Arizona Robbins and Nathan Riggs were actually enjoying each other's company. Nathan liked having a friend, someone to talk about this thing with Meredith. Well, talk about it without actually talking about it. At the moment, they were both celebrating the successful fetal surgery; Maggie was back in action and both the kid and mother lived.
"You saved a family today!" Nathan congratulated her.
"I did," Arizona agrees happily while putting on some lip gloss.
"Things are looking up for me too. I got a date tonight," Nathan Riggs felt like skipping through the hallway. God, Meredith had been a tough one to pin, but he felt like this was their moment. They were finally getting somewhere.
"Oh, someone in the hospital?" Arizona ask, excitedly. Gossip was her bread and butter.
"I didn't say that," Riggs wracked his brain, trying to remember if could have somehow let it slip.
"Your face did. Who is it?" Arizona pushes.
"I'm not going to say. If she wants to, she can. But she doesn't, so I won't," He was a gentleman. Or he was trying to be.
"Hmm… nope," Arizona was not going down without a fight. "Is it Wilson?"
"Ha. No." Riggs shakes his head.
"Phew. Good. Then who?" Arizona asks again.
She…" Before he can finish his thought, Arizona interrupts him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. She doesn't want people to know. Sooooo Edwards? No. Okay. Bailey? Grey? Kepner?" Rigg's face reacts involuntarily at the sound of Grey's name. He turns to hide it, but Arizona catches it or at least what she thinks is it. "Oh my god! Oh. My. GOD."
"Shh. Listen, she doesn't want anyone to know. So you can't say anything," He had only been at this hospital a short time but he knew how the gossip mill ran.
"Oh man. Oh Man," Arizona begins to pace. Riggs didn't know that she had such a stake in Meredith Grey's love life. She turns back to him. "Does Jackson know?"
"Uh. No," Confused, Riggs tries to remember the last time he ever had a conversation with Jackson Avery.
"Wow. Wow. You are right. No one can know about this." Arizona states, seriously.
"Okay, good. So you won't say anything?" Nathan began to relax, he may come out of this alive.
"No, of course not." Arizona collects her things and starts muttering things to herself. "God, me and April are on the outs, but I never thought she'd hide something like this from me."
"April? Woah, woah, woah. Listen, that's not…" Suddenly, Riggs understands the miscommunication that was happening at the moment. But Arizona had already left the room, before Riggs comes to his senses to set the record straight.
Wow, he was having such a good day before he walked in here. And now, he made a mess. He thought about running after Arizona and telling her the truth. But, Meredith very much did not want people finding out. And they were finally going on this drinks test-run after months of circling each other. God, they just needed a little time to figure things out. If he tells Arizona right now and Meredith finds out, he may spook her. Time. He needed some time. Yet, having Arizona walking around thinking that he was in love with April Kepner was also not ideal. Riggs really needed to see April before things get out of hand. Luckily, he didn't have to search far for April. He learned pretty quickly that she was quarantined in an OR with a possible TB outbreak. Well, lucky for him at least. April and a few other hospital personnel were sitting around waiting for the all clear. Apparently, the patient had been closed up more than a half hour ago, but they still weren't allowed to leave. He knocks on the glass in the scrub room to get her attention. Confused, April walks over.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" She asks, speaking loudly through the glass.
"Uh. I had to talk to you. But you look like you have your hands full," He gestures toward the quarantine sign.
"Yeah, Crosse, the Intern has TB. Like, interns weren't already annoying before this. What do you need to talk about?" April inquires.
"Uhhh. No, I'll tell you about it tomorrow," Somehow discussing his love life while his friend was quarantined seemed a little too self involved, even for him.
"Hey, it's fine. I got nothing but time right now." April gestures to the stagnant operating room. She had a point.
"Okay," He grabs a face mask and enters the OR. He was not about to yell this through a glass divider.
"What the hell are you doing?" April laughs.
"Come on, you and I both faced worse than little old Tuberculosis." He jokes.
"Wow, you must really need to talk." She crosses her arms and waits, expectantly.
"Here is the thing. Tonight, I was talking to Arizona… Actually, let me start from the beginning. Umm.." He was not articulating himself that well right now.
"Nathan. Come on, spit it out," April ordered. It was always odd when April would switch to army mode. It was never when he expected it.
"So, I am seeing someone. Well… not seeing. Will see. Trying to see," Riggs stammers.
"That's what you wanted to talk about?" April does not look impressed, but still pats her friend on the back. "Well, congrats. Who is the lucky lady?"
"That's the thing. She doesn't want anyone to know, not until a few things are figured out. Don't get me wrong. She is great, amazing. Continues to surprise me all the time. But, she is umm skittish. And Arizona kept pushing and pushing for me to tell her who it was. And here is where I need your help..." Nathan takes a breath in preparation to ask for the ridiculous favor, but April interrupts him.
"OH MY GOD. It's Amelia. Nathan! That is such a bad idea. How could you do that to Owen? Oh man, people have just stopped hating you from the last Hunt conflict." April shakes her head and looks disgusted at her friend's life choices.
"WHAT! No, it's not Amelia. Jesus? You think I would do that?" Nathan is continually surprised how low people's expectations of him at Grey-Sloan.
"Well, you said she's skittish and doesn't want anyone to know? I mean, it's not that big of a leap. Jeez." April holds up her hands in defense. He is about to move on, but she quickly adds. "So, it's really not Amelia?"
"No!" He yells, exasperatedly.
"Okay, okay. Then who is it?" April's interests were now piqued.
"I…" Riggs tries to say it, but no words come.
