#and then after that i lost interest but then japril came along and it's not like i could leave then | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aloneeedra · 4 years

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Mint 2 B pt. 2

This is part two. Thank you for reading!

Japril fanfic| Disclaimer: All rights belong to Shonda Rhimes, I only own my version of the ending

One Year Later

April hurried across the parking lot of the elementary school, not having a chance to stick around to here the sound of her car alarm locking. She could feel the cold rain slowly penetrate through the layers of fabric she wore, but she didn't pay any attention to the feeling since a much bigger one took up her mind. She pushed pasted a parent holding tightly the hand of a little kid. "Sorry," she yelled, but she didn't look back. Her heels hit hard against the tile floor, and she felt that harshness against her toes as she ran past three hallways and finally took a left turn into the fourth. She ran past more parents with their kids, never giving them the smallest bit of attention, her eyes on one class the entire time. She thrashed into the open classroom, crouching over to try to get some air into her lungs before she even had a chance to see who was in it.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. The traffic...it's...it's a nightmare. I left an hour early, believe it or not and yet, it still wasn't enough. It crazy, really. It's ridiculous, actually." She raised her left wrist close to her eyes. "But, really, I'm only like 47 minutes late. So it's not that bad." She finally stood up, her red curls flying around her face, before her soft brown eyes widen. She looked at Ms. King, Harriet's kindergarten teacher, then she looked at the two parents sitting in front of her across the desk, with a child sitting on of their lap's. All three adults looked at her like she was crazy. Even the tiny human had her mouth gaped open.

"Ms. Kepner, you have not missed your meeting. As you can see, I am currently with another family, so if you mind waiting out in the hall?" Ms. King asked, looking at April like a teacher would like at a 5 year-old.

April felt her checks burning. She nodded her head, a fit of laughter due to awkwardness fall out of her mouth. "Of course I can wait," she giggled. She threw up her hands up in finger guns, playfully, making the situation from awkward to absolutely horrifying. She quickly dropped her hands. She pointed towards the hall she had come in so wildly. "I'm going to be out there. Waiting."

"Sounds good."

"Okay." April walked out of the classroom, for the first time allowing the fact that she was covered in rain sink in. She dropped her head, her eyes closed tightly as she involuntarily played the scene in her mind. She was so caught up with the idea of missing Harriet's parent/teacher meeting, that she didn't really give herself time think logically. That always happened when Harriet was involved. April consider herself a person that thrive from organization and calm thinking. She was a trauma surgeon for Pete's sake, yet just the thought of Harriet and any logical thought flies out the window. She started to rub her face almost like doing so would make the memory go away. She stopped when she heard laughter. April slowly lifted her head up, her eyebrows pushed together as she spotted who was laughing.

Jackson had his mouth cover, but he didn't look like he was trying to hard to cover his laughter. He was sitting on one of the many chairs against the small halls of the elementary school. His green-blue eyes stared at hers unafraid as his laughter began to gain fire. No one else was there beside empty chairs and a sleeping Harriet sitting against her dad's shoulder.

April raised her hands up in disbelief. "Were you there the whole time?" Then, when Jackson nodded, she added, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I called out your name, but I guess you were in such a hurry speeding past me you didn't hear me." He continued to chuckled. As much as April was irritated by this, she found herself laughing along to the entire situation. Jackson moved his head towards the free chair next to him. April sigh, before taking the few steps towards it to sit in it. Each step felt like she was inching her feet into a wet carpet, the sound of slush following. This made Jackson laugh even harder.

April placed her bag on her lap. Hating the feeling of pressing against the plastic chair, she avoid leaning back. The rain made it feel cold. "I totally made a fool of myself," she said.

"I highly doubt that."

April crossed her legs. The wet fabric of her skirt made a sound similar to her heels when it moved. Jackson looked towards where the sound came, this time holding in his laughter. His eyes shifted from her crossed legs to her face. "You're all wet."

April looked at him with such with sarcastic smile. "What? Really? Thank you for letting me know."

"You have a raindrop on your cheek," he said, before he brushed his thumb across her cheek.

It had been a year since April and Jackson put away any kind of romantic interest for each other into a box and decided to move on. Not soon after, April found herself married at a wedding that wasn't hers originally with Mathew, someone she somehow reconnected with. The past year, Jackson and April were doing pretty good at just being co-parents of Harriet and friends, like before. They, however, did not hang around each other much of the time. April blame it on have two different jobs, two different lives. Of course they couldn't spend much time together when they were constantly living their own individual life, only seeing one another when they dropped off Harriet for the week. Only say five to nine words, before go back to their piece of living.

But then Jackson does something like brush off rain from her cheek, or look at her for maybe a little too long, and April wonders if maybe the 'having two different lives' reason was crap. Maybe the real reason why they didn't spend so much time with each other nowadays was because it was hard to act like before. They have a way to make simple, very innocent gesture intimate. It was a slipper slope that they found themselves in and it was just easier for both their different lives if they didn't spend time together.

Jackson dropped his hand quickly, looking forward. He cleared his throat, but didn't say anything anything.

"You didn't have to come," April said. She was already aware that what they do best is act like nothing happened. It happens every time they saw each other. You would think it would have lost it's effect on her. She would think that too. "I thought I took care of parent teacher meetings?"

"They called me when you didn't show up. I was at work."

April looked at Jackson's scrubs. "You didn't have time to change?"

"I have to go back right after this." Jackson smirk. "Like you're the one to talk." She could feel his eyes on her outfit. "You would look nice, if you weren't dripping the forecast."

"I can't control the rain, Jackson."

"You ever heard of an umbrella?"

"I didn't think I had time. I hurried out of my car and into the school without much thought. I thought Harriet was here alone. Thank God, she's fine. Has she been sleeping the whole time?"

"No, when I came here she was playing in the playground with her friends. She has a lot of them. Our daughter is very popular."

April smiled proudly. "Of course she is. When did she fall asleep?"

"Maybe a few minutes before you showed off your running moves, or your lack of." He paused to laugh. April rolled her eyes. "She must of have tired herself out." Jackson had his right arm wrapped protectively around Harriet. Her small head resting against the side of Jackson's side as her small open mouth out let out soundless snores.

"No, it's because of you. She always falls asleep much faster when it comes to you. It's a little annoying."

He pushed his shoulder against her playfully. "Jealous?"

"No," she lied. "Okay, yes. Of course." This made Jackson laugh again. He always seemed to happy whenever they did see each other. April wanted to believe it was because of her. "You can leave if you want. Since I'm here now. There's no need for both of us to be here."

Jackson seemed to think it over for a moment as he used his other hand to carefully push back the baby hairs sticking out of Harriet's braid, only for them to reappear once his hand left. He then rested his left arm on April's chair. The idea of leaning back become more intruding. She hated that such a small act of affection drove her mad. Jackson made her feel something that she couldn't get anywhere else. It was ridiculous. "No, it's okay. I want to hear all the good things that my daughter does. It not like everyday you get to hear someone that's not family brag about her."

"Yeah, it is a pretty good feeling." April looked forward as they sat in silence. She wanted to lean back against her chair. Was that crazy? Was she crazy? Something in her core urged for it. She could feel every muscle in her body, hear every mediocre sound like it was right against her ear as she very slowly leaned against the plastic chair. She first felt the wetness from her blouse touch her back, but then their was this feeling when she realized she had done it. She couldn't feel his arm, just the atmosphere it was creating by just being their, hovering over her, as a sort of affection.

She could sense Jackson tense up beside her, but she refused to look. She waited for him to remove his arm, but when he never did, it was like they both knew something that neither one of them could ever share, maybe because there was no words for it. To a normal person walking by, his arm was resting on the chair that she was sitting in. It was no big deal, but for April, it meant something. Something more than she would ever admit and deep down she hoped that it meant something for Jackson too, but she knew that was unlikely.

It was strange. They had gotten closure a year ago in Jackson's car, yet, though April was happy with Mathew and she was happy for Jackson and Maggie, her feelings for him didn't disappear like she thought they would. They still lingered in her like some kind of ghost that would become alive whenever Jackson was close. When she thought about it, it was silly to think that the feelings she had for Jackson could ever disappeared. Maybe this was just how it was. Maybe there were a bunch of people who were still in love, but could never be, and they all act like those feeling weren't there, but they were.

The family she had interrupted earlier walked out of the classroom, and soon followed Ms. King. The sight of people made April sit up quickly and Jackson take his arm off her chair. It was as if the kindergarten teacher had caught them doing something. She looked at them weirdly, before stepping aside. "Now, it's time for you parent teacher meeting," Ms. King said.

Jackson began to laugh again. April completely over it, stood up and walked into the classroom. Jackson followed soon after with a sleepy Harriet into his arms.

It had become nightfall when the small broken family walked out of the large elementary school. April was clearly upset, blowing hot air out of her nose as she rambled on. "Violent? She called out daughter violent?" She cried out.

Jackson rolled his blue-green eyes as he followed her to her car. He held an awake Harriet in his arms, close to him, as she played with the collar of his blue shirt. "She didn't say that."

"She practically did."

"No, she said that Harriet has shown violent behavior towards her classmates. She didn't call Harriet violent. Though, April, we need to take this serious. It's not okay for her to be hitting other kids."

April threw a nasty glare as Jackson, reaching her car. She opened the car door next to the car seat, before grabbing Harriet from his grip and placing Harriet safely into the seat and buckling her up. "Kids hit. That's what they do."

