Thanks so much for all the feedback!! I love writing evil Addison… I could just imagine the look on Derek's face if she actually did that… Goes into Addek-denial land and dreams… This chapter is… kind of saddish for me. In a way… I've just realised that I have no idea why I'm an Addek fan, because frankly Addison deserves better. Okay, so she slept with Mark. But seriously… I'm like in a prude, okay. I have these high moral values and so on and so on, but damn… if my husband's best friend looked like Mark, I'd also be tempted. Not the point. The point is that even though I don't know why I'm an Addek fan, I still am one and that's why this is still an Addek fic eventually. I think. But if she takes him back, be sure that he's going to work for it!! Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

And happy 2008!!

CHAPTER 22

"Addison, wait!"

He rushes after her, grabbing her arm and leading her into an on-call room. He looks at her lustfully, running his hands up and down her hips. Addison suppresses a yawn, looking at Derek.

"If you're having a problem… Meredith will be glad to help you out."

Derek shakes his head, pressing his lips against her shoulder.

"I don't want Meredith. I want you. I want you now, I need you now."
Addison smirks, shaking her head.

"You're so predictable, Derek. You don't want me. You want to own me, you want me to sit around and mope about you. You want me to be your call girl when you get bored with Meredith. I'm not doing that. I'm finished with you, Derek. You made your choice when you told Meredith that you loved her. And I don't give a damn whether it was a mistake or whether you're confused. I'm done. Finished. I'm with Mark. Mark loves me."

"Do you love him?"

She looks at him seriously, her eyes sad.

"I could."

"But you don't."

"No. But I love you and look where that's gotten me."

Derek shakes his head, tears forming in his eyes.

"I never meant to hurt you, Addie. You have to believe that I never meant to hurt you."

"I do."

"I love you."

"Derek… just walk away."

"What if this is a mistake?"

"If I wasn't with Mark, would you still feel like this?"

"I don't know."
"Then you wouldn't."

He sighs, pressing his forehead against hers, tears running freely over his cheeks.

"How do we do this? How do we end what's between us? I don't know how to do that."

"We have to, Derek. We don't have a future together… you'll get used to seeing me with Mark and I'll get used to seeing you with Meredith."

Derek whimpers, shaking his head and Addison bites onto her lip, tears starting to flow from her eyes as well.

"How did we mess this up so badly, Derek?"

"I wish I knew."

He brushes his lips against hers again, surprised when she responds by grabbing onto his hair and deepening the kiss. Derek moans inside her mouth, holding her as close as he can without hurting her. They pull apart when the door opens, staring at Michael guiltily. Michael shakes his head, glaring at Derek.

"I thought I told you to keep your hands off her."

"I kissed him, Mike."

"No, you didn't, Addison. I kissed you and… don't take the blame for me. You've been taking the blame for me… defending me… for too long now."

Michael smirks, still glaring at Derek.

"You don't fool me, Shepherd. You're still an ass. And I warned you not to touch my sister again. So watch your back."

"MICHAEL!"
Addison looks at her brother angrily and he shakes his head in disgust.

"How you can't see through him is beyond me. He doesn't want you, Addie. He doesn't want anyone else to have you, but he doesn't want you either."

"Mike… I need to talk to Derek for a minute. Please? Alone."

"Addie…"

"Mike, I need to do this."
Michael sighs, wrapping Addison in his arms.

"Just promise me you won't do something stupid."

"I promise."

He kisses her on her forehead before walking out slowly, leaving Addison and Derek alone in the room. Derek sits down next to Addison, taking her hand in his.

"What do we do, Addie?"

Addison sighs, resting her hand against his cheek.

"We have to let each other go, Derek. We… make each other miserable."

"There was a time when we made each other happy."
"That was before… Mark and Meredith."

"I can't let you go, Addison. I love you. I… care about Meredith and I'm in love with Meredith and… she's a breath of fresh air. But… you're my wife."

"Not for long… Derek, you're in love with someone else. That doesn't really say much for what we have."

"Addison…"
She presses her finger against his lips, tears forming in her eyes.

"If you love me… you'll let me go."

"I… I do. I love you."

"Then… you know what to do…"

He wraps his arms around her, pressing her body against his, needing to feel her close to him.

"Where do we go from here?"

She smiles sadly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"We can… be friends."

"Friends?"

She nods, biting onto her lip.

"Yeah… then we… still have each other in a way, right? And we were friends before we were a couple…"
"It's not going to be that easy…"

"Yeah… it isn't. But we… we can make it work, Derek. We need to make it work. If not for us… then at least for Brad and Ash. Because… I don't want them to have parents who hate each other."
"I could never hate you."

"So… friends?"

She looks at him uncertainly and he nods, giving her a quick squeeze.

"Friends."

"Hey gorgeous!"

Izzie smiles when she walks into Michael and he puts his arms around her waist, staring into her eyes.

"Dr Montgomery…"
"Mike."

"Mike…"

He nods, staring down at her with a grin.

"Hey Izzie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go out with me and my father tonight? And… maybe my sister and the plastic surgeon as well?"

"Um…"

She looks at him nervously and he laughs, brushing her hair out of her face tenderly.

"If you think for that long I'm going to get insecurities…"

"No, I just… why?"

"Why?"

"It just seems like this family thing, you know. Why would you invite me along?"

Michael looks at her confidently, not letting his gaze wander for a second.

