AN: This wasn't originally planned to be the next chapter but it just came out as I was writing. I've got a lot of muse for this. The chapter title comes from the song 'If' by Beyonce. It's one of my favourite songs of hers, you should check it out.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :) LT.


entangled

..

part four

i'm tempted to pay attention

..

A loud clap of thunder echoed through the brownstone so loudly it startled Addison awake. She jumped slightly, still groggy from sleep and moved to turn over to glance out the window, only to realise that she wasn't in her bed. Instead, by the looks of it, she was in her living room, sleeping on a warm, solid chest and wrapped up in someone's arms. For a moment, she thought she'd fallen asleep with Derek the night before and snuggled back against his chest.

She breathed in deeply, trying to will herself to fall back asleep. Her brows furrowed a little when she recognised the cologne lingering on the man beneath her and just as suddenly as she'd woken up before, she woke up again. Eyes wide, she shifted a little to look up, surprised to see Mark's face; his head angled awkwardly against the back of the couch. For a moment, Addison wasn't sure what to do; a part of her wanted to lay back down and cuddle with Mark. But the more rational part of her was reminded that he was her husband's best friend and that her husband was just upstairs.

In fact, she had no doubt Derek wouldn't be happy if he saw them in the position they were in. Which was why she slowly shifted in his grasp, trying not to wriggle in his lap too much. "Mark," she whispered, wrapping one of her hands around his and pulling them from her waist. The whole situation felt like deja vu of their on call room cuddle almost a month ago and Addison had to wonder how she kept ending up cuddling with Mark Sloan.

He was sound asleep though and Addison couldn't believe the man was such a deep sleeper. Another clap of thunder, louder this time, finally seemed to make him stir. Slowly his eyes opened as he yawned, his arms flexing a little as they dropped from around her waist, a hand coming up to rub over his face tiredly. It takes him a moment, longer then Addison would have assumed, for him to realise that she was half laying across his lap and Addison had to stifle a giggle at the look of confusion on his face.

"Uh, Red? Why am I on your couch and why are you…?" he asked slowly, voice thick with sleep, that sends a shiver down Addison's spine at the tone.

"Oh!" Addison all but squeaked out awkwardly, pushing herself off the couch and quickly to her feet. "Oh, uh...we must have, you know, fallen asleep. But um," and she doesn't know why she's so flustered all of a sudden. It's just Mark. "It's late. And it's storming. You can sleep in the guest room if you want?" she offered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at him.

Mark shifts until he's sitting up, his knee brushing up against her own as he stared up at her. For a moment, Addison isn't sure what to think as they stare at each other and she hopes the room is dark enough that he can't see the blush rising on her cheeks. And then he's nodding and Addison takes a measured step away, smoothing a hand down the silk dress she hadn't had the chance to change out of yet.

"Yeah, the guest room is good. Don't think I should try and venture out in that storm," Mark chuckled, voice still full of bass. He was looking out the front window then as thunder and lightning enveloped the brownstone.

Addison nodded, moving towards the front door to lock it. "No, probably not. I'd hate to be stuck out there," she murmured quietly, yawning as she turned back around to face Mark. He was by the bottom of the steps, looking at her almost expectantly. "The guest bed should be made up. And, you know where everything is," she teased, giving him a small smile to break the unusual tension in the room. She gestured back towards the kitchen as she started to move past him. "I'm just gonna get some aspirin for Derek. Goodnight Mark," Addison told him, glancing over her shoulder to give him a warm smile.

"Goodnight, Red," Mark murmured back to her before turning and heading up the stairs. Addison watched him go for a moment, feeling as if something had changed between them and wondering when it had.

..

The next morning Addison was up early; it was a Saturday and she had the day off. She knew for a fact both Mark and Derek did too; though she doubted, even with his hangover, that Derek would stick around for the day. Derek was always only a page away from disappearing and Addison knew she had her moments too but she felt like she at least tried in a way that Derek didn't. But Addison didn't want to think so negatively, not when the day had just begun and they had the chance to have a good day.

Quietly, she bypassed her still sleeping husband and made her way out of their bedroom. The door to the guest bedroom was still closed and Addison assumed that meant Mark was still asleep and she wondered how long it'd be until they both woke up. At least for the moment, she'd have a quiet morning.

Her first stop once she was downstairs was the kitchen. She turned the coffee pot on and then despite the fact she was still very much pissed off with her husband, she'd cook breakfast. She knew he'd need something to help the hangover and soak up the alcohol that had been in his system the night before. Addison's cooking skills weren't the best but the prepackaged pancakes only needed to have water added and she knew she wouldn't screw that up.

