Okay, I know it took me forever to write this and, yes, it's not even that long, but I was really setting out the story and trying to figure how to start it because it's going to change alot and I had no idea where to begin. Hope the wait was worth it, and reviews are greatly appreciated. x
He doesn't think much of it at first.
He walks into the bar, just as every other Friday night. His hands are aching dry. His back is killing him for being stood up for too long in surgery.
It's been a long and stressful day and all he wants to do is rest and drink his troubles away.
He doesn't think much of it at first.
The counter is virtually empty, aside from the one bartender hanging out behind it and the regulars warming up their usual stools.
The back corner beside the pool tables is deserted, the face-sucking couples that tend to occupy the secluded booths are nowhere to be found.
A lone man is playing darts, turning his neck every once in a while when the bell above the door chimes because somebody's either entered or left.
There's a pretty girl sitting by herself in the corner who keeps switching between tapping the keys on her phone and glancing awkwardly around the room because she knows that she's been stood up.
Then, he spots Alex. He sits alone on the other side of the bar, his head tilted down as he swirls the glass of Jack Daniels in his hand.
He looks like he could use the company, no matter how boring and tired it may be at the moment.
Jackson orders his drink at the bar before throwing down a few bucks and taking a seat across from his friend.
They sit in silence for awhile, both too worn-out and torn-down from a long day to start a conversation.
Jackson watches the few people around him.
The bartender checks his watch and sighs before he throws the towel over his shoulder and heads into the back.
The darts-player takes a sip of his drink, liquid courage to hit the bullseye.
The two old folks at the bar slowly finish their beverages and stand, heading towards the door as the one with the flat-cap scratches the bridge of his nose.
The pretty girl, who he now thinks he recognises from the hospital, bites her bottom lip and tugs on the edges of her sleeves anxiously as she watches the entrance, clearly still hoping that whoever she was waiting for would arrive.
"Long day?"
He glances over at Alex, raising an eyebrow unbelievably, "Long? That'd be the understatement of the year."
Alex nods, leaning back in his chair with a sigh, "Sloan's still giving you crap?"
"It's not my fault that the guy has problems with interns."
He'd never thought the first year of his residency would be this difficult, this tiring and this exhausting. He's working non-stop but he knows that in the end it'll all have been for something: the greater good. Becoming somebody who can make a difference in the world and saving lives.
"You think that's bad? Bailey's been on my ass all week because I messed up one of her charts."
"Dude, she's pregnant. She's like high on hormones or some shit." Jackson chuckles lightly, taking a swig of his beer.
Alex shrugs, "Crazy woman drama." He shakes his head before throwing it back and closing his eyes shut tight. "I swear, I'm never getting married or having babies or any of that crap."
"What's so wrong with a little baby?"
"A baby? They poop and cry all the time. They need changing like a hundred times a day, they freakin' shout whenever the mother's not around to get her nip-"
Jackson holds up his hands, "Yeah, dude, I get it."
Alex nods proudly, "Me and kids... Don't like 'em. Never gonna happen."
"You say that now but one day you might meet someone who wants kids, and you want that person, so then you find yourself wanting kids too. You gotta think about every possible thing before you make a decision, man."
"That's never gonna happen. She could have the best legs I've ever seen and a set of DDs but she ain't gonna change my mind."
"Okay, but think about it this way... What if she's perfect for you? What if she's the most beautiful person you have ever seen? What if she likes all the same things you like? What if she's the best friend you've ever had? What if you can't live without her? What if you wanna die first because you don't ever wanna live without her?"
Throughout his entire 'inquiry', he watches Alex's face, noticing the thoughtful looks that cross over the other man's face.
"What if she wants kids?"
Karev shakes his head, "Dude, I know it's Valentine's Day but did someone slip a Tampax up your ass? What's with all the annoying questions?"
Jackson laughs, "You seriously haven't thought about every possibility?"
"Of course I have, which is why I'm never gonna get seriously involved with anyone. At least not 'til I'm like 50 and going bald or whatever." Jackson nods, completely agreeing with his plan for life until around the time that he reaches his mid-life crisis.
"Besides, you can never be in a relationship with your best friend. That's fucked up."
