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Jackson's mission to win April's heart hadn't gone as smoothly as he had hoped. The overconfident side of him was certain she would let him in after telling her who he was, but the push and pull between them was frustrating. Nothing more than flirting ever happened. Their interactions always resulted in a stalemate. The friend zone was still in place for him. However, he was glad they were slowly becoming friends. She had been living in Seattle for a month now, so it was better than no progress at all.

Her friends were slightly baffled by their new friendship. Lexie hoped her best friend wasn't falling for his typical fake charm, while George completely loathed the plastic surgeon for obvious reasons. They agreed to pay close attention to the duo because neither of them were willing to trust Jackson yet. Even though he was a piece of their past, they knew him better as the sleazy coworker who used his appearance and bank account to get what he wanted out of every woman he set his eyes on.

"I don't get it. I really don't get the appeal with that guy," George bitterly said as he watched Jackson and April mingle and laugh by the coffee stand in the main lobby. He actually did except he didn't want to admit it.

During their non-date at Green Lake Park, he noticed the many glances back and forth between the two doctors, but he kept his mouth shut about it. He knew he couldn't compete with those bluish-green eyes and his athletic figure, yet he believed April deserved somebody who was genuine and warmhearted, which weren't Jackson's strongest characteristics.

"It's the Avery charm, makes women weak. If he wasn't such a dick, I wouldn't mind," Lexie nonchalantly replied while she sat behind the nurses' station and used the computer. "And the fact that he was her first ever boyfriend helps too."

"But we were thirteen. It's not like she was in love with him," he scoffed. "And he was such a dork."

"So were you and you still are," the urologist countered with a smirk. George immediately scowled at his best friend and she chuckled. "What? It's true, but that's why I still like ya. You never changed who you are and that's great. It's not easy staying the same person all these years."

"Yeah, but it hasn't done much for me if you haven't noticed." He waved his arm towards Jackson and April. "She moves back home a month ago and falls for the one guy everybody else here despises just because of a summer fling. She'll eventually get hurt, Lex. You and I know it'll happen."

"And as her best friends, we will be there for her when it does happen. I don't like the idea of those two together as much as you, but we gotta let her figure this stuff out on her own," Lexie insisted. "One positive thing out of all of this – I don't think Jackson's been whoring around in the past week or two, which means one less intern or resident I have to overhear weeping because he didn't call them back."

George sighed as he watched the twosome interact. "Is it wrong that I'd rather he continue his manwhore ways over flirting with April? He's the anti-Matthew. She's too good for him." He shook his head and decided to walk away. "Whatever. If I stare at them any longer, I'm going to be sick."

He left to return to his safe house in the ER, leaving Lexie alone to watch April fall for Jackson's sweet talk.

"What are you doing tonight?" the pretty man inquired.

"Tea party at the Sloan residence," she answered and chuckled. "Mark and Lexie made plans to go out and I volunteered to watch the girls, so my night will consist of wearing a plastic tiara on my head and drinking imaginary tea."

"Oh," Jackson murmured, trying to hide his disappointment. "That's too bad."

April's smile faded away. "That's too bad?" she repeated, slightly agitated. "I'm spending quality time with my daughter and my niece. I most certainly wouldn't see that as a negative situation."

He grimaced knowing he had offended her. "Well, what I meant was… that's too bad because... you're stuck at home, while your brother and sister-in-law get to go out on a date…" The blank stare on April's face concluded that he was digging himself into a deep hole. "I'm not making this sound any better, am I?"

She shook her head and picked up her coffee from the counter. "Nope. I'll see you around."

His cappuccino was ready just as she walked away from him. They were having a friendly conversation that mainly consisted of flirting, but he knew he blew it with his last comment. She skipped the slow running elevators and headed for the stairwell, so he chased after her.

"April, wait!" he called out, running up the stairs and blocking her path. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me, I know. Look, we've been getting along for a while now and I don't want to mess that up. Plus, there's something I've been aching to know and I want you to tell me the truth because I'm beginning to lose my patience."

