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chapter fifty two ━ all you need is love
season eight, episode fourteen

❝ as far as valentine's day
presents go, you've sure as hell
have out done yourself. ❞

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When Aliya was twenty-eight years old, she hated Valentine's day.

She hated the heart shaped chocolates, and the bright red roses in the over the top bouquets made for the worst holiday of the year. She hated the gigantic teddy bears holding love hearts in their paws, grinning their stitched bear mouths because they had never experienced heart break ever before in their lives.

They were stuffed after all.

Most of all, she hated all the gushy greeting cards that made her feel physically sick to her stomach, and she wanted nothing more than to rip every single last piece of paper up and address them to an open fire, or an office paper shredder.

Every red and pink hue, every green stem of a rose, every foil wrapper that ever existed in the world, Aliya wanted it gone.

The brunette counted down the seconds until the clock struck twelve on February 15th, and she could mark Valentine's day as a figment of the past, only there to sneak up on her in three hundred and sixty five days time.

If you sat twenty-eight year old Aliya down, she could list of every single reason as to why she hated that dreaded day, and why she would aim to sue every greeting card company who aimed to shove it down her throat.

However, now Aliya Juliet Levine was a total hypocrite.

Because, twenty nine year old Aliya woke up this morning with feral butterflies crashing against the walls of her stomach at the prospect of freaking Valentine's day.

And, if Alex Karev could see her now, he would shake his head in disbelief and disappointment, losing another one of his friends to the dark side.

Together, they hated this day, mutually grimacing at every shop window and flower in sight for a full two weeks before the day itself.

Now, she had turned into a loved up fool.

And Alex, well, he just stayed the same.

"A nice dinner." Aliya guessed to the ceiling as the couple laid in bed, procrastinating getting up and ready for work. "Italian? Mexican? Greek?"

"Still no." Jackson replied, rubbing at his eyes to try and conceal the smirk of knowing something a certain Levine woman did not know.

Because, one thing about Aliya was that she liked to know the ins and outs of everything.

It didn't even have to remotely have anything to do with her, she just wanted to know what was going on.

So, now she knew Jackson had planned something, and she was determined to figure out what it was.

She huffed from beside him, crossing her arms over the top of the quilted bed sheets. "Right," She chewed on her bottom lip, determined to figure it out.

"You're not going to guess." He teased with an all knowing shit-eating grin that Aliya wanted to wipe off his face that exact moment.

The way his pink lips curved could have the potential to drive her to complete insanity.

"Why can't I be in charge of the Valentine's day plans?" She groaned, prodding his shoulder in resentment. "It's the twenty first century. Women can be in charge. I hate surprises."

Jackson quirked a brow at her, the corners of his lips fighting for his life to not turn upwards at all her huffing. "Even the good ones?"

"Yes." She nodded her head in confirmation, determined to convince him of that particular fact that she hated surprises. Though, it was common known fact. "What if we're going camping? I'll need to pack bug spray, mosquitos love me."

It was true.

And, one thing to note about Aliya was that she hated mosquitoes.

Especially the blood sucking kind.

Which was all mosquitoes for that matter. She hated every last one of them.

"If we go camping," Jackson leaned over to turn the bedside lamp on, because he had only just woken up approximately one minute and thirty eight seconds ago and was instantly met with a full on interrogation and detective investigation operated by the conspiring brunette to his right. "Which we are not by the way. I'll bring the bug spray."

Despite the bug spray pledge, Aliya frowned in an unconvinced sort of manner. "An art gallery?" She tried once more, though she knew she was going to be met with the exact same answer as before.

"You're not going to guess it." He suppressed a smirk once again.

Aliya huffed, taking that statement as a challenge as she took a moment to think harder. "Mini golf?"

A mixture of horror and disgust appeared over Jackson's face at that particular guess. "I'm never going to mini golf with you again, not after last time, no way."

"You faked being hit in the balls." Aliya made very clear with a grin, recalling the fond memory of the last time they played. "I didn't actually hit you in said balls."

"I had to fake it to get us out of there though, Trent and April are relentless." The Avery man scowled, yawning into his palm and shuffling back down into the comfort of their bed. "Nothing good comes when you're given a miniature golf club."

She chuckled at his comment, playfully punching his arm lightly. "How about ice skating?" Aliya laid down beside him, her cheek pressing against his bare shoulder, the heat of her breath warming his skin. "I love ice skating, and I have my own skates and everything."

"We're not going ice skating." He informed her, even though he cursed himself for not thinking of that idea sooner.

