Hi there friends! It is I, back again with a story that a grand total of negative four people asked for. I blame Melissa and the rest of the Japril group chat for this one, really, because this was supposed to be an entirely different thing altogether and I wasn't really going to post anything Japril multi-chapter wise until I had at least one of my three trillion fics in progress finished. But, here we are anyways, and I'm writing this thing whether my logical side says it's a good idea or not. Fair warning, this is absolutely nothing like my other GA multichapter, this will provide you with plenty of fluff and not nearly as much angst. Which right now, I need, because Japril IRL is crushing my soul. I own nothing, regrettably, and reviews make my world go 'round.
Chapter One
"Where I'm heading who knows; my heart will stay the same." — Eraser, Ed Sheeran
Any time that Lexie had good news, April knew it was probably best that she brace herself for the worst. It wasn't her best friend's fault that she had a terrible, terrible habit of jinxing most things. Lexie had the worst luck out of anyone and everyone that April knew. The girl could never catch a break; having survived a nasty car accident, ruptured appendix, a semi-plane crash, and exes with surprise kids lurking off in the dark corners waiting to ambush at exactly the worst time imaginable, April was stunned she'd managed to evade being struck by lightning. Or death itself.
So when Lexie came bursting through the door to their apartment, grin stretched over her face so wide that it threatened to split her lips, April had half the mind to go ahead and dial emergency services for when the inevitable came knocking.
"Kepner, are you sitting down?" Lexie asked excitedly as she kicked her shoes off at the door and letting them forcefully collide with the baseboards. The answer was painfully obvious, seeing as how April was right in her line of sight, being perched on the couch with both her legs folded under her. Her eyes met Lexie's, eyebrows furrowed together as she gestured towards herself.
"Are you blind, Grey?"
Lexie rolled her eyes. "It was a rhetorical question; I'm trying to brace you for my news."
"Wait, you aren't pregnant, are you?" April asked hesitantly as Lexie bounded down the hallway towards the living room, flinging herself over the armrest of the couch to sidle up right next to April. Lexie's face fell, shoulders relaxing as she shot April the look, her next immediate reaction being to reach out and slap April on the arm. April winced; Lexie had always been the tougher of the two, having played softball all through college and could still pack a punch, meanwhile, April still bruised like a banana.
"No!" Lexie exclaimed, to which April responded to by merely lifting her hands in mock arrest.
"Sorry! And don't act all offended, you and your boyfriend have the affinity for going at it like rabbits at all hours of the day. It's a miracle he hasn't knocked you up yet," April pointed out.
Whether or not that particular comment had affected Lexie in the slightest—it was true, even she couldn't deny that much—she chose not to acknowledge it. Instead, she let the painfully wide smile spread back over her lips as she reached out and clasped one of April's hands in between hers. Already, April was afraid; Lexie Grey was the least tactile person when it came to showing any sort of emotion or affection towards her friends. "April," she began. "What is the one thing you and I have always talked about doing, ever since sophomore year of college when we decided that we could never in a million years survive medical school?"
"Marrying really rich men and then signing on to do a Desperate Housewives show?"
"April, I swear to god—"
"I don't know!" April snapped, head falling back as the exasperated sigh rose from her throat. "What?"
"Europe," Lexie said calmly, even though behind her eyes elation was exploding like fireworks. The word was like pulling a trigger on a reminder, inciting a similar reaction out of April as she immediately straightening up, eyes widening and returning the grip on Lexie's hands with equal fervor. That word went all the way back when April and Lexie were twenty, both of them having failed their entry course to medical biology (April because it was nothing she'd expected in a million years and she wound up hating it, Lexie because she was bored and also hated it) and utterly lost in terms of what direction they ought to take their lives.
They'd sat in the floor of their shared dorm room, a tub of ice cream between them and a box of tissues sitting next to April—she'd been devastated by the course of events, even if she had been miserable the whole time—licking chocolate off their plastic spoons and rambling on about things that sounded like much more fun than becoming a surgeon. It had mostly been a means of keeping the depression of being lost in life at bay, a game for them to play at their pity party of two.
"You think it's too late to be Disney princesses?" April had asked, jamming the pathetic excuse of a spoon down into the half eaten carton of ice cream once again. Lexie had merely smirked.
"You think it's too late to be bar dancers?"
April shook her head, nose wrinkling. "Bar dancers are for people who can't get into college. You have to go to college in order to be a Disney princess."
"That's bullshit," Lexie snorted. "You make more money being a bar dancer."
"Being a Disney princess is more fulfilling," April argued.
