A/N: Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy the update! :)

Disclaimer: Same as always!

Chapter 4 – Realize

Jackson and Alex watched Cristina and Meredith rush to the living room window when they heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. The four fifth years were at Meredith's house studying for the Boards but now the two women were distracted by April returning from her date.

"Oh! He's walking her to the door!" Meredith said excitedly.

Alex looked at his watch as he joined his friends at the window. "He's spent three hours alone with Kepner, the man must have the patience of a saint," he remarked.

Lexie walked into the living room from the kitchen and looked at everyone curiously. Meredith, Cristina, and Alex were jockeying for space in front of the window and Jackson was standing in the middle of the living room trying to ignore them. "What are you guys doing?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. "They're spying on April."

Lexie's eyes widened in excitement and she smiled. "She's back?" Jackson nodded and then she raced towards the window as well.

"Come on," Jackson sighed. "You guys shouldn't be doing this."

Cristina scoffed, "Stop acting so righteous, pretty boy. That's our virgin out there with gorgeous trauma guy…McTrauma," she snickered. "Of course we're going to spy on them! Ten bucks says she leaves him without a goodnight kiss."

"Nah, she'll kiss him," Lexie disputed quickly.

"Yeah, twenty says she will," Alex agreed. "She's a good kisser." He turned his head to see that the three women in the room were staring at him and Jackson was openly glaring. "Whatever, it happened," he shrugged.

There was a pause before Lexie giggled. "Aww, they're kissing."

Meredith laughed, "Our little girl is all grown up."

Jackson rolled his eyes once again and headed towards the kitchen. "I need a beer," he grumbled to himself.

"Shit!" Cristina exclaimed. "She's coming inside!"

The three fifth years scrambled back into sitting positions on the couch and grabbed textbooks and notepads to make it look like they were engrossed in their studies while Lexie jumped to a nearby armchair.

April walked through the front door with a smile and then eyed her friends suspiciously.

"Hey April," Cristina greeted her casually.

The red-head would have bought their act if Lexie wasn't grinning uncontrollably and Alex wasn't reading an upside down textbook. She was aware that they had watched her say goodnight to Anderson but it didn't bother her. She was in an unbreakably happy mood.

"So, how's the studying going?"

They all answered her at the same time.

"Good."

"Not too bad."

"Same as always."

Jackson asked what they were all thinking when he walked into the room. "How was your date?"

"Great!" She smiled brightly.

She had asked Anderson to drop her off at Meredith's because she had hoped to get a little bit of studying in but she should have known better. Now that she had broached the subject, it was fair game and the girls began to fire questions at her while Alex and Jackson tried to ignore them.

Her date had been absolutely wonderful. Anderson was polite and easy to talk to. She had been slightly uneasy about going out to dinner with him when he had picked her up from the hospital but he made her feel comfortable in his presence very quickly. He was from North Carolina and had moved to Seattle ten years ago. He was a novelist, a career that she found absolutely fascinating and she was planning on reading his work as soon as she could get to a bookstore. They had spent the majority of their time together talking about literature and medicine, since he seemed just as fascinated by her job. They had been out for three hours and time had flown by.

And the kiss had been…amazing. She had never been kissed like that and she couldn't wait to see him again.

Jackson scowled into his mug of beer. He had come to Joe's after a great shift. He had scrubbed in on an incredible facial reconstruction yet he was still in a terrible mood, and it had everything to do with April's new, perfect boyfriend. He was sitting at the corner of the bar just so he could keep an eye on them as they played darts.

Anderson Matthews was a nice guy, polite and very normal. He treated April with the utmost respect as far as he could tell. He chatted about basketball with Jackson and Alex. He brought beer whenever he came over to their apartment. The man had even been a great patient…but he was driving Jackson crazy. He had now taken April out on three dinner dates, had eaten countless lunches at the hospital, and had become a regular at Joe's. Everyone liked him but with every passing day Jackson was willing to risk his million dollar hands to cause him bodily harm, and having the desire to beat up a man with an ICD was not a great feeling.

"Another beer and something a little stronger," he called out to Joe.

Joe brought him a beer and a shot of tequila. "Rough shift?"

Jackson shook his head and chuckled, "Rough two weeks."

