it was a great love (one for the ages) / DISCONTINUED

Very Funny.

  A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, if I'm being honest, I'm having major writer's block. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Meredith stood outside of the hospital, breathing in the cold crisp air. Sirens wailed all around her, people rushed back and forth. Derek and Addison were both going to be fine, thankfully. Most of the other doctors and interns who treated Gary's wife were shot, some dead.

"Mer?"

Meredith turned around to Cristina.

"Derek's asking for you."

"Yeah. I'll be right there."

Meredith took another deep of fresh air before walking back into the hospital.

---

"Addison? You're supposed to be resting," Meredith said when she walked into Derek's room. Rose was asleep in a chair next to Derek's bed, her hand in his. Addison sat on the couch at the far wall, her arm in a sling.

"I'm fine, Mer. It's just my shoulder."

Meredith kissed Addison's forehead and turned to Derek. "How are you?"

Derek chuckled. "As good as I can be for a person who just got shot."

Meredith smiled. "I'm so glad you're okay. If you get shot again, I might kill you myself."

"Noted."

Alex and Izzie walked into the room.

"Dr. Shepherd, how are you feeling?" Izzie asked.

"I'm fine, Stevens. Thank you."

"Hey, George is asking for you," Alex said to Meredith. Meredith looked at Addison for an OK. Addison smiled softly, nodding.

Meredith, Izzie, and Alex made their way to George's room. George was sitting up in his bed, looking out the window as Cristina checked his chart and vitals.

"George," Meredith breathed as she carefully hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner."

"It's alright, Meredith. I know you were with Derek and Addison. How are they?"

"They're good, O'Malley," Alex responds.

Meredith took the chart out of Cristina's hands and pulled her to the couch.

Meredith sat down, motioning for Cristina to rest her head on Meredith's shoulder.

"You did amazing today," Meredith whispered.

Cristina hummed, on the brink of falling asleep. "I did, didn't I?"

The five interns stayed in George's room, silent but comforted by each other's presence. The nightmare was finally over.

---

It's been about a month since the shooting. George got his bullet out, Derek was back to work, Addison recovered pretty quickly and went back to work after a week. Meredith still jolted awake in the middle of the night from nightmares, but Addison was always there with her.

She still hasn't spoken to Addison about what she said on the OR table. She brought it up a couple weeks after the event, but Addison didn't seem to remember.

Meredith played with Addison's hair while they sat in bed.

"Hey, Adds?"

"Yeah, bubs?"

"Do you..." Meredith hesitated. "Do you remember what you said to me? That day?"

Addison stayed silent in thought. "Uh-- I say a lot of things, you're going to have to be more specific."

"Well... You know, while you were on the table? Right before Izzie and I took out your bullet."

"Oh. I don't know, it's kind of blurry."

"That's alright."

"Why? Did I embarrass myself?" Addison pouted.

Meredith couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, a little."

"Then I don't want to know."

"Okay."

Meredith knew she was going to have to talk to Addison about it, but everything at the hospital is still so crazy and stressful. It didn't seem like the right place or time. And ugh, don't even get her started on the camera crew following everyone around.

Meredith and Addison were walking through the hallway on the patients floor when Meredith spotted a camera crew filming Derek as he was on his way to find Webber. Meredith swiftly pushed Addison through a door, surprising the other woman.

"What are you doing?"

Meredith shut the door, peeking out the window.

"Meredith?"

"The camera crew. They've been trying to interview me all week, now I'm just avoiding them."

Addison sighed, hugging Meredith from behind. "I'm sorry. If they bother you again, come find me."

"Thank you, darling."

"Of course."

They waited in the room for a couple more minutes until Meredith was sure that the hall was clear.

"Come on, let's get back to work."

"Okay," Addison kissed her.

Addison escorted Meredith to the interns locker room, then gave her a kiss and left to check on her own patients. She stuck her hand into her jacket pocket and gripped around a little velvet box, smiling softly to herself.

---

Meredith was in on surgery with Dr. Bailey, so Addison paged Derek to meet her in the staircase. She hoped that the camera crew wouldn't be with him. After ten minutes, Derek's footsteps were above where Addison was sitting on the steps. He breathed heavily.

"You walked down two flights of stairs, Derek," Addison smirked. Derek fake laughed.

"Oh, you're very funny, Addison. Very funny. I was running away from the goons with cameras, for your information."

Addison patted the step next to her and Derek sat down. "Why'd you call me here?"

Addison shook her head. "Not yet. Just take a breath, we have a moment of silence here for once."

The two relaxed, enjoying the comfortable silence in the stairwell. Derek finally spoke, his breathing back to normal.

"What's up, Addy?"

Addison pulled out the object in her pocket. Though it was less than a pound, it also felt like a huge weight in her pocket at the same time. Derek opened it and his blue eyes widened at a ring. He held it back out to Addison.

"Oh, look, I'm flattered, but we're divorced and seeing other people," Derek joked. Addison scoffed and laughed as she smacked Derek's arm.

"Very funny, dumbass."

Derek chuckled. "When are you going to do it?"

Addison stared at him. "So you're okay with it?"

"Addison, when are you going to stop asking me for my blessing for your relationship? I'm broken up with Meredith, we're divorced. You can do whatever you want."

Addison leaned her head on Derek's shoulder. "Thank you, Derek. And I'm really glad we stayed friends. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Of course," Derek pat Addison's back. "So? When are you going to pop the question?"

"I'm not sure. I've been carrying it around, waiting for the right moment."

"Hm... Well, if you decide to plan a big proposal, let me know. I'll help in any way I can."

"Thank you."

Both of their pagers went off. Addison sighed. "See you later. Good luck."

"You too. Bye."