"With Both Hands"

By Bleu

Introduction (Because I felt it was necessary)

One of my favorite episodes of Grey's Anatomy is in Season 2, "Let It Be," the one where Derek and Addison's friends Savvy and Weiss come to Seattle. The following series of drabbles are inspired by this episode, as well as my own musings and experiences with best friendship. And it was nice to use Savvy, because we know so little about her, and therefore I can make pretty much everything up. Fun, fun, fun.

Dedicated (because of a mutual love for drunken!Addison and "The Meg Ryan Dream") to Paula.

Enjoy.

"Oh my God, Savannah Elizabeth!" Addison cried, rolling over in her bed and pressing her pillow into her ears. "If your mother could hear you now."

Savvy, perched proudly on the foot of Addison's bed, grinned wickedly.

"She'd be proud." She decided, and Addison rolled her eyes.

"I don't know about that."

"Oh, Addie, you're a prude sometimes." Savvy sighed as she tossed her body alongside Addison's. Readjusting a bit to make room for them both, Addison laughed.

"Yeah, well, would you like to know what naked part of Derek's body was right about where your slutty mouth is right now?" Addison asked her sweetly, watching with inner amusement as Savvy lifted her face from the pillow beside Addison's.

"Oh, no, ew." Savvy tossed the pillow away and planted her face onto the top sheet. Addison giggled.

"That's not much better."

With that, her goal was met as Savvy jumped from the bed.

"Well, at least you're getting some."

Addison, happy to have the bed to her self, stretched. "Yes. A little more than just some."

"Now who's over sharing!" Savvy shouted from the bathroom as she made noises that indicated she was brushing her teeth.

"At least I didn't wake you from a dead, post-coital sleep to inform you the several devastatingly orgasmic ways my boyfriend pleasures me."

Savvy appeared in the doorway, toothpaste on her chin and the brush in her hand like a teacher's pointer.

"Maybe Weiss should give Derek some pointers, then."

She ducked just in time for the pillow to smack against the doorframe.

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"How many times are you going to ask me that, Mr. Brain Surgeon?"

"I just…want this to be perfect."

"Trust me, Derek. This is Addison's dream." Savvy assured him, plopping a shopping bag on the coffee table in the center of the cramped living room and muttering, "Though I'm not really sure why."

Derek watched apprehensively over her shoulder.

When she removed the necessary from the bag and lined them up on the table, she stood back and gestured widely.

"This, my friend, will get you a wife." She declared, smiling proudly as Derek only arched an eyebrow and regarded what sat before him.

A jumbo box of chocolate-covered malt balls, a tub of black cherry ice cream, a bottle of blush wine, a pound of coffee, and two classic Meg Ryan movies. Though, the term "classic" was assigned loosely.

"I don't know, Savvy. I've never seen Addison so much as look sideways at a Meg Ryan movie, and she wouldn't even get a gelato last week when we went to Little Italy because of this diet she's on." Derek said worriedly, and Savvy smiled.

"Oh, honey," she patted his cheek lightly, "You have so much to learn. Every woman loves Meg Ryan movies, and would die before she admitted it." With that, she grabbed the bag of coffee and headed towards the kitchen.

"So…what does that have to do with Addison?" Derek inquired, reading with disdain the movie summary on the back of the tape.

"Honey, she's a sophisticated society woman, a licensed surgeon. You really think she'd ever admit to absolutely loving such a cliché, stereotypical chick movie?"

"Well…I don't know. She really never mentioned it." He muttered, tossing the VHS on the table and poking at the other things.

"Trust me, Derek. Every woman wants it, adores it. It's just one of those things we hate about ourselves. Now, where is this godly coffee machine Addie won't shut up about?" she called, as he continued inspecting her "secret weapons."

"Over by the oven, but don't—"

"Ouch!" a big crash followed by a thousand tiny crashes filled the tiny apartment, and Derek sighed.

"—knock the Scrabble over."

He turned to see Savvy emerge with a Scrabble board in her hand and her eyebrows raised.

"Derek…" she asked slowly, "When did I ever include Scrabble in the ways to Addison's heart?"

He smiled warmly, ignoring the sarcasm and eying the board.

