A/N: Quite a while ago, when I was having a major mental block on ideas and asked you lovely lot for some ideasLadySmirnoff suggested to have Meredith meet Pete somehow and bring her to Addison in some way. I took that and came up with this, which is slightly different to the suggestion but it triggered this. Oh and anything Addison/Men related in S3 didn't happen (Y)
This is Part 1 of 2. I haven't actually written Part 2 yet but I have a plan in my head for it, it'll come eventually! Title from the amazing song 'Nothing Compares' by Pixie Lott.
Reviews please =DD
They say if it doesn't kill you it'll make you stronger.
Oh, but I can't be without you any longer.
Everytime I let it go, baby it's you.
Nothing compares to you.
Nothing compares to you.
-Pixie Lott
~x~
"Pete Wilder"
"Hey, it's me"
"Mer! Hey! It's been a long time" Pete said softly.
"Yeah, uh, sorry to just call you like this I just, I need you, I need my big brother"
"Meredith, what's wrong? Do I need to kick someone's ass?"
"No, no I, I've just, I thought, I thought I'd found them, the one, but he's, he's not and, I need to, I need to get away"
"What did he do?" Pete asked seriously "Tell me where you are and I'll be on a plane within the hour"
"It wasn't him, not really, it was both of us, there was too much water under the thing or whatever, we want different things"
"You sound tired Mer"
"I am"
"Come and stay with me for a while, take some leave, I have sun and tequila"
"Are you sure?"
"Meredith you know I think of you as my baby sister and when my baby sister is sad I want nothing more than to give her a hug so get your ass on a plane to LA and meet me on the fifth floor of Oceanside Wellness, I'll be your tour guide"
"I'll try my best, I have to go, love you big brother"
"Love you too baby sister"
-x-
Meredith stared up at the big red brick building in front of her less than a week later, she walked in and took the stairs to the fifth floor, she couldn't be doing with elevators, she regained her breathing in the stairwell before walking into the lobby area of the practice, she walked over to the sandy haired receptionist.
"Hey, I'm here to see Pete Wilder"
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No, no I'm an old friend, he's expecting me"
"It's that office over there, I'm Dell by the way"
"Meredith"
"It's nice to meet you Meredith, go on through"
Meredith smiled at him and walked over to the office, she knocked on the door before entering.
"Hey there stranger" she said quietly, Pete turned around quickly, a grin spread across his face.
"Meredith" he smiled "Does your big brother not get a hug?"
Meredith walked over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him, he held her close and kissed the top of her head "I missed you Mer"
"I missed you too, it's been, too long, way too long, 3 years is just, lets not do that again ok?"
"Ok" Pete said softly.
-x-
"Hey Dell, who's the blonde?" Naomi asked nodding her head towards Pete's office.
"Said she was an old friend"
"An old sex friend more like" Addison muttered.
"I should damn well hope not" said Naomi "He's been told time and time again not to bring his lady friends in here!"
"They're coming out" Dell said quickly, Naomi and Addison watched closely as Pete led the woman out of the office.
"Oh my god!" Addison exclaimed.
"What?" said Naomi and Dell.
"Oh my god!" Meredith exclaimed looking over to Addison.
"What?" Pete frowned.
"Meredith, wha….what are you doing here?" Addison stuttered walking over to them.
"You two know each other?" asked Pete.
"I uh, the ex I was telling you about, her ex-husband" Meredith said looking up at him sheepishly.
"Ohh, you're the 12 year old" he smirked "Yeah, I get that"
"Shut up" Meredith said hitting him in the chest.
"I uh, how do you two know each other?" Addison asked.
"We met in Boston about 9 years ago, I was doing some work with her mother, Meredith here is practically my baby sister" he said pinching Meredith's cheek, she swatted his hand with a scowl.
"Well uh, this is, wow" Addison stuttered "Wait? Did you say ex?"
"I uh, yeah, we uh, split up, about a month ago, we just wanted different things, there's just too much history there, we thought we could get past it but, we can't"
"Well uh, I'm sorry, seriously" Addison said squeezing her arm softly.
