A/N: Hello, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that it took me so long to come up with this chapter, it's crazy that it has been almost three months since my last update (am I the only one thinking that the time is moving faster?) I've had the idea of this chapter for a while in my head but it took me longer to sit down and write it. In any case, hopefully I'm finishing this story, I don't want it to be a part of the many unfinished ones that I have. I also want to thank to those of you who left their reviews in the previous chapter and those who are still reading this story. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, I'll make it up for making you wait, I promise.

UNEXPECTED IMPROVEMENT

8.30 AM

There was definitely something different about how each morning started in Los Angeles; back in Seattle, Derek would wake up by the cold winds of the woods coming through the thin walls on his trailer, this never really bothered him, on the contrary, it was a good feeling that he got used to since the first night that he had spent there. However, in California it was a completely different situation, the sound of the woods was abruptly replaced by the sound of the ocean waves crashing together and of course, from the sunrise, the sunlight would go straight into his face, very different from the cloudly mornings in Seattle, this would make him wake up before his alarm could even go on. And strangely enough, he was getting used to those kind of mornings, and even though he wouldn't just admit it, he was even enjoying them.

Nonetheless, he was starting to develop some level of likeness for Los Angeles and its early sunrises, this time it felt completely divergent, because as much as he was staying in one of the best hotels in the area, it was nothing compared to what he felt during the previous night. Waking up on Addison's bed was definitely an unexpected improvement.

One step forward.

Derek tried to cover his face with the sheets that were covering his naked body, refusing to open his eyes, mostly because he knew that once he was awake, then it meant that his "evening" with Addison had to come to an end, and God, he didn't want it to end, not just yet.

"I almost forgot how fun you were, Addie." He remembered having admitted to his ex-wife at some point of the evening.

"Well, why don't you let me refresh your mind one more time, Dr. Shepherd?" Addison teased back pressing her lips against his.

He could still hear Addison's soft voice whispering those words against him, that simple reminder and everything that came after, made Derek smile even though he was keeping his eyes still closed, because if he didn't wake up yet, then Addison's touch, her soft skin and the way that her lips knew perfectly the way through his body wouldn't be just a memory from the night before.

"Addison?" Derek mumbled in a hoarse voice, he quickly turned his body to face her, hoping to see her still sleeping next to him, wanting to wrap his arms around her, to keep her closer even if it was just for a few extra minutes before they had to go back out there and pretend that they were the usual divorced couple that hates each other, outside that bedroom they wouldn´t be the Addison and Derek that they were the night before, the wouldn't be the couple of med school students who were crazy about each other, or as he would like to recall it, the happier version of themselves. He didn't want to pretend any indifference or pretend that nothing had happened, not after they've crossed the that bridge, he wasn't ready to go back, not yet at least.

"Let's just call it off for the first hour, I'm sure they won't miss us." Derek whispered, moving his arm to find her and not letting her go just yet, but to his surprise, there was no one next to him.

"Addie?"

He quickly opened his eyes and looked around the room, there was no sight of Addison, which made Derek sigh heavily.

"Addison?" Derek called again, he left the bed and walked around the big room, just to confirm that it was empty. Quickly he picked up his clothes and got dressed only to try to find her downstairs but still no luck, he checked his phone trying to find any sign or at least a message, but there was nothing on Addison's name.

I thought you had different opinions on walking away, Addison.

Derek whispered, it was unbelievable on how the tables had turned this time, because the Addison he knew would've stayed next to him and would've chosen to discuss what had happened between them, she would've even tried to find a way to fix everything around them, she would have even come up with ideas on how to move on after what happened, but it seemed that the Addison he knew was far long gone, she was now very different from the woman he married years ago, because for him, Addison had always been there, and even though he would deny it all the time, she had always been the one who cared the most for their relationship. But now, years later, there he was, alone in Addison's house, all by himself after she had left without any notice.

Two steps back. Things are definitely different now.

LATER THAT DAY – PRACTICE'S KITCHEN

"… All I'm saying is that she keeps bringing her kid for me to check on him every couple of days, and I keep saying there's nothing wrong with him, but she keeps insisting, I've ran scans, tests and everything comes out negative, I am running out of ideas." Cooper brought up while drinking his morning coffee, the rest of his colleagues were joining him, it was a regular morning at the practice, just like any other where the doctors from the Oceanside Wellness would gather not only to share a breakfast but also to have their morning discussions related to their patients. "Should I be concerned about this? Or should we start thinking that the mom is just trying to find an excuse to have the kid away for some hours?" Cooper was intrigued to hear what his colleagues had to say about it.

