She sat there by the table, her back leaned against the wall as she flipped through the magazine, still deciding on what gifts to get for Derek's sisters, and her family. The gifts are to be ordered, and shipped all the way back to New York, where their friends and family stayed. Derek couldn't care less about what Addison would give to his mother, or his sisters, or their friends. Addison had practically picked out all the gifts every single year for 10 of the 11 years of their marriage. One year they had a bet, that Derek were to pick out the gifts for their friends and family for Christmas and see if they liked it. They did, or so they say they did. But Derek could tell from their faces that it was a different expression from when they open up the gifts picked out by Addison. She won the bet. And for the whole of next month, Derek had to take out the garbage.
The bells rang, announcing the arrival of another customer. This time, Addison looked up from her magazine, greeting her husband with a smile. "Hey." she said sweetly, watching as Derek sat down by the table beside her. There's something different about Derek's expression that night, and no matter how many times Derek had insisted that things are fine between them, Addison knew they are not. She reached closed her magazine and leaned forward. "What is it, Derek. Christmas has always been our favourite holiday."
Derek looked away with a sigh, taking a sip from the ice water. He shifted his gaze away from his wife, preparing himself for what will come after he revealed the truth to her. "I'm not saying this because I want to leave you, I don't. But Christmas is a day you want to spend it with someone you love. Meredith wasn't revenge, it wasn't a fling. I fell in love with her." he blurted out, taking a gulp from the water. He turned away, he couldn't watch Addison's reaction. But he had to tell her the truth.
Will it help the wounds to heal faster? Neither of them knew. That was the first Christmas they spend away from each other.
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"Move in with me." Derek blurted out. They were standing by the nurses station flipping through the charts of their patients on a Wednesday afternoon. Addison looked up. "What?" Derek couldn't place an emotion to her voice. Shock? Surprise? A pleasant one? He really couldn't tell. They handed both made notes on the chart and handed it back to the nurses. Derek turned to face his wife briefly. "I said, move in with me." he repeated.
"You have a place to stay?" she asked, unsure of what to say. Of course he has a place to stay! Why else would he ask you? she scolded herself.
"Yes." Derek said, now standing in front of Addison in the middle of the hallway. "You can't keep staying at a hotel. I have a place to stay, move in with me." he said, then started towards the lift lobby.
The lift opened, the passangers stepped off and the two stepped in. Derek reached out and pressed the button to the floor he was heading too. The door slided shut, they had their privacy. "Why?" Addison couldn't help but ask after a moment of silence. The lift stopped on Derek's floor, its doors slided open. There wasn't anything Derek could say to satisfy her question. He simply shrugged, then turn to her with a smile. "Why not?" And just seconds after he stepped out, he heard her voice.
"Okay!"
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"You gave up brownstone to come live in a forest!" Addison shrieked in disbelief as they pulled over near the trailer that Derek had been staying in. Derek laughed, heaving her luggage off the car and carried them into the trailer. "Never thought it would be so true when you said I was a flannel wearing, woodchopping fisherman, did you?" Playfully, Addison shoved a fist into Derek's forearm.
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The trailer was crammy, it was something Addison definitely didn't like. Their bed wasn't as big as it was back in New York, but she has to learn to live with it. It's a way of compromise, she had told herself. Derek had chose to stay with her, to try and work things out and try to forgive her. This is the price she had to pay. Her head was bent down, the hair dryer in her hands moving back and forth above her red hair, blowing the moisture in her hair away. The trailer door opened, Derek walked in heavily, making his way towards her.
"I got a trout!" he chirped. Addison flipped her hair back and turned to face him, then let out a shriek at the sight of a large fish in his hands. "Rainbow trout." he specified. He shook his head and walked back to the kitchen that was about three metres away from the bedroom, placing the fish gently into the basin, his wet boots leaving marks on the floor.
"Why did you bring a trout into the house?" Addison demanded.
"Trailer." Derek corrected. She rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Why did you bring a rainbow trout into the trailer?"
"Breakfast." he said, turning to open the refrigerator.
"Breakfast." she repeated flatly. "Yea!" he confirmed. "You hungry?"
"For trout!" Addison asked, finding it more than just ridiculous. Trout? For breakfast?
"Yah!" Derek confirmed again, a grin on his face as he bend down to grab another ingredient he needed for breakfast. Addison gritted her teeth. Then, she looked up to him. "I hate this, Derek!" she said, making her way towards him in her soft bedroom slippers. "I--urgh!" she shouted, turning around to untangle herself from the wire of the hairdryer. "I hate this!" she shook the hairdryer at him. "Hate, hate! I hate this trailer!" she said, walking into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
"No trout for you, then."
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She pulled her car over and started walking up the trailer.
"Cooking the trout outside!" he announced, gesturing to the smoking fish next to him. "Thank you." she said, making her way up the steps and sat down on the chair he had pulled out for her. She sighed, putting her briefcase under the chair.
"There is a land called passive aggressiva... And I am their queen." she said flatly. Derek laughed. "That's all I'm saying." he lifted up the bottle and took a sip. Addison smiled, leaning towards her husband for the bottle in his hands. He handed it over and she took a sip.
"So, this thing with Meredith." she started, handing the bottle back to him. "Am I suppose to wait it out? Wait until it passes?" she asked. Derek studied her expression as she looked away. He knew she wanted him to say no, to say that he will cut Meredith out from his life once and for all, for real. But he couldn't do that. He still has feelings for Meredith, and she has to acknowledge that, she has to deal with it, whether she like it or not.
"That would be good." he said softly, finishing the remains of the liquid in the bottle.