"Apriiiiiil," Andy yelled from his hospital bed.
April heard him, of course-the whole hospital probably did-but she kept running. After fumbling with her keys and finally getting in her dad's station wagon, she broke down.
"This is so stupid,"April thought to herself, "I've never cried over a guy before. Not even over Derek." She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hooded sweatshirt, angry at herself for being so emotional. While digging in her bag for her cell phone, she could only think of one person to call.
After Andy was released from the hospital due to his lack of medical insurance, he called April's cell countless times, but it would only go to her voicemail. He continued to call, regardless, hoping that one of these times, he'd hear her answer. Kissing Ann was a mistake, but he was lying to himself and April when he told her he didn't have feelings for his ex-girlfriend. Ann was his first long-term girlfriend, and it's hard to completely get over feelings like that, especially since she ended it and moved on shortly after. And now that Ann and Mark had broken up, he was what? Her rebound? He didn't want that. He didn't even want Ann anymore. Kissing April only confirmed what he suspected. He liked April Ludgate and wanted to be with her. Now if only he could find her.
"I have to say, when you called me, I was pretty surprised," he said.
"Yea, well, I need to get some aggression out, and thought this would work," April said, following him. He clearly knew his way around.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Andy, would it?"
"No," she said with a stoic stare, "Let's just do this."
"All right, watch me first," Ron said. April gazed at him while he smoothed his moustache, then reached for his semi-automatic Smith & Wesson. He fired off three shots at the target before lowering his safety glasses and turning back to April.
"That's it?" April asked.
"Well, no. There is a fine rhythm to getting the perfect shot. It takes practice," he said before handing her the gun, "But why don't you give it a try and then I'll help you get a good shot."
April raised the gun straight out in front of her and turned off the safety. She winced for only a second before pulling the trigger—a direct shot through the heart. Ron stood in shock.
"Cool. I'm going to need more bullets," April said before firing several more times.
Sensing that April needed some space, Ron decided to get some more ammunition from the artillery store down the street. After buying enough ammo to supply a small army, he checked his watch and realized he hadn't been gone long. The BBQ joint next door was calling his name.
"Ron! Ron! Ron!" he heard coming from behind him. Ron Swanson turned around to see Andy running across the street toward him.
"Aaaarrrggg," Ron grumbled to himself. He wasn't in the mood to have an awkward exchange with Andy today, in fact he was never in the mood.
"Ron, I'm so glad I saw you, and I ran four blocks to catch up with you. Running is weird with this sling though," Andy said while trying to catch his breath. "I have something to ask you…have you seen April?"
Ron remembered the raven haired girl shooting the guts out of the dummy at the shooting range and her strange reaction when he'd mentioned Andy. "No," he replied.
"Ahh! Are you sure?" Andy asked again, looking innocently optimistic.
"No," Ron said feeling sorry for the shoe-shiner. Andy looked away with a defeated look on his face until it clicked.
"Wait, what? You have? Where?" Andy asked wide-eyed.
Ron was in a tough spot. He didn't want this schmuck to bother April, but he also wanted Andy to leave him the hell alone. This easiest solution was to let the situation take care of itself. He handed the bag of bullets over. Andy peeked inside the bag.
"You killed her?" Andy asked in terror.
"For God's sake, no!" Ron replied before walking away to devour a full-rack of ribs.
Andy stood on the curb dumbfounded. If Ron didn't murder April, the bullets had to be a clue for something else. He looked around and saw the shooting range across the parking lot from the grocery store. He took off again, sprinting to the building. Andy burst through the door.
"Can I help you, son?" the burly man behind the counter asked. He was clearly confused by the sudden and dramatic arrival of a guy with his right arm in a sling.
"Yes, you can," Andy started. "My name is Bert Macklin. I'm with the fucking FBI." This was the perfect cover story.
"No, you're not," the man insisted. Andy let out a sigh, bummed that his plan didn't remotely work. "Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Ah! Listen. I'm Andy. I think there's a girl back there that I like, and I really need to talk to her. Ron gave me this bag of bullets as a clue. Please, just let me back there," Andy pleaded with the man.
"Wait, Ron? Ron Swanson?" the man asked.
"Yeah, Ron Swanson."
"Well, why didn't you say so! Go ahead," he said motioning Andy through the doorway.
Andy walked down the row of stalls for firing. He reached the last one when he saw April standing with her back to him. She was wearing bulky earmuffs and couldn't hear him approach. He slipped behind her and reached around to place a box of ammunition on the ledge in front of her.
"Thanks," she said casually. "Sooooo, how do you reload?" April turned around to face Andy. "What are you doing here?"
Andy paused. He could see that he had hurt her, and seeing that hurt him. But she looked so cute in the giant earmuffs and over-sized glasses that he couldn't help but laugh. She removed the safety equipment.
"What are you doing here?" he asked with a cautious smile.
"It's not funny," April said, putting down the gun and sitting on the bench against the wall. Andy slowly lowered himself and sat down next to her. He scooted a little closer.
"God she smells amazing," he thought to himself.
"April, please let me explain what happened," Andy asked and waited for a response. She looked straight ahead, but gave a small nod. Andy continued, "Ann and I have a history. And yes, I did have feelings for her. She kissed me, and I'm so sorry for that. But kissing her was a good thing," he said. April whipped her head to look at Andy. "It was a good thing, because I realized that I don't have those feelings anymore. It made me realize that things are truly over between us. April, kissing you was amazing. You're my best friend, and I want to be with you." He leaned forward and kissed her again.
April pushed him away.
"Stop, stop. That's really nice, but how do I know?" she asked.
"You trust me," Andy replied while taking her hands in his left hand. "Do you trust me?" he said looking deep into her eyes.
April thought about it. She didn't want to get hurt, but she knew that Andy would never do anything to intentionally hurt her ever again. She lifted her hands from his and rested them gently on his shoulders. April gave Andy a half-smile before pulling him in for another kiss.