"What's so wrong about it?"
Alex raises an eyebrow, "Dude, I've been there before, it's not easy. You think you're just friends with a chick and you hang out 'til you start feeling things. Then you find out that she doesn't feel the same way, so it becomes awkward and then your friendship iss ruined. I'm tellin' you, guys should just be friends with guys and women with women."
Jackson shakes his head with a confused frown, "There's like no logic to that. You're saying men and women can't be friends without anything more?"
"It's life, man. That's the way it is. Have you ever been 'just friends' with a chick?"
"Yeah, and I wasn't in love with her."
He tilts his head to the side, "you sure about that? You didn't even have the tiniest romantic thought about her? You never pictured her naked?"
Jackson doesn't reply for a second, reflecting on his past relationships, one in particular. His best friend through high school. Annie. She was a petite brunette with wavy hair and she always wore the same leather jacket. He remembers how they'd become close after a study session set up by Ms Davis. She'd intitally thought of him to be this stuck-up egotistical jackass, but the more they hung out, the more she realized he was just egotistical when he wanted to be.
They'd never dated, but he won't lie and say that the thought never crossed his mind. He'd used and abused his fare share of cheerleaders and she'd always dated nerdy-looking book-ish guys, so he always figured that she wouldn't have taken him seriously had he asked her out. So, he didn't. It wasn't like he was in love with her or something, but he liked her, a lot.
But by the time senior year rolled around, they'd grown slightly apart and never adjusted their college plans to fit together. She'd moved away to California and hadn't bothered to pick up the phone. He didn't either, he knows, but she was the one who'd walked away in the first place.
So, he forgot about her. And it was easy to do, because she clearly wasn't worth pining over in the first place.
"Dude?" Alex snaps his fingers infront of his face and Jackson shakes his head, ridding himself of old useless memories and returning to the present. "You okay there, you kinda blanked for a while?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He shrugs and takes the final sip of his beverage befor ordering another, "I was just thinking about your little theory."
Karev chuckles, "You're still stuck on that? Dude, if you wanna prove me wrong then go ahead." He throws his hands up and sends him a daring look, confident that he'll win.
Jackson raises an eyebrow and rubs a hand over his face, "You wanna make a bet?" He smirks and Alex returns the grimace.
"Bet you 200?"
"Oh, come on, you seem pretty confident that I'm gonna fail, so I think you can do better than that."
He teases and the other guy shakes his head with a grin.
"Fine. If you can find a girl and turn yourself into her best friend without falling in love with her then I'll give you a thousand bucks."
Jackson holds his hand out, "And if I fail, I'll give you a thousand dollars in return." He pauses for a second, "How long are we talking about here?"
Karev smirks, "You've gotta be her best friend, man. It could go on forever."
He smacks his hand against his and they shake it out, both determined looks on their faces.
"OK, choose your bait."
Alex glances around the room, eyeing the woman. There's an old woman who's taken the seat at the bar beside them. No.
He shakes his head and grins, swivelling around on his stool.
There's two attractive girls who'd entered a few minutes ago. They sit in a secluded booth and lean back in their seats. He watches them for a second, deciding if one of them is truly worthy of this bet. He needs to choose the right person because he wants to win this thing and the wrong girl could jeopardize everything.
The two women slowly slide over the table and join lips, grabbing each others faces passionately. No.
Then, there's her. The pretty girl sat alone in the corner who's obviously been stood up. She twiddles her thumbs for a moment before sliding her phone back into her jeans' pocket. Alex bites his lip and watches her, his mind clearly made up.
"Her."
Jackson turns raround and follows his gaze, catching sight of the pretty girl from earlier. He's sure he's seen before around the hospital, but he figures that she must have just been visiting somebody because he would have immediately recognized her if they worked together.
"Now?"
"Uh huh." Karev nods, pushing him on the back toward the girl who's getting ready to leave. "And hurry."
Jackson shrugs off his nerves, though he doesn't know why they're there in the first place. Maybe it's because this is going to be one of the most awkward and uncomfortable situations he's ever had to experience.
