A/N: Not sure where exactly this idea came from, I was studying for finals and it proved to be a great procrastination tool, haha, we need something to pass the time during the hiatus :) Anyways I am fairly new to the Fan Fiction world, so please review, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy.

April Kepner slouched in her seat at Joe's. She had started the day out in such a good mood, and now? When Matthew had dropped the I-want-you-to-meet-my-mother bomb on her, she hadn't known what to expect. The only mother besides her own that she'd ever had experience with was Catherine Avery, and it's not like the two situations were in any way similar. And of course, now she'd ruined everything.

She sighed, took a swig of her drink and wished for the umpteenth time that what had happened between her and Jackson had never actually happened. What she wouldn't give to have her best friend back. He would have known just the right thing to say; hell, he probably could have kept her from telling Matthew she was a virgin in the first place. And if they'd never had sex, she could have honestly told Matthew that she was saving herself and none of this would be happening.

April finished her drink, and sensed someone sitting down next to her.

"You look like you could use another one of those."

She glanced to the side to see Alex as he signaled to Joe. The bartender slid two glasses down the bar to them. After all these years, he knew everyone's drink of choice.

"Thanks, but I wasn't planning on having another one," April said, pushing her stool back to stand up.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Give it up, Not-So-Virgin Mary, just take the freakin' drink," he muttered.

April paused for a second and glowered at him before easing herself back into her chair. She wasn't overly used to hanging out with Karev, but it had been a busy day for all of them, with the Syrian doctors coming to Grey Sloan.

"Crazy day today, huh? Trying to find ways those doctors can help people with almost no medical supplies?" she said.

"Freakin' medieval crap..." Alex grumbled. Though he had kept up his gruff exterior today, it was really bothering him that the kids in Syria weren't going to get the best medical care possible. He took a drink and winced internally at the burn in his throat. "They'll be lucky if they don't kill a patient with some of those techniques. They need more equipment."

April shifted guiltily, remembering her impromptu thievery. "Well at least they can do something, that's better than nothing," she said quickly. "And I think they went home with a lot of extra supplies." It was her turn to take a sip. This was her third drink of the night, and she could feel her head getting a little fuzzy.

"Can't save everyone I guess," Alex laughed humorlessly. They sat in silence for a few moments, April absentmindedly shredding a napkin in between her fingers.

Sure, she'd never really spoken to Alex about her personal life before, especially not after their on-call room incident during their residency, but he was a guy, after all, and maybe he could offer some insight into her problems.

Here goes nothing, April thought to herself as she finished her drink, opened her mouth and began to speak.

"I... I told Matthew I was a virgin."

Alex turned his head in shock towards the red-haired attending. Since when did Kepner talk to him about her personal crap? "What?"

April flushed. "I... uh... Sorry. Never mind." She ducked her head.

Alex shook his head in disbelief. He was definitely not the go-to person to talk to about these types of things, Kepner would be better off going to Mer or Cristina for advice. Still, he found himself wondering where she had been going with that, especially with what he'd witnessed between her and a certain Plastics fellow the week before.

"Seriously, what? You can't just say something like that and then say never mind," he prodded.

April took a deep breath. Now that he was paying attention, she looked like she had a lot on her mind. Alex tried to keep his face expressionless as she spoke.

"I, uh, I told Matthew that I was a virgin, when you know, I'm obviously not and I don't know why I did it, but he told me that he was saving himself for marriage and that's what I always wanted, and now I'll never get it and it just came out! And that was weeks ago and then today, he says he wants me to meet his mother and the Syrian doctors have nothing and how can we possibly complain when they have nothing and I'm worrying about meeting my freaking boyfriend's mom! So I thought, oh, well, how mad can he be, so I told him that I lied about being a virgin and now he hates me!"

Alex snickered. "Seriously? You thought I was the best person to talk to about this? What about Meredith or Cristina, isn't that what women do? Talk about guys?"

He saw April's face fall for just a moment before she replaced her expression with a steely glare.

"You know what? You're right. I can't believe that I thought you could be a decent human being about this and help me out instead of making fun of me. I guess that was pretty stupid of me, huh?" she said icily, picking her coat up off her chair and slinging it angrily over her shoulders.

Alex raised his eyebrows. Kepner was not the same mousey, insecure girl she'd been at the time of the merger. Now she was tougher, bolder and had more confidence, and for those reasons, coupled with her relatively recent transition to a redhead, Alex had to admit: April Kepner was hot. Not really his type, but hot all the same.

His arm shot out and he caught her upper arm. She turned to face him, furious. "Let go of me, Karev."

