Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it & please review!
Ever The Same
Chapter 2: Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down
The next morning, when Addison arrived at the hospital, Alex was already there waiting for her. "Good morning, Dr. Montgomery," he smiled, as he handed her a vanilla latté.
"Uh, good morning, Karev," Addison responded. "But you really don't need to do the whole coffee thing – not that I don't appreciate it," she amended quickly.
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
"Look, sex between you and me tonight is pretty much a sure thing, so you don't need to do all of that romantic stuff. It's just sex, no feelings attached. I'll be gone in a week and our lives will go back to normal."
"So we're pretty much just sex without feelings and without romance?" Alex clarified.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not at all. You may have just become the perfect woman."
Addison tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. No feelings, she reminded herself. "So, you're my guy?" she asked, gesturing towards the chart she was holding in her hand.
If only, Alex thought to himself. "Yup," he smirked, "my ass is yours until you say otherwise; although, I still don't understand why you're spending your vacation doing surgeries."
Addison smiled slightly, "In LA, if I get one surgery a day, I'm lucky. I miss this."
Alex grinned, "Well, let's get your vacation started then."
xxxxx
"So what did I do to deserve this?" Alex smiled, as Addison emerged from the bathroom of her hotel room wearing lacy black lingerie.
"Well, what's hot vacation sex without a little lingerie?" Addison replied coyly, walking over to Alex and running her hands over his muscular body.
"Okay, now you are the perfect woman," Alex declared.
"No romance," Addison warned.
"Just stating a fact," Alex smirked as he pushed Addison onto the bed and crashed his lips against hers. She responded eagerly, deepening the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, and raking her fingers through his short hair. With Addison's help, Alex removed his shirt, and began placing a trail of kisses down Addison's neck. Alex was in the middle of removing his jeans when a loud knock on the door brought both him and Addison back to reality. Alex shot Addison a questioning look.
"I didn't order room service or anything. Whoever it is will go away," she murmured, pulling Alex back on top of her and kissing him hard on the mouth.
"Addison, I know you're in there," Derek's voice rang out from the other side of the door. "Mark and I are here, and we want to take you out for dinner."
"Yeah, let us in, Addison," Mark's voice boomed. "You saved Callie and Sophia. Taking you out for dinner is the least I can do."
Alex and Addison groaned in frustration. "Do you think they'll just give up and leave?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Addison we'll stay here all night if we have to," Mark called out.
"There's your answer," Addison smirked.
Alex sighed with disappointment. "So, how do you want to do this? I mean, we're not telling anyone about our sex arrangement, right?"
"I'd prefer to keep it between us," Addison said. She thought for a moment, as Derek and Mark continued banging on the door. "Okay, here's what we'll do," she began, "you hide in the bathroom, and I'll tell Derek and Mark to meet me in the lobby, and then you can sneak out after we leave."
"But we were supposed to have sex," Alex complained.
"I'll text you when I get back."
"Fine," Alex sighed with exasperation.
Addison chuckled, "Now get in the bathroom and hand me a robe. There's no way I'm greeting Derek and Mark like this," she said gesturing to her skimpy lingerie.
Alex smirked as he threw her a bathrobe and closed the door to the bathroom.
Addison sighed as she made her way to the door. This was not going to be easy to pull off. "Derek, Mark," she exclaimed with forced enthusiasm, as she opened the door.
"You're not dressed for dinner," Mark accused, as he and Derek entered the hotel room. "And what took you so long?"
"Well, I didn't know we had dinner plans," Addison shot back. "And I didn't hear you guys. I was in the shower."
"Your hair's not wet," Derek pointed out, as he took a seat on the bed, glancing questioningly at the noticeably wrinkled comforter.
"I meant, I was just about to get in the shower," Addison stammered.
Derek and Mark exchanged a suspicious look. "Well, get dressed," Mark said. "We have reservations at eight."
"Uh, you guys should really go without me," Addison started. "I was just going to relax here and have some wine."
"Addison," Derek scolded, "a bottle of merlot is not dinner. You're coming to dinner with us. End of story."
Addison knew she wasn't winning this fight; Derek and Mark could be extremely stubborn when they wanted to. "Fine," she finally acquiesced, running her hands through her hair in frustration. The motion caused her robe to loosen, so that a hint of lacy black lingerie was peeking out.
