A/N : 8 minutes is all they need, people. 8 minutes. The door wasn't even frigging locked! Seriously. This is by Dulchey (Dulcineah1) from The Incision!
Derek Shepherd had never believed much in therapy. It seemed so pointless to sit and talk about yourself for an entire hour to a complete stranger, and even sillier to pay for it. Couples counseling had been Addison's idea, and he'd gone along with it only because he couldn't think of any better alternatives at the time.
He and Addie had been seeing Dr. Cunningham for about six months now, and while the psychologist kept telling them that they were making excellent progress, Derek was still skeptical. Things with Addison were better--they weren't fighting anywhere near as much, they were spending a lot more time together, and Derek was finally starting to admit to himself that he was still head over heels in love with his wife. Yes, their marriage was definitely better but Derek attributed that to the wake-up call he'd gotten from the Bookers, as well as a joint effort on his and Addie's parts to talk about their concerns instead of falling into old, passive-aggressive habits. Therapy had nothing to do with it.
Derek was also in a bad mood because it had been a long and draining day at work, and he had been looking forward to going home with Addison, picking up some Chinese along the way, and enjoying an evening at home with just the two of them. Besides, his wife was looking particularly gorgeous today and she was wearing his favorite blouse Derek always wanted to rip off of her whenever he got the chance. Work was over, but instead of making love to his wife, he was stuck in therapy talking about how he felt about being in therapy. Was it any wonder that he was in a bad mood?
Derek was struggling to explain this politely when the psychologist's pager went off. Dr. Cunningham shut off the device, and looked apologetically at the Shepherds.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I need to check in on one of my other clients," the psychologist explained. "I should only be a few minutes at the most. Why don't you continue to talk about this while I'm gone?"
Addison nodded and said of course, they understood perfectly, they were doctors as well and knew all about patients having crises. Derek managed a nod as well, and tried to hide his annoyance.
Dr. Cunningham left the room, shutting the door behind him, and Derek and Addison were left alone. Derek let out a frustrated sigh, eliciting a "What?" from his wife.
"Doesn't this bother you at all?" Derek demanded. "Here we're paying him two hundred dollars an hour and he's out there talking on his cell phone?"
"Derek, these things happen," Addison tried to explain. "You know that as well as I do. Besides, you've been in a bad mood all evening."
"I just don't see the point of this," Derek complained. "We're doing well. We're communicating better. We've still got some issues to work out, but we're going to be fine, Addie. What do we have to keep coming to therapy for?"
He expected Addison to be annoyed, and was surprised when she laughed. "You hate couples therapy as much as I hate the trailer, don't you?"
In spite of his bad mood, Derek couldn't help smiling back. "Maybe so, but you can't possibly love therapy as much as I love that trailer."
Addison smirked. "What do you want to bet I can get you to change your mind on that?"
Derek raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? There's no way you can even get me to like this, let alone love it more than the trailer."
"Is that a challenge, doctor?" Addison cast a glance at the closed door behind them, then got up and pulled Derek to his feet, dragging him to the nearby couch. Before he knew what was happening, Addison had pinned him down on the sofa and her hands were busy with Derek's belt buckle.
Derek was prepared to protest that Dr. Cunningham could return at any second, but then Addie kissed him and the feeling of her lips on his and her soft skin beneath his hands wiped away any resistance that he might have had. She was still wearing that damn blouse and Derek made his first act to get it off of her as quickly as possible.
Eight minutes later when Dr. Cunningham returned, he found Derek and Addison Shepherd holding hands and smiling at each other. "Well, now, it looks like you two have been productive while I was gone."
"Yes, we have," Addison agreed, stifling her laughter.
"I realize now that I haven't appreciated the work we've been doing here," Derek added. "But Addison helped me see how beneficial therapy has been to our marriage, and I'm on board with this one hundred percent."
Dr. Cunningham smiled. He had been a therapist for sixteen years, and it never failed to make him feel good when couples worked out their issues as well as the Shepherds did. "I'm happy to hear it. Excellent progress today."