"Which is what exactly?"

"There's mutual attraction between us, right? Just like when we were thirteen? I'm not a guy who puts his feelings out there for any woman," Jackson admitted. "I prefer not to attach myself to anybody, but I can't do that with you, so I want to know if I'm delusional or not."

April casually sipped her coffee before she responded, "Well, if you and I hadn't known each other in the past, I wouldn't have bothered giving you any of my attention because your attitude towards other people sucks." She gently bit down on her lower lip. "You're an attractive man, Jackson. I'm sure you're aware of that since people think you're so conceited. There are moments when I'm thinking about you nonstop because I get to see this side of you nobody else sees, but I have no idea if you're being yourself when you're around me or if you're putting on an act."

"So, you flirt with me even though it sounds like you don't trust me?"

"I want to trust you, Jackson, but I don't know if I can. You need to prove your worth to me." The redhead sighed when he appeared to be hurt by her words. "When we were teenagers it was easy. We were both naïve and new to anything that had to do with dating. Now, it's different. I was married for six years and you apparently sleep around a lot. Not exactly the kind of guy I should go for, but sometimes I can't help myself when I'm around you."

"You're right, though. Before you arrived, I slept with a new woman almost every other night and I didn't think twice about getting to know them on a personal level," he guiltily replied. He used his free hand to push back strands of her hair behind her ear. "But you being here is forcing me to re-evaluate my lifestyle. I'm trying here, April. Just give me a chance to be better for you."

She tried to resist his hand resting against the back of her neck and his thumb gently stroking her cheek, but his touch sent shivers down her spine. His palm was so smooth against her skin and his eyes staring intensely into hers made it even harder to turn him down. "I, uhh… Jackson-"

"We can be good together," he confidently stated as his face inched closer to hers.

His lips were just centimeters away before April's pager interrupted them. She immediately pulled away from him, checking the pager attached to her waistband. "Peds consult in the pit. I-I have to go," she hesitantly said and cleared her throat. "See ya, Jackson."

"Wait. How about I come over to your place and help you babysit?" he offered, despite the fact he literally wanted to kick himself in the face for doing so. He was becoming more desperate than ever to spend time with her outside of the hospital. "Is that cool?"

"Are you serious?" April skeptically replied, folding her arms as she softly laughed at him. "How many kids have you babysat for? And I'll tell you now that I'm expecting a very low number."

Jackson opened his mouth to speak and nervously laughed. The count total was zero. He would rather go on a blind date than babysit somebody else's child. "Doesn't mean I don't know how to watch a kid," he convincingly answered. "And we'll go by your 'no dating' thing. Besides, babysitting shouldn't qualify as a date."

"I'll have to clear this with Mark first. It's his house and he still hates you, so don't get your hopes up just yet," she noted. "Obviously, you haven't met Maddy yet. Have you even interacted at all with Kylie?"

"She's my boss' daughter, so of course I have," he arrogantly replied and pointed at himself. "I can do this. It's no problem. You'll see."

"So you'll play tea party with them if they ask?"

The plastic surgeon bit his lower lip and shook his head. "I'll do anything but play tea party with them. I have to protect my masculinity."

April crouched down for a second to set her coffee cup on one of the steps. She stood up and held out her hands with her palms facing up. "Set your palms over mine," she ordered, but he stared at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "Hand-slap game. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, uhh… sure," Jackson lied and scratched the back of his shaved head. "What are we doing this for?"

"If I slap your hands, you have to play tea party with the girls, but you're a free man if I miss."

"C'mon, that's silly," he scoffed.

"Ah, I see. You're a chicken because you know I'm going to win. I always beat you at this game," April taunted him, grinning mischievously at him. "Forget coming over then."

