Hi! I'm walking in here, 5 months later with starbucks and also? saying there will be one more chapter. i've had this ready for a month now, but I have been blocked on how to end it. I guess I'll put this up now and seeing how you guys react, I'll come up with the ending! Thank you all for the lovely reviews so far and the messages you guys sent! They meant the world, I might be terrible at replying, but they mean a lot to me.

"You never texted me back last night, is everything okay?" raising her chin, Meredith kissed Nick briefly, smiling apologetically as she pulled away. Checking to see if she still had some time before her shift started, she grabbed his hand and tugged him to an on call room, rolling her eyes at how quickly his concerned expression melted away to something more interested.

"Don't start getting ideas, I just don't want anyone to overhear us." still, she didn't exactly protest as he crowded her against the door, locking the door with one hand as the other started drawing small circles on the skin between her scrub top and pants.

"No ideas here, I am just here to listen. So, what happened?" her eyes fluttered closed when he started kissing her neck, distracting her from what she was about to say. Pressing her hand against his neck, she put a little pressure on it, keeping him in that wonderful spot he discovered a week ago when they were in his place. "Nothing to share?" she could practically feel his smirk against her skin.

Slapping his chest, she pushed him away, her expression playfully angry as she circled the room, keeping him at a distance. "Sit down on the bed and stay there." she ordered, sitting down in one of the chairs - she would have preferred to lean against the wall but it was clear that position would not be safe.

With mock-solemnity, he saluted her and sat down on the bed, smiling innocently at her. "Yes Ma'am. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I do. You just distracted me." ignoring his pleased look, she launches into her story.

-12 hours earlier -

The sisters are lying in bed together, Meredith quiet as she waits for Maggie to compose herself and explain what happened. In one moment of weakness, still jealous of her sister's preferential treatment towards April in the past few weeks she offers to call her, but the violent way Maggie reacts to her name gives Meredith another clue of what happened.

Amelia eventually shows up, carrying ice cream and spoons and the ability to discuss feelings that Meredith doesn't have.

"You're going to have to talk eventually, or I will have no choice but to go around killing people. April will be first," Maggie smiles a little at that, "then Riggs because I can't believe he has a fiancee that none of us knew about," this one makes her laugh a little bit, "and I guess I'll have to kill Nick because he will notice that I've gone on a killing spree and I don't think he is ready to be ride or die yet," a cute little snort is the answer she gets for this one, "who else, well, I guess Jackson because he will notice as well and -" the way Maggie stiffens in her arms lets Meredith know she hit the jackpot, "- and I think he deserves to die." sharing a look with Amelia, she nods, letting the brunette take the lead.

"Maggie, do you want to tell us what happened?" turning around in bed, Maggie buries her face in one of the pillows and starts mumbling something. "Could you repeat that? I didn't catch that, did you catch that?"

"I didn't. Maggie, can you lift your face please?" Meredith asks softly, but once again the answer is mumbled into the pillow.

Without warning, Maggie suddenly jumps up and sits on the middle of the bed, almost throwing the other women out of the bed, her tear stained face angry and resolute. "Let me tell you what happened. Seriously, let me tell you what happened, because you won't believe it. First, April is in love with Jackson."

"I believe it." Amelia says, adjusting herself against the headboard, head tilted to the side as she drums her fingers against the bedside table. "He is very hot for an intern and he is nice to her. And let's be honest, besides you Maggie, no one else in the hospital has the patience to be nice to her."

"Okay, well!" Maggie starts against, her expression even more maniac, "she thinks they are dating and I'm not sure if they are or not."

"I don't see why that's a problem. I mean, I might have to cut ties with Jackson because I don't want him bringing her to Christmas dinner but if he wants to date her, we can't stop him." Meredith drawls, resting her head on Amelia's thigh. "But I saw them today and that was not the vibe I was getting from them at all. At least not from him."

"Well! She thinks they are dating, she told me so herself! After blowing me off to spend time with him! And then he and I had this huge fight, and I- I said horrible things to him, truly horrible things that he will never forgive me for saying. I ruined our friendship." she knew how he felt about being the pretty face of the Avery family, his insecurities when it comes to proving himself, and she just threw those words at his face.

She is supposed to be his best friend, to support him when things get tough and yell at idiots who disrespect them. But today, she was the idiot.

