A/N: I started this story a while back, but never got around to finishing it. But a recent string of really awesome Addisex stories motivated me to finish. I really enjoyed writing this story – I love the song, "One More Night," and think that it fits Addison and Alex really well. I hope you like it, and thank you so much for reading!
One More Night
You and I go hard at each other like we're going to war.
You and I go rough; we keep throwing things and slamming the door.
You and I get so damn dysfunctional – we stopped keeping score.
You and I get sick, yeah, I know that we can't do this no more.
"You're unbelievable, do you realize that?" Addison asked in frustration, as she and Alex brusquely exited their patient's room. "You're disrespectful, inconsiderate, not to mention-"
"I don't see what the big deal is," Alex defended. "Our patient's in pain. We can do something about that. Why doesn't she just take the damn epidural?"
"Because she doesn't want to," Addison seethed, as she dragged Alex into an empty OR, slamming the door behind them so that the entire hospital wouldn't hear them going at it with each other yet again. "As her doctors, we need to do everything we can to respect her wishes," Addison explained pedantically. "Even if we don't necessarily agree with them."
"Well, if she's not gonna take the epidural, can I have it?" Alex asked. "I mean, if I'm gonna continue to work on this case with you, I'm gonna need to be drugged up."
"You know, you don't even realize just how lucky you are to have the opportunity to work with a surgeon like me," Addison snapped. "Do you know how many doctors would kill to be in your shoes?" she asked, as she angrily removed her lab coat, balled it up, and threw it at him.
"Hey, what was that all about?" Alex asked, chuckling, as he easily caught the lab coat that Addison had just hurled at him.
"I'm sorry," Addison apologized, taking a deep breath. "I just, you're pissing me off, and I had the sudden urge to throw something at you. And, well, we're in an OR, surrounded by knives and scalpels, so throwing my lab coat at you seemed like the safest bet."
"Why don't you just kick me off your service," Alex suggested. "That way you won't have the urge to throw things at me...because we won't be working together."
"Oh, you would just love that, wouldn't you?" Addison asked haughtily.
"You know I would," Alex answered dryly.
"Well, unfortunately for you, that's not going to happen anytime soon," Addison smirked. "Why don't you go check on our patient again?"
"Why? We just checked on her," Alex shot back.
"Yeah, but she's in labor. And she's refusing an epidural. And I'm your boss…and I'm telling you to go check on her," Addison responded smugly. "Oh, and try to be nice," she added with a self-righteous chuckle, before making her way out the door, and leaving Alex alone in the OR.
Alex sighed in frustration, cursing his boss under his breath. And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse it did. He looked down at his hands and groaned inwardly – he was still holding Addison's lab coat.
Yeah, but, baby, there you go again, there you go again, making me love you.
Yeah, I stopped using my head, using my head, letting it all go.
Got you stuck on my body, on my body, like a tattoo.
And now I'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid, crawling back to you.
How he ended up at Addison's hotel, later that night, Alex couldn't explain. But, there he was, standing in the lobby of the Archfield hotel, introducing himself to the concierge, named Martin, and asking him for Addison's room number. Martin looked at him suspiciously, but finally gave him the information and the go ahead to go up to Addison's room. And before long, Alex was riding the elevator up to the twenty-second floor, and knocking on Addison's door.
"Karev," Addison said in surprise, as she opened the door to her hotel room. "What, what are you doing here?"
"I, uh," Alex stammered. "I wanted to give this back to you," he said, handing her the lab coat that she had thrown at him earlier in the day.
"What are you doing here?" Addison repeated.
"I just told you," Alex answered.
Addison shook her head. "You could have given me my lab coat tomorrow at work. What are you really doing here?"
"I, uh…our patient had her baby," Alex stuttered. "A little boy. And she did it without the epidural."
"I know," Addison nodded. "I was there. I delivered him, remember?"
"Right," Alex chuckled nervously.
"So why are you really here?" Addison asked.
