Wildest Dreams

The next morning Meredith woke up in an unfamiliar room. She looked around and was in a big empty bed and she looked down to see that she was wearing a shirt that wasn’t hers. It took a moment, but she finally remembered where she was. She wandered into the living room which connected to the kitchen to find Tyler shirtless pouring a cup of coffee. She shuffled her feet and groaned at the thought of realizing she slept in his bed which Tyler heard and looked up.

Tyler: Morning!
Meredith: Morning…
Tyler: Coffee?
Meredith: A gallon of it please.

Tyler chuckled and Meredith sat down on the barstool at the counter. The shot glasses and bottles of whiskey and vodka were still sitting there. Tyler poured her a cup of coffee and handed it to her, standing on the other side of the counter.

Meredith: Thanks. How many shots did we do last night?
Tyler: Hung over?
Meredith: Nope.
Tyler: Yeah right.
Meredith: Are you hung over?
Tyler: What do you think the coffee is for?
Meredith: Me.
Tyler: Both of us. Do you want some breakfast?
Meredith: You cook?
Tyler: This may shock you, but yes, yes I do.
Meredith: Cereal doesn’t count as cooking.
Tyler: I’m classier than that; I was going to make pancakes. Do you want some?
Meredith: If you’re making them anyways, then why not.

Tyler went to get the ingredients out to make pancakes and put the pan on the stove.

Meredith: Do you need some help?
Tyler: Nah, I’ve got it. You can just sit there and watch.
Meredith: You gonna at least put a shirt on?
Tyler: Are you telling me that you don’t want to look at my rock hard abs?
Meredith: It was a statement, not a question so I’m not really telling you anything.
Tyler: You’re a smartass, ya know?
Meredith: I pride myself on it.

Meredith smirked at him and he winked at her.

Tyler: Did you sleep okay last night?
Meredith: Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep in your bed. I was really going to go to the guest room after you fell asleep.
Tyler: It’s okay, I didn’t mind.
Meredith: Is this a first for you?
Tyler: Is what a first?
Meredith: Waking up to someone in your bed and then making breakfast for them? I assume all the other girls never get to stay the night.
Tyler: Count yourself lucky.

Tyler finished making breakfast and they moved to the kitchen table to eat.

Meredith: You okay this morning?
Tyler: Yeah, I’m good.
Meredith: Would sober you of told me that story?
Tyler: Would sober you tell me about Tanner?
Meredith: I was sober.
Tyler: No you weren’t.
Meredith: Fine, I was maybe a tiny itsy bitsy buzzed. I was not drunk.
Tyler: If you say so. I wasn’t drunk either.
Meredith: You were pretty darn close to it though.
Tyler: No, you haven’t seen me drunk.
Meredith: You sang Jonas Brothers, you had to have been pretty close to being drunk, if not drunk already to do that.
Tyler: Maybe I just have that personality. I rarely say no and I’m up for anything.
Meredith: I’ve noticed.

Tyler and Meredith finished their breakfast and cleaned up. Meredith went to change back into the clothes she had on yesterday and brought Tyler the shirt he let her borrow.

Meredith: I’m not sure where you put your dirty clothes, but thank you for letting me borrow this.
Tyler: You know, I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t wear a Stars shirt the other night.
Meredith: That’s because I don’t have any.
Tyler: You can keep the shirt.
Meredith: No, I’m not going to keep the shirt.
Tyler: It’s not a big deal. I get shirts all the time. I can afford to be down one. Instead of having 456 shirts I’ll have 455.
Meredith: Thank you, but I’m good.
Tyler: Meredith, just keep the shirt. You looked good in it.
Meredith: You only say that because it’s yours.
Tyler: So, you did. Just keep it.
Meredith: Why do you want me to keep the shirt?
Tyler: Why won’t you just say thank you and keep it?
Meredith: Because if I keep the shirt it’s like you’re my boyfriend and you’re not.
Tyler: We can change that.
Meredith: I don’t want you to be a rebound. I shouldn’t have called last night because now I just proved to myself that I’m treating you like a rebound.
Tyler: You’re not.

Meredith started to get worked up and overwhelmed but Tyler remained calm.

