A/N: Brand new Addex story! This is going to be another long one...about 10-12 chapters. The first few are written so I'll try to update weekly. Mostly follows cannon from S2E12 onwards, so there is some Addek in there, just building on Addison's thoughts and scenes from the show. Also, fair warning, it is very slow burn. Hope you all like it (I don't think many of you liked the ending to my last story, so do give me some feedback so I can improve.) Anyway, enjoy, read and review! x
Chapter 1
Addison sat at the bar in Joe's, absently twirling the stem of her martini glass as she tapped her heel slightly on the bar stool. She glanced at the empty glasses beside her, choosing to embrace the way the alcohol gave the world a warm, fuzzy edge, feeling comforted by its effects. She shifted, wincing slightly as she stretched. The bar stools weren't made to be sat on for a long time, and she was beginning to feel a dull ache in her lower back.
She stopped twisting the glass round to take a sip out of it, choosing to drum her fingers on the base as she replaced it on the top. She fidgeted in her seat again, looking down at her attire, rolling her eyes slightly. As much as she loved her designer outfits, even she was willing to admit how out of place her pencil skirt and silk blouse looked in the bar. She wished she had gone home and changed and she would have, had she known she would been sat around waiting.
She sighed and checked her watch. 9:30. Derek had told her he'd meet her at 8 at Joe's, when she left him this morning, in response to him turning down her lunch offer. Things had been more tense than normal since the previous night's conversation and that was saying something. Their relationship hadn't exactly been sunshine and rainbows the entire time in Seattle.
Joe offered her a smile as he passed and she returned it, eyes following him down the bar to where he started serving some new customers. The smile froze on her face when she saw who he was serving: Meredith Grey and the other interns. It wasn't that she had anything against the girl per se. She had always been perfectly nice to her, and Addison made a conscious effort to return the sentiment. In many ways Meredith Grey was innocent, left in the dark about her existence by Derek and caught up in the mess they had created over the years. However, when her husband's Christmas present had been telling her that he was in love with another woman, she couldn't really help have some bad feelings towards the girl (she wasn't naive enough to believe that she would be getting anything else; Derek had been notoriously bad at presents even when things had been good between them).
It was the reason she was still here after all. Before, back in New York, when Derek had been working late and stood her up, she had gone back to the brownstone, changed into her sweats and ate Chinese food. She knew he would be expecting her to do the same here and so she sat stubbornly on the uncomfortable bar stool. After him declaring that he was in love with Meredith, she wasn't going to let him win. She wasn't sure when her marriage had become a competition.
"Hey, can I buy you a drink?" Addison turned and looked at the man who had taken a seat on her left. He wasn't unattractive: in his early forties perhaps and in his suit she could almost pretend he was a respectable business man, if it wasn't for the smell of alcohol on his breath and the way his gaze lingered on her cleavage as he leaned over to her.
She pursed her lips and frowned slightly. "No, thank you." She responded, before draining the rest of her glass.
"Oh, come on. A pretty lady like you shouldn't be all by yourself." He smiled, and she supposed he intended it to be charming, not lecherous, but that had clearly gone out the window a few scotches before.
"I'm married." She said bluntly, pushing a strand of red hair back and obviously flashing her rings. "So, not alone."
He inched even closer to her, and she shot a pleading look towards Joe, but he still had his back turned as he chatted to the interns. "Well, I don't see a husband here so why don't you have some fun? I won't tell if you don't."
She internally rolled her eyes at that, before glaring at him pointedly. "As delightful as that offer sounds, I'm going to have to ask you to leave me alone."
His gaze turned cool and harsh and before she knew it he had grabbed her wrist, gripping it tight and she let out a surprised whimper. Her eyes flicked frantically around the room, trying to get someone's attention. "Let go of me." She tried to keep her voice calm and controlled, but she couldn't keep the slight waver out.
The guy grinned down at her. "Oh, so you like to play hard to get?"
