So so sorry for not updating sooner! Other things came up and this story was put on the shelf for a while, but I'm finally back with an update. There are only two more chapters left in this story, so I'll try my best to update faster ;)

Enjoy!

Stirring in his sleep, Alex shifted in the uncomfortable chair beside Jimmy's hospital bed. He had spent the night in his father's room following his surgery rather than hop onto another flight back to San Francisco. According to Altman, the surgery was a success, but that didn't necessarily mean Jimmy's condition was healed. His heart would likely continue to slowly deteriorate even while he remained sober. She basically extended his lifespan, though it was his responsibility to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Hoping to sneak out of the room without Jimmy realizing he was even there, Alex opened his eyes and found the older man staring directly at him from his bed. He gradually sat up and felt every joint in his lower back crack. Rubbing his sore neck, he sighed. "Uhh, hey."

Jimmy squinted his eyes, having just woken up himself. "What are you doing here, Alex?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Altman told me what happened. Somebody had to be around to claim your body if you didn't make it through surgery. We're not allowed to just dump dead bodies in the dumpster," he jokingly said.

"Still have a dark sense of humor, I see," Jimmy softly chuckled, then he carefully sat up on his bed. "You didn't have to be here. Weren't you supposed to be on a flight or something?"

"Well, I did get on a flight to San Francisco – and then I came back." Alex checked his watch. The boards examination was scheduled to begin in about three hours. There was a chance he could make a mad dash for the airport if he left now, but he also thought maybe he didn't have enough time to fly to the Bay Area and make it back in time.

And he hadn't called or texted April that previous night. She was going to be pissed.

He quickly shrugged his shoulders. "There's this thing, an oral exam to become a board certified surgeon, but uhh… I'm pretty sure it's too late for me to fly back down to San Francisco. Whatever."

"Sounds like it's really important for your career. You sure you can skip it?" Jimmy questioned curiously. "Listen, you shouldn't push everything aside because I had a heart attack. There are a lot of things I wish I had done differently with the family, but I'm not your priority. If not being there costs you your career, I don't want to be the reason for that. I carry enough blame on my shoulders."

"I think I should apologize, though, for not believing you when you said something was wrong," Alex murmured. "It doesn't mean I completely forgive you for treating us like crap and abandoning us, but uhh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I don't blame you for not believing me."

"Amber was here," the fifth year changed the subject. "Last month, she visited. She's a good kid. Takes care of Mom a hell of a lot better than I did. Going to college in the fall. You'd like how she turned out. Not sure how she'd feel about meeting you, but maybe if you called or something, she might give you a chance – assuming you don't screw up again."

Jimmy slowly nodded, a small smile forming on his face. "That's good to hear. You turned out well yourself, Alex."

"Thanks," he replied, pushing himself up from his seat. "I'll uhh, go see if Altman's around."

Alex left the room to see if Teddy was on call. For him, he felt a sense of relief and awkwardness because it was the first time he had spoken to Jimmy without wanting to punch him in the face. He was used to unleashing his rage on his father. The conversation wasn't long, but it hadn't ended with another outburst either. Then again, why would anybody yell at a guy who just had major heart surgery? On the other hand, there was no reason to yell at him. It was a short, yet civil conversation.

As he roamed the hallways searching for the cardiothoracic surgeon, Arizona spotted him on her way to an elevator. "Karev, you're still here?" she asked, appearing surprised by his presence. "I figured you took a red eye back to San Francisco after Jimmy's surgery."

"No, I stayed. Uhh, I'm sorry for screwing this all up for you," he guiltily replied. "I know you wanted me as your fellow, but there's no way I can make it back in time for the boards."

Checking her watch, the pediatric surgeon smirked. "You still can if you leave now."

"Dude, I gotta find Altman. Jimmy's awake-"

"I can do that for you. Go," she ordered, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him down the hallway. "Make me proud, Karev. I know you can do this."

Alex turned around and headed back to Jimmy's room to retrieve his belongings. He not only promised Arizona he would pass his boards but he also made a promise to April that he would return to San Francisco in time. Now he just had to hope that a little luck would be on his side.

