Hey, folks! I decided to take a little break from writing Japril and do something different. I love the Kepzona friendship and hope the writers can keep them consistent and maybe develop them more outside of the hospital. I've had this idea for a while and I finally got around to writing it. Just something that I thought would be fun during this slow hiatus :)
Enjoy!
April Kepner's head sprang up from the pillow after the ringing from a cell phone woke her from her sleep. A painful throbbing greeted her afterwards causing her to grasp her head and softly groan. She gently placed her head back down on the pillow, shutting her eyes as she lay flat on her stomach. It took her a minute to finally process what caused her headache in the first place. One word: hangover.
However, she could barely remember what had happened the previous night aside from some heavy drinking. Her memory was currently a giant blur and what little energy she had wasn't enough for her to push herself out of bed. She began to drift back to sleep until she realized something peculiar. In her bedroom, the pillows were not white and the bedsheets were definitely not green. She wasn't even in her bedroom!
And the sheets felt colder against her skin. That was when she realized…
Her eyes shot wide open as she quickly pushed herself up into a sitting position. April pulled open the blanket to discover that she was completely naked underneath the covers. She gasped loudly, her mouth dropping open as her bottom lip slightly quivered. "What the hell happened?" she whispered to herself.
Not only was she confused but also very worried that she had done something terribly wrong the previous night. Despite the rocky status of her and Jackson Avery's relationship, she was still a freaking married woman. The thought of possibly cheating on her husband made her sicker than the alcohol she had consumed. The worst part of it all was her memory continued to fail her, so she wasn't sure whether to cry or scream or just keel over and die.
But as April began to recollect herself, at least the bedroom was familiar to her. She scanned the walls, the décor, the prosthetic leg lying against the bedside table.
"Oh, shit," she murmured, reaching across the bed and pulling open the bedsheet. Snoozing away beside her was Arizona Robbins, whose back faced her coworker as she slept on her side. Just like the trauma surgeon, she was very naked too. "Oh, shit!"
The redhead's outburst was enough to arouse Arizona from her sleep. She slowly rolled over onto her back – just in time for April to cover her coworker's breasts before she could get a good look at them – and stretched her arms over her head. Soon after, she was grabbing her own head as she experienced the same painful throbbing as her friend.
Arizona winced and finally opened her eyes. She immediately noticed April staring down at her. The latter's facial expression was a combination of a grimace and anguish. "April, what are you doing- oh!" she gasped, instantly sitting up and clutching the bedsheets against her body. She covered her mouth with one hand and pointed at her coworker with the other. "We're naked."
"Yes! Why are we naked?!" April screeched. There could be a hundred reasons why neither of them were wearing clothes, but one particular idea was cemented in her mind. "Do you think we- did we- why did we…"
"I don't think we did what you think we did or maybe did," Arizona quickly dismissed, forcing a laugh. Between the two of them, she was the calmer person, yet even she had her fears about what they might have done. "I mean, come on. There's just no way. You, you're married to a man. Well, a man who's still mad at you, but you wouldn't… h-have you been feeling experimental lately? Because messy relationships can lead to very confusing feelings."
April furrowed her brow. "Are you saying I came onto you?"
"No! No, of course not," she nervously chuckled. The pediatric surgeon slightly ducked her head and muttered, "Maybe."
"Arizona!"
Arizona raised her hand in front of her chest, sheepishly grinning at April. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Listen, if we had sex, there would probably be some visible proof somewhere."
"What? Like hickeys?" April began touching her neck and turning her head to search for visible marks on the parts of her body that she actually couldn't see without a mirror. And she had very pale skin. Any mark would be seen easily. "Do you see anything? Hickeys? Bite marks?"
"Did you just call me a biter?" Arizona retorted. "I'm not a biter, okay? And to answer your question, no. I don't see anything on your neck or your back- no, wait. I see something on your back."
April's eyes widened again. "W-what do you see?"
Her friend leaned forward to get a better view, then she sat up straight. "Oh, nevermind. Just a bug bite," she nonchalantly replied, drawing a groan from April. Arizona pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. It felt as if someone was beating her head with a sledgehammer. "Alright, alright. We need to think. What did we do last night? Let's retrace our steps."
April tilted her head towards the ceiling. Retracing their steps would be easier if her hangover wasn't a major distraction. She found it too difficult to concentrate. "Umm, we were drinking. That I know."