Alex looked up and met her eyes. "I don't know," he admitted.
"Are you drunk?" Addison asked, looking at her intern closely.
Alex shook his head. "No," he said. And then it dawned on him – he really had no idea what he doing there. And he felt ridiculous. "Look, Dr. Montgomery, it was stupid of me to come here tonight. I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking. I should probably go. I, uh, I'll see you tomorrow," he stammered, as he began to turn and leave.
"Karev, wait," Addison said suddenly.
Alex turned to face her. "Yeah?"
"So, uh, you're not drunk?" she asked.
"Just stupid," Alex answered, giving her his signature crooked smile.
"Do you…do you maybe want to get drunk?" Addison asked.
Alex looked at her in confusion.
"I was just about to open a bottle of wine," Addison explained.
"And you're inviting me to drink with you?" Alex asked.
"Well, you're already here," Addison reasoned.
"That's true," Alex nodded. "Okay, just this once," he agreed, as he followed Addison into her hotel room.
"Does red wine work?" Addison asked, as she retrieved a bottle of wine and two wine glasses from the mini bar.
"Any type of alcohol works," Alex laughed, accepting the glass of wine that Addison was handing to him. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Addison smiled; and the two began to drink.
"So," Addison began, after a couple more glasses of wine, "we're not at work, so you can admit it…a small part of you likes my specialty."
Alex chuckled. "I like that you let me get in on surgeries," he admitted, reaching for the bottle of wine, and refilling their wine glasses. He looked at her and smiled mischievously. "Since we're not at work, you can also admit it…a small part of you likes having me on your service."
"I like that you're good at your job," Addison answered, giving him the same type of indirect compliment that he had given her.
"And I'm not bad to look at," Alex smirked.
"Hey, neither am I," Addison pointed out.
"So where does that leave us?" Alex chuckled. "That makes us two attractive people, who are good at our jobs, and who like scrubbing in on surgeries."
"On neonatal surgeries," Addison corrected.
"That's still up for debate," Alex smirked.
Addison rolled her eyes at her intern. "You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"
"So I'm told," Alex grinned. "Hey, can I ask you something?" he said, suddenly growing serious. "It's about your specialty."
Addison nodded. "You're lookin' at the best, so yeah, ask me anything."
"How do you do it? I mean, today, our patient was in so much pain, and she could have just taken the epidural, and felt a lot better. How do you just stand by and watch someone hurt when you know that there's something you can do to make them feel better?"
"It's hard," Addison admitted. "But I try my best to abide by my patient's wishes…kind of like how, if a patient came in asking for a boob job, you'd give it to her…even if you didn't think she needed it. It's the same thing," she explained, reaching out and bringing her hand to Alex's chest, her breath hitching in her throat at the feel of the muscle definition beneath her hand.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Alex asked in surprise.
Addison gave him a teasing smile. "Just checking," she smirked, reluctantly retracting her hand. "You do have a heart after all." She looked up and met his eyes. "Thank you," she said sincerely.
"For what?" Alex asked in confusion.
"I saw you with our patient today. You were good. And you were attentive. I only told you to check on her once. From what I saw and heard, you were in there a lot more than that. And you were comforting and reassuring. So, thank you."
"I," Alex stammered. He wanted to brush it off like it was nothing. But it wasn't nothing. Just like him showing up at her hotel room wasn't nothing.
A slight smile spread across Addison's face, and her eyes flickered from Alex's eyes, down to his lips, and back up to his eyes. He gave her a slight nod, and she leaned in hesitantly and kissed him softly on the lips, gently caressing his cheek with her hand, as she deepened the kiss, her tongue meshing with his.
Alex knew he should have stopped the kiss. She was his boss; and he was her intern. And they didn't exactly get along. But he didn't want to stop the kiss. So he kissed her back – hesitantly, at first, but then more passionately, wrapping his arms around her waist, and drawing her in closer. She leaned back on the bed that they were sitting on, and quickly pulled him on top of her. And he began trailing light kisses up and down her neck, while she began tugging at his shirt.
