Pretty Boy • Jackson Avery

chapter eight

6x13

She wasn't avoiding him, not entirely, at least that's what she was telling herself. But she had managed to avoid talking to him about anything other than work for the better part of a month.

She'd also found herself barely interacting with Mark, but she wasn't avoiding him, he was just in a world of trouble with the fact that his daughter was pregnant, and with everything going on, she decided to wait for him to come to her. She didn't want to pile more on her plate.

But, her lack of interaction with Mark also meant that she hadn't told anyone about the fact that she'd made a colossal mistake and kissed Jackson.

He wasn't avoiding her, in fact he had tried numerous times to talk to her about what happened, but she was good at skirting the subject or getting away when needed, and he'd all but given up.

She pointedly avoided the group of residents as they made their way through the hospital, purely because she'd spotted Jackson among the bunch, instead opting to take a different route to her destination.

Despite her best efforts, she found herself standing all too close to Jackson as Derek began his big speech. She ignored the warmth of his body as he stood behind her, but he stayed silent.

"Ahem. I want to thank you all for being here. I know you're busy, so I'll try to make this quick. As you may have heard, I have been appointed the new Interim Chief of Surgery." Derek shuffled on his feet, sifting through his cue cards. "It's my personal goal to make this transition as smooth as possible. I know we've had a rocky few months."

"Here it comes." Alex muttered.

"Mistakes have been made."

"He's talking about the merger." Alex was quickly shushed by Lexie

"I intend to right those wrongs," Derek continued, "And, uh... bring this hospital back to its former glory. And, um..." Derek's voice died out as the staff began murmuring to each other, whispers shooting around as Webber entered. "What I meant, uh, by that is- what I'm trying to say is, I want to thank you for your support in advance. Uh, that's all. Okay let's get back to work."

There was a short period of clapping before the room dispersed.

Violet left as quickly as she could, making her way to the E.R. She was on Hunt's service again, for which she was thankful. She felt only slightly guilty for hoping for a massive trauma to get her mind off of the kiss. Slightly.

•꒰ঌ໒꒱•

Her hopes came true, thankfully. A young man came into the E.R. after a motorcycle crash, he was hit by a truck and launched into an ongoing construction zone. A metal pipe had gone straight through him.

Violet savoured the adrenaline as she helped Hunt and Dr. Altman repair the man. What she didn't savour was the fact that Jackson was on Teddy's service, and subsequently scrubbed in.

They spoke during the surgery, but it was brief and purely focused on the patient. Violet silently thanked the patient for getting worse every time there was a moment of prolonged silence where any small talk could arise.

He lived, thankfully, and after Owen and Violet informed the family, she was making her way back towards the E.R. to keep herself busy when Jackson stepped into her path.

She held back an eye roll but didn't bother pushing past him, simply lifting her eyebrows and waiting for him to speak.

"You can't avoid me forever."

"I'm not avoiding you." She kept walking, but he kept up with her easily.

"You are. Which makes absolutely no sense because you kissed me. You are also the one who said we should stay friends, and yet we haven't said more than a few words to each other in weeks. Can we-" He grasped her arm to get her to stop walking, but she avoided eye contact. "Can we please just talk?"

Finally she met his gaze, looking up at him with an unreadable expression. Jackson held his breath.

"Let go of my arm."

•꒰ঌ໒꒱•

"She can barely look at me, Vi. And she cried, she freaking cried when I got into the elevator. I mean, I don't know what to say to her." Mark vented as the two sat in one of the unoccupied tables at the bar.

"Do you still love her?" Violet took a swig from her soda, having made the choice not to drink that night, if not so that she could drive herself home, then because she felt herself slipping a little too much into old habits.

"Of course I still love her. She's the love of my life. But I can't tell her that, I can't scare her off again. I mean, when I told her I wanted us to move in together, she thought I meant in ten years. She didn't think she'd be ready for that long."

Violet nodded absentmindedly, "Yes, but then she did move in with you. This whole thing with Sloan is just a lot for her. I mean, not to be harsh, Mark, but she didn't exactly sign up for this."

Mark looked down with a sigh, nodding softly as he stared at the carbonation in his beer, his finger tapping against the bottle.

"You love her, and she loves you. That hasn't changed. It might take time, but things will work themselves out." Violet was beyond happy when Mark told her he needed a drink after work that day. They'd barely talked at all recently and it was truly starting to get to her.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's wrong with you and Pretty Boy?"

Violet's eyes widened but she bit back a retort, instead choosing to sip at her soda for a few moments before speaking. "I may have done something stupid and dug myself a hole I can't get out of."

"Elaborate."

"I kissed him, and he didn't kiss me back."

Mark sucked in a breath, taking a swig from his beer before hissing, "Yeah, that's... not great."

Violet nodded. "And I've been avoiding him for a month. I don't know how to be normal with him after that. I want to, I just don't know how."

"It might take time, but things will work themselves out."

Violet looked up from the spot she'd been searing into the table with her eyes. "Did you just quote me to me?"

"Yup."