A/N: Thanks for reviewing the last chapter! There seems to be excitement surrounding Jackson going to Ohio so I should warn you that the trip does not appear in this story. However, there is a sequel in the works. Enjoy the update :)

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

Chapter 10 – You've Earned It

On Wednesday, Mark Sloan took Jackson out to lunch. They went to the deli around the corner from the hospital to discuss his fellowship options. They had not had a chance to talk about it yet and the deadline was swiftly approaching. Mark had been distracted, unthinkable things were happening between him, Julia, and Lexie. It was all very confusing so he hadn't been able to concentrate on Avery.

"So, what are you thinking?" Mark asked after they had placed their order.

"First, I just wanna say that I am grateful that you took me under your wing and I am thankful for everything that you've taught me but—"

Mark interrupted him before he had a chance to say anything else. "I get it, Avery. As sad as I am to see the plastics posse breaking up, I understand that you need to spread your wings. You can't be my sidekick forever," he grinned.

Jackson nodded. He was glad that Sloan understood without any further explanation because he owed the older man a lot. He had shaped him as a surgeon. There were procedures that people trusted only him to do and he had tricks that no other plastic surgeon knew, and he had showed them to Jackson. Being Mark Sloan's protégée had opened up a lot of doors for him.

"I am not opposed to coming back to Seattle after my fellowship though," he told him honestly.

Mark smiled, "Good to know."

The waitress brought them their orders and they began to eat.

Mark took the first bite out of his sandwich before he asked, "So which is it? USC, Penn, or Tulane?"

Jackson exhaled a breath and smiled. He and April had talked about it a fair bit but he hadn't revealed his official choice to anyone yet. "Penn."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's a great program," he explained, "and I think that I'll like living in Philly. They have great sports teams, great food. I love cheese steak," he laughed.

"It is a great program and a great city," Mark agreed. "What's Kepner doing?" He asked curiously.

"Mount Sinai," Jackson answered.

"Great hospital, she'll get to do a lot of teaching there."

"Yeah," Jackson smiled. "That's what she likes about it, and she's excited to see New York. Can you believe she's never been there?"

Mark told Jackson some light-hearted stories from when he lived in New York as they finished their meal. However, Mark was a tad concerned. The University of Pennsylvania program was no lightweight but with Tulane and USC in the running; he didn't think Penn had stood a chance. In his opinion, USC was the best program out of the three but he knew that Jackson was afraid to get sucked into the high life of a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles. Tulane was making him the best offer and their program would suit him the best. Andrew Henkle, the Head of Plastics at Tulane, was practically in love with Avery, and he had no doubt that Avery would flourish at Tulane.

It didn't slip past him that Philadelphia was only a two hour drive from New York.

"Kepner!"

April finished writing in Dr. Torres' surgery on the OR board before she spun around to face a rather irritated looking Miranda Bailey.

"Yes, Dr. Bailey?"

"We need to talk!"

April gulped fearfully. "Okay." Dr. Bailey was the most intimidating attending that she had ever met but it was impossible not to respect her. However, she had no idea what they needed to discuss, she spent nearly all her free time in the pit and she was officially on Torres' service this week.

"Now I know that I didn't raise you like I did with Grey, Karev, and Yang but I still consider you and Avery to be my own."

April smiled softly, "Aww, thank you Dr. Bailey—"

"Shh Kepner! I'm not finished!"

April quickly closed her mouth and listened intently.

"Which is why, as much as it bothers me because I don't want to know any of your business, I can't stand by and watch you turn down such a great opportunity."

"Umm, Dr. Bailey," she began in confusion, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Mass Gen!" The diminutive doctor yelled in frustration.

April's eyes widened in realization and she stammered. "Oh…" She had told Chief Hunt this morning that she was ninety-nine percent sure that she was picking Mount Sinai for her fellowship and he must have told some of the attendings. "Dr. Bailey—"

"Kepner, Mass Gen is a world-class facility. They hire world-class surgeons, and Hunt told me what they're offering you…its incredible."

"Dr. Bailey, Jackson and I—"

Bailey interrupted her again with a shake of her head. "I know all about Avery's issues with Mass Gen and he's entitled to them. But Kepner, you've come so far since I first met you and you've earned Mass Gen," she said sincerely.

