A/N: Apologies to those of you left bereft after the last chapter. I hope this one more than makes up for it.

Preston Burke almost thought that he had had his fill of relationships where he had to be the one to take steps forward. Addison had seemed content when she left the house but when he had called her, it seemed like she had taken two steps back. But then he thought of how Addison had taken his hand in hers two nights ago and led him into her house.

He would get frustrated when he thought of the way she had been brusque on the phone with him when he was offering to make her a home-cooked diner. And he had made dinner for two anyway, on the hope that she might have changed her mind. And then he would remember the way her skin felt against his and how peaceful she had looked when she was sleeping.

He felt some remorse about abruptly moving his things from her room back to the guest bedroom, but he thought that she wanted to draw the line and he was going to do it for her. He felt guilty for avoiding her the way she had avoided him. It had been hard for him, last night, seeing her discover the leftover chicken, seeing the flash of…he thought it might have been regret. Then she had pushed it aside. For an apple. And Preston saw a glimpse of what her life was like. He had almost stood right then to gather her into his arms and give her the kind of care she deserved. Instead he had stayed on the couch, writing in clues to a crossword puzzle.

He had gone running around the time he knew she had to leave, partly to give her space and partly to give himself space. When he returned, he half-hoped for some kind gesture to show him that she had been wrong. There hadn't been.

He stood in the kitchen for several minutes, trying to come up with some answer to the problem. He found none, other than that he would have to take a step forward. It was that, or go back to Seattle, and he didn't really want to do that at all.

So he put together a lunch basket. It was cliché and sappy but it was the best he could do in a new city and someone else's home. He drove to the practice and felt the eyes of Naomi and Violet following him as he walked to Addison's office.

He didn't even knock; he saw she was alone and let himself in. She looked up in confusion, then a broad smile spread across her face. She stood and made an attempt to walk towards him but seemed to have momentarily forgotten that there was a desk between them. After biting back the tears that had jumped into her eyes from the pain, she found the correct route around the desk and towards him.

"I missed you this morning," she said and Preston almost lost it. How could she pretend that she hadn't ignored him for a day was beyond him. He set the basket on a chair and lightly gripped her arms.

"What is this?" he asked softly, but she detected more than a little annoyance in his voice. "What was yesterday?"

"Yesterday…yesterday was me being stupid. Your bag was in my room. I made a big deal out of it because when I'm alone, I tend to over think things and overanalyze them and reach a conclusion that no sane person would come to. And my conclusion was that I needed space and that the only way to get space was to avoid. And after a day of avoiding, I realized that…space was the…last thing…I…wanted," she ended a little breathily as Preston moved closer with every pause until there was no space between them at all. He leaned down and Addison was sure that she had never been kissed so thoroughly in her life. Her arms found their way around his neck and his hands had settled on her hips. She wasn't sure how long it went on for, but she thought that she could learn not to breathe in order to keep doing this forever.

When the wave of pleasure subsided, Addison was hit with a jolt of reality and she pulled away. Preston looked confused and she gestured at the glass walls of her office. He turned to see Violet and Naomi thoroughly engrossed in something on the couch that face Addison's office. Dell was at his desk, looking slightly slack-jawed.

Addison had detached herself from Preston and was nosing at the basket. "What's this?"

"Lunch. I guessed you only had yogurt and I wanted to see you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to get plates and glasses from the break room."

"Watch out for the vultures," she hissed as he opened the door. He turned and flashed a smile at her as Violet and Naomi hurried over, presumably to find out all the details. Preston squeezed past them and walked towards the kitchen.

"Well, Addison, I guess you did do something right," Naomi said with a smirk and Addison punched her lightly in the arm.

"Are there more of him in Seattle? Maybe I need to transfer." Violet was craning her neck, trying to watch Preston's every move. Addison shooed them out when he returned and they stared at him admiringly as he walked past.

"They really like you. Violet will probably ask for a hair sample later so that she can clone you," Addison grinned.

"Well, we'll see. But I think even my clone would know that you were the one for him," Preston said, setting out chicken salad sandwiches, wine and a few apples.

Addison blushed as she reached for her wine glass. "Well, don't tell Violet that. You could probably sell it to her," she replied, recovering her composure.

"Now there's an idea. And tell me, what does Naomi have to say?"

"Well, don't be insulted, but she already has her mancandy in the form of a twenty-something receptionist, so she probably won't be asking for DNA anytime soon. But she said I must've done something right."

"Done something right?" he repeated as he took a bite of an apple. "Addison, you barely did anything right."

