invisible string

year 21

This music was terrible. It sounded like a death march. It was a good thing she wasn't getting married, she would have hated to have to walk down the aisle to this. And Addison's dress looked like a pastry. It had so many layers, she didn't know how she walked without tripping on some piece of fabric. Meredith was lucky she wasn't Addison, she told herself as she smoothed her purple best man dress. Meredith was lucky that she wasn't a bride, she was just Derek's best man. Even though she shouldn't be Derek's best man. Mark should have been Derek's best man. But Mark and Derek were barely talking and when they were talking, Derek wasn't allowed to bring up Addison.

Ever since Addison last minute made Derek choose to do his internship in New York instead of Seattle, Mark had hated Addison. Mark had followed Derek to college, and had decided to stay at Columbia with him for med school, so he had assumed that they were going to do their residencies together. But apparently Addison had different ideas. She didn't want to live in Seattle, she didn't want to move, and so she made Derek stay in New York too, even though Mark and all of Derek's family lived in Seattle. Meredith couldn't complain about Derek not moving away, but she could see how much Derek missed his best friend. Derek had always planned on Mark being his best man. He had decided his best man before he had found a wife.

But Mark wasn't even at the wedding. He had been invited but Derek had never gotten a response. They would call each other semi often, but any time Derek brought up anything involving Addison, Mark would just hang up. And Meredith could see it was killing him, but Addison was doing nothing. Even Meredith had tried talking to Mark, she was the one who convinced him to start talking to Derek in the first place but Addison didn't even seem to care that she had stolen the man she loved's best friend.

Addison had finally finished her walk down the aisle. She kissed her father on the cheek then walked up to Derek. As the minister said his long speech about how Derek and Addison were a perfect couple Meredith felt her eye's fill with tears. That was normal, crying at a wedding was normal. Making your guests cry was a sign of a good wedding. And this was a good wedding. It was the perfect wedding. A magazine wedding. Addison was in the perfect giant wedding dress with the perfect giant engagement ring. Everything was purple, silver, and white, and Meredith was pretty sure Addison had almost succeeded in bankrupting her father. By any standard it was the perfect wedding. And people were supposed to cry at weddings. They weren't supposed to throw up but Meredith was pretty sure she would be able to not to do that.

"Do you, Addison Forbes Montgomery, take Derek Christopher Shepherd to be your lawfully wedded husband, to honor and respect, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do.

"Do you, Derek Christopher Shepherd, take Addison Forbes Montgomery to be your lawfully wedded wife, to honor and respect, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I- I do."

"Now by the power vested in me by the state of New York, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Meredith really felt like throwing up.