A/n: So, there is some heavy stuff coming soon, and I REALLY do not want to spoil a single thing. However, when I posted this for the Bang, I was alerted that I needed to include a trigger warning for those who had them. If you have any trigger issues with fics, please take a sec to jump back to chapter 1 and (re)check the author's note/trigger warning. Otherwise, carry on!

Chapter 19

When Addison entered the locker room the following morning, she was exhausted. It had already been quite late when she and Jack had left Joe's, but by the time they had turned in for bed, it left her with only a few hours of sleep before she needed to be up for work. Because of the hour, Jack stayed the rest of the night on her couch. She envied him, as he didn't have to be at work until the afternoon and therefore got to sleep in.

Mark was packing up his things and getting ready to leave when she arrived. He whistled when he saw her.

"Somebody had a late night last night." He smirked suggestively.

"Go away, Mark," Addison groaned. "My coffee hasn't kicked in yet."

"Derek told me you two stayed late at Joe's, and Callie saw Jack's car outside your building this morning." He leaned against the locker beside her, grinning.

"Nothing happened," Addison replied, doing her best to ignore the look he was giving her. "We just stayed up talking and he slept on the couch."

"Right. I'm sure you did. And he slept there. Alone."

"Mark…"

"And I didn't make out with Erica Hahn in a supply closet during the night shift I just worked."

"What?" she turned wide eyes to him, unable to help herself.

Mark laughed and grabbed his bag. "See you later, Addison."

"Oh come on, you can't leave me hanging like that. Did you really?"

"Did you really not sleep with Jack?" He quirked his eyebrow at her and exited the locker room laughing.

Jack locked Addison's apartment door behind him and headed home to his place around noon. As he readied himself for work, he noted that for the first time in a very, very long time, he didn't feel weighed down by his past, by the crash and everything that went with it. He even smiled as he made himself a pot of coffee.

Jack glanced at his laptop with the urge to check news sites as usual. Instead, however, he turned away from it, grabbed his keys and coat and headed out. He'd check it later.

The night of the benefit felt like it came much quicker than it should have. When it was just days away, Addison realized she didn't have a dress to wear (although she had plenty of dresses, like every other girl before an important event, she didn't have the right dress). Callie was in the same predicament, so they spent a long afternoon out and about searching for the perfect things to wear. Their search was successful, and both women were reduced to giggling girls when they tried their respective perfect dresses on in Callie's apartment and stood in front of the mirror together that evening.

A couple of days prior to the fancy occasion, it seemed to be all the hospital staff could talk about and Addison was forcibly reminded of high school when a dance or graduation was coming up. Everyone needed to know who was going, if they were going with someone, who was wearing what and so on. And of course, though she rolled her eyes and chastised all the interns or junior residents for their gossipy chatting about the benefit, at nearly every coffee break, she could be found discussing the matter just as excitedly with her own friends.

When the day finally arrived, the hype had reached a fever pitch. The Chief was practically beaming all day and told anyone who would listen how the benefit had been his idea. He added that he was also very glad that so many people had gotten involved to make it such a major event. He expected a significant turn out, and therefore a substantial amount of fundraising for the local charities and the hospital.

Addison exited the hospital promptly the moment her shift ended and hastened home to prepare for the night.

As she was getting herself ready for the big event, she couldn't help thinking about the Prom Night held at Seattle Grace a year or so ago and comparing her life then and now. Then, she had still been married to Derek and rather desperately doing everything she could to hold onto him. She'd known very quickly that he was in love with Meredith, and had tried so hard to believe it wasn't true, that there was a glimmer of hope that she and Derek could go back to what they once were. Derek had been the love of her life once and while she had been the unfaithful one, running to Mark for comfort and thinking she was perhaps in love with him too for a time, "the one" had always been Derek.

And now… now Derek was simply a good friend, and though she still had pangs of guilt or sadness now and then over the fact that they were no longer together, she had moved past it. She had moved past her lingering feelings for Mark (though of course Mark being Mark, he enjoyed teasing her about it still) and she had come to realize that her little fling with Karev had been just that: a fling. She'd convinced herself she'd wanted more from him at the time, but he was still a boy in so many ways. She was ready for a man and he still had a lot of growing up to do.

And of course, there was Jack. Jack who she had fallen hard and fast for, and who had become one of her best friends alongside Callie and Mark. Jack, who was complicated and broken but healing, intense and stubborn but learning to let go, brilliant and gifted and passionate.

Jack, who was currently ringing her doorbell.

Addison hurriedly pressed the buzzer to let him into the building and dashed back to the mirror to check herself over for the millionth time. She shouldn't have felt nervous in the slightest, but for some reason she did and had to keep her hands from trembling when she heard his knock and opened the door.

Though it was probably cliché, it was nonetheless true. When Jack saw Addison, he felt like the wind had been momentarily knocked out of him.

Her dress was long with a sort of heart-shaped neckline. It was a deep crimson color, hugging her figure and seemed to shimmer slightly when she moved. Her lipstick impeccably matched her dress, and her amazing red hair was pinned up, though a few strategic wisps were left to dust her cheeks and neck.

"You look stunning," Jack said a moment later when his breath had returned.

Addison flushed slightly. "Thanks, Jack." She stepped forward to fix his crooked tie and smiled. "Great tie choice, by the way. We match perfectly."

