Chapter 23: Breaking
How did this happen? How had they gotten to the lobby? How had they gotten into this position?
She was happy, a bit worried, but still happy. Cristina had texted her to tell her they had a date for the family dinner when everyone was off. She was happy about the arrangement. Still a little weary of this whole celebration but with what Addison had said she felt a bit more accepting of it.
After replying she looked up from her phone with a smile because she was going to see her. However the smile evaporated rather quickly as she witnessed the scene before her, there was McSteamy with her Addie. They were together at the doorway and they were kissing. Aelwyne felt her world break as he saw Addison in his arms.
'No.' She lost grasp of her phone as she shook in anger and pain.
The clattering seemed to make them stop and Addison looked at her. She tried masking her eyes but could not, she just stared at them. Mark was looking at her with a smug smile that made her blood boil. Addison was even paler than usual, she saw fear in the redhead's eyes but did not care. She could not stand looking at them anymore. Addison said her name but she ignored her and Mark's 'I told you so' made her shake in anger even more. Addison had tried to explain something but Aelwyne did not care.
'I just want to go. I don't want to be here. I can't be here.' She grabbed her phone without a word. Addison was already in front of her begging but she did not want to hear it.She felt the prickle of tears pooling in her eyes when Addison grabbed her but she would not allow a single one to drop. She could not, would not allow herself to cry. The redhead pleaded but still Aelwyne did not care and left.
Addison was kissing her in front of everyone in the middle of the lobby after having chased her and called out to her in a broken voice. The sound was what made her turn around. It sent shivers down her spine. She could hear it all, the pain, the guilt, the shame. She could not ignore it a second time. It had taken all of her will power earlier to walk away from the redhead after hearing that broken sound. So now they were here. In the middle of the overcrowded lobby, the redhead's lips over her own.
The world around her melted away much as it did whenever Addison had her like this. Her hands landed on Addison's sides as she deepened the kiss. It was a moment of sweet bliss that was quickly interrupted by Mark's voice.
"I could get used to this." He joked and his voice brought everything back. The jealousy and anger and pain of what she had just seen.
Abruptly Aelwyne pushed against Addison tearing herself away from her lips. The attending tried to draw her close once more but Aelwyne stopped her. Addison shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks when she took a step back from her. The redhead went to step closer to her but Aelwyne recoiled back.
"I can't." Aelwyne said her voice a bit higher pitched than normal as she tried to stifle her cries.
"Aelwyne, please. Talk to me. Please." Addison was begging again.
"No. I can't right now." Aelwyne repeated, unable to contain the tears.
"Don't leave. Please." Addison whimpered. Aelwyne closed the distance once more and rising to her tippy toes she managed to kiss her forehead. Addison choked back a sob at the action.
"I can't." Aelwyne backed away once more shaking her head.
"Ael. Don't. Please. I can't. Don't leave me." Addison pleaded, more tears streaming down her face and as she went to take another step both Meredith and Cristina stood in her way.
"I'm sorry." Aelwyne said softly and started walking away.
"Let her be Dr. Montgomery." Cristina warned and soon there was someone wrapping an arm around her shoulders stirring her away.
"I have to talk to her. I can't… she can't… I…" Addison began but the words seemed to die out before they came out.
'Derek if you leave now we won't survive this.' Her own words echoed in her head but now it was of Aelwyne she was was thinking about.
"Come on Addison." Callie said as she guided her away, she kept looking back but Aelwyne had already disappeared, her friends following after. The whole lobby silent as the scene unfolded.
"My hospital has become the set of a soap opera." Richard said as he stood in the corner next to Bailey.
"Hasn't it always been. Pretty sure you were the main character in one of the arcs." Bailey said with a chuckle.
"Eh." Richard tried to come up with something to refute her but could not.
"I know I'm right." Bailey shrugged and walked away chuckling again.
Meredith and Cristina found Aelwyne in the locker room frantically looking for clothes to change to. They exchanged looks and went to aid their friend.
"Ael slow down." Meredith tried.
"I need to go. I need to get out of here." Aelwyne said as she continued searching for her clothes. "Where are they?!"
"Ael what happened? Why are you acting like this? What happened with Addison?" Cristina questioned.
"Not now. I need my clothes. I need to get out of here. Please get me out of here." Aelwyne begged.
