Someone awesome on tumblr gave me this idea, so I decided to roll with it. I'll warn you now this will likely be more angsty than fluff. I personally can't picture Jackson and April reuniting easily on the show, so it won't be easy here either. Anyway, I would like to know what you think, so please leave a review! :)

Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's or its characters. And anything medical related was written based on research.

Enjoy!

One more day, Jackson Avery reminded himself as he changed into his navy blue scrubs. It was his first day back on the job at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital after a brief vacation. Although, he hadn't done much vacationing during his two-week break. He had spent most of his free time rehabilitating his sprained shoulder, an injury he sustained during his heroic effort to save a young girl from a bus explosion while using his much larger body to protect her from the blast. The super storm in Seattle had taken a toll on some of the doctors, both physically and emotionally. The plastic surgeon had the unpleasant luxury of experiencing both.

He glanced back at the untouched locker from across the room. While most of his fellow surgeons had either taken short vacations before returning to work, one of them remained out of town and she was the only doctor he desperately needed to see again. He considered himself lucky to be seeing her again at all.

Two weeks ago, April Kepner had surprised him when she unexpectedly decided she wanted him. It was a lot to take in after nearly killing himself trying to save another person. She chose him. She wanted to be with him, but there was one problem.

April was engaged to Matthew Taylor, the paramedic who proposed to her via flash mob, which had taken aback many of their coworkers and himself. Jackson hadn't realized how serious this man was about the trauma surgeon, but as her friend first, he decided to let her go and be happy with him. He thought Matthew was everything she had been seeking in a husband. Virgin, a man of faith. As Meredith Grey put it – he was the male Kepner.

The bus explosion seemed to turn her into an emotional wreck. She freaking attacked him in the pit while Callie Torres examined his injuries! Jackson had been caught off-guard by her tirade. He couldn't understand why she was so upset with him and turning him into a punching bag didn't help the matter. And he was exhausted and in pain. The last thing he wanted was to be lectured by April when she appeared at the foot of his hospital bed. Instead, she poured out her feelings to him, completely ignoring the fact that she was engaged to another man.

"You're getting married."

Jackson needed to repeat himself in order for the tearful redhead to snap out of her rambling for a minute. She had to have been caught up in the moment, he thought. He almost did blow up, so that obviously scared the crap out of her.

"Unless you can give me a reason not to."

In retrospect, he wished he had… instead of pushing her away. He wanted to believe everything she had told him didn't mean anything, that she would regret it in the morning because she was April Kepner. It didn't take long for her to regret words that came out of her mouth. Sometimes she lacked a filter, which typically got her in trouble because she neglected to think before she spoke.

Yeah, he convinced himself she acted on impulse and she would apologize for it later. So Jackson did what he felt was the right thing to do. He explained to April that Matthew was her guy, not him. Plus, he was still seeing Stephanie Edwards and he claimed to be content with being with her.

But looking back, all he could ask himself was, "What the hell was I thinking?"

He loved April and he missed her, but the timing to fix what was broken hadn't been on his side.

Soon after the chaos from the super storm died down, April hopped on a plane to Chicago to retake her oral boards. On her second try, despite the emotional rollercoaster she put herself through recently, she passed all three sessions and she could finally call herself a board certified surgeon. Hospitals who had previously revoked their offers when she failed her boards the first time were in touch with Owen Hunt again. Case Western Reserve, Mount Sinai, University of Virginia… even some new hospitals came calling.

The Chief gave his trauma attending time to weigh her options, though he preferred to have her back in Seattle. She proved her worth and reassured him that he had made the correct decision in rehiring her after initially taking her job away from her. The perky surgeon was one of his soldiers after all.

And sometime after Jackson rejected April, she had broken off her engagement to Matthew. It wasn't until she returned from her boards exam did he learn this. She was hurt by his rejection and avoided him as much as possible, but what surprised him the most was the fact that she ended her relationship with the paramedic the same night he told her to stay with him. If Alex Karev hadn't walked in on the unhappy couple in the middle of their break up, he probably would have found out much later.

It was then he realized that April's confession wasn't bullshit. She truly wanted to be with him and possibly spend the rest of her life with her best friend. He screwed up and hurt her. Honesty wasn't his strongest characteristic when feelings were involved, but he decided he couldn't stall any longer.

