AN: Here I am again. I've decided that after this chapter, I'm gonna speed up things a little, cause I'm starting to get bored by this friendship…I want more action! ;) Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter…and please, review, so I know what you think about this fic.
DISCLAIMER: Same as the previous chapters.
CHAPTER 5 – A little bit closer to you
When the alarm went off, it took Meredith a bunch of seconds to realize where she was. It wasn't her bed, that's for sure. And she had her arms wrapped around someone. She opened her eyes and she almost jump for the surprise. Her body was hugging Addison's, she had her arms wrapped around the redhead, who was still sleeping. How did they end up in such an intimate position? All she remembered was them falling asleep on opposite sides of the king sized bed, but now they were in the middle of it, Addison's body snuggled in Meredith's arms and Meredith holding to her tight. She wanted to move before waking Addison up, but all her attempts to slide her arm from the attending's back were vain. So she just sighed and started to whisper Addison's name.
"Addison...we have to wake up...come on..." she whispered, but Addison kept on sleeping.
"Addison..." she repeated, this time passing her free hand through Addison's hair.
Finally, the older woman opened her eyes and looked at Meredith sweetly. "Good morning."
Meredith smiled. "Good morning to you too. The alarm went off five minutes ago."
"Oh...I didn't..." started Addison, then she suddenly realized that Meredith's body was a little bit too closer to hers and blushed. "Oh my god, I'm sorry!" she apologized, quickly removing herself from the intern's embrace. "I don't know how I ended up here..."
"It's ok, I think we both tossed and turned till we ended up that way...it was comfortable, though...I think this was the best sleep I got in...months maybe..."
"Same here." said Addison, still feeling a little awkward. "So you wanna take a shower first? I can order breakfast while you're in there..."
Meredith nodded and walked to the bathroom. She took a shower and then started to dress while Addison was in the bathroom, waiting for their breakfast. She realized that she hadn't checked her phone since she got there the night before and that probably her roommates were worried about her. She found three texts, one from Cristina and the others from Izzie.
So maybe it was a dirty date after all, considering u r not home yet. I.
Mer, r u ok? It's kinda late and u r still out. Let me know. I.
Izzie told me u r not home yet. I swear to god, if u r out getting drunk without me I'm gonna kill u. C.
Meredith laughed at her best friend's text and sent a quick reply to both her and Izzie.
I'm fine, no dirty dates and no tequila. I'll meet u at the hospital in half an hour. M.
She put her phone back in her purse and started dressing, when Addison came into the room.
"Do you want to borrow some clothes for today?" asked the redhead, noticing that Meredith was wearing the previous day's clothes.
"No, it's ok, I always keep a change in my locker. Besides, I don't think anything of yours could ever fit me. You're too tall." replied Meredith, closing the zip of her jeans.
"You're right. Oh, breakfast is here." said Addison, hearing a knock on the door.
The two women ate breakfast and then they headed to the hospital together.
"So, guess I'll see you around. Thank you again, for last night..." said Addison when the elevator reached the Maternity floor.
"I told you, no more thanking me. I had a good time. Have a nice day, Addison."
-o-
"So, spill it...who's he?" asked Izzie when Meredith stepped into the intern's locker room.
"There's no he, Iz, I told you. I was at Addison's, I stopped by to see if she was ok, cause she had a tough discussion with Derek yesterday, and when I realized it was too late to go home, she offered me to stay. That's it." explained Meredith, a little annoyed that her friend seemed to think she was sleeping around again.
"And since when you have sympathy for the devil?" Cristina teased her.
"She's not the devil, Cristina. She's actually really nice and funny and I enjoy her company. We're friends now."
"You and the ex She Shepherd are friends?" asked Izzie in disbelief. "Well, I didn't expect that. Why? I mean, how did it start? Don't you think is kinda weird that you're friend with the woman who's responsible for you breaking up with McDreamy?"
Meredith sighed. "We started to talk a few weeks ago, we went out for a drink and...I don't know, I feel like I can talk to her, you know? Like she somehow gets me. And she's not responsible for me breaking up with Derek. She was his wife, she had every right to try to get things right. And anyway, he's not McDreamy anymore...he's rather McAss."
