Thank you for your reviews! I know I'm not updating as quickly as I used to, but new GA episodes (and life in general) always ruin my writing mojo. I'll try my best to update a little faster during the hiatus, though writing two fics at the same time makes that kind of difficult. Anyway, I hope this slightly longer chapter makes up for it even if it's not exactly fluffy. And as always, let me know what you think please!

Enjoy!

One day was bad enough. Keeping the kiss with Swanson from April for a week became unbearable. Jackson couldn't find the best way to tell her. It didn't matter how he told her because he had a difficult time believing she would take the news well. His conscience constantly nagged him to come clean, but every time the opportunity arose, he lost his voice.

It was just a kiss, he would tell himself. However, kissing another woman made him feel dirty and sleazy. And since the kiss, Swanson had been favoring him at work. Even when he didn't deserve to scrub in with her and Dr. Martin his resident chose him over the other interns. Nobody seemed to notice the favoritism because they were scrubbing in with other attendings, but he knew somebody would suspect it sooner than later. It didn't help that she would attempt to flirt with him when they were alone. He wanted to put an end to it, but she would for sure leave him out of cardio cases. He didn't want that either.

He considered requesting a new resident except that would mean being away from April. And their friends would question why he decided to join another intern group. It would be a never ending lie. The lying needed to stop eventually.

It was New Year's Eve. So long, 2005. Hello, 2006. Perhaps the beginning of a new year meant Jackson could start over. Confess to April about kissing Swanson and hope for the best – although, maybe he was too hopeful. His girlfriend was the sensitive type and this wasn't a problem she would brush off and pretend it didn't happen. He expected her to be pissed. She should be. He didn't want them breaking up over it, though.

Jackson was slumped on the couch beside Trevor as they engaged in a multiplayer game of Call of Duty 2. The pretty boy had the weekend off from work, while his roommate remained on medical leave. He desperately needed to get his secret off of his chest. Despite being closer to Charles, he felt better trusting Trevor.

"Trev, if I tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret?" he inquired, keeping his eyes on the TV screen.

"Depends what the secret is. What is it?" Please be gay, please be gay.

"I kissed Swanson," Jackson muttered. His roommate whipped his head to look at him, both of his eyebrows raised. He paused their game and set his controller on his lap. "At Schmo's. I had a little bit to drink and… I was stupid."

"When was this?"

"After my date with April went downhill. I was by myself, then Swanson showed up. She offered me uhh, sex for surgeries. Actually, before that ugly sweater party, we were in the elevator together when she first initiated this crap," he recalled, shaking his head in disgust. "And she's been favoring me at work. Flirting too. It's like she assumes I do want to sleep with her."

Trevor smirked at him. "Do you?"

"Of course not. I don't have feelings for her, but if I tell her to back off, then I probably won't see another OR for the next two months," Jackson answered worriedly. "I don't know how to tell April without hurting her."

"Let me get this straight – you kissed Swanson and despite not having any feelings for her, you're letting her flirt with you, so you can get free passes into surgeries? I see how you really are," Trevor scoffed. He was Team April all the way. "Maybe April was better off with Nurse Rock Star."

Jackson stared at Trevor confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sweet on the outside, but a total douche inside. You don't care about anyone but yourself."

"Bullshit. You know what I think you are? You're jealous," he claimed. "I always sensed you had a thing for April since day one and you're jealous because I'm with her."

Trevor simply laughed in response. If only his roommate knew the truth, he would find it hilarious as well. "You are way off, bro. I just think lying to April is a crappy move. After acting like a jackass with Zach and scaring him away by breaking his ass, you finally got what you wanted, but you're kissing our resident instead. Because that makes a lot of sense."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "We only kissed once," he retorted. "Nothing else happened. She flirts, but that doesn't mean I flirt back. I know where the line is and I'm not crossing it."

"Except you already did by kissing Swanson," Trevor reminded him. He faced forward and sighed as he resumed their game. "When are you going to tell her?"

"I was thinking tonight at our party. My New Year's resolution is to be honest from now on. No more hiding any secrets, especially from April. That sounds like a doable resolution, right?"

"Uhh, yeah. Honesty's the best policy," the brunette awkwardly replied. "And if you don't tell her, then I will. She's my friend too."

Jackson glanced at his roommate skeptically. He rarely saw Trevor and April hanging out together as friends. "Since when?"

