Another Year Over 2
Four hours later, the laughter is plentiful, as are the empty glasses before them.
It was easy to say at the time that they were going to move on from him, but when it came right down to it, it was hard for Meredith and Addison to stay strong.
"He's calling me," Meredith says quietly.
"Are you going to answer that?" Addison asks without judgment.
"Part of me wants to, part of me wants to smash my phone in a gazillion pieces," Meredith sighs.
"He's not worth that," says Addison.
"Easy for you to say," offers Meredith, with a scowl that isn't actually directed at Addison.
"Now he's calling me," Addison laughs bitterly.
"Are YOU going to answer him?" asks Meredith.
"Well," Addison hesitates.
"Addison," Meredith reaches out, and covers the redhead's hands with her own. "It's time we start taking care of ourselves," she says in a moment of bravery.
It would be such a shame for them both to be breaking their resolutions so early. The clock technically struck while they were both commiserating, and they only noticed when everyone around started cheering.
"I always dreamed of being kissed into the new year," admits Addison.
"So did I," offers Meredith. "But I guess that's not happening," she sighs.
"Maybe next year," Addison shrugs.
"Yeah, maybe next year," Meredith mimics.
"It's getting colder, do you want to get out of here?" offers Addison.
"If you're saying you're driving, I'm not letting you hurt yourself," Meredith says sceptically.
"God no," says Addison. "I could call us a cab," she offers.
"It'll be expensive as hell," says Meredith.
"Not if we split it," says Addison.
"Okay," says Meredith reluctantly, not wanting to move quite yet.
"No point sitting here while they're trying to close," says Addison.
"You wouldn't believe the number of times I've been here past then," Meredith says absently.
Softly, Addison gathers their coats as she pays off the remainder of their tabs. Meredith offers to pitch in, but Addison says something quickly about her being an attending and all, and Meredith doesn't have the energy to fight her anyway.
It hits Addison then, that the reason that Meredith's been drinking lately has been about their bitter love problems, and it saddens her to the point of reaching out for the blonde.
"What is this about?" asks Meredith when Addison wraps her arms around her.
"This is me saying I'm sorry," says Addison.
"You're not the one who should be apologizing," says Meredith.
"I'm one of them," Addison adds in.
Meredith doesn't fight her on that one.
The taxi arrives, and Meredith and Addison slide into the back seat of it, and Meredith directs him to her house because she knows that Addison doesn't have one here.
"We could have drunk room service booze at my hotel room," Addison offers flatly.
"It's 4 in the morning, we might as well not get even more wasted," Meredith sighs.
When they reach the threshold, Addison shivers, and Meredith reaches her own arm around the taller woman for warmth.
"Come in, everyone's asleep anyway," says Meredith as she kicks off her shoes.
The remains of an intern party wrack the house, and Addison somehow manages to find herself a place to put her shoes among all the carnage.
"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" Meredith offers, knowing that everyone else's rooms are probably occupied by people crashing at her place, judging by the unfamiliar cars in the driveway.
"You don't have to," Addison says quietly, not wanting to be even more of a burden than she already feels.
"I'm not making you," says Meredith. "You're the guest," she argues.
"We could have gone to my hotel, then I wouldn't have been," offers Addison.
Her protesting doesn't make any sense any longer, and they're both tired, so Meredith just stops fighting and shows her upstairs.
"Do you want to shower?" offers Meredith.
"I'm so tired, I just want to crash," says Addison, yawning.
"Okay, go ahead," says Meredith, pointing to her bed, and picking up a clean pair of pajamas for Addison to wear from her dresser, while she picks up the pair she'd been wearing last night from the floor.
"You can stay here," says Addison, so soft it's barely noticeable.
"I'd like that," Meredith says, as she finally agrees with the redhead.
When they both crawl under the covers, Meredith notices that Addison starts whimpering to herself, and she ignores it for a few minutes until she can't stand it anymore.
"I can't believe that I'm nearly forty, and this is all I have to show for it," whispers Addison.
"Hey, you're a brilliant doctor, you've got that to show for it," offers Meredith.
"Thanks," Addison sniffles, as Meredith just sits there.
"Are you going to complain about something back?" Addison asks her.
"I can't believe I'm still a disappointment in everyone's eyes," says Meredith, truthfully
"I'm not disappointed in you, I'm proud of you," offers Addison.
"You'd be the first one," says Meredith. "Hey, I'm proud of you too," Meredith offers.
"Meredith, could I stay here, for just a little while?" Addison asks her, a bit longer into the night, and by this time Addison has snuggled closer to Meredith for comfort.
"You can stay as long as you like," Meredith nods for her, as she tucks her head on top of Addison's shoulder.
Addison stays with her for three weeks, before Meredith finally asks her to move in with her, permanently.
***** FIN