Sitting on one of many chairs set up in a hallway in the hotel, April smoothed out any small wrinkles she managed to notice on her dress attire. She wore a lavender blouse underneath a gray jacket with a matching skirt and her auburn hair was nearly curled. Although she appeared as cool as a cucumber on the outside, deep inside she was a nervous wreck. She could barely sleep the previous night due to a variety of reasons, some she hadn't expected to affect her as much as they did now.

The thought of actually failing her boards because she couldn't match up to her proctor's standards caused her to become incredibly paranoid that she wouldn't pass. Alex still wasn't responding to her. She had gone to his hotel room that morning to check on him and received no answer when she knocked at least five times. It led her to believe that he hadn't come back at all.

And then there was Jackson. The kiss had been unexpected that she wasn't sure how to face him again. She didn't feel anything from the kiss other than shock and guilt. The guilt came from the idea that she was going to unintentionally hurt her best friend by rejecting him. Maybe he had already figured it out when she practically slammed the door in his face, but she didn't want to lose their friendship. He was her oldest friend in Seattle. They endured losing their best friends in the hospital shooting. She couldn't end their friendship over a stupid kiss.

"Hey," Jackson softly greeted her. April slightly jumped in her seat as he sat down beside her. "Umm, good luck."

She quickly nodded and stared down at her lap. "Y-you too."

He furrowed his brow and forced a laugh as he adjusted his tie. "April? C'mon, you're not even gonna look at me? Last night… it was a mistake. It was selfish on my part and I don't want us acting awkward around each other."

"Jackson, could we talk about this later, please?" April murmured, finally looking up at him. Her right leg jittered as the nerves began to get the best of her. Trying to talk about the kiss just minutes before their oral exams wasn't helping either. "I just- I can't right now. Alex… I don't think he's here."

"He never came back?"

The redhead slowly shook her head while she chewed on her bottom lip. "I went to his room and he didn't answer. Do you think something else happened or-" Her proctor interrupted her paranoia when she called out her name. She immediately bounced up from her seat, adjusted her jacket and forced a smile. "Hi."

As his best friend disappeared into her exam room, Jackson pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He sent a quick text message to Alex hoping he would receive a response in between sessions. It wasn't just to keep April calm by ensuring her boyfriend wasn't dead but he felt that he needed to confess about what happened the previous night. Alex most likely wouldn't take the news lightly, but he thought his roommate deserved to hear it from his own mouth.

"Jackson Avery," a male proctor called out in the hallway.

"Here," the pretty boy responded, sending the text message before hiding his cell phone back into his pocket.

One by one, surgical residents were called into their exam rooms. A female proctor stepped out into the now empty hallway and called out, "Alex Karev." She scanned the area, but nobody else was waiting for their name to be called. "Alex Karev?"

Where are you? The boards are about to start. Also, we gotta talk about something when it's over.

Alex crinkled his forehead as he stared hard at the text message from Jackson. "Crap," he muttered to himself, glancing up at the bumper to bumper traffic from inside of his taxi. There was no way in hell he was going to make his exam when traffic moved two inches per minute. "Is there any way to get around all this?"

His driver simply shook his head. Of course not. He was an experienced driver in San Francisco traffic. The only faster way back to the hotel was to book it on foot. Alex tossed his driver twenty bucks, then he scrambled out of the taxi from the backseat. He ran around the maze of cars and onto the sidewalk before making a mad dash for the hotel located five blocks away.

By the time he arrived on his floor, his jacket was almost falling off of his shoulders and his tie was loose. He adjusted both before letting himself into his exam room. Both of his proctors were prepared to leave after giving up on waiting for him. "Hi. I'm Dr. Karev. I was stuck in Seattle with a patient and uhh, I don't want to bore you with a bunch of travel crap-"

"Your time was set for 9 o'clock this morning," the female proctor interrupted. "We were here. We called your name."

"Yeah, I was with a patient," he insisted. "You get that."

"We all have patients, Dr. Karev, yet here we are," the male proctor sneered.

"So, what? I just fail?" Alex worriedly questioned.

"The first of three sessions, yes, which means you need perfect scores in the next two sessions."

It wasn't until that moment he realized that he hadn't been just late – he missed the entire first session. Alex quietly left the room feeling almost sick. He hadn't eaten a thing that morning. His body felt heavy and tired. How was he supposed to nail his last two sessions when his mind felt clouded and all he wanted to do was sleep in a real bed?

