I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in forever! I could make up dozens of excuses but in the end I didn't update and I know how horrible that can be. But I've got the next five chapters or so planned out so hopefully I'll be update a lot sooner this time around.

There's a lot of bromance in this one so enjoy that! Thanks for reading!

I'm also sorry for all mistakes, I really wanted to get this up as soon as possible!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned. All the rights to them and Grey's Anatomy belong to shondaland and ABC.

Jackson sat on his bed while Charles was seated at his chair at his desk as they studied in his room. The pretty boy was fortunate enough to have a room all to himself since the guy who used to be his roommate dropped out of college last summer.

He was going through the notes he took today during their lecture comparing them to what stood in his textbook.

He knew that Charles was starring at him, he could practically feel his gaze burning into his skin.

"What?" he asked without looking up. He heard how his friend readjusted himself on his chair leaning forward a bit.

"What is going on between you and April?" Charles asked tentatively. Jackson's eyes grew wide as he heard the question. He had always thought that his best friend had been too occupied with everything that was going on with Reed to notice his blatant staring but apparently even a heartbroken Charles wasn't that oblivious.

"I don't know what you mean," Jackson mumbled although he was aware that it was to no use. If it were anybody else it may have worked since Jackson was pretty good at shielding the truth from others but this was Charles who had seen him in every state of his life, Charles who knew him better than anyone else Charles who could tell when he was just thinking about lying, so Jackson decided to tell the truth, "Okay, so there's kinda going on something between April and I."

"You don't say!", Charles mocked his friend causing Jackson to roll his eyes.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?", Jackson asked his friend irritated.

"Yes, sorry, go on please," Charles said before he straightened himself obviously really interested in the story.

"So, remember that party?", Jackson started as he put his notes and his textbook aside.

"You mean the one where I screwed up my entire friendship with Reed thanks to your incapability?", Charles asked sarcastically.

"When are you going to forgive me for that?", Jackson questioned although he still thought that a) Charles' declaration wasn't a fault and b) it was definitely not his fault but he knew his best friend which is why he was aware of the fact that Charles could be pretty vengeful if he wanted to.

"Not until Reed talks with me again," Charles replied without hesitating.

"Anyway, back at that party a drunken Izzie kinda clung to my side the whole time."

"Cheerleader Izzie?"

"Cheerleader Izzie who went home with Karev after I ditched her," Jackson added earning a disgusted scowl from his friend, "As I said I was able to get rid of her and then I went outside to take a breather... And there I met her," Jackson continued as a dreamy expression made its way on his face.

"You met April?", Charles asked confused clearly not keeping up with his story.

"Of course April! Who else, idiot?", Jackson shot back furrowing his brows, "So we talked and man,..." he let out a dreamy sigh at that remembering how he first saw her, "She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. She literally took my breath away."

"Dude, you've got it bad," Jackson snapped out of his haze at his friend's comment, "What happened?"

"Well, I was about to kiss her when she got a call from..." he trailed off realization dawning on him, "Reed! She had to go when Reed called her because she was totally freaked out after your declaration so you're the reason I couldn't kiss her that night."

Charles looked at him wide-eyed for a moment before he relented, "Fine, I guess we're even then."

"Great," Jackson said a tad sarcastic but he was actually quite happy that that was finally out of the way, "Anyway, I had no idea who that woman was until we met her on campus a few days ago, remember?"

His best friend only nodded and Jackson waited a moment for the 'So that's why you talked me into talking to Reed' but luckily it never came, "So I found out who she is and all should be perfect, right?"

Charles nodded again now genuinely curious about the whole story, "Except for the fact that she told me that she doesn't go out with guys like me when we hung out in that common room."

"Guys like you? What's that supposed to mean?", the other men asked confused.

"That's exactly what I said!", Jackson exclaimed relieved that his friend couldn't make anything of that either, "But apparently she means jocks that aren't exactly chaste."

"Ouch," Charles commented making a face, "Sorry dude. Seems like it just wasn't meant to be."

Now it was Jackson's turn to be confused, "I know that makes things difficult but I'm not giving up just because of that. She's something special."

"That she is indeed," Charles agreed before he told Jackson that, "April's pretty determined, some might even say stubborn. When she sets her mind on something she stays with that and well... she decided not to date you. I'm sorry man, you're my best friend but trust me on that one. I know her better than you do."

