Now, when I was a young girl

She couldn't figure out how he talked her into it. It was a bad idea. She knew it was. He used to be her intern. and he was practically her best resident. She worked with him practically everyday. Whoever thought he would take a real interest in OBGYN? She surely didn't, and she definitely didn't expect him to ask her to go with him to the party. She was in such shock that she couldn't even come up with the word "no". Before she could even answer, he said "Great! See you there!" and walked off. Jackass. Either way, She was there in her red dress that left little to the imagination that was pulled together in the center into a knot of sorts, and for the first time since she could remember, she didn't care. She wasn't married, or at a formal gathering. She was at a work party, and could dress however she damn well pleased. By the look on the guy's faces in the room, she did a pretty good job. She even spiral curled her hair, which she was certain took more effort than necessary. After all, it was Karev. To match the dress she was wearing a necklace that had large multi-colored beads that looped around her neck twice- by far her favorite thing she had on.

"Addi?" The familiar voice shook her from her thoughts as she turned around to find Mark, dressed in a navy blue suit, with a gray shirt under. Sighing slightly in disappointment, she offered him a small smile, with a small trace of genuine happiness to see him..

"Hey Mark. Didn't think you'd come here." She turned back around to face the party as he steps up to become level beside her. She hated the effect he had on her, so she always tried her best to seem nonchalant when he was around. Trying to the best of her abilities to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, and the intense feeling in her knees, dooming them to collapse if he stepped any closer.

"Chief's orders." Mark mumbled, messing with his hair slightly to make sure it was just right.

"Yeah. I mean, God forbid your midnight kiss be with someone you'll ever see again!" Addison rolled her eyes, scanning the room for her, well for lack of better wording, date. The shorter this conversation was, the quicker she could forget about it. The last thing she wanted was to bring in the new year fretting over Marcus Sloane, again.

"Exactly!" Mark chuckled, not quite catching the sarcasm practically dripping from her lips. "But you know, we can always ditch this like we used to." He grinned as his eyes traveled down the length of her dress and back, taking in her every curve, and shimmer of her well-toned skin.

"Ugh. How were we ever friends?" Addison eyed him for a moment before returning her attention to the decorations of the party. She was trying her best to ignore how nice he looked, and how tempting it really was to leave with him. They'd done it countless times before, and if Callie wouldn't kick her ass for it, she might actually take him up on it. Plus, she had a date, even if she couldn't find him at the moment.

"Friends?" Mark quirked his eyebrow at her. "That's what you call what we were?" He turned his body towards her, folding his arms against his chest in a huff. He knew he'd messed it up pretty bad with her, but it was still a low blow to call them friends!

"Meant about as much." Addi sighed, not wanting to continue the conversation anymore. She didn't mean for it come out that way, she didn't even believe it. She cared about Mark a lot back in New York, and if she let herself think about it longer than absolutely necessary, she would probably admit that she still did, if not more. But she would never let herself think that far, and neither would Callie, her one and only girl friend in Seattle. Well, besides Miranda, of course. But Miranda had a family, so they didn't exactly socialize like her and Callie. Especially after Callie and George called it quits, the two had practically been inseparable after work.

"Thanks Addi! Really." Mark scowled as he returned his attention to the party. He'd shown up to the party, and had been excited to see Addison alone. They hadn't spoken much lately, and then she says something like that. People called HIM cold-hearted. If it was anyone else, he wouldn't have cared what they considered him. But she wasn't just anyone- she was Addi, the only person he'd ever loved- not counting those you're required to love. Even those, Mark was pretty iffy about most of the time.

"No problem." she quipped back finally spotting Alex coming towards her from across the room, offering him a genuine smile as she thought about where the night might lead. She had to find a way to get rid of Mark before he got over, the last thing she wanted to hear was Mark's smart ass remarks about the two of them. In fact, she didn't really feel like listening to Mark's remarks about anything.

"Well look who it is! Not working out now that you don't have my bed? That's a shame!"

Derek snarled from behind, each of them turning around with a scowl on their faces. His tantrum was beyond old news.

"What's wrong, Derek? Meredith realize she could do better than you too?" Mark chuckled, gaining confidence by the moment, recovering from Addi's blow. He could practically feel the daggers stabbing him from Derek's eyes, but he didn't care. He was sick of the bickering.

Addi wanted to mention the fact that she left him and went back to Derek, but she wasn't quite in the mood for the fact that he was a manwhore even when they were together to be thrown back in her face, so she just kept her mouth shut. She turned back around towards the party, noticing Alex getting closer, thankful that pretty soon he could save her from this hellhole of a conversation. She suddenly didn't care about anything the two attendings would say about Alex, as long as he would pull her away from them.

"Why are you even here, Mark? Nothing is here for you!" Derek snapped back, already becoming impatient with waiting for Meredith, who was in the bathroom, apparently doing whatever it is that girls do in bathrooms that take an eternity and a half.

Even Addison winced at the harshness in Derek's tone. She offered both of them a small frown in apology for her role in it. She hated that she'd destroyed their friendship. She was actually proud of Mark for trying to become friends with Derek again, even if they both knew that would never happen. Forgiveness was never one of Derek's abilities. Ever. "Calm down, guys. We're in public!" Addison ran her hands gently through the front of her hair to calm her nerves, still careful not to mess up any of the curls.

