AN: This chapter is significantly longer then my others, so I hope that makes up for the long wait. It got so long that I contemplated dividing the chapter into two but there just wasn't any cut off point that felt natural to make it into two chapters. So, there's this long monstrosity instead. Also, the vibe of this chapter is just messy - things are starting to get messy. Including my original 10 chapter outline, so I'm thinking this first part will be about 14/15 chapters overall.
On another note, I haven't forgotten about (Don't) Kill Your Darlings. I am working on the next chapter but I'm having some trouble with it. The next chapter is meant to be a transitional, set up chapter for the rest of the story and I just do not like how it's coming out. There's been a lot of revision and rewriting happening for that chapter but I promise it is coming.
I had three different titles in mind for this chapter all from the same song and I ended up combining two of them. So, the chapter title comes from the song Fruit by ABRA. It's one of my favourite songs and y'all should check it out. I hope you enjoy and please review. :) LT.
entangled
..
part six
staring at me all the way from across the room
and you deny yourself
..
The past week in the Shepherd household had passed in mostly tense silences and Derek wasn't sure what to do about it. Their argument from the Saturday before had apparently put a strain on their relationship which surprised Derek because while it had been bad, it certainly wasn't the worst argument they'd ever had. He'd wanted to try and fix things but it had disheartened him to realise that Addison was seemingly taking a page out of his book and had been avoiding coming home for the week.
It was Saturday now though and they had Nancy's birthday dinner to go to. Derek had made sure to get the night off, although he'd still have his pager on him. It was like an extra limb at this point and Derek wasn't sure of the last time he'd gone somewhere without it.
Making his way into their bedroom, Derek wasn't surprised to find Addison getting ready in their attached bathroom, swiping mascara delicately onto her lashes. Despite the tension between them at the moment he couldn't deny that his wife was beautiful. She was in a black dress, no doubt designer, that cinched at the waist and showed a pleasingly suggestive amount of cleavage. Her hair had been flat ironed straight instead of the usual curls she'd been wearing lately. As she did her make up, Derek wasn't surprised to see the almost empty glass of wine beside her on the counter and silently hoped the wine had loosened her up a little.
"You look beautiful Ads," Derek told her softly, as he leant against the threshold of the bathroom. His heart sank a little as he saw the surprise on Addison's face reflected back to him from the mirror. He watched as she turned slowly, a shy smile on her features as she looked at him and it concerned Derek a little to realise that he couldn't quite read Addison anymore.
"You think so?" Addison asked softly, a hand coming up to tuck a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.
Derek nodded, smiling as he took a step forward into the bathroom. "Absolutely," he told her, settling a hand on her waist and leaning in to give her a quick kiss to her cheek. He pulled back then, giving her a warm smile. "I'm just going to change my shirt. Okay?" he said, moving out of the bathroom as he began unbuttoning the dress shirt he'd worn to work. He'd showered at the hospital but knew it'd be better to get dressed for Nancy's dinner at home.
Ten minutes later and they were both ready to leave. "Can you grab Nancy's present please Derek?" Addison called to him, pointing towards the small gift bag set on the end table, as she slipped on her heels. "I signed your name on the card, don't worry," Addison told him lightly. When she'd written it, she'd thought about being petty and simply signing her own name, after all Derek hadn't helped her pick out the gift at all. But Nancy was Derek's sister and she couldn't quite bring herself to advertise just how bad their relationship had gotten lately; leaving his name off the card would've been sure to raise a few eyebrows and Addison didn't want that kind of attention from the Shepherd sisters.
"Thank you," Derek said, picking up the gift bag, knowing that if it had been left up to him, he'd have no doubt forgotten to even get his sister a gift.
And then they were out the door and into a taxi, sitting on opposite sides of the backseat. The taxi ride was quiet as they made their way through Manhattan towards the restaurant that had been booked for Nancy's dinner. It was quiet and tense and again, Derek was unsure how to break the silence and engage his wife in some kind of conversation. In fact, Derek was realising that he didn't know how to reach out and engage his wife anymore and worst of all, he wasn't quite sure he knew what to do about it. Or whether he wanted to do anything about it at all.
Glancing over at Addison, Derek frowned. She was holding herself in her own space, making herself small, turning away from him. Besides giving the restaurant name and address, she hadn't said a word since they'd gotten into the cab and Derek wanted to talk to his wife but he was lost for words. A part of him feared that she'd brush him off and reject him; while the other part tried to ignore the fact that he couldn't find anything to talk to his wife about.
