Disclaimer: Grey's is part of Shondaland…sadly I'm not…
Summary: Set one year after Addison's departure from Seattle, a chance encounter shows Alex how to grow up a little…
A/N: So I decided to make this a "through the years" type story. I'm going to follow the Alex/Addison development over the course of a decade. I think it will ultimately be Addex (and this chapter definitely is) but be prepared for a little bit of angst.
-------------------------
Alex needed a break. Seattle, in all its beauty, was just too damn rainy. Meredith and Cristina…they weren't sun people. Their stylishly dark and twisty ways were built for a city like this.
And Izzy, whose limitless optimism oozed out at people, was needed here. Too much sunlight might put her cheeriness into overdrive.
But George…George could use a little fun. After the dead dad and the Izzy-Callie-Izzy unpleasantness, a little sunshine might do him some good. And the way Alex saw it he was, next to Cristina, the only other person with balls.
In the locker room Alex sat on the floor with his legs crossed Indian style. George and Meredith walked in tiredly.
"George, you have got to snap out of it…"
"Meredith, you are not my mother…stop trying to mother me…"
"All I'm saying is…" Meredith paused when she noticed Alex sitting on the floor. "Alex, what are you doing?"
"I'm thinking." Alex said from the floor.
"You sure about that Creepy McCreepy…cause last I checked thinking required a brain." Cristina threw open the door pulling off her scrub cap as she walked.
"Last I checked, marriage required a heart. That didn't seem to stop you."
"Bite me." Cristina gave him a sideways glance as she stepped over a bench and headed toward her locker.
Alex stood up and walked towards George. "Hey George…what are you doing this weekend?"
"Why?" George looked at Alex in that 'I'm judging you' kind of way that still managed to exude curiosity.
"Well, I have two tickets to California…and I thought…well I thought you could maybe use a vacation. I mean you could be my wingman. Hot chicks, sandy beaches. But…you know…if you have Barbie's to play with, I understand…" Alex shrugged nonchalantly and turned toward his locker.
"Oh isn't that sweet… the Doublemint twins are bonding." Cristina rolled her eyes and looked at Meredith.
"I don't play with Barbie's." George grumbled. "Why would I want to go on vacation with you…more importantly…why are you asking me? Are you really that short on guy friends?"
"Look, if you don't want to go…fine. I'll just give the ticket to one of those cute nurses…but I thought that maybe you'd like the chance to get out of here for a few days. My mistake." Alex slammed the door to his locker with a shrug and grabbed his bag. He pushed open the door and just before he let go, George called out.
"Wait." Alex smirked and George hurriedly grabbed his things. "I'm coming with you."
-------------------------
George and Alex shuffled slowly off the plane. Dressed in the tackiest of tacky Hawaiian shirts, George smiled excitedly at a picture of a charming little beach.
"Dude, are you really gonna wear that shirt? You look like a tourist."
"We are tourists."
"Yeah, but you shouldn't advertise that." Alex, dressed in cargo shorts, a wife beater, and flip flops, fit in perfectly. He walked quickly towards baggage claim. George, who was like a little kid in a candy shop, dragged behind.
"Hey, wait up."
-------------------------
Getting their luggage proved to be a relatively easy task. Getting to their hotel, however, was slightly more challenging.
"Right or left George?" Alex, hands gripping the steering wheel, maneuvered awkwardly though L.A. traffic. "Right or left?"
"Right…I think…no wait left. Shit, I can't tell which direction we're going on Sepulveda. This map…" George clumsily struggled with a giant map he'd bought at the airport. Honking came from a car behind them.
Alex flipped them off out the window. "Screw you," he mumbled. When they passed him he realized it was two teenage girls no more than seventeen.
"I'm going left." Alex cut across two lanes of traffic pissing a few people off in his wake. A red convertible Aston Martin honked loudly from somewhere to the left and when Alex looked he couldn't help but shake a feeling of déjà vu. He shrugged it off and went back to George.
"Lemme see that thing." Alex reached for the map and George held it away.
"Alex, watch the road…you're driving…I got it."
"If you had it, we wouldn't be getting honked at. Now lemme see the damn map." Alex turned at the light and pulled over. He yanked the map out of George's hands. "We should have made a right." Sighing, he began to turn the car around.