However, he didn't regret his decision to fly back to Seattle. To him, it was worth the trip. But his examiners wouldn't be able to understand that. They were like robots who were programmed to act as sternly as possible. Not mention they were pronouncing his last name wrong. Douchebags.

With the first session over, other residents began trickling out of their rooms. Some appeared elated and confident, while others' facial expressions showed sorrow and impending doom. Alex walked through the sea of doctors and felt a hand grasp his jacket. He was forced around the corner and pushed against the wall. "What the hell?"

"Where have you been Alex?" April angrily replied. She poked his chest with her finger a few times, drawing a painful wince from her boyfriend. "You never answered my calls or my texts! What is the matter with you? I was worried! I- I had no idea if you were alive or dead-"

"Will you calm down? This isn't the freaking time to lecture me," he retorted, smoothing out the wrinkles on his jacket. "Can we talk about this later?"

"No! You tell me everything you possibly can in the next ten minutes," she demanded. The redhead couldn't care less that bystanders were staring at them from every direction. She was fuming. "I don't even know if I passed my first session because half the time, I was distracted by the thought that you missed your boards. I shouldn't be thinking about you right now, but you made me!"

Alex dropped his work bag and threw his arms up in frustration. "Well, for your information, I failed my first session because I was late," he said, raising his voice. "And I gotta ace these last two to pass. I'm already stressed out and you're not helping!"

"Well, maybe if you hadn't bailed yesterday to help a patient that Robbins could've taken care of on her own, you wouldn't be in this position, Alex!"

"I didn't go home to take care of a patient. I went home because Jimmy was in surgery," he finally admitted, taking a deep breath as he leaned back against the wall. Alex ran his hand over his face, while April stared back at him confused. His admission allowed him to slightly relax. It was one piece of weight lifted off of his shoulders. "He had a heart attack. I bumped into him before we left for the airport, but I thought he was using again. I thought he was full of crap and it turned out he was telling the truth. I just felt guilty, okay? I felt like I needed to be there to make sure he didn't die on the OR table."

Like him, April had also calmed down. "Why didn't you just tell me all of this? I would've understood better."

"I didn't want you to worry. Obviously, that plan backfired," he half-heartedly replied and slightly smirked. "I'm sorry. I think he'll be alright or whatever, but I'm sorry I put you through that. You know, I wasn't even gonna bother coming back 'cause I didn't think I'd make it. That's sort of true now."

"You can still pass, Alex. Just pass these last two sessions. I know you can do it." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Seeing him again and unleashing her anger towards him helped her relax better. "We'll be fine."

Two sessions later, the residents met outside of their hotel with their luggage. Seated on the curb, they waited for a shuttle to arrive to drive them back to the airport, so they could return to Seattle. With sullen expressions on their faces, none of them felt confident about passing anymore. Even Cristina, who had been the most confident out of the entire group found herself wondering if she really did pass.

"That was hell. Actual physical hell," Meredith firmly stated.

"I think I went a tad overboard," Cristina added. "A lot overboard."

"Yeah, that wasn't an exam. That was an interrogation," Jackson angrily chimed in.

Meredith sighed. "The mind games."

"Trick questions," April muttered. She glanced up as Alex approached them with his infamous scowl on his face. He appeared just as frustrated as the rest of them. "No bad news, please."

Alex took a seat beside the redhead, shaking his head. "Well, I'm pretty sure I bombed that. At least telling off my proctors was worth it."

"Alex!" she yelped. "Why would you do that?"

"Because they're idiots," he bluntly replied while he loosened his tie. "No compassion for fellow doctors whatsoever. They deserved to hear exactly what I was thinking about this whole thing. I'll handle it if I failed. When's the next exam?"

"June," Meredith answered.

He quickly shrugged. "See? Next month isn't bad."

"2013," she noted.

Alex scowled again. Waiting a year to retake his boards exam? Screw that. "Whatever. This crap test shouldn't determine whether or not we're good surgeons."

Cristina leaned forward and pointed at her coworker. "I actually agree with Evil Spawn on this one."

