It had been their first day of internship when she'd seen her. She was stood across the room looking confident and chatting lively with another doctor.
Then they'd made eye contact. She smiled, she actually smiled and said something to the tall doctor in front of her before moving.
She approached and stuck out her hand, still smiling. "I'm Reed" she said. "Reed Adamson"
"April Kepner," she shook the outstretched hand, beaming back at her.
And that had been it. They'd been best friends since then, moved in together, had movie nights, all the things best friends did. And April loved it, she'd never had a best friend before, and she was happy.
Then things started changing. It was subtle at first, soft touches would linger, they'd hold each other's eyes a little too long. Percy noticed it, and he'd tease April because he was jealous. Reed shot him down though, protecting her best friend.
One night, after a little bit too much wine, and a night in front of the television, they were huddled together on the couch. A piece of hair fell across Aprils face and Reed brushed it off, her hand lingering on Aprils face. And she'd kissed her.
It was just a quick kiss, ghosting across her lips but April felt it. And then Reed was gone.
It'd been awkward for a while after, Reed avoided April, until April cornered her in the on call room.
"You've been avoiding me for days. You won't look at me, you can't stand to be in the same room as me! I'm sorry, if you hate me now. Or you find me repulsive, I'm sorry. But I can't stand this." She'd yelled, her face changing colour ever so slightly.
"I don't hate you, don't be stupid." Reed had replied, turning away from her.
"The what is it? Because I'm certainly not feeling the love." April huffled, crossing her arms.
"I love you! Okay? I'm in love with you." Reed had yelled, "And I can't stand that you might not feel the same, alright? Can we just drop it?"
April had walked up behind her, placing her hands on either side of her arms, and pulling her round to face her.
Reed kept her eyes on the ground, unwilling to look up.
"Reed? Look at me? Please." April had whispered softly. She brought her hand up under Reeds chin, and she'd flinched, but April just cupped her cheek.
She leant forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you too, you absolute dope. How could you not have known?"
After that, they'd been a lot closer. Percy and Avery made jokes about them being lesbians, but they never confirmed nor denied it, it was their business, not anyone else.
They were happy, living together, working together. And then it started to take its toll, and they started arguing, constantly. When they weren't arguing, they were making up.
Then they were told they'd be merging with Seattle Grace, and April and Reed barely left the hospital. One night, Reed had found April in the bathroom, crying.
"Shh, it'll be okay!" Reed had scooped her up from the floor, cradling her. "They won't get rid of you, you're one of the best on our programme" She kissed her hair, smoothing it and waiting for the tears to stop.
And she'd been right, they moved to Seattle Grace together, and moved into a bigger apartment, closer to the hospital.
Then one night, they'd fought.
And then, distracted from fighting with Reed, and the fighting in the ER, she'd made a mistake, and she'd been fired.
And when she'd finally gotten home, Reed was there. Waiting. Telling her they needed time apart.
So she left. Returned home until one night she got a phone call from Dr Sheppard, telling her he wanted to speak to her.
So she went back to Seattle, and she had a meeting with Sheppard, who was now the Chief of Surgery. And he gave her a job again.
She was stood in front of the OR Board, smiling, when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey stranger." She turned to see Reed staring at her, smiling. "I missed you. I made a mistake. Please come home?"
She'd taken Reeds hand and walked out of the hospital.
It'd been a while since then. And it'd been perfect. Until April had walked into a supply closet and tripped. When she rose, she found herself covered in blood.
Then she saw Reed lying their lifelessly, surrounded by a pool of her own blood, bullet hole in her forehead. She ran to Dr Sheppard, crying. People thought that she had a crush on him, but honestly, he reminded her of her father, he made her feel safe.
She had guns pointed at her, had nearly lost her own life. Watched others die. Percy.
She'd attended their funerals, feeling hollow. She went to work, feeling hollow.
Then things started getting better. Until someone brought up her sex life. She'd lied, told them she was a virgin. She didn't know how to say Reed had been the only person she'd slept with.
She tried to move on, but she couldn't. She even tried sleeping with Alex, which was a mistake. She'd gone home and cried afterwards, apologising to Reed even though she was unsure if she could hear her.
She moved into Merediths house with Lexie, Alex and Jackson, and things were okay.
"Hey you, guess what?" April started, placing flowers on the ground in front of her. "I got chief resident!" Her fingers traced along the name etched in stone in front of her.
"I wish you were here though, so much has happened." She smiled, even though tears were forming in her eyes. She cried every time she came here.
"People keep trying to get me laid, it's weird. I don't know if I want to sleep with anyone else. It's the one thing we had you know?" A few tears dripped down her face, she brushed them away with the back of her hand. She sighed, "I miss you. I miss you so much. And I don't know what to do. I feel like if I move on, I'll betray you. But I kinda feel like I'm ready, you know? You've been gone a year now, and I know if you saw me moping, you'd probably kick my ass, but I'm moping."
She stood up again, taking something out of her pocket. "The stupid thing is, I'll never love anyone the way I love you, and that's not fair, is it?"
She lifted the scalpel up and watched it glint in the sunlight.
"Still feels like you're gonna walk up to me and tell me to man up. But you're gone." She looked down at the scalpel, sighing again, before placing it on top of her gravestone.
"I love you" she whispered, before turning and walking away from the graveyard.