All through the night
I'll be awake and I'll be with you
All through the night
This precious time when time is new
(All through the night - Cyndi Lauper)

It was almost 11pm when Jo heard the sound of a door opening, but she was too focused to look at the clock before. Sitting on the couch with her feet on the center table, she had her laptop on her lap, books by her right side and a bowl of popcorn by her left.

"Hey," Alex said from the threshold. "Sorry I couldn't pick you up at the hospital. Lebackes insisted on going to a sort of welcoming happy hour."

"It's fine," Jo replied, smiling briefly at him, before look back to her screen to finish the video she was watching.

Alex entered the living room and, sitting on the arm of the couch, he looked at her books. "What are you doing?"

As the video ended, Jo typed something to Stephanie on Skype, then she put the notebook on the table and took the books to the other side, to make room for Alex, changing her position to face him. He sat and she smacked his lips before reply. "Having some fun. Stephanie and I found this channel on Youtube with hundreds of surgeries we may never see in person."

Making himself comfortable on the couch, Alex passed his arms around Jo's body and grabbed some popcorn from the bowl. "Junkie." He said, receiving a curious look from his girlfriend. "Residents are junkies. I've been there, I know how it works. We used to spend hours watching Ellis Grey's videos and reading her diaries."

She jolted, excited. "You had access to Ellis's videos? Oh, my God, how come you never mentioned this before? I know about her diaries, but I didn't know anything about the videos." He shrugged, grabbing more popcorn, as she had an idea. "Can't you talk to Grey and ask if we can, I don't know, get a copy?"

"Hmm, I think some of the tapes may still be at the attic. Mer was going to take them to her new house, but I think she never did. I'll see what I can get you." He said, squeezing her thigh. Then he got up and took the bag he'd left on the floor. "I'm gonna take a shower, then I'll go to bed. Are you coming with me?"

Jo was about to say yes, but an alert popped up on her screen with a new message from Stephanie. She looked at it, then back to Alex before decide. "Let me just answer this and I'll be right after you."

One hour later, Jo turned her computer off. She didn't intent to take this long, but she found herself caught up on a discussion with her friend about the procedure they'd just watched. She felt bad. It was Alex's first day at the practice, and she was so excited with her new addiction that she didn't even ask him how it went.

Fortunately, when she arrived at the bedroom, he was still awake, talking at his phone. "No, Mer, for the thousandth time, she didn't mention anything." Jo snorted and shook her head, figuring what he was talking about. Since Yang lost the Harper Avery to some random guy at Hopkins, Alex and Grey had exchanged daily status reports about her to guarantee that she was fine. Jo admired the kind of relationship they had, always taking care of one another. "I gotta go," Alex said, as he saw his girlfriend crossing the room.

She did her bathroom routine, still hearing the end of his conversation. By the time she finished, he was laying in the bed, just waiting for her. "Long answer that one, uh?" He said, trying to sound serious, but actually playful.

Jo made a face at him and apologized. With Alex watching each one of her moviments, she crossed the room again and stopped by the armchair, to change to the pajamas she'd left there in the morning. Alex's coat was there and, when she took it to look under, a piece of paper fell from it's pocket. She leaned down to take it and Alex furrowed. "What is that?" He asked, and she gave it to him. Alex unfolded the paper, revealing a drawing.

Intrigued, Jo climbed into the bed. It was a childlike work, made with crayons. On the right top, there was a bright yellow sun with green eyes and a full red mouth. The bottom was covered by dark green grass, which had, on the left side, three flowers holding hands - The first one was short and pink, the second was tall and pink and the third was tall and blue. On the other side, another tall blue flower.

Alex chuckled. "It's from a patient I saw today," he explained and Jo listened attentively. "Victoria. Six years old, down syndrome and a rare heart condition. Her parents just moved from Portland and they were looking for a new pediatrician, but she didn't like anyone. While they were filling me into her history, she was drawing. She gave me this one at the end of the consult. It's supposed to be us - she, her parents and me. Apparently, she liked me." He finished with a smirk, causing Jo to roll her eyes.

"Of course she liked you. There's nothing unlikeable about you. Not at first sight," Jo mocked. Actually, it was the exact opposite. Alex was the kind of person that you had to know before you get to like, and Jo knew that he wasn't very good at showing his qualities. But kids are more sensitive than grown-ups, they are able to see what the adults try to hide. That's why he was great with them.