"Since I got shot. She spent more time visiting me at Seattle Grace than you and Charles combined," Trevor recalled. "And we learned to understand each other better, probably more than you two do. Don't get jealous now. There's nothing going on between us if that's what you're beginning to assume."

"Whatever, man. I trust April enough that she wouldn't cheat on me," he insisted, then he frowned. While his girlfriend managed to sustain self-discipline he couldn't do the same. "Even more than I trust myself."

Because the women hosted a Christmas-themed event at their apartment with the ugly sweater party, Reed suggested – actually, forced – the men to host their own party. Also, their landlord banned them from having anymore loud parties after Trevor got shot outside of their complex. Charles agreed to throw a party if it meant winning points from Reed. He even offered to drive her home if she was too drunk to handle a car on her own, but his hopes were dashed when she told him Zach was her New Year's Eve date.

Despite the disappointing news, he wanted to look impressive. Although, giving himself a haircut was a terrible idea. All it took was one slip and the rest was a disaster.

Jackson and Trevor stood side by side in the bathroom's doorway as they hunched over in laughter. Charles blankly stared at them with a towel hanging over his shoulders and an electric clipper in his hand. There was a visible bald spot on the top right area of his head. He had been working on the sides, but when he moved towards the top of his head…

"I sneezed, you assholes," Charles angrily said as his roommates continued to laugh in amusement. "Dudes! Help me fix my hair before people start showing up!"

Jackson stood upright and shook his head, smiling at Charles. "You're gonna have to shave it all off. Unless, you don't mind covering that bald spot with shoe polish, but that stuff smells awful," he suggested. He ran his hand across his shaved head. "This look isn't bad. April loves touching it."

"Yeah, but I've got a big ass head compared to yours," he complained and pointed at his own head. "If I shave it all off, I will seriously look like Charlie fucking Brown and I don't want Reed giving me more crap than she already does."

"Then, wear a hat," Trevor chimed in. "Cover it up for a day, then deal with it tomorrow when you're not hungover."

"Or you can just let me fix it for you right now," Jackson added and reached for the electric clipper. He rolled his eyes when Charles swung his arm away. "Don't be a pussy. Hand it over, so we can move on."

"No way, Avery," Charles declined. "You'll give me some ridiculous cut on purpose."

Jackson persisted in trying to take the electric clipper from his roommate. He finally grabbed a hold of it, but Charles refused to release it from his grip. "Give it up!" he ordered as he attempted to pry it away from Charles' fat fingers.

With another large swing, the electric clipper nicked Jackson's face just above his eye. Charles gasped after he saw the end result. "Uhh, if you want my advice, don't look at the mirror," he guiltily responded.

The faint buzzing noise from the electric clipper let the pretty boy know it had been on the entire time. Slowly lifting his head up, he turned to face the mirror and found half of his eyebrow missing. His mouth dropped open, then his face immediately formed into a scowl. "You son of a bitch!" he shouted before he pounced on top of his roommate.

Trevor folded his arms and watched the two men wrestle on the bathroom floor with a smirk on his face. Jackson managed to steal the electric clipper from Charles and shave off random spots of hair from his head. Despite the ugly haircut, he thought Jackson got the worst of it. Charles' hair was fixable. He doubted the Boston native would shave his other eyebrow to make both even again.

Jackson pushed himself up from the floor, brushing off traces of Charles' hair from his t-shirt. He leaned forward towards the mirror and touched the shaved area where half of his eyebrow used to be. "What the hell am I supposed to do about this?"

"Sharpie?" Charles teased, drawing a glare from his roommate as he stood up. He turned his head from side to side while he examined his new haircut. There were bald spots everywhere. "Douche. Now my hair looks like I attempted to shave rolling dice on my head."

"If I can't do anything about my eyebrow, then you can't wear a hat tonight," he retorted. "And no hoods either. I'm not kidding. I could kick your ass for this one."

"Maybe if you had just backed off, you'd still have a full brow."

A knock on the front door startled both men. "Oh, crap! Somebody's here," Jackson panicked. He rushed out of the bathroom and headed for his bedroom. "If it's April, tell her I'm busy fantasizing about her. She'll stay away for a while."

"And tell Reed I'm… dead," Charles added before he slammed the bathroom door shut.

Trevor walked to the door and opened it. He was happy to find April outside because he was looking forward to her reaction to Jackson's half-brow. "Hey, where's Reed?"

