"He's grateful, you know," Addison said once she and Derek got home.
Derek scoffed in response as he hung up his coat on the rack near the door.
"I mean, we both know he'll never admit it," Addison joked as she placed a hand on his chest once he turned around to face her.
"But he is," Addison concluded as Derek smiled and leaned in for a kiss.
It was true. They both knew it was, but Archer was stubborn. He always had been and as far as they knew, he always would be. But right now, they'd put it aside. Archer was alive and recovering. Now, they could focus on the adoption, which was still an ongoing process. Derek tried to push surrogacy again but when Addison tried to meet them, she had a problem with all of the potential birth mothers.
For the next two weeks, everything was great. For the most part. Derek was moving forward with Charlotte in expanding St. Ambrose into more than what it already was as Addison kept working at Oceanside Wellness. Things with Naomi started getting a little dicey though. First, Archer stuck around for another week or so before he inevitably cheated on her.
Addison tried to warn her before she even knew for sure that Archer was cheating but Naomi didn't want to hear it. It wasn't until after Addison caught Archer with some woman when she told Naomi. She was upset but she also tried to stay strong because she should've known better. Addie even warned her it would happen. But she was hoping that Archer would prove her wrong. No such luck, unfortunately.
Then, things got worse when she told her William White offered her Charlotte King's job at the competing practice. Naomi didn't say this outright but Addison could tell Naomi was gearing up to leave. But things with Derek and Addison were great. Better than they had been in a long time. They were on the same page, both professionally and personally.
"Hi," the blonde receptionist at Pacific Wellfare Center batted her eyes at the handsome man that stood in front of her.
"Hi, I'm looking for Dr. Derek Shepherd," the man smiled at the receptionist's not-so-subtle attempt at flirting with him.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the receptionist replied. "We don't have a Dr. Derek Shepherd here,"
"Are you sure? Maybe I got the address wrong," Mark looked at the piece of paper in his pocket. After flying back to Seattle again, Richard gave him an address for Derek's new workplace so he flew to LA to find him.
"Oh, you're looking for Oceanside Wellness Group. That's upstairs," the receptionist informed him after he showed her the piece of paper.
"Thanks," Mark said as he headed into the elevator.
Once he got upstairs, Dell greeted him and asked who he was looking for. Mark gave Dell Derek's name and just as Dell was telling him that he was working at St. Ambrose, Addison came out of her office, saying goodbye to her patient.
"Mark," Addison stopped in her tracks seeing him after her patient walk towards the elevator.
"Hi, Red," Mark smiled back at her.
"What are you doing here?" Addison asked in a hushed tone.
"Don't worry, I'm not here for you," Mark said slightly insulted.
"I'm here for Derek," Mark stated.
"He doesn't wanna see you," Addison replied.
"He doesn't even like hearing your name anymore," Addison said as he followed her back to her office.
"He's my best friend, Addie. What else am I'm supposed to do?" Mark argued.
"Yeah, well, you're not best friends anymore," Addison sighed sitting in her seat.
"Well, he forgave you!" Mark argued.
"Thanks for telling me, by the way," Mark grumbled.
"What did you want me to do? Call and tell you I got back together with my husband and moved to Los Angeles?" Addison waved her arms around, frustrated.
"Yeah, well, as far as Derek knows, I was just the chump that seduced his wife. Real nice," Mark bit back.
"He doesn't think that," Addison said softly.
"He knows about us, that it wasn't just…that we were," Addison struggled to find the right words.
"He knows?" Mark asked quietly. He didn't know how, but he just knew she was talking about the baby.
"Yeah, he knows," Addison said back just as quietly.
"Well, I don't know if that helps or hurts me here," Mark joked trying to lighten the mood.
After neither of them knew what else to say, Mark sat down sighing rather dramatically in one of the seats in front of her desk.
"You still like me though, right?" Mark teased.
