𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄 ━ jackson avery

023. ━ a little bit of trauma

season seven // episode eleven
[ a little bit of trauma ]

"HEY, JACKSON, APRIL!" Ellie caught up to her friends as they left the hospital after work. "Do either of you have dinner plans tomorrow night?"

"Um, not that I'm aware of," April replied with a shake of her head. "Why?"

"I wanted to introduce you to Andy and I was hoping you'd join us for dinner tomorrow," Ellie said. "We'd pay."

"Dinner?" Jackson repeated and Ellie looked at him. "Tomorrow? With your boyfriend?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah... That's what I said..."

April nudged him in the ribs before nodding. "We'll be there."

"Great!" Ellie smiled happily. "Uh, eight o'clock. I'll send you the address of the restaurant. See you tomorrow."

April waved goodbye and waited until Ellie was out of earshot to slap Jackson in the chest. "Smooth."

"What?"

"'Dinner?'" she mocked, making her voice go deeper. "'Tomorrow? With your boyfriend?' You couldn't be more indiscreet if you tried."

Jackson frowned. "I was just taken aback," he said. "That's all."

"Uh-huh." April nodded, not at all convinced by his excuse. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that the woman you're in love with just asked you to meet her boyfriend?"

"I'm not in love with her!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Jackson," she said. "Either way, you just agreed to dinner. Try not to fail."

Jackson watched as she walked to her car. "April, you're not helping!"

The next day after work, Ellie was sitting in the restaurant with Andy and she looked up when she saw Jackson and April walk in. "They're here," she said, waving them over to the table and she stood up. "Thanks for coming, guys. Uh, Andy, this is Jackson and April. April, Jackson... this is Andy."

"It's nice to meet you," Andy said with a smile which April returned.

"You, too!"

She looked over at Jackson and nudged him in the ribs. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah, uh, nice to meet you, too."

Ellie glanced at him momentarily before gesturing to the table. "Uh, sit."

April sat across from Andy and looked at him. "So, Ellie mentioned that you were a teacher?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Third grade."

"So, how did you and Ellie meet again?" Jackson asked, changing the subject and Ellie looked at him.

Andy looked at him and cleared his throat. "Uh, Starbucks of all places," he replied, smiling lightly at the blonde next to him. "It seems we both like a good iced coffee."