(Untitled)

[marksloan]

She was avoiding him.  That much was clear.

For a good two weeks he stayed on his best behavior, supressing off-color jokes and innuendoes, refraining from staring when an attractive woman openly stared at him, and (most importantly) he hadn't had sex in two weeks.

Actually it was Day Seventeen of Celibacy Watch '07.

To say he enjoyed it would be a

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[adddddie]

Addison stiffened when Mark stationed himself beside the counter, a few feet away from her

[marksloan]

"You're always busy, Addison," Mark rolled his eyes, "that's nothing new. What is new is when you pretend to read charts to avoid speaking to me."

He stood up and folded his arms over his chest. "What's going on? I thought things were fine."

Better than fine, even. Up until last week he had thought things were closer to perfect than they had ever been before; so much so that he hadn't even noticed when a waitress flirted with him at dinner until Addison had pointed it out, and he had kept his comments to the nurses strickly work-related.

Things were going great until they suddenly weren't, and Mark had no idea why. The only explanation he could figure was one he didn't want to consider.

[adddddie]

Addison straightened up and lightly shook her head at his accusation. It wasn't the speaking part she had a problem with, it was the subjects of the possible conversations that caused her to avoid his eyes and go out of her way to avoid running into him.

She cleared her throat before replying. "Nothing's changed," Addison claimed, somewhat distracted as she motioned a wandering Alex Karev to take one of the charts in her hand and visit the patient. Any other time she would have seized the opportunity to escape Mark's confrontations but he seemed clearly concerned and she didn't intend on worrying him any more and prompting further, deeper questioning.

"They're all starting to slack off now that the new interns are here," she shook her head in disapproval in attempt to change the subject before meeting Mark's thick stare. "What? Everything's fine, I'm thinking and doing my best to sort it out, I am. Look can we talk about this when we're not in the middle of the corridor?"

[marksloan]

Mark frowned, a mixture of confusion and annoyance twisting across his face. "Is this my cue to drag you into an on call room or is this purely rhetorical?" he rested his hands on his hips and stared down at her.

He felt his stomach lurch, slightly more painful than hunger pains, less painful than getting punched in the gut. How on earth could it take this much time to sort it out, he found himself wondering. She might be viewing this as her thinking time, but Mark had already jumped ahead. Plans had been made and expectations were placed, even though now he found himself questioning the mere ability to have plans or expectations.

Mark smirked to keep from grimacing because it was annoyingly clear that if she hadn't come to any sort of conclusion by this point, it was simply because she knew he wouldn't like the answer.

Well best to get the misery over with.

"So when can we talk about this?" he offered, finding himself less thrilled than before at the prospect. He was only setting himself up for her rejection after all

[marksloan]

"Hold your horses, I'm coming," Mark grumbled as he pulled the shirt over his head.

He squinted as he walked closer towards the door, the bright light and constant knocking at the door only made his hangover feel worse. A quick glance at the clock told him it was mid-morning on his Saturday free.

After leaving Addison in the on-call room, he'd resigned himself to deal with this final rejection the only way he knew how and had ended up at Joe's.

Mark raked a hand through his wet hair, "I'm coming," he barked at the door before yanking open the front door.

[adddddie]

Having spent the entire night staring at the dull white ceiling of her bedroom and mulling over what he had said to her, Addison decided to tuck her pride away neatly and open up for an hour. She still had no solid answer or explanation or reason, but she hoped she might succeed in helping him understand that her hesitation was not the cause of her being unsure of whether or not she wants to be with him.

Knocking a third time, she gripped the coffee in her hand tighter and rocked back on her heels, hoping the bone dry cappuccino would soften him up a little if he was still angry.

The door swung open and Addison jumped slightly, biting her lip at the sight of his surprised expression.

"Hi," she offered quietly, shrugging her shoulders as if it was a valid explanation for why she was outside his door on a Saturday morning.

[marksloan]

He stared at her mutely until he realized she was speaking. "Um, hey," he shook his head, trying to focus.

His eyebrows furrowed and he watched her quizzically. She didn't appear upset like she was when he'd left her, and after spending the night dealing with his frustration, he didn't feel as angry as he had been. But Mark had no idea why she would be standing on his doorstep after everything they had said yesterday. Why had she picked that morning? Especially after last night...

"What are you doing here?" he asked, confusion etched across his face.

[adddddie]

"I'm sorry, I should have called...but I've just been thinking and I guess thought maybe we could talk," she trailed off, gripping the styrofoam cup with both hands to rid them of the slight trembling they suddenly took on. "Unless you're busy or something."