"She told me to go ahead, while she waits for Zach to pick her up," she answered as she entered the apartment. "Sadly, she still has no idea that nothing will develop with him. He's too nice to tell her the truth. Where's Jackson?"

"He is…" Trevor paused as he grinned at April. "…in his room. Waiting for you."

"Okay, thanks." She was caught off-guard by his sudden urge to hug her, making her laugh. "Trevor, what's the hug for?"

He pulled away from her and sighed. "Good luck," he answered. "Don't ask. Just… good luck."

April slowly nodded her head as she walked past Trevor. "Umm, thanks again… I guess." She softly hummed to herself on her way to Jackson's bedroom. Gently knocking on the door, she invited herself inside. She barely got her foot past the doorway before her boyfriend forced her back into the hallway with the door. "Jackson! What the hell?!"

"Just a minute!" Jackson called out from inside of his bedroom. He covered his face with a ski mask before he opened the door. "So… what are you doing here early?"

"Are you planning on robbing a bank later?" she quipped. "What's with the mask?"

He closed the door and locked it after she walked inside. "I thought I'd go for a different look tonight," he unconvincingly said, sitting down on his bed. She furrowed her eyebrows at him in response. "What? You don't like it?"

"I prefer seeing all of your face." She reached for his ski mask, but he moved his head away. "Okay, I'm done playing around. What are you hiding? Did you cut yourself shaving?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Jackson took a deep breath, then he removed the ski mask from his head. April softly gasped at his ruined eyebrow, covering her mouth to avoid laughing at him. He rolled his eyes as a chuckle escaped from her mouth. "This wasn't my fault."

"You know, normal people use tweezers," she teasingly replied.

He pursed his lips, shaking his head in embarrassment. "Charles did it. We were fighting over the electric clipper because he botched his own haircut and I wanted to help," he explained unenthusiastically. "I got him back, though. His head looks like a lawnmower ran over it."

She sat down on her boyfriend's lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry this happened to you," she giggled. He slightly scowled back at her. "And I'm sorry for laughing, but how can I not?"

"Do you know how to deal with this? Fix me, please," he begged, giving her the puppy lip.

"I guess I can take care of that with some eyeliner, but I can't guarantee it'll look realistic or nice," she suggested with a grimace. April ran her finger against the missing portion of Jackson's eyebrow. "That could take a month to grow back, so try some Rogaine or… shave half of your other eyebrow to match this one."

She laughed at him again, so he swiftly flipped her onto her back on the bed and hovered above her. "Don't make me do it," he warned.

"Do what?" Jackson started tickling April's sides, making her shriek and giggle. "No, stop it! I'm sorry, okay? I'll be nicer to you now."

He mischievously grinned at her. "I figured that would work," he arrogantly stated before he kissed her. "I don't look too ridiculous, right? Be honest. My feelings won't be hurt at all."

"Well…" She ran her fingertips against the back of his head as she gently bit down on her lower lip. "…you do look ridiculous, but not too ridiculous. How's that for an answer?"

"I suppose I can take that," Jackson agreed, rolling onto his back. He pulled April against his side and smoothly moved his hand up and down her arm. "Do you have a New Year's resolution?"

"I do, actually. Mine is to be bolder and take more risks," she cheerfully replied. "What about you?"

"To be more open and honest with people," he murmured. "So, do resolutions officially start after the ball drops at midnight or does it matter at all when we start fulfilling them?"

April shrugged. "I don't know." She sat up on the bed, staring down at Jackson. "Why do you ask? Is there something you want to tell me?"

There was no turning back now. He couldn't lie to her anymore. "I umm…" His confession was at the tip of his tongue, ready to come out, but the little Devil Jackson sitting on his shoulder told him to shut up. He mentally slapped it away, then he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I kissed Swanson."

Her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat and looked away from him. "When?"

"After you kicked me out when our date didn't end well. I was drinking at Schmo's and she showed up- I wasn't thinking clearly and I'm sorry," he shamefully answered. "Swanson even offered sex for surgeries, but-"

"She what?" April shook her head in disgust. Their resident was a doctor she trusted, but after learning she had been making moves on Jackson… "And you never said anything? Oh my God! Have you actually thought about having sex with her?"

"No, no! I promise, I haven't at all," he truthfully said.

"It makes sense now why you've been getting most of the cardio cases! And why should I believe you when you couldn't tell me this after it happened?" she snapped, her voice getting louder and louder after each word. "You've been lying to me, Jackson!"

