Thanks to everyone who is still following this story. I appreciate your support and all of your comments. I hope you enjoy the read. Cant wait to hear your thoughts. -sdwash27

"April tells me that you come from a long line of cardiothoracic surgeons; that must have put a lot of pressure on you?" Matthew glumly stated secretly wishing that he and April could blow off this awkward outing and go back to his apartment like he had planned. The idea of having some sort of companionship with the plastic surgeon was as far-fetched as batman and The Joker suddenly reconciling their differences and riding off into the sunset together hand in hand. It simply wasn't going to happen.

"Did she now?" asked Jackson while stealing a glance at the red head that held his heart. She had conveniently turned her back away from him and was carrying on a conversation with one of the nurses who worked in the pediatric wing of the hospital. Karen was her name and he could vaguely remember his roommate hinting that there was a two week stint between the pair where they found themselves alone in a supply closet on more than one occasion. Alex was such a man whore and everyone knew it, but somehow he still managed to keep his integrity intact.

"Yea you know how April is. She's a talker. So I pretty much know everything there is to know about Jackson Avery and the famous Avery clan."

Jackson smiled grimly afraid that if the paramedic said one thing to piss him off then not even April would be able to stop him from punching him in the face. "Great, well then you should know that unlike my siblings I'd rather live outside of my grandfather's shadow." Jackson took a swig of his adult beverage enjoying the fizz that sizzled against the roof of his mouth. He leaned backwards against the bar stool he had been sitting in and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine his life as if he had chosen a career in cardio instead; he would be successful no doubt but he would never hold the rapport of his dutifully noted grandfather Harper Avery Sr. He would probably be married to a woman like Christina Yang, cold and emotionless but a conqueror in her career and in the bedroom. No kids- he wouldn't dare torture a little soul by allowing a faux Yang to be its mother. They'd probably share a two bedroom luxurious condominium with the best view of the city and maybe a dog if he could talk her into it.

"It doesn't bother the Avery's that you chose to pursue a career in plastic surgery. I mean there's really no comparison of the two." Matthew said alerting Jackson back to reality. He had gotten so deeply involved with his fantasy that he had forgotten he had been talking to him.

"I'm sure they'd prefer I'd be performing award winning heart surgeries rather than routine breast augmentations and face lifts, but I think very little of my family's opinions where my career is concerned. You seem to know so much about me but I hardly know a thing about you."

Matthew calmly nodded his head slyly peeking over Jackson's shoulder to steal a glance at his girlfriend. She met his gaze and smiled back at him- a gesture that made his insides twist at the sight of her. God she was so beautiful and there was no one in his life more important than she was to him. That's why he had to be here; he couldn't dare leave her alone with Mr. Smooth operator. That would be a mistake he could never forgive himself for. Jackson Avery was a thorn in his side, and there was no way he was going to give up the love of his life, at least not without a fight. He turned back to Jackson who was staring back at him as if he wanted to knock his lights out.

"There's not much to know. I'm no different than any other guy in Seattle. I have really strong Christian beliefs and fortunately for me April understands that."

"Yes April's a very compassionate woman. She's an honest woman. You're very lucky to have her," Jackson admitted feeling a little envious of the paramedic. He'd give anything to be in his shoes- to have a woman who accepted him for who he was- who cared about him and not his last name- a woman who challenged him intellectually, physically, and emotionally- a woman who believed in him even if he didn't believe in himself. April was all of those things to him and he hated that they always seemed to push each other away. His relationship with Stephanie was an example of just how stupid he had been. He never intended to get serious with her let alone get her pregnant, but those things happened and now he was accountable for his actions.

Matthew softly nodded his head imagining the guilt Jackson must have been feeling having lost such an amazing woman. It was obvious Jackson was in love with her; he could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at her. His only concern was whether she had gotten over her feelings for the Doctor as she had alluded to. He couldn't stand to lose her, especially not to Jackson Avery.

"Yes I am, but I'm sure that doesn't mean a thing to you."

"What are you talking about?" asked Jackson not expecting this turn in conversation. He could sense that Matthew was clearly aggravated- catching him off guard.