"Why would she bring him to a practice when she could just pay for a nanny or a daycare which is way cheaper than this place?" Amelia questioned while finishing her morning cereal. "It doesn't make sense, there might be something you're not seeing. Maybe you're not running enough tests."

"Or perhaps there might be a reason why she wants to keep him here instead of taking him to another place. This is a practice with all different kind of doctors, it's a nice environment. Have you noticed any strange behavior on the kid or even the mother?" Violet suggested, Cooper took some time to think but he only shrugged.

"Well, she's a single mother with an eight-year old boy. I guess she looks sane enough." Cooper replied to the shrink.

"Let me talk to her, maybe she wants a different approach, if I get her permission I can talk to the kid and maybe then we can figure out what's wrong." Violet added, however this caught Derek's attention. He was sitting next to Amelia finishing his cup of coffee while they were discussing about the patient.

"Is that really necessary, though? Having a therapist to check on the mother and her child?" Derek added not really convinced about Violet's approach. "She's the kid's mom, I mean, if she keeps bringing him here, it means there's something that she's seeing and we're not."

"Why does he gets a say? He doesn't even work here." Violet complained, not to anyone in particular but only mentioned it out loud.

"All I am saying is that I have to agree with Amy here, I would suggest to order a full scan, a head CT, run more blood tests, take a closer look on his symptoms. From my experience, there's always something, sometimes if we miss even the slightest piece of information, we can miss something huge." And even though Violet was right and Derek wasn't exactly a part of the practice, as the days went by, he seemed more involved in it.

"You'll be surprised on how many people relies on therapy here in L.A" Amelia whispered to her brother, which made Violet roll her eyes.

"Or… Maybe we can do both?" Cooper suggested before Violet or The Shepherds would start an argument about their different approaches. "I mean; she'll bring him back in a couple of days anyway. At least if they talk to Violet and we run more tests, they will actually have a reason to be here. Just wait for you to see him, he's such a nice kid. We actually had a long discussion about how should everyone watch the Star Wars saga, he has very strong opinions about it."

"Aren't you too excited about that?" Amelia teased him. "And that can also explain why do they keep bringing him here, you're probably the kid's only friend." Amelia added. "I can see how none of the other kids would like to talk about that. Seems like you got yourself a new friend, Coop."

"Hey, what's wrong with talking about Star Wars? It's a good saga." Derek intervened frowning. "And don't play the cool kid card, Amy, you've seen it few times with me."

Amelia on the other side, rolled her eyes. "Right, that was because we only had one TV growing up and you were the golden child. Damn, I forgot that you were the biggest nerd back in High School. Not to mention that you were very proud of being in the marching band and to have your afro."

"Oh, come on, shut up." Even though Derek didn't find Amelia's comment funny at all, the other doctors on the other hand all laughed over the sibling's argument.

"Please, tell me you've got pictures of that." Cooper added laughing at Amelia's comment.

"Back to the patient, would you tell the mom to stop by my office? I'll check my calendar to make an appointment for her." Violet added putting an end to the Shepherds' road to memory-land.

"And if you run the full scan let me know so we can rule out any neurological issue, I'll still be here for some more days and I'd like to make myself useful." Derek mentioned ignoring completely both Amelia and Cooper's comments, however they weren't even close to be over that.

"When you say that he had an afro, how big are we talking about? Because that man's hair seems unreal right now." Cooper teased, making Amelia laugh and Derek rolled his eyes again, however before they continued the conversation, Addison made her entrance to the kitchen, she went straight to the refrigerator to pick up a bottle of green juice.

"What's so funny?" Addison asked Cooper, trying to also join the conversation, however, before anyone could even say something, Derek's attention went straight to his ex-wife. There was a quick exchange between their eyes that didn't go unnoticed.

"Well, Amelia was just telling us that Derek's hair didn't always look that perfect and now I'm demanding pictures… Wait, you must also have pictures of that, don't you? Because I refuse to believe that he didn't always that kind of hair."

However, neither Derek or Addison felt like going forward into that conversation, because in that moment, all that they wanted was to run away from there.

"Well, I don't — I mean, he…" Addison started, however Derek abruptly interrupted her.

"Cooper, let me know once you have the results, I'll be at the hospital for the rest of the day." Derek just wanted to walk away from there.

Walk away, Derek, it's what you do best.

He checked his phone, hoping that she had actually said something before showing up to the practice refusing to acknowledge what happened between them the night before, but there was nothing.

