Obligatory disclaimer: sadly, Grey's Anatomy is property of Shonda Rhimes and ABC, not me.
A/N: Hello all! I would just like to say that I have no idea where this chapter came from, it just kind of happened. I did grammar checks on all the chapters today, including this one and chapter six, which is going up at the same time as this one, with chapter seven coming as soon as I find it. Look at the author note at the end of chapter six for why this took so long and my plans for this story. Without further ado... chapter five!
The next morning, Addison woke up to the slamming of a door (but hang on, why wasn't she in her hotel room?) and the sound of Cristina Yang's voice.
Right. She had fallen asleep on Meredith's couch, with Meredith curled up on the other side and their legs tangled together.
"Meredith Grey, get your ass off that damn couch you've been living on this instant, I need to- " Cristina broke off abruptly when she saw Meredith and Addison on the couch. "Hold on- Mer, why is Satan on your couch? Are you two even awake?"
Addison groaned and opened her eyes slowly, willing the room to come into focus. "I am now Yang."
Meredith put a pillow over her eyes and nearly growled. "Fuck off Cristina, it's too damn early."
Cristina yanked the pillow away from her as Addison slowly sat up. "Well too damn bad, it's 8am and we need to talk. Now."
Meredith rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Well then, shoot."
Cristina eyed Addison. Meredith sighed and glared at her. Addison cleared her throat to break the awkward silence. "Meredith, where's your bathroom? Is it alright if I take a quick shower?"
Meredith pointed while still glaring at Cristina. "Sure, go ahead. Upstairs, third door on the right."
As soon as Addison had left the room Cristina fixed Meredith with a pointed glare. "So are you going to tell me why Satan was on your couch with you this morning?"
"First off, her name is Addison, not Satan. Secondly, maybe I just wanted to talk to someone who wouldn't try to ply me with tequila I can't have!"
"Well, well, well, someone's bitchy this morning. Did Evil Spawn come by last night? Or were Barbie and Bambi sickeningly sweet when they came home?"
"I've barely seen Alex since I was released because he's always with Ava and I haven't seen Izzie or George since before they went to work yesterday. This has nothing to do with them."
"Oh, is it McDreamy again? That's what it always is, isn't it Meredith?"
Meredith answered quickly, not wanting to talk about Derek with Cristina. "No, it's not about Derek! It's about the fact that my mom is dead and in an urn in my closest, I'm stuck here and while I'm stuck here all of you guys are at the hospital in surgery!"
'There,' she thought, satisfied, 'I didn't lie but I didn't exactly tell the truth either.'
Upstairs, they heard the water for the shower turn on. Cristina plopped down on the couch across from Meredith. "So Burke wants me to pick a colour scheme and a cake and get married in a damn church! I said you, me, City Hall. He agreed. Now I have Mama Burke and my own bitch of a mother breathing down my back and I had to go try on wedding dresses, Meredith. I had to pretend I liked it." Cristina shuddered.
Meredith just looked at her. "Look, at least you have a mother that's alive and cares enough to help you plan your wedding. Choose champagne or olive green or some other colour that Izzie and Callie agree on. Just don't make me wear pink."
The room fell silent again and after several minutes they heard the water shut off.
"Look, Mer, why didn't you call me? Why did you call Satan and why the hell was she on your couch?"
When Meredith finally spoke her tone was icy. "I didn't call you, Cristina, because I didn't want to listen to you bitch about your wedding. Or you going on about why everything is about Derek and have you drink tequila in front of me when you know damn well I can't have it because of my pain meds. That won't help me at all, it will just make me even more miserable then I already am! Once again, her name is Addison, not Satan, and she was on my couch because we were eating and watching a movie and we passed out. It's my house and I can do as I damn well please."
"Look Meredith, if it weren't for her you wouldn't even be in this situation because he would have stayed in New York and you wouldn't have got involved with him. It's her fault in the first place."
Addison had just come down the stairs and flushed guiltily at Yang's words. They did have a modicum of truth in them, after all. If she hadn't been such a whore... she listened again when Meredith started talking.
"Cristina. It's not just her fault. If Derek hadn't been absent then Addison wouldn't have been spending more time with Mark Sloan, and if Mark Sloan could keep it in his pants or had any morals then he wouldn't have screwed his best friend's wife. I'm pretty sure that they all share the blame equally for that." Meredith was seething and struggling to keep her voice down, mindful of Izzie and George who were sleeping.
Cristina had no such qualms. "It always comes back to McDreamy for you, doesn't it Meredith? It's all about him and you and you know what, he's right, you are pretty damn selfish when you want to be."
Meredith interrupted her. "Oh that's rich, Miss 'I'm-Going-to-Complain-About-My-Overbearing-Mother-Who-Actually-Cares-About-My-Wedding' to someone whose mother just died and wouldn't have given a damn if she were alive! It's the principle behind it, Cristina!"
Cristina just stared at her.
Meredith and Cristina's fighting had woken Izzie and George and the two of them were standing with Addison on the stairs, leaning against the wall, listening and occasionally peeking around the corner.
"Good morning, Dr. Montgomery." Izzie whispered.
"Dr. Stevens." Addison's eyes were glued to Meredith, who stood with her hands balled into fists, face flushed and chest heaving. 'Damn, that's hot!'