April couldn't help but smile. Bailey was famous for her moments of unbearable kindness and wisdom, but she had only been present for a few over the years. The closest that she had come was when Bailey had gotten really drunk and told her all about Ben and what kind of boy should take her "maiden voyage". However, when she sobered up she had promptly informed April that their conversation had never happened. It was nice to know that Bailey actually did care. One of her favourite attendings cared about her career.

"And Avery's a very nice boy, he cares about you, he should understand that," she added.

"Thank you Dr. Bailey."

Bailey nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath and changed gears back into the version of herself that loved to pick on her residents. "Wherever you go, don't embarrass me!"

April chuckled, "I won't Dr. Bailey."

April slowly opened the door to one of the on-call rooms on the second floor and was roughly pulled inside by two strong hands. She regained her footing and pushed back the hair that had fallen in her face.

"You paged, Dr. Sloan?" She asked awkwardly. To say that she was uncomfortable being in an on-call room with Mark Sloan was an understatement. She was one of a handful of female doctors in the hospital that he hadn't slept with. And she vividly remembered her last private conversation with him and how she had ran away.

Sloan gestured towards the bed in the room. "Sit down Kepner. We need to talk about our boy."

"Umm…our boy?" She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at Sloan in confusion.

He sat down next to her as he replied, "Our boy…Avery."

April laughed at Sloan's paternalistic tendencies towards Jackson but nodded. "Okay, what about him?"

"I took him out for lunch today to talk about his future and he told me that he's choosing Penn."

She was a little surprised but not completely taken aback. He had been leaning towards Penn for days now but last night he said that he was going to wait another day before telling Sloan. "Did he?"

"Yes," Sloan nodded. "And I think he's making the wrong choice. Tulane is the best program for him."

April agreed with Sloan. She also thought that Tulane was the best program for Jackson; she remembered how happy he had been after his interview. Lately, however, he'd been adamant about Penn. "Did you tell him you think Tulane is the best choice? He really values your opinion."

"No, I didn't."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Why not? Why are you telling me?"

"Because he's choosing Penn for you, because it's so close to New York."

April's face fell. "Oh." She smoothed out imaginary wrinkles in her scrub pants and avoided eye contact for a moment in order to collect herself before she spoke again. "And you want me to what…tell him not to do that?"

Sloan sighed, she was misunderstanding him. "Look Kepner, I'm not saying that you should break up with him, the opposite in fact. I like the two of you together. Avery is the happiest I've ever seen him. Just talk to him about Tulane."

She nodded. Of course she would talk to him about Tulane. She couldn't be the one that held Jackson back in his career. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself. After the merger, he had gone through a really rough time in their new environment until he found plastics. He needed to make the right choices now or all that hard work would have been for nothing.

"Yeah, I'll talk to him."

Sloan grinned and got to his feet. "Perfect Kepner." Before he left the room, he looked at her and added, "By the way, I'm surprised you're not going to Mass Gen."

When she was alone, she fell back onto the bed and groaned. "Isn't everyone," she said to herself.

Later that night, April waited in Jackson's bed while he was in the washroom. She lay on her back with an arm across her eyes. She took a deep breath as she tried to plan out what she was going to say to him. A part of her wanted to be selfish and keep her mouth shut. They were in a good place. They were really happy. But she knew that she couldn't, she had to say something, she had too big of a conscious not to.

He walked into the room with that goofy grin on his face and she almost started to cry.

"I talked to Sloan today," he announced with a smile as he climbed into bed.

"Oh yeah?" She asked nonchalantly.

"He took it well."

"That's good." He lay down on his back and she immediately rolled into his side. She rested her chin on his chest and peered up at him. "Will you do something for me?"

"Anything," he answered as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Go to Tulane," she whispered.

His brow furrowed in confusion. Surely he must have misheard her. "What?"

"Go to Tulane," she repeated louder.

"Why?"

"Tulane is such a great program for you and you were so excited about it but now you're choosing Penn. I just want to make sure that you're making the right decision for you," she explained. "That you're choosing Penn for your reasons."

He sat up and forced her to as well. "The right decision for me? I'll admit that Penn being so close to New York is a major factor but its not like it's a second rate program, it's a top program."

