Okay, so I'm really glad everyone likes this so much. Um, I don't know about all of you, but I'm pretty sure Sunday night's episode totally made me cry. The scene where Derek and Meredith were in the closet and she was sobbing…I don't really know why, but for some reason there were tears running down my face. Never has a television show made me cry…it just proves how good this show is. :)

Hope you like this chapter!

Chapter Title: "The Way Things Are" by Fiona Apple

Half Love

"The Way Things Are"

We are not primarily put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through. - Peter De Vries

January 27th, 2006

6:00 P.M.

Last time on Half Love:

Meredith put one hand on Ellie's shoulder. "Eliot, it is not your fault. Derek was an idiot."

"I just hate that you got hurt."

"You got hurt too. Why are you still friends with Addison anyway?"

Ellie turned to Meredith. "Because for awhile she was all I had."

"What does that mean? I was here. I was always here."

"Mer, I moved to New York when I was 18. I was working for a catering company when Addison Montgomery came in looking for someone to cater her wedding. She was the first person, that wasn't my boss that I met. I didn't want to follow in Mom's footsteps. I wasn't going to be that person that cared more about her job than her family. Addison convinced me that surgery was in my blood. She helped me realize that I'm cut out for what I do." Ellie looked down. "I know Derek told you this…he and Addison have been married for 11 years, right?" Meredith nodded. "They're family. I've known Addison for 12 years. She's my family. You're my family too, but Addison was there. When Mom stopped paying for NYU and I had to work to pay my own tuition, Addison let me stay with them so that I didn't have to pay for a dorm. I lived with Addison and Derek for two years. Then the trust fund I didn't know my Dad had left me kicked in, but even after that, when I was up late studying during Med School, Addison was the one that showed up on my doorstep at two am with coffee and Chinese food so that I wouldn't fall asleep. She's more than just my resident advisor, or my attending. She's my best friend, Meredith. You don't give up on that."

"You sound like Derek."

"Look, you're my sister and I love you, but Derek made the right choice. How upset were you when Mom left your Dad?"

"Upset." Meredith sighed. "Really upset."

"Exactly. Derek and Addison are married. Addison made a mistake. There's no real explanation for what she did, except that she made a mistake. But she is still Derek's wife. And they still love each other."

"I know all that, Ellie." Meredith looked down. "I do. What I don't understand is why you and Derek are both so set on keeping her in your lives."

"She's family…"

"I know that. But my Dad is family, and Mom left him, and you and Michael were family but Mom left you…"

"Ellis Grey is not the person you should be modeling this situation after, Meredith. Ellis is screwed up in the head…worse than can be diagnosed."

"She has Alzheimer's. Of course she's screwed up in the head!"

"Meredith! That's not what I meant!" Ellie set the water glass down and stood up, pacing in front of Meredith. "Ellis is the kind of person that has always been a little whacked. She cheated on my Dad; she cheated on your Dad…"

"Addison cheated on Derek."

Ellie froze. "Oh my God. Are you twelve?" Ellie stormed past Meredith and in to the house. She came back outside with her jacket in hand. "I can't believe I'm still having this conversation with you. I need to go for a walk or something. You need to take a deep breath and process what you're saying."

"I don't need to process anything." Meredith said, standing up. "I know what I'm saying. Addison cheated on Derek. They shouldn't be together. He called her Satan for God's sake!"

"Meredith…" Ellie took a deep breath. "He chose her. He went back to his wife. Dear God, child, get over it!" Ellie stormed away from the house, throwing her coat on.

Meredith sat down on the steps and put her head in her hands. "I can't get over it." She whispered. "I can't."

January 28th, 2006

1:30 P.M.

Ellie had just sat down on the couch, a drink in hand, when someone knocked lightly on the door. She muted the television, set her drink down and stood. She was hoping it was Mark, and he'd forgotten his key or something. He hadn't been around much lately.

"Derek?" Her best friend's husband, and boyfriends best friend, stood in the doorway, drenched from the New York rain, a grim look on his face.

"I didn't know where else to go." He whispered his voice shaky.

"Come in." Ellie opened the door wider, and took his wet coat, hanging it on her practically empty-almost useless coat rack. "Let me get you something dry. I think Mark has some sweats here…"

"No." He snapped, startling her. "That's okay, Ellie. How about a towel?" She nodded and headed back to the linen closet in silence. After grabbing two beach towels, she turned up the heat and made her way back out to the front room.

"Here." She said, handing him the beach towels.

"Thanks."

