A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And to bright n shiny93, you said you were confused. Like I said in the author's note last chapter, don't hesitate to ask what you're confused with. You're my readers. Your opinions matter… Wow, I sound wise don't I? Now… Onto the chapter! Please R & R..

Summary: Completely AU. One lawyer, one baker, one science professor, one real estate agent, one architect, and now one upcoming fashion designer. Drama is bound to catch up to them. (not all of the characters will be in it) McStizzie, Mer/Der, future Addex

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Later that night, Mark was sitting on one end of Izzie's couch, Izzie was laying down on it, her head on Mark's lap, looking up at him.

"I bought a dress." Izzie told him.

"When did you do that?" He asked while brushing some strands of hair off her cheek with his fingertips.

Izzie couldn't help but smile. "On my lunch break today at work."

"Why do you need a new dress?" Mark asked curiously.

"For your job's Christmas party." Izzie said bringing one of her hands to his hand that was on her cheek and intertwining their fingers.

"You didn't need to get a new dress for it." Mark told her as he brought her hand that was connected with his to his lips.

Izzie shrugged lightly. "I know, but I wanted to."

"Well, I can't wait to see it." Mark said leaning down and kissing her on her lips.

Izzie smiled as their lips parted. "As much as I would like to finish this." She said sitting up. "I need to go over and have a talk with Derek. Hear his side of things." She turned to him, putting her arms around his neck.

"I'll be here." Mark kissed her. "I love you."

Izzie nuzzled her nose against his. "I love you too." She kissed him. "I'll tell you what crap he said when I get back." She said jokingly.

Mark chuckled. "I can just imagine now…"

Izzie playfully slapped his arm before starting to stand up.

XXXXXXX

Addison walked into Alex and Mark's place without knocking, closing the door behind her.

Alex was heading towards the front door when Addison walked in. "Come in." He said sarcastically.

Addison ignored him and headed towards the kitchen.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows and followed her.

Addison walked to the refrigerator and took out a beer. Closing the fridge, she took a large gulp.

Alex watched her, not sure what was wrong.

"My mom's in the hospital too now. Something with her heart, like my dad." Addison said, a large lump forming in her throat.

Alex looked at her sympathetically. "Is she okay?"

"Don't know yet." Addison said taking another large gulp, trying to stop her tears that were forming.

Sighing, Alex walked over to her and took the beer bottle out of her hands and put it on the counter. He gently tugged her arm. "Come on." He ordered, gently.

Addison glanced at him, and walked to the living room with him.

"Sit down." Alex said softly, as he sat down on the couch with her.

Addison bit her bottom lip, looking at the ground.

Alex knew there wasn't much he could do, so he put a hand on her back and gently started to rub it in a comforting manner.

XXXXXXX

Derek was grading a student's paper at his kitchen table when he heard a knock at his door. He stood up and headed towards his door, silently praying it wasn't Meredith. He opened the door, relieved. "Hey Iz. What's up?" He asked opening the door more and stepping to the side.

Izzie smiled at him. "Hey." She walked inside. "Meredith told me you're not going to wait for her, and I wanted to hear your side of it."

Derek closed the door behind her. He rubbed a hand over his face and walked to stand in front of her. "Yeah… Okay." He gestured towards the living room.

Izzie took off her jacket and put it on the coat wrack before going into the living room and witting next to him. "I don't really know what happened. Meredith didn't give details." She told him.

Derek sighed and explained to her what happened between him and Meredith. He sighed after he was done. "I might have had a moment where I thought I couldn't wait, but I still was going to."

Izzie nodded. This wasn't his fault. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Want my opinion."

"Depends." Derek said. "Are you going to call me an ass?"

Izzie cracked a smile. "No. I'm not Addison, and besides… It's not your fault." She assured him.

"Meredith seems to think so." Derek told her as he put his elbows on his knees and ran a hand through his hair.

Izzie rubbed his shoulder with the hand that was on it. "Meredith's going through some stuff, but it's not your fault." She reassured him. "I'm going to have to talk to her, but I don't think you should stop waiting."

Derek smiled a little. "I wasn't going to stop."

Izzie pulled him in for a hug with a smile. "Just be patient."

Derek hugged her back. "I will."

When they pulled away, Izzie thought about telling him about his ex-girlfriend, Laura, the one that her and Mark saw at the bar not to long ago. "Derek."

"Yeah?" Derek said in the form of a question.

Izzie bit her bottom lip. After a moment of thinking about telling him in her head, she starting shaking her head. "Never mind."

Derek furrowed his eyebrows. "You sure?"

Izzie looked at him and nodded her head, giving him a small smile. "Yeah. I'm sure."

There was a moment of silence before Izzie broke it.

"I'm going to head out." Izzie said standing up. She waited for him to do the same before pulling him into another hug. "Everything will be okay in the end."

Derek once again, hugged her back. "I hope so."

They pulled apart, and Izzie looked at him. "It will." She told him confidently.

XXXXXXX

"I called my mom." Alex said to her after a long moment of silence. He thought that maybe his news could brighter her up, even just a bit.

Addison looked up at him gently. "What did she say?" She asked softly.

"She said she wasn't sure herself if he was out or not." Alex told her. "But then she said she called up and asked, and he's not out. No probation, nothing, he's still in jail."

The corner of Addison's lips curled up slightly. "That's good."

Alex nodded. "It is." He looked at her. "You think you're going to be okay?" He asked, already knowing to answer.

Addison looked down at the ground. "Only when I know they are." She said softly, tears springing to her eyes.

Alex put a hand on her back again. "Just have faith. Be optimistic."

"It's hard." She whispered, hating the fact that he's seeing her like this.

