A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad that you guys are getting into this story because I am having a lot of fun writing it!
Disclaimer: Same as usual.
Charles opened the front door and smiled brightly at his unexpected visitor. "April," he greeted her in surprise but he was certainly happy to see her. He would never complain about the red-head showing up on his doorstep. "What's up?" He tried to inquire casually.
"Hi Charles," she smiled. "I'm looking for Jackson. Is he home?"
The burly resident's face fell as he pulled the door open wide so that April could enter the apartment. "Yeah, he's home," he muttered disappointedly. He pointed down the hallway past the living room and kitchen. "First door on the right."
April followed Charles' directions and walked through their bachelor pad. It was easy to tell that two men lived here. There was only as much furniture as they needed, there were a pile of dishes in the sink, and there wasn't a woman's touch in sight. It was functional not comfortable.
She approached Jackson's bedroom door and knocked softly.
"Yeah? Whataya want?" He called, or rather mumbled.
She opened the door and gave him a soft, apologetic smile. "Am I interrupting something?"
Jackson raised his head from the book that he was reading and sat up on his bed. "Sorry, I thought you were Charles," he replied meekly. He definitely hadn't expected her.
"Are you busy though?" She asked after nervously chewing on her bottom lip.
He shook his head. "Nope, I'm just relaxing. Come in."
She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She removed her jacket as she closely observed her surroundings. His room was relatively neat and it had a different feel than the rest of the apartment. His desk was tidy, there were only a few articles of clothing in view, and a basketball sat in the corner. The room also featured a double bed, a dresser, and a television. There was a small bookshelf that held medical textbooks and battered novels and several pairs of sneakers lined the wall by his closet.
She laid her jacket on his desk chair before she took a seat on his bed. "What are you reading?" She asked curiously.
"Um, nothing, really," he answered awkwardly as he shoved the book underneath his pillow.
She giggled as she witnessed his unusual reaction. "Well now I really wanna know." He hung his head in embarrassment before he removed the book from its hiding place and showed it to her. "John Keats. You read poetry?" She questioned with a bright smile.
He nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, every now and then when I'm feeling stressed. My Mom made me read a lot when I was younger, poetry and novels and stuff, and I guess it just stuck."
"Wow," she breathed in astonishment. Jackson Avery was well read, and he enjoyed poetry. She was pretty sure that she could feel her uterus fluttering. She looked away from him as she felt her face flush. She quickly averted her thoughts and changed the topic of conversation. "So, um, what are you stressed about?"
"The Boards," he groaned. "There's just so much to study and I only just started."
"I know," she agreed. She pulled her legs up underneath her as she got into a more comfortable position. "We can start studying together, if you want, that will probably make things easier. Everyone needs a study buddy," she added with a chuckle.
He smiled and replied, "Yeah, that'd be cool." Even though he knew that it was actually a terrible idea. He had a feeling that the more time that he spent with her, the more that he would fall for her, and he did not want to get himself into a one-sided situation again. He continued on that train of thought until he realized that this was an unscheduled home visit. It was out of character for her. "So, what's up? Is something wrong?"
She felt so comfortable talking to him, and she was having such a nice time, that she had forgotten what had initially propelled her to his apartment. "Oh…yeah. So I was on general today," she began tentatively.
"Yeah?" He prompted suspiciously. He didn't like where she was going with this.
"And Alex told me that he wants something to happen between us. He wants to be in a relationship with me." She looked down at his bed sheets as she quietly finished her explanation. "He asked me out and then, when I stared at him in utter disbelief, he told me that I can think about it for as long as I want."
Jackson had to admit that he was just as shocked as she was. Just what exactly was that little weasel up to? But he could tell that she was considering it. If she was planning on flat out refusing him then she wouldn't want to talk about it. As much as she tried to fight it, she had feelings for that asshat.
April chewed on her bottom lip as she nervously waited for his reply. She knew that he wasn't particularly fond of the Chief Resident but he was fair and he was her friend. She had made the decision to stop thinking about Jackson possibly being anything more than her friend. It wasn't going to happen. Jackson Avery was an ideal while Alex Karev was a reality.
She couldn't bear his silence for any longer so she began to speak again. "I need to talk to Mer about it first, obviously. I can't hurt her again, and maybe it's too soon, I dunno," she rambled. "I'm not good at these things."
And ultimately, she was still very confused about how she felt about Alex.
He swallowed before he offered her the best advice that he could. "Just take your time and think about it very carefully. That's the best thing that you can do."
"Thanks Jackson," she smiled happily. "I knew that you'd be honest with me."
He awkwardly smiled back at her. That statement was rather ironic.
At lunch the next day, Cristina awkwardly followed Meredith across the cafeteria. "Do we have to sit with the Virgin Mary?" She whined.
