This is the other version of the story I based on me and my husband. I got a request for it but in all honesty, I did want to post it. So, I am. If you read both tell me which one you like better. Or if only this one, let me know what you think of it. I live for comments so, let me know, please.
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Derek Shepherd had been sleeping soundly when a sound woke him up. He didn't know what it was at first but, as he came to be more awake, he recognized the sound for what it was, whimpering. Turning towards the sound, he found it was coming from his wife, Addison.
But she appeared to be asleep. Then. "Please don't hurt me', was clearly heard coming from her lips. She was having a nightmare. A pretty bad one, at that, not that any night mare was particularly good. But she was also jerking around, in addition to her whimpering.
Turning towards her, he touched her arm and began soothing her. "Sh. It's all right, Addie. I'm right here."
"Derek,' came her groggy voice.
It was clear to him that she wasn't fully awake. "Go back to sleep, Addie. It was just a bad dream. You're safe. I'm right here and I'll take care of you and keep you safe always. I promise."
This seemed to work as she quieted down and her breathing evened out again. Once he saw that she was calm and settled in, he went back to sleep himself.
In the morning, sunlight streamed through the window and he awoke and stretched. Then he turned towards Addison. Much to his surprise he found that she was awake already and she was looking right at him.
"Addie?"
"Derek."
"What's going on?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
"What do you mean?"
She took a deep breath. "I mean I think last night or maybe early in the morning, I'm not sure which, but some time. I think I might have been awake or something. I think at some point I came awake or something but not really fully awake and it was a bad dream or something and I think I remember that you were there comforting me and soothing me and because of that I was able to go right back to sleep. But I'm not sure if it was real or only a dream." She blushed and cast her eyes downwards.
"It wasn't a dream. It really happened. You had a nightmare and I really did that," he told her.
Her eyes widened. "You really did that for me."
Derek nodded. "And I'm so glad that after everything that's happened between us that I was still able to do that for you. I am honored and humbled that I can still be a rock for you in times of trouble. It means the world to me to still be able to be that for you and I am going to work very hard to keep my promise to you that I made last night."
Addison had to blink back tears and didn't quite succeed.
To say Derek was shocked would be to put it mildly.
"Honey, what's wrong? What did I say wrong? What did I do wrong?"
Addison got control of herself.
"It's not you; it's me. I ruined everything that we had when I slept with Mark. I don't deserve you or your comfort."
Derek couldn't deny a touch of irritation at this. He'd heard it all before. And in all honesty, he was getting tired of her self-flagellation. How were they supposed to really move forward if she was constantly bringing up the past? But he did understand where it was coming from, and more important than that was the fact that he loved her.
So, he started his speech. "Addie, we're both of us in this and honestly, it wasn't all you. I made plenty of mistakes too. I have my share of blame. There's nothing we can do about the past, though. What we can do, however is to stop beating ourselves up about it. We made the decision to move forward and we don't move forward by you constantly doing this bringing up the past thing that you do. And we both deserve to move forward. So, let it go already. I've forgiven you already, as you have me. We did that a long time ago now. So now, the future is ours. Together. Let's not lose sight of that. Let's just be together, once and for all and let's move on together."
"All right. Sounds good to me." And she smiled at him. "It actually sounds really wonderful."
So with that, they proceeded to celebrate together, as couples are wont to do.