A/N - My sincere apologies for the delay! Hit a writer's block with the lack of Jolex time lately :( Hard to capture them now when we're not seeing much of them!

Chapter 7

"Hey, man, how's it going?" Jackson greeted as he dropped into the chair across from Alex at lunch that day.

The peds surgeon frowned. "That seat is saved, Avery."

"She's not sitting with you," the plastics surgeon replied bluntly. "You look pathetic."

Alex shifted uncomfortably and scanned the cafeteria. "I'm not pathetic."

"She's already sitting with Torres and Cross," Jackson informed him as he unwrapped a chicken sandwich. "Told you she wasn't going to sit here."

"Yeah, well, if you keep sitting here, Mer and Maggie will be here next, and I'm not in the mood for that," the older man grumbled. "So move."

"I've got April occupying Meredith and Maggie."

The surgeon released a breath of relief. It felt weird to exclude Mer, but deep in his core, Alex knew he was doing the right thing. He'd been so wrapped up in fixing and protecting Meredith that he'd pushed Jo aside in the process. But Meredith was okay now. She had plenty of people to take care of her. "I thought you and April weren't a thing anymore."

Jackson pursed his lips, considering the statement. "We're working on things."

"You're divorced."

"I said we're working on things. Hey, that's all I've got," Jackson shrugged when Alex gave him an unconvinced look.

The peds surgeon looked over to the resident before taking a bite of his sandwich. "I'm trying to work on things with Jo, but I don't know how she expects me to work on things when she put me out! And she's avoiding me!"

The Avery heir chuckled in spite of himself. "You can't really send her flowers either, cause, well, Jo's not the flowers kind of girl."

"All I can think is a date," Alex sighed in frustration.

"She's not going to say yes to a date," the voice of experience replied. "It's clear she's avoiding private, enclosed time with you. April did the same thing."

"So what the hell do I do?!" It was quite obvious to the attending that chocolate cake and coffee wasn't going to cut it. Sure, it showed her that he knew little details about her, but he was losing ground with the annoying intern sniffing around his woman. Jo was in a vulnerable spot, and it wouldn't be long before that guy wiggled his way next to her. The only thing Alex could cling to was that the resident seemed oblivious to the intern's crush.

"Hmmmm," Jackson mused, scanning the cafeteria. "You need to start off with something more casual. A group setting, so to speak." His gaze settled on Callie. "Torres is the key. She and Jo are doing this whole ortho posse thing..."

"You and your posse," the peds surgeon rolled his eyes.

"Sloan and I rocked things!"

"Not rock, paper, scissors."

The plastics attending frowned deeply before looking back to the ortho trio. "Wilson will do whatever she can to butter up Torres. If you can convince Torres to host some get together, Jo will definitely come."

Alex hated to admit it, but the prettyboy had a point. "Page her, page Torres," he said as an idea came to mind. "Page her to the fourth flour."

"The fourth floor?" Jackson questioned as he pulled his cell from his labcoat pocket.

"Just trust me." If Alex knew Callie the way he thought he did, she would send the resident and the intern to handle the page while she finished her meal. Minutes later the dark haired surgeon dismissed the duo. "Thanks, man." The surgeon retrieved his tray and moved to the ortho surgeon's table. "Hey, Torres, we need to talk." No sense in beating around the bush.

Callie looked to Alex for a second. "You paged them, didn't you?"

"I can honestly say I did not," he replied smugly. "I need your help."

"Nope, uh uh," the surgeon shook her head. "I'm not getting between you and Wilson. She's finally focused on ortho, and you better not take her away from me."

Alex hesitated for a moment; a part of him had hoped Jo would specialize in peds. She was an awesome peds intern, and he would have gladly taught her everything he had picked up over the years. But, he did know that something about cracking bones spoke to her, so he'd learn to be happy for her. "It's not anything like that. It's more of a...personal favor."

"What kind of personal favor?" Torres raised a suspicious eyebrow.

The peds attending hesitated, not sure which route to take with his coworker. She wouldn't believe him if he encouraged a party to celebrate her reconciling things with Robbins. "I need you and Robbins to host a dinner party or something so I can see Jo," he chose the honesty route.