He groaned and set his coffee cup beside hers before he held out his hands. His palms were face down and about an inch away from April's. She quickly licked her lips as she waited for the perfect moment to catch him off-guard. It was nearly dead silent in the stairwell. The only sounds that could be heard were echoes of footsteps and voices coming from the hallways.

The waiting was beginning to become unbearable for Jackson. "Alright, before my next birthday co- oww!" He whipped his hands away after April slyly slapped the back of them without giving him a chance to react until it was too late.

"I still got it," she gloated, bending over to pick up her coffee cup. April turned around as she headed down the stairs. "If you're serious about helping me babysit, be at the house by 7:30. I'm looking forward to seeing you wear a pink boa and a tiara with fake jewels."

Jackson smiled to himself as he retrieved his cappuccino. "Oh, I'll definitely be there. You can count on that." He walked upstairs, staring at his faintly red left hand. "Damn, she slaps hard."


Summer 1993 – Day 21

"Okay, you're making me a little nervous now," Jackson timidly said as he engaged in a friendly hand-slap game with April. Seated on a bench just outside of the dining hall, his palms hovered above hers as he anticipated her next attack. He had quick hands, but hers were quicker. And she slapped fairly hard. "Any second- oww!"

"Gotcha!" April excitedly shrieked after she successfully slapped the back of Jackson's hands. She giggled as he shook one of his hands. "Want to go again?"

He shook his head with a bashful smile on his face. "No, it's okay. Maybe later when my hand isn't so red."

The two of them had grown more comfortable hanging out together. Jackson opened up more about himself and he loved listening to April ramble about her childhood. He especially loved it when she smiled because it showed off the dimple he enjoyed staring at. They held hands and hugged, but they still hadn't shared their first kiss. Both of them wanted it to happen except neither of them were willing to make that bold first move.

"Are you looking forward to your first overnight camping trip?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I have a feeling my cabin mates will try to push me off of a cliff when they get the chance," he muttered. Jackson most definitely wasn't looking forward to the camping trip. He wasn't much of an outdoors, nature type of person. And if it wasn't for meeting April, he would have hated being at Wazi even more. "I'd rather stay here with you."

The redhead softly smiled at her boyfriend. "Yeah, but you'll be back in two days. It's not as bad as you think. I bet you'll end up having fun." She took his hand and interlocked their fingers together. "I'll miss you, though."

Jackson pushed up his glasses and shyly kicked his shoe against the dirt. "Seriously? Well, I mean- I-I I'll miss you too." He thought it was time to make a move. It felt perfect, so leaned forward and instead of kissing her, he whacked her in the face with his forehead. They both grabbed their faces, wincing in pain. "I'm sorry!"

April rubbed her nose and laughed. "It's fine. What were you trying to do?"

"Umm… kiss you?" he sheepishly answered, then he sat upright on the bench. "Clearly, that didn't go so well. I thought if I just went for it… I guess my aim sucks really bad. Pretend that didn't happen, okay?"

She watched him cower his head in embarrassment. He stared down at his Air Jordan's, stepping one foot on top of the other. Jackson seemed to be mumbling inaudible words to himself. He couldn't believe how awful he was at kissing and he didn't even actually kiss her.

He raised his head when he heard familiar voices nearby. It was The Hawk and his gang walking down the trail close to the dining hall. In a panic, Jackson grasped April's hand and ran towards the opposite direction, catching her off-guard. He leaped over a bush and landed flat on his stomach, making a loud grunting sound that made his girlfriend chuckle.

"Jackson, what are you doing?" she questioned curiously. He waved her over and she walked around the bush. She sat down beside him as he cleaned his glasses with his t-shirt. "What's going on?"

"Shh! Hiding," he whispered with his finger pressed against his lips. Peeking over the bush, the nerd let out a sigh of relief when the group of counselors disappeared inside of the dining hall. He started to relax as he fanned himself with his t-shirt. "Maybe this camping trip is a blessing in disguise. I won't have to deal with those whackos for a couple of days."

"Which whackos are you referring to exactly?"