"Well, seems like that's going to change," Jackson stated his over-confident side showing to which Charles only responded with an unbelieving look. The quarterback shifted his position, he himself starting to doubt whether he would be able to change April's opinion of him and he suddenly noticed something; Charles did know April better than he did and Jackson would be a fool if he didn't use that, "So, yeah, you do know her quite good, right? Mind helping your best friend out by sharing some of this information?"

His friend just looked at him for a few moments clearly pondering whether he should do it as Jackson became more fidgety by each passing second, "Okay, but only because I've never seen you acting like this about a girl you barely know."

"Great!", Jackson exclaimed maybe a bit too enthusiastic causing him to repeat it in a low, manly rumble, "I mean, great."

Charles simply shook his head obviously amused by the whole situation, "Alright, where do I start?... Okay; April's from a small town a bit outside from Boston. Her parents own one of those farms that's kind of an entertainment park for those city people who take their kids there to show them what animals look like in real life."

Jackson nodded as he took the information in. He knew those farms, his mother had taken him to one as well when he was younger.

"April's got two older half-brothers who are both surgeons which is probably why she wants to become a surgeon too since they kinda have been her heroes growing up. She's naturally a ginger but she dyed her hair brown in high school because she used to get teased but dyed it back in freshman year after Reed convinced her to do so... she's quite smart and I'm pretty sure that she's one of the best students in our year."

Somehow none of this surprised Jackson instead this new information perfectly fit into the picture he had of her although the fact that she had two older brothers was pretty scary, "And how about a boyfriend?", he tried to ask casually but failed miserably.

"April isn't the kind of girl that dates or even flirts a lot. She had one boyfriend during freshman year but that ended rather badly. She pretty much stayed away from men ever since."

Jackson nodded thinking that everything made much more sense now. She got her heartbroken and because he seemed to be a heartthrob she chose to stay away from him now. He didn't ask for more information since Charles told him already pretty personal things about April without her knowledge, "Listen, I know that she thinks that I'm just some player but I'm not. I'm genuinely interested in her. I'm serious about this but I can't tell her that because she won't listen to me. Can you please?"

"You want me to convince April to give you a chance?", Charles asked incredulous.

"You said it yourself. You two are friends which means that chances are high that she will listen to you. Please," he practically begged.

"Okay... but only because it's you."

Jackson was looking for a table in the cafeteria when he stumbled upon a bummed Alex who was sitting all by himself. He slipped into the chair opposite of his friend setting his tray down while he watched how the other man stirred in his food instead of devouring it like usual.

"What's going on with you?", he asked before he took a spoonful of his soup.

"She turned me down," Alex stated dejectedly not even bothering to look up from his food.

"Who?", Jackson questioned oblivious for a moment until he followed Alex's gaze over to the table where the cheerleaders were seated, "Izzie?"

"Yeah, apparently I'm not good enough to take her out."

See, here's the thing: Jackson never had anything against Izzie Stevens even after her drunken clinginess. She was a pleasant person to have around and he never had any problems with her but when she thought that she was something better than his friend... well, let's just say they had a problem now.

He was about to tell Alex to get over it, that he deserved something better when he took Alex's hunched over form again. This was really bothering him, he apparently really cared for that girl. So Jackson stood up and walked over to the table full of laughing cheerleaders.

Izzie was the first one to notice him, "Hey Jackson. Wanna sit with us?", she asked friendly.

"Actually no," he shot down the offer politely, "Look, I'm only here because Alex is really bummed that you don't want to go out with him."

The other girls on the table went quiet as they followed the conversation in front of them attentively.

"Jackson," Izzie sighed, "You know Alex. He's a douche. Why would I go out with him?"

The pretty boy held back a frustrated groan because that response was exactly what he expected, "The thing is that Alex always seems like bad guy but I you look past the outer shell you'll see that he's actually a really great guy."

Izzie only raised her eyebrows as she eyed him unconvinced.

"Okay, the exterior may be pretty thick but it's worth it, trust me," he added and before she could say anything else Jackson made his way back over to his table.

"What did you do?", Alex exclaimed agitated as soon as his friend sat back down on his chair. Jackson was about to defend himself when Alex's eyes suddenly snapped to someone standing behind him.

"Pick me up Friday at eight. My favorite flowers are roses and I prefer Italian food," Izzie's voice rang from behind him. He watched how Alex simply nodded too dumbfounded to say anything before he looked after her as she returned to her table.

After she was out of earshot he shot up in his seat rounding the table and clapping his friend on his back, "I have no idea what you said or did but I owe you."

