Thanks for the reviews and for reading this story! Hope everyone is staying well and safe during these crazy times!

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Meredith was sitting in the intern study lobby when George walked in. "Is Derek out of surgery already?" she asked looking up from the computer.

"Yes. The surgery went really well. It was definitely weird operating on my boss!" George answered. "Especially one I have heard having sex in the room next to me." he muttered. Meredith chose to ignore this comment. She jumped up out of her chair.

"Where are you going?" George asked.

"I want to go check on him." Meredith said as if it is obvious.

"Meredith, wait" George yelled after her, but she ignored him and left the room. "His wife is with him right now." he finished but Meredith is already halfway down the hall.

Meredith entered the recovery section and was a little surprised at what she saw. Addison was hunched over Derek's side with his arm semi around her. He was resting his forehead on the back of her head with his eyes closed. The intimacy of the moment was not lost on Meredith. It is a closeness that she never had with him. A closeness only being together for 15 years could establish. Meredith turned and left the area before either Shepherd saw her.

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After receiving a text from Addison informing her Derek was being moved to recovery, Carolyn Shepherd decided to start heading back to his room. On the way, she stopped at the food cart to get some coffee. In front of her, she overheard two nurses talking.

"I can't believe he didn't even tell her about his family. That is low."

"Well, that is what Meredith gets for sleeping with her attending."

"I don't know. Who wouldn't sleep with Dr. Shepherd? He is hot!"

Carolyn is shocked by the conversation, which was clearly about her son. Not telling them about his family? Sleeping with an intern? She definitely was going to be having a little chat with her son! Did Addison know about all of that when she flew out here? If not, she definitely did by now.

Addison had slept with Mark. Derek had slept with an intern. Clearly there was more going on in their marriage than Carolyn knew about. Early on in their marriage, Carolyn had been a major help to them. When they started their internship at Mt. Sinai, Carolyn had all but moved in with them to help. She had walked in on Addison and Derek more than once having sex. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other. What had happened?

"Excuse me, Mam. What would you like?" the cashier asked, interrupting Carolyn's thoughts.

"Oh, yes. I would like a coffee, black. And one of those croissants." she smiled.

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Callie slowly approached Derek's bed. She didn't want to interrupt what is clearly a moment between the married couple, but she needed to look in on Derek before he was moved back to his room.

"Excuse me. Dr. Shepherd?" Calie says quietly. Both Addison and Derek look up. "Um, I need to look over you before you can be moved back to your room."

Addison stood up and started to move away, but Derek grabbed her hand. She looked down at him questioningly, and he simply said, "Stay close." She squeezed his hand and stayed by the bed.

"Everything went really well during the surgery. We had to place 3 screws. With both legs in a cast, it will be awhile before you start actually walking, but now that we have you in a back brace, we are going to start working on getting you to sit up. Once you can comfortably sit in a wheelchair, you can go home. It should be about 2-3 weeks." Callie explains. "Of course, you both probably already know this." she finished.

"Thank you for everything." Addison said, smiling at the younger doctor.

"Yes. Thank you, Dr. Torres." Derek responded, still a little horse from being intubated during the surgery. With that, George came to move Derek back down to his room.

Addison stayed close as George pushed the bed.

"Oh, so I got an X-Box put in your room. Apollos was playing Halo with Dr. Karev when I left to come see you in recovery." Addison told Derek as they walked down the hallway.

"Alex was actually playing with Apollos?" Derek said, laughing a little. "I wouldn't have thought he would do that."

"Your mom is around here somewhere, as is your sister, I believe." Addison said, continuing to tell Derek the logistics of where everyone is. "Jamie is bringing Elliette and Khaliel by later this afternoon."

When they got to the room, they were surprised to see several other interns have joined the Halo competition. The party soon disperses when they see their boss being wheeled in.

"Hey bud, looks like you are pretty popular on this floor." Derek laughed as his son made his way over to the side of the bed.

"Yeah. Alex is pretty cool. He said he would play more games with me later if it was ok with you." Apollos said. He looked Derek up and down. "Wow, Dad. You really look like sh...I mean...uh." he stammered when both his parents looked sternly at him. "Um, I mean, Mom, when can I play Rocket League with Gabe over XBox LIVE?"

"You can whenever you want. Just keep it down on the headsets, especially if your dad is sleeping." Addison instructed him. Apollos nodded in assent and then sent his friend a text to set up a time to play.

Soon Amelia and Carolyn walked into the room. "Addison, I brought you a croissant. I know you probably didn't have time for breakfast." Carolyn said as she handed her daughter in-law the food.