"I can teach you if you want." Aliya suggested, excitedly, grinning at the prospect of guiding him across the ice. "We could hire one of those seals for you to hold onto."

"I am actually good at ice skating, I'll have you know." Jackson pointed out, though Aliya looked majorly unconvinced.

She bit down the judgement. "Sure you are."

"I am," He defended, raising his hand in the air as a pledge. "Scout's honour."

"You weren't even a scout. You were on the football team." After she said that, the brunette gasped, a hand flying up to her mouth as everything clicked into place. "That's it! Football game!"

"You hate football!" Jackson pointed out. "Why would I take you to a game I know you'd hate?"

"For the slushies and the corn dogs, obviously. Oh! And, the hot cheese!" Aliya enthused, knowing that she would fully kill for hot cheese and tortilla chips right about now. She didn't care if it was the morning, she needed hot cheese in the next half a second or she may implode.

But, neither one of them were magicians.

Jackson smiled into her hair, pressing his lips to her hair line, kissing the skin right there. "We would need our sustenance, of course."

"Exactly," Aliya giggled as Jackson's lips found her collar bone, tickling the very surface of her skin. "How about—"

Though, Aliya's next thought was swiftly interrupted by a certain red head bursting through the doors of her room in a very flustered hurry.

"Am I interrupting sex!" April cried out desperately, with a hand slightly covering her eyes just in case.

"April!" Jackson's head flew up away from Aliya's neck, his jaw hanging slack at her impromptu entrance.

"No, whatsup?" Aliya said casually, squirming to sit up right in bed. "Are you pulling a runaway bride? Trent is a handful so I wouldn't—"

"What! No! Not runaway bride, no!" April denied, her hand dropping from her eyes at the confirmation sex was in fact not happening and her cheek's reddening, half because she was still very flustered from her frantic entrance. "Trent's sick!"

"Oh." Aliya looked over towards the very unimpressed Avery man. "That's— uh—"

"Our problem?" Jackson grumbled, unimpressed.

Note, he was not a very talkative morning person at all to anyone but Aliya.

"Yes!" April cried at the tragedy, now falling onto Aliya's bed dramatically like she had just been stabbed in the abdomen, making a very inhuman grunt as she fell. "I was meant to taste cake flavours with him today and—"

"I'll come!" Aliya's hand shot up in the air so fast she almost knocked poor Jackson out.

"Thank god," April sighed in relief, clutching her chest from the manic start to the morning. "You don't mind?"

"Nope! Of course not! It's really no issue." Aliya assured, because she had just granted herself free cake tasting.

And, that was a victory in itself.

"Great!" April clapped, jumping up from the bed with Jackson shooting daggers at her to leave right now. "I'll wait downstairs for you!"

"Was this my present, be honest." Aliya grinned happily down at Jackson, who laid that as if he wanted to bury himself in the bed for the rest of the day.

"This makes my gift look real lousy." He yawned, tiredly into his palm.

The Levine woman then started to say something that younger her would faint if she ever heard her say. "This is the best day ever, better than—"

"Oh! Aliya!" Just as April was leaving, she abruptly turned on her heel with something to add. "By the way, your Mom is looking after Trent at the moment, but she might swing by for the cake testing!"

And with that bomb shell dropped, Aliya buried her entire head in her hands to shield herself with an inhuman groan. "Oh, you've got to be—"

Jackson sighed, sympathetically. "There's always a catch." 

"Hurry up!" April called once she had left the brunette's bedroom, where she was now going through an early life crisis. "We don't have all day!"

Aliya's hands fell into her lap, and her dishevelled form stared at her wall. "I spoke too soon, didn't I?"

"You want me to come with?" Jackson sat up on the bed, rubbing her shoulders to show his pledge of support. "I love cake."

"No, it's okay." Aliya sighed, sinking into his shirt with a yawn. "I wouldn't want to subject you to the Wicked Witch of LA, you'll come out of it headless."

"You sure?" Jackson questioned, his expression serious all of a sudden. "If I'm being completely honest, I don't like that your mother's trying to get herself involved."

"I know." Aliya spoke softly, chewing on her lip. "But, don't worry. I can handle her. I've handled her for twenty nine years, what's an hour gonna do?"

He chuckled, his fingertips running up and down her back. "Save me some chocolate fudge?"

"Of course." Aliya promised, leaning to kiss him before resorting to the fact that she had to get ready, and she couldn't stay in his arms, in bed all day. "If you don't see me in the next two hours, call the police. I'll either be on the run for killing my mother in cold blood, or I'll be a missing persons."

"Roger that." Jackson nodded as Aliya slipped out of the bed to get change, ready to be inevitably shunned from the family, to climb out of an open window.