He leaned in closer and she tried to tug her wrist free, only leading to him tightening his grip painfully. "Let go." She said again, before she felt a warm hand fall on her upper back.
She looked up, expecting to maybe see Derek finally having arrived, but instead her eyes widened in surprise as they landed on Alex Karev.
"Dude, you heard what she said. Get off her." He practically growled, and she could see his hand curl into a fist out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh, are you the husband? She didn't tell me you were so young. How the hell did she get a younger man? She's not that hot." The drunk man had dropped his voice to an almost conspiring whisper, pulling painfully on her arm as he gestured with his.
The whimper of pain she let out was involuntary, as were the tears that formed in her eyes as she screwed them tightly shut. She couldn't help but think how fucking typical it was that this is what happened when she was trying to beat Derek at their ludicrous game. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard a sickening crunch, and her eyes flew open, landing on the guy clutching his nose as blood trickled out of it, while Alex rubbed his knuckles.
"I warned you to get off her." Alex said simply, shrugging slightly from his new position, standing in front of her protectively. She was vaguely aware of the other patrons staring at the scene they were making, and Joe turning up, kicking the guy out the bar. She definitely regretted the last vodka martini, her brain struggling to catch up through her slightly drunken haze.
"Addison." Her eyes slipped to his face. "Dr Montgomery-Shepherd. You okay?"
He nodded towards her wrist which she was cradling and she shrugged, holding it up so he could see the bruises that were already starting to form. "You didn't have to do that." He raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean thank you."
"You should get some ice for that." He turned to leave and she grabbed his arm.
"Let me buy you a drink." She gave him a small smile. "To say thank you."
He frowned slightly. "Aren't you meeting someone?"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "I was meant to be meeting Derek." She saw him open his mouth to protest and leave so she jumped in quickly. "At 8. We were supposed to meet at 8. Given that it is now almost 10, I don't think he's in a hurry to get here." He chuckled slightly at her sarcastic tone and settled onto the stool next to her. "Wait, I'm not keeping you from your friends, am I?" She asked, her gaze flicking over to the group of interns who were watching them curiously.
"I don't think they'll mind." He accepted the beer she handed him. "They don't really like me."
She let out a genuine laugh at that. "Hmm, must be your lovely personality."
"Oh, I see how it is." He grumbled. "I punch a guy for you and you insult me."
She opened her mouth to apologise before spotting the small smirk on his face and she laughed again instead. "Why did you punch a guy for me anyway?"
"You looked like you needed help and no one else was around to do it."
She felt brave with the alcohol running through her system. "So there is a decent person under there?" She teased. "I almost feel bad for calling you an irresponsible jackass."
"You didn't call me an irresponsible jackass." He looked confused and she couldn't help laugh.
"Not to your face."
He faked a wounded expression before smirking at her. "You're actually quite nice and funny. I almost feel bad for calling you Satan's whore."
Her mouth dropped open in shock at that. "You actually called me that?!" He nodded sheepishly, and she frowned. "I've got to give you credit, it's original. Most people settle for ice-cold bitch."
"Well I'm not most people. Plus, you're way too fiery for that."
"Damn straight." She grinned, lifting her diet Coke (she had made the wise decision to cut herself off for the night) and tapping it to his beer. "You know Derek called me Satan when I first came here. In hindsight I bet he wishes he called me Satan's whore. More fitting."
He snorted at that and she realised that this was the first non-work conversation she'd had since her arrival in Seattle, unless she counted the pleasantries exchanged with Miranda and Preston. She was surprised to find she was enjoying it as well. "Why is Shepherd so late anyway?"
She shrugged, a wry smile on her face. "I don't know. He didn't feel the need to tell me. We don't talk much anymore, what with me being Satan's whore and him being in love with an intern."
He let out a surprise laugh and she felt a small sense of satisfaction at shocking him. "Are you always this blunt?"
She shrugged, sipping her soda. "Only when I've had a drink. Plus, I've not really got many friends round here. I'm out of practice."
