A/N: You guys are wonderful! Thank you for such a mind-blowing response to this! On another note, be sure you have followed me or added this story to your reading list, because not only can it be difficult for you to find it now that I have changed the cover, but also I'm thinking of changing the rating of this fic to Mature soon. So, if you don't follow me or add this to your reading lists, you won't be notified of the updates. After reading this chapter, go click the follow button on the left hand side! Enjoy!

Trailer's by iliveintheclouds!

I stood rooted in my spot, staring agape at the singer in front of me. He was singing into the mic and strumming away at his guitar, people around me were cheering him on and joining along, and I – I, well, I was gawking at him. I couldn't move from my spot, I couldn't blink, I couldn't breathe. I was scared that if I blinked, he would disappear, never to be found again. My eyes watered as I continued gaping at the man who held everyone captive with his voice, including me. My heart was drumming vigorously in my chest, beating in tune to the singer's song.

I was at a loss for what to do. All I wanted to do was run up on the stage and wrap my arms around him and never let go. At that moment, I didn't care how or when or why. I didn't care that Derek was dead and so, it was next to impossible for him to be standing on the stage and playing his guitar. I didn't care that I had seen Derek's body being lowered in the ground with my own eyes at his funeral three years ago. I didn't care if this was a hallucination or this person was a ghost or this was some sort of life-altering miracle. All logic and rationale had escaped my head. All I knew was I had missed my Derek so fucking much over the last three years. I had missed seeing his face, hearing his voice, getting lost in the pools of his ocean-blue eyes...I had missed touching him – feeling his warm, soft skin under my fingertips. I had missed being held in his arms while I pillowed my head on his chest. I had missed kissing him; I had missed making love to him. I had just missed him, period. And now, now that he was right there in front of me, all I wanted to do was rush up and....I didn't even know what I wanted to do with him first. There were so many things that I had missed doing with him that I was stumped about what I should do first.

Instead, I stood like a moron in the crowd, continuing my eternal gape at him. I tried to suck in a breath to steady myself and regain what was left of my composure, but failed miserably. My heart was beating so fast against my ribcage by then that I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Which, on a side note, was not entirely impossible, given my situation. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry with happiness.

The feeling of something wet sliding down my cheeks let me know what I wanted to do. I wanted to cry, but not because I was sad. They were tears of happiness. I had thought I'd never see my Derek again, except for in photos and videos. And there he was, right in front of me, looking so young and carefree and happily singing away. I clapped my hands to my mouth, shaking my head as more tears streamed down my cheeks.

Just when I thought my heart couldn't beat any faster, that it couldn't get any more difficult to breathe, he looked up. He looked up from his guitar and scanned the room full of people with his eyes. He scanned the hundreds of faces, and finally, his eyes alighted on me.

I gasped as he locked eyes with me. I might even have flinched or cringed...I didn't know. All I knew was where I was expecting to drown in twin pools of cerulean, I found a pair of sparkling emerald greens staring back at me.

And that was when I snapped out of my trance. Derek...Derek had blue eyes. The bluest eyes in the entire world. The most beautiful pair of blue eyes that I'd ever seen. But, staring back at me right then with befuddlement, intrigue and awe mingled in them, were a pair of bright, gorgeous emerald green orbs. No, this couldn't be Derek.

And yet, there was no way he was not. Same hair, same cheekbones, same nose, same mouth, same chin, same crinkles around his eyes. Everything in him screamed Derek, even the shape of his eyes. But the colour of his irides spoke a different story. The striking, innumerable similarities combined with the glaring contrast gave rise to a plethora of conflicting emotions in me.

But, I didn't have the opportunity to dwell on my emotions and make head or tail of them. Because he was looking at me. He was staring at me now, and I was staring back at him. His eyes reflected genuine puzzlement, surprise and...concern? Mine mirrored his – I think.

He continued singing as smoothly as before, but his eyes were locked onto mine, as if staring straight into my soul. And I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt breathless. My cheeks warmed up of their own accord, colouring with a faint hue of pink. That was the only colour standing out in my otherwise pallid face.

The staring competition between me and him went on. Neither of us wanted to break the eye contact, but because of entirely different reasons. I was trying to will his emerald irides – which I thought were beautiful, by the way – to change to ocean-blue. If he were my hallucination, then I was at least entitled to have a perfect hallucination of the love of my life, period. He, on the other hand...I don't know what he was thinking. He was probably stupefied and horrified on seeing a middle-aged woman, as pale as a ghost, tears streaming down her face, hands clapped to her mouth, gawking at him like she had seen a ghost. He was probably thinking I was a lunatic. But, wait, if he was my hallucination, how was he able to think?

Your eyes, oh, how they melt me

Your smile, girl, heaven help me

Your lips kiss and tell me a thing or two...

The lyrics of the song he was singing felt tailor-made, bespoke for us, like it was some kind of mushy Hollywood movie. Our eyes remained locked for the rest of the song. My heart was still thumping wildly in my chest as I gazed into his soft, emerald eyes, feeling more and more drawn to them as the minutes ticked by. They were pulling me in, like a flame does to a moth. I wanted to take in as much of his face, his eyes – him – as I could in that single stare.

Love happens just like that, yeah

Love happens just like that...

