"Hey," Meredith said, as she walked in to the kitchenette and spotted Cristina, who was just having her morning cup of coffee. Every morning they met there and talked a little before work started, but this time Cristina looked a little distracted and thoughtful. However, Meredith decided to ignore it. She had something slightly more important to ask her. "Listen, I know it's a short notice, but could you come over tonight and look after Adrienne? Derek wants to take me to a restaurant and our babysitter can't come, so I was wondering if you have time." Meredith looked at her pleadingly, hoping she would agree.

"I'm sorry, Mer. You know I love spending time with my goddaughter, but I already have this thing planned for tonight." Cristina looked at her apologetically. She didn't like saying no to her, especially when Meredith looked like she was relying on her, but she already had her plans for the evening and wouldn't like to change them.

"What kind of thing?" Meredith asked curiously. She had no idea what Cristina was up to, but assumed that it was the reason, why she looked so thoughtful.

"Do you remember Jackson? That hot guy I met at my exhibition?" she asked, not waiting for Meredith's answer and continued. "Well, yesterday we talked over the phone and he invited me to his apartment. He wants to show me the collection of his paintings we were talking about earlier."

"First date and he already invited you to his apartment? This guy is taking it a little quickly, don't you think?" Meredith asked, worried about her best friend. She knew her respond might have sounded a little harsh, but Cristina's plans surprised her. Just a week ago, she was talking about giving Owen another chance and suddenly she was going on a date with a complete stranger. However, considering how hot Jackson looked, she couldn't really blame her.

"It's not a date!" Cristina corrected her and shook her head. "I asked him to show me his paintings and that's what he is going to do. Nothing more, nothing less."

"So what is it? A sleepover?" She asked with a chuckle. From the way Cristina responded, she could see she was nervous about it. Date or not, she seemed to like that guy. "Because he may want to show you much more than just his paintings."

"Wh... What?"

"I just... In case you want to spend a night there, you might want to bring a tooth brush. And condoms," she said quietly and started to laugh, when she saw Cristina's confused facial expression. She couldn't tell if Meredith was joking or not.

"I'm not gonna... I... Um... Meredith!" Cristina yelled, flinging her arms everywhere. She was already nervous enough and didn't need Meredith to make it worse.

"Calm down. I was just kidding," Meredith was still laughing, as she watched her friend, nervously shifting from one foot to another. "You must really like this guy. I've never seen you being so nervous about a date."

"So maybe I like him," she finally admitted, looking at her shoes. Cristina had never been good talking about feelings, but the redness in her face said it all. "He seems to be nice. But… I don't know if he likes me that way. I don't even know if he likes me at all. I basically made him to invite me. So maybe he was just being polite."

"So you think he invited you to his apartment because he doesn't like you?" Meredith asked, still mocking her friend a little. Seeing Cristina so nervous was something unusual and she was enjoying it. Most of the time Cristina was very confident about her actions and decisions.

"Why are you so mean to me today?" Cristina asked, crossing her arms on her chest, pretending to be mad at her. She expected some kind of support from her person, but instead of that, she was making fun of her nervousness.

"I'm not mean. But you don't know him very well and I just want to protect you."

"Well you don't have to. If you want, I'll give you his address, just in case. But I'm telling you, it's just a friendly visit," Cristina said, rolling her eyes and not accepting the fact that Jackson might be attracted to her as well.

"You really think you will drink tea and chat about weather? He's into you. I'm more than sure about that."

"Who is into whom?" Izzie's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, as she entered the kitchen. When she first came to the magazine, looking for a job, she was just one of many models. But as they soon found out, she was also an amazing writer with a head full of useful advice which helped her to become a full time employee. And since she was also really chatty and sociable, it didn't take her too long to become Meredith and Cristina's friend.

"Cristina has a date with one hot painter that she met at her exhibition," Meredith said, clarifying the situation. "And she doesn't want to admit that he's into her."

"Meredith!" Cristina exclaimed, trying to shut her up. She didn't like it when her personal life was discussed with other people. Even though Izzie was a good friend, she couldn't keep her mouth shut for very long. And Cristina didn't want everybody to know about her date. Especially when she didn't know, if it was gonna work or not. "And it's not a date."

"He invited her to his apartment, to show her some of his paintings," Meredith explained, seeing Izzie's eyes widen. "Oh, so it's a sleepover." Izzie nodded her head, took yoghurt out of the fridge and sat beside Meredith. "Is he hot? 'Cos I heard that many painters are weirdoes." She scrunched up her face.

