So sorry it has been sooo long. I think the last time I updated, I mentioned computer problems...well, my dear old computer which I lovingly named Pete, finally died on me. I couldn't afford a new computer until tax season and I got my return. Yay! Anyway, so I am back to writing and happy about it! Hope everyone has been enjoying Grey's...even though the Japril storyline is heartbreaking.
We Dodged a Bullet
Chapter Three
Jackson
The wedding finally was over and the reception was in full swing. Jackson watched as Kevin led April from their table and to the dance floor. As Kevin placed his hand on April's lower back, bile rose in Jackson's throat and he knew he needed to get out of there.
"Wanna get out of here," he said to Stephanie, using the Avery whammy on her and not even feeling a shred of guilt. Stephanie had been actually really nice and interesting the whole night and she was clearly into this.
Stephanie nodded eagerly and he smiled and grabbed her hand, practically dragging her to the parking lot.
April
April shivered as she waited in the lobby for Kevin to grab their coats before leaving for the she glanced out of the closing doors she saw Jackson dragging a giggling Stephanie towards his car, but instead of climbing in the drivers seat, both Stephanie and Jackson climbed into the back of the car.
The door to the lodge clicked shut on the scene just as April realized what she was witnessing. Jackson was hooking up in the parking lot with the intern. She felt her eyes tear up realizing he really was over her.
April but her lower lip, fighting to control her emotions. Kevin would be back any second.
"Here you go," Kevin said, holding her coat open for her to slip into. She quickly wrapped herself in the coat and tried to turn away from Kevin so he wouldn't see, but he stopped her and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? You okay?"
April wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye and gave a halfhearted smile and said, "It's nothing, I just get mopey at weddings sometimes. And if you tell anyone you saw me tearing up, especially Bailey, I will hurt you."
Kevin looked relieved and amused and April sighed in relief as he opened the lodge door for her. April's eyes immediately zeroed in on Jackson's car and noted the fogged windows and the slight, but discernible movement of the car. She looked away quickly as another wave of pain rolled through her.
Kevin threw an arm around her shoulders and said, "I hate weepy women, it makes me feel helpless, so please tell me how I can make this better."
"Another motorcycle pile up in the ER would do the trick," April joked, causing Kevin to smile.
April chuckled, feeling miserable as she did so but determined to bury the feelings she was feeling about seeing Jackson and Stephanie. As Kevin opened the door of his truck and helped her up into it, she shivered as his hands slid up her sides.
As he walked around the car, April quickly wiped her eyes and scolded herself to get control of herself. "I had fun tonight," Kevin said as he cranked the truck's engine over and pulled out of the parking lot...yep, right past Jackson's car to top the night off.
"Me too. But you know," April said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, "I thought you might come up to my place."
Kevin's looked at her in shock for a second before looking back through the windshield.
"Really?" he asked surprised.
April nodded and bit her lip nervously and said, "I am sure."
Kevin smiled and said, "Okay then."
Jackson
As soon as he flopped off of Stephanie he was overwhelmed with guilt. He panted in an effort to catch his breath and fight the anger and self loathing he felt for himself. April had taken Kevin to the wedding and even though an hour ago, he told himself he didn't feel any guilt about whatever he was doing with Stephanie, he now realized how terrible he felt.
He felt terrible about how he had reacted to the pregnancy results, terrible about April ending things with them, terrible about April taking Kevin to the wedding, even more terrible about taking Stephanie to the wedding, and overwhelmingly terrible about sleeping with her.
He rubbed his hand over his face as Stephanie let out a throaty giggle and gasped out, "Wow."
Jackson glanced at her and said, "Yeah."
"That was great," Stephanie said, running her hand down his chest, mesmerized. Jackson glanced around for his shirt and Stephanie purred, "Never put that back on."
Jackson chuckled and said, "I think we shouldn't risk another round. Someone might come out and see us."
"So what?" Stephanie asked, seemingly carefree as she continued to stroke his chest.
"I don't sleep with interns," Jackson said, with a half smile on his face, "Well, I typically don't."
"Neither do I," Stephanie said with a smile, "I mean, I don't sleep with my boss."
Jackson laughed and slid his shirt on and began to button it up as Stephanie reluctantly reached for her dress.
As Jackson shimmied into his pants, April's face flashed in his mind and he sighed in frustration.
April-A few days later
April walked into the lounge rubbing the back of her neck. She had worked all night in trauma and it had been a looong night.
