A/N: Hey guys! I really hope you haven't lost interest in this story. I know I didn't post last week, and I'm also late with this week's update; I'm sorry. College finals and other time consuming things threw me off track with this story. I'm still quite busy, but I will still update. (Even if I have to post them a few days late). Thank you for all of your support and feedback, I really hope you like this chapter, Enjoy!


Friday:

Addison incessantly knocked on the door of the guestroom, patiently waiting for her ex-husband to respond. Before she left for work she wanted to inform him of a few things she failed to mention the night before, although she and Derek had spent a considerable amount of time talking after dinner the previous night. In a few short minutes, the door slowly opened and revealed a groggy Derek, who made no effort to release the doorknob from his grasp. His wrinkly, grey t-shirt rode up slightly; revealing the toned skin above his waist as he stretched his free arm above his head.

"Morning." Addison said sheepishly.

Derek looked at her through half-opened, sleep-filled eyes as he ran a hand through his mess of thick, dark hair.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." She cleared her throat before she continued. "I, uh, I'm going to work and I'm not sure when I'll be back, so I just wanted to say a few things before I left."

"I already fed Ginger so you don't have to worry about her this morning. I usually feed her twice, morning and night, so since you're here; if I'm not back before dark — which is probably sometime after 7, you can feed her — don't feed her before then." She rambled. "Her food is in the cabinet beside the kitchen sink." She paused momentarily as she watched Derek slip a hand underneath his shirt causing it to ride up further. "Um, If you, uh, go out on the deck it's okay to let her out, she won't go far if someone is out there with her, but make sure you let her back in when you go inside, otherwise she'll wander along the beach. Um, there's a key in the kitchen drawer by the fridge; make sure you lock up if you decide to go somewhere. So, yeah...that's about it. I'll, uh, see you when I get back." She turned on her heel and began to walk down the hall.

Derek, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke. "Addie." He called out in a husky voice.

Addison stopped abruptly and turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"Morning." He said with a lazy smile.

Addison smiled softly then continued down the hall. Pushing all thoughts of her ex-husband aside, she made the thirty minute drive to the practice. Upon arriving, she made a brief stop in her office to drop off her purse then headed to the kitchen. Addison poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the wooden table in the center of the room. Her first appointment was scheduled for 9am, so instead of waiting in her office, she opted for hanging out in the kitchen.

A while later, Naomi entered the kitchen, approached the coffee pot on the counter, filled a mug with the steaming, black liquid, and joined her friend at the table. Naomi sipped at her coffee while staring at Addison intently from across the table.

"Nae, what is it?" Addison said after a few minutes, no longer able to ignore Naomi's intense gaze.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Naomi said in a low voice while raising an eyebrow.

Addison immediately caught on and said, "No."

"Addie..." Naomi whined as her body slouched into her chair.

Addison sighed. "Did Sam tell you?"

"No, last night, I uh, saw him through the window." Naomi said guiltily. Addison opened her mouth to respond, but Naomi quickly continued, "Why did you tell Sam before you told me?"

"I didn't tell Sam." Addison started. "He knew Derek was coming before I did. Derek asked him for the address and—"

"Why didn't he just ask you?" Naomi asked as her face contorted in confusion.

"Nae, I don't know. Maybe he thought I wouldn't give it to him or maybe he, maybe..." Addison threw her arms up in exasperation. "I don't know, Nae. Men, they...they just do stupid things."

"Like show up to their ex-wife's house out of the blue." Naomi mumbled.

"Yeah." Addison agreed

"How long is he staying?" Naomi asked after a moment of silence.

"He leaves Monday."

"He's there for the entire weekend." Naomi grinned.

Addison rolled her eyes at Naomi. "I know what you're thinking."

"I didn't say anything." Naomi said, slowly shaking her head as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"You didn't have to...Nothing is going to happen." Addison confirmed.

"I never said something would happen." Naomi chuckled.

"But you were thinking it." Addison replied, looking at her friend pointedly.

Naomi shrugged.

Addison pushed out her chair and stood.

"Where are you going?" Naomi asked as Addison began to walk away.

"Patient." Addison replied without turning around.

"You can't leave yet." Naomi said as she walked after her. "I have so many more questions."

xxx

Derek took full advantage of being able to sleep in without interruption. Thus, he slept until noon. When he awoke, he went down to Addison's kitchen. He observed the empty coffee pot and rummaged through the cupboards in search of coffee. He opened the cabinet beside the kitchen sink and just as Addison had informed, it contained Ginger's food. Only Derek didn't expect to see many, many, many cans of cat food neatly stacked on top of each other. He smiled at the sight; Addison made sure Ginger always had food, yet she failed to stock the cupboards for herself. He looked over at Ginger who was frozen in front of the refrigerator, watching him intently.

