She picked the picture up and let her mind go back to that day all those years ago. At the time she remembered thinking it was the happiest day of her life and always would be, but as the years passed something else happened and miraculously always managed to top it.

They were lucky; the torrential downpour hadn't started until after the ceremony or the photos. In fact they were extremely lucky – the weather had been amazing until now, now it was simply horrible. The rain clouds were dark and foreboding, darkening the sunshine and making it appear a lot later than it actually was. The sky was no longer blue but grey, stretching in all directions as far as the human eye could see. The weather, however, was a complete contradiction to the atmosphere that acted as a blanket to the group of friends and family that were now collected in the hall; it smothered them in happiness and joy, keeping out the depressiveness of the weather much like an actual blanket would keep out the cold.

The room was alive with noise and activity everywhere you looked, not a single person wasn't doing something; people were either eating or talking or dancing or posing for pictures...the list went on and on. That was true for all but one person. Some would say the most important person in the room. The bride. She sat at the elegantly decorated top table with her husband. She was unsure how long it was going to take to get used to calling him that. So there she sat, her fingers loosely intertwined with his and he continuously rubbed his fingers over the rings that sat so lovingly on her finger as if he couldn't believe that he had actually finally placed them there. He was talking to his best man, who was now practically her brother-in-law (they weren't actually brothers but they had been best friends since they could talk so they were practically brothers) so she wasn't talking to him. She wasn't dancing (obviously as she was sitting), she wasn't eating (again obvious by the way her hand was being lovingly caressed by her husband) and there was not a photographer or family member anywhere near shoving a camera in her face. She was the only one in the room not doing anything. She glanced round the room, taking it all in, taking in her reception. She had finally married him after 4 years of dating and a 7 month long engagement. She knew she should be enjoying this day, no she was enjoying this day! But she was getting restless; they had been married in a tear-jerking ceremony with fervently written personal vows and a knee-melting first kiss – seriously if he hadn't had such a strong grip on her she was certain she would have collapsed as her legs were turned to jelly! They had had their first dance, to the first song they had ever danced to, as well as all the other mandatory dances and by the end of them she was sure her feet were going to fall off! They had eaten an exquisite dinner that tasted simply like heaven. And finally they had cut the cake. The cake was an amazing 3 tiered Victoria sponge that was light and fluffy but not to dry, it was covered in white icing with pink hearts circling the bottom of each tier and it was topped off by bride and groom figurines sat endearingly on top. It was the most amazing desert she had ever tasted. Throughout all this there were several photographers wondering around snapping shots of every single moment of this monumental day, some were candid whilst others were posed but it didn't matter because they were guaranteed to be breath-taking.

She glanced around the room for what felt like the thousandth time: one of her (now official) nieces was trying to seduce the bartender and convince him to give her some alcohol, she giggled knowing her unwavering efforts where all in vain because underneath the bar was a picture of all the underage guests with the name underneath and the bartenders had been given specific instructions not to serve them anything that contained even the slightest drop of alcohol in it. She shifted her gaze to the many tables that were scattered around the room after being moved to the sides to make room for the dance floor. Again what she saw amused her, one of her (now official) nephews was flirting hopelessly with her youngest bridesmaid. He titled his head in way that he could only have learnt from the uncle that screamed 'I can charm your pants off with just one look'. The bridesmaid was her best friend's daughter but had always referred to her as her aunt so she was sort of her niece, she also happened to be 3 years younger than the man boy that was more than likely to be trying to convince her to go with him upstairs to the room he was staying in. Finally, she gave in and looked at the clock; she had been trying to avoid doing it knowing full well that only a small amount of time would have passed since she last looked . It should actually be considered torture she thought to herself – only 3 minutes and 17 seconds had passed since she last looked at it and she was starting to get frustrated; she still had to wait 16 minutes and 27, 26, 25, seconds until she could escape from the hall with her husband, make their way (as quickly as possible) up to their hotel room and rip each other out of the ridiculous clothes that they were wearing. Sure she absolutely loved her wedding dress; it was perfect in every possible way, it was classy and gorgeous but simplistic and not too in your face, and it fit her like a glove. And, well, her husband just looked like a Greek God in a suit and today he was looking particularly handsome. He had long since lost his dinner jacket, complaining that it was unpractical, and he wore his waistcoat open, bow tie slung casually around his neck not tied and his top two buttons underdone. He reeked sex-God and luckily for her he was now officially all hers for the rest of our lives. Unluckily for her, she still had another 15 minutes before she could have him for herself behind locked doors with the promise of no interruptions.

