Thanks for the reviews, guys! Again, with this being a slow burn fic, you'll have to wait a couple of more chapters, which are already written, before getting some direct answers ;)

Enjoy!

It was a new day and Jackson was determined to have a do over with April. He felt he had given her hot and cold vibes, and he hadn't done it intentionally. But she hardly looked impressed after their last encounter and he hoped to make it up to her. He would get that chance at the beginning of their shift. The third year residents were gathering outside one of the skills labs for their weekly session.

Before Jackson arrived, he made a small detour to the coffee cart in the main lobby of the hospital. He always thought they produced the best coffee. Although he didn't know what kind of coffee April preferred, he decided to wing it and bought her a vanilla latte while he ordered the same for himself. It wasn't his favorite, but maybe he would enjoy it more if she liked it.

He entered the crowded hallway where his fellow residents mingled amongst each other. April was leaning back against a wall beside Alex. They were having their own conversation when he stood beside her holding the coffee cup in his left hand in front of her.

"This is for you. It's a vanilla latte," he offered, taking a sip of his own latte. "From the best coffee cart in the hospital."

"Oh," April softly squeaked, accepting the latte. She shyly smiled back at him, her eyes quickly looking down at her fresh cup of coffee afterward. "Thank you. You didn't have to do this."

Jackson placed his hand against his chest and returned the smile. "I was kind of an ass to you last night. Consider this an apology from me to you, and we can start over from there."

"Well, I wouldn't say that. I should've known better than to ask you to join Alex and I for drinks because I already knew what your answer would be," she admitted, sipping her latte. "But a simple, 'No, thanks,' would've been a better way to reject the idea."

"Let's put it this way – I wasn't rejecting you, if that makes sense." He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he knew that Lexie, Jo and George were watching them from only a couple of feet away. Their presence annoyed him because he wanted to have one conversation with April without his friends giggling like gossiping school girls while they watched. "I mean, I would love to have drinks with you sometime."

April paused from drinking her latte as she glanced up at Jackson. "Like… a date?"

"If you want," he nervously replied, scratching the back of his head. "Or it could be casual. Umm, you haven't formally met my other friends yet. They're standing over there. You know Jo, though. Why don't I introduce you to the rest?"

"Sure."

Jackson led April towards his friends, who stopped whispering amongst each other and put on their best smiles. "Guys, I know you already know her name, but this is April."

Lexie exchanged a handshake with the redhead. "Hi, I'm Lexie Grey and I'm very much interested in neurosurgery. It's practically my religion. I've scrubbed in on at least 140 surgeries with Dr. Derek Shepherd."

"Very subtle of you," the pretty boy sarcastically mumbled. He gestured his free hand towards George. "And this is my roommate, George O'Malley."

April extended her free hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you." They shook hands, though George's grip was very tight and he seemed reluctant to release her from his grasp. "You can let go now."

George sheepishly grinned after April forcefully pulled away. She was much prettier up close and personal. Unfortunately, his roommate had already staked his claim on her, which happened far too often, even if the women they were both interested in didn't stick around long. "You… have nice hair."

She slowly nodded, awkwardly smiling back at him. "Thank you. How about I introduce you to Alex?"

Not that April gave the group much of a choice. She quickly returned to Alex's side, grabbing his wrist and dragging him towards them before they could respond. Her roommate wasn't in the mood to meet new people, especially this group. The scowl on his face perfectly described how he felt about the situation.

"Alex Karev, this is Lexie Grey, George O'Malley and-"

"The cat lady," Alex chuckled, referring to Jo. He folded his arms and threw a smirk her way. "I bet your cat was actually disappointed when you arrived home. Probably enjoys being alone more than your company."

Jo slightly furrowed her brow at him. "No, my cat was elated to see me, thank you very much."

"And your full name is…" Alex leaned forward to read the name stitched on Jo's lab coat and cackled when she attempted to cover it with her hand. He managed to see it before she could hide it. "Josephine. Huh…"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just… huh," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. "Would've never guessed. Cool name, Josephine."

Jo wagged her finger at Alex. "No way. You're not allowed to call me by my full name. Only my grandmother can call me Josephine. You, if you call me by that name again, you are gonna be sorry," she sternly said and nodded her head towards George. "Just ask O'Malley."

George grimaced as he fidgeted with his badge. "She slammed me against a locker intern year," he murmured, reaching up and rubbing his right shoulder as if the pain he had experienced from his feisty coworker's retaliation suddenly resurfaced.

