Having made it inside the spacious home after helping Addison gather their dishes and placing them into the dishwasher, Meredith found herself standing awkwardly and unsure of what to do with herself. The young doctor silently watched as Addison quickly arranged a few things and swiftly wiped down the counter before giving Meredith a small smile.
"Here, let me give you a quick tour so that way you know where everything is so you don't have to feel awkward," Addison said, gently waving Meredith along to follow her. "As you've already seen, here's the kitchen and the balcony," Addison said waving her had dismissively as they were exiting the room.
"Adjoined dining room with the kitchen," Addison said pointing out the obvious. There was an elegant table placed in the center of the room with several chairs surrounding it. The table was beautiful and had a very dark stain and gloss finish that looked like it had been custom made to fit the décor of the room. The room itself was a mixture of brown and cream based colors, creating a warm atmosphere to sit amongst. There also appeared to be a few shelves that tied in with the classical design of the dining table and other items that fit perfectly in the room. Meredith obediently followed Addison out of the dining room and back towards the front of the house.
"This is the living room," Addison said, briefly turning around in the center of the room as if to showcase it. "The couch is almost as comfortable as the bed," Addison explained as Meredith gave a quick look at the plush white sofa and the matching loveseat. Giving the room another look, Meredith noticed that this room was painted differently than the dining room. It was a very light shade of blue with white trim. The atmosphere and color of the room reminded Meredith of a naval theme and it held a very relaxing aura to it. The windows at the back of the room looked out over the expanse of the beach and ocean giving anyone who looked through them a breathtaking view. Meredith found herself pulled towards the windows and stood, watching the water below feeling a sense of tranquility sweep over her.
"It's one of the things I love about this place," Addison said quietly, coming up beside the young woman and looking out as well before glancing briefly at the woman who was absorbed in the moment. Addison heard her let out a murmur of agreement before turning to face the redhead to continue the quick tour of her home. Moving from the windows they made their way into a decent sized hallway with a few doors off each side of the corridor.
"This is the guest bedroom," Addison said as she pointed into the room before continuing down the hall with Meredith in tow and walking towards the second door on the right. "Nothing fancy about this one. Second bathroom," Addison explained before moving to the last two doors across from one another.
"On the left is my bedroom with the bathroom connected to it and this here," Addison motioned with a quick movement of her hand, "is the study," Addison said as she came to a stop at the end of the hall and turning to face the resident.
"You have a beautiful home, Addison. Thanks for the grand tour," Meredith said, admiring the charm Addison's home held. It was a very welcoming place and Meredith found herself glad she was somewhere that held no memories of Derek or any of the issues that would greet her upon her return to Seattle.
"Thanks. Is there anything specific you want to do today to get your mind off of things?" Addison asked making her way into the master bedroom and rummaging through her drawers and closet to figure out what she would wear for the day.
"Is it too early to start drinking?" Meredith asked, a sly smirk gracing her features at the suggestion of alcohol that early in the morning. Meredith watched as Addison raised an eyebrow at the mention of alcohol as she looked at a nearby watch to check the time.
"You're not serious, are you?" Addison trailed off once she realized it was nine in the morning. Glancing at the young woman standing behind her she realized Meredith wasn't joking despite the playful gleam in her eye. "You're not joking," Addison added, laughing at the absurdity of the idea the woman had presented.
"Old habits die hard I guess," Meredith clarified and gave a shrug of her shoulders, leaning against the doorframe watching the redhead look through various clothing items. Meredith realized this Addison wasn't as riddled with tension and anxiety like the last time she had seen her while they worked together at Seattle Grace. No, Meredith realized Addison finally looked like she was happy and wondered what the full extent of that happiness involved. Shrugging off those thoughts, Meredith realized she had tuned out while Addison was talking and only caught the last question she uttered.
"What if I make you a deal?" Addison asked, turning to glance at the woman in the doorway and placing her hands on her hips. Meredith had a look of contemplation before nodding her head in agreement to hear the redhead out. Letting out a small breath she hadn't realized she was holding, Addison plowed on with her proposition.