"Yeah, I think the hangover confirmed that part." Arizona reached for her cell phone on the bedside table. There were three missed calls, all from her ex-wife, Callie Torres. She slapped her palm against her forehead and sighed. "Crap. Callie and I are supposed to do some group thing with Sofia at the Seattle Children's Museum…" She checked the time on her phone – half past 8 AM. "…in like, four hours! I need to get rid of this hangover before they arrive. Sofia can't see me like this."
"Okay, I understand your dilemma and all, but what about this… thing?" April reminded her, gesturing between the two of them. "I can't go home thinking I cheated on my husband! I simply cannot walk into that apartment and look Jackson in the eye without feeling guilty about doing something that I have no idea I did. He just moved back in from Bailey's. I don't even want to think about what he'd say."
The glossiness in April's eyes made Arizona frown. Through her own experience with cheating, she desperately didn't want her closest ally to suffer through the same fallout she did. She really hoped their current situation was a misunderstanding.
"We will figure this out," she assured the trauma surgeon. "I just, uh, need my head to stop pounding like a drum first."
Glancing down at the back of her left hand, April squinted her eyes as she noticed blue ink on it. "Hey, what's this?" she asked, extending her arm towards Arizona to show her what appeared to be a stamp mark. "It's all smudged. I can't really tell what it is."
Arizona grasped April's hand, then she looked at her own hand. They had matching stamp marks, but hers was a bit more legible. "Something Lounge. I can't quite figure out what it says," she answered and let go of her friend's hand. "So we went to a bar of some sort. That's progress, right?"
"You think that's the only place we went? What about Joe's?"
"Joe's… ah! I believe we did go there after work," she gleefully responded. "Maybe Joe knows something. One of us should definitely head over there later."
"Well, your daughter is coming over, so I guess that's my job," April noted. "And maybe we should get dressed too. This is beginning to freak me out. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to wake up in bed with you naked. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy spending time with you, but-"
"Yes, I know what you mean," Arizona interrupted, reaching over the edge of the bed for her clothes. Although her dear friend had grown out of her innocent, naïve world, that didn't stop her from producing one of her many awkward rambles. She began dressing herself, while April did the same on the opposite side of the bedroom. "So are you going to go home first or straight to Joe's?"
"Umm… I haven't decided yet because I can't find my underwear," the redhead muttered. She used the crumpled pieces of clothing in her arms to cover herself as much as possible. "I-I can't leave your house without any underwear!"
"You wore jeans, right? Just go commando. Nobody will notice," she advised. "Do you want something to eat or drink before you leave? I think I have some bananas in the kitchen."
April slowly began dressing herself, squeezing her eyes shut once again. She needed some food and water in her system before her head exploded. "Yes, that would be great." She opened her eyes, scanning the bedroom for something else she needed. "Where's my phone?"
Arizona finished slipping on her prosthetic leg before she pointed out April's purse on the floor. "Your purse is over there. Maybe it's inside," she suggested. An idea suddenly popped into her head. She picked up her own cell phone and began searching for clues. "Hey, maybe we took pictures last night. You're like an unofficial photographer. I'm sure there's something here."
April retrieved her purse from the floor and rummaged through the contents inside. Unfortunately, there was no phone. "It's not in here." She joined Arizona at the side of the bed as they skimmed the most recent pictures taken on the blonde woman's cell phone.
First picture: blurry. Second picture: blurry. Third picture: blurry. The same result happened for the next six pictures until the following set were of Sofia.
"I was never known for my photography skills," Arizona mumbled disappointedly. She returned to one of the blurry photos and pointed out the one visible detail. "Oh, but there's a finger."
"Very helpful," April sarcastically replied. "Anyway, I'm going to let myself out. I'll call you if I find anything – especially if I find my phone."
Arizona watched April walk towards the door with concern. Neither of them were in the best shape, but her friend appeared worse. April had taken care of her multiple times after nights of heavy drinking. She hoped she could return the favor, especially under the confusing circumstances. "Are you sure you'll be okay? Do you want to stick around for a bit longer until your hangover isn't so bad?"
"Yes. Don't worry. I'll be fine," she softly spoke as she opened the door. April stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Before even taking a step in the hallway, she bumped into a muscular, bare chest causing her to jump back. It took her a moment to realize it was the intern, Andrew DeLuca. He wore nothing but a pair of gray boxer briefs. "Oh! DeLuca, w-what are you doing here?"