"We played it on our first date." He said, remembering sweetly.

"Seriously?" Savvy regarded the board with distrust. "And she still went on a second date with you?"

Derek strode over and snatched the board away.

"It's our thing." He said, tucking the board under his arm. "Anyway, it's how I'm going to ask."

Savvy frowned and followed him as he moved past her into the kitchen to pick up the pieces.

"What do you mean?" she inquired as she watched him scoop up the wooden blocks.

"Well, I mean…" once he dumped the strewn bits into the box and thought about it, he shook his head. "Never mind. It's stupid. You'll make fun."

"Isn't that why you asked me to help? So you don't do anything stupid? Like when you bought her those sunglasses in Chinatown with the…rhinestones?" Savvy pressed. Derek shrugged and winced at the memory of the ornate eyewear.

"Yeah. Definitely. I want this to be perfect."

"Well, then it would be kind of foolish to withhold the most important part of the evening, wouldn't it?" she asked, more curious than anything. Derek looked at the board, looked at Savvy and sighed.

"She always makes me go first." He said with a smile, "Because she says it's bad luck. And I always blame it on that, if I lose. So…I thought we'd play tonight and when she'd make me go first, I'd spell out "Marry Me" as my first word."

Derek was blushing crimson, and didn't even meet Savvy's eyes when she didn't speak.

"I know. Stupid, right? Go ahead, Sav, just say it."

He looked up when he heard her grab her purse from the counter. When he met her eyes, they were brimming with tears and her mouth was smiling wide.

"I'll talk to you later, honey." She kissed his cheek and turned, leaving.

"But, wait, Savvy, what happened to helping me?" he asked, a little panicked and utterly confused.

She turned back to him from the doorway.

"Derek, you don't need any." She winked. "Call me after she says yes."

"Where is he, Savvy?"

"Relax, honey, that raging, Satanic red color in your cheeks clashes with your hair." Savvy calmly instructed Addison from behind her as she clasped the facets on the back of her wedding dress. Though, secretly, she was getting a little worried, too.

"How can I relax? He has the rings!" Addison seethed. Savvy triumphantly snapped the last closure and stood straight, meeting her friend's eyes in the mirror.

"I know, and he'll be here."

"What if he isn't?" she asked, her eyes wide with panic. Savvy shrugged.

"Then he'll be lucky if he can find a place on Earth you can't get to and claw his eyes out."

Addison smiled despite herself and sighed.

"How do I look?" she asked girlishly. Savvy smiled, a blend of pride, happiness, and just a twist of envy.

"Gorgeous," she said simply. Addison smiled, almost relieved, and nodded.

"Thanks. And thanks…for being my Maid of Honor." Addison put her arm around Savvy's shoulder.

"It was nothing." And she kissed Addison's cheek. "I'm actually secretly hoping that the sight of me on another man's arm walking down the isle will inspire some primitive jealousy on Weiss's part and get him to propose."

Addison laughed heartily. "Oh, Sav, that's evil. Especially when the other man is Mark."

"That makes it even better," Savvy giggled.

Being reminded of the currently missing-in-action Best Man, Addison's smile faded.

"Ugh, where is he?"

"I'll go check."

After wandering the many winding corridors of the church, watched by the ornately carved saints and glistening stained glass deities, Savvy heard a rustling in one of the sacristy.

As she tried to act calm and collected for the already assembling guests, she wadded her dress in her hands a bit to help her walk faster and when she reached the doorway, listened for a moment before knocking. Loudly.

When more hurried rustling occurred, Savvy gave the curious onlookers a warm smile and then leaned towards the cherry door.

"Mark Sloan, put your goddamned pants on and get out here." She growled through gritted teeth.

The doorknob tinkered, and she stepped back as it opened. Out of the darkness, Derek's sister Nancy appeared.

"Hey, uh, Savvy." She greeted sweetly, adjusting her bridesmaid dress. Savvy rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Hey. You better get out of here before Derek sees you." At the mention of her over protective brother, Nancy scurried off.

With hands planted on her hips, Savvy waited in irritation as Mark Sloan slowly emerged, tucking his shirttails into his pants.

"Hey! Savvy!" he greeted warmly and loudly, embracing her before she could get a chastising word in edgewise.