"I'm good, I'm all good" Meredith smiled "Pete's promised me tequila and sun so I'll be fine" she laughed "And we have a lot to catch up on Peteyboy"
"We do Merrybear"
"Ugh, don't call me that" Meredith shuddered "I hate it when you call me that"
"You love it" Pete grinned "Come on then Mer, lets get you fed, have you been eating? You look skinny"
"I live on coffee Pete" Meredith grumbled "Coffee and Izzie's muffins….oh you pig" she said hitting him on the head as he smirked suggestively "I thought I told you last time I called to grow the hell up!"
"That's not possible" Addison muttered.
"Yeah yeah" Pete said starting to walk away "If you don't come now I'm going without you, all that italian food you love will go straight in the trash"
"Uh-uh" Meredith said chasing after him "I'll uh, see you later?" she said looking at Addison.
"Yeah, sure" Addison nodded "Have fun"
"Well, we sure live in a small world don't we Addie" Naomi said patting Addison's shoulder as Pete and Meredith disappeared into the stairwell.
"Tell me about it"
-x-
"Come on Mer it'll be fun!" Pete whined to Meredith who sat sulking on his couch.
"Pete! I slept with her husband! She is not going to want me in her house!"
"Meredith she was nothing but nice to you yesterday and she knows you're here, she wouldn't invite me and expect me to just leave you here!" Pete laughed.
"Fine" Meredith said standing up "But your buying me a bottle of tequila"
"Done" Pete smirked.
-x-
"Y'know, Pete's never mentioned you before" Naomi said sitting down next to Meredith on the deck, Violet on the other side of her.
"I never really mention Pete" said Meredith.
"Why?" asked Violet.
"I don't know" Meredith shrugged "We have a….weird relationship"
"How so?" asked Naomi.
"Naomi! Violet!" Addison snapped walking over to them "Leave the poor girl alone" she sighed taking another seat.
"It's fine Addison" Meredith said with a small smile "When I met Pete I was 18, constantly fighting with my mother about college and he was there, just to make me laugh and, there's never been anything between us, it's always been a brother sister thing"
"Really? Interesting" Naomi smirked.
"He didn't used to be like this" Meredith sighed "Manwhore 2.0"
"Who's the first?" Violet laughed.
"Mark" Addison and Meredith answered together before laughing slightly.
"Let's just say, yours wasn't the first marriage I got stuck in the middle of" Meredith said nodding at Addison.
"How'd you mean?" Addison asked.
"Anna, she, she thought we were having an affair, she was, an interesting character and then, after a year of him being there, she died and then enter manwhore Pete, I tried to help him but, well I'm sure you know what he's like, and then a year later he moved out here, we call once in a while, the last time I spoke to him was when my mother died, just to let him know and, then the stuff with Derek happened and I needed him, I just needed my big brother"
"You didn't ever tell him, about me, and Derek" Addison stuttered.
"If I told him he would have been on the first flight out to Seattle to kick Derek's ass" Meredith said with a laugh.
"Point taken" Addison smirked.
-x-
"Should we talk about it?" Meredith said quietly as she and Addison stood in the kitchen and hour or so later, everyone else curled up on the sofas and the floor of the living room.
"There's nothing to talk about" Addison sighed.
"We kissed Addison, a lot, before you left, we kissed a lot, you don't think we should talk about that?"
"What is there to say Meredith? We kissed, we kissed and we can't take that back but, it was just a kiss right?"
"Right yeah, of course it was" Meredith stuttered "Right?"
"Right" Addison nodded.
"Oh fuck it" Meredith said reaching up and kissing her, pushing her back further into the kitchen, and up against the counter.
"Mer I….holy mother of" Pete stuttered, Meredith and Addison snapped apart.
"Pete, don't say a word" Addison said slowly.
"But…." he started.
"Later" Meredith sighed "When everyones gone"
"I uh, um, ok" he stuttered backing away from them.
"Isn't that just perfect" Addison muttered.
-x-
"So…." Pete started standing with crossed arms in front of a very sheepish looking Meredith and Addison.
"Before I left, to come here, there was a thing" Addison stuttered.
