A/N: My goal was to keep Stark and Kepner as in character as possible, and I'm glad to see that I did that well enough to convince you guys. Those were the biggest compliments I could have been given about my fanfiction, and they mean the world to me :) So, thank you so much. And don't worry, this story isn't going anywhere. There are still a few twists around the bend.

"So this is where you live, huh?" He opened his car door to meet her on his side; she had insisted on driving her own car, picking him up and driving him over here. At first he had refused and argued about gas because it would be one more trip to drive him home that it would take if he just drove himself, but she had refused completely. She had shut him down and before he could argue any more, she had shown up at his apartment and practically forced him into her car. Now, his only choice was to obey her wishes; after all, he'd be walking home if he didn't. With a smile, he stared at the house. "Pretty big compared to my shabby little apartment."

"At least you have your entire apartment to yourself. I have to share a bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room with three other people." After all, Meredith had allowed Alex back into her home when he had okayed Zola going to live with her, a small start to a redemption that he might never find. April hoped, silently, that Alex wasn't home and was out at the bar, because if Stark saw him...She was afraid a brawl would take place-and she knew no one in that house would call the cops because, as far as they were all concerned, Alex deserved a good hit from time to time. April thought wryly, for a moment, that Jackson would probably take part in the festivity if Stark let up for a moment to allow someone else a turn.

"Who all lives here?"

"Well," She wrapped her arm around his as they walked up the driveway, "It's Meredith's house. And then she married Derek, and then it became their house-even though they're building a house of their own to move into. So, the people she lets live here are me, Lexie and Jackson-"

"The rabbits?"

"Yes," she answered, smiling, "but I wouldn't tell them that if I were you."

"Oh, I minored in discretion in college," Stark told her, smiling when she continued to smirk. "All right. Is that it then? Just you three and Meredith and Derek?"

"Well," she was cautious as she told him this, "Alex lives here, too."

"Karev?" He stopped, keeping her from moving away from him when she attempted to continue into the house. He stared at her, his eyes cold and a little angry and frustrated, before he asked, "Karev lives here with you?"

"Yes, he does." She gave him a scowl. "Is that a problem?"

"I hate him." His answer was blunt, perhaps a little agitated, like that was a piece of information she should have understood by now. He sighed, realizing the snarky tone, and shook his head.

"Well, I've forgiven him for what he did."

"That doesn't mean that I have," Stark answered gruffly, sighing as he continued to walk with her until they reached the front door. He scowled slightly when she removed her arm from his, but smiled when she took his hand instead. After she had taken out her key and they were safely inside-and he had not seen Karev yet-he asked, "You're going to ask me to be civil, aren't you?"

"I'd appreciate that. I don't want my work relationship to be strained with him more than it already is."

"Is that strain because of me?"

"No," she answered, appreciating his concern. She kissed his cheek gently, pulling him into the living room which was, too, empty. She wasn't expecting anyone to be home soon. Meredith and Derek both had late rounds and wouldn't be home until the morning, she figured Jackson and Lexie were in her/his room doing the deed, and Alex was probably at the bar. Not that it mattered to her if anyone saw them together; they all knew she was seeing him, anyway. The entire hospital knew, and she liked it that way. There was no skirting around the issue, no pretending. She was sick of pretending, and she knew he probably felt the same.

"Liar."

April shook her head and forced him to sit down on the couch where she sat beside him. "No, Robert. It's not your fault that he decides to have a stick up his ass and give me shit about our relationship together. That's completely his fault. Besides, he doesn't like anyone who doesn't take a shining to him. It's not your fault."

"I don't want to make work difficult-"

"Stop." She silenced him by kissing him. "You're fine, Robert, really."

"I might need a little more reassurance," Stark told her, smiling when she kissed him again, this time lingering just for a moment just to please him. "That's much better. I'm starting to believe you a little bit more now."

"Good."

"So...Is he here, or...?"

