Hey guys! I’m back! I know it’s been a long long time since I have put out a one shot, or ever written anything in general, and I am so so sorry about that! I’ve been kinda busy, kinda lazy, its a terrible combination. But, I have this little japril one I’ve kinda been working on it, so I hope you like it! It’s set right before the boards, because a few of us were talking and we thought there should’ve been more japril screen time! It’s leading up to their moment in San Fran, enjoy!
Please leave me a message and quick review of what you think! Thanks!
April stood at in front of the sink with a soapy dish towel in one hand and a small plate in the other. The water sloshed as the walls pulsed from the loud music playing in the connecting room. She gently dried off the plate and sat it on the drying rack beside her before she reached for another plate beneath the water. She repeated her process one after another entering into a daze while tapping her foot to the rhythm.
“Hey.” A voice spoke barely heard over the loud music of the party snapping her out of her daze after a few minutes.
“Good God, Jackson! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” She reached a hand across her chest over her racing heart, dropping the plate she had been washing back into the soapy water with a splash. She tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths as she turned to face him, “What are doing in here?” She breathed out still startled.
“I could ask you the same thing.” He chuckled a little, a smirk gracing his face as he walked over to lean on the island in the middle of the kitchen that separated them.
“Oh, uh… I'm just cleaning up. You know me, I can't stand dirty dishes.” She twirled her fingers in the air then turned her back towards him as she quickly dried the suds off the top of her floral dress with a towel. She took a deep breath and picked up the plate again to rewash it. They were silent again but she could hear the music in the background, and she could feel Jackson’s eyes boring into her back. She could hear his light shuffle across the creaky tile floor, letting her know he was approaching her.
He grinned to himself in adoration of the woman in front of him, knowing she didn't feel comfortable with these type of gatherings, but she went through with it anyway, knowing it's what he wanted. She did it to make him happy, and that made her even more incredible, yet he wished she had hung in there a little longer. She was his best friend after all, and she organized all of this, so he wanted her to have fun too. She clearly wasn't, since she had resorted to washing dishes by hand, even though they had a perfectly good dishwasher to her left. He wasn't able to enjoy it knowing that she wasn't there and having fun right along with him. That's why he suggested a quiet movie night instead. Just the two of them, a pizza and some beer. She refused, of course, telling him that he should celebrate the way he wanted to. ’It's what you deserve, Jackman!’ she had said while patting his shoulder and writing a guest list on a piece of paper along with planning a grocery list for the dinner she insisted on cooking for them. Even though they all should be studying for the boards, and no matter how much people saw her as a bookworm and constant studier, April insisted on throwing him a party. She promised him that it was fine and it would run as smoothly as they planned, however, here she stood in the kitchen instead.
He made his way towards her, propping his elbow on the counter to her right. She rolled her eyes at him and the goofy grin on his face but continued sloshing water around as she washed, rinsed and then dried them.
“Jackson, it's your birthday. You should be in there having fun.” She shooed him away with the towel, but he snatched it from her mid air and tugged on the end to pull her closer. She yanked the towel back and reached for another plate to wash but he picked it up first, capturing her attention once again. Her eyes slowly lifted to match his.
“Dinner was delicious by the way. As always.” He held her gaze, but knew she wouldn't be able to hold it, knowing how she reacts to compliments.
She blushed at his comment and turned her head away from him to focus on cleaning, “Thank you. I know Chicken Parmesan is your favorite. Lucky for you, it's pretty easy to make.”
“Yeah. I am lucky, aren't I?” He smirked.
“I guess? So you should go back in there and enjoy your party. Unless there was something you needed?”
“I just thought you could use some help.” He whispered in her ear while walking behind her and grabbing her waist, pinning her between him front side and the counter they were standing at before he leaned down and kissed just below her earlobe. He continued to slowly trail kisses down her neck, one by one, until he reached her shoulder, causing her to gasp quietly. He slowly pushed the material of her sleeve down over it to expose her bare shoulder, pushed her bra strap out of the way, blowing softly on the spots where he kissed. April could barely hear the music at this point as goosebumps appeared across on her skin, proof of where his lips had been. Jackson had her undivided attention and the party in the room was the last thing she was focused on. All she could hear was his rapid breathing and her heartbeat pounding in her ear.
