"Shepherd. Wow, I haven't seen you here in a long time." Burke said, patting the neurosurgeon's back and grinning at him.

He nodded, "Yeah, I needed a drink."

Preston Burke raised an eyebrow and sat down next to Derek, "Problems with Addison?"

"I still don't get why you can't call me Derek." Derek said, noticing Preston still calling him by his last name.

"So you fought, I assume." Preston said, not responding to his question at all.

Derek sighed, "Yeah we fought." He took a sip of his malt scotch.

"About the Mark thing?"

He frowned but then nodded, "For a second I forgot you're dating a surgical intern."

"What happened?" Burke asked, not responding to that comment either.

Derek ran a hand through his hair, "We discussed and then she slammed the door of our apartment in my face."

Earlier that evening…

"Let's get this over with." Addison sighed, closing the door to their apartment. Derek walked to the kitchen and got himself a beer, while Addison sat down on their living room and rubbed her temples, feeling defeated by the matter.

Derek went to the living room after getting his beer and sat on the sofa near the couch where Addison was sitting, they looked at each other's eyes and they both sighed at the same time. It had been a long day and talking about Mark wasn't a fun plan to none of them.

"I'll start." Derek said, suddenly, interrupting the silence that had grown for the last couple of minutes. "I don't get why you listened to him and I clearly do not understand why what he said made you feel upset when we have talked about New York multiple times."

The urge of slapping his face was killing her, but she controlled herself and spoke, "What makes me upset is that he is right, Derek. He is so right that it hurts. You weren't there and he was, and now we ignore him, we push him away. All he has done is care for us, and we made a mistake, but he's a good guy, he took care of me, he would check on you after surgeries. After all we are paying him like this, acting like he's a stranger." Addison exclaimed.

"What do you want me to do, Addison?!" Derek said, shrugging.

"To get off your high horse! To forgive him just like you forgave me." Addison said.

"He was my best friend and he slept with my wife, Addison." Derek said, using that harsh tone that meant he was disagreeing.

"My husband promised me to be there for me, but was he?" She said, raising an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Cheap shot." He rolled his eyes.

Addison had to scoff dramatically, "Oh, really? Cheap shot?! You call truth a cheap shot?" She raised her voice, anger showing on her features. "I was all alone back in New York, Derek. He called, he was there, he would go grocery shopping for me when you were too busy to. He was practically doing your job. Unbelievable." Addison said, standing up from the couch and walking to their room.

He stood up and followed her, "You can't be seriously mad at me."

She raised her eyebrows at him, "I am. He's been your best friend since you were kids! He carried Nancy after passing out drunk, he has been there for you always. Actually I'm surprised you forgave me instead of him." Addison said, angrily. "Why can't you realize?!"

"Addie", he said, calming down, his face showing that typical puppy face that screamed 'please don't hate me'.

"I love you Derek, but sometimes you're such a black-and-white guy that it makes me sick." She said, her voice calm again, "I just want things to be good. Not the same, but good. That's all I want. I get that you're mad at him, but please give it a thought."

He groaned, annoyed by how right she was and went to get his coat, "I'm going out."

She followed him, "Are you joking? You're going out after what we just talked about."

"I am. I need a drink." He said, his tone expressing his annoyance.

"There's plenty of liquor here." Addison said.

"I don't want to be here." He walked towards the door and she followed him.

She had to fake laugh, "It's impressive how you can be such an imbecile when you want to."

"Go to hell Addison." Derek said, grabbing his keys.

"Oh I'll make sure Satan spares a room for us both." She said.

"Bye." Derek replied dryly, opening the door, determined to get out of there.

Addison grabbed the keys from his hand before he could leave, "You won't be needing these tonight." Addison said, with the driest tone.

And as soon as Derek opened his mouth to speak, she closed the door on his face.

"If I were her I would have done worse." Burke chuckled, sipping his beer.

Derek had to laugh, "Worse than slamming the door on my face?"

"Yeah, throwing a glass of water at you or wine, but since she's pregnant…"

"Anyway she wants me to think about it." Derek said, taking a deep breath, "To think about forgiving… him."

"Well your wife is a smart woman, maybe you should listen to her."

"You really are no help."

"Give it a thought." Preston said.

Derek didn't say a word, just nodded mutely and agreed to stay silent. He wasn't going to bitch about it. He was just going to… give it a thought.

Derek arrived at the trailer later that night. After trying to contact Addison for the eleventh time, there was no answer and she was clearly ignoring his texts and he wasn't in the mood to deal with a pregnant hormone monster. He loved his wife, very much, but he wasn't too thrilled with some of the changes his wife had been going through since they found out their kids weren't hypothetical any more. Some changes were nice, good even, but some weren't too nice… and mood swings? That was evil.

He hadn't been there for a while at least not inside, not sitting on that bed, not smelling the fresh forest and having to listen to the sound of birds singing. That hadn't been his reality for a while now. It was strange to think about it… It didn't feel like home any more.

The issue was that there was not an actual home, and if there was, it was next to Addison.

He tried calling again and nothing. So he gave up, got inside that cold and empty bed and forced himself to sleep. He couldn't. His eyelids would be closed, but his mind was completely open and awake, thinking about what she had said…

I love you Derek, but sometimes you're such a black-and-white guy that it makes me sick.

Was it true? Was he seeing everything black and white?

He hated everything and everyone right now and felt hurt not to have anyone there for him. It was dumb to feel that way, of course, but he couldn't help it. Maybe it was the deep feeling inside him that told him that his wife was completely right.

short chapter, i know. sorry about that…

currently pretty busy with online school…

:)