Hello, Seattle

In Which Addison Misses Archer

Author's Note: So after thinking it over, I've decided to exclusively continue this story in the "Before". The "After" part of the prologue was only to set the context of how they first met, and the rest of the story will be about Addison and Meredith growing up in boarding school together. The basis for this decision is that I'm actively writing "Falling Apart, Barely Breathing" which is pretty much the same thing about Addison and Meredith's story when it comes to Seattle Grace Time, and I don't want there to be confusion or overlap. I want this theme and focus to be on youth and growing up. So thanks all for your reviews and I hope you'll continue on this journey!

Hello, Seattle

Addison Montgomery meets Meredith Grey when they are both only 9 years old. OR: In which Addison introduces herself to Meredith, who pulls her into a hug, "Addison, it's so good to see you! It's been way too long". Addison hugs her back to whisper into her ear "I've missed you, Meredith,". MerAdd. Meddison. Boarding School Childhood Roommates to Teenage Romance AU. Rated T, now.

Chapter 2: In Which Addison Misses Archer

"So this is the cafeteria" Meredith leads Addison into the lineup and points to the menu screen that is displayed up above their heads.

"You pick one meal and one side and one dessert and one drink every day" Meredith explains to her. "Then the soup and salad bar is over there" she points to a station located near the microwaves and the drinks fountain.

Both Addison and Meredith end up picking the Macaroni and Cheese with french fries and a side salad and they settle down to a table by themselves before realizing they'd forgotten their drinks and cutlery.

"I'll get it," Addison offers. "You've already helped out a lot," she explains. So Addison goes to pick out a knife and a fork and a napkin for each of them before pausing to also collect them each a glass of water.

"Thanks" Meredith grins up at her, and Addison grins at her back.

It's overwhelming, the amount of young and less young children all scurrying around. There are teachers and dorm monitors everywhere as well, sitting on the edge tables and chatting with each other while keeping an eye out for anyone who needs help.

Soon they are flipping spare ketchup packets at each other and stealing more than one dessert each before they get hyped up on sugar and the soda they mix from the fountain dispenser,

"You know, this is the first time I ever got to decide what to eat by myself" Addison exclaimed excitedly.

"Didn't you ever go to restaurants?" Meredith asks with a look that's a cross between confused and perplexed.

"Well yeah, we went out to places like "The Boca" and "Taste of Italy" on my parent's birthdays but me and Archer, my brother, never got to pick out our meals because we all shared them" Addison explains.

"Didn't you ever go to places like McDonald's or Subway or Taco Bell?" Meredith asks her because those are the only restaurants that her mom and dad had ever taken her to. If her parents ever went to other restaurants it certainly was not with her.

"No I have never been to somewhere called McDonald's or any of those other places" Addison shakes her head. "When we go out to dinner it's usually Italian and my parents do the "A La Carte" menu, you know, with the wine pairings. Not that I drink the wine but they do" Addison smiles.

"Well it's not called McDonald's it just is McDonald's," Meredith says at her a little bit exasperated at her. "But anyway that's my favorite restaurant because I get to have chicken nugget happy meals and go to the play place. It's like a playground but indoors" Meredith explains to her because Addison starts looking confused when she mentions she could play inside of a restaurant.

"Wow! I think I'd like to try that sometime it seems like the best restaurant ever. We only go to boring places that take too long for the food to comer" Addison perks up. And once Addison is smiling again Meredith decides that she's happy too.

"I'm done with my dinner. Do you wanna go to the library and look at the movies before we go back to the room?"

"Yeah" Addison agrees with her and she follows Meredith who is leading the way, again.

Someday, Addison hopes, she'll be able to lead Meredith somewhere she knows better than her in return.

They pick out some movies, failing to decide between "Home Alone 2" (Meredith's Choice) and "Finding Nemo" (Addison's choice). So they end up taking them both out on their library cards and hoping they can find a way to play them on the small TV in their room they both share.

They're on the beanbag chairs now, pressing play when they realize they can hardly see the screen from this angle. So they both crawl into the top bunk of the bunk bed and snuggle close to share the instant popcorn they popped (a gift from Meredith's father) and listen to the jokes roll out of the character's lines.

It's nearly nine pm now and Meredith has hardly stayed up past eight-thirty when she's home. So she curls into the sheets and falls asleep on Addison's lap before the credits roll on their second movie.

After Addison pops the disc out and takes the popcorn bag out of their bed, Addison sighs as she takes a look up at Meredith who looks so peaceful and warm on the top bunk of their bed.

She feels an urge to crawl into bed next to her, but she doesn't, deciding that she doesn't want to crowd Meredith in case she rolls in her sleep or something.

So she resigns herself to the bottom bunk for the evening and tries to settle in under the covers.

But sleep doesn't come, and without the calming presence that Meredith's chatter seems to offer, Addison feels herself growing even lonelier than before.

She misses her brother Archer. She even misses her mom and her dad even though they never got along really well. And she misses her nanny Susan Grant and wishes that her mom had let Addison go over to her house to say goodbye before they'd left for school.

And she realizes she's crying now, as she thinks of everyone she's left behind. And she thinks about what her mother would say - that "A Forbes-Montgomery should never cry openly in public, they should do so only in the privacy of their own room" .

And she thinks her mother meant they should cry alone in their own room. But Meredith and Addison only had one room anyways to share between them. And Addison didn't want to lock herself in the bathroom on the floor.

So she just kept on crying and crying until she heard a bit of a stir from up above her and a blonde head poked down over the edge of the bed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Meredith asks her tenderly.

"Yeah I'm okay" Addison lies as she tries to cover her face with her sheet.

"You don't sound okay," Meredith says to her simply as Addison sobs even louder.

"Hey - Hey - It's okay" Meredith jumps down from the top bunk bed now and comes to curl into Addison at her side.

Addison lets Meredith hug her and place her head on her shoulder while Addison lays her head on top of Meredith's.

"I cried my first night here too," Meredith says and somehow this seems to help.

"Yeah?" Addison asks her.

"Yeah" Meredith admits to her openly.

"But I didn't stop crying until I woke up. Because I didn't have anyone else last night" Meredith says to her softly. "And I got through it. So you'll get through it. You can always lean on me, ya know" Meredith says to her, in the literal sense, but Addison sort of knows what she means.

"I'm so glad you're here, Meredith," Addison says to her.

"I'm so glad you're here too," says Meredith. "Now, ya wanna tell me all about your twin brother?" Meredith grins up at her.

And Addison can't help but laugh as she starts the conversation that would go on into deeper parts of the evening.

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***** END OF CHAPTER 2