A/N: Contains a big misunderstanding that may be upsetting to read.

Warning for folks that can't read a difficult rejection in fic.

Working at Saint Joseph's proved to be a dreadfully boring job.

Throughout the first day, Andy acquainted himself with how to set straps on patients that didn't want to be helpful - something that apparently wasn't that common, unless an Eagletonian was hospitalized here - and everything from big crazy machines that shot laser beams through people's heads so they could see their brains or something, to the revelation that Andy would be handling old people poop. And shaving those old people too. He tried not to think about what could be worse than this, then remembered that there was a decent paycheck at the end of it all and sucked it up.

It wasn't that bad afterward, since all he really did was help a nurse put a cast on someone's broken wrist. There was no worry of jittery hands from him, so it went fairly well. As long as he didn't have to shovel crap into some kinda big fire in the basement, or however hospitals powered their lights, he didn't care. He even saw Ann at one point, nodded like he always saw the doctors do, and walked past her.

Easy!

And at the end of the day, he got to go home and sleep off the aches building up from sudden physical work that he didn't expect. That, and whatever tiny bit of anxiety built up over nurses talking about how the hospital was probably going to phase out Andy's job whatever that meant. He knew that phasing out was like time travel or teleportation so, maybe, he was going to become an experiment. Andy didn't sign up to turn into the Brundlefly, a fact he relayed to April over text one day. He was lounging at home, enjoying not hearing Burly complain about money for once. Honestly, he wasn't even sure where Burly was now. He sunk into the couch, staring at his phone. She responded exactly as he'd hoped.

OMG i love that movie. You'd make an awesome blindingly

Andy stared at the last word for too long, trying to figure out what the hell April was saying before laughing at her followup.

Sry autocorrect. Y

After a moment, he sent her a question. It had been a week since the show at the Landfill and their strange encounter. She had kept staring at him like she wanted him to do something, and he was staring at her like she was attractive and a viable person to date instead of someone who hated his band and thought he was an idiot and a creep. And that she wanted to turn into a mutated half-human, half-fly monstrosity apparently. He probably deserved it.

Hey. When u guys playing next?

He sent the text and waited, hoping for a reply. In all honesty, he was surprised that April had even said a word to him after clearly making her uncomfortable after the Landfill show. Thank God he hadn't lost her yet, because there was something really fun about going to her shows and making fun of them.

The first time that he saw Flyover State, they played this eerie goth rock tinged with electronic music that he hadn't really paid any attention to at the bar other than to make fun of it. Now that he gave it a moment's honest listen, it wasn't that bad. Her voice was deep when she sang, not that it was high-pitched otherwise. It fit in with the samples and she borrowed a guitar from Andy, playing very plain and sparse chord progressions through a mountain of distortion he didn't know his own stuff was capable of producing. It was strange stuff but she stood tall on the stage of the local high school auditorium, looming over the dozen or so people from what was apparently the Pawnee-Eagleton area'ss minuscule goth scene collected there.

Her drummer, Derek the ex-boyfriend, was slender and played with a weird grip on the sticks. He didn't sound as powerful as Rivers nor was he as dynamic. For some reason that made Andy smile. The band's keyboardist-slash-sampler was a giant kid, stick-thin and clad in a black cloak. He never looked up from his instruments.

But April, he couldn't take his eyes off of her stage presence. She didn't do much other than lean down into the mic, mouth almost kissing the thing, as she stared down at one spot. Her playing was brash, the overwhelming distortion mixing with the instruments in such a kitschy way. He hated it, but when he told her about how it sounded she had given him that same smile.

It was worth it, then. Worth watching her like an angel of death promising some sort of end for everyone in the room in her lyrics, gruesome. He liked the way she looked holding that guitar, playing loud and angry music, and the way she sang did something strange to his heart that real art like Dave Matthews Band never could.

He ran back through that memory of seeing them for the first time again, remembering her staring at him in the final song the entire way through its playing. He remembered those doe eyes caked in black makeup and wondered where her power to draw him to the stage without doing much else came from, and why his heart fluttered at the silly text messages they exchanged like just then. Just as his phone beeped, he left that memory.

Tonight. Wanna come?

He answered in a second.

Duhhhhhh I wanna hear your band play more terrible songs

Your band is worse than mine, she answered just then. You guys just sing about parties and stupid shit.

