A/N: Thanks so much for your kind feedback on the last chapter and this story so far! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

I hope you're all staying safe and well. These last couple of weeks have been really hectic for me, so I was beyond thrilled to have some time this morning to sit down with a cup of coffee and work on this story. It's so cathartic.

Here's the next chapter; I hope you like it. And as always, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

"I need a nap," Nancy announces as everyone walks into Savvy and Weiss' house. "I can't drink during the day the way I used to." She motions to her husband sweetly. "John ...?"

"We'll catch up with you in an hour or two," John says, following Nancy into the bedroom.

Addison watches her former sister and brother-in-law's retreating forms fondly. Sure, they're putting up with some ribbing from Weiss and Derek about being old and boring, but Addison can't help being jealous of Nancy and John.

They have everything figured out.

Stable marriage, beautiful family, successful careers.

Addison realizes on her very best days, she's one for three. Although, she'd argue that since joining her private practice, most days deeming herself one for three would be generous.

"Do you all want to go relax on the beach?" Savvy asks, cutting into Addison's thoughts. "It's not swimsuit weather, but it's warm enough to relax out there."

"That sounds perfect," Addison says as Derek and Weiss chorus their agreement.

"Great," Savvy smiles. "I'd suggest we bring snacks out there, but ..."

"But we literally just got back from eating and drinking," Addison fills in with a laugh.

"Just checking," Savvy grins.

"I've missed this," Addison admits. And she can't help glancing at Derek, who seems to be nodding his head in agreement.

"We've missed this too," Savvy says enthusiastically. "And we've missed the two of you."

"Well, we've missed Addison," Weiss amends.

"Weiss," Savvy frowns at her husband.

"What?" Weiss holds up his hands innocently. "Derek knows I'm joking. And he's fine with it. He's not the same guy that arrived here 24 hours ago."

Addison blinks in surprise. 24 hours. Is that all it's been?

"He's right," Derek agrees with a chuckle. "I'm not the same. My eyes look brighter, my skin looks clearer. Don't you think so, Weiss?"

"I do," Weiss nods. "And your hair ..." he continues seriously, "it looks healthier than ever."

"It's probably the lack of rain here," Derek shrugs.

Weiss shakes his head. "No," he smirks, "I don't think that's it. I think it's something else."

Addison exchanges an amused look with Savvy at that. Derek and Weiss' friendship may have initially been premised on Addison and Savvy's friendship, but there's no denying how close Derek and Weiss became over the years. They were groomsmen in each other's weddings. They hung out together without their wives. And they had times like this—where they've shared jokes that don't make sense to anybody but them.

"So, are we actually going to go to the beach?" Savvy asks. "Or do we want to discuss how white Derek's teeth look?"

"Let's go to the beach," Derek says quickly. And the four of them make their way outside the house and out onto the sand.

"You smell great, Derek," Weiss grins, as they being putting down blankets. "What cologne are you wearing these days?"

Derek chuckles at his friend. Apparently, Weiss isn't going to let the over-the-top compliments go without a fight.

"Actually, I'm not wearing anything right now," he shrugs.

"Really?" Weiss inhales deeply. "Whatever you're not wearing smells flor—Ow!" he yelps as Savvy elbows him in the side.

"Sorry," Savvy shrugs, not sounding very sorry at all.

"Bony elbows," Weiss mutters, rubbing his side.

And as Wiess shares a wordless look with his wife, Addison can't help being envious (and ashamed for being envious).

"I think I'm going to go for a walk," Weiss announces, pivoting hard. "Savvy?" he extends his arm out to his wife. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," Savvy nods in agreement, tucking her arm in her husband's. She looks at Addison and Derek warily. "Are you two going to be okay?"

"We'll be okay," Addison reassures her friend. "Go. Walk. We'll hold down the fort here."

"Okay ..." Savvy says hesitantly, shooting Addison another concerned glance.

A small smile plays on Addison's face at her friend's apprehension, and she returns Savvy's concerned look with a look of her own that silently communicates that she and Derek will be fine.

At least, she has to assume they will.

In any case, it's convincing enough for Savvy, who begins walking away with Weiss, their figures receding toward the shoreline.

Once he's certain their friends are out of earshot, Derek turns to Addison. "I probably didn't say this enough when we were in New York, but Savvy and Weiss really are good friends."

"The best," Addison agrees with a small smile.

"I don't have that in Seattle," Derek admits.

"I don't have that in LA."

"You have Sam and Naomi," Derek points out.

"They're good friends," Addison concedes. "But I lost touch with them over the years. Maya was in diapers the last time I saw her. Now she's a teenager."

"Little Maya's a teenager?" Derek's eyes widen in surprise. "When did that happen?"

"I know," Addison agrees, shaking her head. "A lot's changed. And as nice as it is to work with Sam and Naomi and reconnect with them, it's not the same as Savvy and Weiss."

Derek nods in understanding and Addison knows he gets it. Savvy and Weiss have been constants in her life for as long as she can remember. Since before she met Derek, even.