"Uh, thanks." Addison replied completely confused. Carolyn was actually being semi nice to her today. She glanced over at Amelia, who was standing behind her mother. Amelia shrugged her shoulders.

"How are you feeling, Dear?" Carolyn asked, moving over to Derek. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm feeling fine, Mom. I am still on the good pain meds." Derek laughed. Addison looked down at Derek and noticed that his eyelids were starting to droop.

"Derek, I need to go check out that apartment Callie told us about. Would you mind if I go now while you get some sleep?" Addison asked him. Derek turned from his mother to look at his wife.

"That is fine." he replied groggily.

"Do you mind if I come with you, Addie?" Amelia asked.

"That would be great." Addison said to her sister-in-law. She glanced over at her son, who was lost in his own world playing games with his best friend. Since he had his headset on, he wasn't paying any attention to the adults.

"I can stay here and keep an eye on Apollos." Carolyn offered.

"Ok. I shouldn't be more than an hour." Addison said to both Derek and Carolyn. She leaned over to give Derek a quick kiss, but he reached around her to give her a hug as well. Both were again surprised at his actions. Addison stood up and gave Derek a questioning look. He gave her a small smile. Both knew they had a lot to talk about, but it would have to wait until later.

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"Addie, this place is amazing!" Amelia exclaimed as they toured the apartment. Addison had to admit she was pretty impressed. There were 4 bedrooms, a massive living room, a deep soaking tub, and a walk-in shower. Both of the later two would be very helpful when Derek came home.

"It really is." Addison responded, smiling. "Plus, I have found an amazing gymnastics place only 10 minutes from that has agreed to let Ellie come train with them. It isn't New York, but it is much better than I was expecting."

"So what IS going on between that stubborn brother of mine and you?" Amy asked as the two headed out of the building. Addison had signed a lease with the promise the kids and her could move in that weekend.

"What do you mean?" Addison asked.

"Are you guys together? Separated? Getting divorced?" Amelia answered as she got in the Jeep. "And why in the world does this Jeep smell so girly?" she said, wrinkling up her nose.

"Honestly, Amelia, right now we are just, well, surviving." Addison said as she backed out of the parking space. "And the smell of the Jeep, that would be your brother's girlfriend."

Amelia spit out the water she was drinking in surprise. "His what?!" she yelled.

"Amy!" Addison exclaimed as she gestured to the water that had gone all over the dashboard.

"Sorry. Did you say girlfriend?" Amelia asked, trying to wipe up some of the water.

"Her name is Meredith. You know, the girl he was changing shingles for when he fell." Addison answered. "She is an intern at the hospital. She actually seems nice."

"Wait. You are telling me, my stupid brother broke his body helping an INTERN with her house? And you have actually met her and think she is nice? Who the hell is considered nice that goes after a married man?!" Amelia exploded.

"Amy, calm down. First, she didn't even know he was married. He didn't tell her about the kids and me." Addison said quietly. "And second. Give your brother a break. He did just walk in on Mark and me, uh….well you know." she trailed off.

"Addison. You slept with Mark ONE time. My brother lied about his family, abused his power as an attending, and carried on a relationship." Amelia said, crossing her arms.

"Look. I get what you are saying, but your brother ALSO is recovering from several major surgeries and several major breaks. He is looking at months of recovery. I am asking you to please let this go." Addison said strongly. Amelia raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything else.

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Addison and Amelia got tacos for everyone for lunch and made their way back up to Derek's room. He was still fast asleep while Apollos was engrossed in his game and Carolyn was reading in the chair by the bed.

"Apollos, time for lunch." Addison said, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and mouthed "one minute" while he finished his Rocket League game.

"These tacos are AMAZING!" Apollos exclaimed as he joined the ladies at a makeshift table to eat.

"These are from a restaurant across the street from our new apartment." Addison informed him.

"We got a new apartment?" Apollos asked with a mouthful of food. Addison raised an eyebrow at him. He gave her a sheepish smile, finished chewing, and then started again. "We got a new apartment?"

"Yes. It is only about 10 minutes from the hospital. It has a pool too." Addison told him, smiling. Apollos perked up at the mention of the pool, but then got a serious look.

"Exactly how long are we going to be in Seattle?" he asked looking at his mom straight in the eye. Addison glanced over and Amelia and Carolyn, who too were looking at Addison. None of them saw that Derek had woken up and was listening to her response as well.

"However long is needed." Addison said vaguely.

