Hi guys! Drama is killing us this season. While I still have hope for japril, I needed to escape in fanfiction-land for a while. This is a light, hopefully funny, short story. It takes place between the end of season 7 and early season 8. Jackson and Lexie never happened. April is a virgin but not for religious reasons. Catherine Avery is still the good kind of meddler :)

This scene post/129300669164/meddling-101-with-catherine-avery worked as a prompt for this story. The rest is nothing but our imagination. Please, notice this idea comes from the wonderful Carina (Haspen). She is giving me so many hints and suggestions, helping me A LOT with the English (Not my language and, even if she's x1000 better than me, English is not Carina's first language either, so please forgive possible typos or unfortunate wording choice). We are doing this together, we are having so much fun and we hope you will enjoy this story too.

Ok, let me take another moment to thank my partenr in crime: missing part to my puzzle, Jackson to my April, thank you! Your support means everything 3 Now I know you are hating all this attention so I'll stop.. You read my mind so you know what I'm thinking 3

I don't need to say that, SADLY, Jackson and April are Shonda's characters :) And that reviews and opinions are very much appreciated :)

It had become routine now: they would work long hours at the hospital, they would almost not see each other during the day, all of them so focused on their specialities, all of them held hostage by their mentors, but at the end, at night, they would find the time to have a drink together at Joes and relax. It was nice; Jackson was starting to feel like he finally was in the right place. Their drinking nights usually started with small talk about their days and always ended with Alex and Cristina teasing April. Jackson wasn't surprised, then, to find their friends laughing at April as he approached them, sitting next to her, accepting the drink she already ordered for him.

Cristina smiled at him, "Here's our Cupid!", she said, "how was your shift with Sloan? How many boobs you operate on?".

Jacksons annoyed answer was interrupted by April's pitching voice: "He's not Cupid. I told you it was his mot-"

"It was his mother who set her up with the guy, Cristina! Don't you remember? She just told us the whole story twenty times.." Alex said, shutting her up.

Everyone laughed while April's phone buzzed.

"Awww, is it Max again?" Meredith asked smirking.

"It is." April replied, smiling dreamily, "this is his last text though, he's going to be out of reach for a few days now, he's going to the woods for this training he has to do with his team."

Alex laughed, "We should have known you were going to end up with a boy scout!"

"He is not a boy scout! He works in public safety, he's a hero. Of course you can't understand that because you are...well, you!"

Everyone laughed out loud, Jackson in particular; he loved it when April was able to put Alex Karev in his place.

"So... will you start to date when the hero returns?" Cristina asked, smiling mischievously.

"Well, yes. He asked me on a date and he seems really excited about it so..."

"Excited huh?! Guess I will have to change your nickname soon then...Virgin Mary is about to become inappropriate for you!"

"I...uh..." April babbled, blushing. Laughter filled the room again and April stood up to leave the table "I told you already, I don't talk about my sex life... so if you guys can't find some other things to entertain you, I'd rather go home and study for the boards." She said, taking her jacket heading for the door.

"If you guys can't find some other things to entertain you..." Alex mimicked her voice, making the girls laugh and adding "the boards are next year! Don't be such a geek" he tried to catch April's attention but it was too late, she was already gone, "Man, that girl is weird!" he said, laughing.

"She's just tired of being the butt of all your jokes!" Jackson replied, taking a last sip of his drink."

"Here it comes…her hero number 2. Take it easy man, are you going to punch that guy too?"

"Not if he treats her right…and so far, he's already better than you man!" Jackson said, standing up to leave. "My drinks and April's are on Karev tonight ok?". He smirked, leaving the others and heading back home too.

While he liked to hang out with his coworkers and felt like he could call them friends, he had a special bond with April. When Charles and Reed were alive, they were always together, the four of them. He never really hung out with April alone before the shooting, but it felt natural to lean on her after the tragedy. They had lost their best friends and while he felt like the Seattle Grey's people had finally accepted him as a part of their group, he knew it was much harder for April. Karev wasn't completely wrong, April was weird, she was a little nerdy, she could be annoying and she didn't have the best social skills. But she was sweet and smart. And the kindest person he had ever known. She had chosen to trust him and show him the better side of her and he couldn't help but feel protective towards her. April was his only true friend, she was funny with him, less uptight. She listened to him for hours and she made him feel like he could be completely honest with her. He didn't have to hide the fact that he was a fanboy when it came to football, that he was a bit of a mama's boy, that he would rather lie on his bed eating burrito and reading history books than go out with a girl who is only interested in his looks or family name. If drinks at Joes were routine, hanging out in April's bedroom before sleeping was definitely a must. They would watch movies, study, talk or even just listen to music while eating chinese take out. Jackson knew April loved fortune cookies so he decided to stop at the restaurant and buy some for her. He knew she was mad at Alex and she probably needed something to cheer her up.

As soon as he arrived home he ran up the stairs, not even bothering to knock at her door. He was sure he'd find her lying on her bed, most likely crying. Entering her room, he found April at the desk, instead, rushing to close her laptop before he could see what she was watching.

"Jackson! You scared me!" she said, blushing furiously.