"What about you?" she asks Derek. "You have Mark in Seattle."

He shakes his head disapprovingly.

"Stop with that face, Derek," she chides. "You're going to forgive him eventually."

"You don't know that."

"I do know that," Addison insists. "You two go back too long, and there's too much history there."

"There was a lot of history between you and me," Derek points out, "and ..."

But he doesn't know how to finish that sentence.

I haven't forgiven you either ... our history is irrelevant ... what you did outweighs what we had.

Those are the most obvious ways to end that sentence. And yet, none of them feel right.

He doesn't have the words but, apparently, she does.

"There was a lot of history between you and me," Addison says quietly, her throat thick with emotion. "I guess I just ..." she looks down in embarrassment, "I always thought you'd forgive me ... eventually."

"Ad—"

"I knew I blew up our marriage, but ... I thought there was something left to fight for when I followed you to Seattle. That's why I fought as long and hard as I did. Although ..." she casts her eyes downward again, "maybe I was just being stupid. Seeing what I wanted to see. Believing what I wanted to believe."

This time, he's the one who looks away. "Addison, I ..." His throat is quivering. Swallowing feels nearly impossible. "I ..." he chokes out, "I sometimes hang out with Mark."

"What?" She looks at him in confusion.

"We've grabbed drinks together after work a couple times," he continues, still struggling to coax the words out of his dry throat. "We've watched a few baseball games together. I don't know if I've forgiven him, but ... we sometimes hang out. I ..." he swallows roughly, "I want you to know that."

Addison nods mutely, taking it all in. She knows Derek well enough to know that the things he just said about him and Mark aren't strictly about him and Mark. It's just easier to talk about Mark than it is to talk about them.

"I'm glad you two hang out," she says quietly. "I ... I'd hate to think that you threw away everything with him."

Like you did with me. Of course, she just thinks that last part. She doesn't dare say it out loud. Except ...

"Truth or dare, Derek?"

"What?"

"Truth or dare? And pick truth."

"Okay," he swallows roughly. "Truth."

She wills herself to meet his eyes. And she can tell by the change in his expression that her attempt at nonchalance isn't fooling him.

"If you had to do it again, Derek, would you?"

She hates the way her voice is shaking. She hates that her eyes are starting to brim with tears. And she hates that none of this is going unnoticed by Derek. Because with him, there's no place to hide.

"Addie ..."

"You have to answer, Derek. Would you? Even knowing how it all would end," she tries again, "would you?"

It's a question that leaves out more than it asks. But there's no doubt in her mind that Derek understands.

"Are you really asking me that?" Derek blinks in surprise. "Addison...?"

"What?" she says defensively.

"Do you really not know?"

She doesn't respond – not verbally, at least. She just looks at him squarely.

And he has his answer. She really doesn't know. Or, at the very least, she has doubts.

He meets her eyes. "Look at me," he says when she tries to look away. "Addison. Look at me." She does, and for a minute they just stare at each other wordlessly.

"In a heartbeat," he says fiercely.

The question, of course, is Would you marry me? If you could do it all over again, knowing everything you know now, would you still marry me anyway?

"Of course I would," he says, doubling down. "Without thought or hesitation."

He scans her face, gauging her reaction.

He shakes his head in astonishment. "How could you not know that, Addison?"

"Why would I know that?" she challenges. "What about the past year would make me know that?"

"But this weekend—"

"This weekend has been nice," Addison concedes delicately. "But it's an outlier, not the norm."

He wants to disagree with her, but deep down he can't.

In Seattle, he fluctuated between pretending that she (and their past) didn't exist and treating her (and their marriage) like an obligation.

"This weekend used to be the norm," Derek points out.

"Used to be," Addison reminds him.

He wants to argue that maybe Seattle's the outlier—that their time in Seattle was a departure from the norm—but he's not sure he believes it. And he knows that she definitely won't.

"Addison, I—"

"I don't want to talk about that," she cuts in, shaking her head emphatically. But her face quickly softens. She doesn't want to talk about Seattle. But she does want to talk about them. "You'd really do it all again with me ... knowing how it would end?"

"I would."

Sure, he's told her this already—twice, even. But she needs to hear it. And he's willing to say it as many times as she needs to hear it. He's willing to say it until she believes it.

"You made me the best version of myself," Derek says quietly. "You still do," he amends, remembering Weiss' words from last night. You're happy you came out here. You missed this. You missed her.

"I also made you the worst version of yourself," Addison points out.

He swallows thickly. She's not wrong. But then again, it's the people we the love most that bring out our best and worst qualities.

"For better, for worse," he whispers, leaning in close. "In good times and in bad."

"Derek, what are you doing?" Addison breathes, shivering slightly as his cheek brushes against hers. "What—"

But she can't get anything else out because his lips are on hers, and she's not about to stop him. He admitted he doesn't regret their marriage. He told her he wouldn't undo it if he had the chance. He recited wedding vows to her. And he kissed her.

She should enjoy it. This is her weekend away, and Derek is being more attentive to her than he's been in years. She should enjoy this. Except ...

