A/N: I hope everyone's 2012 is off to a great start! I thought I'd begin the year with a short Addison/Alex story. I hope you like it! Thanks for reading! :)
Just Stay Here Tonight
You need a reason for the things I do.
I need a miracle to see me through.
I'll give you everything I got inside
If you just stay here tonight.
"Your ass is mine until I say otherwise." That's how it started. He disrespected her; she got revenge. "You burn the She-Shepherd, she burns back," Bailey told him. Except, now he found himself liking the burn; he found himself liking her service; he even found himself scowling at Shepherd and Sloan on her behalf when he passed them in hospital corridors.
His shift was drawing to a close, and he could feel every second of the long day that he had just had. He and Addison had performed an emergency c-section to deliver a baby twelve weeks prematurely. The baby's heart was weak, his lungs underdeveloped. Addison had told him that the little boy's chances didn't look good. But he had survived so far. He had given them countless scares throughout the day, but the little boy…Carter Phillips…was still fighting.
"Is there anything else I can do for you, Dr. Montgomery?" he asks, as he joins Addison by the nurse's station.
Addison looks up from the chart in her hand – Carter's chart. "No, that's okay," she tells him with a tired smile. "Go home, Karev."
He nods. "Are you going home soon?" he asks.
She shakes her head and sighs, "I think I'm just gonna stay here tonight."
"To keep an eye on Carter, uh, I mean, to keep an eye on Phillips?" he amends quickly. Since when did he get attached to patients?
She nods.
"You know, they have doctors who are on-call overnight," he informs her smugly.
"I know," she admits. "But I'm the best and, well, it's a miracle that he's made it this far; if something goes wrong, I should be here, you know?"
He nods in understanding. "Let me stay with you," he offers.
"Excuse me?" she ask, her eyes widening in surprise.
"You're my boss. If you're here overnight, I should stay too," he explains.
She doesn't put up a fight – just gives him a soft smile. "Thanks, Karev."
He shrugs and tries to brush it off like it's nothing. But it's not nothing. But she can't know that. So he returns her smile with smile of his own. "Just doing my job."
My hands are tied and I've been rollin' the dice.
My legs are broken and I ain't up for a fight.
I'll make it rain from an empty sky
If you just stay here tonight.
She's at Joe's, and she's been drinking.
"You look like you've been to hell and back," he jokes, as he sits down next to her at the bar.
She doesn't respond – just stares into her martini glass.
He orders a beer, and smiles his thanks when Joe brings it to him. "So," he begins, taking a sip of his beer, "you wanna talk about it?"
She continues to stare at the drink in front of her. "My divorce went through today," she finally says, not making eye contact. "So, I'm drinking…a lot."
He nods, unsure of what to say, and they sit in silence for a moment. "His loss," he finally says quietly. Sure, he feels like he's betraying Meredith by saying this, but Addison needs to hear it, and part of him (okay, maybe more than a part of him) needs to say it.
She looks at him skeptically. "I'm sure Derek doesn't see it that way," she sighs. "It's just, I'm so tired of fighting with him…I can't win. He said all he wants is Seattle. He wants Seattle, and he wants never to see me again. And I think, well, I think I might just give him what he wants."
"You're not gonna do something stupid, are you?"
"Define stupid," she challenges, meeting his eyes.
"You're not gonna leave?" he asks, swallowing hard.
She shrugs. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it."
"You can't leave," he insists vehemently, surprising both of them with the force of his assertion.
She gives him a cocky smile. "Funny, I didn't know you cared, Karev."
"I, uh, I, it's just, you don't run away from your problems," he recovers. "And you definitely don't back down from a fight. If you left, it'd be like you were giving up. You should stay."
She's telling him the same thing a couple hours later when he takes her back to her hotel room.
"It's late," she reasons. "And you have to get up early tomorrow. Just stay here tonight; it'll be easier."
He nods, and begins to make himself comfortable on the couch.
"You can sleep on the bed with me," she chuckles. "I mean, we're both adults. Plus, the bed's a lot more comfortable than the couch."
He smiles and joins her on the bed. She's right – it is comfortable. She rests her head on his chest, and he wraps his arms around her.
She looks up at him. "About what I said at the bar," she begins, "please don't tell anyone."
He shakes his head. "I won't," he promises. "Don't worry; nobody will know that Satan has a heart."
"Good," she smiles, as she turns off the light.
They lay quietly for a couple of minutes before he breaks the silence.
"You're not gonna leave, right?" he asks softly.
She smiles. "I'm not going anywhere tonight."
You'll be the last one pickin' up the pieces
You'll be the last one standing up strong
You'll be the last one making all the right things wrong.
She doesn't leave. And, over the next few months, they find themselves growing closer. It's an almost kiss over an incubator; it's an actual kiss at Joe's; she tells him that he's a decent guy; he tells her that he'd notice if she went missing.
You need a lover in the first degree.
I need a woman who believes in me.
I'll shine the way through the darkest light
If you just stay here tonight.
They start spending time together outside of work – as friends. Sometimes it's grabbing a drink together at Joe's; sometimes it's eating dinner together at a nearby restaurant. Tonight, it's hanging out in her hotel room.
"So, I heard an interesting rumor, today," she says, taking a sip of her wine.
"A rumor at Seattle Grace?" he asks in mock astonishment. "How shocking."
She gives him a look, letting him know that she's serious.
"What was it?" he asks.
"Bailey told me that you requested to be off my service. I thought you were planning on specializing in neonatology."
"Oh, I like neonatal, don't get me wrong," he stammers, refusing to make eye contact. "I, uh, I just thought that maybe I'd try something else."
