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Jo stood by the coffee cart in the main lobby while she waited for her order to be made. She leaned against the counter with her elbows supporting her weight as her eyelids slowly began to close. A nudge against her hip instantly woke her up. Lexie stood beside her friend with a grin on her face. "Tired?"

"Tired would be an understatement," the sleepy brunette answered through a yawn. After she received her coffee, the two women walked towards the nearest elevator. "The cat was sick. Took her to the vet, but she kept throwing up in the middle of the night, so I spent those hours cleaning up after her."

"And that's why I don't have a pet. You need all the energy you can get for surgeries." Lexie pressed the up button and they waited for an elevator to arrive. "So Jackson's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I want to throw him a surprise party at my house. Want to help? I'm going to ask George too since we're his closest friends."

"Yeah, sure. But maybe you should bring this up when I'm not feeling like a zombie," Jo murmured, sipping her coffee. When an elevator arrived they stepped inside to go upstairs to the fifth floor. As the doors were about to close, a hand caught it in between and forced it open. Alex joined them, along with April. "Great. Just who I needed to see first thing in the morning. Oh, and hey, April."

Alex scoffed as he moved to the back of the elevator car. April stayed closer to the front while she made small chat with Jo. He noticed Lexie staring at him and he slightly furrowed his brow. Two days passed since she had walked in on him and Jackson arguing, but she hadn't brought it up. He never told his roommate about the incident because he knew she would bombard him with numerous questions. It was like it never happened, but Lexie's stare made him uncomfortable.

"What?" he mumbled.

"Nothing," Lexie politely replied, glancing down at her shoes. Even though she wasn't talking about it to anybody, the tension between Alex and Jackson continued to bother her. She and her ex-boyfriend were barely talking, and she wasn't sure how to approach him now. She viewed him as a different person, despite not knowing what he was hiding from her. "Are you ever in a good mood?"

"Are you ever not nosy?" Alex rebuked.

Jo let out a sigh of relief when the elevator arrived on the fifth floor. The less she listened to Alex speak, the less annoyed she felt. She rushed out of the elevator and into the locker room. Her coworkers trailed behind at a normal pace before they split up to go to their cubbies.

Jackson was already dressed in his scrubs and lab coat. Instead of reporting to his attending – it was Yang, so he was in no hurry to meet with her – he waited for April to arrive. He had planned where they were going for dinner and wanted to tell her before he reported for work. "Good morning, April."

"Good morning, Jackson," the redheaded woman happily greeted him.

He was completely mesmerized by how she always arrived at the hospital in a cheerful mood. Even 6 AM rounds didn't seem to faze her. "How are you always in a good mood in the morning?"

"I grew up on a farm. I'm used to waking up early. And my mother always says, 'Nobody likes to be around a grumpus in the morning,'" she enthusiastically replied as she changed into her scrubs.

"Grumpus," he chuckled. "First time I've heard that one."

April sheepishly grinned back at him. "She's a school teacher and uses these kinds of words to get the kids' attention. I guess she rubbed off on me while I was growing up."

"It's okay. I kind of like it," Jackson insisted with a smile. "Do you like sushi?"

"I do."

"Great, because I want to take you to my favorite Japanese restaurant tonight. They have all-you-can-eat sushi there and the fish is fresh. It's very good. I already made reservations. The place can get packed on Friday nights," he explained. "Is eight o'clock alright with you?"

"That's fine! Looking forward to it," April chirped. "Should we meet here after our shifts are over? Or in the lobby?"

"Here is good. Anyway, I better go. Yang will probably dump scut on me if I'm late." Jackson hung his stethoscope around his neck as he walked away from her. He couldn't wipe off the grin from his face even when he was inside of the elevator. He and April were going on a date – possibly unofficial. They never did confirm if it was a date or just two people having a casual dinner together. He preferred to call it a date.

His excitement was put on the back burner when he stepped out of the elevator only to be greeted by Cristina's scowl. He determined he was only a minute late, but that apparently didn't matter to the cardiothoracic surgeon.

