AN: So, I wasn't going to post this but I've got a couple chapters written and I'm struggling with the next chapter of Kill Your Darlings, so I thought I may as well post this. The title comes from the song 'All The Things (Your Man Won't Do)' by Joe. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and please review. :) LT.


entangled

..

part two

i'll do them for you

..

Mark was having an excellent day. He'd performed two surgeries and he'd woken up with a cute little blonde in his bed. Over all his morning had been going great and as he made his way through the hospital, he decided he was going to take Addison to a late lunch. He'd checked the surgical board earlier and knew that both she and Derek were busy with surgeries; Derek more so then Addison. He chose to ignore the fact that he'd looked for Addison's name before Derek's.

He knew Addison's surgery would be finished by now but striding through the surgical floor he frowned when he couldn't spot the pink scrubs he'd associated her with. He was just about to give up, lean across the nurses station and flirt a little with Nurse Jenny when he spotted a familiar redhead in the pink scrubs he'd been searching for. Mark frowned though as he took in the tense set of her shoulders and the troubled look on her face.

Her head was down, hands fisted on her hips and her scrub cap still curled tightly in one. Mark didn't need to be a genius to realise that her surgery hadn't gone well. In fact, judging by the direction she'd come from, he had a sinking feeling she'd just come from telling a family member bad news.

"Addie?" He called out gently, coming to stop just beside her. He saw her tense as she heard her name before lifting her head to meet his gaze. Her lips were pressed together tightly and her eyes were watering but Mark could tell she was trying to keep it together. He went to pat her shoulder but she quickly shook her head; he recognised this for what it was. If he touched her, comforted her now, she would break down on the surgical floor and he knew she'd view that as a crime.

So, instead he tugged at a wrist quickly, nodding his head for her to follow. "Come on," he whispered to her, leading the way to the closest on call room. He didn't care how it might look because Addison was his friend and right now she needed someone.

Her head is still bowed as she enters and Mark closes the door behind them. He leans back against it, giving Addison some space. "What happened Red?" He asked gently, brows furrowed with concern.

Addison takes a deep breath and slowly releases the air, lifting her head. "I lost...both patients today. Mother died on the table and the...the baby," the words trembled on her lips as she spoke, tears wetting her cheeks. "I tried. I tried to keep him alive. I tried so hard but," she sobbed, the tears overtaking her.

Mark took two long steps forward and engulfed her in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and securely, pulling her against his chest. A large warm hand strokes up and down her back as he soothes her; not sure if he should say anything at all.

Addison was tense as he pulled her close and held her but only for a moment. Eventually the need for comfort overtook her and she was slipping her arms around his torso, sobbing into his shoulder. She clung to him tightly, her hands fisting into his scrub top as she all but pressed herself into him.

Mark wasn't sure how much time had passed but eventually her sobs quietened and her body relaxed. Mark continued holding her for a few minutes though before slowly pulling back to look her in the eye. Her face was red and tears stained her cheeks but he used the back of his fingers to wipe them away gently. She looked exhausted and sad.

"You got a surgery or appointment soon?" he asked quietly, ducking his head a little to catch her eyes.

Addison shook her head. "No," she murmured, looking up at him sadly, her arms still wrapped around him.

"Alright. Come on," he murmured, taking one of her hands in his and pulling her towards the bottom bed of one of the bunks.

"What are you-?" Addison said, brows creasing as she looked at him in confusion, letting her body follow him though as he lead her.

"We're gonna lay down till you calm down a little. Okay?" Mark told her softly, sitting himself down on the bed and pulling her down with him. He grinned then, his infamous smirk. "And I promise no funny business," he teased, hoping to get a little smile out of her.

Addison sighed but sat down, shaking her head in amusement at her friend. "Okay," she whispered, letting him pull her down into a laying position. He shifted so he was against the wall, very aware of the fact that only their arms were touching now. It was awkward and silent for a moment.

"Mark?" Addison asked softly, turning her head to look at her friend. Her teeth worried at her bottom lip as she thought how best to ask him what she wanted to ask him. "Can you...hold me?" she murmured out into the dark room. She wondered what Derek would think about this, her and Mark sharing a bed, her asking him to hold her. She had a feeling he wouldn't be too happy but as Mark opened his arms to her and let her cuddle against his chest, she found that she didn't care. She needed comfort and Mark was willing to give it.

Mark settled on his back, letting Addison move into the position she wanted. He didn't want to force anything on her and frankly, he wasn't sure what would be appropriate or not. He smiled though when she slid an arm over his stomach and rested her head against his chest. "Thank you Mark," he heard her whisper and he couldn't help but smile.

They settled into a tense silence, one of Mark's arms wrapped around her body and slowly rubbing up and down her back. His other hand was firmly alongside his own body - unsure whether he could touch her more. He cursed himself for wanting to do nothing more than wrap her up in a hug and soothe her. But...the position they were in was already a little compromising. He couldn't help being overtly aware of every movement and body placement they were making.

It was nothing though. They weren't doing anything wrong. He was simply one friend helping another friend feel better. There was nothing untoward happening.

He had to keep reminding himself of this as he felt Addison shift against him, pressing into him more. He tried not to focus on the feel of her breast against his chest; or her hair that fluttered against his chin. He absolutely was not going to think about the way she could so easily press against his hip and tangle her legs with his. No, he wasn't going to think about any of that.

