Between two incredibly busy schedules, it's nearly impossible for them to have dates as frequently as they wanted to. If it wasn't one thing, it was another – and it didn't help that the both of them had boards coming up in a few months, which studying for minimized their already slim time together. Their most recent date was defined by pizza and flashcards, tossing ideas at each other back and forth until they had fried their brains completely.
When April woke up for work the next morning, limbs were sprawled messily and tangled up with Jackson's beneath the cover of his bed, still in her jeans and blouse from the day before. A loud yawn opened her mouth and alerted her to her own morning breath, shifting comfortably and feeling her spine pop before her vision cleared up just enough to decipher the time on the clock.
"Jackson, Jackson! Wake up! We're late!" She scrambled to get out of bed, a quick run to the bathroom to use the toilet and brush her teeth with his toothbrush occurring.
He wasn't nearly as fast moving as she was, but he wasn't in quite the same rush to get ready. His own shift didn't start until two hours after hers, and she'd woken up just about the time that she should have left for work. But he's not a fool, either, he was well aware the lateness was one of her biggest pet peeves. He used the bathroom shortly after she did, pulling a shirt over his naked torso before finding her in his living room, wiggling her way back into her boots and jacket.
"Let me take you," Jackson suggested as he grabbed his car keys, giving her a sweet, long kiss on the lips. "We can study again tonight."
"Okay," April agreed easy enough. The drive from his apartment wasn't quite as short as the one from her own but she doesn't mind, soft classical music playing on the radio at her own insistence about how it would be good for the both of them and their studying habits. Conversation flows quietly, neither of them completely able to rid their minds of all of the stress that was impending, hinged on the fact that their entire careers would be determined by their boards. She didn't have a fall back plan and, well, she hoped that that was mostly true for Jackson as well.
When they pull up to the hospital, April wasn't quite as late as she'd thought that she would be when the two of them first woke up this morning. Quick, chaste kisses are exchanged as she gets out of the car, a mixture of feelings swirling through her gut when she realized that Callie and Arizona were both walking in at the same time as her. And Arizona had absolutely seen who she had gotten out of the car with.
Upon noticing it, an attempt is made to scurry past the both of them without drawing any more attention to herself, knowing that it was much more acceptable for two department heads to come in a few minutes late than it was for the fifth year attending. Despite the slim efforts, Arizona was quick to pin her down.
"Oh, oh! That's the boy!" The blonde hooked her arm up with April's, slowing her down.
"What boy?" Callie inquired.
"Owen and I set April up with a resident over at Seattle Pres months ago! Well, a resident who also… y'know, is really good at sex. Because he does it on the side. Anyways, not important right now. What is important? Someone didn't tell me that the two were still seeing each other." Arizona was practically squealing with every word that came out of her mouth, white teeth on full display by the smile on her cheeks.
"First of all, we're not sleeping together." April clarified quickly.
"Bullshit!" Callie interjected. "Come on, I saw him. If I wasn't in love with Arizona, I'd do him."
"Good for you. But I'm not sleeping with him."
"So why's he driving you to work this early in the morning, sunshine? The two of you must be doing something if you're already having sleep overs together." Arizona pried her for more information, brows forming a little furrow above bright blue eyes.
A sigh passed through April's lips as the three women made it through the doors of the hospital, hands smoothing over her wrinkled shirt as she stopped in her place. "I spent the night, yes," she started. "But I did not sleep with him and you are not going to convince me to before I'm ready. Which, you know my prerequisites for that. We're dating. Last night, actually, wasn't supposed to be a sleepover. But the two of us fell asleep studying for our boards together and he offered to drive me here this morning," she explained.
Although neither Arizona or Callie look completely convinced with the story that she had offered, April's demeanor demonstrated some confidence between the straight back and raised eyebrows. Before the point could be pushed too much more from either of them, Callie's pager was already going off and she excused herself from the remainder of the conversation.
"Fine, fine, I'll drop the sex," Arizona gave in with her expression softening though a smile remained. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to hear about the two of you. Because I absolutely do. All the little details. Including his little side business. I mean, is he still doing it even though you guys are together?"
"Yeah." The shortness of her answer displayed the small twinge of jealousy she'd never been able to completely eradicate.
"Oh my god! April!" It's a squeal leaving Arizona's lip, her jaw falling agape. Even though Arizona had been the one to go through with it, she didn't know much about it besides the basics. But what she did know quite a bit more about? April. And she would have never anticipated little Miss April Kepner to be the type of girl to be okay with her boyfriend doing something like that on the side.
