A/N: I hope you're all staying safe and well! Sorry, I know it's been a while since I updated this. But I'm back with a new chapter and I'm committed to finishing this story. This chapter picks up where the other one left off; Addison and Derek have ditched their friends (yet again) and are taking a walk through the vineyard. I hope you like this chapter and, as always, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

Vineyards are romantic. That's what she finds herself thinking as she and Derek continue to walk together. But then again, so are beaches.

For one reason or another, she and Derek keep ending up in all these romantic places together.

Beaches and vineyards – without a question. But she can't help thinking about other places they ended up together. The front steps of the house, the back of the cab, and the hospital bench – those places seem completely unromantic on paper, and yet ...

Maybe the location has nothing to do with it.

Addison, I cheated. Derek's words from before keep ringing in her ears. He doesn't necessarily miss this (whatever this is). But he doesn't not miss it either.

She wishes she could shrug it off. But she's never been good at indifference. She cares (too much, probably) in every capacity of her life ... but especially when it comes to Derek.

Which is why his indifference in Seattle nearly killed her. She would have preferred anger (even if it's forcefully throw-you-out-of-the-house-in-the-rain anger) because anger shows you care. Anger shows you're still invested. Indifference means you've given up.

"What else did I miss?"

She blinks in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"I missed our tenth anniversary party," Derek clarifies. "But that wasn't the only thing. What else did I miss?"

She studies him closely. His voice is genuine, not accusatory. His eyes are soft. He's not angry. He really wants to know. He wants to talk. And not just talk; he wants to listen.

"Derek, we don't have to do this."

"Please?" he half whispers, half begs.

And there's something so authentic about it, she finds herself giving in.

"Birthdays," she begins hesitantly. "Mine and yours. You missed our dinner reservations for both. And holidays," she continues, casting her eyes downward. "Our last Christmas in New York. And our last Thanksgiving."

He swallows roughly at that. Eleven birthdays, eleven Thanksgivings, eleven Christmases. Except it wasn't eleven.

"And nights at home," he says quietly. "I missed those too."

She nods mutely. She only has to close her eyes to remember the way things used to be. Eating dinner together, cuddling up on the couch together after a long day, and climbing into bed together.

Admittedly, going to sleep together wasn't always possible with their schedules. But on nights when he had to work late, she never really fell asleep until he was home, in their bed, with his arms wrapped around her.

Of course, she adjusted. She had to. He stopped coming home, and she needed to sleep.

"Spending our days off together in Central Park," Derek continues. "Brown bagging it on top of the Empire State Building."

And Addison isn't sure whether he's asking or telling her.

He turns to her. "What else did I miss?"

"I don't know," she admits.

"Yes, you do." He stops walking and tightens his grip on her hand, forcing her to stop as well. "Come on, Addie."

She shakes her head and sighs. "Celebrating when my patient, who'd been in the NICU for three months finally got to go home. Being there when my other patient, who'd been in the NICU for three months didn't."

The chance to continue to build a life together.

She, of course, doesn't say it. But she can't help thinking it. When their marriage started to fall apart, she and Derek were very stable, career-wise. And she was ready to settle down and start the next chapter of their lives – she was ready to start a family with him.

She knew Savvy and Weiss had been trying for children when they came to Seattle for Savvy's surgery. And she always assumed that she and Derek and Savvy and Weiss would have kids around the same time. And maybe if she wouldn't have cheated ... or if Derek hadn't been absent ...

But she can't start down that road.

"I'm sorry," Derek whispers.

"Derek."

"No, I am."

She looks at him closely. "Why's this suddenly so important, Derek?"

He swallows thickly. "I miss this."

"Yeah ..." she trails off in confusion. "We just established a whole list of things that you missed."

"No," he shakes his head. "I miss this. Present tense." He gives her a small smile. "Ask me again."

"What?"

"The truth or dare question that you asked me this morning, Addie. Ask me again."

"Oh. Okay. Tru—"

But she can't get anything else out. Because his lips are on hers and her lips are on his. She doesn't know which one of them started it, but she knows she's not about to be the one to stop it. Her hands tangle in his hair and he wraps his arms more securely around her waist, pulling her in closer, kissing her more intensely.

She's missed this. And he's missed this. All should be well and good, except ...

"Derek," she pulls back breathlessly. "Derek, wait."

He looks at her in concern, still breathing heavily, eyes dark.

"Addie?"

She should be stronger. But the way he's looking at her is driving away every last rational thought that's entering her brain. So instead of pushing him away, she does the opposite. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him deeply, and he responds just as eagerly.

In the back of her mind, she's half expecting Nancy to show up again to put an end to things. But Nancy is nowhere to be seen this time around, and Addison is glad.

She knows what they're doing is wrong ... on so many levels. They're kissing heatedly in a public place ... and they're not crazy kids either; they're just shy of forty. And, of course, they're recently divorced.

It's wrong, she gets that. But with his lips on hers and his arms around his waist, it doesn't seem wrong.

So she ignores the nagging voice inside her head, and focuses on Derek – and how good it feels to be kissing him. She's so consumed by it that she doesn't hear someone clearing their throat loudly – and repeatedly.

