Author's Note: Right, I've set myself a little (quite possibly completely unachievable) target: I'd really like to get this story finished before Christmas. In return (oh yes, you never get something for nothing!) I'd absolutely love it to reach 200 reviews, so you know where that little button is folks. As always, thank you for all the reviews you have given this story thus far, it's great to hear that you've enjoyed it. I'm really not sure about this chapter, but I always find that the easiest way to get past writers' block is to force yourself to write through it. I'm afraid the results tend to be a little unpretty, but I hope you will bear with me. I already have the next chapter in my head, so I hope that will be better.

Disclaimer: As before

It was nearly half past twelve when Alex's cab drew up outside the hotel and he stepped out into the freezing night. The air was so cold he could see the cloud of his breath hanging in front of him, and he paid the driver quickly and hurried up the steps two at a time.

'Alex.' A voice cut through the night from a shadow that was lurking on the far side of the door.

He looked around and saw a familiar silhouette step out into the light that was shining through the glass doors from the foyer. 'Steve, what the Hell are you doing out here? It's freezing.'

'Waiting for Tina to pick me up. She's been to see her sister tonight and virtually has to pass by here on the way home,' he explained.

'Yeah, but it's cold dude. What's wrong with the foyer?'

'It was a long shift, I felt like some fresh air.'

'Fresh? This is in a whole different league.' Alex crossed his arms and shifted from foot to foot in an effort to keep his circulation going; he could practically feel the ice crystals forming in his veins. 'Busy night then, was it?' he said conversationally.

'Big group of salesmen in town for a conference. All showing off of course – if I had one fifty pound note waved in my face, I had a hundred of them, but at least the takings were good. You're back late,' he added pointedly.

'I was at Addison's.'

'Well, I guessed that much. What happened? You've got an inane grin on your face, you know. And lipstick.'

Alex sighed, and felt his face stretch into an even wider smile. He wondered if it would ever go back to normal, but decided if it didn't, that would be okay. He wanted this feeling forever. 'I was going to tell you tomorrow, but I guess there's no harm in doing it now. I'm leaving in the morning, moving out of the hotel. Addison asked me –'

He was cut off by Steve clapping him on the back so hard that it knocked the rest of the sentence out of him. 'Dude, you're moving in together? You and Addison are moving in together?'

'Yeah.'

'That's amazing news.'

'Yeah, I reckon so. Man, I can't believe it's actually happening.' He shook his head a little, as if he still couldn't quite comprehend it. 'I always expected it to be good you know, but never this natural. I mean, it's only been a couple of weeks, but it feels like the right thing to do.'

'Of course it does,' Steve said simply. 'Sometimes you just know.'

'Is that what it was like with Tina?'

Steve laughed. 'Definitely not. We were married for a year and divorced for two before I realised I was in love with her. She had moved to England by then, and I came after her.' Alex looked at him incredulously. 'Honestly. But what I'm saying is that love isn't some fairy story, it's much more real than that. It's better than that.'

'I kinda wish I'd realised that years ago.'

'Nah, you don't. It's better when you have to wait for it. And besides, you can't possibly possess that much wisdom until you're in your thirties.'

Just then, a silver Mini Cooper pulled up in the empty taxi rank at the foot of the steps and the window rolled down. 'Hey guys, what are you doing out here?'

'Tough guy here wanted to freeze his balls off.' Alex indicated to Steve, who was already bounding down the steps to jump into the warm car.

'Crazy, the pair of you,' Tina replied dryly.

'Alex has some big news,' Steve interrupted, and immediately Tina's eyes lit up with interest.

'Ooh, what?'

Alex made a pretence of rolling his eyes and sighing resignedly; in truth, he felt a little buzz of excitement at sharing it with people. He wondered, briefly, if that might mean it was time to tell everyone back in Seattle, but he thought it might be best to get tomorrow out of the way first.

'I'm moving in with Addison.'

Tina flashed him a huge smile and immediately began gushing. 'Congratulations Alex, that's wonderful news, I'm really happy for you both. When did you decide this?'

'This evening.'

'And they're not hanging about either,' Steve interjected gleefully. 'He's leaving the grandiose opulence of the Thames House Hotel for Addison's significantly greater charms in the morning.'

'The morning? Well, you'll be needing a hand, won't you?' Tina had a mother hen glint in her eye not dissimilar to Izzie's when she'd dragged him suit shopping before his interview over here. Hell, that seemed like a long time ago now.

'Thanks Tina, but really, it's fine, I don't have a lot of stuff. Just a couple of cases and a few suit bags.'

'Nonsense. You can't take suitcases on the underground, at least let us drive you.'

Alex looked sceptically at the small car, and raised an eyebrow. 'What, you got a secret compartment in that thing? A roof rack maybe, or perhaps a little trailer to pull along behind?'

'Don't be rude,' Tina gave him a stern look. What time are you checking out?'

'I'm not sure, whenever I'm ready I guess,' he shrugged.

'We'll pick you up at ten.'

Once they'd sped off, Alex hurried inside and up to his room. He flicked the light on, and hung his jacket up on the back of the door. He followed that by slipping his tie off, already helpfully loosened by Addison earlier, and took his cufflinks out, rolling his sleeves up a little.

When he was done, he sank down onto the bed and just sat there for a minute, trying to take the evening in. He was moving in with Addison. He and Addison were… well, it was real, it was actually happening, and, God willing, it was going to be for good. And that felt good.

The closest way he could describe it to himself, he thought, was that his heart felt full, overflowing. He could actually feel it beating, like it was going to burst out of his chest. He'd never felt as alive, not even in the OR with a scalpel in his hand, than he had with Addison tonight. And he couldn't really get his head around the fact that it could be like that forever.

He knew why he was bad at relationships. He hadn't needed any expensive therapy to know what his childhood had done to him. Every rational cell in his brain knew that he wasn't worthless or a waste of space, but if you tell a kid that enough times, they will believe it, and unless they're incredibly strong, which he wasn't, or incredibly lucky, which he thought he just might be, and meet someone with the ability to show them otherwise, they will carry on believing it for the rest of their lives.

Addison was that person for him. He guessed he should have known. He'd hated her at first, not because she'd breezed back into town and stolen away Derek from Meredith like the others did, but because she got under his skin. Trapped him in gynae and tortured him. All those nameless, faceless girls before her he had been utterly indifferent to, except perhaps Izzie, and indifference was one thing he'd never felt about Addison.

And he didn't know when he'd stopped hating her either, or when a few lust filled looks began to alert him to the fact that it might not just be lust that he was feeling. Although that kiss in Joe's had been a pointer for him – he'd never kissed, or been kissed, with such emotion before then.

He also didn't know when that sulky, traumatised fifteen year old kicked in and told him that a woman as amazing as Addison deserved a hell of a lot better than his sorry ass.

He did remember though, when he'd first seen the advert for the London job, how right it sounded, how convinced he was that going to London was going to be the answer for him. He'd thought it would make him feel alive again. He had never dared to hope it might bring him back to her.

He looked around the room. He'd been messy when he was younger but it had worn off as he'd grown older and it was spotlessly tidy now. It would take him about fifteen minutes to pack, if that, and he decided it could wait until the morning.

Before he went to bed though, there was one thing he wanted to do first. It was corny, he knew, and not very Karev-like at all, but he flicked open his phone and sent Addison a quick text.

'Good night, love you.'