redamancy

After their talk, Charlie decides to distance herself. She knows that she's catching feelings and right now that is not an option.

"How's Ava?" Charlie asks Alex, as they sit on hospital bed in the underbelly of the hospital.

"She's good. I need to go and check her vitals in a bit." He check's his watch. "Also, has anything happened between you and Montgomery. She's being bitchier than usual."

"Hey, she's not bitchy, and yeah, i haven't been on her service for a while so we haven't seen each other. The last time we saw each together...like that... I asked what we were and she said fuck buddies and so I'm..."

"Taking a step back?" Alex finishes for her, offering some of his pretzels to his best friend. Charlie nods and dips her hand in the pack.

"Urgh I hate scut so much." George says as he flops down on the hospital beds. All 6 of them gather on the beds and sit in comfortable silence. "Who feels like they have no idea what they are doing?" He asks. They all raise their hands.

*

Addison struts down the corridor, on a war path. She's moody yes, but also incredibly sexually frustrated. After their last hook-up, 2 weeks ago, Charlie decided that she wanted to slow down with their little meet ups. They hadn't slept together since. She spots Alex as he exits a patient's room and hands a file to a nurse. "Karev." She calls. He turns and smiles at her.

"Hey, I was just checking up on Ava." He smiles. Leaning against the station.

"Do I have to take you off this case?" Addison says with a scowl on her face.

"What? What the hell are you on about?" He gives her a look, waiting for her to explain.

"I have never seen you so attentive with a patient. You're always there, checking her stats, running tests, doing research."

"It's my job. I'm here to help people-"

"No, Alex," She cuts him, taking a step forward, getting in his face. "It's my job. I'm her doctor you're my intern." He sets his jaw and takes a small step back, his back hitting the on-call room door.

Alex takes a breath and puffs his chest, gaining a bit of confidence. "Which is why I have to know her stats at all times because I'm not about to stand next to you in your OR and be anything less than over prepared. Ok? There's no way I'm going to go to work every day with a surgeon like you and not be on top of my game. So, if you wanna yell at me..." Addison can't stop herself, she grips the collar of his scrubs and pulls him down for a kiss. Her hand blindly searches for the door handle. She grips it tight and shoves it open, pushing Alex further into the room, then kicks it shut with a kick of her foot.

She kisses him, yanking at his scrub top, a sign for him to take it off. She takes off her own and then pulls him over to the bed and pulls him on top of her. Alex stares down at her with wide eyes.

"Addison, what are you doing?"

"I don't know." She sighs.

"Okay, let's just take a minute here. Do you really want this? Think about how much this would hurt Charlie's feelings." Alex towers over her, his arms holding him up.

If someone were to walk in, well. They would most definitely jump to conclusions.

*

"Anyone seen Alex? He never misses lunch." Izzie asks as she sits down at table, blue tray in her hands.

"I paged him but if he's not here, then I don't know where he would be." Charlie replies, taking the last few bites of her pizza.

"Well, someone better find him, or Bailey's gonna have his ass." Cristina laughs, taking a bite of her apple.

"He could be asleep." George chirps with a smile.

"Or screwing a nurse" Meredith adds with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I'll go and find him." Charlie rolls her eyes, stealing a fry off of Cristina's plate. Charlie shoots her a wink as she goes to find Alex.

She clears the first floor on-call rooms, then heads up to paediatrics and checks on-call rooms there. Finally, she reaches the last room on the Ped's floor. Her hand grips the handle, turning slowly, she hears mumbling and whispers inside. On the bed is Alex and underneath him, topless, is Addison. She goes to say something but just shuts her mouth, turns around and slams the door behind her.

"Shit. Charlie! Charlie wait." Alex is running after her, pulling his shirt back down over his head. Charlie storms down the corridor, Alex rounds the corner following behind her.

"Charlie, please just listen to me." He says, pleading with his best friend. Charlie ignores him and carries on walking, holding back the tears that are forcing their way to her eyes.  "Charlie. Please, c'mon."

"I have nothing to say to you." They stand in the corridor, the people slowing down to hear the gossip.

