A/N: I hope you're still liking this story. Here's the next chapter – Lady in Red. I hope you like it! :)
With or Without You
Chapter 7: Lady in Red
"You look nice," Alex complimented, appreciatively taking in Addison's appearance as she entered the living room wearing a short, sleeveless red dress with a skinny black leather belt.
"Thanks," Addison smiled. "Archer and his groomsmen are going out tonight and, since I'm his best man, apparently I have to go too."
Alex chuckled. "Where are you guys going?"
"I don't know," Addison answered. "The only thing I know is that Izzie told Archer no strippers. But Derek, Mark, and Sam did all the planning."
"Well, it should be a-"
"Whatever you do, don't say 'fun night,'" Addison interrupted. "I'm spending the night with my brother, my ex-husband, and two ex-boyfriends. This is going to be a disaster. How am I supposed to get through this?"
"Hey, you know what I've always liked about you?" Alex asked, pulling Addison onto the couch that he was sitting on.
"Way to avoid the question," Addison retorted.
Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Humor me."
Addison turned to face him. "What have you always liked about me, Alex?"
"You're tough," Alex said simply. "I've seen you in situations that would break most people…but not you. You're a fighter, and you always come through whatever tough situation is thrown at you. I think it's because you don't put up with other people's bullshit. I mean, you called Shepherd out on his crap, you called Sloan out on his…we all know you called me out on my crap– a lot. I'm not worried about you tonight."
Addison swallowed hard, and met Alex's eyes. He gave her a soft smile, his eyes warm and caring. Addison's eyes flickered from Alex's eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. She hesitated for a moment before leaning in and kissing him gently. Alex eagerly responded, and what started out as a soft, tender kiss quickly became more passionate and intense.
"Thank you," Addison whispered when they finally broke apart.
"For what?" Alex asked, desire still clouding his eyes.
"For what you said; I needed to hear it."
Alex shrugged. "I meant it," he said quietly.
"Wait up for me?" Addison asked hopefully.
Alex grinned widely. "Hey, while you're off with Archer and the unholy trinity, I'll be having a girls' evening with Izzie and the bridesmaids. If you think for one second that we're not having sex tonight, you've got another thing coming."
xxxxx
"So, we put together the ultimate man's night," Mark grinned, as he, Archer, Derek, Sam, and Addison walked into the steakhouse. "We'll start with steak and scotch here, and then we're heading over to a sports bar."
"Sounds good," Archer grinned, as they sat down at their private table.
"Yeah," Mark agreed. "It's too bad that Izzie was so against having strippers."
"Mark," Derek scolded.
"Oh, don't be such a prude, Derek," Mark grinned. "I got you strippers before you married Addison."
"And if I remember correctly, you spared no expense," Sam laughed.
"They were hot," Archer agreed.
I could be having sex right now, Addison thought to herself. "So," she began, trying to redirect the conversation, "where are the menus?"
"No menus," Mark laughed. "I preordered everything. Thirty-two ounce steaks for each of us!"
"Thirty-two ounces?" Addison exclaimed. "Mark, that's two pounds of steak!"
"I know," Mark grinned. "If you wanna be a good best man, you gotta keep up with the big boys. That means eating like us…so no eight ounce filet mignon for you."
"Excuse me," their waiter cut in, "but dinner is served." And, with that, he placed a thirty-two ounce steak in front of each of them.
"Awesome," Archer grinned.
"This is pretty cool," Sam agreed.
"I can't remember the last time I saw this much meat," Addison said incredulously.
"Sure you can," Mark smirked, "You slept with me when I flew out to LA, so that was what, about a year an a half ago-"
"Some of us are trying to enjoy our dinner, Mark," Derek cut in angrily.
"I second that," Archer agreed.
xxxxx
"Alex, I'm glad you made it," Izzie smiled as Alex joined his friends at their table in the hotel restaurant.
"Hey, I'm your maid of honor," Alex grinned. "Girly dinners are kind of in my job description. And, truth be told, I'd much rather spend the night with you guys than with Archer and the groomsmen."
"Poor Addison," Izzie chuckled.
"Eh, she's tough; she'll get through it," Alex smiled. "So," he began, completely oblivious to the suspicious looks that his friends were exchanging with each other, "what are we ordering?"
"We were thinking about ordering a couple bottles of champagne and all the desserts on the menu," Meredith giggled.
"Sure," Alex smirked. "There's nothing like drinking on an empty stomach."