Once enveloped by Mark's hug, Savvy wrinkled her nose.

"Are you…is that…have you been drinking?" she hissed, pushing him away a bit. Mark, still all smiles, nodded dumbly. Rolling her eyes, Savvy grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the room where Addison was waiting.

"I cannot believe you! You're drunk!" Savvy hissed, slamming to a stop outside the door. Mark blinked.

"It's a wedding. Eat, drink, and be married." He quipped, a little bitterly. Savvy went about straightening his attire.

"Yeah, generally the Best Man is to wait until the reception to get stupid drunk." She muttered, taking a step back to examine his appearance. "Good enough."

"I'm wildly attractive." He defended, almost with a pout, as she turned and opened the door.

"As soon as she lays her eyes on you she'll know you're drunk, and she'll flip out, so please try not to make it worse!" Savvy implored as the door opened. Mark let out a bitter laugh.

"Why? She's not like she's going to be my wife."

Savvy sent him a death glare just as Addison turned from the mirror and looked over at them. Savvy would have had another admonishing remark for him, but the shock on his face silenced her.

"Addison…" he said softly. She didn't respond in kind.

"You're drunk!" she cried, crossing the room and getting in his face.

"Uh," no pithy response.

Addison leaned close, her face plainly displaying disappointment and…something else.

"Typical, Mark. Really typical." She murmured, practically in his ear.

Savvy didn't think anything of it, even when Mark remained silent and morose, dug the rings from his pocket, and put them on the side table without a sound and walked from the room.

"Okay. Start from the beginning." Savvy spoke deathly calm as she moved aside to let the rain drenched Addison into her house and tried to process the four words that her best friend had greeted her with upon her opening of the door.

As she shut the door behind her nearly catatonic friend, she heard the thudding of Weiss's feet on the stairway.

"Sav—hey, Addie, what's going on?" he asked from the middle of the stairs, his hair standing up wildly and his pajamas rumpled.

Addison only looked up at him silently. Savvy quickly took her arm and lead her through to the kitchen.

"Not right now, babe." She informed him seriously.

"Should I call Derek?" he asked, blinking in confusion and coming down more steps.

"I don't think so." Savvy said cryptically, leaving him puzzled on the stairs.

Once they were in the kitchen, Savvy sat Addison in a chair at the table and then shut the doors.

Still quite in shock herself, Savvy didn't speak. She only walked to the table and watched Addison stare into space. She was soaking wet; her hair was plastered to her face, her makeup was smudge and smeared in angry black lines across her face, and the bizarre outfit (black shorts and Derek's CBGB tee shirt) was hanging heavily from her limbs.

Her feet were bare.

"Addie—,"

"I'm cold."

"Okay." Savvy quickly made her way up stairs.

Weiss's voice interrupted her rummaging through the linen closet.

"What's going on, Sav?" he hissed, his worry obvious. Savvy, arms full with two towels, a dry pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt, looked at him gravely.

"I think the world is ending."

"This is surreal." Savvy stated plainly.

"He has way too many clothes." Addison observed, ignoring the statement.

Savvy plopped on the edge of Mark's bed, surrounded by boxes and garment bags.

"I've never even been in here." She whispered, looking around.

Addison heaved a thick chunk of men's clothing down the rack in the closet and sighed. "Definitely too many clothes. I'll have to hang some in the guest closet."

Focused entirely on the task at hand, Addison tore open the first carefully taped box and began removing folded clothes from it.

Savvy watched her.

"Addison?"

"I think I'll keep my shoes in their boxes. He's so clumsy, he'd probably trip." Addison observed, pulling a black and white Manolo Blahnik box out of another open box. When she went to move away, Savvy grabbed her arm.

"Addison!"

Addison's focused, ignorant face fell and was replaced with a cool glare.

"I don't want to talk about it, Sav."

"How can you not?"

Addison looked down at Savvy's hand, which was holding her wrist.

"This isn't the Addison I know. She…I mean…are you in love with him?" Savvy implored quietly.

"That hurts, Sav."

Savvy removed her hand slowly, and as Addison headed towards the closet to nestle the shoebox in a new home, she said, "You know, you may lose Derek forever if you do this."