The younger man chuckled, raising an eyebrow at her. "I live here."
April slowly nodded. "Right. I completely forgot." She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead in the process. "Did you, umm… did you hear any strange noises last night? Uh, just strange noises in general?"
"Strange noises? Well, no. I just got home 20 minutes ago. You know, night shift and I was about to go to bed-"
"Okay, that's great!" she chirped, stepping around Andrew. "I'm just on my way out, so see ya!"
"Umm, bye," the intern murmured, shooting a confused glance at April as she walked away.
Before leaving the house, April grabbed a water bottle and a banana from the kitchen. As soon as she stepped outside, it felt as if someone shot a light beam at her face. Of all the cloudy days Seattle normally had, today wasn't one of them. It was bright and sunny, which made her feel like she was blinded instantly. Using her forearm to shield her eyes, April searched for her car. However, it wasn't in the driveway nor was it parked on the street.
She pursed her lips, inhaling sharply. "Where is my car?"
It took a few minutes for April to realize that her car wouldn't be at Arizona's because even in her drunken state, she wouldn't have been dumb enough to drive around intoxicated. Her car was still parked in the Grey Sloan Memorial lot when she arrived via taxi. She and Arizona likely had walked across the street to the Emerald City Bar after work because she spotted her friend's car in the parking lot as well.
April planned on driving home to her apartment to shower and change into new clothes, but there was another problem – her keys weren't in her purse. On the bright side, her sunglasses were and she was able to shield her eyes from the sun as she made the short trek to the bar. Unfortunately, Joe's was closed and wouldn't open for another couple of hours. Despite eating the banana and downing her water bottle within two minutes, her energy level remained low, so she took a seat in front of the locked door until someone arrived.
She had fallen asleep for the next two hours. A light kick against her shoe woke her up. Slightly tilting her sunglasses down as she raised her head, she found Joe the bartender towering over her with a smirk on his face. He was definitely in a much better mood than she was.
"Kepner, here to claim your keys?" Joe amusingly asked, extending a hand to help the trauma surgeon onto her feet.
"Well, it's a relief to know that I did leave my keys here," she muttered. April followed Joe into the bar after he unlocked the front door. She took a seat at the counter, resting her head against her forearm. "Let me tell you something, Joe. I am never drinking that much again. I mean, I don't even know how much I drank last night, but I know I never will again."
The burly man chuckled as he walked behind the bar counter. "I couldn't figure out how a petite person like you even drank that much. You and Robbins were prepared to drain my tequila stash. I had to cut you guys off after an hour," he recalled. "Bad day yesterday? I know your tendencies, Kepner. If it's not your usual scotch, you're drinking tequila shots and I've seen you do that when you're having a bad day."
April slowly raised her head, resting her chin on her forearm as she removed her sunglasses. Now when she thought about it, she hadn't had a bad day prior to coming to Joe's. She had a brief discussion with Jackson about attending couples therapy, but that wouldn't have driven her to tequila shots. Arizona had been in a perky mood when she asked her to have a drink with her. Maybe nothing bad had happened at all.
"Wingwoman time," she murmured. "Umm, did we do anything repulsive or out of the ordinary?"
"You mean besides taking over Karaoke Night?" Joe laughed at April's wide-eyed expression. "I must say, Karaoke Night has never been much of a draw here, but you really brought it to life. Both you and Robbins. Your duet of Starship's 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' was a hit with the other customers."
"Wh-why?" she timidly questioned. Based on past experiences as a spectator during drunk karaoke, the most memorable performances involved people falling off the stage, taking their clothes off, vomiting or making out with strangers at the end of the song.
He smiled as he retrieved her keys from behind the counter. "You two were fun, entertaining. Nothing illegal happened if that's what you're worried about. But I did have to sort of throw you two out after a while."
April grimaced. "Please tell me I didn't punch someone."
"No, it's nothing like that. When I think it's time for you to leave I let you know, call a cab and take your keys," Joe assured her, then he chuckled. "Although, instead of her car key, Robbins attempted to give me her prosthetic leg."
"And, uh, do you have any idea where we went after that?"
"Not exactly. I overheard Robbins saying something about a trivia night at some other bar?"
