XX
Cristina's not new to the building, she's lived here for over three years now, but she's never had anything required to be fixed before, well that's a lie, nothing that broke that she could actually get a repairman to fix. She's broken plenty of plates, a glass or two, and her coffee table, but technically that wasn't her fault, she also sort of broke the kitchen tap a few months ago but Alex owed her a favour, and then the heater had stopped working almost two years ago but and she had just bought a box of beer and had whatever channel it was that Alex wanted to watch some game on so he did it for her without complaining.
George had offered to help fix her shower, but after the catastrophe with the bookshelf that almost killed George, Cristina had very firmly declined that offer. After the incidence with the bookcase George had his forehead sewn back together the three of them had made a pact, George was never to do anything 'handy' ever again. Course George had no knowledge of this pact, but Alex, Cristina and Mere made damn sure that he didn't slip up anyway. But with George unable to fix anything, and Cristina having absolutely no idea to fix her broken shower, and the building repairman currently dealing with a toilet block up three floors down, and a promise to get to her in the next week, Cristina was running out of options.
"Look Mere I didn't break it, it just sort of happened." Cristina answers with a sigh. She's been on the phone with her best friend for the last ten minutes, trying to convince Mere and herself that this was the best plan.
She doesn't need to see Mere to know that she is rolling her eyes, "Uh-huh I believe you."
"Okay fine it was sort of my fault." Cristina admits. Her apartments usually a mess but with her mother promising a visit in the next few days, Cristina took the last three days of work to clean her apartment. Part of her felt like leaving the shower unfixed, if she didn't have hot water or a working shower her mother couldn't stay with her, and if she couldn't stay with her, hopefully she would call off her trip all together and just come at a later time, a few months, a decade or two, Cristina wouldn't mind.
"Have you even talked to this guy?" Mere asked. In all honesty Cristina didn't know anything about him, except a name and a phone number and Cristina doubted the overly perky auburn haired Christian two floors down would give her the number of someone dodgy. Hopefully.
"No I kinda talked at him and then hung up, oh and I texted him." Cristina stuffs her key into her back pocket as she kicks her front door shut behind her, the last two bags of rubbish in either hand, phone pressed against her ear as she makes her way down the hallway towards the trash chute.
"You texted your handyman? Cristina! He could be a serial killer." Mere scolds, and in the background Cristina can just make out Lexie murmuring something in agreement.
"He's not my handyman! And oh that could be fun."
Mere sighs at that, if she wasn't already at the office then she would be over at Cristina's house, making sure her handyman wasn't like the one she saw on the news a few months ago. "Why didn't you just get Alex to do it?"
"Alex won't be back for two days, I cannot wait that long for a working shower!" Cristina answers as she unlocks her door. She's not getting her apartment presentable for the handyman, even though he did sound gorgeous, not that someone can sound good looking really, but he somehow managed it. Voice confused and almost slightly exasperated by the time Cristina had hung up, she wondered if he was pissed at her already, or was just annoyed with his day in general.
Silent on the other end as Cristina dries a few things and puts them away. Lexie says something in the background again and Mere hums in agreement. "You could come to mine!"
"And interrupt you and Derek's campaign to have sex on every surface in your new apartment? You know what, I'll pass thanks." Cristina laughs. Derek and Mere had gotten engaged a full three months ago now, not even married, and yet they were doing it like newly-weds, a sight that Cristina had fortunately not seen first-hand but Alex had not been so lucky.
"That is s- is that the door?" Mere's sentence is cut off by a firm rapping knuckles.
Eyes sweeping the apartment, Cristina hastily throws her jacket that was lying on the couch into her bedroom before pulling her bedroom door shut behind her. "He's here."
"Don't hang up on me!" Mere hisses into the phone, her voice lowered knowing full well that Cristina has every intention to hang up on her before she answers the door, which is probably for the best as Mere is supposed to be finishing this article before 6 but that is utterly beside the point right now.
"What so you can hear my screams as he drags me to hell?" Cristina asks as she makes her way to the front door. Laughing she pulls her front door open, breath catching as her eyes land on the person standing in front her, "Hey." It's a small miracle that she doesn't drop the phone and let it clutter to the floor at her feet.