Jackson chased after April when she slid off of his bed and headed for the door. "Wait a second!" He cut her off by shielding the door with his body. "I don't have feelings for Swanson. I never did. I just wasn't sure how to tell you without sounding like a total douche."

"Why did you kiss her, Jackson? Is it because you haven't been getting laid or- or was this some sort of revenge for kicking you out of my apartment? And again, nobody gives their girlfriend The Joy of Sex for Christmas unless they're trying to coax them into having sex!"

"It was a gag gift, April!" He threw his arms up in frustration. "And I didn't kiss Swanson to get back at you. I was kind of drunk and like I said, I wasn't thinking clearly. I know that's not a legitimate excuse, but I would take it back in an instant if I could."

"You still lied," she reminded him, pushing him to the side so she could open the door. "How am I supposed to trust you when you can't even be straightforward with me?"

Jackson frowned as she opened the door and left his bedroom. "Don't leave yet. Can we please talk about this?"

April spun around, her eyes preparing to unleash some much needed tears. "Let's face it. It'll always be about sex no matter what you say, so just go be with Swanson since she's willing to give you everything I'm not ready to." She started backing away from him. "We tried and failed. We're just not compatible. You and I obviously want very different things in a relationship."

He continued to follow her all the way to the front door. Trevor silently looked on as April left their apartment in a hurry. Jackson gave up after she refused to listen to him and cursed at himself.

Charles stepped out of the bathroom with a newly shaved head. "Hey, was April here? I could've sworn I heard her voice a while ago," he curiously said. Jackson glared at him, while Trevor awkwardly picked at a thread dangling from the hem of his shirt. "What? Did I miss something?"

Jackson ignored his roommate as he retreated back into his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him, then he collapsed face first onto his bed. The New Year for him hadn't even started yet and it already majorly sucked.

Reed had been preparing to leave for the New Year's Eve party at the guys' apartment when April came bursting into their own. Her cheeks were stained with tears as she walked straight to her bedroom without acknowledging her roommate. Zach hadn't arrived yet to pick her up, so she decided to find out what was wrong.

April's sobs made her explanations difficult to understand, but Reed was able to make out Jackson, Swanson and asshole. "So, they were sleeping together?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"No! B-but he kissed her!" the sobbing redhead blubbered. "He kissed her the same night our second date went badly! Th-this is my fault. I should've just had sex with him."

"This is not your fault, April," Reed assured her, hugging her roommate as she soothingly rubbed her back. She was determined to give Jackson a piece of her mind at the party. "He's a stupid boy and he let his penis do the thinking for him."

April pulled away from Reed and dried her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. "Should I be this upset? I mean, he kissed her, but I'm freaking out like he's been having sex with her too."

"Yes, you should be. He kissed our boss and because of that he's receiving an unfair advantage at work," she resentfully said. "And he didn't have the balls to tell you. Jackson may be this hot piece of man, but he's a crappy boyfriend. He sabotages your relationship with Zach to get closer to you and what do you get out of it? He kisses somebody else. Who does that?"

"Guys who want sex from their girlfriends, but can't have it," the not so perky intern sobbed, burying her face into her hands. "But I didn't think he was that guy. I thought he was loyal. He's supposed to be my friend!"

"I'm really sorry Jackson's a dick. Do you want me to stay with you tonight? We could just watch movies until the final countdown," Reed offered.

"No, it's fine. You should go to the party. I'll be okay," she insisted and lifted her head up to look at her roommate. "I don't want you giving up your fun just because I have the worst luck with boyfriends."

A knock on the door alerted both women. Reed slid off of April's bed. "That's probably Zach. I'll be right back." She left the bedroom to answer the door. Instead of Nurse Rock Star waiting on the other side, it was Jackson. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms in annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

Jackson slipped his hands inside of his pockets as he bounced back and forth on his heels. "I need to talk to April."

"She's not here."

"I saw her car parked outside," he answered with a smirk.

"Well, she doesn't want to see you, jackass," Reed retorted, taking a step back to close the door.

Jackson held the door open with his hand. "Listen, I'm sure she told you what happened, but it's not what you think. I made an idiotic mistake, alright?" he replied defensively. "I have never had any thoughts about sleeping with Swanson. All of my perverted, sex infested thoughts have always been about April."

Reed stared back at him slightly disgusted. "Not that I needed to know that, but I don't particularly care either," she countered irritably. She noticed his half-shaved eyebrow and laughed. "Did you know you're missing half of an eyebrow?"

