A/N: Hello! I have a lot to say, but I want to ask everyone how you guys were first. How's it going? It's been a while. I am very grateful to everyone who's still here, and for you guys, I bring you this story! This will most likely become a multi-chapter fic. This one's been in my head for a while, but I'm still thinking about how it's all going to unravel so we're all in this together. Also this is a bit of a Jane-The-Virgin-ish type of story. Expect a lot of drama and fluff to come. This is also set in the later seasons of Private Practice and Grey's. Characters from both shows will be featured here.
I don't know if I'm going to be able to update regularly, but we're hoping that I will. Senior high school's not that suffocating and let's all hope it stays that way. Anyway, let's get back to the fic. I hope you guys like this one!
PS: To the Begin Again readers, I may or may not leave the story at that. I'm sorry for making you all wait so long.
Addison Shepherd.
Addison sighed as she looked at her ID. Obviously a lot has changed since she was last in Seattle. Callie and the baby have both been finally sent home, Mark is unsurprisingly a great father, and Derek and Meredith broke up. Again. A little more permanent this time apparently.
But some things remain the same. Richard's presence in Seattle (And Derek and Mark's, though she'll never admit it to them) still makes her feel safe, comfortable, at home here. And then of course there's that issue with her ID. That one makes her feel more woeful than nostalgic.
Honestly, it's been years since the divorce, can't she catch a break? Apparently not.
"You're still a Shepherd in my eyes, Addie." Addison looked up to see Amelia giving her a teasing smile.
"If you think that makes me feel better," She groaned, clipping the ID on her lab coat for the second time today. "It doesn't. And I'd appreciate it if you help me get a new one once we're both done here."
"Actually," Amelia smiled apologetically as she slipped her hand in Addison's. "I've been done with my last case hours ago. I've just been waiting for you so we can go back to the hotel together."
"Okay. We'll go after whatever Mark paged me here for." Addison returned a small smile, squeezing Amelia's hand.
"What do you mean whatever Mark paged you here for?" Amelia asked in confusion.
"I don't know either. He just said it was 911-ish." Addison groaned. "What does that even mean?"
"You sure it's not a booty call?" Amelia teased, giving her sister a sly grin.
"No, we're past that." Addison couldn't help the chuckle that came out of her mouth. "Honestly. We're both here to make a change, and we will. This is post-Sam Addison. I'll make sure of that. Old habits are to remain dead."
"Well, at least someone here has moved on." Addison turned her to look at whatever got Amelia's attention. "I wonder when that one will end."
Behind her, she saw a blonde resident following Derek around with a frown on her face, and a seemingly annoyed Derek completely ignoring everything she says. See? Some things don't change. Addison frowned a bit. Out of all the things she wished would change, albeit she made this wish long ago, Derek letting go of his habit of ignoring his problems was the one thing she eagerly prayed for. Not that his wife—post-it-wife, legal wife or whatever—is a problem to be solved. He may be a victim in this situation, but that doesn't mean he's the only one suffering.
From where she was standing, she could see how Derek's behavior was wearing Meredith down as well. And she didn't like what she was seeing.
It was like looking at a mirror, except she couldn't look away because they're everywhere. In her mind, her dreams, her heart. The hurt their relationship gave her was everywhere, shattering her again and again every time she sees a reminder of that time in her life. Unfortunately for her, the debris of an almost twenty year relationship is hard to sweep away.
For her, she can't say the same about him. He seemed to have brushed her off easily. He didn't even have to bat a lash to turn into this wood-chopping, flannel wearing, bright and shiny new Derek.
Sometimes she wished she had Derek's heart. Things would've been easier for her if she had. Maybe moving on wouldn't be this hard if she did. Maybe she wouldn't even have to do all of this if she did. Maybe she could've saved their marriage if she was able to peek in his heart so she'd understand why this all happened. He's always been so fickle about what he loves, his heart easily changing once time does as well. She wants to know why. To know how.
"I'm not even surprised." Amelia's voice brought Addison out of her reverie, she saw her giving her brother a disapproving look. "He's such an asshole."
"Don't be so hard on him." Addison said softly, her voice coming off a bit shaky. "He's your brother."
"And he's an asshole." Amelia rolled her eyes jokingly. "And you're being too nice to him, as always. Always defending his honor. He doesn't deserve it or you."
"Well, it's not solely his fault." Addison reminded Amelia. "She tampered with his clinical trial, and Richard almost got fired because of her." She gritted her teeth while saying the last part.
"For Adele. I thought you loved her?"
"I do, but we can't always use our hearts as doctors." Addison looked at Amelia, giving her a small smile. "Richard taught me that. Apparently his new students missed that session."
"Only because she was too busy with…"
"Okay, who are you really mad at?" Addison chuckled, interrupting Amelia before she could say something inappropriate.
"Both of them." Amelia said, laughing along. "I liked her, I thought she was fun, but there's just something about her. About them. I thought she'd realize soon enough."
"What do you mean?" Addison asked, her brows knitted in confusion.
"I thought it was obvious that Derek's heart wasn't in their relationship anymore, that it probably never was." Amelia explained quickly, raising an eyebrow in Addison's direction. "You really couldn't tell?"
"That's outrageous." Addison scoffed, slightly caught off guard. "Derek loves her, at least he did until the tampering incident. But he did love her so much. I saw it with my own eyes. You should've seen how distraught he was when we thought she'd drowned. He was heartbroken."
"That's just Derek not wanting to lose his prized, pretty jewel." Amelia insisted.
"Well, he married her…"
"On a sticky-note—"
"Maybe he couldn't wait to marry her—"
"Or he didn't want to live through another divorce when he finally gets bored of her." Addison opened her mouth to say something but Amelia beat her to it. "Have you heard of Florence Wright?"