"Hey, we're ordering all the desserts on the menu," Cristina protested. "Dessert counts as food."
"Hey, I like dessert," Alex defended, putting his hands up in surrender. "I'm all for it."
"Perfect," Izzie smiled, calling the waiter over, and placing their order.
"So what do you think the guys are up to tonight?" Callie asked, once the waiter left their table.
"I don't know," Izzie answered. "All I know is that there aren't going to be any strippers. At least, there better not be."
"Hey, we should call them and find out, you know, just to make sure they didn't get strippers," Meredith suggested.
"I like that idea," Izzie approved.
"Want me to call Derek?" Meredith offered.
"We should try to be discreet about this," Izzie started. "You know, so I don't come off as all hovery and jealous. Calling Derek would be too obvious. We should call Addison."
"So call her," Cristina prodded.
"I can't call her," Izzie said exasperatedly. "It's got to be one of you guys."
"Well, it's not like Meredith or I have her number," Cristina shot back. "So that leaves Callie or Alex."
"Oh, Alex should do it," Izzie said decisively. "That way we can pretend it's a maid of honor, best man kind of thing." Izzie looked at Alex. "You have Addison's number, right?"
"Oh, he has Addison's number," Meredith said assuredly.
Alex glared at his friend.
"Or, I would assume that he does, at least," Meredith recovered. "I mean, he's the maid of honor, she's the best man; it would be silly if they didn't exchange numbers, right?"
"I have Addison's number," Alex said, desperate to put an end to Meredith's rambling. "You sure we should call her?"
"Yes!" the four women exclaimed.
"Okay," Alex nodded, as he dialed Addison's number.
"Hey, Alex; what's up?" Addison answered into the phone.
"So this is kind of awkward," Alex began. "I'm with Izzie, Meredith, Callie, and Yang, and, um, Izzie…I mean, we, we were wondering, if-"
"Mark, Derek, and Sam got Archer strippers?" Addison finished for him.
"Yeah," Alex admitted.
"Hey, Addison," Alex heard Mark yell through the phone. "Tell Alex to tell the girls that we didn't get strippers."
"You heard that, right?" Addison asked Alex.
"I did," Alex laughed. Then, turning his attention Izzie, he mouthed, "No strippers."
"Hey, Addie," Alex heard Archer yell. "Tell Alex to tell Izzie that I forgive her for not trusting me, but that she's gonna need to make it up to me later tonight. I'm thinking something black and lacy for starters."
"Please tell me you heard that too," Addison muttered to Alex.
"I heard it," Alex laughed, "but I bet you wish you hadn't."
"Yeah," Addison agreed. "So how's your night going?"
"Good," Alex smiled. "We're having champagne and dessert. How's your night going?"
"Okay," Addison said. "We're having scotch and thirty-two ounce steaks."
"Sweet."
Addison laughed. "I figured you'd think so."
"How's the company?" Alex asked, doing his best to be discreet.
"Okay," Addison answered. "We've hit all the big topics – strippers, sex, women, man whoring…oh, and med. school."
"Hey, Addison," Archer said loudly, "the point of tonight was to hang out with the groomsmen, not with the maid of honor. Tell Alex to tell Izzie that I love her, and get off the phone."
"Well, I should probably let you go," Alex laughed. "I'll see you tonight."
"Yeah; bye, Alex" Addison said, hanging up the phone.
"You'll see her tonight?" Callie asked as Alex put the phone away. "Why are you seeing Addison tonight?"
"He's staying at her place," Izzie answered.
"Why?" Cristina asked.
"Because he's the maid of honor and she's the best man, and they have a lot of planning to do," Izzie explained.
Alex couldn't help chuckling to himself as Izzie defended him. She had fallen for his and Addison's lies hook, line, and sinker. He didn't remember his ex-wife being so gullible, but he certainly wasn't complaining.
"So, what are the guys up to…besides not having strippers?" Meredith asked as she began to pour the champagne that had just arrived at their table.
Alex shrugged, "Addison said that they're having scotch and steak. Sounds pretty cool to me."
"And Addie's surviving?" Callie asked.
"She's surviving," Alex assured her.
"You and Addison are really cute," Meredith laughed.
"What-what does that mean?" Alex stammered. "You, you've never even seen us together. What are you talking about?"
Meredith looked at Alex suspiciously. "I just meant you're doing girly stuff with us; she's hanging out with Archer and her exes. You two are good sports."
