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❛ 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 . . . ❜ 003.this is going to hurt SEASON 5, EPISODE 15
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Beth met Derek Shepherd, for the first time, on a Thursday in August.
She'd been in New York City for exactly three days, having come off the train at Grand Central and into her sister's open arms. She was a symptom of the academic season, of thousands of students that would descend on the island for their studies.
The diagnosis for Beth? A medical degree at Columbia, a focus in surgical study that was going to lead her towards her career as a surgeon, completely eclipsed by the first thing that Addison said as she watched the last Montgomery sibling make it to the city, her heart swollen beyond description in her chest:
"Oh," She said, holding Beth so tight that she figured Addison would never let go, "You're going to have so much fun here."
(Yeah, Beth would think in retrospect, Fuck that.)
Apparently, according to Addison, a city like New York had to be broken in like a new pair of shoes.
Restaurants had to be visited, town cars had to be ordered, and Beth had to stand in Addison's studio apartment with a glass of Chardonnay and listen to an old Carole King record as Addison ordered takeout from her favourite Thai place around the corner. As Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? filled the room, Beth had to find her place in Manhattan.
Did she fit in the tiny Bloomingdale apartment she was paying too much for? Did she fit in Addison's closet, in between her shirts and shoes? Or, did she fit somewhere bigger? Like the streets that like veins between buildings and pumped the lifeblood of a city that had once been the true heart of the nation––?
Beth's head turned towards the foyer as the front door buzzed.
Her sister appeared from the kitchen, a hurried mess of limbs as she thrust herself towards the security release. It made Beth's brow fold, not used to a moment of sloppiness from a woman who had made herself in their Mother's image.
Up-tight, performed, put-together. Not a hurried smile and the angry clack of heels as she insisted, through painted red lips 'I've got it!' and lunged for the door.
Slowly, Beth took a sip of her champagne. Her nose scrunched and her face contorted, eyes flickering down to study the glass in her hand. She didn't like the taste. She wasn't really a big drinker.
"Hi."
"Hi."
The visitor, of whom Beth hadn't been warned of, was standing in the doorway.
She couldn't see beyond Addison and her greeting; Beth's eyebrows raised as she watched her sister hug an unfamiliar man, drawing him closer, closer than what she considered particularly friendly.