Derek, who noticed this first, nudged Mark discreetly. "Shit, Addison!" Mark exclaimed loudly, "Do you have someone over?"
"Smooth, man," Derek muttered dryly. Then, directing his attention towards Addison, he asked, "Do you?"
"What?" Addison asked in astonishment. "Why, why would you think that?"
"Um, well, you appear to be wearing lingerie," Derek started.
"Very, very hot lingerie," Mark added.
"Mark," Derek rebuked.
Mark shrugged. "Tell me I'm wrong, Derek." Then, turning to Addison he added, "It did take you while to answer the door. Are you sure you don't have someone over? You can tell us. We're all friends, right? It's only awkward if we make it awkward."
"Guys, there's no one here. Did it ever occur to you that I might just be wearing the lingerie for myself?" Addison asked, cringing at how ridiculous the words coming out of her mouth sounded.
Derek and Mark roared with laughter. "No," they said together.
"Well, it's the truth," Addison lied. "I just felt like wearing it." Okay, you need to stop talking now, Addison thought to herself. You're just going to dig yourself into a deeper hole if you continue to talk.
"Um, Addison," Derek began, still trying to get his laughter under control.
"Yes, Derek?"
"Why are there two glasses of wine on the table?"
"Oh, uh, those are both mine," Addison said quickly.
"And you need two glasses of wine because…" Mark trailed off.
"Because I am going through a rough time," Addison finished for him.
"Okay, but why do you need two wine glasses. Why can't you just drink a lot of wine from one glass?" Mark asked.
"Well, uh, nobody likes drinking alone," Addison answered lamely.
Derek and Mark exchanged another skeptical look.
Alex, who could hear the whole conversation from the bathroom groaned inwardly. Addison's lies weren't going to fool anyone, especially not her exes.
"You sure everything's okay, Addie?" Derek asked.
"Everything is fine," Addison assured him. "Seriously. So, how about you guys go down to the lobby, and I'll meet you down there in fifteen minutes."
Derek looked at her skeptically, but finally conceded, "Fine. We'll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes. Come on, Mark."
"Uh, okay," Mark said. "Would you mind if I use your bathroom first, though?"
"What? Why?" Addison asked in alarm.
"Do you really want the answer to that question?" Mark asked with a grin.
"Uh, no, no, I don't," Addison answered quickly. "Why don't you just use the bathroom in the lobby?" she recovered.
"Why can't I just use yours?" Mark countered.
Shit, Alex thought to himself, as he quickly jumped in the shower, closed the curtain, and prepared himself for the worst. This could get awkward. Luckily for him, Derek cut in, "Come on, Mark, let's just go down to the lobby. We don't want to miss our reservation."
Mark shot Addison a questioning look, but eventually nodded in agreement. "Okay. See you in fifteen minutes, Addison."
"Right," Addison responded, breathing a sigh of relief. "See you in fifteen minutes," she said, as she began to close the door.
"Oh, Addie," Derek began before she could completely close the door, "you really should talk to the people at the front desk about the cleaning service here." Pointing to her wrinkled bed, he smirked, "Whoever made that bed did not do it up to Archfield standards."
Addison sighed, "Will do, Derek. Will do."
xxxxx
"Hey, how was dinner?" Meredith asked sitting up in bed.
"Do women ever wear lingerie just for themselves?" Derek asked, ignoring the question.
"What?" Meredith asked in confusion.
"Well, it's Addison. Uh, when Mark and I went to pick her up for dinner, she was wearing lingerie."
"What?" Meredith exclaimed angrily. "You saw your ex-wife in lingerie, Derek? I mean, I know we're married, and I know you'd never cheat on me but, if I had to make a list of women that I would never in a million years want you seeing in lingerie, I'm pretty sure that Addison would be number one. I mean, she's so pretty it's kind of unfair. I mean, seriously, Derek, who wouldn't want to-"
"Meredith," Derek said, cutting her off, "I didn't see Addison in lingerie. Mark and I saw it peeking out of her bathrobe. And, by the way, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with your most recent confession about my ex-wife."
"So, why do you think she was wearing lingerie?" Meredith asked, refocusing the conversation.
"She said that she was just wearing it for herself, but I'm pretty sure she had a guy over."
"Yeah, women don't usually just sit around in their rooms wearing lingerie. At least, I don't. And Addison doesn't really strike me as the type either."
"Plus, she was acting kind of strange. I mean, she wouldn't let Mark use her bathroom. That's weird, right?"
