Chapter 9

A/N: And here is where we reach the end of the tale. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far and followed along!

Went home with Addison last night. I'm alive.

Cristina reread the message a few times, trying to understand if that was supposed to be a cry for help or not. It wasn't that hard to read Meredith in person but over text was a nightmare. She thought about trying to decipher the message (briefly, she considered if there was a message to decipher at all) before deciding that she would simply message her back.

You let Satan take you back to Hell with her? And she didn't torture you all night? ;)

The reply comes faster than she expected.

You're impossible. We just slept.

She couldn't keep the smirk off her face, You're still there, aren't you?

The reply was again immediate, Yes, I'm still here. She bought breakfast.

Oh, of course she did. Enjoy breakfast with Satan.

She pocketed her phone, knowing that Meredith would simply roll her eyes without replying.

As much as Meredith had complained about having to go on their hiking experience when Addison had first told her, she hadn't complained once after she had gotten back. Before it had even started, she knew how bad Meredith had been crushing on Addison. She wasn't blind, even if Meredith had wanted to keep it to herself. She'd made subtle comments, all of which Meredith had ignored, but she knew.

In fact, there were times she'd caught her person staring at the neonatal surgeon when the redhead wasn't looking, following her with her eyes whenever the taller woman walked away. A few times, she'd found Meredith in the gallery of one of Addison's surgeries, just watching her; there was an envious look in her eyes when anyone but her — especially Evil Spawn or George — got placed on the Attending's service, though she never outwardly complained.

And there was also the whole unable to sleep issue that had come up right after their trip. At first, she'd thought something had happened between the two in the cabin, but she knew that Meredith would've said something, or at least, she would hope she would've; it was weird, as Meredith used to bemoan about her problems with Derek, yet she kept her moments with Addison completely private. To her, the lack of sleeping seemed as though Meredith was going through Addison-withdrawal. The close proximity outside of work had shifted something between them. It was like once she got a taste of what it was like, she was dependent on that.

She nearly laughed out loud. That was way too cliché. But, at least she knew that the attraction wasn't one-sided. With the way Satan had constantly checked in on Meredith after her near-drowning experience, she was sure that Addison was attracted to Meredith too. After it had happened and she was back at work, Meredith had complained about the Attendings, how they were playing it safe around her, making her do scut and labs. But after being placed on Addison's service and had her first surgery with Addison, she practically was gushing about the redhead and how the surgery had gone; she'd teased her about wanting to go into neonatal, but she was just glad there was one Attending that wasn't treating Meredith like she would break.

It was tempting to text Meredith again just to tease her, but she held herself back. Meredith was enjoying her day off, and she didn't want to bother her again. Sure, Satan made her walk into walls, but at least she knew that she wasn't going to spring something sudden on her, like a spouse.

She would have to grill Meredith more later. Right now, she was going to get in on a surgery, even if she had to do scut for a month.

Meredith didn't mean to fall back asleep. Breakfast was amazing, and she and Addison had settled back on the bed, watching a show while they enjoyed their food. It was relaxing. Especially when Addison flipped to one of the medical dramas when their current show was over.

"You said you hated medical dramas."

Addison had smiled softly, and turned to look at her, "Everyone has a guilty pleasure, Meredith."

Maybe it was the way Addison said her name or maybe the words guilty pleasure coming out of her mouth, but she felt a swarm of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. It was around the midway point of the show that she'd felt her eyes get heavy. It was barely noon, and really, she needed to be getting back home. The doctor on the TV was explaining something to her students, and really, how many shows about teaching hospitals were there?

"At least this show isn't as bad as some of the other ones I've seen," Addison said, and she tried to focus on her voice, to pull herself from the call of sleep.

But it wasn't too long before the haze started over her again, whispering to her. And then she was out like a light.

And then the next thing she remembered was waking up. She blinked, finding herself staring into Addison's sleeping face. She glanced at the alarm clock to find that barely an hour had passed. Somehow they were tangled together, and while she briefly scolded herself for getting into these situations over and over with this woman, she couldn't stop the wave of contentment that washed over her. It was nice to be able to rest without any kind of commitment looming over her.

