A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews. They made me delightfully happy. Look for the crate of kumquats in your mail in 4-6 weeks.

The song used for the chapter title is 'Everybody's Changing' by Keane. Grey's Anatomy belongs to Shonda and the people at ABC.

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"I still can't believe you broke up with McDreamy."

Meredith sighed, spreading mayonnaise on her sandwich. "It's complicated."

Cristina smirked. "So your total desperation this entire year was for something that you'd break off in three weeks."

"Yes." She broke off the tab on her soda can and played around with it. She and Cristina had been having this conversation on and off for the past two weeks. Truthfully, Meredith didn't know. She didn't know why she had broken things off with Derek. It was complicated. So complicated Meredith couldn't think about it for too long. She knew that somewhere, it was the right thing to do. Derek did still love Addison. That was obvious. Maybe not the kind of love necessary for a relationship, but that would come soon enough.

"Please tell me you're not going to be tequila girl again. I'm not one to turn down some drinking, but you go way over. And I can't do that. Not this year. We have to work hard. I have to get into every surgery I can. Especially all the cardio ones. And if you're drinking and sleeping with guys you meet in bars, I have to take care of you too. I know, I'm supposed to be all sympathetic but I'm just laying down the law."

Meredith sighed. "I broke it off. I won't be 'tequila girl.'"

"Good." She took a bite of her salad in silence for a moment before speaking again. "You know, I never wanted to tell you, but McDreamy is almost…too perfect. Everything about him is so perfectly aligned that he was imperfect."

Meredith appreciated Cristina's efforts at cheering her up, even if they were lies.

"And he has the worst-smelling feet too, according to George."

Another lie. But it was these lies that were holding Meredith together. Imagining Derek in a light that wasn't perfect was making it easier to forget him.

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Richard had pulled Derek into his office. Derek didn't relish visits with Richard anymore. Richard always gave him stern glances when he was still married, but now Richard could barely keep the look of disgust off his face whenever he saw Derek.

"I hope you know I called you in here for something that isn't business."

Derek nodded. He had a direct idea of where this conversation was headed.

"You and Meredith Grey broke up."

Derek realized Richard was waiting confirmation and so he nodded.

"I've heard it was because Meredith said you still loved Addison."

Again, Derek nodded.

"I have one thing to say. If you hurt Addison again like you did before, you're going to hate working here."

"She cheated on me. She hurt me."

"I cheated on Adele. I hope…she still loves me." Richard said it wistfully, and stared out the window as if on cue by a movie director.

"And are you and Adele perfectly in love?"

"Derek, it's not about being perfectly in love. It's not about being effortless."

"She cheated on me with my best friend. She stayed with him after I left."

Richard wasn't eager to debate this. "Derek, I'm just saying. If you hurt her, I'm going to make your life a living hell. Meredith broke up with you, so my sympathies are with her but she threw in the towel. But you destroyed Addison. She's not the same."

"She's getting over it. She'll be fine once she goes back to New York." And finds Mark. But Derek kept that comment to himself.

"I hope you're right."

Derek quickly exited Richard's office and turned the corner, only to run smack into Addison.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry." She had slipped and was clutching onto the wall, her papers falling to the floor. "I should've been watching more carefully." She straightened up and bent down to retrieve her papers.

Derek knew it was only polite to help, regardless of who she was. He stooped down and picked up a few. He stared at them. They were apartment listings. For New York City. "So you're really going back."

"Well, yes, I said I was."

"I just didn't know if you really were."

"I really am."

"Well…good luck then. With being back and all."

Addison was surprised. Derek hadn't been cordial to her. "Thanks." She wasn't sure if the next thing to come out of her mouth was right or wrong. "Do you want…anything…from…"

Derek knew what she was talking about. He couldn't believe this scene was really happening. Not two minutes ago he was talking to Richard about how much he hated Addison. And here he was. "No. I'm…I'm fine. I mean, I have a lot of things that I needed. And everything I don't need you can dispose of otherwise."

"Okay. Well, if you think of something in the next week…just let me know."

Derek watched her continue past him. He watched her walk away. She was…not the menace Derek had made her out to be in his mind. She was perfectly friendly. She wasn't the same, but he had divorced her five weeks ago. She didn't have to be the same yet.

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"Seriously?" Callie was just as shocked as Addison had been. "He didn't throw you dirty looks? Treat you like you don't exist. This is a change."

Addison and Callie were sitting in the cafeteria, eating a late dinner. "I know. It scares me a little."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. I mean, you leave in a week."

Addison nodded. "And I have no idea where I'm living. I mean, I can stay in a hotel or with Savvy for a few days, but I have to find my own apartment. For the first time in a long time."

"You'll figure it out."

"I hope I do."

"You will. It won't be easy, but you will."

"Are you and George still coming to dinner with Parker and me on Sunday?"

"Like I'd miss your last night in town."

Addison smiled. "And George isn't terrified of Parker?"

"No. He just asked me if he'd have to sit alone with Parker again. I told him it was a definite possibility."

"Poor George."

"Please. It will do him some good. He's socially awkward."

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Derek was sitting at Joe's after his seventh, no, maybe his eighth, beer. He was alone, and watching Meredith with George and Alex out of the corner of his eye. And he was getting drunk. He was conscious he was and he didn't care. Addison was leaving tomorrow…or was it the day after. He looked at the clock in the corner, hoping it would magically tell him the date. He thought it was the day after tomorrow. It had been Saturday today, right? Addison was leaving Monday afternoon. To New York.