April raised her eyebrows almost gleefully. That was the best clue she had received since waking up that morning. She remembered Arizona asking her once to join her for Trivia Night at a lesbian bar, but she already had other plans. It had to be the same bar, she thought. "Oh, that helps a lot. Thank you," she gratefully said. "I gotta go now."
"One more thing," he stated before she could leave. Joe retrieved a cell phone from the same place he kept her keys. "You left this behind last night. Thought you'd like to have this back too."
Her beloved cell phone was sitting on the counter and she couldn't be any more grateful at that moment. "Thank goodness. I thought I lost this for good. Also, did I happen to leave behind… underwear?" she curiously asked.
Joe pressed his palms against the countertop and blankly stared back at the redhead. "There are a lot of things people lose and I store in case they come back searching for them, but lost panties aren't one of them."
April awkwardly smiled as she walked backwards towards the exit. "Just thought I'd ask. Thanks again, Joe." She left the bar and began walking back to the hospital. She dialed Arizona's number on her cell phone and waited for an answer. "Hey, I found my phone. Turns out I left it at Joe's."
"That's great. Have you been able to remember anything from last night?"
"No, but Joe informed me that we apparently had a blast with Karaoke Night before he kicked us out. That doesn't explain the whole naked thing, though. And umm, he mentioned that you brought up Trivia Night at another bar-"
"Oh! The Lounge! That's the stamp on our hands," Arizona quickly remembered.
"So that large smudge we couldn't figure out was simply The? We are the greatest detectives aren't we?" April sarcastically replied, softly laughing. She shook her head and sighed. "Alright. Should I check out this lounge or what? I was going to stop by at the hospital and snag up a banana bag, maybe pass out in an on-call room for a few hours before I go home."
"Actually, you know what? I can go. I have some time to spare before Callie and Sofia arrive and this bar should be open in about a half an hour. Don't worry about it, April. It's my turn to investigate."
April breathed a sigh of relief. She was hoping Arizona would volunteer because she felt as if she just ran a marathon even though all she had done was walk across the street. "Okay, let me know if you find out anything new. By the way, your car is still parked at the hospital. You might want to come and pick it up."
After they ended their call, April finally checked the notifications on her phone. There were four missed calls from Jackson and five text messages asking where she was, making her grimace. If she didn't give him a response soon, he might report her as a missing person. She quickly sent him a text message before she began looking through her photo album. There was one selfie with Arizona at Joe's, which appeared to be pre-drunk fest. She also found a video from Karaoke Night. It was a solo performance of herself singing – very badly – Drake's "Hotline Bling" with Arizona drunkenly cheering her on while recording the scene with an unsteady hand. The shaky camerawork made her nauseous all over again.
She quickly deleted the video afterwards. That wasn't a memory she wanted to cherish, plus she knew she could sing better than what she heard. Now she hoped she could walk into the hospital unnoticed.
Arizona entered a mostly empty bar known as The Lounge, a place she had been to a few times in the past before meeting Callie. It was one of the first hangouts she discovered when she moved to Seattle after completing her residency at Johns Hopkins. Since becoming more acclimated to the area, she hung out more at Joe's with her coworkers and friends. She had never even taken Callie to The Lounge when they were together. It was as if the bar represented her single life. The lesbian bar made it easier to meet and talk to single women when she was single herself. However, her first return trip had been awkward – and with Richard Webber. She never did expect to have to jump back into the dating pool after thinking she had already found the one.
Dressed in clean clothes and wearing sunglasses over her eyes, she scanned the room for someone she could possibly talk to about the previous night. Her hangover was almost completely gone, having used every remedy available in her house to minimize the post-drinking effects, but she still wasn't quite 100%.
She spotted a brunette woman walking into view from another room. The woman appeared to work there, or at least she looked like she worked there with her all black attire and a name tag on the top left corner of her shirt.
"Oh, excuse me!" Arizona waved over the woman, then she removed her sunglasses. She leaned forward, squinting her eyes to read her name tag. "Suzanne, hi. So, I was here last night whether you remember me or not-"
"Actually, I do. Where's that loudmouth you were with?"
"Loudmouth?"
"You know, the redhead. The super perky chick you came in here with and nearly destroyed our Trivia Night," the other woman responded, rolling her eyes. "I'm the manager here. You two lasted maybe 20 minutes before you got the boot."
