By the time Derek stepped back into the would-have-been wedding hall, it was all but deserted. He scowled as he hurried down the aisle, hoping there were people he recognized still in the reception hall between the doors and the parking lot. There were not. How could all of the doctors have already left? Passing quickly through the reception hall earned him curious glances from some of the guests who had hung around to talk quietly with each other. Derek shook his head. He had no idea who they were, or even whom they were related to, but some things never change, no matter the situation. People loved to gossip. People loved a scandal. It was pathetic, really.
He was still shaking his head when he pushed through the double set of doors, and out into the sunlit parking lot. Amazing how such horrible personal circumstances were juxtaposed so severely with such bright and shiny weather. Especially in Seattle.
Glancing left and right quickly, Derek failed to recognize any of the intern's cars. Having spent so much time living with them, he would recognize their vehicles. They weren't here. And come to think of it, Bailey hadn't attended the wedding, that he'd noticed at least. So she was out. And the Chief was out. He had opted to stay the hospital with his wife. Derek was running out of possibilities. He hurried through a row of cars to evaluate the second row. Still out of luck.
Derek was just stepping out of the third row of cars when he noticed a familiar, overly expensive and pampering red convertible heading down the row towards him, an equally familiar red-head behind the wheel. He sighed in relief, and waved a hand. But the car didn't slow, so he stepped out, into the path of the vehicle, trying to get Addison's attention. He was eventually successful, when she slammed on her brakes, causing him to jump out of the way, even though the car stopped before the space he had been standing. Just.
She stared at him in shock.
"You trying to kill me?" Derek asked jokingly, earning a glare from his ex-wife.
"Excuse me?" She said. "I'm pretty sure it was you stepping out in front of my car."
Derek shrugged. "I had to go to extreme measures. You weren't stopping."
She stared at him, hard, for a moment, before softening her expression. "Sorry, I just didn't see you till the last moment."
It was then that Derek noticed the redness in her eyes, and the slightly dark streaks running down her cheeks. "You okay?" He asked softly.
She nodded, a determined look appearing on her face.
He almost laughed at her, at her expression. Even if they hadn't been married for eleven years and he could still read her pretty well, he could have told she had been crying by the mascara lines alone. "Really? Just crying for the hell of it?"
She shook her head. "I wasn't crying, Derek."
He raised an eyebrow, and smiled before shaking his head. "You know you can't lie, right?" And he sighed and chose to take pity on her by motioning for her to look in the mirror.
There was a pause as she leaned into the middle of her car, stretching up to look into her rear-view mirror. "Damn it," he heard her mutter. He waited patiently as she pulled a Kleenex out of her purse and dabbed it across her face. When she looked back out at him she was appeared more put together, a stranger wouldn't be able to tell she had been crying. "Okay," she admitted. "You caught me." She gave him a curious stare, as if suddenly wondering why he had tracked her down in the parking lot. "Do you need something?"
Derek nodded. "I need a ride back to the hospital."
She rolled her eyes and titled her head, motioning for him to hop in.
"Thanks," Derek said as he collapsed into the passenger seat, pulling on his seat belt.
"Where's your car?"
"I gave it to Meredith. Cristina took off and Mer had to go after her."
Addison nodded in understanding. And they continued in silence for a few minutes.
"Tough day, huh?" Addison finally spoke, breaking both of them out of their trances.
Derek nodded. "Yeah... I feel horrible. I don't know what to do in this situation. Meredith went after Cristina, but should I be looking for Burke?"
Addison remained silent for a moment, contemplating his words. "I don't think so, Derek," she finally said. "I think he needs to think right now. If he needs someone, he'll find them himself. He's the one who left, not the one who got left."
Derek nodded. "I think you're right."
Addison smiled for the first time during their car ride. "Derek, don't you remember? I'm always right."
Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, you so aren't."
"I was too! When was I ever wrong about anything?"
"The hideous living room set." Derek stated, no need to think.
She rolled her eyes. "That was one time, one little mistake."
"Little mistake? It was hideous, and uncomfortable, and to be perfectly honest a little creepy. And you demanded that we have it. I didn't like it, but you needed it."
"It looked nice in the catalogue." Addison tried, but it was a weak attempt.
He laughed. "Whatever, you were wrong."
And then they were in silence again, both contemplating the event they had just witnessed. Addison steered the car easily off the highway and started heading toward the hospital. Derek glanced at her worried expression.
"Are you okay?" He repeated his question from earlier.
She sighed and nodded. "I'll be fine. It just makes me sad. I really thought those two would make it. Burke told me his vows yesterday, and he seemed so...sure. I don't know. I guess it's just been a really hard week. Did I tell you Naomi and Sam got divorced?"
Derek nodded. "I think you mentioned it. That's too bad. They seemed really tight."
"Yeah, they really did."
"What made you go out there?"
Addison's demeanour changed abruptly, and Derek knew he had hit a nerve.
"No reason," she said quickly, but there was something in her tone. "I just wanted to see them. I missed Naomi. And you should see them down there, Derek. They have this huge office, where they do co-op medicine. They have psychiatrists on staff and a paediatrician, oh, and an alternative medicine guy."
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Sounds chaotic."
She laughed. "Oh, it was, but it was also..." She trailed off.
"What?" He questioned.
She shrugged and seemed to contemplate things for a few seconds. She glanced quickly at him, before resuming her gaze on the road. She sighed. "They have an opening for an OB," she finally stated.
