Seattle
Outskirt Area,
Late Afternoon

-

"Come on, Addy," Mark pushed her.

"What, because I'm not in love with you, I have to be in love with Derek? Screw you, Mark. What's wrong with you men – a woman can't exist without pining over one of you?"

"I didn't say pining," he smirked, "You said pining."

"Well, I'm not."

"Of course not. Why would you be pining over someone who left you standing out in the rain, then walked out on you, had a relationship with a gorgeous young intern, forced you to give up your practice, your friends, your life and move into a trailer only to cheat on you again. Did I forget anything?"

She sighed. "Humiliated me in front of the entire hospital?" she added before she could hold her tongue. But it's true. How often had he called her an adulterous bitch or worse in public only to sleep with Meredith at the stupid prom, making sure it wouldn't take long until everybody in that damned hospital knew. "The only difference is he didn't do it to hurt me or get back at me," she pointed out, to herself as much as to Mark. I know he didn't. "He tried to make it work. We tried. But in the end…" She shrugged wearily. "We couldn't. There was just not enough left of what we once had." He couldn't love me enough and I couldn't make him.

"So all that marriage and love-of-your-lives-thing is just gone and now he's in love with Meredith instead?" Mark mocked.

She nodded. I guess so.

"You really believe that?"

She hesitated before glaring at him. "What's it all to you?" She still didn't understand what he was up to. "What do you want?"

"You know me," he grinned suggestively, "what I always want."

"Okay, I'm going to scream AND I'm going to hit you! What do you want from me? Is this all just a game to you or are you really out to hurt us?"

"Us?"

"Me. Him. Meredith," she hurried to qualify. "All of us. What is it, Mark? Please, just, tell me."

"I don't know," he sighed. "I don't really know."

She glanced at him, not sure if it was another act or if he was being honest for once.

"I thought I did, but…every time I think I know what to do," he trailed off, making a gesture as if to say it all flies out the window. "I thought I wanted you. Then I thought I wanted to fix things with Derek, with you. Fix things between you."

She couldn't but stare at him. "By sleeping with Meredith?"

He shrugged. "It's what I do best, remember?"

She tried not to laugh but in the end she failed miserably and when Mark joined in and the car was filled with their laughter it was as if all the tension between them had just dissolved into thin air.

"So," she inquired when they had settled down, "what are you going to do now?"

He heaved a dramatic sigh. "I guess I'm going to lick my wounds for a bit, heal my bruised ego, and then I'm off to new shores."

"What about New York?"

"What about Seattle?"

"Mark!"

"You're banning me from Seattle?" he asked in mock disbelief, causing her to glare at him.

"You know you can't stay."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You can't really stay either?"

"Oh, Derek's going to survive. Right now he's furious but soon he won't care enough anymore to be mad."

"You know that's crap," Mark stated matter-of-factly, "but I'm not concerned about Derek."

She smiled, remembering he could be like this, remembering how this side of him had made it easier to fool herself into thinking she was in love with him and hadn't just…

"I'm going to survive too," she interrupted her own train of thought. "There's no need to be concerned," she assured, but in the corner of her eye saw him shaking his head.

"You all constantly forget that I've known both of you for like forever. I grew up with Mark and I met you the same day Derek did. So why do both of you think you could still fool me?"

"Okay," Addison smirked, "Listen carefully cause I'm only going to say this one more time. Are you listening to me?" She waited until Mark's eyes met with hers. "I am not pining for Derek and I am not jealous of Meredith. I am ready to move on." Mark furrowed a brow and she darted a brief glance at the road. "Okay, but I will be soon."

"Is that why you're still wearing your wedding bands?" he inquired with a pointed look to her hand on the steering wheel.

"We were married for eleven years and in love for…well, at least as long!" she exclaimed. "Obviously I'm having a hard time letting go of that, hence the moving and the trailer and the self-humiliation. But I will, okay? I will!"

"Then why staying?"

"Because I don't want to move my practice to yet another city and I'm certainly not going back to New York. " She could do without the curious questions, the gossip and the gloating or worse pity of friends and colleagues back in Manhattan. At least here all cards were on the table now. "I'm going to be just fine and so is Derek."

"You keep telling yourself that," Mark muttered, causing her to once again turn her head and glare at him.

"Cut it out," she exclaimed in fake anger, "You don't get to –"

"Addison, watch out!" Mark yelled, cutting her off mid-sentence, and jerking her head around she was just in time to see the SUV in front of her trying to abort an attempted lane change. Pulling back too hard the driver crashed into the truck on his other side. Knowing there was nothing she could do to avoid the collision Addison automatically tightened her grip around the steering wheel and held her breath as the wedged vehicles seemed to rush closer and closer. Instants before the impact her eyes closed on their own. She was never aware of her screaming.