Elephants, Chapter 9
Fandom: Private Practice
Ships: Paddison, mentions of Pete/Anna, Addek, Maddison & Addex
Summary: They tried to ignore the elephants in the room, but sometimes talking to a friend is all you really need.
Please read and review!
Chapter 1: Let's Play Shrinks
Chapter 2: Addison's Elephant Is From New York
Chapter 3: Pete's Elephant Was Not Like Her
Chapter 4: Addison's Elephant Stayed In New York
Chapter 5: Pete's Elephant Was Loved
Chapter 6: Addison's Elephant Moved To Seattle
Chapter 7: Pete's Elephant Lost Hope
Chapter 8: Addison's Elephant Stayed In Seattle
A/N: This is it! I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. A sequel is coming soon :)
It was just another normal morning in Los Angeles. Sunny and warm, and with that special light that made things shinier than they were anywhere else in the world. That may be the reason why Violet saw the flash of red coming from her office as soon as she glanced towards the cristal wall. A flash of red that, she noted as she walked towards the door, appeared to come from the hair on someone’s head. She knew that hair, she knew that head and she knew that someone, but she didn’t know why that someone was laying on her couch, apparently sleeping.
She opened the door to her office and looked at her, suppressing a laugh. Her mouth hung slightly open, her hair was all over the cushion she was using as a pillow, and her limbs were spread out in a very un-ladylike fashion. To think this was the woman who rocked the Jimmy Choos and was the epitome of class and glamour. There really was a reason why we slept in the privacy of our own bedrooms.
Violet walked into her office and closed the door, letting it make enough noise to bring the redhead back to the land of the waking. Addison rolled to her side, seemingly reaching for the alarm clock she assumed had woke her up, and landed on the floor with a groan. Violet looked at the very confused woman with a smile across her face, and greeted her with her best shiny voice “Hello, Sunshine!”. Addison rubbed her eyes and squinted as she looked at her, trying to figure out what was going on. “Violet? What...?” She placed some files on her desk and turned to look at her. “I was hoping you could tell me that. Why were you sleeping on my couch?”
Addison took a minute to gather her thoughts and try to remember. She’d never been a morning person, and it wasn’t easy for her to start thinking straight when she woke up. “I came here at night to think... I guess I fell asleep.” Because the part about talking to Pete was a dream. Right? Yeah, it had been just a very vivid dream. Another fantasy, she guessed, where instead of complimenting her smartness, noticing the lack of cellulite on her thighs or being a gladiator, he’d shared his thoughts and dreams with her and became the perfect man. It had been a nice dream, and she smiled at the thought.
Violet’s look told her she thought she was off her rocker, but then again, she seemed to get that kind of look quite often lately. “Okay then... can I have my office back, please?” She looked amused and annoyed at the same time, which also happened quite often lately. She guessed it had something to do with Cooper and That Night. She grabbed her shoes and smiled at her before walking out of the room, still thinking about her dream. It had been a very nice dream.
She walked into her office and changed into her scrubs, making a mental note to keep some extra clothes in there, just in case she ever had to face a similar situation again. It was time for the morning meeting already, and she walked across the hall while still fixing her hair, wanting to look as presentable as possible considering the circumstances. She noticed the absence of certain holistic healer at the meeting, and she was slightly relieved by that. She couldn’t keep the dream out of her mind, and she didn’t want the real Pete ruining the image in her head. Because the real Pete stood women up instead of sharing his thoughts and dreams with them, and she didn’t like the real Pete nearly as much as the dream Pete.
Dream Pete. That was dangerously close to Dreamy Pete, wasn’t it? McDreamy Pete? No. Not McDreamy. She wondered what Pete’s nickname would be if he worked at Seattle Grace. McHolistic? McQuack? Okay, she wasn’t nearly as good at this nickname thing as the Seattle interns. And then, she noticed. Everything was the same. Her day hadn’t suddenly darkened, she didn’t feel a weight on her heart, and she felt exactly the same as she did a second before. Calm. Sleep deprived and with her usual crappy morning mood, but still calm. Maybe Los Angeles had worked its magic. Maybe talking did help, even in her dreams. Whatever it was, it had killed Seattle’s bad juju. She was over it.
She was over it? Really? Well, how about that. She was over it. She was sure hell had frozen over at that very second. Because the unthinkable had happened. McSatan, the She-Shepherd, the ex-Mrs.Shepherd, the adulterous bitch, Karev’s not-girlfriend, they were all gone. She was just Addison. And it felt so good she couldn’t help but wish she was home just so she could dance around naked for a while. Since a round of naked dancing was out of the question, she did the next thing that popped into her head. She opened the door to Naomi’s office, stuck her head inside, and shoot her a huge bright smile before talking on her shiniest, brightest, happiest voice. “I’m over it!” And, with that, she closed the door and walked towards her office, the beaming smile still plastered across her face.