Cristina rolled her eyes at Izzie's comment, ignoring the part about the sleepover. "He is hot. Very hot to be exact," she admitted, biting her lip, as she remembered the hypnotizing eyes and shiny smile. This guy made her feel like a teenager that was going on a first date. "But that's not the point." She took a deep breath before continuing, still avoiding Izzie and Meredith's curious eyes. "The point is, that we're just going to talk about art, maybe drink a little, but that's all," she said, trying to look confident about it, even though she knew there could be much more going on.

"People usually call it a date."Izzie grinned, sticking her tongue out a little.

"Yeah," Meredith agreed and nodded her head.

"You know what? You act like a bunch of teenage girls. If you wanna act like this then I'm not gonna tell you anything," Cristina said, pretending to be mad at them and with a cup of coffee in her hand left to her office.

"She likes him," Meredith and Izzie both said at the same time, when Cristina left the kitchen and started to laugh.

Jackson was really nervous about Cristina coming to his place. There hadn't been many women in his apartment so far. Especially not on a first date. If this could be even considered as a first date. But Cristina was different. She didn't seem to be scared of being alone with him. She was obviously very confident. And also she was the one, who asked him to show her his collection of paintings. Cristina made him nervous. More than any woman ever did. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Jackson quickly checked himself in the mirror, before rushing to open the door.

"Hey," Cristina said with a smile, when he opened the door. She looked totally stunning and all Jackson could do, was stand there without a word and stare at her. She was wearing white ruffle top and black skinny jeans. Without the high heels she looked so tiny, but still really hot.

"Hey. I was worried you were not gonna come," Jackson said, when he finally woke up from the shock of how beautiful she looked. "Come in."

"I wasn't sure if I'm gonna come. First I thought you might be one of those freaky pervs, who want to show women their "collection", then rape them and hide them in their basement for the rest of their lives. But considering that I learned something in Thai box classes and that I have tear-gas in my bag, I decided to come anyway," she said with laugh, as she walked into Jackson's apartment. "And I also googled your name, what proved that you really are who you said you are," she added after a while, running her hand through her hair nervously. "Am I talking too much?" she asked when she realized that she was acting nothing like herself. But with Jackson light blue eyes fixed on her it was difficult to act normal.

"No. Not at all," Jackson laughed as he led her to the couch in the middle of his living room. The fact that she looked nervous calmed him a little. At least he wasn't alone in it. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll just grab some wine from the fridge."

"From what I can see, you have a really nice apartment," Cristina said, looking around and sat on the couch, putting her bag next to her. "Much bigger compared to mine."

"That's just an illusion, because I have high ceiling and I put my bedroom to the air," Jackson winked at her and walked to his kitchen that was connected with his living room. "And I also use this apartment as a studio where I paint."

"That's cool. Working from home. There are days when I hate getting up from bed and going to the magazine where I work."

"So you work for a magazine?" Jackson asked curiously, whilst he searched for a bottle of red wine in his fridge. "I thought you only do photography." He added, when he finally found what he was looking for and walked back to the living room. He put two glasses on the small coffee table and poured them with wine, before sitting beside Cristina.

"I do. I take photos for the magazine. Fashion, photos of food or anything else that needs to be captured. This job pays my bills. The photos in my exhibition those I do for fun."

"I can totally understand that." He nodded. "Few years ago, I used to illustrate books a lot. It helped me move from the tiny apartment I had to this one. Now I mostly do big paintings for customers, but still illustrate some books here and there. It gives me some certainty in my life," Jackson explained and handed Cristina the glass of red.

At first the conversation between them was a little awkward but after a few minutes they both became comfortable around each other. Cristina told him about the years in college and how she moved to Seattle, thinking she would be an accountant for the rest of her life. Also about how she met Meredith who quickly became her best friend and how she and her husband who was a co-owner of the popular magazine they worked for, helped her slowly become a photographer.

Jackson explained to her his complicated relationship with his parents, who were successful lawyers and wanted him to do the same. However, he was always fascinated by art and after finishing a law school, he decided to get away from his parents' power and become a painter like he always wanted to.

After they both shared their experiences and agreed, that becoming an artist wasn't as easy as it seemed, there was a silent moment between them. Suddenly Jackson remembered the reason, why Cristina came to his apartment in the first place.