"I mean, really. None of the people who tested us ever saw us work on a real patient before. This is freaking bull. Trying to psych us out and make us look like morons shouldn't be a part of the exam," he insisted. Staring down at the ground, Alex hardly felt comfortable coming out of the hotel. Having failed the first session, perfection was required to pass his boards and blowing up at his proctors probably ruined his chances. "You know, I don't regret what I said to them. I know I'm a competent surgeon."

April gently grasped her boyfriend's arm, resting her head against his shoulder. Going into the third session, she felt good about her chances of passing. However, the trick questions rattled her. If she failed, she wasn't sure how she would bounce back from it. In school, she had never failed a test. Despite losing patients during residency, she still wasn't used to failing. On the other hand, if Alex also failed, maybe they could be miserable at the Tastee Freez together in Ohio. Both of them failing seemed more of a better situation than only one of them passing.

"Do you think maybe you could explain your situation and get an early retest?" she murmured.

"I'm sure they'd completely understand that I was late for my first session 'cause I was with the dad I don't have a relationship with," he scoffed. "Look, I don't know if I failed or not. I'm gonna wait until we get our results before I tell Hunt that I was being tested by douche bags who couldn't say my name correctly."

April softly sighed, then she whispered, "Listen, there's something you and I need to talk about."

"Later, okay? I need some time for my brain to turn on again before I think about my fellowships going down the drain."

"Actually, it's not that-"

"I'm gonna call Altman and see how Jimmy's doing," Alex interrupted. He pushed himself up, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and walking away from the group. It was the best plan he could think of to avoid more scolding from April and it worked as a distraction from thinking about his boards results.

Truthfully, he didn't feel confident about passing his boards. Being late for the first session had been discouraging enough. Telling off his proctors could either impress them for being a passionate doctor or they could just believe he was a bigger jackass than when he arrived late. He wondered if he could ever survive a year without screwing himself out of something good. The year wasn't halfway over and he already felt like a screw up.

Everything was going fine with his life. He had plans, realistic plans with April to move forward in their careers and in their relationship. All he needed to do was pass his freaking boards, but now that might not happen.

After one cancelled flight, followed by another one that was delayed, the residents finally returned to Seattle. The airport shuttle parked outside of the ER like when it picked them up a day ago. However, the mood amongst the group of residents felt like they were about to attend a funeral. It had been a long day having been stuck at the airport for hours before finally getting on a plane. Everyone was exhausted and also impatient for their boards results. E-mails were scheduled to be sent out at midnight eastern standard time and they were getting very close to finding out their fates.

As soon as the shuttle doors opened, April burst her way outside after pushing her way through the crowded bus. "I gotta pee!" she squeaked, running into the pit. It was the only moment since the conclusion of the boards did she show any rambunctious behavior.

One by one, the rest of the group slowly stepped out of the shuttle with their belongings. Cristina held up her cell phone, repeatedly refreshing her e-mail. "It's 9 o'clock. Results should be sent by now," she agitatedly said. "Anybody getting anything yet?"

Meredith, Alex and Jackson all shook their heads while they mimicked Cristina by checking their own phones. So far, nothing had come up. The moment grew tense and silent until a nurse walked outside. "Are any of you on call? I've got a trauma."

"No!" the foursome shouted in unison.

Cristina gasped when she received a new e-mail. "Wait!" She paused to open it, then she grinned widely. "I passed!"

"I passed too!" Meredith gleefully replied after reading the good news on her phone.

"I passed!" Jackson added, feeling a sense of relief rush through his body. Alex appeared to be struggling with his phone and handed his to him. "Here use mine."

Alex logged in to his e-mail and found his boards result waiting for him. This was it. This was the defining moment of his entire life. If he saw a big, fat "Fail" in the message, he was going to spend the night at Joe's until they kicked him out. He took a deep breath before opening his e-mail.

Pass

He tilted his head back, looking up at the sky with a relieved smile on his face. He hadn't screwed himself over after all. His response caused his three coworkers to form a celebratory group hug. They all passed their board exams. Now, they were board certified surgeons. It meant they could move on to the next chapter in their surgical careers. Residency was almost officially over.

They had been celebrating so much that they forgot about the last member of their group.

