Just Friends

So I'm guessing that you are one of the many people like me and Kaz who scan through the stories based on if they have an Addex pairing or not...and you found this one. Which is great because it means that even though you probably didn't read the summary, you're still going to give this fic a chance...AND if you didn't read the summary I'm going to post it here again just in case I've caught your eye and you want to actually know what you're about to read...Addison & Alex are married but not to each other. Do their spouses have a right to be concerned? How long can they deny their feelings?...This is actually being co-written by myself(Jaz) and Kaz(she will be writing and posting the second chapter)...We've never co-written anything before so hopefully you won't be throwing tomatoes at us anytime soon...Hope you like it! And we'd love to hear your feedback:) It is most appreciated!!!

It was the dead of winter which meant of course, that it was raining outside, but not that normal rain. No, this was the freezing rain that also included the occasional hailstorm. Addison still hadn't got used to the idea of living in a trailer. She was more accustomed to the Brownstone from New York, but for right now this would have to do until she could convince her husband otherwise. The tiny frozen balls of hail were beginning to pelt down on the tin roof of the trailer, making the noise almost unbearable. As Addison was searching for her Prada heels, she tripped over a cord lying across the floor and cut the top of her foot on the corner of the shower door. Blood began to stream down her foot as many expletives were leaving her mouth. It didn't need stitches, thank God, but nevertheless it wouldn't stop bleeding. She went through a couple of band-aids before she even left the house so Addison figured it would be best not to ruin a pair of her nice heels with blood stains and opted for a pair of knee high rain boots. She laughed at how ridiculous she looked before walking over to grab a few more band-aids for work. A few minutes after cleaning her cut, she slipped on her shoes and held an umbrella over her head on the way to her car, trying to brave the winter storm.

Just across town, Alex wasn't having a much better morning. Izzie had woken him at 4am wanting to have sex before she went into work, but he just grumpily rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. Izzie hit him with her pillow, called him an ass, and hopped in the shower. Alex couldn't go back to sleep so he got up and decided to go for a run after Izzie had kissed him goodbye. He walked out the front door of their apartment and was immediately ambushed by falling rain and hail. A single ball of ice hit him directly in the forehead and he just groaned at the bump forming in the spot. He reached up to touch it and realized it must have hit him harder than he thought because when he brought his hand back down there was blood on his fingertips. Alex jumped in the shower and was out the door half an hour later with a band-aid on his forehead where he was assaulted.

They pulled into the parking lot at the same time and smiled at one another as they got out of their cars. He knew the day was looking up already. Addison and Alex had become very close friends over the past few months since they had started work together of their own accord. Alex had finished his punishment, but decided that he liked working with her so he stayed on her service. It wasn't that she asked him too, Bailey just assumed that Alex was Addison's intern from now on. Addison walked right over to him at his car and held the umbrella over both their heads as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to walk inside. They had this sort of friendship that everyone else in the hospital envied. They could go out for dinner, drinks, and dancing after work like he could with his buddies or she with her girlfriends. Their relationship was perfect and all their co-workers were jealous. Especially their spouses.

Izzie and Derek often wondered if there was something more behind those secretive smiles and inside jokes or what was really going on in the minds of their spouses.

When the pair got safely inside the hospital, Addison shook the water from her umbrella while Alex pushed the 'up' button on the elevator. As the doors slid open, they stepped inside the empty elevator and finally greeted each other properly.

"Good morning" he said smiling at her.

"Yeah, I wish. I have a huge gash on the top of my foot from tripping over a cord in that insipid trailer my husband insists on living in. Not to mention this shitty weather we're having. And to top it all off, I have 4 surgeries scheduled today so I'm not very likely to see the outside of the O.R. for quite a while." she let out a huff of air she had been holding in and turned to see him smiling at her.

"What? Why do you look like that?" she asked a little annoyed.

He played innocent and replied, "Like what?"

"Like that" she pointed at him with her finger, but soon realizing that he couldn't really see his own face. "Like...like you're secretly happy my day is already turning out to be terrible."

"It's just funny to me to see you all exasperated and out of breath. It reminds me that you're actually human and not this perfect surgeon that never has anything wrong with her."

"Oh shut up." she let out in her best angry voice but he knew she was joking.

"No, I know what you mean. This cut on my forehead is from that shitty weather you were talking about. I guess both our mornings have started out terrible and we have matching scars to prove it. And don't worry about the surgeries" he said, nudging her shoulder with his own which put a small smile on her face. "I'll scrub in with you and we'll work together as flawlessly as we always do and afterwards, we'll go to Joe's and I'll buy you a couple rounds of celebratory drinks. How does that sound?"

She put on a stern face and looked at him. "I'm still mad at you for making fun of my bad morning." but soon she smiled and said "but that sounds like a great plan."

He knew he could put a smile on her face even if he was the one who had upset her in the first place. They had that affect on each other. The bell dinged and signaled the arrival of his floor. He walked off the elevator and turned around to say goodbye. Addison waved at him and continued the ride up to the next floor. She stepped off feeling a lot better now than she had been before.

