'Meredith wasn't a fling. She wasn't revenge. I fell in love with her. That doesn't go away because I decided to stay with you.'
Derek's words echoed in her mind as she ran through the pouring rain, desperate to get away from him. She couldn't be anywhere near him after hearing that. The room shrunk to half the size, noise rang in her ears like a siren and her vision blurred so she had grabbed her purse and sprinted out of the door, ignoring Derek's shouts behind her. She couldn't tell if she was crying or not, the rain was crashing onto her skin so hard, but she guessed she was. Pictures of Meredith and Derek kissing, touching, smiling at each other flashed in front of her eyes and she clawed at her face as she ran. How could she have been so stupid? She had convinced herself that it was just revenge sex, that he didn't really want the intern and that he would come back to her, when she should have been preparing herself for this. Heartbreak. Despair. A million painful emotions coursed through her veins, freezing her to the core.
'Addison? What are you doing?' a familiar voice called from her side, and she stopped in her tracks. Mark. Immediately she broke down and he pulled his car over to the sidewalk to get her. He tried to take her hand but she resisted.
'Addie?' he questioned, hair dripping from the downpour above them.
'I can't move.' she whispered, a torrent of tears falling down her face, paralysed.
'What do you mean?' he asked, surprised to see the woman he knew as incredibly composed crumbling in front of his eyes. She was silent. Mark walked forwards and grabbed her legs with one arm, supporting her back with the other and carried her over to the car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled into it. It was warm. Such a stark contrast to the ice that had formed in her heart. He sat her down in the passenger seat and shut the door, confused, but as always he had a plan. Before driving away he looked over at Addison, seeing nothing more than the shell of the woman he had always loved.
'Are you going to tell me what's going on?' he asked softly. She shook her head and bit her lip, staring straight into the distance. Mark decided to leave her alone to process whatever was happening and he pulled away from the sidewalk, heading to his apartment.
They drove the entire journey in silence until they reached their destination and Mark turned to face her.
'I'm not leaving you alone tonight Addie. You can crash with me' he told her, moving a comforting hand over to her shoulder. She turned to face him for the first time that night, and he saw that her face was expressionless. She was broken.
'Let me take care of you. I'll fix you up' he whispered, and he carried Addison out of the car and into his bedroom, sitting her upright on his bed so her back was against a pillow. Her hair was matted and her clothes damp; makeup was smeared all over her face.
'Do you have a hair brush with you?' he asked her, but she didn't reply. Taking it upon himself to search for one, he grabbed her bag and unzipped the front pocket, pleased to see that a small brush was buried in there underneath a stack of makeup and money. Taking a strand of her flame red hair in his hand at a time, he brushed it gently, tugging at stubborn knots until her mane was silky smooth. He ran his hands over it, revelling in how beautiful she looked with her freshly brushed hair fanned out behind her shoulders. She was still staring straight ahead, silent. Mark walked into his bathroom and found a soft flannel that he ran the hot tap over, just for a second so that it wasn't too warm. He walked back to Addison and sat down by her, taking her chin in his hands. Dabbing gently at her porcelain skin, he removed all traces of makeup that were scarring her face until she looked as good as new.
'There' he murmured to himself, pleased with his handiwork. Now all that was left as a reminder of the night's events were her damp clothes. From his wardrobe he produced a t-shirt and the smallest pair of pyjama bottoms he could find, and he brought them over to her.
'Can you put these on for me if I turn around?' he asked her, and she replied with a small nod of the head. Turning to face the door Mark sighed, thinking about all the things that could have caused Addison to feel so empty. Derek. It was always him. Mark knew that he would treat Addison right but Derek seemed not to know how to. It broke his heart to see her so damaged by the man she loved.
'I'm done' a quiet voice whispered from behind him, and he followed it to find Addison tucked under the covers. Her features were contorted into a frown, and he knew she was going over and over the thing that had upset her in her head.
'Addie don't do that' he told her, climbing on to the bed to hold her hand. She seemed so fragile.
'Mark?' Addison whispered, looking at him with vulnerable eyes. 'Do you think Derek's going to leave me?' He sat speechless for a moment, but then composed himself and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
'Of course not Addie. Why would he do that?' he asked, hoping that she had just been making it up in her head.
'Tonight he told me he fell in love with Meredith, and I know he is still in love with her' she managed to blurt out, feeling tears of devastation welling up in her eyes.
'Did he say that?' Mark questioned, shocked that a man could be so thoughtless and apparently oblivious as to how this would make Addison feel.
'He didn't have to' she replied, voice wavering on the last word. 'He's going to leave me Mark I just know it, and this time it's going to kill me. I can't cope with having my heart stomped on again, I just can't' she sobbed, body shaking violently.
'Shh, don't say that Addie, you don't know that' Mark comforted, taking her frail body in his arms, hugging her tight. Her sobs vibrated down his arms as he held onto her back and his heart sunk. That ass. What made him think he could destroy Addie like this? Mark began to stroke her hair gently, and he kissed her forehead, pleased to see that she had began to calm down and her tears ceased to flow.
'Listen to me Addie. Neither of us know what's going to happen, but you always have me. I will be here for you night and day, you just call me if you need me and I'll be there, okay?' Mark promised, never wanting to let her go.
'Okay' she breathed, leaning closer into his chest. She felt so safe wrapped in his body, as if nothing could ever hurt her. And maybe it never would. As long as they had each other, she knew it would somehow be okay. She smiled up at him.
'Thanks Mark.' He grinned back at her.
'It's no problem, Red.'