"You sure about that?" The haughtiness in George's voice told Alex that he was missing something. When he looked up, a giant sign that read "405 South" loomed ahead.
A few wrong turns later and the two finally reached their destination. Blocks from the beach and within walking distance of some of the best shopping in town, they went upstairs to drop their bags off.
"Ooh…lets go to build-a-bear. We can bring something back for Meredith, Izzy, and Cristina. A bear dressed like a doctor or something." George's eyes lit up. "Or what about Disneyland…I've always wanted to go."
"Dude, what are you four? Let's go to the store, get some beer, and head to the beach. We've still got a few hours of sunlight left." Alex smirked at George wondering what exactly he got himself into.
George shrugged disappointedly and made a face at Alex. But the beach sounded like an okay plan so we went along with it.
-------------------------
The grocery store was only a few blocks from their hotel so they decided to walk. Alex grabbed a basket and started listing the things he needed to find.
"Okay, we need beer, chips, salsa…" George, slightly annoyed at Alex, didn't say anything. "Bambi, you get the food, I'll head over and get the beer. I'll meet you at the front."
"Ooh, can you pick up some wine coolers – you know the tropical kind." Alex just stared at George. "What?" George questioned.
"Nothing." Alex walked away shaking his head. Under his breath, "He is such a girl…"
Alex perused the shelf in front of him. Tropical wine coolers; was he serious? "I don't do wine coolers" he muttered under his breath.
"Really, cause wine coolers do L.A." A voice he hadn't heard in over a year stopped him in his tracks. He stood up, but didn't turn around. He took a deep breath.
"And apparently so do you…do L.A. I mean." Alex turned and saw Addison, red hair swept back in a messy pony tail, wearing shorts, a tank top and flip flops. He didn't know what to say. They left on good terms…no great terms…but he still felt awkward. That night she helped him "study" was a night that lingered for a really long time. And she looked amazing. "You look good." He reached to give her a hug, but second guessed himself and started to back away.
She took a deep breath. Noticed his attempt and followed it up with her own. What resulted was the world's clumsiest hug Wow. Alex Karev was probably the last person she expected to run into. And despite the fact that she left Seattle (and him) she realized she was really glad to see him. "Thanks. How've you been...I mean how's Seattle?"
"It's good, good. I just…I needed a change of pace…a break…so George and I decided to spend a weekend on the beach."
"O'Malley? You came here with George O'Malley?" Addison looked at him skeptically, knowing that he and George were never really the best of friends. Alex shrugged.
"What are you doing here? Are you on vacation?" He looked at Addison with a hint of the boyish curiosity that was so characteristically George, she couldn't help but laugh.
"I think George is rubbing off on you. I'm actually working here. After I left, a friend from med school called and asked if I'd be interested in coming here to work. She knew I was happy in Seattle, but she thought she'd give it a shot. It was pretty much perfect timing. So I abandoned everything that is New York or Seattle and moved here. I live just around the corner."
"You never called…I wasn't sure where you'd ended up." Alex nervously twisted his hands together.
"I know…I'm sorry…I got busy…okay it wasn't that at all." She smiled nervously at him. "I thought that severing all ties with the past…with Seattle… was for the best. I'm not really sure anymore." She paused for a second before smiling wide."I'm glad I ran into you Karev."
"Yeah, me too." Alex looked at her a little in awe. Seeing her here, made him miss her in Seattle. Shaking his head he told himself to snap out of it. He was here to pick up girls and Addison Montgomery was a whole 'nother ball game. Addison started to walk past him, but as she moved forward she called over her shoulder – "pick the blue ones…they're the best. George will like them." With that, she turned the corner and left Alex staring at his feet. With a sigh, he grabbed the blue wine coolers and headed toward the front.
George was waiting with bundles of snack food spilling over the edges of his arms.
"What took you so long? I've been standing here forever."
"Sorry I couldn't figure out which wine coolers to get."
"Ohh…I love the blue kind."
"Whatever." With that they got in line, Alex uncharacteristically silent. George was telling him some story about an old woman he ran into while he was in the chip isle, but Alex had lost his focus. A certain red head invaded his thoughts and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get her to go away.
-------------------------
A/N: So back by popular demand….okay j/k. But I had a few ideas so I decided to keep writing. The next chapter will probably finish off this weekend and will have much more Addex. If reviews are positive, I'll continue.