"Tell us what happened, Ael." Meredith tried again.
"I said not now! I can't right now. I just want to go. Please." She pleaded once more.
"Ok. Ok. But your clothes aren't here, remember? You left them at her office." Meredith reminded her. Once the words hit her she just slid to the ground.
"I can't. I can't go back." Aelwyne said with a sob.
'She doesn't love me. Maybe she loved the idea of me. Why would she want me when she could have him? He's less broken than I am. She said she had to tell me something about her and Mark. This was it. She was waiting for him and now he's here. We were new. We were nothing. We didn't really really exist yet.' Her mind raced with too many thoughts, one as absurd as the next, but she believed every single one of them blinded by the rage and jealousy.
"I can't." Aelwyne repeated.
"Fine, here. You're also coming home with me." Meredith gave her a change of clothes. Aelwyne took them wordlessly and began to change.
"I'm coming with." Cristina said as she began to undress and get ready to leave.
Callie had guided the sobbing mess that was Addison Montgomery to her office. She sat them down on her office couch and rubbed circles on the attending's back, trying to calm her. Try as she might, Callie could not calm her so she just sat with her as she emptied her tear ducts.
"Addison, please talk to me. What happened? Why did Aelwyne walk away from you?" Callie asked.
"She… she's gone. It's my fault. She saw. B-but it, it wasn't… it's not… oh god she's not coming back. Callie, she's not coming back." Addison replied fighting sobs with every word.
"What did she see?" Callie pressed.
"M-Mark he… kiss. I d-didn't." Addison stuttered out. "I swear. I didn't. H-he, he did. And she's gone." She continued holding onto Callie's hands to ensure she understood that the kiss was something she did not want.
"Addison it's ok. Just give her time. When you expla-" Callie tried to comfort her.
"You don't get it. Her eyes. She looked at me the same way Derek did. She won't come back. She won't. I lost her." Addison replied bitterly.
"You don't know that Addie." Callie tried again.
"Don't call me that!" Addison got up from the couch. "Just don't."
"Ok… ok I won't call you that. It'll be ok Addison." Callie lifted her hands in surrender.
"I want to be alone." Addison said softly.
"Add-" Callie began.
"Leave." Addison said pointing at the door.
"Fine. But I'll be around. Ok?" Callie said but Addison just pointed at the door.
Once the Latina was gone and the door was closed Addison went to the couch and curled up on herself. She completely let go. Her body shook with the force of her sobs. All she could picture was Aelwyne's face. Images of the disappointment and the hurt. Her eyes glossed over with unshed tears. She had broken the intern and even if she had done nothing for the kiss it was all her fault. All the pain Aelwyne was feeling was all because of her. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she laid down in fetal position with her back to the door.
"I just want to know what the hell she did to her. I'll kill her for sure." Cristina said to Meredith as they watched their friend crying on Meredith's bed.
"You won't do anything. We need to know what happened between them first." Meredith said as she walked over to cover Aelwyne.
"Ael do you want to talk yet?" Cristina said as she knelt in front of her.
"You can tell us anything. You know that right?" Meredith offered as she sat next to her on the bed.
Aelwyne just shook her head and let the tears keep running down her face.
"That's ok." Meredith said softly.
"But…" Cristina wanted to know.
"Let her rest. We can talk later." Meredith said getting up and dragging Cristina away with her.
"Dammit Mer. I want to know." Cristina shook the blondes hand off her arm.
"I know. But she doesn't want to talk. We are all the same. When we don't want to talk we don't. She'll tell us when she's ready." Meredith said walking towards the stairs.
"Fine." Cristina said.
She took one last look at Aelwyne who was now looking at the charm on her bracelet. With a sigh she followed Meredith who was going down to the kitchen.
"Your boyfriend stayed. Didn't he?" Cristina said with a grin. "Ask him to find out what happened."
"Already did." Meredith with a smug smile. "She doesn't want to talk but that doesn't mean we can't find out another way."
"You so smart." Cristina said in a mocking tone.
"We should probably order some food." Meredith smiled and shook her head.
"Get some from that Chinese place she likes so much." Cristina suggested. "Maybe she'll eat and feel like talking."
"Maybe." Meredith replied with a sad smile.