Meredith: Yes, yes I am. I didn’t want to be alone because Tanner made me mad and I called you. That’s you being a rebound.
Tyler: Meredith, that’s not you treating me like a rebound. That was me being a friend and being here for you since all your other friends are out of town.
Meredith: You just made yourself sound like a last resort.
Tyler: I know I am.
Meredith: No you’re not. I could have called my sister or my cousin or someone from work and had them spend the night, I didn’t only have you, I chose to call you.
Tyler: What made you call me then?
Meredith: I have no idea. That’s why I just proved to myself that you’re a rebound.
Tyler: Meredith, you’re thinking too much into this.
Meredith: No I’m not. I said I wanted to be just friends and last night when we got back here that was not just friends.
Tyler: Nothing happened.
Meredith: But so many things did.
Tyler: What are you talking about?
Meredith: I sat here and told you about my ex and then you told me your deepest, darkest secret and I stayed with you last night and held you while you told your story. That’s not something you do with someone you just became friend with.
Tyler: Those are very friendly things. Our friendship is just moving fast.
Meredith: A friendship quickly moving into something more is what it is.
Tyler: Meredith, that is not a bad thing.
Meredith: I never said it was bad, I just can’t commit to a relationship right now.
Tyler: I know you can’t and that’s okay.
Meredith: But its not! You want something more and I don’t and I feel like I’m leading you on.
Tyler: Meredith, just take a deep breath and relax. This is not something to get worked up about and when the timing is right, the timing will be right.
Meredith: There’s no such thing as the perfect time. Waiting for the perfect time is just an excuse for why you haven’t done something about the situation.
Tyler: Babe, breathe.
Meredith: No, don’t call me babe. That’s not friendly.
Tyler: Meredith…

Tyler looked Meredith in the eyes and she calmed down and took a deep breath.

Meredith: I’m sorry.
Tyler: Don’t be. But I’m sorry, I have practice and I have to leave in about ten minutes.
Meredith: Oh my gosh, I had no idea. I’m sorry I stayed this long, I’ll get going.
Tyler: Its okay, but we’ll talk about this some more later.

Meredith gathered her things and Tyler walked her to her car. On the way back to Denton she thought about the conversation she had just had. Her head wanted one thing and she could tell that she was falling for him. That was the last thing she wanted. She knew she couldn’t get involved with someone new at this point in her life, let alone someone who liked to party and hookup with different girls all the time. Meredith got back to Denton and found that her roommate Lauren was back from winter break. Lauren was sitting on the couch watching TV when Meredith walked in, which caught her off guard.

Lauren: Where have you been?
Meredith: Just running errands.
Lauren: All night?

Meredith flopped on the couch next to Lauren.

Meredith: I got in late last night and then left early this morning to work out and get things done.
Lauren: You worked out in heels and jeans? Tell me how that one went.
Meredith: I changed after working out…
Lauren: Into that? Isn’t that a little too nice to wear to run errands?
Meredith: What’s with all the questions?
Lauren: I’m just wondering where you were because you did not come home last night.
Meredith: When did you get back? I thought we weren’t coming back until tomorrow.
Lauren: I had had enough of my family; I needed to get back here so I left early. Don’t change the subject missy!
Meredith: I’m not… I just didn’t expect to walk in and see you.
Lauren: Why didn’t you come home last night?
Meredith: I did… just late and I left early.
Lauren: I don’t believe you. I didn’t hear you when you got home.
Meredith: Yeah because I was quiet.
Lauren: If you came home last night you would have noticed that I was here.
Meredith: It was late, I didn’t pay attention to anything.
Lauren: Where were you so late? You don’t usually go out.
Meredith: Last night I did.
Lauren: With who?
Meredith: People from work. Are you done harassing me now?
Lauren: No.
Meredith: Well I’m going to change because wearing this was a mistake today.


Meredith got up and started walking towards her room and Lauren followed her in there.

Meredith: Why are you following me?

Lauren walked in and sat on her bed as Meredith got changed.

Lauren: Because I want to know where you were last night.
Meredith: Why didn’t you call and ask me when you got home and saw that I wasn’t here?
Lauren: Because I thought you would be home this morning when I woke up.
Meredith: I was here this morning; I just left before you woke up.
Lauren: I’m calling Carlee.
Meredith: Why?
Lauren: You tell her more than me; she probably knows where you were.
Meredith: I already told you where I was.

Lauren picked up her phone, started calling Carlee and put it on speaker.

