A/N: This is just an idea that came to me. Review if you'd like!

Disclaimer: I wish I was Shonda Rhimes but I'm not.

the first time

Honestly, he hadn't even realized it was a proposal too, at first.

Whether he would admit it to himself or not, the whole thing with Jimmy was bumming him out. It wasn't that he wanted to forgive his father – cause he did not, he absolutely did not. It was just…this always seemed to happen to him. Once he finally felt like he was in a good place, life screwed him over again with another blast from his past.

So somewhere along the way from the hospital to the farm where Kepner's almost-wedding was supposed to be, he got to thinking about Jo. Jo, who was easily the best thing to ever happen to him in his sorry life. And suddenly, Jimmy didn't matter anymore, none of it mattered. As long as he had Jo in his life, he was in a good place. She was his family, not Jimmy. Jo was all that mattered.

Originally, he'd just planned to tell her that. But then he saw her, looking as beautiful as ever, and he'd felt her lips crush against his, and he got a little carried away. All these thoughts of the future began to run through his head – marriage, a family, a forever together, just Alex, Jo, and eventually a few mini-mes – and he couldn't help himself from saying that too. And then, somehow his declaration of love became a proposition.

It took him a second to realize what he'd just asked her. He'd just proposed. And then, as soon as that realization hit him, he heard her say yes.

For the few weeks after of their sort-of engagement, things didn't change too much on the outside. They continued to live their lives – beer and an occasional movie at night, sleepovers at his house, complete with lots of sex, even more than usual (honestly, by the end, he was starting to think it was a thing fiancés did). Then they'd wake up in the morning, he'd burn breakfast and so they'd opt for coffee and doughnuts instead, they'd both go to work, and repeat.

But inside, it was like everything had changed, for him at least. He felt almost like he loved her even more now, if that was even possible. And sometimes when he just looked over at Jo – whether she was walking around the house in panties and one of his sweatshirts, giving him coffee and a quick kiss in between surgeries, or lying next to him in bed at night, her chest rising and falling as she slept – he couldn't believe a woman like her wanted to spend her life with a man like him.

The weekend after Kepner's he went and bought her a ring. It wasn't super fancy – a diamond no bigger than a pinky nail with two, smaller diamonds on each side, set in a band of silver. But when he saw it, he knew it was perfect for her. Simple, tasteful, beautiful.

Originally, he'd planned to give it to her as soon as he got home. But when he opened the door to the house, the bag from the jeweler's tucked safely in his coat pocket, and found Jo lying on the couch, her hair back in a ponytail and her iPad in her lap, something stopped Alex. How was he going to bring this up? He couldn't just chuck the ring at her and say 'here you go' (well, he could, but it probably wouldn't be a big hit), yet he'd thought he'd already done the big proposal. How did you give a ring to someone you were already engaged to?

Jo unintentionally interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, you're home." She scooted over on the couch, to make room for him. "Come sit."

Alex smiled and took the seat she offered. Jo smiled back and wrapped her arms around his waist, her hand just barely missing the box in his pocket. And so that was when he decided not to give her the ring that night, or the next, or the one after. After all, they had all the time in the world.

For a while, their "engagement" was something they didn't really talk about it – he thought it was a thing, she didn't, and until the day he let the "fiancée" slip neither of them had realized it. And suddenly, that ring box found its way to the back of his sock drawer, forgotten about, no finger to which it belonged.

Obviously, he was pissed at first. Initially, he saw this as a rejection, like she didn't want to marry him. But then, when she walked into the hospital room and took his hand, he knew that wasn't the case. So, they weren't ready yet. But that didn't mean she was going to leave.

Later that night, while she was in the bathroom, he found that box in the drawer.

Just like him, that ring would have to wait a little longer.

the second time

She came home after the meeting in the conference room, her whole body feeling heavy. She was mad, she was tired, she was confused…she was just so many different things.

Jo hung up her jacket and her keys and stepped inside. She called out her boyfriend's name when she didn't see him, and was met with no response. She tried again, this time as she climbed the stairs to the second floor.

She found Alex in their bedroom, lying flat on his back on their bed, his arm thrown across his face. "Alex?"

He removed his arm and sat upright, meeting her curious gaze. His eyes were red and puffy – she didn't know if that was because he'd been crying or drinking, or maybe both. "Are you okay?" She asked tentatively, because if there's one thing Jo knew for sure about Alex it was that it was not easy for him to say how he really felt.

This time though, he just shrugged. "I don't know," He said honestly. "I just don't know…" He sighed audibly, and Jo smiled sadly at him, making her way over to the bed to sit down next to him. He reached out to grab her leg, running his hand up and down her thigh in a soothing motion. "I just keep feeling like I'm going to lose you. I know it's stupid but…"

"It's not stupid," She cut him off. "Sometimes…sometimes when I just think about what we have I worry it's all going to be taken away. Everything else good in my life has been."