"Avery, it's such unfortunate timing that you're my resident today," Cristina bluntly greeted him. She started walking down a hallway, signaling Jackson to follow her. "You're aware of John Newton's condition, right?"

"Yes. Restrictive cardiomyopathy. He only has months to live if he can't get a new heart."

"Well, we have a heart for him – in San Francisco," she stated. "Altman trusts me enough to continue to be in charge of this case. Also, she obviously knows how amazing I am. Anyway, we're leaving in ten minutes to get that heart."

Jackson raised both of his eyebrows. "We?" This was the first heart transplant of his career and he was stoked. However, he didn't want to show just how eager he was in front of Cristina. "You mean, I'm going too?"

"No, you're only going to the airport. Of course you're going," she irritably replied, rolling her eyes. "Altman told me to take a resident with me, and since you're on my service, I don't have much of a choice. I'm stuck with you for today. By the way, you're not touching the heart."

"And I was so looking forward to that," he sarcastically answered. Not surprising at all that he wouldn't be touching the patient or the heart, but now that he had two things to be excited about, even Cristina's rude demeanor couldn't ruin his day.

Alex waited by a nurses' station for his first neurosurgery rotation at Seattle Grace. It wasn't his preferred specialty. In fact, he hadn't decided on what type of surgeon he wanted to be yet. Plastics would solely be for the higher than average salary. He couldn't see himself becoming a pediatric surgeon. Children in general annoyed the crap out of him. And after meeting Arizona Robbins, he definitely refused to join the Heelys Club. There was still a lot of time to decide, though.

He was joined by George, who stood beside him. "This is your first time meeting Derek Shepherd, right?"

"Yeah, but whatever," Alex muttered. "Neuro's not really my thing."

"Lexie's already whining because she's with Sloan in Plastics," George amusingly replied. "I'd rather much be downstairs in the pit for incoming traumas. April was lucky enough to be with Hunt today. I think he likes her company. She already memorized the protocols and helps keep the ER organized-"

"Dude, why are you still talking?" he interrupted with a scowl. "You're not complaining because you're into trauma. You just want to follow around Kepner like a puppy. It's pathetic, to be honest."

George slightly furrowed his brow, stuffing his hands inside of his lab coat pockets. "She seems to enjoy being around me."

"Not in the way you see it," Alex scoffed. To him, George was that guy he would give wedgies to in high school. He was certain he knew somebody exactly like his coworker and gave him wedgies in the boys' restroom. "You'll be friend zoned pretty soon."

The shorter man scratched the back of his neck. "Did you two… umm…"

Alex cackled. "Hell no. She tells me I stink all the time. We're just roommates, but I can trust her or whatever."

George let out a sigh of relief. He suspected Alex wouldn't be April's type, but he didn't think he was her type either. "You think she's into Avery?" he inquisitively asked. Even though he sort of already knew the answer, some confirmation didn't hurt. "I mean, he's my roommate and he may be getting too hopeful…"

"I don't think. I know she is," he insisted. "It's written all over her face without her having to say it. Sorry, dude, but she has a thing for pretty boys like Avery. She's surprisingly shallow."

"Oh. Well, April better be careful then. Lexie has a jealous side," George insinuated. And that wasn't a lie. Some women Jackson simply spoke to occasionally made her green with envy. He always wondered why they never just tried to date again. Neither of them had been seriously linked to anyone in over a year.

"April's a big girl. She can take care of herself," Alex dismissively replied. An older doctor in navy blue scrubs appeared from the opposite end of a hallway. He had beautiful, dark hair that most men would be jealous of. The third year resident scrunched his nose when the attending began to approach them. "Is that Shepherd?"

George nodded. "Yup. The female residents call him McDreamy."

The neurosurgeon stopped in front of the two men and extended his hand towards Alex. "You're the new guy, right? I'm Derek Shepherd. I'm in charge of the department."

"Yeah, Alex Karev." They shook hands, then Alex said, "When you get the chance you should give April Kepner a shot. She's very interested in neurosurgery."

"Oh, yeah? I'll make sure she's on my service next week," Derek intriguingly answered. "Anyway, follow me. We have a few patients to visit today."

