I don't own Grey's Anatomy and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: This is something that's been bothering me since Thursday, so I had to fix it. Hope you enjoy!
It took Jo a while to realize that Alex thought they were engaged for three weeks and never gave her a ring. She was nowhere near ready to marry him, but that confused her. She didn't want to confront him right after his father died, so she waited until a few days after Jimmy was buried. He was still grieving for the father he claimed to still hate, but Alex was doing better. So she took her chance as they were walking up the stairs to check on a patient. "Why didn't you get me a ring?" she asked.
He stopped and stared at her. "What?" They were interrupted by Meredith joining them as she went to go see how one of her patients was doing.
"You thought we were engaged for three weeks, but you never gave me a ring. What the hell?" She waited for an answer.
Meredith interrupted before Alex could give her one. "You proposed?" Alex fell hard and fast when he was in love, but she hadn't seen this one coming.
"He never actually asked me to marry him nor gave me a ring, and I accidentally said yes," Jo told her.
"Alex! You have to be clear about these things." Meredith found this situation somewhat amusing actually.
He ignored her and looked at his girlfriend. "Why do you care? You don't want to get married."
Jo rolled her eyes while Meredith watched out of curiosity. "I told you before that I don't want to get married right now. Maybe someday. But I'm still really fucking pissed you apparently proposed and didn't think I was worthy of a ring."
"That is really weird," Meredith murmured. They ignored her.
"Oh." Now that he thought about it, Alex wondered why he hadn't gotten her an engagement ring. Why hadn't he thought of it once in the three weeks he thought they were engaged? He definitely should have. "Sorry?"
"Well, you better be. And we are talking about this later, Alex. I'm not letting us fight about this." She walked away, leaving Meredith and Alex alone.
"You want me to get Derek to go with you to pick out a ring?" Meredith wanted to go, but she figured her husband's help would be more appreciated.
"You heard Jo – she's not ready to get married yet. Why would I get a ring now?" Alex didn't see the point in it.
She sighed. "You're an idiot sometimes, you know that? Because you most likely are going to get engaged someday, and you thought you were already – I need to hear this story by the way – but didn't buy her an engagement ring. I think you should get one."
"Fine. Tell him I'll meet him later, after work." Alex left his best friend and followed Jo to see how their patient was doing. Hopefully she was improving.
After Alex got off work, he met Derek outside. "Sorry you got roped into this."
Derek shrugged. "No big deal. This is going to be fun." They headed to their cars and took both of them to the jewelry store (since they were heading to separate places afterwards, Derek and Alex didn't want to share a car).
"I'm not even sure where to start," Alex admitted after they started browsing. He had no clue what he was doing, and it was pissing him off.
"Try to look for something that she'll like, not you," Derek advised. That was the best course of advice he could offer him.
"That's actually pretty good. Thanks." Alex continued browsing until he finally found a ring he was sure Jo would love. "What do you think?"
"It's nice. Not too big and not too small." Derek liked it, and so did the clerk.
Alex ended up buying the ring and hid it in his locker at work the next morning – Jo wouldn't find it there. She definitely would locate it if he left it in the house. Derek offered to keep it at their house until he was ready to use it, but Alex turned him he down. He did thank him for the help, however.
Alex and Jo sat down on their couch to talk after they got home that night. "So you want to marry me?" Jo had no clue how to even start this conversation. She loved Alex, but talking marriage already? It scared the shit out of her.
He nodded. "I do. I love you, Jo."
"Me too."
"You love you too?" he joked. He put his hands up in surrender when his girlfriend glared at him, but still laughed anyway.
Jo took a deep breath before diving in again. "What you said that day was really sweet, but I didn't realize it was a proposal."
Alex realized she had a point and told her so. "Guess I should have been clearer about that. Sorry."
She laughed despite herself. "You don't have to apologize for proposing, Alex. I'm sorry I didn't realize it was a proposal. Makes sense now, though."
Alex put his arm around her. "I definitely see a future with you. I want to marry you, and I can wait until the time is right. Now's not exactly the best time – especially with that stupid new fraternization rule." He hated it.
Jo hated it too, and hoped it didn't last long. According to Alex, this had been happening for ten years so why change it now? Didn't make any sense. "You're right. And I can definitely see a future with you too. And it doesn't scare me." The secret engagement had, but for very different reasons. She was glad they were finally talking this out. Her stress levels were way down now they were having a rational discussion.
"I'm glad. It doesn't scare me either." Alex was the happiest he had been in the days since his father's death. He couldn't even stand to be in the same room with Shane anymore, but that was okay since the younger man was avoiding him now.
"When the time is right, then you can propose and we'll get married. You good with that?"
"When the time is right," he echoed. Alex grinned and then leaned over and kissed her. The two started making out on the couch. And at least Alex and Jo were on the same track and knew what the other wanted now.
When the time was right, Alex would propose (more clearly this time) and Jo would accept. They married only a few months after that, not wanting to wait any longer than they had to.