Jo breathed a sigh of relief as she made her way to the peds floor to find Alex. Her shift had just ended and she couldn't be more ready to get out of the hospital. Her day had started off terrible and only gotten worse. First she fought with Alex and then was so busy in the pit she hadn't had a chance to see him or speak with him again. She wondered to herself if it was the full moon or what because there had been a whole lot of crazy in the pit today. And just when her awful day was coming to an end her last patient of the day died while she did everything in her power to save him. That was just the crappy ending she needed for her crappy day. Of course my day isn't over yet, she thought to herself, mentally preparing for a long night of fighting ahead. She knew that she and Alex had to talk and she couldn't see it being anything but a fight no matter how good the conversation might start out. But she knew they could make it through this and they would come out stronger on the other side. She just had to make him see that she wasn't going anywhere. She would be there right beside him supporting him.
As Jo rounded the corner into peds she saw Alex coming out of a patient's room. She slowly approached him as he finished up a chart at the nurses station. He should be wrapping up for the day as his shift ended at the same time as hers. "Hey, are you about ready to head home?" Jo asked forcing a cheerful tone to her voice.
"Nah, I just got called into a surgery with Yang. I'll catch a ride with her. Go on home." Alex replied without even looking up or really acknowledging Jo at all.
"Well can I scrub in with you?" She asked hopefully.
"No. We have enough hands in there. Just go!" Alex said gruffly and then turned and headed to the OR. Jo watched him walk away trying not to feel hurt about the distance between them and the fact that Alex was once again pushing her away. She understood that with his dad showing up all the feelings and insecurities he had tried so hard to bury were once again being dug up and thrown in his face. But it stung and she just wanted him to see that she was there for him. He could lean on her.
As Jo entered the locker room to change into her street clothes she was glad to see that it was empty. She was not in the mood to see anyone else. She just wanted to get out of there, go home, and figure out how to fix this mess that was her relationship. She sat down on the bench and was overcome with how tired she was after such a long stressful day.
At home that night Jo made herself a sandwich and started to watch TV but soon realized she was too distracted to watch anything and she really didn't have an appetite. She had just been flipping through the channels and picking at her food for twenty minutes. She turned the TV off threw her sandwich away and decided she just needed a hot shower to help her relax and wash the stress of the day away. Then she would wait for Alex to come home and they would work this out.
A couple hours later Jo heard the front door but only one set of footsteps on the stairs. She waited a few minutes for Alex to enter the room and when he didn't, she decided she would go downstairs and find him. When she got out into the hallway she could see that the downstairs was dark. Cristina was coming out of the bathroom so Jo asked her with concern "Didn't Alex come home with you?"
"Ah, no. He was going to go check on Jimmy. He said he would find a ride home or probably just crash at the hospital." Cristina replied as she headed into her room. Jo returned to Alex's room resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn't see her boyfriend tonight. She curled up on his side of the bed clutching his pillow and let the tears fall. She had been holding them back since the confrontation in peds just before she came home. Jo was still confident they would work their problems out but she didn't know why it had to be so hard. The stress and the emotions of the day overtook her as she cried herself to sleep.
Meanwhile Alex did go check on Jimmy and then decided what he really needed was a drink so he headed over to Joe's. After finishing his second beer he contemplated where he should go. It would be so much easier to go back to the hospital and not have to face Jo. That is if she had even gone back to his house which he doubted because he had been a jerk to her again and that's what people did. They left. So figuring Jo wasn't at his house and that he would rather toss and turn in his own bed he called a cab and went home.
When Alex entered his house he saw the kitchen light was on so he made his way in there. Cristina was standing at the refrigerator looking for food. "Hey, you decided to stop avoiding your girlfriend and come home. I'm surprised." Cristina said over her shoulder with a smirk.
"I'm not avoiding… wait she's here?" Alex asked incredulous. He really didn't think she would have hung around.
"Well yeah. Of course she is. She is always here. Where else would she be?" Cristina replied as she rolled her eyes.
"I just figured she would have crashed at Stephanie's or something." Alex mumbled back looking up the dark staircase.
"So you did have a fight. You are avoiding her." Cristina laughed matter of factly. Alex just ignored her and headed upstairs. When he got into his bedroom he could see the outline of Jo's form curled up in bed. He quietly got clothes and headed to the shower not wanting to wake her.
Jo woke up when Alex entered the room from the shower. "You came home." She stated simply moving over in the bed.
"Yeah. Jo we…"
"I'm too tired to fight with you tonight Alex. My day was hell and I'm exhausted." She rolled over with her back facing him. She just didn't think she had it in her to continue their fight tonight. She knew they needed to work it out and she was going to just not tonight. She just couldn't.
Alex laid down in bed beside her staring at the ceiling. He could feel the wetness from her tears on his pillow and in the moonlight coming in through the window he could now see her eyes were puffy from crying. Now Alex felt worse than he already did. He didn't know why he couldn't just accept that she would be there for him. Everything from his past told him no one stays and he just can't seem to get past that. It's safer to push people away and keep them at a distance than to let them get close and then leave. But he doesn't want to do that anymore. He doesn't want to do that with her. "I…" he started again.
"No, Alex. I can't. Not tonight. I'm here. I love you and I'm staying. I'm not running. But I just can't do this tonight." Jo said quietly with a tremble in her voice. The tears were starting to fall again.
Alex heard Jo sniffle and knew she was crying. He hesitantly reached his hand out to her but then let it drop on the bed beside him. He remembered how it hurt when she rejected him, because to him when she said she didn't want to marry him, that's what if felt like. Even though if he was honest with himself she didn't say she didn't want to marry him just not now; not like this. But now here she was pushing him away. She wouldn't even hear what he had to say. He couldn't help it though when he heard her sniffle again he reached out and rubbed her back. He couldn't stand that she was hurting; he couldn't take the tears.
Jo was surprised when she felt his touch but it only took a second for her to respond. She rolled over, wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. Alex's arms tightened around her and Jo let all the emotions of the day go. He just ran his fingers through her hair and let her get it all out. It helped him too to hold her. It helped calm his wild emotions and insecurities. "Shh, Jo, it's okay" Alex whispered "I love you and I'm so sorry." He gently nudged her chin up and looked into her eyes. Jo could see the love reflected in his eyes and slowly a smile spread across her face. Alex leaned in and kissed her lips ever so softly and wiped the tears away with his thumbs.
"I love you too." Jo said simply before giving him a slow kiss on the lips. It didn't take long for them to both deepen the kiss. Alex's fingers were tangling in Jo's hair and she pulled him impossibly closer. They still had a lot to talk about and things to work out in their relationship, but not tonight.