Back At Your Door

Summary: Addison/Alex. It's her first day off in ages but as usual things never end the way Addison plans them to, but today that's not a problem. Addisex
This was written due to nagging, vicious plot bunnies and to show my Addi-preciation and my guilty love for the Addisex pairing. I hope you like it, it ended up a lot longer than I thought and the ending is a bit limp. Please review, con crit is much appreciated!
Also, thanks to Bex for reading this through and being my tv buddy:D
Vikki xx


Addison Montgomery was grateful for a day off work; it wasn't that she didn't like her job, in fact she loved it, but sometimes she just needed a break. She was now renting a small one-bedroom apartment not far from the Seattle Grace Hospital. It suited her because it meant she had somewhere to call home but she could still pack up and leave whenever she felt she needed to. She didn't have anything remotely exciting or exotic planned for her day off though; she just needed a little time to herself. Being a surgeon meant Addison spent very little time at home but she liked having a place she could call 'home'. After the madness of the last few months it was good to have something concrete in her life, even if it was just a shabby apartment that was seriously in need of cleaning.

Addison allowed herself a bit of a lie in to catch up on some of hours of sleep she missed in her hectic profession. After letting herself wake up naturally she washed under a long hot shower before dressing in a pair of shorts that may have been Derek's, Mark's or even Alex's and an old vintage t-shirt, more than several sizes to big. She then pulled her long auburn hair back and tied it up in a loose bun. Not her sexiest look but it was comfortable and suited the purposes of today. It wasn't like she expected any visitors, except maybe a pizza delivery later on or a Chinese take out.

She decided to tackle the bathroom first and actually found the monotony of scrubbing the white tiles clean soothing in a strange sort of way. After the manic twists and turns her life had taken since that night with Mark, which seemed so long ago now, she took pleasure in the simple things in life. Maybe that explained her recent behaviour with Alex Karev. Addison stopped scrubbing, and smiled giddily too herself feeling, and not for the first time lately, like a teenage girl with a crush. The almost kiss, the kiss in the bar and the sex. It had had to mean something and since then she had been back to his place and vice versa. Somehow, it made her home seem less like her sanctuary but she had the memories to cherish. Until yesterday when once more the world she had pieced back together shattered in front of her again. Alex didn't want her anymore; or at least he said he did. Maybe Addison was overanalysing but she was sure there was more to it than met the eye. She was aware that Alex still had feelings for Izzie Stevens, and that the affair was the result of him being on the rebound. Still she believed that there was more to their relationship than just that.

Rinsing out her cloth and forcing any thoughts of the young intern out of her head, Addison headed to the kitchen in search of her second cup of coffee of the day. As she approached the coffee machine she saw the half empty; yes, that was her outlook on life at the moment, or it had been last night, bottle of vodka and the glass beside it. It was tempting and she knew she should stop herself but she had a day of solitude and cleaning ahead of her, it couldn't hurt, could it? She quickly unscrewed the lid and poured a generous measure into the glass. She completed the process with speed before she changed her mind and made the rational decision. But nothing in Addison Montgomery's life was rational anymore; not a single aspect of it.

The alcohol burned her throat as the fiery liquid made it's way into her system. She gasped for air and brought the bottle down hard on the kitchen work surface. It didn't take long for the alcohol to take effect and she completed cleaning her bedroom and changing the sheets much more quickly than she had cleaned the bathroom. By lunchtime her attitude had improved and Addison was actually beginning to feel good about herself. Maybe her life was a bit of a mess but at least it made things more interesting. By mid-afternoon she was working on making the kitchen look respectable. A pile of dirty dishes and empty coffee mugs sat beside the sink so she ran a bowlful of hot water and cleaned them. She felt a tug in her heart as she washed the two matching wine glasses, remembering the first night she had brought Alex back here with her. She knew it was stupid and she should forget all about her passionate fling with the intern but part of her didn't want to let go of the memories.

Finally the kitchen was clean too and Addison was pleased with the results of her hard work. She was hot, tired and dirty but she had a feeling of contentment too and that was unusual for her lately. She was just tidying up her cleaning equipment when the buzzer for her apartment. She wasn't expecting anyone so picked up the phone.

"Who is it?" She asked, letting her hair down from it's untidy knot with her free hand.

There was a short pause before a deep and familiar voice responded. Addison felt her nerve endings tingle with anticipation.

"It's me."

"What do you want?" Addison asked, not rudely as she kept her voice neutral.

"Can I come up?" He replied, answering her question with one of his own.

Addison sighed, catching sight of herself in the glass front of one of the kitchen cabinets.

"If you want." She replied. And he did want to; badly. If she was true to herself Addison wanted him to as well.

"I do." He replied, his voice making Addison want him more than ever.

"I'll buzz you up." She replied, hanging up the phone and pressing the button she wanted. In the minute and a half it took him to climb the stairs and reach the door to her apartment Addison tried in vain to do something about her appearance but before she had even managed to control her hair Alex was ringing the doorbell.

"Addison…" He stopped his sentence before he had even begun it when he saw Addison. But instead of being put off by her appearance he smirked at her.

"What?" She demanded self consciously, a little angry with him catching her off her guard like this.

Alex tried to swallow his smile. "I never thought I'd find the housewife look sexy but you can really pull it off." He paused, looking her up and down. "And are those my boxers?"

Addison's complexion was now beginning to rival the colour of her hair.

"Did you come here for a specific reason?" She asked.

Actually, in all honesty, he had but he wasn't about to divulge that information, not straight away.

"It's your day off; it's my day off…" He tailed off, it sounded incredibly lame even to his own ears.

Addison placed her hands on her hips, waiting for him to continue. "And?"

Words failed him, so Alex stepped closer to her and kissed her. Although she longed to surrender to it, Addison pulled away.

"I don't understand, yesterday you said…" She paused.

Alex shrugged and looked a little embarrassed. "Yesterday I was an ass." A smirk played around Addison's lips. "Okay, I'm an ass a lot of the time but not today."

"Really? And why is that Dr Karev?" She asked.

"Because I want you Addison." He confessed, but it felt good to get his feelings out into the open. "Only you."

If these words had come from Mark, Addison would have scoffed at the cliché of the whole thing but coming from Alex she knew they were true. He wasn't someone who confessed his feelings easily and especially when women were involved.

"Good." Addison smiled, taking her turn to close the gap between them and initiating the kiss this time. Alex kicked the front door of the apartment closed behind him; both of them had forgotten it was open but neither cared if the neighbours had heard. While Addison placed her arms around Alex's neck, his went to encircle her waist, grabbing handfuls of the soft but worn cotton of her shirt. He pulled it over her head, the feel of the fabric and his hands moving across the soft flesh of her stomach made Addison shiver. She kissed him again, directing him towards the bedroom and wondering why she had ever bothered to change the sheets.

"Alex?" Addison asked softly an hour or so later. Dusk had fallen and no one the lights were on in her bedroom. She could only just make out his outline in the twilight.

He turned on his side to face her, running his hand over her face and down her side. "I'm here." He promised. Addison moved over to she could rest her head on Alex's bare chest and feel his heart beating. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder now and held her now.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" She asked, after her experiences recently she was still a little wary around men. Addison knew she was getting older and she needed someone steady in her life now.

"You know I did." Alex replied, kissing her forehead.

Addison smiled before snuggling close to him and falling asleep. Alex smiled down at her, knowing he had made the right choice.