"Dr. Montgomery," he panted, sensing that they were dancing awfully close to doing something that they'd both regret in the morning.
"Addison," she whispered huskily in his ear, sending chills down his spine.
"Addison," he breathed. "Is this a…are you sure about this?"
"Yeah," she murmured, kissing him deeply. "Just tonight, okay?"
"Okay," Alex nodded, as they began desperately fumbling to remove each other's clothes. "I can handle that."
So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night.
"So, I guess I should probably head home," Alex said, as he and Addison stepped out of their post-sex shower.
"Or you could just stay here," Addison suggested.
Alex looked at her in confusion.
"It's late," she explained. "And our quick shower wasn't exactly quick."
"No, it wasn't," Alex agreed. "But it was worth it," he added with a smirk. "So, you're really okay with me spending the night?"
"Sure," Addison shrugged, as she slipped on a silky navy negligee. "We're both adults. And it's just this one time. It's not like we're going to make a habit of it."
"That's true," Alex nodded, putting his boxers on, and joining Addison in bed.
"Goodnight, Alex," she smiled, turning off the light.
"Goodnight, Addison," he said. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't. Something was still bugging him. He looked over at Addison, who had her back facing toward him. He inched his way closer to her and, in a very uncharacteristic move for him, wrapped his arms around her, and waited for her to react.
If she was surprised, she didn't let on – she just relaxed in his arms, and moved her body closer to his.
A small smile played on his lips, as he wrapped his arms a little tighter around her. They were crossing a line and he knew it. Sleeping with his boss – not okay. Him holding her in his arms as they drifted off to sleep – not okay. But it was only going to happen this one night – so he guessed that made everything okay.
And I know I said it a million times,
But I'll only stay with you one more night.
One night together turned into two. And two nights turned into three. And three nights turned into a week. And before long, they had spent the night together for two weeks straight. Each time it happened, they swore it would be the last time. But something always came up – a bad day at work, a good day at work, him stopping by to ask her an 'urgent' gynae question, her inviting him back to her place for a drink (or two, or three). Something always came up that made sex – and him spending the night at her place – unavoidable…even necessary.
Try to tell you 'no,' but my body keeps on telling you 'yes.'
Try to tell you 'stop,' but your lipstick got me so out of breath.
I'll be waking up in the morning probably hating myself.
And I'll be waking up feeling satisfied, but guilty as hell.
Alex knew that he needed to end things with Addison. People were starting to talk. His friends didn't know the specifics – that he had been spending the night at Addison's place for the last month – but they knew that something suspicious was going on with him. He did his best to deflect their nosey questions when he turned down their offer (yet again) to grab a drink at Joe's with them, after work. Meredith even asked him if he was ever planning on hanging out with them again, because he never seemed to want to hang out with them anymore. And Alex promised her he'd hang out with them very soon – after all, he was planning on ending things with Addison, so his after work schedule would soon open up considerably.
And as he walked into Addison's hotel, his feelings that he needed to end things with her were further confirmed. Because the concierge, Martin, (who he had gotten to know quite well over the past month) had pulled him aside and offered to give him a copy of Addison's room key, reasoning that he was always there, and that it would take all of two seconds to make him a copy. Alex quickly declined, telling Martin that his offer was completely unnecessary, because he knew what Martin didn't – that he was ending things with Addison tonight.
And with those intentions in mind, he rode the elevator up to the twenty-second floor. He knocked on the door, prepared to break things off with Addison. But then she answered the door…in her lab coat…and nothing else.
"Hey," Alex breathed, as Addison pulled him inside, and closed the door behind them.
"Hey," she said, giving him a seductive smile.
And even though his head was screaming, 'no,' his body was screaming 'yes' louder. And, in the end, his body won out, as he crashed his lips against hers, pinning her to the nearest wall, and frantically ripping off her lab coat. She gave his clothes the same hurried treatment, practically ripping his t-shirt off him.