"You're still in love with her."

"Matthew April and I are just friends so whatever your problem is with me, you need to get over it."

Matthew aggressively slammed his hands on the surface of the bar counter; he had just about had enough of pretending that he didn't see the big picture here. If he was going to ever get April down the aisle then he had to confront her past with Jackson.

"Bull shit! We're both men here. All I'm asking for is a little honesty."

"She's with you man, isn't that enough for you?" Jackson said calmly feeling the eyes of onlookers spying on him. He could sense her, April, looking at the two of them and he didn't want to blow his lid and embarrass her. He had to keep his cool.

"Hey man. Everything all right over here," Alex asked Jackson as he approached the duo. He was actually surprised to see Matthew sitting at the bar; he had been under the impression that Jackson and April had planned to hang out, just the two of them.

'No problem here. I think I'm going to get some fresh air," Jackson replied while getting up from his barstool. He was glad Karev showed up when he did because he didn't know how long he would have been able to avoid punching Matthew right into oblivion.

"Jackson we're not done here," Matthew called after him but Jackson had already made it to the exit passing up April and the nurse she had been talking to.

Alex sat down next to Matthew appreciative that Jackson had kept his seat warm and finished off the Corona Jackson had left behind. He glared at the preppy paramedic who was wearing a collared polo and a pair of pressed khaki's and smiled at him. April sure knows how to pick him he thought briefly before ordering a beer of his liking without giving Matthew another thought.

"So you're Alex right?" Matthew reluctantly asked a little upset that the surgeon had intruded on his conversation with Jackson.

"Yeah and you must be the virgin April talks so much about."

"Shit" Jackson screamed as he kicked a half full trash can outside of Joe's, its remains scattering into the street. He was furious at himself for not speaking up to Matthew when he had the chance. Matthew was right about his feelings for April; he was in love with her and he had been too much of a coward to admit it. This night had not gone at all how he'd planned; he had expected for he and April to spend some time alone together, to have fun again like they used to when they were just interns trying to find their place as doctors.

They had been friends for such a long time before any romantic feelings had been involved, sometimes he missed how simple it had been when love was not standing between them. He needed to see her- to feel the warmth of her smile- to see the twinkle in her deep chocolate eyes; right now he ached for her and he didn't care that her boyfriend was inside. He reached for his phone and stroked his fingers across the keys generating the words "Meet me out front." He stared at the words for a moment pondering if he should even talk to her after what had transpired between him and her boyfriend and pressed send.

"April, oh my gosh, Alex is here." Karen nervously observed.

"Where?" April asked scoping the room for her womanizing ex roommate. She couldn't understand why so many women were influenced by him; he was the biggest asshole she knew. It still surprised her that once she had thought she liked him, but luckily for her it was short lived.

"Right over there, Karen pointed, sitting with your boyfriend."

April looked over her shoulder and spotted Matthew downing another beer and Alex staring right at her. He smiled at her. It was a smug smile, one that April could easily determine as arrogance.

"Ugh, he is such a jerk. I don't know what anyone see's in this guy," April suggested looking away from the infamous Alex Karev.

Karen blushed.

"He's not so bad; he's really a nice guy once you get to know him."

"Karen Alex doesn't have a single nice bone in his body," April said. "The only way he'd play nice was if he got something out of it."

"We work together all the time and he's never been rude to me. I think he's really sweet," Karen admitted with a genuine smile.

April took in Karen's expression as she watched her make eye contact with the pediatric surgeon. It was obvious she had it bad for the doctor, but how did he feel about her.

"Wow, did the two of you?" she began but was interrupted by the sound of her phone buzzing from inside her jean pocket. "Excuse me," she said reaching in her pocket to retrieve her cell. Her eyes lingered on the screen for a moment; she had gotten a text from Jackson. She'd noticed him bolt towards the entrance earlier and even then she had wanted to go after him, but she didn't want to make things worse between her and Matthew- so she stayed. He was asking to see her. How could she turn him down? He was her best friend and after all she had left him alone with Matthew unsupervised instead of hanging around to be certain that the two of them would be alright.