Addison glared him back but after a couple seconds, she couldn't help but laugh. Their relationship in New York was complicated. And the way they ended things weren't ideal. But deep down, they both knew they weren't right together. After Derek left, Addison tried to make it work with him. She stayed with him after realizing that she couldn't stay at the brownstone. Not without Derek.
When Addison got pregnant, that's when things turned real. And neither of them were ready for it. Mark was weirdly excited. That was a surprise to both of them. But Addison definitely wasn't. She was terrified. And behind Mark's enthusiasm, he was scared shitless too. He just wasn't willing to say it out loud. Especially since Addison didn't give any kind of clue on how she felt about the whole ordeal.
After Derek left, Addison jumped in with Mark. She was, admittedly, a little too desperate to make it work. She'd blown up her entire marriage for him, but it was too much. As much as Addison tried to detach from Derek, she couldn't. She wouldn't take her rings off and cried almost every time she found herself alone. Being without Derek was too hard. And as great as Mark was, he wasn't Derek. He never would be. And as much as she wanted it to work, she couldn't get past her husband.
The baby was what really put things into perspective. She made things real. Even realer than it was before. After Addison aborted the baby, that's when they were finished. They never said it was over, but they both knew it. Addison came back to his apartment and found Charlene, the peds nurse from the hospital, leaving in a rush. And Addison was weirdly relieved to find Mark cheating on her. It was the final nail in the coffin for them.
When Richard called, it just happened to be perfect timing. Mark chased her to Seattle for a bit, but she made it clear to Mark that she loved Derek.
"Addison," Mark stood up after waiting for her at the bar. He walked closer to her but she didn't reciprocate.
"He doesn't love you anymore," Mark added when Addison stepped back.
"But I still love him," Addison croaked out.
"I'm sorry," Addison said, wiping a stray tear.
"I never had a shot with you, did I Red?" Mark sighed after a brief pause. He asked the question, but it sounded more like a statement.
"I'm sorry," Addison said again.
"I need to see this through," Addison said. Mark nodded back, signaling he understood.
It was unspoken, but of course, Addison still liked Mark. She didn't love him the way that she loved Derek, but she did love him. And as much as she loved LA and being close to her best friend, Mark was kind of her best friend too. It was just a symptom of being in a long-term relationship. At the beginning, it's all about the two of you, spending every minute possible with each other. But then, you meet each other's friends and their friends become yours.
With Mark, Addison already knew him from class. And Derek and Mark were practically inseparable. Addison used to tease them about being the couple and her being the third wheel. When Derek started spending all day and night at the hospital, Mark became more like her best friend. She'd complain about how Derek was never home and Mark would both defend Derek and sympathize with her. It started to feel like they were the married couple and Derek was the third wheel.
The friendship between the three changed more than any of them imagined it would. For the longest time, it was Derek and Mark against the world. They'd been best friends since forever. When Addison came into the picture, it somehow got better. There was something about her that clicked with the both of them. And the three of them couldn't be happier. Well, until they weren't.
"Of course, I still like you," Addison chuckled. Mark's face lit up at the sound of that.
"But I also love my husband," Addison turned serious.
"And I have no intention of getting in the way of that," Mark put his hands up in defense.
"Again," Mark added jokingly. Addison couldn't help but giggle a little in response.
"I'm here for Derek," Mark said with conviction.
Addison sighed, knowing he wasn't going to back down.
"Fine," Addison gave in.
"I knew you couldn't say no, Red," Mark teased.
"But if we're gonna do this, we have to do this right," Addison added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mawrk asked.
"I wanna talk to Derek first," Addison started.
"If you just surprise him at the hospital, he's just gonna walk away. Or punch you again," Addison thought about it for a minute.
The last time Derek saw Mark was in Seattle. And he got very protective over Meredith when he saw Mark flirting with her at the nurse's station. It felt like Addison's low point in Seattle at the time. Derek and Addison were "trying", but they weren't really. Or at least Derek wasn't. He was still pining after his young, intern, girlfriend while Addison did everything just to get him to look at her. When Derek caught Mark and Addison in bed together, he got angry and threw her out in the rain. And then he left. He saw his best friend on top of his wife in his bed and walked away.
