Fever 3
As it turns out, Addison Montgomery is a pretty good singer.
Or, at least, Mark and Alex and Derek seem to think so.
And this REALLY pisses Meredith Grey off like nothing else.
"Her high notes ring out well," Izzie shrugs, and Meredith growls at her.
"I KNOW," says Meredith. "And how come this doesn't bother you?" Meredith inquired, pointing subtly with her hand towards Karev staring with his mouth agape at the redhead.
"Alex and I are taking a break, he's free to do whatever he wants," Izzie says easily.
"So you're not annoyed he's staring at Addison like a hungry animal?" Meredith grumbles.
"Nah, I like to see him getting along with the bros," Izzie offers.
And that, he certainly is.
Alex guffaws along with Mark and Derek when Addison squeaks and misses a word, and it takes everything in Meredith not to go over and smack them all.
"She's pretty, don't you think?" George grins at her, and this time Meredith doesn't resist, and she swats George very gently on the shoulder.
"She's fabulous! And it's totally unfair," Meredith huffs, and George pats her on the shoulder with a 'there, there,' motion.
"Yeah, guess it sucks that McDreamy and McDreamy are checking her out again, huh," George tries to empathize, and this time Cristina swats him.
"Okay Bambi, you can't just say that to a woman. No wonder you're not getting any," Cristina offers, and Meredith nods at her best friend in approval.
"Okay but I was just trying to relate-" George tries.
"Mmkay," says George, "I'll get another round of drinks then?" He asks politely.
"There you go!" Says Cristina approvingly as he scampers off to the bar.
Meanwhile, Addison continues with her rendition of a really old rock song, and Meredith can't help but keep swooning at it.
"Hey, seriously though, what's up with you Mer? You're all silent and staring, it's sort of scary?" Says Cristina.
"Mm?" Meredith says absently as she continues to watch, mesmerized by the way Addison's lips move as she keeps going on with her kareoke.
"What's up with you these days? You've been all out of it since that time I found you asleep in that on-call room. You said you had a fever and you've never been the same ever since. Have you gotten bitten by an animal or something? Did you catch some rare disease from a patient?!" Cristina continues.
"Shhh!" Meredith whines at Cristina. "I'm trying to listen!" She whisper-shouts at her co-twisted sister.
"Okay, I rest my case. You've definitely caught something strange," offers Cristina before she turns back around in her chair.
And Meredith doesn't answer as her mind flows on with fantasies of Dr. Montgomery continuing to sing her song right into her ear.
"And this one, this one is for someone special," Addison begins at the beginning of her next set.
She's gotten such rave reviews that the others had wanted her to continue, and had clapped her an encore.
"I need a drink," Meredith sighs as she heads over to the bar counter, as her friends nod at her.
"Another one, Joe," Meredith says as she sits down just for a minute on the bar stool.
"Drinking to drown your sorrows again?' Joe offers graciously.
"Something like that," Meredith says.
"She's good, hey," Joe motions towards Addison who is still singing on the stage.
"She's- she's amazing," Meredith sighs. "It's incredibly problematic," she adds.
"You worried about her stealing back her husband again?" Joe questions.
"Again, something like that," Meredith groans as Addison hits a high note and she tries not to smile.
"I bet she's worried about her going back to me before she has a shot with this, what do you think huh, Joe?' Mark Sloan wanders over to the bar at the same moment.
"Hardly," Meredith scoffs, grumbling in the presence of her co-dirty mistress.
"Oh I highly doubt you're not sitting here brooding over me and my hot body," Mark smirks at her.
"Not at all, McSteamy, and I'm not in the mood," Meredith growls at him.
"Hmm, feisty," Mark grins.
"Gosh, don't start Mark. As I said, never gonna happen," Meredith growls as she turns around and tries to not make it obvious she's staring at Addison all over again.
"Well, it was worth a shot, right?" says Mark.
"Sure, you've had your shot, now please leave me to mine," Meredith points at her tequila, and Mark nods and walks away back to his friends as Meredith continues to stare at the singing.
"So… You're not having boy problems then?" Joe tries to catch up with her.
"Another, Joe!' says Meredith.
Joe understands that Meredith doesn't want to chat about this any further, so therefore he offers another tumblr of tequila, and givs her a lime, as well as a bowl of salt for her wrist to go along with it.
"Does anyone even know this song?" Alex Karev asks after Meredith's last set.
"No idea," says Derek, and this surprises Meredith as she overhears this.
"Is it retro?" asks Izzie.
"Hey, you're making me feel old!" says Bailey.
"And you're telling me!" offers Richard.
"It's nice though, says George, politely.
"Yeah," says Callie. "It is."
Meredith swoons at the familiar lyrics as she mouths the words and sings along softly 'you'll never know how much I love you, you'll never know how much I care. And when you put your arms around me, you give me fever that's hard to bear, you give me fever…'
It sends chills down her spine to hear Addison having learned those lyrics so well, and just for a brief moment, Addison glances from where her eyes had been focused so she's looking right into Meredith's.
And Meredith just about loses it when she feels the eye contact.
It's warm, and it's sweet, and it's hot.
