Part one

On the very first day of high school Mer and Allie became best friends. It was kind of strange, though because, really, you could not have found two more different people in the entire school. Allie was cheerful and outgoing and she was one of those people that everyone dreamed to be in high school. She was beautiful, with platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, smart and kind and literally every girl in the school had a crush on her boyfriend, who was the captain of the football team. Mer, on the other hand, was messy, unfocused and she definitely did not do boyfriends or girly talk. She was beautiful, though, gorgeous even, but most boys knew better then try to get near her. She was famous for her bad temper, her love of tequila and her messy family life. But for some reason Allie and Mer could read each other like an open book. Allie always seemed to know what was wrong without asking and knew exactly how to distract her when things got complicated at home. And at the same time Mer understood Allie's frustrations with her parents' expectations. When they were together they could talk about anything knowing that the other wouldn't judge.

After four long years of high school they moved to different parts of the country for college, Mer went to Boston and Allie to San Francisco. They lead busy lives the first year and it really wasn't until the summer after that they actually got to spend some time together, deciding to spend their weeks off from school in Allie's family's summer house in California. Mer flew out to San Francisco from where they drove to the summer house, the drive being only a few hours.

"...and then I told him that I was way too young to get engaged, I mean you wouldn't get engaged right now? Would you? Of course you wouldn't. So then we kind of broke up. In april." Allie rambled away.

"What do you mean by "kind of" broke up?" Mer inquired.

"Well, there's the occasional break-up/make-up sex."

"But still you're not together?"

"It's like that casual-dating thing."

"So basically it's sex without commitment. Man, you've changed!"

"Oh, it sounds kind of whorish when you put it that way," Allie giggled.

"Who cares, we're young. No one will ever know," Mer laughed.

"You're right. This summer's gonna be so much fun. I've missed you, Mer."

"Aw, I've missed you too Allie. Are your parents going to be there for the summer also or is it just us?"

"They're up there now but I think they're only staying for the weekend. In fact I think everyone's up there now except Holly. She had to work. But Nancy's there with Bryan, her new boyfriend, and Derek's there also."

"Wow, you're brother. You realize we've been best friends for almost five years and I've never even met him."

"Yeah well... I've barely seen him myself since he started med school and with him starting his internship in the fall I doubt I'll see more of him. He was actually talking about staying for a few weeks. He promised dad he would repair some of the damage to the house since the storm this winter. But don't worry he won't stand in the way of us having our fun."

"Oh, so he isn't like the overprotective big brother that won't let any male come near his little sister?"

"No! or... I don't know really. We haven't been around each other much at all since I grew boobs. God I hope not!"

"Well maybe you could use a break from all that break-up/make-up sex you've been having," Mer shrugged.

"Oh that is so not fair! You just said that we're young and that no one will ever know and whatever," Allie argued.

"Well if you're big brother's gonna be right next door, I think he'll figure it out if you're doing the horizontal mambo with someone. He went through med school I'm assuming he's smart enough to realize something like that!"

"Mer, honey. You'll be pretty surprised by how brainless he can actually be."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"Yeah."

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"We're just waiting for Allie and Meredith and then we'll eat," Derek's mom yelled from the kitchen.

"I hear you just fine, mom," he said as he entered the kitchen.

"Oh, you're here. Sorry honey."

"No, it's fine."

"Anyway, they should be here any minute."

"Okay, that's fine. I can't wait to see her, I can't believe it's been two years since I've seen Allie."

"Yeah," his mother sighed with a smile. "They've both grown a lot. Of course, you've never met Meredith."

"Isn't that the girl who she was with when she was caught smoking on the school ground when she was like fifteen," Derek frowned.

"Derek, don't judge. It was just as much Allie's fault as it was Meredith's. And it's been years. No one is ever perfect," his mother lectured as they heard the doorbell ring.

He walked into the foyer and watched as his father opened the door to greet his sister, who sure had grown a lot, and her friend. Her friend who was so stunning that just looking at her across the small foyer took his breath away. It was strange, because he had seen really beautiful women before. He had even dated a few. But this was different. There were no words for how beautiful she looked. Her face was rather pale and if you looked closely you could see light freckles on her cute button nose. Her lips were full and rosy colored and all he could really think about was kissing them, claiming them as his. She had high cheekbones and stunning emerald green eyes. Her honey blonde hair was long and curly in messy kind of way. She didn't wear make-up or seem to be the slightest concerned about her appearance, which made her even more breathtaking. She was wearing tight jeans, that hugged perfectly the curves of her thighs and her ass, and a college t-shirt. And while trying not to stare at her in a too obvious way Derek made a mental note that he had to start breathing again sometime soon if he was going to be able to greet them.

