Hey guys! Thank you thank you thank you for all of your kind words and reviews. I love talking to you guys via PM to so don't hesitate to send me messages if you want to discuss the story in this fic or just Grey's in general. My kids have both started sports and school begins next week, so I can't promise when I will update again but hopefully soon! Hope you guys enjoy.

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A week passed since New Years and things were starting to settle down at the hospital. April had successfully managed to avoid Jackson for seven straight days. She wasn't upset at him anymore.. well, maybe she was a little.. but more-so she was just nervous to talk to him with everything so weird between them. She missed his friendship and wished they could hang out without all the baggage they'd managed to create, but she just didn't know if that was a possibility.

She and Alex had been spending a lot of time together lately and April was surprised at how much they had in common, despite their obvious personality differences. They both came from small rural towns, they both grew up in church.. Alex surprised her one day telling her how he went to the First Baptist church with his aunt until he reached his teens when girls and beer became more important, and while he believed in God, he was certainly not a devout Christian. This earned quite a few minutes of gut-busting laughter from April, followed by a "no shit Sherlock!"

They both loved sports. April in return surprised Alex with her vast knowledge of both football and basketball. They had a 45 minute conversation about who would win the Super Bowl and how. She gloated of course, remembering when she surprised Jackson in the same manner years prior. They loved the same kind of music and even made half-assed plans to go to Coachella sometime. Of course, they bickered as usual, Alex constantly annoyed with April's glass-half-full shiny disposition and high-pitched voice and April pretty much always grossed out by Alex's rude perverted ways. It was definitely a love-hate friendship.

April closed out her chart and put it up on the desk for the nurse to take. She was about to take a break when she bumped right into Jackson. April smiled nervously.

"Oh! Hey Jackson."

He returned her smile. "Hey.. long time no see."

April shifted and looked anywhere but at him. "Oh, yeah, I've just been..uh.."

"Avoiding me?" He laughed lightly. "It's okay, I get it.. how've you been?"

"Good!" She answered too quickly. "I mean I've been.. good. How about you?"

April couldn't help but admire how attractive he looked. He hadn't shaved in a few days and his hair was starting to get long. She swallowed and looked down.

"I've been okay. I've missed you." He said it like he was saying the sky was blue. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. April looked up at him again and blushed slightly.

"You have?"

Jackson took a step closer to her, close enough to be considered intimate but not enough to scare her. "Yeah, I have. I didn't realize how boring my life was without you in it."

April smiled and rolled her eyes. "I sincerely doubt that."

"No, I'm serious. There's no one to yell at me for eating straight out of the dish. No one is there to make fun of me when I lose my shit over a game. And I haven't gotten an update on the latest Hollywood Us Weekly gossip in I don't know how long." He smirked at her.

April couldn't help but laugh softly. "Well, Jennifer Aniston is pregnant."

"Again?"

She nodded.

"She's always pregnant."

"Except she never is. And the Kardashians are starting a new clothing line. At Sears."

"Oh, tell me more!" He replied feigning interest. April laughed and shoved him playfully.

"Shut up, do you even know what Sears is rich boy?"

"Yes!" He said, pretending to be offended. "It's in the mall and they sell lawn mowers."

April laughed again.

They stood silently for a minute, both pondering what to say. Jackson couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. Her hair was so vibrantly red and curly and voluptuous. She had on more makeup than she usually wore, and even though she didn't need it, she looked sexy as hell and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, to feel her body against his again.

"See?" He finally said. "We can be friends. We're great at it."

April's smile faltered a little. "I.. I'm not so sure."

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know what I'm thinking about right now?" She replied in a small, seductive voice that Jackson was positive she didn't intend. "Kissing you. Right now, standing here looking at you that's all I can think about."

He raised an eyebrow, surprised at her admission. It took him a few beats to respond. "Well.. the feeling is mutual." He whispered, stepping a little closer now, invading her personal space.

"That doesn't sound like friends to me."

"April.." He leaned in, almost resting his forehead in hers, just needed to be close to her. He felt so empty without her.

"Yo, Kepner! We still on for tonight? I'm heading in to surgery." Karev walked up, completely ignoring their close moment, and not even acknowledging Jackson's presence.

April snapped out of her daze and pulled back slightly from Jackson. "Uh, yeah, yeah. Just text me when you're finished."