"Let me guess, it has something to do with the tall, blonde kissing April."

Jackson looked up and sure enough, they were kissing. Her arms were around his shoulders and his hands were on her hips and they were kissing. He tried to hide his annoyance as he answered Joe. "He's just been around a lot lately, especially while we've been trying to study for the Boards and I'm worried that he's distracting April."

"He's just jealous," a familiar voice to his right said.

"Karev," he sighed. "I already live with you; you're the last person that I want to talk to right now."

The other man ignored him completely. "Just tell Kepner you have the hots for her, and I'll have a beer, Joe."

"How many times do I have to tell you that there's nothing going on between me and April?" Jackson asked in frustration as he threw his hands up in the air.

"Yeah exactly, that's why you're so agitated, because you just realized that you want something and now she's with someone else, which blows my mind by the way. She's so annoying."

"She's not annoying," Jackson argued.

Karev grinned, "See, that was a test, only someone with the hots for Kepner would say that she's not annoying."

Jackson sipped his beer and his eyes unintentionally strayed to his best friend. She was laughing and he could tell that she had already finished a drink or two. She looked carefree and lovely. "So maybe she can be a little annoying and overly sensitive," he began quietly. "But she's smart, determined, and beautiful. She's kind and generous, she'll do anything for someone that she cares for and that's pretty admirable."

"No freakin' way…"

Karev was looking at him in a mixture of awe and disgust. "What?" He asked in confusion.

"I thought that you were just being jealous or territorial, or pissed that your potential fuck buddy has a boyfriend but you have feelings for her. You're in love with Kepner," he stated with a devilish grin.

Jackson's mouth dropped open. Nothing came to mind to dispute Karev's claim and as he snuck another glance at April, he was afraid that his on-again-off-again friend was right. He finished his beer and then groaned in despair.

Karev laughed a little as he got Joe's attention. "We're going to need more beer and tequila."

Jackson knew that he was very, very drunk but he wasn't able to stop himself from wandering to April's bedroom. She had returned from Joe's earlier than him and Alex, and, luckily, without the boyfriend. He opened her door and paused in the doorway. "Can I come in?" He asked in a rather loud whisper.

"Yes, come in, I miss my best friend."

He smiled to himself as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. She sounded completely awake and a little drunk as well. He stripped down to his boxers because he hadn't even bothered to go to his room and change, and then he climbed into her bed.

She pulled him close immediately and curled into his side with her head resting on his chest. "Why are you always so warm?"

He laughed, "It must be a guy thing. You smell really good."

"That's a girl thing," she giggled.

He disagreed a little bit. Lexie had always smelled good but nothing like this. He was highly aware of the scent of vanilla coming from her hair and the way that her body was pressed against his. She was wearing a tank top and shorts to bed which was unusual for her and hard for him. He ran a hand down her back and she sighed in pleasure…that did nothing to help his situation.

"April, can I talk to you about something?" He asked nervously.

"Jackson, I think that I already know what you want to talk about."

"You do?" Maybe she had caught him watching her tonight. Maybe his feelings for her were obvious and it wasn't just Karev who had picked up on it. Or maybe she felt the same way about him.

"Mm hm." She looked up at him with a small smile. "You're worried about me. You're always worried about me," she said thankfully. "You're worried about how I'll perform on the Boards. You're worried about me and Anderson. Mostly you're worried that we're not going to be able to spend as much time together now that I have boyfriend."

"April…" He tried to stop her but she had a tendency to ramble when she was under the influence.

"I know that you've been lonely since you broke up with Lexie and that we've been spending more time together than usual, and I'm not going to blow you off now just because I have a boyfriend." She sighed again and rested a hand on his abdomen. "But I really like him," she confessed in a whisper.

"Yeah?" He tried to sound cheerful but his voice broke on the word. Luckily she didn't notice.

"Yeah, I do."

And for the rest of the night, until she fell asleep, Jackson listened to her gush about her new boyfriend because that was what a best friend was supposed to do. Once she was peacefully sleeping beside him, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He had told Lexie that he was not the kind of guy who waits around for the girl that's still in love with someone else but apparently he was the kind of guy who fell for the girl who couldn't be his.

A/N: Every day I fall more in love with the idea of Jackson and April together. Lol. Review please! :)