Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or anything remotely attached to this show, only the basis of this story.


CHAPTER THREE
OH, PRIDE.


"One last question." April holds up a finger as she flicks through the note-filled pages in her little red book. She glances up at the couple with a smile, "Are you going to be having individual bachelor and bachelorette parties or are we combining them?"

"Individual."

"Combining would make things easier."

Their conflicting answers allow the redhead a second to close her notebook and clasp her hands over the cover.

"Don't you think we're a little past that?"

"I'm sorry, have you been married before? Have you had a bachelorette party before?" The green eyed man questions, refusing to give up on his manly festivities. "You can't be past something you've never had. We're having separate parties." He replies, directing his words mainly toward April.

She would have nodded if Stephanie hadn't interrupted.

"Oh, you haven't wanted any part in the planning up until now but as soon as she mentions drinking and hitting up the bar, you're right there, huh? Right on board!"

"At least I'm on board." He mumbles, receiving a death stare in return from his bride-to-be.

"Fine. We're having separate events."

The wedding planner clicks her tongue, takes a breath. "Great, so I'll get it touch with the best man and maid of honour to try and work them into our schedule, okay?" April grins, standing from her seat at the shiny dining hall table.

Their respective families were rich, upper class business people. Entrepreneurs and heirs. And the house they'd share once they were married was seriously intimidating to the farm-grown redhead. Glass and steel, chromes and diamonds.

Damn it.

The couple copy her move and stand up also, and the brunette waves a hand around to their outdoors. "I have to make a call but Jackson could show you around the grounds?"

April smiles, though she rages in jealousy on the inside. The grounds, how posh did that sound?

Stephanie was upper-crust, well-cut and spoken about. She knew what she wanted and how to get it. She had everything, body and brains and finances.

It's not that April was a greedy person, because she truly wasn't. She'd always prided herself on eating leftovers if available and saving money if possible. She knew her morals, her self-worth.

But watching rich people trot around with grounds was a little bruising on that precious pride of hers.

"Sure." Jackson sends a look down at the wedding planner, pushing a hand out against the large glass door that leads outside. She follows his steps as the bride whips out her cell phone and starts scrolling through her contacts.

The door lingers open behind them as they step outside, out into the cool air and Seattle breeze.

"Show me the grounds." April teases with a perked brow, facing him indirectly out of the corner of her eye.

"With pleasure."

She almost slaps him when he rests a hand on the low of her back, guiding her down a long pathway to a flowing water fountain in the middle of the land.

There's a statue of a small boy coming over the side of the fountain, one hand outstretched to pour droplets of fresh water down onto the flowers below.

April pulls her face as she eyes the display, unsure of its need.

"It came with the place." He explains with a tilt of the head, eyeing her grimace amusedly.

She shrugs, smooths a hand over the boy's granite fingertips with disdain. "It's kind of useless, don't you thin-" She cuts herself short when the index finger falls from the statue's hand, dropping into the flowerbed casually.

The redhead stares up at Jackson with wide eyes, lips parted. "I'm so sorry." She gulps when he takes a step closer to her, brushing past her side to pick up the broken piece of stone.

Jackson smirks, twirling it around carelessly between his own fingertips. "It's fine." He finds her clumsiness endearing, though he does wonder if he's somehow bringing it out of her.

"Please don't tell me that was worth a lot of money?" She frowns, chewing into her lip as she stares at the slightly fractured statue. It looks expensive, but the statue is barely even noticeable given the size of the water basin.

"If it was, it isn't anymore." He jokes, earning a swat of her hand against his chest.

April rolls her eyes as his prod, "That's mean." She fakes a pout with arms crossing over her chest.

Play hard to get. Steal the fucking groom.

Remembering Lexie's few not-so-wise tips, she pushes a strand of hair her ear and licks her lips, encouraging the man to take a step closer.

It's wrong to be playing this game.

"Well you did just ruin a beautiful fountain." He informs her, hands behind his back as he steps closer to her, stopping before her chest and head lingering close to her own.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Can you make me?"

She lifts a brow with a mild grin, "I can try." She swallows a breath when he leans down finally, pressing his lips against hers sweetly, dangerously so.

She feels a hand drop to her hip as her hands run up his chest, tongue sweeping at his lips as she takes a step backward, heel of her shoe colliding with the edge of the fountain's base.

Jackson pushes his hands deeper into her sides, leading her further back into the side of the water pool, unaware of what his action will entail.

April loses her balance against him, feeling her legs bend at the knees as she falls backwards. Her fingertips barely scratch at his shirt before she's falling down into the cool water, dragging him alongside her.

As her back hits the steady water, she pushes his weight off her so she can find her ground, her bearing. Emerging from the water, she gasps with a rub of her hands over her face and hair. "Jesus!"

He spurts out water beside her, not even half as drenched as she is.

"Nice to know you're still wet for me." He cracks out the joke after clearing the water off of his face, sniffling his nose as he stands.

April just rolls her eyes, accepting his hand to help her follow his lead and stand. Stepping out of the fountain, she begins her walk back down to the house, mansion, attempting to clear her conscience.

Maybe this is definitely a bad idea.

He goes to catch up with her then, but not before forcing the small broken piece of stone between the boy's tight legs, wedging it in deep in the middle of his lap.


"Explain it to me one more time."

April folds her arms over her chest, fingers wrapping around her sleeves. She shivers from the cold breeze blowing in through the open window.

Turning her head to the side, she notices the way Jackson is stood with his hands behind his back, restraining himself as his pale blue shirt clings to his damp skin.