"You hungry, Ginger?" Derek asked the cat in a melodic voice.

Ginger remained still, refusing to move a whisker as she continued to stare at the stranger in front of her.

Derek removed a can from the cupboard and pulled off the top. Going against Addison's instructions, he placed the can in front of Ginger. Her head immediately engaged with the can and her traitorous tongue began to rid it of its contents.

Abandoning his initial search for coffee, Derek left the kitchen and headed back to the guestroom. Since Addison would be gone most of the day, Derek thought about what he could do to help out—a gesture of gratitude. Addison's home was immaculate, so cleaning was definitely unnecessary. Recollecting the events of the previous night, he settled on going to the grocery store and making dinner for his ex-wife. Derek quickly showered, got dressed, and returned downstairs. There was only one problem with his plan — transportation. He stepped outside to see if Sam or Naomi's car was parked in their driveway — both were gone. Derek went with the next thought that came to mind: cab service. He removed the cordless phone from its receiver and held it in his hand as he flipped through the phone book.

Fifteen minutes after requesting a taxi, a sleek, black Lincoln Continental pulled up in front of the beach house. Derek quickly made his way back into the kitchen and grabbed the key from the drawer.

"Do whatever you normally do when Addison is gone." Derek said to Ginger as he neared the front door. "I'll be back soon."

xxx

Addison sighed in relief after pressing the red seat belt button, releasing her body from the confines of the grey sling. She leaned sideways and removed her shoes from underneath the passenger seat. Not bothering to put them on, she scooped up her hand bag and exited the vehicle. When she opened the front door, the aromatic smell of thyme and rosemary immediately invaded her nostrils. Her lips curved into a small smile as she entered the kitchen; Derek's back was turned to her as he basted a chicken on the counter top.

"Hey." She said, making him aware of her presence.

Derek returned the chicken to the oven then turned to face her. "Hey," He smiled. "I was hoping you'd be back a little later, I'm not finished yet."

"You're making dinner."

"I'm making dinner." He confirmed.

"You didn't have to," Addison said, suddenly feeling the need to protest. "I didn't expect you to—" She stopped abruptly as her eyes roamed the kitchen. "To do this..." she gestured to the food on the stove "you had to go to the store and...and that must have been a hassle because you don't—"

"Addison." Derek said firmly enough to silence her. She always tended to overreact.

"It's fine. It wasn't a hassle, I didn't go through any trouble. I wanted to do something for you, think of this as my formal way of saying thank you for letting me stay here...besides, I know how much you like my chicken." He finished with a smile.

Addison returned his smile. "Do you need help with anything?" She asked.

"No. There's not much left to do. You can put those up," He used his eyes to gesture to the shoes and bag in Addison's hand. "and do whatever else you have to do, and when you get back, you can tell me about your day."

"Are you sure you don't need any help? I can—"

"Addie, I'm almost finished." He confirmed once again.

"Okay." She said as she reluctantly made towards the stairs.

Derek approached the wine rack and searched for a bottle of Pinot Noir — he knew Addison would have it, considering she was a prolific wine drinker. He removed the bottle from its slot and set it on the counter top. A few minutes later, Addison returned and sat on a stool behind the counter. As she watched her ex-husband expertly chop and sauté vegetables, Addison tried to pinpoint the last time she had seen him in that setting. Technically, it was the time he had caught a trout and brought it to the trailer, but she discounted that, so it must have been sometime in New York. She reached down and picked up Ginger who had been circling the stool since she sat. Addison ran her hand slowly across Ginger's back ruffling the tabby's white fur each time she pat in the opposite direction.

"Did you feed her?" She asked Derek, then took a sip of the wine that he had poured her.

"Just before you came." He responded, which was true, only he conveniently left out the part about feeding Ginger two other times earlier that day.

He listened as she went on about her day at the practice and he couldn't help but notice the way her eyes lit up when she spoke. He knew it wasn't simply about the work — Addison had always loved her job. It was attributed to rediscovering a sense of belonging.

"They're for you, they were selling them at the store. I chose that one because it reminded me of you." He said, noticing that her eyes wandered to the bouquet of flowers on the end of the counter.

