Sarah:

"Addison and Derek visit the dentist."

It should have been a warning; Addison chided herself that they could not agree on which doctor to see in the first place. Tough luck brought them to this current predicament they found themselves in, stranded on the side of an untraveled road with a flat tire. It was all her fault, Addison supposed; at least if Derek was asked about it. The radio did not work even though Addison had tried her best at pressing any possible button resulting in The Clash – London calling, stuck and on repeat. Addison thought about getting out of this sorry excuse of a car, Derek had insisted they take, and walk the rest of the way.

However, it rained. Addison snorted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Does your cell have reception?"

Derek asked while trying his hardest to revive his phone which had fallen into a puddle in Derek's futile attempt to change the tires.

Addison treated him with nothing but silence. If someone were to ask Addison whose fault this uncomfortable, almost unbearable, situation was she would blame Derek. After all he had chosen to move to Seattle. They had had a life in New York; a good one, albeit silent and indifferent – one sided, but nonetheless. At least in New York City they would not have had to wait for assistance, or rather they would not have had a break-down in the first place. They would have taken a cab if – that was an objecting if – Addison reasoned with herself, they had even managed to be in this situation. At all.

"Silence? Really? We left high school a long time ago?"

Addison snorted at his remark. Opened her mouth and closed it again. Humming quietly to herself in order to prevent words to leave her mouth that could probably – most likely, Addison admitted, do more harm than good.

"At least Skippy Gold knew how to treat a woman with respect."

And they managed to slip out anyway. Addison bit her tongue and turned her head to glance out the window in an attempt to avoid looking at Derek who she figured was glaring at her. Clearly Derek and hypocrisy were friends; best friends.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Derek got mad. Addison certainly did not like when he was angry about her but lately she had learned to accept anger from him. At least when he got mad he showed some emotion towards her. That certainly bet indifference; Addison completed her train of thoughts.

"You know very well what that means, Derek!"

His name was spoken with harshness and bitterness that even surprised Addison, resulting in tears welling up in her eyes. Addison hated crying in front of Derek or anyone for that matter. Tears were a sign of weakness and defeat, Addison had been told – taught by her parents.

Instead of the string of hurtful and abasing words she expected him to shower her with; a hand came to rest on her thigh, stroking it softly in soothing circles.

Addison would later defend herself by saying that she did not expect such a caring and genuine gesture, so really, she was not to blame for breaking down in front of him like she had done. It was Derek's fault; all of it.

A few hours earlier

"I made Christmas cookies." Addison announced beamingly and held out a platter of freshly baked cookies so Derek could take one.

But Derek hesitated, after all his wife was not known for her baking skills or any domestic skills for that matter. However he was careful to mention anything in this regard at any given time. Luckily for him she rarely cooked and most of the times she did, it was pasta which usually turned out reasonably eatable. If – and that was an objecting if Derek noted, you were not very hungry.

Derek smiled after all she had really put effort into making their first Christmas in Seattle passably bearable. So, Derek reasoned, how bad could it really get?

He took a cookie, brought it to his mouth and took a bite.

Later Derek would not even be able to say if the cookies were any good or, you know, worth it. All Derek remembered was the pain he felt when a piece of his incisor broke off.

Derek should have known better, he chided himself afterwards. But then this was Addison's fault in the first place. If she had not slept with Mark there would have been no reason to flee New York; really, it had not been as bad as Addison liked to portray it. He might have been a little absent, albeit busy working to support the family they had planned to have, but they would have been fine.

However Addison would completely disagree on the matter, Derek was certain. Addison liked to blame him for everything; like that one time Doc ate her shoes. It is not like he paid the dog to annoy her, even though he might have taken some joy out of seeing her fruitless attempts at establishing a relationship with the animal.

On a good day, Derek would – maybe, admit to carrying part of the blame for what had happened to their marriage. On those days he wanted nothing more than to console her and make things right, especially when she cried because Derek knew she hated crying in front of him or anyone for that matter. Therefore it was only natural for him to let her weep against his chest you know, Derek thought, as one of his marital duties.

In hindsight both Derek and Addison would admit that – maybe, breaking down in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire was not as bad as either would have made it out to be if asked by anyone.

The end.