"A thing" Pete said with a raised eyebrow.
"We did some kissing, a lot of kissing" Meredith muttered.
"But, but why?" he stuttered.
"It just, happened" Meredith shrugged.
"It just, happened" he repeated.
"We know it sounds crazy, we get that" Addison sighed "But it means nothing, right Meredith?"
"Right, yeah, of course" Meredith nodded "Nothing at all"
"Your lying" Pete said with a slight smirk.
"What?" Meredith exclaimed "No I'm not!"
"Yes. You are" he said firmly "I've always been able to tell when you're lying and you Meredith Grey, are lying through your teeth"
"I am not lying! It's just, she's a good kisser, I can admit that"
"Me too" he snorted.
"Did, did something go on with you two?" Meredith asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well we were going to start dating but then he stood me up" Addison grimaced.
"You. Ass." Meredith said hitting him over the head with each word.
"Naomi already beat him, it's fine" Addison shrugged "And probably for the best, we don't need anymore office drama"
"This counts as office drama" Pete laughed.
"There's really nothing more to talk about, we should just leave" Meredith sighed.
"Yeah yeah, I'll see you at work Addison"
"If you dare…."
"I won't say a word" he said holding his hands up "Come on Mer"
"Yeah right, bye, Addison" she stuttered.
"Yeah, bye" Addison sighed.
~x~
"I can't believe you kissed Addison" Pete laughed as he sat on the sofa with Meredith.
"Shut up" Meredith said hitting him.
"How did it even happen?"
"It just, happened"
"Not good enough" Pete smirked.
"Fine" Meredith sighed.
*Flashback*
"Dr Grey" Addison smiled softly as she stepped into the NICU.
"Oh uh, I was just, I felt like I should check on her y'know" she said gesturing at Laura Grey-Thompson "Which is weird considering I don't even know her but apparently she's my niece and, I don't know" Meredith sighed "Just ignore me, I'm a mess, I froze on rounds, I never freeze on rounds"
"Do you, do you mind me asking, why?" Addison said stepping closer to her.
"My Dad left when I was 5" Meredith said sadly "I went to see him a couple of weeks before Molly was first brought in and, all he could say was, do you need anything, after 20 years, that's all he could say to me, and then I find out he has this whole other family, and he was a father to them, a real father, he did PTA meetings and he cried at her wedding and, he, he was supposed to be my Dad, he was my Dad not theirs and, he left me with a woman who didn't even want me, I basically raised myself, I'm not this screwed up for no reason"
"You're not screwed up" Addison said softly, she placed her hand on Meredith's arm and rubbed it softly.
"I kind of am" Meredith laughed "But seeing him today it just, I felt like I was that 5 year old girl sitting in the window waiting for my Daddy to come home and put me to bed" she whispered wiping a stray tear from her cheek "God, you probably think I'm crazy"
"No, no I don't" Addison said quietly, she reached up and wiped more tears from Meredith's face "I get it...do you want a hug?"
Meredith just let out a laugh and a nod, Addison pulled her into her arms, she stroked her fingers softly against Meredith's back, Meredith looked up at her and smiled softly, without realizing they drifted closer and closer together, their lips softly touched, they pulled away a little, their eyes meeting before their lips touched again.
"We shouldn't be doing this" Addison whispered into her mouth.
"I know" Meredith said kissing her again "We shouldn't"
"No I mean, we shouldn't be doing this in here" Addison said gesturing to the room.
"There's a supply closet down the hall" Meredith said quietly "Meet me there in 2 minutes"
"Ok" Addison nodded, Meredith pulled away and made her way to the closet, Addison followed her in there a minute later, the door was closed and locked, they stood opposite each other, just staring.
"We really shouldn't be doing this" Addison said shakily.
"I know" Meredith said stepped towards her "But it's just, it's just kissing, right? I've always wanted to kiss you" she said brushing her fingers against Addison's cheek.
"You have?" Addison breathed.
"Yeah" Meredith nodded placing a kiss on Addison's neck, Addison shivered a little at the touch "Always" Meredith said kissing her jawline and then her lips.
