Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it. And Happy Grey's Day! Somebody asked if this would turn into an April/Alex fic. No, it won't. AK2 will be a separate story.
Enjoy!
How did everything get this bad so fast? April asked herself as she waited for a bag of ice. Kevin brought her across the street to the hospital, but they entered through the tunnels to avoid the stares she would have received from their colleagues if they had gone in through the main lobby. He had her stay in the tunnels while he ventured off for ice. She sat on a gurney with her face in her hands and cried. The right side of her face stung at the touch. How was she going to explain a bruised cheekbone to their families? She couldn't really. Jackson backhanded her in the face. Plain and simple.
How would their coworkers react? She dreaded facing any of them. The man who hit her wasn't Jackson. He was drunk and frustrated. Thanksgiving was a disaster… but there was no excuse for hitting her. Things had never gone this bad, even when they were just friends.
Alex sauntered into the tunnels with his hands stuffed inside of his jacket pockets. He was huffing and puffing from being so pissed off at Jackson. Yeah, April could be a pain sometimes, but he would never smack her to shut her up. Although he hardly acknowledged the fact, she was his friend. He already protected her from the schizophrenic man who threatened to kill her. Of course he would protect her from one of his own friends if he needed to.
He spotted her alone on the gurney. This was the part he was most uncomfortable with. He had his share of comforting Meredith and Izzie during their most difficult times, but he was closer to Meredith and he loved Izzie. April used to be his roommate, but their relationship was full of awkwardness and banter. They could get along one minute and then argue the next. They never had much of a hugging friendship either.
So he quietly sat beside her unsure of what to say. He personally wanted to kick Jackson's ass for her, but that would only make the situation worse. The peds fellow placed his hand on her back and gently rubbed it.
"Uhh, Banks getting you ice?" April slowly nodded in response. He used his other hand to tilt her head up. "Can I see how your cheek looks?"
She moved her hands away from her face. Her cheek was red and swollen. Alex was positive it would be black and blue by the morning. Her eyes were also red and puffy. The tears trickled down her cheeks nonstop. He had seen her cry, even bawl many times, but not this much.
Alex also felt guilty for making Jackson drink a lot. Maybe he wouldn't have hit April if he wasn't drunk. Then again, he never expected her to show up at Joe's like she did. He was pissed at Jackson for hitting her, pissed at himself for encouraging him to get drunk and kind of pissed at her for showing up. Thanksgiving sucked ass and he wasn't even celebrating it.
"You're gonna be fine, April. It… it doesn't look bad at all," he reluctantly assured her. He knew she was going to look like a battered housewife tomorrow. "Slap a little ice on there and you're okay."
"Jack-son…" Her voice cracked trying to say his name. "Wh-where did he go?"
"Does it freakin' matter right now? He hit you. He was out of line," he angrily replied.
Alex desperately didn't want to hear the speech about how Jackson didn't mean to do it. He heard that before during his childhood and it happened over and over again. While the plastics fellow wasn't abusive, he didn't want April making excuses for him. Nobody should ever hit a woman under any circumstances in his mind.
"He… he was drunk-"
"It doesn't matter, April!" She cringed when he raised his voice. He immediately felt guilty for yelling at her, but he refused to listen to her excuses. "I uhh, sorry. I know you're having a shitty day. I shouldn't be making you feel worse."
April stared down at her hands and frowned. "What am I going to tell everybody?" she softly asked. "I don't know what to do."
"Don't worry about that right now." Alex wrapped his arm around April's shoulder and pulled her closer to his side. He never once thought they would have a moment like this together, but she needed a friend to lean on.
"Okay, I found Banks trying to find ice in the supply closet. Clearly, he wasn't sober," Cristina's voice interrupted the silence in the tunnels. She held up an ice bag as she approached Alex and April. "All he told me was to bring this down here and-"
The cardio fellow paused when April sat up on the gurney, trying to cover her cheek with her hair. Alex leaned back against the wall with his arms folded. If the mood in the tunnels wasn't so somber, she would have teased them for cuddling and maybe accuse them of having an affair. However, she knew it wasn't that based on the trauma surgeon's sniffles.