After he was gone, there was a not so long silence in the room, however, Addison preferred to focus on the bottle of green juice between her hands.

"What was that?" Amelia asked right after her brother walked out of the kitchen looking at Addison, if he was acting like that she would certainly know the reason, however Addison wasn't planning to share what was actually happening, especially not in the practice's kitchen.

"I- Uh, I have a patient waiting in my office. I… I- I don't have time for this." Addison announced and left just about a minute after Derek, leaving the rest of the doctors confused after that strange behavior shown by the former couple, even though neither of them could even imagine what was actually happening.

"Okay, I have to ask, what's going on there?" Cooper asked Violet and Amelia who were just as confused as he was.

"I mean, they are former husband and wife, and you did ask her about a time when I supposed they were together. Didn't they?" Amelia nodded as a reply for Violet's brief question. "Some people just don't feel comfortable sharing even the smallest details of the lives they left behind after a separation, and I guess neither one of them likes to reminisce those times."

"No, that's crap, just few weeks ago I've heard Addison talking non-stop about the time she had to convince Derek to spent their fifth anniversary in their house in the Hamptons. She doesn't really care about talking about those kind of things." Amelia mentioned, sometimes she even thought that Addison would bring up Derek more than she would. "There's more than that."

"Wait, Addison and Derek own a house in the Hamptons? I mean, of course I know she's rich, but not like owning a house in the Hamptons kind of rich." Cooper was a bit impressed and he was not intending to hide it.

"They did, Derek always hated the place. She got it after their divorce though, but that's not my point… My point was…" Amelia stopped for a moment, thinking about the reason of that conversation. "Right, they're acting weird. More than the usual."

"What do you mean? I was thinking that they were getting along just fine considering that they used to be husband and wife for a long period of time." Violet explained.

"Well, let me see, Addison's ex-husband shows up here while she's in and on-and-off relationship with her best friend's ex-husband, who also happens to be one of her ex-husband's oldest friend. Why would it be awkward between them?" Cooper pointed out with a very ironic smile while gesturing with his hands.

"How long have you been practicing to come up with that sentence?" Amelia busted into laugher.

"More than I'd like to admit." Cooper admitted a bit embarrassed.

"All I'm trying to say here is that I don't know more than you guys do." Amelia admitted, even though that wasn't exactly true, maybe she did know a thing or two.

XX

Addison had a busy morning and she was grateful because of that, she wouldn't have been able to deal with a quiet day, not in a day like this one when she couldn't just afford the luxury to hear her own thoughts.

She had been going back and forward to the hospital, her morning had started with an early delivery, a woman who needed an emergency C-Section after being involved in an accident and now she was back at the practice with her routine check-ups.

Her second patient of the day was just leaving her office, she had at least thirty minutes before having to go back to the hospital to one of her scheduled surgeries, usually she would just go there and wait while she reads the chart or checks her pre-ops, but this time, she was still avoiding to see him, because even that brief encounter in the kitchen had been a bit too much after how she ran away in the morning.

FLASHBACK
EARLIER THAT MORNING
6.00 AM – ADDISON'S BEDROOM

Addison had only slept for a couple of hours even though for her it only felt like a couple of minutes, because even though sleeping next to Derek had always felt comforting, there was also that… She had slept with Derek Shepherd. Her ex-husband and the man who had hurt her in the past; and still somehow, she wasn't feeling guilty, she didn't even regret her decision, she could even admit that she had enjoyed spending the night with him, but then again, why there was this voice on her head repeating the same thing over and over again?

There you are again, rushing in with another guy… Right after breaking-up with Sam.

That thought made her heart skip a beat, or maybe it was just the memory of her failed relationship with Sam, which she was glad that it was over as it was going nowhere but… No, it wasn't the time to think about her break-up, not when she had woken up next to Derek Shepherd.

Derek fucking Shepherd, very smart, Addison. After everything you've been through to get over him?

Only some weeks before, she thought that she was finally over him, because being completely honest, Addison could admit that he wasn't someone easy to get over, but lately she was starting to think that as long as he was happy, she would be happy for him… Of course, in that moment she wasn't even considering to see Derek's face in the near future, but now things were different, now he was peacefully sleeping next to her, and looking at him closely, Addison could even swear that he was still smiling.

He looks so cute when he's… No, no, focus. You've slept with your ex-husband. What's wrong with you?