Lexie had pulled the spoon from her mouth, pointing it at April. "You know what sounds fulfilling? Going to Europe." She'd sighed at the thought, lazy smile coming over her face as she leaned back against the foot of her bed. "Me and you, managing our way through however many countries we wanted; eating good food, meeting cute boys, sleeping as long as we want. Don't act like you've never thought of just hopping on a plane and crossing the Great Divide."
"Sounds a lot better than college," April grumbled in reply. That was when Lexie had gotten a wicked gleam in the corner of her eye, her line of sight locking onto April's. "What are you thinking?" she'd asked.
"I'm thinking let's do it," Lexie had said. "Let's go to Europe. Me and you, Kep. France, Italy, Spain, England, anywhere and everywhere we feel like going for however long we want. We gain at least twenty pounds, flirt it up with foreigners, do all the stuff we have the time to do now that we don't have med school and seven years of a surgical residency looming over our heads. What else do we have to do?"
April had stared at her best friend for a moment, trying to gauge how serious she was being. When she couldn't find any sort of crack's in Lexie's demeanor, she lifted her spoon in agreement before diving back into the chocolate ice cream.
And that had been their plan ever since; they didn't care how long it took them to get over there. April and Lexie both had a hefty amount of student loans to pay off, especially after the both of them having to tack on an extra semester to catch up in their new programs—April in mass communication, Lexie in political science—so they'd started saving as soon as they could. Over dinner some nights, they'd go off on tangents and theorize on where they'd go, what all they had to do; Lexie was constantly monitoring just about every single country in Western Europe and the possible things to go and do, April had a Europe vision board hanging next to her bed. Just the thought of possibly going on a trip that didn't require them to do so much as think had been April's saving grace through the grueling college years where she was the girl who wore reading glasses more than needed, the girl that went to church every Sunday while everyone else nursed their hangovers and was constantly hunched over a notebook. It had held Lexie together when her mother passed away unexpectedly and her father evolved into a grade A drunk. Europe was their glue.
Even now, years later when most things she and Lexie had concocted faded into oblivion, Europe still was the glue. Staring at that vision board day in and day out had been April's one glimmer of hope when she lost her PR job back in the middle of February when the company filing bankrupt; hell, just having the thought of escaping for a little while at some point in the future was saving grace enough, escaping being the April Kepner everyone knew for a little while and being whoever she wanted to be.
"Lexie Grey, you are not allowed to joke about Europe, that's the number one rule of this household," April warned, voice dangerously quiet. In her mind, she was trying to remember if April Fool's had already passed them by. This couldn't be a joke, this couldn't just be a classic case of her getting her hopes up only to be let down. Not this, not now.
If it were even possible, the smile on Lexie's face expanded. "I'm not kidding, April. We're going."
"Whoa, wait a second," April said, shaking her head as the last hopes her lazy ponytail had been holding onto fell out and let her hair fall down over her shoulders. "How...how? Last time I checked, we were only about two thirds there. I thought the plumbing nightmare cost us big time."
"It did," Lexie explained, one of her hands breaking free from April's to wave the thought from the air in dismissal. "That's not the point here, the point is a miracle happened and you and I now have enough money to go to Europe for three weeks." She dropped April's hand entirely, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her a few times. "April, we are going to Europe."
The scream erupted from April's throat after a pause of silence, launching herself off the couch with Lexie in tow. "We're going to Europe!" April yelled, throwing her head back.
She flung her arms around her best friend, the tears of joy starting to burn in the corners of her eyes. She knew at some point, things were going to get good for her, they simply had to. That was the logic of the world; it's bad, but it gets better, the logic April had held fast to like some sort of prayer. And now it had.
. . .
April and Lexie sat around their dinner table, April's constant sidekick of her red notebook right in front of her amidst a pile of maps, other extraneous papers, Lexie's laptop, and her now empty coffee cup that she couldn't be bothered with moving. The last few days had been dedicated to Europe planning; Lexie had managed to put in her vacation time, and April was currently in between jobs, which had been another reason to tack onto the other countless ones on how grateful she was this trip had fallen into their laps when it did.
The both of them had always been cut from the same cloth, one of the primary reasons they'd remained such good friends even outside of college aside from the fact they were all the other had in New York. They were both extensive planners, refusing to leave anything up to chance or fate, and that meant hours and hours dedicated to mapping out how this trip was going to go.
"Is your laptop on the map of Germany?" April asked, lifting up her notebook and trying to pinpoint the item in question. "We haven't even thought the first thing about Germany."
"All I've thought about is the fact we aren't going to be there when Oktoberfest is," Lexie admitted sheepishly, carding a hand through her hair as she pushed her laptop up onto the back ends to see if she was using the map as a coaster. "I don't see it, you sure it didn't fall in the floor?"
Right about the time April bent down to look under the table, the door on the lock clicked open and the telltale creak their door made when opening echoed down the hall. "Honey, I'm home," a third voice crooned, and while she was out of Lexie's line of sight, April allowed her face to twist up in a grimace.