But the second Derek sees Mark talking to Meredith at the nurse's station, he punches him in the face. Addison was only a few feet away when it happened but it felt like a sucker punch to the gut. 11 years of marriage versus two months with Meredith. Addison knew that that punch wasn't just about Meredith but it hurt seeing how willing Derek was to fight for Meredith when he wasn't doing the same for her.
But things were different now. Derek and Addison were in a good place. They were even as far as affairs went. It was weird, but it worked for them. And they were trying to adopt a baby. They couldn't be in a better place. Plus, Derek's work with St. Ambrose seemed to fulfill him as much as Oceanside Wellness fulfilled her. The only missing piece was Mark. If Addison brought Mark up, Derek would probably dismiss her. He'd say he didn't need him, that he had Sam and Naomi.
And he wouldn't be completely wrong. Sam and Naomi were great. But Sam wasn't Mark. Mark was his best friend, he still was. Despite the fact that they haven't been friends in almost two years now. Naomi was exactly what Addison needed. Especially since the only real friend she made in Seattle was Callie. But even for Derek, he never really made friends there either. Not really, anyway.
Preston Burke didn't even let Derek call him by his first name. He did, however, let Addison call him Preston as he called her Addison. And this was odd considering Derek and Preston worked together for a few months longer than Addison had. Whether Derek liked it or would admit to it or not, Derek needed Mark. Despite everything, he was still his best friend, and no one, not even Sam, could take his place.
"I swear the paperwork's killing me," Derek sighed as he got into the front door.
Over the last few months, Derek would just meet Addison at home now that he was working at St. Ambrose. It just made more sense that way rather than carpooling like they had before. As Derek reached the kitchen where Addison stood, she pulled up a glass of scotch and held it out for him.
"I mean, I had a hard day, but not that hard," Derek joked. However, he still took the glass and took a small sip.
"Well, it's about to get a little harder," Addison hinted, biting her lip in the process.
"Why?" Derek asked chuckling.
On cue, Mark got up from the armchair in the living room. He was far enough that if he needed to, he could make a run for it toward the backyard. He'd have to circle around to the front past the probably-locked wooden gates, but it was that or running into the ocean. Regardless, it gave the two plenty of physical space between them. Neither Addison nor Mark knew exactly how he'd react but they both agreed it'd be best to give both men some physical space just in case.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Derek raised his voice as he took a few angry steps towards him before stopping to look back at Addison.
"I'm here for you," Mark said with more conviction than he felt. It wasn't that he was scared of Derek, but he wasn't fond of angry Derek either.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Derek directed his question toward his wife.
"Derek, I know you're still mad at him," Addison started gently. Derek scoffed in response.
"But he's still your best friend," Addison added, trying to sound as calm as possible to try to calm her husband down.
"He hasn't been my best friend since he screwed my wife," Derek said angrily.
"But you forgave me," Addison, again, kept her tone calm.
"And I love you and I know we're happy now," Addison took a step towards Derek, who was gripping his fingers onto the counter.
"But Mark is still your best friend, whether you like it or not," Addison continued.
"And you will never truly be happy if you two don't work this out," Addison finally added.
Derek sighed and looked over at Mark who stood looking back. He looked strong and stoic as he held his ground. In reality, Mark was scared. He'd never admit it though. Just like how Derek couldn't admit that he not only needed Mark as his best friend, he missed him too. Mark took a deep breath as his toes clenched to the floor. Never had he been happier to be wearing a pair of shoes to hide this fact. As the room grew quiet, Mark realized it had to be his turn to speak. Addison and Derek already said what they needed to say, but Mark hadn't.
"I came to LA for you," Mark finally said.
"I didn't come for Addison or Naomi or even Sam," Mark continued.
"I came for you, I came to get you back," Mark looked confused for a second afterward.
