Hey, folks! This is my first attempt at going completely AU with Japril, though I did keep the hospital setting. I hope you will give this fic a chance even if it's different. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's or its characters :)

The alarm clock buzzed on Jackson Avery's bedside table, waking him up at exactly 6:10 AM. Every morning, he woke up at the same time, not earlier or later. He was a plastic surgeon, a perfectionist. To him, the smallest mistake was unsatisfactory. At work, his residents were required to triple check their work – if they were fortunate enough to touch his patients. If it was a complicated procedure, nobody whose name wasn't Avery touched the patient. The only surgeon he trusted was himself. Plastic surgery involved precise and clean cuts. He considered himself the best at what he did and nobody could match up to him, except for his boss.

Sitting up on his king sized bed, Jackson stretched his arms over his head after turning off his alarm. He opened the light gray roller shades covering his large windows. The sun had risen 55 minutes ago, giving him a lovely panoramic view of downtown Seattle and the Space Needle was visible from his condominium. He lived on the 24th floor of the 5th and Madison Tower. One bedroom, one and a half bathrooms, a spacious living room combined with an open kitchenette, a walk-in closet, hardwood floors – perfect for a bachelor like him.

He didn't have a wife nor did he consider marriage in his future plans. At 33 years old, what was the rush? Women loved him. And he loved having sex with them. Settling down with one woman for the rest of his life didn't sound very appealing to him. And children? Not a fan of them either. He had spent plenty of time in the Peds department treating cleft lips, burns and performing other types of reconstructive surgery. They were the only type of kids he cared about – because they helped him earn a hefty paycheck.

Clad in black boxer briefs, he turned around as his latest conquest stirred in her sleep. He met her at the Emerald City Bar. It was the tight fitting red dress that drew his attention. Her long, brown hair covered half of her face when she sat up on his bed. Walking towards her, Jackson assisted the naked woman out of bed.

"Good morning, beautiful," he greeted her, picking up her clothes in the process. "I'd love for you to stay, but I have to get ready for work, which means you unfortunately have to leave."

"You were quite the stallion last night, Dr. Avery," the woman seductively said as she dressed herself. After wearing her dress, she turned around and lifted her hair above her shoulders. "Zip me, please."

Jackson casually zipped up the woman's dress, then he escorted her to the front door. He opened the door and watched her walk out of his condo with a smug grin on his face. "Get home safely, uhh…" Names weren't a priority to him.

"Carmen," she answered for him. Pulling out a post-it note from her purse, she quickly jotted down her number and lightly slapped it against the plastic surgeon's chiseled chest. "Call me."

"Will do," he replied with a wink and closed the door. He grabbed the post-it note and crumpled it in his hand. "Not calling you."

Jackson tossed the piece of paper into the guest bathroom's trash can, making it on the first shot, of course, while also taking a moment to relieve himself before he walked back to his bedroom. His one night stand was loud, a never ending screamer. He hated screamers. He could hardly enjoy himself while she shrieked annoyingly in his ear. If only there was a mute button for people.

Before jumping in the shower, he positioned himself in front of his bed for his daily workout routine to get the blood flowing – 50 pushups followed by 100 crunches, switching from side to side to tone his washboard abs. It took a lot of work to look as hot as he did, so maintaining his physique was necessary. When there wasn't a woman to kick out of his condo he awoke earlier for a run around downtown. He also exercised in the building's gym at night after work prior to venturing out into town for a woman to flirt and possibly sleep with.

It wasn't just his body women fawned over. His face was gorgeous too. Upon meeting a woman, the first physical feature she noticed was his bluish-green eyes. And his pearly whites were next when he hypnotized her with his smile. Perhaps it made him conceited, but he took pride in always looking good for the ladies. He lived by the motto, "If you got it, flaunt it."

Following his quick workout, he showered, brushed his teeth and chose to bypass shaving that morning. Women loved it when he had a little stubble on his face. They thought it was sexy on him. He dressed himself in a white dress shirt, a navy blue tie and black pants. Carrying his belongings into the living room, he set them aside to start up the coffee maker and cook a quick breakfast. While he didn't consider himself the best cook in the world, he was decent enough to make edible omelettes. Today, it was apple sausage, spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. After cooking his breakfast, he sat on his small dining table with his food and a glass of orange juice while he read his latest e-mails on his laptop. Nothing to be concerned about, post-op patients were still alive. His mother sent him another newsletter from Mass Gen, but he always deleted that. He couldn't care less about his family's success as they were all focused on cardiothoracic surgery.

