So I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing my one shot/story. It really means a lot to me when I get a review. Anyway, I decided to write this tonight because I felt surprisingly inspired. I hope you enjoy it!
Please review! :)
Jackson's words hung into the air, everyone's eyes fixated on either him or the beautiful bride who seemed to have been knocked out of air.
April tried reasoning the words he'd just uttered. Her best friend since forever had loved her, and not just her.. Everything about her. But then she also remembered the disgusted look he'd had when she'd begged him for a reason for this day not to happen. She had begged him to drag her out of the lilies and roses, out of Matthew's arms and into his. But he hadn't.
"I… I think you should go, Jackson." April spoke softly and firmly, although she felt like every piece of her was about to break into a million pieces.
This was the right thing to do. Matthew was a good man, and she loved him. Maybe there wasn't that passionate spark, but at least he didn't drive her insane. Love wasn't supposed to be that complicated, it was supposed to be simple. Right?
Jackson hung his head low as he walked silently out of the barn, all eyes following him. Right as the doors closed, a small silent sob could be heard. April felt her heart tighten, but the cry was quickly covered by the minister's voice.
"Right, so should we get this wedding going?" and just like that, every mind seemed to be wiped from the memory of the crying pleading blue eyes. All minds except April's.
It had been about a week since the wedding, and Jackson's life had only gone downhill. After being rejected by the love of his life, no surprises there, he had ran out of the barn full on crying. It was the most humiliating experience of his life, yet he kept replaying each moment of it in his head all the time.
She had looked so beautiful, with her red hair he could stare at forever pinned up; her captivating hazel eyes he'd found himself lost in so many times had glowed in a way he'd never really noticed before.
That's when he had noticed, if not simply acknowledged the fact she was the most beautiful human being he'd ever seen. Not only in the way her red hair sprawled against her shoulders, or the red her pink lips puckered when she concentrated; but in the way she was. Her rambles were annoyingly enchanting, and her laugh was his favourite melody in the world. April was simply beautiful.
It was funny how one day you look at the person who's been your best friend for so long and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is… suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with.
So he hadn't been able to stop himself from standing up.
As the thoughts had slowly flooded his mind, Jackson had turned to Stephanie and simply couldn't believe what he'd been doing. She had stared at him in a way he found aggravating, because the only person he wanted to be stared at like that was April.
So he stood up.
He stood up because in front of him unravelled a puzzle he finally felt like he understood. She'd been his best friend, his person, his safe place. In that moment, it felt like every thing suddenly made sense, yet at the same time nothing did because April was marrying another man. She was committing her life to someone that was him. April would become April Taylor, not April Avery. That thought alone sent cold shivers down his spine.
Okay, maybe the timing hadn't been great. She was literally in the middle of marrying another man, so he did half expect her answer to be what she had said. Something he hadn't expected was the way his heart had suddenly clenched so uncomfortably he felt as though every feeling he'd ever had would come flying out into the open.
The sob that took over his body was one he had never experienced. The adrenaline that pulsed through his veins felt as though it may make his body explode any minute, and suddenly his tie felt as though it was suffocating him.
It had become this undeniable truth that he'd always been in love with April. If a few years ago you would've told him that April Kepner would be the woman he would want to spend the rest of his life with, Jackson probably would've been confused. But it was there, and it was true.
He took off his tie and let tears fall down his face. Tears because his best friend may never forgive him, and because he may never forgive himself either.
So there he was, a week later, alone in his apartment. April had taken off for her honeymoon without ever looking back, and he'd been left in his spiralling nightmare alone.
Surprisingly, Alex and Cristina were very supportive and even got drunk with him a few times. They never said anything, not when he cried, not when he passed out. It felt nice not to be judged for once.
Jackson took on shift after shift, making sure there was nothing else other than surgery on his mind. And it helped, kind of. Sometimes, when he was about scrub in on a surgery he would remember a moment he would've shared with April in that particular OR, and it felt like the air was sucked out of his lungs. These episodes didn't last very long, but they were incredibly painful.
He missed her. He missed her so much he actually wondered if he would ever get better. If getting in bed alone would ever stop feeling so lonely without her hazel eyes gazing at him from the other pillow. He missed her melodic laugh, and the way she would rant crazily when she was stressed out.
It was a late Friday night, Shepard and Hunt had ordered him to go home. Apparently they'd noticed he had been on call every single day for the past week or so and decided that it was time he took a bit of time off.
"Beating yourself up won't make anything better." Owen had tried to talk to him calmly, but all Jackson could hear was a blur. All Jackson could ever hear in the past few days had been a blur, actually. And he knew it was all because none of those voices were his favourite perky one that he knew and loved so well.
So he sat and watched TV, listening to the sound of the drumming rain as he impatiently waited for a pizza he'd ordered well over an hour ago. It better have been made out of magical crust for it to be taking that damn long, he silently thought watching some lame show reruns.
When the doorbell rang, Jackson didn't think twice before bolting from his seat and heading towards the door. The thought of warm crusty pizza made him feel slightly better at the long night where he would probably end up drunk and crying.
"What took you so long, honestly is your pizza made out of gold or som-" Jackson stopped dead in his tracks when instead of his usual pizza delivery guy stood a familiar redhead who'd been haunting his thoughts for the past week.
Her hair was completely drenched, and her clothes were too. She looked like an absolute mess, but to him she was still absolutely beautiful.
"So picture this: Matthew and I arrive in California, and it's so gorgeous. The hotel is magnificent, the food looks absolutely delicious, and he's so great. The hotel room is.. it's set up for our first night together, you know?" April chokes back a sob, which ultimately comes out. Jackson fights the urge to go and wipe her tears right there and then. "But I can't stop crying. In the plane, in the hotel, in the restaurant.. I can't stop. Matthew thinks it's the nerves, so do I. But that's when I realize it Jackson. I realize that I'm crying because the man that I love isn't the one I'm married to. I.. I love you. I tried talking myself out of it, but I just can't. I can't and I don't want to. I am so in love with you."
It only took seconds for Jackson to scoop April into his arms and for their lips to crash together into the most romantic and passionate kiss they'd ever shared.
They moulded perfectly together, like their whole life they'd just been two puzzle pieces waiting to find each other. Suddenly it becomes undeniable and unquestionable to ever imagine a world where they're not together.
So there they were, kissing passionately in front of Jackson's apartment. Him in sweatpants, her in drenched clothes. Both of them being able to taste the saltiness from their tears, which made their heart wrench and whirl as they realize they'll be able to do this for the rest of the lives.
And it just feels right. She's April Kepner, a neurotic klutz who much too often drives people away and he's Jackson Avery, the famous grandson of Harper Avery who has too much on his shoulders most of the time. But to her he's just Jackson, and to him she's just April. He's his and he's hers. It's just right.