"We could be friends if you want." She raised her eyebrow skeptically and he raised his hands in defence. "I'm not that bad. Promise."
"How come your other friends don't like you then?" She teased.
He played with the label of his beer bottle and she twirled a strand of hair around her finger, worried she had gone too far. She opened her mouth to tell him he didn't have to answer but, as she did, he started talking. "I was kind of dating Izzie, but I slept with a nurse and she walked in."
She snorted slightly at that. "Yeah, that will do it."
"You speaking from personal experience?" He shot back before wincing, looking cautiously at her.
She was expecting the comment to hurt and surprised even herself when she laughed. "I guess I am."
He smiled at her, sticking his hand out. "So friends?"
She shrugged before taking it, shaking his hand, noticing him wince slightly. "Friends. You need to get some ice for your hand."
She leaned over the bar and called to Joe, who handed them two bundles of ice. She handed one to Alex before pressing hers tentatively to her wrist. They fell back into their easy conversation, trading insults at one another, and she found herself unable to remember the last time she had smiled and laughed this much.
"I didn't think you'd still be here." The voice interrupted her laughing at the story Alex was telling, or rather admitting to (he was definitely sheepish about how he teased Izzie about her lingerie modelling).
She turned and faced Derek, the smile slipping off her face. "Then why did you come?"
She saw him bristle at that and she would've felt guilty if it hadn't been almost 3 hours after he said he'd meet her and she hadn't practically been assaulted in that time. "I wanted a drink." He looked between the two of them. "What are you doing with Karev?"
"We're friends." Alex answered, flashing a smile at her.
Derek frowned at that. "Since when?"
Addison waved absently at the ice packs adorning their hands. "Since some drunk guy tried to hit on me and Karev punched him." He remained silent, and she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Alex snickered at her sarcastic tone, standing up when Derek glared at him. "I should get back to my friends anyway." He jerked his head towards them, leaving his bundle of ice on the bar. "Thanks for the drink, doc."
A smile crossed her face. "Thanks for saving me Karev. And don't call me doc."
"Sure thing. Satan's whore."
He walked away chuckling leaving her to shout after him, causing several people to turn and glare at her. "Irresponsible jackass!"
She huffed as he winked at her when he reached his friends. She turned back to Derek, who looked ready to throttle someone, which she found amusing considering she was about ready to throttle him. "What's your problem?" She snapped.
"You and Karev."
"I'm allowed to have friends, Derek."
"Well, I think we both remember the last time you had a friend who was a guy." He glared at her, and she stood up grabbing her purse.
"For God's sake, grow up." She hissed. "This is not going to work if you don't try. I'm the one trying, sitting in a bar for 3 hours until you can be bothered to show up, even after you told me you were in love with another woman. Jesus, your wife was practically assaulted and has the bruises to prove it and all you care about is being jealous of the guy nice enough to save her."
She stormed out of the bar and into the parking lot, before realising she had drunk too much to drive home. She kicked the wheel of her car, wincing slightly, shivering in the December air. It was one thing having a hissy fit at your husband when you lived in a 4 bed brownstone, another completely when living in a tin can in the middle of nowhere. She pulled her coat round her tightly, walking across the road to the hospital, resigning herself to a night spent in an on-call room. It's not like she wanted to go home anyway.
Addison had woken up the next day with (the majority of) her anger gone, resolving to return to the trailer with her tail between her legs and go back to 'trying'. She succeeded in keeping the peace for almost three weeks before Derek showed up beside her one morning with a freaking rainbow trout and she snapped.
She tried to focus on ignoring him on the ride to work, managing to maintain the stony silence and avoid him for most of the morning until she stepped onto the elevator to find him and Meredith. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes (and scream slightly) as she watched them move away from each other, she moved to stand next to Derek as Meredith stepped out of the elevator.
She determinedly kept up the silence until he sighed dramatically, smiling at her slightly. "There is a land called Passive Aggressiva and you are their Queen."
