Ella could hear her parents screaming at one another from her room. She had been asked to go upstairs, which usually meant that a fight was in the works. This time was no exception. Despite that fact that she was no where near them she could still hear them yelling and that was not a good sign.

Over the last few months Ella had grown accustom to the arguing. She knew that her parents marriage was not as flawless as it once had been. She could tell that they were slowly but steadily slipping apart. It was one of those things that would be hard to miss. That didn't mean she understood what was going on.

The thirteen year old threw some things into her backpack and slipped out of the front door unnoticed. No one noticed she was gone until hours later when Addison went to check if she had fallen asleep. She walked into the room only to discover that is was empty. "Derek..." she began as calmly as possible.

"What?!" he yelled back harshly from the living room, assuming that she had just come up with another topic of argument.

"Ella isn't here." she answered, standing halfway down the stairs. "She's not in her room, I went to check on her and she wasn't in there. She's not in the bathroom...she's not here."

Derek got up from the couch and went over to the bottom of the stair case to look directly at her. She descended further one step at a time because she was so lost in concern and fear that she could move any faster. "You call the police and I call Mark or vice versa?" he asked.

"She won't be with Mark. And the police won't do anything until she's been missing for 24 hours." Addison replied numbly. "Where would she go? Why would she leave?"

"She's a teenage girl, Ads. You know how complicated and messed up teenage girls are." Derek answered. "Beside, you raised her. It's only logical that she be a little over dramatic."

"I'm not over dramatic." she yelled. She drew in a deep breath and then calmly told him, "You know what, nevermind. I'll take care of this." she grabbed her purse from the coat closet and put on a jacket before walking out the door. A few seconds later he heard her car pull out of the driveway. He was still standing there trying to process what was going on.

Two hours later she walked in through the door of their beach house in the Hamptons. She walked toward the sliding back door and saw Ella sitting on the deck. Ella turned around, obviously startled by the unexpected presence. She didn't say anything, just looked back at the water and exhaled.

"How did you get here?" Addison asked, walking over to the edge of the deck to sit beside her daughter. She pulled off her Loubitans and dropped her perfectly pedicured toes into the power like white sand. They used to spend almost every weekend at the Hamptons, but in the more recent months that had died down.

"Taxi."

"Two hour taxi ride." Addison affirmed. "Didn't the meter break when it couldn't go any higher?"

"It was like... 130 bucks or something." Ella answered. "Beside, I would spend like 50 times more if it got me away from Manhattan."

Addison nodded understandingly. "That's why I love this place. I love that its calm and quiet. There is no city rush, there is no pressure or problems. It's the perfect place to get away from everything. That's why I knew you'd be here. You and I think a little too much alike."

Ella smiled and turned to the woman sitting beside her. She dropped her head on her mother's shoulder and dung her feet deep into the sand. "You noticed I was gone." she stated simply.

"I did." she answered. "And you're crazy to believe that I wouldn't. My only question is, why? Why would you just take off on a whim?"

Ella shrugged her shoulders. "I hate when you and Dad fight. And all you do is fight. You used to get along really well, you were this perfect couple that understood one another without trying. And now you can't understand one another if your lives depended on it. I'm tired of hearing screaming and yelling. I had to get away."

"I'm sorry." Addison quickly said. "I know that that's the worst feeling the world for a child. My parents used to do it, too. Send me and my brother to our rooms and argue as if she can't hear them. And you've seen my parents house...it's like a castle. They screamed loud for people at the very edge of the property to hear them. I always promised myself that I would never do that to my kids...and I did. I'm sorry."

"If you guys get divorced what happens to me?" Ella asked, looking into her mother's eyes with curiosity and pain.

"Ella, we're not getting divorced. We're far from divorce. We argue, it's rough patch, it'll pass. Don't worry about the condition of our marriage and don't let it effect your happiness." Addison answered. "You wanna spend the night here?"

"Tomorrow is Wednesday. I have school, you've got work." Ella reminded her.

"So? I can miss work for one day, it's not big deal. And you can miss school, I'm sure you won't miss out of too much. It'll be fun. We can order a movie on demand and stay up late. We can sleep in tomorrow morning, wake up and order Chinese for breakfast...which won't be breakfast because it'll be at like noon... And we'll head home at night..."

"Like a mini vacation." Ella smiled brightly. "Or a mother/daughter weekend...minus the 'end'."

"Exactly." Addison returned the smiled. "Just you and me doing anything that comes to mind... which shouldn't be a hassle considering that think the same thing at the same time."


Six Months had come and gone. Addison and Derek sat on separate sides of the courtroom beside their attorneys. The therapist had just give her final statement to the judge and they were waiting to here the final decision. Addison was sitting quietly looking down at the rings on her finger, wondering if she was actually ready to take them off. Derek was staring at the judge on the stand, awaiting to hear the words that had to potential to change his life.

