Disclaimer: I own nothing. Shonda owns everything.


7. One Step Forward

Addison had already calmed down after seeing Callie's plane take off, but Pete's arm was still wrapped around her shoulders, and she certainly wasn't going to complain. The only bad thing about it was how hard it made it to stick to their friends-for-now arrangement. Because, really, being this close to him, Addison wasn't exactly thinking about baseball and shoes. But it wasn't her faut. It was his fault for smelling so damn good, like after-shave and something exotic that she was sure had some holistic proprieties. And it was his fault for not letting go of her when they started walking towards his car, his arm pulling her slightly closer as they walked together, making her almost feel the heat radiating from his skin. It was definitely his fault.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. Thats why, while he tried to keep his mind on the friendship area, he blamed her for making it so hard to concentrate on that. Was it his fault that she'd somehow managed to be exactly the right height for his arm to fit so comfortably around her shoulders? It was definitely her fault. And it was also her fault that she smelled like some fruit he couldn't exactly pinpoint, with a hint of coffee, because when you drink as much coffee as she does, its aroma stays with you. And he loved the smell of fruit and coffee, so it was her fault for not having put on some perfume like she often did, hiding the smell of her fruity conditioner and her coffee.

As much as they would have disagreed if they'd voiced their opinions on that matter, there was something they were definitely agreeing on. The car was to blame for forcing them to pull away. They didn't know you could hate a car with such intensity. They stood in front of it for a moment after they reached it, and then Pete reluctantly moved his arm away from Addison, who took a small step away from him. They definitely hated that car, but they got in anyway, missing the small contact from before.

The comfortable silence they'd been sharing since Callie left was still there, and they both realized how often they did that, just being around each other in silence, without feeling the need to fill the space with small talk. They wondered if it was because they'd already told each other their deepest, darkest secrets, so there were no worries lurking in their silences. "I miss her already." Pete would have been startled by the sudden disappearance of the silence if her voice hadn't been barely above a whisper. "She's loud and fun and her constant smiling makes her shine. And then she leaves and it's like someone's switched off the lights. You can't not miss her." He nodded with his eyes still on the road in front of him. He knew what she meant. "You two are very much alike."

Addison smiled slightly at his words. "I'm not that loud." But she knew what he meant. And he knew she did. "You're not that fun, either. And you're more cranky than smiley anyway." She laughed at his smirk. "Yeah, so your analogy was crappy, but thanks for trying." He smiled sincerely as soon as she started laughing. She was feeling down and he made her laugh. Everything was right in the world. "It was my pleasure." She smiled as she looked out of the window, thinking about how easy it had been for him to cheer her up.

After a few minutes of the aforementioned comfortable silence, he parked the car on her driveway and followed her inside. She hadn't invited him in and he hadn't asked either, but neither noticed anything strange in walking inside together. They were friends after all, and he visited her fairly often, so it was just a natural thing for her to expect him to come in, and for him to follow her inside. "Are you hungry?" she opened the fridge and looking inside, wondering if there was something remotely edible in there. "Sure, what are you making?" She chuckled and turned around to look at him. "I'm making a phone call. Chinese or pizza?"

It was his turn to laugh. He knew she couldn't cook to save her life. "Come on, I'll cook, what do you want?" She looked at the fridge again. "What can you make with milk, two bananas, ice-cream and yogurt?" He let out a dramatic sigh. "You need to start eating like an adult, Montgomery. And will you stop sticking bananas in the fridge? We've explained it to you ten times already, they need the tropical weather." Addison chuckled at his rant. She'd heard his healthy lifestyle talks many times already, and she found them highly entertaining. "Okay, let's go." He took her hand and pulled her towards the beach. "Where are we going?" They were now walking into Sam's part of the beach. "We're raiding Sam's fridge."

They walked into the house and saw Sam and Naomi watching a movie. "Nai? What are you doing here?" Her fried blushed slightly. "Just watching a movie." Addison cocked her eyebrow at her, but Sam spoke before she could keep asking. "This is my house. What are you doing here?" Pete answered with his head inside Sam's fridge. "We need food." It was Naomi's turn to cock her eyebrow. "Why?" Addison, unlike her friend, didn't blush. "He's cooking for me." With a pile of groceries in his hands, Pete corrected her answer. "We're both cooking. Let's go." With an apologetic shrug that said "excuse my crazy friend", Addison followed him outside, leaving their friends staring confused at the door.

