A/N : Sorry this has taken long! Yay for me because no more babysitting my cousin! Which means, I can stay up later and write my fics. Hee. Anyway, thank you all so much for the reviews :) Timeline for the following chapter has been fast-forwarded to the time when the Shepherds' house is built.
Izzie sat on the couch crossed legged, popping the popcorn into her mouth as the chickflick on the television played. A phone was sandwiched between her ear and her shoulder as she hear the voices on the other side of the receiver go on and on.
"But George, no. I mean, it's been like what, more than 3 months since we've started making lists and lists of people she would possibly go out with? Ok, yes, it might be someone we don't know but who does she know that we don't?" she asked, chewing onto the plain popcorn from the clear, plastic bowl. She aimed the remote control towards the television and flipped the channel. It was nine in the evening and Izzie Stevens was alone in the huge house she shared with Meredith Grey. Meredith happened to be the intern on call that night and she called George in hope that she had not distrub any evening plans her best male friend has with his new, steady girlfriend. Thankfully, Callie Torres had a surgery through the night.
George sat in the makeshift room in the hospital, which happened to be where his girlfriend stays. He lay lazily on the couch, a hand holding a phone as he stared into space his eyes wandering around the displays around him. Not that he minded staying in the hospital like his girlfriend did. Preston Burke had just kicked him out of his apartment ever since Cristina decided to come out of her room completely naked. He nodded, mainly to himself as he hear Izzie on the other side of the phone rambling on and on. It has been months since the two of them had been trying to figure out who Meredith is dating. Izzie refused to talk to Alex since all he kept insisting that it must be Addison Shepherd that Meredith is dating, and as for Cristina, she doesn't know anything, and she doesn't seem to be interested in knowing. "If Meredith wants to tell me, she will." Cristina had said. George reckoned that Cristina is like the intern version of their resident, Miranda Bailey.
"George!" Izzie yelled into the phone.
"Hu--What?" he stuttered out. He heard a sigh over the phone, already able to imagine Izzie rolling her eyes at his response.
"Never mind." she mumbled, then there was sounds of crunching.
"Are you eating?" he asked. "At this hour?"
"Mmm-hmm." Izzie voiced over. "Jealous? You'll be eating here with me if you still stay here." she said.
"I'm going to uhmm, hang up..right now." George warned.
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry. Anyway, back to topic. Who does she know that we don't?"
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Meredith place a hand over her mouth to stiffen a yawn as she sat on the empty gurney, her legs danging off the edge. She closed the file, placing it down next to her on top of the pile that was already there for the last two hours and opened the next one on her lap.
"I hate you, Bailey. Hate hate." she mumbled under her breathe. Meredith had heard that Addison will be in Seattle Grace through the night and when Miranda had asked for a volunteer to be on-call that night, she raised her hand. Little did she know that instead of scrubbing in to cool surgeries or doing something else that gives an edge, she would be stuck doing what she had dreaded the most. Meredith leaned her head back onto the wall behind her and closed her eyes with a sigh.
"Ya on-call?" a voice asked. Immediately, Meredith's eyes snapped open, shifting around before then landed onto the familiar figure of a tall woman. Her hair was in curls today, and even after a long, full day in the hospital, she still managed to look gorgeous.
"I hate you." Meredith complained. Addison Montgomery Shepherd raised an eyebrow and pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against and made her way towards the intern.
"I'm not the one who place you on-call, for real." she said, placing a hand against the surface of the gurney and another on her hip. She looked over, taking a peek at the chart on Meredith's lap.
Meredith continued to stare at her as the attending squint her eyes under the lack of light to try and read the words. "I hate you for being... you." she blurted out. Addison looked up at her, a confused frown across her face. But Meredith went on. "How can you remain so gorgeous even staying in the hospital for the entire day? I mean, look at me. My hair's in a mess, I look like crap, my scrubs probably smells like...I don't want to go there. And you. Your hair's perfect, your makeup's still on and you clothes. You do know that you're probably the only attending around who never wear scrubs outside surgery, right?"
