[The following week]

[Alex]

Alex was rushing to the OR. It had been one hell of a week, he hadn't taken a breath once since coming back from Baltimore. He looked down at his pager, being informed about the next emergency, sighing. He typed a message into his phone quickly, telling them he was busy operating on another kid before pocketing it and putting on his scrub cap, starting to rinse his arms. Alex cracked his neck and sighed, his thoughts going back to Baltimore once more, as they had continuously done so for the last few days. He felt his guts coil thinking about his night with Wilson. He had been in a weird kind of haze since then. They had worked together just fine after that, neither of them saying anything, showing any kind of awkwardness. Alex was a bit uncertain about the entire thing, though. She had come up to him, demanding he sleep with her. Alex had felt so unsure about that, he seriously had not wanted to sleep with her, especially because she had kept reminding him about his existence of being a man whore. It was offensive… but then again, she wasn't lying. However, talking about her, having been experiencing heat rushes around her, ogling her for some time now, realizing she was a pretty decent human being, not an idiot at all, someone he would actually hang out with, spend time with, talk to… it had offended him somehow. He had just maybe hoped a tiny little bit that she would like hanging out with him too... that she'd like getting to know each other apart from having sex, too. It just had been the first time in such a long stretch for Alex since he had met a girl who he was actually interested in. But since there had been no way, to be completely honest about that, that he wouldn't have slept with her, given her advances and his weak stamina concerning that very girl, he had slept with her anyways. They had the most amazing time after that. Alex had screwed around in the past, that was for sure, but he couldn't remember enjoying himself this much with one other girl. For some reason, she just captured his attention wholly, and now he couldn't think about anyone else anymore. It hadn't turned out as he had pictured it, but sleeping with her - considering how amazingly awesome it had turned out - was good too. They had separated in such a hurry, they didn't even have time to… Alex didn't know what… talk about it? Exchange numbers? That was the point of it all… Alex had no freaking idea what this meant… if she had slept with him solely to distract herself… She probably wouldn't wanna do this again, right? But she had had fun, too, he could tell this much… so, maybe she did wanna do it again? Alex sighed, shaking the waterdrops from his hands and walking into the OR, meeting Arizona, already frantically trying to save that little boy lying open on the table, having gotten into a school fight, accidentally one might offer. The scrub nurse gloved and gowned him before he stepped forwards and started helping Arizona who rambled onto him incessantly. They spent a couple of hours in the OR before the chief came running in hurriedly.

"Karev, we need you in OR 3," he ordered.

"I'm not done here," Alex barked back, "More suction," he turned back to the resident standing next to him.

"Doesn't matter, Robbins can have an intern, I have…," he trailed off, making Alex turn back to him and following his eyes up into the gallery, spotting Edwards and Wilson.

"Wilson," both Arizona and Alex chucked out, having worked with her on numerous Peds cases, knowing she was reliable.

"Go scrub in," Hunt ordered towards her. Alex waited until she had done so and walked into the OR.

"Davis, take this over from me," Karev ordered the resident, giving her his instruments. "Do not move one inch, I swear," he threatened her. She nodded frantically. "Wilson," he said, turning to face her, having taken over the suction device from Davis. "Suction," he ordered, giving it to her. "Take care by the liver, do not injure it," he told her, making her nod. "You good?" he asked towards Robbins.

"Yeah, go," she shooed him. They ungloved and gowned him again, handing him a sanitary towel, before he turned towards Hunt. "Fill me in," he walked with him towards OR 3.