Sam’s face was a picture of confusion as he looked at his ex-wife, hoping for an explanation. Naomi simply smiled and answered his silent question with a hint of cockiness in her voice. “And that, my friend, is another reason why I asked her to come.” Sam laughed at her answer, and he couldn’t help but agree with her. Hiring their friend had been a very good move, he had to give her that. “Where’s Pete, anyway?” He shrugged slightly before answering. “Something about gladiators who fight, fighting like a gladiator, or being a fighting gladiator.” She looked at him, half confused and half amused. “Your friend is weird.” “Look who’s talking.” He nodded in Addison’s office’s direction, and she had to join in his laughter.
At that very moment, the aforementioned weird friend of Sam’s walked into Cooper’s office, a smirk on his face. “You weren’t at the meeting.” Cooper greeted him, not looking up from his charts. “Very good morning to you too, Cooper.” Okay, that was just weird. Since when did they use greetings? And what was with the half-smirk half-grin, anyway? “Are you all right?” He was slightly worried about Pete. He looked... almost cheerful. “I’m perfectly fine. I’d even go as far as to say I’m good.” Good? Now he really was worried. “What’s going on? Why weren’t you at the meeting?” “I had things to do. Addison here?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but failed miserably. “Why?” But Pete didn’t answer his question because, thanks to that strange Los Angeles light, he’d just seen a flash of red across the hall. He didn’t lose a second before walking out of the office, leaving Cooper even more confused than he was before.
He walked into the kitchen, where Addison was drinking that mysterious green liquid she seemed to like so much. With his best cocky grin, he looked at her and spoke. “That couch can’t be too comfortable. If you need a healing touch, you know where to find me.” She nearly choked on her juice. “What?” Violet had told him, right? There was no way the dream hadn’t been a dream. Right? “I’m just saying, as your friend, I’m concerned about the state of your back after sleeping on that couch.” The cocky grin was still on his face. “How do you...?” But she couldn’t finish her question, because, apparently, babies don’t care if you’re having an important conversation. They just come when they feel like it. The little buggers. And so, she left for the birthing suite, leaving a very amused Pete behind.
Pete wasn’t happy when he saw Officer Kevin at the clinic. But he wouldn’t let that little detail get in the way of his good day. After all, gladiators did fight, didn’t they? If he was going to be her gladiator, he could fight that pretty little cop. It made everything more interesting. He waited patiently for him to leave Addison’s office, feeling a tingle of jealousy when he saw his smile, that he guessed meant he had gotten a date. But that was fine. He could have his dates, he’d stick to the overnight talks, thank you very much.
Addison smiled brightly as she got ready to go home. Not only was she over Seattle, she also had a date. With a very handsome, very charming, very sexy cop. And she was sure the image of dream Pete would be pushed away from her mind as soon as the date started. Because it was a dream, after all, and Officer Kevin was very, very real. She didn’t notice Pete when he walked into the room, and was slightly startled by his voice. “Addison?”
“Oh, hey, Pete.” She was slightly uncomfortable around real Pete after spending the whole day thinking about dream Pete. “How was your day?” They were making small talk now? This friends thing was interesting. “It was good, actually. How was yours?” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other before answering. He was getting slightly nervous. Gladiators don’t get nervous. He had to be a gladiator. Her gladiator. “Great. It was great. So, I just wanted... here.” He handed her an envelope, and he looked curiously at him before looking inside. She pulled out a postcard, with a picture of fireworks on the front. “Oh.” It was all she could say. “I just thought you deserved some fireworks.” So it wasn’t a dream. Dream Pete was just Pete, which made sense since she was now just Addison, herself. “Oh.”
That last little word had been happily spoken. And he was suddenly filled with pride. It had worked. The nervousness was now gone, and his voice was steadier, softer and warmer when he spoke again, with a hint of playfulness in his eyes. “Keep being this perfectly imperfect, and you’ll force me to give you the real ones.” And, with one last warm smile, he left her office, smiling broadly and noticing his hope was definitely back.
It was just another normal night in Los Angeles. Slightly cooler than the day, but still warm, as always. And that night, if there was one person in the city that thought the stillness, the warmth and the peacefulness matched her mood, it was the woman who walked through the dark corridors of the clinic, headed to the elevator and looking happily at a picture, with a big smile playing on her lips.