"Nathan, if you want my help, you gotta fill me in on the whole story," April says gently.
"It's Meredith Grey," He lays it out flat.
"Meredith? Really?" She looks genuinely surprised. Suddenly, she gives him a suspicious look. "Oh! So that is why you took her side on the whole chief thing."
"Well, technically I was neutral. But yes. Meredith Grey. Nothing has happened. I mean, something happened last spring. But nothing since then. Expect she has finally agreed to go on this date. And I'm scared that if she hears this getting out. She'll bail. And I really need to see where this can go," Nathan hadn't said this outloud to anyone yet. He felt some relief in sharing the secret.
"Why didn't you just say this to Arizona?" April points out.
"Because it's Arizona Robbins," Even pariah Riggs knew that Arizona was a talker.
"Fair point," April nods.
"So I need you to help. See, Arizona kept guessing and guessing. And listing names. Well she said Grey's name and then she said your name. So...she might have misinterpreted my reaction to thinking that you and I werehavingasecretloveaffair," He says the last part all in one breath.
"NATHAN!" April exclaims, scandalized.
"And then I sorta let her think that she was right," Riggs grimaced apologetically.
"Nathan Thomas Riggs!" April eyes grow wide.
"I've made a mess. A big ole mess. I know. But I need you to go along with it. For a little bit. Just until Meredith and I go out. Or she decides she wants people to know. But that might be never. So just until I can get a handle on what Meredith really wants," Nathan pleads.
"You want me to pretend we are having an affair so that you can go on a maybe-date with Meredith Grey," April repeats back, emphasizing the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Well, just to Arizona. But yes," Nathan echoes.
"Riggs, come on. If you just tell Arizona not to say anything, I'm sure she wont," April suggests.
"Just like she didn't say anything about your pregnancy," Instantly, Riggs can see the hurt cross April's face. He remembers how hard those times were for her. He didn't mean the comparison to sound so harsh. He backtracks. "I didn't mean.. Obviously, it is not the same situation."
April is silent for a few seconds, thinking over everything that her friend has said to her. It was hard for April to think about everything that happened last year. She made a lot of mistakes, most of it surrounded not being honest. But when she looks at her friends face, seeing the giddiness and hope that surrounds people when they are just falling for someone. She couldn't take that away from him, not yet at least. Being in love with someone was the best feeling in the world and sometimes the worst.
"April…" Riggs begins, ready to admit defeat. He realizes how very high school he is being. This is stupid, he'll tell Arizona the truth and let the chips fall where they may.
"Fine, I'll do it," April says surprising him. "But I'm only covering until the date or whatever."
"Really?" He asks excitedly. She nods and he can't help but pick her up and swing her around. He puts her down and says sincerely, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
They are both laughing when they hear a knock on the window. Jackson is standing there, looking confused at the two celebrating surgeons. April and Riggs walk up to the window to better hear him.
"Hey, I was just checking to see if they let you out yet," Jackson states. He had heard about the quarantine earlier in the day and had been down to check on April. She seemed calm about the whole situation so he didn't worry. However, when he heard that she was still enclosed, he was scared that April was downplaying the seriousness. Yet, when he saw April and Riggs laughing and celebrating, Jackson got a feeling that he was interrupting something else.
"Not yet, Bailey is supposed to let us know soon," April explains. She looks a little uncomfortable and Riggs isn't sure why.
"Okay, you want me to go get an update?" Jackson offers. He looks at Riggs, who is in his regular clothes. "Riggs, were you in the surgery?"
"Uh no. Well, just came to keep ole Keps company. Besides, it was gastro TB, I'm not too worried," Nathan can see April grimace at his poor lying skills. And Jackson doesn't look convinced, but April swiftly changes the subject.
"Listen, maybe you just head home with Harriet and I'll catch you later. Who knows how long the administrative stuff is going to take," She says matter-of-factly.
"You sure? I don't mind waiting for a bit," Jackson replies.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Head home. I'll be okay." She smiles at him. Jackson looks like he might argue more, but decides against it. He nods and half-waves as he leaves the scrub room. April lets out a breath of relief.
"Is it really that hard lying to him?" Nathan asks, confused by the tension he felt between the ex-married, current roommates.
"Oh no. That was… That was something else," April states vaguely.
"Hey, if you got a secret, I'll keep it. It's only fair," Nathan offers.
"No, it's fine. I just think he… It's nothing," April waves her hand indicating for him to move on.
"Okay, I'm gonna go get the TB screening and I'll see you later. If you want to talk or need help with an elaborate lie, I am your guy." He jokes and she smiles appreciatively.
As Riggs leaves, April is begins to wonder if she just made a really big mistake. Arizona really wasn't that great at keeping secrets. If any of this got out, it could raise some really awkward questions for her and Jackson. They were in such an undefined place right now. It had been more than a month since their trip to Montana. She wasn't expecting anything when they returned back to Seattle, but that night reminded her what she was missing. She had forgotten what it felt like to be held, to be looked at like that, to be kissed. She missed that feeling. And of course, she wanted it with Jackson. It was such a pretty picture: Jackson and her getting back together, being a family for real. But it was a fantasy. Real life doesn't just wrap up in a perfect little bow, she knew that better than anybody. So, April just felt stuck. She felt stuck in her job, after having a taste of the promotion. She felt stuck living in a house that wasn't really hers. And she felt stuck wanting very badly to kiss Jackson again, anytime he was near. They had been in this limbo, not together but too scared to really be apart, for so long. April needed to start moving forward. She needed to move out. But how to tell Jackson? She wasn't quite sure yet.