The second surgery was done pretty quickly, and when he had scrubbed out, Alex walked back into OR 1 looking if he could be of any more help, Robbins declining. He stood in the scrub room, watching them work on the boy. Alex gulped. Even while wearing scrubs, she seemed ungraspably hot to him. Well, maybe that's because you picture her naked all the time. And she's the most gorgeous girl ever. God, get a grip on yourself. Do you even listen to your thoughts? But then again, just imagine what all you could do with her… what kind of stuff you could get into with her… she seems the kind of girl who isn't shy about some fun… especially talking sexually… She'd definitely be the perfect partner in crime for pretty much anything. Stop staring at her ass. Stop picturing you guys together. Stop picturing her naked and on top of you. Or underneath you. Just stop. Especially because you haven't initiated anything pointing her in the same direction. She has no idea you're… thinking about making this a two nighter. Or more if possible. He really had no idea if he was running himself into something but he sure wasn't going to find out without trying. He had been thinking about it a lot these past few days, however, he just hadn't been able to find the perfect way. They had been on cases together, but there was never enough time to talk to her privately, especially with nobody else finding out about them. He didn't own her number and he really didn't wanna be the creep who fetched her cell phone number without permission to make a move on her. Also, he wanted to at least give her an out… letting her decide if she even wanted to do this again… and if he'd decide to call or text her… that'd probably be awkward for her… declining that was. He had been thinking about going to Joe's and hoping to meet her there, especially considering the helping hand of alcohol… but then again, he had thought about what she had said on earning a reputation and respect and career options… and she'd been right. He should absolutely try getting his reputation cleaned up, but regarding this, it wasn't even about him that much, he just really didn't want her to be branded as one of those girls that had slept with Karev. He just didn't want that. She had been right, he hadn't treated all those girls… all too well. He didn't want that for her. He wanted her to succeed. Without a reputation. Alex looked around for observers, finding himself alone in the scrub room. After a split second of mulling it over in his head, he took out a small clear package from his scrub pants, smirking down on it madly. He reached for a marker and wrote his message onto it, slipping it into the unembroidered lab coat that he knew had to be Jo's without attracting any attention, knowing interns didn't have their names put on their coats yet. Maybe if he did the first step, she'd approach him eventually? He looked back once more, to observe the scene, smiling insecurely at nobody in particular, before walking out the scrub room swiftly and directing himself towards the ER.


[Jo]

Jo let go of a long breath when she finally pushed the button to rinse her hands and scrub out. It had already been a long day and it was only mid-afternoon. A fun day, though, she got to scrub in with two procedures already, and on top of that, Robbins and Karev had both picked her to assist with Robbins' patient. Without hesitation it seemed! That was something, right? Jo closed her eyes and sighed, trying to hide a smile when thinking about the male doctor… the one she had tried… she really had… to get out of her freaking thoughts this past week…but then those abs started blinding her again, that body, those eyes, those lips. She could still feel them on her, it made her skin prickle when thinking about it. Jo, stop day dreaming. Stop dreaming about him for good. It was one night and as much as you'd love to repeat that night…that was over now. You knew that from the beginning. You knew sleeping with Karev meant job done. You knew that. He's probably already onto the next one, he probably doesn't even think that much about it. I mean, yeah, she was sure he had had his fun as well, they were having an epic night… at least for her… that night had been… well, so hot, so amazing… and the way he had talked and acted and looked at her… she really thought he had enjoyed himself fully, too. But he probably does that with every girl, right? And that's why you're not supposed to think about it anymore… Again, you knew you were gonna be yesterday's news once you had gotten it over with. Just deal with it now. Jo's mind was running at full blast when a sharp voice brought her back to the scrub room, making her yank her head around, looking at the other intern in surprise, not having heard her come in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Stephanie asked her, having narrowed her dark eyes.

"What? Nothing, I'm scrubbing," she gave her back dismissively, turning back to the basin.

"I wanna watch that exact movie you were watching a second ago, looked pretty gripping," she raised her eyebrows at Jo and chuckled.

"What are you doing here?" Jo dried her hands with paper towel and then put on her lab coat, adjusting her pony tail.

"Forgot my lab coat," Steph pointed her own out on the rack and put it on while walking out the door besides Jo. "Wanna go have some lunch?"

"Yeah, sounds awesome," Jo nodded, pushing her hands into her pockets, listening to Steph ramble about the last surgery she had scrubbed into. They got themselves some late lunch at the cafeteria, before the intern followed her friend over towards a table by the window, realizing Karev and Avery were sitting rather close, letting her gaze flit over him for a second before turning and sitting with her back to him, already planning to listening into their conversation. Luckily, Stephanie was deep into her story and satisfied with the odd acknowledging grunt and nod in between, while Jo strained to listen into the attendings' conversation, leaning back into her chair and pulling up one knee, biting into an apple and munching on it as quietly as possible. She could hear one of them groan and she was pretty sure it hadn't been out of Karev's mouth before catching the next statement.