"Actually, I absolutely had no idea," he sarcastically said. "Thanks for pointing that out for me."

Their conversation was interrupted by Zach, who arrived moments later. "Uhh, hey," he awkwardly greeted them. He exchanged a quick glance with Jackson before he smiled at Reed. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me get my purse," Reed answered and disappeared into her apartment.

The two men stood outside avoiding eye contact with each other. Jackson continued to resent Zach for being a better boyfriend to April than he was. She never felt the pressure to have sex with the nurse nor did she have to worry about him cheating on her. Nurse Rock Star was almost too perfect that it made him sick.

"Are you here to pick up April?" he asked the intern.

"Umm… no. I just missed her," Jackson lied. "I was about to leave."

"Oh, okay." Zach forced himself to smile. "How are you two doing? Everything good?"

Does this dope know about Swanson? Jackson asked himself in his mind. Why would Zach care about how his relationship with April was going? He wasn't in the mood to chat with him. They were never going to be friends either.

"We're alright," he muttered. "So, you're into Reed now? Is getting close to her best friend your way of sticking around?"

"Honestly, I'm not into Reed. She's cool, but nothing's going to happen between us," Zach admitted and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm waiting for the best time to tell her that. April and I are still friends, though. Do you feel threatened or something?"

"Of course not," Jackson scoffed, then he grinned at Zach. "Do you feel threatened by me?"

Zach chuckled. "Yeah, I'm so threatened by a guy who's missing half of an eyebrow," he quipped, gesturing his finger towards his own eyebrow. "Trust me when I say it's not an attractive look."

"Whatever," he mumbled and left the apartment complex. Nothing was more embarrassing than getting burned by Nurse Rock Star. He also wanted to kill Charles even more for ruining his pretty face.

The New Year's Eve party at the apartment would have been more eventful for Jackson if his date hadn't fled after under five minutes of interaction. He believed he did the right thing by telling April the truth, despite the fact that she would likely avoid him for the next few days. He attempted to contact her through phone calls and text messages, but none of them were returned.

Jackson sulked in the kitchen with his beer. He wasn't in the mood to mingle with any of the guests, so he thought about hiding in his bedroom. Grabbing two more bottles from the refrigerator, he made his way through the crowded area, stopping halfway when he heard a knock on the door. Answering the door, he was surprised to see Swanson. He hadn't invited her, so either word spread about their party or one of his roommates made the boneheaded decision to extend an invitation to their resident.

"Umm… Dr. Swanson," he reluctantly greeted her.

"Hello, Jackson," the blonde happily replied. "Are you going to let me in?"

Jackson stepped aside as she entered his apartment. He remained confused about her presence. "I wasn't expecting you to be here. How'd you know about this party?"

"Percy invited me. One of the few times I actually listened to him," Swanson answered while she removed her jacket, revealing a tight fitting red sleeveless top. And she was purposefully showing off cleavage none of the men knew existed. "Where can I hang this?"

"A-anywhere's fine… as long as you remember where you left it," he replied, trying to keep his eyes away from her cleavage. Now he felt like an even bigger douche. "Do you want a drink?"

Swanson took one of the beers in Jackson's hand. "I'd love one. Thank you." She opened the bottle, taking note of the glum expression on her intern's face. "What are you so down about? Still not getting any?"

He scowled at her. "That's the least of my worries," he sternly responded. "Make yourself acquainted. There's plenty of booze to go around tonight."

Reed observed the exchange from afar, shaking her head in disgust. She decided to intervene, approaching the two doctors and clinging on to Jackson's arm. "Hey, April texted me. She said she's on her way here," she lied and dragged him away from Swanson.

"Is she really?" he asked, remaining hopeful April had changed her mind.

"Pshh, you wish," she sneered. They walked into the kitchen where it was less crowded, then she slapped Jackson's chest with the back of her hand. "What the hell is Swanson doing here? Are you seriously that lonely that you asked her to come over?"

Jackson immediately shook his head. "I didn't invite her! Charles did," he insisted. "Why would I have plans to invite Swanson when I already told you I don't have feelings for her? I could be at your place with April, but you wouldn't let me inside."

"Because she doesn't want to be around you, Jackson! What part of that don't you understand?"

"I'm allowed to be concerned about my girlfriend."