It's not that he didn't mean what he said but it sounded weird. Something about the way it was worded sounded more romantic than he intended it to. And with Derek mirroring his look back, they both knew they were thinking the same thing. Addison couldn't help but let out a giggle first.
"I know, I wanna take it back now but I already said it so," Mark laughs nervously.
"Yeah," Derek laughed along.
"Maybe we should have a drink," Derek added.
"We could?" Mark asked hesitantly.
"Yeah," Derek sighed as he looked back at Addie, who lifted up the scotch bottle and another glass.
Addison smiled watching them. It wasn't going to be easy but she somehow knew that everything would be okay between them. She wasn't naive to think it would happen overnight though. It'd be a gradual change. But eventually, it would lead to the two of them being best friends again. Despite their messy past.
After having some drinks and focusing more on some basketball game that was on that night, Mark said his goodnights and headed off to a hotel for the rest of the night. If this had been a few years ago, he would've just stayed in their guest room. Or crashed on the couch. But given everything, Mark figured it'd be best to stay at a hotel. And he was right in thinking so because even though things were better now, Addison knew that there was no way in hell Derek would let him stay overnight. At least not yet.
"Who's hot stuff?" Charlotte asked as she saw Mark walk up behind Derek the morning after at St. Ambrose.
"Dr. Mark Sloan, plastics," Mark introduces herself as he holds out a hand for her to shake.
"Dr. Charlotte King, chief of staff," Charlotte takes his hand and shakes it.
"When Addison told me you worked at the hospital and not Sam and Nai's practice, I didn't realize you worked for such a small one," Mark commented as he looked around at the narrow hallways.
"We're small but efficient," Charlotte said through gritted teeth.
"And we're expanding," Derek added, partly to remind Charlotte but also to prove that he was working towards something bigger. Even if his plans weren't completely concrete just yet.
"That sounds more like you," Mark concluded. He found it odd to find Derek not working with Sam and Naomi at their practice. And he found it even stranger when he found Derek at St. Ambrose, a small and more importantly, barely distinguishable hospital.
"So, what kind of changes are you gonna make to this place?" Mark asked, trying to keep the conversation light.
Last night was good but he and Derek barely talked. And when they did, they kept topics close to the game playing on TV, the beautiful private beach backyard they had, and the LA weather.
"Well, I want to start a surgical residency," Derek started as they walked down the halls toward his and Charlotte's now shared office.
With Charlotte working at Pacific Wellcare Center, she wasn't at the hospital as much anymore. Instead, Derek shared some of her chief duties as he worked on his pitch to the board to start a surgical residency program. So, Charlotte offered to share her office as she wouldn't be needing it nearly as often as she used to.
"Like the one that was at Seattle Grace?" Mark asked.
Considering everything Addison told him about Seattle yesterday (before he faced Derek, obviously), he was surprised. Then again, he wasn't much of a teacher. Not really, anyway.
"Yeah," Derek replied.
"But better," Derek added.
"I'm sure your old chief would love to hear you say that," Mark joked.
"Richard will just have to deal with it," Derek joked back.
At this point, Derek was basically like a co-chief at St. Ambrose. He didn't have the proper title or accreditation, but everyone was aware of the changes he wanted to make to this place. As well as how willing Charlotte and the board was to making those changes. Derek, officially-speaking, was still just the head of neuro at St. Ambrose. But everyone there knew that it'd only be a matter of time before he became chief, or at least some other higher-up title.
"Anything I can help with?" Mark offered as Derek started giving him a tour of the hospital.
"Mark? Teaching? What a novel idea," Addison said as she rounded the corner behind them.
"Hey, Red, what are you doing here?" Mark asked.
"Emergency c-section," Addison explained quickly as she gave her husband a quick peck on the lips.
"Wow, you guys have a nice setup here," Mark observed.
"Working with your best friends, beach for your backyard, hot weather, hot doctors," Mark continued.
Derek and Addison smiled back at each other as they walked the halls of St. Ambrose. Mark was right, it was great here. And things were looking up with their friendship with Mark. Addison watched as Derek laughed along as Mark made inappropriate remarks about Charlotte as well as any other remotely attractive women that came their way.