Each time that she looked at him, or whenever she would try to close her eyes and try to get some rest, those kind of thoughts would intensify, but at the same time she could still feel his touch, how familiar they still are to each other and how much she had missed every bit of the closure they once shared, so much that it made her wonder if she had really let him go, or if she had only convinced herself that she had done it.

Seeing Derek next to her was unbelievable and the fact that they weren't even drunk was a bit disappointed as she wouldn't be able to blame it on the alcohol, they had nothing and no one to blame but themselves, and that feeling was so overwhelming that Addison felt like she was running out of breath, her heart was beating so hard that she could feel every pound on her cheast. So much that it would make her heart pound faster and at some point, that same feeling would make her feel out of breath. At that moment, she felt the need to leave her bed, she needed to catch some fresh air, otherwise she didn't think she would be able to go through.

At least you're still a heavy sleeper.

Addison whispered turning back at him before leaving the bedroom. Being honest, Addison never even fantasized about Derek after their divorce, because the fact of them having even a crumb of intimacy was completely absurd, things between them had ended badly, so badly that she had locked him and all she felt for him in a tiny box that was trapped inside her, however, now the box was finally open, how was she supposed to deal with that?

Addison wanted to stop thinking, she needed her head to stop spinning around about Derek Shepherd, it definitely wasn't the first time she had sex with a former partner, how was this any different? The many nights she spent with Mark Sloan after their "break-up" weren't nothing like that, those times she would normally wake up light as a feather, but then of course, he wasn't the man she had spent most of her adult life next to.

Why can't you be just another booty call, Derek?

She asked herself whispering as she left her bedroom, after picking up some of her clothes from the floor. Because let's get the record straight, the sex was great and she enjoyed it, she could even have said that it had been one of their best, she had found it amusing and how could she not? It had been even better than she remembered, but then again, the last time she had sex with Derek they weren't exactly in their best moment, but this time… It was just great. Of course Derek still knew his ways around her (or at least most of the times, those awful times in Seattle shouldn't count) … And sure, she knew that this was most probably a one-time thing, she was mentally capable to separate her feelings from a night of plain sex.

Can we even have that? Just sex? Isn't that something that divorced people does?

That's why she wouldn't even think about crossing that bridge in the past, Derek wasn't just a random hook-up, he was probably the most important man in her life for the longest time.

He will walk away again, that's what he does best. I can't deal with him walking away.

Over the time, Addison had dealt with lots of heartbreaks caused by Derek Shepherd and definitely, she wasn't intending to collect another one, not when she was supposed to be having her life together and being the bigger person after their divorce.

Maybe this time she should be the one just cutting things off and closing that door, not that she had any intention to keep it open but, no matter how much she had loved spending the night with him, she knew that they couldn't repeat it, that was a dangerous game they were playing and she wasn't even sure if she would be able to pick up the pieces again. The best thing from now on was to continue with their lives as they've been doing over the years since their divorce.

Right?

Was that the better choice? Because he did make her feel very good and if it wasn't for all of her insecurities and second-guessing, she would be going back upstairs and join him at least for few more hours and maybe just to pretend that they were Addison and Derek again, and for a brief moment she even considered doing that, but it was right when she turned back that she got an emergency call from the hospital.

"Early delivery, great." Addison whispered in frustration, for a moment she considered going back to her bedroom and perhaps waking Derek up to let him know that she had to go to the hospital, but she wasn't ready to face him, not just yet, not while her thoughts were messier than her past relationship.

She knew that she couldn't just avoid him but leaving earlier was a good excuse to give her some extra time to think, which is why instead of going to her bedroom to get some work appropriate clothes, she went to her living room where her old "Yale" pullover was hanging and as soon as she took it, she left her house as soon as she could, hoping that Derek wouldn't notice she was gone until later in the morning.

END OF THE FLASHBACK

"Addie?" Amelia asked for what it seemed to be the tenth time, bringing Addison back to reality.

"Amelia, uh… Sorry, what were you saying?" Addison asked distracted as if she didn't understand a word the younger woman was trying to say. "Sorry, there's just… I have a lot of work today."

"I was asking if you had some time to talk, but then, I guess I can check on you later." Amelia asked while she was standing right next to the door of Addison's office.

"No, no. It's okay, I have time. Come in, please." At least Amelia was the only Shepherd in the practice that she feels like she can breathe properly on her presence. "I didn't hear you go back to the house – Did you… Is there something you would like to tell me? I mean, you haven't been home for few nights… Is there everything okay?" Addison asked a bit concern and of course, trying to keep her thoughts away from Derek, at least Amelia wasn't there to see her run away from all of the overwhelming feelings that had over the morning.