"Excuse me," an irritated voice cuts in; and Addison and Derek pull back in surprise.

A woman about Bizzy's age, who's dressed remarkably like Bizzy, is staring at them unimpressed.

"If we wanted front-row seats to a tawdry display, we would have gone to the movie theater and sat behind a couple of teenagers," the woman says coolly. "One would think the standards are higher here at the vineyard," she sniffs, eyeing Addison and Derek critically. "But apparently not."

Addison does her best to give the woman a contrite smile – the type of smile she's given Bizzy over the years when she's chastised her for doing something "tawdry," like giving Derek a kiss that lasted too long for her liking, or letting her eyes linger on Derek a little too long when he got up from the table.

She waits for the woman to walk away and turns to Derek, who looks like he's fighting the urge to laugh. And she gets it. They've found themselves in this situation several times over the years, and it was always amusing.

And suddenly she's laughing, and so is he. And it feels so much like old times, she can't help but smile.

"I wonder if that woman knows Bizzy," Derek says, half joking, half serious.

"She might," Addison admits solemnly. "I think Bizzy owns the same scarf." She sighs heavily. "We should probably get back to Weiss' party. We've been pretty terrible friends to him this weekend."

"I wouldn't say that," Derek disagrees as they start to walk back together. "Weiss is glad we're here. And to be honest, I think right now he prefers me in small doses."

She can't help chuckling at that. For better or worse, Weiss wears his heart on his sleeve; and if she's being honest, Derek is probably right.

"Hey, Addie ...?" Derek trails off, suddenly growing serious. "Thanks for not apologizing ... to that woman back there."

"You know I wouldn't."

"Yeah, I know. But that was back then," he points out. "This is ... now."

She nods slowly as she lets it all sink in.

They've been chastised many times in the past by various family members for not keeping things PG enough. This woman in the vineyard, who quite frankly could be Bizzy's long-lost sister, was just one of many people (in fabulously expensive scarves) to scold them.

The first time Bizzy chastised them for kissing in public, Derek apologized. And Addison got angry at him for apologizing.

"We're not doing anything wrong. You shouldn't apologize for kissing your girlfriend." That's what she told Derek through gritted teeth. "Who cares what Bizzy thinks."

"I'll never apologize for kissing you again," he promised. "Never. Not to Bizzy. Not to anyone."

"Good," she smiled, kissing him deeply. "I won't either."

And she never did. Neither of them did. No matter how unimpressed Bizzy (or whoever it was) was, they never apologized.

Even today—when they had a million reasons to apologize—they didn't.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't apologize," Derek admits, giving her a small smile.

She shrugs and returns his smile. "There was nothing to apologize for."

xxxxx

"Nice to see you two again," Weiss quips as Addison and Derek rejoin their friends at their table.

"Don't pretend that you missed us," Derek chuckles.

"Her," Weiss laughs pointing to Addison. "I missed her. Not you."

"Told you," Derek mutters to Addison as he takes a seat next to Weiss. He turns to his friend and gestures to the empty wine glasses on the table. "It looks like Addie and I have some catching up to do. I'll buy the next bottle"

"Actually, I'll buy it," Savvy insists. "You can get the one after that, Derek. Addison ..." she says, turning to her friend, "why don't you come with me and help me choose a good bottle."

"Okay," Addison agrees, excusing herself from the table and joining Savvy.

Once they're out of everyone's earshot, Savvy turns to Addison expectantly. "So ...?" she asks, her eyes bright.

"I'm thinking a nice bottle of red," Addison tells her.

Savvy shakes her head in amusement. "I'm not asking you about wine, Addison."

"Then what ...?"

"I couldn't help noticing that Derek's wearing the same shade of lipstick that you are," Savvy says coyly.

Addison sighs in exasperation. "Has anyone ever told you that you're ridiculously observant?"

"Yes. You. A number of times. Stop trying to change the subject."

Addison meets her friend's eyes and lowers her voice. "I kissed Derek."

"Yeah?" Savvy grins.

"I kissed Derek a lot."

"And ...?" Savvy beams.

"And we'd probably still be out in the vineyard kissing if this Bizzy look-alike hadn't stopped us by voicing her displeasure."

"Buzzkill," Savvy mutters.

"Tell me about it. But it was probably for the best, Sav."

"How do you figure?"

Addison sighs. "I know how this story ends, Savvy. He goes back to Seattle, and goes with his life like nothing ever happened this weekend. I go back to LA, and have to start again at square one." She shakes her head sadly. "Do you know how long it took me to get over Derek?"

Savvy raises an eyebrow. "Are you over him?"

"I threw my rings into Eliott Bay."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I wanted to jump in after them," Addison mutters, avoiding her friend's eyes. "I still do."

"Addie," Savvy wraps a comforting arm around her friend.

"The point is, I was making progress," Addison insists. "I left Seattle. I bought a beach house in LA and I decorated it the way I wanted to decorate it."

"You decorated your place in Manhattan the way you wanted to decorate it," Savvy points out. "And your place in the Hamptons too."