"I've always wanted to kiss you too" Addison whispered before pressing Meredith against the wall in a hard bruising kiss.
"And that's how it started" Meredith breathed.
"So, what? That was just it?"
"Yeah" Meredith nodded "We'd just meet in supply closets and on-call rooms and, just kiss, a lot, it was like an escape, whenever we needed to feel something, or just talk, when we were upset or, it was our escape"
"You miss her" Pete noted "You miss her don't you"
"Yeah, I think I do" Meredith breathed "But it was just, kissing, that's all it was"
"If that's all it was then you wouldn't miss her" Pete smirked.
"Do you have a point Peter or are you just trying to piss me off?"
"Ooooh" Pete mocked "Peter huh?"
"You piss me off I call you Peter" Meredith glared "I'm going to bed" she said standing up.
"Oh Mer come on" he laughed "It's still early"
"It's gone midnight!" Meredith laughed "You have work tomorrow, and I'm coming with you so, I'm going to bed, night asshole" she said kissing his cheek.
"Night" he laughed.
~x~
"Oh, hey" Addison stuttered as she walked into the break room the following morning to see Meredith sat at the counter drinking a cup of coffee.
"Hey" Meredith smiled.
"So uh, last night was, interesting"
"Yeah" Meredith breathed "He won't say anything"
"I know" Addison nodded "Well, I hope, not that I'm ashamed or anything" she added quickly "But it's just…."
"Addison, you don't have to explain" Meredith smirked "I probably shouldn't have, kissed you, I shouldn't have done that"
"Maybe" Addison sighed "So uh, what are you going to do now? How long are you uh, staying?"
"I have another 2 days booked off and then I kind of have to go back" Meredith sighed "But I, I don't know if I, want to"
"What about your friends? Your job? You have a life there Meredith"
"You had a life there" Meredith retorted.
"I had a hotel room" Addison shot back "I didn't have a life, I didn't have anyone and I couldn't, I couldn't…."
"Watch Derek with me" Meredith finished quietly.
"No" Addison said shakily "I couldn't watch you with Derek" their eyes connected, Meredith let out a shaky breath.
"Hey" Naomi smiled walking in snapping them out of their gaze, and then Meredith knew she was screwed.
~x~
Addison walked up to the door of Pete's office, she knocked on it 3 times and then opened the door "Oh uh, where's Pete?" she stuttered as she stepped in to see Meredith lying on the acupuncture table.
"He got called to the hospital" Meredith said keeping her eyes on the ceiling "Did you need something?"
"Just something for a patient but it can wait" Addison said quietly "Have you ever done it?"
"Done what?" Meredith asked.
"Acupuncture"
"No" Meredith said with a laugh "He's not going anywhere near me with those needles"
"That's what I said" Addison laughed moving over to her "But then he did it anyway"
"What was it like?"
"Weird, everything just feels, relaxed, after, I ended up crying, which was weird but, it was interesting" she said perching on the edge of the bed, Meredith had her knees pointing to the ceiling, her hands resting on her abdomen.
"What did you mean, in the kitchen, what did you mean?" Meredith asked quietly.
"About…."
"Seeing me with Derek" she said in an almost whisper.
"I, it's, it's nothing" Addison stuttered standing up, Meredith reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"Addison" Meredith said softly.
"I know we said it was just kissing, I know that" Addison said quietly "And at first I think it was but, but then you died, you died Meredith, and it felt like someone had, had ripped my heart out, and I didn't even get to be upset about it because you weren't mine to get upset over! You were Derek's and I had to, I had to comfort him" she whispered hoarsely "I had to comfort him when all I could think was, what if I never get to kiss you again, and when he said he thought you did it on purpose, I wanted to scream, I really just wanted to, I couldn't stay there anymore Meredith, seeing him touching you and kissing you and loving you, I couldn't, I just couldn't" Addison whispered.
"Addison" Meredith said slipping off the bed and stepping close to her "What are you not saying?"
"I can't" Addison said shakily "Meredith please I, I can't" she said trying to pull her arm away.