"No one said it was going to be easy." He reminded her. "But it doesn't mean good things aren't possible and that we shouldn't be optimistic for what's to come."

Addison let out a small laugh through her tears. "You really have become bright and shiny." She told him as she turned to look at him, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

Alex chuckled, glad to see her feeling a little better. "What can I say? I'm full of surprises."

Addison nodded, looking back down at the ground. "I know."

A small smile appeared on his face.

XXXXXXX

Izzie walked into her and Meredith's towns home. She smiled when Mark came out of the kitchen and walked towards her. "Hey."

"Hey." Mark said putting his hands on her waist and kissing her. "How did it go? How crappy were the things he said?" He asked, jokingly, referring to what she said earlier that night.

Izzie laughed softly. "They weren't crappy. He told me what happened, and none of it was his fault."

Mark furrowed his eyebrows. "It wasn't? How about waiting for her?"

"He's going to keep doing that. I just need to talk to Meredith. Get her to see that he's not going to stop." Izzie told him.

Mark brushed some strands of her hair behind her ear. "I figured. You're job is never done." He teased, as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be here if you need me."

Izzie smiled. "I know." She leaned up and kissed him. "I'll be back." She said taking off her jacket and putting it in the small coat closet there was, then she made her way to the stairs.

Mark watched her, a small, soft smile on his face.

Izzie walked to where Meredith's room was. She knocked on the door. When she heard her tell her to come in, she opened the door. "Hey Mer."

Meredith looked up from where she was reading a magazine on her bed. "Hey Iz."

Izzie closed the door behind her before walking over to the bed. "I talked to Derek."

Meredith's face fell. "Oh… Why?"

"I wanted to hear his side of things." Izzie said. "He also told me what happened." She sat on the side of the bed, looking at her roommate. "Meredith, I think you blew it out of proportion." She told her honestly.

Meredith looked at her incredulously. "You think I blew it out of proportion? How the hell did I do that?"

"Meredith… He never said he would stop waiting for you. Sure, there was a moment of doubt, but that was obvious to come. Derek's not perfect, nobody is. He's not going to stop waiting Meredith, even after you told him to stop, he's not going to." Izzie said trying to get through to her.

Meredith looked at her for a moment before speaking. "How can you be so sure?"

"Mer, Derek's like my brother, I know him more than most. He's going to wait." Izzie told her. "He's smart, clueless sometimes when it comes to reality, but he knows what's at stake…" She saw the confused look Meredith was giving her. "You!" She took a deep breath. "He's going to wait Mer, and until you realize that, both him and you aren't going to be completely happy."

Meredith wasn't sure what to say, or what to think.

Izzie sighed. "Just think about what I said." She stood up and walked out of Meredith's bedroom.

Meredith gently laid the back of her head on the headboard in back of her. She needed to think about what Izzie said, and about her and Derek.

XXXXXX

Addison sniffled and looked at Alex. She had just wiped away a few tears that dripped down on her cheeks.

Alex looked at her. He wasn't sure what to say. He knew if she wanted to talk, she would.

Addison didn't really want to feel anything. She just wanted the pain of knowing about her mother and her father to go away, even just for a little while. She leaned forward. Alex has hit on her so many times, so she thought that there was no way he'd pull away from this pain reliever she thought she needed.

Alex was confused when he saw Addison leaning her head toward him.

It wasn't long before Addison pressed her lips to Alex's.

Alex didn't respond at first, because he was registering what was happening. Feeling her lips on his, it made him want to kiss back, but he didn't want them to kiss this way, no matter how much he wanted to. She was in pain, emotional pain… He knew this wasn't what she needed. He reluctantly pulled away. "Addison… You're hurt, you're not thinking straight."

"How do you know if I'm thinking straight or not?" Addison snapped.

Alex didn't take offense to that, because he knew the anger was from everything she's been dealing with, especially now with both her mom and her dad in the hospital with heart problems. "Stay here tonight. The couch pulls out and is actually kind of comfy."

Addison glanced at him.

Alex knew how 'Mark and Izzie' this was going to be, but he thought it was a comfort gesture for her. As he started to stand up, he gave her a kiss on the side of her head. He walked towards the stairs.

Addison watched him started to walk. "Alex." She softly called to him.

Alex turned around to her before walking up the stairs.

"Thanks." Addison said with a small, weak smile.

"No problem." Alex told her. He turned back to the stairs and started to walk up them.

Addison watched him walk up the stairs. She sighed as she turned to look down at the ground. Alex was definitely full of surprises. That wasn't a bad thing though, and she started to realize that.

XXXXXX

Mark and Izzie walked into Izzie's room, closing the door behind them.

"I almost told Derek about seeing Laura at the bar." Izzie admitted to him.

Mark looked at her. "But did you?"

"No. What if she comes into our lives again?" Izzie asked, again that day.

"She not." Mark told her.

"How do you know she's not?" Izzie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How do you now she is?" Mark asked back at her.

Izzie sighed. "I know. You're right. I'm just worried she is."

Mark smiled at her. "Well, stop worrying. You already do enough of that when it comes to everyone else here, even when you don't need to."

Izzie started to smirk. "I know a sure fire way of how I can stop worrying."

Mark stepped closer to her. "Really?" He asked huskily.

Izzie nodded, putting her hands on his shoulders.

Mark brought up on of his hands and put on the back of her head, gently pulling her head to his. She quickly slipped her tongue into her mouth, and in return, he brought her mouth closer to his with the hand on the back of her head. After a moment of their mouths on each others, Mark moved his down her chin, trailing down to her neck.

Izzie gasped as he felt him lightly nip at the skin on the side of her neck. She tilted her head to the side, giving him better access.

This was no doubt going to be a worry free night.