Karev looked between the two of them and then back at April. "Alright. Later."

Jackson watched as Alex walked away from them. "You and Karev have been spending a lot of time together lately.."

April immediately shook her head. "It's not like that."

"I didn't say it was. Just making an observation, that's all." Truth was, it killed Jackson that April was spending so much time with that prick. Alex was a jerk, especially to her, and she was too good for him. She was too good for both of them.

"He's been a good friend to me. I know, shocking, right? But he has."

"I'm sure there's an ulterior motive."

April looked at him with a blank face. "What are you trying to say? Someone can't be my friend without an agenda?"

Jackson immediately realized his misstep. "No, no, no.. not someone. Anyone would be lucky to be your friend, April. It's just Karev.. he never has good intentions unless it benefits him in one way or another."

She shook her head, obviously disagreeing. "You're wrong, Jackson. Alex has been really good to me and doesn't expect anything in return."

Jackson looked at her, at a loss of what to say. He felt like he had stepped into an alternate universe. April defending Alex freaking Karev to him? Surely she wasn't falling for the guy. The idea was completely ridiculous.

"Just.. promise me you'll be careful."

April laughed at him. "Around Karev? You're joking right? Alex isn't going to hurt me, Jackson. Get a grip."

He decided it might be best to change the subject before really pissing her off, even if the idea of her and Karev still nagged him. "Ok, ok." He raised his hands in surrender.

"Look, I have to go. It was really good to talk to you. I mean it." April gave him one of those smiles of hers that always melted his heart just a bit. She really had no idea just how beautiful she was.

"You too." He smiled and watched her turn, before calling back out. "Hey, April.."

She turned back around to face him. "Yeah?"

"You look really beautiful today."

April blushed from the top of her head to the bottoms of her feet. She ducked her head bashfully and then looked back up at him. "Thank you."

ooo

Alex was in hell. How the hell did two interns wind up on his service today? All he wanted to do was stitch this kid up and get the hell out of here, not listen to Edwards and Wilson yap yap yap about hair conditioner and the latest Channing Tatum flick,

His mind wandered to seeing Kepner with Avery in the hall earlier, and he really hated the uneasy feeling in his gut it caused. Kepner was finally starting to get back to her old annoying self after the whole wedding/bar fiasco weeks earlier, and now she's just going to let Avery bat his pretty eyes at her and forget the hell she went through? Why were women so stupid?

Ok, so Kepner was not stupid, not even in the slightest. She was actually very intelligent and surprisingly worldly. She read anything and everything and knew how to hold a conversation about any subject it seemed. She was also pretty damn funny, sometimes unintentionally. Alex was surprised at how much fun he had when they hung out.

He supposed if she wanted to forgive Avery for being a man whore, he didn't have any room to judge. But it still didn't do anything to alleviate the nagging feeling in his stomach.

"So tell me about New Years?" Jo Wilson asked Edwards over little Conner Styles' body. "I'd been meaning to ask you."

Stephanie hesitated and then cleared her throat. "It was great! Better than great, actually."

Wilson laughed softly. "So your plan to corner Dr. McReallyHot and get back in his pants worked huh?"

Alex's ears perked up at this. Edwards paused for a minute before responding.

"Of course it did. He couldn't wait to meet me in an on-call room."

Oh, hell no. Avery slept with Edwards again? On New Years? April told Alex all about Jackson's visit to her apartment and how sorry he was and how she desperately wanted to forgive and forget. And that sleazy snake went and banged Edwards again the very night.

Alex shook his head.

"Good as the first time?"

"Better."

"So, are you guys like, seeing each other now? Or just seeing each other naked?" Wilson chuckled at her own joke.

"Guess time will tell.. " Edwards cleared her throat. "So tell me about that guy you met at Joe's?"

Alex dumped his utensils into a waste bin with more force than necessary, making a loud clanking sound. "Hey, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, I have an idea.. how about you both shut your mouths and focus on your work. No one care about your sexcapades."

He went back to sewing up the incision but his mind was racing. He knew the whole bros-before-hoes mentality should keep him from running his mouth about Avery and Edwards, but Kepner was his friend, and Avery certainly was not his bro.

Fuck it.

April deserved to know.

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Uh-ohs! ;)

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