"I don't think so," April answered. "But would you rather spend time with Karev or with me? Because I can call him up and have him come over here if that's what you'd prefer."

"No, no." Stark stopped her from pulling her phone from her pocket before he smiled. "I'd much rather talk to you, April."

"Is that because I actually like you?"

"That, and you're much better to look at, too," he told her, smiling when she blushed; every little compliment made her blush. "You know, April, you're going to have to start getting used to being complimented by me. Because they aren't going to stop."

"What makes you think I'm not used to it?"

"Because," he answered after a moment, "you keep blushing when I compliment you."

April smiled. "They're just going to keep coming?"

"Oh, yeah," Stark told her, smiling. "Because there are a lot of things about you that I can compliment, and I have a lot of knew things to compliment you on after yesterday."

"Are you into me for my beauty or my brains?"

"Both. But after last night..." He smiled. "I mean, I knew you were beautiful but I never quite...It's easy to hide your figure underneath scrubs."

"Thank you."

He nodded. "You do have an amazing figure."

"I appreciate that, mostly because the way you compliment me isn't degrading in any way shape or form." April smiled when he shrugged. "And that's...definitely different than a lot of men who are my age."

"That's another benefit of dating someone who's older."

"Oh, and what's the first benefit?"

"Experience."

April laughed and shook her head, taking his hand in hers, gently caressing it with her thumb. "So...Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure. Got anything in mind?"

"Does it really matter?" When he looked at her, confused, she told him, "Well, we won't really be watching the movie, will we?"

Stark laughed and shook his head. "That's up to you, not me."

"You know, as much as I appreciate this we're-going-to-take-it-slow and do-whatever-you-want-to-do and this-isn't-about-me-but-about-you, as much as I appreciate all those, there are two people in this relationship, Robert. And you do have a say in what we do. You have a voice, and I would appreciate it if you voiced it from time to time. Tell me what you want."

"If I had my way..." He stopped. "Well, I don't know what we'd be doing. But I'm actually very content with what we're doing right now."

"Just talking?"

"And holding hands," Stark added for her, raising their joined hands. He didn't really care what they were doing, as long as he could touch her, even if it was holding hands. It was so small, but so intimate and sweet that he couldn't help but smile. "Sounds like a pretty good time to me."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"And you don't want...anything more? You're content with just sitting here, talking and holding hands, nothing more?"

"Exactly. I don't need sex, April. Is it nice, yeah, but it is necessary for my survival? No." He chuckled softly. "You're living proof that people can survive and be successful without sex. Besides," he added after a moment, "you're worth the wait."

"Well, shucks."

He smiled when she chuckled and looked away from him, maybe her way of hiding a blush; not wanting to completely break their connection, he transfered her hand to his empty one and wrapped his now free arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. He sighed happily, loving the connection and how relaxed she was with him, coming a long way from what they were before. "This is much better than holding hands."

She lifted their joined hands. "Still holding hands."

Stark smiled and kissed her hair gently. "I really like your perfume. Where'd you get that from?"

"Wherever you bought it."

He chuckled. "It's nice."

"I would hope you think so," April answered softly, barely a whisper, because it wasn't necessary to talk any louder with him when they were so close. "Your cologne isn't too bad, either."

"Thank you."

April smiled, pulling away from him just enough so she could kiss him comfortably, her hand on his chest. He was gentle again, controlled, and didn't deepen the kiss too far. Even when people weren't around-though there was a possibility of it-he was still respectful. He wasn't at all like Jackson and Lexie, who had no problem flaunting what they had. Maybe some of his caution came from respect for her, and how she felt about public displays of affection, but she wasn't sure. She just knew she didn't want this to end. If she had her way-and she was planning on having her way-they would kiss all night without qualms from anyone else.

"Hey, guys."