"Definitely weird," Meredith agreed. "So, who do you think she had over?"
"I mean, Mark would be the obvious guess, but he was with me."
"Hmm," Meredith started, thinking back to the conversation she had had with Lucy, "do you think it could be Alex?" she asked innocently.
"As in Alex Karev?" Derek laughed.
"I don't know, they seemed pretty close at work today," Meredith insisted. "Cristina told me that he bought her coffee this morning."
"Hmm, and he noticed that she seemed upset the other day. He even asked me to talk to her," Derek added.
"And he came home earlier complaining about being cock blocked. I didn't realize he was talking about you."
"Where is he now?" Derek asked.
"I don't know. He left around the same time you came home. He said he was going out. He was pretty vague. You don't think…" Meredith trailed off.
"We obviously have to put an end to this," Derek told Meredith as he climbed into bed.
"We do?"
"Yes. Addison is an emotional wreck right now. The last thing she needs is to be getting involved with Karev."
"We're not even sure if they're involved," Meredith reminded him. "How about tomorrow I talk to him and you talk to her and we'll see what we can figure out."
"Sounds like a plan," Derek smiled before kissing Meredith goodnight.
xxxxx
The next morning when he arrived at the hospital, Derek immediately spotted Alex and Addison drinking coffee together, laughing. "Very suspicious," he mumbled to himself.
When the pair broke apart, Derek made his way over to Addison. "Are you sleeping with Karev?" he asked bluntly.
"Good morning to you too, Derek," Addison responded.
"Are you?" Derek pressed.
"Why would that matter to you?" Addison asked, evading the topic.
"You are, aren't you? And he was in your room last night when Mark and I came to get you for dinner. The black lingerie was for him, wasn't it?"
"Derek, keep your voice down. And no, we've already been over this. No one was in my room last night."
"Oh, really? So, you just sit around in lacy black lingerie for the fun of it? Women don't do that."
"Since when are you an expert?"
"And what was with you not letting Mark use your bathroom?" Derek asked. "Oh, and did you know that Karev was complaining, last night, about being cock blocked or whatever the correct terminology is? You know Addison, I was never any good at Clue but if I was a betting man, I'd chalk up your behavior last night to Alex Karev in your bathroom with very little clothes on."
Addison was prepared to deny everything, but then thought better of it. She and Derek had been married for eleven years; he wouldn't believe her lies for a second. With a sigh of resignation, she began dryly, "Congratulations, Sherlock Holmes. Alex and I are sleeping together. Now don't tell anyone," she warned.
"Addison, this is a terrible idea," Derek scolded.
"Why, Derek? It's just sex. It's no big deal."
"But Karev is so, so…inappropriate."
"Archer slept with inappropriate women after Bizzy died. Why can't I sleep with inappropriate men?"
"Really, Addison, you're using Archer as your meter stick of appropriateness?"
"Fine," Addison conceded, "when you chose me over Meredith, she slept with inappropriate men. I just got out of a relationship. I should be able to sleep with inappropriate men too."
Derek squirmed uncomfortably. He knew that Addison had him beat. "Fine," he sighed. "If this is what you want."
"It is, Derek. So don't worry about me; I've got everything under control."
xxxxx
"So, how was your night last night," Meredith asked Alex, as she joined him the locker room.
"Uh, okay, I guess," Alex replied, rummaging through his locker.
"Really," Meredith smirked, "because knowing Addison's taste in clothing, I'm pretty sure that lacy lingerie was better than okay."
"What?" Alex asked quickly, turning around to face Meredith.
Meredith grinned triumphantly, "Give it up, Alex, Derek and I both know you spent the night at Addison's."
"I didn't," Alex answered. And it was the truth. As much as he had wanted to spend the night with Addison, they agreed that it would violate their just sex arrangement so, after they slept together, he went home.
"So you two aren't sleeping together?" Meredith asked skeptically.
"No," Alex lied.
"Well, it kind of seems like you are," Meredith told him.
"I don't know where you came up with a crazy idea like that," Alex retorted.
