What if Jackson hadn't shown up to the wedding, so April showed up at the hospital in her wedding dress?
He's not here. He's not here, even though he said he would be. He's not here, even though she needs him to be, and she realises that she can't go through with this wedding. Not without him.
She does her best to call it off without making a scene, which is an impossible task given their family and friends are all staring at them, wondering what the hold up is. Matthew looks so pissed and hurt, but also like maybe a part of him saw this coming - she had been honest about the fact that she'd always have feelings for Jackson, after all. She's grateful that Arizona seems to jump into action once she realises what's happening, giving her time to quickly explain everything to her parents and apologise profusely before making a run for it. April doesn't even bother to change out of her wedding dress, and she knows that she probably looks a little ridiculous when she finally manages to hail a cab after god knows how many minutes of jogging away from the barn. A part of her just debates going back to her apartment, but the other part of her - the one that wins out, has her breathlessly mumbling 'Grey Sloan' as her destination, because she knows that, more than likely, thats where Jackson is, and she needs answers. She needs to know why he didn't show.
It doesn't take her long to make it there, and she knows that people are staring at her and whispering under their breaths as she traipse through the hospital in search of Jackson. It doesn't take her long to find him exiting a patients room, and it stops both of them in their tracks, his green eyes widening as he takes in the sight of her.
April gulps, trying to keep it together when she says quietly, "You didn't come. You said you were going to...you said you'd be there, and you weren't. Where were you?"
"I...broke up with Stephanie. Thats why I didn't come." That's not the whole truth. He also didn't think he could watch her marry another man, knowing that it was supposed to be their wedding. Knowing that he could've given her a reason when she'd asked him to, but didn't. "I was her plus one...remember?"
"I wanted you there." She looks so broken and hurt and almost child-like, that all he wants to do is make it better somehow. Usually he's the one doing just that - not being the source of her pain, and he hates himself for it. He seems to hate himself for a lot of things lately.
"I know, I just-" He swallows, unsure of whether or not he should say it. Unsure of whether or not he even can say it. He's been a coward for so long that maybe it's too late to suddenly grow a backbone now. "I'm sorry, okay?"
"That's it? You're just sorry? I just ran out on my wedding and you're sorry?" She finds herself getting annoyed now. She's never taken Jackson for a liar. If anything, he's always been someone to keep his promises, but this time, he hadn't, and that angers her. Sure, she knows she hurt him with her post-sex Jesus freak-outs and by being an awkward, oblivious mess, but she also likes to think that she's been a good friend to him over the years. When he was freaking out about his facial reanimation surgery, she convinced him that he could do it. When she'd hear him having nightmares after the shooting, she'd do her best to comfort him and stay with him until he fell asleep again. Whilst everyone else treated him like a nepotism hire or fawned over his last name, she treated him like a normal person. Now, he couldn't even find it in himself to do this one thing he said he'd do for her? Or even give her a heads up that he'd changed his mind? That wasn't fair.
"Yes, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I couldn't watch you marry another man, marry him, knowing that it could've been me. I'm sorry that I didn't give you a reason and told you to go through with it." He pauses for a moment, running his hand over his face as she watches him anxiously, and he thinks about Mark Sloan's last words to him. If he doesn't tell her now, then thats it, he thinks - she'll never forgive him for it, and he'll never have another chance to tell her how he feels. "I-I love you, April. Even the things I don't like, I love, and I'm sorry that it took me so long to say it."
April sucks in a breath that she doesn't realise she's holding, her mouth dropping open in shock. He loves her? He actually loves her, and is saying it? He's finally giving her a reason? She's not sure how to handle the freight train of emotions she's feeling, as tears pricker at the corner of her eyes and threaten to ruin her perfectly-applied wedding make up. She'd waited so long for him to say it - for them to finally be on the same page, and hearing those words from Matthew had never managed to make her feel like this. "You-you really mean that?"
He moves closer to her, hands gently resting on her arms and his face softening, "Of course I mean it. I meant it when I said I was all in. It wasn't just about the baby. I just-I was scared and hurt when you told me to give you a reason. I didn't think you really wanted me, and I was afraid that it'd just be like before, with you spinning out every time something happened between us. I couldn't deal with that again...but I always wanted you."
She gets that, and she feels her previous irritation and anger completely melt away when she looks into his eyes and sees that he's being genuine. She closes the remaining distance between them, pulling him into a kiss that sparks a fire in him - that lets him know how she feels, and they go at it until they need to come up for air, her hands having moved to his neck and his to her waist. Their foreheads rest against one another after, and she finally repeats those three little words he already said to her softly. "I love you, too."
"This is so much better than my soaps!"
The voice of Jackson's patient, a woman in her fifties called Renee, shouting loudly from the room they were still standing outside of, snaps them out of their little love bubble and back to reality. They both can't help but laugh, and April looks down at her dress and remembers that she very much looks like a runaway bride in their place of work, and how awkward thats going to be once word spreads around the rest of the hospital. "Uhm, I should probably...change."
He nods in response. As much as he wants to just stay like this and relish in the fact that they actually know how the other feels now, he issupposed to be working, and there's still so much that they need to figure out. He takes one last moment to drink in the sight of her, and although there's still a part of him thats sad that this wasn't all for him, he can't help but compliment her. "Alright. You look...beautiful, by the way."
"Thanks." April can't help but blush, kissing him softly once more, "Can we...can we talk more after your shift?"
"Of course. I get off in a couple of hours. How about I take you out for dinner? I wanna do this right." He's not exactly sure what this is yet, but he knows that there's a part of him that still wants the whole damn thing. He doesn't want to waste anymore time.
"Okay. I'd like that." She tries to hide some of her enthusiasm as she slowly but surely leaves him to attend to his patients and locate her locker, still feeling giddy on the inside. She knows at one point, the full weight of emotions will hit her - the guilt of leaving Matthew at the altar, the feeling of knowing how disappointed her parents will be, the stress of returning her wedding gifts, the anxiety over the gossip...but for now, she doesn't care. They're happy, and finally feel like they have somewhat of a future together, and thats all that matters.