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked. He shook his head and she sat down on the couch. "What happened?" Derek wrapped one beach towel around his waist and took his jeans off underneath it, laying them out on the linoleum of Ellie's kitchen. "Derek?"

"She's been cheating on me." He whispered, toweling dry his hair and shedding his soaking wet t-shirt. "Can I toss my clothes in your dryer?"

"Yeah. It's in the hall closet next to my bedroom." Derek gathered his t-shirt and jeans and headed down the hallway. Ellie was still trying to fathom what he had said. "Addison has been cheating on you?" Derek slammed the dryer shut and started it before coming back out in to the living room.

"I walked in on her and…" Derek swallowed. "…this guy at the house. In our house…our bed. I couldn't even look at her. I had to leave."

"Did you know the guy?" Derek nodded. Ellie looked him up and down, noticing the goose bumps on his arms. "Are you sure you don't want clothes? I know Mark has some sweats here…"

"No." He snapped angrily. "I don't want any clothes." It was at that moment that Ellie knew.

"Derek…the man that Addie was with…was it…was it Mark?" Derek looked down, and slowly nodded. "Oh god."

"I'm so sorry, Ellie."

"Why are you sorry?" She asked, fighting back tears. "It's not your fault." Ellie's tears broke, and she put her head in her hands. "Do you know how long?" Ellie was still shell shocked. She'd been with Mark 4 years…and Addison and Derek had been married for 11 years…together longer…she just couldn't understand why this had happened.

Derek sat down next to Ellie and put his arm around her. "I didn't stay to ask." He sighed. "Long enough."

Ellie leaned in to Derek, trying not to vomit. "This can't be happening. She's my best friend. He's your best friend. She's your wife! I just can't believe…"

"Ellie, calm down. We can't do anything right now."

Ellie took a deep shaky breath and curled up against Derek, the man that was like her brother. "Will you stay here tonight?"

Derek hugged her to him. "Of course I will."

Ellie woke with a start, almost slamming her head on the bottom of the upper bunk. Derek was kneeled next to her, and Meredith was standing at his side.

"We didn't mean to scare you." He said, touching her arm. "But Addison asked us to find you. She wants your help in a surgery."

Ellie cringed. "She asked specifically for me?" Meredith nodded. "Damn it." Ellie swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Will you tell her I'm on my way?" Meredith nodded and left the room. They were still fighting, and hadn't spoken since the night before. Not even on the car ride to the hospital that morning.

"What were you dreaming about?" Derek asked, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"The night we found out."

Derek squeezed her hand. "I dream about that too." He said, standing as she stood. "It's my one and only nightmare."

Ellie nodded. "Mine too."

3:00 P.M.

Addison headed down the hall after her surgery, went straight for the outside door. She just needed some fresh air. Being around Ellie and Meredith when they were fighting was not fun. Especially when she was what they were fighting about.

"I've been waiting for you." A deep voice whispered in her ear as a cold arm slid around her waist.

Addison shuddered. "Look, asshole." She spun around and found herself face to face with her husband. "God damn it, Derek! Don't do that."

He grinned. "Sorry." Letting go of her waist, he cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

"Sibling rivalry is death to all those around it." She hissed, leaning in to him.

"Let me guess. Eliot and Meredith are fighting about something ridiculous."

"They're fighting about me."

Derek smiled. "I was right. They are fighting about something ridiculous."

"Hey!" Addison whacked his arm and smiled.

"Sorry. Well, I was thinking about doing this anyway, but it's probably a really good idea now. How about we get Ellie away from Meredith and all their sibling rivalry and the three of us go out to dinner?"

Addison nodded. "That sounds like a great idea, honey. What time?"

"Well, I get off at 6 and Ellie gets off at 6:30…"

"I get off at 6:30 too."

"So, 7:30?"

"Yeah, sure." Addison breathed in deep. "Are we going out?"

"Well, there's no room in the trailer for three people and a dog, and Ellie is staying with Meredith."

"So…yeah?"

"Yeah."

7:00 P.M.

Ellie flew out of the bathroom, her dress still unzipped, running directly in to George.

"Oh! I'm sorry, George. Hey, will you zip this for me?" He nodded and she spun so he could reach the zipper. "Thanks."

"Sure." George followed her in to Izzie's room, where she was now staying, due to the fact that she and Meredith were temporarily not speaking. "Where are you going?"

"Out to dinner with Derek and Addie." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed to slip her shoes on.

"You're not going to stay here and try to fix things with Meredith?"