"Anyway, how do you two know each other?" Lexie straightforwardly asked, pointing at both Jackson and Alex. Both remained quiet and avoided eye contact. Her ex-boyfriend drank his latte, while the other man picked at a loose thread on his lab coat. "Oh, we all know each other's names now. We're all buddies, right?"

"No," the two men responded in unison.

The group turned their attention towards the voice of an agitated attending echoing through the hallway. Cristina Yang was pushing her way through the sea of baby blue while also angrily ordering them to clear the path, so she could pass.

April's face lit up when she spotted the cardiothoracic fellow. "Dr. Yang! I heard you were working here now."

Cristina stopped in her tracks, eying the redheaded woman from head to toe. "Good morning, Kepner," she kindly replied, even cracking a small smile. She noticed Alex standing beside April and her smile quickly changed back to the cold expression the other residents were used to seeing. "Oh, it's you."

"Yang, you know you missed me," he teasingly answered.

"Whatever, Evil Spawn," she scoffed, then she walked away from the group and turned the corner into another hallway.

Lexie stared at April with her mouth partially dropped open. Nobody in their residency class had gotten Cristina to smile or even received a warm greeting from her. In fact, none of the other residency classes did either. She likely only smiled around Meredith, but the proof of that had yet to exist. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" April asked curiously.

"Yang was nice. She's never nice to any of the residents and interns!"

"She doesn't even acknowledge our presence half the time," Jo amusingly added. "I'm practically invisible to her."

April dismissively waved her hand and smiled. "Yang completed her residency at Mayo this past year, so we kind of know each other, that's all. And she acted the same way over there too."

"But she was nice to you," Lexie noted, enunciating every word slowly as if she needed April to understand her point. "And she clearly hates Karev, so why was she nice to you?"

"She's the Yang whisperer," George blurted out in amazement. "Please, teach us."

"What? It's nothing," April chuckled. "I'm sure she'll be treating me the same way as you guys in no time."

Lexie wasn't convinced by April's explanation. There was definitely more than she was letting on, she thought. She suspected Yang was withholding some dirty laundry that April was clearly aware of, but was sworn to secrecy and received the polite treatment in return. April seemed to be the type of person Cristina loathed – perky, friendly and someone who smiled. It made her very suspicious now.

"This is our recently renovated emergency room," George proudly stated after he and April stepped out of an elevator. Following their skills lab session, he was more than elated to find out that she was assigned to the ER with him that day. Unlike some residents, he certainly didn't mind sharing duties with her, especially her. Even without knowing a lot about her, he sensed that maybe they shared common interests. He thought impressing her with his knowledge about the ER would be a good start. "We recently bought new state of the art machines as well."

"Wow," April whispered to herself, her eyes scanning the design of the ER. The enhanced technology – a large video board at the nurses' station displaying a patient tracking system, which explained the tablets they used instead of charts, and the machinery sitting in an adjacent room blew her mind. "Does umm, do they have anything fancy like this up in Neuro?"

George forced a chuckle as he guided her towards the machines. "You're really gonna try to wrestle that from Lexie? No offense, because I don't know you yet, but she's feisty."

"What makes you think I'm not? I can be feisty. I know how to weasel my way into surgeries. Just ask Cristina Yang," she determinedly replied.

"I… I would, but she kind of scares the crap out of me," he timidly answered with a sheepish smile. Clearing his throat, he pointed at the largest machine in the room. "Anyway, this is the Lodox. It's a low-dose radiation x-ray scanner. It's safe for children and pregnant women. It can scan an entire body in thirteen seconds. Makes traffic move a little faster upstairs in Radiology."

"Holy crap! Mayo didn't have anything like this!" April excitedly stated. "And us residents can touch this machine?"

"Yup. Yours truly has used it many times before by myself," George bragged. "And I can teach you how to use it. It's very simple. Dr. Hunt trusts me the most with this one."

"Jo told me you're interested in trauma surgery."

George nodded. "I am, but it's not a specialty people want to dip their toes into right away. Everyone wants to be a cardio or neurosurgeon. Trauma surgery is pretty important, you know. Emergency medicine is the front line. We get called into disaster sites. It's like a field trip, but… morbid."

The redhead smiled. "So you wouldn't try to sabotage my career if I wanted to specialize in Trauma?"

"No way. I'm not that type of person. I'm quite the opposite, actually. I'm a good guy."