The girl slides out of the booth and stands up, tugging yet again on her sleeves and hunching her shoulders. Her redhair's pulled up in a loose ponytail and he finds himself staring at her ass.
No. Don't do that.
He's suddenly stopped in front of her, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up and smiling down at her.
She stands before him awkwardly, a confused look on her face. "Can I help you?" She glance down at the floor quickly to rid herself of the blush that she can feel covering her cheeks. She's never been one for talking to attractive people because her self-confidence gets the better of her and she feels uncomfortable.
"Hi." He holds his hand out and she slowly takes it. Her hands are small, he notes. And soft. And- No.
They stand there in a strange silence for a few seconds until he speaks up, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
She bites her bottom lip and stalls, "I- uh... We work- We work at the same hospital."
"No shit, you work at Seattle Grace?!"
She nods, "Yeah."
"As like a nurse, or-"
"I'm an intern."
"Seriously, surgical?"
She raises an eyebrow, slightly taken aback by his surprise, "Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?"
Jackson waves his shoulders, "I just- I mean you look-" He can almost hear Alex laughing behind him. He's royally fucking this up so he reminds himself of the thousand bucks that are at stake. "It's not... hard to believe. It's not. I'm sorry. Let's start over. I'm Jackson."
She nods, "I know who you are. We worked together with Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Hunt last week but you probably don't remember me. Nobody ever seems to." She glances down at her watch, making a sure reference to the idiot who stood her up.
And he is. Whoever left her hanging, whoever didn't show up, he's an idiot.
"That guy's a douche."
"What guy?"
Jackson smiles and sits down, gesturing for her to follow his lead. She sits down opposite him and rests her hands in her lap.
"The guy that promised you he'd show up on time."
The young woman bites her lip again (it's a habit of hers, he thinks, the lip thing), "How did you know that?"
He's going to sound like a complete jackass and a fucking douche himself but it's the only way that he can actually make a go of this best friend thing. "Because I've been that guy before. And- Do you want me to be completely honest?"
She doesn't reply for a second, instead just toys with her abandonned glass of Cola. "Go on." She doesn't even sound upset, she just sounds curious to hear his reasoning. Maybe it's not that bad, he thinks, maybe the guy didn't make her feel as completely worthless as she looked earlier in the night.
"I can tell you that he's not sorry and he's not going to apologize."
He likes her, as much as he could within these first few minutes, and he wants to be totally frank with her because this could be his way in, his way to win.
"He won't apologize because he'll blame it on you. If you complain, if you start an argument and ask where he was tonight, he won't tell you. He'll just blame you. He'll say you shouldn't make such a big deal out of it, he'll say it's not the end of the world. And if you start crying, it's not gonna make him feel worse because then he'll think that you're whiny and needy and that he did good in standing you up. Of course, all of this changes depending on how long you've been seeing the guy."
The redhead just stares at him, the corners of her lip tugging upwards and she nods slowly, taking in his information.
"It's our first date."
Jackson watches her, she doesn't even seem that pissed off anymore.
Some idiot left her alone, made her think that their first date would rock her world and then he just dropped her, and for what? Something stupid? Somebody better?
"That's harsh."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." She replies back sarcastically, keeping her attention focused on the table. "I guess I should have known. He said we'd have to leave early because he has something important after. Little did I know, he meant someone. You know what? Maybe it is my fault. Maybe I am too whiny and I scared him off already. I have a tendency to do that.
"Scare people away?"
She laughs, "Yeah. I become this annoying and clingy girl who scares people away because I get too emotionally attached. I mean, I'm doing it right now. You're someone I work with yet before tonight we'd never spoke and I'm sharing all my faults with you because you offered me a few nice words to console me after I got stood up."
"I don't usually do this."
"Really?"
Jackson nods, "I just-" He doesn't want to lie but he figures part of it may be true anyway because he wouldn't mind being her friend. "You looked like you could use a friend."
She looks up at him all of a sudden, her brown eyes boring into his green ones. "You wanna be friends?" She's slightly shocked to say the least, she usually makes friends with the dorky types, not the fucking-hell-holy-shit-have-you-seen-your-hot-face types. She's actually still surprised that he started talking to her in the first place. She's still surprised that he left his seemingly good conversation with his friend with come over and start one with her.