Jack chuckled and felt his face grow warm at her proximity. She didn't seem to notice however as she moved back into her apartment and retrieved her clutch.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be," she answered and locked up her apartment.

Jack offered her his arm with a dashing smile. Addison returned his grin, and feeling her knees get a bit wobbly, accepted his arm, linking it with hers.

When they arrived at the benefit, Addison thought the Chief had outdone himself – or rather, his wife Adele and her planning committee, as there was no way the Chief would have any inclination to decorate the hall this beautifully.

The theme, she overheard someone saying as she and Jack passed by, was A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dim, white Christmas lights hung across the walls, woven between fake vines. The ceiling had been draped with soft white fabric and tiny twinkling lights, making it feel as though they were under a giant white gazebo. The tables were decorated with center pieces made of vines, clear vases and floating candles, and were draped with smooth white tablecloths. The oversized dance floor was lined with the same multi-colored flower petals that covered the stage at the far end of the large hall, already quite full of people dressed in their best. The overall effect was incredibly impressive and, Addison couldn't help noting, very romantic.

The Chief spotted them and hurried over, looking quite handsome in his formal suit.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I think Adele is a genius," Addison replied.

A waiter came up to the trio offering them flutes of champagne, and they accepted one each.

"Well, the sponsors were very generous, and she did have help," Chief admitted but then added, "Don't tell her I admitted it, but she is a genius."

"I heard that," Adele sauntered up beside Chief, pretending to be serious.

Chief laughed, his spirits high, and kissed his wife on the cheek, whose features broke into a pleased smile.

After roughly a half an hour of mingling, the guests were asked to be seated. Jack and Addison found a table off to the side but relatively close to the stage, and were shortly joined by Mark, Callie, Derek and Meredith (who, Addison was unsurprised to hear, were back together).

"Where's Hahn?" Addison asked Mark in a falsely innocent tone.

"Somebody had stay back the hospital," he replied. "I'm sure she's having fun – stuck back there with Yang."

"And they don't exactly get along." Callie put in. "Hopefully the hospital is still standing when the night is over."

Addison glanced at Mark out of the corner of her eye, curiosity rising. Aside from his implication that one day in the locker room about kissing Hahn, he had been uncharacteristically quiet on the subject. Stranger still, given that he usually never failed to make some sort of comment where Hahn was concerned, he was now passing up the opportunity.

The conversation was already on to different subjects however, so for the time being, Addison opted to let it go. She made special note to herself, however, to badger Mark about it when she got the chance. After all, he never ceased to let up about her and Jack when they were alone.

Dinner was served in courses, each one as delicious as the next. The champagne and wine flowed steadily and the music put on by the live band was pleasant but not overpowering. By the time they'd finished, and the last of their dishes were cleared away, Addison was stuffed. She complained there would be no dancing at this rate, lest she end up with her stomach contents on the dance floor.

"Oh, come on," Jack smirked at her. "After the endless dancing you put me through at Hurley's party, you're just going to sit back and watch everyone else here?"

"That's the general idea," she replied, rubbing her belly.

"Come on," he wheedled. "You need to make room for dessert."

"Maybe I don't want dessert," she countered.

"You most definitely do." Jack gestured to the table across the room where the desserts were laid out buffet style for whoever chose to have some. "They have Devil's Food cake, cheesecake, lemon meringue…"

"Alright," Addison groaned. "You win." She paused and then raised her eyebrow at Jack. "I thought you didn't like dancing. Something about public and no sense of rhythm? I had to get a lot of beer in you last time before you were willing."

Jack laughed. "Well, I like dancing with you."

The corners of her mouth turned up into a wide smile, and she felt warm as a result of the look he was giving her.

"I like dancing with you too." She finally managed to reply.

The evening's program started a short time later. First up, were a few speakers and heads of charities talking about the things their organizations were involved with. Chief went up and spoke about the hospital, and some of the more cutting edge things they'd been able to do thanks to donors and new equipment. Next, there were a handful of songs sung by a local choir and a couple more speakers, followed by a significant amount of information about the silent auction that was set up outside the hall. It would be available all night for bidding, with the winners of each item being contacted over the next couple of days.

Roughly two and a half hours later, the program wrapped. The main MC thanked everyone for coming, thanked the caterers, everyone involved, and asked that donations be made out front at the various tables that had been set up. He encouraged everyone to take a look at the silent auction items, and after a short drawing for door prizes (Derek won a $100 gift card to a local steakhouse, but no one else Addison recognized won something), the "boring part", as Mark called it, was over.

As the DJ set up, Addison and those at her table all made a trip (or two, in Mark's case) to the dessert table. By the time they'd enjoyed their choice of confections, the dance floor was ready and several people had already begun dancing.

"Let's go," Meredith grabbed Derek's hand and pulled him out of his chair.

Addison turned to Jack. "I seem to recall someone whining about dancing?"

Jack laughed and stood. He cleared his throat and made his features serious as he held out his hand and bowed low.

"May I have this dance?" he asked.

She fought to suppress her smile, answering as coolly as possible, "You may, sir."

She couldn't hold it anymore as he led her to the dance floor, however, and was glowing happily as they began moving to the upbeat music.

A/n: Thanks for reading, you lovely people! (Also, quick shout out to anon reviewer David: Thank you so much for your reviews! :D)