Maybe too good of a guy. George was friendly, busted out a funny joke occasionally and followed the rules. Somehow, that didn't necessarily make him a hot commodity with the ladies. His body wasn't built like his roommate's. He considered himself average. He was everything Jackson wasn't – friend zoned, the wingman and a source for gossip with his female friends. At least they never asked him to buy them tampons.

"And Jackson? Is he really a good guy?" April inquired. While Jackson's charm was very hard to resist, she was still skeptical about the sincerity of it. If someone could tell her the truth, it was his roommate. "I mean, he's probably had a lot of women fawning over him- not that I'm saying I think he sleeps around…"

"I get it. The eyes and pretty face tend to mess with your judgment. It happens to some guys too," George quipped. He could easily lie about Jackson's character in order to grow closer with his coworker, but he just wasn't that person. And he wasn't a backstabber. "Avery is good. People always jump to conclusions about him because he looks more like a model than a doctor, but he's more than that. He had a bunch of people wanting to room with him intern year and he picked me. I was never much of an athlete, but he didn't care. He wanted someone he could trust, and he thought that person was me. And I'm grateful. It meant I could move out of my parents' house. He's definitely not putting on an act for you."

April slowly nodded and smiled again. "Okay. Thanks, George. Trust is something I've had difficulty with as well, so it's nice to be around people who are honest," she acknowledged. "Anything else I should know about him?"

Besides the fact that Lexie Grey is his ex-girlfriend and already kind of hates you? George quietly thought for a moment, then he shook his head. "Not anything you can't find out from Jackson himself."

Their conversation was interrupted by Owen Hunt, the Chief of Trauma Surgery. "O'Malley, incoming trauma. And uh, new girl, I'll learn your name later, but meet me outside at the loading dock too," he ordered before rushing out of the room.

George exchanged an excited grin with April as they walked towards a shelf to grab some trauma gowns. "By the way, did I mention that Hunt was in the army?" he added, continuing to babble about his ER knowledge on their way to the exit.

Jo carried her empty tray towards the pizza station in the cafeteria. She was about to grab the last slice of BBQ chicken when Alex stepped in front of her and swiped it for his own tray. "Seriously? I was craving for that all morning. The pizza station doesn't always have BBQ chicken!" All that was left was plain cheese after her coworker also grabbed the last pepperoni slice. "Take the whole damn table, why don't you?"

"Snooze you lose," Alex teasingly replied.

She grabbed a slice of cheese pizza and a pre-packed salad before following him to the cashier line. "No offense, or maybe I do want you to take offense, but you're kind of a dick."

"I've heard that before," he nonchalantly answered, stuffing half of his first slice of pizza into his mouth.

"And you're a pig," Jo added, her face distorting into a disgusted expression while she watched him eat. The sauce on his chin was enough to almost make her lose her appetite. "You were one of those guys in college, weren't you?"

"Which one?"

Jo smirked. "The idiotic frat boy who thought it was badass to jump off of the roof and into the pool during some insane party."

"We didn't have a pool," he casually stated, then he chuckled at her unimpressed expression. "I never joined a frat during my undergrad years. I was too focused on wrestling for Iowa. Nice guess, though, Josephine."

"I told you not to call me that," she groaned.

Alex placed his empty plate underneath his other slice of pizza before approaching the cashier. "Just this slice, the fries and the O.J."

Jo's mouth dropped open as Alex partially paid for his lunch. She pointed at his tray. "Excuse me, but he-"

"She ate one of her slices in line," he accusingly said, nodding his head towards the brunette.

The cashier furrowed her brow at Jo after Alex walked away with his lunch. Jo pursed her lips, trying her hardest not to suddenly erupt and make a scene. Not only was he a nuisance but he was also a conniving liar. She paid for her lunch – extra slice included – and approached his table where he sat alone. Setting her tray beside his, she silently stared him down until he finally glanced up at her.

Alex stopped chewing halfway through his second bite. "You can sit."

"Maybe I don't want to," she cheekily replied, folding her arms.

"Suit yourself," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders and eating his food again.

Jo considered herself to be a fairly patient person under certain circumstances, but Alex really tested her limits. Even Jackson and his flirtations didn't drive her this crazy. She pulled out a chair and sat down beside him. "Fine." Picking up her pizza slice, she took a large bite and obnoxiously chewed with her mouth open. "Enjoying your lunch now?"

