Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the show "Grey's Anatomy." I am making no money from this story. And I'm too pretty for prison.
Thanks to DianeB for saving me with this section. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who sent me kind reviews on chapter 1! This story is a 4 part story, so there are two more parts after this one!
Erica, Callie, and Addison were at Joe's for drinks to celebrate the conclusion of another day and give Addison a proper send off before her flight in the morning. Conversation was seemingly easy between the three friends, though the tensions running just under the surface were nearly palpable.
Erica's heart was in turmoil as she gazed across the table at her best friend. She had never fallen for anyone or anything before, except for her career. She feared the weakness that emotional attachment might create in her, but Callie was under her skin where no scalpel could reach. Spending time with her was exquisite torture, but like a moth to the flame, she was inevitably drawn to her.
"Any of you ladies like to dance?" Mark Sloan interrupted with his McSteamy aura in full pulse.
Throwing back another shot, Callie stood up with a nervous glance at Erica. "I'll dance with you."
Shit. Callie had been acting strange around her recently, and the way she cut her eyes toward her before accepting the invitation… What the hell?
Absorbed in her musings, Erica responded automatically to Addison's comment on Callie's appearance. "She's pretty, isn't she?"
"She's beautiful."
And there it was, her heart on her sleeve and the truth in her voice. With a slightly panicked and guarded expression, Erica tore her gaze from the tempting image of Callie gyrating to the soulful beat of the music to gaze into the knowing eyes of Addison Montgomery. The two powerful women regarded each other for a moment, before a faint, knowing smile pulled at Addison's lips. Far from comforting her, Erica felt the first tendrils of panic curling in her heart as she fought to regain her composure.
"She cares for you, too, you know," Addison intoned softly. "But I don't know if she's ready to admit that to anyone, even herself."
"Dr. Montgomery, I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about." Scathing comments had always been her shelter, and she punctuated her comment with a long swallow of red wine. Her eyes followed and noted Callie's departure from the bar with Sloan, and Erica struggled against the desire to curl into the fetal position as defense against the pain in her usually barren heart.
Despite Erica's effort to discourage further discussion of Callie, Addison continued, "I feel like I owe you a warning, Erica." Erica could practically feel the fire that kindled in her widening eyes as she mentally put up her guard. "Maybe it was remnants of the California sunshine and attitude clogging my brain, but when I watched the two of you together, I thought you were, you know, a couple." Though Addison finished hesitantly, Erica sensed that she was speaking from the heart.
Not sure how to respond, she blinked stone-faced at Addison. Apparently Addison decided that she wasn't going to receive a comment from the cardio surgeon, so she continued in a rush: "And I might have mistakenly said as much to Callie at lunch today."
"Seriously??" Erica's response could have made even Meredith Grey proud, but all of her defenses had crumbled. She was pissed as hell at Addison and her brazen assumptions, bold confessions – and spot on observations. But as much as she wanted to unleash a barrage of verbal assaults upon the red-haired doctor across the table, she wanted to hear about Callie's reaction to the statement even more.
Erica realized her response must have opened the floodgates of confession for Addison as the other doctor rambled on: "Yes, seriously, I know! I mean, you guys act like you're a couple, and then Yang came over and told Callie that she was kicking her out of her apartment unless you lightened up on her, and Callie's defense of you was sweet and caring and –"
"Damn it, Addison, stop." Erica put her hand up to silence the surgeon, and took a deep breath. Her heart warmed to hear that Callie had defended her against a woman who was arguably one of Callie's closest friends, but she needed to stop this. She opened her mouth to respond, but instead of her planned rebuke, she heard herself saying, "What did she say when you suggested that she and I were a couple?"
"She swore her undying love to penis," Addison began, and Erica could feel her anxious expression falter. Before she could stop her, Addison leaned across the table to cover the heart surgeon's hand with her own, in what she had to know was a bold risk. "But her eyes and the quiver in her voice told me a different story, Erica."
Erica couldn't speak around the knot lodged in her throat, and she reflexively squeezed the hand covering hers as her eyes filled with unbidden tears. In that moment, Addison became a confidant as Erica, absurdly, made her second friend at Seattle Grace. She had admired her obvious drive and strength from the start, despite her sordid, soap-opera style past with Derek and Mark, and now she trusted her with her deepest secret.
"Addison, I…" Deep breath, Erica. Deep breath. "Are you telling me that – you think – I mean, it could be possible – that she feels the same way that I do?"
If Addison noticed the uncharacteristic stuttering, she didn't mention it, and Erica was grateful. Through her tears, she could read compassion in the red-haired doctor's eyes.
"Yes, Erica, I do."