"No, it's not. Don't try to write Harriet's behavior off. She needs consequences for her actions."

April gave Harriet a small smile, before closing the door. She walked past Jackson and around her vehicle, with him following closely behind. "I'm not trying to write off her behavior."

"You kind of are."

April turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay fine. I'll...take her toys away for the weekend. Happy?"

"You need to talk to her about why what she did was wrong."

"Why do I have to talk to her? Why can't you talk to her?"

"Fine, then I'll talk to her." Jackson made a move to get into the car, but April put out her hand to stop him.

"Fine. I'll talk to her," she said. She got into the driver side, shutting the door and turning on the car, before putting her seat belt on. Jackson stood outside her window. She waited for him to leave, but then he knocked on it. She sighed, before putting it down. "What now?" she asked, her shoulders slum. She just wanted to go home.

"We should also think about what she said regarding why Harriet is acting this way."

"You mean when she accused us of fighting?"

Jackson nodded his head.

"I don't know what she talking about. That's ridiculous."

"So are you saying that you and Mathew don't fight?" Jackson asked.

April opened and closed her mouth a couple of times as she looked at the large tree she had parked in front of. She didn't know how she wanted to answer this. It was normal for couples to fight, healthy even, but admitting that it was happening to Jackson seemed too vulnerable. April didn't understand why, but she wanted Jackson to believe she was happily in love all the time, even if she wasn't. Eventually, she looked at Jackson with his eyebrow raised and ended up asking, "Are you saying Maggie and you don't fight?"

His expression changed. He looked down to his shoes. "No, we don't." For a split second, April wonder if Jackson felt it too. The need to pretend like everything was okay with their love lives. They were adults, full adults with a kid now, so admitting that maybe they weren't where they wish to be seemed almost like a failure. But that idea went straight out the window with his next set of words. "Actually, Maggie and I broke up, so."

April eyes widen. She sat closer to the window, her hands grasping the ledge . "Jackson, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." He brushed the idea away with his hand. "When did you guys...?"

"A little more than a month ago."

"Oh." April pulled back her hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, it's not something you just announce during a ten second conversation and that's all we've been having lately. I was going to tell you when time was right, it just never seemed right."

"Right." She wanted to ask why they had broken up. She wanted to ask who had broken up with who, but she didn't want to pry into his business. She also felt she wanted to know for the wrong reasons. "Well, I'm really sorry it didn't work out." She thought that was the end of the conversation and smiled at him kindly, before about to press the window button.

"What about you?"

She removed her hand from the bottom. The conversation was still alive and running. "What do you mean?"

"Mathew and you? Do you guys fight?" he asked.

April didn't understand why he was asking when he clearly knew the answer. If Jackson and Maggie aren't together to fight, that only leave April and Mathew to be the reason behind Harriet 'violent' behavior. She looked towards the backseat to see Harriet playing with her favorite toy, before looking towards the radio. She made sure the air was on, before getting out of the car. She shut the door behind her before crossing her arms over her chest once more to bring some kind of comfort.

"He got a job offer in California," she said.

"Oh. Are you going to move to California?"

"He wants us to, but I don't want to. My life is here. You're here." April paused and watched as Jackson eyes looked at her like they did before. It brought feeling to her stomach as they kept eye contact. The air around them felt thick. She quickly looked down. "I mean, you're Harriet father. I don't want her growing up with her dad being miles away." Jackson stayed silent. "Anyways, we've been arguing a lot about it. Him trying to convince me that it's a good idea to go and then getting upset when I tell him I don't want to." Mathew also usually turned their argument into something having to do with Jackson, but April didn't bring that up.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Jackson offered.

April made a face. "No, no, that's okay. We'll figure it out."

Jackson looked down to the ground. "He doesn't deserve you, April." He said. April eyes widen. Before she knew what she was doing, she slapped him. Jackson quickly touched his check, his eyebrows pressed together. "Ow. What was that for?"

April covered her mouth with her hands, surprised that she had done that too. "I-I'm so sorry, I am...but how could you say that? You encouraged me to married him." Jackson held his check as they looked at each in the dark. When she realized that he wasn't going to say anything, she turned around, opening the car door once more before getting in.

Jackson quickly stood in front of the down window, his eyes lingering on her as she placed her seat belt on. "I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know why I did."

April placed her hand on the stick, but felt Jackson hand on her shoulder. She looked at Jackson. She could clearly see some red on his face and immediately felt ashamed for her own actions. "I'm really sorry," he said.

April grab the hand on her shoulder, before carefully pulling it off. "Good night," she told him before finally raising the window up and putting her car in reverse.

3 days later

April tossed candy into goody bags as she watched Harriet jumping on the bounce house. She had been talking to herself for a solid minute, asking herself what she could do if she saw someone be mean to Harriet, but whatever plan she had come up with was never used since Harriet didn't seem to get pushed into that situation.

April sighed alone, as she sat in the wooden bench as parents around her had their own conversations. Her eyes would shuffle between watching Harriet play in the bouncy house and Jackson make a bunch of parents laugh as they stood by the grill. Jackson was always so charming and had a way to attract people, something April clearly couldn't do. When Pete had invited her to his kids party, she never in a million years thought he would too invite Jackson. She had no idea their relationship went past patient and doctor. Jackson always seemed able to connect with people in a way April couple.

She watched as a very flirty mom placed her hand on Jackson arm. April rolled her eyes, unable to watch people gape over the existing of her ex. She placed the reminder candy in one bag, before standing up and walking into the house. She smiled politely as people she only kind of knew, before reaching the kitchen. She let out a large breath of air once she was finally alone. That didn't last long.

"Are you okay?"

April turned around to see Jackson slowly walking to the kitchen. Her eyes widen. "Did you follow me? Who's watching Harriet?"

"She'll be fine," he assured her.

"No, Jackson, she might not. There's a lot of people here who we don't know." April started walking out of the kitchen towards the backyard, but Jackson stopped her. He had his arm out. She stopped walking, looking out towards the backyard.

"She'll be fine," he said.

April could feel his eyes on her. She chose not to meet his eyes as she turned around back further into the kitchen. She stood in front of the island, using it to keep distance from Jackson. Ever since she had found out that Jackson is single, things had been weird between the two. Jackson has become more forward towards her, looking at her like she was made from the sun itself without any shame or even trying to hide it. It was different than before. Though April allowed small moment of affection, she thought there would never be anything more. Now, though, it felt possible and that scared her.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, just...cleaning," she said. She grabbed an open bag of bread, beginning to close it.

Jackson leaned against the island. "Are you sure you're not trying to avoid me?"

"What? Of course not. What makes you say such a silly thing?"

"I don't know. Maybe the fact that you can't look me in the eye." April tried to look him in the eye, but quickly looked away. "See," Jackson said.

April let her shoulders drop. "Well, maybe I could look you in the eye if you stopped looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like the way you do, Jackson. Don't act like you don't know what you're doing. I was married to you, remember? I know that look."

"I don't mean to. It just kind of happens when I look at you, April."

April burst out laughing. "Really?"

"What?"

"It just happens when I look at you, April?" she mocked. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"Don't act stupid."

"I'm not."

"You know what that means."

"I don't. I really don't. So, please explain it to me."

"It means I like you, April," Jackson hissed.

April dropped the bread on the grown. "Shit," she mumbled, before bending down to start picking up the fallen bread. Jackson quickly walked around the island, bending down next to her. He started to help her pick up the bread, but she quickly took the bread out of his hands, dropping it to the floor. "Stop it. I don't need your help," she said.

"What's your problem?"

"You are Jackson! You're my problem! You like me? What the hell are you trying to do here? I'm married!"

"I'm just telling you how I feel. I don't want to hide it."

April eyes widen. "Yeah, well, you're telling me a little late, don't you think?" She picked up all the fallen bread, putting it back on the island, before standing up. She should just throw away the whole bag. Maybe buy Pete a bag of loaf bread.

Jackson stood next to her. "You don't think I get that? I was stupid, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? That I should have tried a little harder before getting a divorce? That I was so focus on how I felt right in that moment that I didn't realize that it would eventually pass. Everything passes."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well, I'm saying it now. I'm sorry, okay. I didn't know then the stuff I know now. I was so hurt by everything that I just wanted to make it stop, even if that meant giving up on the things I love. On giving up on you. But the more time that passes, the more I realize that my feelings for you aren't going to stop, April. I waited and waited, and they are still there. I constantly think about you. It's frankly annoying. I don't want to. I know you're married. I get it. I don't want to feel this way, but I can't help it."

April finally looked at him. "So what?" She asked.

"What?"

"What the hell do you want from me?"

Jackson looked around, before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know? To say you like me back, I guess?"

Every part of April's body stopped. Was this it? Was this what she wanted? All those small gestures of middle school affection, craving for a moment when her skin could touch his, turning the most innocent thing into some kind of forbidden act. Was this what she was longing for all those times?

April began to laugh. She laughed so hard that her stomach began to cramp.

"Why are you laughing?" Jackson asked.

April looked at him with amusement. "Jackson, I love you." He began to smile, but April quickly threw her hands up. "No, you don't get it. I love you, but you like me. Don't you see? You treat me horribly. I bet you have feelings for me. I don't doubt them at all, but you are so unsure of what you want and you're so impulsive about it. I gave you my heart and you encouraged me to give it to someone else. And then a year later, that's when you tell me you like me? After treating me like nothing?" April looked downwards, in her thought for a moment. "And I was pathetic trying to get any affection off of you. Like trying to get leftovers. I was settling for leftovers." She looked back at him. "I deserve more than leftovers."

