Bonding
Jo got home from work and went straight to the shower. Alex had a late surgery so he wouldn't be getting home for awhile. When the shower water started to turn cold she hurriedly rinsed off and stepped out wrapping a fluffy towel around her body. She padded down the hall to their bedroom, once again cursing the broken shower in their own bathroom. She slipped on a pair of panties and threw on one of Alex's tank tops. She towel dried her hair and just let it hang long and damp down her back. She crawled into bed and propped up against the headboard dragging a medical text book onto her lap to study.
An hour or so passed when she decided to go to the kitchen to grab a snack. She was looking through the cabinets when she heard a commotion behind her. She turned around to see Alex, Meredith, Maggie and Callie filing into the room. "Oh!" she exclaimed surprised. "I guess your surgery must have gone really well," she narrowed her eyes at Alex and bit her bottom lip, "or really badly."
"It wasn't as bad as we anticipated when we got inside. Not near as much adhesions as expected. It was an easy fix and the kid is doing just fine now," Alex explained to her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
The others stood back and quietly watched their exchange and when they had finished talking an awkward silence filled the kitchen until Meredith spoke up ducking into the refrigerator in search of alcohol, "Wilson, it's nice to see you wearing at least some semblance of clothes." Jo flipped off the older doctor, whose head was still buried in the fridge, causing Alex to snicker.
Jo turned to go not wanting to be on display for Alex's friends any longer when she spotted Arizona heading toward the occupied room. She caught Arizona's eye and shook her head stopping her in her tracks. The young resident opened the door to the refrigerator wide bumping Meredith who was still standing next to it. "Oh Dr. Grey, I'm so sorry," she said innocently giving her superior a wide eyed sheepish smile. Alex snorted loudly and his friend quickly cut her glare from Jo to him. Jo grabbed a six pack of beer from the fridge, a box of donuts that was on the counter, and the bag of potato chips from Alex's hands and left the room.
"Hey," Alex called out after her looking down at his now empty hands.
"She does have great legs though," Callie commented in response to Meredith's quip about the younger girl's lack of clothing. Alex nodded and smirked while Meredith and Maggie pretended not to hear.
Once Jo got into the other room with Arizona, she gently pushed the blonde doctor on the shoulder turning her around. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there." The two went upstairs and Jo followed Arizona into her room. She flopped down on the bed and laid out the provisions she had taken. "The new 'fab four' are down there," she explained making air quotes and rolling her eyes. The other woman just continued to stare at her confused, "Alex, Grey, Pierce, and… Dr. Torres," Jo clarified, "They are always together anymore."
Arizona nodded, finally understanding, and thankful she hadn't walked in on that. "Thank you for saving me, but what are you doing now?" she questioned the younger woman. It's not that she didn't like Jo but they had never really hung out which is what it seemed like was going to happen now.
"Well, I was lonely, and I thought you could probably use a friend too. Besides heaven knows how long Alex will be down there with those women. Just drink some beer give it a chance," she finished with a wink and a chuckle.
Arizona considered it and shrugged, "Why not?" She twisted open a beer and sat down on the bed grabbing the bag of chips. They sat in silence for a little bit each munching on their own snacks. "You know what, where is Sophia?" Arizona suddenly questioned, "I mean if Callie is going to hang out with her friends that's fine whatever but I could at least be watching Sophia."
Jo shook her head, "Dr. Grey probably convinced her Sophia shouldn't be here. The hoodlum you live with would be a bad influence."
Arizona's eyes sparkled and she laughed, "She probably told her this house isn't kid friendly, that Uncle Alex's girlfriend walks around naked all the time."
The brunette took a swig of her beer, "Well, if she doesn't like it, maybe she should stay out of Uncle Alex's bed," she sassed then added flippantly, "and his house." She continued in a mumble as she opened another bottle, "I have to do something to get his attention."
"Trust me, you've got everyone's attention," Arizona mumbled back grabbing another beer for herself.
They sat quietly again each lost in her own thoughts. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," Jo said suddenly. Arizona looked at her with raised eyebrows waiting for her to continue. "I worked my ass off to get here. I wasn't supposed to get caught up with a stupid boy."
"What do you mean?" the older doctor asked carefully.
Jo sighed heavily, "It was supposed to be all about my career, about learning to be the best from the best. But now I fell for this guy and the ones I'm supposed to be learning from look at me like I'm just the slutty resident screwing the attending."
"Well, you kind of are." The resident's head snapped up and she glared at her boss. Arizona put her hands up and laughed, "I'm kidding. I'm only kidding."
Jo settled back down and thought as she absentmindedly scraped the powdered sugar off her donut with her finger. "I mean look at Stephanie; she is on this huge surgery with Shepherdess, she was in on Bailey's genome thing and Grey's research. And… and Shane is off making 3d hearts in Switzerland with Dr. Yang. What about me? I'm just the resident no one takes seriously. I'm supposed to be focused on my career, starting my career, and I'm stuck fighting with my bosses for my boyfriend's attention. And it never should have happened; I never should have let myself get messed up with a stupid boy," she groaned covering her face with her hands.
"But it's worth it isn't it?" Arizona asked quietly with a sad smile, "I mean it's worth it if you found love, right?"
Jo fought back a small smile of her own, "It better be, damn him." Damn him for being so good such a good man, for making me fall in love with him, she thought to herself. Another thought struck her, "But is it? Worth it I mean. Just look at you and Dr. Torres," she gave Arizona an apologetic look, "you aren't together anymore. And Dr. Grey and Dr. Shepherd are having problems and Hunt and Yang could never make it work. Is it really worth it? Or is it just a bunch of heartache and wasted time?"
Arizona shook her head and reached out placing a soft hand on Jo's arm, "It's not a waste of time. Love is never a waste of time, and you can't look at everyone else's relationships and compare them to yours or base what will happen with you on them. It can be good. It can work. Besides, do you really want a life built only on your career and work? Just try to imagine for a minute if you hadn't gotten caught up with that stupid boy downstairs, is that really the life you would rather have?" She gave Jo's arm a gentle squeeze and sat back. She met the younger girl's eyes and concluded, "He is crazy about you Jo. He may be having a hard time balancing you and Meredith, girlfriend and best friend. But he really loves you. I have seen him with a lot of girls over the years and trust me, you are special. If he is going to fight to make it work with anyone, it will be you."
Jo could hear the sincerity in her voice, "Thanks Arizona," she replied with a genuine smile. Silence fell over the room again and Jo took the older woman's advice and thought about what her life would be like right now if she hadn't met Alex or hadn't gotten involved with him. And Arizona was right, she would much rather be where she was right now. She couldn't imagine her life without Alex.
Later that night, Alex made his way upstairs and to his bedroom. He was surprised to find the bed empty. He went in search of Jo and found her in Arizona's bed. Arizona was asleep on her pillow at the head of the bed and Jo was asleep next to her with her head at the end of the bed. The donut box and potato chip bag were crumpled up between them and beer bottles littered the nightstands. He shook his head and walked over to the bed gently lifting Jo into his arms. He carried her back to their bed and tucked her in climbing in behind her and wrapping his arms around her body pulling her close. He kissed her temple and whispered, "Goodnight Jo." And with that he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
