Hi everyone! I am sorry it's been awhile! I am just so happy its spring! FINALLY! Anyway, let's get right to it! I hope you enjoy and please be sure to leave me some feedback!

We Dodged A Bullet

Chapter 6

April

April nervously bit her lip. Today was the day. The day she and Kevin would get the verdict on the ER and their jobs.

She was sitting at the nurses' desk and trying to do her charts and failing miserably. Kevin sat next to her meticulously filling out his when he glanced up and smiled affectionately at her.

"Calm down, will you?" he asked, nudging her softly and grabbing her hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze and held it as he focused back on his charts.

"How can you be so calm?" April asked, turning to face him. He set his pen down and grabbed her other hand and said, "Because no matter what happens, it's all gonna workout."

April rolled her eyes and said, "How very Zen of you."

Kevin laughed and kissed the back of her hand, "Alright, we are screwed. We are losing our jobs and we will end up on the street and be destined to walk them imagining what great doctors we could have become."

April sighed and said, "You aren't taking this seriously. You are board certified. I am the idiot that didn't pass."

"Will you relax, please? You are taking them in a few weeks and then we will be back to bar fights over jobs," he said with a grin on his face.

April chuckled and leaned forward and pecked his lips, then whispered, "Looking forward to it Banks."

"Banks," someone called, interrupting them. April jumped away, flushing guiltily. Usually she never was inappropriate with PDA.

April glanced up and her stomach immediately clenched and then dropped. Hunt, looking at them from the conference room with Cahill and assembled board members.

Kevin nodded to Hunt and then looked back to April. They looked at each other, their expressions not settled on any emotion but definitely hinting at nervousness. April squeezed his hands tightly in her own. He squeezed them back and then lifted them to his lips and kissed them lightly.

He stood, maintaining eye contact with April and then whispered, "It's going to be okay."

April nodded, trying to give him a reassuring smile, but probably failing miserably.

He released her hands and followed Hunt into the conference room as April looked on.

The door closed behind them and April stared at the stoic door for a minute before she was snapped out of it by Jackson.

"Did you hear about the magician's assistant?" he asked, smirking.

April tore her eyes away from the conference room door and said, "Yeah...I had Roux-en-Y today. Flew solo. Good day to be a surgeon."

Jackson nodded and said, "I need a drink. You want to go to Joe's?"

April looked up at him and considered it. Before everything, a drink with Jackson would have been a no brainer. They would go and unwind, bitch about their days or the drama and laugh.

While April would always care about Jackson, she couldn't get over him if she was hanging out with him. And she had Kevin now. And Jackson had Stephanie.

April glanced back to the closed door behind Jackson and then met his eyes once more and said, "No...I...thanks, I have something. I have plans."

Jackson looked a little disappointed and but then shook it off and said, "No. That's fine. I-I actually just remembered I have something with Stephanie."

April nodded and then the door to the conference room opened and Kevin stepped out, looking for her.

"See you later," April said, smiling up at Jackson, who was glancing between the two of them. He nodded and walked off and April made her way towards Kevin.

Kevin grabbed her hand, but before he could say anything about what had happened, her name was called by Hunt. April swallowed and then glanced up nervously at Kevin. He tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered, "Its okay."

April followed Hunt into the conference room, and it was like a flashback when he had fired her a year ago after she failed her boards. And just like that, she knew. She knew that both she and Kevin had been cut from the program.

Jackson

Jackson looked at the door that closed behind April and he wondered why she had seemed so nervous. He glanced around and noticed Kevin watching the door too, hands on his hips. His expression was stormy.

Jackson really hated to have to go to Kevin for information on April, but the tension in his chest made him swallow his pride and walk up to Kevin.

"Hey," Jackson said, standing next to him.

Kevin looked to him briefly and nodded in greeting, "Hey man, what's up?"

Jackson shrugged and said, "Heading out, but what's that all about? Do you know?"

Kevin nodded solemnly and then looked to Jackson and said, "They are getting rid of the ER and now they are eliminating our fellowship spots. April and I are out of a job."

Jackson's head spun and he blew out a sigh in an effort to stop the spinning. Shit.

"Shit," Jackson said, "That really sucks. Sorry."

Kevin nodded and said, "We kinda had an idea it was a possibility."

Jackson didn't know what else to say, so he walked away, rubbing his forehead as he tried to wrap his head around April not being here anymore.

He was called over to a patient who needed stitches and zoned out as he made perfect stitches into the woman. He periodically glanced up at the door to the conference room, wondering what was taking so long.

Finally the door opened and April stepped out. She looked around the ER and her eyes landed on Jackson's. She froze for a moment and it was like they had an entire conversation with just this one look. Her expression was blank, which said more to Jackson than anything. April was usually expressive, wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Her lower lip trembled and Jackson stood to walk over to her, but their gaze was interrupted by Kevin stepping between them and wrapping his arms around April. Jackson sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Doctor?" the woman needing stitches asked, "Is everything okay?"

Jackson looked back down at his patient, shocked that he had completely forgotten about her. Jackson slowly lowered himself back down and apologized to the patient before picking up his suture kit once more and resuming the neat stitches.