"I'm sorry, I can't finalize this divorce." the woman in the black robe declared. "This is the most unprofessional thing I have ever done but I'm a hopeless romantic. And I don't believe that you two understand what you're asking for. Your therapist agrees with me. I'm willing to offer legal separation but the divorce is not happening."

"Your honor..." Addison's lawyer stood up ready to go into attack mode.

"No arguments." the woman pounded her gavel. "Unless your client would like another six month trail period."

A few minutes later Derek walked out of the room with Addison quick to follow. He held the door open for her as they walked out of the courthouse toward the parking lot. "So?" he asked, knowing she had parked on the opposite side of the lot from him. "You wanna go out to grab dinner one last time?" he asked.

Addison smiled, not wanting to be a complete bitch but there was no kind way to put it. "Actually, Derek, I can't." she answered. "I have a fligh to catch and a few things to do before. I have to get my things from your trailer."

"A flight." Derek repeated, more in a questioning manner than anything else. "You're leaving, you already have a ticket?"

"Yeah, I uh..got it a week ago. I figured that I'd have it just incase. Good to know I didn't waste 300 bucks."

"Where are you going?" he asked. "Not to New York..cause 300 bucks from Seattle to New York is like...coach. And you don't do coach."

"LA." Addison answered. "And it's only a two hour fligh so they don't even offer first class."

"Oh." he replied, looking down at the ground hesitantly. His pager went off and caught him off guard, causing him to jump slightly. "It's the ER."

"Duty Calls." she replied, giving him a small smile. "I didn't think this would be this awkward." she admitted.

"Yeah, neither did I." he answered. "I guess this is it."

"Yeah, it is." she easily slipped the rings off her finger and held it out to him. He took them from her and dropped them in his pocket. She cleared her throat to keep her voice from breaking. "Thank you for everything, Derek. I'm sure putting up with me for...14 years hasn't been easy."

"The most amazing 14 years of my life. Could have ended better but still..." he answered. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. "No matter what, I love you. Even if you don't believe me."


Stepping back in the trailer must have been the hardest thing she had ever done. She knew that Derek was at work, most likely in surgery based on the fact that he kept getting paged over and over. But Ella was home, lying on the bed covered with a think blanket and watching TV. Addison wasn't prepared for that, she didn't know what to say or how to react.

"I didn't think you'd be here." Addison admitted. "I thought you'd be out with your friends or something like that..."

Ella took her eyes away from the TV for a second. "I don't feel like going out. I don't feel well, been throwing up all day. And I feel cold every time I get out of bed. I'd take Tylenol because..."

Addison cut her off. "Can't swallow the pills with a sore throat and the liquid kind makes you sick." she finished for her. "I know, I remember." she smiled. Usually, she'd check to see if she had a fever with the classic motherly hand on forehead method but this time she didn't move.

"You okay? You're acting weird."

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you this but your father and I legally separated. I'm here to get my stuff, I'll be gone in a few minutes so you can get back to what you were doing."

"You're really leaving?" Ella asked, "Where are you going? Does Dad know?"

"Yes, he doesn't know. I'm going to Los Angeles. My flight leaves in two hours and I still have to turn my car into the leasing company and take a taxi to the airport." Addison answered, taking the one suitcase that contained all her stuff.

"Mom, please." the word slipped, she was too caught up in her desperate plea to remember not to say it. "I'm sorry... I meant Addison."

"Ella, don't make this any harder than it is." she begged, knowing that she was going to break down on the plane as it is.

"Will I ever see you again?" Ella asked innocently.

"I'm not sure. Maybe not." Addison answered. She finally gave into the moment and walked around the bed to the side that Ella was on. She placed her palm over her forehead for a second before pulling away. "Your fever is getting higher than it was when I got here. Your cheeks started turning red, that was never a good sign with you."

Ella wrapped her arms around Addison's waist and held on tightly. In turn Addison gently rubbed the teen's back to soothe her. "I know this doesn't change anything but I want you to know that I love you." Ella whispered. "Even if you're not my real mom, you're the best mother anyone could ever have and I love you."

Addison's eyes filled with tears. It was almost enough to give her reason to stay but almost is the operative word. "I..." she hesitated, not being able to bring herself to return the sentiment. "I have to go." she said instead and pulled out of the embrace to walk out the door and close this chapter of her life.


I'll give you a hint...the flashbacks are starting to tie in together. Try to guess what's going to happen. Curious to know if my writing is becoming perdictable or not.
I've been wanting to ask: Are the updates too frequent to the point that you get bored of the story? If so, let me know so I can space out chapters.
And like every writer tells you at the end of every chapter/story...Review.