"She cheated on him with his best friend. I think she's the McBitch here." mumbled Cristina.
"Cristina! It's not her fault, ok? Derek ignored her for two years, sending Mark over every time he ditched her for an anniversary or party or whatever. And anyway, I don't care if you don't like her. I do. She's my friend now, so can you all try to be nice to her? She's going through a rough time."
"Whatever you want, Meredith." sighed Cristina, not really caring about Addison or this newborn friendship.
"Are you ready for rounds or you ladies want me to bring some coffee for your little girl-chatting? Come on, this is a hospital, not Starbucks!" yelled Dr. Bailey entering the locker room, the three girls nodded and followed their resident to start the rounds.
-o-
Meredith caught Addison at the nurse station, reading a chart.
"Hey, haven't seen you around much today. How's your day going?" asked the intern.
"Derek is still not looking at me and I just accidentally broke the news of my patient's infidelity to her fiancée." sighed Addison. She felt terribly guilty about that.
"The woman with two uteruses? I heard George talking about it. What happened?"
"The two babies have different due dates, and when the second baby was conceived, my patient and her fiancée were broken up." Addison explained.
"Oh, god, that's awful! Poor guy." sighed Meredith.
"Yeah. Anyway, how's your day?" asked Addison. Meredith looked like she was having a very tough day.
"I'm practically Izzie's boss today and she's already trying to break the rules. Cristina isn't talking to me anymore and I don't know what's going on with her. Oh, and I met Derek's sister and she's calling me the slutty intern."
"I'm sorry about that, Meredith, I kinda feel like it's my fault. Nancy is great, she's just...we're really close and I think she's just looking out for me." said Addison, feeling sorry for that. She had to talk to Nancy about it, she didn't like that she was calling Meredith names.
"It's ok, Addison, really. It doesn't bother me that much, it's just...it's an amount of things that aren't right today. And Cristina...god, Cristina, she's driving me crazy. She's my person and something's going on with her and she won't talk to me. And I don't know how to make her talk to me." complained Meredith, resting with her back on the counter and looking exhausted.
"I don't know what to say, I don't know her, but I think you just have to wait. You cannot force her to talk to you, you have to wait until she's ready. Just be there for her if she needs you and you'll see, she'll come to you."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. She's Cristina, she's stubborn and an ice queen, I just have to give her some time." They stayed in silence for a while, then Meredith added "You know, I like this!"
Addison's eyebrow arched. "What?"
"Talking to you...we give each other advices, we listen to each other...it's nice. I like this...being your friend." smiled Meredith, touching Addison's hand softly.
"I like this too." said Addison. Her pager went off. "Oh crap, I have to go. I'll catch up with you later."
Meredith waved her goodbye and she went back to her patient too, hoping that Izzie wouldn't give her hard times. But thanks to her talk to Addison, she felt a little bit more relaxed, at least about Cristina.
-o-
Meredith's day wasn't improving. At all. Yes, she managed to talk with Cristina, or at least, she informed her that she was there whenever she was ready to talk. But it turned out that Izzie was right about their patient and she had a hard time convincing this girl to talk to someone. Actually, Izzie convinced her, which basically was breaking the rules, but at the end, everything turned out well. Meredith just didn't know what to write on the report for the chief.
And then Derek. Derek who cornered her on the stairs, asking her to go back with him. She said no, of course, but the sad look on Derek's face when she rejected him, killed her. She wasn't in love with him, but she didn't want to hurt him.
She needed to drink something, she needed a night out with a friend. Cristina and Izzie weren't options, and anyway, in those days she preferred to talk to Addison, so she went looking for the redhead.
She found her heading to the attending's locker room.
"Addison! So, how was your surgery?"
"Great, I delivered the first baby, he's healthy and the second one is doing ok." Her eyes were shining and Meredith found that incredibly cute. "The patient's fiancée is back. Oh, and Karev surprised me today, he was in the OR and when O'Malley couldn't make the baby stop moving, he started to talk with him and he managed to keep him still. I thought he hated neo-natal."