Later, Addison went back to the practice as Mark hung around Derek at St. Ambrose. Derek didn't say anything when Charlotte started wooing Mark professionally-speaking. There was a big fire in a neighborhood nearby and Charlotte decided it was the perfect opportunity to get Mark on board.
With not much else to do, Mark agreed to help out. Plus, it helped that Derek didn't seem to protest it either. Over the course of the day, he realized that St. Ambrose was a pretty great hospital. It didn't have the same level of prestige as others he's worked at, but it had grit, Mark thought. As the day went on, he realized what Derek saw in this place. It wasn't going to be an easy feat, but he knew that if anyone could pull it off, it was Derek. Plus, Charlotte seemed like a highly capable doctor too so that helped.
St. Ambrose didn't have a great plastics surgeon on staff in all honesty and while Derek wasn't completely over Mark and Addison's affair, he was aware it'd only be a matter of time before he would be. Plus, Mark's stellar professional reputation could help in making St. Ambrose into the place Derek wanted it to be. In a way, it felt like a win-win for him. He and Addison would just have to figure out some ground rules when it comes to Mark. He forgave her and mostly Mark, but he wasn't completely ready for Addison and Mark to hang out alone just yet.
"Hey Red," Mark greeted Addison as he and Derek came through the front door of their house.
"Hey, good day?" Addison caught on to his happy mood. And hearing the two chuckle as they walked in the door before they greeted her was also a good sign.
"No wonder you guys moved here," Mark said as he admired their beach backyard. After Derek hung up his jacket, he went over to give Addison a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Right?" Addison said in agreement.
Derek didn't add to the conversation other than chuckling along but Addison could see him smiling. And with Derek, she could always tell if it was genuine or not. As Mark talked on about how great LA was: the weather, the girls, the beach, Addison kept her gaze fixed on Derek. He was smiling, really smiling. Things felt normal again. Or as normal as they could be anyway.
The three of them then proceeded to spend a nice night in, and even Sam and Naomi joined them. Addison ordered some pizza as the guys watched the second half of a baseball game they found on TV while starting on some beers. After the pizza arrived, they all headed outside to have dinner on the patio where Sam eventually saw them and joined in. When Addison went in to grab another beer for Sam and a bottle of wine and some glasses, she called Naomi to come over and soon it was like they were in college again.
"So, it looks like you guys are back," Naomi nudged Addison as they both stood in the kitchen grabbing another case of beer to bring out to the guys.
"Yeah, I think we are," Addison smiled back at her.
With that, Naomi smiled at her and grabbed the case of beer as they both walked back to the patio. Halfway there, Addison looped her arm around Naomi's and they both leaned into each other slightly.
"So, you think you gonna stay?" Sam asked as Naomi gave him a new bottle of beer.
"Yeah, I mean, this is the life," Mark gestured as he admired the sun going down. It was hard not to look out at the water with this view.
"Yeah, it really is," Derek said, looking back to Addison as everyone else looked at the glowing sunset.
As Addison blushed, Derek held a hand out on the table for her to grab. She gracefully slipped her hand into his and as he turned his attention back to the sun, she felt him squeeze her hand. This really was the life.
A/N: So, I decided to bring physically bring Mark into the story because I hadn't beforehand. And I also thought I might forget if I didn't do it now (lol). To be honest, I kinda forgot how Derek and Mark became friends again so I did have to look for that scene and see what happens. But I knew I didn't want to draw it out too long, especially because things are good with Derek and Addison in this story now and at this point, enough time's passed that he can forgive him because he really has forgiven Addison now.
With Mark here now, he'll be in the story from now on (because yes, he is just going to move to LA to be work alongside his friends) so that'll be fun to write some quippy Mark comments every once in a while. And I'm looking to get Addison's parents in there soon too so all the AO3 comments that have been asking for it, it's coming! Thank you so much for reading and I'll try to update soon!