His hand suddenly stopped mid-motion, poised in the sensitive space in her inner thigh. He retracted it, and she watched him, confused, as he almost squirmed in his seat, as if deep in thought. "…We could do it you know."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Alex," She said. "I love you, but I don't think sex will solve this problem –"

"That's not what I meant," He cut her off sharply, immediately silencing her. "I meant…we could get married."

Now it was Jo's turn to freeze. She sprang up, in shock. "Are you serious right now?" The look Alex was giving her told her he was. "Oh my God…" She quickly rose from the bed, her head in her hands cause God, was he serious right now? "I just told you I'm not ready." She snapped. "Did you not understand?"

Alex looked at her. "…You're upset."

Jo actually laughed. "Damn right I'm upset!"

For a long moment, it was silent. Alex looked down while Jo simply tried to steady her breathing. The latter spoke first. "I love you, but I honestly cannot believe you would say something like that! I'm not ready to get married yet, Alex. And I would never rush into this when I'm not ready. Marrying you…it's something that should be special, meaningful. When I agree to be your wife, it'll be because I want to."

He nodded and extended his hand to her, a peace offering. She took it silently, and laid back down on the bed, curling up against him. Without breaking contact he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her as close as physically possible, his heart aching for the day she would be ready.

the third time

Months passed, and that stupid HR rule went with them. It turned out even The Chief himself had broken the rule, and everyone decided it was best to disband it. But the conversation they had the night he proposed for the second time never strayed too far from Alex or Jo's minds. They had good days and bad days. There were times when he almost asked her those four little words again, and there were times he thought he never would. Once, he'd gotten out the 'will you', but chickened out and asked her to scrub in on a surgery instead. There was another night where they had a fight so volatile she chucked the nearest thing – in this case a hairdryer – at his head and barely missed.

Eventually though, they begin to get back to that place they were in before all of this started. The topic of marriage and children had become less of the elephant in the room and more of a thought that only striked occasionally, and when it did not majorly. But, this was Alex and Jo after all – so things always changed quickly.

Five months after the second failed proposal Meredith dropped a hint that Jo had asked her about her marriage, her kids. "It was no big deal," His best friend had added when she saw that look on his face, but he knew Jo, and this…this was a step in the right direction.

That night, his shift didn't end until after midnight, and so he found Jo in bed when he got home. He climbed in right beside her, and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Hey," He was met with a small, content sound in response.

Alex paused, then kissed the top of her head. "I heard what you said, to Mer." He began. "And if you're ready then…then I'd really like to make you my wife, Jo Wilson."

She said nothing.

"So…will you marry me?"

No response.

"You know I kind of just asked you a big question here…" He rolled his girlfriend over and…

She was asleep. She'd been asleep this entire time.

Alex shook his head, and rolled onto his back. "Goodnight, Jo."

the fourth time

Everyone was looking at him.

Alex could hear the whispers as he walked down the hallway. He shrugged, simply chalking it up to harmless hospital gossip. It would pass and rumors never bothered him anyway.

"I'm so sorry, Dr. Karev." Someone said, interrupting his thoughts. It was one of his new interns, one of the ones where saying he didn't like him would be an understatement. That was odd.

Again, Alex ignored it, and continued his way to the ER. Maybe Mer or Yang could tell him what was going on. He walked in, planning to see his patient and then seek out his friends when suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks.

It was a mad house.

People were running every which way. Patients with burns all over their body were being rolled into the ER. Lots of residents were sobbing. That's when he heard someone say the words.

Ambulance explosion.

He swore he could feel his heart momentarily stop beating. Jo and some of the other residents had gone out with some of the paramedics today for a lesson in triage. She'd kissed him before she left and said she'd be back in a few hours.

Jo.

He grabbed the nearest one of Jo's interns without thinking, picking the guy up a good inch off the ground from the collar of his lab coat. "Where's Dr. Wilson?"

The intern looks at him, terrified. "I-I don't know." He stammers. "Please put me down."

He felt a sick, sick feeling in his stomach as he did as he was told. This wasn't happening. This was a nightmare. He felt his eyes shut, as he willed everything go away. If he just closed his eyes, Jo would be there when he opened them, saying…

"Alex!"

Alex immediately opened his eyes, looking all around the ER. It took him a second to spot his girlfriend, as she was being rolled in on a gurney. "Jo!" He didn't care who he had to shove out of the way, he got to her as fast as he could, just has she was being placed on a bed. He didn't hesitate before throwing his arms around her neck. "Damn it, Jo." He murmured into her skin. Jo squeezed him back and said nothing, just holding onto Alex for dear life.