She sighed audibly causing her husband to turn to her. He looked her in the eye and immediately knew what was wrong, "Meredith, relax. Only 15 more minutes and you'll be all mine for the next two weeks." This promise sent shudders down her spine. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and finished his conversation with Mark as he went in search of his conquest for the night (more than likely one of her old friends that he was almost guaranteed to never see again).

"I wonder who taught him to charm a girl like that", Meredith said softly relaxing her body into his chest and placing her head in gap between his neck and shoulder that it fit so well in, making it seem that it was made for her and her alone. He chuckled softly, "Hmm, I do wonder. Maybe it was his uncle that managed to charm his way into her aunt's heart." He replied tenderly, his voice laden with honesty and seriousness. Meredith turned her heard and looked into his eyes before placing her free hand on his cheek and pulling his face down so she could place a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. "I love you", she said looking him straight in his eyes, "And I love you too" he replied without hesitation before leaving several more pecks on the lips he wanted so much to devour but knew he had to restrain himself for now. She shifted to make herself more comfortable, her back was pressed against his chest, her head on his shoulder whilst one of his arms was slung low around her back and his fingers were drawing imaginary circles up and down her forearm knowing full well that it relaxed and calmed her in the same way it did his 5 year old niece when she was upset about something or just needed calming down. His other hand was placed in his lap, fingers interlinked with hers as he ran the pad of his thumb nonchalantly of the rings he had placed so lovingly on her finger hours before.

They sat peacefully, watching their friends and family thoroughly enjoying the occasion. "Hmmm, as much as I love it when you do that, if you continue I may fall asleep and we don't want that now do we." Meredith stated, emphasising her point by leaning up and placing her lips on top of his before running her tongue along his bottom lip but pulling away as soon as he granted her access to his mouth. He groaned frustrated but that soon dissipated once he looked down at her and saw a mischievous glint in her eyes as she bit down on her bottom lip. "Aww poor Der. Only 12 more minutes" she replied playfully. "You wanna be nice to me you know...I could make those 12 minutes a living hell" he said as he began to kiss his way down from her ear to the column of her neck and finally reaching her weak spot in the middle of her collar bone. She moaned and arched forwards trying to get way as he chuckled at her. She shot him a glare, "You're not playing fair, I can't reach your spots; you have too many clothes on!" she said, adding a pout for effect and slouching back into her chair.

A few seconds later she shot up and looked over at him with mischievous look sweeping across her face as she once more chewed on her bottom lip in an attempt to stop the grin from spreading across her face. "Come on. I know how to make this time go quicker", she said grabbing his hand properly and standing up, pulling him up as well. She marched through the middle of the hall turning many heads and halting many conversations in the process "Mer, where are you taking me?" Derek asked whilst trying to keep up with his extremely determined wife. "Oh you two, get back here," Mark's voice shouted out, "there are 10 more minutes left before you two turn into bunnies!" This comment received several snigger's from around the room whilst the younger guests looked on either completely unaware or completely confused. "We know" Meredith shouted back before he could get a word out. He turned and shrugged his shoulders in Mark's direction whilst continuing to be pulled across the hall.
Having had enough of being left in the dark Derek put his hands on Meredith's shoulders and spun her around, "where are you taking me?" he asked confusion written all over his face but unable to cover the smile that he had been wearing from the second he had woken up that morning. She continued to bite down on her lip as something twinkled in her eyes. It was a glint he recognised all too well: "Meredith," he started in a warning tone, his face a complete contradiction, "what are you planning on doing?" he finished slowly as he looked in her eyes for some sort of answers. She took a step back, and then another and then two more until she was stood with her back pressed against the fire door. Realisation swept across Derek's face as she moved her hands to rest on the bar of the door. "Meredith, do not even think about it" he once more warned, using her full name hoping it would show a hint of seriousness, but the grin on his face betrayed him as she pushed the doors open revealing the car park being soaked by the rain. Derek looked down not quite believing what she was doing and shook his head. She continued to bite down on her bottom lip as their guests started crowding round to see what was going on. She was vaguely aware of the photographers that were taking pictures of her but pushed them to the back of her head in an attempt to forget about them. She stepped back once more and this time she was outside, in the rain. She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the rain before throwing her arms up and spinning around in circles, bursting into laughter almost instantly. She looked gorgeous and so care free, you couldn't deny it; she was breath-takingly beautiful. She finally stopped spinning a little away from the doors and finally opened her eyes again. All he saw was love and freedom, she felt free, relaxed and there was no denying it.

