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2
In the last few months, the Weekly Oceanside Get-Together - or DorkFest, as Callie had lovingly christened it after being part of one - had evolved into the Weekly Oceanside Bonding Nights. That meant that, instead of everyone hanging out at Addison's house, the women got together at Addison's, the men at Sam's, and then all of them had dinner in one of the two places.
The new arrangement was slightly illogical considering it was now Pete and Addison's house, but Naomi and Violet missed their girls' nights in, and since they couldn't really kick Pete out whenever they wanted, they decided having the house for the women on Saturday nights was only fair. And, to be fair, Cooper, Sam and Pete weren't complaining. They also missed their guy's nights in.
Even though this Saturday in particular was also Pete and Addison's half aniversary, they decided not to cancel on their friends, because even though neither of them would admit it, they needed to talk to them about their Seattle weekend get-away. Not that they didn't want to go, but they were both slightly nervous now that they'd had time to think about everything that could go wrong.
Violet let out a groan when she walked into the house and saw Pete kissing Addison before leaving for Sam's. "Six months and you're still like that? Have some decency, people!" Addison laughed when Pete made a show out of kissing her neck, making Violet frown in disgust, and she playfully pushed him away as she spoke with a mocking stern voice. "Behave yourself, Peter." He smirked at her and kissed her cheek before walking towards the door. "Have fun, ladies. And don't let her get too drunk, Vi."
Addison smiled as she poured two glasses of wine, and Violet shoot her a smirk as she took a seat on one of the stools. "So, six months, right?" Addison nodded and handed her a glass. "Six months. Can you believe it?" Violet took a sip of wine and smiled at her friend. "Surprisingly enough, I can."
Violet had always been protective of Pete, but over the last few months she'd warmed up to Addison and now they were very good friends. Violet liked that Addison was a bit of a crazy and she was always ready to listen, and Addison liked that Violet was always honest with her and didn't hesitate to stop her as soon as she started getting dramatic. They always had good times together, and Violet had to admit she'd never seen Pete happier than he was now, so she really had nothing to object.
Violet and Addison hadn't been talking for a long time when Naomi walked into the house. "Can you believe it's been almost a year since you moved?" Addison smiled at her. "It's hard to believe, actually." Naomi poured herself a glass of wine. "I'm glad you moved." Violet nodded in agreement. "I think we all are."
The three women smiled as they thought about how their lives had changed in the past year. Addison was celebrating her half aniversary with a man who was everything she needed, Naomi had been officially rebuilding her marriage with Sam for three months, and Violet and Cooper's second date was scheduled for the next Friday. Needless to say, the non-consorting rule had been conveniently erased from their memories.
And, even though Pete was the only one who could say his life had changed because of Addison moving, the rest tended to see it as the turning point that made them head in the right direction. It had been indeed a new Oceanside Wellness ever since she joined their team.
"We're going to Seattle next weekend." Naomi choked on her wine, but Violet, oblivious to the current location of Addison's ex-husband, smiled at her. "That sounds nice, want to show him where you used to live?" It was then that she noticed Addison's nervous smile and Naomi's shocked expression. "What? What did I miss?"
"Addison's ex-husband lives in Seattle." Violet was about to say something, but Addison interrupted her. "With his intern." Naomi spoke again after that. "And his best friend." The redhead nodded as she took another sip of her wine. "Who used to be my dirty misstress." Violet didn't even try to speak as she saw Naomi was about to add something else. "And Addison's intern." Addison closed her eyes. "And I'm taking my boyfriend there. Am I insane?" Violet took a sip of her wine to wash away the shock. "Slightly insane, yes."
After Addison had informed Violet of everything she needed to know about her past relationships in Seattle, the three women were discussing whether or not Addison and Pete should go spend the weekend there.
"But you're over Derek, right?" Addison nodded vigorously. "Yes. Definitely. Over him. Definitely over him." Violet cocked her eyebrow, but chose not to say anything. "And Mark?" Addison was beginning to feel slightly dizzy from all the wine and the nodding. "Over him." Naomi didn't ask about the intern, because she knew he wasn't the problem.
Addison softly massaged her temples as she looked at her knees. She was beginning to regret the whole weekend get-away idea. "What if I'm not over him?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, and Naomi didn't have to ask who she was talking about. "Addie..." Violet's voice was stern when she spoke again. "You have to be. You just have to, because you've been with Pete for half a year, and you will not break his heart now. You just won't."
