The Way I Loved You
A Grey's Anatomy fic by Gigi
Disclaimer: I really own nothing.
Chapter 2: Screaming and Fighting
A/N: I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter! I'm horrendously procrastinating doing AP Lit stuff by writing more, so I hope you enjoy this. After this I'm DEAD.
Addison wanted to kill Derek Shepherd!
It was the fifth night in a row she had dreamed about her ex-husband, and it was driving her insane. Yanking the pillow out from under her, she shoved it onto her face and screamed into it as loudly as humanly possible.
After a few minutes of scream therapy, her phone started to ring. She peeked out from underneath her pillow and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning, which could only mean one person: Richard.
Addison reached for her BlackBerry and clicked the "send" button. "Dr. Montgomery," she greeted professionally, trying to erase any grogginess from her voice.
"Addie!" Richard exclaimed, relieved to hear her voice. "Addie, you have to come to Seattle."
She was completely awake now. "What? Why?"
"It's Adele. She's got stage 2 ovarian cancer, and she's not going to let anybody but you touch her." Addison wanted to hug the man who sounded so broken to her on the phone. "I need you to come back to Seattle."
"I'll be on the next plane out of LA," she declared, hanging up and bounding out of bed. She had a lot of things to do, but first thing's first: book a flight.
8D
It was raining in Seattle. Of course.
There was a town car sitting outside Seattle Grace Hospital. It had been sitting there for the past ten minutes. Derek, Meredith, Christina, Alex, Mark, Izzie and a few others had all gathered to see who was so important that the Chief himself went out in the rain to meet the mystery person, who was so important that the Chief entered the car to speak with the mystery person.
Finally, the Chief stepped out of the car and held open the door for the other person. The designer stiletto that hit the ground gave Meredith a sinking feeling, and the men in their group's hearts started beating a little faster. A tan leg followed the stiletto, revealing a glamorous Addison Forbes Montgomery, whose knee-length dress and coat streamed behind her as she strutted down the walkway with her umbrella casually resting against her shoulder.
"Is it just me, or does she look hotter now?" Alex whispered, earning a bewildered look from Izzie.
Izzie scrutinized the way Alex watched Addison's every step, the way he tracked the movement of her lips, the swaying of her hips, and she gasped. "Something happened between you and Addison, didn't it?"
Alex's face now looked guilty as he turned his head toward his girlfriend. "A long time ago," he murmured, remembering how badly he'd treated her.
"What?" Derek's head snapped to look at the resident. "You slept with Addison?" Mark nodded, earning stares from everyone involved. "You knew?"
"I saw them," Mark answered softly, keeping his eyes trained on the woman he used to think was the love of his life, the woman he still thought may be the love of his life.
Derek glared at Alex so intensely that he began to fear a little for his safety. Returning his gaze to his ex-wife, Derek was no longer happy to see her. First Mark, then Karev. She really had a thing for man-whores, didn't she?
Addison stepped across the threshold of the hospital that had caused her so much pain and saw the three people who had caused her most of that pain. Alex Karev stood there, holding Izzie Stevens' hand, and acting like he hadn't crushed her last shred of hope for happiness in Seattle. Mark Sloan stared at her intensely with such emotion in his eyes that Addison could tell even from across the lobby he'd missed her. And last, but definitely, not least, there was Derek Christopher Shepherd, the one and only. He just seemed pissed. His jaw was clenched, and he avoided making any sort of eye contact with her.
It killed Addison to see her ex-husband not look at her like that, so she reverted her attention back to Richard, who was updating her on his wife's status.
8D
Addison was elbow-deep in Adele's uterus when she caught the whispers of the scrub nurses in the back of the room.
"Yeah, that's McDreamy's ex-wife," one nurse whispered in a high-pitched squeal.
"That's the woman who slept with McSteamy?" a more butch-sounding nurse asked.
"Which brought on the ex part of ex-wife, yes. I heard she also slept with that resident," high-pitched girl continued to gossip.