"…stuck with that Velquez… Veloquez? What's his name?" she heard Avery's bugged voice. Karev chuckled at this.

"You asking me for names around here? Ha! His name is Velasquez," Alex told while apparently chewing on something Jo obviously couldn't see, sitting with her back to him.

"Didn't think you'd actually know that," Avery pointed out.

"Well, he was one of the idiots we took to Baltimore…," Alex explained simply. "He's kind of a pain…don't know him very well. Robbins doesn't like him much but I think he's a decent doctor. At least he's never screwed up with me so far," he elaborated. There was a pause. It irritated Jo that she couldn't watch them while talking, she wasn't able to read their faces and anticipate their reactions.

"Why are you being so… mature…today?" She heard Avery say, detecting some humor behind his voice.

"Oh, shut up. I'm just saying… he's not all bad," Alex replied.

"If I had wanted to have a serious conversation about the interns, I'd have talked to April," she heard Avery say. "I just wanted to vent," he told the other doctor.

"Well, sorry, I'm not a jukebox for whatever responses you wanna hear," she heard Alex reply steadily.

"I'm surprised you'd even remember his name… he's not your type, is he?" Avery asked him, heavily mocking Alex's practices.

"Haha," he gave back.

"Well, you have been doing an amazing job in screwing your way around with this year's batch of interns. Any left? What about these two," Jo heard him say, biting her lips, knowing they were both looking over, trying to not stand out for what she was doing while pretending to listen to Stephanie talking. She watched as her friend scrunched up her face, and stopped talking.

"What?" she asked her.

"Avery and Karev are looking at us for some reason…," she mouthed silently. Jo turned to face them slowly. This made Avery look down instantly whereas Alex matched her eyes and they looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Jo felt her guts knot and a slight blush cover her cleavage before Alex turned his head back and she did the same, bummed though. Well, what's he supposed to do, jump you in the middle of the cafeteria? Jo sighed, looking back at Steph. Hell, yeah, she'd be so into that.

"Shut up," Jo could hear Alex grunt at the other doctor, making her wanna chuckle but she kept it in, putting on a curious face for Stephanie's latest gossip. "I'm done with screwing them," she heard him add, and she couldn't help but frown. What's he mean saying that?

"Oh yeah?" Avery questioned him mockingly.

"I'll not be screwing around anymore…," Alex repeated.

"Cause there aren't any left?" Jo could definitely hear something flying across the table and a chuckle.

"I just… I'm not sleeping with the interns anymore. I just… grew out of it, alright?" Alex put his foot down. Jo's arm that was holding up her apple sank slowly, and she could feel nausea overcoming her. Did he actually mean that? What about…

"Are you getting sick of dumping them?" Avery still sounded amused but Alex groaned.

"Well, if you will, yes. Satisfied? I'm so sick of sleeping with girls and then getting rid of the clingy, annoying and sometimes even dumb remains…sorry, had to get that out," he said. Jo was furious. Had he really just said that? About her? She had been the last one to sleep with him… well, wait… no, you don't know that, you actually have no idea… Jo chuckled to herself angrily, making Stephanie look up at her weirdly. I told you not to run yourself into that. He is an asshole. Steaming hot, stupid amazing but big time asshole just the same. Jo got up and walked off without another word towards Steph who ran after her frantically. I mean, I can work with the stupid macho behavior of doing and dumping but hearing him talk like that? No, sir, I don't need that.

"What the hell, Jo?" Steph looked at her with an irritated look on her face.

"Sorry," she said, "I just felt a bit nauseated back there, maybe I ate something wrong," she lied straight to Steph's face. "See you later, alright?" she nudged her friend, leaving her standing at the door of the cafeteria, walking away swiftly. When she got out to the stairways, she fished out her cell phone and scrolled through her latest texts, halting at one that she had received a couple of days ago from a resident named Christopher Tate who had asked her out after a very fun and enjoyable shift together. She had asked for a rain check, not really meaning to ever redeem that, but right now, she was livid and she needed to blow off some steam, showing Karev she was not even thinking about running after him, being the clingy, annoying, and sometimes dumb remainder of an amazing night, but a nobody to him all the same. It was short notice and Jo almost felt guilty about finding the guy not the slightest bit attractive, well, he was good looking and surely hot and super nice, but she couldn't feel anything when looking at him or thinking about him… but she hoped dearly he'd take the bait. She punched in a text, taking a deep breath and hit the send button, feeling how the anger inside her slowly settled. She knew how to play offense. And she surely wasn't gonna lose her face over this.