"What does he look like?" Mere whispers into the phone, trying to be as quiet as she can, she notices the change in Cristina's breathing but she isn't entirely she knows what that means.
The handyman standing in front of Cristina, gives her a small nervous smile and says a quiet, "Hey."
Cristina's brain is still trying to catch up, trying not to let her eyes linger on his lips that are curling at the corners, or his bright blue eyes that she so desperately wants to get lost in. She feels pathetic, unable to find words in her head because the sight in front of her has stilted all thoughts, all thoughts that don't involve how she hasn't actually slept with anyone in months, and god does she want to-
"Yeah." She breathes into the phone.
"Yeah what? I can't gleam anything for that yeah Cristina." Mere's voice in her ear, a little ticked off and totally impatient brings Cristina back to her mind and she bites down on her cheek and waves her handyman in, her handyman who is not at all what she was expecting, not even a little.
He looks like he sounds, she was right about that at least. She hasn't ever actually had a handyman in her apartment, but she didn't expect him to be wearing jeans, jeans that weren't tight but they were tight enough to be distracting, and were far too new looking to be worn to fix a shower and manage to figure out the hot water, but then again, he knows what he's doing, so who is she to question his outfit choice.
Gesturing to her handyman that she will only be a few more seconds on the phone, she tries to keep her tone as light as possible as she asks, "Why don't you just ask?"
"Oh right. Is he hot?" Mere chuckles, and Cristina can hear a door shut, no doubt Mere is closing her office door before she gets caught by Bailey.
"Oh god yes." Her handyman arches his eyebrow at that, and she doesn't blush, but she does pray to god that he didn't hear the question that she was answering.
Mere chuckles again, her voice shaking with laughter no doubt at something that Lexie just said before Lexie pipes up, "Take a photo of him for us." Mere no doubt swats Lexie away before adding, "Yes photos, please."
"Seriously Mere?" Cristina rolls her eyes, turns on her heel away from the handyman. She can feel his eyes on her, and she wonders if she would have worn something else, but it's too late, so she'll have to commit to this outfit. This afternoon she actually looks decent, she is winning, not her hair, which is out, curls falling down her back, untamed and looking the way that makes Mere jealous.
"Like covertly, don't get caught, shit. Is he like crazy bangable hot?" Desperately covering the phone, Cristina takes another step away from her handyman as her eyelids flutter shut, and she really hopes that he doesn't hear that because before she can even think a quiet, "Yes." slips between her lips.
"I'm hanging up on you now."
"Holy shit he is. Well if you do just rem-" Mere's voice is cut off as Cristina hangs up. No doubt she will get a flurry of text messages, so she switches her phone to silent and tries to gain some composure before turning around to face him. God, somehow in a few seconds he had managed to look even hotter, this was going to be a long few hours. Was it frowned upon to sleep with your handyman? Cristina sure hoped not.
"Sorry about that." Cristina says, as she stuffs her phone into her back pocket.
"That's fine." The man is standing in the same spot she left him in, and he looks surprisingly nervous, looks like there is something else he wants to say as his eyes not so subtly continue to scan the apartment, and Cristina doesn't feel like he's casing her apartment, nor like he's looking the best place to murder her, so she smiles and takes a step towards him.
"I'm Cristina by the way." Cristina says, not blushing, not even a little bit, and her eyes don't even linger on his lips when his tongue darts out between them and across his bottom lip as she extends her hand.
"Jackson." He extends out his hand and shakes hers. Cristina tries her best to not pray to a god that she doesn't believe in that somehow a pipe bursts, and really it's not her fault, what sort of handyman wears a white t-shirt.
Despite how hard she tries, she can't stop staring at him appreciatively, so she decides to lead him to the bathroom, walking a few steps in front of him as she explains her problem in more detail, and doesn't look at him, doesn't want to get distracted by those eyes or by his arms and end up pushing him up against the wall before she has hot water and a working shower.
Cristina doesn't want to linger around the bathroom, doesn't want to watch him work because well, she can't hit on him while he's still working, well she can, but she really shouldn't. So instead she makes herself a cup of tea, an offer that Jackson declines, before seating herself on the couch, lounging across it her laptop on her lap. It's a Friday afternoon, just, there aren't many hours left until the sun is sinking in the sky and she should probably get some work done, so for an hour she forgets about the gorgeous man in her bathroom and forgets her tea on the table as she works away.