Derek was taken aback. "What?"
"They have an opening," she repeated. "And they offered me the job."
"Are you going?"
She sighed and used the job of navigating the hospital parking lot as an excuse for not answering. It wasn't until they were safely in her parking space, car in park and engine off before she spoke again. "Maybe. I'm thinking about it. Definitely thinking about it. I think it would be good for me. I could get a fresh start."
Derek nodded. "Fresh starts are good."
She glanced at him and smiled. "They are. And I know that because of what I see in you, Derek. You're a different person here. A happier person, more relaxed, more settled. You've found yourself, and now I need to go and find myself."
"So, you're not just thinking about it anymore, you've made a decision." He stated.
She shrugged. "Maybe I have, but I just haven't admitted it to myself yet."
"Well, that's good, I think," Derek told her. "I'll miss you."
She rolled her eyes. "No you won't, but that's a good thing. Fresh start."
He nodded. "Okay." He hesitated. "Addison, what else happened in L.A.?"
She shook her head. "Nothing important." And then she was getting out of the car, effectively ending the conversation.
Derek sighed as he unhooked his seatbelt and opened the door. There was obviously something going on with Addison, but he had too much else going on right now to dwell on it.
He distinctly noticed Addison walking one step ahead of him toward the hospital doors, as if ensuring he could not re-start the conversation.
"I just have to check on some patients," Addison told him as they walked through the front doors together. "I'll be about an hour. Do you need a ride home?"
Derek shook his head. "Thanks, Addy, but I'll be fine. I can catch a ride home later. I'm sure Izzy or Alex will be in tonight."
Addison hesitated, as if surprised to hear that home for him was now associated with Izzy and Alex. Then she pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
Derek nodded. "Thanks for the ride."
000
"Derek!"
He turned his attention away from the OR board at the sound of his name. The chief was heading down the hall towards him.
"Chief." He nodded a greeting.
"What are you doing here? Did you get paged?"
Derek shook his head. "The opposite actually. I'm looking for a case, but there's nothing," he glared at the board. "Absolutely nothing."
Richard shook his head. "Why aren't you at the wedding?"
Derek sighed. "You haven't heard..." He trailed off.
"Heard what?" Richard asked immediately. "Derek." He prompted to the younger surgeon's silence.
Derek took a breath. "There was no wedding."
Richard sighed and shook his head. "Did Yang...?"
He shook his head. "Burke, actually. Said he couldn't go through with it. Left Cristina at the altar." He shook his head. "Bastard," he muttered.
"Preston took off?" Richard exclaimed. "I don't believe it."
"Well, believe it."
They spent a minute in quiet contemplation.
"How's Adele?" Derek finally asked, trying to move the subject onwards.
"Doing better. It'll take time for her to- us, it'll take time for us to get over losing the baby," Richard corrected. "But we're going to do it together."
"You're getting back together?" Derek said, more a statement than a question.
An uncharacteristic smile spread across the chief's face. "We are."
"Good." Derek nodded. "Good, glad to hear it."
"It is good." He paused and stared at Derek, a pensive expression, as if evaluating the younger man. "How's Meredith doing?"
"She's fine," Derek nodded.
"Has she spoken to Thatcher since...?"
Derek shook his head. "No. No, not really. We went to the funeral. Thatcher wasn't happy."
Richard shook his head. "Is she okay?" He asked again, as if needed more assurance.
Derek was aware that Richard felt certain protectiveness over Meredith, but he also knew Meredith was uncomfortable with this. He sighed. "Not completely," he said honestly. "But that's to be expected with everything."
"Everything that's happened this month you mean?"
Derek hesitated. "Yes, of course, this month," he said quickly. "It's been hard this month." He sighed. "But it's going to be okay. We're working through things. She's alive, she's dealing with losing her mother, we said goodbye to Susan, and she passed her exam. She's going to be okay. We're going to be okay." He repeated, almost as if trying to convince himself.
The chief tilted his head. "Are you okay, Derek?"
Derek immediately nodded. "Of course."
"Okay, it just seems like you're trying to convince yourself."
"It's nothing big," Derek corrected. "Just stressed. It's been a rough week, that's all. Just a rough week. And now the wedding disaster... It's just stress."
"Okay, then go home, Derek. Go take the rest of the day. Go relax."
"No, I can't," Derek said.
"You just said there were no cases. Take the opportunity. Go de-stress."
"I'll find something. I need to be busy."
"Don't do this to yourself, Derek. You'll turn into me. Why don't you go spend time with Meredith."
"She's with Cristina."
"Of course. Well, I don't know what to tell you, Derek. You seem..."
"I'm fine," Derek cut him off. "Go," he said. "Go be with Adele. I'm fine, really." He plastered a smile on his face, trying to convince the chief, even if he knew he couldn't convince himself. And with that, he nodded to Richard and headed down the hall, on track to the ER. He needed something to do, something to occupy his mind.
AN: So, I almost lost the challenge, because my internet sucks and I almost couldn't get online today. lol. But, in the end, I prevailed, and here is update number 5 of this week. Seriously, it took me like 6 hours to get on. Anyway, so obviously a shorter chapter, more Derek centric. I know some of you are getting frustrated with the time it's taking to get to his problems, but I'm just sort of letting the story work itself out... and this is where it's taking me. Thanks for reading.