She spied Derek coming down the hall in her direction but he didn't see her because he was lost in a patient's file. She stopped in the middle of the corridor just to see if he would notice she had arrived but he was so preoccupied he just walked right past her without a word. Addison just looked after him and scoffed. Derek heard this and immediately turned around to see his wife walking to the attending's locker room to change. He quickly ran to catch up with her and tell her good morning. He walked into the room just as she was changing her top.

"Hey sweetie. I didn't think you were due in for another hour or so. I'm sorry I didn't see you a minute ago. This patient has the strangest case I've ever seen so I've been walking around here in a daze studying his chart and trying to figure out how I can treat him."

"I came in now to get an early start. I have 4 surgeries scheduled today and I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Do you want to have lunch today? I think I can squeeze in a 30 minute lunch break."

"I wish I could but I have surgery scheduled during lunch. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure. Tomorrow." Addison had long since given up on seeing her husband for more than 10 minutes out of the day when they were both working at the hospital. Every time she had a free moment he was in surgery and vice versa. That is why she and Alex had become so close. He was there with her when Derek wasn't, which happened to be quite often. Addison changed into a pair of sneakers but not before Derek noticed blood coming through the band-aid and onto her sock.

"Addie what happened to your foot? You're bleeding!" Derek walked over to her and took her foot in his hands to inspect the wound.

Addison pulled her foot back from his grasp and said, "I'm fine. I just cut it this morning on the shower door. I tripped. It's no big deal. I'll just get another band-aid."

"Are you sure it doesn't need stitches? It's probably pretty deep, especially if it's bleeding that much."

"Derek I'm a doctor too. I think I would know if it needed stitches or not. I need to go check on some patients before my surgeries. Love you. See you later." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss before getting up to leave him sitting on the bench in the locker room.

The next several hours went by incredibly smoothly as Addison and Alex worked side by side without a single mistake. He had bought the first round of 'juju' after their first two successful surgeries and she had bought the second after the last two.

Izzie spotted the pair drinking hot chocolate and laughing by the nurse's station and felt a pang of anger and jealousy in her begin to take hold. She loathed Addison and Alex's relationship, although she would never let on because Alex was happier at home now than he had been in a long time. Except this morning, she was still wondering why he had turned her down when she practically threw herself at him. She chalked it up to exhaustion because he had just come off a 16 hour shift and he normally gets grumpy when he doesn't get sleep. But she still felt there was something else behind it and secretly wondered if her marriage was heading for divorce. It seem lately Alex looked happier in Addison's company than he did in Izzie's.

Alex saw Izzie watching them and excused himself to go talk with his wife. Addison told him she was off in half an hour and to page her when he was done with his final rounds.

"Hey babe" he said as he kissed Izzie on the cheek. "How's your day been? I haven't seen you since I came in."

"Hey sweetie. My day has been fine. I just miss you. We haven't really had time to spend together in a while. I wish we could do something tonight but I don't get off until 1am." Izzie said hoping he would at least say he missed her too.

"I know babe. Our schedules have been clashing for a while now. I'll see what I can do about that. But tonight Addison and I are going across the street to celebrate our 4 successful surgeries. Why don't you come pick me up when you get off your shift and we'll ride home together?"

Izzie thought that was the best response she was going to get out of him so she just nodded and then said she had patients to check on. She kissed him quickly on the lips before heading down the stairs.

Alex finished his round right when Addison's shift ended and soon Addison and Alex were headed out the door across the street to Joe's for some drinking. The familiar bell rang above them as they entered the bar and they found two empty seats right in front of Joe.

"Hey Joe. We have some celebrating to do. So could we get a vodka tonic and a beer?"

"Sure thing guys. What are we celebrating this fine evening?"

Addison looked at Joe and said, "Another four successful surgeries thanks to my partner over here." as she nudged Alex's shoulder.

"Well here you go you two. This round's on the house."

"Thank you Joe" Addison and Alex said in unison.

They fell into an easy conversation about work and then after another two rounds of drinks, Addison changed the subject to her marriage.

"He's just never there when I need him the most. I'm tired of being in a one person marriage. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

Alex looked at her as she poured her feelings out on the table. She looked so fed up with everything. Joe had overheard her telling Alex this and got them another round of drinks because he figured they were in for a long night. He passed them to Alex as Addison tilted her head down to look at her hands twisting them around in her lap. Alex looked at how broken she seemed and pushed her drink in front of her. She went to reach for it and lightly brushed his hand on accident. They had touched hands several times before on occasions very similar to this one, but something felt different this time. Neither of them made any motion to move their hands and her head shot up to look him in the eyes. Her mouth hung open as if she were about to say something but no words came out. Addison and Alex both felt the jolt of electricity as their hands touched. Both of them felt confused and unsure. All they knew was that they had never felt that sensation before with each other. What the hell was happening? Their eyes were locked on one another as the bell above the entrance signaled another person's arrival. They had unconsciously moved closer to each as his thumb lightly rubbed the back of her hand in a sign of comfort. Addison smiled a little awkwardly at him but a flash of blonde hair storming towards the bar caught her attention instead. Alex turned his head to see Izzie walking to them and subtly let go of Addison's hand to place it flat on the bar.

"Well this is cozy. Hope I'm not interrupting anything." the angry blonde said bitterly as she looked from her husband to the woman currently occupying a seat that should belong to her instead.