Finally, the taxi pulled up a little ways down from the restaurant and Derek had never been more glad to get out of a taxi and into the night air of New York City. He paid the driver and then slipped out of his door, holding it open so Addison could follow him out. He held his hand out, to help her out of the taxi and tried not to huff in annoyance when she deliberately didn't take his hand, stepping easily onto the sidewalk by herself instead.
Derek sighed when he realised that the heels Addison was wearing put her a few inches taller then him. He tried not to get annoyed by it but he also knew that it was one of her passive aggressive tactics. Still he put on a smile, reaching for her hand as they walked the short distance down the sidewalk towards the restaurant. He hid a grimace when his hand met air, Addison having shifted the gift bag into the hand he was reaching for. It annoyed him that she was being so passive aggressive, he wanted to have a good night with his family.
As soon as he spotted Nancy, Kathleen and their husband's though, Derek grinned wider. As much as he complained about his sisters, he did love them and he missed them, it had been a while since he'd seen them. He took a quick glance at Addison beside him, noting that she was grinning delightedly, in a way he hadn't seen in a long while. He wondered when it had become harder for him to tell the fake smiles from the genuine ones.
"Nancy! Happy Birthday," Derek greeted, once they were close enough and his sisters had finally spotted them. He stepped in, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before moving back and doing the same with Kathleen. He could see Addison doing the same with his sisters out of the corner of his eye as he greeted his brother's in law. "Who else are we waiting on?" Derek asked curiously, as he stepped back and the group stood in a sort of circle, huddled together in the front of the restaurant.
"Mom, Lizzie and James. And a few others. Amy wasn't able to make it," Nancy answered with a smile, looking around them to see if she could spot anyone else that was supposed to be coming. His sister's gaze landed on Addison then. "You did tell Mark he was invited, didn't you?" Nancy asked his wife and Derek frowned when Addison answered.
"Yes, Nance. He said he's running late but who knows if he'll actually turn up," Addison said with a slight laugh and a grin. Derek wondered when Addison had even talked to Mark in the last half an hour.
The conversation was interrupted then when his mother, sister and other brother in law finally arrived. Eventually a few of Nancy's friends got there and they decided to head in, Derek glad for the excuse to actually touch his wife, a hand on the small of her back guiding her into the restaurant. They were on the tail end of the group when Mark finally decided to show up just in time for the party to be seated, grinning charmingly at the gaggle of Shepherd women and their men.
"Happy birthday Nancy-pants," Mark teased, giving her a hug and kissing her on the cheek just as Derek had done earlier. Mark turned his attention towards Carolyn Shepherd then, doing the same with her. After he'd greeted all of Derek's sisters in the same manner and threw a few flirty winks and charming smiles at Nancy's friends, he eventually sat down across from Derek and Addison.
"What? No hello for me?" Addison asked, a smirk on her lips and an eyebrow raised as she looked at Mark. It was clear she was teasing but Mark knew that and grinned. He hadn't seen much of Addison since their day together last Saturday; which was probably a good thing because he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.
"Hello Red. You look beautiful tonight, as always," Mark told her softly, leaning forward a little across the table and giving her a soft smile that wasn't quite as charming as his usual ones.
Addison smiled genuinely at the compliment, her eyes meeting his for a moment before she reached for her glass of wine and took a healthy sip. At his simple words, it felt almost as if her cheeks were on fire and she couldn't believe how easily she was blushing in Mark's presence lately. It seemed a few simple words and a smile from Mark was enough to send her heart into a dangerous flutter.
..
Dinner went rather smooth after that, the Shepherd siblings and their partners getting livelier as the dinner progressed. Addison had indeed loosened up and by the time dinner was being served, she was chatting animatedly with Derek's sisters happily. She'd handed over the gift and Derek had watched with curiosity as Nancy opened it; it was easy to see that she quite liked the piece of jewellery and Derek was glad.
"I'm glad you like it Nancy," Addison enthused, smiling widely at the other woman. "I wasn't sure if you would or not," Addison continued, a hand around her wine glass as she brought it up to her lips. She wasn't sure how many wines she'd had so far and as Nancy stood up and came over to give her and Derek a quick hug, she realised she was very much tipsy.
"Hey! Where's my hug?" Mark asked, sounding playfully offended. He was grinning as three Shepherd's looked towards him. "I helped Addie pick it out," Mark teased, throwing a playful wink at Addison, who giggled a little, rolling her eyes.