"Hold on, wait. Where's April?" Jackson asked, scanning their surroundings for the redhead. She was nowhere to be found, which meant she was still peeing in the restroom somewhere or busy checking her e-mail. He decided it was the best time to pull Alex aside and tell him about the kiss. "Hey, uhh, Karev? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The two men moved away from Meredith and Cristina. "What's up?"

The pretty boy nervously scratched the back of his head before he responded, "So… last night, I kissed April."

In a matter of seconds, the smile on Alex's face disappeared. "What?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"Listen, it was all me. She didn't know it was gonna happen. April sort of beat up this guy and things got kind of crazy," Jackson explained, though anything coming out of his mouth wasn't making his roommate feel any better. The more he spoke, the angrier he appeared. "This wasn't planned, I swear. I really tried not to feel this way about her-"

"You know, I thought Amber was just paranoid when she warned me about you. I thought we were past the awkward living situation, but you were just waiting for the perfect opportunity to swoop in and make your move, right?" Alex sternly replied.

Jackson frantically waved his hands in front of his chest. "No, no! Karev, I wasn't-"

Alex had heard enough and decided to shut him up with his fist, throwing a right hook into his coworker's jaw. The force caused Jackson to run into a nearby wall. Thinking that was the end of it – he thought he at least deserved that – Jackson adjusted his jacket and reached up to rub his jaw. Unfortunately, Alex wasn't finished. His fist collided with the other man's nose, then he tackled him to the ground. The ruckus finally caught Meredith and Cristina's attention.

"Alex! Stop it!" Meredith yelled as she rushed towards the two men. She glanced over her shoulder at Cristina, who stood behind her amused by the sight. "Cristina!"

"Oh, we should do something?" the Asian woman casually answered, drawing an eye roll from Meredith.

April exited the ER with a skip in her step. She was staring at her cell phone with a bright grin on her face after receiving good news in her e-mail. "Guys, I passed my boards!" Her moment of joy immediately vanished when she spotted her boyfriend and best friend fighting nearby. She gasped, running towards them. "Alex, what are you doing?!"

While Meredith struggled to pull Alex away from Jackson, Hunt walked outside in time to find them. "Karev! Avery! Knock it off!" He grabbed Alex's shoulders, using all of his strength to pull him up. The trauma surgeon pressed him against the wall to restrain him. April and Meredith carefully helped a bleeding Jackson onto his feet. "I don't know what's happening nor do I honestly care, but it stops now. You may have passed your boards, but I still have the authority to fire you and you can kiss your fellowship offers goodbye."

Alex winced as Owen released him from his grip. Despite bruising up Jackson's face and potentially breaking his nose, his roommate managed to get a few swings in. His right eye felt like it was beginning to swell and his knuckles were showing the same effect. He noticed the mortified expression on April's face. It was obvious to him that she wanted to tell him, but Avery beat her to it.

Regardless of who told him, he would have reacted the same way. Maybe to others, they would have told him it was just a kiss, but it had taken him a long time to build genuine trust with the guy. April had a longer history with Jackson. They came in as the Mercy West invaders. The three of them moving in together always seemed like a terrible idea and the kiss finally proved that in Alex's mind.

A day that had gone wrong, then became amazing suddenly changed for the worse.

Instead of going home, Alex decided to stick around the hospital until April stopped freaking out over what had happened between him and Jackson. He stood outside of Jimmy's hospital room, his dress attire appearing ragged and loose. His father was awake, flipping through channels on the TV with the remote. Altman assured him that Jimmy would make a full recovery from his most recent surgery, but only time would tell if his heart would cooperate with him.

Alex wasn't entirely sure why he chose to visit Jimmy again. There were plenty of other options to hide. Even the tunnels made more sense than seeing the man who abandoned him, yet something felt right about being there. "Umm, hey," he murmured, clearing his throat afterwards.

Jimmy slightly smiled at him. "Alex, come in."

He slowly entered the room, still feeling awkward about wanting to visit his old man. Alex sat down beside his bed and rested his hands on his knees. "I, uhh, passed my test."

"That's great. Congratulations," the musician answered proudly. He noticed the small cuts on his son's hand. "What happened with those?"

"Oh, umm… kind of beat the crap out of my roommate or whatever," Alex muttered, gingerly opening and closing his fists. They hurt like hell, but he was too tired and lazy to find ice for his hands. "Kissed my girlfriend."