“Wait, Jackson.”
“Mhm.” He hummed back to her, his lips still attached her neck as his hands wrapped around her waist and stomach to flip her around to face him, “What?”
She leaned away from him as his lips returned to her neck, his hot breath tickling her skin, “We-we shouldn't do this. Not right now. Not here.” She stuttered. She could barely think straight but in the back of her mind, there was a tiny voice that reminded her that they had another roommate, not to mention the room full of party goers next door, whom they were supposed to be hosting. He ignored her and continued what he was doing. He knew she would give in soon and she knew she would melt if he managed to capture her lips so she had to stop it now, or else she would be a goner.
"Jackson we can't." She stated again, a bit firmer this time, and pushed his arms off of her. He stepped back slightly but she could see the mischief shining in his eyes masked behind his pout.
"Why not?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because we have a dozen of our coworkers here for a party, for you?"
“I can make them leave."
"You can't be serious!" Her eyes widened as he turned around to make his way to the doorway.
He sent a smirk to her over his shoulder, "Watch me."
"What? Jackson! No!" She wrapped her hand out around his forearm and jerked him back to face her once again, “We can’t just kick them out! This is your party! We invited them here!”
“And now the party is over.” He rested both his hands on her shoulders to hold her steady and nodded his head slowly to help her understand what he was saying .
“No. You can’t do that. You didn’t even really get to enjoy it!”
“April, You know I appreciate your efforts and this party-” He gestured to the other room where their friends were still gathered around chatting with the music was still blaring, “This party was amazing, but that's not me anymore. That's what the old me would've wanted. This is the type of party Charles would've thrown. Minus the amazing dinner, of course, that was all you. But this isn't me anymore.”
April scrunched up her face in confusion, going over her mental checklist of everything he had requested his party consist of. She was pretty sure she fulfilled every wish plus some. Nothing was missing, at least, she thought so.
“What do you mean? This is what you said you wanted. I did exactly what you said. I thought I made it perfect, I-”
“April,” he placed his hand back on her shoulder to calm her down and reassure her that everything was fine, “April you did. You did exactly what I said, I know, because I was too scared to tell you what I really wanted.”
“I'm confused. Why didn't you just tell me? Now I feel bad! You know you can tell me anything, I wouldn't have judged if you wanted a guy’s night with like a-a stripper or something.” She sputtered out slightly embarrassed that she basically suggested her best friend needed a stripper party, but she didn't really know what guys liked on their birthdays. She assumed guy’s birthdays generally included women and their “birthday suits”. She wasn't quite ready to give him that herself, with her being a virgin and all.
“No! No. Nothing like that. I swear it's nothing like that.”
“Then what is it Jackson? What do you want? Maybe we can get-”
“You.”
“What? I'm sorry I-”
“Dammit, April, I want you!” He yelled, hoping no one else at the party could hear him over the beat. He was sure that if the loud music didn’t get them a noise complaint, yelling added into the mix surely would.
“Oh.” April whispered, staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face and range of emotions present.
“I want to spend time with you. I wanted us to just hang out and order pizza or maybe take out and drink beer and watch dumb movies because that's what makes you happy, and that makes me happy. You.”
“I-I don't understand.” She shook her head in confusion at him in attempt to make sense of what he was saying. Had she even heard him right? He wanted her. Her.
They were both standing in the middle of the small kitchen in their shared apartment just staring at each other. April wondered how it got to this point, because they never did stuff like this. She was never the type to have secret rendezvous, especially with the guy who is also her best friend. The two had been best friends for years, friends for even longer, but this, what they were doing now, was completely new. Neither of them really knew when it started but looking back, they could see the build up. It was bound to happen. They were both trying to ignore the pull, between Jackson dating Lexie, and April being chief resident, but once they were alone together, studying and blowing off steam, it just happened. No distractions and nothing keeping them from it. They were studying one minute, and next thing they knew they were kissing, and Jackson would be lying if he said he hadn't thought of it before. Of course, it was pushed deep down within him because he didn't think he should act upon it. He also didn't foresee enjoying it as much as he did. April didn't either. And neither of them could've seen the desperate desire to repeat it, over and over. Worst of all, Jackson saw himself falling deeper and deeper under her “spell”, yet he didn't see the same happening to April.