She grabbed the bag of bread from the island, throwing it away in the trash as she walked out of the kitchen. She could hear Jackson footsteps as they followed her. He quickly stood in front of her, his hands out wide.

"You're not happy with Mathew. I can see it."

"You're right. I'm not," she said. He raised his eyebrows at her, like she had proven his point. "So?" she asked.

"I want to be with you, April," he said.

"And I want to be with you, but that's not enough. I don't want to do this if you're suddenly going to feel like this isn't right and dump me on the side of the road again to find yourself. Having feelings for someone is not enough of a reason to be with them forever. I want to be with you forever, Jackson, but if you don't 100% want the same thing, then there's no point. There just isn't."

Jackson stood very still. "You're the only person who makes me feel alive," he said. He moved his face closer to her, their nose almost touching.

April gave him a sad smile. "Those are awfully big shoes to fill, don't you think?" She kissed him on the check, before walking around him to the backyard, where she scooped Harriet from the bounce house, and they headed towards their car.

6 hours later

April had her cover up to her chain as she looked at the fan above her in the dark. It went around and around. She thought back to Jackson and their conversation, thinking it over and over again, with new topics popping in her head. Things she wished she had said. The whole thing seemed messy and gave her a headache.

She could feel the bed dip towards her right as Mathew got into it. The cover on top of her slip towards her right as he moved around, trying to get comfortable. April eyes never left the fan above her as she spoke. "You should accept that job offer."

"Does that mean you're okay with moving?" Mathew asked the dark.

"No," she said, "It means I think we should get a divorce."

Five Months Later

Having a house warming party was never the plan, but April hated how quiet the apartment was when Jackson had Harriet. She however, did not think ahead about the mess that was going to be left afterwards and was starring at large amounts of food and plates left everywhere once everyone had gone home. Everyone except Jackson.

"Harriet is asleep," Jackson said as he walked into the living room. He took a look at the living room and pulled his sleeves up. "Wow."

For some reason, Jackson had come over to the house warming party with Harriet. Turns out mentioning an event can be confused as inviting the person. Ever since his confession, Jackson and April had agreed to keep their relationship strictly co-parents. They only talk about Harriet when drop off Harriet. That was their relationship. At first it was awkward, but with time they had found the perfect place they needed to be where Jackson could walk into a room and April could look at him without feeling completely heartbroken.

"Yeah," April said. She started to pick the dirty dishes collecting them one after the other, placing them on top of each other to make a sort of tower. She saw Jackson doing the same thing and quickly spoke up. "You don't have to."

"It's okay. I don't mind."

April nodded her head as a thanks. They did for a long time in conformable silence. April ended up in the kitchen, in front of the sink, scrubbing off the food as Jackson stored leftover in the fridge before joining her. He dipped his hands in the sink beside her and started to wash off the plates April had scrubbed off. They shoulders were touching. They did this in silence too for a while, before Jackson spoke.

"The party was great," he said.

"Thanks." Silence again as Jackson tried to balance all the dishes on to the small plastic dish dryer. "Thanks for sticking around, too. I would probably be stuck doing this all night if it weren't for you."

"No problem. I actually want to tell you something."

April lifted her eyebrow at him. "Are you going to confess your love for me again?" she asked.

Jackson chuckled. "No."

She looked back to the sink. "I'm just teasing."

"I'm sorry about that. I really didn't think it through, to be honest. I mean, I meant what I said, but..."

She cut him off. "It's okay. I forgive you for...everything. I wasn't completely in the right either. We were both wrong."

Jackson smiled. "Yeah we were."

"What's the thing you wanted to tell me?"

"I am dating this girl. She is a firefighter and I think it's becoming serious."

April thought her heart was going to sink. She thought that something in her would break. She waited but it never came. After she divorce Mathew and made friends with people at her church, she started to see things in a different way, almost in a bigger way. She didn't understand at first how five months could make her feel so new when years past and she felt the same. She realized thought with the help of her friends that it not really about how much time, but what you do with it.

"That's really great, Jackson. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks. Also, I've actually decide that I want to go to church. Try it out."

April smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Do you think your church would mind if I...?"

"No, they wouldn't mind. They would love to have you."

"Awesome."

After they washed the dishes, April went to her trash can, about to grab the bag to dumb it outside. She stopped her actions though, her eyes looking intensely at the trash. Jackson stood by her, wiping his hands off a rag as he looked at the trash too. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I, uh, I think someone threw away my bread." April reached down and grabbed her almost empty bag of loaf bread in the air, before looking at Jackson. They held eye contact for a few seconds before both of them burst out laughing.

Nine Months Later

April sighed deeply as she entered yet another speed dating event. The first she had ever entered one it was because her friends had forced her into it. Now, however, she found it fun meeting so many different people and even met a guy once. They only lasted a month, but she really enjoyed that month a lot. She was worried that have two divorces under her belt was going to make it hard for people to date her, but it turned out, it wasn't as big as a deal as she made out to be. She realized that everyone has had heartbreak.

She had become a regular at the speed dating in a way, this being her third time. She even greeted the host. April was completely surprise though when she saw Jackson with a name tag, hold a glass of champagne as he stood by the table of sweets looking like a spend dating virgin. Spotting him first, April quickly went over to him with a large smile. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"April, hey! I guess the same thing you are," he laughed. They shared a hug.

April grabbed one of the drinks, before smiling back at Jackson. "You are the last person I thought to see here." April knew Jackson and his firefighter had broken up and he was dating again, she just never imagined to see him at speed dating.

"Yeah, this really isn't my thing, is it?" he said. April shook her head. The host cut the music and began to clap his hands, getting the attention of all the single adults. Jackson looked overwhelm as the host started signal people to get in their seats.

April started to walk towards the tables when she noticed Jackson wasn't following. She walked back to him, her eyebrows raised. "You coming?"

Jackson looked down at his drink, before he shook his head. "No, actually. I don't think this is for me."

April looked back to the people waiting for her to meet, before looking back at Jackson. "You wanna go to the bar across the street instead?" She asked. Jackson's blue-green eyes met hers, before he nodded his head. April left her glass of champagne on the table she got it from, before taking his hand and leading him to the bar. It only took half an hour until the pair was laughing over nothing, letting the alcohol over take them.

"Can I admit something silly?" April asked him.

"Sure. Go ahead."

She smiled, but then started to shake her head. "No, no, never mind."

"No, now you have to say it." He gently pushed her shoulder with his. "Come on spill."

April gave him a look, before looking down at her almost empty drink. "Fine. Do you remember that time when we were in your car, after you read my letter, when I said that maybe we weren't meant to be?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I kind of hope that you would have told me I was wrong or something. This is gonna sound a bit silly, but I always kind of thought that God made you for me or something."

Jackson shifted his body towards her. "April, I didn't know."

"I know, but if you had felt that way, then you would have said something, wouldn't you? I guess it all worked out in the end, anyways. We both have good jobs, we're stabled. We can survive without being together." She took the last sip in the glass.

"Would about when I confessed to you that one time in Pete's kitchen? When you turned me down. Did you want me to tell you you were wrong then too?"

April shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe? I don't know. It doesn't matter now."

"You should have told me. If I had known," Jackson paused. He shifted his body forward, facing the bar. His blue-green eyes looked at his drink. "I thought I was causing you more harm than pain. You told me I was being awful to you. You told me that we weren't meant to be together. I thought I was doing the right thing by backing off. You should have said something. I can't read your mind. If I had known-"

"Jackson, forget it. I mean, you're right. I have this tendency to not say anything. To just assume you should have just figured it out. It wasn't fair to you, but hey, it all worked out." April looked at him with a smile.

Jackson didn't smile. "If I had known, of course I would have told you were wrong about us. I encouraged you to marry Mathew because I thought that's what you wanted. I got my stuff together and made an effort to become the man you could with forever after you divorced Mathew, but then you told me we should strictly be co-parents. If I had known, April, maybe things would have been different."

April gave him a kind smile. "Maybe they would have, but honestly I needed to know that I could be alone. I think you needed to know that too. All these maybe's and if, we should let that stuff go. We're here. We should allow ourselves to be."

"Allow ourselves to be?" Jackson question. He couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape his mouth, before taking a sip of his drink once more. He watched April order another drink, before swirling the small amount of liquid left in his glass. "You know, I'm willing to try again if you are."

April looked at Jackson with disbelief. "You aren't serious."

"I am. All those times before clearly weren't the right time. I think this is the write time. We are both single and we are both grown. We have become better people. I'm not saying get married. We should take it slow. Just start off with dating and see were that goes."

"Date? Again?"

"Actually, when you think about it, we never did that. We were never just boyfriend and girlfriend. Let me take you out on date, April. Let me buy you flowers and lets just go to places and talk for hours and text like we're teenagers." He titled his head to the side, a cute smirk on his face. "What do you say? Wanna try again?"

April open her mouth just when the bar tender told them both that they were closing. They both hopped off their stools. April rampaged in her purse to pay for her drinks, but Jackson stopped her.

"I got it covered," he said, before putting a few bills on the bar.

April still pulled out the little cash she had and set it next to his money. "He deserves a good tip," she said. They eyes were stuck on each other. "I had a lot fun tonight. I didn't think this is how my night would be, but I'm glad it turned out this way."

"You haven't answered my question," he said.