And Meredith can't look away, and Addison can't look away, and despite everyone else in the bar, Meredith's pupils dilate to twice their size, and her heart starts beating right out of her chest.
Meredith stares at Addison's lips and teeth and tongue forming the words.
It's erotic.
Even if maybe it shouldn't be, Meredith knows that it is.
And Addison's singing that song again, and Meredith is growing all hot again, and finally Derek is asking her if she even knows what song that is.
"It's called 'Fever,"Meredith deadpans.
"Oh," says Derek.
"Yeah," says Meredith.
And when Addison winks at Meredith, the blonde intern actually falls right out of her chair.
Or just about, really, because then Derek ends up reaching out and catching her, and Meredith ends up mumbling an apology, and then Addison is frowning at them now and it just makes Meredith's chest hurt.
"Are you okay, Meredith?" Asks Derek all tenderly n shit.
"Mmhmm," Meredith grumbles, and then she speeds away without looking up at Addison, not wanting to face her displeased expression again.
She heads back to the bathroom because where else is she gonna go, and she splashes cold water all over her face in an attempt to get her face feeling back to normal again.
And just as she's about to recover from all of this, Meredith Grey hears the telltale squeak indicating that the washroom door is opening.
"Are you okay?" A familiar voice asks her.
"Y-yes," Meredith stumbles, even though she's trying desperately not to.
"Are you sure?" The tall figure asks her, while stepping closer to see if she's actually alright.
"Mm…" Meredith answers, barely audibly, as she turns around, still breathless, and sees the full service figure of Addison Adrianne Forbes Montgomery standing before her.
Her eyes fly wide open, her body unconsciously shivers, and suddenly her palms are sweating again.
"D- Dr. Montgomery-" Meredith barely manages.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Addison offers soothingly, reaching out to tuck Meredith's shirt collar which had come unrumpled again.
Meredith reacts to the contact without being able to stop herself as she leans forward into Addison, her body melding into the taller woman's gentle touches.
"Y-yes?" Meredith internally kicks herself for stuttering so much, but she's all flustered now, and Addison isn't going away.
And more importantly, Meredith doesn't want her to.
"Do you still have that Fever?" Addison asks her, slightly amused in her tone, but still graciously so.
"Umm-" Meredith reddens further.
"I'll take that as a 'yes,' then?" Addison offers.
"Mm-" Meredith mumbles, mesmerized by Addison's striking green eyes boring into her skull.
"You know…" Addison purrs as she leans down to say this next part right into Meredith's ear, causing goosebumps to raise all over Meredith's pale neck.
Addison gazes at Meredith intently before she takes a deep breath and continues just what she was about to say:
"You know I sang that last song because I remembered it from you," she delivers seamlessly, and Meredith's eyes widen in utter surprise.
"You- you remembered it… from me?" Meredith says quietly.
"Yes," confirms Addison, knowing that she's lowering her voice down an octave.
Meredith watches Addison's hair frame her gentle face as her piercing green eyes shine for her, and it makes Meredith feel as though she's on top of the world.
For her, Addison seems like a shining star, and she's just a moon basking in the reflection.
As Addison continues to meet her gaze, Meredith starts to fidget nervously, and wondering what Addison could possibly be thinking about her.
Was she thinking about all of Meredith's shortcomings? Meredith sighs.
"Are you alright?" Addison asks her, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," says Meredith shyly.
"Do you still have a fever?" asks Addison, and Meredith's heart nearly explodes from Addison taking the time to have remembered and stayed to check in on her.
"Mm-" Meredith mumbles because she's not sure how she's going to handle this one.
"You know… I get it..: sometimes you just find someone who gives you that feeling like fever," Addison husks lowly, while licking her lips suggestively at the blonde.
"Right, well, Ah- I gotta go now…" Meredith moves to brush past Addison because she doesn't wanna hear about all of the boys that make Addison feel like that.
She can't handle it right now, not while she's barely keeping it together at all.
And she's cursing that Addison would even bring up such a subject alongside her.
"So you don't want to hear about my own fever, Grey? I'm hurt," says Addison teasingly.
"Oh, if you're not feeling well, I suppose I would want to return the favor," Meredith pivots.
"Mm, I think I'm doing okay. It's just that this feeling is really driving me crazy. This fever you speak of, it's quite contagious…" Addison smirks at Meredith now, and Meredith's eyes fly wide open.
"You- you have a-" Meredith leans in to whisper this part. "You have a fever, Addison?" she says right into the taller woman's ear.
"Yes," Addison confirms, and Meredith's heart starts racing faster and faster.
"And it's making me hotter and hotter," Addison says dangerously, licking her lips with desire.
"Oh-" Meredith's pupils dilate as she sees Addison lean a little closer, and suddenly she feels like she's suffocating.
How could Addison do this to her!? Know she had a crush on her and then start using a flirtatious tone!? In a bathroom at Joe's of all places!?
It's just too much!
Meredith reddens further as she tries desperately to extricate herself from this situation-
She can't stay here with Addison simply talking with her like this or she's sure to spill her secret that her fever is all about her.
And so, Meredith does the one thing she's 100% sure that she's good at.
Meredith flees.