Title: A Tale Of Two Cities

Authors: Sara and Lizzie

Rating: T for language, sex, you know.

Disclaimer: We happen to own our personal anatomies, not Grey's. Or Patrick Dempsey's. Sadly.

Summary: Another shot at Post Prom. It's going to be a little silly. It will be our version of what happens post prom, and then jump a few months in the future when uh, some bicoastal high jinx ensue. So we'll start right after the prom.

Author's Note: Thoughts that go in first person inside a characters head are in italics.

We havent updated anything in forever, and we're sorry. But we will be updating much more frequently now. Sorry this is short, we're basically just establishing the atmosphere now that the four of them are on Mark and Addie's home turf, if you will. REVIEW.

"Can we get along all right,
can we miss the storm that
sucked the whole world in?"
-Guster

It didn't take Mark long to scan the crowds of people walking away from the luggage pick up to see them. He spotted Derek's dark wavy hair instantly. Mark stood back, watching them.

Derek had both of their bags slung over one arm, so he could hold her hand with the other arm. She was leaning into him, looking up and beaming. Mark met his old friend's eyes through the crowd.

"Mark!" Derek called out. He leaned down and whispered something to Meredith, who laughed. Mark pushed his way over to them, and smiled.

"You had to pick the airport in Jersey, didn't you?"

"Jersey has character." Derek protested. Mark smiled at Meredith.

"How's the little guy?"

"Little girl." Meredith corrected. "And she's okay, for now. The neo natal guy at Seattle Grace said it's definitely not a womb tear."

"Good, yes?" Mark asked. Derek nodded and kissed Meredith's cheek.

"Very good." He said.

Meredith frowned. Except now we have no idea what it is at all. Which is not good either." Mark shook his head.

"We won't be having any of that tonight. What we will be having is dinner. You up for it?" Meredith smiled and nodded. Derek squeezed her hand, and Mark took one of the bags off Derek's shoulder.

Meredith raised her eyebrows at him in a look that clearly said, 'he's trying', and the two followed Mark to his car.

Derek helped Meredith into the back seat of Mark's Range Rover, and shut the door. As Mark slammed the trunk shut, bags safely inside, Derek stopped him before going back around to climb into the passenger seat.

Hands shoved into the pocket of his jeans, he looked at his former friend, and the down at the ground. "Thanks." He mumbled. "She's scared. And I know it's weird, but, it's good. That we can stay with you guys. And not in some faceless hotel."

Mark nodded. "Don't mention it."

Addison hung up the phone and rolled her eyes. It felt surreal to make reservations at Pastis for your boyfriend, ex husband, and ex-husband's ex mistress. New York was supposed to be her untouchable place.

The place where none of the pain that was Seattle could infiltrate. So much for that. She thought for a minute, and tried to remove herself from the situation. She needed perspective.

Meredith was probably terrified. There were complications in her unplanned pregnancy, and the young woman had already admitted how inferior she felt in comparison to the father's ex wife.

And Mark. God, the look on Mark's face when he was on the phone with Derek. That brief conversation had elated him. Addison felt a pang of guilt. She couldn't blame herself entirely for what happened between them, but she was a big part of it. Mark missed Derek.

And Derek. It always came back to Derek. She loved Mark. She had accepted to finality of the divorce. But it still hurt, to know her husband was so much happier with someone else than he had ever been with her.

Addison rolled her eyes and shook her head at herself. She picked up her Ketel One and tonic and carried it to the linen closet and set it down on the dresser as she changed the sheets on the guest bed. Flannel probably wasn't the best choice when she was in the same house as Mark and Derek.

An hour later, she was seated at a corner table at Pastis, waiting for Mark to arrive with the weary travelers in tow. She had spoken to the new neo natal surgeon at Seattle Grace and they had agreed it was not a womb tear. She played with the stem on her wine glass, restraining herself, knowing full well that getting drunk was no way to handle the situation.

The door opened and she looked up. Her stomach clenched a little bit at the sight. Meredith entered the restaurant, guided by Derek's hand on the small of her back. She looked beautiful. She paused and pulled Derek's ear down to her mouth and whispered something.

Addison watched, mesmerized as Derek looked at her seriously, and nodded. He glanced around, leaned down and kissed her quickly on the mouth. In turn, Meredith glanced around, reached up, pulled his head down and kissed him hard.

Addison looked down into her wine glass, and when she looked back up, she was looking at Mark. He was staring at her, intently, focused, and lovingly. He nodded his head at her, and she smiled. They could do this.

They could all do this.

Meredith eyed Derek as Addison gratefully accepted her fourth glass of Chardonnay from the waiter. Derek rolled his eyes over the table at Meredith. Meredith sighed.

"Ok, I'll just say it. This is weird." She said, setting down her salad fork.

Everyone looked at her. She shrugged. "What? It is weird. The ex wife. The ex mistresses. The ex husband. The baby. It's prime time soap weird. If we acknowledge that it's weird, it might get easier to stomach."

Mark nodded. "It's weird. That's true. But, I, for one, am glad you two are here. There's no reason we have to keep to our own sides of the country, pretending like life just started eight months ago."

Derek nodded in agreement, looking at Mark and Meredith. All eyes rested on Addison. "Oh, what the hell?" she said, raising her wine glass. "To friends. As weird as it may be."

They clinked glasses together. Mark cleared his throat. "It's still going to be awkward as hell at home; you guys realize that, right?"

It was silent for a moment, and then, the ex couple and the ex mistresses all laughed.

Yes, maybe, just maybe they really could do this.