Bright and Shiny

Chapter 61

"So you've been quiet." Derek leaded trying to get a feeling out of Mark of what he was thinking. Mark had been quiet most of the afternoon not knowing what to do. Stuck in his head since it was a lot of money on the line but also a huge move. Working side by side with Derek again was a plus too.

Derek, Mark, and Meredith had finished up work for the day and they brought him home with them to their trailer.

Derek knew Mark was in deep concentration because since they've all been home. Mark hadn't made any trailer jokes. Not when he saw the make shift gravel driveway or the tin home at the end of the road. Or their little fake patio with some lawn chairs and a little table. Not one joke, not one crack. He's in the same spot he's been in since he got out of the car, just staring at the view of the lake with a beer in his hand while Derek grilled some potatoes, fish and steak for them while Meredith tossed a salad inside.

"A lot to think about." Was all that Mark finally replied before focusing back his attention on the sun setting over the horizon and reflecting off the lake.

Derek knew Mark was conflicted, while this was a huge opportunity. A very prestigious opportunity, Mark wasn't the best at teaching. Seattle Grace was a teaching hospital, and there was also the family he was leaving behind and probably the heaviest on his mind was getting Addison to leave Park Avenue for rainy Seattle.

"She's not like Meredith." Mark monotonely said finally after 15 minutes of passed of him just staring at nothing and sipping his beer. "I mean, we know she's not like Meredith but in this way she's really not like Meredith."

Derek didn't say anything, he knew Mark well enough that he knew Mark just needed to verbalize all the mess in his head. So Derek grabbed his beer and sunk into his own lawn chair waiting for Mark to continue where he was going.

"Meredith was new, she was new to family and love and school. She was going to be an intern, she hadn't already started a practice and she wasn't already this world renowned surgeon. It was easier for her to pick up and come with you here."

"It wasn't easy Mark, nothing worth having is. She was leaving mom, the girls and the kids. The family she never had and now had grown to love. The barbeques, random dinners. She was leaving her best friend and everything she had known most of her life to come out here to a place with bad memories she haboured as a child just to give me a chance at a dream I have." Derek choked out, knowing how amazingly lucky he was.

"Okay, it wasn't easy, but it was still easy for her because of you." Mark said getting frustrated.

"What do you mean Mark?"

"I mean, she'd follow you to the ends of the earth. She loves you more than anything, she would go anywhere or do anything for you."

"And you don't think Addison wouldn't?"

"I don't know. I just don't know Derek. I know she loves me, I know she's been hounding me for commitment. I know she wants more, but this is a big move and step. She has her family, her penthouse, her prestigious title at the best hospital on the East Coast. She has her favorite stores, she's a city girl. She's not going to want to come out here to live in the woods in the rain like you two in this thing you call a home." He emphasized by waving his hands around towards the trailer.

"You won't know unless you talk about it with her. I think you're selling her short and her love for you short. Look how much she's put up with over the years, and she's still there. It won't hurt to let her in on the offer and see what she thinks."

Derek said while taking a swig from his beer bottle after clinking it to Marks. "And just so you know. There are penthouses and nice stores around here too you know." He smirked.