She resurfaced, and sure enough, there was Mark Sloan, holding their dinner in his hands with a lopsided grin slapped on his face. Mark Sloan, Lexie's boyfriend who was about as hard to get rid of as plaque. April was constantly pushing for Lexie to tell the man to start paying them rent as well, seeing as how he spent the majority of his time away from his private practice at their apartment, namely in Lexie's bedroom. She was all too familiar with Mark Sloan, more familiar than she ever wanted to be in her life after the shower mishap, and he seemed to think it was merely a bonding thing.
He, as far as April was concerned, was the third wheel in the midst of her and Lexie's sisterhood, and even though he made Lexie happy, a small part of April was always holding onto the idea that maybe one day, he'd just disappear into thin air.
"Ladies, I hope Chinese is okay," he said as he walked around the table, pressing a kiss to the top of Lexie's head. "And I made sure they put in extra fortune cookies, just for you, Kepner."
April rested a hand over her chest, feigning the tug of her heartstrings at the gesture. "Mark, I'm touched." As he strolled past, he reached a hand out to ruffle her hair like he always did. She ducked out of the way, using the opportunity to get another look in the floor for the misplaced map of Germany. "Unless you are sitting on it, Germany's grown legs and jumped right out the window," she announced.
Lexie frowned. "I know I printed that damn thing out, it didn't just sprout legs and walk out the door," she grumbled.
Mark, who was elbow deep inside the bag of food in search of his own, lifted his head and glanced over at them. "I've been to Germany before," he stated, pulling his hand out from the bag and throwing a handful of fortune cookies onto the counter. "We'd be better off to be going while Oktoberfest was in town." Lexie made a face, lifting her hand to gesture off at him as April rolled her eyes.
"What I told her."
"There is plenty to do in Germany other than just get wasted," April protested.
"We're also on a budget," Lexie pointed out.
Mark, who was still rummaging around for his food, nodded in agreement. "If we're gonna blow money, might as well blow it on alcohol."
"What do you mean by we?" April finally asked, her eyebrows furrowing together as she set her pen down in the middle of her notebook, swiveling around in her seat to face Mark head on. Mark was a deer in the headlights at that particular question, looking around April to shoot Lexie a glance that was nothing more than a cry for help.
"Um, well," Lexie started, her voice unnaturally high and April glancing back over her shoulder to look at her as she spoke. "Remember how I told you a, uh, a miracle had happened and we'd gotten the rest of the money for the trip?" April nodded slowly, unsure of where this was going. Of course, Lexie didn't leave her hanging for long as she motioned off to where Mark was standing. "Mark's our, um, well, he's kind of our miracle."
For a moment, words weren't forming in the back of April's throat as her eyes darted back and forth between Mark, who looked like he wanted to fade into the background for once, and Lexie, who had an excessive amount of color in her cheeks and was trying not to let her eyes glue themselves to the ground. Back and forth, back and forth, April's mind racing even though she couldn't find the words. Her body, however, already had the answer she needed and it did the talking for her.
Escaping, of course.
"I'm...I'm uh, gonna go wash up before I eat," April stammered out, pushing her chair back and darting out of it. She could hear Lexie's hand collide with Mark's shoulder, her hushed scolding whispers to him too quiet to be distinguishable. The second she'd crossed the threshold of the bathroom, she slammed the door quickly before pressing up against it to try and catch her breath.
This wasn't happening. But of course it is, April. Mark wasn't necessarily the worst thing to ever happen, by any means, he was okay whether or not April ever planned on admitting that to his face, but it was an intrusion nonetheless. Her saving grace had effectively been shattered, and while it shouldn't have been as big a deal as she was exaggerating it to be, it still felt as though someone had removed the floor from underneath her heart and let it sink down to her kneecaps. Her eyes were burning, the tears escaping on their own accord as she tried to straighten herself out. All those plans she'd made got turned on their side, a fact she didn't like as is, and the fact Lexie had conveniently left out that particular part of the conditions. It felt like a betrayal, and it felt like all of this had been a joke all along.
Get yourself together; who cares if the money came from Mark Sloan and he's tagging along?
This was supposed to be my vacation with Lexie, not an opportunity to third-wheel with the two of them on their honeymoon. She's my best friend, it's not a crime to want to spend time alone with her. She sees enough of him as it is.
This is ridiculous, April.
Is it, though? Is it really?
"April," Lexie's voice came through the other side of the door, quiet. "Kep, let me in."
"I'm fine," April called out, swallowing hard and trying to boost her voice into something that resembled the realm of okay.
"April, just open the door."