Arizona slightly furrowed her brow. "Why?" she inquired before flashing her dimpled smile in hopes of softening the visibly irritated manager. "First of all, I apologize for whatever we did. We were very drunk and honestly, neither of us can remember what happened last night, so if you could give me a recap of what we did, that would be awesome."
Folding her arms across her chest, Suzanne smirked at the pediatric surgeon. "You want to know what you did? The two of you waltzed on in here giggling like teenage girls just as Trivia Night started. Your girlfriend wouldn't stop shouting out answers before our host could finish reading the questions," she explained. "And then she ripped her panties out from the inside of her pants, twirled them around in the air and yelled, 'I love lesbians! Who wants my panties?' and then proceeded to throw her panties at the bar. That's when I asked our bouncer to escort you outside."
Arizona stared back at the woman horrified. At the same time, she was relieved April wasn't with her to hear any of this. Perhaps it was best if she didn't know about the last part, she thought. "Again, I am so sorry for our disruptive behavior. Trust me, we are not like that when we're sober, especially her. In fact, if we were sober, I probably would have had to drag her into this bar."
"Listen, I understand. Worse things have happened here in the past, but last night was definitely in the top five. You're not banned, if that's what you're worried about. Just don't bring your loudmouth girlfriend again," she informed her.
"She's not my girlfriend," Arizona chuckled. "We're not… she's not my girlfriend."
"You're embarrassed. I can tell. I would probably deny it too if I was in your shoes," Suzanne cheekily replied with a wink. "Red was pretty, but also very annoying."
"Okay, like I said, she's normally not like that. Well, sometimes she does come off annoying to some people, but I think she's misunderstood. She's actually a really reliable friend…" Arizona noticed the bored expression on the other woman's face, then she pointed over her shoulder towards the door. "I think I'll just leave now."
"Actually, hold on a minute. I have something for you."
Arizona placed her hands on her hips and impatiently tapped her foot as Suzanne left her alone. She had one more hour to spare before Callie and Sofia arrived at her house, but she wanted to use that time to relax and wipe out the rest of her hangover. The manager returned with a pair of ripped, white panties inside of a Ziploc bag.
"Here's your girlfriend's panties. We don't normally save personal belongings like this, but we thought maybe she would try to come back and reclaim these." Before Arizona could respond, Suzanne forcefully shoved the plastic bag into her hand. "Now, you can go."
"Again, not my girlfriend," she answered through gritted teeth. "She's married to a man, by the way."
"Yeah, I'm not really interested in your arrangements. It's none of my business," the other woman scoffed.
The pediatric surgeon rolled her eyes as she turned away to leave. "Thanks, anyway."
Arizona wasn't quite sure what to do with the formerly lost panties, but she stuffed the bag inside of her purse on her way out. It somewhat amused her that April could be mistaken for her girlfriend. Truthfully, she thought the trauma surgeon was cute in the girl next door type of way, but she wasn't attracted to her. She appreciated her friendship, though. It had been a while since she could call someone a close friend. They knew of each other's relationship problems, and she was typically private about her personal life. Of course, some liquid courage had been involved the first time she opened up to the redhead, but she trusted April with her secrets.
April had been her support system following her fallout with Callie. Now, Arizona was trying her best to return the favor. Retrieving her lost underwear counted in her mind.
She pulled her cell phone out of her purse to call her friend as she walked to her car. The call was sent to voicemail, but she decided to give her an update on their late night shenanigans. "Hey, so I guess you might be asleep or driving or doing something more important, but I just left The Lounge and… well, maybe we should talk about it when we meet up again? So give me a call when you can. Oh, I also found your panties! And don't worry, it's not what you're likely going to think. I already have a feeling you'll freak out, but it was totally innocent… sort of. Call me back."
Although April could hear her cell phone ringing in her purse, she opted not to answer the call as she lay sprawled out on a bed in an on-call room. An I.V. was attached to her left arm while she tried to get some extra sleep. However, her mind was too focused on the previous night and she failed to fall asleep. The guilt was eating her alive, yet she had no idea if the worst case scenario happened. She wanted answers, but she thought it was impossible to find them anywhere.
Rather than attempt to sleep again, April pushed herself up into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. The throbbing in her head was slowly disappearing, but she still felt miserable. She grabbed her purse before stepping out of the on-call room. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she strolled through the hallway dragging along an I.V. stand like she was a patient in the hospital.