"Addison," he panted. "Addison."
"Hmm?" she murmured, reluctantly pulling away from him slightly.
"Maybe we should…maybe we should…"
"Stop?" Addison filled in breathlessly. "Do you want to stop?"
He knew he should have said yes. Stopping was the responsible thing to do. But, right now, he didn't want to stop. He didn't want to be responsible. The only thing that was registering clearly in mind was the taste of Addison's lipstick on his lips. "I don't want to stop," he whispered as his lips reconnected with hers. "Don't stop."
Sure, it wasn't the most responsible decision. And it definitely wasn't part of his original plan for the night. But, in that moment, it was what he wanted – even if it meant waking up tomorrow feeling guilty as hell.
Yeah, but, baby, there you go again, there you go again, making me love you.
Yeah, I stopped using my head, using my head, letting it all go.
Got you stuck on my body, on my body, like a tattoo.
And now I'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid, crawling back to you.
They'd been spending the night together for three months the first time they crossed the line at work. She'd never seen him so attentive with a patient, and she was jealous. She knew she had no right to be jealous – after all, she and Alex were just casual sex…casual inappropriate sex, which she was planning on ending later that night, anyway. But, still, she was jealous, so she called him out on it. But she's her and he's him, and he wasn't about to let her yell at him without putting up a fight of his own. So he fought back…but nicely. "I'm not about to stand next to you in your OR and be anything less than over-prepared, okay? There's no way I'm going to go to work every day with a surgeon like you and not be on top of my game."
He was complimenting her…and it wasn't the in between the sheets compliments that she was used to from him. He was complimenting her. And it was more than she could take. So she crashed her lips against his and pushed him into an empty on-call room, as they both desperately tore at each others' clothes, tongues dueling, hands groping…giving in, and doing what they couldn't put off doing until later that night.
They had crossed a line, and they had crossed it hard. They had had rough, desperate, inappropriate sex at work. And that crossed a line. And he knew he needed to end things with her – for real this time.
She found him, after work, sitting outside the hospital, his head buried in his books.
"Hey," she smiled. "I, uh, I was thinking about heading back to my hotel for a drink. Do you want to join me?"
Alex swallowed hard. He knew what he had to do, but that didn't make it any easier. "Yeah, uh, I'm kind of under with this test," he told her, not looking up from his books.
"Okay," she said quietly. Sure, he was rejecting her, and she had never been one to handle rejection particularly well. But, at the same time, a part of her realized that him declining her offer may not be the worst thing. She knew that she needed to stop sleeping with him; and his excuse that he needed to study was the perfect way for them to put an end to things. Relationships fizzled out all the time (not that they were in a relationship); and if they blamed his intern test for putting an end to things, they could get out of this situation that they had gotten themselves into with their feelings and dignity still intact. It wouldn't be his fault; it wouldn't be her fault; it would be the test's fault. It was perfect.
But, despite all that, she found herself sitting down next to him. "You know," she began, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "I, uh, took that test, once upon a time. We could, um, go back to my hotel. I could quiz you."
"I, uh, I try not to mix business with pleasure," Alex stammered, fighting the urge to give in to her.
"We both know that's not true," Addison smirked. "And this will be strictly business," she promised. "I'll quiz you, and then you can leave."
He weighed her offer carefully. He knew that one insensitive comment was all he needed to end things. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything hurtful to her – especially when she was being so nice to him. And he had to admit, her offer to help him study was pretty tempting.
"Well, it doesn't have to be strictly business," he said coyly, as both he and Addison struggled to keep the smiles off their faces. They were getting one more night together, and they were relieved.
"Oh, really?" Addison asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Alex nodded, giving her his signature crooked smile. "I mean, you've got to find some way to reward me for getting the answers right."
So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night.
And I know I said it a million times,
But I'll only stay with you one more night.