Addison smiled and responded with a soft 'thank you'. Given her newly found information, she took another look at the bouquet seemingly trying to figure out what about those flowers reminded him of her. The bouquet was composed of a mix of Roses, Gerbera Daisies, Bells of Ireland and Stargazer Lilies. Most of the flowers were different shades of pink — most certainty not her color, and she had never been a fan of medley bouquets, but she couldn't deny that the one he had chosen was beautiful. She entered the kitchen to retrieve the necessary dinnerware to set the table after Derek informed her that their meal was done. As they sat and ate, Addison allowed pessimism to creep in; she wondered if it would last — how long their semblance of a friendship could last before one of them did something to drive the other away?


Saturday:

"Cinderella Man?" Derek said as he joined Addison on the couch.

Addison gave him a quick glance. "Yeah."

"You've seen this a thousand times."

She shrugged, disregarding his exaggeration, eyes glued to the TV.

"I still don't understand why you like this movie so much. I've seen it a few times, but that's only because of you. I don't think it's that great. I mean, it's not like—"

"Derek! Shut up!" Addison chided, momentarily looking away from the screen to meet her ex-husband's eyes. "If you're going to talk go back upstairs!"

"Okay." Derek responded with a chuckle, raising his hands in surrender; he knew better than interrupt Addison in the middle of a Russell Crowe film.

Instead of watching the movie, Derek watched Addison watch the movie. The only sound between them were the voices of Russell Crowe and Renée Zellweger emitted by the TV. He observed the way her head leaned a little closer to the screen whenever there was a close up of James (Russell's character), the way her eyes flickered and lips curved into a smile when Mae (James' wife/Renée's character) embraced her husband and kissed him passionately, and the way she winced every time James took a hit while boxing. Ignoring Addison's previous request for silence, Derek asked the question that had been plaguing his thoughts.

"Where's Matthew?"

Addison's mouth fell slightly open as she looked at her ex-husband, taken aback by his sudden question. "He, uh, why?" She stammered.

Derek shrugged. "I was just wondering. You're home tonight and I just assumed that you'd be with him and—"

"Derek, why does it matter?" She interrupted, trying to figure out where he was headed.

"It doesn't. It's just..." Derek's voice trailed off. "You don't talk about him."

Addison sighed. "Derek, why would I talk about him with you? You're my ex-husband."

"That's not why." Derek disagreed, shaking his head. "When I was dating Rose, I mentioned her a few times when we spoke. You, well you never mention anything about Matthew, except for that time we had lunch at that café." Derek readjusted his position on the couch as he remembered they way he reacted the first time Addison mentioned Matthew.

"Derek," Addison started. "Just because you're willing to discuss something doesn't mean I have to."

"Fair enough." Derek conceded, not wanting to press her any further.

They fell silent and Derek directed his attention to the TV. Addison watched Derek watch the movie as her mind drifted to the conversation she had had with Naomi over a week ago.

"So what exactly are you saying." Naomi asked Addison, who was lying on the couch in her office.

"I'm saying that I'm going to tell him we shouldn't see each other anymore."

"Did you have sex with him?" Naomi asked.

"Nae! You just asked me that, I already told you the answer."

"I know." Naomi chuckled. "But I thought you only said that because you wanted to keep all the juicy details to yourself."

"Well it's not that I didn't want to." Addison said as she sat upright. "He's so..." She let out an animalistic groan unable to find words that would accurately describe Matthew. "I don't know how I kept my legs crossed." She said, more to herself than to Naomi.

"I almost gave in a couple of days ago."

"And?" Naomi urged. "What happened?"

"We were on the couch kissing, things got a little too heated, his hands started to roam places, so I pushed him off me before it got out of hand." She explained, sighing dramatically and flopping her body back onto the couch.

"Matthew's the kind of guy..." Addison paused to rethink her words. "He's not the kind of man I can have meaningless sex with; he wants a serious relationship with me and if I took the next step then he'd think it means something more, and Nae, I can't do that to him, I can't lead him on." Addison sighed.

"I don't want to be someone who pretends to be equally invested in a relationship. I can't be that person." She said softly. "Matthew is a great guy and he deserves to be with someone who's willing to invest the same as he is."

"But he did say he was willing to wait until you're ready for a serious relationship." Naomi reminded her.

"I know, but I don't want him to. He knows exactly what he wants and me, well I have a lot of reservations about making a serious commitment to him."

"Addie." Derek said, cutting into her thoughts, after the TV displayed the closing credits.

"Huh?"

"You seem distracted."

"I was just thinking." She admitted.

Derek offered her a small smile.

"Here," She said, handing him the remote. "You can pick the next movie."


Sunday:

"Hey." Derek said softly as he approached Addison who was lying in a lounge chair on the beach.

"Hey." Addison responded in surprise, averting her eyes from the ocean to meet her ex-husband's.