Alex snickered after Jo grabbed some of his fries and stuffed them into her mouth. "I may be a pig, but I don't eat like a freaking cow." He pointed at the noticeable tomato sauce stain on her lab coat. "Have fun getting that out."

She looked down at lab coat and mumbled with a mouthful of food, "Oh, crap!"

Lexie entered the cafeteria just as Jo rushed past her to use the restroom. She briefly glanced over her shoulder at her friend with curiosity before she found her sister and Cristina having lunch together at one of the tables. Although it was a longshot, she hoped the cardiothoracic surgeon would spill the beans on April. For a minute, she wanted to be, as George called it, the Yang Whisperer.

The brunette took a seat across from the two attendings, giving them adequate space between them. Both women stopped their current conversation and slowly looked at Lexie in unison. "Hi!" she cheerfully greeted them.

"Do you need something?" Meredith asked in annoyance.

"Sort of, yes," Lexie folded her hands on top of the table and looked at Cristina. "What's wrong with April Kepner? Why is she so perfect? Did the neurosurgeons at Mayo like her?"

Cristina sighed. "You're asking too many questions at once, Little Grey, and I'm not interested in answering any of them." She dismissively waved her hand at her. "Shoo."

"But why are you nice to her and nobody else? Well, besides Meredith."

"Because she's currently not being a pain in my ass like you are right now," Cristina bluntly answered, eliciting a chuckle from Meredith. "Now, go away before I lose my appetite."

Lexie softly groaned as she pushed herself up onto her feet. She spotted Alex at his table and decided to pay him a visit. Despite the fact that she wasn't entirely impressed by his demeanor, she figured he might be easier to crack than Yang. Taking Jo's seat, she sat down and folded her arms. "Tell me everything you know about April."

Alex swallowed his last bite, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "No," he responded without bothering to make eye contact with her.

"I'll tell you something about Jackson," she offered.

"Like what? That you two dated?" He laughed at her baffled facial expression. "Dude, you made it obvious when Avery introduced April to you guys. You might as well have peed on him to let her know you claimed him first."

"Well, that was during medical school. Totally irrelevant," Lexie said, rolling her eyes. "At least tell me her connection with Yang. It's impossible to get through to that woman."

Alex glanced over at Cristina's table. "Just some Mayo loyalty, that's all. Here, watch this. Hey, Yang! How's it goin'?" The cardiothoracic fellow ignored him as she continued her conversation with Meredith. He grinned at Lexie, who blankly stared at him. "That's normal for her. If I really get under her skin, she calls me Evil Spawn."

"I'm so impressed," she sarcastically replied. "Listen, I know things about Jackson that other people don't."

"So do I, but you're not getting it out of me." Alex picked up his tray before he stood up. "And I bet he doesn't want you finding out either. Even if he digs April, he won't tell her crap. Neither will I." He walked away from his table, throwing his trash away and setting his tray on top of the garbage can on his way out of the cafeteria.

Whatever information Lexie knew about Jackson didn't compare to what Alex kept bottled inside. He was positive she would see him as an entirely different person if she found out.

Jackson jogged up an empty stairwell following the end of his shift. After a day in the peds ward, he wanted to get away from the area as quickly as possible. He lacked the patience to wait for the slow elevators to take him upstairs to the residents' locker room's floor. Opening the door leading into the hallway, he nearly collided with April as he stepped inside. "Whoa! Sorry about that."

"It's alright. Where's the fire?" she quipped after noticing he was breathing a little faster than normal.

"Oh, I was just getting some exercise in – by escaping the hellhole that is Peds." He softly laughed as the two of them walked side by side. "I don't hate kids or anything, but working down there just isn't my thing. Getting puked on four times a day? No, thank you."

April smirked back at him. "Well, that's something you may have to get used to if you plan on having children."

"But that's different. I would actually like my kid," Jackson chuckled. He was relieved to have bumped into her. They hadn't seen each other all day since he was trapped in Peds while she was downstairs in the ER. "So… how was your day?"

"It was pretty exciting," she cheerfully answered. Although she wasn't involved in any major surgeries, the bizarre mishaps that led to patients being rushed to the ER were exciting enough for her. "A deli worker accidentally chopped three of his fingers off, a basketball coach swallowed his whistle, and a man high on drugs tripped and fell ass first onto his bong. As great as Mayo is, I've never seen anything like that over there."

"I'm jealous," he answered with a smile. April raised her eyebrow at him and he nodded. "No, really, I am. That all sounded more interesting than my day with sick kids… and their mothers."