They agreed that he should spend the night at her place until his intern exam. It just made sense. He did his best to ignore the comments from his fellow interns, who warned him repeatedly that he was going to fail his exam if he didn't study; to which he'd just smugly reply, "Just because I'm not studying with you doesn't mean I'm not studying."
The truth was that he was studying. He was studying, and he was enjoying every moment of it – which he was pretty sure was more than Meredith, Izzie, George, and Cristina could say of their own studying experiences.
Yeah, baby, give me one more night.
Yeah, baby, give me one more night.
Yeah, baby, give me one more night.
An outsider looking in would probably assume that Addison and Alex were a couple – especially if they saw her hotel room. There were two toothbrushes in the bathroom, his and hers razors and shaving creams, and Addison had even gone so far as to clear out one of her drawers for him to put his clothes in. To most people these were signs of a serious, committed relationship. But Addison and Alex were not most people. So they chalked up the two toothbrushes in the bathroom, the his and hers razors, and her clearing out one (and only one) of her drawers for him to issues of practicality; he was spending time at her place, and he needed to brush his teeth, shave, and put his clothes somewhere. They were just being practical.
They were sex, and nothing more. Except, somehow, he found himself telling her about his dad and his childhood. And, somehow, she found herself telling him about her failed relationships. And even though neither one of them was used to being so vulnerable, they figured that it was okay, because their arrangement was temporary. Once the intern exam was over, they'd go back to being colleagues and nothing more. All of the nights that they'd spent together would be a thing of the past.
Yeah, but, baby, there you go again, there you go again, making me love you.
Yeah, I stopped using my head, using my head, letting it all go.
Got you stuck on my body, on my body, like a tattoo.
And now I'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid, crawling back to you.
He passed his intern exam, and that called for a celebration. Sure, he didn't do as well as Cristina Yang did (no one did); but he passed, and it was time to celebrate. He declined his friends' offer to grab celebratory drinks together at Joes – he had a little something different in mind.
He showed up to the Archfield with a bottle of champagne, and was immediately greeted by Martin.
"Good evening Alex," Martin smiled. "Are you and Addison celebrating something special?" he asked, gesturing to the bottle of champagne in Alex's hand.
"We are," Alex nodded. "I found out, this afternoon, that I passed my intern exam."
"Well, congratulations," Martin grinned. "I hope you and Addison have a good night. And I'm really going to miss seeing you."
"Are you leaving the hotel?" Alex asked.
Martin shook his head. "Addison's moving. She's leaving next week. Did she not tell you?" Martin asked worriedly, noting the look of utter confusion on Alex's face.
"Oh, uh, no, no she didn't," Alex stammered. "But, uh, there, there really wouldn't be a reason for her to tell me."
Martin looked at him suspiciously. Both men knew that Alex was lying through his teeth, but Martin did Alex the courtesy of pretending to believe him. "Anyway," Martin said, clearing his throat uncomfortably, "I don't want to keep you from Addison."
"Right," Alex agreed halfheartedly, as he made his way towards the elevator. He didn't know why he cared as much as he did. He and Addison were just sex. It was just supposed to be a night-by-night arrangement, so there really wasn't any need for her to tell him that she was moving. Except, somewhere along the line, it stopped being just sex to him. They never discussed it, but he had assumed that the feelings were mutual. But Addison was moving, and hadn't bothered to tell him – he had clearly misread the situation.
He knocked on the door to Addison's hotel room, figuring that this really would be the last night they'd spend together.
"Hey," she smiled, letting him into the room.
"Hey," he said with a forced cheerfulness that she detected immediately.
"Is something wrong?" she asked in confusion. "I would have thought that you'd be the happiest guy in Seattle."
"I'm fine," he said curtly. He wasn't going to bring up the fact that she was moving; after all, she'd never brought it up.
Except, suddenly, he was bringing it up.
"You're moving," he accused.
"Who told you?" she asked.
"Why does it matter?" he retorted. "All I know is you sure as hell didn't tell me."