In the end its her phone that distracts her, buzzing away on the couch beside her, files saved she ignores Mere's call and flicks her a text, Not dead yet, before leaving her laptop on the coffee table and heading back to the bathroom.
"Do you want a drink or uh something?"
Blue eyes flick to her, and he almost looks surprised by her presence, not startled, just surprised that she's offering. His eyes linger on her lips for a moment and she curls them into a small smile. "Water would be good thanks."
She nods, pushes herself off the doorframe and takes a step back before she pauses, glances over at him. Silent for a moment, she shakes her head, a movement Jackson watches curiously, before she starts, "I'm not uh, I don't mean to be like rude or anything I just," He sends her a look, and she sighs before asking, "How much longer do you think you'll be?"
"Another half hour tops."
"Sweet, thanks Jackson." Cristina smiles, reluctant to leave but she doesn't know why. He smiles up at her, his gaze locked on to hers before he looks away, and Cristina isn't sure how she feels, but she knows that if she stands here for much longer she'll do something stupid, so instead, she turns on her heel and heads towards the kitchen. "I'll just go get that water."
"Shit." The word is quiet and clear, pulling Cristina up off the couch in wonderment. She isn't sure that is a good thing to hear her handyman say, but it's not as bad as hearing a tattoo artist say 'oops', she guesses at least.
She waits a beat, is greeted by silence, so she calls out, "Are you okay?"
"Just a sec." Jackson yells back, his voice a little strained and Cristina can hear the water, and some clanging. Ignoring the tone in his voice that said to wait, she heads towards the bathroom, already curious. She can't see steam when she pops her head around the door, so she counts that as a win, eyes scan the room before her heart skips a beat, maybe two, and her mouth is practically salivating, something that she would absolutely not admit to.
The white shirt has fallen.
Well not yet, but it is sticking to his skin, the water pulsing out at him for another few seconds before he does something that Cristina misses as she is far too busy staring at his back where the shirt is clinging to muscles, and she has a compulsion to lick his skin, a compulsion she manages ignores, just.
Water no longer running, only leaking in little droplets now, Cristina is still smiling, the damage to his shirt is done, the water did its job, and a damn good one at that. Realising that he can probably feel her eyes raking over him, she asks, "Do you-"
"Put your hand there." Jackson instructs, nodding towards a pipe and Cristina thanks her past self for not bothering with socks as she wanders into her bathroom, and steps into her shower. This wasn't exactly how she imagined her first time in a shower with a man in months, but with a soaking wet Jackson it isn't too bad.
"Here?" Cristina questions. She doesn't have a damn clue about this sort of thing, and whenever Alex does it for her he tells her to get as far away from him as physically possible, after the heater incident of '03, Alex doesn't trust her at all with home improvement.
"No twist it to the right, just a little more, no harder."
Cristina looks up at him through hooded lashes, lets her tongue slip between her lips, and darts it along the bottom one, knowing full well that Jackson is looking at her mouth as she smirks, voice a little huskier than usual, "Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?"
"I-" Jackson starts, cheeks flushed a little, before Cristina shifts her hand, loosens her grip and leans forward, she doesn't really know why, isn't conscious of the decision to shift her body closer to Jackson's and then he is muttering, "Fuck." And before that word can even be processed, water is streaming out at her, far too cold and far too fast, and she splutters, her mouth full of water before she spits it out, hands fastening around what she just let go before Jackson bumps her over with his hip.
Alex's lack of trust is not even a little unfounded.
Making a mental note not to tell him about this specific detail, Cristina watches Jackson for a few more moments before she heads down the hallway, leaving puddles in her wake as she heads off to get some towels.
Completely and utterly soaked, Cristina strips down, wraps a towel around herself, makes sure the knot will hold before she heads towards the bathroom, two fresh towels and an ex-boyfriends t-shirt with Eugene Foote written across it, that she still isn't sure why she is unwillingly to part with it, in hand. She hopes it'll fit him, but in a way, sort of hopes it's just a little too tight.
Another twenty minutes wastes away, and Cristina is starting to hover near the bathroom again. She knows that she shouldn't, knows that twenty minutes is barely even any time, but that doesn't her from hovering. He didn't want a change of jeans, sweared up and down that they weren't that wet, simply patted them down with a towel and went back to work, dedication that Cristina could admire.