"Karev? I heard that, too," butch girl affirmed. Addison's hands almost sliced where they were not supposed to slice. How on earth did her time with Karev get out? She only ever told Callie, and that was way after the fact. "Apparently, McSteamy caught them after the deed and told McDreamy." Addison's hands stalled just for a second. No, she gasped internally, he can't know! Which "he" she was talking about, she had no clue, but either way, this was catastrophic news.
"What? How was this not bigger news?"
"I think it only just got out, like when they were watching her come in," butch replied. "Nobody even knew about Karev and McHot before today."
Addison had had enough. "When you're quite done gossiping, ladies, I could use some more blood," she announced. Well, so much for shedding that McBitch label she'd also acquired during her employment in Seattle.
8D
Sliding her scrub cap off her head, Addison pushed open the door leaving the scrub room, almost running into Derek. "Hey," she smiled, expecting at least civility in return.
Derek murmured a disgruntled "hello" and resumed walking.
Addison stood in the hallway for a few seconds in shock. He hadn't just been rude, but he'd actually been cold toward her! Even during the divorce, he'd never acted so coldly—he'd been angry as hell, actually, but never so icily indifferent. Snapping out of her daze, she started to chase after him. "What, I don't even get a proper greeting anymore?" she called after him. Derek turned around, walking backwards for a few steps while he looked at her like he wanted to laugh at the irony of her words before resuming his march down the hall. He made it to the entrance of the hospital by the time she'd finally caught up to him. Grabbing his arm, Addison stopped him on the rubber mat in front of the automatic doors. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"Karev, Addison?" he exploded. "Seriously? Karev?"
Addison jerked back, not knowing what to say. Derek made a disgusted sound before turning and walking out of the hospital. The rain outside continued to pelt the ground, and Derek walked until he was out from under the overhang, letting the rain wash over him.
Ignoring the audience their argument had gathered, Addison once again followed him, disregarding the mess the rain was making of her appearance (just out of surgery or not, Addison Montgomery always looked good). "Whatever happened between Karev and me over a year ago is none of your business, Derek, and you know that," she insisted. "I was the one who had to watch you move on during our marriage. I was the one who had to see you with Meredith every day after the divorce. You were the one who constantly threw your happiness in my face." She saw Derek's face break slightly, guilt creeping its way onto it. "So you don't get to be upset with me for whatever I had with Karev. That was my business that I chose to keep private."
"You were the one who broke our marriage," Derek accused, surprising them both. It had been a long time since he'd pulled that card. They both had thought he was beyond that.
The rain created a sheet separating ex-husband and ex-wife as it fell harder and harder. When Addison spoke, it was in a steely soft voice. "I was the one who was constantly left alone at parties, constantly stood up on dates. You were the one who slept with someone else when I was trying to fix our marriage." She turned to walk back into the hospital and paused. Without looking at him, she asked over her shoulder, "Why do you care so much?"
Derek's hand froze in his hair, mid-run-through. "What?"
Addison rotated her body so she was facing him once again. Her scrubs were soaked and clung to her body. Her dark red hair matted itself to her head, and a few tendrils curled on her forehead, just above her pale blue eyes that carried so much pain and what Derek could only describe as nostalgia. "Why did it upset you so much that I slept with Alex? It was a year ago, and you have Meredith, anyway."
"Had," Derek corrected.
Her voice was calm now. "What happened?"
"I was in love with someone else," he confessed, looking Addison directly in the eye.
Addison leaned on one leg and put her hand on her hip in exasperation. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, struggling to control the outburst that threatened to explode from her. Taking a deep, calming breath, she returned his gaze. "Who is it this time?"
Before either of them knew what was happening, Derek's lips were on hers. His fingers tangled themselves in her hair, and he felt her hands grasp his forearms softly as she began to kiss him back. It was their first kiss in almost two years, but all those old feelings were still there. Derek wrapped his arms around Addison in a passionate embrace, and his lips never left hers. The rain fell on both their heads, but neither of them minded. Some of their best moments had happened in the rain.
A/N: I was going to add another scene, but I feel like it was right to end the chapter here. My shoulders are huge hunks of knotted muscle now, thanks to the torture that is AP Lit summer work. Maybe you'll help get out some of the kinks if you review.