Author's note:
Canon-divergent AU through GA-S2-E22 & GA-S2-E23.
bobbiejelly
Pieces Of The Night 2
Addison Montgomery picks Meredith Grey up at 9 am sharp.
They load her suitcase into the trunk to save the room up front for the two of them.
"So I guess you're my navigator, huh," Addison smiles, and Meredith smiles back at her.
"That, or… unless you're going to let me drive this thing, huh?" Meredith asks semi-hopefully because hey, it's a really nice car!
"Not a chance, Grey," Addison shakes her head just a little.
"Ah, well, it was worth a shot, hey," Meredith smiles back as she climbs into the passenger's seat, and pulls out the map tht Addison has already in the front seat pocket.
For the first while, Addison picks out the music, playing it from her old iPod shuffle, and letting it go at random without any sort of playlist.
Meredith recognizes a surprisingly little amount of it, given that she likes music, and she thought she'd know more of it from having driven with Derek.
"We didn't have the same taste in music," Addison answers Meredith's implicit question without her ever having asked it in the first place.
"Aha-" says Meredith, nodding neutrally at the thought.
Both women seem to have this unspoken truce about this little road trip, deciding not to dwell on the past, or the divorce, or especially Derek.
Instead, Addison simply hands Meredith the aux cord, and allows her to play her own music for the next part of the drive, complimenting her when she finds a selection that she hasn't heard before, but that she likes.
Soon, they reach mid-day and decide to break for lunch somewhere. There's a cafe not too far from the highway that Addison's been to before, and as they are seated in a booth by the window, Meredith wonders to herself how often Addison's done this drive already.
She doesn't ask though, and she and Addison instead keep talking idly about all of their favorite cases so far at Seattle Grace, and Meredith is grateful that Addison's talking with her, to the extent that she can, as an equal.
"The quints were sort of the coolest," Meredith fidgets with the straw as they wait for their appetizers.
"Yeah, they were," says Addison back as she sips her ice water.
Their meals come quickly, Addison having a chicken salad, and Meredith a pasta dish. They chat comfortably for the duration of lunchtime before heading back into the car.
"So where exactly are we visiting?" Meredith finally asks Addison, because, at this point, she's only sure that they're going to Los Angeles.
"Oceanside Wellness," Addison confirms. "It's a collaborative medicine practice that some friends of mine put together, and Naomi Bennett is the fertility doctor that I'm going to speak with," Addison explains.
"Cool," says Meredith. "And Naomi is…" Meredith asks ambiguously. What she's really trying to ask here is if Naomi is and/or was Addison's girlfriend.
Meredith isn't sure why she absolutely has to know this, but she does, but she has to find out without asking it.
"She's my best friend, we met in Medical school, we were roommates for a while," Addison offers, and it doesn't quite answer Meredith's question, but it at least gives her more to go on than before.
"So who else are we meeting?" Meredith asks her.
"I have no idea… To be honest, as close as Nai and I once were, and now I'm a bit nervous because I haven't called her back since Seattle, and I can't remember if I even sent her a Christmas card," Addison says guiltily.
"If you were great friends, I'm sure you'll pick up exactly where you left off," Meredith offers hopefully.
"Yeah," Addison nods at her.
"Of course," Meredith agrees with her back.
It's easy at this point, their conversations are light and carefree as the sun above their heads.
The ocean comes into view with the beach directly next to the highway.
The salt spray calms them from Addison's convertible, and Meredith giggles that it's like a big window for rich people.
"You've never driven in a car with the roof down?" Addison asks her. "Even a rent-a-car?" she adds for good measure.
"No, actually. My mother had a car, and I suppose my father had a car, and Richard had a car, and we never really rented cars anyway," Meredith says.
"First time for everything, Grey," Addison offers.
"Absolutely," Meredith says enthusiastically.
Indeed.
***** END OF CHAPTER 2
Author's Note:
Thanks for all the wonderful support on the start of this fluffy piece :).
bobbiejelly