Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, yada, yada…You know the drill.

I'm not sure how long I have been outside when I feel someone drape their suit jacket over my shoulders. I had been rubbing my hands up and down my arms for so long now that I couldn't help but jump at the sudden contact. I roll my head back to find Jackson Avery staring down at me with a tired smile playing across his lips.

"Hey." he greets, shoving his hands in his pockets and nodding his head to the spot next to me, "Mind if I sit?"

"Sure." I agree, moving over enough on the porch step to make room. The stair shifts beneath the added weight as he sits. He removes his hands from his pockets and begins rubbing them together for warmth, whistling lowly as another gust of wind dies down.

"Do you want this back?" I offer.

"S'okay."

He's lying and we both know it but I keep the jacket anyway.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" he asks. "I thought you loved weddings." He grins, bumping his knees against mine.

I smile momentarily but just end up shrugging in reply. "I do…I mean, I usually do."

"Well, what's the problem?"

"I just…" I start and stop, mulling over my choice of words. Instead, I am thrown for a loop when I feel another round of tears pooling behind my eyes. I press my hand against my lips and squeeze my eyes shut tightly, willing myself to pull it together. Jackson had already seen me cry enough these past few weeks. I lean forward, hiding my face in my hands, as my chest and shoulders begin to shake uncontrollably.

"Hey, hey." Jackson coos, reaching out and rubbing my back soothingly. I gasp for breath as I try to calm my erratically beating heart.

"It just kind hit me all at once, ya know? That I'm never going to get to be the maid of honor at her wedding or be the godmother to her child…and I-I just needed…I needed a minute to miss my best friend, okay?"

Jackson looks at me for a long time before he speaks again, his hand still resting encouragingly on my shoulder. "Okay."

Jackson and I sit in silence a little while longer, the only sound that fills the air between us is the bass thumping from the music inside the house. This silence is different than the others somehow. This time it's calming. Some might say comfortable, even.

"Are you two losers coming back inside anytime soon?"

Jackson and I flip around to find Alex Karev pressed between the screen door and the door frame and staring at us with a mix of both expectancy and annoyance.

"Yeah." I agree glancing at Jackson, noting the way his lower lip trembles just slightly as another wind blows. "Yeah, we'll be right there."

Alex nods, not looking too convinced, before slipping back inside the warmth of the house.

"You good?" Jackson asks, looking at me hopefully.

I sniffle and force myself to smile, "I will be."

Jackson pushes himself up from where he was sitting and holds out his hand to help me up. I glance at his outstretched palm before slipping my hand in to his. He pulls me to my feet and as I go to step away, I feel his hand tighten in my own.

"I lost my best friend too." He states. He says it plainly, as though it's a mere fact and not a life altering occurrence. Something twitches behind his eyes as he says it but he pushes forward. "I'm not gonna get to plan a bachelor party for him or throw the football around with his kids. And it sucks."

"It sucks but I get it." He continues, placing both of his hands on my upper arms to insure that I am looking straight at him as he says this. "Unfortunately, I know pretty damn well exactly what you're going through right now. So, the next time you need a time out from…everything, just remember that I'm here. For you. I'm here," he announces honestly, "Okay?" he asks after a beat, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Okay." I agree in a whisper, nodding in understanding.

"Good." he nods, dropping his hands from my arms and shoving them back in to his pockets as he turns on the sole of his shoe and climbing the one step between him and the porch. He seems awkward and embarrassed as he walks towards the door, two adjectives one does not normally use to describe Jackson Avery. He shouldn't feel that way though. I want to tell him that he should never have to feel that way with me ever again. After all, we were kind of each others' best friends now, right?

"So," I begin, my shoes clicking behind me as I try to catch up to him. "You gonna show off that mean chicken dance of yours?"

A wide smile breaks out across his face as he reaches for the door handle. "I'm not sure I'm in the mood to have Yang throw me out of her wedding." He chuckles.

I genuinely smile for the first time in a while and I can't help but note how foreign the action feels. I shrug and smile wider as Jackson holds the door open for me. "Some things are worth the risk, Avery."

A/N: Hey all! So I've been trying to write a story based on the finale since…well, the finale! And I've come up with a 100 different ideas but I just couldn't write anything that I particularly liked so insteadddd I came up with this idea! Jackson and April have been put through a lot this season and I thought it might be nice to take a step back and remember how they got to where they are. So this is going to be my first multi-chapter story made up of drabbles spanning across every episode until at least the season 8 finale…possibly season 9 if I'm inspired and you guys like it enough. I'm going to do my best to write one every day or every other day unless otherwise stated. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this and are excited for more to come! Thanks for reading and please review!

P.S. I only remembered after this that Meredith doesn't even have a porch xD So that's my bad…but let's just pretend she has a back porch or something!