Alrighty. This is the last chapter in this fic, kind of sets up 12x08 and explores what was going on in their heads at the time.

This was a lot of fun and I really want to thank everyone for their reviews, favs and suggestions!

Characters are, unfortunately, not mine!

"Jackson!.. Jackson!" April was shifting books on the shelf, looking for her waterproof headsets that someone had borrowed yesterday, so she could take a shower with some music. But running around in a bathrobe was making her irritable and Jackson sleeping away wasn't helping. "Jackson, WAKE UP!". She heard a muffled "Mmmmm" in the background. That is it.

"Jackson, come on.. You know I use them when I shower, just tell me where you kept them and then you can sleep all you like". She said walking towards the bed. As perfect as he looked asleep, naked, she had had enough. "For God's sake, JACKSON!" She shoved his shoulder and that's when he finally opened his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm up. April, it's our day off. What are you doing?" He saw her standing there in a tiny bathrobe and it wasn't helping with his morning situation.

"I am going to take a shower, once you tell me where m.. waiit.. JACKSON!" She screamed slightly as he pulled her on to the bed, rolling them over and pinning her underneath him. He stared at her with pure desire "We.. can shower later" Her husky tone made her shiver slightly as she could feel him, all of him, on her thigh. "Let me go" She replied without any conviction in her voice and he smirked.

"Do you know" he whispered in her ear, his hand reaching for the knot tying her bathrobe, "how a married couple, with the day off and nowhere to be all day, usually spends their time?" He asked, untying her robe and splaying his fingers on her stomach, pushing the robe away.

His touch made her breathless and she could feel her brain going fuzzy but replied, "I don't know.. Maybe they clean or", she gasped, feeling his hands on her breasts and his lips on her neck, "or cook or watch umm..", she felt his hand going downwards and couldn't string together coherent thoughts, "watch TV...". He smiled against her skin, "Maybe... But why do any of those things when I have something much better planned?.." He said, his lips descending on hers, ending all conversation.

April looked down at her sleeping husband. Husband for now. Silently wiping away her tears at what had become of them, she left the room, fully dressed and ready to leave for the hospital. It was early, way too early to go in given her relatively surgery-free day but she couldn't face Jackson, couldn't hear the words she was sure he was going to say. She left him a little note, making an excuse and then hurried out of the apartment, making her way to her car. She saw his car parked and for a moment imagined that everything was fine, that she was just leaving early and not running away and hiding from her husband. She started the car, shaking her head. In another life, maybe.

That's where his mind had been all through dinner. She knew it even then, her paranoia not being paranoia at all. April knew Jackson better than anyone else and all the tell tale signs were there. There was a resolve in his eyes when he convinces himself to do something unpleasant and just get it over with and she saw that last night except it wasn't as strong. She felt him falter, procrastinate and mostly just buy time. Why? She wasn't sure of that yet. Maybe because of the overwhelming sexual energy surrounding them. Where had that come from? She didn't remember it being that strong since well, before the pregnancy scare. Obviously he had felt it too or he wouldn't have decided to leave without talking. Even if he did put it off, it doesn't change the fact. He had come to tell you that he wants a divorce. April couldn't control the sob that left her mouth. Concentrate on driving.

She was scared about it all through dinner but after.. She knew. She had seen Jackson come apart in her arms hundreds of times and he always looked at her with such love, such adoration that it made her fall even more in love with him every time. Even their first time, he was so sweet even though she had asked him to leave. But last night, his expression made her feel like there was a finality to that moment, like a chapter was closing and in that moment, it all came together. Not like she had expected the sex, the incredible sex, to fix them overnight but she'd hoped, for a second, that maybe the connection and the feelings involved were enough for him to hold on to. But she was through fooling herself, she had promised herself to put him first and she will stick to it but for now she just needed to savor this for some time, the feel of his arms, his lips, him. Life will never be the same for her without him in it and she just needed to put off this change till she could wrap her head around it.

That was why she had pretended to fall asleep immediately after because she knew that he'd want to talk. She had almost expected him to be gone when she woke up but Jackson Avery is nothing if not a gentleman. He's an Avery after all and sneaking out of a girl's (your wife's) bed in the middle of the night? Very unbecoming of an Avery. She pulled up near the hospital, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. This was done. Nothing she could do about it but she needed time. She wasn't ready to hear those words yet.

