Reviews are welcomed. Be gentle with me.

Moving Foward

April was nervous. The plan was for him to pick her up at the hospital after his shift and then have dinner. She checked her make-up in the mirror, applying a little extra mascara for the occasion. Nervousness quickly morphed into panic as she looked over her outfit in the Attending's lounge mirror. She had gone with a simple white cotton dress with a plum, quarter-sleeve cardigan. The outfit was supposed to say "fun, but modest," instead it seemed boring. She quickly glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes. "Breathe, April. This is meant to be fun," she reminded herself as she turned away from the mirror and gathered her belongings. She heard the door open behind her and turned to see Alex storming into the room followed by Christina.

"Christina, if you're going to freaking live with me, you have to at least keep your shit out of the living room and attempt the dishes."

"Don't badger me Alex. I pay rent. You will do well to live with me. Some of my impressive skills might rub off on you," she retorted. Her response earned her an eye-roll from both Alex and April. Alex glanced around the room. His eyes landed on April.

"Kepner! You move in with me! You cook and clean. Hell, you can stay for free, and if you want I'll kick Miss "God's gift to Surgeons" out on her ass." He began raiding the fridge and pulled out a few containers. Quickly discarding the lids, he passed one to Christina and they began to devour the food.

"Actually, I have an apartment. I just got it and I really like it. And it's just me. Ahhh.. the joys of living by myself and not having to take care of you." She smiled brightly at him while scowled at her. His eyes scanned her up and down. She had grown used to him looking at her like that. It was just him and he wasn't going to change.

"Hey, what's with the get-up?" he asked while filling his mouth full of Jackson's lunch. Christina glanced at her and quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah Kepner, you got a hot date?"

April's face flushed. She stuttered nervously, "I.. I.. um.. yes. Sort of. A paramedic asked me out and I said yes. And do not judge me. Nothing is wrong with being a paramedic. I'm sure you both have dated worse. Scratch that, Alex, I know you have done much, much worse. I've seen it. So just don't, okay?"

She glanced back and forth between the two who looked half surprised and half uninterested.

"Whatever, no one cares anyway." Alex managed between bites.

"Actually, what about Avery? Does he know about Not-Virgin Mary's rendezvous?" Christina questioned curiously. She loved it when there was other drama besides her own. Anything to make Kepner a little crazy was plenty of entertainment.

April was flustered by Cristina's question. Jackson. She knew how she felt when he told her about Stephanie. It killed her. But thinking about hearing about it from someone else, she knew that would break something between them. Not that they weren't already irreparably damaged, but that was yet to be determined. But she wasn't going to sleep with the medic. He would know that. She didn't figure too much would come from the date. He was just too adorable awkward to say no to. Plus, he was undeniably gorgeous. Honestly, she wanted to avoid telling Jackson because she was scared he would be absolutely fine with it. He wouldn't care that she was moving on.

"Actually, if you could not tell Jackson about it, I would greatly appreciate it." Her tone was enough for both of them to know that she was serious, the look on her face only added to the affect. "I don't know how he feels about me, or if he even still cares, but if he does, I don't want to hurt him over nothing. If this date goes well, I will tell him."

"Fine. I have enough crap to deal with besides getting into you and his drama," Alex barked. Christina just turned back to her food and began reading a chart.

April huffed. Satisfied that they wouldn't say anything, she headed towards the lobby. Bringing up Jackson was not helping her mood. He was always on her mind, in the back, weighing her down. She missed him terribly. His smile, his eyes, his lips, his laugh.. all of it. But he was moving on. Now it was her turn.