She pursed her lips, still adamant not to look at him. "I am fine."
"Except you're shrieking about trout."
"I was not shrieking about trout." She took a deep breath when she realised how close she was to 'shrieking' again.
He scoffed at that and she clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. "Right, you weren't. You were shrieking about Meredith."
She shook her head slightly. "No, I was shrieking about the trailer. I hate the trailer."
He looked at her in disbelief. "Oh okay, so the past three weeks have been about the trailer?"
"Yes." Even she didn't think her tone sounded genuine.
"Not the fact that I said I love Meredith."
She felt her heart clench painfully. "Loved." She breathed.
"What?" He frowned.
"You said you loved her. Past tense."
"Right, yes, past tense." He looked at the floor and she shook her head slightly, trying to believe his words, even though she knew they were fake.
She blinked back the tears in her eyes, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice as she replied. "Well, then I have been shrieking about the trailer."
Derek hummed in disbelief, as the elevator chimed, indicating they reached her floor and she walked out without another word.
She hurried down the corridor, keeping her head down before turning down a relatively unused one. She climbed up onto an unused gurney, hugging her knees to her chest and pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to hold back the tears. She had come to the conclusion she hated this place. In fact, if she left Seattle and later heard that the whole city had drowned from all the rain, she was quite certain she would be tempted to throw a party.
She didn't want to hate it. Her job here, running a state of the art NICU with all the funding and staff she could dream of, was what she had spent her whole career working towards. It was where she had dreamed of ending up when she had started out in medical school. Yet, she would gladly trade it all for working in a low rent hospital in the middle of nowhere delivering one baby a day if it meant she could leave Seattle forever.
A shadow fell over her and she opened her eyes, squinting slightly at the figure in front of her. She relaxed marginally when she saw it was Alex standing there. Her one friend in Seattle, even if the contact between them had been minimal since their time they met in Joe's, mostly due to their hectic schedules and her desperate attempt at normalcy with Derek.
"You alright, doc?" His brow was furrowed as he looked down at her.
"Just peachy." She said dryly. "And I told you not to call me that." He climbed onto the gurney next to her, bumping his shoulder against hers as she looked at him carefully. "What are you doing?"
"Trying this whole friendship thing." He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes at him. "So… you're full of crap."
"Excuse me?" Her mouth dropped in shock as he chuckled.
"Just tell me what's wrong, doc. Don't do that whole thing that women do when they say they're 'fine' until you have to drag it out of them cause I have a surgery in like 15 minutes."
"And you wonder why your friends don't like you." She teased, but she dropped her head against his shoulder and sighed. "Derek brought a trout into the trailer."
"That's not what it's about though is it?" She made a noncommittal noise, pondering how he knew her so well already. Or maybe she really was just a typical woman. "You can tell me, doc."
"You're not going to stop calling me that, are you?" She grumbled as he shook his head, grinning. "Fine, I hate the damn trailer." He raised a skeptical eyebrow, and she dropped her gaze to her hands, twisting her rings round her finger. "Derek told me that he was in love with Meredith. And still is." She whispered, a tear finally making its way down her face.
He slung an arm round her and she froze before leaning into him. "Oh. That sucks." She huffed slightly at the understatement. "He actually told you that?"
She shrugged. "He told me that he had fallen in love with her a few weeks ago. The still in love part was implied today."
He made a face. "I just realised I'm not good at giving advice. I don't know what I'm supposed to say."
She let out a laugh at that, reaching up a hand to brush her tears away. "Give it your best shot, Karev."
"Okay, but if I screw up you're not allowed to stop being friends with me. I warned you." She nodded in agreement. "The way I see it, this whole thing sucks for you. But, he's not saying he's not in love with you. He picked you, he's trying to make it work with you. Isn't that a sure sign that he cares?"
She huffed slightly. "You really are crap at this."
He gave her a small smile. "I warned you, doc. I'm just saying he can't turn off his feelings, no matter how crazy hot you are."