"Hmm, let's see," Meredith began, "Derek said that Addison was wearing lacy black lingerie when he and Mark came to pick her up for dinner last night. He also said that she had two glasses of wine out, which were apparently both for her. Then there was the wrinkled comforter in Addison's hotel room and Addison's refusal to let Mark use her bathroom. Oh, and let's not forget your comment last night about being cock blocked and your coincidental decision to go out around the same time that Derek returned home. Tell me when I'm getting close, Alex," Meredith smirked. "What I'm trying to figure out," she continued, "is where you were hiding when Derek and Mark came to pick Addison up for dinner. Derek and I think you were in the bathroom, but I guess you could have been under the bed or in a closet somewhere."
Alex was ready to protest, but he realized it was pointless. Meredith was one of his closest friends; she wasn't going to buy his lies for a second. "I was in the bathroom," he confessed, refusing to make eye contact.
Meredith let out a squeal, "I knew it!"
"Please don't tell anyone, Mer," Alex begged. "We really don't need this getting out."
"So what's the deal with you two?" Meredith asked. "Are you dating?"
"No, definitely not dating. It's just sex, no strings attached."
"And does Addison know that you said her name while you were in bed with Lucy?"
"No, of course not; but, uh, how did you know that?"
"Lucy told me," Meredith shrugged.
"Please don't tell anyone about that either, Mer. Does Derek know?"
"No."
"Okay. Good. Don't tell him. He'll just tell Addison and Addison can't know about this."
"Alex, do you think that maybe you have feelings for Addison?"
Yes, he answered silently. "No," he lied. "It sex, Mer. Just sex. I don't even spend the night. I'm telling you, it's just sex. That's all."
"Alright, fine, whatever you say," Meredith smirked, as she exited the locker room. When she was out of earshot, she laughed, "He so wants her."
xxxxx
"So Derek knows about us," Addison said as she lay on Alex's bare chest.
Alex chuckled as he ran his fingers through Addison's hair, "So does Meredith. I told her not to tell anyone though," he added, kissing the top of Addison's head.
"Yeah, I swore Derek to secrecy too," Addison said, locking eyes with Alex and giving him a soft smile.
"Good," Alex smiled. "I was worried you were going to say that we needed to stop this," he said, gesturing towards their naked bodies.
"Are you kidding me?" Addison asked. "This is the most fun I've had in a long time."
"Yeah, me too," Alex agreed. "I think I'm ready for some more fun, though," he smirked, flipping Addison onto her back.
Addison smiled, "I like the way you think."
xxxxx
"So, I was thinking we should amend our sex agreement," Addison whispered to Alex the next morning at the hospital.
"Okay," Alex said hesitantly as Addison dragged him to an empty corridor.
"The whole no sleeping over thing is kind of ridiculous," Addison explained. "I mean, by the time we're finished, it's already late, and you shouldn't have to be driving home at that time. So, I think things would be a lot easier if you just stayed over." Plus, she added in her head, if you stay over, you can hold me as I fall asleep.
Alex gave a silent cheer. "I like that amendment," he said approvingly. "It would make things a lot easier if I could just stay over." Then, with a smirk, he added, "And that puts morning sex on the table."
"Good," Addison smiled. "It's settled then."
xxxxx
"Karev, you're late," Bailey scolded, when Alex walked into the hospital, a few mornings later.
"Sorry, Dr. Bailey, it won't happen again," Alex apologized.
"Must be all the sex you had last night," Meredith whispered to Alex once Bailey turned her back.
Alex rolled his eyes. "We didn't have sex last night," he whispered back.
"What?" Meredith exclaimed loudly.
Bailey turned around, "Everything alright Grey?" she asked, as Alex shot Meredith a warning look.
"Fine," Meredith blushed. Then, turning back to Alex, she whispered, "What do you mean you didn't have sex?"
Alex shrugged, "We just talked instead. She's really been through a lot lately."
"But you stayed the night, Alex," Meredith pointed out. "You never spend the night with a woman without sleeping with her first."
"I've been staying over Addison's for a couple of days now. We decided it's easier that way," Alex responded nonchalantly.
"But you stayed the night and you didn't have sex," Meredith hissed. "You're Alex Karev. You don't do that."
Alex shrugged.
"Did you open up to her?" Meredith asked.
"Could you make me sound like more of a chick?" Alex smirked.
"You know what I mean. Stop avoiding the question," Meredith pressed.
Alex sighed, "I told her about my dad and my family and Izzie and Ava, if that's what you mean. Now, can you please wipe that ridiculous smile off your face? I don't see what the big deal is."
"The big deal is that this is so more than just sex," Meredith explained. "You have feelings for her, Alex. Just admit it."
