The first time it happened, it was, of course, in surgery. Jackson thought that the only exciting thing that was going to happen to him today was that Sloan had allowed him to assist is particularly interesting rhinoplasty. A surgeon from a different hospital completely botched this woman's rhinoplasty, causing her to have numerous breathing issues along with a dorsal nasal cyst that had been left to grow for a little too long. Sloan has the task of both removing the cyst from the nostril without damaging the nose further and attempting to fix the already disastrous breathing issue.

It was honestly amazing to see first hand, the brilliance of the older man at work. The focused look in his eye and his steady hands sent shivers down Jackson's spine, his mind briefly wondering how those hands would feel on his skin. This wasn't the first time these thoughts had surfaced, and Jackson was no longer surprised or put off by them. He figured out a while ago that he has developed a massive crush on the Sloan, and he wanted nothing more than to pursue it, but Sloan isn't gay. Sloan is the exact opposite of gay, he is a man-whore, yes, but he is a man whore for women only. And if he were to experiment with the same sex, Jackson definitely wouldn't be the first pick. The gayest thing about the two's relationship is the name Plastics Posse that Sloan had come up with, which Jackson has kind of grown to love over the last few months.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he situated himself to try to get a better angle over Sloan's shoulder and readjusted his grip on the suction tool. Just as they were getting to the critical part of the surgery, Jackson had the pleasure of watching as Sloan's eyes turned more serious and his entire being became one with the scalpel he held. He would never get tired of that.

Sloan leaned slightly over to Jackson and gently asked, "A little more suction, babe," not taking his focus off of the task at hand. Jackson, of course, immediately does what Sloan asked before what he had said fully registered in his mine. A blush settles on his cheeks, and his heart starts beating faster as rapid thoughts of what the fuck swim around his head.

His neck snaps up to look at Sloan's face from where he had been studying his fingers. Jackson didn't really know what he expected to find on the others face, a smirk maybe, something, anything that told the younger man that what he just heard was a stupid joke that had fallen flat. But what he found on his feature was just Serious Sloan, completely absorbed in his task. Suddenly, Jackson realizes that Sloan had no idea what he just called him.

He glances around to make sure that no one else heard the exchange, relieved to see that everyone is too focused on the actual surgery to listen to what Sloan had said. Skeptically, Jackson's gaze fell back to the other's fingers, helpless to stop with panicked thoughts. A never-ending cycle of question marks and bitter hopefulness was soon the only thing that he could think of. Thankfully, he isn't left to his thoughts for long as a sharp, rapid beeping pulls Jackson out of his head as he assesses the situation.

"Damn she isn't breathing, I need to get this cyst out right now," Jackson heard Sloan yell as his already quick hands worked even faster. Before Jackson can give what just happened another thought, Sloan started yelling orders at him. After they had removed the cyst and the woman was once again breathing easily, all thoughts of the incident completely slipped from his mind.

Until it happens again.

Jackson, after working for nearly 14 hours straight, wanted nothing more than to curl up in his sheets at home. So as soon as Sloan had given him the official okay to leave for the night, he had all but sprinted to the locker room to change. After he had taken a quick shower and changed out of his scrubs, he packed up his stuff and laid down on the bench, drifting in and out of consciousness waiting for April to finish getting ready. She always took such a long time.

After about 10 minutes, April gently shook his shoulder to wake him up announcing that she was finally ready to leave. He heaved himself off the bench and staggered to his feet, making a beeline for the elevator. He had been so close to freedom when he heard a voice, "Jackson." Without even looking he knew immediately that Sloan was the one that was trying to get his attention. He wanted nothing more than to completely ignore the other man, but April stopped him from walking away by grabbing onto his shirt, a sigh escaped his lips as he turned around and sleepily rose his eyebrows.

