Well, suffice to say last week's ep gave me the inspiration needed to get another chapter up and running again ;) Have another chapter left, and this story should be done for good...although (as you know by now) don't hold me to when that chapter will be posted. Just know that it will, I am not abandoning this :) - it might be next week, might be next month. I'm sorry, I suck, I know, but i can't rush it, no matter how much I try *sad face*.

Hope you like this! Warning : there's a time jump...

Two years. He hadn't seen her in two years. She looked different, and yet, the same: still that untamable fire for hair framing the angelic face, but with a curvier waistline and definitely a fuller bust. In other words, he didn't think he had seen her any sexier. His heart hadn't stopped missing several beats ever since he had spotted her, and that slit on her floor length dress which slashed violently up all the way to the parting of her thighs wasn't doing anything for his damned composure. He had never seen April Kepner dressed that way. It was a sultry, slightly more provocative woman who embodied April Kepner now. Two years can do a lot for a person, he thought as he watched her move in that heart-stopper of a dress, observing a world weary grace to her he hadn't seen before, a weathered confidence built to last.

Over the last few months, he had heard rumors of a failed marriage, rumblings of a divorce, but had made no move to probe further into them, fearing what it might do to his sanity, which he had just barely managed to piece together after a year's worth of roaming off course through a tattered life.

Literally.

He averted his gaze from the woman in question as he thought back on what was arguably the hardest experience he had yet had to overcome. April Kepner, the woman he loved – loves – he couldn't change that if he tried, and Lord knows he had – had chosen to love someone else. She had married the other man, worn his ring on her finger, and had quite literally moved several states over - to Ohio, taking up a job at Case Western Reserve.

Jackson, meanwhile, had chosen to make his way through almost all the interns in the hospital, then moved on to the nurses, inadvertently taking up his mentor Mark Sloan's old crown as the hospital man-whore. With the mindless, empty sex came the drinking to distract himself from a certain red-head. After several complaints from the hospital staff for drinking on the job and a malpractice suit filed against him for a botched facial-lac which resulted in his being fired as head-of-the-board, not to mention several interventions by his mom, Webber, Mer and Alex to try and get him back on track, he had strode into the hospital one day and handed in his resignation as a surgical fellow. This was, he remembered with a jolt as he checked his phone for a text from his mother and accidentally saw the date today: two years ago to the day.

Resigning from Grey-Sloan, Jackson thought as he sipped his wine and looked around with mild interest at the other guests mingling with each other at the Avery Foundation Gala, was the best and worst decision he had so far managed to make in his life. Because almost immediately after handing the resignation, on pure whim alone, he had booked a one-way ticket to Nepal, of all places. At the time, he had had no idea why, it had simply been the first name of a place far enough away from home that had popped into his head.

He hadn't given himself time for second thoughts though, so after shooting off a short and concise text to his mother telling her to not worry and that he'd keep in touch, he had hopped on a plane and jetted off.

Hasta la vista Seattle, Hello Nepal.

And Nepal was, partly, to credit for the Jackson who had returned to Seattle a year later. Nepal, more specifically Kathmandu, had been an eye-opener. The hustle and bustle of the city contrasted with the peace and serenity of the colorful temples and monasteries scattered everywhere had given Jackson a healthy dose of reality. From Nepal, he had decided to trek the mountains of Tibet, hiring a guide and taking shelter in several monasteries along the way. And if anyone were to ask him this he would deny it vehemently, but it had taken a little child monk in one of the monasteries to finally provide Jackson Avery with a sense of peace.

This little monk had somehow been able to persuade the brooding blue-eyed man to meditate with him every morning. Every time Jackson had sat down with the little saffron robed monk by his side, an image of a smirking Alex Karev had popped into his mind, teasing him mercilessly – something that still gave him nightmares. But after a week and a half of meditation, he had finally started to feel at complete peace with himself. Accepting that he was unable to stop loving her had not been easy. He had battled with it inside for far too long, until he hadn't known who he was anymore, until his work had started to suffer, until he had run out of ways to cope. Turning off reality for a while had somehow made him ready to face reality again. April Kepner never left his mind, but he was finally at a place where he was okay with that. It was almost comforting, in a way. At least he had her memory. If that was his life, so be it, and as long as her memory did not become his downfall, he would manage.

So here he was today, two years later, at the Avery Foundation Gala, about to be named Vice President of the Foundation's board by his mother. Not too bad, he thought to himself, for a surgeon who up and quit his job to roam a foreign country for a whole year before returning and working his ass off to redeem himself in the eyes of both his co-workers and his ever-critical powerhouse of a mother.

And speak of the devil, there she was. He watched with an exasperated smile as Catherine Avery, attending urologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Chairman of the Harper Avery Foundation and general meddler in everyone's business, laugh a bit too dramatically at something her fiancé Dr. Richard Webber had said, and then sobered up as she started walking towards him. He had a bone to pick with her.