"Yeah, but my place in LA is just mine," Addison insists. "I purposefully decorated it so it looks nothing like our place in Manhattan or our place in the Hamptons. Derek had no say in how I decorated it. Just like I had no say in how he decorated the trailer in Seattle. Not that I'd consider the trailer decorated ..." Addison mutters to herself. "In any case," she continues, clearing her throat, "it's a completely fresh start."

"I'm not sure that counts as progress," Savvy says delicately.

"What do you mean?"

"Purposefully decorating your beach house so it looks nothing like your previous houses doesn't necessarily mean you're moving on," Savvy explains gently. "It's just like when Weiss and I told Derek that him dating the anti-Addison didn't mean he was over you. If anything, it hinted at the opposite."

"You told him that?" Addison raises an eyebrow.

"Of course." Savvy runs a hand through her long hair. "He wasn't very receptive," she frowns.

"I'm not surprised."

"He just wasn't ready to hear it at the time," Savvy shrugs. "He will be eventually."

"Sav."

"What?" Savvy holds her hands up innocently. "Addie, your husband has many attributes, but self-awareness isn't one of them."

"My husband?"

"I'm so sorry," Savvy says quickly, her cheeks growing red in embarrassment. "I just said it out of habit. I didn't mean ..."

"I know," Addison says understandingly. "It's fine."

"I'm sorry," Savvy apologizes again. "Still ..." she continues, offering her friend a smug smile, "there is a man back at our table, who's currently wearing a shade of lipstick that's a little too warm for his complexion ..."

"Savvy."

"I'm just saying, Addie ..." she wraps an arm around her friend's shoulders, "it's nice seeing you and Derek together again."

Addison feels her cheeks grow warm at that. "Honestly, Savvy, it feels nice."

There. She said it. Out loud.

She looks at Savvy hesitantly, but to her surprise, Savvy is smiling. And Addison swallows roughly; it's been so long since someone, who's not her, has rooted for her and Derek. She almost forgot what it feels like – it's overwhelming.

"We should probably get back to the table," Addison says, intentionally changing the subject. "Everyone's going to wonder what's taking so long." She turns and motions for Savvy to walk with her.

"Okay," Savvy agrees. "But, Addie, wait."

Addison spins around and looks at her friend.

"We can't go yet," Savvy says, laughing at the confused expression on her friend's face. "We can't go back without wine."

xxxxx

"I can't day drink like I used to," Nancy sighs, slumping against the cushioned seat of the limo.

"It's not easy keeping up with a bunch of thirty-year-olds, is it?" Derek laughs.

"Don't flatter yourself," Nancy chides. "You're thirty-nine and several months, Derek. You hardly count as a thirty-year-old."

"I'm younger than you," Derek gloats. "And I feel perfectly fine."

"You also drank less," Nancy points out. She gestures to herself, John, Savvy, and Weiss. "The four of us did a fair bit of drinking while you and Addie were off ..."

"Walking through the vineyard," Addison fills in quickly.

"Sure," Nancy shrugs. "If that's what you kids are –"

"You sound like Mom," Derek cuts in teasingly.

"I do not," Nancy insists. "Addie?" she turns to her former sister-in-law.

"You kind of do," Addison admits, chuckling when Nancy frowns at her.

"You two are killing my buzz," Nancy mutters before turning her attention back to her husband.

And for just a moment, Derek takes it all in. John is grinning in amusement as a day-drunk Nancy whispers something in his ear. Savvy and Weiss are being nauseatingly romantic. He's tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, she's fixing the collar of his shirt, they're looking at each other as if no one else in the limo exists. And him and Addison ... well, they're figuring things out.

It's funny, because as much togetherness as this trip has involved, now that they're back in the limo, everyone seems to have coupled up.

He looks down in surprise when he feels pressure against his chest. Addison is resting her head against him.

"Are you day drunk too?" he asks, smiling down at her.

She shakes her head. "Not even the slightest bit."

"Yeah," he smiles. "Me either."

And maybe that's what's causing his heart to pound. Addison's inhibitions aren't down because she's had too much to drink.

The feeling of her chuckling against him causes him to look down again. And he knows just by the look in her eyes what she finds so amusing – she could feel his heart quicken against her cheek.

"Don't let it get to your head," he tells her playfully.

He can feel the vibrations of her laughing against him, but she quickly grows serious.

"Truth or dare, Derek?"

He swallows thickly, suddenly very aware of the other four people in the limo.

"Addie ..." He gestures discretely to the others.

"So?" she shrugs. "Truth or dare, Derek?"

"Truth," he whispers, and he feels her nod in approval against him.

"Still?" she whispers back. "Even after everything ...? Still? Really?"

To anyone else, it's a string of incoherent words and half-phrases. But not to him. He can read between the lines. He can fill in the words that aren't being said.

Do I still make your heart race? Even after everything we did to each other?

"Derek?" she looks up at him, her eyes cautiously hopeful.

He smiles down at her, and as far as he's concerned, it's just him and her alone in the limo.

"Yeah," he whispers. "Even after everything."