Chapter Eight: Fall Into Me

When Addison returned to Seattle Grace, she entered the elevator to find Derek.

"Addison," He said in surprise, "I thought the Chief said you took the day off. He said you were going to visit Nat."

"Yeah, I took her shopping to get a birthday present for her friend Kristin. It got cut a little short though."

"Really? Why?"

"Derek, I'm so worried about her. She's not doing well at all. We have to do something for her lungs. She's having trouble breathing and I swear one of these days she's gonna cough up blood. I'm going to see if the Chief thinks we should start her treatments sooner."

"Good plan. Other than that, how is she?"

"She seems lonely. I mean, she's home alone all day and when she's around people, they don't know what to say to her."

He nodded in understanding as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out. "I think it's good that you took her out. You have always been her heroine and I think it meant a lot to her."-He gave her a small smile-"I don't know if I ever told you this, but when Nat was about six, I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said 'A baby doctor.' And her mom said, 'Like Aunt Nancy?' and Nat said, 'No, like Aunt Addie."

Addison's heart softened. "Poor Nancy."

Derek shrugged. "I don't think Nancy ever found out."

"Oh, well, I should go," She said gesturing in the direction of the Chief's office.

"Right. Well, I'll see you later, Addison," He said and they parted ways.

When Addison reached the Chief's office, she knocked on the open door. When he saw her, he beckoned her in.

"Natalie's not doing well is she?" He asked.

Addison began to nod and then hesitated. "How did you know?"

"If she was fine you wouldn't be here asking me for help."

Addison could feel her face turning slightly pink. She explained to him about the incident at the mall that morning and asked him to start the cancer treatments sooner. The Chief calmly told her that he would do what he could. Addison thanked him and left.

That night Addison decided to go to Joe's. Surprisingly, she didn't see many of her fellow doctors. Feeling slightly lonely, she sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. Addison was concentrating on her glass of wine when she subconsciously noticed someone sit down next to her.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up to find Alex. "Be my guest."

Alex watched Addison as she stared absentmindedly into her wine glass. She looked tired, emotionally and physically. Her eyes were red and drooped a little, as if she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few days. Which, he supposed, she hadn't. Her eyes had the look to them of a person whose soul is being slowly destroyed. She looked so forlorn and lost, all he wanted to do was make her feel better.

She could feel him watching her. At that point though, she really didn't care. Maybe Natalie had been right about him liking her. Either that or she really did look as terrible as she felt. She knew that she didn't look as put together as she had that morning. She had showered before leaving the hospital and hadn't bothered to take the time to redo her makeup. Her hair, still damp from the shower was pulled back into a knot in a very haphazard way. There were worry wrinkles starting to appear around her eyes, which were a little puffy from all the tears she had shed in the past few weeks.

Finally Alex spoke, "Dr. Montgomery? Do you want me to take you home?"

She turned and considered him for a minute. "I'm not drunk." She told him, slightly defensive. "This is only my first glass."

"I know." He said while he paid for both of their drinks. He stood up, extending a hand to her. "Come on."

She stood up and he reached for her coat, helping her into it. She picked up her bag and let him place a hand on her back, guiding her outside to his car.

After making sure she had buckled her seatbelt, he started the car and pulled away from the bar.

Both of them were silent as Alex drove towards the hotel he knew Addison was staying at. He glanced over at her. She was staring blankly out the window at the lights of the city as they flew by. They reached the hotel and he pulled into an empty parking space. Before she could do it herself, he ran around to the passenger side to open her door for her.

Addison momentarily thought about making a cynical comment about being able to open a car door herself, but decided against it and allowed him to lead her inside. He once again had his hand resting on her lower back, which puzzled her. She couldn't figure out why he was being so nice to her all of a sudden but decided to let it go. It had been a long time since a man had put his arm around her like this. Certainly Mark had never done it, and she couldn't remember the last time Derek had done it, not since she had been in Seattle anyway. A little voice in the back of her head told her that Alex probably was trying to get her to sleep with him. She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. Although Alex was somewhat of a womanizer, she somehow didn't think those were his intentions for that night. Another voice in her head pointed out that sex with Alex Karev might not be such a bad thing. It had been months since she had had sex. She missed the feeling of being loved and her body ached for the comfort and security. Plus, Natalie had told her that Alex had even admitted to liking her so it probably wouldn't be hard to get him to agree, if sex wasn't his intention in the first place that is.

They rode the elevator up to the third floor and walked down the hall until Addison stopped at her door and swiped the key card to unlock it. After silently inviting him inside, she shut the door and took her coat off, draping it over the back of a chair.

