Author's note:
Is it too early for a holiday special?
This one is inspired by 'Christmas Lights,' by AliceSloane13 on FFN, and occurs during "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" in Season Two.
Probably a one-shot.
bobbiejelly
Another Year Over
"He told me he loves you," Addison breathes out for Meredith the moment she feels her behind her at Joe's.
"What?!" Meredith sits down beside Addison and frowns at Addison's grief. She probably shouldn't be here, but she is now, and she's definitely not walking back to the hospital.
"He did. Just now. And then he walked away," Addison says to the intern while blinking back tears.
"He didn't!" Meredith scoffs as she pulls over a spare coaster.
"He did, Merry Christmas Meredith," Addison offers a tight-lipped smile.
"Is that supposed to be sarcastic?" Meredith asks and then winces at her own lameness.
"No, yes, no, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say here, Grey," Addison sighs.
"I'm sorry," Meredith offers, and instinctively reaches over to pat Addison's shoulder.
When she does, Addison doesn't pull away right away, but instead, she crumbles completely and bursts into tears.
"Hey, hey," Meredith says soothingly. "You're going to be okay..." she offers.
"It's not going to be okay, Meredith. My husband doesn't love me anymore because he loves you, and yet you're not with him either, and instead, you're here comforting me when you could just be going off getting McDreamy with him at your house instead of his stupid trailer where we tried both living together, but I kept getting bug-bitten," Addison vents at her.
And then, Meredith starts giggling, and Addison can't figure out why she's laughing.
"What?" Says Addison, her mood slightly lighter.
"You just-" Meredith giggles again.
"What!?" Addison asks again.
"You just- you used 'McDreamy,' as a verb, and it's not even a verb, and he's not even McDreamy anymore because I am so over him!" Meredith giggles.
"You're over him?" Addison asks with a scrutinizing expression.
"I'm over him. I swear to god," says Meredith.
"He's not over you," Addison says bluntly.
"I know, but I'm over him. Seriously. I promise," says Meredith.
"Even now when you know that he's in love with you?" Addison offers.
"Especially now that I know he's the kind of guy who tells his wife he loves another woman while she's moved all the way from New York for him!" Meredith sighs exasperatedly.
"Well, to be fair, I mean, I did cheat on him," Addison reminds Meredith.
"Right, but that was just one time, right?" Meredith asks skeptically, but then she has her answer when Addison looks down at the floor again.
"Well if you didn't know even though you probably did, before you showed up, he cheated on you with me... Erm... More than once..." Meredith offers carefully.
"And you really didn't know about me?" Addison asks her genuinely.
"And I really didn't know about you," Meredith offers just as genuinely.
"So I was wrong, and he was wrong, but you weren't wrong because you didn't know any of it?" Addison summarizes.
"And you weren't wrong with me, I mean, you never lied to me, even when he did," Meredith offers.
"I thought you deserve more than that," Addison says, and realizes it feels more like an admission than it probably is.
"Thanks..." Meredith says awkwardly. "For what it's worth... I think you deserved more than someone who's not in love with you to the point he pretends you don't even exist," Meredith offers.
"For what it's worth... I think you deserve more than someone who can't decide between two extremely valid options," Addison offers.
"Thanks?" Meredith smirks at Addison.
"I mean, you're more than just valid. You're a catch. Yes, you're a catch, Meredith," Addison rambles, and Meredith can tell she's probably drunk now by the way she's calling her a 'catch,' as if people still said that these days.
"Thanks, Addison. I mean, I think you're a catch too," Meredith laughs.
"Are you being sarcastic now?" Addison asks her.
"No," Meredith says quickly. "Not at all," she offers genuinely.
"You know, Derek never appreciated either of us fully," Addison says strongly.
"So true. He really didn't!" Meredith agrees with her.
"He really didn't give you everything you know. If he had come clean about me he could have left me for you earlier. He would have been better off now, y'know?" Addison says annoyedly.
"Or, he could have forgiven you. Or at least set you free. One of the other rather than all of this in or out bullshit. It's the in or out bullshit that really gets to me," Meredith rants on.
"It is. It's the in or out bullshit that just gets the best of us. We really ought to stop humoring him," Addison sighs.
"We really ought to," Meredith agrees with her, surprisingly.
Addison is also surprised, but comforted by this, and she offers Meredith another chance at being friendly with her.
"We ought to make some new year's resolutions. Number one, stop calling Derek 'McDreamy," Meredith suggests.
"Are these for you or for me? Because I don't really call him McDreamy..." Addison giggles.
"Okay then, what's yours?" Meredith asks Addison.
"Number one, stop waiting for him when he's late and he promised," Addison says aloud, gaining confidence as she keeps speaking up.
"That's a good one," Meredith says encouragingly.
"It is a good one," Addison smiles. "So is yours," she adds for good measure.
"We could go for drinks once a week to make sure we're on track," Meredith offers.
"That sounds like Derek-a-holics anonymous," Addison groans out.
"Hey, it takes one to know one, but at least this time I'm rooting for you," Meredith says with a smile.
"Alright then, I'm rooting for you too, Grey," Addison says with a real smile this time.
They sit for a moment, just enjoying the company, and realizing that they finally feel just okay for a while.
"Y'know, Addison?" Meredith finally speaks up.
"Uh-huh, Meredith?" Addison asks her.
"Happy New Year," Meredith finally offers.
"Happy New Year," Addison smiles.
"To us," Meredith raises her glass in a 'cheers,'.
"To us," Addison raises her own glass back.
As they clink their drinks together their eyes meet, and their expressions soften, and they let their guard down for the first time in a long time.
When the cool champagne finally touches their lips, it's in celebration, rather than for drinking their pain away.
It helps them, for Meredith and Addison, to finally be in this together.
***** FIN
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading, folks!
bobbiejelly