J: Hey Chris, I was wondering if you feel like going out for drinks tonight? Let me know


[Stephanie]

Stephanie was pissed. She balled up her scrub top and tossed it into the laundry bin located in their locker room, missing it and groaning. She put her face in her hands and rubbed the bridge of her nose, taking off her glasses, sighing. She'd had the most annoying day. She had woken up, feeling all motivated and hands-on and that still questionable school accident had initially kind of made her day. She'd thought. But then, everything went downhill from there. She was thrown out of Grey's OR for the woman was sporting an extra special awful mood once again demanding skills from the intern she just hadn't acquired yet. Then Jo had been picked to assist with Robbins' procedure over her. Didn't matter at that point, since she had scrubbed in with Karev after that but the procedure was short and easy and he barely let her touch anything while at it. Jo had been weird all day as well and her second go-to-girl, Heather, was her second go-to-girl for a reason. On top of that, she had been looking forward to the date with a stupidly hot psych doctor… even though she had been juggling that around in her head for a while now, and the psych part did make him a lot less attractive… but again, he was stupidly hot. So, she had been looking forward to the date they'd arranged for that night. What had made her fly off the handle was what she had found in her lab coat pocket in the afternoon, though. That guy had seriously dared to slip her a condom with the message See you tonight? marked onto it… What the hell? Perv! She surely wasn't gonna go out with him after that. She couldn't believe it. Steph shook her head while pulling the now a bit too fancy looking shirt over her head. He didn't even deserve a cancellation text. She was so standing him up, that was for sure. After finding that, her afternoon had not gone down well; she had gotten stuck in the ER, doing sutures on whiny, annoying kids, being bored out of her mind. Now even Jo had stood her up, informing her she had arranged a short-notice date with that Tate guy. She was supposed to be on a date tonight, not Jo! And now she couldn't even go vent to her best friend. Well, but then again, Jo had told her explicitly that she was welcome to come hang out with them at Joe's… whatever that was about… maybe she should just do that. They could do whatever the hell they wanted later in private. She definitely needed a drink tonight. Having set that straight in her mind, Steph grabbed her purse and walked out of the locker room and hospital, directing herself towards Joe's. Steph plopped down on a stool at the bar table close to the dart's vendor that Jo and her guy occupied, making them look at her questioningly.

"You okay?" Jo asked her worriedly. She just groaned, letting her head fall theatrically. "Awww," her friend rubbed her upper arm up and down. "I'll get you a beer, come on, cheer up," Jo chirped at her. "Meanwhile you can get acquainted with Chris here," she said, walking off to the bar. Steph looked up at Jo's date who looked at her awkwardly. Well, he sure hadn't been informed about his date coming with an attachment.

"I'm Steph, by the way," she held out her hand. He acknowledged that politely before Jo returned, placing a beer in front of her face.

"You wanna talk about it?" Jo asked her in concern.

"Nah, don't let me intrude your date, go on with your darts game," she just said, taking a big gulp from her beer.

"You sure?" Steph just nodded, making Jo turn around and get back to the game. The intern watched her friend flirt and laugh with the resident exuberantly, playfully touching his arm and waist at times, flashing her eyes at him, throwing her head back and fiddling with her hair. Steph had never seen Jo like this before, she hadn't thought she'd be that kind of girl, especially when thinking about how unenthusiastic she had seemed about the date this afternoon. Something, though Steph couldn't quite define what it was, made her guess it was completely put on. This thought made the young doctor look around the bar for any people she was maybe trying to impress… or maybe… get a jealous reaction from? The bar was pretty full but she couldn't spot anyone suitable to be that person, spotting some interns – well, there was that one who had been on the Baltimore trip… and Leah had briefed them afterwards about Jo having been absent for a night…but no, that guy was annoying and she knew he surely wasn't Jo's type. Steph thought about it…. I think she's even told me she doesn't like him much… anyways… her eyes flitted over some doctors she knew worked at the hospital but she couldn't name, Shane and some other guy at the bar, the chief of surgery who was just leaving, at the same time watching Avery and Karev enter the bar, both of their eyes flitting over towards her and then settling at the bar. Hmm… maybe she was just imagining things… and Jo was indeed a painfully giggly and flirtatious person. Steph turned back when she saw the Tate guy leaning in and Jo smile before they kissed softly, rolling her eyes and getting out her phone, acknowledging the last couple of texts from the date she was ditching at the moment, her guts burning in anger. Steph looked up in surprise when Jo plopped down on the bar stool opposite from her and smiled.