"Dude, chill out for two freakin' seconds. I didn't mean to offend you or whatever," he offered, pulling her back towards the bar. "Sit down."

April unhappily and somewhat childishly plopped herself back down on the bar stool, refusing to look in the peds surgeon's direction.

Alex stared at her for a second, waiting for her to speak. When she didn't, he turned his eyes forward and ordered another round of drinks. He could practically feel the embarrassment radiating from his co-worker.

"Okay," he began, "so the paramedic is mad because he doesn't get to be your first screw? Big deal... doesn't he realize that no one waits until they're 30 to do it?"

He figured his attempt at a joke would probably set her off again, so he busied himself with his drink and waited for her to storm out. To his surprise, April reached for hers as well.

"I don't think he's really mad about that," she answered, "I think he's more hung up with the fact that I lied to him, and then he has every right to be mad."

"So what? It's not like you sleep around. I'm sure he'd be madder if you did it and told him afterwards that you had syphilis or something."

April giggled and gently swat him on the shoulder. "Still," she mused, "Syphilis or not, I still lied to him."

"Oh yeah, I forgot 'Thou Shalt Not Lie' was the 11th commandment," he teased. Seeing the look of distress on her face, he continued, "But seriously, if he's gonna get all worked up about something like that, maybe you're better off without him anyways."

That's what girls always said to each other, right? That they were better off without the guy, they can do better, yada yada yada... Alex had been dragged to enough chick flicks in an effort to get laid that he was pretty sure that's how it went. April's face lost a little bit of its despair. Maybe he should pay more attention to chick flicks.

"Maybe you're just meant to be with someone else, or whatever," he added. He wasn't sure if people were meant to be or not, soul mates and all that crap. He'd thought he'd found his in Izzie, and he was not about to forget how that turned out. So, it was easier for him if he didn't believe, even if a certain brunette intern was making him rethink his opinions on romance.

He glanced over at his new drinking buddy, who seemed to be lost in thought about something or another. Alex wouldn't be surprised if she was thinking about Avery. Alex could be oblivious sometimes but even an idiot could tell that things were far from over between the two former Mercy Westers. Hell, he thought that if he had walked in a minute later, he'd have caught them kissing last week. He knew from Jo that Avery was still seeing that intern, Dr. Edwards, and if he was being honest, he had thought they wouldn't make it this long. Seemed to him like they both had different ideas on where their relationship was going.

It was none of his business anyways.

Still, he didn't like to see April upset. She had annoyed him in the past but they were family at the hospital, more so than his real, biological family and he had to admit that he sort of cared about her. Whatever.

April continued to sit in silence. "Hey, you still awake over there?" Alex prompted.

She started, as if she had been daydreaming and forgot where she was. "Yeah, sorry," she said sheepishly. "I was just thinking."

He shrugged and returned to his drink. If she didn't want to tell him her thoughts, that was her prerogative, but he was pretty sure he had her all figured out.

She surprised him by speaking again. "I think I'm going to go home."

Alex nodded. "You're good to walk home?" he questioned. "I can get Joe to call you a cab."

April nodded vigorously. "No thanks, it's not that far anyways, I'll be fine. Thanks for the drinks... and for the advice. You're not half-bad when you stop trying to be a jerk."

He laughed as she started to walk away. "See you tomorrow," he called. She waved at him before she slipped out the door and into the night.

Jackson Avery was annoyed. He'd been in this conference room for what seemed like ages, talking with Dr. Bailey and Legal about his colleague's recent string of post-op complications. He was glad his mother had stepped in and saved Grey Sloan Memorial with the help of the Harper Avery Foundation, but he was not happy with his new levels of responsibility. Couldn't his mother have picked Webber for this job? He was sure that they wouldn't mind spending even more time together, though it grossed Jackson out to even think about that possibility.

"It's getting late, everyone," he heard Owen Hunt say, "let's pick this up again tomorrow."

Relieved, Jackson stood up and stretched his legs. He watched as the others filed out of the room one by one: Hunt, Callie, Arizona, the lawyer, Cristina, Derek, a very pregnant Meredith and finally Dr. Bailey.

The shorter woman turned to face Jackson before she left. He didn't think he'd ever met a tougher woman than Miranda Bailey, but it looked to him like she was struggling to hold it together.

"I... I'll go through my notes and see if... if anything stands out..." she trailed off.

Jackson nodded encouragingly. "I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this," he said, "Hang in there."

The general surgeon smiled sadly and shuffled out of the room.

Jesus, he needed a drink.

