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After Mark and Lexie’s wedding, Meredith found herself at the bar with Cristina, Teddy, and Addison. Cristina and Teddy were too busy flirting and dancing together to worry much about their friends. This led to Addison and Meredith finding a quiet space outside and talking the night away. Neither woman was in the mood to party hard after the stressful lead-up to the wedding.
“I never hated you, y’know?” Addison meets the intense gaze of the blondes.
“I know, I never hated you either. I mean, how could I? You’re basically perfect. I remember thinking that if I was Derek, I would never have let you go, let alone neglect you to the point you sought fulfilment from another man.” Meredith didn’t realise she was rambling, she was feeling tipsy from the drinks her friends had been feeding her earlier, effectively removing her filter.
They were silent for a while, Addison trying to will the blush now adorning her face away and Meredith lost in thought.
“What was your upbringing like?” Meredith turns to look at Addison again, wanting to learn more about the woman in front of her.
“It, uh… it wasn’t great. Our nannies raised Archer and I more than our parents did. How about you? What was Ellis like?” Addison avoids saying too much, her childhood was a difficult subject and she was unsure how Meredith might react.
“Well, Thatcher left when I was five, my mother tried to kill herself, and then we moved to Boston, where I was practically raised by the staff at Mass Gen. I spent most of my time in the hospital, trying to sneak into ORs and watch a surgery or two. I backpacked around Europe for a bit much to Ellis’ dismay and when I returned, she received her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, then we relocated to Seattle… and well, I guess you can fill in what happened there.” Addison leaned over and wiped a few stray tears from the blonde’s cheek.
“I’m sorry, Mer. You didn’t deserve to go through all that.”
“It’s fine Addie, I’m working on it.”
“Regardless.”
The pair spend hours talking, waiting for either a cab or one of their sober friends to walk out to get a ride home.
Eventually, Cristina and Teddy exit. When Cristina sees them, she gives Mer a look before beckoning them over.
“We’ll drop you back to the hotel?” Cristina and Teddy hadn’t been drinking, both wanting to make a good impression.
Addison nods in response and the four of them pile into the car. The drive is silent aside from the radio playing softly in the background.
Shortly after arriving at the hotel, Meredith walks Addison up to her room in a comfortable silence.
“Do you want to come in?” Addison asks, hopeful.
“Are you sure? It’s late, and you said you need to leave early for the flight home tomorrow.”
“Mer, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want you to. I’m just not ready to be done talking to you yet.” Addison smiles at her, Meredith steps in and takes in the room before her. She doesn’t notice Addison watching her.
They sit down, close to each other, but not touching. The conversation flows between them, they truly do talk about everything.
Before they know it, it’s 4:00am and they’ve spent the whole time talking, stealing shy glances and ignoring the tension between them.
“It’s late, I should go so you can get at least some rest before you go home…” Meredith stands, hoping Addison will stop her. The redhead doesn’t say anything, just watches her as she walks to the door. “This was nice. We should do this again, although maybe at a more reasonable hour.” Mer chuckles, reaching for the door handle, begging Addison to ask her to stay internally.
“Mer, wait.” Her voice is soft, but Meredith heard. She turns to look at her once more. Addison is staring at her, the look on the redhead’s face is unreadable and Meredith doesn’t know what to think.
“Yeah?” It’s hopeful.
“Can I at least get a hug? I have told you my life story and listened to yours after all… friends hug, don’t they?” Meredith can’t stop the smile that grows on her face as she listens to Addie ramble on. She nods and both women move to close the space between them.
The moment that Addison pulls her in for a tight, long hug, Meredith feels something shift within herself and she realises something. She’s fallen for Addison. She has been since the day they met that feels like so long ago, Meredith wasn’t anxious to be around Addison because of their entangled history – back then maybe she was a little… but definitely not now, the anxious feeling in her stomach wasn’t an anxious feeling at all, it was deeper than that, it was a lot less platonic than that. The blonde woman takes a moment to let the realisation settle in as she stays wrapped up in Addison’s arms, inhaling the delicate scent of her. Addison sighs gently as they sway softly, simply enjoying each other.