"I'll be right back," she said before making her way to the entrance of the bar.

She found him slumped over a pile of debris gathering all that he could hold. There wasn't much left in the road from what she could see. "Jackson," she said softly almost expecting him not to hear her frail voice in lure of the commotion going on inside of the bar. Joe's was in full swing by now and she couldn't think of a reason why she and Jackson were missing out on all the fun.

She watched him carry a few half drunken beer bottles and randoms to the empty can to discard. He brushed his hands together in an attempt to get rid of any excess dirt that might have been left behind. "Hey," he said briefly brushing past her and into the alleyway on the side of Joe's. She followed thereafter making it a point to keep her distance.

"So what happened in there?"

Jackson rubbed his shaved head with his hands and let them fall in place behind his head. "He has it in for me. I tried to play nice but April you shouldn't have brought him here."

"I know Jackson and I'm sorry. I was just trying to do what's best for all of us. Matthew and I are still trying to figure things out and you and I, well I don't know what we're even doing."

"I thought we'd agreed to be friends. I don't know about you but I miss the way things were before anything romantic ever happened between us. I miss knowing that no matter what I was going through you had my back and I had yours."

'That was such a long time ago, Jackson. I was so naïve back then that you could have said anything to me and I would have believed it, April confessed biting the corner of her lips as she waited for Jackson's response.

"Somehow I thought you were going to say that you missed me too- that you wanted me in your life. I really misjudged you April Kepner," he snickered letting his hands drop to his side.

"Missing you is not the question. Of course I miss you Jackson but a friendship is all I can offer you and I don't know if I believe that your intentions are good. You've made it clear that your feelings for me weren't platonic many times before."

"He thinks I'm in love with you. He feels threatened by me. He's afraid you might think I'm the better man," said Jackson making eye contact with April whose demeanor now showed a sense of uncertainty. She was nervous; he knew this because she had taken her bottom lip into the corners of her mouth just as she always did whenever she felt anxious.

"Did he really tell you that?" April inquired feeling the quarter sized lump that had found its way into her airway. She felt trapped, torn between these two amazing men and every time she tried to make a compromise for the three of them, it always ended badly.

"Yes he did, but I told him that you and I were just friends. We are still friends right?"

"Jackson I…. It's just that Matthew is so vulnerable right now. I don't think this friendship is healthy for the three of us right now," she said confidingly hoping that he would understand. She wasn't saying that they would never be friends again because that would be unbearable for her. She just needed to buy some time so that Matthew could heal.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying? April I am not about to play this game with you again, you're either in my life or you're not. There's no in between. I don't think that our friendship should be wait- listed. I'm going through a difficult time in my life right now and I need my best friend to help me get through this."

"Jackson why does everything have to be about what you need, what about me? What about Matthew? Don't our feelings matter or are you so self-centered that you can't see past your own needs?"

"I'm not concerned with how Matthew feels; the only person that I care about in this situation is you." He grabbed both of her hands and held them in his. "We have history April; what do you have with Matthew that you're willing to just throw our friendship away?"

"I'm not throwing you away; I'm only asking for a little compassion where Matthew is concerned. You know this is hard for him especially now that he knows the depth of our relationship. Give me some time to figure things out with him," she pleaded with the surgeon.

"And what about us, tonight was our night to figure things out and you didn't even give it a chance. If I had known you were bringing him then I would never have come here tonight."

"I thought that if he came along you both could see how great you both are. The optimist in me thought that this could truly work and I wouldn't have to sacrifice my boyfriend or my best friend. I'm sorry Jackson." By now April had already grown weary of this unbreakable cycle between the threesome; her heart was breaking for the three of them because she loved them both so much.

"You're sorry? Well I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I even thought you were ready to commit to the idea of becoming friends again," said Jackson while heading towards the entrance of the bar.

"Jackson Don't walk away from me," April begged him as she followed in behind him bumping into Callie in passing.

"Don't bother chasing after him," Callie argued stopping April from entering the bar. She was alone, at least she appeared to be since Arizona was nowhere in sight. "Men are men. They hear only what they want to hear. You'd just be wasting your time."