As she studied Addison's face, trying to determine if she should wake her or not, she couldn't help but admire her beauty. How anyone would ever leave her was astounding to her. Sure, she'd made a mistake with Mark, but she was human. And even if she hadn't, how Derek could ever pick her over Addison still blew her mind. And that was part of the reason him leaving her after the ferry boat accident had hurt so much. Because he'd hurt her by choosing Addison, and then had hurt Addison by continuing to try to pursue her, and then when he grew tired of the game of back and forth, he'd divorced Addison and tried to get with her. And then, when she got too dark and twisty for him, he'd thrown her aside. And that had hurt. Neither she nor Addison would never be good enough for him. And she found that she was okay with that. And as she stared at Addison, she realized that she didn't want some perfect person. They were two imperfect people, and maybe that would be enough.

"I can feel you staring at me," Addison's voice was low with sleep, but she jumped, startled. Addison's eyes flicked open, and instantly grew concerned, "What's wrong?"

It was only when Addison reached out and wiped at her cheek that she realized she was crying.

"Nothing," she replied wiping at her face, "I uh, I was getting ready to leave and didn't want to just disappear while you were sleeping."

The concern in Addison's eyes didn't fade, but she didn't press either. Instead, she nodded, "I'll drive you."

Addison tried to keep the disappointment off her face as Meredith opened the passenger side door and got out. Truthfully, she'd wanted to talk more about what Meredith was thinking about when she'd woken to her crying. Instead, they spent the time from the hotel in silence, the only sound being the radio. She'd already monopolized most of the intern's day off, and she didn't want to keep her any more than she had to. So, when Meredith turned back to the car, she couldn't help but feel hope blooming in her chest.

"Did you want to come in for a bit?"

She smiled, trying to ease her nerves, "Sure."

Meredith turned back to wait for her to shut off the engine and follow her, and she was relieved. She hated to admit that she liked the company. Over the last week, she'd been sorely missing the woman, and in less than 24 hours, she'd felt more rejuvenated than she had in years. There was something about Meredith that put her at ease.

She'd never felt that way about anyone, not Derek, not Mark. Sure, she'd loved them both at one point or another, but they'd never put her at ease like Meredith did. And Meredith made her feel things that she was terrified to feel. It was such an intense feeling, and it scared her.

"I really needed today. And last night too. It was fun," Meredith said as they entered the house.

She smiled and questioned jokingly, "Not as fun as two days in the cabin though?"

"No, nothing could beat that," Meredith answered with a soft smile.

"I guess not," she replied and felt something shift in the air. It made her feel brave, braver than she'd felt in years, "But today came pretty close."

"Yeah," Meredith replied.

"Mhmm," she answered.

She took a step forward, but Meredith didn't step away; instead, the blonde stood a bit straighter, staring into her eyes.

She couldn't do this. Every instinct was screaming at her to take what Meredith was offering. Every single fiber of her being was begging her to lean in and kiss her. And she wanted to ignore those thoughts. Because this was Meredith, damn it. She told herself that she would be better than Derek. She was the Attending; Meredith was the intern. It was inappropriate.

She wanted to run. She wanted to…

"Addison?" Meredith's voice was quiet.

"Meredith?" She replied.

The blonde took a shuddering breath, "I'm completely sober."

She smirked, "You certainly are, aren't you?"

She stared into Meredith's eyes, making sure that every move she made was okay; and then she leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to the intern's lips. Maybe the way she'd be different from Derek was that she'd actually treat Meredith right; she wouldn't lie to her, she wouldn't keep things from her. Attending and intern be damned.

Meredith sighed into her mouth and leaned closer, and she grinned softly as she was kissed back. She reached her hand up, cradling the blonde's face, using the other to steady the woman. Meredith slowly pulled away, opening her eyes. Her eyes were dark with desire, the piercing blue-green staring right into her, feeling as though her very soul was being stared into.

"Wow," the blonde breathed out.

She smirked, "I'll say." Meredith grinned, leaning up to kiss her again. She beat her to it, bringing her lips down crashing on hers again, "Definitely wow."

A/N: Please review!