Jo got up from the bed and took off her shirt, changing to the one she'd just found on the armchair. "By the way, you didn't tell me yet how was your first official day at the practice." As she took off her pants, she saw Alex's eyes sparkling in excitement as he sat with his back against the headboard, and not the same way they usually did when she was changing clothes in front of him.

"It was great," he started. "I mean, the secretary was a little too cheerful for my taste. She put flowers on my office and gave me a box of donuts as a welcome gift."

Jo laughed, circling the bed and stopping on the other side, where she sat facing him with her legs crossed. "I can't believe you're taking donuts from another woman. Should I be jealous?"

Alex laughed too. "Maybe you should. She also ordered a sandwich for me when I didn't want to go out for lunch. And she is a gorgeous sixty years old lady."

Jo opened her mouth and widened her eyes, placing her hand on her chest, to pretend to be mad. "A sandwich? It's outrageous!" Getting on her knees, she leaned closer and kissed her boyfriend. He encircled her body with his arms, giving her goosebumps as he ran his fingers on her back, trying to get off the shirt she'd just dressed. After a while, she broke the kiss and sat by his side. "So, this is it? A kid and an older lady who love you?"

She looked at him for an answer. As much as she loved making out and having sex, she also enjoyed talking. Alex was still her best friend, she wanted to know about his day on the new job. Apparently, he wanted to talk about it too. He thought for a moment, placing his arm around her to cuddle her, before reply. "Well, the day began with the donuts from my older lover. Then I talked to my younger admirer's parents for more than one hour, while she consumed with her drawings every piece of paper we gave her and left a stain of red crayon on my carpet."

Jo interrupted his narrative. "And since when do you care about carpet stains?"

"Since they gave me a fancy office to receive my patients," he replied, with a sneer, while playing with her hair and, once again, trying to get her shirt off.

"It makes sense. Go on." She meant go on with his story, and she knew he understood her, but apparently he chose to pretend that he didn't.

"Fine," he said. With a quick move that Jo couldn't anticipate, Alex changed his position to face her, so he could use his both hands to undress her. She laughed, hitting his chest, and he leaned back, catching her by the waist. They both landed on the other side of the bed, with Jo's hair covering her face. As Alex helped to put her hair back, she took the opportunity to hold both of his hands against the mattress.

Positioning one leg on each side of him, Jo kneeled and looked defiantly at him. "Bad move, dude. Now, I give the cards," she said. Of course, he was stronger and could overpower her, but he didn't, he just lay there while she kissed his neck, their shirtless bodies touching, and then went back to his lips. After a while, she gave up on holding his hands and held his head, playing with his hair. Alex, one the other hand, used his now free arms to embrace his girlfriend, bringing her even closer to him and rolling to the right, putting himself on top again.

"I thought you wanted to talk," he said, between kisses.

"I want," she replied, her breath starting to get heavier than its usual. "But we can finish this first, can't we?"

Alex chuckled and Jo watched his crooked smile while he teased. "Maybe..." Slowly, he started to slowly pull her pants off. "Or maybe we can do both."

Jo shrugged. "I'm not so sure. Do kids turn you on? This is creepy, you know?"

"You turn me on," he replied, sharply. He finished to undress her and did the same with himself, all the while talking about random stuff work related. Jo put her best efforts to listen, but she was way more interested in what he was doing than what he was saying. When his face got close to hers again, she kissed him briefly, to make him stop teasing her. "Shut up," she said, making him laugh.

Thirthy minutes later, they were lying together in bed, both sleepy, but not sleeping yet. Alex was playing with Jo's fingers as she entangled her feet on his. Lazily, he started to speak again, in what seemed to be his last words for the day. "Now we can talk, if you want to."

Jo nodded, looking to his face. His lips were slightly curved on a smile and his eyes, altough open, seemed to be about to close any minute. She could listen, no problem. One of them would give up soon. Or not. She didn't notice the time passing by until she grabbed her cellphone to look at the clock when Alex finally fell sleep. 3 a.m.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ugh, this chapter took me much longer than I anticipated and even longer than the previous. (This time, I'll blame it to my passion for the World Cup, because I completely forgot everything else for a few days.) I'm so sorry. I really wanted this story to be complete by now, because there's a bunch of other things that I want to write, but I don't know anything anymore. Are you guys still with me? I hope so. Let's hope that I can update faster next time.

Please, review if you like it. Or if you don't. I got a couple of mean reviews last week that actually made me laugh. So, if you like it, review and I'll be happy. If you didn't and you have a reason for that, just explain it to me, and help me to improve. But if you just want to say that everything is horrible, bring it on, I can take it.