Derek and Callie could see Addison through the open blinds of her window. They could vaguely hear her sobs still even behind the closed door. Both of them had been off the clock for a while now but neither wanted to go. They just stood vigil outside of her office.
"She's been like that for hours now." Callie said sadness in her tone.
"I've never seen her that way. Callie, tell me what happened." Derek asked her a third time.
"Again, I won't tell you unless she allows." Callie said, rolling her eyes.
"Aelwyne looked bad and Addie looks worse." Derek said with a heavy sigh.
"Don't let her hear you call her that. She almost bit my head off when I did." Callie said, shaking her head when he tilted his in question.
"I bet this has everything to do with Mark." Derek said more to himself.
"You'd win that bet." Callie said with equal quiet.
They both stood there in silence for a moment. Still their eyes glued to Addison, who had not stirred aside from the shaking of her shoulders as she cried. They heard footsteps but paid no mind to them since they were in the hallway.
"Has Red been like that since the kid left?" Mark asked from behind them looking into the office.
One second he was standing behind them and the next Derek was shoving him to the opposite wall. Callie moved quickly trying to get Derek to let go but the man had Mark by the collars and would not let go.
"What the hell did you do?" Derek barked at him. "She's like that because of you. What did you do?"
"Derek calm down." Callie begged. "We're making a scene."
"I don't care. I want to know what this asshole did to Addison and Aelwyne for them both to be this broken." Derek spar bitterly.
"I didn't think th-" Mark began.
"Of course you didn't think." Derek said and dragged him back to the window. "Look at her. She's been like that since Aelwyne walked away from her. She is broken Mark. What the hell did you do for that to happen?" Derek questioned once more.
"I kissed her man. I want her back. I came to get her back. So I thought a kiss would help her see that." Mark explained his eyes glued to Addison's form.
"You bastard!" Derek was about to punch him once more when Mark spoke again.
"I did that?" He was still watching Addison. "I did that. She wasn't like that when you left, you know? When you left I knew I could bring back Addison but now…" Mark trailed off and shook Derek's arms off of him.
"Don't you even think about going in there." Callie who had been quiet warned him.
"Where can I find the kid?" Mark asked.
"Excuse me?" Derek said incredulously.
"Where can I find golden eyes? Aelwyne?" Mark repeated once more.
"Why do you want to know?" Derek asked.
"I need to fix this. So I'm going to bring her back." Mark replied determinedly.
Cristina and Meredith brought up food for Aelwyne. It smelled delicious and had both Meredith and Cristina's stomachs rumbling louder and louder. Aelwyne was quiet as they entered the room, no more cries or sobs, she just wept quietly.
"Hey Ael we brought some food." Meredith said, bringing the plate into view.
"You need to eat something." Cristina followed.
"Not hungry." Aelwyne said softly her voice breaking a bit from all the crying.
"Ael you gotta eat. Even a little. Please." Meredith pushed.
"I don't want to. Not hungry." Aelwyne repeated once more.
"Nope." Cristina said jumping on the bed. "You don't get to close down. I won't let you."
"Cristina, let her be." Meredith tried to stop her but she was adamant.
"No! Come on Aelwyne. Get up." Cristina kicked and shoved Aelwyne out of bed. "We're going down to the living room to watch some more surgery tapes. You will eat and so will we and everything, absolutely everything will be alright. Move!" She shoved some more until Aelwyne was standing with a frown and puffy eyes starting at her.
"Fine." Aelwyne replied.
"Fine." Cristina echoed.
"Great!" Meredith replied with a smile.
"Yeah great." Cristina agreed.
They sat in the living room watching a surgery with their food. Cristina and Meredith were close to being done while Aelwyne had barely touched the food. At least every time they glanced at her she took a bite. As they ate they heard the doorbell.
"Maybe your McDreamy is here." Cristina guessed.
"He has keys. I'll be right back." Meredith said getting up.
"Uh guys…" She said once she came back. "Umm come in."
"Hey Golden Eyes kid." Aelwyne's head snapped at the sound of Mark's voice.
"What…" Aelwyne tried but trailed off not knowing what to say.
"We need to talk." He replied quickly.
And then there were 23. I know. I'm sorry but I promise the next chapter will come soon. Hope you enjoy. Promise I'll update soon. Please remember to review or comment. Until next chapter. ;)
