DISTRACTIONS

"This is ridiculous!" Jo shouted above the thundering rain. And the thunder, for that matter. Her black dress, which was admittedly a little too skimpy for a first date, was drenched and her lightly curled hair was starting to go frizzy. If she was out in the wet any longer, her mascara would be smeared. "How the hell did you manage to leave your car keys in the house and lock yourself out?"

Alex glared. "You know, Jo-Jo Peaches," he said, mocking her, "You are really not helping right now." It would be a whole lot easier, he thought, if Jo hadn't decided to move out again, or had at least kept a set of keys. He certainly wouldn't have minded, and it sure would have come in handy at that point.

Sighing, she pushed him out of the way. "Give me a boost," she demanded, gesturing to the open window. She was really hoping she didn't fall on her face; it had been a while since she'd taken the time to crawl through a window. In a dress. With heels. Slipping off her shoes, she stepped into Alex's waiting hands. He muttered something about her being insane but she didn't care because a) he knew this already and b) it was his fault they were in this mess.

(Although, in his defence, she had been distracting him.)

Not that he had minded the distraction.

(She'd been using her lips.)

"Nice thong," he remarked, smirk evident in his tone.

Jo groaned, playfully kicking his chest as she shimmied easily through the window. Once safely inside the house, she contemplated leaving him out there and drinking all his beer. She couldn't do that though; he had her favourite shoes and she was sure he'd have absolutely no qualms about throwing them away. Or worse, dropping them in mud.

Whistling, Alex was startled when the door suddenly swung open. Jo was grinning, holding both his house and car keys up. Her hair was messy from the fall and her dress had ridden dangerously high up her long, tanned legs. She smirked, biting her lip in what he had to assume was the most seductive way she could muster, and she reached for him.

As she pulled him close, she said, "I think we've missed the reservations."

(And then they were distracting each other.)

LOVE HAPPENS

Alex stared at the bottle of vodka he held in hands. It was making fun of him, he was sure. The fact that he believed a bottle of alcohol capable of laughing at him is a testament to his drunkenness. The couch was mocking him, too; the couch she'd bought, the couch they'd gotten drunk together on countless of times, the couch he'd been seduced on quite a lot without even realising he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Everything was laughing at pathetic Dr Evil Spawn and he didn't even care. He didn't care about anything. She wasn't there, so what was the point? Nothing made sense without her around.

Of course, it was entirely his fault. He'd messed it up just like he always did with everything that ever mattered. Telling her he loved her had been a stupid mistake, one he knew she wouldn't take kindly to, but he'd gone and said it anyway. He couldn't not tell her; if he'd learnt anything at Seattle Grace Mercy Death it was that life was too short to not say the things you want to. And so he'd said it.

It was casual, the way he did it. They were on rounds when one of his younger, more idealistic yet far too inquisitive patients had asked if they were married, and Alex couldn't pass up the opportunity. The words were still clear in his mind:

No. But, I'll let you in on a little secret; I do kind of love her, just a bit.

The patient then asked if they were going to get married, and she left before he had a chance to answer. Apparently, she didn't want to hear his response. A few hours later, he got a text from her saying she couldn't go out with him that night. She didn't say whether or not she wanted to re-schedule.

Karma really is a bitch. Alex had finally loved someone, so she left. Maybe it wasn't karma; perhaps Alex was just a masochist.

"You're an idiot!" yelled a sudden voice. Alex looked up, and there she was. Jo Wilson, in the flesh, glaring at him with a fire in her eyes he'd never seen before. She'd left the door open and the cool wind was blowing around her face, making her look like some kind of ethereal being. "And you're an arsehole and you're too arrogant for your own good and you're like, crazy self-loathing and it kind of annoys me when you let me in on all of your surgeries even though you don't know you're doing it and I think most of you doesn't really give a shit about anything at all but, God help me, I love you too!"

SOMETHING CATASTROPHIC

The hospital was quieter than usual, and Jo was starting to worry. She'd come to know that when it's quiet it means something catastrophic is most likely going to happy, and she was too tired too tired and too upset to be stuck with lost causes right now.

Just a few hours ago, she'd found out about Izzie.

It had been Kepner who'd told her, and that was what she was pissed about the most. How hard would it have been for Alex to just tell her? It's not like she would've cared- at least he wasn't still married. That would've been bad. But according to Kepner they'd been divorced for a few years, and Izzie Stevens was completely out of the picture. If he'd just told her this, Jo wouldn't have given a shit. She might've been mad it had taken him almost a year of dating to tell her, but the fact itself wouldn't have bothered her in the least.

But Alex had no intention whatsoever of telling him about the woman he used to be madly in love with, and so Jo had decided hiding in a barely used on -call room was the most mature and responsible thing to do in the situation. Or at least it was the best way to avoid him. Well, she'd thought it was- until he walked in.

"What do you want?" she asked, staring down at her restless hands. If she was any more on edge she might start twiddling her thumbs, and that's saying something because she doesn't even know how to twiddle her thumbs. What in the world is twiddling?

Alex sat down next to her. "I'm an idiot," he said simply. "I mean, Kepner's an idiot too, but that's another story. It's all me this time." He reached for her hand and she didn't stop him but she wasn't particularly inviting about it, refusing to move herself closer to him.

After a few moments she sighed and stood up. "I don't care that you were married," she admitted, pacing the room. Communication's good, right? It was supposed to be, anyway. "I just… I don't know. Why didn't you tell me?"

By the look on his face, that was the one question he didn't want her to ask. "I have no idea," he replied. "She had cancer-" Jo's eyes widened- "And I'm not entirely sure I would've married her if she didn't. It wasn't even supposed to be our wedding; Mere and Shepherd gave it to us last minute- Iz had been planning it for them. Truth is, we probably wouldn't have worked out. I was- am- an arse, and she was still crazy about her dead fiancé, whether she'd admit it or not. We got married because she was dying, and when she didn't die she took off. That's all there is to it."

That hadn't been what Jo was expecting, and when she opened her mouth to speak, the words were the last thing Alex had thought she'd ask. "Marry me," she said. And that was it, nothing else. It was like she wasn't even giving him a choice. He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "No, marry me. You married a girl because you loved her and she was dying and you thought if you didn't do it then you wouldn't have the chance. Marry me because I'm in love with you and I want nothing more than to spend my entire life ripping my hair out because you're such a loveable idiot I'm not sure I can be without."

A large grin broke out across Alex's face.

Whenever the hospital is quiet, something catastrophic is sure to happen, and right then was no exception, but with Jo and Alex it's always that way. They were a beautiful catastrophe and would likely kill each other one day, but they absolutely loved it.

A/N *sobs* I'm actually really sad right now. It's over! I swear, you guys have been the best readers ever and all of your reviews made me so freaking happy I can't even explain, especially those of you who reviewed every chapter. I honestly have no idea why any of you took the time to read and review this but I'm so glad you did and every single one of you is amazing.

I hope you liked the final chapter ever, and may you all survive the rest of the hiatus.

I love you.