After breakfast, he poured coffee into his travel mug, wore his black jacket and left his home on time at 7 AM sharp. Jackson rode the elevator downstairs to the parking garage. A valet driver delivered his shiny black Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and after slipping on his designer sunglasses, he drove off to work at Seattle Grace Hospital.

Jackson entered the hospital through the main lobby, travel mug in one hand and his laptop bag in the other. He casually greeted his coworkers as he strolled to the elevators. As he waited for one to arrive, one of his fellow attendings quickly approached him.

"Dr. Avery," a shorter man with brown hair called out. He was dressed in navy blue scrubs and a white lab coat. His hair was neatly combed to the side. "A patient was brought into the ER about a half an hour ago with what looks like second degree burns-"

"Looks like second degree burns or they are second degree burns, O'Malley?" Jackson interrupted, staring straight ahead as if the trauma surgeon wasn't standing beside him. "No guessing. Either they are or they aren't."

George O'Malley was born and raised in Seattle. The only surgeon of the family, he attended the University of Washington for medical school and completed his residency and fellowship at Seattle Grace. He was one of the friendlier and appreciated doctors in the hospital because of his bedside manners and his surgical skills. But none of those qualities impressed Jackson. His coworker was also awkward and not the chick magnet that he was. They had nothing in common and were barely friends.

"Well, they're definitely second degree burns on her right forearm after an accident in her kitchen. Spilled boiling water all over her right side," George explained, fidgeting with the clipboard in his hands. "She also has a few first degree burns, but I'm asking you for a quick consult on whether or not she needs skin grafts for her injuries. Sloan was available. However, he told me to pass this on to you."

"Of course he did. I'm his best plastics man in this hospital," Jackson gloated and checked his watch. "Why are these elevators, so damn slow? For a well-respected hospital like this one, one would think everything here was top quality."

"So, umm… see you in the pit in fifteen minutes?"

"Make it ten. I'm not a sloth, bro," he answered as he entered the elevator. Jackson pushed the button to the fifth floor where the attendings locker room was located. As the doors began closing, he heard a woman's voice asking to hold the doors. He pressed the button to keep the doors open as a woman with red hair rushed inside, softly gasping for air after she successfully caught the elevator.

"Thank you so much," she breathlessly acknowledged, running her fingers through her hair as she readjusted it. She wore a lavender blouse with black dress pants and black flats. Smiling at Jackson, she tightly clutched the straps of her purse. "Most people are so inconsiderate about the elevator. A lot of them typically try to close the doors faster, so they're not sharing with anybody."

Jackson returned the smile. "I don't do that – to women."

He examined the woman beside him. It was the first time he had seen her around the hospital. He was familiar with most of the nurses, residents, interns, radiologists, dermatologists… his list could go on and on, but not this new face. She was attractive, not bow-chicka-wow-wow hot, but still attractive. Almost like a girl next door type of hot. Her red hair complemented her pale complexion. Something about the woman made him curious, like he had seen her somewhere before. But he had slept with so many women that he could only remember about half of the one night stands he brought home.

"Have we met before?" he inquisitively asked.

"I don't think we have," she chuckled. "I just moved back home. Lived in Ohio for the past eight years, so I highly doubt it. Why do you ask?"

He quickly shrugged his shoulders. "You just… look a little familiar, that's all. Maybe I'm mistaking you for someone else then," he dismissively replied. "What brings you to Seattle Grace?"

"I'm the new peds surgeon. It's my first day here," she cheerfully answered.

"Oh, yeah?" Jackson switched his laptop bag to his coffee hand before he extended his left one. "Jackson Avery, Plastics. And I don't mean to brag, but I'm very good at what I do. We'll likely see each other every once in a while since I have my share of peds cases."

The woman shook his hand, smiling brightly back at him. "That's nice to know. April Taylor- I mean, Kepner. Taylor was my married name, but my husband- it's… it's Kepner now," she reluctantly introduced herself. "Anyway, it's lovely to meet you, Dr. Avery."