"I'm supposed to just wait it out?"
"If you think the end result is worth it then yeah." She turned her head to kiss his cheek to thank him. "I've got to go to my surgery."
He stood up off the gurney and she grinned at him. "So you think I'm hot?"
"Like the devil." He winked at her.
She shook her head and smiled at him. "Don't you mean Satan's whore?"
He chuckled at that, starting to leave before turning back. "Hey, you want to grab a drink tonight? Cheer you up?"
She bit her lip. The offer was tempting: a couple of margaritas and some easy conversation would really take her mind off the one woman pity party she had thrown herself. If only she didn't have to actually fix the problem. "Thanks for the offer Karev but I need to go make nice with my ass of a husband. Rain check?"
"Sure thing, doc." He replied easily. "And I'm not great at the relationship thing, but I think to make nice you shouldn't call him an ass."
"Damn it." She muttered, while he walked away laughing to himself. She pushed herself up from the gurney, tugging on her dress slightly and straightening her lab coat, before walking confidently back down the corridor to her patient's room. She could do this.
Later, when she returned home to Derek cooking the trout outside, she thought back to her and Alex's conversation earlier that day. She took his beer and sipped it.
"There is a land called Passive Aggresiva and I am their Queen." She admitted with a small smile.
He smirked at her. "Thats all I'm saying."
"So, what with Meredith?" She took a deep breath and played with the label slightly. "Am I just supposed to wait it out? Wait until it passes?"
"That'd be good."
She pursed her lips slightly. "I still hate the trailer." She said, handing him back his beer. She couldn't let him win completely, of course.
"As is your right." He responded, a wry smile on his face. Maybe this could work after all.
Addison stepped out of the attendings locker room, adjusting the skin tight red dress she had changed into and running her fingers through her curls slightly. She headed down to the lobby with a smile on her face, excited for her evening plans for the first time in months.
She sat down on a chair and pulled out her cell, scrolling through some emails while she waited for Derek. She tapped her heel impatiently on the floor, the rhythm helping extend her patience.
"You know how annoying that is, doc?"
She looked up from her phone, and raised an eyebrow, deliberately tapping her foot louder. "What can I do for you, Karev?"
"You're smart, right?" She scoffed slightly at that, a smile beginning to form at the corner of her lips. He flopped on the chair next to her. "I mean you have like a lot of long complicated medical sounding accomplishments."
"Wow. Aren't you a surgical intern? Shouldn't you understand those accomplishments?" She asked dryly and he nudged her playfully. "I am pretty smart, yeah. What do you want?"
"Trivia night tonight at Joe's. We usually suck. Want to come with?"
She smiled softly at the invitation. "I've actually got plans tonight, Karev."
His eyes drifted over her attire for the first time and he smirked slightly. "I should've guessed. Bit overdressed for work. Or Joe's. Where you going?"
"Derek's taking me out for dinner. That fancy Italian place near the Needle. I've been wanting to go there for weeks." She noticed a hesitant look cross his face. "What?"
"Nothing." He said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as she glared at him. "It's just… Shepherd's name is on the OR board. He has a craniotomy scheduled at 8pm."
Her face fell and she gave him a sharp nod, biting her lip slightly as she tried not to let her disappointment show. She started tapping her heel again in frustration and she barely noticed until Alex put a hand on her knee, stopping her. He gave her a crooked smile, which she supposed was meant to be comforting. She took a deep breath and did her best to give him one of her own. "So trivia night?"
He stood up and offered her his hand. "Well, even if we suck at trivia maybe you could distract the other teams with your outfit, doc."
"Shut up." She huffed at him. "Who else is on the team?"
"Yang, O'Malley, Meredith and Izzie." Her face paled at that and she froze, halfway out the door.
"Half of them hate me. Are you sure it's a good idea?"
He shrugged. "Half of them hate me too. Who cares? Let's just have fun."
He ushered her out the door and across the road, hand on the small of her back. "I care." She grumbled.