"Those bastard counselors who won't leave me alone," Jackson grumbled, clenching his fists. He swung his right arm as if he was practicing his punches. "I'll get them back soon. One clear punch and The Hawk will wish he never messed with me."

April sighed and shook her head. "I don't want you to become violent, Jackson. Those dumb bullies just pick on people younger than them to impress the skanky girl counselors. They all think they're so rad because they're older and they can grow facial hair," she insisted, then she smiled at him. "You are totally a lover and not a fighter."

Jackson half-smiled at her. "Can I- can I try to kiss you again?"

She nervously bit her lower lip before she quickly nodded. "O-okay. Just try not to smash your forehead into my nose again," she playfully teased.

They adjusted their sitting positions and faced each other. Once again, they were frozen and reluctant to make a move. After almost a minute of waiting, Jackson took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He leaned forward hoping he wouldn't miss on the second try. With one quick peck, he kissed April on the lips and she squealed in response.

"What, what? Was it bad?" he asked worriedly, fidgeting with his fingers.

"No," she giggled. Her cheeks were bright red after experiencing her first kiss. "I just… umm…"

Suddenly, April took Jackson by surprise when she yanked on his t-shirt, pulling him back to her and kissing him a few seconds longer than their first one. His eyes grew wide, amazed by her eagerness to kiss him again. She pulled away from him and smiled to herself as she picked at a blade of grass.

He stared at her with a goofy grin on his face. "Wow," he breathlessly said. He had no idea where her unexpected boost of confidence came from, but his 13-year old mind thought it was the sexiest thing ever. "My uhh, my stomach hurts a little bit."

"I think I have butterflies in mine," she quipped. April softly laughed to herself. She practically pounced on a boy and kissed him. Her first kiss wasn't perfect, but it would be memorable for sure. She couldn't wait to tell Lexie about what had just happened. "Wow."


The doorbell rang and Mark threw on his dress coat before he checked who was at the door. He inhaled sharply at the sight of a casually dressed Jackson waiting outside. "I can't believe this idiot actually showed up," he muttered to himself. He opened the door, his facial expression showing he was visibly not amused to see him at his home. "Avery."

The younger plastic surgeon half-grinned at his boss and stuffed his hands inside of his pockets. "How's it goin', Sloan?" he politely greeted him.

"A, we're not friends, so this buddy-buddy crap you're pulling isn't working on me. And two, wipe that shit eating grin off of your face before I do it for you," he threatened his attending.

Jackson pursed his lips together and cleared his throat. "Uhh… may I come in? Or is there a secret password?"

"Don't get smart with me, Avery." Mark stepped aside to let him into his house. He closed the door afterwards and brought him into the living room where a small table with a tea set were set up in the corner. Madison and Kylie were already engaging in a friendly tea party with their stuffed animals. "Girls, this is Dr. Avery from work. Kylie, do you remember meeting him at the hospital?"

Kylie gazed up at the two men and pointed at Jackson. "Doc Bad Boy!" she called out and giggled. "You a bad boy!"

"Oh, I have no idea where she got that from," Lexie intruded after overhearing her daughter. She rushed towards the two 3-year olds while simultaneously wearing her earrings. Crouching down beside Kylie, she kissed her cheek and sheepishly grinned at Jackson. "I don't know who taught her to call you that, but sweetie, it's not nice to call people mean names, okay?"

"Daddy call him bad boy," her mini-me replied.

"He did? Well, I guess Daddy and I will have a nice talk about that later," the brunette answered through gritted teeth. Lexie stood up and approached her husband, tugging him away from Jackson. "Seriously?"

Mark shrugged. "What? It's not wrong if I'm telling her the truth."

She rolled her eyes and pulled him towards the front door. "Be good girls, okay? We'll be home later," the urologist said, then she glanced back at Jackson. "We're gonna go ahead and take off. April's upstairs dealing with a phone call. She'll be down soon."

