she stepped by Meredith and headed down the hall.
"Yeah," Meredith agreed. She turned to head the other way, but hesitated and turned back. "Dr. Montgomery?"
Addison paused and turned back, a questioning expression on her face.
Meredith strode towards her quickly, determined. "I just...I know that you're a surgeon and that any man has to know that it's important. But... My mother was a surgeon and she put her job above every single other aspect in her life, and now she's sick, and she's got nothing left in her life. So, just...you won't be able to be happy if your job always comes first. You need to find someone who respects your job, but you also need to put him above the hospital sometimes."
For a very long moment, Addison said nothing. She stood still, silently contemplating Meredith's words. And then she took a deep breath and offered Meredith a tired smile. "Thank-you," she said quietly. "I'll remember that."
With a nod, Meredith turned and headed back down the hall.
000
"So," Derek prompted as he collapsed onto the bed beside her, mirroring her position as he leaned against the head board. "Callie Torres spent the entire day avoiding me."
Meredith giggled. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. She actually high-tailed it away from the nurses' station when I showed up this morning. And then I had to attempt to explain why to Bailey..."
She snorted despite herself. "That must have been fun."
He sighed and playfully bumped her shoulder. "She called me a fool, which I didn't deserve. Because, seriously, I did absolutely nothing wrong this time."
"Didn't you know you're supposed to knock when you enter the hallway?" Meredith deadpanned.
He made a face at her and bumped her shoulder again. "I haven't seen you since lunch. What were you up to this afternoon?"
Meredith leaned her head against his shoulder and passed him the small carton of strawberry ice cream she was devouring. "I spent an hour looking for a little girl that Bailey and Alex lost, before a nurse told me that Alex had found her forty minutes before."
He chuckled and took a spoonful of ice cream. "Mmm, this is good."
She nodded and reached for the carton. "I also had a talk with Addison," she said quietly, looking to Derek for his reaction before she scooped another spoonful into her mouth.
"What kind of talk?"
She swallowed her mouthful and passed him the carton as she recanted her conversation from that afternoon. "Are you okay with that?" She asked when she was finished.
"That you're talking to her? Absolutely."
"And what we talked about," she added.
He nodded slowly. "I'm glad she's recognizing how happy I am," he said quietly, going so far as to press his lips against the side of her head. "I don't want her to feel bad, but I really wasn't happy in New York."
"And what about Mark?" She asked carefully.
He sighed heavily. "I...don't know how I feel about that. I'm not angry anymore." He offered her a smile. "What they did led me to you, so I can't stay mad. And if he makes her happy..." He shrugged. "Maybe she'll go back to New York to be with him."
"Do you still hate that she's here?"
He shook his head. "Not really. But she's not made for Seattle. She belongs in New York; she loved it there."
"Hmm," she mumbled thoughtfully as she leaned in to him. "Are you really happy here?"
"Here in Seattle, or here in your bed?" He asked playfully.
"Our bed," she corrected, elbowing him.
"Our bed," he conceded with a warm smile.
"And...both, I guess. Here, Seattle, working at Grace, being with me."
"Meredith, I am happier than I knew it was possible to be," he reassured, wrapped an arm around her waist. "I know I told you I was genetically engineered not to like anywhere outside of Manhattan, but Seattle really grew on me."
"It has ferry boats," she murmured.
"That it does," he replied with a laugh. "And I love working at Grace. It's so much more rewarding than my old practice." He kissed the side of her head again. "And most of all, I love you, Meredith, so much."
"Really?"
He pulled back far enough to meet her eyes. "Absolutely. Now, what's got you suddenly questioning this?"
Meredith sighed. "It's...Addison. She told me that she hadn't realized how unhappy you were in New York until she saw you here, and I just... I don't want to not notice if you're unhappy."
He chuckled and buried his face into the side of her head, breathing in the lavender of her hair. "I'm happy," he reassured. "Ecstatic, even. I love you, and I know you love me. And I'm living this amazing life that I never saw myself in, but love. And I'm looking forward to the future..."
She nodded against him. "Our future," she corrected with a small smile.
"Our future," he agreed, hugging her tightly with the arm around her, and passing the ice cream back into her grasp.
"I'm looking forward to our future too," she told him.
He sighed happily beside her. "Good."
Movement at the doorway to their room caught her attention, and Meredith turned to see her roommate standing awkwardly in the hall. "Hey," Meredith called out, motioning for Izzy to come in.
Izzy sidled across the room to collapse onto Meredith's free side of the bed. "I didn't go in today."
Meredith nodded, knowing she had spent the day standing outside the hospital. "Maybe tomorrow," she offered, passing the ice cream to her.
"Thanks," Izzy said as she took a bite of the ice cream. "Mmm, 's good."
Meredith smiled and leaned happily against Derek. It wasn't often that she got to feel like she had a family. He withdrew his arm from around her waist and instead reached for her closest hand, entwining their fingers. She sighed contentedly before catching sight of George in the doorway.
"Hey, George."
He turned almost sullenly towards them, resting his hands on the top of the door frame as he leaned forward. "Callie moved out," he informed. "Which is a relief. I am so relieved," he said, his tone telling them he was anything but relieved.
Izzy held out the ice cream and spoon. "Strawberry..."
George dropped his hands and entered the room. He took the ice cream from Izzy and collapsed forwards onto the bed, sprawling out on his side. "It's good," he said as he tried to pass it back to his roommate.
"You left spit on the spoon," Izzy chastised.
"No, I didn't."
Meredith laughed at their interaction, and she felt Derek holding back his own laughter beside her.
"You did, a little," Izzy informed.
George grumbled and stuck the spoon back into his mouth, making a big show of sucking every last drop of moisture off. "There," he said, passing the utensil back to Izzy. "A spit-free spoon."
"That sounds vaguely dirty," Meredith cut in.
Izzy laughed and George rolled onto his back, hands covering his face. "This is what I get for living with girls," he mumbled.
"Hey," Derek spoke up. "What do I look like?"
George uncovered his face and smirked. "Yeah, but you're whipped."
Meredith was laughing before she even heard Derek's scoff. "That's not true."
"Seriously, it's so true," Izzy spoke.
Derek grumbled. "This is what I get for living with interns," he retaliated.
"Oh, it is so on," Izzy said, reaching behind herself for a pillow.
Meredith shrieked as she suddenly found herself in the middle of a pillow fight when Derek retaliated immediately. George joined in, supporting Izzy's side. But even when Derek jumped off the bed and held his girlfriend in front of him as a human shield, Meredith couldn't stop smiling.
Because she had a family. She was happy.
AN: Another lighter chapter, but with some real content. In the next chapter, the story will pull away from the show's storyline again.
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