"Is something wrong?" she asked concerned. Cristina stopped in front of April and saw her swollen cheek. "April, what the hell happened to you?"
"Avery freakin' hit her at Joe's," Alex muttered with a scowl on his face. "Dude was drunk, but he had no right."
Pretty Boy struck his fiancée? Cristina shook her head in disgust. She always guessed he wasn't the gentleman he appeared to be. "Where is that son of a bitch? Alex, did you kick his ass?"
"Trust me, I wanted to," he replied disappointedly. "I don't know where he went. Could still be a Joe's or he fled. You know Kepner's dad will kill him when he finds out."
Cristina sat in between them and placed the ice bag against April's cheek, causing her to wince. "Not if I kill him first," she retorted. "Mer will help me after she finds out."
"Please don't tell Mer!" April panicked. She shook her head as she stared at Cristina worriedly. "Please, please don't tell anybody, okay? I-I don't want everyone to know. They're gonna talk and they're gonna judge Jackson for one small incident."
"Small incident? Kepner, please. This is anything but small," Alex said, adding an eye roll. "We get that you're scared and shit, but you can't pretend this didn't happen. We got your back, alright? Even Yang does."
"Evil Spawn is right," Cristina agreed. "You think Sloan will be okay with this? Of course not. And his mother works at this hospital. It's impossible for her to not find out what happened. People are going to know whether you want them to or not. Nothing at this hospital goes unnoticed."
Damn. She was right. April just didn't want to believe it this time.
There was only one place Jackson knew where he could hide without any of his coworkers or family members finding him easily. Even in his drunken state, he managed to figure out a sanctuary to lay low for a couple of hours. And he needed to talk to anybody who would listen…
He plopped down in front of Charles and Reed's tombstones in the cemetery. After he managed to pick himself up and leave Joe's, he rode a taxi to visit his deceased friends. He and April hadn't done their monthly visit yet, so he thought he might as well go for it. Plus, he was still drunk. Talking to two granite headstones didn't feel as awkward with alcohol in his system.
"Guys, I did something bad," he murmured as he sat on the grass with his ankles crossed. Jackson scanned his surroundings, paranoid about somebody overhearing their conversation. He leaned forward towards Charles' headstone. "I hit April."
There was a pause in his conversation as if he was giving Charles the opportunity to speak. He looked towards Reed's headstone, holding up his hand. "Reed, I know what you're gonna say and I don't wanna hear it. Just shut up, okay?" he said, partially slurring his speech. "It was an accident. I… I don't know why I- she showed up- why did I listen to Karev?"
Lowering his head, he stared down at his lap and frowned. The tears followed soon after. "I hurt April so bad," he sobbed. Nobody had ever seen Jackson Avery, the crying drunk. If any of his coworkers saw him this way – hell, even his sisters – he would never live it down. "Oh, shit. She hates me!"
He buried his face into his hands and bawled. "Jordan… he'll- he'll hate me too!" he exclaimed. Raising his head, he pointed at himself as he stared at Charles. "I'm good! I'm an awesome father, you know. I'm the best. This is all my fucking dad's fault. He screwed up everything! He ruined my relationship with April and…"
His voice trailed and he never finished his sentence. He simply stared into open space while another tear rolled down his face. His intoxicated mind flashed back to his encounter with Harper Jr. in North Carolina. Maybe if he and Mark had taken another route on their run or if he never cramped up, then they wouldn't have seen each other. But it happened, just like he and April happened. Both incidents were unexpected with very different outcomes. One good, one awful.
"I don't think she'll forgive me for this," he continued, slowly shaking his head. "Joe will murder me and bury me in his cornfield. And April will jump into the arms of Barry Evans. Oh, God. No! I've pushed her away to that douche bag!"