He wore the shirt, took it thankfully as he stripped off his own and towelled himself off. Even though it was stupid, Cristina appreciated the way his eyes lingered and his cheeks reddened and he stammered a little at the sight of her in a towel, her hair dripping onto the floor as she dropped an old towel on the floor to soak up some of the water. Their clothes are almost finished being washed now, and Cristina isn't sure she's ready for Jackson to be in his loose white t-shirt again just yet.
She is leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed watching Jackson for a few minutes before she asks, "So what is your rate I didn't ask." His body stiffens at the question, and he drops what he is holding, catches it before it hits the ground and straightens up, back still to Cristina, eyes glued to the showerhead.
"Uh..."
Cristina waits patiently, well as patiently as she can, for several more unanswered seconds before she starts, "You don't really look like a handyman, not that I know what one looks like or anything its just.."
"I'm not." Jackson's voice is soft and almost slightly embarrassed, and Cristina's thoughts just stop.
The room smells of water and faintly of her perfume from this morning, air stills for a moment as Cristina processes. 'You're not?"
Jackson shakes his head, whole body facing Cristina now. He looks as though he considers stepping out of the shower but thinks better of it. Cristina hasn't taken an involuntary step back yet, but she isn't sure that she will remain where she is as Jackson speaks again, "I'm not actually a handyman."
"Oh my god Mere was right, you are a serial killer." Cristina isn't sure if she's serious, but her smile from before is utterly forgotten as she stares across the room at Jackson, unsure what to say, what to do, what to think.
Jackson's mouth falls open, almost comically, but Cristina isn't in the right head space to laugh at his look of utter surprise. "What? No! I just..."
"Why didn't you just say so?" Cristina cuts across him, feet still planted to the floor, she hasn't moved yet, but she has scanned the room as subtly as she can, if he comes at her, she has three routes of escape already planned out, one of which involving a particularly damage-inflicting looking wrench, which she will not hesitate to use if needs must, although she thinks wistfully, it would be assume to scar his pretty face.
"Well I couldn't really say no, you were pretty forceful, didn't really give me much of a chance to talk." Jackson explains, tools no longer in hand, palms showing, and she feels her heartrate slow, she was right, at first at least, her initial impression of him not being a serial killer had be correct.
Cristina smiles at that, she could be pretty forceful, thinking back on the conversation she isn't too sure why she didn't realise who he was, or who he wasn't earlier. "Yeah that's true... But still, do you even know what you're doing? You could be making it worse."
"I fixed it actually, so yeah, I think I know what I'm doing." Jackson wipes his hands on the front of his jeans and Cristina's hand moves forward to stop him, before she abandons that action and settles on pushing a stray curl behind her ear. "I can fix stuff and you obviously needed help so I thought I may as well I guess." Jackson adds, attempting to explain himself a little more as Cristina nods thoughtfully.
Now she knows he isn't a handyman the perfectly fitting levi's make a lot more sense, they mustn't' have been easier to be hunched over in. Biting down on her cheek again she wills herself not to go down that train of thought. Jackson comes to her rescue, sort of, when he asks, as though the thought has just occurred to him, "Wait who gave you my number?"
"Uhm that really perky annoying chick from downstairs. Ava, uh... no May…" Cristina muses, trying to figure out what the hell that woman's name is, she knows her, sort of, has spoken to her a few times, a few too many times.
"April."
Cristina nods in agreement, she doesn't hate the name, simply the person, well she doesn't hate April, she just well, isn't a huge fan of that perky explosion three floors down. "Yeah her, she said something up, you could fix my plumbing or..."
Jackson is laughing now, clutching at his sides as he grins at Cristina who is staring up in him in confusion, the rest of her sentence forgotten. Eyes falling shut, Jackson manages to tell her between laughs, "Holy shit., she wasn't telling, you I was, a handyman."
"Then what... oh! That bitch! If anyone needs to get laid its virgin mary" Now she is blushing, she's more than a little pissed at April, but she knew something was up on the phone, knew that his jeans were too well, god, she shouldn't be thinking about his jeans right now that is totally not helping. He's not even an actual handyman, or plumber or anything. Hand covering her face in complete mortification, Cristina doesn't really even think, she just speaks, and really how much worse can things get, "I'm really sorry, if you won't accept cash, maybe I can take you to dinner?"
