Hey again! I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter! I hope you like this one!

And again THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the reviews, you are just great! :)

Thanks again to Marchingon for helping me with this!

The events of the night didn't sit well with the now sober redhead. She was bothered, and incredulous, wanting to convince herself that what had transpired was but a mere nightmare. But she couldn't. Nothing in the whole Derek-LA-kiss equation made sense, and the very thought of Derek Shepherd sent unconscious shivers down her spine.

She paced her room, brushing her teeth and letting her mind wander to the kiss she had shared with her ex-husband. It was blasphemous, and nothing short of sinful, but somewhere in the pit of her stomach, she knew she enjoyed it. It was wrong in every way, and she tried to shake the thoughts away as her mind was flooded with flashbacks of Seattle, and the hurt they had put each other through. Although the thoughts weren't pleasant, it was what she needed to remind her that a kiss, regardless of her drunken stupor, shared with her ex-husband, was the perfect recipe for disaster.

If she were honest with herself, she'd admit that a part of her longed to have Derek back. But it was in those quiet, honest moments, that she'd realize having Derek back meant more heartache, and that wasn't something she was willing to take.

Ridding herself of the thoughts, and trying to get her mind off of the confusion, she willed herself to shower quickly and get dressed. The earlier she was at the practice, the less time she had to think of her mess.

Driving speedily and parking, she took the elevator, tapping her foot impatiently as the contraption dinged on every floor. The elevator doors opened, and she put a big smile on her face. If any, she didn't want anyone to notice the stress she was in, or the headache she was currently feeling as a consequence of all the alcohol she took the night before.

She hoped the grin would hide all signs of imperfections, giving everyone the impression that there was absolutely nothing wrong and that not a certain Derek Shepherd came to knock on her door last night. Walking to the front desk, she smiled warmly at Dell and hoped she didn't look too awkward.

"Hey, Addison. Good morning!" Dell greeted, putting on a smirk at Addison's slightly disheveled appearance.

"Good morning," she greeted back, using her right hand to keep the hair from falling to her eyes. "Patients?" she asked hopefully.

She needed to use patients as a ploy to forget things, a habit that in retrospect was something quite similar to what Derek would have done. Burying herself in work and throwing herself into surgery after surgery had become second-nature to her, and she paid no heed to the voice at the back of her mind telling her she was a hypocrite.

Dell shook his head in answer. "Oh no, no patients yet. The first one comes in an hour. You're in pretty early."

Trying to suppress the disappointment in her tone, she nodded. "Yeah, wanted to get a head start for the day."

He nodded, agreeing. "I can see that. You must be expecting that doctor then."

Addison had to do a double take, and raised her brow in confusion. "Doctor?"

"A doctor came in, said he was here for a consult. I told him to wait in your office 'cause he seemed like a good friend of yours," he shrugged, mentally hoping Addison didn't mind him letting other people into her office. On second thought, it wasn't such a good idea to have had the doctor wait outside of the waiting area.

Finding it slightly odd, but thankful for the distraction nonetheless, Addison shrugged and nodded. "Okay," she answered simply, and turned to face her office

It wasn't exactly the last thing she expected, but it was most definitely the last thing she needed. There, in her office, sitting casually and talking on the phone, was her ex-husband in all his dreamy glory. She had to suppress the urge to run for the hills yet again, but she had to remind herself that she was a Montgomery, and that she was a fighter.

Although another confrontation was far from pleasant, she had to at least try to redeem herself from the drunken state he had first caught her last night. So, summing up all her strength, she walked to her office, letting her heels click twice as much than normal.

Meanwhile, Derek had been sitting in a certain Dr. Forbes-Montgomery's office for a good half-hour, waiting for her. He had been admiring the way her office had been designed, being transported back to a time & place when he memorized Addison's design choices and style. She wasn't exactly a minimalist, but she was classy and simple even if it wasn't obvious. It showed well in her office.

He was hoping to catch a decent conversation with her today, especially considering the rather awkward one they had had the night before. He had a feeling Addison wouldn't want him there, and want to throw him out immediately, but he had decided to stand his ground, at least until he had pleaded his case well.

The whole situation was very frustrating. He had no idea if Addison remembered a single word from the night before. But since he had decided, there was no other way but to face the music and ask her for another chance.

As he scrutinized the way she arranged her desk, he felt his mobile vibrate in his back pocket, and he knew instantly who was calling him. Although it was the last person he wanted to talk with, he couldn't simply ignore the call lest she suspect something of him.

Sighing heavily, he fished for his phone and pressed it his ear, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey, Mer," he greeted.

"Derek," she answered, sounding a bit tired.

"How are you? I'm okay if you're gonna ask," Derek said, feeling uncomfortable at the mere thought of sharing a conversation with the blonde. If he were honest with himself, he'd know he was still mad at her for what had happened to their patient.

She sighed. "You know, you could at least sound happy to hear me."