Now, Jackson was rambling. He laid out every worst possible scenario that could happen with April. Cancelled wedding, losing joint custody of their son, April marrying Barry, getting fired because everybody at the hospital hates him. All of the possibilities were making him even more paranoid.
He had no idea when he was going to see his fiancée again. She for sure wouldn't be alone whenever they saw each other again. Alex most likely deemed himself her bodyguard until he was no longer pissed at him. He was supposed to be her bodyguard. He always protected her from the teasing she endured from everyone else. He knew things had gone terrible if Alex freaking Karev was defending her from him.
Harper Sr. would consider his act very unbecoming of an Avery, putting his family name to shame. He wanted to dig up a hole and bury himself in between Charles and Reed. This was by far the lowest he had ever felt in his life.
Jackson's cell phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts. Mark was calling him. Whether he had just found out about what happened with April or his mother asked his boss to check on him, he didn't want to answer it. Instead, he tossed it beside him and let the call go to his voicemail.
"I wish you two were here to tell me what to do," he sullenly said, lying on his back. He stared at the gloomy sky wondering which clouds his friends were hanging out on.
After all of the lame stories he had heard from April about what Charles and Reed were possibly doing in heaven, he found himself wanting to believe them now. Somewhere up there, they were happy. Maybe even frowning down on him for being selfish.
Jackson wished everything could go back to the way things were before the merger. He thought there was a possibility he would still find his way to April in a less dramatic way. No car accident, no unplanned pregnancy… now, he felt like the worst father in the world for wishing Jordan was never born. He loved being his father. Spending time with his baby boy was better than any surgery he had done.
"I'm such an idiot!" he groaned and rubbed his eyes.
Once again, his cell phone rang by his side. This time it was Cristina calling. She never called him unless there was an emergency at the hospital. April could be… he didn't want to jump to that conclusion. He was hesitant to answer her call, but he decided it might be important.
"Hello?"
"Avery, when I see you again I am going to kick your ass so hard your mother-"
And he immediately hung up on the cardiothoracic surgeon. Bad move.
It took another hour or so until April found the little courage she had in her to return to Richard's house and face her family as well as Jackson's. Alex drove her back to be sure she wouldn't make up some bullshit about her cheek, which was now a light shade of purple. He wanted them to know the truth because their parents deserved to know what happened between their precious babies.
She hid behind him when they reached the front door. She was already too embarrassed to ring the doorbell, so the peds surgeon did it for her. He gently pulled on her arm, forcing her to stand beside him.
"You have to do this, April. It's better they find out from you than from somebody else."
The door opened and Karen let out a sigh of relief when she saw her daughter standing outside. "Oh, good. You're okay," she said as she pulled her into the house. "We've been worried to death about you and Jackson."
It didn't appear to Alex and April that anybody in the house knew about the incident. He lazily followed her and Karen into the living room where the others were waiting. April's nieces and nephew were playing in the corner, while Jordan took a nap upstairs. She was glad her son wasn't around for this.
April's hair covered her bruise, but it was obvious to her sisters that she wasn't alright. Her eyes remained red and puffy as they gazed down at the maroon and cream colored rug in the middle of the floor.
"Jesus, April. You know we drove around looking for you? We were going to call the police, but Mom insisted we come back and wait for you here," Libby scolded her. She approached her sister and pushed her hair away. She gasped at the sight of her bruise. "What happened to you?!"
Karen turned April's head to examine the bruise. "Where did this come from?"
"I… umm…"
Alex rolled his eyes. He refused to let her lie to her family. "It was from Avery," he blurted out. Folding his arms, he sported another scowl on his face. "She found us at Joe's. He was drunk and he swung at her."
Catherine stared at Alex appalled. "And where is Jackson right now? We've been trying to reach him, but he's not answering his phone." She placed her hands on her hips, feeling a bit skeptical. She had trouble trusting him after the rumor he spread about Mark and April. "Are you sure my baby did this to her?"