"If you still have a girlfriend," Reed corrected him, then she poked his chest with her finger. "There's nothing you can do about April right now, but I better not catch you doing anything with Swanson. I have eyes on the back of my head, you know. I'll know if you're up to no good."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Since you're giving me a lecture on how I'm such a total moron, maybe it's my turn to do the same," he suggested before he pointed out Charles, who was wearing a backwards baseball cap to cover his bald head, in the living room. "You know Charles? Not Charlie or Charlie Brown, but Charles. The guy's been in love with you since medical school, but you're too blind to see that. You're busy swooning over men who aren't interested in you romantically."

Reed forced herself to laugh and dismissively waved her arms. "You're crazy. Charles doesn't feel that way about me," she claimed, gazing back at Charles in the living room. "He treats me like he's my obnoxious little brother. If he's felt that way for so long, he would've told me already."

"He can't tell you because you're always treating him like crap," he explained. "Behind that goofball exterior is a caring guy. Give him a chance."

"Fine, but telling me this doesn't make you the bigger person," she noted. "You're still a jackass for kissing Swanson."

Meanwhile, the front door opened and April let herself in. It was too quiet at her apartment. She wanted to spend the New Year with her friends while trying to ignore Jackson at the same time, which probably wouldn't happen, but she was going to try. The only person she wanted to talk to at the moment was Trevor. Dependable and a good listener, he was a safe choice considering she wouldn't have to worry about him hitting on her afterwards.

Scanning the living room for her friend, she spotted Swanson chatting with other party guests. After what she learned from Jackson, she loathed the third year resident more than anybody else. If she was going to fulfill her New Year's resolution, she decided it was best to start now. She approached the blonde, then she tapped her on the shoulder.

Swanson turned around and smiled at April. "Oh, Dr. Kepner. Did you just arrive?"

April shocked bystanders when she punched her square in the face. "Oww, oww, oww!" she shrieked, shaking her right hand before she grasped it with her left. As amazing as it felt to punch her superior, it also hurt like hell.

Trevor rushed to her side. "April, what the hell?" Not only was he surprised the perky intern punched Swanson but he was even more impressed by her boldness. He tried his hardest to hide the smile on his face. "Do you realize who you just punched?"

"You are going to be so sorry for that, Kepner!" Swanson warned the redhead while she clutched the left side of her face. Two other guests were restraining her as she desperately hoped to send a counterattack.

Jackson and Reed took notice of the mini fight in the living room. He saw Trevor checking on April's hand and walked towards her. "April," he called out. "When did you get here?"

"What is she doing here?" April shouted as she pointed at Swanson. "First, you kiss her and then you invite her to your party?"

The vibe in the living room grew uncomfortable as people began snickering and whispering amongst each other. Most of the guests were also interns, so hearing about Jackson kissing Swanson was juicy hospital gossip.

"I didn't invite her! It was Charles!"

Charles dismissively waved his hand. "This isn't my fault, by the way. I had no idea Jackson was fooling around with Swanson."

"Not helping, bro," Jackson answered through gritted teeth. He reached for April's hand, but she flinched. "C'mon, April. Can we go somewhere private? You know, where everybody isn't watching us?"

"No," April angrily declined, then she stormed out of the apartment leaving everyone inside amused and speechless.

"I'm gonna get fired!" April panicked. She and Reed were sitting alone in the apartment building's stairwell. Slowly opening and closing her hand, she grimaced as she stared at her bruised knuckles. "Swanson will get me fired. The Chief worships her."

"She can't get you fired. This didn't even happen at work," Reed assured her. "Although, she might dump a ton of scut on you for the rest of our internship, but I doubt you'll lose your job over this. Besides, you can blackmail her with the whole sex for surgeries thing. There's no way the Chief would approve of that type of favoritism."

"I'd rather not work under her again."

"You can request for a new resident," her roommate suggested. Reed softly chuckled to herself. "I'm not gonna lie. What you did was ballsy and one of the best things ever. Swanson deserved what she got."

April frowned at Reed. "But that's not me. I don't confront people with violence. Are you sure I won't get fired?" she asked worriedly. "Maybe I should start looking at other hospitals just in case."

"You're paranoid." Reed gently patted April's shoulder. "Stop it. You'll be fine."

Jackson appeared with an ice pack. He cleared his throat to get their attention. "I uhh, got you some ice."

April grabbed the ice pack from him and held it against her knuckles. "Thank you," she murmured. "You can go now."

He gazed down at Reed, nodding his head back as a way to tell her to leave them alone. She initially shook her head, but she eventually caved in when he refused to leave. Sitting down beside April, he took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm glad you came back."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't come back to see you."