"Addison" Meredith said bringing her other hand to Addison's face, Addison visibly flinched "Please talk to me"
"I left because, I left because, because I'm in love with you" Addison said tearfully, she forced her arm away from Meredith's hand and went to run for the door, Meredith grabbed her again and pushed her against the wall in a kiss.
"No, Meredith no" Addison sobbed pushing her away "Don't do this, you don't want this"
"I want this, Addison I want this" Meredith said tearfully "I want you, I love you"
"No you don't" Addison whispered "You don't Mer you, you want Derek"
"Addison, I want you" Meredith said kissing her neck "I love you" she mumbled in to her skin "Addison please believe me when I say that, please" she whispered.
"So what? All that time, all that time when you were with him and kissing me in supply closet, you, you loved me?" Addison asked incredulously "You didn't love me! You love to be loved, after all, you have slept with half the guys in Seattle, wouldn't be surprised if you got a few girls in there too" she spat, Meredith reached up and slapped her hard around the face "How dare you?" Meredith hissed "How dare you call me a whore!" she spat "You're the stupid bitch who slept with her husbands best friend" and then Addison's hand smacked Meredith's cheek, and they just kept going, hitting each other, pulling hair, pushing, shoving, slapping, screaming.
"What the hell is going on?" Pete yelled as he stepped in to the room "Guys!" he said trying to pull them apart "GUYS!" he shouted, he moved back to the door and called Sam over, Sam ran in and gasped a little at the pair, Pete grabbed Meredith as Sam grabbed Addison, both of them being held around the waists.
"LET ME GO!" Meredith shouted trying to pull away.
"What the hell has gotten in to you both?" Pete asked, both Addison and Meredith started to talk at him "SHUT UP!" he shouted "I think we should just, take a break, Sam, go and get Addison cleaned up"
"Come on Addie" Sam said dragging her out.
"This isn't over" Addison hissed before the door shut, Pete slowly let Meredith go, she broke down into sobs, collapsing on to the sofa, Pete sat next to her and rubbed her back softly.
"Meredith" he said softly "What happened?"
"She, she said that, that she left because, because she loved me and, and when I told her that I, I loved her back she, she said that, I just love to be loved, and that I've, I've, slept with half the guys in Seattle, and she, she wouldn't be surprised if, if I'd slept with half the girls too, and then, and then I slapped her and, and, oh god" she sobbed "Oh my god"
"Just breathe" Pete said softly "Breathe for me Mer"
"I love her" she sobbed "I love her so much"
"I know you do" Pete said kissing the top of her head "I know"
"She hates me" Meredith cried "She thinks I'm a whore"
"No she doesn't" Pete said quietly "Just lie back" he said pushing her back slightly "Close your eyes Mer, I'll be right back ok?"
"Wha...where are you going?" she sniffled.
"I'll be right back" Pete said kissing her forehead before leaving.
"Pete" Violet and Naomi both said cornering him.
"What the hell just happened in there?" Naomi asked "Addison looks like she's been dragged through a hedge"
"And there was screaming"
"And crying, and Sam won't let me in to his office" said Naomi.
"Just give me 5 minutes" he said pushing past them and bursting in to Sam's office "Bennett, out" he said firmly, Sam nodded a little and left the room.
"Addison" Pete said softly, he stepped to her and wrapped his arms around her, she hugged him back tightly and sobbed into his chest "God, what am I going to do with you two?" he sighed.
"I said some horrible things, horrible things" she sobbed "Why did I do that? She, she told me she loved me too and, I basically, called her a whore, why would I do that?"
"Because you're scared" Pete said quietly "You're scared of what this means, you're scared to be in love, and she's scared too, I think this all just got a little out of hand"
"I don't know what to do" Addison sniffled "What, what should I do?"
"I think…." Pete said wiping the tears from her cheeks "You should go back in there, you should apologize, and you should tell her you love her, and I think you should forget about what it means"
"She won't want to see me" she whispered.
"She loves you, she wants to see you" Pete said turning her and pushing her towards the door "Go"
"If this goes wrong…."