"Yes, I'm freaking sure. I was there," he irritably replied. "He threw his arm back and hit her in the face after she tried to convince him to go home with her."
"What a bastard," Libby said through gritted teeth.
Samantha shook her head in disgust. "I honestly don't understand why our brother is so stupid sometimes."
"Finally, we can agree on something," Kimmie muttered. She joined Karen and Libby to check on April. "That bruise is getting nasty. You should ice that, April."
"I already did." The redhead moved her head away when her mother tried to touch her cheek. "Mom, I'm fine! Where's Jordan?"
Karen pointed towards the ceiling. "He's upstairs napping. He just fell asleep, dear."
April quickly left the living room and headed upstairs. Jordan was sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms. Pillows surrounded his sides to protect him from rolling off of the bed. He looked peaceful with Benny comfortably resting against his arm. She wanted to pack up and go home, but she didn't want to interrupt his nap. Instead, she carefully lay next to her son and watched him sleep.
Alice quietly entered the bedroom, closing the door behind her. "Umm… this is going to sound ridiculous, but are you okay?" she whispered.
"I'm fine," she mumbled as she tenderly rubbed the back of Jordan's head. "Can you just leave me alone, please?"
"Dad's pretty livid. In fact, we all are. He shouldn't have done what he did regardless of how upset he was."
"Alice, please. Leave me alone," she begged. A tear rolled across the bridge of her nose. "I'm not in the mood to talk to anybody right now. A lot of this is my fault, so let me sulk about it."
Alice frowned. "April, don't blame yourself for-"
"Get. Out," she sternly ordered while keeping her voice low enough to prevent waking up Jordan. "I'm not kidding. Get the hell out, Al."
Her baby sister obeyed and left the bedroom without saying a word. April couldn't bear to look at anybody in the eye. Everything about the day made her heart sting. Kimmie had humiliated her in front of everybody when she said she would be a nobody if she hadn't been granted the scholarship to Akron. In a way, she was probably right. But she worked her ass off for her success. It wasn't gift wrapped and handed to her on a silver platter.
And she always suspected that her sisters – except for Alice – believed she wasn't good enough for Jackson. On the other hand, he thought she was… until his big mouth told her she was better off with Barry. She needed to remind herself that it happened in the heat of the moment. Their sisters were clashing since they first met and for some unknown reason, he decided to tell his family about Harper Jr. to deflect the attention away from them.
She hated how quickly Libby and Kimmie rushed to her side after she arrived. They were disrespectful towards her and Jackson. Thanksgiving was a failure partially because of them. Libby should have kept her damn mouth shut about Barry. Her relationship with her fiancé was becoming less dramatic and it rapidly took an ugly turn. Maybe they finally felt terrible about how they had been treating her, but it was too late for damage control.
They had gotten past the Harper Jr. debacle. April agreed to stop pushing Jackson to make amends with his father. It wasn't a major issue anymore. He gradually accepted the fact that his father would be at the wedding. His focus would be on his bride all day, so it hadn't bothered him as much as it used to.
Then Barry was brought up and Jackson questioned her loyalty towards her, which definitely hurt. Sure, she was at fault for hiding her innocent dinner with Barry from him, but she thought he knew better than to lose trust in her.
Where was their relationship headed now? Only time would tell.
After moping, crying and falling asleep at the cemetery, Jackson caught a taxi and asked to be dropped off at Mark and Lexie's apartment. His mentor had called him a total of seven times. He never returned any of them. He preferred speaking to him in person even if he was still drunk as hell.
Stumbling out of the elevator, he practically zigzagged to his friends' front door. He pressed his forehead against the door, taking a deep breath before he knocked. The plastics fellow toppled over when Mark swung the door open.