"Did you now?" Nancy asked, grinning over at Mark, an eyebrow raised as she glanced between the pair. "Well, I guess that deserves a thank you hug too," she acquiesced, moving around the table to give Mark a quick hug. Derek however, frowned at that new piece of information; when had Mark and Addison possibly gone jewellery shopping for his sister?
He was about to ask that exact question when a pager beeped loudly around the dinner table. Several hands moved to coats and bags and Derek would have laughed at the scene, if it hadn't been his pager that had gone off. He checked it quickly and sighed.
He lifted it up sheepishly as he spoke. "It's mine," he announced to the other doctors at the table, moving a little to stand up and gather his coat. He'd only had one scotch and there was still half a steak on his plate. "A patient I operated on today. It's important," Derek told the table.
"What a surprise," Addison murmured under her breath, though Derek was close enough to hear the words. She could handle her alcohol but she'd had quite a lot of it already and it'd lowered her inhibitions somewhat, loosening her tongue. She'd never normally make a scene in public, let alone in front of their family.
"Addison…"
But she shook her head, looking up at him with a fake smile. "Just go Derek. Your patients important," she insisted, knowing that the rest of the Shepherd's and Mark were watching them now. She could already feel the blush rising to her cheeks, embarrassed by the whole thing.
Derek just looked at her for a moment before leaning in to kiss her cheek, murmuring a goodbye against her ear. Addison gave him a tight smile, reaching for her glass of wine and sipping at it to cover her grimace. She watched as Derek said a quick goodbye to his sisters and mother before leaving the restaurant.
She kept her eyes on her food, though she was nowhere near as hungry as she had been before. She felt silly for getting so annoyed about Derek having to leave and making a scene; she was a surgeon, she knew what it was like. She'd been around doctors and surgeons for her entire life, she knew what being a surgeon's wife entailed - she had just thought that being a surgeon herself would somehow ease the emotional toll it took. It did not.
"Hey, Red, you okay?" Mark asked quietly, once the attention had diverted back to others at the table. He leant forward across the table, head dipping a little to catch her eye and just barely restraining himself from reaching a hand out to touch hers in a comforting gesture.
"Yeah," Addison sighed, finally looking up from her wine glass and giving him a little smile. "I'm fine. I promise Mark," Addison insisted, seeing the slight look of disbelief on Mark's face at her words. She wondered, vaguely, when he'd become so easy to read. Or maybe, she realised, they'd just had this conversation before, many times.
She tried not to think about it as she turned her attention back to the Shepherd sisters. The dinner passed quickly and then Nancy suggested going to a bar, to keep the night going. Addison wasn't usually one to go out often but that night, she just didn't want to go home to an empty house. The men agreed and even Mark decided to tag along; so once the group had put Carolyn Shepherd, claiming she was too old for a bar, into a taxi safely home, they ventured to a bar not far from the restaurant.
It was crowded and busy and without meaning to, the group began to pair off. Mark stuck close to Addison, having noticed she'd drunk more then she'd eaten during the course of the night. She was well and truly drunk by the time they got to the bar and he didn't need the fact she'd stumbled on air a block back to confirm it for him. Mark had known the redhead since they were in med school and he knew she could hold her alcohol - so the fact she was so drunk definitely concerned him. He'd decided to stay sober for the rest of the evening. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to Addison in the state she was in.
They'd only been in the bar 15 minutes when he felt Addison lean up against him. She had a drink that looked like something stronger than wine cradled in her hand, sipping it slowly and Mark chose not to chastise her for mixing her drinks. At this point he didn't think it'd really matter what kind of alcohol she was drinking.
"I'm glad you're here Mark," Addison told him drunkenly, turning her face up to grin at him as she sipped her drink. "You're good. Want to dance?" She asked, her gaze turning outwards to where Kathleen and her husband were dancing as well as another couple Nancy knew that had come along with them.
Mark chuckled at her words as he looked down at her. "I don't know, Red. You even capable of dancing right now?" He asked lightly, grinning at her mock offended pout.
"Yes," she insisted, fluttering her eyelashes as she put her drink down and slowly stood up. Mark could tell she was concentrating hard on keeping her balance. Her hands enclosed around his own, tugging on his wrist. "Come on. I know you want to dance with me," she continued, voice lilting almost flirtatiously.
Mark sighed playfully but stood up, keeping his hand in hers as they made their way to the dance floor. Mark really wasn't one to dance often, in fact he really didn't like it all that much. But he didn't want Addison dancing on her own. He was careful to keep his hands in friendly, appropriate places as they danced, very aware that Nancy, Kathleen and Lizzie were all with them. He loved the Shepherd women like they were his sisters but he knew what they'd think and how things could be misconstrued when alcohol was involved. He didn't want to give them the impression of anything untoward going on; especially since Addison didn't seem to care in her drunken state.