After breaking up with Stephanie, Jackson was prepared to tell April he loved her, but another problem arose – she was nowhere to be found. By the time he came to his senses, she was already on her way to Orlando. She and her sisters were taking part in a week-long cruise in the Bahamas. As frustrating as it was that he missed his chance, he was thankful to hear that she opted to stay at Grey Sloan Memorial over moving to a new hospital. He was determined to talk to her when she returned.

One more day. One more day.

The following day, April would be back in Seattle. She was gone for a week, but even a day was unbearable for Jackson. He couldn't call her and telling her how he felt about her via e-mail was lazy. It had to be done in person.

"She's not dead, Avery," Cristina Yang scoffed, snapping the plastic surgeon out of his zone. She rolled her eyes as she slipped on her lab coat. "Quit staring at her locker like it's her death anniversary today. Kepner will be back tomorrow. Then you two can play out your soap opera confessions in the middle of a large trauma case."

He slowly turned towards the cardiothoracic surgeon, furrowing his eyebrows. Cristina had her own share of bitterness after she and Owen had broken up for what seemed like the umpteenth time to their colleagues. They were both miserable in their own ways. However, it was Yang – the person he thought cared the least about his problems with April – who advised him to stop hiding and be honest with the woman he loved.

"If only tomorrow was already here," Jackson answered dejectedly as he hung his stethoscope around his neck. "Do you think she'll be happy to see me? I mean, she has to know that Stephanie and I aren't together anymore, right?"

"You turned her down after she practically told you she loved you. What do you think?"

"April never specifically said she loved me. She said she wanted me. There's a difference."

Cristina guffawed. "Please. I know you're a bit on the stupid side, but are you seriously that dense?" she bluntly said, ignoring the scowl on Jackson's face. "Why else would she dump Mr. Virgin What's-His-Face?"

"Well, I thought she was genuinely happy with Matthew. She accepted his proposal after he surprised her with that flash mob-"

"Oh, God. Do not mention the freaking flash mob," she painfully groaned. "I had a nightmare about that three days ago except I was the person sitting in that desk chair. It literally felt like I was in Hell with all of the happy dancing and those idiotic spirit fingers. I just got over it, so please don't bring it up again."

Jackson couldn't help but chuckle at her rant. It was no surprise to anybody that she loathed the entire flash mob sequence the most. "But you know what I'm talking about, right? April looked happy. Not fake happy, but authentic-"

"Why are we still talking about this like we're girlfriends? We're not girlfriends, Avery," Cristina chided and dismissively waved her hand at the pretty boy. "Go be girlfriends with Karev. Maybe he'll care more than I do."

"Third wheel to him and Wilson? I'll pass," he declined.

Alex Karev and Jo Wilson's relationship was new. The last thing they wanted was a sulking Jackson hanging around them when they preferred being alone. And Jo was Stephanie's best friend amongst the group of interns. He was not their favorite person at the moment.

Rather than continue to be ridiculed by his crude coworker, Jackson headed for the exit. He stopped in the doorway, looking back at Cristina. "Do you happen to know what time April's flight comes in tomorrow?"

She briefly glanced up at him while she tied her shoe. "Do I want children?"

"No," he responded with a puzzled expression.

"There's your answer," she nonchalantly replied.

"Whatever," he muttered before leaving the locker room.

Riding the elevator down a couple of floors, Jackson decided to pay Richard Webber a visit. If Miranda Bailey hadn't discovered his lifeless body in the hospital's basement, he for sure would have been a goner. His heart had stopped after he had been electrocuted by the fuse box that restored most of the power in the hospital. The general surgeon was able to resuscitate him, but he was far from safety. He suffered second and third degree burns on his left arm and his heart was fairly weakened by the shock. Cristina performed open heart surgery where she successfully removed blood clots that had developed. He remained hospitalized, but his vitals were stable. Unfortunately, his peers feared this was the end of his surgical career.

Jackson stopped in the doorway and knocked on the open door. "Good morning, Chief," he greeted his mother's boyfriend. Catherine Avery had been in Seattle since the day after the storm, but she was surprisingly missing. "Where is my mother?"