As he finished singing the very last line of the song, the regiment surrounding me broke into applause, finally causing me to break our eye contact. I looked down at my feet, not knowing what to do. I could still feel his eyes on me, but maybe that was just my self-consciousness. Maybe, it was just my hallucination, like he was. I stood in the middle of the clapping and cheering people, the only person who was not applauding the brilliant performance. Some people were screaming for an encore. I squeezed my eyes shut as two tears escaped my eyes. It was over. The song was over, and so was the hallucination. That guy would go back to being who he really was and my time was up. My time of seeing Derek alive one more time was up. As they say, all good things must come to an end.

Opening my eyes, I exhaled loudly and wiped my cheeks with my palms. I felt the irresistible urge to look at him one more time and see for myself that he was not Derek. I had to face the reality. As beautiful and amazing as it had been to live in a small, happy bubble that my wistful and inebriated mind had created, it was time to step back in the real world. My time in the virtual world was up.

I braced myself mentally and looked up, expecting to find a completely different person standing on the stage. And my expectations were met, but not quite in the way I had imagined.

Matt was standing in front of the mic, announcing the next performance of the night. My eyes subconsciously searched for the guy who had just performed, but I didn't even know who I was looking for. Him being Derek was just a hallucination of mine. And it was over. It was so over.

Sighing loudly, I made my way through the crowd of rabid people and walked towards the bathroom in quick strides. I banged open the door of the bathroom and rushed over to the sink. Hunching over it, I gripped the sides of the sink as hard as I could, my knuckles turning white.

What was wrong with me? It had been three years since Derek's death. Three fucking years. And never, once in those three years had I had a hallucination like the one I just had. Then why now? Not that I minded seeing Derek alive again, even though I knew he was just a figment of my imagination. But still...I thought I had it together. I thought I had got over the grief and the pain and my life was back on track. Then why have these hallucinations now? I asked myself silently.

Maybe it was because I was sleeping with someone. Yes, that had to be it. I was sleeping with Nathan, and that made me feel so guilty that I was having hallucinations about Derek. That made sense. Ever since I had had sex with Nathan the night before Amelia's wedding, I had been feeling incredibly guilty about it. I had been feeling like I was cheating on Derek in some way. Which was impossible, since Derek was dead. But, it was survivor's guilt or whatever. It happened. When you lose the love of your life and try to move on, you feel guilty. Wasn't that what they showed in the movies and soapies and wrote about in books?

I slowly turned on the tap, my hands shaking. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror and flinched. I couldn't even recognize myself anymore. My cheeks were tear-stained; my mascara was ruined and running down my cheeks. I was ghostly pale. In short, I looked ghastly. As I stared into my reflection in the mirror, my lower lip quivered slightly. My entire form trembled like a single, withered leaf on a willow tree in the fall. I felt ruined and weak and alone. There was no one to stand beside me, no one to hold me while I cried. If Derek had been there, he would have taken me in his arms and hugged me tight until I felt safe and protected again. And I did. I did feel safe and protected in his arms. Who was going to hold me now that he was gone? The mere thought of being unprotected – of having no one's arms to hide into scared me shitless. And before I knew it, the dam burst and I broke down into noisy, nerve-wracking sobs.

The sobs wracked my body, causing it to tremble heavily. I clutched onto my chest with one hand and gripped the edge of the sink with the other. Oh, how I wished I could see Derek one more time! And this time, I would not make the same mistake again. This time, I'd be sure to run straight into his arms and let him hold me. And he would hold me, wouldn't he? He would be my hallucination, so he would do whatever I wanted him to do.

Weeping and wailing like a mess, I held my hand under the running water for a moment before splashing the cold water on my face. Enough was enough. I had to stop this now. I couldn't break down like this, not after three years. Though, the time that had elapsed didn't make it any easier. Nor did Amelia's perfect, happy life. Screw Amelia and her happiness. She was the one who had triggered my nervous breakdown. I suddenly felt like I had lost Derek the previous day, not three years ago. Damn Amelia.

Choking back on a sob, I splashed some more water on my face and took in a deep breath. No more crying, even though fresh tears were welling up in my eyes. No more crying. I am a strong, independent woman, who has her three perfect children to get home to, I told myself. I can live with the memories of Derek for the rest of my life, I reaffirmed.

Grabbing a paper towel, I wiped my face with it with trembling hands. I was trying my damndest best to keep in the tears. Wiping my eyes frantically, I looked up in the mirror and took in my dishevelled appearance, my red-rimmed, puffy eyes, my flushed face and my very red nose. Shaking my head, I squared my shoulders and looked down at the sink one more time, regaining my strength and composure slowly.

"Are you okay?" a deep voice asked, causing my heart to stop dead in its tracks.

My eyes widened as I kept them fixed on the sink below. I didn't dare look up. I couldn't. I was too scared.

Face your fears, Meredith. It's just someone else, I told myself. Forcing myself to look up, I gasped and shrank back in fear when my eyes locked with a pair of twinkling emerald green ones in the mirror.

For there, standing in the mirror, was Derek.

A/N: Another cliffhanger! I know I'm evil...I had a longer chapter planned, but I cut it in half to keep the suspense alive. Next chapter will be longer, and it'll witness Meredith finally interacting with Derek...Or is it phantom Derek? Or reincarnated Derek? I loved the conjectures you had, so keep 'em coming!

And, votes and comments are a MUST for the show, well, in this case, the story to go on. No update till I get 25 comments on this chapter!

Comment and vote, pleeeeaaaase! :) Make a girl happy!