"Morning Dr. Montgomery." George rubbed his eyes. "What are they fighting about now?"
"Well Dr. O'Malley, Yang came over this morning, woke us up and tore into Meredith about me being here. They were talking about Yang's wedding for a while, and then Yang insensitively mentioned her mother and set Meredith off. Now they're arguing about myself, Derek and which one of them is more selfish, which started because Yang called me Satan and Meredith defended me." Addison stated this matter-of-factly in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
Izzie stared at Addison. "Uh… why?"
Addison looked at Izzie and raised an eyebrow. "We're friends. Now shh, they're starting again."
"At least I didn't let myself drown! You said yourself that you gave up for a second. Why didn't you fight? The fact that you came back doesn't count!"
Izzie gasped quietly. "Ouch, low blow!"
"You know what- "
Meredith was interrupted when George, who had been the farthest up, lost his footing while leaning in and slipped, crashing into Izzie and Addison and leaving them all in a heap on the floor.
Meredith turned and glared at them. "What the hell is going on?!"
Addison, George and Izzie all smiled sheepishly.
"Well, I was on my way back down from showering,"
"And your fighting woke George and I up,"
"But we didn't want to interrupt you," Addison finished.
George looked worriedly from Meredith to Cristina and back again. "Please don't kill us!"
Cristina glared at them and stormed out of the house, while Meredith threw up her hands as if to say 'well what can you do?' and went upstairs to her room.
George got up from where he was sprawled on top of the women and helped them up before announcing that he was going back up to bed. Izzie said goodbye to Addison and followed him up.
Addison went into the kitchen and made some coffee for herself and Meredith. Once it was done, she grabbed some cream packets from the fridge and some sugar from the cupboard before pouring the coffee into two cups and heading upstairs. Once she got to Meredith's room, she knocked tentatively, unsure of her mood.
"Come in, Addison."
Meredith was sitting curled up on the floor, looking out the window. "It's not raining today."
"No, it's not." Addison sat down next to her and handed her the cup of coffee.
"Thanks." Meredith added cream and sugar before taking a drink. "Mmmm, caffeine."
Addison sat quietly and watched her. She had noticed how petite the younger blonde was at the hospital but it suddenly struck her how childlike she was. It wasn't that she was naïve or looked exceptionally young, but the way she curled into herself like a child seeking protection. Protection, Addison mused, that from what she had heard Meredith had not experienced since she was very young.
"On sunny days after the storms my dad used to take me to see the ferryboats and then to the Space Needle," Meredith said abruptly. "The last time he took me I was 5. It was the day he left my mother and I, and I remember the next day there was a horrible storm. My mom went off to the hospital that night after I was in bed and for the first time there wasn't anyone there to tell me stories or sit with me when I was scared of the storms. I got over that fast, believe me."
Addison put an arm around Meredith, who had paused to take a sip of her coffee.
"About a month later there was another storm, and the next day 'Uncle' Richard came by and him and my mom took me to the park because Richard remembered how much I hated storms."
Addison looked at her in surprise. "You knew Richard?"
Meredith smiled wryly. "I've known Richard since I was a baby. After everything that happened, he was my father figure, I guess. He remembered to send me birthday presents, Christmas presents, graduation presents. He was at my graduation from Dartmouth and sent me a card of congratulations when I got accepted into med school. You can imagine how surprised I was when he was at my grad- I hadn't seen or spoken to him in years."
Addison smiled. "Richard was always like that, always getting involved. He was like that back in New York all the time. He went there after his fellowship and only came back to Seattle when he was offered Chief of Surgery here."
"Anyways, my mother and Richard had been having an affair. I know that now, but I remember my mom putting me on the carousel and walking over to the edge of the playground to talk to him. I remember seeing them shouting and my mother crying, but I didn't know what was wrong. All I remember is being stuck on that carousel, spinning around and around and around, watching another father figure walk out of my life. I hate carousels now. Richard, at least, kept in touch. I hadn't heard from Thatcher until Molly came into the hospital as your patient."
"Is that why you were so surprised to see him in your hospital room?" Addison asked softly, watching Meredith intently.
"Partly. It was odd seeing him there, but I'm glad he remembered that my favourite flower is lavender. He brought pictures of my half sisters, Lexi and Molly, as well as a few of Laura and most of his pictures from when I was young. I'm sure Susan made him do that but it was kind of nice, even if it was awkward because well, he left me and now he has this big happy replacement family… he didn't even try to keep in touch or call me… he didn't even fight for custody when they divorced, he just wanted away from Ellis so he could be with Susan." Meredith stopped and took a deep breath.
Addison grinned, there was the Meredith she knew and loved. She had been getting concerned with the lack of rambling for a while.
"Anyways, the past is the past. I can't keep a hold of my temper right now… first Derek, then Cristina. It's ridiculous."
Addison rubbed her back soothingly. "Why don't you take a shower, and then we can run over to the hotel quickly so I can change and head out for breakfast. Sound good?"
Meredith nodded her assent and got off the floor quickly, holding out a hand to help Addison up. "I'll meet you in the living room in a little bit, alright?"
Addison brushed off her pants. "See you in a few."
Posted September 26th, 2009