"Cafeteria. Decided to buy herself some coffee," Webber murmured. He was partially sitting up on his hospital bed while he read his newspaper, though he set it aside when Jackson appeared. "Here to check my burns?"

"Yep." The plastic surgeon approached him and stood beside his bed. He removed the dressings that covered the former Chief's left arm and examined his skin. There were splotches of growing skin in different areas, but none of them showed any signs of infection. "Looks like they're healing nicely so far. Another two or three weeks and they'll be fine. Might have some scarring, but your skin should be fully grown back."

"Thank you, Avery." Webber watched Jackson apply antibiotic cream onto his healing burns. "Your mother's worried about you. Says you seem bothered by something, but she has no idea what it is."

Jackson inhaled sharply and sighed. Of course Mama Avery wanted to know what was happening in his personal life. "She's always worried about me. Nothing new there," he casually replied.

Webber softly chuckled. "It doesn't have anything to do with April Kepner, does it?" he inquisitively asked. Jackson remained silent, which only raised his suspicions even more. "Word spreads, young man. And I may be older, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy listening to the gossip in the hallways. I'm not deaf. These ears still work just fine."

The man did start to somewhat take him under his wing, especially after Catherine bought him a hospital. And he hadn't been as nosy as his overbearing mother, so the least Jackson could do was talk to him. "Off the record? No telling my mom about this until I'm ready to?"

"Man to man," he said, holding up his right fist.

"What… are you doing?"

"You don't fist pump?"

"Oh," Jackson awkwardly responded and tapped his fist against Webber's as he smirked at the general surgeon. "I think you mean fist bump."

"Alright, no more stalling. What is going on between you and Kepner?"

Covering Webber's arm with new gauze, Jackson slightly shook his head. "I'm an idiot who let the woman I love walk away without telling her how I really feel about her," he answered disappointedly. "She's coming back tomorrow, but I'm not quite sure how to face her. I told her she belonged to someone else because I was too much of a coward to be honest with her… and myself."

"April broke off her engagement to that paramedic, correct?"

"She did."

"Then what are you afraid of? Sweep her off her feet," Webber advised. "Tell her the truth before it's too late."

Jackson frowned. "I'm thinking I might have blown it, though. We haven't spoken to each other since the night of the storm. She could still be hurt, you know? And she should be. I pushed her away." He heard his mother's boisterous voice from the hallway as he finished replacing Webber's dressings. "And that's my signal to bail."

Catherine entered the room energetic as always. "Good morning, baby," she greeted her son, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Did you eat any breakfast? I have a Danish for you if you're hungry."

"Nah, I'm good, but thanks." He knew if he didn't make his escape soon, he would be interrogated by Mama Avery until he cracked. "Well, my work here is done. Yang will be in here any minute now to check on you, sir."

"Oh, you can stay for a few minutes, Jackson," his mother insisted, pulling on his arm. "Have a seat. I know we see each other all the time in the hospital and outside of work, but we never get the chance to actually talk."

Jackson pointed over his shoulder as he stepped backwards. "I've got other patients to check on, Mom." He gave her a thumbs up with a cheesy grin on his face. "And in case you were wondering, his burns are healing smoothly."

"Hold on a second-" Catherine softly groaned, her hand resting against her hip as her baby boy quickly rushed out of the room. She turned towards Webber and raised her eyebrow at him. "So, were you able to break through to him?"

"Nope. He didn't tell me anything," Webber convincingly lied, smiling back at her. "Let him be. When he's ready he will talk to you."

Jackson spent time in the ER after being paged to treat a patient with a laceration on his cheek. The patient refused to let an amateur intern destroy his face, so he requested a plastic surgeon. Being in the pit brought back painful memories of that stormy night. He couldn't keep his mind off of April.

Normally, her perky attitude and high-pitched voice invaded the area and her presence was definitely needed. Owen had been in a sullen mood since his break up with Cristina, so the ER lacked that cheerful spunk April usually tried to spread around.

"Oww! Hey, man. I was told you were the best plastics guy this hospital has to offer, so could you at least numb me before you start stitching me up?" the man sitting on the bed complained. He was around his late 20's. Model type. No wonder he refused help from any interns or residents.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Tyler," Jackson apologized. He picked up the anesthesia and slowly injected it into his patient's cheek. Thinking about the redhead he dearly missed distracted him enough to forget to numb the guy.