What Meredith doesn’t know is that Addison had a similar realisation, she just had it a long time ago. She’s had feelings for the blonde for an embarrassing amount of time and that’s why after her move to L.A she never ended up dating anyone long term. Addison’s in love with someone she can’t have. And even if she could, Meredith’s straight anyway. She sighs into the hug as she pulls Meredith closer somehow, swaying gently.
“Mer?” Addie whispers into her hair, breathing in the lavender scent.
“Hmm?” Meredith hums into her neck in response, basking in the warmth and comfort the redhead provides.
“I – actually, never-mind.” Addison stops herself, moving to pull away from the hug when Meredith surprises them both and pulls her close, their faces inches apart. Addison draws in a sharp breath at the closeness, Meredith’s warm breath caressing her face. The mood shifts, tension filling the space between them, the very small space between them.
“Addie,” Meredith breathes out, having an internal debate on whether she should close the gap or not, fuck it she decides, “I’m going to kiss you. If that’s okay?” Addison nods, not expecting those words to come from her.
They meet in the middle and it feels like a scene from the movies. As their lips move curiously against each other, Meredith wraps her arms around Addison, fiddling with the ends of curled red hair. She swears she can see and feel and hear fireworks being set off. Her heart exploding in her chest. In that moment, Meredith realises she may just be addicted to Addison.
Addison’s mind is silent, simply buzzing at the way Meredith’s lips feel against hers and her entire body is ablaze, ignited by a kiss. Addison deepens the kiss, pulling Meredith closer by her hips, wanting – no, needing to feel more of her. Meredith is intoxicating, her taste, the feel of her skin, of her hair, of her. She’s soft and just perfect.
Meredith gasps when Addison sucks her lower lip into her mouth, letting out a soft groan. Addison takes the opportunity to explore with her tongue, gently, curiously, you could even go as far as describing it as shy. Which is, quite the opposite to Meredith’s response. Meredith’s tongue joins Addison in a dance that feels as though they’ve practiced hundreds of times, a fight for dominance that they’ve had before even though they haven’t…
When Meredith arches her body, pressing her further into Addison, it’s like a switch is flipped for both of them and the kiss turns passionate, rough, lust-filled. Addison pulls away first, not wanting to go further than either of them were ready for. What she isn’t ready for is the whine that Meredith let’s out.
“Addie…” she drags out her name, looking at her with pleading eyes, “come back here.”
“I don’t want to push you to go further than you want, Mer. We can stop.” Addison is serious, looking into the blue eyes that stare back up at her, boring into her.
“I don’t want to stop. I want you.” She tugs at Addison, urging her closer, “Please?”
And that’s all it takes for Addison to crash their lips together once more.
Eventually, they end up on the bed, Meredith straddling Addison’s lap as they kiss like the fate of the world depended on it.
They pull apart once more, needing air. “Addie, please stay.” Meredith’s voice is pleading, as she plays with red hair again.
“Give me a reason to stay.”
“I can show you a pretty good one,” Mer wiggles her eyebrows, giggling at the eye-roll she gets in return, “I’m serious though, I want you here. I – look I never thought I’d actually say this out loud but I,” she pauses, taking a deep breath, nervous for the reaction to the words about to come out of her mouth, “I’m in love with you, Addison. I didn’t realise it until earlier today, but fuck, I think I’ve always been in love with you and I understand if you don’t feel the same way. God, I’m probably making a fool of myself. I’m going to go but thanks for a good –” she fails to see the smile on Addison’s face too caught up in her ramblings.
“Meredith, shut up. I’m in love with you too.” Addison responds, kissing her again, laughing when their teeth clash because of the dorky smiles they both wear.
Feeling confident and rather giddy, Meredith asks, “Can I show you a reason to stay, though?” a smirk replacing the smile she wore moments ago. Addison chuckles before saying yes and soon enough their clothes are, not ripped off because wedding attire is expensive but rather carefully removed and hung in the wardrobe.
The two women explore each other’s bodies as the sun rises, basking them both in a golden glow.
It’s better than either of them had hoped. It’s also the start of something really beautiful.