"It's– we talked about it, Arizona. It's not like he's tried to lie to me about it. We talked about it extensively and I'm fine with it. Besides, it's not like it's a permanent thing, but… he'll still be the same person by the end of it. And I love him." She admitted, wetting her lips. "I want to be with him."
"Kepner!" Bailey's voice interrupted. "Why are you down here chatting when there's work to be done?"
That was all it took for the conversation between the two women to drop suddenly, scurrying off in opposite directions to get their own jobs done. Even Arizona didn't want to mess with that, and truthfully, April didn't want to get into the conversation too much deeper with Arizona. She didn't want to question just yet what she'd already established in her head to be the truth.
There's a gap between their shifts at the end of the day, and April took advantage of the extra time that she had by getting in both a healthy dinner and a little more study time. Likely, she was going overboard with the studying – but as far as she was concerned, that was completely impossible. a test like that wasn't something that any person could have been completely prepared for.
"Hey, babe," Jackson greeted as he came up to her, a smile offered across her features. "I've got good news," he announced. "We'll talk about it when we get back to my place." He reached out to take her hand, the two of them walking comfortably side by side out to the parking lot.
April drifted off a little bit in the car, the lull of traffic and music in the background making it easy for her head to rest back and get a few minutes of shuteye. When they reached his apartment, Jackson only gave her a gentle nudge and tease awake again, her cheeks still red by the time they reached his apartment door. A few brief moments are taken to settle back in, dropping bags and coats before making their way to the couch.
"So, what's the good news?"
"Well, I've been doing the math for my finances, bills, everything... and thinking about the future. I found a nice apartment building, most amenities, a washer and dryer included, most utilities included in the recent... We could move in together. It's nice and it's a one bedroom. We could afford it. The deposit is first and last month, but one more job with this lady, and I'd be done with that stuff, for good. Sell my list of clients, starting saving up. We could really do it." Excitement ran through Jackson as he opened up about the possibility with her, something that he'd been doing for months. It'd save the both of them time, make dating a lot easier. Maybe it seemed soon after just a few months of dating, but that was all it had taken for him to figure out that she was the right one. She was the one worth making a change for, even if she hadn't asked him to. She was it.
As thrilling as the news was, April couldn't help but be caught off guard by all of it for a moment. Lids flutter a few times as she processed all of it. Moving in together was a big step, and she'd have to see the place for herself. But right now, not knowing the apartment seemed like the scariest part of it, not taking a step forward in their relationship by moving in together.
"I think... that's a great idea." A smile accompanied the words as April answered him. "I want to see the place for myself, but I like the idea. Of all of it... moving in together, you being able to focus on your career as a surgeon." The latter was worded carefully, a habit that she had developed since becoming more accepting of what he did. She'd learned not to be critical, and this concern was an honest, non-judgmental one. She always wanted to make sure that he had enough time for the job they shared so as to not consequentially affect his future.
Both of them huddle up by his computer so that she could go through the apartment website herself. Jackson had done a good job of balancing out everything that she wanted with the location and feasibility of what they could both afford, even if it was likely that the following year both of their budgets would go up significantly. If they passed their boards. The point of discussion came up between the both of them and it doesn't take long before noses are buried into books and meticulously handwritten notes of April's, absorbing every detail and bouncing back and forth about the different surgeries that had gone on in their separate hospitals today. Even if being at different hospitals often felt like a burden, sometimes it had its advantages. They got to hear about twice the amount of surgeries than they would have on just their own.
The night ended similarly to the one before, a video of a newly popular procedure playing on his laptop and the two of them close together so they could both watch it. Nearly two-thirds way through the clip, April found herself drifting off to sleep once again, her head laid on Jackson's shoulders and breathing evened out. He doesn't notice it initially, a few more minutes of the video playing before he realized.
When he does, Jackson smiled softly to herself, turning his head so that he could press a gentle kiss to her forehead. The first thing he did was set an alarm on his phone, knowing that she'd need to get up early to shower and not show up to work in the same clothes for the third day in a row. Then, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the bedroom, setting her down gently. He didn't undress her in full, knowing she wouldn't be completely comfortable with that, instead just undoing her jeans and folding them, setting them down onto the nightstand before covering her with his bedsheets. A few more tidying maneuvers are made before he stripped down to boxers, his usual pajamas, and joined her.
"I'm going to marry the hell out of you at the end of all this, April Kepner."
The words are whispered to her sleeping form affectionately, another kiss placed on top of her head before curling up behind her to sleep.