19. Girls' Day Out
Disclaimer: I'm just a college kid. There is no owning of any kind.
"Are you sure you can't go?", Meredith asked as she poured some coffee into her travel mug.
Derek laughed. "I don't think the groom is supposed to go to the bridal shop. Besides, what if you find a dress today and I see you in it? Bad luck."
"Hmm. That's true. We need to start off on the right foot. No bad luck…"
"No bad luck", Derek agreed, walking over to wrap his arms around her. "When are you leaving?"
"Now-ish", Meredith murmured as she pressed her lips to his.
"No time for a quickie on the counter?"
"Ugh", she groaned.
"What do you mean 'ugh'?", he asked amusedly.
"I'm all bloaty and…ick. And I probably should have told Izzie to move our bridal shop extravaganza to next weekend, but…oh well. It might be fun, right?", she rambled.
"Sure it will be. Just go have fun with your friends", Derek said with a smile, kissing her forehead.
Meredith laughed. "Izzie told me to go in there prepared. But I really have no idea what I'm doing."
"That's okay. Cristina doesn't either. But Izzie knows enough for both of you. You'll be fine."
"Any color preferences?"
"You could wear a glow in the dark wedding dress and I wouldn't care. As long as we're married at the end of the day, that's all that matters to me", he said with a smile.
"So I could get like…neon orange maid-of-honor dresses and you'd be cool with that?"
Derek grinned. "Absolutely. Although I'm not sure how Izzie and Cristina would feel about it."
"I know those two are going to be a pain in the ass agreeing on something", Meredith sighed.
"Don't just settle on something you don't want. I want you to like the dresses they pick."
"Oh I know. I already told them I'm getting the final say", Meredith replied.
"Good", Derek smiled.
"Hey guys", Izzie greeted as she stepped into the kitchen, a smile on her face.
"Hey Iz", Meredith responded.
"Is Cristina here yet?"
Meredith shook her head. "Nope. But she should be here soon."
"She better not be hiding out somewhere at the hospital."
"I told her we could go out to lunch afterward. Food is always a good incentive", Meredith said with a nod, biting into a cupcake.
"Especially for you. And cupcakes aren't breakfast", Derek laughed.
"Yes they are", Meredith said with a mouthful of chocolate cupcake. It wasn't necessarily healthy, but she couldn't resist chocolate, even if it was 10:00 in the morning.
Izzie reached for a cupcake off the counter. "I agree."
"When you two decide you want a real breakfast, there's always Muesli in the cabinet…", Derek told them, knowing they would never eat it.
"That stuff tastes like the forest floor. Twigs in a box." Meredith scrunched her nose. "I'll stick with chocolate."
"Fine", Derek laughed, pulling her close and kissing her.
Just then, Cristina walked into the kitchen. "Ready?"
"Hey Cristina", Izzie said with a smile. "Yep, we can go. As soon as Mer…"
Cristina sighed. "Okay, seriously, can you two do this later?", she asked, referring to Meredith and Derek's make-out session by the refrigerator.
"Hmm", Meredith said, pulling back from the kiss. "Yeah. I'm ready."
"Great", Cristina grinned sarcastically.
"So what are you doing today?", Meredith whispered to Derek as the four of them made their way to the front door.
"I have a cordotomy in an hour. I should be home around three. Take your time though, have fun", Derek smiled, kissing her one last time before the three of them left the house and made their way to the bridal shop.
--
"Ooh, this one is nice", Izzie beamed as she took a pale pink dress off the rack and held it up to show Meredith and Cristina.
"Oh you're not serious?", Cristina asked dryly.
"What? What's wrong with it?"
"The color. The beading. The cut at the top. Not all of us have the boobs of a model", Cristina reminded her.
"Fine. What about this one?", Meredith asked, pointing to an olive green dress on the mannequin.
"No", Izzie said firmly. "That's not a summery color. And the bow on the ass is awful."
Meredith sighed. "Okay, well, what are the summer colors so I know what I'm looking for?" She figured it would be easier to look for maid of honor dresses first, and save the wedding gown for later. But she was finding out that she probably should just leave Izzie and Cristina by themselves and go off on her own. Maybe then there would be some sort of progress.
"Orange, yellow, pink, turquoise, bright green, purple. Those are your main summer colors", Izzie said confidently. It appeared as though Izzie knew more about wedding attire than their consultant, who had abandoned them fifteen minutes ago to help another customer.
"Out of those, which colors do you both like?", Meredith asked, leaning against a wall mirror.
"I like all of them except the bright green. It won't look right with my skin tone", Izzie told them.
"No pinks", Cristina said, shaking her head.
"So no green or pink. Got it", Meredith said with a nod. "And I don't like orange."
"So that leaves us with yellow, turquoise, and purple. Are we all okay with those?", Izzie asked them.
Meredith and Cristina nodded in agreement. "I still like the canary yellow", Meredith said with a shrug.
"Yellow is good. And it's summery too", Izzie said with a smile. "Cristina?"