"Apologize to him. Avery is a reasonable guy, he will accept your apology." Amelia tried, but Maggie shaked her head and looked at Meredith, pleading with her to understand that there was no turning back, her dramatic side flaring up, clouding her judgement.

Practical as ever, Meredith shrugged. "Okay, we are no longer friends with them than. What's next." the cheeky answer didn't get her the laughter she was expecting, instead Maggie's eyes started filling with tears once again. "Ok, no. No, he is still your best friend. And he will forgive you, he is Jackson and you are Maggie, you two are the perfect best friends, he will forgive you."

"I don't want to be his best friend! I'm in love with him."

Silence filled the room.

The thought of anyone else being with Jackson filled her with disgust, one night stands had always annoyed her, but she didn't dwell much on them, knowing that they didn't mean anything. But if Jackson started dating someone seriously (and April wasn't the type to date anyone casually, if they were together, it meant that it was heading somewhere - somewhere with a white dress and a church bell), it would mean being replaced as the first in his attentions. He wouldn't be able to stop by for a quick bite or to fix something whenever she asked, they wouldn't spend afternoons together reading medical journals or novels and teasing each other. He would have someone in his house waiting for him.

Their relationship would be exposed, vulnerable to the whims of a third party.

Imagining the two of them together made her want to hurl and curl in bed for the rest of her life.

He was her Jackson, she was the one who was supposed to kiss him goodnight, hold his hand when things got tough, laugh at his mom's crazy behavior.

She fell in love with him years ago, but he was her best friend, part of the little family she and Mer created in the absence of fathers or a mother who gave them attention. A relationship could damage that, so she buried her feelings, lied to herself and everyone about them until she almost started believing he was simply her best friend.

But April's confession shattered those illusions, making her confront her feelings.

"I can't be his best friend because I am in love with him. And if he is in love with April, I don't think, I don't think I can handle seeing him with her. I love him Meredith, I've loved him for só long that I don't know what it's like to not be in love with him." she ranted, "I started matchmaking and I began imagining the perfect partner for everyone. Mer, yours was Nick. I set up Dr. Bailey with that sexy anesthesiologist, and Amelia I was going to set you up with that sexy italian OBGYN attending, I mean have you seen her? I know you've seen her, I've caught you staring at her a million times.. But! That's not the point, the point is, I never gave Jackson a perfect imaginary partner, because I've never been able to imagine him with anyone but me. And now... And now I might lose him." her voice broke at the end, and immediately she was enveloped by two pairs of arms as she started crying again.

The door opened a smidge and Cristina poked her head in, obviously wanting to talk to Meredith, but her person nodded and mouthed to come back tomorrow, before going back to talking about how ugly Jackson looked in middle school.

The rest of the night was spent in this manner, crying fits, romantic monologues about how wonderful Jackson is and long stretches where they dissed him.

When Maggie left to change into something more comfortable in her room, Amelia asked the question that had been in her mind since Maggie's confession, actually, what had been in her mind ever since she saw Maggie and Jackson together for the first time.

"How did she just realize she is in love with him?"

Meredith, who had watched her little sister and best friend fall in love and pretend for years that that was not the case, could only shrug. "They are both very stubborn people. Maggie probably created a list of reasons to not be in love with Jackson and he probably tried to ignore his feelings and pretend what he felt was friendship. I love them, but they can be quite delusional sometimes."

"Do you think he feels the same way right now?" Amelia asked, fearful about the possibility of Jackson actually being with April and the effect this would have on her friend.

"No, I don't think so. He was jealous of Maggie spending time with April, and if looks could kill, Riggs would be seven feet under by now. He is in love with her, I just hope he isn't using April to forget that."

Meredith dearly loved both of them, Maggie was the only reason why her mother's house had any joy. Her annoyance at the screaming baby who kept waking her up in the middle of the night melted away the second her mother told her to take care of her sister and not to wait up because she had a late surgery, that little bundle that gave her a huge headache the day before was now precious to her.

"Jackson wouldn't do that, would he?"

Amelia never got her answer, as Maggie re-entered the room a second later, snuggling in between the two of them, her arm tight around Meredith's waist.

Maggie's head felt heavy from all of the crying, but what truly dragged her down was the heavy heart she was carrying. Her heart belonged to Jackson, truly and completely. To lose him before she really had him, before she had a chance to even kiss him. It was a fate she wouldn't wish on anyone.

present -

"Huh." lying back between Nick's legs, Meredith tilted her head up, a curious brow lifted.