As Jackson finished up the stitch, he glanced towards where April and Kevin, but found that they were no longer there. Jackson gave after care instructions to the patient, and then left seeking out April, only to find out that she and Kevin were both gone for the night.

"Hunt," Jackson said, coming to stand next to him, "What happened?"

Owen sighed and looked at Jackson with a miserable and regret filled expression.

"Dr. Kepner and Dr. Bank's fellowship positions were eliminated," Hunt said after a minute, "And they will be done here at Seattle Grace by the end of the month."

Jackson shook his head in disbelief and then he was filled with anger. At Hunt.

"Did you even fight for her?" Jackson seethed, "For April?"

"Of course," Hunt stuttered in shock, "Of course I did."

"You can't keep jerking her around," Jackson spit out, feeling like he was yelling at himself as much as Owen, "First you fire her, and then bring her back, and now you fire her again! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Jackson-"

"No!" Jackson snapped, "She is the reason the trauma department here is so successful. Not you!"

He strode away, knowing he was going to need to apologize to Hunt. He was angry. And hurt. And confused. He couldn't believe he was going to have to say goodbye to April again. Would she go back to Moline?

Jackson went to the locker room and sat in front of his locker, kicking his sneakers off. He looked to his locker, overwhelmed by the idea of getting dressed to go home for some odd reason. He looked over to April's locker right next to his, not able to picture it empty. But it would be in a couple of weeks.

Jackson sighed and rubbed his face, not even hearing the door to the lounge open.

"Hey," Stephanie said, walking up behind him and rubbing his shoulders, "I heard you and Hunt got into it. Wanna talk about it?"

Jackson sighed and shook his head, "Not really. I just want to forget about today."

Stephanie was quiet for a minute then said, "I bet I can help with that."

Jackson wanted that to be true, but he sincerely doubted it.

April

April sipped the wine glass Kevin handed her and said, "I knew it was a good possibility, but I am still surprised."

"Yeah," Kevin said, sipping the beer he was drinking, resting his head on the back of her couch.

April copied him and rested her head on the back of her couch, staring at the ceiling.

"What are you going to do?" Kevin asked after a while.

April let out a deep sigh and said, "I don't know. Go back to Moline and climb back under a cow until the boards."

Kevin chuckled and said, "No, really."

"I honestly have no idea. I won't get a new fellowship until I pass my boards and even then it will be difficult since I have had to take them twice now," April said, depressed, "I need ice-cream. And beer. Beer ice-cream."

Kevin chuckled and April looked over to him, "What about you? Do you know what you are going to do?"

Kevin shrugged and said, "I have thought about it, but now I am going to have to go through the whole damn process again."

April sighed and said, "We are a couple losers tonight. And we are depressing."

Kevin sat up and said, "You're right. We need to stop. So we got fired, it doesn't mean we have to be losers. Come on."

Kevin stood and reached a hand out to her to help her off the couch.

"Where are we going?" April asked, "Beer ice-cream?"

Kevin smirked and shook his head, "No, I am going to go to my apartment and change and so are you, and then we are going out."

"Out? Like dinner?" April asked, just realizing how hungry she was.

"Dinner, then maybe dancing?" Kevin said, shimmying towards her provocatively.

"Dancing?" April asked, chuckling.

Kevin nodded, leaning forward and pecked her lips, "Is an hour enough time for you to get ready?"

April nodded and said, "Yeah, that would be good." And she meant the whole night...it sounded fun. Way better than moping in her apartment.

"Maybe we can get some dessert afterward," Kevin whispered seductively against her lips, causing her to tremble. He smiles and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her a little longer and she felt it right down to the end of her toes.

Kevin released her lips and April asked, "Beer ice-cream?"

"You're not moving off this beer-ice-cream combo anytime soon, are you?" Kevin asked with a smirk.

April smiled and shook her head.

"I will do my best to make it happen, then," Kevin said, kissing her on the forehead then her lips, "I will be back in an hour."

As the door closed behind Kevin, she did a mental run through of her closet. It had been a long time since she had gone out to dance. Since college.

April walked to her room, hoping that there was something in her closet that for some reason didn't come to mind.

Jackson

Jackson had a case of beer and a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice-cream in hand as he knocked on April's door.

He heard her call out, "Just a minute!"

He smiled and adjusted his grip on both items in his hands until she answered the door. She looked stunning. Like she had just gotten back from a date.

"Jackson," she said in surprise, her hand on the door.

Jackson held up the beer and ice-cream and an odd, disbelieving expression flittered across her face, "I come bringing pity party essentials."

"Oh," April said, her voice awkward and uncertain, "I am actually going out."

Just as she finished the statement, their attention was caught by a car pulling into the lot of her apartment building. Kevin climbed out, a confused look on his face, but he cleared it and headed up towards the pair of them.

"Hey," Kevin said, glancing between them, "I see you found a beer and ice-cream delivery service."

April smiled awkwardly and said, "Yeah, he came to offer comfort."

"I bet he did," Kevin said, shooting Jackson a look that Jackson couldn't interpret, but it wasn't good.

