A/N: Hello! This is my first ever fanfic. The idea kept rolling around in my head for a few weeks, so I started writing it down. This fic begins around mid-season 8. For the purposes of this story, Alex doesn't live with Jackson and April. They did end up finding a place for just the two of them. It is rated T for now. I've never attempted writing M material, so I don't know if I'd be any good at it. We'll leave that possibility open for later chapters. lol

The title of this fic is taken from the song "Brand New Colony" by The Postal Service. In my opinion one of the most romantic, inconspicuous love songs ever. ;)

Jackson Avery looked at the caller ID on his ringing cell phone and wanted to avoid answering it. It was his mother, and he had been dreading this conversation for the last twelve years. He knew he'd have to deal with it eventually, so reluctantly he answered the phone.

"Hi Mom."

"Happy birthday, baby! I can't believe my boy is thirty years old. Where has the time gone?", she sighed.

"Thanks Mom. I know what you're going to bring up next, but don't even bother. It's not going to happen", he stated firmly.

"Now darling, we had an agreement. And an Avery never goes back on their word."

"Mother, I was a dumb eighteen year old who didn't think you could possibly be serious!" he shouted, furrowing his brow and rubbing his temples.

"Well I was serious, Jackson, and so was Dr. Hartman. This has been a long time coming and you are not about to ruin this relationship for us." she stated matter-of-factly. Catherine Avery was not a woman to be trifled with. She was the CEO of the Harper Avery Foundation as well as a world renowned urologist. She was used to getting her way, and her only child would not be the one to change that.

"I have to go" Jackson said abruptly. He really couldn't deal with this right now, or ever for that matter.

"Jack-" was all he heard of his mother before he pressed "End" on his phone.

A short while later, there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in", he answered. A mop of red hair peeked its head around the door. His roommate April stepped in.

"Happy birthday, roomie! I made your favorite for breakfast...waffles!" she exclaimed, but she could tell he was only half listening to her. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're already having a mid-life crisis".

"No, no. It's not that." he responded stoically. "It's nothing, never mind. So you made me waffles? Let's go eat them before they get cold."

April crossed her arms and stayed in place. "No way you're changing the subject that easily."

She knew him well enough to know that he internalized everything. They had been friends since their first year as interns at Mercy West Hospital. Their friendship only grew stronger after they tragically lost both of their best friends, Charles and Reed, in a crazy hospital shooting shortly after Mercy West merged with Seattle Grace Hospital. When he began having recurring nightmares after the shooting, it took her two months of daily comforting and conversation before he was willing to confide in her what his nightmares were about. When he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, Lexie, it took him a few weeks before he finally admitted to April that it did bother him that he was still living under the same roof as his ex.

It's a good thing he did end up confessing to April, because she too was tired of living in a house with half of the people they worked with. So she knew that the man she'd shared a two-bedroom apartment with for the last six months wasn't going to tell her what was bothering him. He'd let it eat away at him and ruin his birthday.

"Look, I'm not leaving this room until you tell me what's wrong. I know you, Jackson Avery, and I'm not going to let you mope around the apartment on your thirtieth birthday!"

He looked at her, weighing her words, and knew that she wouldn't back down. His best friend might be petite and unassuming, but she was nothing if not tenacious.

April sat down at the foot of his bed and said "Just tell me. You know you always feel better once you've told me."

After a couple minutes of silence, he muttered "Okay, but you're going to think that I'm crazy."

"Well you already think that I'm crazy, so we'll finally be even." she countered.

He sighed, wondering how to begin. "On my eighteenth birthday, my mother sat me down and gave me a huge speech about how I was an Avery and with that came great responsibility. It was all very Spider-Man-ish." he joked. "So anyway, then she mentions how our family has been in partnership with the Hartman family for decades..."

"Wait, Hartman, as in The Hartman Hospital and Dr. Andrew Hartman?" she queried.

"Yes, as in Dr. Andrew Hartman, the very first recipient of the Harper Avery Award." he explained. "Our families have been close as long as I can remember. Always on the frontline of cutting edge medicine and blah blah blah...

My mom started explaining how she and Dr. Hartman had always hoped that his daughter, Paige, and I would end up together to merge our two families. Like one big medical empire." Jackson looked up at April, who was completely engrossed in what he was saying, so he continued. "So I guess my mom and Dr. Hartman seriously started to discuss creating a real plan, and decided that if Paige and I were still single when we were thirty..."