April smiled at him. "Good night, Jackson." She walked past him, but his hand shot out, catching hers. She looked back him, her eyebrow raised.

"Come to my place." Before she could say anything, he added. "Come on, just for some drinks. 'Let's just let ourselves be.'"

She was silent for a moment, before nodding her head. "Okay."

34 minutes later

April thought Jackson's apartment lacked a lot of decoration. He lived in a one bedroom apartment that only had pictures of Harriet , his mom and him with April's face in a few of them. April headed to the bathroom as soon as she entered his apartment. She had to go through his room to get to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror for a couple of minutes, asking herself what she was doing.

She didn't know how to feel or what she wanted. She never expected this to happen. It felt almost sprung on her. When she asked Jackson if he wanted to go to the bar, never did she imagine it would lead her to going to his apartment for something not Harriet related.

Eventually she had to get out of the bathroom. She took note of his room as she walked through it, accidentally bumping into the end table. The plant on it slip from the surface and crashed onto the floor. "Shit," April mumbled. In panic, she opened the drawers to find something that could help her clean up the mess she made. Dirt was everywhere and she thought that maybe Jackson had some kind of rag or something, but instead in the lower drawer, she found her letter.

She quickly left it there and closed the drawer when she heard footsteps. Jackson walked into the room, an amused smiled on his face. "You broke my plant."

"No, I didn't. I just broke what was holding your plant." She began to gather dirt in the middle with her hands.

Jackson bend down next to her, starting to do the same thing. They finger brushed against each other a couple of time.

She could feel his eyes on her. April met them. She felt something beautiful shiver through her. She thought back to the bread she had dropped once when he confessed to her. How awful everything felt. It was fast, and her thoughts were jumbled. They weren't now. She looked at him, and it was calming and smooth and she felt like she could breathe. It felt natural and obvious when he looked from her eyes to her lips. Like of course he would. Of course this is where they should be.

He stood up with the broken pieces of the pot. April followed his lead, her hands covered in dirt. She looked down at them. "I should wash my hands," she said. Jackson nodded, setting the pieces on the end table. They went into the bathroom. The water turned on. April placed soap on her hands and Jackson did too. They washed them then dried them then looked at each other in the small bathroom.

They stood close to each other. Jackson leaned his head down towards hers. Their lips so close a small moment would make them touch. April could feel his breath as he spoke. "We should take it slow," Jackson said.

"Okay." April said.

She leaned in. She pressed her lips gently against his. He wrapped his arms around her, bring her closer. She locked her hands behind his neck. Then, after a while, she pulled away. "I have to go. Harriet's babysitter is probably worried."

Jackson let her go. "Right. Then...I'll call you? Ask you out on our very first date?"

April pecked his lips. "Okay" She walked past him out the bathroom, feeling like all the pieces had finally fallen together.

She reached his door with her purse in hand when he called out her name. She turned around only to meet his lips again. He pushed her against his front door, before pulling back. "I'll see you tomorrow." He creased her check.

She closed her eyes at the touch before leaning upwards and kissing him again. "Okay. Don't forget to call me."

Jackson nodded his head. "I won't."

April peck his lips one last time, before wished him goodnight, and leaving his apartment with hopes of tomorrow.

#japril

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astoldbyacertifiedunicorn · 7 years

Text

Japril Appreciation Week: Day 3 ⇒ A song or quote that reminds you of them

Halo by Beyoncé

Remember those walls I built?

Well, baby they're tumbling down

And they didn't even put up a fight

They didn't even make a sound

I found a way to let you in

But, I never really had a doubt

Standing in the light of your halo

I got my angel now

Jackson Avery couldn't understand why exactly he was feeling so angry. It was a hard emotion to pin down for a 7 year old. He just knew, that despite all the coddling his mother has been trying to do, and all the yelling his granddad had done, he had an inexplicable need to act out.

And now here he was, at a doctor's office, where his mom said that his behavior at school meant he'd have to talk to this doctor and tell her what was wrong. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't sure what was wrong, so there was nothing to tell her. He hadn't meant to push Pete off the swing. He really hadn't. But Pete had been talking about how his dad was teaching him to play baseball and how they'd gone for ice cream after, and he hadn't stopped when Jackson had asked him to. So, he'd pushed him, and Pete had gotten a scrape on his forehead and he'd cried real hard. Jackson had felt terrible. It wasn't Pete's fault he was feeling awfully angry this whole month.

"Jackson, please stop being difficult. You're an Avery. You can't act out like this in public." Catherine told him, through gritted teeth, as she dragged him along a hallway leading to the doctor he was supposed to see.

He didn't care much at the time that he was an Avery, it didn't mean anything to him. He just knew he was having a particularly bad day and he needed to scream. A lot.

"Honey, please stop screaming." Catherine huffed, looking completely lost as to what to do with a screeching child who was kicking, arms flailing wildly as she carried him to the psychiatric ward to meet a child therapist, with as much grace as she could muster.

"I don't want to go! I don't want to go!" He bent his body, and let his feet hit the floor, attempting to pull his mother to screeching halt.

"Honey, you have to. The school isn't letting you back until the doctor says you're... fine." Catherine explains, in a hushed voice, both to soothe and avoid scandal.

"I am fine!" He says indignantly, even though he knows that feeling like you're fine means you want to play on the Nintendo instead of feeling like throwing it across the room.

"You're not, Jackson. And it's okay. You're da-"

He screamed as loud as he could, lungs puffed out, and the veins in his throat almost popping through the thin skin. She was going to say a name he didn't want to hear.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I won't bring him up. Just... please. Behave." Catherine tried to no avail, since Jackson was still belting out high pitch yells, and she had no option but to carry him into the room.

Maybe it was the stillness of the room itself, or the many faces that turned their way when they entered, but the moment they stepped into the room, Jackson went quiet. He looked around, observing the area with his eyes, unsure of what exactly this place was. It had bright coloured walls, and a play area a little off to the place where adults were all seated, flipping through magazines. His mother, finally looking relieved, was asked by a lady seated at a desk, to wait for some time before the doctor could see him.

She took Jackson's hand and led him into the play area, "Please, please, play nice."

He turned around, a scowl permanently etched on his face, as he walked forward, kicking all the toys that lay in his path as hard as he possibly could. There were 2 kids to the right, coloring and a little girl who was playing in the toy house all by herself. He chose a spot nearer to the door, sat cross legged, and took to the task of throwing any object in his vicinity as far as he possibly could. He did this for a while, happy with the rush he got every time a toy bounced so hard it almost broke.

"Hi."

He stopped, a toy truck in hand, wheels almost falling off from being thrown numerous times, and looked to his right.

"I'm April Kepner. But you can call me April. Do you want to be my husband?"

He blinked, completely taken aback by this bold little girl in front of him, who was holding out her hand towards him. Her red hair was pulled up by two pigtails, and she had on a pair of dungarees, a wide smile, and a pair of massive glasses, she kept pushing up her nose.

"Me and Lizzy are playing house," She clarifies, pointing to a battered down doll, "I'm her mommy, and so if we get married, you can be her daddy."

He turns red, and his hands ball up into fists. He didn't want to play house with this girl. She was annoying, and he hated her. Just like he hated everyone, especially his dad.

"I don't want to play a stupid game with you. Leave me alone!" He yells at her, and although most kids he knew, now flinched around him, April seemed to stay steady.

"It's not a stupid game." She insists, and smiles wider, "We have to go to work, and come home, and look after Lizzy. Like mommy's and daddy's do."

"It's a stupid game because not all daddy's do that!" He tells her, rolling his eyes. Some daddy's don't come back home.

"What do you mean?" She asks, putting her hands into her pockets.

"Nothing." He mumbles, because he doesn't talk about that day.

He doesn't talk about the day his daddy said he'd just be going to work, and he never came back after that. He doesn't talk about how Jackson had waited every day for a whole month, on the step outside his house, like he always does. Maybe he'd gone on a trip, Jackson had thought, he'll come back. He always goes on trips, but he always comes back. He'd waited, and waited, thought of all the stories he'd tell his dad when he came home, and all the games they'd play. He couldn't wait. He sat there, on that step, from the time he got home from school, all the way until the sun had set, waiting for his dad to just come home. He'd done that, until his mom had patted his head, and told him, in the same tone she used when his pet goldfish Frank had died, that dad wasn't coming back.

"Dads are dumb. I don't want to be a dad." He tells her, and she thinks this over for a second.

"Hm, then you can be the mom!" She tells him, gleefully, and Jackson feels like laughing for the first time in a while.

"I can't be the mom, stupid." He tells her, and instantly feels bad when she looks hurt.

"Hey! Don't call me stupid. I'm really smart. I read a lot, and know big words, like approximately."

Jackson nodded, quite impressed, and muttered an apology.

"It's okay," She smiles, "So do you want to be the mom?"

Jackson nods, hesitatingly. He doesn't want to play, but there was something about April he now decided that he quite liked.

"Okay." Because at least moms don't leave.

"Why do you hate dads?" She asks, and he purses his lips, before he relents.

"They leave you."

"No they don't." She argues, looking baffled.

"Mine did." Jackson shrugs, carefully picking up Lizzie from April.

"Oh." She says, and pouts for a moment, "Well then he's a bad daddy."

Jackson looks up at her, and feels angry for a second. He new he should probably defend his father, but even at 7 years old he knew it wasn't true.

"Yeah he is."

