Hey, don't mind me... Just starting something else instead of working on what I should be working on. But I just really, really love writing this and it's going to be short (it originally started as a oneshot), so I figured there's no harm in posting the first part. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Many, many thanks to Kate811 for suggesting the title and LGCoffeeAddict for... well, I'm not really sure WHAT she was good for on this story, but thanks anyways! ;)

Alex Karev always runs to work. Always. The exercise makes him feel good about himself and the time alone allows him to clear his head. Plus, it means he doesn't have to spend that time with the soap opera he calls his friends.

Today, Alex Karev makes a decision. Meredith has been having a string of meaningless flings every night and Izzie and George have been acting like class A morons, as usual. Izzie's hot, but when put in close proximity of George O'Malley she becomes cheery and… fluffy, for lack of a better term. They both are just… fluffy. So instead of going straight home, he heads into the park, something he usually reserves for particularly bad days or when he knows that Meredith is finally getting some after a particularly long dry spell. He's jogging when out of the corner of his eye he sees a flash of red and blinding white. So he slows down and comes to a stop when he realizes just what he's seeing—a redhead sitting in a wedding dress, appearing to just be pondering life. He's not really sure why he stops and sits down next to her, but it probably has something to do with the fact that she fills out that wedding dress very, very well and well, he's always had a thing for redheads.

"Waiting for Godot?" he asks, sitting down next to her. She raises an eyebrow. "Guffman?" He pushes forward. "Waiting to exhale?"

"Can I… help you?" the redhead finally speaks slowly.

"Nope," he shrugs and becomes silent.

The redhead chuckles a little. "I'm supposed to be getting married right now," she announces suddenly.

"Really? Because I was going to ask if somebody Korean died."

She studies him. "I don't like you."

"I don't like you either."

"You don't know me!"

"So? You don't know me, but you don't like me."

"Hey, you're the one who sat down next to me and started talking to me about Waiting for Godot!"

"And you're the one sitting in a park in a wedding dress. You're not exactly the picture of sanity."

"Hey! I walked out on my wedding. My wedding."

"Why?"

She squints a little. "Somehow I just don't see myself marrying a guy who slept with my maid of honor."

"Fair," he agrees.

"I mean, God!" she exclaims, showing no signs of having heard him. "Just how clichéd can you get? And I hate clichés!"

"She could have been your sister," he suggests.

She stares at him in shock. "I really don't like you," she decides. Then she sighs. "The worst part is I lived with him. And now I can't go back. I can't go back and I have no cash or credit cards. What am I supposed to do?"

"I'd offer you a place to say, but you don't like me, remember?"

"Do you make a habit of inviting strange women in wedding dresses home with you?" she asks, perfectly arching an eyebrow.

"Only the hot ones," he says honestly.

Again with the staring thing. "Yeah, I really don't like you… I'm Addison."

"Alex."

"I'm not sure I can stand you, but I need a place to stay."

"You're welcome to come home with me. One of my roommates is probably having sex, but you can still stay."

"I don't like you," Addison repeats. "But I have nowhere else to go. So lead the way."

0ooo0

Meredith comes downstairs, trying to blink away the blurriness in her eyes and find some coffee. And then she tries to blink away what she sees in the kitchen. "Alex?" she asks, poking her head into the living room where he's pulling out the sofa bed.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"This could just be the tequila talking, but… I think there's a woman wearing a wedding dress in the kitchen."

"Oh. Yeah, no, she's there. Don't worry, you're not going crazier."

"Um, I feel like this might be the obvious question, but why is there a woman wearing a wedding dress in the kitchen?"

"She's staying here," he answers, gesturing at the couch.

"Um, why?"

"I haven't really figured that out yet."

"And why is she wearing a wedding dress?"

"I would assume it has something to do with a wedding."

"Hi," Izzie greets as she flounces into the room. "Alex, have something you'd care to share with the group?"

"Oh my God, Alex, did you get married?" Meredith shrieks as she thinks she pieces the puzzle together. "What the hell? What happened to being all dark and twisty? I thought we were being scary and broken together! Are you going to be all bright and shiny and fixed now? I'm not okay with that!"

"Is that why there's some strange chick in the kitchen wearing a wedding dress?" Izzie screeches.

"Um, guys?" George says timidly as he pads in to join the party. "Is anybody else aware that there's a super hot lady in the kitchen?"

"Apparently that's Alex's new wife," Izzie replies, "and I have no idea where Alex picked her up. But I wouldn't put someone unsavory past him."

"Oh my God, did you marry a stripper?" Meredith gasps.

"How does that even make sense?" Alex laughs, kind of enjoying the absurdity. "Why would I marry a stripper?"

"Is this like a tax fraud thing?" George asks. "Or… or… or a green card thing? I won't lie for you, Alex. Not to the federal government, not to anybody! I won't!"

"Relax, Bambi," Alex says with an eye roll.

There's a quiet but authoritative cough from the door. "Hi," the subject of their conversation greets them. "I… um, I feel like I should explain. My name's Addison. I was… Um, I'm supposed to be married right now. But I found out my fiancé slept with my maid of honor and, long story short, I need a place to stay for just a night or two while I figure out what I'm going to do. Your friend found me in the park and offered me a roof. Honestly, I'd go anywhere else, but I live with my fiancé and I can't face him yet and I don't have any cash… or even friends out here. I just moved to Seattle. My stuff isn't even fully unpacked yet. I'm supposed to start my job in a week—after, um, after the honeymoon." She wipes her palms nervously on her dress. "But if it's an inconvenience-"

"It's fine," Meredith interrupts, trying to shake the strange sensation that she recognizes this woman.

