Oh. My. God. I cannot believe I haven't noticed this before, but this guy I work with ACTUALLY. IS. MARK. I'm talking about T.V. Mark here. They are exactly the same. Check out this conversation I had with him yesterday...

Me: So, what are your exicting plans for the weekend?

Jason: Oh, nothing much. I've got a hot date tonight.

Me: Oooh.

Jason: Yeah, you know that good looking girl I was talking to earlier? I'm supposed to meet her later tonight.

Me: Wow. Good for you.

Jason: Yeah. I mean it's not exactly a "hot date" because she's engaged...

Me: Oh. I hope you're not going to try anything with her.

Jason: Well...

Me: Jay...

Jason: I mean, no, of course not. It hadn't even crossed my mind.

Me: That's what I thought. To bad you wont be getting any action, but that's what you get for dating girls who are engaged.

Jason: Are you kidding? Those are the best girls to date. You can fool around with them and then not have to worry that they'll want a commitment.

Me: Have you ever been in a serious relationship?

Jason: Are you kidding? No way.

Me: And you are how old?

Jason: Thirty-six.

Me: Well, you are lucky you look exactly like McSteamy (same forehead, same perfectly groomed beard, same godly physique) except with red hair and dreadlocks, because otherwise no woman would go near you.

Jason: Hey. I'm also very charming and I have a fantastic sense of humor.

Me: This is true.

And this is why he is Mark. He looks like him. He talks like him. You know those people who can come up with witty one liners like "want my pickle" in real life conversation. Well that is Jay. And he lives like him. I always tease him that he should write a self-help book on his philosophy of women. I could basically be condensed into one line: Love em and leave em. Need I say more? Anyway, Mark in my fic is a little nicer…

Chapter Fourteen: A Parade of Questions

"How do I look?" Addison asked absentmindedly, her attention focused on the full-length mirror in front of her as she tried to choose between three pairs of earrings.

Mark chuckled behind her.

"What? What's so funny?" She spun around and pretended to glare at him, smoothing the wrinkles out of her cocktail dress as she did so.

He leaned his head against the door-frame and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't give me that look, Mark. Why are you laughing at me?"

"I'm not laughing."

"You're laughing."

"You're wearing black."

"It's not black. It's burnt ochre," she informed him. "There's a difference."

Mark burst out laughing.

"It's black, Addison. You can't wear black to a wedding. It's bad juju."

"It's not black. It's..."

"You should wear that dress you bought last week," he interrupted. "Remember? When you made me go shopping with you."

"I did not make you do anything. You wanted to go shopping with me. You loved it." She grinned.

"Right. Just like you loved watching Caballero trounce De Leon with me on Wednesday."

"That was disgusting." She wrinkled her nose.

"That was a great fight." He grinned.

"I can't believe you..."

"I actually subscribe to that channel," Mark laughed.

Addison flinched.

"Did you just finish my sentence for me?"

"I don't know. Did I?"

"You definitely did." She decided to turn it into a joke. "We are spending way too much time together."

At the back of her mind almost wondered if it were true. She and Mark weren't in a relationship but they shared lunch almost everyday and went to Joe's together and cooked for each other. Well, he cooked for her.

And brought her coffee every day.

And the way he put his arm around her shoulders in crowded elevators, sometimes made her question where the line between protective and possessive fell.

He was finshing her sentences.

And once they had fallen asleep on her couch together, after a late night movie, and when she woke in the morning she was surprised at how safe she felt with his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't figure out why she felt so good until she realized that for the first time in ages, she'd actually slept through the night. Maybe she just didn't like sleeping alone. Or maybe...

Maybe they were acting more like a couple than like friends. Alex had certainly gotten that impression, maybe other people had too.

But why should she care what impression other people got? As long as she and Mark were on the same page, it didn't matter what other people thought. You're over-analyzing things. You and Mark are just friends. You know it and he knows it. That's all that matters.

"I got you a corsage by the way." Mark interrupted her train of thought.

There is nothing wrong with a corsage between friends. Relax.

"It matches much better with the dress you bought last week," Mark continued.

"Which dress?"

"The one that's sort of a fancy halter-top."

"The white one? Mark, the bride wears white. I can't wear white to a wedding."

"It's not white. It's... crème anglaise."

The argument over what dress she should wear was finally resolved when Mark showed her the corsage and she was forced to admit that it really would look better with the white dress. Of course by that time they were already running late.

She stripped off the first dress in front of him, partly because she was in a hurry and partly to convince herself that she didn't find it that big of a deal for him to see her half naked. She also needed his help tying up the back of the second dress.

His fingers grazed her skin and lingered a little longer than was probably necessary but she chose to ignore it. Obviously she and Mark were pretty familiar with each other's bodies. It was only natural for them to touch a little more than other friends might. She wasn't going to start stressing out about her relationship with her best friend over a little physical contact. She was going to focus on shoes and earrings and getting out the door on time.

"Do I look o.k? Oh god, this dress isn't too sheer, is it?"

"Well, I'm sure the world doesn't mind the view of your panties," Mark grinned.

"What!"

Mark laughed.

"Relax, Addison. It was a joke. Now hold still and let me get this thing tied on."

He gently finished tying the corsage to her wrist. Satisfied that it was securely fastened he stepped back and said,

"You look beautiful."

There was a certain tenderness in his voice that normally would have started a parade of questions in her head, but his smile put her at ease and he offered her his arm and it felt perfectly comfortable and familiar so she decided she was being ridiculous and she shouldn't worry about it. In fact, it would be better if she didn't think about it at all.

Next time: At the wedding. Alex/Izzie friendship. Will Izzie have a good time or will she be sad parce que missing Denny. Addison gets some compliments on her appearance. Alex/Addison interaction. Addison/Derek interaction next chapter or the one after that.

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