"Is that why you're so mad?" She asks him, and Jackson takes a while before he nods, "Well, that seems fair. I'd be so angry if my daddy left too."

He didn't know there would be anyone who'd think he was right to feel the way he did.

"Thanks."

She smiles at him, a toothy grin, and Jackson notices how she's missing a couple of teeth, but she was cute for a girl, even though rumour was they all had cooties.

"Hey Jackson," April says, as they get ready to go to work, and he feeds Lizzy with a tube they're pretending is a bottle, "I won't leave. I'm going to be the best daddy!"

He smiles, and something happens for the first time since his dad left. He doesn't feel so angry anymore.

Hit me like a ray of sun

Burning through my darkest night

You're the only one that I want

Think I'm addicted to your light

I swore I'd never fall again

But this don't even feel like falling

Gravity can't forget to pull me back to the ground again

“Hey, April!”

His best friend, who was sitting cross legged on the floor, near the play area, looked up from her book, and waved him over. She was wearing a sweater with a long skirt, and had apparently broken her glasses from the looks of it, since it was being held together by a white plaster of some sort.

April and him had been friends ever since they’d met when they were seven years old, right here, in the waiting room of Mass Gen’s psych ward. Now they were both 14, and they still came here every Friday. She made these appointments his mother forced him to go, more bearable.

When he reaches her, she scoots over to make space for him, as he takes a seat, pushing his legs in front of him.

“What are you reading?” He asks, peaking at the words in her books, which were far too small for his liking.

“Ulysses by James Joyce. It’s the Latinised name of the hero, Odysseus in Homer’s poem Odyssey. It's really interesting because throughout the novel you see parallels of the poem and the novel, like the characters structural experiences and the thematic exploration of modernism-”

He chuckles quietly to himself, as April basically narrates a book report right in front of him. She was a bit of nerd, and he said that with pride. His best friend was one of the smartest people he knew. Heck, that’s why she was here in the first place. As a kid, April had never paid attention in class, and her teachers had found her difficult to teach since she doesn’t seem to be interested in her lessons. Her parents had gotten worried and brought her here, just to make sure April didn’t have any learning difficulties. Turns out, it was quite the opposite. She wasn’t challenged enough, because she was too smart for the grade she was in. So, she’d gotten bumped up a few grades, and was now a high school student at 14.

“Sounds boring.” He teases, and pushes her with his elbow.

“Shut up! It’s really good. It’s just-” She bites her lip, and hesitates.

“Unnecessarily overcomplicated and a tiny bit over hyped?” He guesses, and she shyly chuckles before agreeing.

“Yeah. It is. But it’s still good though.” She says, and closes the book before placing it back into her bag pack.

“Says you, nerd.”

She pushes him away, and rolls her eyes,

“How was school?”

"Same old, same old. Nothing exciting,” He shrugs, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

April stares at him, eyes narrowed and he can tell that she knows he’s bluffing.

“I know when you’re lying! What happened?”

He waits a second, letting her grow slightly impatient as she whines for him to stop being an asshole, and just tell her. He gives in, smirking fully, as he deposits his report card on her lap. She opens it up, and begins to squeal so loud she gets hushed by Nurse Ria.

"Sorry,” She mutters to Ria, as she throws her hands over his shoulders, hugging him tightly, “I told you, you could do it”

He grins at her, and nods his head, “You did. Thank you for tutoring me… and you know, for believing in me and stuff.”

He’s awkward with these kind of talks, but he really wants her to know how much he appreciates her friendship. His family never really cared to push him. His mom excused pretty much anything he did because of his dad, and his grandfather didn’t see any potential in him, which he never once failed to remind him. Jackson was just a sad, pretty face and he knew that nothing was expected of him. Well, by his family at least. April, on the other hand, had spent the last couple of months, tutoring him and pushing him trying to prove to him that if he worked hard, he could be really smart. He’d been unwilling at first, but the more time went on, Jackson had realized that he wasn’t failing because he wasn’t smart, but because no one cared enough to tell him otherwise. Except for April. So when he’d received his report with all A’s, he knew there was just one person he wanted to show it to.

“I am so proud of you.” She smiles at him, her eyes beaming and her tone so genuine. His stomach did that weird flip it did whenever she looked at him like that. He wasn’t sure why.

“So what’s up with you?” He asks her, as she hands him his report back.

She opens her mouth as if to say something, and then shakes her head, faking a smile, “Nothing.”

“You know, I can read you too, right?” He asks, and she drops her smile, instead choosing to pout, “April, come on, tell me. Did someone do something? Did they say something?”

“They always do that.” She shrugs, as if she’s used to it, even though she really shouldn’t have to be. April had never had an easy time fitting in. She was smart, imaginative and a little strange, and even though those were all his favorite things about her, it also meant that she was an easy target for bullies. It also didn’t help that her classmates were all almost 4 or 5 years older than her. It was another reason why she still came here.

“Hey, come on. Tell me.”

She takes a deep breath and turns to him, “It’s so stupid, I shouldn’t even be upset.”

He raises his brows at her, and clears his throat, putting on his best impression of their psychiatrist, Dr.Jones, “Your emotions are always valid. You have a right to be upset about even the smallest, most inconsequential of things.”

April laughs, but it feels too forced, and it makes him want to punch whoever hurt her.

“We have senior prom coming up, and I didn’t even want to go. You know I don’t like parties,” She tells him, and he nods, “Anyway, Jake, this guy in my biology class, asked me to go with him, and he’s… cute and kind of smart, so I said yes.”

Jackson unconsciously clenches his fist. He already didn’t like where this story was going.

“So, it turns out, it was all going to be a prank. He wasn’t going to turn up on that day. I overheard them when I went back after class to get this book I’d left behind.”

She wipes her eyes, and he watches a stray tear roll down her cheeks. What a dick, he thinks. What kind of a horrible, disgusting, pathetic human being has to make someone feel like this so that they can feel better about themselves? April didn’t deserve this. Heck, no person deserved this.

"What a fucker.” He mumbles, and April look shocked at how cold he sounds.

“Jackson, don’t curse.” She mutters back, as she quickly shoots a glance around the room.

“Do you want me to beat him up?” He asks, all serious, because even though he was younger than this guy, Jackson was quite built for his age, so he could probably take him out. He would, for her.

“Don’t be ridiculous. If you do anything stupid like that I will go straight to your mother, okay?”

“Whatever.” He mutters, but he knew she wasn’t joking about that.

“April Kepner.” Nurse Ria, points at the door, indicating to April that she could go in.

“We’re still on for tomorrow, right?” She asks, standing up, and patting her skirt down. They had movie night every Saturday at his place.

“Yeah,” He says, but there’s something else he’s itching to ask her.

“April?”

“Hm?”

He gulps, wondering when he’d gotten so nervous, “Do you… do you maybe want to go to prom with me?”

She looks confused for a while, and a little astounded at his question.

“You mean your junior prom?”

He nods.

“Yeah. All our friends will be there. Alex, Cristina, Lexie and Mark.”

She smiles, “I do miss the gang.”

“So, you… want to go?”

She looks at him, and blushes, tugging on her bag.

“April, go in!” Nurse Ria ushers her, clearly impatient.

She looks over her shoulder, and turns back to him.

“Okay.”

He grins, almost breaking his jaw.

“Okay.”

It's like I've been awakened

Every rule I had you breakin'

It's the risk that I'm taking

I ain't never gonna shut you out

It had been 2 weeks of hell for Jackson. He sat in the car, head on the steering wheel, thinking about how he wasn't at all ready to go have a therapy session where he'd undoubtedly have to bring up the events of the past 2 weeks.

God, did he regret it. He regretted it every single day since it happened. He could barely sleep or concentrate on his classes, he was disengaged from his friends and he didn't really give a shit that he'd been an angry, intolerable douche as his mother loved to remind him.

He groaned, realizing he was just delaying the inevitable, and got down from his car. He walked towards the hospital, and caught his reflection on the mirror. He hadn't shaved in a while, and he looked like he felt on the inside, absolutely shitty.

"Hi, Jackson. You're early this week."

He manages a smile at the receptionist, and nods his head, "Yeah, I, uh, got caught up in a class last week."

No he hadn't. He'd come here, sat in his car in the parking lot and waited until he'd seen April leave the hospital, to get down and leave for his appointment. It had only been a week, and it was too fresh.

"Alright, well, you'll go in after April." She winks at him, and he lowers his head in shame. Of course, everyone here still thought they were together.

He doesn't say anything, instead nods a goodbye and walks towards the room. He slowly opens the door, and heads inside, while some faces look up to see who had entered. He smiles at Jake, a 32 year old with severe social anxiety. They never talked, but sometimes Jackson would play video games in the waiting room with him, until April was done.

April. There she was, tucked into a corner, seemingly reading through some notes from class. She looked amazing, he thought. She was wearing a pale blue skater dress, with sandals, and her red hair was piled at the top of her head in a messy bun. April was, as always, effortless.

He hesitates for a slight second, wonders if he should maybe stay outside the waiting area for some more time, but honestly it would make him more of a coward than he already was.

He walks up to her, and she senses his presence, tearing her eyes from her notes to glance up at him. She looks up at him, and her face is conflicted with a mixture of emotions. She looks sad, angry and resigned. The worst thing is through it all he sees what he saw that night, when she told him she loved him, and he had gotten too scared to say it back.

"Can I sit here?" Jackson asks, softly, pointing to the two chairs in the corner.

She nods, and looks away from him, as he sits down, throwing his bag on the other chair.

