8. Fight like a gladiator

Addison Montgomery was going slightly insane. She shifted on her seat for the millionth time since she'd gotten in the car and tried not to look at the carton cup that rested on the seat next to hers. Pete's tea. Pete. She'd woken up that morning with a smile on her face, and it took her a moment to remember the event that had apparently glued that smile to her face forever. The wonderful non-date that felt very much like a date and had ended like only great dates ended. With a kiss. And that's what was making her go insane.

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable about the kiss. Or that she was worried about the impact of said kiss in their relationship. Or that she hadn't liked the kiss. What worried her was the lack of worries. How incredibly right it had felt. How perfectly short and almost friendly. How it made her feel like there were more to come, like they would be repeating it forever, like there was no need to rush, because they had all the time in the world. He wasn't going anywhere. What worried her was knowing she'd never felt like this before. She'd never felt so sure, or so safe. It was a first, and as amazing as this first in particular was, firsts made her nervous.

She wasn't feeling any calmer when she stepped out of the elevator at the clinic. She didn't think she could pull off the whole flirting game today. Not when she felt like she was walking a very fine line between being in control and completely losing it. Today, she was fairly sure one of his smirks would be enough to push her over the edge. And she didn't know if he was ready to catch her after he made her fall. Maybe he needed more time. Maybe a month had been enough for her, but he needed more time.

As worried as she was about seeing him, she was even more worried when she didn't see him. Her mind immediately filled with possibilities. Him freaking out after the kiss. Him noticing she felt something and deciding to stay away. Him deciding not to bring her coffee in case she thought they were something more than friends. "Addison." She blinked in surprise at the sound. "Addison, are you all right?" Naomi sounded like she'd been asking the same thing for a while. "Yeah... I'm fine." Her friend looked slightly suspicious, but didn't say anything else. "Have you seen Pete?" Naomi shook her head. "Sam said he had a thing to do."

Addison decided to focus on her friend's love life instead of her own. Because her own love life was driving her insane. "What's up with you and Sam?" Naomi looked like a little girl who'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Nothing's going on with me and Sam, why would you say that?" Addison smiled at her. "You're happy." Naomi frowned at her friend. "I'm not happy. Stop saying I'm happy!" But Addison ignored her. "You're happy. I'm happy for you. You're perfect for each other." She couldn't help but smile. She was happy. "Shut up." The redhead laughed at her infectious happiness, and took a sip of her coffee... before realizing it wasn't coffee. "God, how can he drink this crap!?"

It was Naomi's turn to laugh. "Pete's tea?" Addison nodded as she drank almost a whole bottle of water, trying to get rid of the aftertaste. "It's poisonous. I'm sure it is. Nothing that tastes like that can be good for you." Naomi couldn't stop laughing. She knew how much she hated tea. "So, you and Pete seem to be hanging out a lot lately." Addison shook her head. "Not today, Nai. Ask me again tomorrow, and I'll tell you anything you want." Naomi watched confused as her friend left the room and walked towards her office. She really didn't know what was going on with her.

Addison didn't know why she'd acted like that. She should be happy. She finally had a man who was willing to stay with her. Why couldn't she be normal, for once? Why couldn't she enjoy the feeling? Maybe she really was a glutton for punishment after all. The sound of the door closing startled her after a few minutes, and she couldn't really choose between smiling or frowning when she turned around to see Pete standing there. He looked nervous. She felt sick. She felt even worse when she noticed the lack of coffee in his hands.

"I've been thinking... It's been a month since that night." She knew. "And I think we've both changed a lot in this month." Was he breaking up with her? Was he ending their fake relationship? He took a deep breath and she felt like running away before he could say whatever it was that he wanted to say. He looked confident when he spoke again. "Look, I'm not trying to control you or anything, I'm not like that. But I'd like you to stop seeing Kevin." What now? She wasn't expecting that. "Because it's driving me completely insane to think about you dating him." She smiled as soon as she realized what was happening. "Pete..."

