I don't own anything except the DVDs.

This chapter is Alex-centric, and something that ended up happening because I really wanted to avoid more Chief conversations. And it's what came out when I started writing. This is also my first time writing from his perspective, and I have a harder time thinking in my Alex voice (yes, I can think in an Addison voice), and it's been harder now that he's on my blacklist. But in this fic, he's a good guy and has nothing to do with the current Alex on the show. Anyway, enjoy

Alex may have convinced Addison that he was sure about her return to Seattle Grace, but he was having a hard time convincing himself. He knew the Chief was a man who stuck to his principles.

He didn't know what he would do if Addison didn't stay in Seattle. She could probably find other employment in Seattle. It wasn't as if Seattle Grace was the only hospital in the city, but the blow of not being allowed to come back might be too much for her.

Alex paced back and forth in the abandoned hallway. His charts were on the abandoned gurney, his lab coat spread out over them. He swung his arms in circles, as though he were stretching before a fight. He had always able to think clearest right before his wrestling matches, before instincts took over. He tried to get into this mindset when things got to be a little too much. It helped him sort out whatever it was he was going through.

Like this thing with Addison. It was true that she was expecting a lot out of him. She was already acting as though this was a serious relationship, and to be honest, it scared him a little. The last time he had tried anything like a serious relationship, it had ended with him in an on call room with Olivia and Izzie not speaking to him. He knew it had been a conscious choice. It hadn't been to deliberately hurt Izzie, it had been to reaffirm his manliness.

He felt like this Addison thing was different. She was different. She was more mature than Izzie, she knew what she wanted, and she had chosen Alex. He couldn't help but feel a spurt of pride at that.

When he had chastely kissed Addison good-bye, he hadn't expected her to call him. He thought she was done, that the kiss had been enough for her. In his wildest dreams, he had imagined her grabbing him by his shirt, pulling him into her room, locking the door and having her way with him. He imagined Addison as a sex-crazed woman who just couldn't control herself.

And his imagination hadn't done her justice. It was true she couldn't control herself and that she had had her way with him, but Alex liked to think that was because of his personal charisma and manly physique, not because she was sex-crazed. He wanted to give himself a little credit. And she let him have his way with her, too. He liked her fairness in the sack.

But a night of really good sex did not necessarily mean that they could spend the rest of their lives together. He didn't even know what she was like outside of the hospital. For all he knew, she could be a real bitch. They might not actually be compatible.

Alex had masked his worry while they were eating breakfast together and when he caught up to her before her meeting with the Chief, but now that he was alone and letting himself think about her, it was a consuming concern.

He was Alex Karev. He was good at one-night stands, at meeting girls in bars, getting them a little bit tipsy and bringing them back to his place. He was a flirt, the perfect bachelor. He did not have a good track record with relationships, and avoided getting personal with other people.

He avoided the personal topics not because he was scared to get that close to another person, but because he wasn't sure that everyone deserved to know everything about him. He took pride in the level of mystery that surrounded him. And his cloudy history allowed him to make surprisingly insightful comments to doctors that weren't expecting him to have anything helpful to say.

He always liked surprising Addison with a nice gesture. The look on her face always had a hint of suspicion that he found intriguing. What must her life have been like for her to not trust simple acts of kindness? Or was it that these acts of kindness were coming from him? Every time, though, he could tell that she was surprised by it a little less. He liked that he was able to change her mind.

In some ways, though, that power was a little frightening. It came back to her changing her life to be with him. He had asked her to stay, and she had agreed. Did that mean that he had to be with her forever? Was that how it worked? Her credibility as a loyal employee would be shot if she left almost as soon as she was rehired. That was a lot of pressure on him to make this relationship work. And he was quite certain that it would take some work.

It wasn't that he thought Addison was high maintenance or anything like that. It's just that he'd heard rumors that committed relationships took a lot of work. Although he did think Addison might be a little high maintenance. What woman dressed in Gucci wasn't? But he figured that the sex might make dealing with all that high maintenance worth it.

His thoughts paused as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his secluded spot. And it sounded like high heels, a sure sign that it was Addison. What other doctor in the hospital wore such ridiculous footwear?

And sure enough, Addison careened into sight, looking for all the world like she could barely contain her happiness. Alex took that as a good sign, but wanted to check just to make sure.

"What happened?" he asked casually as Addison neared him. She reached out and hit him on the head.

"I'm smiling, what do you think? I thought I taught you to diagnose better than that. I hope you haven't been asking our patients ridiculous questions."

"Our patients?"

"Yes, our patients. Unless you've decided that you want to go back to Sloan and plastics."

"That's not what I meant. You aren't going to give me a straight answer, are you?"

"About what, Karev?"

"You know about what. I can't believe you still get a kick out of torturing me."

"I don't think I'll ever stop getting a kick out of torturing you." Addison let the words dangle a little tantalizingly, letting Alex figure out the double entendre for himself.

Alex might have his doubts, but there was something to be said for giving serious relationships a chance.

Let me know what you thought. At the very least, I hope it offered some good distraction/procrastination time, because that's what it did for me.