"Lighten up, doc." He teased as he held the door open for her.
"You owe me a drink."
He shook his head at that. "Hardly seems fair. You earn more in a week than I do in a year."
She raised an eyebrow at him, refusing to move into the bar. "Not when you deduct tax."
"Funny." He deadpanned, as she smirked. "Fine, I'll buy you a god damn drink. Satan."
"What happened to the whore bit?" She asked as she moved past him, heading towards the bar.
"I decided to drop it now that I like you." He said with a shrug, ordering himself a beer and waving at Addison to get her to order something.
"I'll have a gin and tonic." She looked at Alex sideways, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "Make it a double, Joe."
Alex held his hand to his heart, faking a wounded expression. "I might add the whore bit back on, doc."
She let out a light laugh, patting him on the shoulder as Joe handed her the drink. "Just put it on my tab."
"You ever gonna pay that?" Joe asked.
"Sure I am." Alex shrugged as Addison and Joe both looked at each other skeptically. "When I become an attending. Or get a rich girlfriend."
She snorted at that. "Good luck with that, jackass."
"I wonder why I'm friends with you." He said, rolling his eyes as he led her in the direction of the other interns, sitting in a booth.
She elbowed him lightly. "I wonder the same thing."
They stopped and stood awkwardly in front of the other interns. Addison stood slightly behind Alex, nervously fiddling with the straw in her drink. She had what she hoped was a smile on her face, although she was convinced it was more of a grimace. Their eyes flicked between them curiously, until Alex threw himself down into the booth, shuffling along to make room for her. She perched nervously on the edge of the seat, until Alex rolled his eyes and pulled her fully onto it.
"Hey, I brought reinforcements." Alex said, nodding his head in her direction. "You know as we suck."
"I don't remember us ever inviting you on our team in the first place." Izzie snapped at him.
"Iz." Meredith interrupted her, giving her a pointed look. "I invited him after last time. He knows sport stuff."
Alex snorted at that. "The fact you call it 'sport stuff' shows how good you are at that topic, Mer."
"What about you Dr Montgomery-Shepherd? You got a specialist subject?" George asked.
She tried to swallow the shock of being asked a question by taking a large gulp of her gin and plastering a smile on her face. "Please call me Addison."
Alex frowned at that. "I don't call you Addison."
She smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, but you're an irresponsible jackass, remember?"
Cristina let out a chuckle. "She's going to be good for the team. She keeps Evil Spawn in check. Let's just hope she's actually good at trivia."
"I'm good at art." She chimed, stirring her drink slightly before giving a small smile. "And celebrity gossip."
"That could be useful." Izzie admitted reluctantly.
"Anything would be useful. The highest we've finished is second to last." Alex said before looking sideways at her with a smile. "Plus, she might be able to help us with some general knowledge. You know, with the generation gap."
Addison's mouth dropped open with shock, as the others looked between them nervously. She hit the back of his head as he almost doubled over laughing at her. "Jackass! How old do you think I am?!"
"I don't know, doc. Did they have electricity back then?"
She huffed at him. "I'm going to freaking kill you. You're buying my drinks all night."
He stopped laughing at that and she smirked with achievement. "Fine, fine! I'm only kidding anyway. You're like what…35?"
"I'm 38 today actually." She admitted quietly.
He eyed her up and down appreciatively. "38 and you look like that? You impress me more everyday."
She shook her head at his antics, hitting his arm lightly. "Eyes on my face, Karev. I swear you are a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen."
"Good job you're not going to report me then, doc." He teased, winking at her.
The others sat eyeing the pair of them warily. "Wait, did you say it was your birthday today?" Meredith asked Addison.
Alex tensed beside her, his demeanour completely changing, clearly not having picked up on that piece of information when she said it. "It's your birthday?" She nodded. "That jackass stood you up on your birthday and didn't even tell you?"