He didn't want to stop talking. He knew if he stopped he wouldn't be able to say everything he needed to say. "No, let me finish. Last night was amazing. And I feel stupid saying this, because, honestly? I'm too old to be like this over a kiss." He sounded mad, and she didn't know if he was mad at her or at himself. "The thing is, whatever it was that happened last night, I don't want to share it. I want to be the only one who gets to see you mess up in the kitchen, and the only one who gets to listen to your annoying rambles about being the best surgeon there ever was, and the only one who gets to kiss you good night." Her smile was wider now. "Pete, I..." He shook his head.

"I'm not sharing you. I can't. I won't. So, this is it. I'm not trying to say you have to say yes, because, really, it's your choice. I'm just saying, I can't share. I can walk away and be the bigger man, but I can't share you. So, will you stop seeing him?" He looked into her eyes, waiting for her answer. "Pete, I can't stop seeing Kevin. He's my friend. I don't want to stop seeing him. But..." He didn't want to hear anything else. "You don't have to explain. I wasn't expecting you to say yes, anyway." He walked towards the door, and she tried to stop him. "Pete, I'm not dating him. We're..." He interrupted again. "Friends. I know. I guess I was wrong about you. I didn't think you'd want to be with two men at a time. I'll see you later."

He knew he was overreacting, but he didn't care. He'd put himself out there. He'd admitted he was jealous. And she'd say no. She'd chosen Kevin. Well, not really, but still. She hadn't chosen Pete, and that was just as bad. He really thought she'd say yes. He thought they were in the same page. He walked into Cooper's office and slammed the door shut. "What the hell, Pete?" He didn't sit down. "She won't stop seeing him." He was well aware of the fact that he was going insane. And he didn't really care that much. "I told her I was jealous. I thought it'd work out." Cooper was confused. "Addison?" Pete nodded at him. "I asked her to stop seeing him, and she said no. She said they are friends and she won't stop seeing him." His friend looked at him, trying to figure him out. "Maybe they are friends." Pete's glare made him regret his words. "I am her friend, too. That's the point." Cooper was about to say something, but Pete saw something outside of the office and had walked away before he could speak.

"Kevin!" The logical part of his brain told him he was acting like a crazy person. He also knew nothing good would come out of this. But he knew, if there was a moment to be her gladiator, this was it. Kevin turned around to look at him, slightly startled at the loud tone of his voice. "Hey, Pete. What's up?" Pete ignored his friendly greeting. "I have a question for you. What are you doing with her?" Kevin looked confused. "I'm sorry?" It took a lot of self-control for Pete not to punch his pretty face. "What are you doing?" He didn't notice Addison stepping outside of her office. "I'm... being her friend." That was it.

"Okay, we all know you two are friends, you can stop repeating it. But is that it? Do you think you can make her happy? Are you willing to do everything in your power to make her happy? Are you willing to fight for her?" Kevin knew what was going on, he was Addison's friend after all. He smiled slightly as he answered. "No, I'm not." Pete was confused. He wasn't expecting that. "Well, I am. I'm fighting for her." Kevin's smile grew slightly wider. "I know. She's fighting for you, too. She told me that on our second date, when we decided to be just friends."

Pete didn't know what to say. "Oh." Kevin was genuinely happy for Addison. "We really are friends. I listen to her ramble about you, and she listens to me ramble about Susan." Susan? Really? He knew he'd seen something between him and Susan McCullough. "So you're not..." He shook his head. "Not at all." That's when he saw Addison standing behind Kevin. "Oh." Kevin excused himself and smiled as he walked into the elevator. He was happy for them.

"You know you've acted like a jerk, right?" He nodded. "That was stupid. And humiliating. And I feel like kicking your ass right now. What did you think you were doing, yelling at Kevin like that? And saying that stuff about two-timing you to me! Are you out of your mind!? Next time, let me finish talking before you act like a baby." He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to think about the possibility of having blown it. "I can't talk to you right now." She walked into her office again, and closed the door behind her.

Pete didn't know what to do. He knew he'd blown his chance. And then, he realized something, and ran towards his car. He was fixing this. He was fighting for her.


As always, thank you Carolina1986, Melanie, Effie, TwoShoes, raes, Ciaobella06, agentaddek, jb916, AddielovesMen and Karma22 for taking the time to review! You have no idea how much it means to see people enjoy this story :)

I don't know how I feel about this chapter, but I don't know exactly what I don't like. Let me know what you think!