"Morning," Kevin said from behind her, walking up to her and extending a brown paper bag to her and a coffee cup.
"Hey, what's this?" she asked, peeking in the bag. Inside were two delicious looking bagels.
"Breakfast," Kevin said, "Or maybe dinner since you are going home now."
"Thank you," she said, smiling down at the sweet gesture. The wedding had been really fun, but her and Kevin hadn't had a lot of time to spend together since they had been on opposite shifts.
April had been relieved about their shift differences since she was partly embaressed about the events after they had left that night. Kevin had indeed come up to her place and after rolling around on the couch for awhile April stopped Kevin as he tried to feel her up.
April cringed now as she remembered it:
Kevin ran his hand down her body, his hands lightly brushing against her breasts as April cringed. Kevin noticed and broke their lip lock, panting as he asked, " You okay?"
April put her hands on his chest and gently pushed him so he sat up off of her.
"Sorry," she said running her hands through her tangled hair and over her face as she fought her tears.
"Hey," Kevin said gently, "It's totally okay. We don't have to do anything you don't want to."
April nodded and when she was sure she wouldn't burst out crying she turned to Kevin and asked, "Remember earlier when you asked if I had ever dated a coworker?"
Kevin nodded, looking confused and she said, "It was Jackson and it wasn't that long ago that it ended. I am still sort of getting over it."
Kevin nodded and looked down at the floor and said, "Oh."
"I am sorry, I should have said something earlier," April said, "I just...it's been hard to for me and I was feeling so good about tonight and you... I just wanted to avoid the badness that was me and Jackson."
Kevin nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
"So is it over?" Kevin finally asked, not angrily, just matter-of-factly.
"Yeah," April said, her mind flashing to the sight of Jackson ushing Stephanie in the backseat of his car. Yep, it was definitely over.
Kevin studied her for a moment and then said, "Okay. But I think we should slow this down then."
April nodded and Kevin reached forward and tucked a wayward hair behind her ear affectionately. She blushed at such an intimate, but innocent gesture. He smiled and stood. April forced herself to her feet and he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly.
"I am gonna go," Kevin said, "I will see you at work." April nodded and followed him to the front door.
"I am sorry Kevin," April said, feeling like she had done something wrong.
Kevin turned and shook his head. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead and said, "It's okay. Night April."
"So," Kevin said, bringing April back to the present as he walked towards a locker and set his bag down, "I noticed we both have Friday night off. Wanna go on a real date?"
Relieved that there was no awkwardness, April smirked and said, "Sure. Does this mean I have to wear a dress."
"You can wear whatever you want," he said. sipping his own coffee.
April nodded and said, "Okay." April yawned and rubbed her eyes as Kevin smiled and said, "Go. Go home to bed."
April nodded as he finished putting on his scrubs and wrapping his stethoscope around his neck.
"Don't mess up my trauma unit," she ordered, a small smile on her face.
"I think I will just to see you get all fired up," Kevin said, smirking, "That's is really hot."
April flushed and he chuckled at her and leaned down and pecked her lips, "Friday."
April nodded, biting her lip and said, "Friday."
April changed quickly and walked out of the hospital just as Stephanie was walking in with a group of the interns. She looked bouncy and happy and bubbly. April wondered if that was how she had looked when she and Jackson had been...whatever they had been.
Since that night, April had been trying to get over what she had seen. If she wanted to try something new with Kevin, she wanted to be able to forgive Jackson so she could get over it. Also, she had tried to convince herself that she didn't know what she had seen. Maybe they didn't have sex. Maybe Jackson realized he was Stephanie's boss and couldn't go through with it.
This slim possibility made it easier for her to try and get over him.
April climbed behind the wheel and steered herself home so she could crash.
Jackson
Jackson rolled off Stephanie, panting heavily, closing his eyes as he came down from his release and tried to erase the flash of brilliant red hair and a bright smile behind his eyelids.
"Oh wow," Stephanie said, panting and stretching out next to him. It reminded him of the first time in the car.
Jackson nodded and said, "Yeah. Wow."
"That was...great," Stephanie said. Jackson remained quiet, wondering how long he had to stay here without looking like a complete ass. He wished his pager would go off.
Jackson felt the bed move next to him and out of the corner of his eye he saw the signs that Stephanie wanted to cuddle...shift to the side facing him, pull the sheet to cover her breasts….