The music changed to something a little slower, Addison pressing herself closer to him. Her arms went around his waist, as if giving him a big bear hug and Mark shook his head at the redhead. It had been a long time since he'd seen her this drunk. He settled his hands on her shoulders, keeping her upright as they slightly swayed to the music. Mark enjoyed being so close to Addison and then cursed himself for thinking and feeling like that. If she hadn't been drunk, he'd have relished in being so close to her. "Let's go sit down, Red and get you some water," he murmured against her ear once the song was done.
Addison pulled back, brows furrowed as she looked up at Mark. She opened her mouth to argue with the other doctor but he shook his head. "Nope. You need to sit down and sober up a little. Come on, what kind of best friend would I be if I let you get stupid drunk?" Mark told her, turning her and guiding her back towards the table and stools the Shepherd's had commandeered.
"Thank you Mark," Addison sighed drunkenly once they'd finally sat back down. She was slightly embarrassed that her sisters-in-law were seeing her so drunk. She'd always been so put together, if slightly goofy, around them and now they'd seen her at her drunken worst. She shook her head, leaning closer to Nancy, or maybe Liz she wasn't quite sure, as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get drunk on your birthday," she insisted sadly. Her mood had quickly shifted from bubbly drunk to sad drunk.
Liz smiled gently, patting Addison's hand comfortingly. "It's okay Addie," she told her, sighing a little at the state her sister-in-law was in. She didn't know the exact state of her brothers' marriage but she couldn't imagine it was good if the state his wife was in, in public, was any indication. For as long as she'd known Addison Montgomery, she'd always been poised and proper - if a little clumsy - and nothing like the woman Liz was looking at currently. It was, quite honestly, a little sad.
"Maybe you should take her home, Mark," Liz suggested to the younger man. Besides Mark, she was the least intoxicated and knew it was probably a good idea for Addison to call it a night. Mark nodded in agreement, gently catching Addison's attention.
"I think it's time to go home Red," Mark said softly, picking up her coat and helping her into it.
"Okay," Addison nodded. She was still drunk but she wasn't much in the party mood anymore.
Mark and Addison said their goodbyes, before he carefully guided her out of the bar. He had an arm around her waist, keeping her close as he walked them down the street a little. He figured it'd probably be good for Addison to get some air before they attempted to get into a cab; he didn't really want to pay for cleaning fees. Ten minutes later, when Addison looked less likely to throw up in the backseat of a taxi, he finally ushered her into one. Mark gave the driver the address to the brownstone as Addison pressed herself against his side, her head moving to rest on his shoulder, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. He ignored it though, simply settling an arm around her and holding her close as they made the journey quietly through the City; so quietly in fact that Mark thought she may have actually fallen asleep.
The taxi finally came to a stop outside of Addison and Derek's brownstone, jolting them back to alertness. Mark paid the driver and then helped Addison out, wondering how she could possibly still be walking in those high heels of hers when she was so drunk. He's sure that if he was a woman, he'd have kicked them off by now and be walking barefoot, like he's seen some young women do when they're making their way home after a night out. But apparently Addison is classier than that, even when drunk and stumbling slowly up her own front steps.
As Mark helped Addison up the steps of the brownstone, he couldn't help but flashback to only a week prior when he'd been doing the same for Derek. Two weekends in a row he'd spent with each of the Shepherd's, watching them drink themselves silly and he had to wonder when it had come to that. They were both so unhappy and he hated seeing his best friends like that. For years they'd been a picture perfect happy couple - now all Mark saw when he looked at them were two very unhappy people stuck in a miserable marriage. He didn't think he could do much though, he was just the idiot best friend that was trying to be there for the both of them.
"Do you think Derek's home?" Addison asked softly, voice tinged with a hope that surprised Mark.
"I don't know, Ads," Mark answered as he took the front door key from her purse and unlocked the door. He didn't want to get her hopes up.
He pushed the door open, ushering Addison inside ahead of him. All the lights were off and the house was dark. Neither needed to say it because they both knew that meant Derek wasn't home.
"What's wrong with me?" Addison whispered sadly and Mark could tell without even seeing her face that she was close to tears.
And before Mark can really think about what he's doing, he's wrapped her up in his arms, pulling her close to his chest and hugging her fiercely. Crying women were not his forte. But Addison crying was simply unthinkable.