Knowing there was not much he could say because she was right, he remained silent until she heard another deep sigh from the other end of the line.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound bitter," she said. "But I'm your wife, Derek" she continued, sounding frustrated. "I mean, the post-its should mean something, right?"

"Mer… please." He didn't know why he sounded condescending. Maybe he didn't want her to feel bad. Maybe he didn't want her to be suspicious.

"No, Derek. The post-its say love each other even when we hate each other. And I know these past couple of days have been hard on us, but I guess if we just… try… we could actually 'love each other even when we hate each other'."

Again, she was right. She was making an effort, something he should have appreciated, but sometimes it was hard to see past the fact that it was just a post-it, a contract for them, but not a real marriage, especially not after having spent 11 years with Addison.

Sighing, he nodded into the phone and fiddled with the armrest of his chair. "You're right, I'm sorry. We've been over-reacting a bit."

He wondered if the apology was sincere, or if it sounded the least bit convincing. But it would have to do.

"Thank you," she replied, glad that she could be civil with Derek. "I'm sorry too."

"Okay."

"How's Connecticut?"

He almost blurted out an unceremonious answer, but it was a good thing that he caught himself lest he be caught. "Oh. Yeah, right. Nancy. Connecticut's great, everything's fine. Nancy's been good too."

"That's great. It's been same-old, same-old around here. Mercy West has been stealing patients, but I had a solo surgery with Bailey watching me," she said, sounding proud and enthusiastic about her accomplishment.

"Congratulations! That's wonderful!" he answered, trying to sound the least interested. He felt a little bad that he couldn't offer any more of himself to her, but he couldn't just scoff her off.

"Yes. Well…" she said, trying to think of something else to say. Coming up with nothing, she sighed. "I'm working with Callie today, and she's going to be paging me in a while so I have to go."

Derek knew she was trying to avoid the awkwardness, and he was thankful to let the conversation end now. "Okay."

"I'll see you Monday?"

"Yes, Monday," he agreed. "Take care okay?"

"You too. Bye."

Hanging up, he thought about how wrong it was to be relieved that the conversation was over. If he weren't in LA, trying to get into Addison's good graces, he probably would have gone back to acting like nothing was wrong. After all, the post-it was a mutual agreement, a commitment of sorts, and that was something he should have been living up to.

But he was in another city now, a city which contained the woman he called the love of his life. He had kissed said woman, and that mere touch of lips, the mere excitation of a small bundle of nerves in his body, told him that there was something worth fighting for, worth rekindling for, with Addison. He didn't know what to do yet, especially with Meredith. But he couldn't risk showing off his indecision lest Meredith finds out and kills Addison with her bare hands. He didn't know where he was going with Addison, but he knew he wanted to be with her.

Too busy with his thoughts, he didn't notice that Addison had been standing by the door the whole time, from the moment he started to phone call, up to the very end of the conversation. He only noticed her presence when she cleared her throat, and he bolted right up from his seat to greet her.

"Addie… I was—" he tried to explain, but she interrupted him.

"She doesn't know you're here, does she?"

It was a question set with her tone low and serious. She wanted answers.

He sighed. "Addie, that's not something we should—"

"Does Meredith Grey know you're here?" she asked again, emphasizing each word with precision to let him know just how serious she was.

There was an awkward silence before Derek shook his head. "No, she doesn't."

She stared at him for a second before clicking her tongue and walking into her office.

"Derek, what the hell do you think you're doing? Why are you here? Do you honestly believe that you coming to my house last night, and now being here at the practice, would make me want to take you back? Because if you think you could win me back that easily, then you're terribly mistaken. You're not naïve, Derek. And sometimes you may be stupid, but you're not blind."

Her voice was calm, as if she were trying to convince herself that nothing could be solved if she got mad and berated him endlessly.

"Addison, if you could just let me explain."

She shook her head, raising her hand up to stop him from speaking.

"You have no right to be here, Derek, and screw me over again. You're not my husband, you divorced me and you didn't care. It was mutual. And to some extent, I'd have understood you wanting to be friends with me, but to kiss me while I was drunk? You took advantage of me. What happens now, when I agree to talk this out with you? Let me make this clear, Derek. I don't want you here. I don't want you here. I don't want to kiss you, I don't want to be with you. You're going to leave LA and go back to Seattle, and you're going to never bother me about this ever again."

He sighed, seeing the seriousness in Addison's stance and noting the slight desperation in her words. He knew she wanted him out, but he couldn't just let her sway him that easily. If she was determined to get rid of him, he was more determined to show her she was wrong.

"Adds," he started gently. "Maybe you're right. Maybe coming here was a mistake. But it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the way I feel about you, or the way you feel about me, or that kiss we shared last night. It was real, Adds, no matter how much you deny it. The kiss was real and you know it. You're too busy trying to deny everything that you feel, but that doesn't mean I'm walking out on you. I'm leaving your office, I'll give you that much. But like I said, I'm staying until Monday. Think about it until then," he finished.