April pulled away from him slightly to see that Jackson and Lexie had walked through the door, holding hands. She smiled slightly and met Stark's bright eyes before she turned back to the couple; Lexie looked surprised and Jackson looked-disgusted? April couldn't place the look on his face, only that she haven't seen it before. April fought a laugh. "Oh, hey, guys. How's it going?"

"You guys look, uh, comfortable."

Stark chuckled. "How you two doing?"

"We're, uh, we're good," Jackson answered, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He turned his attention to April. "Is this what you feel whenever Lexie and I...you know?"

"Yes," April answered.

"I am so sorry."

April laughed and rose from the couch, helping Stark to his feet. "See, but the difference is that we're going to go upstairs because we know how uncomfortable it makes you."

Lexie smiled. "Well, I'm happy that you found someone to make out with, in a room, where there's a door, that locks."

Laughing once more, April took Stark's hand and led him out of the room, up the stairs, to her bedroom. When they were there, alone and unworried about roommates, she saw his confused face and explained, "When, um, when we were supposed to watch that movie-"

"From Here to Eternity."

"Yeah...When we were supposed to watch that together and we didn't, I watched it downstairs in the living room. Well, when I went in there to finally watch it, they were making out on the couch."

"Like we were?"

"No, because I didn't like what they were doing at all." She smiled when he smirked slightly; he smiled around her more often, and she liked that. "Anyway, I interrupted them and turned the volume up really loud so they would leave. Well, while I did that, I told them that if I had someone to make out with, I would do it in a room where there's a door that locks. And I guess they never forgot about it."

"Guess not. Do you want me to shut the door?"

"Yes."

"And lock it?" He smirked when she gave him a playful stare. "Or, are we not in high school and people won't just come barging in the room?"

"Jackson and Lexie won't knock, not that they know that we're up here. And Meredith doesn't enter anyone's room without knocking, so... You can lock it if you want, if you're more comfortable that way."

"They're going to think that we're having sex, won't they, if I lock it?"

"They'll think that either way, Robert," she answered, heading into her closet. He couldn't see her, but moments later she returned, this time wearing a light, thin sweatshirt.

"Are you cold?"

"It's a little chilly in here, don't you think?" She stopped, however, to take a moment to inspect him. He was wearing a fleece, there was no way he was cold like she had been. "Guess not."

Stark smiled. "So what do you want to do?"

"I told you," April answered after a moment. "We're going to make out."

"Ah, see, you told that to my alter ego. Yeah. He didn't give me that message."

"Well," she walked over to him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him softly, pulling away before he could deepen the kiss, "I'm telling you, so how do you like that?"

"I like that very much."

"Your alter ego figured you would."

An hour had passed before they realized exactly what time it was, and their make-out session had ended only because April's phone had started to vibrate from a text message. She smiled when Stark groaned slightly, irritated by the interruption, and rolled on his back as she grabbed her phone. April looked at the message before she told him, "Jackson and Lexie cooked dinner and they have invited us down to join them if you want to go."

He stared at her, his eyes clearly not interested.

"What? You don't like the idea?"

"No, it's not that." Stark sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he looked at her, his eyes softening slightly-as they always did whenever he looked at her now. "It's just..."

When he trailed off with a sigh, April rolled over so she was propped on her elbow, a better way to look at him. "What is it?"

He scowled. "I don't know how to say this without sounding like a complete jackass."

"Just say it."

"If I wanted to spend time with Jackson and Lexie-" The names were weird to him, considering he had always referred to them as Dr. Avery and Dr. Grey, and would most likely continue doing so regardless of tonight. "I would. But...I want to spend time with you, not them."

April nodded in understanding. "But, they are my friends. And friends...friends are part of the package, too."

"And I understand that, it's just-"

"I'd like you to get to know my friends, at least feel comfortable around them outside of the hospital," April told him. "Because if you're going to be coming over here more-which is what's going to happen because I'm not going over to your place all the time-then you're going to need to be comfortable around them. You can't be that stone cold boyfriend that doesn't communicate with anyone but your girlfriend."