Meanwhile, on the house next to theirs, the men were having a similar conversation. "What's that Derek like? Could I take him on a fight?" Sam pondered his question for a moment, and then nodded at his friend. "Definitely." Pete downed his beer and asked again. "What about Mark?" This time, Sam didn't look so convinced. "I'd say... just try to stay away from him."
Cooper looked at his friends and then shook his head in disbelief. "If you're so worried about this, maybe you should just go somewhere else." Pete grabbed another beer from the refrigerator. "I want to go to Seattle. Add misses her friend, and I want to go with her. I just want to come back with her as well, if at all possible."
It's not that he didn't trust Addison. He trusted her completely, and he knew she would never cheat on him. But sometimes, even after six months together, he still had a feeling he didn't have all of her. Like there was a part of her that had stayed in Seattle. More specifically, in a trailer in Seattle. With her ex-husband. And he wondered how big that part was compared to the one he had.
"Derek and Addison used to mean something. They were the perfect couple. But they aren't anymore. He screwed up, and then she did, and then he did again. They're done. Their marriage is over." Pete looked at Sam. "Says the man who's back with his ex-wife." Sam shook his head at his words. "I never cheated on Nai. And she never cheated on me. We didn't hurt each other nearly as bad as they did. It's completely different."
Pete wanted to believe him, but it was hard. He'd seen Addison cry over him, he'd seen her talk about him with a warm smile on her face, and it was just impossible for him to think she was completely over him. He could only hope what they had now was enough to keep her with him.
While Sam and Cooper tried to help Pete, Naomi and Violet did the same for Addison. "Talk to him. For the love of all that's sweet and pure, Addison, talk to your boyfriend!" Violet was irritated. She loved Pete, and she didn't want to see him hurt because his girlfriend was too stubborn to tell him she was worried. "I'm gonna have to agree on this one." Naomi nodded as she spoke, and Addison buried her face in her hands again.
What was she supposed to tell him? "Hey, Pete, honey, I may or may not still have feelings for my ex-husband." As much as she tried to come up with something that made sense, she had nothing. But this past year had taught her to always trust Violet with these things, so she figured she'd have to talk to Pete.
The women decided to call it a night an hour later, when they were all too tired to keep talking. Naomi left for Sam's and told the men they were done, so Pete went back to Addison's – it was still weird calling it his house – and Cooper followed him, hoping to get his second date with Violet that same night.
After Cooper and Violet had left, Pete sat next to Addison on the couch, his arm automatically wrapping around her shoulders. "We need to talk." He frowned slightly at her words. That was never good. "Okay. I'm listening." She sighed and shifted a bit against him, trying to find the words to tell him what she needed him to know.
"I'm worried about Seattle." He pulled her closer to him, feeling her uneasiness. "So am I." She rested her head on his shoulder as she spoke again. "I'm over Derek. But... I don't know." Pete's eyes never left the wall in front of them. "I know. That's normal, it's only been a year." She didn't know what to say. She knew he wasn't fine, but she didn't know what to say to make it better.
"That doesn't mean I want to be with him. I want to be with you. It's just... I don't think I'll ever be indifferent towards him" Pete's fingertips drew lazy patterns on her arm as he held her close to him. He wanted to kick himself for suggesting the trip in the first place, but at the same time he knew it had to happen sooner or later. He knew she wasn't indifferent, and he accepted it as normal, but that didn't help with the blinding rage he felt when he thought about her and Derek.
"We can cancel it if you want to." Pete shook his head at her words. "I want to go with you." She smiled as he kissed the top of her head. "He may be dreamy, but I'm a gladiator. And I made you half anniversary bagels." She let out a small chuckle at his words. "Is us strong enough for this?" He loved how she still referred to them as "us", with her own special entonation.
"It's gonna be okay in the end, Add." She frowned slightly at his words. She'd never been a fan of empty promises. "How do you know?" Pete didn't know how he knew. He just did. Or maybe he didn't, but he just didn't want to entertain the possibility of losing her. She felt him shrug slightly before he spoke again. "If it's not okay, it's not the end."
A/N: Thank you everyone for taking the time to review! It means a lot to read what you guys think about the story :) I hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you thought:)