Jimmy softly chuckled. "I once knocked out a man for checking out your mother," he recalled. "It happened before we were married – before everything changed with her, and before I messed myself up. You didn't know the old Helen. She was a sweet woman, someone I was afraid of losing to somebody better."

"I'm finally happy and I might have ruined it because of what I've done," he dejectedly said.

"I think Dr. Kepner will understand. She seemed like the type of person who would."

"April. You can call her April," Alex noted with a small smirk. "I don't know if she ever told you her name, but I guess if we're gonna start somewhere, you might as well know my girlfriend's first name. She could end up being family after all."

"Could be or will be?" Jimmy inquisitively asked.

Alex shifted in his seat and sighed. Things started to become a little too personal for his taste, not that his father was wrong. He really wanted April to be a part of his family, but how that question would pop up… he could never picture himself becoming a sap and proposing to her like the men in the cheesy jewelry store commercials he saw often on TV. It just wasn't him. He would want to be straight to the point, while she would expect something out of a chick flick.

A light knock on the door interrupted their conversation. April appeared holding a couple of ice bags. She shyly smiled at Jimmy before stepping inside. "I hope I'm not bothering you. I just wanted to drop these off."

"No worries, darlin'. You're not a bother," Jimmy greeted her with a wink.

"Actually, umm, we'll go ahead and let you rest," Alex offered, quickly standing up from his seat. He awkwardly shoved his hands inside of his pockets as he left the room.

April led her boyfriend down the hallway and she found an empty on-call room. They walked inside and sat down on the bed. She handed him an ice bag for his eye and placed the other one on his free hand. "Jackson's staying at Meredith's tonight, so you two can cool off," she informed him. "Hunt's not going to fire you, but he doesn't want you beating up anybody else in the hospital."

"As long as nobody tries to kiss you again," he quipped, but she wasn't laughing. "I'm sorry, alright? Avery and I are even now, but did you expect me to pat him on the back for telling me the truth?"

"You could've at least stopped before breaking his nose. I wanted to tell you, Alex."

"I know. Not your fault. I'll apologize to Avery for messing up his pretty face, but I don't regret punching him."

April nodded, biting down on her bottom lip. "I passed too," she softly said. "Ohio looks more like our next destination now. You still want to move to Cleveland, right?"

"If you want me to," Alex mumbled.

"Of course I do!" she chuckled, playfully smacking his chest. "Why would you think I'd change my mind? Because of what you did to Jackson tonight? I mean, I'm not happy with how you decided to deal with him, but our relationship hasn't changed. We're going to be okay."

"So, Avery isn't gonna ask Sloan to kick my ass or anything, right?"

The redhead shook her head and smiled. "He's a bit miffed that you broke his nose, but he'll get over it. You two should talk things out when you're both ready to face each other. We only have a few more weeks together before we all go our separate ways."

"It's gonna be weird," Alex noted. "All of us possibly leaving Seattle. Hell, I'll even miss Yang and I couldn't stand her when we were interns."

All of it really did feel surreal. Before Seattle, he hadn't lived outside of Iowa. His wrestling career in college was his only temporary ticket out of there when they had matches in other states. Seattle changed him. It was the place where he truly felt like he grew up. He was a different person now than when he arrived as an intern. And the woman sitting beside him played a role in his transformation.

That one thought was creeping up on him again. He wanted to say it. Even in his banged up state, he wanted to ask his girlfriend that one question. It was climbing up his throat like he was going to vomit it out at any moment. "April…" Alex moved his ice bag away from his face with a grimace. "Will you, umm…"

She raised her eyebrow curiously. "What are you asking?"

"Will you… come with me to Joe's?" he sheepishly replied. "We passed our boards. We should celebrate."

April snickered, playfully rolling her eyes. "Sure, fine. For a minute, I thought you were going to ask me something else, but nevermind. Not exactly the type of setting I imagined it to happen in," she teasingly said.

Alex shut his eyes and winced after his girlfriend stood up and headed for the door. It almost came out, but he thought maybe it would be better if he actually had a ring to give her. He pushed himself up and followed her out of the room. If he was ever going to propose, he had to find a way to do it without her expecting it at all.

Let me know what you think please :)