"Derek's college girlfriend? The one your mother hated?"
"That's the one." Amelia nodded. "You only know that they broke up after college before he went to Columbia, but they went through lots of break ups before that, but Derek kept coming back to her. She was a great person, but mom hated her like she did with you. I think she didn't like that she was taking care of Derek like she did—but that's not the point. My point is that Derek strung along lots of women, only to leave them when he gets bored, and go back to Florence. Until he met you. You were the only one he wanted to commit to. He might have loved her, but he wanted to give his life for you. If he'd lost you back then, he would've gone after you the moment you slipped away. He would've abandoned anyone for you. No questions asked."
"That's…a very sweet story, Amelia," Addison looked at her in confusion. "But what does that have to do with all of this?"
"What I'm saying is that—first of all, I have nothing against her, and I truly hope she finds someone better—but haven't you thought that maybe you aren't the one who's the bump on the road?"
"I…" Addison trailed off. This is truly absurd. He can't possibly, could he? "You can't possibly think that he, that Derek's still in love with me? That he loves me more than her?"
"That's exactly what I think." Amelia said affectionately, turning her head sideways as she crossed her arms. "You know what else I think?"
"What?" Addison asked dejectedly, still trying to wrap her head around Amelia's observations.
"That he's walking towards you."
As if on cue, Derek caught her in his arms the moment she turned to check if Amelia was saying the truth. He was standing so close, she could feel his breath on her face. The smell of his cologne immediately infiltrated her nose and her betraying heart. And the look on his face. God. He looked worried about her.
"Are you alright?" Derek asked, running his hands on her arms before letting her go.
"Perfectly fine." Addison smiled, disguising the shiver he caused by straightening her lab coat. They both stared at each other, painfully aware that Amelia was staring amusedly at them, before Addison cleared her throat. "That was quite a scene you two made. You should've talked to her properly, Derek."
"I, we already did, but we're damaged beyond repair. A talk won't do anything." Two pairs of eyebrows shot up at his admission, and Derek shifted uncomfortably under Addison and Amelia's scrutinizing gazes. "It's over between us."
"About time." Amelia muttered underneath her breath, loud enough for the both of them to hear.
"Amelia." Addison scolded her, nudging Amelia's shoulder with her own.
"I guess I deserve that." The sad smile Derek let out caused Addison's brow to furrow even more. Derek letting his sister criticize him? It must be the end of the world. "What are you two still doing here by the way?"
"Eager to get rid of us, huh?" Addison teased, her heart fluttering a little when he laughed.
"I can't wait to get you off my back, actually." Derek chuckled again causing Addison to smirk. "But seriously, I thought you two were supposed to be off thirty minutes ago? Not that I'm not glad you're both still here. I mean, I was, well…I wanted to ask you two to go out for dinner, but I thought you already left."
Now, that is just weird. Really weird.
"We were supposed to, but your best friend paged me while I was on the way to the lockers." Addison said dryly, looking back at the pager that rang almost thirty minutes ago.
"Did he say it was 911-ish?"
"Yes, how did you know?" Addison asked, looking back at him in confusion.
"He paged me here too." He explained. Oh.
She cursed herself silently. All the things Amelia put in her head made her think that he was pursuing her. He came to her, he held her. He even asked her (technically them) out for dinner. Addison almost thought that it was fate pulling him to her, but who was she kidding? Fate—whether it was real or not—was never one her side. That much she knew.
If it was, the need to hide her parents' indiscretions as a child (and an adult) wouldn't be there. She wouldn't have that scar on her thigh that she got when she got caught in a fight between Derek and Mark during med school. There wouldn't be any missed dinners and anniversaries, hurried kisses in the hallways, and they'd probably be in New York with their three children right now.
"So…" Amelia cleared her throat after another silent minute. "Should I go and wait for both of you outside since Mark clearly did not invite me for whatever this is?"
"Why don't we let Mark decide?" Derek suggested, both of them following his gaze as they watched Mark walk towards them, a woman with a child in her arms in tow.
"This is what's 911-ish?" Addison groaned, and Derek chuckled quietly.
"Oh my God." Amelia whispered. "How many kids do you think he has out there?"
"You don't want to know." Derek said, causing a bout of laughter to ensue between the three of them.
Addison shook her head in disbelief as she continued to laugh. From her sulking about her ID to Amelia putting nonsense in her head. Now, this? Another secret Mark apparently kept from them (and himself as well).
This day can't get any more surprising, can't it?
"What's so funny?" Mark asked as he and his companions finally reached the three laughing doctors.
"Nothing." Addison said as she finally calmed herself. "What's with the 911-ish page? Is there something you want to tell us?"
"Very funny," Mark muttered dryly as he realized what the three of them were laughing about. "On the contrary, I think it's you and Derek who have something you might want to share with us."
"What do you mean?" Derek asked once he too had stopped laughing.
The woman behind Mark stepped forward, and Addison watched as the child in her arms looked at her and Derek curiously, fondly. "I'm Therese Scott, and this is Frankie, your daughter."
"What?" Addison exclaimed, her hand unconsciously reaching for Derek's.
"I'm sorry, but I think you've got the wrong people." Derek insisted, his voice uneven. She could feel his hand shaking as he slipped his fingers through hers, fondling with her fingers almost intimately. Some things don't change.
"I didn't mean for you to find out about Frankie like this." The woman said calmly, putting her hand on top of Addison and Derek's. "And neither did my sister, but she asked me to do this before she died. She well, she went to the same fertility doctor that you went to before, and there was a slight mistake with the process…we only found out a few months ago, but apparently the embryo that got injected to my sister wasn't hers. It was from a married couple. Derek and Addison Shepherd."
A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have suggestions or thoughts, let me know. Happy Friday, everyone!