"We hold off on the heavy drinking until at least after we've had dinner, until then though, we find something that we can both tolerate and if there happens to be alcohol I won't stop you from having a few drinks," Addison proposed, contemplating what they could possibly do when she had no idea what the young resident even liked. Now more than ever, Addison realized she truly didn't know much about the young resident other than the old disdain she used to hold towards the young woman when going through her tumultuous relationship with Derek when in Seattle. With a new resolve, Addison promised in her head that she would work on building upon this newfound friendship and getting to know Meredith.
"Okay, deal. I think I can handle that. Which just made my liver thankful, I'm sure," Meredith said as a chuckle escaped her lips. She never figured the redhead would be one for compromise but she wasn't going to question it. Her body wouldn't be able to tolerate a full day's worth of drinking anymore so the limited drinking would leave her liver and body thankful tomorrow, even with the strong possibility of waking up with a hangover in the morning.
"Well, why don't you give that some thought on what sounds appealing and I'm going to shower and you're free to use the spare bedroom's bathroom," Addison rattled off as she took her glasses off and let down her hair from its makeshift position before realizing the woman had yet to move from her position.
"Could I call in one more favor?" Meredith asked tentatively despite seeing how accommodating the redhead had already been and hoping she wouldn't mind the next question she was about to present.
"I don't see why not," Addison said, giving the woman her full attention to figure out what it was that she needed.
"Do you mind if I borrow something to wear? I got on the plane with just my purse and last I checked, it wasn't big enough to hold an entire wardrobe," Meredith comically explained, her hands expressing her frazzled state at having to ask such a request.
"Sure, just rummage around until you find something you like," Addison said with a flippant wave of her hand and a shrug. The redhead realized that Meredith was a bit embarrassed at having to request such a thing so she didn't want to add to it so a simple answer was the easiest solution in the redhead's mind.
"Perhaps that's one thing we can take care of while we're out. We can start off with that, getting anything you'll need and then we'll go from there," Addison exclaimed, becoming obviously excited at the prospect of going out shopping, which was something she realized, she hadn't done in quite some time.
"I will never call you Satan again, Addison," Meredith said, giving a grateful smile at the redhead's generosity on such short notice. She watched as the redhead chuckled at the comment while heading off to her own bathroom to get ready for the day before she herself poked around to get prepared for the day ahead.
~~GA~~
"Addison," Meredith whined, arms laden down with several bags from shops all around the area. The blonde was not prepared for such an endeavor. Meredith was quickly running out of steam while the redhead seemingly hadn't even needed to take a breath during the entire shopping outing.
"Hm?" Addison mumbled, eyeing her purchases she was loading into the trunk of her car before taking charge of Meredith's bags and placing them in the back as well, not fully noticing the tiredness seeping out of Meredith's frame as she did so.
"Please tell me we're finished?" Meredith asked and huffed, her mind was finally being given time to wander through thoughts that were previously preoccupied with the task of keeping up with Addison in what she called light shopping. Now the only goal Meredith had in mind was a bottle of tequila or some other strong liquor at the nearest bar.
"Yes, I believe I've tortured you enough for one day. I can get quite carried away when I don't check myself," Addison said, making her way into the driver's seat seeing Meredith follow her lead to get in. "We'll do dinner and then commence with your request of heavy drinking," she explained, briefly glossing over what would be happening.
"I never thought we'd finish. I figured they'd have to drag us from the last store we entered to get us to leave when they were closing the place. Can dinner not be a formal affair?" Meredith asked, looking down at her attire. She donned a flowing white button down, short khaki shorts, and sandals and was in no mood to get dressed up to drink herself into a stupor.
"That's no problem. I wasn't thinking anything fancy, anyway. There's a bar that's closer to home that's similar in atmosphere to Joe's but lacking all of the medical personnel if you're okay with that?" Addison proposed, keeping her eyes on the road, weaving through traffic seamlessly.
"Sounds perfect," Meredith murmured, her eyes watching the scenery pass by in a blur of color with the accompaniment sound of honking horns and whirring car engines, her voice falling off with being preoccupied within her own mind. Before Meredith even had time to process the change of location, Addison was pulling into a spot in the parking lot.
~~GA~~
The plates and cutlery had long been vanished from the table to leave the top nearly bare with the essentials usually found in their place. Excluding those items, an empty martini glass, two shot glasses, and a bottle of tequila sat perched upon the table. It was apparent by the liquid left in the bottle that the night was just beginning since there had yet to be any liquor gone from the container.
