Sunday on a Saturday Afternoon - 12/20
Previous Chapters: here
Title: I'm Warning You, We're Growing Up
Pairing: Alex/Addison
Rating: PG
Summary: Scenes from an apartment and a hotel room.
I’m Warning You, We’re Growing Up
Alex rarely spent a lot of time in his apartment. He was there to sleep and occasionally consume a meal. His bedroom door was usually shut, hiding the cast-off clothes and smelly scrubs from the orderliness of the rest of his living space. He kept a supply of orange juice and eggs in his refrigerator, since breakfast was usually the only meal he ate in his apartment, and orange juice was his morning drink of choice. He was always in the mood for eggs, and he was meticulous about keeping up with the expiration dates of all of his refrigerated products.
The first night Addison slept over, he made her scrambled eggs for breakfast. The next time her provided her with eggs over-easy. She would never tell him what eggs she liked best, so he worked through them all, trying to gage her response to each. He eventually decided that poached eggs were her favorite, since they left her plate the fastest, and proceeded to make them for her every time she spent the night.
Alex’s mattress was too firm. The lighting was either far too bright or far too dark, there was no in-between. Addison liked being able to get a good look in, but not to the point where she was blinded if her gaze happened to hit upon the overhead lamp. His sheets had a funny smell, and she could never quite place just what it was. Sometimes it smelled like him, and she soaked in the scent, but sometimes it was an odd smell, like if she looked near the foot of the bed, there might be some mold growing. But he would sleep with his face pressed up against his pillow, the sheets leaving marks on his cheek, and he cooked her eggs and made an attempt at straightening the small messes around his bed when he knew she was coming over. He figured out for himself what kind of eggs she liked and she always liked to start her morning off with a glass of cold orange juice.
Still, she often tried to steer things towards her hotel room, where the mattress was soft, the sheets were always fresh, there were many variables in the lighting, the room service could bring any food they desired, and Alex’s face could still be smashed up on the pillow next to hers.
Slowly, his clothing began to creep into her room. She unconsciously made room for him in a few drawers in her bureau and cleared space for his toiletries in her bathroom, his toothbrush taking up residence next to hers, his deodorant next to her hand soap.
It was strange how they began living together. The hotel staff realized it before they did, providing Alex with his own room key, adding his name to the guest list and greeting him with a “Good evening, Mr. Karev.” There had been no formal asking, no traditional trading of the keys, it was just a natural segue in their relationship.
---
The day Addison fully realized that she was living with Alex Karev was the day she accidentally pulled on one of his scrub tops and found him using her toothbrush.
She walked into the bathroom to hang up a used towel and leaned against the sink so she was facing Alex, observing the careful way he attended to all his teeth, then noticed that the bright green handle sticking out from his hand was the handle to her toothbrush, and his red-handled one was sitting next to her hand on the counter. She brandished it in his face. “Have you suddenly become colorblind?” she asked.
“Don’t joke, it affects about eight percent of the male population. You’d feel embarrassed if I really was colorblind.” He removed the offending toothbrush and inspected it carefully. “Well, at least I just used your toothbrush. It’s not as if I took your scrub top or anything.” He looked pointedly at Addison, who realized just how much larger and not dark blue the scrubs she was wearing were.
“In my defense, light blue and dark blue are much closer than red and bright green.” She obliged Alex by pulling off his shirt and searching for one of her own, pulling her hair back and completing the professional Addison look by pulling on her surgery sneakers.
“At least you know my saliva isn’t dangerous. You’ve been exposed to it quite a lot recently and you don’t seem to be ill.” He leaned over and spit, then rinsed, tapping the toothbrush against the edge of the sink.
“Alex?” Addison’s voice floated into the bathroom from somewhere near the vicinity of her bed. He poked his head around the doorframe. She stood, her head cocked contemplatively. “We’re living together.” She said it like it was an epiphany of the very best sort, with a smile just meant for Alex on her face.