His mind was either so fogged or so clear his thoughts were firing at him rapidly. Short, little shots. Addison's face flushed the first time he talked to her. Addison accepting his proposal. Addison in her wedding dress. Addison in that one skirt for their fifth anniversary. Addison kissing him. Addison throwing the brass bookend at his head and just barely missing. Addison curled up in a ball on the couch waiting for him to get home. Addison with Mark. Addison pleading, begging him to stay. Addison in all black on that rainy night, back again. Addison sitting on the porch at Thanksgiving. Addison at the prom. Addison lying in bed next to him on their twelfth anniversary, tears streaming down her face as they knew they were over.

Derek slammed down the bottle. He asked Joe for another beer. Joe refused. He had called a cab for Derek instead. Derek stumbled into it a few minutes later and spent nearly seventy-five dollars on a cab taking the long way out to his trailer. The ferries didn't run this late. He fell into the bed without changing.

He dreamed of Addison. And Mark. He dreamed of the past few years as a third-party watching. He watched Addison fall into a kind of love with Mark. He watched her sleep with him. He watched Mark come back and pick her up from the bottom of the steps. He watched Mark tend to her and take care of her and make her go back to work and move on. Meanwhile, he saw himself sleeping with Meredith. Falling for Meredith. Omitting a great part of his life from Meredith. He watched himself smell her hair in elevators long after he had 'chosen' Addison. He hadn't ever picked Addison over Meredith. And for the first time, he felt like the ass he had been.

He woke up, his head pounding. It took a lot of will and thought to start the coffee. It steamed and sputtered and it was sometime in there that Derek realized he had no car. He called a cab, regretting living so far out. It arrived an hour later. Derek was in much better shape. The driver grumbled the entire way to the ferry about the distance. Derek wasn't listening. His dream was too prevalent on his mind. Addison was invading his thoughts.

She had slept with his best friend, for God's sakes. He was allowed to be angry. He was allowed to slam the door and leave. She had stayed with his best friend. She had slept with him for two months. But she felt horrible. If Derek had come back…or stayed that night…would they still be married in New York? Would that have just been a severe wake-up call? Would they be happy?

And finally, the real question: Did he love her? Was Meredith right? Addison had slept with his best friend. But he tried to take that factor out. If he ignored that, did he still love her?

Derek nearly stopped breathing when he realized the answer was yes.

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"Everyone, this is my sister, Jane." Parker motioned for Jane to sit down. "She missed her flight in Boulder and took the next flight to Seattle to visit. Jane, this is Addison, George, and Callie."

They all nodded in turn. Jane was a contrast from what Addison had expected. She wore a simple black dress with pearls in her ears.

"So you're the Addison Parker told me about. You're just as beautiful as he described you."

Addison blushed. "Thank you."

Jane nodded and turned on to Callie. "I adore your earrings. Wherever did you get them?"

Callie absent-mindedly reached up to touch her ears. "Oh, my father gave them to me."

"He has excellent taste."

"And George, your hair. It's exquisite."

Jane sat back, satisfied.

"Jane starts out meeting people by complimenting them," Parker supplied.

"It's all honest compliments."

"It is. But it's just the first thing she does."

"So Parker says you're a photographer?"

"That I am. Daily Chicagoan life. It sounds mundane, but it's really not. I just wander around, taking the El and busses and walking. Just photographing. It all goes on this website and people will buy prints they like and I get paid. But I also do weddings, just so that I have a steadier flow. I hate that I have to, but I need money sometimes. And there will be months when people don't buy any of my daily life things so the weddings are what keeps the water running."

"Wow. You sound like you lead the most interesting life."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I'm sure you as doctors have pretty interesting lives."

Callie spoke up. "But nothing like what you're describing."

"It's not amazing everyday. Most days I get no good shots and just a lot of mediocre ones. Especially in the polished areas. Right downtown, and in the suburbs, I usually only get good scenery shots. But anyway, enough about me."

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Addison was aware of the flash of Jane's camera every so often. Addison was laughing a little too heartily and talking a little too loud. It was her last night. And truthfully, it might be the last time she saw some of these people. Or the last time she was in the room with all of them.

And finally, Parker was dropping her off at her hotel room.

"Thank you for getting to know me," he said sadly. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too. You've proved to me that there is life after divorce. And we'll keep in touch, right?"

"Of course."

"Thank you for keeping your promise."

"Which promise?"

"The promise that you won't try to date me."

Parker smiled. "Always."

Addison was going to cry. She couldn't cry. She couldn't. She swallowed deeply. She was going to miss Parker.

"Addison, please don't be sad. I'll be in New York next March for a conference. That's only nine months away. And New York is good for you. You'll be back by all the great shopping and your friends and the city you love. You'll be happy. You're not sad you're leaving. You've got great friends here, Callie and Miranda and if I don't sound vain, myself. But you'll be better off there. Remember why you're leaving."

Derek. Her former husband. A man she didn't know if she would ever get over. Meredith had broken up with him because he still 'loved' Addison and Addison had once again turned into the evil witch. That was a good enough reason to leave.

Parker gave her a hug, holding her tightly. "Good luck, Addison."

"Goodbye, Parker." Addison said and watched as he gave her a quick wave and walked down the hallway.

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Addison was cleaning off her desk. All her papers. She found pictures of her and Derek that she had brought and wanted to break them, but she couldn't bring herself to. She wrapped them in bubble wrap and put them neatly in a box that she was giving to Richard to send along later. Her flight left in six hours. She was almost gone.

"Addison."

Addison dropped the pen she was holding and watched as it rolled on the floor. "Derek. Did you think of something I could send you?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

Derek almost chickened out right then. He almost mumbled that it was nothing and left. But he knew that if he didn't say it he'd wonder what could've happened for the rest of his life. "I'm here because I needed to tell you that...that I love you."

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A/N: I know I flew past the last three weeks Addison was in Seattle. Honestly, nothing would've happened that was overly important.