Sloan was completely hunched over the counter of the nearly abandoned nurses' station. His eyes harshly reading and re-reading the notes of a particularly interesting case that they had just been assigned. Sloan's brows had furrowed in concentration, and his teeth were gnawing at his bottom lip, a habit he only resorted to when in deep thought. The sight was something to behold, and it sent a sharp feeling of want through Jackson's sleep riddled brain. He was openly staring at the other man's lips at this point, and it took a light shove from April for him to realize that Sloan's lips were moving,

"Could you grab me that chart," Sloan didn't gesture to a chart or specify the one he was talking about, but Jackson still knew exactly the one that he was talking about. He stumbled over to the rack they kept the charts in and was able to find the one he wanted fairly quickly. Pulling it out he made his way back to the older man whose eyes were still glued to his notes. Sloan put out a hand and Jackson clumsily placed the chart onto it, before turning on his heel towards April and the elevator. He was just about to take a step toward his escape route when he heard, "Thank you, babe."

Jackson froze. His eyes snapped to April who, from her wide, confused eyes and slightly amused smile, had indeed heard the comment. He felt his face heat up and his heart beating rapidly in his chest as the situation had successfully pulled him from his sleepy haze. A brief glance back at the man only succeeded in proving his theory that Sloan had no idea what he had just said. He almost had a panic attack when he heard April start to ask, "Why di-" before he yelled,

"Good night!" Roughly grabbing the red head's hand and pulling her towards the elevator. He hears a distracted hum of agreement from the silver hair man, still consumed in his work. He nearly breaks the call button when he punches it in a panic, April lets out a startled gasp as the out of place violence, but a harsh glare from the man makes her retort die on her lips.

Once they are safely tucked away in the elevator, he leans his forehead against the elevator doors as his nervous panic slowly starts to fade. The cold metal feels heavenly against his flushed skin, and it succeeds in cooling his face to its standard color. Now that the adrenaline was fading away he once again felt the tiredness creep back into his mind. But a glance over at his friend told him that he was going to be up for a while yet.

"Before you even ask, can we just get home first?" April's eyes go from questioning to sympathetic in less than a second as she slowly nods. Placing a hand on her tired friend's back, slowly moving it up and down in a soothing pattern.

Once they were both home and in their pajamas, Jackson basically threw himself onto April's bed, face first. He buried his head into one of her fluffy, pink encased pillows and inhaled the flowery scent. He felt his heart rate slow and any leftover panic or embarrassment lessened the more deep breaths he took. After a few minutes, he felt normal again, more clear-headed and logical, no longer tense with stress.

He felt a dip in the bed, and then the comforting weight of April settled on the bed beside him. Although he wanted nothing more than to curl up with the soothing heat of his friend and sleep for all eternity, he forced himself to turn on his side. He wasn't at all surprised to find the girl staring at him with expectant eyes, and after a few beats of him saying nothing she gestured for him to start. He rolled his eyes but started anyway.

"So Sloan started calling me babe like a week ago, and I don't think he even knows that he is doing it," his voice was still heavy with sleep and recalling the current situation caused a light blush to discolor his cheeks. "I don't know why its happening or what to do about it."

"He's just started calling you babe subconsciously?" Disbelief was evident in her tone and Jackson had to agree that what he had just said did sound impossible. But it was true, so he gave her a little nod and a confused shrug.

"Yep," he replied popping the 'p.' Sympathy creased her brow, and she reached over to reassuringly pat her friend's shoulder. But no matter how much she tried to suppress it, she couldn't help the small giggle that bubbled from her lips. But once she started, she couldn't stop herself and what started out small turned into a massive laughing fit.

"I'm sorry...but...it's...it's so unexpected," she managed to squeeze out in between laughter. Seeing his best friend laugh, made Jackson realize that the whole situation really was ridiculous and suddenly, he was laughing right there with her. The two of them made quite the sight, resident surgeons who have been awake for at least 32 hours laughing until tears rolled down their faces in the wee hours of the morning. In their defense, it's been a really long day.

Eventually, they managed to sober up enough to quiet their laughter and continue the conversation. "So what are you going to do about it?" The question, although fair, came out of nowhere and all Jackson could do was stare at her blankly. "Jackson, your crush started calling you pet names. You need to do something."

"I honestly don't know, he doesn't even know he's doing it, how do you bring that up to someone?" To her credit, she did take a second to think about it before giving up and shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't know, but you need to figure it out." With that thought, they both finally slipped into a blissful sleep.