Addison nearly stumbles around the corner adjusting her skirt. Charlie just scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"And you." Charlie laughs. "Of course, you would come running. I don't need you here right now." She crosses her arms and sets her jaw.

"Please. Let's talk about this."

"Go on, then. Get yourself out of this one." She crosses her arms and stares at him. Alex just sighs and hangs his head. Meredith and Cristina chat animatedly but stop when they see the stand-off in the corridor.

"What's happened?" Meredith asks, placing a comforting hand on Charlie's back.

"I walked in...I walked in on Alex screwing Dr Montgomery." She says with a mocking tone and a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Charlie, please." Addison looked at you pointedly.

"You don't get to do that. Not anymore. Alex? Really? Out of everyone in this goddamn hospital, you choose to fuck my best friend?" Charlie takes a step closer to Addison. "I thought this was going somewhere, I thought you wanted this." She says pointing between them.

"Charlie, come on." Meredith says, a hand on her shoulder trying to pull her away from the situation.

"Look, this wasn't her fault, okay. I kissed her, I came onto her okay. It was all me." Alex interjects, trying to get Charlie to shift the blame onto him. He could take Charlie being angry at him, he could take it.

"Alex, shut up or I swear to god I will punch you in the face." She says as Meredith has tightened her grip on her arm. Meredith pulls her lightly, an indication that they should go. Cristina shakes her head at Alex, and give him a look of disgust.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. Okay, I'm sorry. Is that what you want me to say? I'm sorry that I'm such a screw up, I'm sorry that I have neglected our friendship and I'm...that I made a move on a chick without consulting you first."

Charlie spins and lunges for Alex. Her fist connecting with his jaw. The impact sends him tumbling backwards. He clutches his jaw and Addison crouches beside him, checking to see if he's okay.

"She is not just a chick, Alex, and you knew that. I told you about my feelings for her. I trusted you. I trusted you and you fucked it up. You always fuck it up." She points at him, her voice raised. Both Cristina and Meredith try to hold her back, making sure she doesn't lunge for him again.

"What the hell is going on here!" The chief's voice hollers in the corridor. Both he and bailey appear, scowling looks on their faces.

"Oh, I'm always the fuck up aren't I? Coming from little miss perfect, over here." He snarls, shoving Addison off him as she stands back up.

"Walk away Karev. Walk away before I break your nose!" Meredith has her arms around Charlie's waist, holding her back from hitting Alex again. Her arm's flail as she tries to get out of the hold that Meredith has on around her. Cristina holds Charlie's face in her hands, calming her down.

"Beck! Karev! My office now." The chief shouts, his hands on his hips and disappointed look on his face. She throws herself out of Meredith's arms and storms to his office.

*

The Chief sits behind his desk, his arms crossed, as he berates the both of them. Alex slumps in the chair next to her as he holds an icepack to his jaw. Charlie holds one around her bruised knuckles.

"Would both of you care to explain what the hell just happened. I do not tolerate violence in this hospital. So you better start speaking before I fire both of you on the spot right now." A knock sounds at the door and Addison's face peers around, a nervous smile on her face.

"Come in, Dr Montgomery." He smiles at her. Addison nervously walks in and leans against the door. His eyes fall to Charlie, so she swallows what pride she has and starts talking.

"Alex missed lunch, and he never misses lunch so I had some free time and I went to find him. That's where I..." She's debating bringing in Addison sleeping with an intern, as she wasn't sure on the policy the hospital had about relationships with subordinates. She sets her jaw, takes a breath and does it anyway.

"Dr Beck." He presses for her to continue with her point.

"That's where I found, Dr Montgomery...underneath him...topless. I let my feelings get the better of me and I punched him in the face because... he knows of my previous relationship with Dr Montgomery and he said some things." She pauses and turns to Alex. "You really said that to my face Alex. You piece of-"

"Dr Beck!" He cuts Charlie off. He shakes his head as he turns to Alex. "Dr Karev, do you have anything to say in this matter." Alex goes to say something but closes his mouth.

"No, sir." He replies, sinking in his seat.

"Dr Beck you're excused." Charlie gets out of her set, and heads to the door.

"Charlie." Addison whispers as she passes by.

"Don't." She replies, tears in her eyes. "Just don't."