"Derek, wait," she breathes, pulling back.

He reluctantly pulls back as well, cheeks flushed, breathing heavy. "What's wrong?"

"We shouldn't do this."

"What?" He looks at her in surprise.

"Not here."

"Oh," he exhales. "Why not?"

"I just ..." She runs a hand through her long hair. "It feels like, recently, so much of our personal lives have been under a microscope." She narrows her eyes and his change in expression tells her he's following. Seattle. "I want to have a conversation that's truly private."

"Okay ..." he trails off. He gestures around them to the nearly-empty beach.

"I was thinking we could continue this at our place," she supplies.

"Our place?" He raises an eyebrow in confusion.

She sighs. Technically, the house in the Hamptons is her place. He gave it to her in the divorce.

"I still think of it as our place," she admits, her cheeks coloring slightly. She shakes her head in defeat. "Maybe this was a bad idea, Derek. Maybe we should—"

"No," he cuts in quickly. "Let's go back to our place."

"Really?" She looks at him uncertainly. "Are you sure."

"I'm sure," he nods.

Admittedly, at this point, she's not sure this is a good idea anymore. But she was the one who proposed going back to their (technically her) place, and he agreed; she can't exactly go back on that.

"I'll drive," he offers.

"Okay," she agrees, and she eases herself into a standing position and begins folding the blanket they'd been sitting on.

As she packs up, she has to admit, the beach is very quiet ... practically empty. It's off-season, so it's not unexpected.

They could technically talk here. Except they can't.

If they're going to really talk, they can't risk getting interrupted—by Savvy and Weiss, by Nancy and John, by that adorable brown and white puppy several yards away that, knowing their luck, will make a mad dash from its owner right over to them.

At their place, there won't be distractions. There won't be interruptions. It'll just be them.

Whether they go on to have an actual conversation, whether they end up screaming at each other, or whether they find other ways to use their mouths that don't involve talking, they'll be able to do so on their terms, for as long as they'd like.

It's responsible, and it's foolproof.

In the end, it's one for two. Although, in hindsight, that might be generous.

"The place still looks the same," Derek says as they pull into the driveway of their Hamptons home.

Addison nods in agreement. The house is just as beautiful as she remembered it. The lawn is just as green and manicured.

She's always loved this house.

They make their way toward the front door and Addison retrieves the key from her purse.

"That's strange," she looks at Derek in bewilderment, as she opens the front door. "The door wasn't locked."

His brow furrows in confusion. "Was someone here to clean it recently? Maybe they forgot to lock the door."

"No," she shakes her head. "Nobody's been here for over a year. Wait," she pauses, her eyes wide. "Derek, listen. Someone's upstairs."

He closes his eyes and focuses. "I don't know. Are you sure that—"

But he stops talking immediately when he hears an unmistakable thump coming from upstairs. And one look at Addison tells him that it wasn't his imagination. She heard it too.

"I'll go check it out," she says, making her way toward the stairs.

"Addison, no."

He instinctively grabs her by the wrist, and she turns around and looks at him in confusion.

"Let me go," Derek says as calmly as he can.

In all honesty, neither of them should be going. They should call the police and let the professionals handle it. But then again, this is the Hamptons and, in his experience, it's always been perfectly safe. Still ...

"We could go together," Addison offers, cutting into his thoughts. "I don't want you to go alone."

That's Addison, he can't help reflecting—always the hero. Always the knight in shining armor.

"Okay," he concedes reluctantly. "Just ... be careful."

They creep up the stairs together, and she can't help but wonder if she and Derek have lost their minds. In her heart of hearts, she doesn't think she and Derek are in any danger. But she's also not sure they need to be the ones investigating whatever situation they may have on their hands.

"Derek, wait." She grabs onto his arm.

They pause, frozen in place, and both grimace at the X-rated sounds that seem to be coming from their bedroom.

"Is that ...?" Addison cringes at the unmistakable noises. She shakes her head in disgust. "I think we have squatters. Very passionate, very vocal squatters." She looks at her ex-husband in concern, trying to tune out the inarguably X-rated sounds that seem to be growing increasingly louder. "Maybe we should call the police."

He's about to agree when a name is called out from the bedroom, loud and clear.

"Archer!"

"I think I'm going to be sick," Derek mutters, his skin tinging green.

Addison can't exactly argue.

"I forgot that I gave him a key before I left for Seattle." She shakes her head in bewilderment. "Why would he come to our place? And why would he ...?" she gestures emphatically. "In our bed?"

"Because he's Archer!" Derek exclaims, not caring who hears him.

"True," Addison concedes, shuddering again. "Should we just go back to Savvy and Weiss' place? And just ... avoid this whole mess all together?"

"And miss the opportunity to kick Archer out of my house?" Derek smirks. "Absolutely not."

"Your place?" Addison raises an eyebrow.

"Our place," Derek amends.

"Oh, so now it's our place?"

Derek shrugs. "You were the one who said you still thought of it as our place." He offers her a small smile, doing his best to ignore the sounds coming from the bedroom. "I'm just following suit."