Title : The trouble with asking
Disclaimer :Grey's Anatomy & its characters are the property of ABC & Shonda Rhimes
Summary: Jackson's POV during the breakfast that Alex interrupted
Rating: T for suggestive theme/cursing
AN:4th in 'the trouble with…' series. No spoilers. Unbeta'ed so all mistakes are mine.
Jackson is pissed.
No, not because he's awake at 6AM on a day when he's scheduled to work the night shift. And no, it's not because he's hungry and have yet to get his caffeine fix.
"Oh come on! What did I do?" He is pissed because April is giving him the silent treatment - and he doesn't even know why!
She ignores him and continues making pancakes without looking at him.
He breathes in deeply to calm himself down and moves to stand very close to her, hoping to crowd her and get her to react, if only to tell him off for invading her personal space.
She just uses her other hand to take the pancake off the griddle and onto the plate in front of him so as to avoid touching him.
"The fuck April?" He resorts to yelling as his frustration over the situation mounts. He doesn't even stop to wonder why the thought of her being mad at him is unsettling. It's not like they haven't had a falling out before. They've had their share after having known each other for years and he normally just leaves her alone until she works the funk out of her system. But for some reason, he can't seem to just walk away to give her space right now.
Of course, all he gets is long, bloody drawn-out, uncomfortable-as-f*ck silence.
F*ck!
He is about to yank on her sleeve when he hears a loud cough from across the room and freezes when he sees Alex.
Double f*ck!
He glares at Alex willing him to leave. Of course, April chooses that moment to break her silence and invites him to breakfast.
Triple f*ck!
He has to clench his jaw to stop himself from cursing loudly when Alex smirks and moves to stand between him and April to get to the stack of pancakes. And damned if that f*cker didn't take his sweet time forking those blasted pancakes onto his plate! He is doubly annoyed when he realizes that unlike with him, she used her right hand to move another piece from the pan to the plate, thereby causing their arms to touch.
He knows he should wonder why he doesn't find it amusing that Alex gasps like a girl at the contact and instead gets hung up (and annoyed) over the fact there is contact at all. But he is too busy boring a hole at the back of Alex's neck to do so. He almost snorts out loud when he hears his fellow resident mumble having a sore shoulder as an excuse. Sore shoulder my foot! He half expects April to roll her eyes because seriously, the guy is obviously lying but then her confusion turns to concern and he's finally had it.
So he mutters "You're hogging the stack," at the lying douchebag just so he has an excuse to elbow him away from her.
He registers Alex's grin before he realizes that April has offered him the use of her liniment and he wants to grab and shake her for buying into his act. Seriously? She believes Alex's shit?
And as if that isn't enough to shoot his BP into the stratosphere, the f*cker actually has the gall to hit on April! In front of him! WTF?
"Dude! Seriously?" The protest leaves his lips before he can think about it.
Alex just gives him a 'what-are-you-on-about' look.
And April, she just shakes her head at him in obvious disappointment before leaving the room. He looks at her retreating back forlornly and is about to follow her when he hears his fellow resident's loud snort. He turns to face him and asks icily, "What?"
"You know if you have the hots for Kepner, you might reconsider having your attending do the asking for you."
"What the fuck are you on about?" He asks him in annoyance.
"Sloan."
"What about Sloan?"
"Oh you poor bastard!"
"What?" He is genuinely confused.
"He hit on April yesterday."
"He what?" He feels as though all the blood in his body has just shot up to his head. WTF?
"He asked her to take one for the team." Alex explains gleefully. "Because…you know, you needed to get laid."
"F*ck!" This time, he says it out loud. No wonder April was mad. She probably thought they'd been having fun at her expense. Oh he is so gonna kill Sloan! (It doesn't occur to him until much, much later, that he'd never felt this mad at his mentor before … not when he'd withheld surgeries from him and not even when Lexie showed up at his apartment on Valentine's Day).
"So, do you?" Alex's question breaks through his internal rant.
"Do I what?" He asks impatiently as he turns to follow April.
"Have the hots for Kepner?" The fact that the question seems torn out of his fellow resident makes him freeze where he stands.
He slowly faces the other man. "Do you?" The words escape his lips before his brain can process what it actually means and why the answer should even matter - to either of them.
Of course, just like he can't seem to answer the question, neither it seems, can Alex.
Because they can only stare at each other in silence.