"How much of that bottle do you plan on being used, Meredith?" Addison tentatively asked as she pushed aside her martini glass to be collected by their waitress on her next walkthrough.
"Good question; we'll see when we get there," Meredith said enthusiastically, pouring out two shots of the not quite amber liquid and nudging the glass in Addison's direction. "At least have a few shots with me?" Meredith inquired, providing a pathetic face to help convince Addison to join her with José since up until now, Meredith had let the bottle go unopened throughout dinner and had yet to have a drink.
"Only a few," Addison warned. "I will not be responsible for helping you completely finish that bottle shot for shot," she exclaimed with a mock serious tone and a slight smirk on her lips as she reached for the glass closest to her. Each clanked their glasses together before uttering a salutation and downing the shot.
"I think I almost forgot what tequila tasted like. Haven't really touched the stuff since med school," Addison rambled, her mouth and throat coming to terms with the liquid she just ingested.
"José is my go-to guy. We've been through a lot together over the years," Meredith explained, rolling the shot glass between her fingers, her face gaining a contemplative look and retreating back to her thoughts without realizing it. Before she knew it, a hand was waving in front of her face to get her attention.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Addison asked, sipping on a new martini that appeared while Meredith was in her own mind. The redhead watched as the young blonde poured herself another shot and let it sit in front of her, her fingers slowly sliding it back and forth, as if contemplating when to take it.
"Just going through all the times I've found myself at the bottom of a bottle of José. I feel there's been too many to adequately count them and I know there are some of those times I don't even recall. There definitely seems to be a trend," Meredith trailed off, frowning at her still full shot glass.
"That doesn't mean anything, you know. It might just mean you need to reevaluate how you deal with your problems. I myself changed that habit, even though the replacement definitely wasn't the right way to go about things either," Addison said, chuckling into her drink before taking another small swallow of the cool liquid.
"What was your replacement?" Meredith asked, curious to what the redhead used to sort through her problems. The image the resident had in her head was one of Addison sitting behind a desk, hair up and glasses on writing out pros and cons of a situation. Waiting for a response, Meredith started to take the awaiting shot, the liquid splashing into her mouth at the same moment her ears registered Addison's response.
"Sex," Addison bluntly said, taking another drink and focusing her attention on the now spluttering resident before her. Realizing her timing, Addison laughed heartily, finally calming down once she realized Meredith was eyeing her.
"Didn't have you pegged for that," Meredith coughed out, regaining her bearings after her slight mishap with the tequila. The alcohol was starting to make her skin feel flushed and despite the fact Meredith was far from prudish, the redhead's answer caught her by surprise and had added to some of the coloring her cheeks were tinged with.
"We all have our destructive tendencies. Alcohol seems to be yours and sex was mine. I'm sure we've both done plenty of things we wish we didn't remember. Lord knows what happened during the times we can't recall!" Addison said, her tone humorous and light with her delivery. Addison watched as Meredith nodded her head in agreement as she poured another shot, the liquid being downed and the glass slammed back down to the table before the blink of an eye.
"Do you ever wish things were different, Addison?" Meredith asked seriously, her face scrunching a little with the thoughts running a mile a minute through her mind. Shaking her head, Meredith waited patiently for the redhead to respond.
"Surprisingly, no, I don't. If things wouldn't have happened the way they did, I wouldn't have reconnected with Sam and Naomi and I wouldn't be who I am right now. As cliché as it might sound," Addison said, giving her shoulders a slight shrug before emptying her martini glass and setting it aside.
"I just," Meredith started before exhaling a shaky breath and continuing. "Sometimes, I wonder if it would be easier to just go back and alter things out of my life, you know? Everything with Derek just has me angry and frustrated and I don't know what I'm going to do about it," Meredith admitted, the tequila loosening her up a bit and allowing her to become more comfortable with discussing the things permeating her thoughts. She sighed again, running her hands through her messy locks before pushing the tequila bottle aside before pressing a palm to her face and propping that elbow up on the table to support the weight.
"Sure it might be easier, but think of what you would have missed out on if you could get rid of things from the past. You might not have ever met Derek, yet without him, you may have missed out on some extraordinary cases and the chance to learn from one of the best, as well as other things that would be affected by minute ripples of change," Addison pointed out while clasping her hands together on top of the table.