"I don't have feelings for her and, even if I did, she lives in LA," Alex reminded her.
"So, are you going over there tonight?" Meredith asked.
"Of course I am," Alex responded. "She leaves in the morning," he added, swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He knew that tonight would be his last night with Addison, but saying it aloud made it so much more real.
"And how are you feeling about that?" Meredith asked cautiously.
"Fine," Alex lied.
"Alex, you can tell me," Meredith said.
"I'm fine," Alex snapped. "I knew that she was only here for a week. I'm fine. Look, I've gotta go," Alex stammered, walking away and making his way into the nearest on-call room.
Meredith shook her head, as she watched Alex retreat, "He is so not fine."
xxxxx
"Hey Addison," Derek said cheerfully as he approached his ex-wife.
"Oh, Derek, hello," Addison responded. "What can I do for you?"
Derek smiled, "A bunch of us here at the hospital wanted to take you out tonight for a farewell dinner. I was wondering what time worked best for you."
"Oh, uh, Derek, that's really sweet," Addison started, "but I just want to do something low key tonight. You know, just stay in my hotel room."
"In other words, you want to spend your last night here alone with Karev?" Derek asked.
Addison sighed, "Yeah," she admitted guiltily.
"So, it's more than just sex, huh?" Derek asked.
"It's not, Derek," Addison lied. "It's just been a nice week, that's all. I, uh, I really need to go. I'll see you later, Derek," Addison said, walking away and heading into an on-call room, tears brimming in her eyes.
Get it together she scolded herself silently, as she sat down on one of the beds and put her head in her hands. You knew you were only here for a week; what were you expecting to happen? It was just supposed to be sex, she reminded herself, as the tears began to fall from her eyes. So why did she feel an ache in the pit of her stomach every time she thought about leaving Alex?
Addison had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't realize that she wasn't alone in the on-call room. When she looked up, she was looking at Alex Karev, whose pained expression matched hers perfectly.
He moved from his bed, sat down next to her, and pulled her into his lap. "You were crying." It was more of a statement than a question.
"It's just, I really did need a break from LA, and now, I just, I'm not looking forward to going back," Addison mumbled into Alex's chest.
Alex wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back gently. "I wish you were staying longer too," he said softly.
Addison looked up at Alex and he pulled her in for a soft kiss, hoping to take away the pain that they were both feeling. Addison responded, but it wasn't like their usual kisses. It wasn't passionate or desperate or urgent. It was warm and caring, maybe even loving.
"Stay with me tonight?" Addison asked when they finally broke apart.
"I always stay with you," Alex smiled.
"Yeah, but don't stay with me because it's easier or so we can have sex in the morning," Addison clarified. "Stay with me because you want to."
"I will," Alex smiled before kissing her softly.
xxxxx
"So, I guess this is it," Addison said, as she and Alex stood together in the airport terminal.
"Yeah," Alex said sadly, "I guess so."
"Umm, I just wanted to thank you…for this week and everything," Addison stammered. "You were really great."
"Believe me," Alex laughed, "this week wasn't exactly a burden for me. I'm gonna miss you."
"Unsurprising," Addison smirked.
"Yeah," Alex smiled, "you're pretty cool when you don't go missing. But, remember, just because you're back in California, it doesn't mean you can go all sad again and let people walk all over you, okay?"
Addison smiled.
"I'm serious," Alex continued. "You're strong, Addison, you fight for what you want, and you don't take shit from anyone. Treat the people in LA the way you treat me – well, minus all the sex," he added quickly.
"I'm gonna miss you too," Addison smiled.
"Unsurprising," Alex grinned. They stood there for a moment, both losing themselves in each other's eyes, until an announcement about boarding for Addison's plane brought them back to reality.
"Well, I guess I should go," Addison began, moving in towards Alex.
"Yeah," Alex agreed pulling her in for a kiss. Both knew that this kiss violated the terms of their just sex agreement, but neither was going to say anything. They both knew that they were more than just sex. They just weren't ready to admit it.
"I really should go," Addison said when she and Alex broke apart.
"Yeah. Have a good flight," Alex responded.
"Thanks," Addison said, giving Alex a quick final kiss on the lips. "Bye Alex."
"Bye Addison." He watched her retreating form until he could no longer see her. "I love you," he said quietly before turning around and making his way out of the airport and back to his car.