"I said I'm not getting in the middle of this, Karev."

"You're my only hope!" he asked desperately. "My contact with Jo is limited to the hospital. I'm not going to be able to get her back unless I have some private time. We've never done the dating thing, so I can't expect that to work now. And I damn sure can't have Meredith host a party. Jo won't come to that!" Alex ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "You're my only shot."

Callie's gaze narrowed slightly as she studied him. For once, the guy was laying it all out there, no hidden agendas whatsoever. It was clear to her that Karev was finally realizing what he had. And lost. "You're not snaking her over to peds, right?"

"Right," Alex assured her. "Jo's heart is with ortho, and I'm not messing with that. I just want some time with her."

"Why don't you just go to the loft?"

"That's called stalking."

"Call her on the phone!"

"Telephone stalking."

Callie laughed in spite of herself. "Fine, Karev, I'll help you. Arizona and I will have a thing at our place tomorrow at seven. Nothing big, okay?"

"Okay, thanks Torres," the attending grinned as he pager beeped. "See you later."

"Nothing big!" the woman called into his retreating back as he left the cafeteria.

Alex gave her the thumbs up before dumping his tray and leaving the cafeteria behind. A new anxiety swirled within him as he moved through the hospital. It was a good type of anxiety, the kind he felt when he first realized he was in love with Jo all those years ago. It was almost like he was winning her all over again. "Hey, sorry," he apologized as he headed into the stairwell, bumping into Meredith.

"Alex, hey," his long time friend caught his arm. "Cristina is flying in tomorrow, and I was thinking we should do something. My place at eight, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded, then stopped. "Wait, no. Not tomorrow. I have a thing."

"What kind of thing?"

"Jo and I are doing something." It wasn't technically a lie...not the exact truth, but at least not a lie.

"You and your girlfriend can screw another night, this is Cristina!"

Alex's brows knit together as a frown crossed his features. Mer hadn't even noticed that he and Jo were barely speaking. "Look, I'll catch up with you later. How long will she be in Seattle?"

"A week..."

"Great, I'll see her Sunday, okay?"

"But Alex..."

"Don't, Mer, okay?" he cut her off. "You and Cristina catch up, bond, or whatever it is that you do. I'll see you later."

"But it's Cristina!"

"And it's Jo!" the surgeon snapped back.

"Okay, fine," Meredith backed down, physically taking a step back. "We'll see you Sunday."

Alex nodded before continuing up the stairs. For once, Jo was taking first place.

"Karev!" Callie accused the next night as she scanned the living room with wide eyes. "I said small! There's at least fifty people here!"

"Yeah, about that..."

The darkhaired woman raised an eyebrow. "Out with it."

"I told about ten people, and I guess they told a few people, so...it just got out of hand." Alex wasn't going to admit that he'd practically stalked Jo all day and told everyone near her about the party without actually telling her. He himself had invited at least twenty people in hopes that Jo would hear and decide to come since it was Torres.

"You're cleaning up after this."

"I-"

"Nope!" Callie cut him off with a slashing motion of her hand. "You," she pointed at him, "are cleaning up after this. And when I say clean, I mean clean."

"Yeah, okay, fine," the peds surgeon grumbled. He almost pointed out that he'd brought a few cases of beer, but he didn't think it would mean a thing to her. Alex scanned the room, seeing the group of interns huddled together in the corner. The blonde goofball was here, so he hoped that meant... His eyes stopped as they landed on Jo. The woman he loved was talking to Avery of all people. The plastics surgeon met his gaze and signaled for him to come over. Alex retrieved a fresh bottle of beer from a cooler, popped the cap off, and made his way towards the surgeons. "Hey."

"Hey, Alex," the brunette replied quietly, looking him over.

Jackson looked between the two as an uncomfortable silence settled in. "Hey, I think I see April," he said after clearing his throat. "See you tomorrow."

"Do you guys have some kind of code or something?" Jo asked before taking a sip from the beer bottle.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, shifting closer to her.

"Was Avery warming me up or something?" she asked coyly, quirking her head at him. "You know, get my guard down so you could swoop in?"