Jackson raised his eyebrow at her. "Who did you come back for? Zach?"

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" April scoffed. "Find me talking to my ex-boyfriend, blame me for cheating, make me look bad in front of everyone, so you can feel less worse about kissing Swanson. Right?"

"No, that's not it. I thought maybe… you were going to try to make me jealous with somebody else."

She quietly laughed to herself. "You obviously don't know me as well as you thought then."

He frowned as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry for hurting you. I don't blame you for being pissed at me. You should be, but I hope we can move past this and try to work. Despite what you think, it's never been about sex. Just tell me what I can do to make things better again. Please."

April tossed the ice pack onto Jackson's lap and stood up. "For starters, you can leave me alone," she advised.

Jackson dropped his head in defeat as she left him alone in the stairwell. There was an hour left until the New Year, but he would rather turn back time to the previous week before Schmo's, even before he decided to buy April a pathetic Christmas present. They were problem free then. And happy. So much for being the perfect gentleman he wanted to be for her.

Monday arrived and the interns were back at work. Swanson sported a black and blue bruise surrounding her left eye and while she tried to cover it up, it was still visible from afar. Charles took every opportunity he had to poke fun at it behind her back. He had never felt so proud of April. Jackson happily accepted scut over following around his resident for the day. He wanted time alone to come up with a way to earn back April's trust. She had been avoiding him since the party and he hadn't seen her at all in the hospital. And she definitely was working that day. He was certain of that because Reed confirmed it with him.

He wondered if she had switched residents, but that wasn't it. All of the intern groups remained the same. Texting her was hopeless, but paging her wasn't. Before meeting with her by one of the nurses' stations, he bought their typical orders of coffee. Baby steps first.

Jackson found her waiting by the nurses' station like he had hoped and walked towards her with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, the reaction wasn't reciprocated. She blankly stared back at him with her arms folded.

"You paged me for coffee?" she asked, unimpressed by the gesture.

"And to see you too," he added. "I haven't seen you all day."

April sighed. "Well, you can thank Swanson for that. I'm on rectal exam duty in the outpatient clinic for the entire week," she bitterly replied. "Anyway, I just had some coffee, so you can give that to her – and then have sex."

"When will you let me off the hook?" he asked in frustration. "How much longer are you going to hold a grudge against me? I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't hate you, Jackson. I just… you're not my favorite person right now." She leaned back against the counter and stared down at her shoes. "Besides, I might not be here much longer. At least, that's the plan."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You're leaving?"

"Seattle Grace has some openings, so I applied for a transfer yesterday," she announced. "I want to be able to learn and become the surgeon I strive to be without sleazy residents or other distractions getting in the way. It won't happen here if all I'm doing is sticking my finger up people's asses every day. It might be a while before I hear from them, so I'll just have to suck it up until then."

"Is that what you really want?" he questioned disappointedly.

April slowly nodded her head. "Yup. That's what I want." She softly laughed as she walked past Jackson. "It's just across town. It's not like I'm heading overseas."

"You can't just tell me that and walk away like it's not a big deal," Jackson retorted and followed her down the hallway. "You're transferring programs because of one stupid kiss. That's not fair."

"That one stupid kiss is the reason why I can't be around you. I don't trust you, Jackson," she straightforwardly said. "So I'm doing what's best for me by working at a hospital without you there. Once I'm gone, you'll be over me within a week. There are plenty of other women here who are interested in you."

"Yeah, but I don't want those women, April," he insisted. "Why can't you give me another chance?"

"Because we don't want the same things!" she exclaimed, stopping at an elevator and pushing the down button furiously. "I like old fashioned romance, while you like… all the other stuff. I'll give you credit for trying, though."

She walked inside of the elevator when it arrived, but Jackson didn't follow her. "So, we're done? Just like that?"

"I'm trying to make things easier for you. You're free to be with whoever you want now," April implied with a frown on her face. "I find it hard to believe you'd fall in love with a person like me anyway."

After the elevator doors closed, Jackson kicked the wall beside him. He hated how easily she gave up because she let her insecurities take over again. And he thought she was completely wrong about her last comment. They hadn't been dating very long, but he considered her his closest friend since they met almost six months ago. In the past, he let many women go without thinking twice about them. That wasn't the case with April. He wanted to fight for her.

Because he was slowly, but surely, beginning to fall in love with her.