Addison paused, and lifted her stooped head. Without turning, she softly stated,

"I've already lost him. At least…this way, it will mean something."

"I'll hate him," hiccough, "if you want me to."

"No, 'sokay, Sav, I know you love Mark."

"I was talking," Savvy struggled to over pronounce the middle syllable,and paused afterward to collect herself before continuing,"'bout Derek."

"What'd I say?"

"…I forget."

"Take another shot." Addison pushed the bottle of Svedka with a careless flop of her wrist, and Savvy scrunched her nose delicately.

"That is shit." She declared as if she were the first person ever to realize vodka purchased for twelve ninety-nine at a gas station was not a pleasant indulgence.

Addison smacked her lips together and giggled, marveling at the fact that she couldn't feel them.

"Oh, just drink it. Thiswasyer brilliant idea and you're not stopping now jus' because I'm drunk."

Savvy sighed, wrapped her clammy hand around the neck of the bottle, and dragged it across the marble of the counter, creating a noise that caused Addison to fling out a hand and smack her on her arm.

"Ooouch." She whined as Savvy attempted to pour the clear liquid into the clear shot glass—a feat much more feasible five shots ago.

"Seriously, Addie." Savvy continued after spilling at least two shots worth of liquor onto the counter top, and managing to get a little in the glass, "I could do it. 'Cause I love you, honey, and I hate to see you like this."

Addison blinked at her friend, who she had been watching speak but hadn't heard a word of what she said.

Realizing this, Savvy threw up her arms.

"Derek, Addie, Derek. I could you know…tell people he's got a third ball or something." She offered, sucking the vile fluid from the glass. Addison sighed.

"No, no, he doesn't. Don't tell people that, either." Addie said softly, tugging the bottle back towards her. Savvy sighed.

"But he deserves it, Addie. Sleeping with an intern for Christ's sake! Isn't that…illegal?" she ranted, knitting her brow quizzically and inwardly rehashing what she had learned in law school. Addie watched her bemusedly and shook her head.

"It's not like she's sixteen, Sav. I was…oh, nine or twenty something when I was an intern." With a graceful slump, Addie let her forehead thump against the marble on the counter. Savvy frowned.

"It doesn' matter, anyway. He made my Addie sad." She asserted, tossing her arm around Addison's shoulders. "And I do not approve."

Addison laughed and leaned her head against Savvy's arm, but then shook her head haphazardly.

"No, Savvy, I started this. It's my fault, for asleeping with his friend best." She admitted in a monotone, the words making her mouth feel dead a she spoke them.

"We all do stupid shit." Savvy informed her harshly, forgetting his distaste for the Svedka and taking a swig from the bottle itself. Addie laid her head back on the countertop.

"I don' know, Sav, that was some pretty shit stupi—stupid shit." Addie shook her head. "I need to lay down."

Before Savvy could react, Addison was feeling her way along the wall towards the living room. Taking one last swig of the Svedka, she promptly followed.

However, inebriation had a strange effect on her definition of the word "prompt," so by the time she felt her way down the hall, Addison was already curled up on the living room floor amidst the couch cushions it appeared she had removed from their home.

Thinking nothing of it, Savvy kicked a few aside drunkenly and plopped down next to Addison.

When she woke up an indefinite amount of time later, Addison was still beside her, but she wasn't asleep. She was crying, curled in a defensive ball, squeezing one of the cushions between her fingers so tightly her knuckles had whitened.

"Addie, Addie, honey…" Savvy sat up and pulled the pillow from Addison's clutches.

At the sight of her worried friend, Addison starting crying harder, but managed to make the words, "He hates me," travel to Savvy's ears.

Savvy rubbed her arms, and murmured, "Honey, Derek doesn't hate you."

Addison, eyes glistening with uncried tears and face sticky with stale ones, pressed her eyes shut and whimpered.

"Don't think that," Savvy consoled, "He's pro'ly mad as all Hell, but I don' think he could hate you."

Addison shook her head slowly. "I was talking about Mark."

Savvy frowned. "Why?" Vodka had robbed her of her coordination as well as much of her vocabulary.

Addison took a shaky, wet breath. "I shouldn't have told him."