At that, Addison couldn't help but smile. "Well, I don't know what to say." she said, laughing a little.
"Say you'll help me do these." Meredith said, gesturing to the pile of undone charts on the other side of the gurney. "And that you'll tell me your secret to look like that."
Before Addison could say anything, her pager beeped. "I would," she said, looking down at her page. "But duty calls." she offered an apologic shrug, then leaned up to give Meredith a peck on her lips before walking away.
"I still hate you!" Meredith called after her, but a smile tug at her lips.
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The Shepherds had spent the first night the house was built and ready together, having dinner that Derek made. Addison had laid the table, and they shared a meal like a couple would. Talking, joking, teasing and especially flirting. Addison appreciated it, but surprisingly, she found her thoughts wandering to Meredith now and then. And tonight was one of the rare nights where the two busy surgeons were at home on the same night, awake--well, even if it was just for a few minutes.
"Addie!" Derek called out, surprised when he opened the front door of their newly built house only to be greeted by his wife, all dressed up. "Where are you going?" he asked. The house has already been neatly decorated by Addison herself a week after their house has been built. Derek didn't mind the way it is now, it felt like home. Home in terms of it being in Seattle, a place that he had actually grew to love, and home in terms of New York, a place where he lived the past years of his life in.
"Out." she said, clipping her earrings to her ears. "For a movie." she explained.
"Oh." Derek responded, taking a glance at his wife as he peeled off his coat to hang it on the hanger. She walked towards him and took his bag, settling it down onto the couch in the living room for him as he headed to the kitchen for a cup of water. "With who?"
Addison smiled, giving him a soft kiss on his cheek. "No one you know." she said. Derek nodded, taking a gulp from the cup. Before he could say anything, Addison picked her bag up and headed to the door. "Well I'd better go. She'll kill me if I'm late." Addison smiled.
"You are not cheating on me, are you?" Derek asked, a suspicious expression across his face. Addison froze on the spot at the question, but turned to him with a frown instead. "Which part of 'She'll kill me.' did you not get?" she asked. Then, a smile spread across his face.
"I'm kidding. Have fun."
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"Hey!" Addison brisk walked over to Meredith, giving her a quick hug in greeting.
"Hello." Meredith responded, a tight smile across her face as she leaned forward to receive the hug. "You're late." she pointed out, a box of popcorn in one hand and a large cup of soda in another. "And you must be glad I have the brains to get these before you come." The blonde's eyes looked to the snacks that occupied her hands in gesture. At that, Addison rolled her eyes purposely with a sigh.
"Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I owe you--" she stopped, looking at her watch. "10 minutes." she announced. At that, Meredith's smile broke into a grin.
"C'mon, let's go." Addison said, starting to walk off. But Meredith stood grounded on the spot, causing the redhead to turn around with a frown.
"What? You got the tickets already, right?" she asked.
"Yea." Meredith nodded. "Except you kinda have to take it from the back pocket of my jeans."
"Which side?" she asked, taking large strides back towards Meredith.
"Left." the blonde instructed as she felt Addison's slender fingers reach into the back of her pocket to draw out the tickets.
"I could actually have helped you hold either one of those." Addison said, gesturing a finger to the two objects in Meredith's hands. The blonde look up to her with a cheeky grin.
"I know. I just wanted you to reach down my ass to get the tickets."
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"I never knew you were into such movies." Meredith leaned over in a whisper as 'Wolf Creek' rolled onto the large screen in the cinema. Addison turned to her with a glare, reaching out to the popcorn box sandwiched between the both of them. She grabbed a handful and toss it into Meredith's face, causing the blonde to shriek. At least, shriek as softly as she can.
"What!" Meredith hissed.
"Shush! Watch the movie." Addison instructed.
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After several attempts to start one of the many cars in the garage, it worked. The girl breathed a sigh of relief as the lights poured into the dark garage, the radio on the deck shone light into her face as she leaned back to the seat to take a short breather. It's going to happen, it's going to happen. Something bad is going to happen. Meredith thought, shrinking underneath the sweater that she had brought along with her. It was suppose to keep her warm if the cinema gets too cold for comfort, but instead, it turned out to be a blanket to shield her eyes from scenes that she couldn't bring herself to watch. One of which is now.