You sing about dying and being sad, Andy answered back. And you play with WAY 2 MUCH GAIN

NEVER ENOUGH GAIN :)))))

Andy laughed to himself took down the time and place they would be playing and finally looked up to see Burly sitting at the kitchen table just beside the couch. His friend was giving him a knowing look, but Andy just looked around as if Burly's girlfriend would appear from behind the couch. He had to be looking at somebody, right?

"What?" he finally asked and Burly laughed.

"Dude, you're texting that singer chick again, aren't you?" Burly was pretty smart. Not as smart as April, but he was almost there.

"Well, yeah. I was gonna go see Flyover State later tonight, you wanna come?"

"I can't pay for it," Burly admitted and went back to eating his sandwich.

"She gets us in for free, don't worry," Andy waved him off. It was true, she had pretty much smuggled him inside the venues they played and Andy made sure to do the same. It was easy to just call each other roadies or dying Make-a-Wish Foundation kids that always wanted to see tiny, unsigned indie bands.

"She gets you in for free, dude."

"No, I'm sure she would..." Andy trailed off as he considered Burly's words and more importantly, his tone. "Wait, what are you trying to say? You are saying something other than what you're saying, right? I understand that now. I've worked at a hospital for a while, I've seen people do smart things."

"Dude, just ask this girl out on a date," Burly finally piped up and it was almost a shout. "You guys are obviously already going out, just make it official."

"Well... wait, no we're not!"

"Seriously? She borrows your guitars, dude. You go see each others' bands all the time and are always the last people leaving together," Burly laughed to himself and set his food down. He turned in his chair to face Andy, who was sitting there and likely looking confused. "You know you haven't talked about Ann since you started hanging out with April?"

"Well, that's probably not... totally, all the way true-"

"Not once, other than when she showed up to give you some clothes you left at her place," Burly said with such a smug look on his face Andy wasn't sure how to react. He couldn't be right, could he? "Dude, you are so much happier with her than pining after someone that doesn't want you."

"Oh, April already told me to stop being creepy about Ann. She's right, y'know?" Andy shook his head and felt his phone vibrate. He'd check her message in a second. "She's so smart."

"You are so hopeless, man."

Burly waved him off, dismissive to Andy's defense that weakened with every word. He flipped open his phone again to see that it was in fact from April.

Can't wait to c u tonight

When April saw Mouse Rat next, they played for a Valentine's Day dance sponsored by his boss, Chris Traeger. He was pretty sure Chris was his boss, considering he was a big shot in the HR department. He was Leslie's boss, at least, and Leslie was the coolest person he could ever go to. Andy went to her, explaining the Ann situation, and Leslie told him to keep doing what he was doing and keep his head low. But there was something there, then, about the warning. He could remember it vividly.

"Just so you know, Ann Perkins is an amazing person and I do not want you to hurt her," Leslie had said.

"Oh, I-"

"She's my best friend and you being a massive creep would be both a violation of every sexual harassment policy we have, that I take very seriously," Leslie pointed at him like he had already done something instead of explain why things might seem weird between a nurse and him. He thought this was the right thing to do? "And also of a blood pact with a friend to make sure she doesn't have to deal with jerks ever again."

"Blood pact-?"

"Thank you for asking how to proceed Andy. Keep your head down and as long as both of you are fine, I can't really write you up since this was before you worked here."

And that was the strange pretense for the Valentine's Day dance. April showed up wearing a black dress and Andy tried again to play cool, only complimenting her once by saying it was a super cool dress. Her response was just a shy smile and a thanks before she fled for the punch bowl. Leslie and her date, a skinny man with wild hair and the thinnest tie Andy had ever seen, greeted him before Mouse Rat played. He seemed okay, his name was Ben or Dan or something, but Andy was so focused on how April reacted to his little compliment that he could barely pay any attention to what they were saying.

The opener for Mouse Rat was a cover of that Sinatra song, The Way You Look Tonight. It was a bit more rock than the original, of course, but still soft enough for the elderly folks in attendance. The response was uproarious for such an ancient crowd, including April.

She didn't insult them at all that night despite Andy's prodding about the actual dad rock. When April was done, she let him drive her home and he let her out to her parents' house feeling like he was on top of the world.