Will you ever be, though?

Jackson stirred slightly and then remembering where he was, got up with a start. Sitting up on the bed, he looked over and saw April's side of the bed, empty. Excellent. Running his hands over his face, he thought back to last night and felt his body come alive at the memory. Stop it, dammit. He fell back on the bed, not knowing where they went from here. Stepping out of the bed, he got dressed and headed towards the kitchen, silently hoping that April would be there. Not just because they needed to talk, which they did, but to relive the happier times for just a little while longer. He knew the kitchen would be empty given the complete silence but he was still disappointed. He found her note with her very hurried, very fake excuse and sighed.

Jackson left the apartment and made his way to The Archfield, freshened up and headed for the hospital while his body was on autopilot as his head was clearly occupied. Last night had confused him more than he thought was ever possible. The pull, the connection had been so great that he couldn't really regret it, even though in his head he knew should. It had just confused him and he couldn't even imagine what April must have felt about it. Oh, God! He hadn't even thought about that yet and felt the guilt cloud him. There was no question about April's intentions when it came to their marriage or what she wanted. She wanted to work things out and last night could have given her the wrong idea. Was it the wrong idea, though? "Ugh! Ugh, ugh, ugh!" He audibly groaned pulling up outside the hospital. When did everything get so complicated. Why?

As he entered the hospital, he spotted her, smiling her infectious smile, talking to a nurse. He bit his lip stopping the smile breaking out on his lips. God, he loved her so much. He saw her stiffen as she noticed him walking towards her and her smile turned into a stiff one that he didn't know how to judge.

"Hey." He didn't really know what else to say, frankly.

"Hi. Did you get my.. uhh.. note?" She asked, not making eye contact. Her discomfort was obvious but Jackson knew they needed to talk, now more than ever, "Yeah, I did. Thanks. So, umm.. are we still on for lunch?" He asked, hopefully. She looked at him with a contemplative expression and replied, getting up, "You know what, I have a super busy day.."

Wait, what? "Oh? I thought you said.."

"I have to go, I'll talk to you later!" She cut him off & he saw her running towards the elevator without looking back. So she's avoiding. Great. Just fucking perfect.

Jackson entered his office, looking at the pile of proposals he needed to get through and huffed in frustration because he obviously wasn't present enough to make a wise decision. Nevertheless, he tried, unsuccessfully, to concentrate but his mind was in one place and once place only. What has this woman done to me? He couldn't help but think about the last night, before the dinner, how sure he was about what he wanted, what he believed was the right thing for him, for them. And how annoying it was that now he wasn't sure of a single thing. He'd done this before, he recalled, walked away from her because he was hurt and wanted to protect himself all the while being head over heels in love with her. Where did that land him? Standing in the middle of a freaking barn, declaring his love for the bride. How different were things now? Were they different at all? He knew nothing and that made him want to shred all the files and just leave.

Maybe they needed a third, unbiased opinion. Someone who could help them hash it out without all the feelings and attraction and hurt getting in the way. Callie and Arizona had done it, so had Hunt and Yang. His stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of where those marriages were now but at least they had tried. It's not about the statistic, we aren't them.

He made his way down to the Pit after he was paged a few hours later. He saw April make her way to him, determined, "Dr Avery, Dr Hunt was looking for you".

Ah, more avoidance. "Okay. I'll find him." He took a beat, "April.. " His voice lowered and she was avoiding looking at his eyes, again. "Can we talk, please?" He urged, they needed to do this but she continued to look down at her Ipad, and said, "Also bed 4 needs a consult asap".

That's when he felt his frustration rise, "God, April, come on.. You know we can't.. " That's when her pager went off, "Sorry, I've got to go, Arizona needs me." and with that, she hurried away. He watched her walk away from him the second time that day and felt a pang of loss hit his chest. He shook his head. They had to find a way. A way to.. what? Work it out? Let each other go? He didn't know but maybe if they talk, maybe if he knew where her head was at, maybe if they saw a counselor.

Maybe.

I left it open ended coz I wanted it to be canon compliant and I have no idea where we'll be come Feb. Hope you liked it!

Thanks for taking out time to check out my little fic! I appreciate it.