"But you want to go to Tulane," she argued, "you have since your interview."

Tulane was his first choice, that much was true, but choosing Penn was not going to ruin his career. It was an excellent program and so close to New York.

"Tulane is in New Orleans," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," she stated sadly.

"If I live in New Orleans and you live in New York then we'll never see each other. So, what? You want to have a long-distance relationship for two years?" He was growing more frustrated and angry and it was apparent in his voice.

She defended herself quickly, "It's not a completely ridiculous idea! We could make it work. Absence makes the heart grow fonder," she said with a forced laugh.

"I don't believe in long-distance relationships," he told her.

"Well I don't believe in pre-marital sex but here we are!" She yelled.

He flinched at her words. "Don't do that," he spat. "You know how guilty I felt when you told me about that and then you said it was okay! Don't throw that back at me now when you said it was okay!"

They had rarely fought when they were just friends, insignificant arguments here and there but never anything that caused a rift between them. Their first real fight had occurred in a men's restroom in a San Francisco hotel. They had yelled at each other until she had said something to ground him, and this time it happened in reverse.

April hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. She shouldn't use her virginity as a weapon. "I shouldn't have said that…I'm sorry."

He cradled her face in his hands and rubbed their noses together. She liked it when he did that.

After a long silence he asked, "Why do you want me to go all the way to New Orleans?"

"I want what's best for you," she whispered. "Relationships are about sacrifices aren't they? You've earned Tulane, you need to go." She placed her lips against his but he pulled away. "What?" She asked in confusion.

He took a deep breath. "April, is this about Mass Gen?"

"What?"

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to say that you've earned Mass Gen and you should go?" He questioned as his voice increased in volume.

"Jackson, I'm not trying to manipulate you!" She was upset that he thought that she would even try and she hated it when he yelled. "Although everyone thinks I'm an idiot for turning them down because I have earned it!" She added out of frustration.

He hopped off of the bed and began to pace. "Yeah, like who?"

"Cristina! Alex! Sloan! Bailey! Everyone in the whole freakin' hospital!" She was now on her feet as well. "I understand why you don't want me to go, I do, but I'd like to think that you'd support me if I did decide to go." She watched him pinch the bridge of his nose and struggle to find words and her heart sank. "You wouldn't, would you?" She asked as tears stung the back of her eyes. "You wouldn't support me if I chose Mass Gen?"

He could see how upset she was getting and it was killing him. "April, you know why I don't—" He abruptly stopped talking when she wiped tears from her eyes. "April."

He took a step towards her but she took a firm step backwards. "You love me but you can't support me in a decision that's good for my career? Then what are we even doing here Jackson? If we can't support each other?"

She started to walk away but he grabbed her by the arm. He felt a tightening in his chest that he wasn't used to. He was scared and panicking, and as a result, he spoke without thinking. "If you love me even half as much as I love you then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Her eyes widened. "Don't presume to know how much I love you! I loved you when you were busy falling for a girl who had no hope of ever loving you back!" She yanked her arm out of his grasp and stormed out of his bedroom.

He quickly followed her out into the hallway. "April, come on…what I said…I didn't mean…don't just walk away…"

She stopped and slowly turned around to face him. She was still crying and he couldn't resist the urge to envelop her in his arms. He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too," she murmured against his chest. "I'm sorry too."

They stood in the middle of the hallway, between their rooms, with their arms wrapped around each other for a long time. Jackson wasn't sure what else to say, he just wanted to hold her.

She was the first one to speak and it was to say what neither of them wanted to hear. But everything was slowly becoming too much for her. Too much too soon.

"I don't think this is going to work, as much as we want it to."

He closed his eyes and squeezed her even tighter. This was what he had been afraid of…that their looming fellowships would get in the way of their new relationship. He knew that even if he lived in Philadelphia and she lived in New York it would still be difficult.

He reluctantly let her go and she stepped out of his reach. "April, I…" He was trying to tell her that he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone but his throat seemed to close on him.

She smiled sadly. "I know. Me too."

She walked into her bedroom and he just stared as she closed the door behind her.

A/N: This is a Grey's fic, there has to be some drama. Please review! :)