"Why can't we just load Dad up on one of Grandpa Montgomery's private jets and take him back to New York?" Apollos asked, pointedly.

"You know that isn't possible with your father's injuries." Addison responded, trying her best not to rise to her son's attitude. She knew he was starting to get tired after getting up so early.

"Why can't Dad's new girlfriend take care of him? It's not like he even told her about us." Apollos said, angrily. Addison nearly dropped her food at this. She had no idea Apollos knew about this.

"Apollos Shepherd. Come here." Derek bellowed, causing all 3 women and his son to jump. Apollos slowly got up and walked over to his father's bedside. He knew he had gone too far and wouldn't look his father in the eye.

"Look at me son." Derek said slowly. Apollos finally looked at his father. "First of all, I don't care what your mother or I have done. You are never to talk to her that way. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." Apollos said quietly.

"Second." Derek said in a softer tone. "Where did you hear that from?"

"I overheard some of the interns talking while we were playing on the XBox during your surgery." Apollos finally said, again refusing to look his father in the eye. Derek was quiet for a long time. Addison walked over to stand next to Apollos. Ameiia and Carolyn both sat quietly, which was very rare for the Shepherd women!

"I know you know what your mother did in New York." Derek finally began. Addison stiffened, and Apollos crossed his arms. "I didn't handle it well. I shouldn't have just left. And yes, it is true. I did meet another woman out here and didn't tell her I had a family. I am truly sorry about all of it. It doesn't mean I don't love you or want it. Adults make mistakes too."

Apollos turned to look at his father again. He didn't know exactly what to say or do. Part of him wanted to forgive his father, and another part wanted to hate him.

"Can I finish lunch?" Apollos finally asks. Derek nodded. He looked up at Addison in agony after their son walked away.

"Give him time." Addison whispers. She too isn't sure what to say or do in this situation.

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Carolyn decided to head back to the hotel to rest for a bit after lunch while Amelia and Apollos decided to go explore Seattle together. Addison is glad to have a break from everyone. She walked over and sat down next to the bed after everyone was gone.

Derek was dozing off again, so Addison used the opportunity to catch up on emails from her practice in NY. It wasn't long before she was nodding off.

Derek awoke to find his wife slumped over, asleep in the chair. It reminded him of their intern days.

November 2008

Derek walked into the hospital only half awake. It was 5:00 in the morning. He had barely slept last night because Apollos was cutting his molars and cried most of the night. Usually, Addison could nurse the baby back to sleep, but she was on call overnight. Thankfully, his mom had arrived around 4:30, so Derek could get to the hospital on time.

Derek walked into the intern locker room, expecting to see his wife. He saw a bunch of other bleary eyed interns, but not the hot redhead.

"Have you seen Addison?" Derek asked Mark as they both changed into scrubs. "She was oncall last night."

"No, I haven't. But you better go find her. Dr. Webber is NOT going to like it if she is late!" Mark answered. Dr. Webber was their resident and gave scut to anyone who was late to rounds. Of course, Addison was his favorite, so Derek wasn't sure Dr. Webber would actually be mad.

"I'll go look for her." Derek yelled behind him as he ran out of the room. He looked all over the hospital and still couldn't find his wife. He finally checked the lobby in the Labor and Delivery area, and sure enough, Addison was draped over a chair fast asleep.

Derek walked up to her and gave her a slight kiss on the cheek. Addison's eyes fluttered open.

"Hey. What time is it?" Addison asked, giving him a small smile.

"We have five minutes until rounds." Derek said. Addison jumped up and ran to the locker room, with Derek chasing after her. They made it just seconds before Richard entered.

They were so young then! Barely out of med school. New parents. They thought they knew everything. If they knew then what would happen to their marriage….he doesn't want to continue down that rabbit trail for long.

Derek felt something vibrating on the side of the bed and realized it was Addison's phone. He picked it up. They were constantly checking each other's messages at home when one of them would leave their phones in a different room, so Derek didn't think twice about checking to see who had texted Addison. When he saw the name of who had sent a slew of texts, he became nauseous. Mark.

Without even thinking, Derek got into Addison's phone to see what the messages said. He was expecting to see messages proving that they had had more than a one night stand. Messages proving that he was justified in leaving and ignoring her for so long. What he found instead shocked him.

August 2, 2019

Mark: Please call me back. How is Derek? How was surgery?

August 1, 2019

Mark: Addison. Is Derek ok? Are you ok? Are the kids ok?

Addison: We are all fine. Please leave us alone.