"Hey, shhh, absolutely nothing is wrong with you. You're perfect, Red," Mark murmured to her comfortingly, pressing a sweet gentle kiss to the top of her head.
Mark held Addison for several long minutes, a large hand sweeping soothingly up and down her back. She hadn't completely broken down crying but it was close enough; the alcohol in her system having rendered her more emotional than normal. Not that it took much these days to make her cry.
Eventually Addison pulled away, wiping at her eyes quickly as she looked up at Mark, giving him a watery smile. "I think I should probably just...go to bed. Thanks Mark," Addison slurred a little, kicking her shoes off finally and moving towards the foot of the stairs.
Mark frowned though, taking a step closer and resting a hand on her wrist. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" He asked, the concern dripping from his voice.
Addison nodded, giving him a small smile. "I'll be fine. I just need to sleep," she insisted with a slight shrug.
"Okay. If you're sure," Mark nodded, lifting his hand from her arm and taking a step back towards the door. "Remember to sleep on your side. Just in case," he told her lightly, tone almost teasing as he opened the front door.
Addison chuckled a little at his words but nodded. "Okay Mark."
Mark grinned at the words, giving her a little wave before he stepped outside and then closed and locked the door. He still had Addison's keys in his hand but figured he'd return them to her on Monday. Besides that, it made him feel better to know that the front door was locked and Addison was safe.
Addison waited for a moment before slowly making her way upstairs and struggling out of her dress. She was still fairly tipsy and decided that changing out of her dress was good enough but she didn't even want to attempt to remove her makeup too. Clumsily she climbed into bed, shifting onto her side and snuggling into her pillow, falling asleep with a Mark on her mind.
..
The hangover Addison had woken up with was killer - she was sure it was the hangover of the century. The way her head had pounded, it just had to be. Slowly, she'd made her way out of bed, pulling on one of Derek's t-shirts and heading downstairs for some aspirin. She felt gross and grimy still in her underwear from the night before and her makeup still on; the last time she'd woken up like this had to have been college. Walking into the kitchen she cringed at the brightness of the room and the radio Derek had seen fit to turn on.
"Seems like you had a good night last night," Derek ventured, tone the wrong side of condescension for Addison's liking.
She ignored him as she grabbed for the aspirin from the medicine cabinet and a water bottle from the fridge. She popped two pills and washed them down with water before leaning back against the kitchen counter. "Don't start Derek," she murmured, shaking her head a little. She was just glad she wasn't on call; there was no way she could responsibly practice medicine right now. She just hoped that she didn't get called in for any emergencies.
"What? We can't have a discussion about your drinking?" Derek said, raising an eyebrow as he peered over at Addison.
"I had a little too much to drink. It's not like you've never done the same," Addison sighed. She really didn't want to get into some kind of argument with Derek. She knew what he was trying to imply and she just didn't have the energy to deal with it. Instead, she took her water bottle and left the kitchen.
An hour and one hot, steamy shower later, Addison was coming back down the stairs feeling refreshed. She still felt a little sick but her head no longer pounded and she no longer felt grimy either. But she needed to get out of the house, she didn't think she could deal with Derek's passive-aggressive sniping for the rest of the day. She was just pulling on a pair of heeled boots when Derek made his way into the foyer, brows knitted together as he took in her appearance.
Addison spoke, before he could even ask the question. "I have a patient, in labor. They held off on paging me because it's my day off, but…" she trailed off then, shrugging. The lie had tumbled so easily from her lips she'd surprised herself. "I don't know when I'll be back," Addison told him, picking up her things and giving him a weak smile. "I'll be back later." And with that, she was out the door.
..
Addison hadn't even thought about where she was going until she was on her way up to Mark's apartment and knocking on his door. Somehow her need to get out of the house had lead her straight to Mark; it made sense in a way. The week before he'd made her feel so much better and it didn't even cross her mind that he might not even be home.
She fiddled with her wedding rings as she waited for the door to open. When it did, she practically beamed at the sight of Mark. "Hi," Addison said lightly, when she recognised the confusion on Mark's features at her apparent, sudden appearance at his apartment.
"Hey. Hey Red," Mark greeted her, clearing his throat a little, as he smiled down at her. "Not that you're not welcome but, what are you doing here? Did you come to get your keys? I was going to drop them off to you tomorrow," Mark rambled, happy to see her but surprised, as he opened the door wider and stepped aside to let her in.