"Told him what?" The pounding in her head and the sudden sourness in her stomach were taking tolls on her ability to concentrate.

"—What the hell did you do?" came a voice from the darkness of the foyer.

Savvy whirled her head—much to her regret—and after the room resumed its stillness, she squinted at Mark.

"We were just…having a drink." She muttered as he took a few steps closer and peered down at them. Addison had stopped crying, but was still dabbing her eyes.

"Looks like you have a couple." He observed, squatting closer and the scent of the vodka making his nose twitch, "And not very high quality, either."

Addison eyed him from her fetal position on the floor. "I'm sorry, Mark."

The phrase seemed to darken his features, and Savvy creased her brows dramatically, "Yeah, she seems to think you hate her, Mark," she informed him amidst drunken, disbelieving laughter, "But…"

She stopped talking when he didn't refute the claim and only tugged at Addison, pulling her into a sitting position so he could more easily pick her up.

"I'll be back for you."

After he stretched Addison out on her bed and returned to take Savvy into the guest room, she was already asleep again.

"Do they get cell phone reception out there?" Savvy asked teasingly, with a hint of sadness, as she pulled her car up behind a taxicab at John F. Kennedy Airport.

Addison snorted. "I think so. Might have a lot of interference, with the rain and all." She sighed, and added, "I read somewhere they get 35 inches of precipitation a year. That's a lot of wet, moist weather."

"Well, use a conditioner." Savvy said with a smile.

At Addison's hesitation, she reached over the gearshift and took her hand.

"This is the right thing to do, Addie."

Addison smiled, tears in her eyes.

"Those better be tears of dogged determination to win your husband back." Savvy quipped, though tears were coming to her eyes as she spoke. She hoped, prayed that they would make it work, but…

"I have to go." Addison said tightly, leaning across and embracing Savvy. Savvy clung to her.

"Rain or no, you better find a way to call me. Every day. Even if you have to overtake a local television station and communicate on the eleven o'clock news, I want updates."

It was dumb luck she had been there when he got the call.

Dumb luck and just bad luck.

"That was Addison, wasn't it?" she asked slowly, watching him slowly shut the thin sliver of metal.

His silence was her answer. He simply sat there, staring through her.

"Mark?" Savvy pressed, glaring at him through the bright summer sunlight. He stayed poised on the edge of the deck chair, even when Weiss returned with drinks. Noticing the tension, he paused before he put them on the glass table.

"What's up?"

Savvy continued glaring at Mark, who only reacted by pursing his lips and then frowning.

"Addison just called Mark." Savvy said lowly, and Weiss shook his head.

"Mark, man, don't do anything stupid. Last time—"

"She left him."

He was gone in a half hour, and the next time she heard from him, he was calling from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

When she hung up with him, Savvy quickly dialed another very familiar number.

"'ello?" a cocky, slurred voice answered seductively.

"Why didn't you call me, instead?" she demanded, hurt and disappointment flooding the phone lines.

Surprise muted Addison on the other end for a moment, and Savvy got a little satisfaction from that. Which was then abruptly ended when she heard crying.

"Because, Sav…I wouldn't want you to see me like this."

"You know I love you, honey, I wouldn't care—,"

"No! I don't want you to see me because, I don't want you to be disappointed." Addison let a small sob escape, "I lost him, Sav. After everything, I couldn't…we couldn't…"

"It's okay. It's okay. You just…should've called me. He's only going to make things worse, you know, more complicated."

"At this point, I don't think that's possible."

After hanging up with a few more "I love you"s and a promise to call back when she was sober, Savvy slowly replaced the receiver.

"What the Hell is going on?" Weiss asked, exhausted, but still worried.

Savvy shook her head. "She's about to make a huge mistake, and an even bigger mess."

Weiss heaved a sigh and pulled his wife closer on the couch.

"I don't understand how we, all of us, got here." He whispered in her hair as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"It doesn't matter." She responded after a while. "Because wherever she goes, I'll go, and vice versa. Even if it is straight into a nightmare."

Title is a reference to a Nigerian proverb: "Hold a true friend with both hands." That is dedicated to Sunshine.


Hope you kids liked it, pointlessness and fluffiness aside. Xo Bleu