A lot apparently, this can get a lot worse. She can't even trust her own damn mouth. Firstly she calls this guy who isn't even a handyman and gives him her address and gets him to come over, and then she ushers him into the bathroom while objectifying him just a little bit as he examines the shower, and then she manages to ask him out to dinner without him showing any interest in her whatsoever, this day is definitely going to end in tequila shots with Mere, a lot of tequila shots.
"Sure." Jackson smiles, soft and easy, and he looks a little surprised, but not in a shocked way and Cristina feels the sudden need to blush. She isn't really sure what made her ask, but with his shirt, well her shirt sweaty in places, sticking to his skin, his eyes so damn perfect, Cristina couldn't not ask, after months of being single, she simply can't let an opportunity like this pass her by, not when he looks good enough to eat with a spoon.
Jackson not really dressed for anything fancy, but thankfully his white shirt back on and Cristina not in the mood to get dressed up for anything fancy she lets Jackson pick the place. She's not nervous, not exactly, but by the time they are seated she doesn't feel nervous anymore, she's listening to Jackson talk about his work, and he looks so passionate, his blue eyes sparkling as he absentmindedly threads his fingers with Cristina's and continues talking.
Dinner turns to dessert, because Cristina is far too busy to notice that the rest of the place is almost empty, she is talking, well more rambling at this point and Jackson doesn't look bored, he is actually interested in what she has to say, and she steals half of his chocolate mousse and he takes small forkfuls of her slice of cheesecake while she talks, until there is almost none left. It's a first date, but it doesn't feel like it, it feels like she's known him for weeks, months maybe, and while she has a desperate need to call Mere and freak out to her, she doesn't. She takes the final sip of her wine and listens to Jackson as he talks about his trip to Egypt with such enthusiasm, Cristina's cheeks are hurting from smiling so much, her mouth almost dry from talking so much, and she does something that she never thought she'd do, she thanks the universe for April Kepner.
And before Cristina can even really think, she is inviting Jackson back to her place for after dinner drinks, neither of them quite ready to part with each other. Coat thrown over her shoulders, she shivers, not cold, not even a little bit, just hoping that Jackson will take her cue, and he does, warm arm wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her body close to his.
They don't make it to the promised drinks. Her front door locked and her jacket ditched on the couch, back where it was all those hours ago, Cristina turns to Jackson. He's saying something, she can hear the words, sort of, can hear the sound of his voice at least and it's almost comforting, a weird thought for someone she barely knows, but she feels like she does, and all of a sudden she can't wait another second.
"Cristina?" Jackson asks, voice invading Cristina's thoughts and pulling her back into the living room where Jackson is pulling off his shoes and staring up at her, looking a little concerned as she stares blankly at the wall.
Words aren't her friend, not with so many, too many thoughts colliding and erupting inside her brain so she closes the space between them, ignores the look on Jackson's face and hopes to god that it is good surprise, she knows she should ask first, but her mouth only wants to do one thing and Jackson is moving towards her now too. Lips a breath away Cristina pauses, hovering her lips above his, she takes a breath before she is pulling backwards, unsure, but Jackson chases her mouth with his and then Jackson is kissing her.
Hands roaming across skin, arms linking around necks, Cristina pulls Jackson closer to her, lets him back her up against the wall, as her lips push against his. She hasn't kissed this desperately in god, far too long, and his lips are on hers, tugging and caressing, demanding everything and anything and god Cristina wants the everything and anything that these lips can offer. Warm hands settle on her waist and without thought Cristina is hitching herself up against the wall, legs wrapping around Jackson's waist. She kisses back hungrily, her fingers hitching up his shirt as she moans against Jackson's mouth.
It took her months to get used to sleeping alone after her relationship, months that she curled up next to Mere when Derek was out of town for work, months where she laid down beside Alex or George, mainly Alex though even though he often managed to have someone else in his bed, far more than George, he was somehow almost always free when she needed him. After a while she got used to sleeping alone, didn't mind the cold bed and the space. After a while she didn't need someone there to sleep, and after a while she actually started to enjoy sleeping alone.