"Mostly first and second degree burns," The attending informed him as they ended their embrace. "None of them are deep so there will probably be no scarring. You're very lucky you were outside of the ambulance when it exploded, Dr. Wilson. Dr. Hamilton will dress your wounds now." The attending walked away while the intern tentatively took the stool next to Jo's bed. Reluctantly, Alex pulled away so the kid could do his job.

"I was really scared for a minute there," Jo admitted, her eyes watching the intern's every move. She didn't even wince once, because that was just how tough she was. "When I saw the explosion go off and I fell down…I thought I was going to die. And I knew I couldn't die because then…then I wouldn't have you anymore."

He couldn't help but feel the tears prick his eyes when she said that. "You will always have me." He said. There was a long pause. "…Let's get married."

Next to them, the intern stopped his work, going wide-eyed from shock. Jo, on the other hand, did not give a similar reaction.

She smiled. "I love you, Alex, but ask me again when I don't have burns all over my body and you're thinking straight."

He couldn't help it – he smiled too. He would ask again. And the next time, she would say yes. He knew it.

the fifth time

Across the table, Edwards was telling some long-winded OR story – that for some reason involved a sheep, or maybe it was just a metaphor – while gesturing elaborately with her glass of red wine. Next to him, Jo laughed loudly, while Alex looked down and picked at his meat with his fork.

Normally, he would never agree to double date with Edwards and her new beau at some fancy Italian restaurant where he had to wear a tie, but tonight was not a normal night. The ring box felt heavy in his pocket, the first time it had been out of his drawer since he put it there just about a year ago.

The story seemed to have finished, as Stephanie took another sip of her wine, so Alex knew this was his chance. He opened his mouth to interject, when suddenly, he was cut off.

"I have something to say," Stephanie's boyfriend said. His name was Sam, and he was a high school math teacher, not a surgeon – a perfectly normal guy in every way. And while he wasn't a pretty boy like Jackson, he normally had a great personality, arguably better than Edwards's in Alex's opinion – though tonight he'd been awfully quiet.

"Stephanie," Sam said now, looking his girlfriend in the eye. He took her hand while Stephanie and Jo both eyed him quizzically. "I know it's only been six months…but you are the most amazing human being I have ever known, and I want to be with you forever." It went silent as Sam got out of his chair and dropped onto one knee. He opened up a box that contained a diamond at least twice the size of the one in Alex's pocket. Shit.

Stephanie gasped. Jo was stunned. Inside, Alex was thinking a string of elaborate curse words.

"Stephanie Edwards," Sam said. "Will you marry me?"

Stephanie had tears in her eyes. "Yes! Of course I will!" She flung her arms around Sam's neck and kissed him full on the mouth, earning the applause of the entire restaurant, who had stopped to watch at some point after Sam got down on one knee.

Alex tried to clap along and hide his dismay, while Jo smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "Isn't that the sweetest thing?" She said.

"Yeah," He said, unenthusiastically. "Totally."

He always hated that Sam guy.

the last time

It started with a question.

"What's this?"

This was what Alex was met with as he strode into the house after a long day of work. Jo was seated on the couch, staring at something on the coffee table curiously. He was about to say he didn't know when he finally saw what it was.

The ring.

Alex didn't know what to say now as Jo continued to stare at him, her jaw dropped. "Alex…" She said. "Is this…is this an engagement ring?"

Well, he was screwed. "Ye…yes." It was all he could manage to choke out. He couldn't believe this was happening. For over a year he'd had that goddamn ring. How did she manage to find it now?

"A…Alex…" Jo said. She shook her head, appearing to be at a loss for words too.

"I'm so sorry." He blurted out. "I've…I've had the ring for a year, ever since I sort-of proposed to you at Kepner's wedding. I've been trying to ask you for a while now but…but then there was that dumb as Hell HR rule, and then you were asleep the next time I asked, and there was the ambulance explosion and stupid Sam beat me to it…"

"Alex."

"…I've been trying, I really have and…"

"Alex!" He stopped now that she raised her voice, looking to his girlfriend, waiting for what she had to say.

She answered with one word: "Yes."

He felt his horror change to relief, and the grin spread slowly across his face. "Yes what?" He asked, caused he needed her to say it.

She smiled too. "Yes, I will marry you."

The next thing he knew he'd crossed the room in three strides, taking her into his arms and kissing every inch of her face. "I love you so much." He said. "And I've been waiting for so long to hear you say that."

Her grin widened, and she kissed his lips. "Me too."

He picked up the box from the coffee table, opening it to reveal the ring. Jo was speechless at the sight of it, and so Alex simply slipped it on wordlessly, reveling in her expression. "It's so perfect," She said. "God, what did I do to deserve you?"

He'd been wondering the same thing for over a year now.

fin.