April kepner was in charge of putting together a retreat for some of the attendings. No one else had volunteered to set it up and she loved planning these types of things but getting everyone excited about this was a lot harder than she expected. She had decided on a three day camping trip outside the city. April loved going camping with her dad when she was younger. Her dad would take all four kepner girls camping when they were little and everyone loved it. How long had it been since she had gone? The last time she could remember was the summer before high school.

Meredith and Cristina had already decided there was no way in hell they were spending three days in the woods. Alex didn't want to go because he wouldn't be able to bring Jo with him and Callie and Arizona already had "special plans that weekend". Obviously Derek and Owen wouldn't want to go without Meredith and Cristina. The only other person that came to mind was Jackson. She knew if she went alone with him Mer and Cristina would tease her endlessly. They were nothing more than platonic friends. Sure when she first saw him at Mercy West when they were just interns she had a little bit of a crush on him. But that went away after years of good friendship. He was sitting across the cafeteria trying to balance eating lunch with filling out paperwork.
"Hey." She said sitting down across from him.
"What's that?"
"Oh nothing just some stuff about one of Sloan's old patients." He said closing the big white binder.
"Anyways what's up?"
"Ugh." She said running a hand through her hair.
"Trying to plan a camping trip is hard, so far everyone I've asked has said no. I'm thinking about just canceling the whole thing."
"I'd go." He said looking up at her.
"Really?"
"Yeah! I've never been I always wanted to go as a kid but I never did."
"You've never been camping before?" Her wide eyes stared at him.
"It wasn't exactly easy to do that type of stuff just me and my mom." He said before taking another bite of his salad.
"Oh right sorry." She shook her head, a few loose pieces of hair falling in her face.
"What day would you wanna go?"
"Hmm probably the 7-9th."
He scrolled through the calendar on his phone.
"I have to assist with a facial reconstruction surgery the 8th but I could get someone to fill in for me."
"Great! I'll text you a list of what you'll need. It's gonna be kinda cold so you'll probably need..." She rambled on not realizing how long she had been talking.
"Sorry I'm rambling!"
"No you're fine, you clearly care a lot about this."
He was such a good listener. That was one of the reasons they were such great friends. The continued to talk about their camping trip before her pager beeped.
"I gotta go. I'll text you tonight?"
"Sounds good!"
...

Later that evening:
April had spent seven hours in the OR trying to save a little boy who had been hit by a car while riding his bike. Sadly the surgery had been unsuccessful. April hating losing patients. She rarely lost them and when she did she always took it pretty hard. She drove home in silence, not even turning on the radio. After arriving in her apartment she immediately stripped down and ran a bath. That was always a way she helped herself get over these things. She grabbed a tub of ice cream pit of the freezer and turned on the little tv she had in her bathroom.

"Eating icecream in the bath, how cliché." she said out loud.
Flicking through the channels she finally settled on a friends rerun. Friends was a show she and Jackson loved watching when they hung out. She rested her head against the rim of the tub before her phone let out a loud ding. The message was from Jackson.
J: Hey are you okay? I heard about the surgery from Hunt.
A: I've been better. That type of stuff is hard to deal with sometimes. Now I'm just trying to relax.
J: Oh am I bothering you?
A: Not at all! In Fact you're helping me out.
J: So what are you doing?
A: Just watching some friends re runs...
she didn't really want to tell him she was in the bath
J: same here.
April thought about inviting him over to watch together. He was always good at helping her feel better.
A: hey do you want to come over and watch?
J: Sure sounds great! What time?
A: How about 9:30?
J: Okay see you soon!
April stepped out of the bath and dried off. She looked like crap. Her eyes were red and swollen and all her makeup had washed off and her hair was wet and stringy. She tried to clean herself up before Jackson arrived. Not that she wanted to look good for him but it was just a natural for her to not want to look gross when a guy was over. She dried her hair with a towel and threw it up in a messy bun then threw on a pair of yoga pants and a college shirt. She heard Jackson knocking at the door and splashed some cold water on her face.
"Good enough."
She shrugged, looking at herself in the mirror. Jackson was waiting at the door with a pizza and a six pack.
"You didn't have to bring anything."

She playfully pushed his arm. He sat down on the couch while she grabbed some plates and napkins from the kitchen.
"Need anything else?" Her voice sounded from the kitchen.
"Nah. I'm good."
"You sure?"