Addison shrugged as everyone looked at the table uncomfortably. "It wouldn't be the first time." Alex scoffed loudly and she rolled her eyes. "Karev, it's fine, it doesn't matter."
"Doesn't sound fine to me." Cristina muttered under her breath to Meredith as everyone else snickered and Addison glared at her annoyed.
"Okay, it's not fine, it sucks! But it's my damn birthday so I'm going to get very drunk and have a good time." She snapped before taking a deep breath as everyone looked at her alarmed.
"Are you okay?" Meredith asked softly and she plastered a fake smile on her face in response, turning to pat Alex's shoulder slightly.
"Karev, is going to buy me another G&T and then I'll be just fine." He opened his mouth to protest and she raised an eyebrow, cutting him off. "Make it a double."
"Satan." He muttered under his breath and she hit his arm, a more genuine smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. "I meant anything for the birthday girl."
She rolled her eyes at she stood up so he could head to the bar, shaking her head at him when he winked at her from the bar. She shifted awkwardly as she sat back down, realising that now she was left alone with the rest of the interns. It was funny really; she was so confident around them at work and yet now, in a social setting, she was about ready to run a mile.
"So, Dr Montgomery-Shepherd." George started and she shot him a look. "Addison." He corrected as she smiled. "I didn't know you and Alex were friends?"
"It's a relatively recent development." She shrugged, finishing off what was left in her glass.
"And you actually like him?" Izzie asked, clutching her leg as Meredith kicked her."What? It's a valid question! He is an ass…"
"He's our friend." Meredith asserted, glaring at all the interns.
An involuntary smile pulled at the corner of Addison's mouth as everyone looked at Meredith in disbelief. "Yeah, I like him." She spotted Alex approaching the booth again and couldn't help but add. "He is an ass though."
He put her drink down in front of her, nudging her so she moved over. "You saying nice things about me again?"
"Of course." She smiled sweetly at him, raising her glass at him in thanks.
"She called you an ass." Izzie said, in spite of everyone's warning glances.
Alex just chuckled and slung his arm on the back of booth behind her. "Sounds more like you, doc."
"What can I say? I am Satan after all."
"I don't like this. It's weird." George looked between them and Addison couldn't help but laugh at the confused look on his face. "And he bought her a drink. He never buys us a drink."
"Dude, is it your birthday?" George shook his head. "Then you don't get a drink. Plus, I actually like her."
Addison watched as the interns bickered amongst themselves and she realised as much as they may protest otherwise, they did all genuinely like each other. She remembered the other week in the OR gallery when she spoke to Derek about the fact she was lonely and realised the words had never been more true. She missed her life in New York; she used to have friends, easy friendship and camaraderie like all the interns had. Now all she had was a husband who hated her.
She sipped her gin as Alex tapped her shoulder to break her out of daze. She offered him a soft smile as she realised her earlier thoughts weren't quite true: she had Derek and she had Alex. He may act like an utter pain in the ass but she was so grateful he had decided to be her friend. She was glad to have someone on her side on the West Coast.
"Hey, doc, you still with us?"
She hummed in acknowledgement, giving them an apologetic smile. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"We asked your thoughts on tequila." Meredith said with a smile.
"Tequila?" She screwed her face up slightly in confusion.
"It's your birthday so tequila shots?" Yang shrugged and she realised that they were trying to include her. Perhaps there was hope for not being so alone after all, no matter how unconventional the company.
"I don't know how useful I'll be at the quiz if I have tequila."
Alex chuckled. "And there's the real reason we come last every week."
"You know what? Tequila sounds great."
"Great." Meredith echoed, standing up to head to the bar.
Alex nudged her slightly. "You sure you're up for this doc? Can you keep up with us at your age?"
She elbowed his ribs causing him to splutter on his beer slightly. "With age comes experience, jackass."
He smirked back at her. "Bring it on, Satan."
It was as Addison stumbled through the main entrance of the hospital with Alex's help in the early hours of that morning, she was willing to admit that maybe she could not keep up with them. She stopped him in the lobby as she bent down and attempted to take her heels off, Alex eventually rolling his eyes and helping her.