A few weeks ago, she'd decided to stay away from everybody else in the program because all of the interns were catty and competitive and she tried to stay in her corner and not get involved in all the drama that surrounded the hospital. Interns sleeping with attendings, like that Grey girl, cutting l-vad wires, cheating spouses, ... None of that interested her, she wanted to be there for the medicine, and the medicine only. And besides, the odds of anything happening in her personal life seemed pretty slim to her until the cute paramedic had asked her out. But, of course, he now ended up disappointing her as well.
"Yeah." He's not lying. He does, and she seems to be willing to give this thing a try.
"Fine." She agrees. He smiles up at her when she stands and zips her jacket up. When she's not watching, his eyes trail over her body. Why did Karev have to choose her? Goddamnit, this was going to be hard when she looked like that. No.
He follows her lead and gets to his feet, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
She softly smiles, "Goodbye, Avery." She spins on her heel and slowly slips out of the Joe's bar. It's only then that he realizes that he never caught her name but she knew his last name without him even bringing it up. He should really pay more attention to his co-workers.
"You do it?" Alex pipes up beside him and Jackson turns his attention to his friend.
"D'you know her name?"
Karev frowns, "Why? Should I?"
Avery sighs, a small smile forming on his lips as he leans over to the bar and finishes his drink.
"Yeah."
"Avery!"
The older surgeon's voice catches his attention and he spins around to catch Dr. Sloan staring him down.
"Yeah?" He walks over to the other side of the nurse's desk.
Mark Sloan holds his hand out, "Do you have Mrs. Francis' chart? We need to update the procedure. We're doing a blepharoplasty instead."
Jackson holds a finger out, signaling for his mentor to wait a second, "Actually, you know what? I think I left it in the E.R."
Sloan shakes his head and groans, "This is why I hate interns, Avery. She won't be able to see your pretty little face if I can't operate." He teases and Jackson fakes a laugh.
"Oh, that's- That's funny."
He quickly hurries off and heads down to the emergency room to retrieve the chart before he gets his ass kicked by the Plastics attending that the interns all refer to as McSteamy. What the hell was all of that about anyway?
Of course, the E.R. is full of people so it's like a freaking obsticle course to find one book. He carefully dodges an old man who wobbles over his crutches and narrowly misses Dr. Hunt to comes rushing in with a gurney.
He finds the chart at the nurses' station and flips though it briefly to check everything else is in order before Sloan has his head.
He doesn't mean to do it, it just happens.
He overhears them taking across the room, the girl's slightly high pitched voice catching his attention.
"You don't even want to know where I was?" The guy asks her.
Ahh, the douche.
The girl shakes her head, a careless look on her face, "No, Matt, I don't want to know. And don't even say that you're gonna call me next time because there's not going to be a next time. I don't care if you're sorry. You didn't even call. But you know what? That's fine. I honestly don't care. I just need to stop giving people chances if they're only going to hurt me in the long run. I can't manage on my own. I grew up close with my family, so I need caring people around me, not some douche who doesn't even call. So... leave me alone."
Jackson raises an eyebrow, slightly proud of her for standing up to the guy. He guesses by his uniform that he's a paramedic, which means that they'll have to see the guy around the hospital quite alot.
The guy walks away with a sigh and the girl pushes her shoulders back as he leaves. She stares up at the ceiling for a second and takes a deep breath before bringing her attention down to the people in the room.
And that's when she spots him. He's staring at her with a smile on his face, that fucking-hell-holy-shit-have-you-seen-your-hot-face .
Maybe this can work, she thinks. She needs a friend around this place because the one girl who she's close to, Reed, isn't much of a sharer.
So, she smiles back at him. Her red hair tumbles down her shoulders as she turns and slowly walks away, the smile still on her face as she holds a chart close to her chest and bites her lip. A habit of hers, he thinks.
Jackson grins at her response, and turns to the nurse seated at the station. "Do you know her name?"
He points down the hallway and the nurse follows his direction, "April."
He thanks her quickly and watches his friend's retreating back before turning to leave himself.
April.
No.