"Really? I mean, I can find somewhere else."

"Voting is closed," Izzie determines firmly. "You'll stay here. I'm a sucker for a sob story."

Addison looks to Alex for approval. "Okay, well, thank you."

"We look about the same size," estimates Izzie. "You can borrow some of my clothes for now."

"Thank you so much," Addison says graciously.

"So did you say what you do?" Izzie asks as they walk out.

The last thing they hear before Izzie and Addison leave earshot is, "I'm a surgeon. Neonatal."

Suddenly things click into place for Meredith. "Oh my God!" she exclaims. "Do you know who that is?"

"Who? Who?" George asks.

"I think that's Addison Montgomery! Oh my God, Addison freaking Montgomery is in my house and I'm half drunk! Blargh!"

Alex smirks. "Addison Montgomery?" he parrots, mostly just to exacerbate things. He knows who Addison Montgomery is—you can't be a surgeon and get away with not having heard of her—but he just wants to see Meredith freak out.

"Addison Montgomery! She's like a surgical superstar! No… God! The woman is surgical divinity! And she's in my house!"

Alex looks at her warily. "Are you going to all Misery on her? Because I'm going to get her out of here if you have plans for amputation."

"No!" Meredith glares. "It's just that one of my professors in med school taught her. We used to watch tapes of her surgeries in class because he was so proud. Actually," she reconsiders, "now that I think about it, he might have gone a little Misery on her, given the chance… Anyways, that's not the point. The point is that you brought Addison freaking Montgomery into my house and she's here and I look like crap!"

"I can ask her to run out on her wedding at a more convenient time, if you want," he offers.

"No, no, it's fine," Meredith says before hearing the sarcasm. "Don't be mean! Addison Montgomery is in my house!"

Alex grins. "Sounds like you have a girl crush on my stripper wife."

"Hey, I'm totally straight!" Meredith insists. "…And I would do her in a heartbeat," she admits.

"Can I watch?" Alex smirks.

"Ass!" she giggles, smacking him in the arm. "You're gross. And no."

0ooo0

When the couch is set up and Addison is out of her monstrous dress she sits in Meredith Grey's living room in the dark, staring at the ceiling. She's surprised when someone pads into the room and again when the pull-out sags under the weight of said someone sitting down and she slides towards the divot. "Um, excuse you?" she asks, her voice muffled since her face is pressed into a thigh. The sofa isn't exactly new and the mattress sags a little in the middle, which doesn't help with the face/thigh situation.

"Sorry." She recognizes the voice as Alex (is it weird that she can already recognize his voice?). He shifts a little and she sits up.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"I mean on my… sofa-bed."

"Not really your sofa-bed either. It's technically Meredith's."

"You know, I have yet to find a quality about you I like."

"Really? Because I can think of a couple of your… qualities I like."

"Seriously? You're hitting on me right now? And that's the best you can come up with?"

"You know what?" he says, getting up. "I just thought you wouldn't want to be alone on what was supposed to be alone on your wedding night, but you seem just fine and sarcastic, so I'll go sleep now."

"No, Alex, please!" Addison panics before getting herself under control. "Um, stay. Please stay. I just don't… I don't want to be alone tonight. I don't want to have sex with you but… I don't want to be alone."

He sits back down on the sofa, this time on the edge. "Okay," he agrees. "I'm here."

"Thanks."

They sit in quiet for what seems like forever. "So what about your fiancé?" he asks to break the silence.

"Ex-fiancé," she corrects.

"What about him?"

She's quiet. But it's not angry; he can tell. She's just thinking. "He's charming. He's got this smile… He just makes you feel like when he looks at you, you're the only woman he sees. Except then he stops looking at you and makes the waitress feel like she's the only woman he sees. I should have seen this coming, I guess. I don't think Angie was the first. I just didn't want to see it."

"That sucks."

"Thank you for that succinct summary."

"Other than your annoying inability to switch off your sarcasm, he's an idiot."

"That was almost nice," she concedes.

"Yeah, well, I just don't see how he would need to cheat on you. You're hot."

"Aaaand you can leave now," she says.

"Well, I figure either you suck in the sack or he's an idiot."

"Hey!" Addison snaps. She glares at him. "I'll have you know I'm great in bed. Not that it's any of your business at all. And not that you'll ever find that out."

"I was gonna say the last one seemed more likely."

She studies him intensely. "I don't understand you… Usually I understand people. Not you. I'm going to figure it out."

"I look forward to you figuring me out," he smirks.

"Everything is sexual with you, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, at least you admit it."

"So your best friend's name is Angie?"

"Was, Alex. Was my best friend. Adultery tends to put a damper on things."

"Whatever. What's she like?"

Addison takes a deep breath. "I… I don't want to talk about it. Let's talk about something else."

"Fine."

More silence. "So what's your favorite movie?" Alex finally asks.

"That's lame," she replies. "And it's Breakfast at Tiffany's. You?"

He sighs. "Are you going to sleep at all tonight?"

"Probably not. Answer the damn question."

He scratches his head and gets comfortable. It's going to be a long night.

I'm going to write the next chapter very, very soon. I'm thinking this is only going to be 2-4 chapters, and my goal is to be done in a week or two. In the meantime, I would LOVE to hear first impressions!

-Juli-