This is based on the song of the same name. It's a great song that you should listen to.
I own neither the song nor the characters.
She slides onto the stool next to him. A smart, undamaged person would never choose to sit next to such a sullen, dejected man unless she had some crazy hope that she could fix him. Addison may be smart, but she's damaged and she holds no such illusions. She just wants someone to drink with.
He broke her, but he's broken too and somehow that helps to heal what he's broken. He's tired and she's tired. He's drinking and she wants to drink. So she slides onto the school next to him.
He looks up as she sits down. He had expected his current misery to deter any possible attempts at socialization. Besides, he's kind of a pariah at the hospital right now; people are happy and they don't know how to deal with the man whose wife left him.
But she doesn't belong to the hospital anymore. She's a completely separate entity now, even if she and those hospital bed sheets will forever remain intertwined in his mind. She's freed herself. Studying her face, she doesn't look any freer.
"Buy your next one?" she asks, gesturing at his glass.
He shrugs and downs the rest of his drink. She flags down Joe. "Dr. Montgomery, back in town I see," he comments.
"Addison, Joe, please," she smiles. "Only for a couple days this time."
"Well, it's good to see you. The usual?"
She laughs. "I don't know if the fact that you still remember my drink says more about you or me, Joe. And fill Karev's up too, will you?"
Joe lifts an eyebrow; after all, he is bartender and he does hear things. But he does as he's told without comment; after all, he is a bartender and he would stop hearing things if he commented on things that people don't want comments on.
They drink in silence. Neither has any idea how to start a conversation, but it just doesn't seem appropriate to get up and leave.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she finally sighs, mostly just to break the silence.
He jumps a little. For some reason he had thought that they would continue in their tenuous, tranquil bubble. "Huh?"
She sighs again. "What's wrong with you, Karev?" she explains. "What has you drinking alone on a Friday night?"
Both of them feel the shift in the air; they're back to being Addison and Alex. He would notice if she went missing and she thinks that he's a good man. They're back to the place of moments.
"Izzie sent divorce papers. You?"
She studies him for a good long while and finally answers, "It's complicated."
"Yeah?" He doesn't push her to continue; he's not even really sure that he's all that interested in what complicated means.
"I guess that's a kind of lame answer," she says.
"Probably."
"I'm just… tired," she clarifies without actually clarifying. She closes her eyes; he's surprised to find that he misses the ice blue looking back at him. "Everything used to be easy and now…"
"Now?"
She takes a deep breath and exhales noisily. "Now sleeping with your best friend's ex-husband isn't an option and neither is the man in love with someone else."
He motions at her glass. "Buy your next one?" he offers instead of answering her.
She looks at the glass, turning it slowly in her fingers. "What the hell? What's one more hangover in the morning?"
He motions Joe over and has him fill their glasses. When Joe's gone he mentions, "I'm tired too."
"When did life start sucking so badly?" she asks.
He laughs and is pleasantly surprised to find that it's a genuine laugh. That's the first time since Izzie disappeared. She smiles a little at the sound.
She rubs her temples. "Is it bad that I don't want to go home?"
It actually hurts a little to hear her call Los Angeles home, but he shoves that to the back of his mind. "Is it bad that I don't want to go home?" he retorts.
She gives a short, harsh laugh. "Yeah, well, you're living with my ex-husband so I don't blame you."
"It doesn't feel like home here," she comments.
"Did it?" he questions.
She nods slightly. "It did for a little while." The way she avoids his eyes tells him that she's not talking about when she was married; it only makes him hate himself just a little more.
"Does LA?" he asks, more just to get his mind off her last comment.
"I… I thought so." She doesn't have to add the "not so much now" for him to know that it's there.
They fall into another silence.
Finally she pushes her stool back and stands up. She stumbles a little and he reaches out to steady her. "I should… I should go," she says.
She nearly makes her exit when he calls her name. She turns around and waits. "Why?" he asks. "Why did you leave, I mean."
She chews on her bottom lip thoughtfully while she comes up with an answer. "It's complicated."
"Did you… I mean… Did I…"
She tucks her hair behind her ear. "Yes… and no. It's complicated."
He nods.
"I should go," she repeats.
"Yeah. I guess I'll see you."
"Yeah, definitely," she agrees. She gives him a soft smile. "Goodbye, Alex."
He waits until she's out of the door to reply, "Bye, Addison."
Joe polishes a glass and shakes his head.
Hope you enjoyed it! Hope you leave a review!
-Juli-