"April," a familiar voice called out from behind her. Jackson quickly approached his wife as she turned around to face him. "Hey, I got your text. I thought you'd be home by now. What are you doing here?" She nodded her head towards her I.V. bag. "Right. So are you feeling okay? Do you want me to drive you home? I have one small procedure in an hour and then I'm done for the day."
"I'm… I'm fine. I mean, I'm fine enough to drive myself home," April insisted. "I'm okay."
Jackson placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure? It looks like you have something on your mind. We can talk about it right now if you want."
She quickly shook her head, smiling back at him. Deep down, she wanted to blurt out to him that she might have made a terrible mistake the night before. She really didn't want to lie to him. "I'm sure, Jackson. I'm just tired. And I'm sorry for making you worry last night. But thank you for not sending the cops after me."
He softly chuckled, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's good to know you're fine, though. Go home, okay? I'll be home before dinner."
April frowned as Jackson walked past her. In happier times, he would have given her a kiss goodbye. Lately, nothing. The fact that they could talk without any hostility was a step forward, but she knew their relationship was far from where it used to be. He seemed to be trying now as much as she was, yet there were no guarantees things would be happily ever after for them.
She got into an elevator only to find Alex Karev inside with her. Dressed in his street clothes, he glanced back at her with a smirk on his face. "You look terrible," he bluntly greeted her, drawing a scowl from his coworker. "I'm amazed you're even here. You know Hunt won't let you work if he sees you like this, right?"
"It's my day off. I'm not here for work… wait." April eyed Alex curiously. "You're amazed I'm here? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dude, you don't remember what you did last night?" A devilish smile appeared across Alex's face as he laughed to himself. "Man, you're gonna die if I tell you what I saw last night."
April immediately pressed the emergency button to stop the elevator. Now, she was even more curious and also worried about what Alex was hiding from her. "What did you see?" she sternly demanded. He simply snickered, so she slapped his chest with her free hand. "Alex! This is important!"
"Look, it's not like I wanted to see this. It was freaking late, like, after 1 AM and I was on my way home after I had to work a little longer than I expected. Even I wasn't entirely sure what I saw until I recognized your high-pitched voice screaming for Robbins to keep up with you," Alex described, yet the confused expression on April's face forced him to get straight to the point. "I caught you two running across the street in your birthday suits. Happy?"
"Oh, God," the trauma surgeon gasped, taking a step back and bumping into the wall. Despite being the only two people inside of the elevator, she whispered, "We were streaking?"
Alex nodded with a grin on his face. "I never knew you had it in you, Kepner. You got nice boobs."
"Shut up!" she retorted, swinging her arm and slapping his shoulder. April covered her face with her hand and groaned loudly. "I feel so violated."
"Oh, please. You guys were the ones who decided to give a free show, though the streets were mostly empty," he answered with a shrug. "And before you ask, I did follow you two. I wasn't gonna let you guys get busted by cops or freeze your asses to death. I made sure you guys got home safely and drove you back to Robbins' house."
April was taken aback by Alex's gesture. She fully expected him to keep driving and let her and Arizona continue to humiliate themselves, maybe even spread the word to everyone at the hospital the next day. "So you dropped us off and left?"
"No, I helped you both into bed. Both of you passed out within seconds and then I left." Alex raised his hand before April could speak. "And all of the touching was innocent. Just because Jo's pissed at me it doesn't mean I was aching to grope either of you. I may be an ass, but I'm not that big of an ass."
"Arizona and I didn't have sex," she murmured to herself as a smile slowly formed on her face. "Thank you, Jesus!"
"You thought you slept with Robbins? Dude…"
April furrowed her brow as Alex smiled like a kid who was up to no good. "Erase that image from your head! You know, a note or something telling us you were around last night would've been helpful."
"Whatever. You seem fine as far as I can see. I'm assuming Robbins is too," he nonchalantly answered.
"Did you call Jackson? I… I left my phone at Joe's and he had been calling me last night."
"It crossed my mind, but I didn't. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to," Alex replied, stuffing his hands inside of his pockets. "You two are still trying to work out your crap. I didn't think telling Avery about your nudie run would help, so I kept my mouth shut. Nobody else knows about last night."
"Wow, Alex. I'm impressed. You used to be the type of person who wouldn't hesitate to embarrass me if the opportunity arrived."