Once he finished dealing with his patient, he walked towards the nurses' station where Callie sat behind the computer. The orthopedic surgeon was also dealing with her own relationship woes and she topped both him and Cristina in the heartbroken department. Nobody ever expected Arizona Robbins to cheat on her. They had a child together, which made the situation worse for the both of them. Whether or not they would resolve their problems, that remained up in the air.

"Mr. Model is good and gone," Jackson unenthusiastically announced and rested his forearms against the counter.

"I think you should've fixed him without the anesthesia. I would've loved to hear him scream some more," Callie quipped before she glanced up at him. "How's the shoulder? Any soreness or stiffness?"

"Only in the morning when I wake up. It's feeling better now," he answered, stretching his arm to show her the lack of discomfort in his shoulder. "No more PT for me. Anyway, what are you up to?"

"Nothing really. Why?"

Jackson lightly tapped his fingers against the counter before he responded curiously, "This is probably random, but do you know what time April's flight arrives tomorrow?"

"Actually, I do know because I'm the one picking her up from the airport. She also has a special package for me, so that's another thing to pick up," the Latina stated, then she gazed back at the computer screen. "She's scheduled to arrive at around 11:30 tomorrow morning."

"You think uhh… I could pick her up instead?" he inquired eagerly. "I'll take care of your package too."

Callie smirked at the plastic surgeon. "You think that's a good idea? You two aren't exactly friends right now."

"We have unfinished business. I have to do this," Jackson confidently stated, then he pressed his palms together and rested his fingertips underneath his chin. He sheepishly grinned at her. "Please? I don't want to beg, Torres."

"Hmm… I don't know. Seeing you beg would be entertaining," she teasingly replied. Callie shrugged her shoulders and softly laughed. "Okay, okay. You don't have to beg, Avery. Go ahead and pick her up. Alaska Airlines, flight 19. Just be very careful with my package, alright? I would like it in one piece tomorrow."

Snapping his fingers and pointing at his fellow board member, Jackson widely grinned at Callie. "I promise your package will be safe. Thank you for this. I owe you one."

His mood suddenly became brighter as he walked towards the elevator. The situation couldn't be more perfect for him. Once April spotted him waiting for her at the airport, she had to know he was sorry for pushing her away. No more avoiding each other's feelings. He wanted her and nobody else.

Waiting in the baggage claim area of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jackson anticipated April's arrival as passengers from her flight began filing in. Dressed in a white buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark blue jeans, he occasionally bounced onto his tip toes as he searched for his redheaded woman to appear. He wanted to prove to her that he was done messing around, so he bought a bouquet of roses along the way. While he hardly ever gave flowers to women he dated, he knew she was the type of woman who appreciated them.

He nervously checked his watch for what seemed like the tenth time. It was fifteen past 11:30. Her flight had landed on time, but she hadn't appeared yet. Jackson hoped he hadn't missed her and she was already long gone from the airport. Or worse, she saw him first and chose to dodge him before he could find her.

But his paranoia disappeared when he finally spotted April riding the escalator down to baggage claim. Clutching her purse against one shoulder, she looked incredibly gorgeous in his eyes. Her red locks flowed over her shoulders and he couldn't care less about the fact that her face was slightly sunburned. He fought the urge to run towards her, swoop her into his arms and kiss her lips. The surprise factor felt more romantic to him.

Jackson took a deep breath as she walked towards his direction. She still hadn't seen him with the many other arrivals weaving around and past her. Holding up the bouquet of roses in his right hand, he smiled hoping she would see him soon.

April stopped walking as she searched for somebody. Perhaps she expected Callie to be waiting for her, but it wasn't the orthopedic surgeon she was looking for.

His smile faded when an unknown Caucasian man caught up with the trauma surgeon after rushing down the escalator. He was tall with dirty blonde hair and a little bit of stubble on his face. April appeared to know the man as she smiled and started walking alongside him.

And all Jackson could say to himself was, "Who the fuck is this guy?"

If you're flipping out, it's not what you think. More will be explained in the next chapter, including flashbacks to what happened to MA/JS ;)