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Enjoy!
Two weeks had passed and Jackson managed to maintain the boundaries between personal issues and professionalism with April. They only spoke to each other at the hospital when they were required to for medical reasons. Other than that, he had given her the space she requested. He hoped two weeks was enough time for her to ease away some of her anger towards him. The plastic surgeon found himself missing her more when they were in the same room together than when she was on vacation.
And it bothered him even more that she had been spending a lot of her spare time with Ryan. Every corner he turned, there she was, but so was he. The orthopedic surgeon was a nice guy and meant well whenever he was forced to interact with him, yet somehow, the blonde man felt like a threat to him. The way April conversed with her childhood best friend seemed natural, like how they used to be when she was his best friend…
…before they had sex and the complications that resulted afterwards.
A part of Jackson wished he could close his eyes and everything would be back to the way they were, friends who grew to become best friends after they lost their Mercy West companions in the shooting. However, that meant erasing their night in San Francisco and he didn't want that memory to disappear. Ever. Rebuilding their friendship was crucial. They weren't friends after all, according to the trauma surgeon. No half-assing, no rushed "I Love You". He wanted to prove to April that he truly loved her without having to say those three words as if it was an obligation to make her happy.
Romantic dates, flowers for no specific reason, simple gestures to show he cared for her. Good old fashioned romance. That was what she wanted aside from sex. The whole package was important.
The pretty eyed man entered the attendings locker room for another shift at Grey Sloan Memorial. To his delight, April was already inside changing into her scrubs. "Good morning, April," he politely greeted her as he walked to his cubby.
"Good morning, Jackson," she casually replied, her back facing him.
He looked back at her, a smile forming on his face. It was the first time in a while she had greeted him without the coldness or monotone voice. Maybe giving her space had worked. "Umm, how are you today?"
"Alright, I guess. You?"
"Pretty good. Definitely feeling good so far."
Jackson removed his jacket, followed by his t-shirt. Tossing both into his cubby, he couldn't help but sneak a peek of April. She hadn't worn her scrub top yet, so he caught a decent view of her in her tank top. He could spot her tan lines – more like burn lines – from her bikini. While he had never actually seen her in a bikini, he also knew she didn't tan. She burned. The redness had faded since she returned from the Bahamas and her skin was almost fully restored to the paleness he admired. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, showing off her neck. He could still remember the one spot that always drew a moan out of her. His eyes continued to scan every inch of her body until he felt an article of clothing smack the back of his head.
Standing nearby was Cristina, who had slapped him with her lab coat. "Pervert," she bluntly said.
"It's not perverted if I've already seen what's underneath those clothes," he whispered, glaring at his coworker.
"But you two haven't entirely been on great terms, so I disagree… pervert," the cardiothoracic surgeon teased, while she wore her lab coat. "And you look pathetic with your puppy dog eyes always staring at her. What happened to telling her how you feel?"
"I'm trying to do this carefully. I don't want to do something that'll overwhelm her," Jackson explained. "And she wanted space. I'm being a good person by respecting that, but she seems to be coming around now. I'll make my move soon."
Ryan entered the locker room, taking notice of Jackson from across the room. "Hey, man!" He grinned at the plastic surgeon as he walked to his cubby, which was close to April's.
"Hey… dude," he responded slowly, rolling his eyes when the blonde man's back was facing him. Dude was Karev's word, but Jackson figured moron or dumbshit was too harsh and inappropriate, especially with April in the room.
"April, do you know of any decent places to get some tacos?" Ryan asked his friend as he removed his jacket. He looked over his shoulder at Jackson. "Or how about you? Where can I find tacos?"
"Well, there's Taco Time," he suggested with a smirk. "They sell the best tacos in Seattle."
The trauma surgeon softly laughed, shaking her head. "He's joking. You do not want to go there – unless, you're interested in two or three days of uncontrollable bowel movements," she quipped. "There's this taco truck that parks across the street on Monday's and Wednesday's. They make the best tacos, in my opinion. Why don't we get some for lunch later?"
Ryan nodded before he pulled his t-shirt over his head. "Sweet. Sounds good," he agreed, setting it aside in his cubby. He glanced back at Jackson. "You want to join us?"