There was a stack of mostly brown, edible pancakes on the counter when someone appeared in the threshold of the kitchen. Addison was so focused on the pancakes however that she didn't notice him for a moment but when she did, she couldn't help but stare a little. Mark was shirtless, wearing only a pair of grey sweats that Addison could only assumed he'd left in the guest room at some point or another. They hung low on his hips and though she'd seen Mark shirtless countless of times by now, she couldn't help but let her eyes trace over the defined v of his abdomen.

"Good morning Addison," Mark greeted her jovially, voice gravelly with sleep, just as it had been the night before.

Addison's eyes immediately shot up from where they'd been focused, cheeks burning brightly as she realised she'd been caught checking out her husband's best friend. "Morning Mark!" she stammered out awkwardly, turning away from him quickly and focusing on the bacon sizzling in the pan. She didn't understand what was wrong with her, why she was getting so flustered by Mark.

So caught up in her thoughts, Addison barely noticed when the bacon started burning. She was startled from her thoughts when she felt Mark by her side, reaching around her to pluck the bacon strips from the pan and onto a plate. "Trying to burn the house down so early Red?" Mark teased, letting his bare chest press against her side for a moment as he put some more bacon strips on the pan.

"Sorry," Addison told him, pressing her lips together as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Got lost in thought," she admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. She didn't miss the way Mark smirked and his eyebrow rose at her words and she tried not to sigh in embarrassment. It was so obvious that he knew she'd checked him out; it was no doubt doing wonders for his ego.

"Happens to the best of us," Mark teased, winking at her before nudging her lightly out of the way. "Let me. At least I can make bacon," he continued, shaking his head at her as he took over.

Addison didn't put up much of an argument, taking the opportunity to put some space between her and Mark. She pulled out three plates and three glasses, setting their small kitchen table. Addison was trying to keep herself busy. If she let herself, she knew she'd get distracted by Mark's back; as toned and muscled as his front. His shoulders and arms flexing with each movement he made and, oh, there she was staring at him once again. Immediately, she turned away, keeping her eyes focused on the cupboards in front of her as she pulled out the maple syrup and then opened the fridge for the butter too.

She placed the items on the table, taking a moment to take a deep breath as she fiddled with the cutlery she'd laid out. Her slight flustered panic was interrupted when a second, slightly more dishevelled figure appeared in the threshold of the kitchen. Derek squinted into the kitchen, hair a mess, looking as if he was in pain and Addison wondered if he'd taken the aspirin she'd put out for him.

"Uh, Addison?" Derek called, taking a tentative step into the kitchen, his confusion clear. "Why is Mark cooking in our kitchen without a shirt on?" he asked, heading for the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water. As he opened it he looked between Addison and Mark curiously.

But instead of Addison answering, Mark turned around with a playful grin. "I'm giving her a show," Mark quipped easily, throwing a teasing wink at Addison. She turned her face away, shaking her head at his wink and his words. It probably wouldn't be good if Derek saw her blushing at a shirtless Mark.

Derek rolled his eyes, moving across the kitchen to sit at the kitchen table. "I'm sure she appreciates it," he replied sardonically. "But really-"

"There was a storm last night. Addie offered up your guest room. Honestly, Derek. Relax," Mark told him, already anticipating what Derek was trying to ask. He took the last few strips of bacon off the pan and placed them onto the plate, bringing them over to the table and putting them in the centre. "Addie made the pancakes, I was just trying to help," he told his friend, shrugging as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Fortunately, Derek's slight hangover prevented him from asking anymore questions as his stomach rumbled loudly. Addison sighed, grabbing the stack of pancakes now that Mark was out of the way and brought them over to the table before sliding into the seat right between Derek and Mark.

"Thanks honey," Derek said, grinning over at her as he grabbed a couple of pancakes.

"Yeah, thanks Red," Mark said straight after, smirking at her as he reached for one of the burnt pieces of bacon that she'd been cooking earlier.

Addison simply smiled at them, eyes flitting between them both, over the edge of the glass of orange juice she was drinking.

The three ate their breakfast in relative silence, though it wasn't awkward. They'd shared meals together for so many years it felt rather natural now; even if it had been a while since it had been the three of them. Just as they were finishing, Addison's phone buzzed, startling her. She'd forgotten she'd brought it down with her, along with her pager. Getting up she flipped it open, not surprised to see it was from Nancy; she chuckled at the message before replying. Eyes focused on her phone, she missed the frown on Derek's face as he watched her intently but Mark didn't.