"Callie I should really go…."

"Shh," Callie placed her index finger on top of the red head's pursed lips. "Listen what you need is a little fun; come with me."

"At first I was afraid. I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side," April began as she made her way to the center of the stage. Callie joined her on stage her husky voice finishing the line with such feistiness. April could feel the crowd's eyes on her as she continued through the song and as the tempo picked up and she began to sashay across the stage like she owned it, the cries and screams in the bar could be heard blocks away. She thought of Jackson; she knew somewhere in the bar he stood watching her still angry that she had set him straight. She found Callie on the right of the stage and danced over to her placing her back against hers before singing the last phrase. Together they sang, "And I'll survive, I will survive. I will survive." They gave each other a huge squeeze before turning to face the screaming drunken bar hoppers who had graciously accepted their rendition of I will survive and took a bow. April spotted Meredith, Christina, and Alex sitting over at the bar all smiling widely at the two of them. She looked out into the crowd once more hoping to see Matthew or Jackson among the crowd but saw neither of them.

She and Callie made their way over to their friends whom were quite surprised that they had successfully pulled off a karaoke performance as well as they had. April nestled her way in between Alex and Meredith who had been talking about the old frat house Alex had bought from Meredith. They were saying something about the floor boards needing to be remodeled and it sounded like Alex expected Meredith to pay for it. That was never going to happen.

"Hey guys," she said resting her elbows on the counter.

Meredith smiled affectionately at both she and Callie and placed an arm around April's shoulder. "That was really an amazing performance. I'm really impressed."

Christina rolled her eyes at her pregnant friend. She hated when Meredith got all cheery, she blamed it on the pregnancy. "Yeah it was ok," Christina offered before anyone had a chance to question her opinion.

"It was so damn sexy," said Alex in between sips. He was still working on finishing what had to have been his fourth beer. Right now his mind was set on calling up Jo and asking her to meet up with him. He hadn't seen much of her since she started dating that douche bag from obstetrics.

Callie slapped him on the back of his head letting out a boisterous laugh soon after.

"Hey what'd you do that for?" Alex asked rubbing the back of his head with his palm. "Damn that hurt."

Christina and Meredith joined Callie in laughter, Christina nearly falling off her chair in a drunken stupor. "Alex you're funny," she giggled restoring her balance.

"Oh yeah and you're drunk," Alex spat back still rubbing the back of his head. Torres sure did hit hard he thought to himself afraid to admit that he was still feeling the sting from her back hand.

"Oh yeah," Christina started up wailing her finger in Meredith's face.

"Ok. ok, I think I need to get this one home." Meredith explained grabbing Christina by the hand preparing to lead her out of the bar.

"Yeah it is getting sort of late; I know Arizona's probably waiting up for me. I should probably leave too," said Callie. She wrapped her arms around April's shoulder and gave her a tight squeeze. "I will see you tomorrow Chica."

April accepted her embrace and gave her a warm smile. She waited until her friends left before turning to speak to Alex who seemed like he had planned to ride the night out at Joe's. "Have you seen Matthew?"

"Yeah he left hours ago; he seemed like he had something on his mind. I don't know. He just didn't seem all that excited to be here is all."

"And Jackson, is he still here?" she asked looking over her shoulder to see if she could spot him somewhere in the bar. No luck. The crowd had already started to dwindle down to just a few night owls and from what she could tell Jackson had already left.

Alex shrugged his shoulders.

"Should I call you a cab," April offered feeling in the mood to be a Good Samaritan.

"No I'll be fine. I'm going to be here a while anyways," he explained.

"Ok suit yourself." April grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell phone to check to see if Matthew had left her any messages. She had one missed call and a voice message from an unidentified number. She pressed her cell to her ear to listen to the voice mail, her brows furrowed as she listened to the woman on the message.

"What?" she said aloud as she stared at her phone in disbelief.

"What's going on?" asked Alex after observing April's peculiar behavior. He might have been a little intoxicated but he was still alert enough to know that something was wrong."

"It's Jackson," she said softly her hands beginning to tremble.

"What about him?"

" He's been in an accident."