Alex looked up in surprise as Avery dropped into the seat next to him at the bar and ordered a beer.

"Rough day?"

"You have no idea," Jackson replied darkly. "Looks like Bailey could be under investigation for the next little while, having a bunch of post-op complications. We'll be lucky if it doesn't turn into a malpractice suit. I could kill my mother for saddling me with this crap."

Alex's eyebrows rose in shock. "Bailey is being investigated? Dude, I hope whoever investigates her has balls of steel, for his own sake."

"I don't know man, she seems pretty shaken up about it. Tried to blame it on Murphy before we figured out that Murphy wasn't involved."

Alex could vividly recall being blamed for what seemed like everything in his intern year. Dr. Bailey was not the type to overlook her intern's mistakes. Hell, he remembered her yelling at him today, something about training sloppy interns and bringing shame to the family or whatever. He didn't think that it would turn out to be something this serious.

He chuckled to himself. Since when was he the one who had his life figured out? Well, for the most part anyways. Meredith had tested positive for the Alzheimer's genes, Bailey was being investigated, Jackson had an entire hospital dumped on him and of course, the whole Jackson and April thing. The only issue Alex currently had was that Jo had no idea how he felt about her. Oh, and Assface too.

That was something Alex felt he could do something about. The guy was a douche, and Jo was smart enough that eventually, she'd figure it out and Alex could make his move.

Jackson and April on the other hand... That was trickier. He figured they were both too stubborn to just admit that they belonged together, and as long as Jackson kept up his on-call room romps with Edwards and Kepner's paramedic boyfriend got over himself, that wasn't about to change. Regardless of whatever he had seen between them last week. Now that Alex thought of it, he was pretty sure that they hadn't spoken since then.

They were probably pretending it never happened. Typical.

It struck Alex that he wanted to do something about their situation. He wasn't the type to play matchmaker; but Izzie would have done it if she'd been here. Cristina and Mer had also been known to meddle from time to time and really, what's the worst that could happen?

Spinning on his stool, he casually leaned back on the bar. "So what's the deal with you and Edwards?"

Jackson looked up, surprised. "What?"

"You know, that intern you've been screwing recently. Looks to me like she's pretty into you, dude."

Avery gave him a suspicious glare. "Yeah, I guess so," he replied slowly.

"So is that legit or what? Cause I hear about it from Jo, about how Edwards doesn't know what's going on with you two, like if you're serious or whatever," Alex said.

The darker skinned man sighed in frustration and dropped his head in his hands. "Honestly... what is it with women about always wanting to know this stuff? Why can't they just freaking go with the flow and not worry about where we're going or anything like that... it's bullshit, that's what it is," he ranted. "And then they think they're pregnant and you offer to freaking marry them, and then they turn your words against you and all of a sudden it's over? Bullshit..."

Alex watched Avery out of the corner of his eye. He was pretty sure they weren't talking about Edwards any more.

Kepner thought she was pregnant and Avery offered to marry her? He'd never heard the story of why Jackson and April had become distant, but that had been the reason he'd least expected. He'd always kind of hoped that Jackson had given her herpes or something.

Alex decided to play it cool. "Edwards though she was preggers? Shit, dude, didn't you pay attention in Sex Ed in middle school-"

"Shut up, Karev, and no, not Stephanie," the plastic surgeon corrected bitterly.

"Dude, Kepner? You almost knocked up Kepner?"

"Seriously, Karev, shut it. I beat you up once; I have no qualms about doing it again."

Alex laughed internally. Touchy subject, apparently. "So what? You broke up with her because she didn't want to marry you or something?"

Jackson downed half of his beer before turning to the other attending. "I think I missed the part where this was your business," he said coldly. Alex backtracked.

"You're right, dude, it's not. I'm sorry." He decided to go for full disclosure. "Kepner was in here earlier all upset because of something her paramedic boyfriend did, so I was already thinking about her."

Avery stiffened. He was trying to hide it, but Alex could tell that he had peaked his interest by mentioning April.

"Oh yeah? What did Mr. Perfect do?"

Alex smirked at Avery's attempt to sound nonchalant. "Well, it sort of has to do with you as well... I guess Kepner told him a while back that she was a virgin, and today she told him that she wasn't, and he's pissed at her for lying to him. Personally, I don't think it's that big of a deal, but what do I know anyways?" he said innocently. He was sure that Kepner would kill him later if she found out that he told Jackson what she'd said, but it was all worth it if they ended up back together.

Jackson's face froze as he listened to Karev's words. April had told her boyfriend that she was a virgin? She really was pretending that they had never happened. He felt an urge to show up at her apartment and force her to explain herself, but he restrained himself.

