I would like to begin by telling you guys I am new to Grey's Anatomy. I started watching re-runs on Lifetime and now I'm hooked. When I saw Stark ask April out I went from floored to kiddy in about two seconds. Finally, a romance that was not going to be about hot sex and hot bodies! Boy, was I wrong.

For those that read this and like my writing style I am also Angel of the day. I got locked out, and now cannot access my old account. Lovely isn't it? I hope you enjoy this fanfic, and for those that review please, only constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, and only having a little fun with the characters.

As Dr. Kepner watched Dr. Stark walk away, she felt like she had just swallowed air. When he had first asked her out, she had been so excited. She had been surprised, weary, and confused, but she had also been excited and nervous. So, what if he was twice her age? So what if he was the Grinch? There had been something so surprisingly open in his personality when he asked her out. It had been in the way he would not look her in the eye and in the way, he fiddled with the plushy toy. She had made him nervous, and that in itself made her believe that he really did like her.

What was she thinking doing this to him? He had waited a whole month before he had made a move, and really dinner and a movie at his house was not too bad. Yet still, after what happened with Alex she was weary of men. Since Reed had died, she was cast off into a storm of hormonal assholes that treated her like a little girl because she had never had sex. It was as if they thought that a person never grows up unless they mash body parts with a total stranger.

She kept reminding herself that she was raised differently than these people. From what she had learned so far about her other residents it really was a surprise they were coherent, seemingly responsible doctors. Miranda had to raise herself, Avery was over manipulative because manipulators raised him, and Alex had been burnt so many times that he had turned into a passive-aggressive self-centered jerk. She never really heard Christina talk about her family, but she highly suspected that wolves had raised her. It was as if she could smell fear.

Lexie was the normal one. However, her inability to commit into a serious relationship in which she was not the center of attention was frustratingly annoying. For mere mortals like April, who was seemingly indivisible to the opposite sex, flighty women like Lexie made her seriously wonder if men really did think with their penis.

And yet here was a man who had not made an overtly romantic move on anyone at the hospital. He had been nothing but a grouchy, egotistical man that made everyone cringe at the mere sight of him. He was seen in the same light as Chief Webber: an authority figure not to piss off...unless you were Alex Kerev.

Then suddenly he wasn't anymore. He was just a man, a very successful ordinary looking man, asking out a young woman with whom he worked. From then on April, when it came to Stark, was confused and happy. Now she was still confused but very sad.

April face-palmed and turned away from a retreating Stark, God what was her problem? This past month had been great. They had talked about movies, books, and vacations she wanted to take. He had shared with her his fondness for moose tracks ice cream and true crime novels, and she had explained what it was like growing up on a farm. They were little things, but they meant so much to her.

Now it was all gone because she did not have the backbone to tell her "friends" to shove off. It suddenly occurred to her that if she did not want her "pants to come off" then they would not. Biting her lip, she looked up to where she knew Stark went and suddenly, violently, threw her papers down and shot after him. She would not let whatever was going on between them end this way.

At least not without an explanation.

Robert sighed as he hung up his lab coat. Once again, a beautiful woman had rejected him. While that was not surprising, what was surprising was that he had no idea why. Usually, they rejected him out right. They did not string him along for a month, listen to his hobbies and thoughts with what could only be described as rapt attention, and then dump him for no good reason.

Still, he wondered. She had been startled when he proposed a movie night at his apartment. April did seem to be very old fashioned; maybe he had made her uncomfortable? Whatever had happened, he bitterly regretted it. He had so enjoyed his time with April and had even hoped that maybe, with her, he could finally find happiness. Running a hand through his hair, he turned around only to find April watching him with wide, sad eyes.

"April?" Robert whispered. She looked so sad, lost, and lonely.

So very young.

Oh god what was he thinking trying to date this slip of a girl. Twenty-eight or not, a doctor or not, she was innocent and pure in a way that other women were not. For god's sake, he was over fifty years old! What had he been thinking?

"Robert," April whispered, her voice cracked and she swallowed. Trying again she said, "You are right. We can't be friends. I don't want to just be friends either...I'm just...I..."

Robert watched as she took a step toward him, her eyes still wide, scared, and impossibly confused. It was like looking at a baby taking her first steps, trying to figure out what this bright, loud place was. It suddenly occurred to him despite April's age, she might not be familiar with dating.

"My pants aren't coming off Robert," April finally said with a determined and confident voice only belied by her confused and frightened eyes.

"Excuse me?" Robert snapped startled and suddenly very confused at the abrupt change in conversation.

"I...my pants aren't coming off," April replied with a click of her tongue. "I don't mind watching a movie with you, but I...it's only been a month and my pants are most assuredly not coming off."

"Well...of course," Robert replied with a confused, half hearted snap, "Whatever made you think they would?

April's mouth fell open and she made a little high-pitched, confused noise that Robert found both endearing and annoying. It sounded like she had tried to say "Huh?" but it ended in a rather undignified squeak.

"April..." Robert whispered smiling slightly and took a step toward her. When it became clear she was just going to stand there and look at him dumbly, he walked to her side and took her hand gently in his. On an impulse, he kissed the underside of her wrist and whispered against her skin, "I am a gentlemen April. I would never do anything you did not want. I respect you far too much as a physician and a woman to do so."

"I..." Again, with the undignified squeak, "Okay..."

"Okay?" Robert pulled back and sighed, "April..." He pulled her closer to him and she came, staring at their entwined hands, "Say something...tell me what you are thinking. What you are feeling."

A heartbeat passed while April looked into Robert's eyes. There was such warmth, hope, and understanding. Yet there was confusion also, and April knew she could help ease that. It was becoming clear that Robert preferred the blunt approach.

"I'm not very good at dating," April confided, "and...Kerev..."

"Oh God, what did that moron do?" Robert groaned squeezing her hand gently.

"He may have said that a dinner and a movie at your apartment meant that my pants would come off," April replied very quickly; like ripping off a band-aid.

"Ah..." Robert muttered, "And you believed him."

It was a statement, not a question but April knew that it hurt him. That was something that she had not meant to do. She had just wanted to get out of the date. When he had called her out on it she had somehow found herself giving him the "let's just be friends speech", and she wished so hard that she could just shut up. She was horrible at damage control.

"Well...he has dated a lot of women," April begin uncertainly, "And I do mean a lot, and I thought he would know what the rules are."

April...there are no "rules"," Robert replied frowning at her slightly, "It is different with different people. You just have to be honest about what you want."

"Oh..." April whispered. Looking up into Robert's eyes she whispered, "I want to turn the clock back twenty minutes and not break up with you."

Robert smiled and very slowly bent down and kissed April on the forehead, "So do I sweetheart."

April smiled shyly, trying not to be too pleased at her new nickname "Well...are we still on for tonight?"

As much as Robert wanted that, he needed time to think, to understand just what happened between them. She was such a fragile flower, and he needed time to understand how to handle her. He needed a game plan.

"Not tonight April," Richard replied with a regretful smile, "I want us to both think about this. To understand what we both want. Then tomorrow we will compare notes and see if we can move forward. Is that alright?"

April frowned and squeezed her eyes shut. Stark held his breath, hoping he had not lost her twice in one night. Finally, she opened them with something like resignation in her eyes.

"Alright, I will see you in the morning then," April whispered. She pulled away from him and in a flash she was out the door and gone. Robert sank to his chair and put his head in his hands.

He was too old for this shit.

If you wish for me to continue, please review. I am not going to post more if nobody is going to read it. Thank you!