"Sure, yeah, fine", Cristina yawned.
"Seriously?"
Cristina nodded. "Yeah. Yellow is nice."
"Did we just agree on something?", Meredith asked in shock. She thought for sure that their trip to the bridal shop would be unsuccessful, at least when it came to choosing dresses for her friends.
Surprisingly, they found the perfect dress that all three of them approved of. It was a short, canary yellow, halter dress made of chiffon and clipdot fabric with charmeuse trim along the V neckline and empire waist. It was flowy and summery—perfect for a July wedding. And they could even wear it again if they wanted to.
After the tailor did the adjustments that had to be made, and details of when they would be needed were settled, the three made their way to the wedding dress section.
"I want a dress that pushes my boobs up", Meredith said. "But I don't want to look slutty."
"Derek would appreciate it though", Izzie joked.
Meredith rolled her eyes. "He told me to get something that was easy to take off."
"You two are like sex-crazed teenagers", Cristina said. "You would have had sex in the kitchen earlier if we hadn't been there."
"We've had sex in the kitchen before", Meredith laughed.
Izzie's mouth dropped. "What? The kitchen where I bake?"
"We've had sex in every room of the house", Meredith shrugged, biting her lip.
"Oh my God…"
"We always clean up afterward. You wouldn't even have known if I didn't say anything", Meredith reasoned.
"Come on. Let's find you a dress", Cristina groaned. "The image of you and Shepherd having wild screaming orgasms on the kitchen table is making me nauseous."
Meredith blushed. And unfortunately, Izzie noticed. "Seriously? The kitchen table?"
"I um…yeah. But only a few times…"
"More than once?"
"That's wrong", Cristina sighed as she began looking through the large racks of wedding dresses.
Thankfully, Izzie's pending rant over Meredith's sexual endeavors was interrupted when she spotted a dress she liked. "Oh Mer, this one is beautiful…"
"Too poufy." Meredith scrunched her nose.
"Do you want a form fitting dress?", Cristina asked.
"You have a kick-ass body. You could pull off any dress in here", Izzie said honestly.
"I want a form fitting one, I think. It's going to be hot outside, and I don't want to be sweating my ass off."
"Strapless?"
Meredith pondered for a moment. "Yes. And no train. Or veil."
"Okay. Well, let's try to find a few of those for her to try on", Izzie said as she began searching through a plethora of white gowns.
After two hours of searching and trying on dresses, Meredith finally narrowed it down to two that she absolutely loved. Izzie had the idea of taking Meredith's picture in both of them so she could show her friends and get their opinions.
"I never thought I'd find a dress that fast." Meredith thought for sure she'd still be looking for a dress a week before the wedding. But the two she had chosen were both simple and beautiful, yet elegant and light enough for an outdoor summer wedding.
"I love them, Mer. I may need to borrow yours for my own wedding one day", Izzie said happily as the three of them sat in Joe's for a quick bite to eat that Cristina had been promised.
"Speaking of…that…you and Alex seemed pretty chummy during lunch yesterday at work…", Meredith hinted, hoping she would elaborate.
"Oh…I um…well…we're uh…", Izzie stammered nervously.
"What the hell is wrong with you?", Cristina asked, taking a sip of her beer.
"When Derek's mom was here, and we had to share my room, I don't know, we just talked…", Izzie said quietly.
"Is that code for sex?", Cristina joked.
"Cristina", Meredith said exasperated. "So what did you two…talk about?"
"Stuff…life", Izzie admitted. "And we decided that…we're going to try again…to be a couple."
"Iz", Meredith said happily. "That's great."
Izzie blushed. "Yeah. Thanks."
"So are we…? Is this…a secret?", Meredith asked.
"Oh, well, no. We've only been a sort-of-couple for a few days", Izzie told her friends as she nervously fidgeted with her napkin. It really wasn't a secret. She just didn't necessarily want it announced to the hospital yet. But she knew that she could count on her two best friends to keep it to themselves for a while. "Actually we're going out tonight."
"Good for you, Iz", Meredith said sincerely. She knew that both Izzie and Alex had been unlucky in love for the past year. And that they had been the happiest when they were together. She cared deeply for both of them, and she was genuinely happy that they were trying to make it work again.
"Are Bambi and your sister getting together?", Cristina asked before realizing that she was gossiping. "Damn, I need to get away from the two of you. Pretty soon we're going to be braiding each other's hair singing songs." She took a huge sip of her beer and leaned back in the booth.
Meredith just laughed. "They're been living together for a while, so maybe."
"The apartment they're living in sucks", Izzie told them. "I visited once and I don't think I'll be going back."
"Derek told me that Sloan got an apartment too…apparently he's having the new OB over for dinner", Meredith laughed. She enjoyed the time spent with her friends. The hospital kept them plenty busy, but getting to spend an afternoon with her maids of honor and best friends.
--
"Hey you", Derek said with a smile as Meredith entered the kitchen.
She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "What's all this?"