"Alex, I was planning on telling you," Addison said gently.
"Oh, really, when?" Alex snapped back.
"I, uh," Addison stammered. "I-"
"Don't worry, I get it," Alex interrupted. "I see where we stand."
"Oh? And where's that?" Addison challenged.
"I was a one-night stand to you," Alex spat.
"We've spent the night together for the past four months," Addison pointed out. "I'd hardly call that a one-night stand."
"Fine, we were an extended one-night stand," Alex amended. "I should go."
"Alex, wait."
Alex turned and looked at her expectantly.
"Stay the night with me?" Addison whispered.
Alex shook his head. "That's probably not a good idea."
Addison swallowed hard. "Just this once? Just one more night?"
"I, uh," Alex stuttered, feeling his resolve weakening.
"I want to show you something," Addison cut in, grabbing her purse and her keys.
"Addison."
"I want to show you something," she repeated. "Will you…will you let me do that?"
He took in the hopeful look in eyes…the vulnerability. If there was ever a time for him to crush her…to crush them…this was it.
Except he couldn't stand the thought of crushing her. Sure, she had hurt him by not telling him that she was moving, but he couldn't bring himself to return the favor. So he did the only thing that felt right – he agreed to let her show him whatever it was that she wanted to show him.
So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night.
And I know I said it a million times,
But I'll only stay with you one more night.
"So, this is it," Addison said, unlocking the front door to her new house, and letting Alex inside.
"It's nice," Alex complimented, as his eyes scanned the house that had caused him to question everything.
"Do you want a tour?" Addison asked hopefully.
Alex swallowed hard, still unable to tell where he stood with her. "Do you…do you want to give me a tour?" he asked hesitantly.
Addison nodded. "I do."
"Okay," Alex agreed quietly. "A tour sounds good."
"So, uh, this is the kitchen," Addison began. "I'm not much of a cook, as you know, but you make incredible blueberry pancakes, and I, um, I could see you in here making breakfast on our days off…or on days where we don't have to go into work until later," she explained, as Alex stared back at her in shock.
"And this is the bathroom," Addison went on, as they continued to tour the house "The Jacuzzi tub was a huge selling point," she smiled, raising her eyebrow at him suggestively.
"Do you plan on using the Jacuzzi by yourself?" Alex asked coyly.
Addison smiled, before leaning in real close, so Alex could feel her breath on his neck. "No," she whispered seductively into his ear.
And as Addison continued to give Alex a tour of her new house, it became clear to him that she had chosen the house with him in mind. The kitchen was more his than hers. The Jacuzzi in the bathroom was for both of them. And the state of the art, flat-screen TV in the living room was clearly for him; she hardly watched TV, and could care less about things like HD or the extra ESPN channels that she had ordered.
"And this is the master bedroom," Addison said, leading Alex into the final room of the house.
"There's nothing in here," Alex commented, taking in the completely barren room.
"I was kind of hoping you'd help me pick out a bed and a comforter," Addison explained. "I didn't want to decorate the room until we chose a bed that we both liked."
"We?" Alex asked, unable to keep the smile that was forming on his face in check.
"Yes, we," Addison smiled back. "So…" she trailed off.
"This is a great house," Alex complimented. "It's very you."
"Really?" Addison asked, meeting his eyes. "I actually thought it was very us."
"Very us," Alex smiled, before kissing her softly. "I think I could get used to that."
So I cross my heart and I hope to die
That I'll only stay with you one more night.
And I know I said it a million times,
But I'll only stay with you one more night.
It was only supposed to be one night. It was always supposed to be just one more night. But two years later, he's still waking up next to her in their mahogany sleigh bed with the cream comforter that they agreed upon. And as he sleepily wraps his arms around her, his eyes land on the princess-cut diamond on her ring finger, sparkling in the morning sun. And he smiles because of everything it represents – their love, their friendship, their commitment to one another. But, most of all, he smiles because it means that they have more than just one more night together. They have a lifetime.