"I noticed the door was open when I came downstairs, I spotted you from the deck." Derek explained, knowing she was wondering how he knew she was out there. "You're up early."

"Yeah." She replied. "It's peaceful out here, especially early in the morning...Why are you awake?"

"Couldn't sleep." Derek responded. "Mind if I join you?"

"No, sit." She said, indicating the chair beside her.

Derek smiled at his ex-wife as he adjusted the lounge chair.

They lay there for several minutes in quiet anticipation, both occasionally deeply inhaling the fresh smell of salt water and ignoring the chill of the early morning air. When the first few orange hued rays of light bled into the wispy clouds, Derek looked over at Addison and allowed his voice to delicately cut through the silence.

"Last Friday," Derek began softly. At the sound of his voice, Addison turned on her side to face him. "There was a multi-car collision and most of the people were sent to Seattle Grace. Two of them were my patients; Karen Reichs, she had a severe Subdural Hematoma and I was able to alleviate the pressure on her brain, so far, it doesn't seem like she incurred any long term brain damage, but my other patient, Mr. Novak..." Derek paused. "By the time he arrived, there wasn't much I could do." He continued. "The injuries he sustained caused total cessation of all brain function. His wife insists on keeping him on life support."

Addison remained silent and occasionally nodded her head to ensure Derek she was listening as he spoke.

"She sits at his side holding his hand every day hoping he'll wake up. He also has kids—two sons. Sometimes she brings them by and they all sit around his bed, like they're waiting for him to open his eyes." Derek said softly.

"I tried to remain detached, and I was doing okay, but as the days went on..." Derek's voice trailed off. "I kept thinking about how they must have been feeling, especially the kids. I know what it's like to lose a parent at a young age." He whispered.

Addison sat upright as she took in her ex-husband's sad eyes.

"I spent a lot of time thinking and..." He cleared his throat. "There were a lot of things I couldn't get off my mind..." Derek paused, sat upright and studied the sky. The golden light softly caressed the pale blue background while soothing lavender and brilliant amber slowly merged with streaks of pink and red as the sun began to peak out above the horizon. Returning his attention to Addison, he said, "I wasn't there for you. I stopped showing you that I—"

Addison broke their gaze and ran her fingers through her hair. "Derek, please don't b—"

"Just let me finish," Derek cut in gently. "Richard didn't tell me to take time off, I asked him for a few days off because I wanted to come here. I didn't want to say this over the phone, I wanted to say it in person."

Derek inhaled deeply. "I was indifferent," He began. "When we were married, I stopped devoting the time and attention to our relationship that you deserved. I disappointed you, probably in more ways than I can imagine. I took you for granted in New York and I did the same thing in Seattle." He paused briefly, eyes still locked with Addison's, who looked as though she was holding her breath.

"I was selfish, dishonest, and I was ignorant to you and your feelings. I pushed you away, and I made you feel like a burden...I made you believe I didn't love you. I was wrong in so many ways during the course of our relationship. I can't begin to express the amount of remorse I have toward the way I treated you; you didn't deserve any of it. I know I've made some pretty serious mistakes and I know that I've hurt you deeply; there's no excuse for anything that I did," He confessed, his voice laced with emotion. "I apologize unreservedly for all the times I hurt you, I am so sorry."

Addison swallowed thickly as she blinked back tears and allowed Derek's words to sink in. "Derek, I already forgave you." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I know you did, that's not why I apologized." He admitted. "You deserve an apology and I wanted to apologize; I needed to own up to my part before I said this..." Derek's voice trailed off as he inhaled a shaky breath. "I forgive you. I don't know if it still matters to you, but I want to offer my forgiveness." He said vulnerably. "I care about you, Addison. And I don't want it to feel like there's a weight dangling over our heads. I don't think we would really be able to establish a healthy friendship if..."

"If what happened in the past was still lingering between us." Addison added, finishing Derek's thought.

"Yeah." Derek breathed. "Honestly, the past two months, being able to talk to you...has been great."

"It has." Addison agreed softly.

"And I don't want anything to mess it up." He added.

Addison smiled in silent agreement.

Derek extended his hand and placed it over Addison's. She smiled at him softly, breathing lightly as she tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart. Neither of them spoke for a while, words seemingly redundant.

Though still low in the sky, the early morning sun gently warmed their skin, simultaneously giving everything around them a warm glow.


I would really appreciate if you left a review. I would love to know what you thought (specifically about the last scene), be brutally honest. I went back and forth with writing that scene, and I'm still kind of iffy about it.

P.S. I couldn't resist giving Addie a cat :)