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Author's Note: This story (my very first fanfiction) is dedicated to my friend, S.C. Merry Christmas, girl! You always put a smile on my face. I hope this story puts one on yours. Love ya!
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Owen Hunt was a man of action. He took pride in that. If there was a problem to be solved, he tackled it head-on. In his experience it was best to deal with things directly, which was why he needed to find Teddy Altman. They hadn't spoken since the fiasco on New Year's Eve and to say that things were awkward after that heated confrontation, well, that was putting it mildly. So when he saw her at the coffee cart, Owen saw his chance and took it. He quickened his pace to catch her as she walked away.
"Teddy!" he called out. She turned around, startled. He continued, "Do you have a minute? I'd really like to talk with you."
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, resigned to the inevitability of this conversation. Might as well get it over with, she thought, and replied, "Sure."
They sat down in the chairs nearest to the sliding doors, the light of the atrium masking the cloud that had settled between them over the last several days. Teddy looked at Owen expectantly, and after a moment, he forged ahead, "So are you ever planning to speak to me again or what?" She didn't respond, so he continued, "Come on, we've been friends for a long time and I'm hoping we still can be … that we can get past this."
Teddy considered carefully before she answered him. "I don't know, Owen. I just don't know. I mean …that night…I said things … you said things… and I'm just…well, mortified, I guess and embarrassed and angry and confused and … I just don't know."
"We want you to stay." Teddy looked up, puzzled by his words. Owen went on, "Cristina and I have talked about it. You're a great surgeon, Teddy and an even better teacher. Cristina has been thriving since you got here. And this mess between us … well, you haven't taken it out on her. That speaks well of you."
Teddy opened her mouth to speak, but Owen pressed on, "And you and I have been friends for a very long time. Maybe that friendship can't be salvaged. I don't know. I'm still really angry, too, to tell you the truth, but I'd like to try. So Cristina and I have talked about it. And we'd like you to stay. If you can accept that we're together now and if you really can let that other story go, we'd like you to stay." He saw the hesitation in Teddy's eyes. "Just think about it. You've got a few weeks left before you need to decide. Just don't rule it out."
They sat together in silence for a long moment.
"Do you know how I met Cristina?" The unexpected question snapped Teddy out of her reverie. She replied, "I always assumed you'd met her working at the hospital."
"Nope. I met her because she was my doctor," he explained. "I was home on leave … on the way home from the airport, actually, and there was a terrible ice storm. My car was part of a multi-vehicle accident. I ended up helping out at the scene and rode in the ambulance with one of the other victims. When the ambulance doors opened, the Chief was standing there. Cristina was with him. That was the first time I saw her."
"Anyway," he continued, "I had a pretty nasty gash on my leg. Cristina helped me staple it." He paused for a moment, caught up in the memory of that first encounter. She'd been amazed that his leg wasn't numb. So? He chuckled, remembering. And when Callie had entered the room, they'd hardly noticed her; they were so caught up in each other. The chemistry between them was there from the start, electric and instantaneous.
"The funny thing is, before the night was over, the tables were turned and I was her doctor. Bad slip and fall…." He stopped again, recalling their conversations that night. Mistakes are how you learn. You should ditch this place and go for the adventure. You took out my icicle. I didn't give you permission to do that! So?
"Why are you telling me this?" Teddy's question brought him abruptly back into the present moment. "It seems … well… a little cruel, actually…" Her voice trailed off.
Owen sighed heavily. "I don't mean to be cruel, Teddy. I really don't. But you said you were confused and I need you to understand. I need you to recognize and understand what's between Cristina and me. We're not some passing thing. We're not something insignificant. We're something special and we always have been, right from the start. I didn't think I believed in Love at First Sight, but I do now, and that's because of Cristina."
She still doesn't get it, he thought, seeing the incredulous look on Teddy's face, so he decided to lay it all out for her.
"How long did we know each other in Iraq?" he asked. "Almost, what? Four years? And despite the feelings we now know we had for each other, nothing ever happened between us."
"You were engaged!" Teddy insisted.
"I was engaged when I met Cristina!" Owen shot back.
There. He'd said it out loud. "The night I met Cristina Yang, I was still engaged to Beth. And you know what? It didn't matter! Because the moment I met Cristina everything changed. Everything. It's like I got struck by lightning or something, that kind of a jolt. I kissed her that night. I hardly even hesitated. I couldn't help myself. Something had fundamentally changed for me."
Teddy looked stunned. "How could you possibly know that? In one night?"
"I just knew," he replied. And he knew the truth of the words as soon as they left his lips.
"In my life there is Before and there is After. And I thought that distinction fell somewhere else, was tied to something else. But I'm realizing now, at this moment, that I was wrong. In my life there are two parts: Before I met Cristina and After. Meeting her was the defining moment of my life."
"I need you to understand, Teddy, for there to be no more confusion. I need you to understand that I care about you. I always will, even when I'm angry at you. And I am angry at you. But you are my friend. I don't want to lose that. I don't. But you've got to recognize that any chance we had for more than that, for more than friendship? That time has passed. I'm in love with Cristina. Cristina is the love of my life and I intend to spend my life with her. My whole life. If I'm lucky she'll agree to marry me one day and if I'm luckier still, maybe we'll even have a family together. I don't know yet what the future holds for us, but I do know that my future is with Cristina. I need you to understand the certainty of that. I need you to get it."
Teddy smiled weakly. "Oh, I think I've got it. You've been very clear."
Owen stood up to go. "I meant what I said. We hope you'll stay. I just thought you deserved the truth…"
"Fair enough," she responded. "I'll think about it…"
"OK, then, so… we're good?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah… we're good…"
"OK."
"OK."
And he walked away, leaving her in the company of her own thoughts.