Alex surveyed her room. It was furnished in typical hotel décor, although more elegant than any hotel he'd ever stayed in. Given that she spent most of her time at the hospital, it was pretty clean.

He turned to face her and saw that she had a look of uncertainty on her face.

"Why are you being so nice to me, Karev?" She asked him, speaking the first words since they had left the bar.

"What?" He couldn't tell if she was accusing him or just asking out of curiosity.

"Are you just trying to get me to sleep with you? 'Cause you don't need to use bribery."

Too late Addison realized her slip up and quickly felt her face turning a shade of red that, she was sure, rivaled only that of her hair. Alex, noticing her obvious discomfort, chose to ignore the comment for the time being and focused on the question she had asked.

"I know this whole thing with Natalie has been really hard for you and you just seemed lonely, or like you needed support or a friend or whatever," He said shrugging.

"Oh," Addison said, a little embarrassed. "Um, thanks Karev. That's really nice of you."

"Friends?" He proposed, holding out his arms. She stepped into his embrace and he held her for a few minutes. She allowed herself to relax into his arms and buried her face in his chest, breathing in his crisp masculine scent, wishing that she could stay in his arms forever.

Finally, she lifted her head off of his chest and looked him in the eyes. She gave him a small smile and he released her from his arms.

"So," Alex said, grinning, "you've thought about us sleeping together?"

Addison tried to resist blushing again. "Let's just say I've heard that you think I'm hot."

Alex rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing Natalie told you about that little slip up."

She laughed. "Yep. I guess we're even now, but don't get any ideas, Karev."

"Why? Would that be bad?" He smirked, slowing stepping closer to her and boldly placing his hands on her hips, his eyes locking with hers.

"Yes." She murmured, trying to calm her fluttering insides and her raging hormones. The thought flashed in her mind that if he slid his hands an inch or two lower, they would be on her ass. Her stomach did another nervous flip-flop at the thought. "Very bad," She forced out, willing herself to look away from his eyes. They were practically daring her to make the next move. After silently arguing with herself over how wrong this was, she gave up.

Addison reached up and grabbed his face, bringing his mouth to hers. It took Alex a few seconds to get over the shock of her actions. When he did, he began kissing her back fiercely. Their tongues dueled and his hands slipped down onto her ass, pulling her closer to him. Her hands left his face and tightly gripped the lapels of his coat. His hands began to roam her back, one of them settling on her waist and the other in her hair. Addison tugged his coat off and it landed on the floor. She kiced off her shoes and began to move them towards the bed until he fell back onto it, causing her to land on top of him.

"What happened to being friends?" He asked in between kisses.

"This is you being supportive." She told him.

He laughed and expertly rolled them over so that he was on top and began to kiss her neck. She sighed contently and wove her fingers into his hair. In the meantime, Alex was concentrating on removing her sweater, a task which was proving to be quite difficult since she didn't seem to want to let go of him. She finally let go and he pulled the sweater over her head, leaving her in a black lacy bra and jeans, the latter of which he unbuttoned and slid down her long legs to reveal panties that matched the bra.

He paused to admire her beauty. Her chest was heaving and she was looking up at him, questioningly.

"Karev?" He chose to silence her with a kiss that started off slow, but soon became heated and passionate.

That was the moment that Alex's pager decided to go off.

Alex swore loudly and collapsed next to her on the bed. He glanced at his pager and groaned.

"You have to go," Addison said. It wasn't a question. He simply nodded and leaned over to give her a last quick kiss before he got up.

He picked up his jacket off the ground and turned to face her. She was pulling her sweater back on as she got off the bed. She gave him a shy smile.

"I should go, but I'll see you tomorrow." He said it almost as a question, not completely sure what she was thinking. She nodded and he turned to leave.

"Karev?" He turned back around and she gave him a last gentle kiss. "You seriously owe me after leaving me after all that."

He gave her a grin. "I promise, next time we're both off. Okay?"

"Fine. Now go." She laughed giving him a slight shove towards the door. Alex left the hotel room, leaving Addison all alone. She sank back onto the bed and let out a large sigh of disappointment.

Author's Note

Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I hope that someone is actually still reading this. Obviously, there isn't a lot of Natalie stuff going on in this chapter. People wanted to see some Addison'Alex action though. I kind of wrote it in a rush so it's probably not quite up to par. The next chapters will appear a lot faster than this one did, don't worry! The title of this chapter comes from the name of a Sugarland song.

Please review!