12.

                                    

                                          
Derek and Meredith laughed as they watched their friend's antics on the dance floor. They were all at a local bar celebrating the 'Skins' team's first win of the season in Mark's pick up football, and he was of course, a 'skin' not a 'shirt'. After several drinks, Mark had loudly announced that both Izzie and Meredith's presence would be required for every game from now until the end of the season because they were obviously the team's new lucky charms.
Izzie was very happy with her new popularity with all the other football players and was making the most of it by happily joining in with everything that was going on. And that included drinking and dancing with them all ... much to Mark's dismay. He had been hoping that Izzie may have decided that she only wanted to spend time with him exclusively but it seemed that was unlikely when she had such a feast to partake of.
Meredith on the other hand had only gone along because Derek was going. She only wanted to spend time with one man. And he was currently sitting in a darkish corner with her, their fingers linked, while they both watched the fun and frivolity.
"So ... is it like this every Tuesday night?" Meredith asked.
"No." Derek replied. "They are usually drowning their sorrows. This is quite a change. And your friend there ..." he said indicating Izzie "really knows how to party."
Meredith laughed. "Yeah. She does. But it's good. She can use the down time. She spent the last week sitting at the hospital with her mother so I'm sure that this makes for quite a change."
"Is her mother going to be all right?" Derek asked, not wanting to pry but interested at the same time.
Meredith turned to look at him, taken again by his thoughtfulness. He really wasn't anything like most of the other guys that she'd spent time with. "We hope so. But she's still got a long way to go."
Derek nodded. "That's good. No one should have to lose their mother at such an early age."
Meredith nodded. "Are you close to your mother?" she asked.
Derek reflected lightly. "Yes, I am. Since my dad died when I was young, it's just been her and my sisters forever. We're all a pretty tight unit."
Meredith looked at him adoringly. The dreaminess just kept adding up.
"Hmm. So you're not really from a traditional family." Meredith shrugged wanting to reassure him that nothing about his family made any difference to her. She was only interested in him. "Who is these days?" she asked.
"Do I sense a kindred spirit?" Derek asked.
"Sort of." Meredith replied.
"So you're not part of the Brady Bunch then?" Derek asked.
Meredith chuckled as she shook her head. "Far from it. If you want to compare families then I suspect mine is even more dysfunctional than yours. My mom and dad are divorced. As I explained before Mom lives with Dr. Webber, the Chief of Surgery at SGH. They were friends for a long time. I just hadn't realized just how 'friendly' they'd become. And neither had my dad because he was too busy having an affair with my ex- boyfriend's mom."
"Hmm. Tough. Is that why you and the guy split?" Derek asked. "I imagine it would have been awkward for you to stay together. You would have been like brother and sister."
"No. That's a long story. We were on the rocks before I realized that my dad was playing around." Meredith said and then wondered if she should say more. She was intending to share the most intimate thing imaginable with this guy ... should she tell him the rest? Making up her mind she took a deep breath and added. "It didn't help that my ex's best friend tried to rape me one night." she stated frankly, looking straight ahead and not wanting to make eye contact with him, scared of what she might see there.