Previous Chapters:
here Title: Somewhere Down This Road
Pairing: Alex/Addison
Rating: PG
Summary: An anniversary and fluff. I make no apologies.
Somewhere Down This Road
Addison liked flowers and chocolates. She liked being surprised with breakfast in bed and being wooed in the traditional sense. She knew she was never getting jewelry out of Alex, and she accepted it. She didn’t think he’d have good taste in bracelets or necklaces anyway, and they were nowhere near the ring stage. The simple fact that she had learned from previous serious relationships was that once you moved in with someone, they usually stopped doting on you. She also knew that that she could lounge around in her fuzzy bathrobe and not care that she hadn’t waxed her legs in a while.
Addison liked waking up to a familiar lump beside her every day. She enjoyed having someone with whom she could converse on late mornings over brunch, even if it was through a mouthful of food. She relished the nights when she came home late and he stayed up just to see her. She loved their moments in surgery together when she would put him in control and he would flawlessly save a baby’s life.
Sometimes she thought that lessons in stitching from a world-class plastic surgeon helped a great deal when performing surgeries on babies. She was almost glad that Alex had floated between specialties for a few months, because even those few months better prepared him for miniscule stitching and superficial wounds on babies and mothers. She didn’t plan on telling him that, though. Better that he still felt like he had a lot to learn.
Alex had never lived with a woman that wasn’t his mother. He drifted from bed to bed during college and med school, but this was the first time that it was the same woman he woke up to every single morning and the same woman he waited up for every single night. He knew her habits of double-checking the lock on the door, making sure her fuzzy bathrobe was always clean, and planning out tomorrow fifteen minutes before she turned out the light. He liked that he was always kept abreast of what was to come the following day, even if he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
Alex was not a buyer of gifts or a gesturer of romance. He was a simple man who thought that a woman should simply be happy if she was the only one he was currently sleeping with. Alex wasn’t planning on doing anything special, but the simple fact was that their one-year anniversary was fast-approaching and he was, as of right now, completely out of ideas. Not that he’d had any ideas to begin with, to be quite honest. There was always jewelry at a fancy restaurant, but he had neither the fund nor the inclination. The possibility of flowers and chocolate seemed too small a gesture. Somewhere in between too big and too small (and affordable) was what Alex needed to find.
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“I don’t know if he’s going to remember our anniversary,” Addison told Callie one afternoon over the nurse’s station while they pretended to write notes on their charts.
“Are you one of those women who don’t tell their boyfriends about anniversaries, then gets angry when they forget? Because I hate those women.” Callie took a sip of coffee and paged through a chart. “At least you have someone who can forget an anniversary.” She tried her best not to be bitter, but she was sometimes less successful than she might wish.
“You’ll find someone.” Addison faced the hallway, elbows resting on the countertop. She was occasionally able to find the delicate balance between the sincere response and the automatic one.
“Damn right, I will. I’m a catch. A great catch. A hot, intelligent, interesting catch. I’m like the giant squid of catches.” She waved a pen, punctuating her points with sharp jabs that made several nurses back away from the two women. Addison tilted her head back to look at Callie with confusion. “The giant squid has never been caught alive. It’s rare. Like me.”
“I’m not sure your simile makes complete sense. But I concede to your point. You’re a catch. It’s almost irrefutable. So you think I should remind him about our anniversary?” Addison chewed a pen thoughtfully.
Callie sighed. “Yes, or else don’t get mad when he forgets.” As much as she enjoyed Addison’s company, she occasionally got tired of how often their conversation drifted to Alex. “I’ve got to go find my interns. They’re probably running around the hospital in confusion. Good luck with your intern.”
“He’s a resident!” Addison called after the ortho surgeon. Callie waved without turning around, her lab coat flapping behind her.
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Alex didn’t have anyone to turn to for advice. There was George O’Malley, the man who couldn’t manage to stay married for an entire year. Meredith, who had yet to get to the live-in stage of any relationship. Izzie, who fell in love as quickly as she wrote post-op notes. Cristina, who only knew how to be in a stable relationship because of her partner. None of the nurses were inclined to give him any romantic guidance, and none of his male superiors were people he’d want to look for to get advice on Addison.
He tried to think of things that Addison would want, but any idea earned scorn in his mind, and he was simply out of ideas. He felt, sometimes, the age-old confusion of why a woman like Addison would want to be with a guy like him. It was never a question he asked her because he knew the response would sound cliché and insincere to his ears, even if it was the best declaration of love he could possibly imagine. There was something Addison liked about him, even if he couldn’t figure out what it was. He wasn’t the type of guy to go fishing for compliments about why.
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Addison stretched her arms, yawning after a long surgery. It was one of those bittersweet cases. They had saved the baby’s life, but it had no family and no home to go to, so what did they really do? Alex had the day off and so she had been teaching other interns that showed interest in her specialty, and even the rush from saving a life was dampened for them by the thought of the future this baby was going to have. She knew that if Alex was here, he would have some surprisingly insightful thing to say, and she missed his presence beside her in surgery.
Changing out of her scrubs, Addison thought about the night ahead. Today was their anniversary, but because she hadn’t seen Alex all day, she didn’t know if he remembered. It was a girlish hope of hers that he had spent the entire day preparing something wonderful for them to do.
As she drove home, she did her best to not imagine all the scenarios that could await her behind the door of her hotel room. She didn’t think Alex was a rose petals kind of guy, and she wasn’t going to expect a candle-lit bath with champagne. The excitement built, as much as she tried not to be too expectant of what was to come.
She did her best not to interpret the smiles from the hotel staff as secret smiles belying something wonderful waiting for her in the hotel room. She slid her key into the lock and slowly opened the door. Alex sat on the couch, watching Fight Club, a movie he watched at least once a week. Sometimes he said the lines along with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. He turned as she entered and smiled. “Happy anniversary,” he said, before turning back to the screen.
Addison didn’t say anything, feeling a little let down. She moved into the bedroom and shucked her work clothes in favor of flannel pajamas and her fuzzy bathrobe. She walked back towards the couch, and sat next to Alex, resting her head on his shoulder, deciding that the fact that he was here was enough.
“I saved a baby today,” she said softly, “but it won’t have a good life.” Alex’s arm slowly moved around her, pulling her close.
“But it will have a life.” He rested his head on top of hers, placing a kiss on her fiery hair. “Even if it’s a sucky one.”
Addison shifted, moving closer to Alex, and was quiet for a few moments before saying, quietly, “I’m glad we made it a year.”
“Me too.” Alex didn’t tear his gaze from the two bloody men fighting on the screen, and Addison closed her eyes and slowly drifted into sleep, thankful for the solid presence next to her, and the fact that today was over.
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Chapter Fourteen]