"Holy shit, Avery," Mark muttered, catching him in time before he hit the floor. He helped him stand upright and forced him out into the hallway. Closing the door behind him, he had a mixture of a grimace and a concerned look on his face. "Your mother's been calling me nonstop. Where the hell have you been?"
Jackson hunched over, resting his hands against his knees. He felt like he was going to vomit any minute now. "Do… do you know what happened?" he asked, ignoring the question.
"Hell fuckin' yes, I know what happened. And Lexie wants your head, so if she sees you here, I might let her have it," he harshly replied with his hands on his hips. "You hit April?"
"I didn't mean to," he softly said and took another deep breath. He was trying his hardest to keep the booze from coming up. "I swear, Sloan. I would never want to hurt her as bad as I did. Please, believe me."
Mark could see by the tone of Jackson's voice and his body language that he had a rough day. As his mentor, he knew the young man needed guidance from somebody because he was on everyone else's shit list at the moment. He grabbed his shoulders and pushed him up, so they could face each other.
"I do believe you, but the damage is done. Now, it's time to clean up the mess."
Jackson frowned and shook his head. "It's not that simple. You never hit your woman," he whined. "April won't forgive me. She shouldn't. I don't deserve her anymore."
"Listen," he started, gently patting the pretty boy's cheek. "You fucked up. We all have our share of making stupid mistakes. First, you need to sober up. Then, own up to your mistake and try to fix it. You have a huge target on your back, but you can't dodge every person who despises you right now. Don't become a Dopey Mopey. Be a man about it, Avery. I'd offer to let you stay here for the time being, but you don't want to deal with a pregnant woman with raging hormones. Plus, you hit her best girlfriend. She'll kill you in your sleep."
"I need to go home and talk to April."
"I'll drive you, alright? Just let me get my keys-" He paused when his student vomited all over his sock covered feet. Mark slowly inhaled and exhaled sharply. At least he didn't ruin a good pair of shoes. "And clean myself up first. Uhh, I'll get you a rag to wipe the floor."
Jackson softly groaned as Mark entered his apartment. A small towel was tossed at his direction and he knelt down to clean up his disgusting puke. The smell alone made him want to vomit all over again. The Head of Plastics returned to take the towel, holding it away from his body with his thumb and index finger. He dumped it into the hamper, then they left the building together.
The drive to his apartment was silent. Jackson fought back any vomit wanting to spew out of his mouth. He was able to relax for about 20 minutes, resting his head against the window and closing his eyes. In his mind, he began planning what he wanted to tell April. Whether or not she would listen, he needed to talk to her. He hoped Big Joe wouldn't be within ten feet of him. He already received one black eye from him in the past. Another one would most likely hurt ten times more.
Mark helped him out of his car. Initially, he was going to let Jackson go through this alone, but he remembered the hard punch he undeservingly took from Big Joe and decided to provide support if necessary. This time, he would deserve it. However, he wasn't willing to let his best student show up at work with a swollen eye and ego.
Slowly unlocking the door and opening it, Jackson pushed it open. Big Joe and Karen immediately stood up from the couch to face him. Alice had been leaning against the back of it with her arms folded. His duffel bag was sitting on the floor nearby. April was nowhere to be seen. Jordan must have been asleep in his nursery. It was close to his bedtime by then.
He rubbed his eyes as he walked inside. He was caught off-guard by the weight of his duffel bag hitting his chest. Alice had approached him and thrown it at him. "C'mon, there's no need for that."
"You should've thought twice about hitting my sister then," Alice retorted. "She doesn't want to see you, so find somewhere else to stay until she's ready."
"I overreacted horribly, okay? And April needs to know that I'm sorry. Just let me talk to her for at least one minute," he requested. "I promise nothing physical will happen. I'm not that kind of guy."
Big Joe cleared his throat. Surprisingly, he never budged from his place in the living room. Jackson fully expected him to charge at him as soon as he saw him. "You should listen to Alice, son. I don't want things to get physical, but they may have to if you don't leave," he calmly said, though also threatening.
