8.

It's been a hectic and rewarding day for April. Her shift was almost over and she ready to get home. After leaving Dr. Hunt's office, the only thoughts in her head were, "yes, I'm Chief Resident" and "Dr. Stark." She has been thinking about him ever since she rejected him; back then she just considered him as a friend, and now she missed their conversations and inside jokes. She wanted to take back the "friends" comment. But she knew she can't back in time and fix that mistake. She's kicking herself about it now because, she knew he still has feelings for her and was responsible for her Chief Resident position. And now she's admitting to herself that she had feelings for him too. All this thinking was giving her a headache. She rubbed her forehead as she walked, but she was stopped by Lexie who gave her a big hug.

"April! You're Chief Resident!"

She laughed, "I know, this is so exciting."

"I'm happy for you," Lexie said as she rubbed April's arm.

"Thanks, but I know about three people who aren't," she said bluntly.

Lexie rolled her eyes, "Oh, April, you know that's not true. They're all happy for you; they're just a competitive bunch. But even if they're not, who cares, you know-" Lexie was still talking but April zoned out when she saw Robert stop by the nurses' station and looked at charts. She just stared at him while Lexie was still talking. Now she had the urge to just walk up to him and tell him what she really felt. She took a deep breath and left Lexie, who was still talking; Lexie looked confused when April left her.

"April what happened?"

She ignored her and kept walking towards Robert when Arizona approached him. She wanted to turn around, but somehow told herself to keep going. Robert and Arizona were having a conversation now; she didn't want to seem rude, but this needs to be done, she thought. Lexie watched her as she walked thinking about what she was going to do.

"Excuse me, Dr. Robbins, but I need to talk to Dr. Stark-"

"Can't you see I'm in the middle of something, Dr. Kep-" April went for it, put her arms around his neck and kissed Robert to stop him from talking and from telling her to leave. Much to her surprise, he kissed back, but quickly pulled away.

Lexie's eyes widened as her mouth fell open; Arizona reacted the same way and slowly backed away.

"I'm just gonna leave you guys to… talk," Arizona commented.

Lexie still could not believe what just happened. She didn't want to look like a creep, so decided to just walk away and leave them be, but she was definitely going to be talking about this to Jackson, and Meredith, oh the hell with it, she's telling all her friends, she snickered. "Oh, April," she murmured.

"Can we go somewhere private?" she started off as she realized what she has done.

"Oh, now you want to go somewhere private?"

She shot him an annoyed look. He rolled his eyes and they went in his office.

Before the door was even completely shut, April said, "You like me."

"Excuse me? What makes you say that? You kissed me, remember?"

"Ah, but you kissed back!" she said in her defense.

"Well… it's becau- You know what, is there anything else you need here, because I have to head home. I do have an early day tomorrow," he said trying to change and avoid the subject.

April wasn't buying it; she shook her head. "Do you know what your problem is?"

He rolled his eyes. "Humor me, what's my problem?"

"You tend to push people away…"

After hearing that comment, he couldn't help but laugh, "Ha! Me? Push people away?"

She rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well what he was talking about. She took a deep sigh. "I- I take back what I said that night; you know, about us being friends... I take it back." She played with her hair and tried not to make eye contact. What she said was as shocking as the kiss she gave him earlier. He looked at her, flabbergasted.

"Well…. Say something," she scowled.

He scratched his head, "why now?"

She took a seat and sighed, "well, maybe because… because I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"I was scared of… of being in a relationship, opening myself up to someone and giving them everything and getting hurt in the end."

Robert nodded and took the seat next to her. "I understand," he said patting her knee.

April turned to him, "I'd like you to come join me for dinner."

"Wow, Dr. Kepner, when did you learn to take charge?"

"When I became Chief Resident," she said proudly.

"You got it?"

"You sound surprised, Dr. Stark… I know you recommended me."

"So, Hunt told you." She nodded.

"You deserve that job," he said.

She smiled. "So, dinner? What do you say?"

"No."

She looked disappointed. "…because I was raised on the principle that a guy should always be the one to ask a girl out," he continued. "I'll let you know, Dr. Kepner." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek then left his office.

Once she left the room, he couldn't help but smile. "Ah, what a day," he said under his breath. Walking out to the parking lot, Robert was glad about how his day played out. He couldn't wait to get home and drink a glass of wine.

"Robert!" He heard someone call out.

"Melanie, I thought you'd be home by now. Where's Grace? I haven't seen her all day." Melanie had been bringing her daughter to work ever since her first day and she has gotten close to Robert. Dr. Karev had managed to avoid them from time to time. He was just so freaked out how two evil can be in the same room.

"Oh, I didn't bring her. She was feeling a little under the weather today so I left her home with a sitter. Well, anyway, I really need to talk to you. Do you mind if we go somewhere for a drink or something?"

It's been ten years since he's been out with Melanie and he can't believe how she still looks as beautiful as she did ten years ago. "Uh, sure, there's a little bistro ten minutes from here," he suggested.

"Okay, I'll- I'll follow you."

Robert was worried about what they were going to talk about. From the tone of her voice, she sounded serious and he was curious to know if it was about their past relationship. Deep down, Robert still cared for Melanie, but he can't get over the fact that one day she just decided to leave without any means of an explanation; he had the same fears as April, being in a relationship, opening up to someone and giving them everything, but in the end they screw you over and you get hurt.

At the bistro, Melanie seemed tense as they took their seats. A glass of wine calmed her down.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Robert asked. "It sounded serious."

"Well, it is," she sighed. "First off I want to apologize again for what happened ten years ago."

Robert shook his head, "Melanie, didn't we agree to leave this behind us and forget about it?"

Melanie held out her hand telling him to stop. "I know, but I just need to—I don't know, what I did to you is unacceptable and I've deprived you of something you should have had and I want to give you an explanation to why I left," she said wiping the tears from her face.

"Mel, I'm not quite following you, what are you trying to say?"

"I left because I was scared. You were so happy with where your career was headed, I mean look at you now, that settling down with me would consequently bring you down professionally."

"That's why you left?" he said bitterly. "Without even talking to me, you just decided that on your own. I didn't get a say?"

"This is why I'm here right now; apologizing to you, admitting that I was at fault! I was wrong then and I'm still wrong now."

"What do you mean you're still wrong now? Is there anything else I need to know about your departure?"

"Yes, there is, and it's about how I deprived you of something or I should say someone," she admitted.

Robert did not respond.

"About three weeks after I left, I found out I was pregnant and-"

He cut her off, "Is Grace my daughter?"

"Yes," she said quickly.

Robert brushed his fingers through his hair and grunted in frustration. "And you didn't think for one second that maybe I wanted to know or had the right to know?"

He shook his head. A lot has happened today and he couldn't take it anymore. This was making his headache worse.

"Mel, you've given me a whole lot of information to process; if you'd excuse me, I've had enough for the night, but we will continue this talk." Melanie nodded and with that he left $20 for his drink and left the bistro.

His headache seemed to have worsened as he thought about Melanie and Grace, especially Grace. He had grown close to her, not knowing she was his daughter. He didn't forget that he and April were in good terms, but the new information Melanie has given him has been occupying his thoughts.

He fell asleep with April and Grace on his mind, wondering what the next day will bring.