Derek is just about to pull her in for a kiss when she speaks, and the words sort of make him freeze. He hasn't heard those words from anyone in quite some time. He knows that she doesn't mean that she's in love with him, even though she's sitting in his lap and kissing his neck. She says it simply because she means it, because he's important.

It means so much to him and he swallows hard, wishing he could say it back. The words don't come easily to him, and the last person he said them to was his sister before she left for California, before she died.

"You're important to me too," Derek tells her, voice full of emotion as he pulls her closer. He needed to hear that, so much, and he pulls her in to give her a soft, lingering kiss.