Mark: Amy told me Derek has a girlfriend?! Why the hell are you guys out there?

The texts went back all the way to the date of the accident on July 27th. Multiple times a day, Mark was asking how everyone was doing. Telling Addison they should come back to NY. Addison repeatedly told Mark to leave them alone.

As Derek scrolled back even farther, he saw repeated texts from Mark telling Addison he loved her. That she should divorce Derek. That Derek didn't even care enough about her to tell her where he was. Again, Addison pleaded with Mark to leave her alone.

Derek scrolled back even farther, from before the affair. He saw multiple texts of Mark telling Addison that Derek was canceling their plans. Mark telling Addison she should confront Derek about how much he was missing. Addison telling Mark that Derek was just busy. Making excuses for him.

Derek couldn't read anymore. He didn't even realize how many things he had missed. Birthday parties. Family gatherings. A surprise dinner Addison had planned for him. Award shows for the kids. The list went on and on...and that was only since January!

"What are you doing?" Addison asked as she saw her husband looking through her phone. She startled Derek, causing him to drop the phone on his chest.

"I, uh, I didn't realize you were awake." Derek stammered.

"I just woke up. But what are you doing with my phone." Addison asked, picking up the device. She saw the screen Derek was on and realized exactly what he was doing. "Were you spying on me?" Addison asked in shock.

"No!" Derek exclaimed. "I mean. Kind of." Addison was now standing over him with her hands on her hips. Derek started to try and get up and then yelped in pain.

"I am so tired of being stuck in this fucking bed!" Derek yelled in frustration.

"Well, if you hadn't been on your girlfriend's roof you wouldn't be in this bed." Addison retorted before she could stop herself.

Neither said anything for a few minutes.

"Why were you on my phone, Derek?" Addison asked, when she calmed down a little.

"It was vibrating on my bed. I picked it up out of habit. Like we used to." Derek started. "I saw Mark had texted you, and well…" he trailed off. He could see the tears starting to form in Addison's eyes. "I am sorry, Addie. I thought you were still having an affair. But, uh, I realize now, you, uh, weren't." he finished at a loss for words.

Addison sat down in the chair. She was fuming that her husband was checking up on her, but she was also just as mad at herself for causing him to distrust her by having an affair to begin with.

"I also saw the texts from before." Derek said quietly, not able to look Addison in the eye. At this, Addison looked up. "I didn't realize I missed so many things," he continued. Addison didn't know what to say. She had confronted Derek many times about how much he was missing over the past few years, but he always denied it. This was the first time he had ever acknowledged it.

"Is that why you...why slept with him?" Derek choked out, not even able to say Mark's name.

Again, Addison was shocked into silence. Derek thought her sleeping with Mark was revenge? The thought had never crossed her mind, but was it?

Before she could respond, Khaliel and Ellie came running into the room. Addison looked Derek in the eye. They both knew the conversation would have to wait.

"Daddy! I made you something!" Ellie exclaimed, bouncing over to the bed.

"What is it princess?" Derek asked, his voice still fighting off the emotion from his question to Addison. Addison helped Ellie carefully climb up onto Derek's bed.

"It is a magic wand, " she said seriously. She handed him a stick painted pink and covered in glitter. "Jamie helped me make it. Whenever you are hurting, the magic wand will help take away the pain."

Derek pulled Ellie into a hug and kissed the girl's small head. She curled up into him on the bed. Addison noticed Derek was fighting back tears.

"Thank you, sweetie." Derek whispered. Addison glanced over at Jamie, who was hanging out in the doorway, and gave her a big smile.

"How were they today?" Addison asked, making her way over to the teen.

"They were great! Same schedule tomorrow?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, but you will have all 3 kids." Addison informed her. Jomie nodded, said good-bye to everyone, and then left the room.

"Is that an Xbox?" Khaliel asked, his eyes getting huge. "Can I play?" he asked his parents hopefully.

"Sure, bud." Derek answered.

As Khaliel was getting set up, Amelia and Apollos came back to the room. Apollos immediately went over to his brother to join in playing Minecraft. Amelia walked over to Addison and Derek.

"How is he?" Addison asked her quietly, looking over at Apollos with concern.

"He is ok." Amelia answered. "We walked around for a bit and got some ice cream. How are you doing, big brother?"

"I am ok." Derek grimaced.

"Which means you need more meds" Amelia said, raising her eyebrow. She knew how stubborn Derek could be. He was a Shepherd. The stubborn streak ran through all of them.

"Have you heard from Mom?" Derek asked her, changing the subject.