"Where's your tacky lover, then?" she asked her dismissively, looking around.

"Bathroom," Jo rolled her eyes at her friend's exclamation. "So, what's up with your mood? Why did you cancel your date?"

"I didn't cancel my date," Steph replied.

"Oh," Jo raised her eyebrows. "Oh, good, is he coming here? God, I need some relief…maybe him and Chris can… you know… engage in some guy talk," she rambled on, seemingly eased. Steph frowned.

"He's not coming here. I just didn't cancel. But, what the hell, Jo? Why are you on this date if you don't even wanna put up with him…? Being all flirty and obnoxious about him… letting him shove his tongue down your throat…," she asked her in confusion. Jo looked grossed out.

"I did not let him shove his tongue down my throat," she stressed every word of that. Steph cocked her eyebrows, shaking her head.

"I don't get it, girl," she told her snidely.

"What's up with your date?! Why are you being so weird…?" Jo tried to distract from her situation. Steph sighed, rubbing her face.

"It turns out he's a major perv…," Steph told her, making her friend scrunch up her face.

"What do you mean?" Jo asked her, her forehead furrowed but trying to hide a smile.

"You wouldn't believe what that guy dared doing," Stephanie raged on. "I found a condom inside my lab coat pocket, with a message scribbled onto it, saying See you tonight?" she chucked out, watching as Jo's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. Steph gave her big eyes, awaiting a reaction.

"Well," Jo chuckled when she seemed like she couldn't hold it in anymore. "He's straightforward, you gotta give him that," she amused herself.

"You think that's funny?" Steph snarked back.

"Well…," Jo trailed off. "I mean… maybe a tad inappropriate for a first date… but at least he gave you warning…," she pointed out before frowning. "Hey," she said, nodding her head towards the entrance. "Isn't that the guy?" Stephanie yanked her head around, groaning, as she saw her almost-date wriggle his way through the crowd towards them. Jo's date came back as well, all of them standing at the bar table awkwardly.

"What do you want?" Steph barked at the date when he stood before her, seemingly demanding a reaction. He frowned at her.

"Why aren't you answering my texts or calls? Why did you ditch me? Is something wrong? I don't get it… I thought we were… talking about a date tonight…," he rambled. Steph looked at him taken aback.

"Really? You actually think I'll still date you? Unbelievable," she snorted, taking a sip of her beer. Jo and the Tate guy stood beside them awkwardly.

"What? What are you talking about? What's going on?" her date asked in what seemed genuine confusion. Did he actually believe slipping her a freaking condom was standard procedure on a first date? How offensive! Steph put down her bottle noisily before grasping for the condom in her purse and chucking out the turquoise colored contraceptive on the table, only marginally perceiving Jo yanking her beer bottle down and choking, beer splattering all over her front, her eyes bulging. Steph rolled her eyes at her friend's reaction, watching as Tate tried patting her back, making her take a deep breath. Steph waited for a reaction. "Um… I do not know what that is… and I'm not sure what to think about all this…," Leo, her date, told her with a weird sounding voice.

"What do you mean?" Steph looked back at him, unsure about what to believe anymore, before looking back over at Jo who was trying to regain stability again, looking at her with her lips pushed together, hiding a smile and her eyes wide, trying to tell her something. Steph narrowed her eyes. "You didn't do this?" she asked again, facing Leo.

"Um, no, why would I?" Steph looked at him unbelievingly. What the hell was going on?

"Will you excuse me for a second?" she heard Jo tell them, pointing at her throat with a smile and rushing off towards the bathroom. Steph didn't know what to think anymore, looking at both their dates warily who were looking back at her strangely. Ugh, couldn't this day just be over with. What the hell was going on now?!