It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

36.

Meredith sat in the car whimpering as she continued to try to make sense of what was going on. She knew she was in a car, Derek's car. Derek... why was Derek in the middle of nowhere? She looked back through the back window, and sure enough, he was standing there with his cell phone to his ear. He smiled slightly at her as he continued to talk, pacing back and forth and after a moment, he walked back closer to her car... if one could call it that. She wanted to close her eyes, but all that she saw when she did that was the curve in the road and the deer staring back at her.

"Derek..." She whimpered, rolling slightly in the seat, she looked out the back window as she crawled up onto her seat that he had laid back for her. She watched as he opened her car door and reached in for something, sitting on her seat as he continued to talk on the telephone, the door was open and he was pulling things out of the car. He stood up and walked to the back of the car, inserting her key into the trunk, which she noticed was the only working part of the vehicle. She watched as he carefully swung her bag over his shoulder, still talking into the phone, grabbed her second bag and the bag of gifts and walked back towards his car. He saw her staring back at him and made a motion with his hand for her to turn around, shaking his head as he watched her oblige, rolling back onto her back as he opened the back door to the car. He said one or two more things into the phone and closed it, sliding it into his pocket. He then slid her bags into the back seat of the car as he watched her looking up at him.

"You have to lay down... you may have whiplash, sweetheart..." He whispered, as he reached across to touch her cheek.

"Derek..." She whimpered, the only word she could utter as she watched him climb from the back seat and close the door, opening the driver's side. He slipped into the car and watched as she shook her head, her lower lip protruding as she whimpered. "Derek..." She whispered.

"It's alright... come here...." He whispered as he reached his arm out for her. She moved close to him and let him pull her into him, feeling her tensed muscles start to ache as he pulled her head into his chest, kissing it softly as he held her.

She whimpered in his arms as she tried not to cry, listening to his breathing as he held her. "Derek..." She whimpered.

"I don't know what I'd ever do if something ever happened to you, Meredith." He whispered against her as he kissed her head over and over, breathing in her sweetness, feeling the warmth of her body against him. "I would die if anything ever happened to you..." He whispered. "I need you... please don't leave me..." He whimpered as he held her tightly, not hearing a word from her as she lie against him, only the sound of her breathing, the sound of her swallowing, the sound of her just being with him.

"Derek..." She whimpered as she suddenly pulled away from him to look in his eyes, her eyes filled with tears and a strange realization as she tilted her head.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

Her eyes flashed to her car and back to him, and back to the car again. "Derek... I killed... Rudolph!" She exclaimed suddenly, wrapping her arms around him as she crawled into the driver's side and began to sob into his arms, feeling him chuckle just slightly as he held her, silently thanking her for lightening the mood for just one moment in a series of emotional moments with only more to come in the future.

🎄🎄🎄

Derek shifted her in his arms, cradling her in the driver's seat as he pushed the seat back a little. She sobbed into his shoulder as he held her, keeping one another warm as they waited for the tow truck. He rocked her gently against him, her sobs were so loud and so sad that he wished that he could do more than just hold her. He kissed her cheek, her ear, any part of her body that his lips could reach, he kissed, feeling her body trembling, helpless against his.