"I didn't even know he was here."

"Likely story," she rolled her eyes, looking across the room towards the interns. Good grief Alex looked hot tonight. He was wearing that brown sweater that made his eyes look intense; the sweater she loved on him. The sweater she'd yanked off him in more passionate moments.

"How was ortho today?" he smoothed over her accusation, leaning against the wall next to her.

Jo looked over to him, very, very aware of the closeness. "I'm really glad Dr. Torres gave me another chance," she confessed. "Finally...I've got an attending looking at me the way Robbins looks at you. She looks at me like she believes in me...she thinks I can be an awesome surgeon."

"You already are an awesome surgeon."

The woman made a face before taking another sip of her beer. "You're just saying that..."

Alex shifted closer to her, remembering the last time he'd called her an awesome surgeon. They were in bed, having a few moments of togetherness before the crazy day started and ripped them apart. He'd thought they'd always start their day that way. "I'm not just saying it, Jo. Torres has wanted you for a long time. She sees great potential in you."

"How much potential?"

"Harper-Avery potential."

A slow smile crossed her lips as Jo considered the idea. A freaking Harper Avery for a female orthopedic surgeon. How amazing would that be?! Her roaming thoughts were cut short as she felt his gaze on her. He was doing it again. She'd have to shut this down. "When are you going to get the boxes, Alex?"

A scowl replaced the intense gaze he was giving her. "Why do you keep asking me about the boxes?"

"Why won't you just get the boxes?" she countered.

"Why is it bothering you?" Alex shot back. "It's not like they're taking up much space."

"I need you to get the boxes!"

"I'm not getting the boxes!"

Jo's eyes widened as she looked to him. "You're not getting the boxes?" she clarified.

"The only way I'm touching those boxes is when I'm unpacking them."

"In your home?"

"In our home."

"Alex..."

"Don't," he cut her off. "I don't know what your deal with the boxes is, but I'm not getting them. My stuff belongs in our home, okay?"

"So, what? You're just going to buy new stuff?"

"If I have to, yeah."

"That's ridiculous!"

"What's ridiculous is that we're not together."

Jo sighed heavily as he titled his head towards her and brought his hand to her shoulder. "And why is that?" she whispered, instinctively moving towards him.

"I've taken advantage of you, Jo," he spoke ernestly. "I didn't mean to, it wasn't done on purpose, but, it just sort of happened. I thought you'd always be there..."

"You never thought I'd get sick of your crap, huh?" she whispered back, oblivious to the party surrounding them.

"I guess not," Alex replied, his tone somewhat bitter. How could he even begin to explain his screwed up relationship history? He was always managing to screw up a relationship in some shape, form, or fashion. If the chicks didn't leave him, then they were crazy. He was used to that-a year or two, and everything was over. Jo was different though-she stayed. She stayed through some of his darkest hours, and he still managed to mess it up. Rather than treasuring her for being the first one to stay, he'd taken her for granted. "I just...I'm just...I'm sorry."

Her hand cupped his cheek instinctively as he finally opened up to her. The brunette opened her mouth several times, but no words were forming in her brain. He'd completely caught her off guard. Jo never expected vulnerable, apologetic Alex. She could handle angry, raging, demanding Alex. But this Alex...this Alex melted her heart.

Alex brought his hand up, covering hers. "Can we go somewhere?" he asked, putting his forehead to hers. "Somewhere quiet so we can talk?"

"Yeah, I think that'd be good," she whispered back. The least she could do was hear him out. The woman's heart pounded as he lead her to the coat rack and retrieved her jacket, holding it out for her to slip into.

Their moment of bliss shattered as a pager sounded.

Then another.

And another.

"Nine one one!" Jackson yelled after retrieving his pager.

"Someone turn on the tv!" another voice demanded.

"Hotel fire!" Arizona announced seconds later.

"Wilson! Cross! Let's go!" Callie called for her students.

"Later?" Alex asked, looking to Jo as the ortho attending made a grab for her.

"Later," she promised, leaning in and giving him an impulsive kiss.

Alex responded immediately before they were pulled apart in the mayhem. It seemed that he was finally moving in the right direction where she was concerned.