Lauren: You just said out.
Carlee: Hello?
Lauren: You’re on speaker with Mer and me.
Carlee: Okay, what’s going on?
Lauren: Mer didn’t come home last night and she’s saying she did. Did she tell you where she was?
Carlee: No, I haven’t talked to her since yesterday morning.
Meredith: Lauren, I came home late last night and left early this morning. Oh my God.
Carlee: Where did you go?
Meredith: Out with people from work.
Carlee: But you hate everyone at work.
Meredith: No I don’t. I like them, when they do their job correctly.
Carlee: You never go out with them.
Meredith: They invited me and I said yes. I didn’t know that was a crime.
Lauren: But you’re missing some details. She came home this late morning and said she worked out this morning but she came in wearing jeans, heels and a really nice shirt.
Carlee: MEREDITH! Did you go home with someone last night?!
Meredith: No! I am their boss, that is unprofessional and I CAME HOME LAST NIGHT!
Carlee: Something is not adding up here.
Meredith: Lauren didn’t hear me so she thinks that I didn’t come home, even though I did.
Carlee: Wait, Lauren, I thought you were getting back to Denton until tomorrow and we were all going to go get dinner.
Lauren: I needed away from my family, but we’re not talking about that right now.
Carlee: Does Meredith’s room look the exact same way it did last night when you got home?
Lauren: It always looks the exact same.
Meredith: For the hundredth time, I came home last night.
Lauren: She didn’t come home last night.

Meredith’s phone dinged and she had a text message from her sister, Sarah. It was a screenshot of tumblr with a picture of Meredith and Tyler at dinner the night before with the text saying “my friend sent this to me, who are you with and why are you on tumblr?”

Meredith: Shit.
Lauren: What?

Meredith responded to the text saying that she could not talk now but would call her in a little bit.

Meredith: Nothing.
Lauren: No, you don’t say shit just because.
Carlee: What’s the matter?
Meredith: Its just work.
Carlee: Is your dad mad that you hung out with your coworkers?
Meredith: No, its just some budgeting that got messed up. Boring stuff.
Lauren: So then lets get back to what we were talking about.
Meredith: We’ve gone over this, I came home last night after you went to bed and got up and left before you woke up.
Carlee: Lauren, if she says she was home, she was home, just let it go. I have to go. I’ll talk to you guys later.

Carlee hung up and Lauren stared at Meredith.

Meredith: What?
Lauren: I don’t believe you.
Meredith: That’s your problem, not mine.
Lauren: What’s gotten into you?
Meredith: Nothing.
Lauren: Obviously nothing has gotten into you…
Meredith: Lauren! Stop talking about my sex life!
Lauren: I wasn’t…
Meredith: You were alluding to it.
Lauren: Fine, but Carlee was right, you need to get laid. You’ve been upset ever since you and Tanner broke up, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone.
Meredith: Funny hearing you say that since you’ve never been laid before. And I don’t live my life that way so… no. I need to get going anyway so I’ll see you later.
Lauren: Where are you going now?
Meredith: Work.
Lauren: Weren’t you just there?
Meredith: I told you something came up with the budgets, I need to go figure it out.
Lauren: I swear you never leave work.
Meredith: I do too. I go to class and have Delta Tau, so I do other things.
Lauren: You need to go out and be a 20 year old.
Meredith: I went out last night.

Meredith smirked and left her apartment. She really didn’t need to go to work but she needed to make some calls that she didn’t want Lauren to over hear. She debated whether she should go to Starbucks, the park, somewhere on campus or just to drive back out to work and have her office to talk to her sister. Ultimately she decided she would just drive the twenty minutes to her office so she knew she had some privacy and no one could be nosey and listen in on her conversation.

That morning Tyler was at practice and they were running drills on the ice. Although he couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Meredith earlier, he was skating around and doing drills like it was just another day and nothing was bothering him. They had a small break between drills and Jamie came skating up next to Tyler, who was standing next to Jason.

Jamie: Did you and Meredith have fun last night?
Tyler: What?
Jason: You saw Meredith again last night?
Jamie: I saw her car at your house this morning.
Jason: Tyler finally got some!
Tyler: Why did you go by my house this morning?
Jamie: I live two blocks away, I was just driving by and I assume it was her car.
Tyler: You assume this why?
Jamie: Because the car had those letters on it that aren’t English.
Tyler: Ah.
Jamie: So…?
Tyler: What?
Jamie: That means she spent the night; did you finally get it in?
Tyler: That’s not really any of your damn business.
Jamie: Is that a yes? Damn, I thought she was going to make you wait longer.
Jason: I guess winning that bet worked out for you.
Tyler: We’re friends.
Jason: Friends with benefits?
Tyler: We’re not talking about this anymore.
Jamie: Come on Segs, you can tell us!
Tyler: I could, but I don’t want to.

Tyler started to skate off and Jamie hollered out to him.

Jamie: Do you tease Meredith like this, is that why she finally gave into you?
Tyler: You just wish it was you at my house, you’re jealous that I have a new friend.

Tyler laughed at himself and ignored the rest of what Jamie had to say. They finished practice and Jamie let the topic go for a while. Tyler tried to avoid Jamie for the rest of the day because he didn’t want to be bombarded with questions about Meredith. He was trying to figure it out himself and didn’t need his team butting in and asking questions.