George raised his eyebrow at Alex as they trailed behind Derek. "What was that about?"

"I want to see Lexie and April duke it out for neuro cases," Alex whispered with a smirk. He also wanted to see his girl succeed over the overachieving Grey. His roommate could thank him later for the recommendation.

Sitting in a seat all to himself on the private plane, Jackson quietly stared out the window at the clear, blue sky. It had been weeks since he saw any blue above Seattle. The recent forecasts had been rain, rain and more rain. Even though the flight would only take a couple of hours, he was bored out of his mind. He wished he had been more prepared like Yang, who was sitting on the opposite side practicing stitches on a banana. He wondered if she would allow him to eat it when she finished. It was almost lunch time and all the plane had were mini bags of peanuts. They weren't going to have time for lunch until after they retrieved the donor heart.

Jackson slowly glanced over at Cristina, debating whether or not to start a conversation with her. He fully expected it to last less than a minute, but perhaps it could last for two minutes if he brought up April. Clearing his throat, he sighed, "So…" He only received a small grunt from her. "You knew April at Mayo. What was she like?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she chuckled.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He softly grinned. "We… sort of have a date tonight."

"Then why are you asking me about Kepner? You can find out from her."

Jackson quickly shrugged. "Well, you did know her first. I'm sure you worked together at some point," he pointed out. "And you're kind to her, which is hard to believe considering you don't treat anybody else like a person."

Cristina set her instruments down and slightly turned her body to face Jackson. "April was a second year when I was a fifth year. We hardly interacted. Plus, I couldn't stand being around her perkiness for too long. The attendings loved her. She's Chief Resident material," she answered. "I'm sure she would've been crowned easily at Mayo. Here? She'll have to snatch it from Grey."

"Why did she leave? I mean, I can't say I'm not grateful she transferred into our program, but it's rare in the middle of residency," he probed. Lexie did have a point about the surprise transfers. It was difficult enough to be accepted into Seattle Grace as a graduating medical student. "You obviously know how good Mayo is."

She opened her mouth to answer, then she changed her mind and returned to working on her banana. "That's not something you should be asking me, Avery."

Jackson hadn't missed the hesitance in Cristina's response. She definitely knew April more than she admitted, yet she seemed like the type of person who would dish out private information about a colleague just because she could. "But you like her, right?"

"Sure, whatever." Cristina rolled her eyes before looking back at Jackson. "By the way, this whole procedure – getting the heart, flying back and performing the transplant – is going to take hours. We probably won't be finished by the time your so-called date is supposed to be happening. Of course, if this date is more important to you, then I can find a replacement when we return to Seattle."

Crap. He knew there would be a twist to his eventful day. He just wished he realized this sooner. Passing up a heart transplant surgery would be idiotic. His family would shame him for choosing a woman over a major surgery. April wasn't going anywhere. She would understand that they need to reschedule, though he hated having to cancel.

"No. I'm fully on board," he confidently replied.

"Good. Maybe you'll do more than suction now," Cristina answered with a smirk.

"Are you sure it's okay?" April nervously asked, carrying her lunch tray downstairs to the basement. Jo had invited her – and indirectly, Alex – to join her group for lunch in the tunnel. She genuinely liked the redheaded woman, despite the fact that she came with an annoying sidekick. "I don't think… I don't think Lexie likes me."

"What makes you say that?" Jo casually asked, acting clueless regarding the situation. She knew very well that Lexie wasn't April's biggest fan, though for petty reasons. For the first time, she thought her friend was actually feeling threatened by the new girl in more ways than one. "You two just haven't worked together yet. Give it some time."

The threesome entered the tunnel where George and Lexie were already eating on the gurney. Jo sat beside Lexie, while April sat next to Jo's other side. Alex noticed how awfully tight the space was, so he opted for an abandoned wheelchair over squeezing in next to George. It didn't take long for him to notice the awkward tension after Lexie dropped her conversation with the other man and remained quiet.

"So this is your secret society hideout? Color me unimpressed," Alex scoffed, stuffing his mouth with fries.