Addison frowned, head tilting up at him curiously. "My keys?" she questioned, wondering what on Earth he was talking about.
"Yeah," Mark nodded, shutting the door behind her. "I...have them. I locked the front door of the brownstone last night. I shot Derek a text, I figured he told you and that's why…" Mark explained, trailing off at the look on Addison's face at the mention of Derek. Clearly Derek hadn't passed on the message. He gestured towards the couch and waited until she'd sat down before he took a seat beside her, a sports game muted on his tv screen.
"No. He didn't tell me," Addison said shortly, dropping her handbag by her feet. She shook her head though, turning to look properly at Mark. "I came over because, I um...wanted to say thank you for looking out for me last night. I'm not your responsibility in any way. But you take such good care of me Mark. Even when you don't have to," she finished softly, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at him. She could the blush rising to her cheeks and quickly looked away, focusing her eyes on the television even though she had no idea what was going on.
Mark shook his head at the words, smiling a little as he looked over at Addison. "You don't have to thank me Addison. You're my friend, of course I'm gonna take care of you," he told her sincerely. He didn't just do it because Derek was his best friend; he genuinely cared for Addison, sometimes he thought more then he probably should.
Just my friend? Addison wanted to ask, the thought popping unbidden into her mind but she shook it away quickly. She couldn't ask that, she didn't even know why she wanted to ask him that. He was Mark - Derek's best friend, her best friend. She couldn't think of him as anything other then that.
"Well, I'm glad," Addison murmured, glancing over at him with a soft smile. Their eyes connected for a moment and again another inappropriate question came to her. "Do you really think I'm perfect?" she asked quietly, voice barely above a whisper, her cheeks immediately flushing red. She shook her head, turning her gaze away from Mark's. She was sure he'd only said it the night before to comfort her, she doubted he'd really meant it.
Mark was surprised by the question and sat up a little straighter. He moved a little closer, reaching a hand out to brush a few strands of her red hair gently back over her shoulder. The motion startled her and Addison turned to look at Mark, teeth worrying the inside of her bottom lip as she looked at him.
"Of course I do. You're pretty damn perfect to me, Red," Mark told her softly.
The butterflies in Addison's stomach from the week before were back full force as she heard his words and saw the look in his ice blue eyes. All of a sudden Addison had the inescapable urge to kiss Mark. The very idea of it startled Addison; for all the years that she'd known Mark, she'd never been so physically attracted to him then she was in that moment. Her eyes dropped from his, to gaze at his lips for a moment before flicking back up. Slowly, she leant forward.
A large, warm hand cupped her cheek. "We can't," Mark whispered, their hot breath mingling their lips were so close. "We can't, Addie," he repeated, shaking his head as his thumb caressed the soft skin of her cheek.
Addison gasped at the words, pulling away quickly. "Shit! Mark. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she mumbled, finally pulling herself away from Mark and standing abruptly. Her head and stomach swam with nausea.
"It's okay. It's okay Addie. Nothing happened," Mark insisted, standing hurriedly. He didn't want Addison freaking out over something that hadn't happened. His hands settled on her upper arms, forcing her to gently look up at him. "Nothing happened, okay? Just a momentary lapse in judgement. It's okay," Mark insisted, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
Addison took a few breaths, still frowning but eventually she nodded. Mark was right in a way, nothing had happened. But that didn't mean she should stay, not when her emotions and her hormones were clearly out of control around the man.
"Nothing happened," Addison repeated, biting her lip as she pulled herself gently from Mark's hands. "But, uh...I should probably go," she said softly, leaning down to grab her bag, already heading determinedly for the door.
"Yeah. That's probably a good idea," Mark nodded, taking a step back and running a hand through his slightly curly hair. A thought struck him then and he moved towards the kitchen. "Your keys," he called, stopping her by the door. He grabbed them from the kitchen counter, where he'd deposited them the night before and met her in the small hallway towards the door.
"Thanks, Mark," Addison said giving him a tight smile as he dropped the keys in her hand, careful not to touch her at all. Then she turned and was out the door without another word.
As Addison made her way hastily out of Mark's apartment building, she decided to never bring up the moment they'd just had ever again. It would only cause trouble. And no matter how much she'd wanted to kiss Mark in that moment, she knew she couldn't be unfaithful to Derek. The very thought of it sickened her. She wouldn't turn into her father's daughter.
Mark simply sighed, closing his eyes as he rested his forehead on the door, a hand smacking angrily against the wood, as he came to the shameful realisation that he wanted Addison, his best friend's wife.