"You sure you don't want to go home doc? Instead of crashing in an on call room?"
She shook her head sharply, regretting the movement as it made her head spin more than it already was. "Can't. My husband lives in the freaking woods in a trailer where no cabs go."
"Fine." He steadied her as she tripped, wrapping his arm fully around her waist and picking up her shoes up in the other hand. "Let's get you to bed."
"Sexual harassment." She muttered, giggling at his eye roll.
"Only with your dirty mind."
They continued in silence for a while, the journey to the nearest room taking twice as long in her drunken state. She heard Alex let out a groan and lifted her gaze from the floor, where she had been busy focusing on where to put her feet, to see Richard and Miranda standing in front of them.
Richard frowned between them. "Karev, what are you doing with Dr Shepherd?"
"She's drunk, sir." He replied simply, still not letting go of her which she was grateful for; she was almost certain if he let go she would not be able to stand.
She hiccuped slightly as she went to respond. "That is completely true, Richard."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Well we can see that. It doesn't really answer our question though."
"Look, I'm just helping her the nearest on-call room so she can sleep it off." Alex replied with a shrug.
Richard sighed. "Bailey, go with them and give Karev a hand, will you?"
"Yes sir." She walked with them as they started moving again "How did you even get that drunk?"
"I tried to keep up with 30 year old interns when doing tequila shots." She screwed up her face slightly as her stomach turned at the thought of tequila.
She was vaguely aware of Alex chuckling. "Turns out experience doesn't beat youth."
Bailey let out a loud sigh as they reached the doors to the elevator. "The on call room on 4 is free. I'll grab her some scrubs and meet you up there."
She shot Miranda a drunken smile as Alex helped her in the elevator and she learnt against the back wall. "You're going to regret this in the morning, doc." He teased as she dropped her head to his shoulder.
"Probably." She relented. "I had fun though. Your friends are nice. When they're not hating me."
She felt him kiss the top of her head as he chuckled. "Yeah, I find that too."
They both froze as the elevator stopped off at a floor and the doors opened to reveal Derek standing there. He shot his hand out to hold the doors open. "What's going on?"
His voice was harsh and a small part of her was aware what it must look like with her leaning on Alex but she wasn't able to stand straight. "Karev took me to trivia night with the other interns. As it's my birthday." She frowned as she remembered she was meant to be pissed at him and spat out the rest of her sentence. "How was the craniotomy?"
Derek shook his head as it took her several attempts to get the word out. "You're drunk."
"Yep." She replied simply. "And you stood me up. Again."
"I'm not having this conversation now. I'm exhausted. I'm going home."
He went to move his hand from holding the doors open when Alex cut in. "Dude, you don't want to take her home with you?"
"She's drunk." Derek repeated as he let the doors begin to shut. "She's better off sleeping here."
"I don't like your husband much." Alex told her as the elevator started moving again.
"Me neither. Not right now." He chuckled at that and she joined in, allowing him to pull her into the on call room as they reached the right floor.
Miranda walked into the room a few seconds later, holding some navy scrubs for her and Alex turned around as she helped her change. Addison reached out and patted her shoulder, laughing at the unamused look on her face. "You are a good friend, Miranda."
"Yeah, whatever." She said as she finished. "I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully you would've sobered up by then."
Miranda left the room and she smiled at Alex. "And then there were two."
"Yeah." He smiled at her as he pulled the sheets up over her. "I'll see you tomorrow as well, doc."
She reached a hand out to clumsily pat his cheek. "Thank you for tonight. You're not always a jackass."
"And you're not always, Satan." He kissed her cheek before standing and moving to the door. "Sleep well."
Addison yawned sleepily, before smiling at him. "I'll buy you a drink some time to thank you."
"I'm gonna hold you to that one, doc." He chuckled as he left the room, turning the light out and shutting the door behind him.