"Oh, yeah. Everything's fine, and we're not talking about me. I was there in the morning, I left some time after you did." Amelia admitted with a smile on her face, however the youngest Shepherd had no idea that her brother had spent the night there, on the other hand she had her own theory of facts.

On Amelia's mind, Addison had gotten back with Sam and Derek had caught them somewhere at the practice, which is why they were acting awkward towards each other, little did she know how wrong she was.

"Oh God." Addison looked down for a couple of seconds, trying to come up with some words after realizing that probably Amelia had seen Derek leaving the house in the morning.

Damn it, why didn't I make him leave before I did? I mean, he was sleeping so peacefully that I couldn't just wake him up, and no, I definitely wasn't ready to have that conversation with Derek and… Stop it, focus.

"So… You… You were there? Did you… You saw him." Addison stated, she wasn't even asking because otherwise, Amelia wouldn't be there asking about it, she wasn't ready to have that conversation, especially not with Derek's little sister. "You know what? Now that you say it, I do have some things I need to do." Addison tried to excuse herself but Amelia wasn't even close to being over.

"Come on, Addie. You're being obvious and people are starting to notice. Since when do you act like that? You're the most competent woman I know; you shouldn't let him get through you." Amelia advised her former sister-in-law. "All I can say is that you should stop acting weird and just admit that there's still something going on, I'm not the only one seeing it and you know how the gossip spreads on this place. Sometimes it's just hard to turn the page, I get that." Amelia being clueless that her brother was the responsible for Addison's behavior, she was once again referring to Sam, but that name wasn't even close to Addison's thoughts.

"Wait, they're starting to notice what?" Addison asked confused, that was the last thing she needed right now. Not her colleagues talking about her private life… Again. "Fine. There might be a thing between us." She finally admitted looking down and crossing her arms around her body.

However, that comment only raised the confusion in Amelia's eyes. "I think you two are way pass "a thing", I swear that at this point I'm going to start to write it down. It's almost impossible to keep track with you two. I don't even think that he knows what you two are these days. Why not just admitting that you two are very far from being over?"

Addison was not only confused by Amelia's last comment, but it also made her think… Were they really not over?

"Did he said something to you? I swear I am going to kill your brother. Did he mention anything when you saw him leaving the house this morning?"

And it was just in that moment when Amelia realized that Sam wasn't the "he" Addison was referring to. The look in her eyes was not only shocked but for few seconds she was also speechless.

"Wow, wow, wow… Wait." Amelia tried to formulate words after realizing that Addison had been referring to Derek this whole time. "What do you mean by when he left the house in the morning? I was thinking that the guy leaving the house this morning was Sam." Amelia added still very surprised, while Addison's only reaction was to place her hand across her face while closing her eyes. "So, wait, he spent the night at the house… So, did you two… Ugh, gross."

Great, you and your big mouth strike again.

"What were you even talking about?" Addison asked while still hiding her face behind her hand.

"I was asking about you and Sam... and Derek, and how you've been acting all weird but I guess everything makes sense now." Amelia wouldn't have imagined in a million of years what Addison had just "accidentally" confessed. "So, I won't ask you for any detail because God knows I don't want to hear it, but you're telling me what's going on."

Addison finally looked up and took a deep breath. "Fine, how much time do you have?"

XX

"… So, for the myocardial revascularization, we'll perform it at the time of the aneurysmectomy, I am not going to lie to you, there are some risks that we will need to consider for this kind of procedure, such like incomplete revascularization or even reduced systolic function, but I can guarantee that we have the best team of surgeons working on your husband's improvement and he's showing very good signals after his last intervention, which is why we would like do his next surgery in the next forty-eight hours." Derek explained to his patient's wife, she needed to understand every risk that the surgery might cause, besides he needed to save this patient's life not only because that was his fist reason to take him and his family to Los Angeles but also because he didn't want to deal with the consequences of Sam's lack of professionalism during the first surgery.

"That is a lot of medical talk, Dr. Shepherd. Being honest, I just want all is for this to be over, I just want to take Luke and the kids back home and live our lives normally." Eliza, the patient's wife admitted, the sound of her voice was as tiring as it could be expected. "Every other doctor said that Luke was a lost cause except for you, you're still not giving up."

"I promise you that both Dr. Bennett and myself are doing everything we can and we're not giving up on Luke while there's still a chance, and believe me, there is." Derek assured Eliza, who was sitting next to her unconscious husband lying on the hospital bed.

