A/N: This is my first Grey's Anatomy story. I just recently started the show last month. I immediately fell in love with Meredith/Alex. So this is short so I can just kind of get a feel of it. please let me know what you think!

Prelude: Set In Motion

Life is made up of choices: Where you live, what school you attend, the job you choose and who you choose to surround yourself with. Most of the choices you make in life are difficult; they can lead you down the hardest roads. For instance, choosing to raise 3 children on your own after their father dies. That's difficult. It's like a flip of a coin sometimes. You'll make a sudden decision without even thinking it through. A spur of moment sort of thing. Those outcomes can be good or bad; perhaps even a strange mix of both. Then there are other times where the choices you make are thoughtful, well planned and perfectly executed. Those usually go to further yourself in life. Those well thought out choices are what 40% of life is made up of.

Jo stood in front of Alex her eyes asked for understanding. "I am not going to stand here and play second fiddle to anyone, let alone you. I love you Alex and I won't be second best." She sobbed as she looked up at him, her heart in shattered pieces. Alex couldn't believe it. She was going to leave him. Jo sucked in a shaky breath and looked away. "And I certainly won't ask you to choose between me and your friends – friend."

Alex looked at her with confused eyes. Then realization hit him like a punch in the groin; knee buckling and painful. He couldn't lose her and that is exactly what was happening. He loved Jo. "Ask me!" he blurted out in a rush. His words even came out so quick that Jo had to do a double take. "What?" Alex moved closer, unable to keep the small grin off his face. "Ask me to choose." Jo shook her head.

"Alex, that's ridiculous-" "No, no, no, no it's not!" he reached out and framed her face in his hands. "Ask me to choose. Please." He stressed his plea. Her eyes searched his for some sort of clarification. To say that she was afraid of what would come next was an understatement. A few tears had fallen from her eyes. She swallowed thickly before she nodded. "Okay then. Will-will you choose?" her voice shook as she continued, "Choose between Meredith and I?" For a moment, she regretted that she had said her name out loud. Afraid that the name alone would have Alex running from her.

"You!" He cleared away any negative thoughts with his answer. Jo shook her head as she placed her hands on his chest. "You. Don't you see, I love you. You, Josephine Wilson, are my first and only choice. Always." Alex confessed. Jos' head lowered as more tears slipped past her eyes and down her cheeks. She lifted her head and Alex chuckled as he used his thumbs to wipe them away. He took the moment to lean down and capture her lips with his.

Jo pulled away a moment later and found herself lost in his eyes. They were perfect, she always found herself wrapped up in them. "Really? Do you mean it?" Alex rested his forehead against hers. He loved her, his mind continued to scream at him, and if loving her meant letting go of Meredith, he could do that. "Yes." It came soft, just above a whisper. Jo laughed through her tears and shook her heads. Alex pulled her completely against his chest before he placed a kiss to the top of her head.

And as for the other 60%; well that's those messy choices. The ones that can flip your life upside down. Like that coin you just flipped fell to the ground and rolled straight into the gutter. This was one of those moments. Where you don't think before you speak. The only problem is that most of the time you don't realize the mistake you just made until it's too late. Until you hurt the ones you care about; and by that time, it's usually too late to fix anyways. That is what life is though. It's well, life is a handful of well-planned and thoughtful choices with a bunch of messy half assed choices thrown into the mix.