He couldn't, so he abruptly sat up and began pulling on his underwear followed by his scrub pants. Stephanie sat up, her mouth moving as if she wanted to say something, but Jackson already had his shirt on and was stuffing his feet into his shoes.
Jackson leaned forward, pecked her lips quickly, and said, "That was great, but I gotta run to my consult."
Stephanie had a bemused look on her face, but nodded and began reaching for her clothes. Jackson dashed out of the on call room and breathed out a sigh. He felt guilty and like a dirty asshole. He was an asshole.
Jackson slipped his lab coat on and walked slowly towards the OR desk, and spotted April. She was standing along at the nurses desk, hunched over a chart. Her hair...it was beautiful. Shining and glossy, skimming her back. Jackson remembered burying his hands in her hair whenever they were together and desperately holding on to her, her soft hair slipping between his fingers.
Jackson and April had been trying to get back to normal, but not with a lot of success. It was weird ever since she had ended it with him. The first day after the split he had felt like it was surreal. That he was spiraling. Their relationship always had him feeling like that though.
The next day though he was mad. And then that had lasted about a week until Bailey's wedding. And that day, he had been furious with her. He was there on a date and she barely noticed, and yes, he realized how petty that was. He was furious because her dress...sinful, sultry, elegant, and incredible were all words he would use.
But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that she had arrived with that douche from the boards, Kevin. They laughed and smiled and talked all night, as if they had known eachother for years. Meredith told him he had just given her a ride, but Jackson could tell when someone was getting ready to make a move. And it made him see red.
Recently April was not even pretending to avoid him. If she saw him in the hall, she literally turned and walked the other way.
The state of their relationship was making Jackson feel a dizzying feeling of sadness and anger...he didn't know which one ruled. He heard her phone chirp and as she looked down at it and smiled, sending a quick text before going back to her charting. Was that Kevin? Some other guy? he wondered. Anger filled him at the idea.
He strode over to her and said, "Hey."
"Hi," April said curtly, turning her attention from her chart and her phone to him. She closed the lid of her chart and waited for him to start, already knowing by his tone he needed to talk to her about something. He was surprised she wasn't running in the opposite direction.
She lifted an eyebrow at him quizzically at him as she waited, and he hesitated. He told himself he was doing this out of kindness, but was it out of vindictiveness?
"I…." Jackson began, swallowing past the lump, "I am kind of sleeping with Stephanie." Kind of? You just left her five minutes ago...
April's face instantly dropped from quizical to a look of pain and anger that flashed across her face, slashing into Jackson's heart. She looked down, trying to hide her face and it reminded him of the night of the pregnancy results...and the look of pain she had then to his reaction.
Now he just felt like a douche.
"I was hoping you wouldn't have to find out about it at all," Jackson said. Liar...liar, you wanted her to know….he thought to herself.
"But of course it's probably going to get out," Jackson said, taking in her expression. It was so….pained and angry. Oh shit...was she going to cry? Fuck, he never should have told her. He was an asshole. He couldn't stand when she cried.
Her eyes couldn't even meet his. She kept glancing around as if she was trying to block out what he was saying.
"So I just wanted to make sure you didn't have to hear about it from anyone else," Jackson said, trying to make himself look like a decent guy.
April was now nodding softly, looking down. Her voice was wobbly, so she said, "Okay."
You broke up with me, remember? Jackson wanted to yell at her. She had no right to look so hurt. But even he knew the way he was feeling wasn't because of anything she had done.
"Okay?" Jackson practically choked out, reaching for her on instinct to comfort her. She recoiled and Jackson flinched at how terrible that felt. Now he was the one looking down to try and hide his 'hurt' face.
There was an awkward silence that stretched between them and Jackson was about to just walk away when April said, "This is...hard for me Jackson."
Jackson stopped, confused. What did that even mean? He hated to sound like a broken record...but she broke up with him.
"And until it isn't so hard, I don't think...I don't think we can be friends," April said looking down, but peeking up at him through her lashes as her cheeks flushed.
What? Was she fucking serious? She breaks up with him and then tells him they can't be friends? What the actual fuck?
Jackson's head spun, and he quietly asked, "You sure?"
"Yes," she said, looking up at him for the first time since their conversation had started. She looked sad, but determined. "Thank you for telling me," April said, trying to get her professional voice back. She always rallied. After all, she was a soldier.
Jackson just nodded and she walked past him into the nearest patient room.
Please let me know your thoughts? I am sorta unsure about this story, so feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks everyone!