After tying the strings of his scrub pants, Jackson turned towards his fellow surgeon to answer the question. What he hadn't expected to see was April's eyes clearly glued to Ryan's topless body. She had one foot on the bench while she simultaneously tied her shoe and stared at her friend's toned six pack abs. The pretty boy was appalled to see her checking him out and she even appeared to be impressed with what she saw.
As shallow as it was, he had opted to wear his scrub top last hoping April would observe his own rock hard abs before Ryan appeared. Unfortunately, she barely made eye contact with the plastics man since he arrived, so his gorgeous, athletic body hardly received any attention. Maybe she simply wanted to make comparisons, Jackson thought. Both men were about the same height and built similarly. And why wouldn't the red headed woman stare at either of them?
But Jackson couldn't help but believe April was staring at the wrong person. Gazing down at his own body, he wondered what Ryan had that he didn't. New guy was taking all of the glory that was once his. Bastard.
"Uhh, Avery. I asked if you wanted to have tacos with us for lunch," Ryan said, then he chuckled as Jackson quickly shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts. "You didn't hear me, did you?"
Cristina stood beside the plastic surgeon and playfully patted his shoulder. "I think he was too busy checking out his competition for this year's Mr. Sexy Abs title," she jokingly answered. "Apparently, Kepner's already judging the field too."
"Huh, what?" April's head shot up, her eyes wide open like she had been caught red-handed committing a crime. She nervously laughed as she slipped on her lab coat. "Well, I'm going to head downstairs to the pit. Text me when you're free for lunch."
"Okay," both men replied in unison, exchanging glances at each other afterwards.
Jackson sheepishly grinned. "That pretty much means I'll be joining you guys for tacos," he added. "You know I love me some tacos. Can't get enough of them… among other things."
April's eyes wandered sideways as she walked towards the exit. "Right."
Cristina was the next doctor to leave the locker room, but not without turning around and flashing an 'L' sign on her forehead with her hand at Jackson. She smugly grinned at him as he scowled back at her one last time. Catching up with April in the elevator, she placed her hands inside of her lab coat pockets and bounced back and forth on her heels.
"You've got a little bit of drool on your chin, Apes," she humorously said.
"I know what you're trying to say, but you're wrong," the redhead insisted. "He's just my friend. I can be friends with guys and not be attracted to them. And Ryan was like a brother to me when we were kids. He stood up for me at school when the other girls teased me for being a science nerd."
"Because staring at his abs like they were a juicy slab of steak didn't show any hints of attraction," Cristina sarcastically replied.
"I was… curious," April reluctantly stated. "Unisex locker room. It happens."
The Asian woman snickered. "Oh, please. I'm not sure where you stand now with the big G-O-D in the sky, but you're allowed to play the field after spending most of your life covering your eyes at the sight of a penis," she scoffed. The elevator doors opened to her floor and she stepped out. Turning around to face her coworker, she nonchalantly said, "Why not? I'm just saying. It's something for you to think about while you're praying or on the toilet. Whichever you prefer."
As the doors closed again, April tilted her head back and groaned. She knew she couldn't fool a person like Cristina Yang even if she managed to pull off the world's biggest lie with everyone else. Of course she was checking out Ryan. It was her first time seeing what was hiding underneath those clothes… well, the top half anyway. And regardless of what the cardiothoracic surgeon advised, she was not going to sleep around. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about premarital sex anymore. While she was with Matthew, she fought her urges to "corrupt" him. Lying to herself was pointless. She missed sex, but that didn't mean she would jump into bed with anybody who found her attractive.
And what if Ryan didn't see her as more than a friend? When they grew up together in Moline she had developed a crush on him, but so did almost every girl in their class. She was shy and awkward. In some ways, that young girl still existed inside, but her confidence was better now than it was then.
They were still reestablishing their friendship, but she was comfortable around him. No tension between them whatsoever. The same still couldn't be said when it came to Jackson, though.
Stephanie Edwards walked into the ER determined to move on from her feelings for Jackson and focus on the medicine. She had spent too many hours and days sulking over their break up, but she blamed herself for not ending it with him sooner. The signs were there that he hadn't been all in. No phone calls for eleven straight days, forgetting plans. His mood was typically crappy for whatever reason. She understood he was a busy man. He was a freaking board member after all. Some of it was denial. The plastic surgeon was her dream guy. When he took an interest in her she couldn't help but take advantage of that.