Alex rubbed an arm across his face before exiting the bathroom. “It does seem that way.” He took note of the pile of his clothes that had collected in one corner of the room and the way the sink space was evenly divided between their supplies. Room service always brought two empty plates, anticipating his presence.
“I wanted to make sure you knew.” She stood with her hands on her hips, looking around the room, her face shifting as her brows furrowed. “I just can’t seem to find my ID badge.” She began picking through the papers that inhabited her bedside table and scanning the floor.
Alex bent down to pick up his pants from yesterday and extracted his wallet from the back pocket. “Here. You gave it to me last night when you left your bag in the locker room.” He pulled her ID out and handed it to her. “I don’t know if we’ve ever discussed that photo on your badge before. It’s kind of ugly,” he said with his usual cheeky grin on his face.
“I wasn’t prepared and Richard thought it was amusing, so he wouldn’t let me change it.” She snatched the ID from his hand and clipped it to the pocket of her dark blue scrubs so the picture was facing her chest. “All right. I’ve got to go operate on a pregnant lady and I’ll see you in a few hours when we operate on another pregnant lady.” She placed a light, practiced kiss on his cheek. “Have a good morning.”
Alex watched her leave then promptly fell back onto the bed for a nap before he had to get to work for rounds. He didn’t like waking up really early, but he did like seeing Addison before she left, and she usually left pretty early, so he rearranged his sleep schedule. Besides, if he took care of the things like teeth brushing and face washing when she was around, he’d have more time to sleep when she wasn’t.
Addison sat in her car for a few moments before turning the key in the ignition. This thing with Alex, it had become more than dating. It was one of those adult relationships. It’d been a long time since she’d been involved in one of those. She flipped open her phone and called up to her room. Alex answered, his voice sounding muffled and sleepy. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad we’re living together. Now go back to sleep.” There was a muffled agreement and a clang as Alex dropped the phone onto its base.
Satisfied, Addison maneuvered her way out of the quiet parking ramp and into the busy streets of Seattle.
[ Chapter Thirteen]
Title: I'm Warning You, We're Growing Up
Pairing: Alex/Addison
Rating: PG
Summary: Scenes from an apartment and a hotel room.
I’m Warning You, We’re Growing Up
Alex rarely spent a lot of time in his apartment. He was there to sleep and occasionally consume a meal. His bedroom door was usually shut, hiding the cast-off clothes and smelly scrubs from the orderliness of the rest of his living space. He kept a supply of orange juice and eggs in his refrigerator, since breakfast was usually the only meal he ate in his apartment, and orange juice was his morning drink of choice. He was always in the mood for eggs, and he was meticulous about keeping up with the expiration dates of all of his refrigerated products.
The first night Addison slept over, he made her scrambled eggs for breakfast. The next time her provided her with eggs over-easy. She would never tell him what eggs she liked best, so he worked through them all, trying to gage her response to each. He eventually decided that poached eggs were her favorite, since they left her plate the fastest, and proceeded to make them for her every time she spent the night.
Alex’s mattress was too firm. The lighting was either far too bright or far too dark, there was no in-between. Addison liked being able to get a good look in, but not to the point where she was blinded if her gaze happened to hit upon the overhead lamp. His sheets had a funny smell, and she could never quite place just what it was. Sometimes it smelled like him, and she soaked in the scent, but sometimes it was an odd smell, like if she looked near the foot of the bed, there might be some mold growing. But he would sleep with his face pressed up against his pillow, the sheets leaving marks on his cheek, and he cooked her eggs and made an attempt at straightening the small messes around his bed when he knew she was coming over. He figured out for himself what kind of eggs she liked and she always liked to start her morning off with a glass of cold orange juice.
Still, she often tried to steer things towards her hotel room, where the mattress was soft, the sheets were always fresh, there were many variables in the lighting, the room service could bring any food they desired, and Alex’s face could still be smashed up on the pillow next to hers.