Jackson barely nodded and picked up his duffel bag from the floor. He held it tightly against his chest as he frowned at his future father-in-law. "I'm sorry I hurt your daughter, sir," he apologetically said. "I hope you and the rest of your family can forgive me."
He turned away, leaving his apartment with Mark. There was only one place where he knew he could stay for the time being, though he wasn't looking forward to it. After getting another ride from his mentor, he slowly approached Richard's door and his stomach felt like it was in knots. A million questions would be asked and all he wanted to do was go to bed. He rang the doorbell and waited for an answer.
Catherine opened the door and she appeared surprised to see Jackson in front of her. She had been yearning to give him the nastiest lecture ever, but he looked heartbroken and his eyes were glossy. The duffel bag confirmed that he had been temporarily kicked out of his home. She sighed and pulled him inside. "C'mere, baby," she softly greeted him. "I'm not happy about what you've said and done today, but I'm here for you."
"Thanks," he murmured. "And I apologize for my behavior earlier. I shouldn't have said anything about Dad. I've screwed everything up. I don't see how April would want to marry me now."
"Oh, sweetie. Don't talk like that." She gave her baby boy a hug and kissed his cheek. "April still loves you. I know she does. I could see it in her eyes when she was here. She's upset. Has every right to be, but it's not over, Jackson. You two will pull through this together."
"If she ever speaks to me again," he mumbled, rolling his eyes. He pulled away from Catherine. "I just want to sleep. I'll deal with Grandpa, Sam and Jos' crap in the morning, okay?"
"Alright. You can take the bedroom across from mine," she instructed.
Jackson lazily marched up the stairs with his duffel bag hanging over his shoulder. He walked into the empty guest bedroom and closed the door behind him. Although he was exhausted, he forced himself to change out of his clothes. They reeked of grass and vomit. He climbed into bed and decided to send April a text message before he turned off the lights. He wasn't expecting her to reply, but he desperately hoped she would understand how sorry he was.
The following day, April's bridesmaids and Catherine were at the apartment to have their measurements taken for the dress Alice chose. It was a light yellow strapless dress that wasn't too plain nor flashy. The front flowed just past the knees, while the back was a few inches longer. Lexie's pregnancy was a factor in the choice, which she appreciated. She loved the fact that the material was form fitting, but not tight enough to suffocate her.
Karen was in charge of taking measurements, having had a lot of experience in sewing and fixing her daughters' clothes. Fortunately, the mood was brighter than the day before. Libby and Kimmie only had to share oxygen with Joslyn because Samantha wasn't a bridesmaid. Neither side had apologized for their behavior towards each other.
Libby finished having her measurements taken and decided to check on April. Her younger sister refused to come out of her bedroom since they arrived. The plan was for her to try on wedding gowns at the bridal store, but all of the women suspected she wouldn't be enthusiastic about it. Karen's lecture had knocked some sense into her. There were times when she did get along with April, but she had been a bitch to her for the majority of their lives.
She always hated to admit that she was jealous of her success. She couldn't help it. The second Kepner sister was the smartest and the favorite child. Kimmie and Alice didn't seem to mind it as much, but it bothered Libby the most. All she wanted was for their parents to acknowledge her for something good just once. She rebelled a lot as a teenager, which made it difficult for Big Joe and Karen to notice her in a positive light. A change in attitude was necessary and it would begin with building a better relationship with April.
She gently knocked on the door. "April? Are you awake?"
Inside of her bedroom, April lay in bed with the blanket over her head. The bruise on her cheek was a dark shade of blue and purple. Without much to do in her bedroom, she stared at the text message Jackson sent her overnight.
I am so sorry, April. I love you more than you know. Please forgive me. I miss you.
The trauma surgeon never replied to his message, but there were a couple of moments when she started to and changed her mind. She wasn't ready to talk, see or even text him. Jordan was out of the apartment having grandpa bonding time with Big Joe and she wished she had locked him in the bedroom with her. He would have at least distracted her from reality for a while.
