AU: Reed is alive, and reacts to April announcing that she and Jackson slept together.

April feels herself fidgeting nervously as she sits in the booth across from Reed. She's already a few drinks in, having needed that liquid courage, when she finally manages to blurt out, "I slept with Jackson."

The tiny brunette across from her gawks, stifling back a laugh. It's not that the situation is funny, but it's just so un-April-like that it almost feels like it is. For as long as Reed has known her, April has been her very virginal and very religious best friend; obsessed with order and chore wheels and doing the right thing. She remembers a time when April judged her for wanting to hook up with Mark Sloan at a party, because 'its the chief's house and it's totally inappropriate', and she wonders if the April who apparently hooked up with their friend would judge her the same way now.

"Seriously?! You and Jackson?!"

April frowns, trying to decipher what that means. Is it ridiculous because it's Jackson of all people, and, whilst he's one of her best friends, he's also always felt somewhat unattainable to her? Or is it just the fact that she had sex with someone full stop?

"Yes. It was...it was the night of the boards, when I punched that guy who was being a jackass, and you and Charles stayed behind at the bar."

"Alright, well, I'm happy for you. See, I'm finally starting to rub off on you. Took long enough!"

"Reed," April sighs, biting her lip softly, "I...don't know how I feel about it yet."

"What do you mean? It was good, right? I bet Jackson knows how to fu-"

"Reed!" She says once again, feeling embarrassed, "Yes, okay. It was good, really good, but you know that I was planning on saving myself for marriage, and Jackson is our friend. I don't want to risk ruining that."

Her friend takes another swig of her beer, figuring she needs to be blunt with April. She loves the redhead, but sometimes he tendencies to spin out about any little thing can be exhausting - especially for someone like Reed who prefers to live in the moment. It's rare she seems to regret anything.

"April, look, maybe this isn't what you planned, but you obviously wanted to sleep with him, right? Otherwise one of you would've stopped it from happening, so that probably means something. Nobody is saying you guys have to get married or that it has to be some big deal if you don't want it to be. Just...tell him what you're thinking. If you want to just be friends, tell him that. If you want to be something more, then put yourself out there. Guys are kind of dumb, so you have to spell it out for them, yeah?"

Sometimes April isn't a huge fan of Reed's bluntness, but she accepts it, anyway. She knows that she's right - that she needs to just talk to Jackson and tell him how she feels, and it almost feels like a weird sign from God when the man in question appears in Joe's with Charles trailing behind him. Making awkward eye contact with him, she braces herself for the duo to come join then in the booth, shifting herself over to Reed's side so the guys can sit together. She can't help but notice the way in which Reed is smirking, and she wonders if Charles even knows yet (knowing him, he's probably irritated because he didn't sleep with Reed first, having still not plucked up the courage to make it known how he feels).

"So, you and April had sex, huh?" Reed asks, hands resting under her chin and elbows perched on the table. Jackson's eyes widen, and April covers her blushing face with her hands.

"Dude, you what?!" Charles practically shouts - a little too loudly in April's eyes, "Since when?"

Yeah, he didn't know.