But she had also promised herself that she wouldn't be that girl, the one who slept with her boss and benefited from it. Leah called her out multiple times about being a hypocrite, yet she refused to listen to her and it came back to bite her in the ass. As soon as Jackson told her he was in love with someone else, it all made more sense to her. It hurt deeply because she had her chance to end things first, but she hadn't. She blamed his stupid, beautiful eyes and his kissable lips.
Whoever this woman was, Stephanie considered her to be one lucky person. She was relieved to be on another attending's service, free from Plastics. And she didn't mind being in the pit with April because she had been a helpful teacher. Tough, but kind. The trauma surgeon wasn't a dud like she initially thought. She knew how to run the show in the ER, which wasn't a cakewalk. Perhaps her calling was really in the emergency room.
She approached her superior and softly smiled at her. "Good morning, Dr. Kepner. Where do you need me at the moment?"
April handed the resident a small stack of clipboards. "Edwards, you can start with these people in the waiting room. If I need extra sets of hands for any upcoming trauma, I will page you. Anyway, if you desperately need me, you know where to find me, but I'm sure you've got this taken care of," she cheerfully answered. "Any questions?"
"Nope. I think I'm all set," Stephanie replied confidently before she left for the waiting room.
The redhead let out a sigh of relief, hoping her gleeful demeanor was convincing enough to show she didn't have any hard feelings towards Jackson's ex-girlfriend. Truthfully, she never did. She blamed herself for setting them up together for Bailey's wedding, though the two of them hitting it off immediately was unexpected. It didn't appear to her that Stephanie suspected that she may have been the reason for their break up. April had always been professional with her even after she learned of their relationship.
Because at the hospital, she was a doctor and teacher first. Holding a grudge would have been childish. Stephanie really hadn't done anything to her to warrant such treatment. She simply fell for the Avery charm like she had. In a way, she empathized with her. They were both dumped by Jackson. Not exactly something to be proud of.
While she checked the statuses of the current patients and updated the video board at the nurses' station, an unsurprising visitor stood in front of the counter. Without having to look up, April already knew who decided to pay her a visit. "Jackson, do you need something?" she inquired.
"I'm a little queasy," he murmured, placing his forearms on the counter and resting his chin on top of them. "Like, I feel sick."
"And by sick you mean what exactly?"
Jackson slightly frowned. "I just came from Webber's room and my mother informed me that she's extending her stay in Seattle," he complained. "She may even consider moving here permanently, so she won't have to worry about him suddenly keeling over and dying alone in his house."
"That's it?" she replied, raising her eyebrow at him. "Don't you feel sick every time your mother visits?"
"Yeah, but this is completely different. She might move here, April. That basically means she'll be back to her old ways. She'll likely meddle again and she's already trying to suck personal information out of me like I'm hiding something from her."
"Are you?"
He shook his head. Telling her what he had been hiding from Catherine would also mean spilling the beans about his feelings for her. It wasn't the right moment. All he wanted to do was ignite a friendly conversation between them, which seemed to be working. "I don't know. I'm just tired of her constantly treating me like I need her."
"Has it occurred to you that she wants to move here because of Webber? His heart still isn't strong enough to leave the hospital. He shouldn't be living alone once he's out of here. Your mother obviously cares a lot about him, so she's doing what's best for the both of them," April rationalized. "No offense, but not everything has to be about you. I mean, I'm sure being closer to you makes her happy as well. And look at the bright side, maybe you'll have more time to cut people open because she's around to deal with the boring board stuff. Isn't being a surgeon what you really want to be?"
"Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself," the plastic surgeon complimented, half-smiling at her.
She glanced down at her tablet and slightly smiled. "I just know how to knock sense into you, that's all."
He decided to change the subject. "Umm… Ryan seems to be adjusting well here. How does he like it?"
"He loves it here. Torres is already letting him grow his own artificial cartilage in the lab and the other doctors have been welcoming towards him. I've been showing him around Seattle when we have free time. It's been fun." April looked back at Jackson and suggested, "I'm not the biggest sports person, so maybe you two and Karev could do some manly outing or whatever. He could use some more male friends."