They sit in silence for a while, before he decides he needs to say something, because damn it, he misses her.

"How are you?" He asks and she turns to face him. It breaks his heart once more when he sees the bags under her eyes and the pale skin, and red eyes. He did this to her.

She frowns, clearly annoyed by his question, and even he has to admit it was a dumb one.

"I'm sorry, that was a really stupid question." He laughs, humorlessly.

He knows he's really fucked up when she doesn't even reply. Heck, he knew he really fucked up the moment she'd stormed out of his room, crying her eyes out 2 weeks ago. They'd tip toed around each other for the majority of their teenage years, after they'd gone to junior prom and lost their virginity to each other. When they’d gone to college he’d finally grown the balls to ask her out, and when they'd started dating, Jackson had thought they'd finally figured it out.

"April, I-I really am so sorry. I don't want to hurt you. God, April, that's the last thing I want to do." He tells her with a melancholic smile on his lips, "I regret it, so damn much, but... I don't know, it's for the best? Trust me, it's is. You don't... you don't want to love me."

She sighs, and shakes her head, letting her hair fall over her face. He knows she does this when she's mad at him and wants to block him out, but it's an indication she's listening so he goes on.

"Do you hate me? Please don't hate me." He whispers.

"I don't hate you."

She tells him, rolling her eyes, finally coming out of the hair veil she had going on.

"Yeah?"

"Of course I don't hate you, Jackson! That's the whole problem! The problem is I love you so much that it almost feels unhealthy." She groans, burying her face in her hands.

"April-"

"No!" She yells, a little too loud, and her face flushes having remembered that they're in public. She settles on a stern, hushed tone, "You don't get to do this, Jackson. You don't get to break me, and then come here and say you're sorry, and act like regretting it will make everything alright again. It doesn't work like that!"

"I didn't think that. I swear I didn't. I just wanted to explain-"

"Explain what? That you don't love me back? Don't worry, message received. Loud and clear. Just... please leave me alone, Jackson. Go back to avoiding me like you've been doing these last 2 weeks. Go back to acting like we never happened."

Yes, he had avoided her. He'd intentionally avoided places she visits, and kept to his campus. She goes to Yale, and he goes to Harvard, something he'd for once be grateful for. He just couldn't bear seeing her, and be reminded of the choice he'd made.

"Okay, you're right. I avoided you. I'm sorry. I should've handled that better."

"You don't say." She replies, sarcastically.

"But don't... don't say I don't- that I don't-" His words fail him, like they did that day, when he needs it the most.

He waits for a second, gathers his thoughts. He had to make a decision, because one thing was for sure. He did love her. It was that overwhelming realization that had led to them breaking up in the first place. He loved her, but he had no idea what love was. He wouldn't ever try to love April without knowing exactly how to love her right. But, he also needed her in his life. Selfish or selfless? Maybe he was too young to make the right choice. Either way, she needed to know why.

"I have never felt like this. I've never felt so overwhelmed by something, by someone, like I do with you. April, everything I feel for you, overwhelms me. And it's scary. It's terrifying, because I know I'm just going to end up failing you."

He admits, and looks up at her staring back at him, completely shocked. She'd definitely not guessed that, he could tell. God knows what conclusions she'd come to, with all her insecurities and anxieties.

"What? No you won't." She says, as if the mere thought was ridiculous.

"I will, April! I will! I don't know how to love someone. I'll screw it up and I'll hurt you, more than I already have, and you'll hate me. I can't have you hating me." He'd give her up, if it was for her best. Selfless, it is then.

"No, no, you won't. I know you won't." She insists.

"April-"

"No! You listen here. You are not your father. You are not Robert. You're Jackson. You are a completely different person. I know he screwed you up, Jackson, I know that. But are you really going to let him screw everything up for the rest of your life? Don't give him that kind of power!" She pokes him in the chest, once, twice, to prove her point.

She takes in a deep breath, and calms herself, considering her outburst had gotten her riled up.

"I'm not saying you have to love me-"

"I do."

She smiles at him, a warmth reaching her eyes that had only minutes ago looked dead. How could he not love her when she knew him better than anyone else?

"Yeah?" She asks, and he nods.

"You're just scared to say it out loud?"

He nods, again.

"Well then you should've just told me that, doofus!"

He pushes him back, and he lets himself have a laugh for the first time since he'd called them off, since he'd decided that he wasn't someone who deserved April.

She places both her hands in his face.

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I know you think you're unlovable, Jackson, because you think he couldn't love you but that's not true. I love you. I love you so much. I-"

She was the ultimate risk. The blind jumping into a bottomless pit. But God, was she worth all the damage it could do.

"Love you. I love you."

She kisses him then, and he can almost feel the older man next to him rolling his eyes at their public display of affection. She pulls back, studies him, and kisses him once more.

"You are not him."

He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't deny it either.

April brings an arm to his shoulder and lightly pulls his body towards her. She brings her mouth towards his ear, and gently bites on the lobe.

"Want to skip today?" She murmurs, and like the 20 year old, hormonal boy he is, he can feel himself embarrassingly react to just her words, "Maybe, some makeup sex? I hear it's really good."

He smirks, and surreptitiously puts his hand under her dress, snapping the elastic of her underwear.

"Well, let's go find out."

Everywhere I’m looking now,

I’m surrounded by your embrace,

Baby I can see your halo,

You know you’re my saving grace,

You’re everything I need and more

It’s written all over your face

Baby, can feel your halo

Pray it won’t fade away

“Mom, remember that Samuel tends to walk around a lot, so keep an eye on him even if you put him in the play pen, and Harriet will fuss for April at bedtime so just play that recording I sent to your phone, and she’ll calm down.”

Jackson tells his mother, as he walks paces the hallway outside of the now very familiar waiting room, although he comes here less often over the years and it looks very different than it did when he first came here. He listens to his mother rattle on about how she’s perfectly aware and capable of handling her own grandchildren, and that he should stop worrying about this, and worry about something that actually required his attention, like his marriage. It was, after all, the reason why he was back here, after almost 5 years.

He cuts the line, after telling her to stay out of his business, and goes back inside to rejoin his wife. He walks up to her, and sees her attempting to sit down on the chair, with an 8 month pregnant belly, which he knew now, after 2 other babies, was no easy feat.

“Hey, hey, let me help.”

She stares daggers at him, but nonetheless takes his hand, and lets him sit her down. She doesn’t thank him these days. She’s not very amicable towards him at all these days, and honestly, he doesn’t blame her. He’s been a little impossible to like as of lately.

“How’s the baby?” He asks, placing a hand on her belly.

“Kicking on my bladder, doing cartwheels around my belly and craving raisin pudding. I hate raisin pudding. Basically, making my life as difficult as possible. That’s how I’m sure it’s your child.” She gives him a withering look, as she uncomfortably adjusts herself on the chair.

He shakes his head, used to the jabs she takes at him nowadays, “Is that why you’re sure? Not because you recall that vacation in Cancun when you wanted me so bad, you refused to let me get up and go get a condom?”

She widens her eyes, and as she used to do even back then, when he’d said or done something inappropriate in this waiting room, quickly scans the crowd to see if they’re listening. Once she realizes they aren’t, she turns back to him.

“I’m not in the mood to joke with you, Jackson. If you’re feeling particularly talkative today, please feel free to instead talk to our therapist about-”

“There is nothing to talk about, April. God, we’re just wasting our time here.”

She scoffs at him, “It’s nice to see that you think saving our marriage is a waste of your time.”

“That’s not fair! You know that’s not what I-”

“Doctors Avery, if you could maybe try to resolve your issues in my office and not the waiting room, that would be great. I can assure you I’m more qualified of an audience than Lilly over here.”

Rashida, their counselor, points to the 5 year old little girl who sees enamored by their hushed argument.

April flushes a bright red, and gets up with his help, to follow Rashida into her office. They sit down, and the tension settles back in.

“Alright, did we do our homework for this week?” Rashida asks, staring earnestly at them.

“Yes.” April nods, albeit too enthusiastically, and he smirks at how his genius of a wife never stopped being the cute nerd who taught him the word ‘approximately’.

“Okay, then, April would you like to tell me what you’ve written down. Now remember Jackson, this is a list of all the things you did that affected April negatively. I don’t want you interrupting until she’s done.” He warns her, because he had a tendency to be quite defensive.

“Okay, so he’s been more and more distant lately-”

“Oh come on!” He groans, and immediately looks bashful since it had only been a second since he’d been told not to interrupt and he was already doing it, “Sorry.”

“So he’s been distant. He keeps trying to distract me with sex, and honestly, I’m over that. And last week, he yelled at me because I asked him if he wanted my help giving Harriet a bath. It’s like he thinks I’m questioning him as a parent, and-”

He sighs, as April lists off all his recent failures as a husband. He hates that she feels so disappointed. It was not at all his intention, to ever hurt her or make her feel like they’re marriage wasn’t strong enough. When they’ve gotten married, he’d made her promise him that divorce would never be an option for them. So last month when she’d given him the ‘therapy or else’ ultimatum, he knew she didn’t mean a divorce, but that the word would become an option for her.

“I just want him to open up to me. I just want him to stop telling me nothing is wrong-”

“Nothing is wrong, April. I am fine, I keep telling you this, but you’re not listening to me. You’re reading into nothing.” He groans, running a hand over his face.