"You can call me Jackson," he insisted. Kepner. The last name sounded vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't quite connect the dots yet. He needed to know more about April, especially if he had the chance of sleeping with her eventually. "Did you grow up here, April?"

April nodded eagerly. "Until I graduated from high school. I did my undergrad at Duke and medical school at Brown, then I completed my residency at the Cleveland Clinic and my fellowship at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital."

"Wow, you were all over the place," Jackson responded, sounding impressed.

"I love to travel, so I took advantage of the opportunities to live in different cities. What about you? Where did you study?"

"Harvard, for both undergrad and medical school. My family wanted me to do my residency at Mass Gen because it's a tradition, but they never understood my interest in plastic surgery. They're all hardcore about cardio, so I blew them off and flew all the way to California and Stanford. Then, I completed my fellowship at USC," he proudly answered. "I'm sure you're aware of the Harper Avery Award, named after my grandfather."

"Oh, yes. So, you're an Avery. That's… that would almost make you equivalent to a celebrity in the surgical world," April teasingly said.

Jackson placed his hand against his chest and smiled. "Don't feel overwhelmed by my presence. I don't bite," he quipped, though April raised her eyebrow at him in response. "Anyway, what do you think about you and I having dinner tonight after work?"

She hesitantly opened her mouth to speak, then she cleared her throat. "A-are you asking me out on a date?"

"Yes. You're an attractive woman and if you're up for it, I could give you a tour of my condo in downtown-"

"I, uhh… thanks, but no thanks," she respectfully declined. As handsome as Jackson was, his personality spewed arrogance. Too much for her taste. She was relieved when the elevator reached the fifth floor. Quickly walking out into the hallway, she briefly glimpsed over her shoulder at him. "I'll see you around."

Jackson softly laughed to himself and followed April a few steps behind her. "I'm on my way to the locker room too, you know. Running away is pointless. So, why don't you want to go out with me?"

"We just met." April spun around and smirked at him. "Give me some room to breathe first before you start hitting on me, Jackson. My first shift barely just started."

"Does that mean you'll reconsider my offer for tonight?" he inquired as he walked into the attendings locker room with her. Jackson rested his arm against April's cubby, leaning in before she could place her purse inside. "I'll let the offer stand until our shifts are over."

She gently but forcefully pushed him out of the way with her shoulder and awkwardly laughed. "I should get ready."

Jackson temporarily surrendered and walked to his own cubby. He remembered he had a schedule of his own and he promised George he would meet him in the ER in ten minutes. False promises were for phonies. He most certainly didn't consider himself to be a phony. As he started changing out of his dress attire, April softly hummed a song to herself. The tune immediately caught his attention. Blind Melon's "No Rain".

And the dots began to connect for him soon after.

Summer 1993 – Camp Waziyatah

Jackson Avery resented his mother for sending him to a freaking summer camp for eight long weeks, while she and her new boyfriend traveled through Europe. His older brothers were deemed responsible enough to stay at home in Boston, but his 13-year old self was shipped three hours away to Camp Waziyatah in Maine… for his entire summer. Growing up in a wealthy household, summer camps weren't a tradition. Normally, he and his family either traveled to another country together for half of the summer or he spent his vacation with his friends. This year, he didn't have a choice.

He blamed Catherine Avery's new boyfriend. The guy wasn't much of a family person. Children – rather teenagers – weren't particularly in his list of interests. For some pathetic reason, his mother was completely smitten over the new guy, despite his attitude towards him and his brothers. He was a snooty cardiothoracic surgeon who recently joined the Mass Gen family. His grandfather introduced them. Terrible decision.

Because now, he was at a summer camp where he didn't know a single soul. And even worse, in just the second day of camp he was already the target of a group of counselors who promised to make his life a living Hell until the end of summer. His rich boy status drew attention. Perhaps Catherine shouldn't have sent him to camp in a limousine.

But being rich didn't make him popular. Jackson was a scrawny boy. With his skinny arms and chicken legs, he resembled a stick figure. His eyeglasses were slightly oversized as he continuously needed to push them up the bridge of his nose. They could have been made out of the bottom of jars for all he knew. And the metal retainer on his top row of teeth didn't upgrade him to heartthrob status at all.