"Thank you, Dr. Shepherd. So, if… If the surgery goes well, is he… Will he get to live a normal life?"

"Well, as Dr. Shepherd mentioned, there are several risks such as LV failure, MI and intractable arrhythmias, that means that if he survives it might also happen that Luke will still suffer from heart failure, there's also a ten percent mortality rate that we can't just ignore." Sam who was also there intervened.

"I understand it is a high-risk surgery but Luke is fighting for his life and he was willing to take the chance if it gave him more time to be with us." Eliza replied while looking at Derek.

"And he's a fighter, we can tell. We will schedule the surgery in the next fourty eight hours if everything his vitals remain strong enough, and we'll keep you updated through every step of the way, believe me, Mrs. Holloway, he's not giving up and neither will we." Derek explained one more time instead of Sam, who was just standing there.

"Thank you, Dr. Shepherd, and you too, Dr. Bennett."

Once both doctors were outside the patient's room, Derek kept his eyes on the chart, re-reading all of the patient's history.

"Are you sure that she understands completely that after the surgery her husband won't leave the hospital walking to live a normal life?" Sam questioned Derek one more time.

"Sam, I know you're not questioning my judgment and approach to my patients. But yes, she's aware of all the risks, back in Seattle we had a conversation regarding every single side effect and yes, we also discussed the mortality rate." Derek answered while keeping his eyes on the chart. "Of course, there was a higher chance back then than the one we have right now because Luke's heart surgeon wasn't completely focused on the procedure the last time. So, I should be the one concerned if this time is going to be different or not." Finally, Derek looked up to meet Sam's frustrated glance.

"It wasn't just my mistake, as far as I know, you were standing right there too." Sam defended himself after rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I was there and I accept it, which is why I am ready to put that behind and save this man's life. Now, the question is, can you?" Derek asked rhetorically.

"Let me know once you book the O.R… I'll see you tomorrow… Or later at the practice, you're everywhere nowadays." Sam simply replied and left Derek there, he only took a deep breath trying to keep calm, after all, he needed to focus and specially ignore Sam to avoid to repeat what happened last time. Sam Bennet had seriously develop a talent to make Derek lose all of his patience.

You should be grateful that we're working together, otherwise, I wouldn't care to use my two-million -a-year hand to punch your face.

Derek shook his head, he didn't want to think about Sam, even if the thought of punching his face was something that would actually make him happy, he didn't have time for that. He needed to head back to order extra exams for Cooper's patient and check the results they already had, being busy on a day like that was the best he could do.

He left Luke's chart on the nurses' station and asked them to let him know in case that there was any update on his condition, Derek walked through the halls of St. Ambrose while checking on his phone, there were some missed calls and unread messages, but nothing that he would even care enough to reply or to call back, not even those he had gotten from Seattle, there were few from the hospital that he didn't even open, at least the ones that didn't include any patient related information. He also opened his conversation with Mark, who kept asking about L.A, the people and when he was planning to go back to Seattle.

Well, L.A is surprisingly good, the people from the practice has been nice, except of course for our good old friend Sam is now a complete asshole who was fucking my wife (do not take it personally), and yes… I also fucked my wife and right after she walked away on me without any reason or explanation, did she ever do that to you?

Of course Derek didn't send that message, he didn't even type it but it was his first thought and his honest way to think after reading Mark's last texts.

Derek kept walking with his phone on the hand and didn't stop until reaching the elevator, iIt wasn't until the doors were open when he stopped staring at the screen of his blackberry. He felt his heart skipping a beat as soon as he saw her. "Luckily" for Addison, there was another person in the elevator, so there was no need to have the long anticipated conversation that she kept avoiding.

"Dr. Montgomery." Derek greeted her with a smile on his face as soon as he saw her, Addison on the other hand simply nodded, acknowledging his presence. "Good afternoon."

"Dr. Shepherd." She cleared her throat and looked down for a couple of seconds, Derek moved inside the small space and stood right next to her.

"Good afternoon, Doctors." The other person in the elevator replied uninterested on the other two people in the elevator, not having a single clue about them.

Addison in the meantime, kept looking at the numbers in the elevator trying her very best to ignore Derek's eyes on her.

As soon as the elevator stopped on the next floor, Derek's first thought was that Addison would stay there but luckily for him, it was the other person who stayed on that floor, not without saying an awkward goodbye to both of them. "Bye, doctors."