Staring at her as she tried to move her glance away from him, he stepped forward and pressed and soft kiss on her forehead.

"Think about it, Adds. It's time you faced the music."

Taking his coat, he left the office and ignored the confused looks on Sam, Pete and Cooper's faces. They had heard everything, even if their voices were hushed. It wasn't always that a hotshot neurosurgeon walked inside the office of an equally hotshot OB-GYN.

Derek and Sam's eyes met, but Derek was much too caught up in his emotions to greet him. Sam, on the other hand, knew that Derek was there for Addison. He had heard the raised voices from the night before as it had woken him up from a deep sleep.

Things started to make sense for Sam, and when he was sure Derek was gone, he walked into the office in time to see Addison sit behind her desk to calm herself down.

She raised her head and immediately knew what Sam was thinking.

"I don't want to talk about it, Sam," she warned.

"So. Derek Shepherd huh?"

"I said I'm not gonna talk about it. Whatever happened is between Derek and I so please."

"Right. But can I just ask? Did you sleep with him?"

Her eyes widened at Sam's audacity, and it didn't help that she was still reeling from her encounter with Derek. "Excuse me?"

Sam was upset with Addison, and he shook his head. "I'm just asking. That's all you do lately when you're feeling upset. You slept with Mark, then with Pete. I wouldn't really be surprised if you slept with Derek."

"Okay, you know what?" she said, standing up and not appreciating where her conversation with Sam was going. "You have no idea what happened so you have no right to judge me. Stay. Out. Of. It," emphasizing her words she that he got the message clearly.

He put both his hands up in surrender, and put on a smirk. "Okay, fine. It's your life. It's your choice how to mess it up. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go attend to a patient now," he said, leaving the room and leaving Addison exasperated.

-

The whole day had been quite a blur, all the hours passing by as quickly as her eyes could blink. Getting home to an empty house wasn't exactly one of Meredith Grey's simple pleasures, but she appreciated the peace nevertheless.

Her short conversation with Derek had been left hanging until she found the time to figure out what to make of it. She wasn't insensitive. She knew that he was still upset with her and that he was otherwise distracted. But she couldn't pinpoint exactly why, and she couldn't fathom how this fight differed from all the rest.

Their fight had been two days ago. And usually, after a couple of hours, they'd make up and make out. But now, things were so different that she couldn't understand what had made things so. If someone had the right to be mad, it is her. After all, he said another name while they were in bed together. That name, the one she thought was the bane of her existence, had caused her so much inner suffering, and there was nothing anyone could to do reassure her.

She had been analyzing the situation, and she knew Derek had been thinking about Addison lately. Whether it was a casual thought, or one that had been saturating his head for days on end, she didn't know. But it bothered her that it made Derek distant, and that it was affecting their relationship more than she'd care to admit.

One of the things they had promised each other was to never walk away. She wasn't sure if Derek being someplace else was considered walking away, but it made her feel alone nevertheless. All she wanted was to know why he was so angry, and how to make things work out between them. She loved him so much that she could hardly fathom a small fight bringing Seattle Graces' power couple down. They needed to talk. It was apparent that there was a lack of communication in their relationship, and it was getting increasingly difficult to pretend that it was okay.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the landline ringing. Sighing, she stood up from where she sat on the couch and picked up the phone, half-hoping it was Derek trying to make amends.

However, she sorely disappointed at hearing someone else's voice, and she was sure to expect more complications to arise.

"Hello?"

"Meredith?" the woman asked.

Meredith would recognize the voice anywhere. She cringed inwardly at realizing it was Nancy. She knew Derek's sister never liked her much, but tried to pleasant and sickeningly sweet at the same time anyway.

"Nancy? Is that you? It's good to hear from you," she tried.

Nancy tried to suppress an eye roll. "Yeah, well. I was calling to check on Derek. Is he home?"

There was a loud buzzing in her ear at the realization occurred to her. She was shocked. If Derek was in Connecticut with Nancy, why was she calling and asking for him in the first place? He was lying all along, and the realization made her heart beat faster than she thought she could handle.

"He's… He's not here," she stuttered, managing to get something coherent out. "He's not in town."

Derek had completely changed the rules, and was playing the game his own way. She was appalled and angry and hurt, and it made her doubt everything she had every believed in.

"Oh," Nancy answered, sensing the discomfort in Meredith's voice. "I'll try his cell then. But in case, do tell him I miss him and that I have to talk to him?"

"Will do," Meredith managed, and immediately put the phone down. She had to grab a hold of the counter because her knees felt like jelly, like they would cease holding her up soon.

She couldn't believe it. Derek had lied to her, and his attitude these past days all finally made sense. It was all coming together, like pieces of a puzzle finally fitting in order to paint her a clear picture.

Addison's name, his behavior, Nancy's phone call. They all made sense. The most obvious and cruel truth had hit her square in the face, knocking the air out of her and leaving her begging for reason. He had left, and she knew. She knew she was with Addison.

So, what do you think? Please review and let me know what you think!