"Because you make my father bearable. And I want him to get to know you better."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to marry you."

Meredith looks up when the on-call room door opens to reveal Derek standing there, gazing at her.

"Hey you."

"Hey."

He walks closer, wrapping his arms around her mechanically. Meredith snuggles up against his chest, grinning.

"So… are we going to go out tonight or do you want to stay in?"

"Let's just… have a quiet night at home. I'll cook something."

"Okay."

She looks up at him, noticing his reddish eyes for the first time.

"Are you okay?"

"Ya."

"You look upset."
"I'm just tired, I had a long surgery."

She nods slightly, sighing.

"Derek, are we okay?"

He smiles up at her, nodding.

"Yeah. We're okay."

She looks up, brushing her lips against his.

"I love you, Derek. I'm glad we can finally be together."
Derek nods distractedly, putting his arms around her waist.

"Ya… me too. I love you, Mere. I really do."

"Addie!"

Michael finally lets go of Izzie's waist when he notices his sister coming round the corner, Mark Sloan walking next to her.

She looks at him and Izzie curiously before tilting her head.

"Ya?"

"Do you two want to come out with us tonight?"

"Us?"

"Ya… me… and dad… and Izzie."

Addison lifts a brow before nodding.

"Sure. I can just get Derek to watch the kids. He won't mind."

Mark wraps his arms around Addison, kissing her neck softly.

"Even if he does mind. They're his kids too. He should take some responsibility for them."

Addison nods distractedly, grabbing her pager when it goes off.

"Damn it. I have to go, emergency…"

She rushes off, watching them as she walks backwards at an impossible speed.

"Mike? Dinner, what time?"

"Eh… seven I guess. The kids can spend the night with Derek, right?"

"You want me to leave my kids in the trailer with him and Meredith? For a whole night?"

"Yes, I do and if you keep rushing backwards for much longer you're going to fall."
Addison sticks her tongue out at him before turning around.

"Kay, I'll talk to Derek!"

She disappears around the corner and Michael looks at Mark intently.

"What's going on between you and my sister?"
"Mike, I don't really think Addison wants her baby brother to know anything about her sex life."

Michael sighs, looking at Mark seriously.

"Mark, we were friends before… everything. And Addie… she's not over Derek yet and…"
"I know that, Mike. She's using me to hurt him. Because she knows that being with me will hurt him even though he's with Meredith – that's just the way he is."

"So…?"

Mark sighs, staring at the ground for a few seconds before looking up at Michael.

"I love her enough to allow her to do that."

"Derek?"

Derek looks up when Addison enters his office, forcing himself to smile.

"Hey…"
She enters, sitting down on his desk and smiling pleasantly.

"Can you watch the kids tonight? Please?"

"I… I actually have plans with Meredith."

"Do those plans include dinner reservations?"

"No, but…"

"It's sorted then. You can drop them off at the day care centre tomorrow morning and I'll pick them up again. Thanks!"

She kisses him on the cheek before rushing off and Derek sighs, sitting back.

"Meredith is so not going to like this."

"Addison?"

Addison looks up when Izzie nervously addresses her, smiling.

"Izzie… hi."

"Hi. I just… Can we talk?"

"Sure."

"In private."
"Okay…"

Addison follows Izzie to an on-call room, looking at her curiously when she closes the door behind them.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Tonight…"

"Yeah?"

"What do I wear? I mean… I'm not rich. And your father is Lucas Montgomery. And you're Addison Forbes Montgomery Shepherd. I'm just Izzie Stevens. I grew up… in a trailer park. I worked my way through med school by modelling in my underwear. I really don't know what to wear."

Addison looks at Izzie intently, thinking for a few seconds.

"Wear something… black. Semi-formal because I know my brother, he's going to want to impress you with a fancy restaurant. If you want we can go shopping together… I still have to find the perfect dress myself."

Izzie smiles gratefully.

"Thank you."

"What time does your shift end?"

"Four…"

"Okay, mine ends at three… I'll wait for you. Then we can go with my car."

"Thank you so much!"

"Anytime."

"There's something else."

"I'm listening…"

"Michael… he's… I don't… I'm a little confused."

"Why?"

"He told me that he was going to marry me and… I usually wouldn't take it seriously, but there was something in his eyes. But a few weeks ago he was with Meredith and… I'm just confused."

Addison sits down on the bed, staring out in front of her.

"Michael… is a player. He's always been a player. He likes women and I mean really… he likes women. But… he's a Montgomery and… my dad was dating a friend of my mom when he first met her and… twenty four hours later he told her that he was going to marry her. And I knew… after my first date with Derek, I knew he was the one. So Meredith… maybe Mike was interested, I don't know. Maybe he wanted a fling with her, maybe he wanted a relationship with her. But they wouldn't have lasted. Even if it wasn't for her and Derek."

"Why is that?"

"I know she's your friend, but Meredith is clingy and needy and whiny. She needs someone to protect her and Michael would have destroyed her. He needs someone who can fend for herself, who can stand up to him. Someone like you."
"Do you still love Dr Shepherd?"

Addison smiles sadly, looking at Izzie honestly.

"I don't think I'll ever stop."

Ha. Friends they say. So Addison loves Derek and Derek loves Addison but they don't want to be together because they make each other miserable even though they love each other? Makes sense, eh? But they're stubborn. And angry and I have a purpose with all of this… So Meredith and Derek are babysitting the McKids… HA…