Chapter 3: Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini

A/N: Thank you all again for your support! I hope you guys enjoy!

When Jackson woke, he felt more rested than he had been in years. The strong Hawaiian sunlight streamed through the room's large bay windows, and Jackson could see the ocean sparkling in the distance. He blinked sleepily, reveling in April's warmth. Wait, what? Jackson looked down to see that sometime during the night, April had migrated over to his side of the bed. Her arms were wrapped loosely around his shoulders, and she was using his chest as a pillow. Her warm legs were interlocked in his, her soft thighs resting dangerously close to his groin. April looked beautiful, her sleep tousled red waves glimmering like fire over his dark skin. Jackson soon found himself staring again, unable to take his eyes off of his best friend. He could definitely get used to waking up next to April like this.

"Come on, Avery," Jackson muttered to himself. "Get it together." It was hard to stay composed when he could smell her lilac shampoo, mixed with the salty scent of the ocean from their frolicking the night before. April was captivating him. Shaking his head, he began to peel himself off of the beautiful girl. He couldn't resist placing a light kiss on the redhead's forehead before heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

The sound of water running in the bathroom woke April from her deep sleep. She yawned happily as she tightened the fluffy covers around her body, relaxing in the knowledge that she didn't have to run to the hospital to do charts. Sitting up, she turned to realize that she was on the complete opposite side of the bed. Her hazel eyes widened in panic and embarrassment- she had no clue that she was hogging the entire bed. Her thoughts were interrupted when Jackson walked out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of blue swim trunks and a tee shirt. He smiled at the groggy looking girl.

"Good morning, sunshine," he joked as he picked up the room service menu and surveyed it. "What would you say to some French toast and eggs?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"Yes, please!" April replied, the pink blush that had spread across her face finally receding. April stretched as Jackson called in the order, enjoying her last few moments in bed before climbing out. Jackson's breath caught in his throat when he saw April slipping out of the white sheets, rubbing her eyes as she walked towards the bathroom. Her silky lavender nightgown fluttered against the middle of her thighs, providing a stark contrast to her vanilla skin. Her ginger hair tumbled down in loose curls, each strand softly framing her face. He sucked in a deep gulp of air and rubbed his temples. Now was not the time to be obsessing over his closest friend. Thankfully, the arrival of room service managed to distract Jackson from his roommate for a couple of minutes. He spread the different breakfast dishes across the unmade bed, leaving a spot for April and him to eat in the middle. April came out of the bathroom wearing a white sundress, the strings of her bathing suit peeking out from behind her neck.

"This looks awesome," April admired before grabbing a piece of bacon and sitting next to Jackson on the bed.

"Mhm," Jackson agreed emphatically, mouth full of food. Jackson's pulse quickened when April leaned across him to grab a piece of French toast. April smiled happily as they ate the rest of the meal, rolling her eyes when Jackson stole her bacon. Their post-meal haze was interrupted by the buzzing of Jackson's phone. It was a text message from Callie- "meet u guys down at beach in 5?" He typed a quick "yes" back, standing up to grab his sunglasses. April found them towels and retrieved a giant bottle of sunscreen from her suitcase. Jackson raised his eyebrows at her in amusement.

"What? I burn easily!"

The rest of the group had already arrived when Jackson and April sauntered down to meet their friends at the beach.

"Took you long enough," Callie remarked, an evil grin growing on her face. "What were you two doing that was taking so long?"

"Uh, eating?" Jackson replied quickly. Arizona smirked at the flustered look on the man's face. This was going to be so much easier than she thought. She pulled Callie behind as the others started to set up camp near the water.

"Okay, you take Jackson and I'll take April," the blonde whispered.

"Who knew my wife was so devious?" Callie smiled proudly. "Oh, this is going to be so good."

April felt perfectly content as she relaxed in the sun, Jackson lying at her side. Closing her eyes, she exhaled peacefully. All of her worries seemed to evaporate more with each wave that lapped at the crystalline sand. Her serenity was interrupted by Arizona's voice calling out to her.