"Huh what?" she asked when he didn't elaborate.

"That explains Avery's behavior today, he refused to scrub in on a transplant surgery and when I asked if he was available to come with me to Arizona later today he also declined. Not used to interns saying no to surgeries, you lot are pretty scalpel crazy." grinning when Meredith slaps his chest, he hugs her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Jackson had been pacing the hospital for hours, he was working, but he also spent most of his time by the hospital's entrance, hoping for a glimpse of Maggie. His plan had been to visit her at home, but he got called in early and didn't have time.

He hated fighting with Maggie, he hated not being able to talk to her, complain about his day or share a funny meme he saw on his feed. He might not be okay with everything that was said yesterday (correction: he was definetly still angry about some of the things that were said), but in the end, he had to decide - what mattered more? His pride or his best friend, correction - the woman he loves. And it was Maggie, Maggie won every time. He was going to talk to her, apologize, and hope she apologized back. If not, he would talk to her later about it. But the absence of her hurt a lot more than anything else.

Seeing a familiar flame of red hair, he jogged over to April, speaking before she could get a sound out.

"Have you seen Maggie this morning?" he asked, missing the way her face dropped. You see, April had been hoping he was going to ask her out now, after all, he had sided with her over his best friend, they were closer than ever, so it would be the perfect time for them to start going out. And she checked her calender - if they started dating now, they would probably have a June wedding. And they would have time to plan the wedding and get the church she had always dreamed of getting married in.

"Maggie, no, I haven't. Um, Jackson could I-" he interrupted her, saying he would find her later and this time jogged over to Bailey, who cut him off before he could even ask her a question.

"Do I look like a cruise director?"

"No?"

"Was that a question Avery?" Bailey asked turning around to face him, both eyebrows raised and a smirk teasing her lips.

"No? No, ma'am." he said, throwing in the little bit of charm that usually made women melt.

It had no effect on Miranda Bailey. "But-"

Her features softened slightly and she replied to his unspoken question. "She is in the skills lab."

He didn't question how she knew who he was looking for. He may be new at the hospital, but he already knew this simple truth - Bailey knows everything and she is always right.

Beaming, he pressed a kiss against her forehead, ignoring her protestations and ran to the skills lab, not caring that Bailey was yelling at him to slow down and not even realizing that April had tried to touch him on the arm as he passed by her.

They stared at each other in silent, breathing each other in, their faces immediately softening, smiles gracing their lips. There was a lot to be spoken, but in that look the two of them shared the most important things - forgiveness, longing, and dare I say it, love.

Maggie, seeing no resistance, wrapped her arms around him, her lips pressed against his neck as she shuddered in his arms, crying about their fight, the feelings she knew he didn't return and all the things she kept bottled up.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay." he murmured, his hand running up and down her back in circular motions.

"No, no, no." she protested pushing him away, brushing the tears away from her face angrily. "You don't get to comfort me."

"Maggie.." he stared at her, confusion coloring his blue eyes.

Holding a hand up, she started walking up and down the room. After doing the course three times she turned to face him. "I was the one who hurt you! I should be the one comforting you, I should be on my knees begging for your forgiveness."

Stepping closer to her, he put his hands on her shoulders, smiling kindly at her. "I forgive you."

But his words, instead of soothing her only angered her more. "No! Why would you? I knew what I was doing, I hurt you Jackson. I hurt you, and you didn't deserve it."

Amused by her antics, he only tugged her closer, laughing at her. "Okay. I still forgive you. But do you forgive me?"

"Yes, of course, but-"

"Good."

"-This argument isn't over Jackson Avery!" she continued, unbothered by his interruption, "how can you be so-" waving her hand in front of her, pointing to his whole body, "you should be angry! Thunderous! I deserve that, I got myself prepared for that."

"Oh, I see. Would you prefer if I enter the room again and start yelling at you and saying you are the worst friend in the world?"

She actually considered this for a second before shaking her head. "No, I don't want that either."

"Then I won't." she was really something else his Maggie, how did he take so long to realize he was in love with her? He would need to thank Riggs for making him aware of his feelings. Ice ran through his veins às he remembered why he had been so frantic to find her yesterday, he had to tell her about Riggs being engaged and break her heart in the process.

Maggie felt Jackson stiffen, looking up at him, she was surprised to find that his face was no longer warm and open, instead guarded and fearful.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, Maggie, maybe you should sit down." he suggested pulling up a chair for her.