She sighed, peeling herself off the door and twisting the knob for Lexie. She held it open long enough for Lexie to squeeze herself through the crack in the space she'd put between the door and its frame before shutting it right back behind her. And that was when she sort of lost it.
"When were you going to tell me?" April demanded, wiping the tears from her eyes quickly to hide the fact she was more upset than betrayed as she probably should have been. "When were you going to tell me our trip had been invaded upon? Last time I checked, Mark Sloan was not our invisible, third roommate in sophomore year of college!"
"I was going to tell you, April, I was—"
"When?" Lexie was letting April step all over her, pressing her lips together as April rambled on wildly, wringing out her hands and pacing in the incredibly small space she had to do so as her train of thought verbalized itself. "When? When we were about to get on the plane? Lexie, this was our trip! Me and you, not me and you and your handsome doctor boyfriend who self-appointed him the third member of our friendship! This is what got me through college and losing my job, this is what got you through losing your mother. This was all we had—well, aside from Jesus, we had him too—but this was it! We, we didn't have anything, but this and each other. And now Mark Sloan is, is...he's infected it," she deduced, finally meeting eyes with Lexie. "He has infected Europe."
Lexie's head tilted to the side, sighing. "He offered to pay for the rest of the trip. I'd been talking more about it lately and, hell, what was I supposed to say, Kep? No thanks, I'll pass? I couldn't say no, not when I knew how much this would mean to you. We've waited long enough and you...you've needed the pick me up, you need something to cheer you up and make you smile a hell of a lot more than Netflix reruns and writing does. When Europe knocks, you don't just slam the door in its face and say not interested, maybe next time."
"This was supposed to be about you and me," April muttered quietly, head lowering towards the floor as she studied the tile. "This was ours. Not his."
"He knows that," Lexie insisted, rubbing April's shoulders. "Trust me, he's really not keen on ruining this for either of us, he knows how much this means to you. To both of us." Somehow, April severely doubted that, and if for some reason he did, he was definitely going to have to start paying rent, but she kept her thoughts to herself. "April, the only reason he is going is because he doesn't want the two of us being by ourselves over there, it's got nothing to do with the money."
"We can protect ourselves!" April protested, head snapping back up as she gestured between the two of them. "If someone tried to kidnap us, they'd wind up bringing us back, and you know it." One of Lexie's eyebrows kinked, her silent touché as she shrugged.
"Listen, if you want to tell me to tell him to butt the hell out, I will. You're right, this isn't his trip, this has nothing to do with him. I'll tell him thanks, offer to buy him a sweatshirt and send him a few pictures of me in a bikini, and he can hold down the fort here."
"Lex, there's a reason he lives over here, and it's because he has no idea how to maintain a household of his own."
"Not the point," Lexie sighed. "Look, you say the word, and I'll tell him adios. Ball's in your court, Kep."
April bit down on her lower lip, thoughts racing a mile a minute inside her head. She wanted to put her foot down, be stubborn, say no. This was hers, hers and Lexie's, and she'd be damned if she had to run around and third wheel with the two of them through Europe when it was supposed to be her and Lexie arm in arm and thanking their lucky stars after all for dropping the med route. Her conscience was coaxing her to be the bigger, grateful person and just let Mark tag along because really, he didn't have to assist in the funding, which of course met resistance almost every time from the side of her screaming to be selfish. Lexie was giving her the out, letting her be as selfish as she wanted to be on this because she felt bad about dragging her boyfriend into it. And then she saw the look on Lexie's face, all the more of a reminder of how happy she was whenever she was around Sloan, a happiness that not even she could bring Lexie.
Lexie, the most important person in April's life; Lexie, the person who never failed in scraping April off the ground even when she herself was knocked over. Lexie, the person who always put April's happiness before her own.
Exhaling, her arms fell down by her sides as she internally waved the white flag against herself. "No," she finally conceded. "No, he can come. He's our miracle, after all." Lexie didn't seem too convinced by this.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah...well, not entirely, but as sure as I'm gonna get." April, however, wasn't finished, pausing only for a moment. "I get the window seat, all forms of transportation."
Lexie nodded solemnly, even though April could see the excited twinkle in her eye had returned. "You got it."
Kind of short, I realize, but sometimes you gotta just establish some things before you can dive right in. April and Lexie was a friendship we were robbed of, therefore it is very important to me and I cross my fingers you're enjoying them so far. As for Jackson, you will be meeting him very soon, have no fear, and it's going to certainly be interesting. Let me know what you think, what you want to see, all the thoughts and feels are welcomed. And I really do hope that this made you smile; it's not really in my nature to write something that is, for the most part, rather lighthearted, but I think that we can all use a smile here and there with all of our faves, something Shonda in no means does for us. Here's to hoping that Japril the Sequel doesn't actually end my life next week. xo