Jo lazily pointed her plastic fork at him. "Hey, I said you could come, but no talking."

Alex nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, then he added, "Apes, I put in a good word for you with Shepherd. He said he'll make sure you're on his service next week."

"He did?" April excitedly replied, her face lighting up.

"He did?" Lexie reiterated, but with the opposite reaction of her coworker's. She furrowed her brow at Alex, who smirked back at her. If only looks could kill, she thought.

George cleared his throat hoping to clear the tension. "How about Joe's tonight? It's two-dollar pitchers," he suggested, slowly eying his friends. "And uh, you and Karev can come too, April."

"I would if I could, but I'm having dinner with Jackson tonight," April politely declined.

"As in a date?" Lexie curiously asked.

April softly laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know if I can call it that. We're just starting to get to know each other and…" She paused. Based on her own experiences, not that she had many, dates were used in order to know more about the other person. Half the time, they didn't work out. "He doesn't ask women out just to be friends, does he?"

Lexie smiled to herself as she ate her lunch. "Is he taking you to his favorite Japanese restaurant?"

"Yes," she answered with raised eyebrows. "Oh, my gosh, it's a date."

George shook his head and smiled at April. "Don't worry about it. Avery isn't the type who expects you to put out on the first night," he assured her. It amused him that she was worried about going on a date with Jackson. Most women would simply pounce at the opportunity to date his roommate. But she was naïve enough to assume it was casual, and now she was overwhelmed and reluctant. "And he's a gentleman."

"How many dates have you two gone on?" Alex quipped. His joke at least made Lexie snort, so it wasn't a complete fail.

"Wait. Isn't Jackson working with Yang on that heart transplant today?" Lexie reverted the subject back to the date. "If my estimations are correct, he's in San Francisco right now getting that heart. It'll take about two hours to fly back to Seattle and that procedure will last at least four hours. Plus, there's post-ops that Yang will dump on him-"

"We get it. The date might have to be rescheduled," Jo intervened, rolling her eyes. If April wasn't so concerned about her so-called date, she probably would have noticed how much Lexie opposed it. "And it's not a big deal. I'm sure Jackson will let you know when he comes back."

April slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay. Umm…" She picked up her half-eaten lunch and slid off the gurney. "I just remembered that I have to check on something for Hunt. So, I'll see you guys later."

Lexie chuckled after April nearly ran through the door leading to the stairwell. "That girl is weird."

Alex scowled at the brunette. "Hey, shut up. You don't know anything about her." He gathered his lunch and left the basement, chasing down his roommate who was at the top of the stairs. "April, wait a minute."

The redhead turned around just as he caught up to her. "What?"

"What the hell was that? Those three are probably thinking you're freaking crazy now," he stated with a look of concern. "I mean, a date with Avery can't be the worst thing in the world. Even I can admit that."

"It's not him, Alex. It's me," she dejectedly answered. "I can't go on a date with him. If I go out with Jackson, then it means we have to talk about ourselves in order to get to know each other, and you know I can be… too talkative. And I don't want to accidentally say something I'm not ready to talk about. You know I'm not ready to talk about-"

"Who says you have to? Stick with the basic information or whatever," Alex advised. "You're not required to give him your entire autobiography in one night. Ease into it. That deeper stuff doesn't even have to come until later."

April sighed, then she softly laughed. "You're giving me good advice?"

Alex playfully rolled his eyes. "Well, don't tell anyone I'm actually pretty good at it," he jokingly replied. "Anyway, think about it. I'm not saying you have to go out with Avery, but don't tease him either. Just be straightforward with him, and maybe give him a little emotional punch in the nuts for me."

She lightly nudged his shoulder. "As crass as you are sometimes, thank you."