Women.

He knew that eventually, he and Stephanie were going to have to call it quits. She didn't seem to get that he was only in it for the sex, and to be honest, sometimes she treated him more as the Jackson Avery instead of just Jackson Avery, like she was star struck by his family name.

April had never treated him like that. She had always, always treated him as if he were any regular guy, instead of Harper Avery's grandson. She understood him in ways that he barely understood himself.

God, he missed April. They had had a moment, last week, and Jackson resented Alex Karev for walking up to them when he did. That being said, he knew that April would have considered a kiss to be cheating, and she would never forgive herself if she cheated on Matt. In her eyes, Jesus was mad enough at her for having sex with Jackson; no need to add to that list.

He could feel Karev waiting expectantly for his response, but he was feeling such a rush of various emotions that he couldn't answer.

Frustration, because April was still trying to pretend like San Francisco had never happened. Anger, at Matt, because April was upset about something he'd said. Even happiness, because some sick part of him hoped that their relationship would be ruined and she would come running back into his arms.

Jackson hated himself for not having the guts to get April back. He was kidding himself if he said he wasn't in love with her, and if there was a chance that she wasn't happy with the paramedic, he didn't think he could live with himself if he let her go again.

"So do you think that her and Matt will work it out?" He tried to sound cavalier, though he was pretty sure that Alex could see right through him.

Alex scoffed. "Dude. Stop trying to play Mr. Indifferent with me, I'm not an idiot. Go to her place, tell her how you feel, get married and have lots of neurotic babies with her so I can stop freakin' hearing about it."

Jackson felt a smirk creep over his face. Karev had a point. Well, what the hell. Couldn't make it any worse.

"Fine, dude. Wish me luck."

He didn't wait to see the astonishment on Karev's face, nor the satisfied smirk that followed. He was a man on a mission.

"Matthew? Look, I know you're mad and you have every right to be, but don't you think we should talk about it? It really shouldn't end this way. Anyways, it's late and I have to be at work in the morning, but please call me back tomorrow, I really hope we can work this out."

April hung up the phone after leaving the last of four voicemails she had left Matt in the past hour. She grabbed the remote and aimlessly flicked through the channels.

She missed living with Jackson and Alex. Sure, Alex was messy and had a constant parade of women in and out of his bedroom, but he had been great to talk to tonight, and had proven himself to be a decent friend.

As for Jackson... April missed being his best friend. They'd become so close after Reed and Charles had died, and now it felt like he'd been ripped from her life almost altogether, leaving an empty hole that no one else would ever be able to fill.

If April was being honest with herself, she knew that she missed him for other reasons as well. She'd had some time to mull over her faith, and the more she'd thought about it, the more she thought Meredith might have been right. Maybe she had been meant to go to the carnival with Jackson. She missed going to the carnival.

This was her own fault, anyways. She had been so relieved that she wasn't pregnant, and hadn't realized that her words could be misinterpreted, and then she hadn't bothered to fix it.

A sudden knock at the door startled her out of her reverie.

April turned the TV down and hauled herself off of the couch. Maybe it was Matthew; she didn't think he'd break up with her without one last conversation. Maybe she wanted it to be him. He told her he loved her. Jackson had never done that. They had similar belief systems. They were a better match for each other, in April's opinion.

She unlocked the door, but left the chain on, so that the door could only swing open a few inches.

Jackson Avery stood at her door. He was slightly winded and staring down at her in an intense way that reminded her of San Francisco and bathrooms. April suddenly felt as though all of her insides had turned to mush. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Hey."

Jackson smiled. "Hey. Uh... I know it's late, I just... I have something to say to you."

"Oh, uh, okay," April stammered. Something about those green eyes was seriously messing with her ability to talk. She unlatched the chain and swung the door wide enough for Jackson to pass through, but he didn't move.

"Karev told me that you told Matt you were a virgin. And that now he knows the truth and that he's mad about it."

April stopped short and frowned. Freaking Alex Karev couldn't keep his mouth shut. She made a mental note to kill him the next time she saw him. "Oh."

"Yeah. And at first I was mad, because you were still acting like this thing between us never happened. But then I thought about it and I realized that I would be an idiot if I passed up on another opportunity... this could be my last chance to tell you."

"Tell me what?" April could feel her heart pounding. Was this going where she thought this was going? Where she hoped this was going?

Jackson took a deep breath. "I think I'm in love with you."

A/N: Well, there you have it, folks. I know the ending is cheesy, but I couldn't leave the story without hope that they'd get back together :) Please review!