"Oh," Alex breathed.
"What were you getting all flustered and bent out of shape about?" Cristina asked Alex with a smirk.
"Nothing," Alex responded quickly. "It's just, um…hey, did I tell you what Archer said?"
"No," Izzie smiled. "What did he say?"
"Well, he said that he loves you and that he forgives you for the wholes stripper thing; but he expects you to make it up to him tonight in the form of something black and lacy."
"He said that knowing full well that you and Addison were going to hear him?" Callie asked in astonishment.
"We were the messengers," Alex laughed, as he took in Callie, Meredith, and Cristina's shocked faces.
Izzie laughed. "Archer has no shame."
"That's putting it mildly," Alex smirked, feeling pleased with himself for redirecting the conversation and avoiding what could have been a very awkward situation.
"Very smooth," Meredith whispered to Alex.
Alex turned to look at his friend. "What?"
"Way to change the subject," Meredith said, rolling her eyes.
Alex took a long sip of his champagne, looked over at Meredith, and smiled smugly, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
xxxxx
"I don't see why I have to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses," Alex complained, as he stood with Izzie, Addison, Meredith, Cristina, and Callie in the bridal boutique, the next morning. "I mean, it's not like I'm going to be wearing one."
Izzie chuckled, "You're my maid of honor, Alex. You have to go bridesmaid dress shopping with me."
"Oh, just so you know, Barbie," Cristina cut in, "I won't wear pastels. I'm morally opposed to anything pastel-colored."
"And I won't wear bows or ruffles," Callie added.
"Oh, me neither," Cristina agreed. "No bows and ruffles."
"So, is everyone finished complaining?" Izzie asked. "Or are you guys just getting started?"
"We're done," Meredith said firmly, shooting her friends warning looks.
"We are," Cristina agreed. "So, let's see the dresses."
"Not so fast," Izzie grinned. "I'm going to take you, Meredith, and Callie upstairs to meet Alice, who's going to take your measurements."
"Wait, Addie, you're not coming with us?" Callie asked her friend. "You're not going to wear a tux, are you? I mean, you don't really wear pants, so you in a tux…that would just be weird."
"I'm not wearing a tux," Addison assured her friend. "I came here with Izzie last week to check out bridesmaid dress options, so I already had my measurements taken." Addison turned her attention to Izzie. "So I guess Alex and I can just wait down here until everyone's ready to start trying on dresses?"
"Actually," Izzie began, "why don't you try on some of the dresses we talked about and see what Alex thinks? That way we can start ruling things out."
"Um, okay. I guess that's alright," Addison agreed.
"Alex?" Izzie asked, looking at her ex-husband questioningly.
"As long as I'm not the one trying on dresses, I'm up for anything," he sighed.
xxxxx
"Okay, what do you think of this one?" Addison asked, stepping out of the dressing room in an elegant floor-length, sleeveless red dress, with a deep draping neckline.
"Wow," Alex breathed, quickly getting up out of his seat to get a better look at her. "You look…amazing."
"Thanks," Addison smiled, meeting Alex's eyes, getting lost in one of their infamous staring contests.
"So, um, how many other dresses is Izzie thinking about?" Alex asked, finally breaking eye contact. "Because, I honestly don't think you're going to find a better dress than that one."
"We looked at a lot of different dresses, but this dress and one other are the front runners," Addison explained, disappearing into the dressing room. She returned a few seconds later with a strapless rose-colored dress on a hanger. "Here's the other choice."
Alex looked at the dress, and his face fell. "Do me a favor, Addison, and convince Izzie to go with the red one."
"Why? So you don't have to wear a pink boutonnière?" Addison teased.
Alex shook his head. "I couldn't care less about that. It's just, the pink one in your hand…it reminds me a lot of the dress that Izzie wore to prom…the night that Denny died. And this is Izzie and Archer's day; it should be about them."
Addison gently placed her hand on Alex's bicep, feeling an overwhelming urge to lean in and kiss him. But kissing Alex in a public place would definitely violate their casual sex agreement and, truth be told, they were already toeing the line. So she buried her feelings, squeezed his arm, and gave him a warm smile. "I'll convince Izzie to go with the red one," she promised.
"Good," Alex smiled. "Besides, you look hot in the red dress. I can't wait to take that dress off-"
But he cut himself off, and swallowed hard, remembering that their sex arrangement ended the morning of the wedding…so he wouldn't be the one taking that dress off Addison at the end of the night.