"Yes. She told me to tell you she wants to take the kids tonight." Amy answered.

"She doesn't need to do that." Addison protested. Amy shrugged her shoulders.

"She wants to take them to a movie and then back to the hotel to swim and spend the night. That is all I heard. Good luck telling her no." Amelia laughed.

"I think we should let her." Derek said, looking intently at Addison. She stared at him for a few minutes, fully known he was silently communicating to her that he wanted to finish their conversation and the only way to do that was to not have anyone around.

Addison nodded at him to acknowledge she understood.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing video games with the kids and Derek dozing off and on. None of them noticed the looks they were receiving as nurses and doctors passed by the door. It was still strange to everyone to see Derek with a family.

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After getting overnight supplies at Adele's and then dropping the kids off with Carolyn, Addison made her way back into Derek's room. Evening rounds were going on when she entered.

"We are going to give you the weekend to recover from surgery, and then we will start PT. on Monday" Callie was saying as Addison made her way over Derek's bed side. "We will also take more X-Rays of your back and pelvic area to make sure everything is healing properly."

"We will also do a follow-up MRI on your brain to double check there is no residual bleeding." Dr. Nelson informed them Addison and Derek nodded.

"Would you like some real food?" Addison asked Derek after everyone left the room. "Adele made some fried chicken."

"That sounds great! Anything is better than hospital food." Derek laughed. Addison helped Derek raise the bed slightly so he could eat better. She noticed him grunt in pain as he moved.

"Derek, when was the last time you had pain medication?" Addison asked, looking down at her husband.

"I told them I only wanted Tylenol until later tonight." Derek said vaguely.

"Derek…" Addison started.

"Addison, I am fine." Derek retorted before she could continue. Addison raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anymore. She sat down next to the bed as the two ate in silence.

"Addison, can you shut the door and curtains?" Derek asked her when they were done eating. "I am tired of everyone staring at us." he said in frustration. Addison nodded and got up and closed up the room.

"Would you like to watch some TV?" she asked him. Derek nodded. After watching TV for about 30 minutes, they heard a knock on the door. Addison got up and was surprised to find the Chief there. She opened the door and gestured for him to come in.

"How is it going?" Richard asked both of them with concern.

"About as well as can be expected." Derek said. Richard nodded and then looked back and forth between the couple.

"Are you sleeping here tonight, Addie?" Richard asked. Addison nodded.

"Derek's mom has the kids tonight. I told the nurses to have a cot sent up." she informed him. Richard nodded. He again looked back and forth between the couple.

"Was there something else you wanted, Chief?" Derek asked, looking at the older man questioningly..

"I wanted to ask Addison to consult on a TTTS case." Richard blurted out. "I don't want to take her away from your family, but she is the best, and it is a really complicated case.." he rambled on.

"Of course I will take a look." Addison cut him off. "How about tomorrow morning at 9?" Richard looked relieved.

"Ok. I will set it up. Now, I will leave you two alone." Richard said as he made his way to the door.

"Richard?" Derek called out to him. Dr. Weber turned back to Derek. "Could you tell the nurses not to come in here for the night? Addison will come get them if I need anything."

Richard looked at Derek for a minute before nodding his head. Addison couldn't quite read the older man's expression, but it almost looked like he was proud of Derek. Addison herself was a little shocked at Derek's request.

As the Chief was exiting, Olivia came in with a cot, blanket and pillow for Addison.

"Thank you." Addison said, smiling at the young girl.

"Is there anything else you guys need?" Olivia asked them.

"I think we are ok for now." Derek said. Olivia nodded and then left the room.

Derek started to laugh as Addison was setting up the cot.

"What?" she asked him confused.

"I was just remembering the last time you slept on a cot while I was in a twin size bed." Derek said.

"Our first Christmas. At your mom's house." Addison said remembering that time so long ago.

Christmas 2004

Addison was so nervous about spending Christmas at her boyfriend's house. She had met his mom on one other occasion, but not all of his sisters.

"Addie, relax. Everyone is going to love you." Derek said, giving her hand a kiss as he drove to his childhood home.

Derek was right. There was nothing for her to worry about. There was so much activity going on, Addison could barely take it all in. It was nothing like her family Christmases! After an evening of carolling, present and massive amounts of food, Derek led Addison up to his childhood bedroom. It was still decorated the same way it was when he left for college 4 ½ years prior.

"That's a lot of baseball trophies." Addison noted as she walked around the room. She knew Derek had played ball from the time he was 4 through college, but she didn't realize how many awards he had received.