When Meredith got to work the receptionist was surprised to see her. Meredith was scheduled to be off today and usually she stayed far away on her days off. She told the receptionist to act like she wasn’t here and she headed towards her office, shut the door and called her sister.

Meredith: Hey, so where did you find that picture?
Sarah: My friend sent it to me. She said she was on tumblr this morning and saw it, and then sent it to me asking if that was you. It is you, isn’t it?
Meredith: Do you know what she was looking at or what she searched to find it?
Sarah: No, I have no idea.
Meredith: Crap. The tags are cut out on the screenshot.
Sarah: Why are you in a picture on tumblr and who is that guy?
Meredith: He’s just a friend.
Sarah: Are you sure about that?
Meredith: Yeah, why?
Sarah: Friends don’t look at friends the way he’s looking at you.
Meredith: How is he looking at me?
Sarah: He’s looking at you like you’re the most beautiful person, that no one else is there, like you’re a goddess and everyone else is blurred out to him. You’re the only person he sees.
Meredith: Whatever, no he is not.
Sarah: He’s looking at you like you just walked on water and he’s amazed by you.
Meredith: We’re just friends, he’s not looking at me like that.
Sarah: He’s also imagining you with your clothes off.
Meredith: That one, maybe, but not the other things you said.
Sarah: Who is this guy though? He’s hot.
Meredith: He’s no one important.
Sarah: He has to be important if he’s on tumblr.
Meredith: He’s on tumblr because he’s a hockey player.
Sarah: Oh, which school does he play for?
Meredith: None, he plays for the Stars.
Sarah: I didn’t know you were friends with guys from the Stars. I thought only the Rangers and college?
Meredith: I guess you could say I’m friends with a few of the Stars now.
Sarah: When did they start coming in to Change Up?
Meredith: They didn’t. I met Tyler at a restaurant right after Thanksgiving and had no idea he was a hockey player.
Sarah: Is he the guy mom said you met at a bar?
Meredith: It was not a bar, and probably so.
Sarah: Oh, well I think you should go for it. He’s hot.
Meredith: So I’ve been told.
Sarah: You can’t deny it.
Meredith: I never did.
Sarah: Good, well I have to get to practice so I’ll call you later.
Meredith: Okie dokie, have a good practice.

Later that day after practice, Jamie called Tyler and he reluctantly answered.

Tyler: Yes?
Jamie: I told you we weren’t done talking about Meredith, what’s going on with you two?
Tyler: We’ve been over this, we’re friends. Just fucking friends.
Jamie: Johnny said she went to dinner with you last night and then her car was there this morning. I don’t think you’re just friends.
Tyler: Fuck Jamie, we’re friends. Just fucking friends.
Jamie: Someone is angry. Maybe you didn’t get it in last night.
Tyler: She went to dinner with me and some other friends and then we came back and both had too much to drink so she crashed here. That’s why you saw her car in my driveway this morning. Happy? Jesus.
Jamie: You both were trashed and didn’t do anything. Shit, you’re losing your touch.
Tyler: Fucker.
Jamie: I’m just saying, you know, that’s not like you.
Tyler: Why do you care about me and Meredith so much?
Jamie: She’s different, and its what you need?
Tyler: What do you mean it’s what I need?
Jamie: She’s keeping you grounded and you’ve gone out less and less the more you’ve known her. She’s changing you whether you see it or not.
Tyler: She’s not fucking changing me. I still go out and bring girls home.
Jamie: You just do it less and less and the more you hang out with her, the less girls you bring home.
Tyler: Not true.
Jamie: Yeah it is! The past few times we’ve gone out, you barely looked at any girl instead of the hundred you usually do.
Tyler: I’ve just taken a step back and decided to be your wingman lately.
Jamie: You need to do something about her before you miss your chance.
Tyler: We’re friends. She was very clear about it and I’m telling you the same thing. We’re just fucking friends.
Jamie: We’re going out tonight, you need to get some. You’re frustrated.
Tyler: Fine, we’ll go out tonight. No Jumping Jacks. I don’t feel like dealing with the Jumping Hoes tonight.
Jamie: I’ll call a few of the guys and we’ll figure it out. I’ll see you later.

Notes

This chapter is based off of the song Games by Luke Bryan.

I'm currently trying to figure out how the next chapter is going to go so please tell me what you're thinking and where you would like to see the story go! I've got the story line planned out, I just have to figure out a few filler chapters so I would really appreciate any and all feedback! :)

With school starting up I'm going to be a little busy and won't be able to update quite as often but I'm not abandoning the story and the chapters are getting longer so maybe that will help balance it out and make it a little better.