April playfully rolled her eyes as they entered the locker room. "Peds isn't that bad."

While she began changing out of her lab coat and scrubs, Jackson leaned against his cubby and pulled out his cell phone. He didn't want to be rude by simply staring at her as she changed, not that the idea never crossed his mind, but he wanted to act casual. "Do you want to go get something to eat?" he asked, as he opened new text messages on his phone.

Her eyes peeked through the opening of her shirt just as she was about to pull it over her head. "That would be nice, but George already asked me," she politely replied.

"George?" he questioned, saying his name as if he had never heard of him before. Jackson knew that his roommate had a crush on April as well, but he never expected him to pull the trigger and ask her out first. He had always been rather intimidated to make the first move. "Oh. It's cool."

"He told me there's this really great sandwich shop on Pike, I think? I'm not very good with street names yet. I haven't been able to explore Seattle since I moved here," she admitted, putting on her jacket. "And he was so helpful in the ER today, so I thought I owed him a bit – even though he's the one taking me to this place. Rain check?"

Jackson's mood started to rise up again. To him, April wasn't treating it like a date, but more like a friend showing gratitude. He definitely needed to jump on that rain check offer. "Yeah, sure. What about Friday night? Or do you have the whole rest of the week reserved already?" he jokingly asked.

April giggled, grabbing her purse from her cubby. "No, I'm free. Just let me know what you have in mind. Goodnight, Jackson."

"Goodnight," he responded, grinning widely as she walked away.

Alex entered the locker room just as April stepped out. "Where are you going?"

"I'm meeting up with George. Don't worry about me. He'll take me home," she insisted, walking past him. "See you later!"

Alex softly laughed to himself, wondering if whatever April was doing with George was some sort of pity date. He knew her well enough that he wasn't her type. A bit too scrawny, even for someone petite like her. However, he couldn't help but feel slightly protective. He hardly knew O'Malley to begin with.

As much as he didn't want to approach Jackson about it, he decided to go for it. They had to talk sooner or later. He wasn't interested in playing by the pretty boy's unofficial ground rules. "Hey, that George guy. Is he cool? I won't have to rough him up if he tries anything with April?" he humorously asked.

Jackson faced his cubby while he changed out of his scrub pants. "No. He's a hell of a better person than you are, that's for sure."

"Dude, I'm trying to be nice here. Are you ever going to speak to me like a decent human being?" Alex agitatedly replied. He lost his patience when Jackson stayed silent, so he shoved his shoulder and the latter responded by slapping his hand away. "What are you gonna do? Hit me again?"

"I'll be glad to if you don't get the hell away from me," he said through gritted teeth.

Alex scowled at him. "When are you gonna man up and realize that none of this is my fault? How about you stop taking your crap out on me and deal with the real problem?" he exclaimed.

Lexie walked into the locker room and she was glad she arrived when she did. The two men were nose to nose arguing loudly and she sensed they would be using their fists to try to solve their issues. "Hey, stop it!" she yelled, rushing towards them. She stood in between Jackson and Alex to give them much needed space. "Whatever crap you guys have going on needs to stop now because this is getting ridiculous."

"Well, tell him to back off!" Jackson angrily stated.

"I can't do that when I have no idea what you two are fighting about!" the brunette replied in frustration. "Seriously, I can't handle a whole year of you two giving each other death stares and pounding your chests to prove who's tougher than the other. I'm positive I'm not the only one who feels this way. Sort it out already."

"It's not that simple, Lex."

"Nothing's ever simple with you, Jackson. Just tell me what's going on!"

Jackson snatched his jacket and work bag from his cubby before walking past his ex-girlfriend. "It's none of your damn business!" he shouted. He shot one last glare at Alex as he left the locker room.

Lexie frowned, sitting down on the bench and shaking her head. She watched Alex storm across the room towards his own cubby and furrowed her brow. "Did you two pull off some law breaking activity that he doesn't want anybody finding out about?" she inquisitively asked. "Like if the truth comes out, he could lose his job?"

"What? No," Alex scoffed, looking over his shoulder at her. "Like he said, it's none of your freaking business."

"You two are impossible to deal with," she complained. "And I dated Jackson for three and a half years."

"So you dated a liar for three and a half years," he bluntly answered, removing his scrub top. "That must make you feel like crap, huh?"

Lexie felt nauseous. She thought she knew Jackson inside and out. They have been friends for over six years, and she found herself believing Alex's claim even though she didn't want to. "Yeah. It does."

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