"They're doing it." It took Naomi a moment to regain control of her voice. "Maybe they aren't. Maybe they're..." Sam interrupted her. "In love? Because that's the only other option." She shook her head and went back to her original position, snuggled into his side. "They're doing it." Sam chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, following her gaze to the tv in front of them. "Yeah."

Addison quickly caught up with him as she followed him outside. "Do you think they're doing it?" Pete looked at her as if she'd grown two heads. "What? Why would you say that?" She held the door open for him as he walked inside with the groceries and started getting everything ready to cook. "Didn't you see them? Sharing a couch? And all the looks between them, and everything. They are doing it!" Pete shook his head. "Montgomery, you need to get your mind out of the gutter. They're friends." She rolled her eyes at him. "Sure, they're friends. How many people do you know that would be snuggled up on the couch with someone they're just friends with?" He shrugged as he finished with the preparations. "We do that." They realized it at the same time, a second after the words left his lips. "Yeah, you're right. They're friends." They both knew their friends were, indeed, doing it.

After a moment of not-so-comfortable silence, Pete turned towards Addison and handed her a pot. "Water." She smirked at him and filled the pot with water. "I can handle water. Not sure about everything else, though." He laughed and turned on the stove. "Okay, now add some salt and leave it there until it boils." She did what he said and smiled proudly. "My work here is done." He took her hand to stop her when she headed towards the tv. "I'm not cooking for you while you watch tv. Come here and be useful." She faked a sigh, but it was hard to hide the smile he'd triggered when he took her hand. "All right, Wilder, what do I do now?" He was about to hand her a knife when he changed his mind and smirked at her. "Just stay there and look pretty while I chop these things."

It took him five minutes to finish getting everything ready, and it would have been done sooner if she hadn't been rambling about being a double-board certified neonatal surgeon and being banned from the chopping by a holistic quack. "People trust me with a scalpel. People trust me to cut them open. And you come in here with your hands that heal and tell me I'm not allowed near a knife! I can handle the knife!" He was about to reply when the sound of water bubbling and splashing made them look at the pot. "You were in charge of the water, Addie! You were supposed to keep an eye on it!" She was too busy cleaning up the mess to notice he'd called her Addie. As soon as the spaghetti were in the pot and everything was under control again, he shoot her a stern look, and she replied with a guilty look on her face. "I'm not allowed near the knife."

After laughing at her for a while, he put the chopped vegetables and meat on a saucepan and placed it on the stove. "Here, stir this a bit while I drain the pasta." She took the wooden spoon from him and half-heartedly stirred the mix, looking slightly worried. "Are you sure I can be trusted with the stirring, Pete?" He chuckled at her and placed his hand on hers around the spoon. "You wanna do it like this, because..." He regretted his gesture almost instantly. There it was, the smell, and the closeness, and the sudden urge to grab her and forget about the cooking. He wasn't the only one who wasn't thinking about food anymore. "I think I got it." Her voice was barely audible, and she regretted her words as soon as she felt his hand move away from hers. "I'll go get the pasta."

Twenty minutes later, Pete and Addison sat at a table on her deck, enjoying a nice plate of spaghetti. After an appreciative sound, she smiled at him. "I'm an amazing cook." He laughed and nodded emphatically. "You're an amazing cook." She smirked playfully as she took a sip of her wine. "You're not completely useless, yourself." His fake offended look only made her smirk widen. "Just eat before I downgrade you to water duty again." She had to laugh at that. She was proud of her successful stirring, and she knew he was, too.

When they were done eating, and after sharing the dishwashing duties, Addison walked him to the door. "I had fun tonight. Thanks for helping me with the cooking." He smiled at her. "It was my pleasure. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun with a surgeon." She chuckled and then smiled warmly at him, sending shivers down his spine. Without giving it a second thought, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It was short and sweet, and different from any of their previous kisses. His lips only stayed on hers long enough for her to respond, and they were both smiling when he pulled away. "Good night." His voice was soft, as if he was scared of breaking the spell. "Night, Pete."

As he drove towards his house, a broad smile still on his face, Addison sat on her deck looking at the sea, an equally broad smile playing on her lips. They really were getting there.


Thank you agentaddek, jb916, Melanie, Effie, EscapismRocks, hopelessromantic28, Ciaobella06, raes, AddielovesMen and ADMM FANATICCC for your wonderful reviews! I know I wouldn't have gotten this far writing this fic if it wasn't for you!

Okay, so this chapter was pure fluff, because... well, I'm in a fluffy mood :P And because I wanted happy Addie, because happy Addie makes me happy :) For those of you who said you wanted Paddie going to the rainy hellhole... well, I'm pretty sure it's going to happen. I just don't know when :P