But with Jackson's arm wrapped around her waist, his chin resting against his shoulder, the stubble not tickling, not really, just comfortable, almost relaxing, his hot breath against her skin, she couldn't remember what was so great about sleeping alone. She missed this.
Missed how she felt warm, safe, wanted. Missed how even though she was lost in her thoughts, Jackson's body behind her, wrapped around her was grounding. Missed how her whole body relaxed. It wasn't because Jackson was closer to the door so if they got attacked she could escape, even if Lexie was convinced that was the reason why she herself slept better with someone else.
Body relaxed and eyes drooping shut, it didn't take long for Cristina to fall asleep, safe in Jackson's arms and wondering how on earth this was all because her shower broke and Alex was out of town and because April fucking Kepner was interfering into her love life, or serious lack thereof until now.
Leaning against her doorframe, Cristina watches Jackson tie up his shoes, an action that shouldn't be as hot as it is, but then again it's Jackson, and god does she want to drag him back to bed, or join him on the couch, but she knows she shouldn't, she knows she should get in the shower and get ready for work. Teeth graze her bottom lip as she watches him, considering. "Jackson?"
"Yeah baby?" Jackson doesn't even glance up, doesn't see the way that Cristina smiles at that, her heart fluttering at that word, and her cheeks reddening a little bit.
Arms crossed as she tries to gain control of her brain, Cristina doesn't even try to wipe the smile off her face, nor the dazed look of contentment, something she hasn't felt in far too long. "Do you really have to go to work?"
"I've already had ten more minutes." Jackson rises from the couch as he smiles at Cristina, his expression torn, he wants to stay, but he needs to go.
"Fine, but you're making it up to me tonight." Closing the space between them, Cristina sighs as she stops in front of Jackson, melting against him as fingers brush through her hair, and she kisses him, just for a second.
"I intend to." Jackson murmurs against Cristina's lips. He doesn't want to go to work, wishes that he didn't have to leave, not with Cristina looking so damn gorgeous and her arms wrapped around his waist. Lips pressed softly against each other, the kiss is chaste and over far too soon for either of their liking. Jackson eyes trail after Cristina as she heads towards the bathroom, and god does he want to join her in the shower, but instead he closes his eyes and heads towards the door, out of the apartment and down the stairs, off to work, off to a long distracting day.
Showered, sadly alone, and dressed, Cristina shrugs on her jacket and slips her phone into her front pocket before grabbing her bag and heading out of her apartment and off to work. She has a few missed calls from Mere, one from Alex and several text messages demanding details for George, Lexie, Alex and Mere. She'll answer them when she reaches the subway, but for now, she ignores her phone.
"Morning April!" Cristina says cheerily, both feet on the landing, looking down on April who is standing in front of her apartment door, shopping bags in hand. Lips curling into the widest smile she can muster Cristina continues down the steps towards her.
Surprised but attempting not to show it, April looks up at her, observes her silently for a moment before she smiles, "Morning!"
Cristina carries on down the stairs, feet light on the steps, before she stops in front of April, April who pauses, key in hand, not at all understanding Cristina's mood. She looks happy, seems happy, her voice cheery and a smile on her face, and for once she hasn't sighed or groaned at April's presence. Hesitating for another moment, April gives Cristina the once over before she asks, "What's gotten into you?"
"Jackson." Cristina replies brightly.
April lets out a soft sound, her mouth falling open and her bag drops from her hand. Leaning over and scooping up the apple that rolls towards her, Cristina picks April's fallen shopping bag up off the floor, drops the apple inside and hands it back to April. Curling April's palm around the bag, Cristina takes a step back and smiles, "Have a nice morning."
Frozen outside her door, April doesn't say anything, her eyes follow Cristina down the steps until she disappears around the next landing and Cristina chuckles to herself, eyes fluttering shut, hoping to preserve April's expression in her mind forever.
XX
AN: I don't write enough Crackson, and it is what brought me into the realm of writing fanfiction, so I feel like I definitely need to write it more, especially as there is a serious lack of Crackson fanfiction out there, well now there's one more!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you thought :)
And also happy birthday Tinnie!
Also titles are impossible things, so this one may be subject to change... but it is growing on me :)