Meredith was shocked. Alex talking to an unborn baby? Then she realized that Alex was probably missing the OR, considering that Mark Sloan wasn't exactly the greatest teacher in the world (and Addison was, but that wasn't the point). "He's Alex, maybe he just wanted a surgery cause Sloan isn't giving him one."
Addison shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe, but it was a nice surprise. How about you? Is your day still sucking?"
Meredith sighed. "Well, Izzie was right about my patient, she actually burnt herself to avoid her test. We took her to psych. I talked to Cristina, I told her that when she's ready, I'll be there. She thanked me, so apparently you were right."
"I'm Addison Montgomery, I'm always right!" laughed the attending.
Meredith laughed as well. "Oh someone's full of herself today." Then she stopped laughing and looked the other woman in the eyes. "Oh, uhm...Addison...there's something I need to tell you, but I don't know how you're gonna take it."
"Tell me, what's wrong?"
"Derek asked me to be with him." said Meredith, turning her attention to the hem of her shirt that she had in her hands.
"Oh..." murmured Addison.
"But I said no, don't worry." added Meredith, not wanting her friend to think that she was interested in Derek again. She just told her cause she thought it was fair, that Addison had the right to know.
"Meredith, you don't have to do this for me. Derek and I are over." sighed Addison.
Meredith shook her head. "I know. It's not for you. I told you, I don't want to go back with him. He looked hurt but he'll get over it."
Addison nodded. "Ok, so...are you going home now?"
"Well...I'd like to have a few drinks before going to sleep and a good friend to share those drinks with me. So what do you say? You're in?"
"I'm in!" smiled Addison. "Wait for me in the lobby, I have to change and then I'm ready."
-o-
"So, Joe's?" asked Addison meeting Meredith in the lobby.
The intern shook her head. "No, no Joe's tonight. Derek will probably be there and I really want to avoid his sad puppy dog eyes."
Addison laughed. "Ok then, my room?"
Meredith nodded and the two women walked to Addison's car.
They stopped at the hotel's bar and had a couple of shots of tequila.
"I don't know how you manage to drink this thing without throwing up. It's disgusting!" complained Addison after the second shot. "Next time we're drinking vodka. Vodka's so much better!"
Meredith laughed. "If you can't handle a couple of tequilas, then you can't handle me."
Addison gave her a dirty look. "Oh really, Dr Grey? Well, next time we'll try vodka and we'll see if you can handle me."
The two women laughed again. It looked like they were flirting and they knew it, but they didn't care. They weren't drunk, but the alcohol had managed to make them forget about the day they have had and that was exactly what they needed.
Suddenly Meredith stopped. "Look, would you mind if I...I mean, if it's not a problem for you...can I...can I stay with you tonight? I really don't feel like going home...but if you mind, I just call a cab, and..."
"Meredith!" Addison interrupted her. "It's ok, you can stay."
Meredith took a deep breath and smiled. "Thank you."
They kept on drinking till they were a little drunk. So they headed to Addison's room, laughing and holding each other, trying not to disturb the other guests, but failing.
They fell on the bed as soon as they entered the room.
"Oh my god, I forgot how funny it was to get drunk with a friend. I can't even remember the last time I did something like this. Back in New York I was always with Mark and anyway, I was a sad-drunk. And then here, I didn't have any friends before you came around and the only time I was drunk I was with Miranda, complaining about Derek. But this...this feels soooo good!" said Addison, her eyes staring the ceiling.
"It won't feel this good tomorrow morning, trust me. Thank god we both have the day off." replied Meredith, looking at the ceiling too.
"It's ok, we can sleep this off tomorrow, we won't even notice we're hangover."
Meredith shook her head. It was clear that Addison wasn't used to tequila. "Yeah, keep telling that to yourself, it might become true." she laughed. "So you want to use the bathroom first?...Addison?"
She received no reply, so she turned to the other woman and she found her already asleep. She smiled, she took Addison's shoes off and covered her with a blanked, before lying down next to her and shutting off the lights.