A/N: There's some fighting which I love but as I try to maintain a promise to keep this light, we move on quickly. They may be out of character but to reconcile this quickly I had to pull them a little in my own direction. I hope you enjoy, and I having the worst day ever so I'd appreciate the good warm feeling that comes from feedback. Literally, I am sitting in my office staring down a hallway of about 800 choral kids who are chatting with complete disregard for the people who have to work behind them. If I hear one more sentence that starts with "Like", I am going to pull my hair out. But, I digress, enjoy!

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I'll drink your poison and say
I'm still not going away
I'll swallow all your bombs and grenades
And love you like a tsunami wave
Wave, wave
Oh, all the memories we had
Framed in our minds like photographs
Take a second, take a second
And make this last
Here where the future meets the past
-The Classic Crime, "All The Memories"
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"Addison?" Richard calls out as he steps onto the deck of his trailer holding a steaming cup of coffee.

She spins, alarmed by the sudden noise to find her old mentor dressed in a sweater and slacks fresh from the hospital. "Richard?" She calls back before she dares to move.

He sets the cup down carefully on the table in front of him before scurrying over to her spot in the drenched ground. She smiles upon finding the once familiar face and he gently pulls his into his arms for a hello hug. Pulling back he asks, "What are you doing here?"

She reaches back for a strand of her hair as her fingers try to tremble. Twisting it subconsciously she follows him back to the deck and replies, "I came up for a visit."

"I see that. What are you doing out here at Derek's?" He turns away briefly before reappearing with another cup of coffee and taking a seat opposite from her as the cool night breeze cuts through his sweater.

She finds it hard to come up with words when she herself has no real idea of why she got on that plane a few hours ago so she does her best to deflect. "Better question, what are you doing out here? Get tired of living in your office?" She mocks running her finger along the rim of the cup. It is pressing three am and her nerves are beginning to get the better of her.

"Very funny. Glad to see you in good spirits finally and well, I moved out here. Derek allowed me to put my trailer out by his and this is where I live now."

"You know, I never understood what it is about men and the woods. Why didn't you just buy a house?"

He pauses briefly, after having considered it himself he replies, "A house seemed too permanent for where I am at in my life right now. So back to you. What is the real reason you hiked out into the big bad scary woods."

She opens her mouth to speak and finds the words coming out in true waterfall fashion. "I missed Derek and I know how stupid that sounds, believe me but I missed him and then the next thing I knew I was setting foot into the airport."

"How very irrational of you."

She exhales the breath she was holding slowly and acknowledges the truth. "Yes, it was. And now he isn't here so I just wasted a few hours on a flight. I should get that taxi back and try to find a hotel room."

"Derek's gone."

"Yeah there was a fifty-fifty chance of that happening. I lose." She sets the cup back down and places her hand around it to catch the warmth that emulates.

"No, I mean he took time off."

"Oh."

"You could stay at his place. He never locks the door and I would be grateful for the morning company."

She shakes her head when she realizes that being in the trailer alone would be horribly depressing. "I don't think that he would appreciate me in his things…and if he and Meredith come back. Well, that would just be a mess I prefer to stay out of." She stands, pulling her jacket a little tighter around her waist before stepping back out into the pouring rain.

"Ok, but you should know that he and Meredith are over."

Before she can stop herself a huge smile paves her face and she hesitates to take another step. She isn't really all that big on gossip but it is coming from a fairly reliable source. "Really?"

"Something about chasing something that he was too stupid to hold onto. You should stay." He nods back to the trailer and she begins pacing toward it. She pulls the old key from her pocket before checking the handle and gives one last look to Richard. "Night."

"Goodnight Addison and welcome back."

She doesn't bother to refute that she is indeed not back on staff or even something resembling her staying in town for longer than a few days before stepping into the darkened tin can and reaching for the light switch. It flutters on and she gasps when she realizes that the whole place looks exactly the same as the last time she saw it with the exception of her missing possessions. Heading toward the bed, she quells the memories for another time and kicks her shoes off before collapsing into the soft comforter and inviting pillows.

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"Derek, is that you?' Sam calls from his window before stepping outside.

"Sam?" Derek replies pulling himself from his warm spot in front of her door. His plan to simply wait it out until she comes home has been futile in providing results.

Extending his hand quickly Sam pulls his old friend in for the "man hug". "I'd ask what was bringing you to L.A. but that seems to be rather obvious."

"Yeah." Derek mutters as he looks at her house again.

"She's not here."

"I see that." He retorts, his travels leaving him cranky. "Sorry. Do you know when she will be back?"

"Nope. She has the weekend off. Could be with Pete but I will kill him before you get a chance so don't worry about that. You want to come in?" He motions back toward his house and kicks at the sand between them.

"Sure. Who's Pete?"

"No one important. Just a co-worker who is insistent on dating her."

"Oh." Derek murmurs feeling defeated and useless. He didn't think she would have moved on this quickly even though he had.