The night of the next Flyover State show, Andy entered The Lunge again with as much confidence as if it was his show he meant to attend. After being carded again, this time without an argument from Andy, he made his way to the backstage where he knew the band was sitting around doing not much of anything. Their equipment was already set up on the stage. Few people were in the crowd, but that didn't seem to matter these three. When April spotted him in the green room, she stood up and awkwardly waited around for him to walk up to her and stand, just as awkward, in front of her.

They weren't that close, but judging by the way her sampler, Orin, and Derek watched, it was more intimate than anyone else wanted to see. They left for the stage twenty minutes before they were supposed to be playing.

"So, uh, sorry about what I said... about the whole not being able to wait to see you thing," April looked down quickly and then took a deep breath. "That was dumb. I can wait to see you."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Andy said. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the nervous sweat start to build up.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence where Andy wondered if they should do something about whatever was between them when April spoke. Or, at least, she clearly meant to say something. Instead, she said half a word and it died in her throat as she sighed. Slumping down on the chair she previously sat in, April put her head in her hands.

Part of Andy wondered if she was going to start crying, this was all very surreal.

"Are you... okay?" he asked, unsure what to say.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Andy," she said his name like she meant to continue, looked up at him for a moment, and sighed. "Forget it."

"Well, I had something I wanted to talk to you about, and I figured we'll both get pretty drunk so I should ask you while you're, uh..." Andy fished around in his mind for the word April taught him. He knew the word, but didn't quite get the context until she explained while they were hammered drunk at a show not for either of their bands. "Ah, yeah... while, uh, you can still give consent."

April gave him a curious look and made to say something before clamping her mouth shut, hard. Her face turned a bit pale then, or at least lighter than her olive skin tone. "Um, what?"

"I thought... that is to say, I was thinking about you and about us, friends and stuff, being able to become as we should be, us, I mean-"

"What the hell are you talking about, Andy?" April interrupted with that deep chuckle that lasted for less than a breath.

"I wanted to know if, you would be okay with-" Andy looked up at the ceiling and shook his head rapidly like he was a bobblehead toy. He hoped it would rattle his brain into bravery. "I wanted to know if you wanted to perhaps go upon a date with me, as dates. Like a date. Like dating, but me and you."

April stared up at him and her face split into something he hadn't seen before. Sure, she gave him that awkward little roll of the lips often and sometimes she would have that shy thing that was a half smile and half embarrassed, half-timid something or other he wasn't sure what to make of, for better or worse.

This was a genuine, ear-to-ear smile from April and it about burst his heart to see it.

His whole body warmed over at the thought of this going well before she said anything.

"Fine," she said with a shaky, totally feigned show of stoicism before smiling again. "Yes! I'll go on a date with you. Thank God you asked, I was about to die over here."

"Really?" Andy giggled like a child at the thought that maybe this was building for the both of them in the same way. All thoughts of Ann were moot when compared to this lovely sensation.

"I gotta tell you something first, though-"

Just then, Derek shouted for her from the door leading out to the stage and April stood up with a sigh. From the sounds of it, the usual crowd was starting to file into the club. She tried to continue but then the owner-slash-host entered and beckoned for her. They booked bands just to have some entertainment when the only local DJ, some guy named Tom, refused to show up repeatedly. April gave Andy a nod, and told him later, before exiting for the stage.

After the show, which Andy only had positive comments for, April sat at the bar with him just like the first night they met.

Throughout the show his heart was shattering his ribs with hammer hits as he watched April up there. She looked at him occasionally, her face breaking its usual flatness for a quick flash of a smile or even a wink at one point. Because of the venue, she played without her guitar and they played songs that he was told were Depeche Mode covers. They all sounded the same to him, all sad. But he didn't let them get him down when April finished her set, the next band for the night lined up, and met him at the bar.

They shared beers in the loud environment.

"So, it's cool that I... like you?" Andy asked over the loud thumping bass of driving pop music.

April rolled her eyes and took a drink. "Yes, it's cool. I like you too," she said. She set her beer down and met his eyes only for a moment during this conversation. "You know a lot of cool movies, you play in a band, you make me laugh, you aren't an asshole..."