"But I don't want to get to know them."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking for you to be civil, you know? Talk to them. Make it seem like you're more than just a guy I'm dating, especially since you're going to be spending a lot more time around here."

"I am?"

She nodded. "You are."

"Well, then," he surged forward, putting his weight on his hands, "I suppose I can go down there and make some conversation with them. What...What would we talk about?"

"How about what we talked about?"

"Something tells me that old-fashioned movies doesn't interest your housemates." He smiled when she shook her head. "Well...What are we going to talk about? Hockey?"

"Does Seattle even have a hockey team?"

"No, closest one is Vancouver," Stark answered, shrugged when she raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "I grew up watching hockey with my dad. He played in the big leagues for a little bit while I was growing up."

"Did he?"

Stark nodded. "It's how they payed for college and medical school. My mom said to him that he better make money so they could put us through college without a problem. And they did. They were really frugal in what they spent and they were able to pay for my four years of college and then four years of med school. Same for my sister, although she went on to law school instead of med school."

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"Most people don't. Her and I aren't that close, really."

He looked away from her as he said that, making April wonder if there was something more that he wasn't telling her, that pained him too much to vocalize; or, maybe, she was reading too much into it and it was an honest action with no double meaning. April felt the need to find out more. "No?"

"She is eight years younger than I am," Stark answered. "When you have that big of a gap, sometimes it's hard to stay close, and it especially was for us, especially when I moved away for college and our career paths took such severe turns. It's nice to have a lawyer as a sister, though. She knows a lot of good malpractice lawyers in case I get into trouble."

April smiled, loving how he was slowly revealing himself and his past to her, comfortably obviously, because he offered the information with hesitance. "So that, uh, that frugal lifestyle was engrained in you, wasn't it?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you probably have a pretty decent salary-probably able to live as comfortably as you please-and yet you still have a small little apartment."

Stark shrugged. "That's only because I don't need anything bigger. I'm just one person, and I don't need much."

"But you are frugal?"

"Not when I spend."

April laughed at his dry sense of humor. When her phone vibrated again, and she saw that it was from Lexie, she asked, "So are we going to head down there or not?"

"Might as well."

"Oh, Robert-" April stopped him from completely moving from the bed. "Do me a favor?"

"Besides going down there and making conversation with them?"

"Yes, besides that." When he offered nothing more besides an open ear to listen to her plea, she asked, "Can you not be Dr. Stark down there and just be the Robert that I know and I like."

He scowled. "I'll try. I can't make any promises."

"Hey, if you can not be just a doctor with me, I'm certain you can do the same thing for them just for one evening."

"See, the difference between then and now," he answered as he helped her to her feet and moved to open the door for her, "is that I actually like you."

"Correction: you love me."

Stark smiled; he could wait patiently until he heard the same words come from her-at least, he hoped that day would come. Stark didn't care whether it be sooner or later, so long as it happened. But he wouldn't hate her if she never said it...God he hoped he wouldn't hate her. He kissed her gently before she bounced away from him, down the stairs. Stark moved slowly as he followed her down the stairs, into the kitchen where Jackson and Lexie had, in fact, prepared a meal. He smiled gently and asked, "Alfredo?"

"You don't mind chicken, do you?" Jackson asked, fighting the urge to refer to the older surgeon by his professional name. He thought for a moment, and realized that he didn't even know the man's first man. After Stark shook his head and pulled out April's chair for her, Jackson chuckled uncomfortably. "You know, this is actually a little embarrassing but, uh-"

"My first name is Robert," Stark told him, his voice blunt, neither cold nor warm, as matter-of-fact as if he were in the operating room with all of them. "You can call me Robert, if you want. Just not at the hospital. I'll stare at you if you call me that at the hospital."

"No offense, Robert," Lexie answered, the name weird as it rolled off her tongue, "but you just stare at us anyway."