She could feel his eyes on her as soon as she entered the house. They burned through her skin, starting with her face and then descending slowly. She didn't dare look at him and she smiled as Michael Shepherd pulled her into a hug. Usually she thought it was creepy when guys were checking her out. But for some reason, that she could not put her hands on, this was different. When she finally looked his way his piercing blue eyes locked with hers. It was like he was reading her, like he could tell every single one of her secrets just by looking at her. And he was hot. There really wasn't any other word. He had the same eyes as Allie, the blue ones. They got them from Lizzie, their mother. But he had the dark curls from his father. She had seen pictures of him. On the wall at the Shepherd house back home, but she quickly decided they didn't do him justice. His nose was slightly crooked, which just made his face more handsome if that was even possible and he had a small scar just above his left eyebrow. After a few seconds of staring at each other like complete idiots (thankfully neither Allie or Michael seemed to notice) Allie jumped up to give her brother a hug forcing them to look away.

"God, I've missed you DerBear," she said while hugging him.

"You too, Allie. You've grown quite a bit," he laughed.

"You look pretty much the same," Allie giggled as she released him. "Oh, and this is Meredith."

"Hi," he smiled looking her way again.

"It's nice to meet you," she smiled a little.

"So, is dinner ready? I'm starving," Allie said as she walked into the house and made her way to the kitchen.

"Yeah, we were just waiting for you," Derek replied as he followed Allie and Meredith into the house trying to calm his nerve, quite unsuccessfully.

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"So, Meredith. How is school going," Lizzie asked as they ate.

"It's going fine," Meredith shrugged as she put another piece of lasagna in her mouth. "Though, I'm very happy to get a few weeks away from studying."

"I bet," Lizzie laughed. "So you'll be fine here, just the two, of you for the summer?"

"Yeah mom, we'll be fine," Allie sighed feeling like she was having this conversation for the millionth time.

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do," Nancy laughed.

"That actually doesn't leave much out," Meredith giggled.

"It really doesn't," Allie agreed.

"Parents at the table," Nancy glared.

"Sorry," Allie laughed. "But yeah, we'll be fine."

"And Derek will be here to keep an eye on you," Michael said firmly.

"Wait! Under what sort of circumstances will he have to keep an eye on us?" Allie asked.

"Like if you two try to cook and accidentally burn the house down. It's not so unlikely that that'll happen," her father laughed.

"And of course keep all the boys away," Lizzie added as she served herself more lasagna. "I'm serious about that one, I hope you know that."

"Seriously? That's not fair. I'm pretty sure you didn't keep an eye on Derek and the girls he was with when he was my age," she argued.

"That's not the same," Derek argued.

"How is that not the same?" Allie asked, getting more frustrated.

"Because boys tend to be after only one thing," he said.

"What makes you so sure girls aren't after the exact same thing?" Allie asked glaring at him.

"I...well, I just know," he stumbled on his words. "And besides. You're my baby sister, I'm supposed to protect you," he finished.

"So what? I mean Mer's not your sister but I suppose you're going to protect her as well? Making sure no boy gets near her?"

He almost screamed Yes! He was definitely going to make sure no boy got anywhere near her. Even though he knew he couldn't really have her, she was his sister's best friend, he was definitely not going to watch someone else have her.

"I guess, you too seem to be sort of a package deal," he finally answered, trying to sound nonchalant.

But the thing was, Mer had noticed the way he glanced at her, trying his best to be discreet. The way he looked down her t-shirt when she bent forward to reach for the vegetables. They way he had stared at her butt when he followed them into the kitchen earlier. And as she listened to them argue about sleep-overs and pre-marital sex, an idea formed in her head. She knew he was a decent guy and would stay away from his teenage sister's best friend. But, if he was going to keep other boys away from her, she sure was going to make this summer hard for him. Oh, this was going to be so much fun.