"I'll accept that as a compliment. You wanna just finish lunch in the cafeteria?" Alex began walking up the stairs with April after she nodded. "So, I don't know if you've seen this Shepherd dude yet, but everyone's wetting their pants over his hair…"

Meanwhile at the bottom of the stairwell, Jo peered up as she inquiringly listened to the echoing voices until they disappeared into the hallway. She had planned on talking to April because she felt Lexie was unnecessarily condescending towards her. Although she didn't intend to eavesdrop on Alex and April's conversation, a part of her was intrigued for two different reasons. One, she thought maybe she misjudged Alex's character. And two, she wanted to know what April was hiding. She decided to keep what she overheard to herself and pretend she knew nothing on her way back to the tunnel.

April strolled through a hallway after being paged to go upstairs. She felt a grip on her wrist and suddenly, she was pulled into a supply closet. Just her luck, she didn't have her pepper spray with her at that moment, but she was quickly relieved to see Jackson inside. "Please, don't do that again," she gasped.

"Sorry," the pretty boy sheepishly replied. He had ten minutes to spare before he needed to prep for the heart transplant surgery. "I was the one who paged you."

"Okay, so… why are we in a supply closet?" she awkwardly asked.

"I… don't know," he murmured, scratching the top of his scrub cap covered head. "Anyway, I just wanted to briefly talk to you about tonight. I hate to do this, but we have to reschedule-"

"Yes, I know. I mean, it's almost four o'clock and it's a delicate surgery," April understandably said, gently biting down on her bottom lip. "And it's definitely a procedure that can't be rushed. It's okay, Jackson. Some other time."

Jackson blocked her path before she could leave. "Wait. We can still meet up at Joe's instead. O'Malley told me the rest of them will be hanging out there tonight, so why not have a drink together?" he offered and softly smiled. "It's not as great as the sushi I've been craving, but it's the best alternative for a last minute change in plans."

She knew he wasn't going to let her go without an answer he wanted, and she didn't want him running late for surgery. "Sure. We can do that."

"I'll meet you there, okay?" He opened the door and allowed her to walk into the hallway first. "I'll see you later."

"You will," April answered with a nod. She started walking back from the direction she came from and slightly frowned. Truthfully, she wanted to go home after her shift, change into her pajamas and curl up on the couch with a rom-com film. Despite the pep talk from Alex, it felt like the socially awkward girl from high school returned and talking to an attractive man made her uneasy.

But she still wasn't ready to explain her reasons to anybody.

Alex wasn't sure why he accepted George's invitation to join the group at Joe's. He hardly liked the guy, but he supposed he needed to stop giving them the impression that he was the anti-social type. And April was there, though she asked him to sit somewhere else to avoid killing the mood when Avery arrived. At least there were two-dollar pitchers and his own table in the corner where nobody would bother him.

He was munching on peanuts and drinking alone when he was greeted by a somewhat unexpected visitor. Jo sat down across from him in the booth and reached for the peanuts. "Do you need something?"

Jo cracked open a peanut with her fingers and popped it into her mouth. "Nope," she casually replied, sipping from her own beer mug afterward. "You look like you could use a buddy."

"No, I don't," he argued, furrowing his brow. "Did Lexie put you up to this?"

"Why would she-"

"Nevermind," Alex dismissed. "But I won't accept your pity."

Jo forced herself to laugh. "Pity? You seriously can't deal with somebody sitting down with you because they want to?" she scoffed. "Listen, I can see through your tough guy exterior. Deep inside, there's this cuddly Care Bear who wants out and you won't let it come out."

"Dude, whatever," he chuckled. "Are you a freaking shrink now?"

"No, but I did ace Psychology in college," she gloated. "I can read people pretty well."

"Oh, yeah?" Alex scanned their surroundings and his eyes stopped at an overweight man sitting alone while eating a burger. "How about him? What's his deal, Dr. Wilson?"

Jo placed her elbow on top of the table, resting her chin against the palm of her hand. "Well… he looks like he's had a rough week at the office, and he's come here to deal with his feelings the best way that he can – through food," she analyzed. "But he's staring at the more than half-eaten burger as if he's making a mistake. All that grease is doing his heart no good, so he'll leave it unfinished and go home."

Alex eyed Jo suspiciously when the man did exactly what she said. "Okay, there's a difference between being a psychologist and a psychic. How the hell did you know he would guilt himself into leaving?"