"Dinner", Derek said as he disposed of the take-out bags. "I stopped on the way home and got us tacos. I remember you saying that you wanted them, so I decided to be a good fiancé and get them for you. Well, all of us. I bought enough for Izzie and Alex too."
"Aww, Der", Meredith said with a smile, wrapping her arms around him. "This is why I keep you around."
"For the food I bring you?"
"And the sex", she added, popping a tortilla chip into her mouth.
"Is that all?", he laughed.
"You know that I love you. I'd love you even if you didn't bring me food or give me sex", she said, pressing her lips against his own.
"Even still, I'll never stop doing either of those things."
"I appreciate that", she giggled.
"So how was it?", Derek asked, scooping extra salsa onto Meredith's plate, knowing how much she liked it. He swore that Meredith would be content just eating the stuff out of the jar. Give her a spoon and she'd be all set.
"We got dresses for Iz and Cristina. Yellow—is yellow okay?"
"Yellow is great", Derek smiled. "So they actually agreed on something."
Meredith took her seat at the island. "Yeah. It wasn't that hard actually."
"Do you like the dresses?", he asked, taking a seat next to her.
"I love them", Meredith assured him. "I told them I liked yellow and we decided on one that all of us liked. It's knee length and has all of these French named things that I can't pronounce. And they can wear it again. I'm sort of surprised we found something that fast."
"How about you?", Derek asked before scooping a large spoonful for sour cream onto his taco.
"That's a lot of sour cream", Meredith pointed out with a mouthful of food.
Derek laughed. "You're the one with more salsa than taco on her plate."
"I like salsa", Meredith shrugged, not even bothering to swallow before talking. She didn't have to pretend around him. She could talk with her mouth full and burp as she pleased, and knew Derek wouldn't care. In fact, Meredith was sure that she could out-drink and out-eat him on any given day.
"I can see that", he said with a nod and a smile. "So did you…find anything you liked?"
"I narrowed it down to two. I have pictures of myself in both of them saved on my phone, but I can't show you. Bad luck."
"Me and my stupid rule", he smirked. "Well, what do they look like?"
Meredith took a drink of her water. "Fine. I guess I'll give you some clues. They're both strapless."
"Good. Straps take longer to get off", Derek said, kissing her cheek. "I'm all about easy access."
"Mhm", Meredith smirked. "They both have a sweetheart neckline with—"
"What's a sweetheart neckline?", he interrupted.
"It means it sort of dips down between my boobs, but it's not slutty or anything", Meredith stated simply, trying to give him a visual.
He grinned. "I think I like the sweetheart neckline."
"I bet you do...", Meredith smirked. "If you want the fancy names for things, you're gonna have to ask Izzie, but the fabric and how they're cut at the bottom is different. One's frillier and one's flowier. And the beading is different. I love both of them, but I couldn't choose. So I'm going to show people at work, get their opinions…", she explained before taking another bite.
"I'm sure you look beautiful in both of them." Derek took her hand and squeezed it gently.
Meredith smiled and kissed him softly. "Aww, thank you. I'm leaning toward one because it goes better with their yellow dresses, but I might change my mind. We'll see."
"We still have time. I mean, if you wanted to look around some more…", Derek said with a nod. He didn't want her to feel pressured or rushed to pick out a dress. He wanted her to find a dress that she loved. It couldn't be any dress off the rack. It had to be the dress.
"Oh it's definitely one of these two. I love both of them", Meredith sighed softly, a contented smile on her face.
"So good day?"
"Good day", Meredith said definitively. "How was your cordotomy?"
"Textbook", he said with a nod. A small speck of sauce from the taco dripped down his chin. Meredith licked her thumb and proceeded to wipe it away. "What are you doing?"
Meredith looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing…that was just very…wife-ish", he grinned.
Meredith smiled. She didn't even think about what she was doing, she just did it as though it were a habit. Lately, she had been doing wifely things, like buying his shampoo or deodorant on the rare occasion she went to the grocery store, or fixing the collar of his lab coat after one of their on-call room quickies. "Oh", she said, blushing slightly.
"You're adorable", he chuckled, kissing her cheek.
"Why?"
He shrugged. "You just are." Meredith furrowed her brow and looked at him curiously, a small smile tugging on the corners of her lips.
"It's just that…when you do things like that, I fall even more in love with you", he said sweetly.
"We take care of each other", Meredith smiled. "You feed me and in return I wipe off your chin."
"We make a perfect team."
"Yes we do", he laughed, leaning closer to her and kissing her softly.
"So are you gonna give me any clues about Valentine's Day?"
Derek laughed. "How many times are you going to ask me that?"
"Until you tell me something", she replied.
"All I can say is that I think you'll enjoy the day I have planned. And the gifts…"
"Gifts?", she prodded.
"Yes, gifts."
Meredith took another bite. "What kind of gifts?"
"Not telling you."
"Ass", she pouted, a cute frown on her face.
"Like I said…adorable", he teased, tucking some hair behind her ear and kissing her forehead.
They really were the perfect team.
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