Five times

4

The weeks went by quickly; it was all a blur to me. I'd had no time with Meredith since the quints case, and it almost made me wonder if the entire incident was something I'd conjured up out of thin air.

But then, something interesting happened, and I knew that Meredith and I had something.

Two words; Mark Sloan.

I'd never expected to see him in Seattle, especially after what happened back in New York. But one day, he just popped up in the hospital, looking the same as he had since I'd met him fifteen years ago.

"Addison!" I was in an on call room fast asleep, when Meredith barged in all hell hath no fury with her arms flailing and he face red. "Addie!"

That woke me up; she never called me Addie. This was the first time, but I liked it. Addie sounded so sweet and soft coming out of her mouth, and it made me smile as I sat up and stretched, suddenly less angry about being woken up.

"What's wrong?" I ask with a yawn. I hadn't slept in a solid two days and I was exhausted.

"Derek just punched Mark Sloan" THAT woke me up.

"Wait, wait wait. What the hell?" I ask her, rubbing my eyes to get the sleep out of them. I knew now that after this, sleep was just a hollow dream, something I wouldn't be seeing for a little bit.

"Mark Sloan showed up here and he's asking for you, I told the nurses not to page you because I wanted to tell you myself, but he's here and Derek punched him!" Meredith was beside herself and it was almost funny, well, it would have been if it wasn't Mark Sloan we were talking about.

"Dammit" I stood up and took a deep breath, mentally preparing for what I was about to endure.

Meredith pulled me into a hug, and I sighed in content as I relaxed in her arms. "Don't worry" she murmured "you'll work it all out, and it'll all be okay" i pulled away and nodded, before reluctantly going to find Mark, with Meredith at my heels.

"Addison" Mark smiled when he saw me, and attempted to hug me, which I dodged. Meredith was shooting daggers at him with her eyes narrowed and angry looking.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, hands on my hips.

"You always did look sexy when you put your hands on your hips like that" Mark commented, making me turn red in a mix of embarrassment and anger.

"I'm going to ask once more, Mark. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came here to get you back" behind me, Meredith coughed on the drink she was drinking. I turned around and asked if she was okay, and she just nodded feebly.

"Mark, just stop" I sigh "we were never an item; we were never supposed to be together" it was true; I thought I could be happy with Mark the way I never was with Derek, but he was Mark and he ended up breaking my heart all the same.

"You and I were in love Addie" he told me "we loved each other, we were happy" he tried to convince me.

"No, Mark. You loved me and I loved Derek and Derek loved himself. This was a bad idea from day one, and the fact that you're here chasing me, proves you're an even bigger idiot than I thought" without listening for a reply, I walked away with Meredith.

Back in the on call room, I ran my hands through my hair and sat down on a bed, tired emotionally and physically.

Meredith sat down next to me and put a comforting hand on my back. I took it one step further and leaned into her, laying my head on her shoulder. She gladly wrapped her arms around me and just held me like that for I don't even know how long.

I liked being held by her; she made me feel safe.

"You don't love Mark" Meredith stated after what felt like forever.

"I don't love Mark" I repeated, turning to look at her.

"That's good" Meredith murmured with a smile. We were so close, so close yet so far as corny as it sounds. If I leaned forward just a fraction of an inch...

And my pager went off. What a time to be alive.

I groaned, and stood up, irritated, but nonetheless I went to my page. And the entire time, all I could think of was Meredith's lips on my own.