I'm back! After a year or so absence, I got bored and decided to take another stab at writing fanfic. Mainly, I couldn't get this idea out of my head, and I'm sitting freezing in my apartment because the heat is broken and needed something to do :) This idea came about when I was watching My Best Friend's Wedding on cable randomly one morning before class a few months ago. I immediately thought that that premise would make a good Grey's storyline. Granted I've never actually watched that movie in its entirety and have never seen the end, I still couldn't shake the need to write a story, so here it is. It won't follow the movie storyline exactly, as I want to keep it interesting, but that was my inspiration and the foundation of the first chapters' events.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Grey's or My Best Friend's Wedding.

Meredith Grey woke up on the morning of her 30th birthday on the cold, white tile of her bathroom floor. She opened her eyes and squinted at the sudden flood of light, hoping to quell the pounding in her head. She groaned as she sat up and saw the wrinkles in her favorite little black dress that resulted from falling asleep in the dress she went out in. As she slowly stood up, using the vintage pedestal sink as support and catching a quick glance of herself in the mirror, she started to remember the previous night. Tequila, and lots of it.

She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal out of the cabinet and poured it into the only remaining clean bowl in her kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed the last of the milk and threw the empty carton in the trash as she walked down the hallway to the living room. As she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, more of the night's events came back to her: Cristina, her best friend since freshman year of college, took her out after work to their favorite bar. She expected it to just be a small celebratory drink on the eve of her 30th birthday, but instead she saw all of her friends inside and Joe the bartender with a line of tequila shots already poured on the bar and awaiting her arrival. Cristina had spoken with Joe a month or so prior to the big day and he agreed to close down the bar to everyone except their party at no cost. "You guys are my best customers – with your tabs alone I can pay off all the mortgage payments on this place and my house, so it's the least I can do," he had said. Meredith had spent the night with all the people she considered her closest friends – except for one who was missing from this occasion.

As if on cue, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw the name she hasn't seen in years pop up on the screen in bright blue letters: Derek Shepherd. She held the phone in her hand for a second and let it ring a few times before she would answer it, as she didn't want to seem to eager. On the third ring she picked it up: "Hello?"

"Meredith! Hey it's Derek."

"Hey! Long time no talk."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that – I've been extremely busy. Well, you know how it is."

"Of course. Life of a surgeon."

"Anyway, I was just calling to wish you a Happy Birthday….the big 3-0. I hope I didn't wake you up, but I have to head to work in a few minutes and wanted to get a call in before I have to go stand in the O.R. for eight hours."

"Thanks. And you didn't wake me up, so no worries."

"That's good – knowing you I thought you'd be passed out, hung over, or in some strange guy's apartment right about now."

"Well, hung over is pretty accurate, but not the other two."

"Ah, well nice to see you're maturing a bit in your old age." She could hear him chuckling in the background.

Meredith took a deep breath. "Is that all you called for?"

Derek waited a moment before speaking again. When he did, he sounded slightly nervous. "Well, there is one other thing…."

Meredith gasped, slightly nervous herself as she remembered back to that night senior year of college before graduation when they were sitting in his apartment watching a show about removing 200 pound tumors from a person's abdominal cavity. (Only those two would set aside time every week to watch the surgery channel together.) Meredith still isn't sure how the subject came up, but somehow they got on they got on the topic of marriage. "Hey Mer," Derek had said to her, eight years earlier. "Why don't we make a pact?"

"Hmm?" She had acknowledged that he said something but she was too engrossed in the surgery on TV to really pay attention.

"Let's get married."

She dropped the handful of popcorn back into the bowl and looked over to him in bewilderment. "What?"

"If we're both not married by the time we're thirty, let's get married." She said nothing. "Think about it, we're both headed down similar paths, we already know each other well…if we don't find anyone else by the time we're thirty, let's get married. Deal?"

Meredith, still in shock but thinking that it sounded like an idea that had some logic behind it, agreed. They shook hands to seal the deal and went back to popcorn and surgeries.

"Meredith….Meredith, you there? Did you hear me?" Derek's voice on the other end of the phone woke her up from her daydream.

"Yeah. I'm sorry…I zoned out there for a second. What?"

"I'm getting married, Meredith."

Meredith paused for a second, her heart slightly saddened. Part of her was relieved that Derek wasn't calling about their deal, but truth be told she had always felt something more than friendship toward him and always wondered what would come of their pact from their early twenties.

"Oh…congratulations!" She feigned excitement. "Who is she?" Meredith tried to sound genuinely enthusiastic, but she thought Derek might be able to see through it.

"Well, her name is Addison Montgomery, and she's from upstate New York…" Derek continued to ramble on about the new love of his life. "We met a few months ago and it's been a total whirlwind, but it just feels right, ya know? She just graduated from Columbia, and is starting med school in the fall, which is why we're getting married in two weeks. We want to have time to have a honeymoon and move into our new place before then. Plus I have two weeks off at the end of the summer before I start my fellowship, so the timing works out perfectly. She's going to NYU for med school, so that works out great since I'll be starting my fellowship there."

"That's great Derek. I'm so happy for you."

"Oh crap, I have to run. Meredith, I'd really love it if you came to the wedding, and if you're available I'd love for you to come out early. We're having a bunch of pre-wedding parties and events, and I'd love to catch up in person. I'll send you all the details later today."

"Of course I'll be there, Derek."

"Great. I'm so excited to see you. And Meredith?"

"Hmm?"

"Happy Birthday."

"Thanks Derek."

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