“That’s not true. I’ve known you since I was 7 years old, Jackson! I’ve been your best friend for almost 28 years, we’ve been married for over 10 years. I know you! I know when you’re upset.” She insists.

“April, I love you. I love our kids. My life revolves around the three of you. I live for the three of you. Is that not enough?”

“Of course I know you love me, Jackson, that’s not the problem. I love you too, so much. I just don’t think my husband should go through something that is making him into someone I don’t recognize because of it.”

“Did you know Dr.Jones was my father?”

They break their gazes away from each other to look at Rashida.

“Really?”April asks, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“Small world.” He comments.

Rashida smiles warmly, “Did you know you were his favorite patients? He used to talk about the two of you at home. Of course, he never said any names, but after reading your files, I figured out it out. He thought it was crazy romantic that you two met here, at seven, and ended up dating. He loved that you two asked him to come to your wedding. It’s sad he passed away before it happened.”

“It broke our hearts.” April admitted, and he did remember how sad she was that he couldn’t be there. They hadn’t even been able to make it to the funeral.

“Did you know that you two talked about each other at every single one of your sessions?” She asks, and they both nod, knowingly but surprised that the other also did the same, “It’s sweet. Aprils talked about how she finally found someone that seemed to truly like her, and Jackson talked about how he’d found someone he could maybe picture himself having a family with. You found healing, not only within yourselves, but also within each other. I just… urge you not to forget about your incredible history. Remember this when you’re confused about Jackson’s feelings or when April seems to read into yours a little too much, just don’t forget-”

“I found my dad.”

The silence that set in the room was so loud, Jackson wished someone would say something. April looked so shocked, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. She gasps, as she brings a hand up to her mouth.

“You….uh…. dad… um, what?” She stutters, eyes rapidly blinking, trying to decipher this information.

“I found him. I hired this guy to look into him, and he finally found him. He lives in Montana. He owns a bar and he sells chicory coffee on Etsy. It’s really fucking weird.”

“Oh, honey.”

April scoots closer to him, taking hold of his hand, and hugging it to her chest.

“Why didn’t you tell me this? Gosh, Jackson, I can’t believe you dealt with all that by yourself.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to worry you. I know how you get with my dad, April. You feel bad, and you think talking to him is going to solve it, and I don’t know what I even want to do with this information. I’m torn between wanting to talk to him, and punching his lights out, or both,” He admits, and then looks sheepishly at April. He knew she didn’t like any kind of violent talk, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’d like to punch him myself, to be honest.” She says, and he smiles at her.

“Look, Jackson, it’s definitely up to you, but from what I read in your files, you always talk about closure. Maybe this is the closure you’ve always wanted.” Rashida says, and he shrugs. He’s torn between that and never wanting to see him again.

“I just want you to tell me when you’re going through something this big. I’m your wife, Jackson. You don’t have to deal with this alone.” April tells him, running a hand through his hair, “I will come with you, if you decide to go. I will be there for whatever you need. I am your wife. I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

If Jackson was to look at his life through a series of snapshots, the one person who would always be there was April. When his father had left, all those years ago, there had been a hole in his life, he’d never thought he could fill, but as fate would have it, he met April. April his friend, April his best friend, April his girlfriend, and April his wife. They’d all filled up that gaping hole, bit by bit, piece by piece until there were only faint scars of what had happened.

“Thank you.” He says, as he leans forward and kisses her.

If there was a thing as a guardian angel, well he’d found his at seven, and he had held on for dear life.

Baby, I can feel your halo,

Pray it won’t fade away.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

I’m not too happy with this one, so sorry if it wasn’t all that good <3

#japril #japril fanfiction #japril week 2017 #japril week #japril appreciation week

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astoldbyacertifiedunicorn · 7 years

Text

NOTE: Hi everyone, in order to celebrate japril week, me and my friend/fellow fic writer @japril12 decided to write a fic per day for the whole of this week, basing each fic on the theme of the day. I want to thank her for the ideas she helped me build, the endless questions she answered and all the re reads she did. Also, for not blocking me because I’m annoying. You’re the best!

Please enjoy! And don’t forget to check out her fics, which I’ll always link at the end of the fic! :)

Japril Appreciation Week: Day 1 ⇒ Funniest Moment <>

“Unwilling to delegate. I am a great delegator. It’s a key to why I’m so organized!”

He chuckles, bringing his beer up to his lips, and takes a sip. April huffs in annoyance, following his gesture, and sips from her bottle. They’d had a long day, touring medical school students, and had a bit of surprise waiting for them once they were up for review. Turns out, save for Karev, none of them were as great of teachers as they had thought they were. His own student had accused him of taking all the learning opportunities for himself, and then worse, outsmarting him. Sure, it had been a hit to his ego, but it definitely wasn’t hitting him as hard as it was hitting April, who seems to have taken the comment extremely personally.

He looks up to tell her that she’s right, she is brilliant at organizing, and the douchebag was probably just mad his hopes of maybe doing a central line today went amiss.

“Oh hi, just wanted to get some water?”

They both turn to look at the source of the voice, and he smirks when he realizes it’s Alex’s student, Laurel.

“Well, the glasses are in that cabinet.”

Obviously, he’s managed to score, Jackson thinks petulantly. He wasn’t too disappointed if he was being honest, although he’d spent a good part of the day trying to trade his guy for her, with the exact same intention as all the straight, hot blooded males in their group had. He hadn’t gotten laid in a while, such was the life of a surgical resident, and she was a very attractive woman, so he’d figured why not? Sure, it made him feel slightly sleazy after the idea initially popped up in his head, but he was nowhere ready for anything resembling a relationship. Nope, no thanks.

He watches her reach up for the glass, and the movement causes her shirt to move up. Almost as if on impulse, he looked at her, deciding immediately that although he was very deprived when it came to the female body as of late, this was particularly degenerate and a little creepy, if he is being honest. Impulse, was not a good excuse. He’s just about to turn his gaze, when a hand flies past his vision, and he feels the hard contact of smooth skin on the back of his head.

April. Of course, she would notice that his gaze had wandered off to unwelcome territory. He can’t help but slip out a loud, albeit manly, cry of pain, because damn who knew April could throw a mean punch? He looks at her, her disapproval written very clearly on her face, as she mutters under her breath about how all men were pigs. He rubs his head, throwing a glance at her direction and chuckles as he realizes half of his friendship with April has been him doing or saying something stupid, and her chastising for it by swatting him across the chest, arm or chest… hard. She had no mercy.

He throws another glance towards Laurel’s direction, hoping she hadn’t just witnessed him get hit over the head by his best friend for gawking at her. It would be embarrassing to say the least, and his ego could only take so many hits in one day.

This time, however, when a pale arm flies out of nowhere, he is ready. Before it makes contact with the part of his body April has deemed worthy of a hit, he holds her wrist, stopping her from reaching her intended destination, which looked to be his arm.

“Stop hitting me!” He whispers, laughing at her annoyance that she wasn’t able to fulfill what she had wanted to do.

“Well, then stop staring at her like she’s a piece of meat. Jackson, you know it’s wrong to-”

“I wasn’t-” He tries to excuse himself out of her perfectly fair accusation, but stops short when he notices her brows raised, calling him out on his bluff, “Okay, so I was… the first time. Now, I just wanted to make sure she didn’t see you playing Whac-A-Mole on my head.”She rolls her eyes, and ignores him, going back to her task of attempting to pull her hand out of his death grip. He smiles, almost devilishly, and leans back against his chair, his arm still around hers.

“Jackson, let go!” She grunts, as she brings her fingers towards his, attempting to pull off, one by one.

“Nope, not this time. The hitting must end. This is the repercussion of it.” He grins, as she gets up from the chair, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, as she pulls on her arm.

“Jackson, this is ridiculous.” She groans, as he pulls her towards him, when she almost successfully manages to pull out.

She squeals as she lands on his lap with a resounding thump, and he instinctively wraps an arm around her waist to keep her from falling. She wriggles on his lap, and all of a sudden brings his arm up to her mouth, and bites on his fingers. He relaxes his grip a little, mostly because he’s a little shocked by her actions. He looks at his hand and sees a small teeth imprints on it, and a guilty looking April, who knows she’s bitten harder than intended to.

“Oh you’re gonna get it.” He smirks at her, as he slips a hand underneath her top, and starts to tickle her mercilessly. April starts laughing loudly, a high pitched shriek emitting from the back of the throat. She hates been tickled. Having known her for some time, he’s very aware that April’s body was insanely sensitive to touch, and the slightest contact with any of her tickle points, the worst being the hip bone, was enough to send her into frenzy. He won a lot of arguments this way.

Her breathing becomes erratic, as she wriggles out of his grip to stand up, and he follows her, watching in amusement as she twists her body under their arms to get away from his contact. He laughs in turn because clearly when April is met with a tickle attack, her ability to form coherent ideas was lost. He merely rolls his eyes, and pulls her back against his chest, resuming his actions.

“Okay, stop, Jackson! Please stop, I can’t anymore.” She says, through breathless giggles. She moans uncomfortably, and he stills, because it’s only funny if she’s not in actual pain. He’s read once that you can in fact kill someone by tickling them, and although he does question its legitimacy he’s not up for finding out its accuracy through April.

She blows on piece of hair that’s fallen on her face, and the exhaustion causes her to fall back on his body, as she rests hers, taking in heavy breaths.

“I hate you.” She voices, and he chuckles.

“No you don’t, you just have to stop hitting me so much, with your… iron hand!” He tells her, and he finally decides it’s time to let go of her hand.