"I wouldn't worry about it." They reach his house as Derek's phone begins to buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out and sighs when he sees Richard's number but neglecting the Chief is not an option. "I need to go take this. I'll be right back."

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He draws up short when he enters his declared home hours later. Grinning as he sees her hair splayed across the pillows and her legs tangled in the blankets he reaches up and pulls his shirt overhead. Wasting no time he tugs off his jeans after releasing his feet from the holders. He is positive that he has sand in his hair but is too tired to take a shower mostly at the risk of waking her. Climbing onto the bed he carefully undoes the mess she has created and pulls the comforter back over them before succumbing to need for sleep.

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Upon waking she was certain that she was in a dream. She squinted her eyes against the breaking sunlight filtering in through the un-drawn blinds and muttered incoherently as she shifted her legs out from underneath his. Her mind spun as she tried to remember what in world happened last night. Fearing she was on some horrible acid trip or in a coma she bolted straight up and sucked in all the air her lungs would hold.

"Addison, sleep." Derek mutters as he rolls over to face her.

"What happened?"

"Long story. Too long for the little sleep we've had. Lay down."

The memories of her arrival begin to seep back in and flops backward placing her hand over her eyes. "When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago. Please sleep." He grumbles flipping onto his stomach and burying his head under the pillows.

"We need to talk."

"Not right now. Give me four hours and some coffee and then you can flip out. By the way thanks for letting yourself into my house." He teases in mock fashion.

"Ugh." She kicks her legs out from underneath the blankets, dead set on getting the hell out of there and focusing on turning her brain back on when he drapes his arm across her hips and pleads for sleep again. "Fine…fine. Sleep, got it." She pulls the blanket back up but relishes in the warmth of his forearm across her stomach.

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"Stop thinking." He states as he hands her a cup of coffee five hours later.

"Oh because that is possible."

"Take it on faith."

"Take what on faith? I don't have faith to give." She replies confused as her eyes dart around the daylight room. She notices the placement of everything and tries not to think of the times in her marriage where she spent more time with these inanimate objects than with her husband. Attempting to make peace with everything that went so horribly wrong with them inevitably lead her to California and while she is certainly not over everything it often stings less than it used to when she thinks about it.

"Well, I went down there to find you and you came up here on the same day. Coincidence?"

"We both lost our minds at the same time?" She grins. He places a bowl in front of her before pouring the cereal from its box and topping it with milk. Of all the mornings they spent together here he never once made her breakfast, unless you count trout, which she didn't. Trout was more of a torturing mechanism; a punishment for her sins in the most subtle of ways.

"I lost mine a long time ago but it is coming back to me."

"Well, that's rather frightening for your patients. Malpractice anyone?"

"Oh shut up. You know what I meant."

Growing silent she dips her spoon into the mess of flakes. "Yeah, but all joking aside Derek. I don't know what I was thinking…I'm sorry for coming up here like this. I was lonely and I missed you and I made a bad choice."

"I wouldn't say that. I don't think it was a bad choice. I would know. You should see the things I've done lately."

"Thank you for having me." She replies quietly as the meal continues in silence.

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"I don't trust you!" She shouts back mid-conversation hours later. They have spent the entire day yelling and discussing things. From the broken marriage to prom and the suffering that was intertwined with all of it.

"Or I you. But who's to say that we can't get to a point where we do?"

"I...no. Derek this is insane. We can't. We just got divorced a few months ago."

"So, who said we ever did anything the easy way? We are stubborn as hell and it took me a little longer than it should have to realize that you were what was missing in my life. I was standing there talking about wanting a house, a wife and kids before it hit me that I had all of that. From then on out it's pretty much been me trying to convince myself to not fly down there….but no matter how many times I stopped myself and thought it through I always came back to you." He slumps back against the couch in the far end of the trailer as she paces bare foot in front of him. After throwing her clothes in the washer, because she didn't bring anything but a purse, she is now stuck in a pair of his old blue sweats and an undershirt.

She toys with the drawstring of the rolled over pants before taking a second to acknowledge the conversation she had with Naomi. "I said I wanted something more, someone with passion; with purpose and Nae said I wanted a husband and kids."

"What's wrong with that?"

She stops halfway through her path along the trailer and turns back to him. "Nothing I guess. I just…we can't do this. We already proved it doesn't work between us."

"It works. It worked for almost eleven great years before things headed south. Think of it this was Addie- We already know what mistakes to avoid. We get to start over, a new chance to do things right." He stands carefully walking over to her before taking her face in his hands and lightly placing his lips upon hers. He pushes back lightly, intent on savoring the moment and when she reciprocates he feels the old tingle run down his spine. "We can do this." He whispers as he pulls away from her lips.

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"What happens when you wake up and realize that you are stuck with me again?" She asks. They have spent the better part of the afternoon playing the what-if game so that her nerves can be calmed.

"I wouldn't feel stuck Addison."

"What happens when you see Meredith and realize you made a mistake?"

"I wouldn't be doing this if I thought it was a mistake."

"What happens when you start to work too much and I say something? What happens when you yell and tell me I am being ridiculous and there is nothing to worry about? I was right last time!"