Instead of joining the rest of his cabin mates on the soccer field, the poor teenager was accompanying the United States flag on the flagpole. The counselors who picked on him decided it would be hilarious to attach him to the flagpole, while everybody was busy engaging in group activities at another part of the campus. Hanging halfway up the pole by the loops of his khaki shorts, he sighed as he waited for somebody to find him.

The sound of whistling caught his attention. Down below, a girl with red hair fixed in pigtails and wearing a green and pink tie-dyed t-shirt walked down one of the various trails. She was whistling a song while she picked at her chipped bubblegum colored nail polish.

"Uhh, hey!" Jackson's squeaky voice called out to the girl. He absolutely hated how much puberty was ruining his voice for the time being. Waving at the fellow camper, he sheepishly grinned. "Can you help me out, please?"

The girl looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "What are you doing up there?"

"Some dumbasses thought I made a better flag," he bitterly replied. "Could you- could you bring me down?"

"Umm… maybe I should go get a counselor to help you?" she suggested, nervously biting down on her lower lip. The girl scanned their surroundings for an adult. "I don't want to get in trouble for messing with the flagpole."

"No! Don't get anybody!" he protested. "Whoever comes will draw a crowd and- and I've been humiliated enough. I don't need more people laughing at me. Just carefully bring me down, please?"

"Fine, fine." She approached the flagpole and slowly began lowering Jackson down. When his feet touched the ground she removed the flag hook and rope from his shorts. "There you go."

Jackson smoothed out his Michael Jordan t-shirt with his hands, then he smiled at the girl. "Thanks. It was getting really hot up there," he gratefully said and pushed up his glasses. The young lady standing in front of him was cute. He especially liked the single dimple that formed when she smiled back at him. She stood at about 5'2" against his 5'8" frame. "I… uhh, I should get going. I was supposed to be at the soccer fields about an hour ago."

"I can walk you there," she chirped. "I'm late too. I was helping clean the mess hall, so I'm excused. So, what's your name?"

"Jackson… Fox," he partially lied. He decided to use his mother's maiden name in case somebody with surgical related ties happened to be in camp with him. Everything was 'Avery this' and 'Avery that' in Boston, which wasn't too far from Maine. Better to be safe than sorry. "You?"

"I'm April. April Kepner," she cheerfully responded as they walked side by side. "This is my fifth year here. Is this your first time at Wazi?"

"Uh huh," he replied unenthusiastically. "Camps aren't my thing, but my mom dumped me here because her lame ass boyfriend didn't want me around during their big trip around Europe."

"Oh, that's too bad, but you know what? There are a lot of cool people here to make friends with," April insisted and pointed at herself. "I'll be your friend, Jackson."

Jackson timidly sighed. "Th-that would be awesome."

He had difficulty talking normally to girls he thought were cute. Never had a girlfriend nor had he ever kissed a girl yet. His self-esteem issues were due to the lack of a father figure in his life. His parents divorced when he was only two years old and he barely remembered his father. And Catherine's carousel of boyfriends weren't the best role models for advice because they were never around long enough to know them well or trust them.

"Where are you from, Jackson?" April curiously asked as she fidgeted with the tip of one of her pigtails.

"Boston. And you?"

"Seattle. How old are you? I turned thirteen in April."

Jackson softly chuckled. "Is that why your name is April?" he teased.

April rolled her eyes and shyly smiled. "Pretty much. My parents thought it was cute, but I think it's so cheesy. The jokes I get on April Fool's Day are super lame," she noted. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question."

"Oh, I'm thirteen too. I'll be fourteen on August 5th."

She excitedly clapped her hands. "That means you'll be celebrating it here!" she squeaked. "Birthdays here are so tight. You get an ice cream cake and special privileges."

"Special privileges? Like leaving this camp?"

"You're funny," she giggled. "Actually, they do make exceptions by having your parents pick you up."

Jackson slightly frowned. "I'm a thousand percent sure they won't be coming on my birthday," he muttered. "My mom will still be in Europe by then. So whack."

