#facing up

Meredith’s eyes opened wide quickly. Staring up at the ceiling, the lights were on around her, she was dressed up in her day clothes... and so she realized she had fallen asleep. She turned her head and checked the time, 4:37AM. Frowning, she reached up to rub her face and then it hit her. Derek. She sat straight up in bed, looking around her, at anything that might have changed. She tried to replay what she had in mind... what she felt she had dreamed. But it felt more than a dream, it felt real. Had she dreamed of it? 

There was only one way to find out. She got up out of bed and quietly but quickly headed out of her room. Quickly checking in on the kids, all three were sound asleep still. They would be up in about an hour and a half tops, mostly Ellis, Bailey would definitely be up by 5:30AM. She quietly walked down the stairs, making sure not to let any of them crack, then she headed down half of the hall until she reached the door that led downstairs. She swallowed as she stood before it and she stood there a good moment, as though frozen into place. Like if she stayed there, it could still be true. It could still not be a dream, it could still be reality. But if she went down there and he was not there, then it was a dream. No more possibility, it was all gone. No, she needed to know.

She took a deep breath and very slowly and quietly opened the door, then super carefully started to walk down the stairs. She only walked down a few, and to each step she checked that she was not hearing anything. The last thing she would want would be to have one of her kids... Bailey mostly who heard everything, come spying on her. As she made it halfway down the stairs, she could see the basement... the sofa-bed. It was sprung open. Covers were spread out... and a hairy head was laying there. She almost gasped as she recognized his curly hair. His curly, dreamy hair. Derek, he was there. He was really there. Swallowing, she took a moment where she just stared at him. But then she feared he would wake up and she did not want him to find her lurking on him so she quietly turned around and walked back upstairs, carefully shutting the door behind her, grateful that no one had heard or followed her. She headed back upstairs and went back to bed, only that time she laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling until Bailey woke up and came to find her. 

* * * 

Meredith got the kids to school, spoke to Ellis’ preschool teacher, got to work and got on with her day, but her mind was stuck home with Derek hanging in the basement. Maggie eventually sent her a text saying she had spoken to Amelia and had told her about Derek. Of course Amelia was mad at Meredith, so Maggie’s text said, that she had not told her right away and that she was only finding out about it then, that Amelia had cleared her afternoon and was heading home to speak to her brother and Maggie felt that they all should gather together to speak to him, as he wanted to answer their questions all at once.