Meredith glanced over her shoulder and shot her new friend a reprimanding look. "April is not that bad. You just have to take a little time to warm up to her." They were trying very hard to repair their shattered friendship and Meredith knew that despite their vast differences, Cristina could get along with April if she really tried.
She took a seat at the table next to April and smiled. "Hey."
"Hi Mer," the red-head smiled. She looked up at her uncomfortable looking companion and forced the smile to remain on her face. "Hi Cristina."
The cardio obsessed resident didn't respond but she did sit down. Before befriending Meredith Webber over tequila shots, she had always eaten lunch by herself. She used her lunch hour to study procedures and cutting-edge techniques, read journal articles, and to get an overall leg up on her fellow residents. She wasn't very familiar with small talk, and since April Kepner had come over from Mercy West, she had only spoken to the annoying red-head a handful of times. Frankly, she was shocked that Meredith was still friends with the woman.
"How's neuro going?" April asked Meredith conversationally as she ate her salad.
Despite Ellis Grey's strong disapproval, Meredith had ditched cardio for a new specialty. She actually hated cardio; she had only been interested in it to please her mother. She had always been interested in neuro and her budding relationship with Derek Shepherd drew her to the field even more.
A dreamy smile spread across the blonde's face before she answered. "Great. Dr. Shepherd and I are operating on a butterfly tumor today."
Cristina's mouth dropped open in shock. "He hasn't done one of those in four years."
The drastic change in Dr. Shepherd's schedule was something that the entire hospital had noticed. It had only been a few days since his and Addison's public split but the changes in him were drastic and everyone had taken notice. He was completely focused on his work once again and he was focused on greatness.
Derek Shepherd had gotten his mojo back.
The three women spotted Jackson practically running across the cafeteria and he sat down next to April. His tray hit the table with a loud 'thud'. "Okay, so I heard some of the nurses in the pit gossiping and this is what I have: since Dr. Montgomery Shepherd quit and fled the state, Dr. Breen is the interim head of that department. The Chief has used all of this freed up money to fill the void in plastics."
"Plastics?" Cristina questioned in confusion.
Jackson nodded and looked down at his food. He had been so excited to share what he had heard with April that he hadn't even noticed that Cristina was sitting at the same table. "Plastics," he confirmed with less enthusiasm. "There's a new attending."
"Mark Sloan," Meredith supplied.
Jackson furrowed his brow in bewilderment. "Yeah, that's his name, how did you know?"
"I ran into him last night on my way out of the hospital," she replied.
April opened her mouth to ask Meredith a question but she spotted Alex enter the cafeteria out of her peripheral vision. Her question quickly turned into an excuse to leave. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet so she was avoiding him. "I should go. I'm on Dr. Robbins' service today and she has a large case load. I need to get back to work."
Jackson watched April leave before he had the chance to dish the juiciest piece of information that he had overheard. "Also, there's a rumor floating around that the hospital board is investigating Chief Grey."
Cristina turned to Meredith, as if to ask, "Is that true?" And Meredith merely shrugged. She had moved out of her childhood home and now only spoke to her mother when it was necessary for work, she had absolutely no idea what was happening in her life.
But she couldn't help but think that, if the rumor was true, maybe it was time. Seattle Grace could do even greater things under somebody else's leadership.
After a very long shift in the pit, Jackson changed into his clothes and headed to peds to see April. She wasn't very hard to find, she was charting at the main nurses' station. He approached her cautiously and spoke softly. He hadn't seen her since lunch and she hadn't seemed like herself.
"Hey, you wanna go to Joe's with me?"
"No, thank you." She raised her head slowly and chewed on her bottom lip. "I really need to talk to someone and I think that I'm going to do it tonight."
He took a step closer to her and whispered, "I thought that you could talk to me." He couldn't help but feel a little offended, and slightly hurt, by her words.
"I can," she smiled softly. She reached out and gently placed her hand on his forearm. "I mean that I need to talk to someone about my faith, like a pastor."
"Oh." He laughed softly because he felt a little bit like an idiot after hearing her response. "Well that's good," he said supportively. He knew that she was battling with how her recent mistakes were viewed in the eyes of God. Talking to someone about it would be good for her. "And if you're feeling stressed than you can just read some poetry, I pretty much have an entire library," he added playfully.
Her smile widened considerably. "Thank you, Jackson. I will see you tomorrow."
"Bye," he replied before turning around and leaving with a smile.
He took the elevator down to the main lobby and was surprised to see Cristina emerging from the elevator next door.
"I'll be over around eleven," she told him casually as she stopped in front of him.
He paused for a beat before he responded. "No," he answered simply.
She stared at him in shock and arched an eyebrow. "No?" She repeated incredulously. He never turned down sex. What man did?
"No," he repeated with a nod. He shrugged and a small smirk played at the edge of his mouth as he slowly started to walk backwards, and away from her. "I guess we're doing things on my terms now."
A/N: Please leave a review!
Next chapter: the Seattle Grace debut of Mark Sloan! :)