After the couple left, Jackson walked towards the little girls and knelt down beside Madison. Around her neck was his alien necklace, which made him smile. "Hey, Maddy. My name's Jackson. I'm a friend of your mom's," he introduced himself and held out his hand. The shy redhead tightly clutched her small stuffed rabbit and ducked her head. Unlike Kylie, she was extremely shy around unfamiliar faces. He pointed at her necklace. "That's a really cool necklace you got there. I had one just like it when I was young."

"You a bad boy," Kylie accusingly blurted out again.

"Yes, I'm aware," he irritably responded with a smile on his face.

April strolled downstairs, purse in hand. She grimaced as Jackson gazed up at her. "I have a problem," the peds surgeon uncomfortably announced. "I just got off the phone with my resident and I need to drive to the hospital to check on one of my patients. It'll only take about an hour or two, I promise."

His eyes grew wide and he quickly approached her. "No, no, no. You cannot under any circumstances leave me here alone with those little girls," he said in a state of panic. "Your kid won't even look at me and Sloan's keeps calling me a bad boy. This wasn't part of the deal."

"Neither was my fifth year resident botching a simple favor. She asked the nurse to administer the wrong medication for my liver transplant patient and obviously, it didn't go so well. Karev's already out, probably drunk and having sex with some skank from Joe's, so I have to be there to ensure my patient's not dead and to talk to the parents," she replied in annoyance. "All I ask is that you keep them alive and they're in bed by 8:30. You'll be fine, Jackson. Only call me or Mark or Lexie if it's necessary."

"April, I can't-"

"I can't argue with you now. The sooner I leave, the faster I can handle my stupid resident and come home." April blew a kiss to Madison as she headed towards the garage. "Bye, baby! Mommy has to fix something at work, okay? I won't take long. Jackson will watch you and Kylie until then."

Her daughter chased after her, but unfortunately she was a step too slow. The door leading to the garage closed before she got there and she slapped her hand against it. "Mama, cuh'back!" she shrieked. It didn't take long for the tears to flow out of her tiny eyes.

Jackson groaned, tilting his head back and staring at the ceiling. He was mentally cursing at himself. One child was taught to loathe him and the other's cries made his head throb instantly. He hated dealing with crying children at the hospital to begin with, but now he had to calm down Madison, who bawled like any other toddler who was attached to their mother.

Neither of them knew him well enough, so how the hell were they going to listen to him?

He needed to come up with a solution fast because Madison's cries were driving him insane. Rushing into the kitchen, he sifted through cabinets until he found what he was looking for. He returned to the living room and held up a bag of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies.

"Maddy, look what I have," he soothingly said while he opened the bag. "I've got cookies. Do you want a cookie?"

"I want Mama!" she sobbed, sitting down on the floor and throwing a tantrum.

Kylie jumped up from her chair and ran towards Jackson. "Mine!" she exclaimed, yanking the bag out of his hands and running away from him. "My cookies, bad boy!"

"Hey! Get back here you little-" He stopped himself from saying a regrettable word as he chased after the little Sloan girl. Running upstairs, she scurried into her parents' bedroom and crawled underneath the bed. The space was too narrow for him to squeeze inside. He lay flat on his stomach as he watched Kylie stuff a cookie into her mouth. "Uhh, Kylie? How about you come on out of there and eat that cookie downstairs?"

"No!" she giggled. "You a bad boy."

"You heard what your mother said. It's not nice to call people mean names," he reminded her. "So, if you don't crawl out of there, the scary Boogeyman who lives under the bed will show up and eat you."

Kylie dropped her cookie and placed her balled up hands against her eyes as she burst into tears. Now, there were two crying kids to torture him for at least an hour.

Jackson slammed his forehead against the back of his hands. "Great," he mumbled. "I should be getting freaking paid for this."