"Who was that?" Derek asked suddenly, sounding a little too gruff as he looked at Addison.

"Oh, Nancy. She wanted to remind us of her birthday dinner next week," Addison told him, setting her phone back down. Nancy had wanted her to remind Derek of the birthday dinner, but Addison knew better then just to outright say that to her husband. Addison's gaze turned towards Mark then too, pointing a figure in his direction playfully. "She wants you there too. So, don't you go forgetting either," Addison told him sternly, wondering when she became responsible for Mark also.

"I'd never! Scout's honor," Mark said playfully, grinning as he held his hand up in the Scout's salute. Both Addison and Derek snorted at that.

"You were never in the scout's," Derek mumbled, shaking his head at his best friend.

"Anyway, 7pm next Saturday. Put it in your schedules," Addison insisted as she started to clean up the kitchen table.

Mark stood abruptly then, checking the time on his watch and grinning at both his friends. "Alright. Thanks for breakfast Addie and the guest room. But I better get going, got things to do today," he announced, heading slowly for the kitchen door.

"Be good Mark," Addison told him lightly, giving him a playful smile as he disappeared out the door and presumably up the stairs to get changed.

Addison was putting things away when she finally looked up at Derek, who was still sitting at the kitchen table, looking a little less peaky then he had when he'd appeared. No doubt the food had helped and he didn't seem to be in a rush to go anywhere, which surprised Addison. Her anger over the night before had slowly dissipated and she was hoping they could have a good Saturday instead.

"So, I was thinking maybe this afternoon we could go shopping? For Nancy's birthday gift," Addison suggested lightly, hopefully, depositing the pans into the sink. She'd get to them later.

She frowned however when she saw the grimace on Derek's face however.

"Actually, Addie, I was going to go check in on a patient this afternoon. I did their surgery-"

"Derek, you're hungover. Can't that wait till your shift tomorrow? Aren't there residents that can handle it?" Addison asked, interrupting him, trying her hardest to keep her voice level. She didn't want to have a whole argument about it but she didn't understand why he couldn't even take a day off. Unless it was her he didn't want to be around. "Or is it just me you don't want to spend time with?" she snapped, knowing it was irrational but unable to help herself. It made perfect sense in her mind, after all, it was clear he avoided coming home to her; so it had to be her that was the problem.

"God, Addison, that's not what I said!" Derek snapped back at her, the both of them forgetting that Mark was still in their home. "I'm just trying to do my job. You know what that's like. And maybe if you didn't act like such a bitch, I would come home more," Derek hissed, glaring at her. They'd been having such a good morning and then she'd had to go a ruin it.

"Oh, fuck you Derek," Addison spat, the empty glass that had been in her hand, shattering against the tile of the kitchen floor angrily.

Addison turned instantly, heading out of the kitchen; snatching up her phone, pager and keys as she did so. She was fuming as she stormed out, angry at Derek for ruining what had been a rather nice morning. The name-calling in their arguments were a fairly recent development and though she'd asked him not to do it, he had continued to do so.

She was slipping on her shoes by the front door when Mark came ambling down the stairs, grinning happily. Clearly their fight hadn't carried up to the second level of their home. She was thankful for that at least, Mark was already overly involved in their relationship at times.

"Everything okay Red?" he asked, seeing the tense set of her shoulders and the anger clear on her face.

"Do you have actual plans for the day?" Addison asked, completely ignoring his question as she stood up straight, eyes locking with his.

Mark shrugged, shaking his head. "Nah."

"Want to show me the batting cages?" she asked then, wanting to get some of her aggression out in a way that didn't have her throwing shoes or smashing glasses.

Mark frowned, glancing back towards the kitchen, where he could hear Derek moving around cautiously. "Sure. Is everything okay?" He asked once again, as Addison pulled the front door open, waiting for him to exit.

"Just fine. I'll buy you lunch," Addison told him, changing the subject as he stepped out. Addison followed him then, slamming the door shut behind her. The moment they descended the steps, she felt as if she could breathe.

"Alright, Addie. I'm letting you kidnap me for the day. What's going on?" Mark asked, as they started walking in the direction of his apartment. He needed a change of clothes.

Addison shook her head, sighing as she glanced over at the man. "I just...I needed to get out for the day. And really, if you do have plans already, you don't have to keep me company Mark," Addison told him softly.

Mark shook his head though, able to read between the lines of what she'd said. He slung an arm casually over her shoulders, pulling her into his side as he spoke. "Nah, no other plans. I promise, Red, I wouldn't want to spend the day with anyone else," he told her sincerely. Addison and Mark simply smiled at each other as they walked.