Jackson smirked, surprised "Ehm.. am I interrupting something?"

"No, no, no no..I was..uh.. "

"April Kepner" he said, putting the food on the desk and holding back a laugh: "you were totally watching porn!"

"What?! No" she faked a shocked expression but her cheeks were turning redder for every second.

"Oh yes you were! Don't lie!" He couldn't help but laugh a little then "well.. I had bought you fortune cookies but I guess you can eat them..uh..after..I'll give you some privacy.." he said, trying his best not to laugh even more.

April stood up, took his arm and forced him onto the chair, walking to close the door. She turned around and looked him in the eyes. "Please don't tell anyone!"

Jackson smiled "Of course not, April..it's none of my business really..I.."

"You don't understand Jackson. I was watching porn ok. Yes! but not because of..you know. Not to do..that. I Just.. I was studying ok?!"

Jackson couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud then.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm sorry April.. it's just... This is the lamest excuse I have ever heard! You don't need to find justifications, you weren't doing anything wrong. Sometimes we all need to...ease the tension, I get it."

"Oh my god Jackson, I wasn't easing any tension! I don't need porn to do that! To ease the tension, I mean, not to..ugh. Look. I really wasn't lying ok? I was actually trying to..learn things, about sex! Cristina was right, Max is coming back soon and we are going out...and we are adults Jackson! Of course he wants to have sex! And I have to be prepared, he doesn't know I'm a virgin and I don't want him to know."

"Well..first of all, you should really tell him. What about waiting for the right guy by the way?"

"I changed my mind and you know that.. I just, I want to live ok? I'm 28 and I barely lived. People die every day Jackson.. why should I wait to live my life? I don't even know if the right guy exists for me.. I know there is Max, I like him and, surprisingly enough, he likes me too! So, no.. I'm not waiting and I'm not telling him I'm a virgin and risk scaring him away."

Jackson smiled seeing her walking around her room while talking. People found her freak outs annoying, but Jackson thought she was cute "ok.. you are right. I just don't think you should learn things from porn then. You won't see what real sex is in porn, trust me."

"Well, I know that.. but it's better than nothing. I'm really, really inexperienced Jackson." April sat down on her bed. Not looking at him anymore, "I kissed some guys back in med school and that's about it. The closest I got to second base... well, it was with Alex.. and I wish that never even happened."

"I.. " she continued " I really miss Reed. She would have given me some great advice by now." April hugged her knees with her arms and Jackson knew she was on the verge of crying. She would always sit in this position when she was sad, usually when she was thinking about Reed and Charles. He stayed silent, letting her talk "I never had girlfriends a part from Reed you know? I was the annoying nerd in high school, my sisters still call me Duckie.. and Mer, Cristina and Lexie.. they're nice, but you know they don't really like me. Truth is, they accepted me because of you, because you are their friend now..I'm your friend so.. they bear me. That's it. I can't ask anyone about sex.. they won't understand me." She was trying hard to hold back tears when Jackson sat down next to her, took her chin between his fingers, raising it enough so that she could look in his eyes, "You have me April. You will always have me. You know that right? I'm here for you." She smiled, looking as if she was feeling a little better already "thank you, you are sweet Jackson. But.." she laughed nervously "I don't think you can help me in this case."

"Why not?"

"You are a guy!"

Jackson smirked "Even better! I'm a guy so I kinda know what guys like in bed."

April hit him on the shoulder playfully "Stop it!"

Jackson laughed "what? You know I'm right.. come on, let me be your sexpert!" She laughed too, then. Finally relaxed "sexpert? Oh yes, sorry, I was forgetting about Mr "I lost my virginity in a threesome at sixteen."

"Yeah... maybe that was a bit of a lie" he admitted.

"What?! You lied?! You made fun of me because I lied and you lied too!", she hit him again, faking offense.

"Well.. I kinda ran away in the middle of it.. I didn't know exactly what I was doing, at all." April laughed out loud and he pinched her hip "Hey! Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm sorry.. it's just.. I'm imagining the scene and.."

"Well, at least I could make you laugh again..you won't tell anyone right?"

"You won't tell anyone if I agree to hire you as my sexpert?"

Jackson smiled "deal!"

"Ok then."

"Yes? Great.. go, I'm ready. Ask everything you want to know!"

April laughed "uhm.. How about if we start from tomorrow? I'm starving.. I would rather eat those fortune cookies now.. ".

He laughed, watching her get them from the desk. "Fine. If you want us to keep on watching that porn though.. that's fine too. I won't complain".

"Pig", she said, throwing him a cookie, smiling.

Jackson laughed, took off his shoes and lied on her bed "okay fine, I'll let you pick the movie on Netflix.. let's save the fun discussions for tomorrow".

"Yay! I just saw they added this rom-com I've been dying to watch!" She said excitedly while turning on her computer.

Jackson rolled his eyes "Ok but if we are watching a rom-com you know I'm going to fall asleep, so you have to promise me now that you won't wake me up in the middle of the night. I'll stay here. And no complaints about me occupying all the space in bed tomorrow morning."

April laughed, while Jackson sat down in the middle of the bed, smiling happily.