Hang out with his biggest threat? That actually didn't sound like a bad idea in his mind. There was that saying – keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Plus, he was certain bonding with Ryan would earn him points from April. Trust was the most important thing and she was practically indirectly telling him how to gain back that trust he lost from her.
"I guess I could score some Sounders tickets for us," Jackson stated. "Do you want to come?"
"It's not really my thing. You should know that," she replied with a smirk. "How many games did I pass up since we met? The only way you're luring me to any sporting event is if Ohio State came to play U-Dub in football, but that won't be happening any time soon."
"Well, we could do something else together – as friends, of course. You know, since we're trying to be friends…"
"What do you have in mind?" she asked curiously.
He stood upright, pressing his palms against the countertop. Jackson tried to play it cool, but he had no idea what type of activity they could engage in without it crossing the line between friends and lovers. In the back of his mind, the word sex was blinking like one of those neon signs at a strip club. Being a gentleman was harder to accomplish than growing his own skin grafts.
"We could… take a walk. Green Lake Park is large and… we could walk and talk about anything you want," he awkwardly offered, forcing a smile. April blankly stared at him before she erupted in laughter. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
"Take a walk? That's the best you could come up with?" she teased, covering her mouth to hide the grin on her face. "Jackson Avery doesn't take long walks at the freaking park. Jackson Avery woos women with his eyes and his perfect teeth. What you suggested is something I should be doing with my closest girlfriend – if I had a girlfriend to take walks with. Unless, you're trying to be a girl now."
Although he should be offended that she wasn't taking him seriously, Jackson found himself laughing along with her because she was right. A walk around the park wouldn't last long. They would both grow bored within five minutes. Not to mention, the awkwardness between them still existed and it showed through his lame idea.
But he got her smiling, something he hadn't seen from her lately. April's dimple stood out like it always did whenever she laughed or smiled. And it was the first time since she returned from her vacation that she hadn't been annoyed with him. Maybe she was, but she at least took the time to listen to him rant about Catherine like she used to when they were just friends, which was typically followed by advice that made him feel stupid for ranting in the first place.
That was why he needed her in his life, to set him straight whenever he acted irrational. Nobody else understood him the way April Kepner did.
Their moment was interrupted by Stephanie, who cleared her throat as she stood a foot away from Jackson. She could feel the plastic surgeon's eyes on her, but she refused to give him any of her attention. "Dr. Kepner, Mrs. Carlton in bed four had been experiencing nausea and a fever prior to arriving in the ER, but now she has pain and tenderness in her lower right abdomen. I performed an ultrasound and it appears her appendix could rupture at any time now."
"Okay. Let's get her admitted and you will be taking out that angry appendix in the OR," the trauma surgeon instructed, much to the delight of her resident.
"Really?" Stephanie grinned. It was her first solo surgery in her young career. With Jackson, she had spent the majority of her time holding the suctioning instrument or watching him fix his patients. Not a lot of hands on experience because plastic surgery was all about perfection. Nobody in Plastics wanted an intern or first year resident touching their patient. "I'll be the one cutting? Like seriously, all me?"
April pushed herself up from her chair. "Well, if you don't want it-"
"Oh, I want it," she immediately insisted. "I discovered the appy, so I definitely want this surgery."
"Great. How about we go ahead and meet your patient? And also to ensure her appendix hasn't ruptured on us yet."
Jackson suddenly became invisible again as April and Stephanie walked away from the nurses' station to tend to a patient. Despite being told to stop with the creepy staring, he couldn't help himself. A minute ago, the two attendings were laughing and smiling like old times. He believed they were headed towards the right direction. Leaning back against the counter, he slipped his hands inside of his lab coat pockets while he continued to stare at April, who was introducing herself to the patient.
Beside her was Stephanie, who took a quick glimpse of her ex-boyfriend. Initially, she was caught off-guard by his gaze, but she speculated whether or not he was having second thoughts about them. However, she realized his eyes weren't on her but on April. It was then she connected the dots as her eyes slowly shifted towards her boss.
April was the woman, the one Jackson was in love with. So much for assuming he dumped her for the other woman who destroyed their relationship. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she was the other woman the entire time.