"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, when he realized that. "I promised that I'll show you my collection and I almost forgot about it." He quickly stood up from the couch and turned on the lights on the opposite side of his living room. "Follow me," he said and Cristina did as he told her to. They walked to the corner of the room, where Jackson moved away two screens, revealing a small studio, where he worked on his paintings.

"Wow," Cristina let out the word of surprise, as she looked around with a small smile on her face. There were some canvases, brushes, colors and bunch of other stuff she couldn't identify.

"I know it's not big, but it gives me enough space to work on my paintings. And it's quite close to the kitchen." He laughed and walked further to his workplace. He grabbed an old blanket, which was covering his paintings and put it away. A little bit of dust filled the small space and Cristina started to cough. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I don't put it away very often," he quickly apologized, giving Cristina a concerned look.

"It's okay," she managed to say, when she finally took a deep breath.

"You sure?" Jackson asked her and after she gave him a reassuring nod, he started to show her his paintings and her face immediately lightened up.

"Oh my God" Those are wonderful," she said with a huge smile on her lips, as she studied every inch of every painting. There were unbelievably realistic portraits along with classical still-lifes and some abstract experiments. "These tulips look so real. Like you can actually touch them or smell them," she giggled and looked at Jackson, who was watching her in delight.

He always hoped he could find a woman who would admire his work. Who would understand how important art was for him. And the look in Cristina's eyes when she was looking at his painting told him that she could be a woman like that. At first he was worried she wouldn't like his work, but she seemed to be amazed. "Do you want to touch it?" he prompted her.

"You can't touch paintings. Don't you know that?" she asked with laugh.

"Of course you can. You just need the privilege." Jackson winked at her and took her small hand into his. He gently traced along the edge of each tulip with her fingers, a wide smile not leaving his face. "Do you like it?" he asked, seeing her pretty smile growing bigger.

"Yeah." She nodded and looked back at him. "It's amazing," she admitted, still a little surprised how easily it impressed her. She may have been picky when it came to dating, but any sort of art amazed her really quickly.

They were both standing there in complete silence with silly smiles on their faces, completely lost in their thoughts, when Jackson took a deep breath, ready to say something. "Will it be too presumptuous if I try to kiss you?" he asked suddenly. He knew that asking that was very presumptuous, but just watching how her full pink lips moved as she spoke, wasn't enough for him. He wanted to taste them. To feel them on his own.

"Yeah." She laughed a little and he took it as a bad sign. "But I like presumptuous," she added after a while, smiling at him and moving a little closer. Cristina wanted to kiss him at least as much, as he wanted to kiss her. But none of them admitted it.

Jackson's hand slowly moved to the side of her head, lightly stroking her cheek, before he leaned over her and his lips softly captured hers. They were full and soft. Perfect for kissing. And Jackson didn't want to let them go. It was very gentle and romantic kiss, even though it lasted just for a few seconds.

"That felt..." Jackson started hesitantly, when he pulled away a little, not being sure if Cristina liked it as much, as he did.

"Good," she finished and a shy smile appeared on her lips. Actually very good. She thought to herself, not saying anything just keep smiling.

"Do you want more wine?" Jackson suggested, after another moment of silent staring at each other. If it was up to him, he would never stop kissing her, but for now, he didn't want to push it too much.

"Yeah, I'd love to," she nodded and they both moved back to the couch.

Jackson poured them two glasses of red, giving her one of his best smiles. God, she's so beautiful. He thought as he sipped from his glass, discretely watching her curls move around her face. He wanted to touch them so so bad.

They were both longing for the sweet taste of each other's lips. After a few long seconds of silence, they both decided to lean over. Unfortunately they both moved their head to the same side and their noses bumped painfully. They quickly pulled away from each other, slightly rubbing the places, where their faces bumped together.

"Ouch," Cristina yelped in pain, still holding her hand over her face. "This kind of ruined the moment," she said with chuckle.

"I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" Jackson asked concerned and gently removed Cristina's hand from her nose. "I'm not a doctor, but it seems to be all right," he said with a small smile, while his fingers lightly stroked her cheek, before leaning over again and softly kissing her.

Cristina quickly forgot about the pain, as she caught his lips into hers, eagerly responding to his kiss. This one was more passionate than the first one. His hand quickly find the way to her hair, feeling the soft curls under his fingertips, while she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She was surrounded by his scent along with the warmth that his body provided and all she could think about was the sweet, yet refreshing taste of his lips on hers. They reminded her of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Her favorite. "We barely know each other," Jackson said breathlessly, when he pulled away after a while, gasping for air.