“What the fuck are you two doing?”

They both pull apart and turn around to face a tired looking Alex, wearing a frown on his face. Jackson could tell the guy looked pissed off, and really annoyed.

“I am trying to sleep, and the two of you are giggling like teenage girls at a sleepover,” He mutters, scratching his chin.

“Sorry, Alex.” April mumbles, pulling her hair band out of her head, since all the neatly swept tendrils had fallen out of it anyway.

“Yeah, yeah” He waves her off, and directs his gaze over April’s head, “They creep you out?”

Jackson turns his body and all of a sudden remembers that Laurel was actually in the kitchen with them, probably having witnessed the whole thing.

“Oh no,” She replies, smiling between him and April, “I should probably apologize for being such a creep, and standing here staring at you two.”

April gives him a side eye, and he knows exactly what she’s thinking. If anyone needs to apologise for being a creep it was him, but that would require admitting he did something creepy, so he merely rolled his eyes at her.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just really ticklish.” April says, as if this is a profound revelation about herself.

“I could see that,” Laurel chuckles, walking towards Alex, “Anyway, you two are a really cute couple.“

He hears Alex’s boisterous laugh and sees April choking on air, before the words register. Him and April? A couple?

“Oh my god, this is gold.” Alex says, still unable to hold back his laughter.

“We are definitely not a couple,” April stutters through the sentence, her cheeks a fiery red, “I mean, we’re just completely, totally, platonic.”

Jackson laughs awkwardly, nodding his head at her statement, “Yeah, April’s my best friend”

“Oh I’m sorry, I just figured… well, you act so much like a couple.” She says, smiling almost apologetically at them.

“We do?” They ask, in unison, looking at each other, both unequivocally confused.

“Well, yeah, you’re very comfortable around each other, and um… look, I was just pointing this out. I’m sorry if I made it weird.” She says, shrugging her shoulders.

“No, no you didn’t,” April answers for both of them, and he nods along.

Okay, so it’s a little weird being told that he ‘acted like a couple’ with someone he figured he had maintained the first and only completely platonic best friendship of his life. He figured there was that whole thing about ‘you’re not best friends if don’t act even a little gay’, which primarily applied to same sex friendships, so may ‘acting like a couple’ was the standards for opposite sex ones.

“They’ve just known each since they were interns,” Alex offers, clearly already bored by the conversation after his initial interest.

“Exactly.” He agrees.

“Plus, it’s not like I could ever date Jackson.” April laughs, glancing at him for approval.

Instead of approval, he just finds himself highly, highly offended, “Um, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hm? Oh nothing, I’m just saying it’s not we’d ever actually date each other,” She laughs again, and once more he fails to see the humour in this.

“Uh, why not? I’m a great boyfriend.” He scoffs, as if any other insinuation was absolutely preposterous, which it was.

She raises her brow at him, and stifles a giggle, “It’s not that you’re a bad boyfriend per se, it’s just… you don’t really… date.”

“I date!” He says, and everyone in the room goes silent. Okay, so maybe he didn’t say it so much as he yelled it. Blasphemy, is what he wanted to tell them.

“No, man, you don’t.” Alex says, shaking his head, “You casually see women. I don’t mean sex, you’re not me,” He looks at the Laurel who has her brow shot up, “Er- sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She dismisses him.

“Anyway, you’re not me, but you’re not exactly McDreamy either.” Alex says, as if its common knowledge that he’s not the boyfriend type.

“That is so not true.”

“It is, Jackson. I mean, you only had one serious girlfriend since I’ve known you, and she lasted about 6 months?” April asks him, pouting her lip, probably doing the calculations in her head.

“Um, 6 and a half.” He corrects her.

The half definitely counts for something.

“Same thing.”

Apparently not.

“Well, you know what, it’s difficult to date for me, okay?” He starts, and April rolls her eyes all the way to the back of her head, while Alex mutters ‘sure it is’. Even Laurel has the audacity to laugh at that sentence, condescendingly. “It is! Because it’s really hard to find someone who likes me and it’s not because I’m good looking, rich or an Avery!”

“You’re an Avery?” Stacy asks suddenly, with peeked interest, and Jackson thanks his lucky stars he didn’t sleep with her.

“No, he is not an Avery. He is a lot more than just his last name.” April says, and although she’s directing the caution towards him, most definitely alluding to his lack of separation of a sense of self from his family name, he feels good when Laurel shoots her eyes downwards in shame.

“Oh, boo hoo, hot chicks want to sleep with you because you’re attractive and loaded. Your life must be so hard.” Alex quips in sarcastically.

“I just honestly don’t understand why it matters so much. I mean, there are women falling over themselves to date you.” April replies, plopping herself down on a chair as if this conversation is exhausting her.

“Yes, but you are not one of those women.”

“So?”

“So if my own best friend doesn’t want to date me, then what does that say about me?” He asks, basically to anyone in the room. He’s a little mad that he’s on Team Jackson all by himself.

“It means I want different things from a relationship than you do, that’s all.” She says, shrugging her shoulders.

“You know the men in your stupid chick flicks don’t exist in real life, right?” Alex points out, grinning at April who glares at him.

“Shut up, Alex. I just meant… commitment.” April replies.

“I can be in a committed relationship if I wanted to!” He announces, and April and Alex stare back at him in utter disbelief “What? I can! I will buy you flowers, wine and dine you, I’ll even not kiss you on the first date.”

He notices a shift in April’s expression, as if she’s considering this, and he smiles at her, finally happy she’s coming to her senses.

“Well-”

“Honestly, it’s a good thing you two don’t date. You’d be the fucking pain in the ass couple.” Alex laughs, getting up from his seat and starting to walk towards the bedroom.

“Um, what the hell does that mean?”

He’s a little surprised when the redhead poses this question, and actually sounds pissed off about it. Well, it took her long enough.

“What?” Alex turns around, confused as to why April sounded defensive all of a sudden.

“I mean, I said I wouldn’t date Jackson because he didn’t want to be in a relationship, not because we’d be bad at relationships. We’d be fricking great at a relationship. I rock at relationships!”

Jackson chuckles slightly, because he knows just how April hates been told she’s bad at something. She’s rarely ever bad at anything, so she’s ready to walk through fire to prove it.

“Yeah, but-” Alex tries, once more, but Jackson is quite sure he’s not going to get a word in again for the rest of this argument. One simply does not offend April Kepner.

“We’re best friends, and you know what that means? I know him better than anyone else, and so I will never have any problems figuring out his mood swings, or have him talk to me about his problems or what to buy him for his birthday, because I already know all of these things.” She smirks, hands on her hips, and Alex is starting to look unsure.

“He gets stubborn when he’s angry, withdrawn when he’s sad, and he smirks a lot when he’s happy. He wants to talk about something if he hangs around me the whole day for no good reason. And he wants a pair of Nike Roche Runs… in red.” She proves all her previous points, and Jackson can’t help but be impressed himself.

She looks at him, urging him on with her eyes, and he gets the message after a few seconds. She wants him to prove to Alex how good they’d be in a relationship, “We already know pretty much everything there is to know about one another, and still like each very much. That’s saying something.”

“Exactly!” April nods, furiously, “We would be couple of the year. We would win couple awards!”

“Um, sure.” Jackson replies, a little unsure at her tirade, but still fully ready to back her up. He just… never realized that, as April continued to list all the reasons why they would be the perfect couple, the two of them dating do make a lot of sense. April was undoubtedly attractive, and they knew each other so well. It was the strangest, most obvious revelation he’d come across.

“Sorry, Kepner, you two aren’t lasting a week.” Alex says, and Jackson can clearly see he’s just doing this to get a rise out of April. Feisty April was an all-around favorite, it seems.

“Not true!” April retorts, puffing her chest out slightly, “and I’m going to prove it to you by dating the heck out of Jackson!”

“Yeah!” Jackson says, until he realizes exactly what she’s said, “Wait what?”

“And it will be the best relationship of his life!” She grins, almost challenging Alex to disagree with him.

“Can we go back to the bit where we date, because-” He tries to intervene, but apparently he has little say in the dealings between them.

“$100 bucks say you don’t last more than 5 dates.”

“Oh you’re on, Karev.”

They shake hands, and Jackson still stands in between them, very confused about what has transpired.

“Jackson, you’ll pick me up at 7, tomorrow evening, and we’re going for a movie and dinner after. I’ll see you then.” April says this, but it’s directed more at Alex’s amused face more than him. She looks at him, after some time, smiles widely, and walks off.

“Um, what just happened?” Jackson asks, finally. Everything moved a little too fast, and he went from wanting to get laid causally sometime this week, to a date with his best friend which might cause him to catch feelings, because God knows, April Kepner was very easy to like, at least for him.

“You just got yourself a date with Kepner. Good luck!” Alex winks at him, and walks away down the hallway towards his bedroom, with Laurel, who was quietly observing the whole scene, completely confused and very much amused, trailing behind.

He had a date tomorrow night, with April. April Kepner. He knew that for whatever reason, there was a part of him quite excited at this idea. What Jackson didn’t know however is that Alex was going to lose that $100, he thought for sure was an easy win, because Jackson would end up taking April out on a lot more dates than just 5.

Thank you, as always, for reading!

Check out @japril12 fic : https://japril12.tumblr.com/post/163359780189/japril-appreciation-week-day-1-funny-moments

#japril #japril fanfiction #japril week #japril appreciation #japril appreciation week

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