Both Addison and Derek nodded, as soon as the elevator doors closed and they found each other alone in that closed space, Derek quickly pressed the "stop" button, followed by a deep breath of Addison.

"Derek, don't…" Addison looked down for a couple of seconds until ultimately, her eyes met Derek's bright blue ones. Even though she kept avoiding him, she couldn't just stop thinking about him. She leaned against the wall and waited for him to talk, because at that point, she could only think about the memories of the night before.

Derek leaned closed to her. "So… You walked away. That's not something that you do."

"Things are different now, Derek." They were close, damn it, they were too close and she wasn't able to think properly. "The truth is that… I had an early surgery. And… And I didn't want to wake you up."

Derek nodded.

"So, this wasn't about you walking away. Because, Addison, I don't know if you're thinking about it, or if you're wondering, but what happened last night… It wasn't a mistake. I don't know why you're avoiding it, but… I don't want to ignore what happened." Derek admitted, being honest he was done trying to pretend that nothing had happened between them.

"I – I wasn't planning to say that it was a mistake." A very small smile showed up on Addison's lips, she could feel how her cheeks were now burning, as if the situation wasn't just embarrassing enough, there she was blushing over her ex-husband. "I- Uh… I actually enjoyed it." She admitted. "It's just that…" Addison tried to avoid his glance, but it was impossible not getting lost on his bright blue eyes.

"Is that why you ran away?" Derek asked.

"I didn't run away, Derek. I- Uh… It's just that…"

"Please don't say it's because of a patient, because even if that's the reason why you left early, you know that you could've said something."

"Are you going to let me talk?"

"Sorry."

"I didn't walk away; I know maybe for you it doesn't mean anything but… I woke up and I saw you there, sleeping so peacefully that it felt too real, you know? And yes, probably it doesn't make any sense now that I am saying it out loud, but seeing you there next to me after all of these years… It felt overwhelming, I felt like if I left without saying a word, then maybe I would be able to breathe properly." She tried to explain, but as every single time that she was nervous, or trying to avoid any conversation, she started rambling. "I mean, you're not a random guy I'm hooking up with, and sure, divorced couples get together every once in a while, but let's face it, Derek, did you ever think that there was a slightest chance for us to hook-up after the divorce? Because being completely honest I-…"

Before Addison could even finish her sentence, Derek broke the little space between them while grabbing her closer and pressed his lips against hers, breaking the tension in that elevator, and even though it was an unexpected turn for Addison, she couldn't and didn't want to stop it, on the contrary, she allowed herself get lost into that kiss, her heart was beating faster and faster, maybe that was the reason why being around Derek was so overwhelming, because he was the only one being able to wake sensations that she had forgotten she was capable of feeling.

"Maybe." Derek finally replied after breaking that kiss, not because he wanted to stop, but only because he needed to catch a breath, his eyes were staring straight into Addison's. "Sure, probably not immediately… But, I have to admit that each time you were visiting Seattle, I kept thinking "what if"." Derek admitted while keeping Addison on his arms.

She was not only surprised to hear him saying that, but also she was trying to keep herself together, otherwise, she would just keep her lips against his.

"I wasn't expecting to hear that, I didn't think that you were even interested after how everything ended." She admitted.

"Are you kidding me, Addie? Have you seen my ex-wife? She's one of the hottest women out there, and not only she's incredibly hot, she's also probably the smartest person I know. I swear that each time I see you being the amazing surgeon that you are, all I want is to rip-off your clothes."

Addison laughed after that comment.

"Well, I guess that right now we're just old friends who are still very much attracted to each other and they still remember how they used to have fun back in the day."

"Seriously, Addie? I thought that we were done with the friends' crap."

"Fine, you're right. We're not just friends."

"Were we ever just friends? I'm seriously asking, because I remember that since the moment I asked you out… Which was like what? About two months after we met? Since that moment we just couldn't keep our hands off each other."

"No, we weren't. We were always way more than that."

"Is that why we never hooked-up after the divorce? Because we both deeply knew that we were so much into each other that we might lose our minds?" Derek asked.

"Well, that might be a reason… But I think the main one was because you were screwing your intern."

"Ouch. The queen of passive aggressive is back."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, no, it's okay. I deserve that."

"But yes, I guess you might be right… I mean, I still can't believe that this is happening."

"I do, and I have to say, you're at the top of the game, you know?" Derek whispered on Addison's ear. "It felt like Med School all over again." That made Addison smile more than she intended to.