"Explain."

"I dropped my purse?"

He's turning her into a klutz, obviously.

"And you're soaking wet…again…why?" Stephanie hitches a brow, thankfully accepts two dry towels from her maid. She passes the pair the towels, one in each hand with an inquisitive stare.

"The, uh, the fountain. Her purse dropped in the fountain."

"And you leant over to get it back?" April nods, blowing out her lips and flickering long lashes. "So why are you wet?"

The question is direction at Jackson this time, and the man stills with wide eyes.

"She fell in, so-"

"So you leant over to get her back?"

He loosely smiles, bouncing back on his heels, "Yeah."

Stephanie sighs, shaking her head at their story. "This week isn't getting off to a great start, is it?" She runs a hands over her face, parting her lips with a click, "Maybe this isn't a good match, April."

"Me working for you?"

"You working for me and him." The brunette corrects her, hands folding in her lap as she takes a seat at the fancy glass dining table. Her brows raise as she eyes the redhead. "I mean it's just mishap after mishap, and we're never gonna get any actual planning done if this continues."

"Let me worry about the planning, okay?" April tries, pressing both hands against her chest as she talks. "It's my job, and I'm great at it, and a few little…disasters…aren't the end of the world." She nods to reassure, convince Stephanie of her words, "Trust me. Your wedding is my main priority, right now. I have no personal life, no cats to feed, alright?" She laughs nervously. "You and Jackson- You and your groom… Your happiness is my goal."

"Alright."

"Alright?"

Stephanie stands back up, lips taunt and eyes sharp. She toys with the collar of her dress, flicks a quick look at her watch as she speaks. "I'll trust you." The darker skinned woman nods, shoots a glance at her fiancé. "We'll trust you."

"Good." April smiles, wraps her right hand over her left, "Thank you."

"It does make me sad to hear that you don't have much of a personal life, though. You deserve to have some fun, we all do. Hey, how about I set you up with one of my co-workers?"

"I don't think she'd want that-" Jackson turns to face the redhead mid-sentence, cut short by her own answer to the proposition.

"I'd love that. Really." A small smile, and a sparkle in her eyes grace April's face.

Stephanie smirks, moves to rest a hand on Jackson's shoulder. "See?" She gloats with raised brows, "We can double. I'll give George a call."

"George?"

"George O'Malley. He's just transferred up from California. Oh, you'll love him." She shakes her head as though it'd be an unimaginable sin to not adore the man in question. "Are you free tonight?"

The ginger clears her throat, "Yes. Yeah. I am, yeah." She licks her lips, ignores her one-time-flame's death stare.

"Steph? You wanna double date tonight? That soon?"

The brunette frowns, lowers her hand from around his muscled arm. "Is that a problem? Did you have other plans that I wasn't aware of?"

The green-eyed man sighs, disguises it as a shallow breath, "Nope. We just… We had that dance lesson at nine, remember?"

Too cowardly to watch his one-time-lover on a first date in front of him, Jackson had somehow recalled the long since scheduled dance class his fiancée had booked them both into.

He wasn't exactly eager to further his ballroom dance skills, but if it would-

"Oh, well, George is a great dancer. You guys can come with. April? Yes?"

"Sure." April shoots the groom a wide-eyed look, half-sweet, half-teasing.

"Great." Jackson grumbles under his breath, brows raised and a mocking grin plastered over his lips.


"So… What's the plan?"

"What do you mean "what's the plan?", Lex? The plan is dance with some, one would imagine, good-looking guy, go out for dinner, get hammered, and-"

"And make the guy whose wedding you're organising jealous as hell?"

"Not entirely."

April pulls a blue dress from her closet, analyses it carefully before tossing it down on her bed along with about ten others.

"Go for the new black one."

"It's ballroom dancing, Lex. Not tango."

"The tango is a form of ballroom dancing, excuse you. Gosh, we used to watch Dancing With the Stars every week, how could you forget that?" Lexie fakes annoyance, rolls her eyes jokingly ad her legs folds up beneath her.

April shrugs, rummaging through her closet to find her new purchase. It was a thigh-length black dress with a white floral motif and an asymmetrical neckline. Tight, cute, hot.

"Yes. Good. Go with that one."

"How am I supposed to dance in this thing?"

"Tear it, I don't know." The brunette carelessly perts her lips, applies some chapstick. "Maybe if your dress rips, your little adulterer will lend you his jacket."

April tosses the dress over at her best friend, "Shut up!" She pulls a face, folds bare arms over chest, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were staying with Mark tonight?"

"Mark claims he has to work late and I am giving him the benefit of a doubt." She grins, gritted teeth and all.

"So we're believing him?"

"We're trusting him."

"Is love not strong enough for belief anymore?"

"Love doesn't mean everything can be forgiven or excused, April. It just means there's a chance worth taking."


NOTE: I could have written more for this chapter but it feels like forever since I last wrote something, and I didn't wanna get into a whole other section of the story already. Saving that for next time. Thanks for reading, and I hope you keep enjoying what I do. :)


I imagine some lovely guest reviewers will have some harsh words to say about this because it doesn't feature rape, or unicorns or rainbows, or women portrayed as submissive creatures to their men, and well, it's by me. You hate me for no reason whatsoever, rude Guest reviewer who combines my name with Annie's for no reason whatsoever other than that you're severely deranged, so please read something else by someone other than myself. Excuse me for actually being able to write something good, of substance, in-character. Leaving anonymous hate is laughable. Have fun.