"Oh, well you play in awesome band and sing weird songs and you're super cute-"

April looked away and he caught a brief shake of her head before she looked back at him. "I think it'd be cool to date you and-"

Andy couldn't help himself, and they were dating now, right? She was attractive - he tried to stop using the words hot or sexy in his head ever since he had those sexual harassment training days at Saint Joseph's - and he was lost in the way she smiled and laughed and how her hands looked playing guitar and the cute way she always called him a dork. It was all too much, so he kissed her.

She didn't hesitate to lean into the kiss, either. April's lips tasted like the stale beer they were drinking and she laughed and his mouth muffled it. He could taste the way she grinned before breaking away. Her face was bright red, happiness clear on it, either from the small amount of booze or the fact that they just kissed. Either way, Andy wanted to do it again. They didn't deepen the kiss, but his hand rode up her leg because he needed to feel her under his hands for once. He wanted the heat of her body to become familiar.

At that, she pulled away and squinted like she made a mistake. She sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to... Andy, I've been trying to explain this to you all night, but I keep getting interrupted," she fidgeted with her beer and he could suddenly feel all the nervous energy coming from her. It radiated like fear from her and Andy wondered when he had fucked up so bad as to scare her away. "Sorry, this is hard."

"Oh, I'm sorry. About... touching you," he looked down at the bar.

"It's okay. But let me finish," she drained the rest of the beer in front of her and tapped the bar for the bartender to catch wind of her clearly urgent need for more. Andy's heart beat faster, anxious. His skin crawled with a shared nervous energy from April. Had she made a mistake? Was that what this was? "Andy, I thought that was kiss was fun and... nice."

"Oh, cool."

"And it's not that you touched me, nothing like that," she continued and her voice broke out of the confident, static tone of April and fell along the nervous edge. He hated that, hated that she felt like this was hard to share. It scared him, too. "That was nice, I guess. But, Andy I gotta set up some boundaries."

"Cool, cool," Andy nodded.

"A very, super important one, okay?" she kept extending this and Andy wasn't getting annoyed, but extremely worried.

"Okay..."

"I'm asexual," she blurted out and took a drink of the beer handed to her by the bartender. After drinking half of it, she gasped for air and continued, "Ace, eh? Capital-A, asexual."

Andy sat there for a second and tried to process what he had just heard. After all of this, she could only come up with that? He felt the urge to laugh, but held it back. He wasn't sure what she even meant.

"So... you reproduce without a mate?" Andy asked, confused. He overheard something like that in eighth grade biology and for some reason the factoid stuck.

April looked over at him, though to call it a look is too kind. It was the kind of disappointed grimace laced with hatred that you give to someone committing a vile act in front of your face. She looked like she wanted to hit him. April shook her head and took another drink before spinning her stool to stare him straight in the face.

"Andy, I'm ace," she repeated.

"Like the playing card?"

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" she scoffed. "No, like I'm not... into sex. Like, I'm not sexually attracted to you."

"Oh, see if you wanted to turn me down that's way easier to say," Andy could understand that, the hurt in his chest barely catching up to the confusion otherwise. "You didn't have to make something up."

"Dude? Seriously?" April blinked rapidly and pushed him in the chest. She stood up and made to walk away.

"What? Now I'm the bad guy?" Andy couldn't believe this.

"Andy! I just..." April's eyes were bright, he realized, with tears. "I thought you were cooler than this."

"Wait," he stood up and followed her to the entrance. When April turned, her eyes were clearly wet with those tears running free. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"Fuck you, Andy," she pushed him again and growled. "I'm serious. I was serious. You were cool."

"But, I don't get it... how do you..." he trailed off and tried to touch her shoulder, to hold her and make things okay. April slapped his hand away. "But, I thought you were just trying to let me down easy with, uh, whatever that was. I didn't think you were serious."

"Oh my God, dude. Stop talking," April wiped at her face and started to turn again. Before she had fully faced away, she said in a shaky, raspy voice, "Don't talk to me."

"I'm... uh, confused."

"That's fucking clear," April growled and he could hear her voice break up with those tears he had no way to deal with right then. "Goodbye."

She stomped out of the bar without another word, leaving Andy with his mouth agape and searching for something to say. He stood at the bar, her stool practically still wobbling from the sudden loss of her weight holding it there, and a beer stuck to his hand. Everything was so right just a moment before all of that. What on Earth had just happened?