"So… We're both okay with… With whatever this is?" For a moment a little part inside her was saying that this wasn't a good idea, but when did that stop her before? Certainly her moral compass wasn't famous because of the greatest choices in her personal life.

Can we actually do that? Is that even an option for a former husband and wife?

"I don't think the word "okay" is the proper way to say how much I want this, Addie. But yes, besides, what could possibly go wrong? You know me better than anyone out there, and I know you probably just as much, we both enjoy each other's company and the sex is amazing, besides I…" Derek would've continued but Addison was the one who finished the sentence.

"You're going back to Seattle whenever Luke's surgery is done, so… It doesn't have to mean anything. We'll just make the best out of what's left of your stay here."

Sure, it won't mean anything, it's just sex. I can do just sex, I've done just that before, why should it be different with Derek?

"Sounds like we have a deal." Derek agreed and right after, he turned to press again the "stop" button for the elevator to continue its ride.

It only took few seconds for the doors to open in front of them. "Are you coming, Dr. Shepherd?" Addison suggested before finally leaving the elevator. "I still have some time before my next patient arrives."

Are you sure this is going to end well? - That was the only thing that Addison wanted to ask, but it was better to avoid that and enjoy the moment.

Right?

"As you wish, Dr. Montgomery." Without even thinking, Derek followed his ex-wife to one of the nearest on-call rooms, where they in fact spent some time longer than they intended to.

XX

A couple hours later, Derek was back at the practice, he was reviewing Luke's results and latest scans, things were definitely going as they were expecting to and that only meant that they could schedule the surgery for the next day and finally end what they started some days ago when they first operated on the patient.

Derek made some calls to the hospital to get the O.R ready and to inform the other doctors to have his patient ready with the required pre-ops. And as much as he wanted to avoid him, especially now that he was spending more time with Addison, he had to find Sam to let him know about the scheduled surgery and he wanted to discuss some things about the procedure, he wanted to go through everything to avoid any mistake, besides, Derek wanted to make sure that Sam was the right choice for Luke, this patient couldn't deal with another lack of focus by his cardiothoracic surgeon.

For a moment, Derek took his phone and tried to find Sam's number but he shook his head, it was better for him to see him personally, which is why he decided to go to Sam's office and have that conversation… Again. After all, they were all working at the same practice.

For a moment, he thought about getting a coffee first, but it was already a bit too late for it, which is why he walked right straight into Sam's office, he opened the door but not even after the crazy day that he had, he could've imagined what he had found behind that door.

Did I open a door for the past?

Derek thought as soon as he realized that behind that door it was not only Sam's office with him checking on a patient or just doing any paperwork, what Derek had found was indeed his old med-school friend kissing a woman, not just any woman, but Sam's ex-wife, Naomi.

Maybe they put something in the water in this place that makes ex-wives irresistible?

"Derek…" Naomi began, letting go of Sam quickly.

This place is definitely like Med School all over again.

"I- I was just looking for Sam, I've got Luke's results, he will be ready for tomorrow, I've schedule the surgery for tomorrow at 10 AM, I wanted to discuss some things about the approach but I see that you guys are busy." Derek stated while standing from the door, he was as surprised to see them as any of them would be if they knew what's been happening between him and Addison. However, he couldn't help but wonder, was that a regular thing? Or was Sam just running after his ex-wife because Addison had left him?

"I'll be at the hospital if you want to talk about the patient." Derek added and right after saying that, he turned back and tried to walk away from that office, but this time Sam had finally broken his silence.

"Derek, wait… Nai and I, we're not… What you saw it's not something that you…" Sam tried to explain, it was actually the first time that he wasn't being rhetorical or sarcastic to Derek since his arrival.

So, this is you asking me to keep my mouth shut? Are you afraid that I'll tell Addie? Come on, Sam, you can do better.

"As I said, I'll be at the hospital to talk about the patient." Derek didn't even stay any longer in there, he only kept walking and made his way to the kitchen to grab the coffee he should've taken before.

People really needs to start locking up their doors in this place.

A/N: Many things are happening, did you expect Derek walking in to Sam and Naomi? Do you think he should tell Addison? Also, this story is set up during the late season 4 of Private Practice (around the same time as the Greys musical episode), that means that all of this is happening after Sam and Naomi kissed while Addison wasn't there, so this isn't the first time that this is happening. But enough of them, what did you think about Addison's reaction? I always love to write those bits of her freaking out. Anyway, I do hope to continue with this story soon and I'll try to get back to the weekly updates, there's still five more chapters to go.