It's a Wonderful Life I

Rating: PG-13 (innuendo, mild language)
Pairing: Alex/Addison
Prompt: Alex/Addison – decorating
A/N: Thanks for all of the positive review about the first ficlet! I think I will do a prequel for it, but I want to write a few other things first. This ficlet is titled It's a Wonderful Life in a slightly obvious nod to the movie. Although the short, two-part ficlet has nothing to do specifically about the movie, you'll see it come into play in Part II.

Alex stares at the drink in front of him and traces the edge of the glass with his fingertip. Every few minutes, he glances at his front door, waiting for the doorbell to ring. He tells himself that he won't care if she doesn't show, that she invited herself over anyway, but when the clock nears 7, he begins to worry. The cold Seattle winter doesn't compare to his Iowa upbringing, but for Addison, it could be more than she's used to. A chiding voice in his head reminds him that she is from New York.

He leans back and closes his eyes for a minute, but when he hears the unmistakable shout of Addison Montgomery, he gets up and goes to his front door. The glass has become almost frosty – he makes a mental note to kick up the thermostat – but all thoughts of furnaces are forgotten when he sees Addison.

Addison wraps her scarf around once more and rubs her mitten-clad hands together. She laughs as she wiggles her fingers inside the old mittens. The mittens make her feel like a little kid who can't wait for the first snowfall. Then her eyes travel up to the porch, and she smiles when she sees Alex staring out. Brushing a few pine needles off her sweatpants, Addison runs up and flings open the door. As an afterthought, she blushes, realizing that she didn't even knock, but then she looks back out at the tree that's being unloaded and feels giddy again.

"What the heck is that? Did you get here okay?" Alex tries to hide the note of concern in his voice, but Addison smirks just enough to let him know that his anxiety is showing.

"That…" Addison says, "is a Christmas tree."

"No shit, Sherlock." Alex frowns and rubs the back of his neck in discomfort. "Sorry… I just.. you got a tree. How is that thing going to fit in my house? And what are we doing with it?" He looks from Addison to the tree and back to Addison, trying to take it all in. He doesn't remember the last time he celebrated Christmas or decorated anything. He doesn't remember the last time he cared about how his house looked. He doesn't remember the last time he was this nervous about a girl coming over.

But somehow, everything is different now. Beyond the classifications of attending and intern, friend and foe, and teacher and student, things are different. Sure, he's still a ass at times, but Addison gets the feeling that he just wants to keep things lively, and she's come to appreciate it. Alex still feels a twinge of a desire for control when she orders him around, but he realized in their "time apart" that he needs someone to push him and make him work hard.

"We're decorating it, Karev. I have some glue and stuff in my car." At that, Alex raises his eyebrows. He's not an artsy-craftsy person, and that's one thing that he'll never understand. "Don't look at me like that. I can control whether you get to see the inside of an OR, you know. It's fun. You have to make some of your own ornaments for it to feel like yours. Otherwise it's just another tree from another lot that will get trashed on the corner after Christmas."

"I never knew you were so passionate about Christmas trees. If I'd known I had the competition…" Alex trails off. Until now, he's never come close to admitting that he has fallen for Satan. After Izzie, Alex was done trying to care. It just wasn't him. He didn't have the time or the personality. He looks at Addison for any trace of panic in her body language, but she just smirks.

"I knew you'd miss me."

A/N: Definitely not my best work, but I'm going somewhere... I promise. Reviews are lovely. Also, I'm still totally open to Alex-centric requests and prompts.