"Excuse me!" she said indignantly. "Who brought who up to her bedroom? I would think that you would think that was a good thing. Something right. And who –" she stopped as she saw Preston biting back a smile and she half-heartedly swatted at him. This only furthered his amusement and he let out a laugh which also let out a spray of fruit. "Now that's just disgusting. You're lucky I'm here to do something right and clean it up like it was normal for my boyfriend to spit on me." She froze, realizing that she had just called Preston Burke her boyfriend.

He sensed her insecurity and grasped her hand. "I do not make a habit of spitting on my girlfriends."

Her face warmed into a smile and she dabbed away fruit spit, the grin seemingly plastered on her face.

---

Once they had finished lunch, Addison cleaned up the garbage and gave her desk one final wipe, to "get rid of Preston-germs," she said. He had laughing kissed her and when he stepped back, said, "Well, now your mouth is covered in 'Preston-germs.' What ever will you do?"

"I think I'm just going to have to take a good…long bath when I get home," she said invitingly.

"That seems like contributing to the problem, not the solution," he mocked gently, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, I guess that's my lot, then. Nothing can be done," she shrugged with a smile and Preston just chuckled.

"I'm leaving now, because you probably need to get some work done and you need to have time to give Naomi and Violet the scoop. And tell Violet we can keep in contact about purchasing my cells." He left her with one last heart-pounding kiss and she resigned herself to five hours until she would get to do that again.

---

True to Preston's prediction, Naomi and Violet appeared in Addison's office as if they had been shot from a sling.

"That…that looked quite wonderful," Naomi said, sitting in one of the chairs. Violet sat on the edge of Addison's desk, nodding emphatically in agreement.

"Well…it was." Addison let out a small sigh of pleasure just thinking about it.

"So, really, are there any more of him? I kind of think I would want a Preston-clone." Addison let out a snicker and Violet twisted so she was facing Addison. "What?"

"Hmm? Nothing. And there aren't any more of him. And if there were, I'm not sure I'd share," Addison answered.

"You'd do the whole polygamy thing?" Naomi cocked her eyebrow.

"For Preston Burke, I don't know who wouldn't do polygamy," Violet said. "I'd do it."

"Is it polygamy if it's the same person, just a lot of them?" Addison asked, tapping a finger against her chin.

"What if it was twins?" Naomi looked to Violet.

"Maybe…it might be incest, though too. And I don't think there's anyone I'd do incest for." Violet bit her lip thoughtfully.

"You aren't sure on that one? I'm one hundred percent sure that there's no one I'd do incest for. Especially polygamic incest," Addison said laughingly.

"Is polygamic even a word?" Naomi asked, chuckling as Addison waved away the question and stood.

"It is because I just used it. Now you two have to go do work because I have to do work."

"And daydream about Preston Burke," Violet teased as she slid off the desk.

"Well, probably. But you're going to be too, so there's no need to tease," Addison replied, holding the door open for the two women.

"Yeah, that's true. Hope you don't mind." Violet gave a little wave and walked back to her office.

"Good job, Addison. I mean it. You didn't screw it up. Congratulations," Naomi whispered as she walked by and Addison took a swipe at Naomi's retreating back.

Addison closed her door after Naomi left and sat at her desk grinning for a good fifteen minutes before she was able to do any kind of work.

---

When she got home, there was indeed a nice…long bath. Addison reveled in the warm water, leaning against Preston's warm body. They followed their bath with something that really just negated the hour they had spent soaking.

"You should move your bag back in here," Addison whispered, staring at the ceiling. She pulled the sheet up to cover herself as she turned on her side to face Preston, who turned his face towards her.

"Why are you whispering?" he asked, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

She shrugged one shoulder slightly. "I don't want to jinx this or let anything get in the way. I already almost did once," she said, running her fingers lightly up and down his arm.

"Addison, I hate to break it to you, but there's not going to be anything that gets in the way of this." Preston took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb along her palm, mirroring her gesture from their date. "Nothing is going to get in the way of this."

Addison knew that it probably wasn't true, she didn't want to get her hopes up. Whole states could get in the way of this, but when she looked into his eyes, those eleven hundred miles disappeared and all she saw was him.

A/N Again: So, there you have it. Maybe a little (maybe more than a little) sappy, but I embrace the sappy. I'm grateful to all of you who are still reading at this point. Thank you so much!

On an unrelated note, for any people who care (aka probably just me because I have become more than a little obsessed with Burke/Addison), I have (with help) been chronicling the moments in Baddison history and there's a link in my profile.