Disclaimer: Not mine.
Just a short angsty one-shot. Kind of abstract.
Their whole relationship can be measured in years, months and minutes.
It took Derek three months to work up the courage to ask her out.
It took him two years to ask her to marry him.
It took him ten years to lay the stones that led to the road paved with Addison's adultery. He broke the marriage slowly, distance increasing each day.
She broke the marriage quickly, impulsively.
It took him three months.
It took her twenty minutes.
His three months of distance led to Seattle, trailers and Meredith Grey.
Her twenty minutes led to moving in, more Mark and more cheating.
Two months of Seattle go by and then she's back. For two months he's woken up everyday wondering if this would be the day that she would be here. The calls that he ignores on his phone tell him that this day will be the day.
When he sees her it's like the last two months have never happened. Seeing her walking over to him again makes the walls of the hospital melt away, and they're both back in the brownstone.
Only it's not the brownstone.
It's Seattle. She's not the soaking wet mess that he left that night and he's not the jilted angry husband.
Time moves emotions on.
In two months he's moved further on with Meredith. He hadn't even asked Addison out after two months.
In two months she went from being a mess to unofficial girlfriend of Mark.
This isn't them. They appreciate time, take it slow, make scientific, medical decisions.
Mark was not a thought out scientific plan, he was a fast impulsive decision. An itch that had to be dealt with.
Derek had done the same with Meredith. That's what she presumes anyway, but the glances at Meredith go on for a few seconds longer then she would like.
Just like Mark.
During the two months she would see him looking for a few seconds too long at other women.
Just her karma, she reasoned.
Mark is Mark, and as the time went on he couldn't be satisfied with just having her.
Time moves people on.
Time moved both Mark and Derek onto new people whereas time stood still for her and even reversed her back in Derek's arms. For months they try to fix their marriage, and she carries on ignoring the glances he gives to Meredith that go on for too long.
They're hard to ignore.
Time stands still for her when she dances with him at the prom, her mind flashing back to their wedding dance, and for a few seconds she actually believes that they will make it.
Then time moves forward. He moves forward with Meredith, not with her and it's his reckless twenty minutes that pushes the stop button on their marriage.
Three months to ask her out, two years to ask her to marry him.
Forty combined minutes that calls final time on their marriage.
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