“Please let me kick them out and then we can watch whatever kind of rom-com you want. I promise.” Just like that, the tension and awkwardness was gone from the room. He was actually pleading for her to let him kick their guests out. She rolled her eyes at how silly it seemed. Forcing party-goers to leave so they could watch a movie and maybe make out? She’d be lying if she said it didn’t make her giggly and give her butterflies.
“Whatever one I want? My choice?” She quirked eyebrow smugly and bit her lip to refrain from grinning and giving herself away.
“Your choice. Even if it is Pretty Woman for the hundredth time.”
“You're sure?”
“I'm sure.”
“That's what you want? It is your birthday and I don't mind watching your pick this time.” She insisted on giving him the chance to object to his own words, but he stood by it.
“It's my birthday and I said I want you to pick, geez!”
“Ok, ok!” she held up her hands in defense but she smiled, “Are you sure there isn't an ulterior motive here?”
That caused him to laugh because, of course, he had hoped that stuff could happen, “Well… I may want to mess around a little bit.” she smacked his arm and he laughed heartily, a lot louder compared to her melodious giggle, “But I mostly want to spend time with my best friend, who happens to be you.”
“Fine. I guess we’re gonna have to clear out the living room somehow….” She pretended to think while tapping her finger on her chin.
“I've got this,” he ran right into the middle of the room and shut off the music. April’s ears rang at the silence before Jackson spoke up, "Ok, party's over, everybody get out!"
"Jackson, really?” She glared at him and rolled her eyes at his blatantness then she looked around at everyone apologetically, “I'm so sorry everyone but it looks like we are going to have to cut this party short. He, uh, he doesn't mean anything by it, um, I think he's just cranky and tired. Thanks for coming!"
"Oh. He's 'cranky'. You gonna fix that for us, Kepner?" Mark wiggled his eyebrows encouragingly at her, hinting at their previous conversation and what he thought would be best for his plastics protege. The April-Jackson thing had been going on a bit before Mark Sloan had suggested furthering their relationship beyond friends, but he didn’t know that. April found it inappropriate, yet oddly comforting that they weren’t the only two who saw they were good for the other. He didn’t know that either, and he didn’t need to.
"What? Dr. Sloan!"
"My boys finally getting laid!" Mark shouted before he shut the door behind him, leaving April and Jackson alone in a silent living room. Streamers were all over the floor, beer cans were scattered everywhere, the ‘Happy Birthday’ banner she had hung was ripped in half, thanks to Alex. April started picking stuff up and tossing it in a pile so she could throw it out in the garbage.Jackson watched her as she cleaned for the second time that night instead of enjoying his birthday. This time it was for her enjoyment too.
“I think Alex left. You must’ve scared him off, too.” She smiled up at him, finally noticing the complete emptiness of the house.
“Yeah, he probably got the hint.” He smirked at her, the feelings from the kitchen returning to her body and she felt her face flush again. She still wasn’t used to him looking at her like that. She’s seen him send that look to a couple other girls, but never her. It was heart stopping.
“Did I tell you already how amazing dinner was?”
“Yeah?”
“Did I tell you how amazing dessert could be, too?”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” His voice going deeper as he walked closer to her, “So, how about it?”
“I think…” She bit her lip and looked fully into his blue eyes as she met him in the middle, “I think, I was promised a movie first.” She grinned and he grabbed her by the waist, tugging her towards him where her neck was positioned with easy access for him. He chuckled lightly into her ear before he kissed her softly. She was becoming quite the tease over their time together. It about killed him every time.
“How about we watch a different movie tonight?” She leaned away from his body just enough so they were face to face.
“Oh, yeah? What?”
“I rented Friends with Benefits last night and I haven’t watched it yet…”
Oh yeah, she was definitely going to kill him.
She might not be ready for anything more than kissing at the moment, but he was willing to wait as long as she needed, because he learned from the very beginning, she was well worth the wait.