"No." Ellie said, standing as the doorbell rang. "Meredith doesn't understand that Addie is my best friend, and I've really only known Meredith two years longer than I've known Addie, even if she is my sister." Ellie walked out of the room and headed down the stairs, George on her heels. "She wants me to stop hanging around Addison, and I can't do that." Ellie opened the door and smiled.

"Eliot, you look fabulous." Derek said, grinning. Neither George nor Ellie could help but notice that Derek and Addison were holding hands.

"Thank you." She grabbed her coat from where it was hanging on the wall, and turned to George. "If Meredith wants to talk to me, tell her she can wait up or I'll talk to her in the morning. But George, she's the one being stubborn."

"She is not." He hissed, eyeing Derek and Addison out of the corner of his eye.

"She's asking me to choose between my sister and my best friend." Ellie said, her voice low. "I won't do that."

"Fine." George said, leaning against the door. "Have a good time." Ellie smiled and left with Derek and Addison, and though George was upset, he couldn't help but realize he was feeling the way he felt when he first met Meredith.

7:30 P.M.

"So, how goes temporary residency?"

"It has been a day and a half, Derek."

Derek shrugged. "So? How is it so far?"

"Better than New York."

"Really?" Addison asked, taking a sip of her wine. "Why?"

"Because here, in Seattle, though there is rain, there is no Mark."

"Still that bad, huh?" Addison asked.

Ellie groaned. "Ever since you left, he's found a way to blame everything on me. From every little mistake an intern makes, to the…" Ellie looked down. "…to the affair."

"He blames you for the affair?" Derek asked. "But, why?"

"I don't know." Ellie sighed. "Look, can we pick a different subject? I hate talking about this."

"Sure." Derek said, looking at Addison. Both women didn't discuss it, but he knew they'd have to hash it out at some point, especially if they were going to be as close as they were before. "Have you seen Ellis yet?" He asked, locking eyes with Ellie. Now he knew why Meredith's eyes had seemed so familiar when they'd first met. She and Ellie had the same eyes.

"No. I'll probably go in the morning." Ellie shrugged. "Maybe."

"Eliot, you need to go see your Mom." Addison said as the waiter brought their food.

"She's not going to remember me, Addie."

"She might."

Ellie sighed. "I doubt it."

"Hey, speaking of your Mom, Meredith is signing Ellis up for this program, but you need to do an Alzheimer's test." Derek said.

Ellie nodded. "She told me. Can you do it tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Derek smiled at Addison. "If you go see Ellis in the morning."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "You're a punk." Addison laughed. "Fine."

"Good." Derek smiled. "And I'm a punk? Remind me again…what is it that you called me, to your interns?"

Ellie smiled. "A genius, and the man of my best friend's dreams?"

"No…"

"My hero?"

"Eliot, what did you say?" Addison asked, taking a bite of her food.

"Uh…well, you both know about the McDreamy thing, right?" They nodded and Derek raised one eyebrow. "Well, Meredith told me that they called you that, and then when things ended the way they did, I was already kind of upset with you…"

"So you started calling me McDicky?"

Addison giggled and then gasped with dramatic effect. "Eliot! I'm surprised at you!"

Ellie laughed and Derek turned to Addison. "You are not helping."

"Bah humbug." Addison said, throwing a french fry at him. "It's not like that's going to stick."

"Cristina called me that this morning."

"To your face?" Ellie asked, trying not to laugh.

"No…under her breath as I was walking away…but still…"

"Derek, get over it. It's Cristina. What is she going to do, sarcasm you to death?" Derek and Ellie laughed as Addison made a face.

"This is what I missed." Ellie said once they'd all caught their breath. "The three of us together…it's like I was trying to tell Meredith…12 years is a long time to know someone."

"It's a hell of a long time." Addison said, smiling.

"You don't turn your back on twelve years." Ellie added, grinning at Derek.

Derek laughed. "Okay, group hug!" Ellie sobered and Addison raised her eyebrows. "You guys used to think that was funny."

"I was 18."

"And I was love-sick." Addison said, grinning.

"Nah, you were just sick." Ellie and Derek laughed, and Ellie's giggle turned in to a shriek as Addison threw a fry at her. What the threesome was unaware of was that Meredith, Izzie, Alex and George had just walked in, and it was finally sinking in with Meredith that, not only were Derek and Addison together, her sister was the third member of their family.

Okay, so I know it kinda ended a little strange, but I got stuck. I think everyone was pretty much in character…let me know what you thought!