The brunette playfully rolled her eyes and laughed. "Fine, fine. That guy shows up almost every week. It's predictable," she admitted. She smirked as her coworker shook his head. "Oh, lighten up. I had you there for a second."

"Yeah, whatever," he muttered, finishing the beer in his mug before pouring more. He held the pitcher towards Jo. "Refill?"

"Sure. Thanks," she obliged with a smile. "It's coming out. The Care Bear."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he softly laughed, then he cleared his throat. "So should I be worried about Lexie?"

"In what context?" she inquired.

"She wouldn't try to sabotage April's shot with Neuro, right? I know she's really hardcore about it, and April, she's dealt with enough crap at Mayo-"

Jo raised her eyebrow. "What kind of crap? If you don't mind me asking."

Alex leaned forward, gesturing for her to do the same, so their faces were inches apart. "Between you and me?" he whispered. She nodded in agreement before he blurted out, "She prostituted herself to pay for some of her student loan debt."

Jo gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh, my gosh. April Kepner? That April Kepner? How could she-" She paused when Alex chuckled as he sipped his beer. She groaned and folded her arms. "You ass. That's not funny."

"But I had you there for a second," he teasingly responded. "Now, we're even."

"Not necessarily. You still owe me for that pizza you basically made me pay for in the cafeteria," she noted. A waiter stopped by to deliver buffalo wings Alex had ordered for dinner. Jo slid the basket towards her side of the table and picked up a wing. "Give me half and we'll call it even."

Alex pursed his lips as he watched Jo bite into one of his wings. "Okay, but there's no Care Bear in this body. Just wanted to throw that out there," he insisted.

On the opposite side of the bar, April sat at the counter with a glass of white wine. She was beginning to feel restless due to the end of a busy week at the hospital and waiting for Jackson to arrive felt like an eternity. Although she wanted to leave, she didn't want to be rude, but she was going to try to cut their meeting short.

Finally, the man of the hour walked through the door and spotted her immediately. Jackson approached the counter, taking the seat beside hers. "Hey," he said, sounding short of breath. Despite the fact that Seattle Grace was just across the street from the Emerald City Bar, he walked the short distance as fast as he could. He signaled to Joe for his order. "Whiskey, please."

April could see the exhaustion on his face. The bags underneath his eyes, the red partially taking over the bluish green she admired. She couldn't blame him, though. His day had been a lot busier than hers. "How was the surgery?" she politely asked.

"It went great, actually. We still have to wait and see if his body will reject the heart or not, but there weren't any complications during the surgery. Yang was amazing, but she already knew that," he explained, rolling his eyes during his last comment. "She chose to stay at the hospital for post-op work. I'm positive she was just sick of me and wanted me away from her as soon as possible."

"I bet you don't have that effect often," she chuckled.

"And I bet you don't either," Jackson flirted back. He received his glass of whiskey and smiled at Joe. "Thanks, man."

April nervously finished her wine and cleared her throat. All of a sudden, she could barely look him in the eye. He really liked to flirt and it only made her flustered. "Okay, so, umm…" She stared down at the napkin that was trapped beneath her wine glass. "I'm not ready to date – anybody."

"Oh?" Jackson was clearly disappointed, but he sensed that something was bothering April since she was avoiding eye contact. "Did someone tell you something about me that they shouldn't have?"

"What? No! No, it's not like that," she panicked, looking up at him. "It's not you. I… I just moved here and I still don't really know anybody except Alex. And I'd really like to make some friends first. I'm actually not very good at that, so dating isn't my priority at the moment."

Jackson softly smiled. "Well, I want to be friends. Is that okay with you?"

April slowly nodded and returned the smile. "Yes, that's perfectly fine."

"You want a refill?" he asked, gently tapping his glass against hers.

"I'd like that. Thanks," she graciously replied. Perhaps he wasn't just a pretty face who enjoyed flirting after all, she thought. She internally told herself to trust her peers more, but that was easier said than done when she could barely trust herself.

Let me know what you think please :) There will be a tiny time jump next chapter (Jackson's birthday), but Jackson/Alex's connection will be revealed!