Alex softly chuckled. "If it wasn't for Robbins being there with you, I might have told people, but she'd kill me if I did. Hell, she'd kill me just for seeing her naked," he insisted. "Which reminds me, I need to sanitize my backseat. Your bare asses were on freaking leather seats. That's just gross, even for me."
April playfully rolled her eyes and surprised her coworker with a hug. "Thank you for everything you did last night."
As his way of returning the hug, he gently patted her back with one hand. "By the way, I got a question. How does your carpet match the drapes? Weren't you a brunette?"
She responded by slapping the back of his head, eliciting a groan from him. "And for a minute, I thought the pervert in you was gone."
"Whatever. It was an honest question."
"With an answer you're not getting," April chided as she pulled the emergency stop button to start the elevator. She left the elevator after it arrived on the main floor. She removed the I.V. from her arm and disposed of the bag before walking out of the hospital. Then she finally listened to the voicemail message Arizona had left her earlier and called her back. "Hey, are you home? I have good news!"
"I am. Come over right now."
"Great! I'll be there soon."
April drove back to Arizona's house in a much better mood since her conversation with Alex. Who knew Alex Karev could actually calm her down and ease away the fears she had about the previous night? She definitely owed him for that.
When she arrived at her friend's house, she practically invited herself inside just as the door flew open. "Guess what? You and I did not have sex last night."
"You and Arizona didn't have what?" Both women turned their attention towards Callie, who was sitting on the couch with Sofia on her lap. She had covered her daughter's ears before asking the question. "Did something happen between you two last night?"
April stared back at the orthopedic surgeon with wide eyes and a grimace. "Hi, Callie!" she squeaked, biting down on her bottom lip. "Umm… we, uh, had quite the adventure last night, but it's- it's not what you think. It's quite funny, actually…"
Arizona nervously laughed as she escorted April towards her bedroom. "Just hang out for a minute. She's picking something up, that's all." They walked into her bedroom and she quietly closed the door. "Start over. How do you know we didn't?"
"I ran into Alex at the hospital and he told me enough proof that we never slept together."
"Karev? How does he know what we were up to last night?" Arizona skeptically asked. April relayed the information she learned from Alex and told her every detail she remembered. By the time she finished, the blonde woman was left speechless with a doe-eyed expression on her face. "Oh."
April forced a grin as she softly laughed. "Yeah. I suppose we can cross out streaking off our bucket lists?"
"That's just… that's better than thinking we had sex, right?" she chuckled. "I mean, now you don't have to worry about thinking you cheated on Jackson. That's what you were worried about. So, it's all good! We're good."
"Yes, we're good." The two shared another laugh. "Next time we drink, maybe not go overboard again?"
Arizona nodded in agreement. "Of course, definitely." She grabbed the Ziploc bag sitting on her bed and handed it to April. "And here's your underwear. They're not useful anymore, but think of it as a keepsake."
"Mmm… I think I'll burn these later," she sheepishly said, stuffing the plastic bag into her purse. "How did I lose this again?"
"Let's just say Trivia Night got you extremely excited," Arizona implied. "You were definitely into it, way more than I was. Trivia was never my thing, but I figured it was something you'd enjoy."
"I was a part of the Trivial Pursuit club in high school," April admitted. "I must have been killing it last night before the whole streaking thing. Well, I'm sure I was rusty. It's been a while since I played that game and I wasn't even sober, so who knows how many questions I answered correctly?"
The pediatric surgeon simply smiled and nodded. "I'm sure you were great." She stopped April just as she was about to open the door. "Also, I want to say thank you for last night even though we hardly remember it. It's been a while since I found someone I can hang out with just for the sake of hanging out. A real friend, honestly."
"Me too, actually," April concurred. "I'll see you on Monday?"
"Yes, and how about we do something again Friday night? Less alcohol, of course," she suggested. "Dinner?"
"Sounds great!" the trauma surgeon cheerfully answered. They both left the bedroom, so April could leave the house. She smiled at Callie and Sofia and briefly waved at them. "Bye, Callie! Bye, Sofia! Have fun at the museum!"
"Later, Kepner," Callie replied, shooting a curious glance at Arizona after their coworker left. "Seriously, what was that about? I didn't want to say it out loud, but April looked like a hot mess."
Arizona softly laughed as she sat down on the couch. Her unforeseen night with April was something she wanted to keep to herself. And she knew her friend wouldn't want other people to know about it either. She also reminded herself to thank Karev the next time she saw him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Let me know what you think please! :)