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep. Your nephews told me they were going to wake us up before the sun came up." Addison laughed. Derek pulled Addison into a tight hug and began to kiss her passionately.

"Or, we could celebrate Christmas our own way." he said coyly.

"Not with everyone else in the house!" Addison exclaimed, appalled by the idea of having sex in his childhood home.

"There is a reason your mother gave us separate beds." Addison continued, pushing him away. Derek rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to sleep on the cot, Ads." he said, but Addison insisted. She wanted to please his mom. Derek finally conceded when he realized he wasn't going to win and climbed into his small, childhood bed.

Twenty minutes later however, Derek couldn't stand the idea of his hot girlfriend so close to him but not next to him. He crawled out of bed and got onto the cot with her.

"Derek, what are you doing?" Addison whispered, surprised.

"You said you wanted to sleep on the cot, and I want to sleep with you, so…." Derek answered, as he began to kiss the back of her neck.

"Derek, we both don't fit on the cot." Addison reasoned, trying to ignore the sensations running through her body as Derek's hands began to wander.

"I know how to fix that." he whispered in her ear. WIth that, he shifted them so she was on top of him. Soon clothes were coming off, and they two only had one thing on their mind.

As Derek and Addison were celebrating Christmas in their own way, all of the sudden they felt the cot give out with a loud crashing sound. Derek barely had time to throw a cover over them as the bedroom door flew open.

"What in the world?" Carolyn exclaimed, barging into her son's room. She had heard the crash and had come running. She took one look at her son and his girlfriend and the broken cot and knew exactly what had happened. "There are children in this house!" she exclaimed before leaving the room and shutting the door.

Addison buried her head into Derek's shoulder. "I am never going to be able to look at her again!" Addison exclaimed. Derek couldn't stop laughing.

"It is fine, Addie." he said, as he helped her up. "How about we move to the bed?" he asked pulling her to him.

"Your mom never did give us another cot after that." Addison laughed at the memory.

"It also wasn't the only time she walked in on us." Derek laughed.

"Well, I don't think we will be breaking this cot like that." Addison said.

"Not unless you want to do all the work considering I can barely move." Derek teased. Addison looked up at him and smiled shyly. It had been a long time since they had joked like this.

"It wasn't revenge." Addison blurted out. Derek looked at her confused before he realized she was answering his question.

"What was it then?" Derek asked cautiously, not quite sure he wanted to hear the answer. Addison walked over and sat down next to the bed.

"Honestly, Derek, at that point it was just scratching an itch. Mark was always there when you weren't. He began saying things to me, as I am sure you read in the texts." Addison tried to explain, playing with the pen on the table. "That night. You missed Ellie's end of the year performance at gymnastics. She was really upset."

"Addison." Derek said with an intake of breath when he realized she was right. Addison put her hand up to stop him.

"Derek, Let me finish. This isn't easy for me to talk about." she whispered. Derek stopped talking, Addison took a deep breath, and continued. "Nancy wanted to distract her, so she invited all 3 kids to spend the night. I agreed because honestly, I just wanted to go home and cry, which I did. Mark showed up, found me crying, and lost it. One thing led to another and well, you walked in and…" Addison trailed off. She was starting to cry and wasn't even trying to stop it. She looked up at Derek and realized he too was crying.

"I never meant for it to happen. I am more sorry than you will ever know." Addison finished. She couldn't look at Derek, and she couldn't stop crying.

"Addie, come here." Derek said softly. Addison stood up by the bed. "Lay down with me."

"I don't want to hurt you." she said cautiously.

"Trust me." was all Derek said as he very slowly scooted over on the bed. Addison climbed under the covers just as slowly. She followed Derek's lead of where to lay so she wasn't hurting him. He wrapped his arm around her and she lay on his chest. He began to rub circles on her back. It felt so familiar but yet so foreign to both of them.

"I am sorry I missed so many things, Ads." he said. "I felt like I needed to work so much to maintain my skills. To provide for my family. But as I was falling from the roof, the only thing I thought about was never seeing you or the kids again. And I really screwed up by not telling Meredith about you guys."

Addison intertwined her fingers with Derek's fingers. "We have both made a lot of mistakes." she replied. "The question is can we get past the mistakes and be the couple we once were."

Derek was quiet for a little while. He ran his fingers through Addison's hair, like he had done so many times. It was soft and silky as usual and smelled of roses.

"I want to, Addie. I really do." Derek whispered. It wasn't long after that both Shepherds were fast asleep.

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Let me know what you think!