She yelped when the blanket was pulled away from her. Sitting up on her bed, she noticed Libby standing at the foot of her bed. "How did you get in? I locked the door," she asked irritably.
Libby held up her hairpin. "I know how to break in, but you don't need to know how I learned to do it," she answered with a grin. "Don't worry. I locked the door again. Can we talk?"
"I have nothing to say to you," she muttered.
"I completely get why you're mad at me. I shouldn't have told Jackson about Barry."
"Yeah, no kidding." April leaned back against the headboard with her arms folded. "And Alice should never have told you and Kimmie either. What you two said yesterday at the dining table was embarrassing. Do you seriously hate me so much that you'd go that far to sabotage my relationship with Jackson?"
Libby climbed onto the bed and sat across from April. "I don't hate you. I've been overly jealous of you for all of these years that it comes off as hatred."
April laughed to herself. "You were jealous that I got fired twice from my job, sucked at being Chief Resident and failed my boards on the first try? Gee, your standards dropped a lot since high school," she sarcastically replied.
"Fine. I deserve that. I've treated you like crap for so long that you can say whatever you want to me," she offered. "Anything, April. I want you to throw everything at me, everything you've been dying to say to me after many years of being a bitch to you."
"No."
"No?" Libby chuckled. "Why not?"
"What's that going to accomplish? You just want me to say mean things to you, so you'll feel less guilty about being a horrible older sister to me." She pointed at herself. "I'm not stupid, Libby. Your effort to try to cheer me up isn't helping at all."
"I don't know what else to say, April," she answered and frowned. "Yesterday, Mom told me I should've been a better sister to you and she's right. Looking back at high school, I was embarrassed to be related to you. You weren't popular. You were an awkward nerd people could tease easily. I shouldn't have let them, but I cared more about myself and how I looked in front of our classmates. I loved being an only child, then when you popped out I lost a lot of the attention. So, the best way to deal with it was to make your life miserable. Now, you're a surgeon and I'm just a lousy stay at home mom."
"You're not lousy. You're a great mother, actually. Even though your kids are hyper and all over the place, they still have good manners and they respect you, so that's an accomplishment," April insisted. "And you're an awesome aunt. Jordan loves you."
Libby softly smiled. "Thanks. Sometimes I don't think Carl realizes how much I do for our family."
"I think he does. He's not an affectionate type of guy, so he has trouble expressing his appreciation," she suggested, then she sighed. "Unlike Jackson."
"You miss him, don't you?"
"Y-yeah," she reluctantly said as she choked back a sob. It didn't take long for the tears to come out. "I want to see him, but I don't want to see him. When I start to think I can forgive him my mind trails back to what he said at dinner and the fact that he hit me. Then I'm pissed at him all over again. He's my best friend and I almost hate him for what he did."
Libby scooted closer to April and pulled her in for a hug. She let her cry on her shoulder as she comfortably rubbed her lower back. "You're going to be fine, April. You went through so much adversity over the years that I'm confident you'll overcome this too. You're the toughest person I know."
April wiped away her tears with her hand. "I don't know how to face him at work."
"Face him when you're ready. Until then, keep your chin up. Don't let anybody think you're weak and helpless without Jackson. Got it?"
"I'll try."
"No try. Just do it." Libby slightly pulled away from April to look at her face. "I want to see you happy, okay? You deserve happiness in your life."
"Jackson made me happy, but maybe… maybe everything that's happened in the past month was a sign. Like, we're not really supposed to be together," she speculated, which only made her cry harder. "Those stupid 'Mint to Be' mints I chose for the wedding are pointless!"
Libby groaned. "April, you're over analyzing this now. Stop it," she demanded, grabbing her sister's shoulders. "You and Jackson are meant to be. You'll realize that again eventually."
April glanced down at her hands. "Hopefully, by March."