"Hey, what's up?", Charles asked casually as he approached April who was going through one of the shelves in the library.

"If you're going to ask me again whether Reed is talking to you again I'm going to tell you the same thing as before: she still needs time to organize her feelings," the redhead replied automatically as she pulled out one of the books skimming the text that was written on the back.

"That's not what I was going to ask but thanks for that information anyway," he replied only half-sarcastic.

"Oh," April let out surprised while she looked out from the book, "Sorry."

"It's okay. It's not like I've been talking about anything else lately," he admitted slightly amused by April's guilt, "I've been kind of self-centered these past days which is also why I haven't noticed until recently that there's something going between you and my best friend."

"There is nothing going on between us!", she exclaimed a little too loudly, "Did he say that?!"

He laughed at her state and at how she blushed ever so slightly, "No, but I'm also not blind."

"What do you mean?", she seemed genuinely confused as she asked that.

"I've seen the two of you together," Charles explained and then added, "And I've seen the way he looks at you. I've known this guy since I don't know when and I've never seen him so smitten."

"Well that's too bad because there's nothing going on between us nor will there in the future," she said rather cold as she got back to looking through the book trying and succeeding to hide her expression.

"And that's a shame," Charles interjected, "I know that you have this fixed idea about what kind of a person Jackson is but I promise you that he's different."

"So you're trying to tell me that Jackson isn't a jock that sleeps around?", April asks him obviously not convinced by his words.

"No, he's not. Sure, he's not exactly virginal but he doesn't sleep around either. He cares about people and he cares about you. A lot."

At that April stopped in her tracks and turned to face her friend, "He doesn't even know me."

Charles nodded in agreement before he continued, "I know that but that doesn't seem to faze him."

"Charles, are you trying to set me up with Jackson?", April questioned him incredulous after a few moments of pondering.

"Look, I'm not telling you to jump into bed with him. I'm just saying that he deserves that you give him a chance. It's going to be worth it, I promise," and with that he left her alone with her thoughts.

"I talked to you but I'm not promising anything," Charles told his best friend as they walked towards their lecture before he suddenly stooped, "Scratch that, I'm a freaking genius."

Jackson looked up confused only to be met by the sight of April walking towards them.

"You owe me big time," his best friend whispered to him as he clapped him on the back and before he left, "See you in there."

Jackson watched as Charles made his way into the building muttering a 'hi' as he passed April who smiled at him in return.

"He's talks very highly of you, you know?", she said as she approached him motioning behind her.

"He has to. I know way too many embarrassing stories about him," he joked as she came to a halt in front of him.

She giggled lightly causing his stomach to flutter before she spoke again, "So... I've been thinking," she started making his heart beating faster hoping that her next words were in his favor.

"About what?"

"About you," she replied automatically smiling softly until she realized what she had just said, "Well about us... about what you said and what Charles said about you," she added hastily with her eyes wide and her cheeks covered in a deep blush which he found quite cute.

"And to which conclusion did you come?", he asked hopeful while he tried to shoot her his most charming smile.

She returned that smile her cheeks almost back to their normal color, "Charles did really make it sound like I would miss out on a lot if I didn't gave you a chance."

"I may be a little bit biased but he's right," he interjected.

She only shot him a smile at that comment as she continued, "So I decided that I should give it a try."

"Really?", this was too good to true he thought to himself.

And it actually was, "Yes, I'd like us to be friends," she added wearing a hopeful smile.

"Oh," Jackson let out trying to hide his disappointment.

"I'd really like to get to know you. So, friends?", she looked at him with so much hope in her hazel sparkling eyes that it was nearly impossible to refuse her.

"Yes, friends."

"Me and you," she added as though she wanted to make sure that he was aware that she meant the two of them.

"Yes, me and you," he repeated before he was engulfed in a surprising but definitely not unwelcomed hug.

And as he stood there, his arms wrapping around April's small form, the smell of strawberries and something that was instinctively April filling his senses he realized that being friends was definitely a step into the right direction.

There it is! I hope you liked it! Please leave a review!

Next time the campus is going to be rocked by a huge scandal and one of April's brothers makes an appearence so stay tuned for that!

Also, I feel like I should warn you because not everything will play out the way it seems now. There are some things set-up at the moment that will not happen that way! I hope I didn't scare you too much with that I just thought that you should know! There are defnitely still some twists and turns ahead. You're in for quite the ride!