He wants to retort that exact thing back at her; that there is nothing to worry about. Trying to be brave enough for them is getting a little exhausting but he deserves to pay a price much greater than this to get her back so he continues to play along. "You were right and now I know that. But you got busy too. It has to be both of us on this. Not one sided…and you are being ridiculous right now." He can't help but let the last part slip out and he is met with a throw pillow to the face. "Hey!"

"What?" She grins attempting to act confused.

The worst thing about the trailer is the lack of space but in this instance it works to his advantage. He reaches out and pulls her back causing her to fall into his lap when they land on the couch. "Derek! We are trying to have a conversation here."

"I'm tired of talking. We have talked all damn day Addison. About everything. I honestly and whole heartedly believe that we can do this. I want to do this. I miss you and everything about you, ok? Can that quash the question and answer session long enough for us to get dinner? Because you can't hold me captive and not feed me."

"You get cranky." She acknowledges leaning back against his chest and letting her head fall into the spot between his neck and shoulder.

"Yes, I do." He brushes the hair out her eyes. "Now can we eat?"

Standing she pulls him up after her and pouts ever so slightly. "You really want to do this?"

"Dinner, yeah I am starving." She jabs at his side causing a fit of laughter. "Ok, yes. I am sure I want to do this. I mean why else would I beg you to move back. Do I look masochistic?"

"Sometimes I wonder."

"Well, stop wondering and go get dressed so we can get food."

She pauses before heading toward the dryer. "Maybe we could stay in tonight?"

"You hate this place."

"Yeah, well it's not so bad when we aren't convinced that we hate each other. The walls feel cozy instead of like they are suffocating me." She smiles as he comes up next to her and wraps his arms loosely around her waist.

"Ok, deal but Richard will probably join us when he gets off."

"Do we? I mean should we say anything or play it cool like I am visiting?'

"Oh, does that mean that you have found it in your cold ice pump of a heart to give me another chance?"

"Watch it mister. Wouldn't want to piss off your girlfriend." He laughs as she turns toward the bedroom. "What?" She calls out.

"You called yourself my girlfriend."

"Yeah. Well, I mean I guess we could date nonexclusively if you wanted to first but I just assumed that would be what we called ourselves. It's not like we can undo divorce papers and marriage-"

"Addison."

"Hmm?"

"Shut up. Girlfriend is fine, it's great. I just assumed you would make me jump through nine hundred hoops before we ever got to that."

She emerges dressed in the previous day's fresh clothing. She tilts her head to the side before giving him a quick peck. "We don't have time for nine hundred hoops Derek. We aren't exactly young and I know how high you can jump already. Remember college?"

"Uh, yeah. Vividly thank you. So, pizza?"

"Sure."

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"So you two certainly know how to hop right back into the swing of things." Richard notes as he watches Derek and Addison make faces at each other.

"What?" She replies a little too quickly.

"Who do you think you are kidding? I remember your intern year and those faces better not mean what I think they mean because I currently reside about ten feet away."

Addison turns bright red trying not to remember the one time Richard caught them in a supply closet half dressed. She would like to think that she has come a long way since those times but in moments like this she still feels like the twenty four year old being scolded. "Richard." She replies not able to get anything else out when Derek cuts her off.

"Addison knows how to keep it down Richard, don't worry."

Her face drops and her eyes widen in abject horror until she realizes that he isn't kidding and then suddenly the butterflies find their way back into her stomach. Through the short process of one day she hadn't really taken in the implications of what starting over with him would mean. And while they had certainly had sex too many times to count she still felt unendingly nervous about the prospect of it not going well.

"Great Shep, just what the kind of conversation I enjoy with my dinner."

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Hours later they lie tangled in each other's arms sorting through the days events.

"Naomi is going to kill me."

"She'll forgive you. Naomi is a good friend."

"She just gave me that job, why don't you move to L.A.?"

"We've gone over that Addison. It's far easier for you to come back than it is for me to pack up and move down there. Unless you want every one of our dates to include airfare you are going to have to budge on this one." He shifts on the bed pulling her a little closer and letting his fingers trail along her back under the material of her shirt. He rationalizes that it is probably far too soon to attempt to seduce her but on the other hand it isn't like it's something that they haven't done before.

"What happens when this doesn't work and then I need a job again? There is no way Naomi will trust me-"

"First you have to stop thinking in terms of this being doomed from the start and second of all you know how talented you are. Any hospital would be lucky to have you. As for private practices, well I still can't believe you jumped ship."

"Had to do something." She gasps as his fingers trail a little higher and unclasp her bra. "Derek."

"Addison." He responds before running his fingers back down her spine.

"Too soon." She sits up trying to hook it back but quickly gives up and goes to change into her pajamas mentally noting that she really needs to get some stuff up here.

"Ok." He feels almost disappointed but it was worth a shot and when she crawls back into his arms for the second time that day and he flips the lights off he knows, for absolute sure, that this was the right choice. Now it is only a matter of getting her to agree.

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