"Plastics?" she asks, cringing slightly.
"Not plastics," he smirks. "I don't know, maybe ortho or something."
"Okay," she nods, trying to ignore the hurt that she's feeling, and trying even harder not to let him see it. "It's just I think you show a lot of promise for neonatology."
"You're just saying that because we're friends," he replies.
"Is that why you're asking to be reassigned?" she asks. "Do you think I'm favoring you because we're friends?"
He shrugs.
"Well, that couldn't be further from the truth," she shoots back. "If anything, I'm tougher on you. I think you're a talented doctor, Alex, and, like it or not, you're great at neonatology."
"But what about us?" he asks.
She raises an eyebrow in confusion. "What about us?"
"It's just…do you think we can handle this, you and me? You know, working together all day, and then hanging out with each other after work?"
She looks at him quizzically. "Of course we can handle it. We work together during the day; we're friends at night. It's pretty simple. Now will you stop being ridiculous and just come back to neonatology where you belong?"
He means to say yes, but he kisses her instead. She doesn't protest. She responds eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. The next thing they know, they're frantically ripping each other's clothes off, and they wind up in bed together. He knows he's not going anywhere tonight – not that he wants to.
"So," he begins, as they're drifting off to sleep, "is sex gonna complicate things with us?"
"I don't think so," she answers. "I mean, we're just two people who work together during the day, hang out with each other at night…and have sex. It's still simple."
Except it's not simple anymore, and they both know it.
My heart is aching and I'm down on the bends.
My will is weak and I'm falling again.
I'd get back up and try to make things right
If you just stay here tonight.
They've been sleeping together for three months when she says it. They're lying naked in bed together, wrapped in each other's arms, when she says it.
"I love you, Alex."
He stiffens and says nothing.
"That's okay," she says awkwardly, "you don't have to say it back."
"You should take it back, Addison."
"What? Why?" she asks, the hurt in her voice obvious.
"Because," he sighs, "women like you don't fall in love with guys like me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asks angrily.
"Addison, I'm not the commitment type of guy. I don't know how to be in love with someone. I can be sex, but I can't be more than that."
She moves out of his arms, and quickly begins to get dressed. "Sex?" she spits. "That's all this is to you? That's all I am to you – sex?"
He starts to tell her it's not like that, but she's already making her way out of his bedroom and rushing towards the front door, slamming it hard behind her.
He stares at the door for a few minutes, figuring that it's probably better this way – that he's stopping them both from getting hurt down the line. But then, somehow, he finds himself at her hotel room, knocking on the door, praying that she'll let him in.
She opens the door, her eyes red and puffy. "What do you want?" she asks coldly.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly. "You're not just sex."
"But you don't want more," she finishes.
"I," he hesitates.
"Don't worry, I get it," she interrupts. "You should probably go."
"No," he insists.
"What?"
"No," he repeats. "I'm not leaving."
"Alex, look, I want this to work, but I'm not getting any younger, and I don't have time to waste on someone who's only half in."
"Let me stay here tonight," he begs. "You have to let me explain things. Let me try to fix this."
She sighs heavily. "I don't know."
He leads her to the bed and sits down next to her, taking her hand in his. "I've hurt every woman I've ever been with," he confesses. "And you, you've been through enough; I just, I don't want to hurt you too."
A slight smile comes to her face. "So don't. At least, don't hurt me on purpose. I mean, yeah, things with us won't be perfect all the time and, sure, they'll be times when you hurt me, and they'll be times when I hurt you…but we'll get through those times. And that's what'll count."
"You think so?" he asks.
"I know so."
"I love you," he whispers, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her softly on the lips. "And I'm sorry about before."
"I love you too," she smiles, pulling him in towards her and kissing him deeply.
"So, you never answered my question," he smirks, when they break apart. "Can I stay here tonight?"
"I wouldn't want you staying anywhere else."
He strips down to his boxers, and joins her in bed. She turns off the light and rests her head on his muscular chest. He wraps his arms around her, holding her close. "Hey, Addison?" he whispers after a few minutes, unsure if she's still awake.
"Yeah," she mumbles tiredly.
"Just so you know; I'm all in."
You'll be the last one pickin' up the pieces
You'll be the last one standing up strong
You'll be the last one making all the right things wrong
As the days go by...
The days go by
He stays true to his word – he's all in. After six months of dating, they tell the rest of the hospital that they're together. After a year of dating, he proposes. They get married eight months later.
And you know we'll be the last ones pickin' up the pieces
We'll be the last ones standing up strong
We'll be the last ones making all the right things wrong
As the days go by...
The days go by
The days go by
"Mommy, Mommy," a scared little voice calls out, as two tiny hands shake Addison awake.
"What wrong, sweetie?" Addison asks her four-year-old daughter in concern, as Alex, who's lying next to her, tiredly rubs his eyes.
"Bad dream," the little girl confesses in a small voice, as she climbs onto the bed and positions herself between Alex and Addison.
"Monsters?" Addison asks knowingly, as she runs her fingers through her daughter's shoulder-length red hair.
The little girl nods.
"Charlotte, you know that monsters aren't real," Alex laughs. "But how about I take you back to your room and show you that there aren't any monsters in there? Does that sound good?"
Charlotte shrugs. "I don't know."
"You don't know," Addison chuckles, as Charlotte cuddles up against her.
Charlotte looks from Addison to Alex with wide, puppy-dog eyes. "I guess that's okay," she finally concedes reluctantly. "But can I maybe just stay here tonight?"