Some time later, Addison awoke with a start, rubbing a hand blearily over her face. A pager was buzzing against her hip and as she shifted to reach for it, she realised there were two strong arms keeping her put. Pulling back a little, she let her eyes adjust and smiled softly as she figured out whose broad chest she'd been sleeping on.

Mark looked surprisingly peaceful in repose and Addison hated the thought of waking him. But she needed to. She used her free hand to shake at his opposite shoulder. "Mark, wake up," she insisted, surprised he hadn't woken with the pager as she had. Then again she had a lot more experience being paged during her sleep then he did.

He murmured a little but stayed asleep. She slapped at his chest harder then, biting back a smirk as he jerked awake. "Mark!" She whispered loudly, as he finally opened his eyes. "Let go," she continued hurriedly as he blearily looked up at her.

He looked confused until she gestured to his arms tight around her body. "Shit. Sorry Red," he mumbled as he let go of her, shifting away from her on the bed. If Addison didn't know any better she'd think he was starting to blush.

"It's fine. I got paged," she said sitting up on the bed now as she checked her pager. She frowned a little as she stood up. "A laboring mother," she said by way of explanation. "I better go," she said, giving Mark a small but sincere smile.

"Course, Red," Mark nodded, grinning at her as he shifted to the edge of the bed and stood. He could see her hesitance though as she headed for the door. "Hey, you're a kickass surgeon and a brilliant doctor. You've got this Addie," he encouraged, giving her his widest smile.

He kept grinning at her nod and chuckle. "Thanks Mark," she replied over her shoulder as she made her way out of the on call room. Mark stayed for a moment longer, simply basking in the fact he'd managed to help her in some small way. Exiting the on call room, he could no longer deny that he liked helping Addison feel good.

..

It had been a bad day for Addison. She'd been upset and nervous and doubting her world-class surgical abilities. It was natural, she knew, after losing patients to question yourself. And though her impromptu on call room cuddle with Mark had helped; she was hoping to have a quiet, comforting night with her husband.

"Derek," Addison started as they both settled themselves down on the sofa in their living room, her eyes on his pager that he'd popped by a coaster on the coffee table. "This is your night off isn't it? I thought Hardwick was on call tonight," she questioned tightly, a frown on her features as she looked at her husband. Dr. Ryan Hardwick was the other neuro attending and though Addison knew Derek was as world class as she was; it wasn't like Hardwick couldn't handle any neuro cases that came in overnight.

She hated that just the sight of Derek's pager sent a coil of tension winding in her stomach.

Derek sighed though, at her words, and chose instead to focus on the dinner in front of him. He didn't want to fight with Addison but he could tell by the tone of her voice that that probably wasn't an option. He set his glance of water down on the available coaster, he knew the longer he took to answer, the more annoyed she would get.

"He is. But there could still be an emergency. You know what it's like, Addie," he said, his own annoyance seeped into his voice. And he was annoyed, this was an argument they seemed to be having a lot lately. "Besides," he huffed, pointing to her own pager on the end table beside her, "it's not like yours isn't right beside you."

Addison's jaw tensed at her husband's words. "That's because I'm actually on call, Derek. And I have patients that can go into labor at any time," she replied through gritted teeth.

This was not how she'd wanted their night to go. She wanted to relax and feel comforted. Not argue over the same old stupid thing they always argued about.

"So your patients are more important than mine?" Derek challenged, turning in his seat to face her. He knew he shouldn't pick a fight with her because that's not at all what she meant. But he can't seem to help himself - as annoyed as she gets with him, he kept finding himself just as annoyed with her. If he gave it more thought, he'd realise that wasn't a good sign.

Addison looked at him incredulously, brows furrowed tightly. "That's not what I said. But my patients are a little more unpredictable than yours. Babies don't follow a schedule," Addison hissed, her momentary thought of not engaging with the argument swiftly forgotten.

Derek scoffed. "Neither do other medical emergencies, Addison," he drawled, voice full of condescension.

Addison shook her head and wished for a large glass of wine. She said nothing, barely able to look at her husband as she stood up abruptly and then made her way towards the kitchen. She didn't want to have this fight, not now and not again. She dumped her dinner and on the way back, snatched up her pager as she headed for the stairs.

"I'm going to bed. Do whatever you want Derek," she told him tiredly, not even looking in his direction.

It didn't take her long to get upstairs and into bed. Addison snuggled into her pillow, gripping tightly seeking the comfort she had wanted from her husband. The only discussion they'd had that night had been about dinner and Addison couldn't help but think it was a sad state for her marriage to be in. They couldn't even talk to each other any more.

She was surprised from her pouting when she felt the bed dip behind her. She didn't turn over though. Instead she stayed cuddling her pillow and tried to ignore Derek's arm snaking around her body.

"I didn't mean to get all...huffy on you Addie. It's just been a long week and I'm worried about a patient, you know how it is sometimes. But I don't want to argue. We okay?" Derek murmured against the back of her neck. He planted a kiss against the bare skin of her shoulder and Addison resisted the urge to cringe.

It felt like everything was always about Derek. He'd had a long week. He was worried about a patient. He had an important surgery. He didn't want to argue. It startled Addison to realise that she couldn't even remember the last time Derek had asked her about her work. She couldn't help but wonder when he'd stopped being interested in her.

"Yeah," she murmured in response, nodding her head a little. She didn't know what else to say; how she could articulate to him what it was she was feeling. Instead she just let him spoon her, fleetingly wishing it was someone else's arms around her.