"Well, hopefully you'll have a bunch of friends to celebrate your birthday with," she stated, staring at the boy as he stuffed his hands inside of his pockets and looked down at his shoes. "Maybe later I can introduce you to a couple of my best friends. They'll totally let you join our little group. They're nice people."

"Okay," he sighed. "So, umm… do you have a boyfriend?"

April's eyes widened. "Me? Gosh, no," she answered, softly laughing. "Boys don't like me. And a lot of them are gross. The ones at my school are so obnoxious. They're always like burping next to my ear or making jokes about my name."

"I heard some boys pick on girls when they like them," he pointed out.

"Is that what you do?" she playfully asked.

Jackson quickly shook his head. "I would consider myself lucky if a girl noticed me," he murmured. "People at school call me Urkel because of my glasses. And my voice is still changing, so that gave them another reason to poke fun at me."

April waved her hand. "Yeah, but I bet puberty will be kind to you. Me?" She held out her hands in front of her chest where she wished she was more developed. "I'd like to have some boobs before high school."

Jackson felt uncomfortable talking about anything related to sex. He liked girls, but when he thought about them too much… well, his oldest brother Grayson thought it was necessary to point out the giant wet spot on the front of his basketball shorts after he experienced his first wet dream two months ago.

"What was that song you were whistling?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Huh? Oh! 'No Rain' by Blind Melon," she answered. "It came out last year. Have you heard of it?"

"Will I be a major loser if I say I haven't?" Jackson grimaced. His personal favorites with music were Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men and the Beastie Boys.

April laughed as she shook her head. "No, but I have the song on a cassette mix I made. I can let you listen to it on my Walkman later," she offered. "Anyway, the song is so appropriate for me because it's about being lonely and finding an escape to cheer yourself up. And in the music video, the lonely bee girl finds bee friends of her own at the end. She found her happiness. You can so relate to her. Use this camp as your escape. Forget all of your troubles at home and enjoy yourself here. The song's the spirit lifter you need."

"If you say so," he replied with a half-smile.

When they arrived at the soccer fields various campers were running around during a friendly game of flag football. April found her cabin mates nearby and pointed them out to Jackson. "There's my group. I'll see you later?" she said, sounding hopeful. "How about we sit together at dinner? I can introduce you to my friends then."

He slowly nodded and fully smiled at her. She was so darn cute and nice to him. "Okay. And umm… don't tell anybody about the flagpole incident. Can we keep that between you and me?" he pleaded worriedly.

"Sure. Of course," she happily agreed before she waved at him as she walked away. "It was lovely meeting you, Jackson."

Despite the embarrassing first encounter with April, Jackson was thankful to find at least one new friend at camp – and an attractive one at that. He was instantly crazy about her.

Jackson couldn't believe the April he met in the elevator was also the same delightful redhead – the one who saved him from massive sunburn on the flagpole – from twenty years ago. After his first and only experience at summer camp, he never expected to see her face again. They had grown to become good friends during those eight weeks. He hadn't been very close to any girls prior to that.

Thinking back to their awkward teenage selves, they had both grown out of their goofy appearances, especially him. Tired of always being pushed around by bullies, he started to buff up during his sophomore year of high school. Ditched the glasses for contact lenses and eventually opted for laser eye surgery to fix his poor vision. He almost looked nothing like his 13-year old image.

April slightly looked the same to him, but older and more well-developed. She definitely got the boobs she wished for. Her lone dimple still stood out when she grinned. And her voice was similar. She ended up being right, that puberty would be kind to him. He now stood at 6'1" and with the help of exercise, he was a muscular womanizer.

And she had no idea who he was.

He watched her leave the locker room while she put her hair up in a ponytail after dressing into her navy blue scrubs. Until their first encounter in twenty years, he hadn't thought about April in about eighteen. Once girls discovered him in high school, she was a piece of his nerdy past. Nerd Jackson didn't exist anymore in his mind. He "died" when he was sixteen.

But seeing April again brought back great and horrible memories of camp. However, he always found himself to be the happiest when he was with her. She was fairly special to him because in a way, she was his first and only summer "love" and she gave him one of the best summers of his life.

There will be more character introductions coming up and a flashback in each chapter. Please leave some feedback! I'd love to know what you think of AU!Japril, so don't be shy :)