Then, as Meredith had suspected, it happened. Light poured into the backseat as a knife slice through the driver's seat, straight into the girl's back, its end jutting out from the front of her body. Meredith let out a yelp as the girl on screen screamed. Under her sweater, she took a glance towards Addison. The woman was engrossed in the show, her expressions changed now and then, showing disgust, a wince, a grimace. At least she isn't that psychotic. And then, came the sickening pludge of a weapon into a victim's body. Instead of watching the big screen, Meredith's eyes were on Addison's face, marvelling at her beauty as the different lightings from the screen shone on her face, at the same time, to gauge when each gruesome scene has come to an end.
When Addison shifted on her seat, Meredith straightened herself from the seat, but the sweater was still above her face. She gave Addison a nudge in her arm, catching her attention briefly.
"Is it over?" she whispered. Addison turned to her, the look of disgust had yet to disappear.
"Yes. And I think I've just lost my appetite." she said, handing over the box of popcorn. Meredith reached out and popped some into her mouth, removing the sweater from her view.
"If it's bad enough to disgust you and take your appetite, it must have been really really gross." she observed, and Addison only nodded in response.
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It was just any other day for Addison Shepherd, like the way it was back in New York. Settling. Derek had said he wouldn't settle, to himself, at least. And then he told his wife he's working on noticing her. But even as world-class surgeons with nothing to prove, they are still as busy as before. Why? Because being world class surgeons, everyone would be demanding for them, wanting only the best and not the second best to perform an operation on them. It wasn't Derek's fault, but everytime he comes home, it's deja vu all over again. Casual greetings, brief smiles, pecks on the cheeks. Him taking a bath then falling into the bed fast asleep before they can even have a decent conversation. Mornings were just about the same. Brief exchanges over breakfast, if they were lucky, and then that's just it. NeoNatal and Neurological surgeries seldom clash and they don't get to see each other all that often.
So tonight, like any other night, Addison Shepherd was alone, in their new house. But instead of sitting in bed reading, waiting for her husband to come home only to settle beside her without a word and fall asleep the very next second, she was on the couch, in the living room, channel surfing and talking on the phone. Her laughter travelled through the empty house as she turned the television off, swinging her slender legs up onto the couch and shifted a little to be comfortable against the cushions.
"What are you doing?" the voice from the other side of the phone asked. Addison shrugged, mainly to herself considering the other person can't see.
"Nothing. There's nothing good on tv." she said, running her fingers through her red hair. She took a glance up at theclock briefly. When is he coming home? she thought.
"Well, guess what I'm doing." Meredith said, walking from her kitchen to the living room. Izzie Stevens was up in her room, chatting on the phone on a separate line. Meredith sat down on the couch and place the plate next to her. She took aim at the television and switched it on with the remote, flipping the channels. Addison raised an eyebrow from her side, hearing voices through the receiver.
"I don't know. Having a party?" she asked. Meredith laughed, turning the television off.
"No!" she said. "I'm actually eating the most disgusting thing you'll ever know. Something you probably will never eat." she teased.
Addison sat up straight on her couch now, pulling out a fashion magazine from the rack and started thumbing through it for something interesting. "Seriously? Well, try me." she challenged. Meredith swallowed the food in her mouth and shifted on the couch.
"Ok. I'm eating--banana with peanut butter and chocolate fudge." she announced. At that, Addison looked up from her magazine and frowned, actually wondering what it will look like, and taste like.
"You still there?" Meredith asked, delivering another peanut butter spreaded and chocolate fudge drenched banana slice into her mouth.
"Yea. Uhmm..ew?" Addison said, her gaze falling back onto the magazine on her lab. Meredith laughed.
"Ew? Wait till you try it, seriously. And what are you doing?" she asked.