"You can blame me, now go!" he said pushing her a little, Addison took a breath and stepped out of Sam's office, ignoring Naomi saying her name, she took another breath before entering Pete's office, her heart clenching as she saw Meredith sleeping on the sofa, her hair still messed up, she perched herself on the edge of the sofa and softly ran her fingers through her hair, Meredith instantly began to stir, her eyes fluttering open.
"Hey" Addison whispered.
"Hey" Meredith whispered back.
"I'm sorry" Addison said tearfully "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean, I didn't, you're not a whore Meredith, you're not, I love you so much, I love you, I wouldn't change a thing about you, well, maybe where you live" she said with a small smile.
"Did I hurt you?" Meredith asked quietly, sitting up a little and softly stroking the redness on Addison's cheek.
"A little" Addison said with a weak smile "Did I hurt you?"
"A little" Meredith nodded "I'm so sorry for hitting you, I'm sorry, I just, when you said that, that's the one thing I hate about myself, about my past, I hate that part the most"
"Meredith, I didn't mean that, please believe me when I say that" Addison said softly.
"Will you believe me if I tell you I love you?"
"Just, say it again, just to be sure" Addison said inching closer to Meredith's lips.
"Addison, I love you" Meredith whispered.
"Yeah? Well I love you too" Addison smiled before pushing her back on to the sofa with a kiss, groaning a little when there was a knock at the door "Who is it?" she shouted.
"It's Pete"
"Come in" Meredith shouted sitting back up and running her fingers through her hair, Pete slowly opened the door, smiling a little at them.
"Is everything, okay?" he asked tentatively, Meredith looked to Addison who nodded a little.
"Everythings great" Meredith smiled softly "How would you feel about getting a roommate?"
"Really?" Addison and Pete both asked.
"Really" Meredith nodded.
"I think I could live with that" Pete smiled.
"Ok then" Meredith smiled "Well, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, then I'm going to take a walk on the beach and make some phone calls"
"Are you sure?" Addison asked quietly.
"More than ever" Meredith smiled kissing her softly.
~x~
"So, do we get an explanation as to what that was all about?" Naomi asked as herself and Violet walked in to Addison's office.
"I guess so" Addison sighed as they sat in front of her "Me and Meredith we, in Seattle we, weren't just friends" she muttered.
"Meaning…." said Naomi.
"We kissed, a lot, there was a lot of kissing" Addison said with a laugh "It was like a comfort thing, an escape, that's what we said it was and then, and then she was in the ferryboat accident and she died, she actually died and it was, it killed me, and I knew that, I knew I was falling for her, and in the end I had to leave, I couldn't see her with him, I couldn't, be there and, and so I left, I came here, and we were talking in there and, I told her why I left, and she said she loved me too and I just snapped, I said some horrible things, basically called her a whore, so she slapped me, said that I was the stupid bitch who slept with her husbands best friend so I slapped her and it just, escalated"
"So what you're saying you had a fight?" asked Violet "An actual physical fight"
"Pretty much" Addison said with a laugh "I think there's just, I think we're both feeling pretty emotional, and it just got out of hand, but we've talked now, like proper adults, and she's out on the beach making some phonecalls back to Seattle, she's moving in with Pete"
"So let me get this straight" Naomi said leaning forward a little "You're in love with your ex-husbands ex-mistress, you have been for months, she loves you too, you had a fight, and now she's moving here?"
"Yeah" Addison breathed.
"Wow" Naomi muttered.
"Can I come in?" Meredith said appearing in the doorway.
"Of course" Addison smiled "So, what's going on?"
"I'm going back tomorrow, I have to work for the rest of the week while I pack and stuff, the Chief is sorting out a transfer for me and Cristina is officially not speaking to me"
"What? Why?" Addison exclaimed.
"She's just, upset, she'll be fine by the time I get there, she just needs time to let it sink in" Meredith sighed "I hope anyway"
"She's your person Mer, she'll come around" Addison said softly "Come here" she said holding her hand out, Meredith let out a laugh and moved over to her, settling herself on Addison's lap and kissing her softly.
"You sure you want my crazy here?" Meredith asked.
"More than anything" Addison smiled.
~x~ ~x~ ~x~