AN: Hey, it's me. And I said I wouldn't start5 another multi-chapter fic until I finished Everything Changed And My Life Is A Mess, but now I am because I started writing this story an eternity ago (okay, like four months, but who cares) and I almost finished it, only one and a half chapters to go. And I finally want to share it because I have no idea if I'll ever finish my other story. So, here you go.
I had this idea in the middle of one of my re-watches of Grey's, you'll probably find some similarities to certain storylines.
This is very AU, so I made some changes. Firstly, this is set 16 years after Addison appeared in Seattle, but with the difference that she and Derek married when they were 22, and she cheated on him about five years later. So, at that point, they were still resident and did their fellowships in Seattle. But now she has the same knowledge and reputation as she had in Grey's. The affair with Alex happened when she was a fellow and he was a resident, but Addison never left for LA and they are friends now. Mark and Callie were never a couple or friends with benefits, so Sofia doesn't exist (sorry), similar with Lexie. They only were a couple for a few months. After Mark was whoring around for years, he finally realized that Addison is who he wanted all the time. Now they've bee together for three years.
Still reading? Glad I didn't scare you off with that huge author's note. And of course I hope you like what I produced.
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CHAPTER 1: I got you this rose
How many times can I see your face?
How many times will you walk away?
I just have to let you know.
(Roses - Shawn Mendes)
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Addison was confused, looking at her pager again. 911 from Mark to patient room 22.23. Then why was this room locked?
"That's not funny," she growled, then turned around to see Derek standing behind her. "Mark is abusing 911 to kid me. I ran up here and he's not even there"
"Maybe he wouldn't have done this if you two had just stayed in New York." Derek laughed. A few years ago she would have taken this as an attempt to offend her, but finally, after years and years of hostility and hatred, they could manage to peacefully co-exist - he hadn't even been mad when she had carefully told him, three years ago, that she and Mark were back together.
Now she was looking at him. She had known him for more than two decades. She knew the look in his eyes. "You know something," she said.
"I don't."
"Derek?" She raised an eyebrow. And in this moment the door of room 22.23 was being opened and she saw Mark's head appear. "What the hell?" she added. "You're planning something together!"
"We are." Mark grinned. "Come in, honey."
The skeptic look on Addison's face increased, when she entered the room and there was no patient to be seen. Instead there were a bunch of roses and a single candle. "Oh, Dr. Romantic gets better with every pathetic attempt."
"Come on. I tried." He took her hand in his bigger one and smiled at her.
"You did." She smiled up at him. Even when she was wearing her 4-inch heels, he always managed to be taller - which was rare in men, considering her height. "What did you do? Did you accidentally burn something? Did you stain my carpet? Did you spill coffee over your shirt and want me to clean it?"
"I didn't do anything." He raised his free hand in defense.
"Then what's this?" She pointed at the roses and the candle. "And why is Derek standing outside?"
"Look, Addie. We've known each other for a really long time."
"22 years, to be exact."
"Right. And you were married to my best friend, until we found each other."
"Mark… You trying to be romantic is-"
"Let me talk!" he interrupted, then his face softened again and he looked directly into her eyes. "You were the right one all the time, I just didn't know."
She opened her mouth, but then closed it again.
"It took us 19 damn years to realize we can't leave each other because we always get back together again. For a reason. Because you're the love of my life."
"Okay, this is actually cute." She saw his annoyed face and quickly apologized. "Sorry. I'm not interrupting again."
"Okay." He took something out of the pocket of his lab coat. And before she could realize what it was, he was kneeling in front of her. "You left me a hundred times, in the past. And I don't want it to happen again. Addison Adrienne Forbes Montgomery, will you marry me?" He opened the box in his hand and revealed the incredibly beautiful ring in it. Silver with a diamond that was not giant, but not too small, either.
She couldn't speak, she just stared at him, open-mouthed, while she felt the tears forming in her eyes. Shit. Her mascara wasn't waterproof.
"Addie?" he carefully asked. "You have the permission to say something now."
"I…" The first tear was rolling down her face. "Yes, of course I will!"
The ring slid onto her fourth finger perfectly, and then he was standing again, pulling her closer. Their lips met and she never wanted this perfect moment to end.
But they were doctors at work. And of course one of their pagers went off.
"Not mine," she said after checking it.
"It's mine." Mark sighed. "The ER." He looked up again. "I don't have to go. I can send someone else. I'm sure they don't need the head of plastics."
"It's okay. I have to go back to work, too. Laboring moms, you know."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" She gave him one last kiss on the cheek. "I love you."
"I know you do." He grinned at her, then opened the door and left.
Addison blew out the candle, took the roses and followed him out. There was not just Derek now. And she could tell they were only pretending to be busy. "You all knew about this?" she asked and everyone turned around to smile at her.
"There she is!" Callie stepped forward. "I wanna see it."
Addison sighed, then grinned and raised her left hand, the ring sparkling in the bright light.
Not only her friends, but all the nurses and other staff walking around were applauding now and she felt one hug after the other. Callie, Derek, Teddy, Bailey, Richard and some more she didn't even know.
"It's bold," Derek stated. "You're engaged to your ex-husband's best friend."
Her grin grew even wider. "I'm a very bold person."
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"Hey." Addison put down her tray on a table of Seattle Grace's cafeteria.
Alex looked up from his Burger and immediately caught her left hand in his. "What's that?" He looked at her, while she sat down on the chair across from him.
"Come on. You knew about this." She freed her hand to grab a fork and began to eat her salad.
"Yeah, I did. Everyone knew. I'm actually surprised that nobody accidentally told you. You know, someone chatty like Mer or Kepner."
She chewed before she talked again. "I'm surprised that you didn't tell me. What happened to the whole best friends tell each other everything thing."
"That doesn't count. It was supposed to be a surprise proposal."
"I know." She took another fork of her lunch.
"Hey, remember the time when you thought you were in love with me?"
"I do." She laughed. "But that was like 13 years ago. I was a fellow and you were a resident. And I was lonely and desperate."
"Also, you almost left the city after I dumped you."
"I'm glad I didn't." She looked at the ring again. "Would I be with Mark now if I had left Seattle to run for the beach?"
"I have no idea."
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AN: This is it. The first chapter. I think I'm gonna upload the next chapter today, too. So stay tuned because the drama will begin.
This is also not the longest story, only about 10 chapters, I'm currently working on the 9th, so you won't have to wait that long for updates.
Again, I really hope you liked it. If you did, please leave a review. It really motivates me to know what you think.