One thing Jackson was thankful for – little children could cry themselves to sleep. By the time he managed to convince Kylie to stop hiding underneath Mark and Lexie's bed, which nearly took a half an hour, Madison had fallen asleep on the floor where she had been throwing her tantrum. He found her laying on her side, hugging her stuffed rabbit and sucking her thumb. He carefully picked her up and brought her upstairs to her bedroom.

Kylie had calmed down after the plastic surgeon promised not to tell her parents about the many cookies she eventually ate. He also forced himself to play tea party with her. At least nobody was around to witness him wearing a pink boa and a plastic tiara on his head. He sucked it up and kept the 3-year old entertained with his goofy attempt at a Mad Hatter accent. The second he noticed a yawn out of her, he ended their tea party and carried her upstairs. He helped her brush her teeth to destroy any evidence of her eating cookies before bed time, then he tucked her into her princess themed bed.

An hour had passed, but April wasn't home yet, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Nobody would have to know about what occurred unless one of the girls blabbed. He hoped his pinky swear with Kylie about the cookies would remain a secret. Otherwise, Mark was going to make him one miserable attending at work.

He was sprawled out on the couch when April returned home. His forearm covered his eyes and he appeared exhausted, despite only watching the girls for an hour and a half. She stared at him amusingly before she lightly nudged his shoulder with her finger.

"Jackson?"

"Hmm?" He removed his arm from his face and squinted his eyes at the redhead. "Oh, you're home. Is your patient alive?"

She nodded as he sat up on the couch and rubbed his eyes. "Yes, he's fine. Did everything turn out fine while I was gone? No problems whatsoever with the girls?"

"Nope. They behaved," he lied. They sucked the life out of him. More like Kylie did. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet, but Jackson was ready to go home to his condominium and pass out on his bed. He slowly stood up stretching his arms over his head. "Anyway, I'm gonna bail before Mark and Lexie come home."

April followed him to the front door and walked outside with him. She slightly smiled at the tired man as they stood on the steps in front of the house. "I'm sorry we didn't hang out tonight, but thank you for watching the girls. I saved myself a lot of time by not having to call a babysitter."

"Is it too much to ask to have dinner with me again?" he half-heartedly questioned. "Or are you still playing hard to get?"

She tugged on his hooded jacket and kissed his lips. Surprised at first, he quickly kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her lower back. He didn't quite understand why she decided to finally kiss him, but he wasn't complaining. Maybe the thought of him babysitting alone was sexy to her, he thought.

Headlights shining at their direction forced them to pull away from each other. April wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as Mark pulled into the driveway. She waved at the couple when they got out of her brother's black Mercedes. "Back already?" she greeted them.

"He was getting paranoid about Jackson possibly killing our children after you texted him about having to check on a patient," Lexie answered, rolling her eyes as she pointed at Mark. "So, we rushed our dinner and came home as fast as we could."

"Are they dead, Avery?" Mark rudely asked.

"They're asleep. Your Kylie is such an angel," Jackson sarcastically replied, smirking at his superior. "We were fine. Also, I was just leaving, so you can breathe easy again."

Lexie slipped her hand into Mark's and led him into the house. "Thanks for helping us, Jackson. Goodnight," she acknowledged, though she didn't sound very grateful. She seemed too annoyed with her husband to be nice to anybody.

April waited until the front door was closed, then she shyly shrugged her shoulders at Jackson. "It's been a long day for everybody," she insisted. "The life of a surgeon. You know how it is."

"Yeah. So, is this Friday night alright for you?" Jackson asked eagerly. He was smiling again, mainly because they finally shared their first kiss since he began pursuing her.

"Friday night is perfect," she cheerfully answered. "I'll see you tomorrow at work."

Spying on them from inside of the house was Mark, who used the peephole to watch his sister say her goodbyes to Jackson. He groaned in disgust as he watched them share a long, deep kiss before the other plastic surgeon walked to his Porsche. "You're a dead man, Dweebles."


So, yeah. The Hawk = Mark... anybody guess that correctly? ;)