"Is that a problem for you?" Cristina asked, hoping it wasn't. She wasn't a type of woman that would make out with strangers, but there was something about Jackson, that made her do crazy things. And she liked that feeling.

"No, not at all." He shook his head and his lips crushed on hers again. He wrapped his arms around her slim waist, pulling her closer and closing the distance between them. His tongue slightly ran across her bottom lip, begging for an entrance and she didn't resist. As their tongues battled inside of Cristina's mouth, Jackson gently pinned her to the couch. His hands slowly started to run up and down her sides, intensifying the feeling of their already passionate kisses. A slight moan escaped Cristina's throat, when she felt Jackson's lips moving to her neck, nuzzling it a little, while his hot breath tickled her skin.

"Oh, God," she whispered, before their lips met again in another hot mouth opened kiss.

They both forgot how fast the time was running, when suddenly Cristina heard her phone ringing in her bag. "I think I should pick that up," she murmured against Jackson's lips, trying to reach her bag with one hand, while the other one was still wrapped around his neck.

"Can't it wait?" he asked, because he didn't want to separate his lips from hers for more than a second. "Whoever it is, will call later."

"I guess it's my best friend, Meredith. She knows I'm here and if I don't pick up, she'll call the cops," Cristina said with a serious face, knowing that Meredith would be capable of it.

"In that case, you better take that call," disappointment was obvious in Jackson's voice and before he straightened up he gave Cristina one more kiss. "In case you want some privacy..." Jackson said and pointed to the door that led to his bathroom.

"Thanks," Cristina smiled and picked up the phone. "Hey, Mer. What's up?" she tried to sound casually, as she closed the door of the bathroom behind her.

"Why did it take you so long to pick up? I was about to call the police," Meredith basically yelled and Cristina could hear that she was worried.

"Chillax, Meredith. I'm fine." Cristina laughed, when she heard Meredith's scared voice. In fact, she was more than fine. "I was just... ummm... busy," she said, biting her lip in order not to laugh. Cristina knew that this kind of answer would freak Meredith out even more. But after the way she acted this morning, she kind of deserved it.

"What?" Meredith shouted out. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No. We were just... making out a little. No big deal," she said with the same tone, like as if she was saying that she was having a cup of coffee with him.

Cristina could hear Meredith letting out a breath, as she found out that her friend was okay. "I thought you said it's not a date," she mocked her a little.

"It's not." Cristina grinned, even though Meredith couldn't see her.

"Okay. Whatever. But date or not, you can't sleep with him. He'll think you're a slut." Meredith warned her with a serious tone in her voice.

"Don't worry. I know how to behave." Cristina rolled her eyes. She always tried to convince Meredith that she didn't need relationship advice, but wasn't very successful. Especially when most of the guys she went out with didn't make it to second date. "I have to end. I don't want Jackson to think that I'm telling you every single detail."

"But you will," Meredith said, hoping to hear everything about Cristina's evening in the young artist's apartment.

"We'll see." Cristina laughed and hung up. She took a quick look in the mirror, fixing her messy hair a little, before coming back to the living room.

"So? Did you explain your friend that I'm not a serial killer?" Jackson asked with a grin, as Cristina sat on the couch next to him.

"Yeah. I think she finally believes it," she chuckled, before putting a small kiss on Jackson's lips. She wished she could stay with him all night, even if they spent it just talking about art, but felt like it was time to call it night and go home. "It was a lovely evening, but I think it's time to go for me. I have to get up early and go to work," she sighed. Even though she loved photography more than anything, the early get-up was awful.

"Right. Having normal work sucks." He nodded sympathetically, leading Cristina to the front door. He wished she could stay, but knew it was too early to ask her something like that. He didn't want to ruin the perfect evening they had. "So... Can I see you again? Sometime?" he asked hopefully because he couldn't imagine the possibility of never seeing her again.

"Definitely," she replied with a smile, hoping that 'sometime' will be soon enough.

As their eyes met again, Jackson leaned over and kissed her one more time before leaving. "Good bye, Cristina," he said when their lips separated.

"Good bye." With those words she left his apartment. It had been just a few seconds, but she already couldn't wait to see him again. Cristina began to feel something she hasn't felt in a very long time. She was falling in love. And there was no way to get out of it.