He still didn't know what she was doing here.

"Hello mother."

"Jackson, baby, you look good. Look at that suit, you're so handsome." She purred as she kissed his cheek.

"Thank you." He had never been able to feign indifference to his mother's compliments. She knew his weakness for vanity and never missed an opportunity to exploit it. Not that he complained.

"So." She said, eyes shrewd and observant, "How're you enjoying the Gala? Caught anyone's eye? See anyone you might like? I can introduce you." She was as cunningly nonchalant as ever, and that was exactly what set off the warning signs.

"Well, you can start by telling me what she's doing here." Jackson said just as smoothly, narrowly eyeing at his mother.

"Who"? His mother gave him her classic innocent-blink, fanning herself theatrically.

"Whoo, it's a little too warm in here, don't you think, baby, maybe I should tell one of these people to- "

"Nope. You're not doing anything, and you're not going anywhere until you answer my question. What. Is. She. Doing. Here?"

Jackson gritted his teeth as he fake-smiled at a passing man, an older surgeon he was sure was one of the members of the foundation board. He may be pissed at his mother, but that didn't mean he couldn't put up a good front – he was an Avery after all.

He heard his mother sigh and looked back down at her, raising an eyebrow.

"If you're talking about April –"

"Of course I'm talking about her, who else would I be talking about?!"

"Well now, don't be mad, but I thought I'd offer her a seat at the board of Grey Sloan, now that she's returning there-"

"Wait. What?"

"Oh come on baby, this can't be new information to you, the board members at Grey Sloan already approved her return. I'm sure they told you."

Unbelievable. She had just tried to waive off this piece of new information as casually as if she was dusting off her hands after a bit of gardening. But he wasn't having any of that tonight.

Tonight, of all nights, she decides to drop this bomb on him, and not just any bomb. This one was of proportions so great, it was threatening to destroy his life and his career all over again. Didn't she understand that? Hadn't she watched him go through it once before? Wasn't she his mother for God's Sake?!

"No they didn't tell me, and I'm sure you know this since I have no doubt, whatsoever, that you're the one who told them not to tell me!"

He was furious. Sure, there had been numerous moments in his life where he had been angry with his mother. You don't get to be Catherine Avery's son without her managing to ruffle your feathers at least once a week. And Jackson had grown accustomed to his mother's elaborate schemes over the years, even managed to go along with a couple of them just to please her a few times. But he didn't remember ever being so utterly, unbelievably furious at her before.

"Do you know what that woman did to me? Do you have any idea?!"

He didn't care if he was practically yelling by now, didn't care that they may have drawn more than a few glances.

His mother gave him a burning glare, telling him without speaking to settle down, she wasn't letting him make a scene if she could help it.

"Yes, I know what happened, but she didn't do any of it. Baby, she was reacting to your words as much as you were reacting to her actions!" she enunciated those particular words in that last sentence as if he wouldn't be able to make them out if she didn't, then gently grasped him by the arm to usher him to a more secluded part of the ball room.

Fuming, Jackson began to pace.

"You have no idea what you're saying, you don't know what happened, and you have no right-"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, stop being so melodramatic!"

"I'm being melodramatic? Me? That's rich, coming from a woman who hasn't been able to keep herself from scheming a day in her life! And-"

"If I have no right to tell you, then who does, may I just ask?" She interrupted him, unfazed, leaving him sputtering.

"And I know more than enough what happened, don't think I haven't kept in touch with her - "

"Oh – that's – that's -" Jackson couldn't do anything but gape at his mother in utter disbelief at this point.

"That's what?" she said calmly, which just infuriated him more.

"So that's what you're doing now? You're consorting with the enemy? What, have you two been facebooking behind my back? Tweeting? Some other form of- of- social media they've managed to invent while I've been away, trying to freaking piece my life together after everything?" He finally managed to say.

"Jackson don't be ridiculous- of course we haven't been facebooking –"

"E-mail." Said a new voice, behind his back. And he froze. He hadn't heard her voice in two years, and yet here she was now, as if nothing changed.

"Hi Jackson."

He swept a hand across his shaven head, grazing his palm on the short hairs and feeling them prickle, searching for some form of control.

He couldn't find any.

He finally turned around, molding his features into an expression of civility.

"Hello April. Long time."

"Yes."

April took a deep breath, her eyes flickering from Jackson's to his mother's. Not one to miss a beat, Catherine Avery seized that moment to stage her exit.

"Excuse me baby, I think I see someone waving at me." She said, bossily gathering up the skirt of her long dress and giving her son a peck on his cheek.

"Be good now." She whispered to him before turning around and giving April a warm hug.

"It's good to see you, dear. We'll talk later, hmm?"

And she was gone.