Slowly, his clothing began to creep into her room. She unconsciously made room for him in a few drawers in her bureau and cleared space for his toiletries in her bathroom, his toothbrush taking up residence next to hers, his deodorant next to her hand soap.
It was strange how they began living together. The hotel staff realized it before they did, providing Alex with his own room key, adding his name to the guest list and greeting him with a “Good evening, Mr. Karev.” There had been no formal asking, no traditional trading of the keys, it was just a natural segue in their relationship.
---
The day Addison fully realized that she was living with Alex Karev was the day she accidentally pulled on one of his scrub tops and found him using her toothbrush.
She walked into the bathroom to hang up a used towel and leaned against the sink so she was facing Alex, observing the careful way he attended to all his teeth, then noticed that the bright green handle sticking out from his hand was the handle to her toothbrush, and his red-handled one was sitting next to her hand on the counter. She brandished it in his face. “Have you suddenly become colorblind?” she asked.
“Don’t joke, it affects about eight percent of the male population. You’d feel embarrassed if I really was colorblind.” He removed the offending toothbrush and inspected it carefully. “Well, at least I just used your toothbrush. It’s not as if I took your scrub top or anything.” He looked pointedly at Addison, who realized just how much larger and not dark blue the scrubs she was wearing were.
“In my defense, light blue and dark blue are much closer than red and bright green.” She obliged Alex by pulling off his shirt and searching for one of her own, pulling her hair back and completing the professional Addison look by pulling on her surgery sneakers.
“At least you know my saliva isn’t dangerous. You’ve been exposed to it quite a lot recently and you don’t seem to be ill.” He leaned over and spit, then rinsed, tapping the toothbrush against the edge of the sink.
“Alex?” Addison’s voice floated into the bathroom from somewhere near the vicinity of her bed. He poked his head around the doorframe. She stood, her head cocked contemplatively. “We’re living together.” She said it like it was an epiphany of the very best sort, with a smile just meant for Alex on her face.
Alex rubbed an arm across his face before exiting the bathroom. “It does seem that way.” He took note of the pile of his clothes that had collected in one corner of the room and the way the sink space was evenly divided between their supplies. Room service always brought two empty plates, anticipating his presence.
“I wanted to make sure you knew.” She stood with her hands on her hips, looking around the room, her face shifting as her brows furrowed. “I just can’t seem to find my ID badge.” She began picking through the papers that inhabited her bedside table and scanning the floor.
Alex bent down to pick up his pants from yesterday and extracted his wallet from the back pocket. “Here. You gave it to me last night when you left your bag in the locker room.” He pulled her ID out and handed it to her. “I don’t know if we’ve ever discussed that photo on your badge before. It’s kind of ugly,” he said with his usual cheeky grin on his face.
“I wasn’t prepared and Richard thought it was amusing, so he wouldn’t let me change it.” She snatched the ID from his hand and clipped it to the pocket of her dark blue scrubs so the picture was facing her chest. “All right. I’ve got to go operate on a pregnant lady and I’ll see you in a few hours when we operate on another pregnant lady.” She placed a light, practiced kiss on his cheek. “Have a good morning.”
Alex watched her leave then promptly fell back onto the bed for a nap before he had to get to work for rounds. He didn’t like waking up really early, but he did like seeing Addison before she left, and she usually left pretty early, so he rearranged his sleep schedule. Besides, if he took care of the things like teeth brushing and face washing when she was around, he’d have more time to sleep when she wasn’t.
Addison sat in her car for a few moments before turning the key in the ignition. This thing with Alex, it had become more than dating. It was one of those adult relationships. It’d been a long time since she’d been involved in one of those. She flipped open her phone and called up to her room. Alex answered, his voice sounding muffled and sleepy. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad we’re living together. Now go back to sleep.” There was a muffled agreement and a clang as Alex dropped the phone onto its base.
Satisfied, Addison maneuvered her way out of the quiet parking ramp and into the busy streets of Seattle.
[ Chapter Thirteen]