"Yeah, see, but that's out of contempt, not anger." He smiled when Jackson and Lexie both chuckled uncomfortably. "Do the two of you need any help?"

"Oh, well-"

"He's actually very good in the kitchen," April told them with a smile. "A couple days ago he made jambalaya, which was delicious."

Jackson and Lexie's eyes met before they looked back at Stark, clearly a little perplexed. "You cook?"

"Yes, I cook," Stark answered; his tone hadn't changed. It was so matter-of-fact that if Jackson and Lexie weren't in the room, April would have asked him to show some emotion, preferably a hint of interest. "I like to cook, I just don't normally do it a lot. It's...It's kind of hard to plan for just one person. A lot of times it's easier to just go out. But you guys don't have that problem, do you?"

April smiled at him; he was trying, that was for sure. He was uncomfortable, but he was trying for her. She thought for a moment that she should give him the same courtesy-at least in the bedroom-when she realized that he wouldn't allow that. This was conversation, not something greater. Besides, he knew her well enough to know when she was uncomfortable, kind of like she knew he wasn't relaxed now.

Time seemed to pace in silence as they all grabbed their own plate and filled it. April smiled at him once again when he did the gentleman thing and pulled out her chair for her. His attempts at conversation were short, sweet, and she could admire it simply because he was trying. He certainly pulled out all the stops in the gentleman department, even standing when Lexie stood up to fix herself a second plate. Soon, they had all finished eating and April and Stark were left alone in the kitchen after Jackson and Lexie excused themselves.

"They're going to go have sex, aren't they?"

"Probably," April answered, scowling at the thought; his scowl made her slightly uncomfortable. "Does that bother you because, well..."

"Because we aren't having sex?" Her silence and the way she looked away from quickly gave him his answer. "That doesn't bother me. It's just...Is that all their relationship is? Sex?"

"I don't think so. I don't think they'd be together this long if it was just sex." April shrugged. She had seen them, in small moments, be tender with one another in a way that wasn't sexual. They could be there fore each other in moments where support was needed-and she figured sex buddies, if strictly sex buddies, didn't have those moments.

"Is that all they do?"

"Here, yes," April told him with a shrug, taking his hand in her own; she was beginning to love holding his hand. It was strong but gentle at the same time, like years of experience had taught him to be both kind and assertive, always taking his partner's needs into consideration. "I can't tell you if that's all they do at the hospital."

"I hope not. Hospital's meant for work, not sex."

"You should have seen the hospital before you got here," April said, laughing slightly. He looked at her like he didn't want to imagine the picture. "It was all about who was having sex with who. I think some of the nurses actually made bets on which resident would sleep with who and how long the 'relationships' would last."

"Have people made bets on us?"

April chuckled. "I think people were too surprised to even consider making bets. But, I wouldn't doubt there's a small pool going around guessing on when you and I are going to have sex. Hey, we should each put our money in so we could win the entire pot."

Stark smiled but shook his head. "You won't know when you're ready. You can't predict that, April."

She returned his smile. "You really can ruin an attempt at a funny moment, you know that?"

"I'm sorry."

He didn't sound sorry, but as serious as she had ever seen him, because this was a serious topic for him, one that he didn't want to joke around about. Was that an attempt to make her more comfortable, to show that he didn't see her virginity as such a joke and that he did take her situation seriously? She wanted to change the subject instantly. "Hey, you want to go back upstairs?"

"Sure..." He stopped himself from standing. "Do you by any chance have a mint?"

"Does my breath smell?"

"No," Stark told her, smirking. "Not for you, but me."

"I think there's some in my room," she answered, taking the extended hand that he offered to help her up. "Come on, Robert. Let's go make out."

He laughed as she pulled him back up the stairs again, so thankful that his admission had not changed anything between them. It had not done much of anything really, but what it had done was make them stronger, made her more at ease around him, and he was thankful for that small step in the right direction.