April swallowed, taking the time to glance at Jackson while he turned away to watch his mother leave. He looked…different. He seemed taller than she remembered, a tad more bulky in build - probably all muscle, if she were right in assuming he had kept up with his insane work out routines. And he had a beard. Not heavy, but not necessarily light either - more scruff than not - covering his cheeks just enough so that that bone structure of his remained just as striking as it had ever been. If anything, it just made those piercing eyes stand out even more.

April sighed. She had started wishing on her way to the Gala that maybe if Jackson Avery had lost his good looks, things would be a bit easier between them. She'd be able to handle herself around him a bit more, it'll make seeing him again a lot less difficult. But in fact, he seemed even more imposing, a lot more confident and definitely more attractive – definitely more attractive- than she remembered.

He turned back around to her, and she started to talk, thinking she might as well get it over with.

"So…your mother didn't tell you about me coming back." She stated tentatively.

"You heard?" a corner of his mouth went up.

Damn him for his good looks. And damn him more for that charm.

She smiled slightly.

"I had a feeling she might not have, since she seemed to evade the question every time I asked her." She said softly. "Thing is, Jackson, I understand, completely, and, I will immediately withdraw my transfer. I had no right to assume that you'd be okay with it-"

"No – April, listen."

Jackson drew in a breath, knowing that what he was about to say went against his better judgment, against self-preservation, hell, against all common-sense. But he was going to say it.

"There's no reason the two of us can't work in the same hospital again. What happened was a long time ago, and we should be able to put that behind us - I mean we're both adults…"

"Right." She said, nodding her head maybe a tad too vigorously.

"Right." He breathed.

She swallowed.

"Okay then." she gave him a small smile and a final nod of acknowledgment.

He tilted his head to the side. "Okay."

There was a long beat.

"Um, so - excuse me, I just, I just gotta use the - "

She eyed the ladies washroom at the far corner of the ballroom as if it was the gateway to heaven, finally allowing herself to breathe a sigh of relief as he stepped aside to let her pass.

0o0

April stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror of the ladies' washroom at the Ritz Carlton Boston Common, where the gala was being held, observing her flushed cheeks, heaving bosom and parted lips. Dammit. One second under Jackson Avery's gaze was all it took. And if she had read his reaction correctly, he hadn't been completely unaware of it either.

Her breath stalled in her throat as the bathroom door slowly opened then, and she watched in the mirror as if in a daze as he stepped in, those exquisite eyes trapping her in. He turned the lock, never breaking the gaze, and she turned around, swallowing the breath she had been holding, biting her lip just the tiniest bit.

Oh God.

"You have to tell me if you want me to stop." He was whispering now, and he had her pressed against the long sink, his hands on her thighs, one of them grazing the slit in her dress. She let her arms drape around his shoulders as she grasped the back of his head, and he lifted her, as easily as he had ever done, as if he had never stopped, onto the marble sink. She pressed her lips to his, knowing he would never do the same without having her signal her willingness first, and he cupped her face then, parting her lips with his tongue, slipping it in.

"April…" he panted.

"Don't" she gasped, knowing what he was asking. "Don't stop."

And a ripple seemed to go through his body as he slipped one hand up her thigh, slowly stroking the skin exposed by the slit at the very top until she was moaning. His other hand massaged a breast, puckered from arousal, and she grasped his face between the palm of her hands, pulling back from him, taking the time to finally let her gaze fully sweep over his face unabashedly.

"When did you decide to grow a beard?" she whispered, as his eyes darkened, lids becoming heavy with want.

"When did you decide to not wear a wedding ring?" He returned, and she realized with a shiver that he must not have heard of her divorce.

"S-six months ago" she trembled as his thumb grazed that spot over her lace panties, gently pressing in.

"And here I was thinking you were cheating on your husband." Came the silky voice, and her eyes flew open, the mere thought sending a chill through her spine.

"Would you have let me?" she gasped out.

"Yes." Came the hard reply, and she pushed at him, knowing he was lying, but no longer wanting to continue this. Somewhere along the way, his desire had turned to anger, and she had just as much right as him to be angry.

She pushed at him again, a bit more forcefully, and she felt his body slacken, as if he had given up some sort of fight, and he stepped back.

When she finally looked up at him after making sure her dress was in order, he had an almost melancholy look on his face.

She stared back at him sadly, seeing that old frown on his face that made him look as if he was concentrating too hard on something.

"No." He finally said, hands in his pockets, gazing down at the marble floor, looking almost ashamed of himself.

"No I wouldn't have let you." He looked up then, and her lip trembled. She didn't know why, but that made her want to cry.

"I know. I know you wouldn't have." She whispered as she watched him turn around and walk back towards the door, unlocking it before walking out, leaving her looking after him, lone tear running down her cheek.

Reviews are, as always, much appreciated. As are criticisms, as well as grammatical errors, etc. Lol. But please, review though, let me know what you think! Best to all.