"You're right," Meredith sighed. "I just need to get myself together and face dealing with Derek. I don't think he'll be happy with the outcome, but I haven't been happy either," Meredith trailed off with another sigh, her mind stumbling over the many thoughts and memories together with Derek.
"How long have things been off between you two? If you don't mind the inquiry, of course," Addison added, realizing that Meredith might not want to delve into her personal issues.
"It started after we were having trouble conceiving naturally so several months at least. I really noticed the change after the fertility treatments weren't taking and my vision was starting to be affected," Meredith briefly explained, her hand on the table picking at the label of the tequila bottle, her gaze fixed away from the redhead.
"There's still time and other avenues to be explored. You're not down my path yet," Addison exclaimed, the last sentence trailing off quietly.
"Might not matter that there's still time since Derek and I will be over when it's all said and done. It doesn't seem to be in the cards for me. What did you mean by your path anyway?" Meredith questioned, picking up on the redhead's last statement, wondering exactly what Addison meant by it. Meredith glanced at the older woman, realizing she seemed to be in her own world at the moment, not clearly present at their table in the bar.
"My window of opportunity passed me by a while ago and now I can't have children. Do you remember when I was still at Seattle Grace and I took some leave and left the state?" Addison saw Meredith give a small shake of her head, indicating she was unaware of the time she was speaking of. "Well, I took a couple of days to come here, actually. My friend Naomi's a fertility specialist and I was starting to think about having children. The news wasn't promising, to say the least," Addison explained, finally meeting Meredith's gaze since starting this part of their conversation.
"I'm sorry, Addison," Meredith apologized. "I didn't mean to bring this up as I wasn't aware," Meredith earnestly said, feeling a tug at her heart for the woman sitting before her. She had never known the redhead had gone through all of this while still at Seattle Grace. In enemy territory, no less, since it wasn't the friendliest environment to work in.
"No need for an apology, Meredith. Just know that I do understand and can relate to your struggle if you ever do need someone to talk to or help with anything when the time comes," Addison offered, giving a small smile at the knowing look that had appeared in Meredith's eyes. The redhead realized the step she had just taken would allow for a deeper understanding between the two of them and that this would only help in forging a better friendship in the long run.
"Thanks, I'm sure I'll take you up on that offer," Meredith said, grabbing hold of the tequila bottle again, pouring out two shots and sliding one to the smiling redhead before hoisting the shot glass in the air. "To a new beginning," Meredith proclaimed, tilting her glass in Addison's direction.
"To a new beginning. Cheers," Addison added, returning the gesture before throwing the shot back and feeling the liquid warm her throat on its way down.
"What do you say we get out of here? For once, the bottom of this bottle isn't calling me," Meredith explained, pointing to the still half full bottle of José.
"Why, Meredith Grey, turning over a new leaf?" Addison asked with a chuckle before sliding off her seat and grasping her purse before slinging it over her shoulder, indicating with a nod to start heading toward the bar's exit.
"You could say that," Meredith said confidently as she grabbed her belongings and followed the redhead's lead out and to her car.
A/N: Okay guys, first off I want to apologize for the super long wait! I get super busy with college and it throws off my writing mojo beyond repair most times. I finally have had a little time over break to edit, tweak, and write for this so I could give you guys something. I can't guarantee when the next update will happen, so fair warning on that. I will try to get another update out before I head back from the hols, so keep your fingers crossed!
Also, a major shout out to iamkellylouise! She hooked me up with a brief read of what I had and critiqued a little so major props to her!
Hasting: All in due time we'll see who Derek cheated with. We're going to focus on this progression a little before finding out who helped with Derek's infidelity.
thesoundof (if you're still out there checking!): Thank you! I'm truly trying to keep things at an even pace and working on making sure they just don't hop in the sack all of a sudden. In any fic I've ever read, regardless of who the pairings are or what fandom it is, I strongly dislike it when that sort of things happens. By the way, I loved the stellar use of 'asshattery' you provided in the comment.
Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to review! I love seeing your comments and what you're thinking when you post. Please don't be shy and go ahead and review! Even if you don't, I know you're out there, so thanks again for reading guys!