Jackson checked his watch and wondered where April could be. He was already waiting for her across the street from the hospital where a taco truck was parked next to the sidewalk. She had sent him a text message to let him know she had just scrubbed out of Stephanie's appendectomy, but twenty minutes had passed and she was nowhere to be found. Instead, he spotted Ryan crossing the street alone in his navy blue scrubs. He was anticipating the orthopedic surgeon to greet him with his irritating catchphrase. It was never Hey, Jackson or Hey, Dr. Avery. It was always…
"Hey, man!" Ryan raised his hand as if he wanted to exchange some handshake with Jackson, who only stared at him uninterested. The blonde man lowered his hand, pursing his lips at the same time. He was aware that his coworker had trouble warming up to him, but he was going to make an effort in becoming friends with him. "Did you order yet?"
"No. I was waiting for you and April. Is she coming?"
"She had to bail at the last minute. Hunt paged her to come down to the pit, so she asked me to order her lunch," he answered, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "April sent me her order on a text message-"
"Three small lime chicken soft tacos with extra tomatoes, just a pinch of jack cheese and sour cream and green salsa on the side," Jackson recited, smugly grinning at Ryan. Unlike his acquaintance, a text message wasn't required to memorize April's preferences.
"Huh, you even got the pinch of cheese part down. Impressive," he complimented. Standing behind a couple of customers in line, Ryan reached into his pocket for his wallet. "What do you want, Avery? Lunch is on me."
The pretty boy waved his hand. "No, it's fine. I've got this one."
"I insist, man. Don't worry about it."
When it was their turn Jackson stepped in front of Ryan, so he could place their orders first. He would have hip checked the guy if it was necessary. His competitive side took over mainly because he wanted to show April how much he cared for her, starting with buying her lunch. Like hell he was going to let her attractive male friend outshine him. "What do you want, Abbott?" he asked, looking back at his coworker.
"Uhh, I guess I'll have whatever you're having," Ryan replied with a shoulder shrug. As Jackson reached into his pocket for his wallet, he lightly nudged him with his elbow. "Hey, April managed to catch up with us."
"She did?" Jackson turned his head to find April, which allowed Ryan to push him aside with his shoulder. Before he could retaliate, the blonde handed cash to the worker and paid for their lunches. "What the hell was that for?"
He smirked at the agitated doctor as they moved over to the waiting area. "When somebody offers to pay for your lunch you accept that. Who passes up a free lunch?" Ignoring the scowl on Jackson's face, he chuckled. "Seriously, who does that? Oh, and sorry if I hurt you, man. I wasn't going down without a fight. It's the hockey player in me."
The plastic surgeon rubbed his left shoulder. "That was my bad shoulder, bro."
"Oh? Old sports injury?"
"Evading an exploding bus," he muttered. "Wasn't too long ago either, so it's still a little tender."
Ryan had heard about the crazy storm that hit Seattle two weeks before he arrived. He didn't know all of the details aside from what happened to Webber and the bus crash. April's recollection about that night was fairly vague and when he asked Callie about it she was more tightlipped than his hometown friend. Nobody had really opened up about the storm. He hadn't even met Meredith Grey yet. She was still away on maternity leave and recovering from her emergency surgery.
"Sorry again. I didn't know your shoulder was messed up," he apologized. "Damn. I was just trying to be a nice guy, pay for lunch and try to make another friend. Now I feel bad about shoving you. If I had known-"
"Forget it. It's not a big deal," Jackson dismissed. "But if you do that again, I won't hesitate to kick your ass."
Ryan chuckled, playfully slapping the board member's right shoulder. "I got it, man. At first, I thought you were serious, but I know you're just messing with me." He leaned close to him and winked. "For what it's worth, you don't want to mess with me either. I've knocked out teeth before playing hockey, so I know a thing or two about kicking someone's ass."
The truth was, Jackson wasn't even joking. He literally wanted to fight Ryan on the spot, but there were too many witnesses around. Plus, there was April to keep in mind. She was the lone reason why the blonde surgeon wasn't sporting a swollen eye already. There was no doubt in his mind that his coworker was a good person. He was smart, friendly, caring and handsome, which only made him an even bigger threat – because he was certainly a man April could fall for.
I'm trying my best not to make one favorable over the other because that's no fun! Anyway, I'd really love to know what you think of this rivalry now :)