"Come dance with me" she said as she stuck her hand out towards him, pleading him to take it with her eyes. He shook his head again and looked down at the floor before finally looking back up into her eyes. She had completely ruined her dress but by the look on her face she didn't care. "Go dance with you wife you coward!" came Mark's voice from somewhere in the crowd behind him, "No one cares if it messes your hair up except you. It'll be messed up as soon as you two get alone anyway!" Several people laughed knowing it was true. Meredith titled her head to the side and pouted knowing he wouldn't be able to say no now. "Screw it!" he finally shouted and ran out into the rain. He stood in front of her, so close she had to really look up to see his eyes. He leant down and stole her lips placing one hand on her hip the other on the back of her head trying to pull her closer. Her arms snaked around his neck and played with his curls at the nape of his neck. The finally pulled away from some much needed oxygen and giggled as they went their foreheads together as several people cheered and whistled.

Before she knew what was happening he had her in the arm and was spinning her round in circles, his hands firmly gripping her hips as she balanced herself using his shoulders for support. She captured his lips again as continued to spin but finally slowed to a stop and put her back onto the ground as she giggled. Using his index finger he moved some of her hair off of her face, tucking it behind her ear. He traced her jaw and cheek with his finger as he gently kissed her before pulling away. "Care for a dance." He asked putting his hand out for her to take. She looked up at him with so much admiration and love filling her eyes that it left him stunned and breathless. She took his hand as the music from the hall was cranked up to a volume where it could be heard outside but was still overpowered by the rain. She rested her head on his shoulder as they swayed in the pouring rain getting even more wet then they already were.

"I think my dress is ruined" she finally spoke without moving from her spot, clearly comfortable as he draw circles with his fingers on the bare skin of her back that was exposed by the dress. "I think so too." He agreed placing a kiss on her forehead, before continuing, "We should really go inside if we don't want to spend our honeymoon stuck in bed with colds. I mean I'm all for staying in bed with you for two weeks but having a cold whilst doing so doesn't sound too appealing." This received a giggle from Meredith who went on to say, "But I'm so comfortable; I don't want to move", before sighing softly. Next thing she knew she was in his arms and he was carrying her inside where they were greeted with nice, big, warm towels. Derek saw to his wife first sitting her on a chair and wrapping her in a towel before running one through his hair and over his face before placing it round his shoulders and returning to pick Meredith up. Again she giggled, once more taken by surprise by his actions. Derek walked them up onto the raised platform where the band had been set up and a microphone was still present.
"Alright, everyone. Can you hear me alright?"
"Just get on with it Der, I want out this dress!" Meredith said veining annoyance
"I want you out that dress too!"He replied giving her a devilish grin.
As usual Mark interjected, "Stop flirting with each other, it's not like you're not going to end up in bed together within the next...oo...let's say 5 minutes. So stop the flirting and say good bye already!" Everyone laughed except Meredith who just glared at him.
"Well I think Mark summed it up pretty well, I need to get Meredith out this dress and into something...else...so with that I speak for both us when I say thank you for coming, it's been a pleasure, and we will see you in two weeks." Derek concluded.

Meredith ran the pad of her thumb over the faces in the image, they were blurry because of the rain but it was still clear who it was. The couple had been oblivious to the photographer that had been taking, as he referred to them as, 'the most beautiful wedding photos he had had ever seen, yet alone taken'. It wasn't posed, fake. It was a 'capture the moment' image, completely natural, completely them – it was the moment before they kissed whilst he spun her round and round in the rain neither caring that her dress was getting completely ruined. Luckily neither had survived from a cold from their actions had been able to enjoy their honeymoon but unlike Mark said it took longer than 5 minutes before they were in bed – partially because it ended up taking them 10 minutes to get her out of her wet dress but also because Derek was determined to make her feel more loved then she has ever felt before, not leaving an inch of her ivory skin untouched.

Feeling his presence behind her, Meredith leaned back resting her back on his chest as he grazes his fingers up and down her arms as she sighed, clearly content. She placed the photo back where it came from, her rings catching her eye as she did so. She took a moment to admire them, still amazed at their beauty. She had never gotten over how remarkable they were. She turned around in his arms. "Do you want go for a walk?" She asked, resting her head in the indent between his shoulder and neck that was made for her. "Mer, it's raining." He said, still drawing circles on her skin. "Exactly." She replied grinning as she looked up into his eyes and still after all these years his breath was stolen by the admiration and love so obvious in her eyes and he knew he would never get used to it.