Oh. My. Jesus. April could sort of see where this story was going, but she didn't think such a thing would happen in this day and age. An arranged marriage? Really? She didn't want to jump to conclusions, so she let him keep talking.

"...that we should get married. I thought she had gone batshit crazy, but she was dead serious. She explained how powerful it would make our families, and how much influence we'd have on the medical community. She also mentioned the possibility of cutting me off financially if I didn't agree to her plan. I asked my mom what Paige thought of this plan, since she'd have to agree to it too. I guess she was all in because she had some issues with always wanting her daddy's approval. So my mom kept pestering me about the Avery legacy, and I just wanted her to stop. And I figured I'd have found someone and be married by thirty anyway, so I agreed just to shut her up."

April sat with her mouth agape. "Why the hell would you agree to something so insane?!"

"Because I just wanted my mom to get off my back! At eighteen I didn't take into consideration that between becoming pre-med, medical school, internship, and residency my social life would be almost non-existent." He dramatically fell back onto his bed. Covering his face with an extra pillow.

She scooted up on his bed, pulling the pillow off his face. "Hey, I'm not judging you. I'm just trying to understand how something like this could actually happen. It's such a medieval concept. Like you're Henry VIII and this Paige chick is Catherine of Aragon." She rubbed his arm reassuringly. "Can't you just say no? That you've changed your mind?"

"I wish I could. I kinda tried this morning. But the wheels have already started turning and apparently Paige is still totally on board. If I back out now I would be tarnishing our family name and my family would be so disappointed." He shook his head and sighed. "See, I told you being an Avery isn't as great as everyone thinks it'd be."

April paused before questioning "Wait, why is Paige okay with this? I would NEVER let my parents marry me off like I'm some cattle they can sell off." she stated willfully.

"Because Dr. Paige Hartman, cardiology fellow at the Hartman Hospital, has never done anything to displease her father. And I think a part of her also thinks it's a good idea. She bought in to the family business and all the legacy crap early on. We grew up seeing each other at fundraisers and during summers on Cape Cod. She never questioned any of the expectations leveled on her by her family like I did." He sounded resigned. Like he was actually contemplating going through with this madness.

"Do you even like her?" April asked.

Jackson shrugged and stated "She's nice, I guess. I haven't seen her in at least five years. Since I moved to Seattle. I only get updates about her through my mother. I never thought it would actually come to this. Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't even want to think about it until my mother calls me again and I'm forced to deal with it, okay?"

April was about to respond about how that was a ridiculous way to deal with this issue and that he needed to really face it and do something about it, but she could see the confusion behind his eyes and knew that he was really struggling with this. So she let it go and plastered a big smile on her face. "Fine." she said, "but I think I'm going to have to reheat your waffles."

April sat at the small desk in her room putting her makeup on. She was getting ready to take Jackson out to meet their co-workers at Joe's bar to celebrate his birthday. She was trying to apply her eyeliner, but couldn't seem to keep her hand steady. She just couldn't concentrate. Something was gnawing at her, and had been since the conversation she'd had with Jackson in his room earlier that day. They tried to act like everything was normal, but it wasn't. They ate their waffles in relative silence as Jackson contemplated what he was going to tell his mom without getting him disowned, and April just wanting to find a way to help her best friend out of what seemed like a no-win situation.

She stared blankly and leaned back in her desk chair, crossing her arms. Was there anything she could do to help him? She could try to talk to Dr. Avery on Jackson's behalf, but she didn't think that would make a difference. A ludicrous thought kept popping up in the back of her mind, but it was too absurd to even consider. April shook her head and chuckled to herself. That would never work... Right? Well, they did already live together. They were best friends, so it wouldn't be that awkward she supposed. Her family was halfway across the country in Ohio, so they would never even need to find out.

Wait, what was she thinking?! She couldn't do this. This was a sacred thing, not something you do just to help someone out! But that someone was Jackson. Her best friend. The only true friend she had here. That made it different. Maybe that made it okay. She stood up resolutely, and walked straight into Jackson's room without knocking.

"What the -" Jackson pulled his second pant leg up just as April barged in.

"Jackson," she stated confidently, "I have a proposal."

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Since this is my first chapter ever I'd love to hear feedback or suggestions on how to improve upon anything. Thanks for reading! :)