Both of the men took a deep breath and nodded before their attention turned to Alex, who was quickly approaching them. Each eying her oddly, making her want to crawl into a hole wearing 7 in heels rather than explain why he was coming over. But it was too late.

"Hey Addison." Alex smiled nervously, not even daring to touch her in front of Derek and Mark. He was honestly just hoping she'd acknowledge him. He would have stayed away if she wouldn't have seemed so pleading for him to come. The longer he stood with the trio, the worse the self- chastising became on himself. What a moron, he wanted to exclaim, inevitably slamming his forehead against the palm of his hand.

"Dr. Karev?" Mark raised his eyebrow, his eyes darting from Addison to Alex, and back again, asking the unspoken question.

Addison, completely avoiding their gazes, turned to face Alex, offering him her best smile. "Karev! Let's go get a drink!" she grabbed onto his forearm, pulling him away quickly to the bar that was conveniently set up on the other side of the room, right next to wear Izzie was sitting.

My dad warned me about the opposite sex

Alex Karev was confident about a lot of things. He was confident in his work, in his goals, and most of the time, in women. But one thing he was NOT confident about was Addison Montgomery. He'd known her for a solid year, and quite frankly, yet to see any flaws. Well besides the obvious, adultery and divorced. But who was he to bring someone down for having sex? Exactly. And divorced? Who isn't these days? He'd been at this party for half an hour talking to Izzie, who'd insisted on helping him get ready for the party once he hinted that he had a date. They'd spent twenty entire minutes bickering on his shirt. It was pink, and Alex was not amused. Eventually, she convinced him that the striped jacket was manly enough to balance out the shirt. He didn't believe her exactly, just like he didn't believe only real men wear pink, but he was tired of arguing about it. Especially with Izzie. He swore to himself everyday that he now only saw her as a friend, but sometimes when they hung out, he had to remind himself of that more often that he probably should. She still hadn't dated since Denny, which made it difficult for him to move on. What if she still cared about him, too? He didn't tell her who his date was, mostly because he wasn't sure if she'd even acknowledge him. He didn't really give her a chance to say no. There are just some blows to the ego he couldn't take. In hindsight, being blown off in an empty hallway would probably be better than in a crowded room full of co-workers, but there's a reason hindsight is 20/20. He was starting to wonder if she was even going to show. He kept scanning the room looking for her, but so far he wasn't having any luck. He'd tuned out Izzie several minutes before due to his nerves building up.

"Alex?" Izzie snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. Alex wasn't known for paying attention to people, but he had always paid attention to her. She was starting to get a serious complex about the dress she was wearing. She was suddenly cursing herself for not changing, that is until she remembered why she didn't. Denny. She'd been told enough times by now that it wasn't the LVAD wire cutting that killed him, that it was the clot, but that didn't stop her from cursing herself every now and then when it came to being indecisive. Especially with dresses, so she wore the first dress she tried on. After spending so much time getting Alex ready, she didn't have a lot of time to get herself ready. Which was probably even better. Alex was her ride to the party, and he wasn't exactly known for his patience. Much less for a dress. Now she was practically being ignored, she didn't like it one bit. On top of that, he wouldn't even tell her who his date was. She never meant for it go this far. She was just planning on taking a few more months to move on from Denny, but as the months passed, and then some more passed as well, she lost her nerve. What if he'd moved on? Now he had a date. She was determined to be happy for him, no matter what.

"Huh?" Alex turned back towards her with a sheepish grin. "Sorry Iz. Did I mention how great you look?" His smile brightened as her cheeks flushed.

"You think you're such a charmer, Alex." Izzie laughed, shaking her head, even though she was going to take anything she could get. It felt nice to be reveled in.

"You know it." Alex winked as he let out a soft chuckle, reaching out his hand for hers.

"Right." Izzie rolled her eyes, trying her best to ignore the knots in her stomach as he grabbed onto her hand softly, her palms quickly becoming sweaty.

"Wanna dance?" He spoke so softly that she wasn't sure she'd even heard him right. There were only a couple of people dancing, and dancing had never quite been Izzie's specialty. But as soon as she looked at him, she knew she would have to.

"Um. Drink 1st. Then dance. Okay?" Izzie smiled before walking away to the bar, that was only several feet away.

Alex watched her walk away with a grin plastered on his face before returning his attention to the party. He definitely didn't need her see him staring at her. She'd told him she couldn't, and he was determined to be her friend. Friends don't stare at friends walking away. They just didn't. Even though, he didn't see the problem. But that wasn't the point, he shook the thoughts off right before his eyes fell on Addison. His eyes bulged slightly as he took her in her appearance. She always dressed nice at work, but there was something different about her tonight. A glow he hadn't noticed before. She was standing next to Sloane, but she looked incredibly uncomfortable, and he felt the need to save her. Making eye contact, she smiled at him. He was going to take that as a sign that she would, in fact, acknowledge him if he walked over. He stood up to smooth out his suit before making his way over, completely forgetting about the dance he'd been promised by the blonde girl who watched him walk away, tears glazing over in her eyes as she turned her attention to his destination. Addison Montgomery.

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