"Yep!"
She sat down on the couch with her knees to her chest trying to balance a plate of pizza on her knees. They watched in silence for a while. Even though April loved talking and Jackson was one of the best listeners she knew most the time they didn't need to talk the just loved each other's company. Every once in awhile they would laugh when Chandler had a funny one-liner. His company made her feel better after the long day she had been having but inside she still felt bad, like she had done something wrong or she could have done better. A tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly tried to wipe it away.
"Are you okay?"
She hoped Jackson hadn't been watching her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She tried faking a smile but the crack on her voice gave her away.
"Come here." He said pulling her close so her head rested on his shoulder.
"It's just. I could have done better. There was more I could do..." She said inbetween sobs.
"April you are a kickass surgeon. I know you did everything you could and more, you always do. Hunt said there was nothing more you could do."
She liked how close she was to him right now. It felt so good to be held by someone. She felt his hands on her back. Her shirt had lifted up in the process of crying and his hand accidentally brushed her skin sending a chill down her spin.
"Sorry." He said quickly moving his hand.
"No it's okay."
She liked the feeling of his touch on her bare back. What was she doing? This was her best friend. His touch should not have that effect on her. She is hoped she was just tired and craving attention. She left her head on his shoulder.
"Is this okay?"
"Yeah." His hands were still moving up and down her back.
April started to doze off and before she even knew it, she was dead asleep.

(Jackson's POV)

There she was, his best friend asleep on his shoulder. She was adorable when she was sleeping and having he sleeping on top of him felt so normal. Admittedly when he first saw her he could tell she had a crush on him. She was young and naive and still had some of the high school geek qualities. But after they developed a friendship he noticed she didn't seem to have those feelings anymore and it honestly kinda made him sad. Was he disappointed she didn't have feelings for him anymore? Maybe? He shook his head and tried focusing on the tv but it was almost impossible when the girl he maybe had just caught feelings for was sleeping right next to him. There was nothing more he wanted to do than pull her closer to him but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. There was no way she still had feelings for him, he was simply just comforting her as a friend. A few pieces of her fiery red hair were still stuck to her face. Would it be okay if he moved them? Or was that too much of a boyfriend type thing? What the hell was he doing? He went from being her friend to wanting to find any excuse to touch her in less than an hour. He looked back down at her. She was so small curled up next to him like that. It was so comfortable on the couch like that and Jackson was beginning to doze off himself. The heat radiating from her body wasn't helping either. God she was so warm. He wanted to fall asleep like that. What would happen in the morning though? Spending the night like that was an intimate thing, would it put a strain on their relationship? He looked down at her again. He didn't want to move her and risk the possibility of waking her up. By now it was almost midnight and it would take him forever to get home. Would it be alright with April if he spent the night? God he hoped so as he let sleep take over him.
…

The next morning: (April's POV)

The sun had just started creeping through the window of April's living room. Ever since she was young and lived on the farm she always woke up with sun. She didn't have to work today so she figured she'd lie on the couch a little longer before starting the day. Before she had the chance to fall back asleep she noticed she wasn't sleeping alone. Her leg was wrapped around his waist and she was laying completely on top of him with her head on his chest. His arms were wrapped around her small waist. How the hell had they gotten in this position? Surely they hadn't fallen asleep like that. Surprisingly it wasn't embarrassing laying on top of him like that. If this had happened a month earlier she probably would have died but today it felt normal. Being in his arms like that, she never felt safer. She could stay there forever but, what was going when he woke up and she was still there? Would it weird him out? God she didn't want to move. Not wanting to wake him up she decided to stay and let him figure it out when he woke up. He always woke up later on days when they didn't have to work so it would probably be another hour before he woke up. She continued to lie on his chest. He really was an amazing guy, handsome, smart, and he treated her with so much respect. Most guys she had met throughout med school and up until now had treated her like crap then there was Jackson who had been nice to her since day one. Dammit was she falling for him? No. Yes. Maybe?
"Dammit." She whispered.
"April?"
"Shit!" She thought to herself. She woke him up.
"April?" He mumbled her name again, his voice still husky with sleep.
"Yes?" She responded with her face buried in his chest. Even through his t shirt she could still feel how muscular his body really was.
"Are you going to move?"
Without hesitation she quietly answered "No."
"Good, I want to stay."

…

Hi! My name is Sydney and this is my first fanfic so please no hate!

I'm gonna try to be as active as possible but I just started my sophomore year and I'm really busy!

If you want to follow me on twitter my handle is kepnerspractice.

I own nothing besides a laptop and the set of keys to a blue mini van.

Thanks for reading!