"Browsing through magazines." Addison said monotonously. Then, she shut it, placing it back to the rack and made her way to the kitchen. "And, looking for something to...snack on." she said. "It's all your fault. All yours and Derek's fault." she complained, opening the fridge.
"Me? What does it has to do with me? Ok, Derek's fault, maybe, but me?" Meredith complained, not actually knowing the problem at hand at all.
"Yes, you." Addison said, cutting apple cubes and pulling grapes out to drop them into a bowl. "You mentioning about food and Derek not being home and I'm bored! I'm so bored that at the mention of food, I've decided to get some myself. And if I gain any weight..."
"Oh, so you're saying that it's actually my fault that you're eating because you're bored?" Meredith clarified.
"Ok, and the television's fault. There's nothing interesting on." Addison complained, washing the knife and placing back into its rack. Then she turned back towards the fridge, opening it to pull out a tub of plain yoghurt and added some to her plate of fruits.
Then, there was a brief moment of silence. Addison stuck the spoon into her mouth as she placed the yoghurt back into the fridge, closing the door with a sideway knock from her hips.
"What are you eating?" Meredith asked, partially out of curiosity, partially wanting to keep the conversation going.
"Apple cubes and grapes with plain yoghurt." Addison said between her bites. On the other side of the phone, Meredith made a face. "Seriously?" she asked.
"Yea, seriously."
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Hours later, the dirty utensils are dumped into the dishwasher, Addison laid in bed above the covers, the phone still in her hands.
"Meredith..." she called out wearily.
"Hmm?" the voice responded. Like Addison, Meredith was too, in bed. She lay sideways, snuggling up against her pillow as she spoke. "I'm falling asleep." Addison said softly, her eyelids feeling heavier as each second pass by.
"Yea..." Meredith's voice responded. "Me too..."
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She's happy. She-Addison Montgomery Shepherd-my wife, is happy. Why? I haven't been home for nights, just like how it's been back in New York. I said I'll try, I said I'll be working it, but sometimes, I just can't keep my mind off the woman who was suppose to be my one night stand. Did the new house make her happy? It seems that Addison has found a friend in Seattle. Don't ask me who, though. I don't know. But Addison being Addison, who wouldn't want to be her friend? Well, that is, if they took time to know her instead of jumping on the bandwagon to hate her because their friends do. Which is silly, really. Very...high-school. And the people I'm talking about are actually the interns under Miranda Bailey. Sometimes I wonder, is that the reason for choosing Addie? Because Meredith is too young? I mean, look at them. They're practically going through the 'high school' period of their medical career.
The only thing in the hospital that spreads faster than disease is rumours. And it's the truth. I'm not sure if I should be thankful of it or not. From the circling rumours, I've heard that Meredith has been dating this mysterious person for almost half a year now. So when she said there's someone else, she was actually telling the truth. It's been kept really secretive though. No one knows about it. Not even her room mates or her best friend, Cristina. I should be happy that she' moving on, right? But a small small part of me just wish she wouldn't, that she will be there standing, waiting for me to run back to her. Selfish, Derek. That's what Miranda would say to me.
Enough of Meredith, she shouldn't be the one that I'm thinking about. She shouldn't be on my mind at all. Addison should be. And the point is, she's happy. Things are pretty much a deja vu from the days we had in New York, only except this time, she's happier. Is she cheating on me? Because it'd be impossible since this new friend she's been meeting happen to be a female.
And now to the both women. Meredith has been assigned to Addie almost all the time, and they actually are fine about it. No complains from Addison, or Meredith. Maybe they're being professional, maybe Bailey has something up her sleeve. Say Meredith did something and she's punished by being assigned to Addison for a long period of time. But the thing is, both Addie and Meredith are getting pretty friendly with each other. Tonight, I came home to find Addison already asleep on our bed. When I move to pull the covers over her, our cordless phone was found in her hands. I picked it up. The line was still there though, but there was no response from the other side when I called out. Maybe they fell asleep talking, so I hung it up for her. But when the call ended sign pops up with the number, I was surprised to find it to be Meredith's.
Is there something I'm missing here?
- Derek Shepherd
A/N : I hope you like it :D