Doing The Dance (Jackson Avery Fanfic)

forty-two

2017

LA was just as beautiful as I remembered. Sunny, warm, blue skies. I can't believe I hadn't been here in three years.

Some of the best years of my life were in this city. I was working in a hospital where I was trusted and respected, something that took almost two years of groveling at Grey Sloan to get. As soon as we got to the hotel, Jo and Steph wanted to go out for a celebratory drink so I text Jackson to say I had made it and would call him closer to bedtime.

"God, I could get used to this!" Steph said. Jo was fanning herself with a menu from the bar.

"I'm melting, how did you handle this place for so long Dawson?" I laughed.

"I have no immune system. The cold and I have never been friends. This was my happy place."

"I bet you wish Avery was here with you right now" I looked at Steph with wide eyes.

"Who told you about that?"

"About what? We're in Los Angeles, drinking cocktails at a cabana on the beach. Who wouldn't want their stud of a sexy doctor here?" I chuckled nervously.

"Right, I knew that."

"Oh my god, Taylor! Did he offer to come for the weekend?" Jo screamed.

"Shh!"

"Oh please, no one here knows you or Jackson."

"Still! You never know who might be around. Yes, he wanted to come, I told him not to"

"Why not?" Steph asked.

"Because it would have looked weird if he did!"

"He's the director of the hospital, I mean besides Hunt he's probably the only person that could come without making it look weird"

"And if the two of us had gone out to dinner and shared a hotel room? What then, hmm?" Steph rolled her eyes.

"Jo and I already know about you two. Ben wouldn't tell anyone, and I don't think Richard would either." I chuckled.

"You mean the man that's sleeping with his mother? No, he surely wouldn't tell anyone."

"Taylor, what's this really about?" Jo asked.

"If I pass then I'm more than likely going to be offered a trauma fellowship at Grey Sloan. If I'm not, I'm moving to the east coast or to Kenya or something. If I'm a trauma fellow then April Kepner becomes my boss, for real. I'll be working with her every single day. I can't, we can't let this become public knowledge. Not yet"

"So, you're gonna hide it until you're an attending?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. I just can't tell her, not until she's moved on from the divorce. And she hasn't in two years. She's still fighting for full custody of Harriet and is already suspicious of me and Jackson living together"

The table went silent, and we all sat, waiting for someone to bring up anything less awkward. Steph finally spoke.

"I still think it's pretty romantic that he'd fly here just to be with you" The silence broke, and our laughter filled it.

"Yeah, I guess he is pretty romantic. Did I tell you guys what he did for my birthday? He filled the entire apartment with balloons. Not because he wanted to celebrate, but because he knows I love popping balloons. We grabbed a knife each and just went to town. There was balloon debris everywhere for weeks."

"You've got to be the most sadistic person I've ever met, you know that?"

The laughter lasted all the way back to the hotel, just the three of us saying stupid things that would set the others off. Once we were in the elevator, I sighed in relief.