"April, will you go swimming with me?" the blonde asked, a knowing smile on her face. April froze. As lovely as the cool ocean looked, she was more than a little bit self-conscious. Although she had grown much more comfortable with her body over the years, the idea of wearing nothing but a bikini in front of everybody made her cringe. Come on, April, she thought. You're at the beach, you're going to have to go swimming eventually. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she nodded.

"Sure." April gulped as she stood up and peeled the sundress off of her body. She was left standing in a yellow string bikini with white polka dots on it. Jackson felt his breath catch in his throat. The bikini showed off April's body, highlighting her flat stomach and perfect legs, the top displaying the perfect amount of cleavage The yellow of the swimsuit looked fantastic with April's pale skin and fiery hair. Jackson couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She was the sexiest thing he had ever seen, and the green-eyed surgeon was fighting to hide his arousal. April felt her skin burning red as she stood vulnerably in front of the entire beach. Eager to escape the eyes of her companions, she stepped into the refreshing water and swam out, Arizona trailing behind with an impressed look on her face.

"Damn," Callie exclaimed. "Who knew Kepner had such a hot bod?" Jackson couldn't help but nod slowly, his eyes never leaving redheaded girl in the water.

Arizona smiled kindly at April, both women treading water calmly to keep afloat. "Jackson was totally checking you out," the blonde remarked. April blushed. She was feeling a little bit more comfortable being in a bikini, but the thought that Jackson was looking at her made her nervous. Jackson was so… perfect. He was funny and smart, and he knew how to make her fell like the most important person on the planet. She was just a little country mouse, straight out of a farm in Ohio. No boys in Moline thought she was attractive. It was just something she had just learned to accept.

"I'm sure he wasn't," April replied flatly. Arizona shook her head.

"Trust me, April, I know what it looks like when somebody is staring at you. Look, he's still watching you!" Arizona gestured to the man sitting on the shore. Arizona was right; Jackson's darkening eyes were trained on his friend bobbing in the water. April looked down to hide her smile. As ridiculous as it sounded, the idea that Jackson might want her made April's heart beat faster. Quickly, she dismissed the thought. There was no way that Jackson would want somebody like her. Still, a smile managed to creep back on her face as she floated on her back, beaming at the clouds. Arizona made eye contact with Callie from across the beach, giving her wife a solid thumbs up. The Latina woman grinned, leaning back on her lounge chair with a satisfied look on her face.

Jackson felt like a total creep. He had been watching April splash around in the water for almost an hour, something that did not go unnoticed by the Orthopedic surgeon sunbathing next to him.

"April, huh?" Callie chided, winking at Jackson. The man blanched. He hadn't realized how obviously he had been staring at his friend, and the last thing he needed was Calliope Torres making fun of him for the rest of the trip. Seeing the uncomfortable look on Jackson's face, Callie smirked and continued speaking. "Have you made a move, or what?"

Jackson sighed and looked around to see if any of the other surgeons were within earshot. Meredith and Derek were at the bar getting drinks, and Cristina and Owen had disappeared half an hour before. Jackson figured he might as well confide in Callie- he knew she would never let it go, and he felt like if he kept all of his thoughts bottled up he would explode. "No. I don't want to ruin what we have, you know? We've been best friends for years, and suddenly all I can think about is…" He trailed off, gazing pensively at the water.

"Banging her?" Callie supplied.

Jackson glared at her. "Kissing her."

Callie considered the information, before tilting her head to the side and shrugging. "Life's short, Jackson." She offered him a half smile before turning her head back and closing her eyes.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly. He looked back to April, who caught his eye and smiled at him. He smiled back, his heart fluttering at the look of joy on his best friend's face. April looked carefree, her wet hair slightly blowing in the soft breeze and her eyes crinkling with happiness. "Yeah."

A/N: And there we have it! This one is a little shorter than the others, sorry about that! The rating for this story will probably go up to teen pretty soon. As usual, please please please review! Hearing from you guys is awesome. If you have any requests/suggestions for what you want to see next in this story, I definitely want to hear! Love you all so much. xoxoxo