"We should get going," April said, trying and failing to interrupt the tension.

Jackson held the ice-cream and beer out to her and said, "For later then."

April disappeared from the doorway to put the ice-cream and beer away in the kitchen. As she was gone Kevin shook his head in disbelief at Jackson who just looked down.

April reappeared and looked into Jackson's eyes and said, "Thanks Jackson, really."

Jackson nodded, not knowing what else to do. This wasn't how he envisioned tonight going.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked, grabbing her purse and keys.

Jackson nodded again, wondering why all of a sudden he wasn't able to talk.

"Tomorrow," he forced out.

April smiled and Kevin put his hand on the small of April's back and led her to the car, opening the door for her and helping her in before getting in himself and driving away.

April

"So, just to clarify, were you Chino or Tony in that West Side scene?" April asked, smirking at Kevin.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked, either truly confused or playing dumb.

"With Jackson," April prompted, "What was that?"

Kevin sighed and glanced at her and said, "He is just...he hurt you and then when you start to move on, he comes back in. It just...it's shitty of him."

April considered his argument and had to agree that Jackson never had the best timing. Ever. But…

"Jackson is one of my closest friends here Kevin," April tried to explain gently, "We've been through a lot together. And even though we both messed the friendship up pretty good, we are trying to get back to friends. It doesn't make it easier when there is drama with whoever we are dating."

Kevin was silent and asked, "Do you really think he just wants to be friends? Just friends?"

"Of course," April said adamantly, "He is with Stephanie and he seems really happy."

Kevin was silent for a long time before he said, "Okay. I will stay out of it."

"No more West Side Story?" April asked, smiling at him as she reached for his hand.

"Whatever the hell that means," Kevin responded with a smirk.

"You've never seen West Side Story?" April asked in disbelief, "What kind of uncultured beast are you?"

And just like that, the fun night had resumed and their date night was back on.

Jackson

Jackson stalked into Joe's and signaled Joe for his drink as he sat heavily down on an empty barstool.

He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly as his mind went over the events of the night. He felt like a total idiot.

"Hey Avery," Hunt said, coming up next to him.

Avery sighed. He couldn't catch a break today. Even though he knew it wasn't Hunt's fault, it didn't make seeing the guy any better for Jackson. Today he had fired his best friend.

"I just want to say, I am sorry about Kepner," Hunt said, "I really am. I tried my best to keep her. I fought for her, trying to build a place for her into the new structure of the hospital...they wouldn't have it."

Jackson grabbed the drink Joe set down in front of him and glared at Owen. He wanted to throw a punch. Or yell. But Owen looked just as terrible as Jackson felt about the whole thing. Jackson realized then that Owen wasn't just losing an employee. He was losing his prodigy. Someone he had invested all of his knowledge and skill into.

Jackson sighed and called out to Joe, "Can I get one for the Chief here, Joe?"

Joe nodded and Owen sighed and sat down heavily on the stool next to him, loosening his tie.

"I really like Kepner," Owen said, sipping his scotch.

Jackson nodded, sipping his own scotch as he thought about April. She looked beautiful tonight, despite the awkwardness with Kevin.

"I do, too," Jackson murmured into his drink, meaning it much differently than Owen.

Owen seemed to realize it and then just went back to his drink, apparently deciding to stay out of it.

April

April laughed as she unlocked her door. She and Kevin had so much fun dancing and drinking. They weren't drunk, but they had enough to take the edge off.

April closed the door behind Kevin, who was kicking off his shoes. April did too, hobbling on her sore feet. They had danced all night, until April had blisters on her feet.

"Ow!" April whined. Kevin smiled and said, "I told you to wear comfy shoes."

"Those are comfy, I just haven't broke them in fully yet," she defended.

Kevin shook his head, shaking with laughter.

"Shut up!" she said, laughing back.

"Okay," he said, his voice husky from drinking and screaming over loud music.

"So...beer and ice cream?" April asked, leaning forward and grabbing his hands, entwining them with hers. Despite working all day, getting fired, and then dancing all night, she wasn't tired. Not at all.

Kevin smiled and nodded and said, "I did promise you, didn't I?"

April nodded and leaned forward and kissed Kevin deeply, allowing herself to get lost in the kiss. He was a really good kisser.

"Come on," she murmured against his lips, "I think I want something more than beer and ice-cream."

Kevin raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, "Really?"

April nodded and pulled him deeper into her apartment towards where her bedroom was.

So, I know this might be a surprise, but I wanted use this story to explore plotlines that had never been really considered before. On the show, April really had no choice to sleep with anyone else since Matthew was also saving himself for marriage. So April went along with it, knowing it was the best because of her religion.

But in this story, I wanted to pursue a story where April was exploring her sexuality a bit. And for those of you who think its a little OC, I want to remind you that April really wanted to have sex with Matthew, she just didn't want to corrupt him. In this story, we don't need to worry about that because Kevin is not Matthew and doesn't share his beliefs. I wanted April to be able to have fun and experience a more typical relationship.

Anyway, I know I might get some interesting feedback, which I am excited for! I hope you all like it!