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—✩—
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ALIYA LEVINE (9:32am)

PAGE ME ROGHT JOW
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DEREK SHEPHERD (9:32am)

*RIGHT NOW

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (9:32am)

don't be a know it all,
just page me 911 or something i BEG
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"Try the lemon cake, April. It's divine." Molly Levine said as the four (yes, four, not three) of them sat around a table of a cafe, numerous plates of various flavours of cakes in front of them. 

"We'll swap," April grinned happily at her soon to be mother-in-law. "This vanilla one is incredible!"

⠀
DEREK SHEPHERD (9:33am)

I'm at home with Zola, what
do you need?

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ALIYA LEVINE (9:33am)

to be put out of my misery
and an extra large caramel latte
⠀

Aliya stabbed the red velvet cake in front of her with a fork, accidentally (not) glaring at her mother from across the table.

Molly had appeared to pick up on her youngest daughter's death stare. "Is something wrong, Aliya?" She looked pointedly at the brunette as she passed April the plate of lemon cake.

"Nope," Aliya shook her head, finishing her mouthful of the nicest red velvet cake she had ever tried. "How can anything be wrong when I'm surrounded by cake?" Her lips curved into a smile, and her mother's lip seemed to twitch, barely visible to the naked eye.

"August! Try the raspberry one too. Arthur and I had raspberry when we got married." Eliana, this morning's special VIP surprise guest piped up, pushing the plate over to April once more, who now had a whole sea of plates in front of her to try.

Aliya snorted, before clearing her throat, straightening her back on the chair as all three pairs of eyes landed on her. "Try again, you got the wrong month." She informed her older sister, waving her fork in the air.

Eliana looked confused to say the least. "Come again? You never make any sense, Aliya."

"It's April." The brunette corrected with a forced grin on her lips.

"No, it's not. It's February." Eliana replied back, wiping frosting off of her bottom lip, retrieving her phone from her pocket to show her today's date.

It was Valentine's Day after all, not like Aliya had to be reminded.

Aliya snorted at the lack of brain cells in her sister's head, pointing over at April. "Her name's April. Not August, it's April. You've got your calendar mixed up."

Eliana still looked baffled.

It was as if Aliya was talking gibberish to her, because she had no clue what her sister was talking about.

"Trent's fiancé," Aliya made an act of pointing at the red head beside her. "Is called April, and well done, we are in the month of February!"

"Oh!" Eliana made a sound of realisation, nodding as she finally understood what Aliya was trying to tell her. "I get it! April!"

"This lemon cake is really good!" April, not August, piped up, grinning happily with a mouthful of cake in an effort to try and diffuse any tension.

"It's so nice of you to join us, Eliana." Molly smiled over at her eldest daughter, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. "It's a shame your mother and sisters couldn't be here, April."

"They can't wait to meet you." April replied, going in for my lemon cake. "They're flying up a week before the wedding!"

⠀
DEREK SHEPHERD (9:36am)

Are you in a life or death
situation?

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ALIYA LEVINE (9:36am)

yes, life is a life or death situation

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DEREK SHEPHERD (9:36am)

That's very philosophical
of you.

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ALIYA LEVINE (9:36am)

my mother is sitting opposite me
clutching old of a metal fork

if you'd don't hear from me in
the next hour, send the police, swat
teams, paramedics & the fire
department to my exact location

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DEREK SHEPHERD (9:37am)

And where is your exact location?

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ALIYA LEVINE (9:37am)

lavender bakery

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DEREK SHEPHERD (9:37am)

Death by cake. Got it.
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Eliana clapped her hands with a squeal, jump scaring Aliya entirely. "This is so exciting, isn't it!"

"Oh! Yeah!" Aliya blinked as Eliana slapped her across the shoulder. "So exciting! Yay!"

"You could act a little bit more convincing." Molly frowned at her, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm very happy for them." Aliya smiled kindly at April. Because, she actually was happy for her brother. She was happy he had found someone that made him happy.

But, she wasn't exactly happy with being trapped in a bakery with her mother and sister. Even if there was cake involved in the equation.

"Then why do you look so miserable." Molly hissed.

"She hasn't been feeling very well!" April answered before Aliya could even open her mouth to speak up, looking across at April, stunned. "She's had a headache for the past couple of days, isn't that right Aliya?" Her voice had reached a very high pitch when she was vouching for the brunette by her side, so it seemed.

"Yes! Awful, blinding migraines!" Aliya winced, making an act of touching her temple. "Like I've had fifty shots of tequila at a rave."

"And have you?" Molly questioned, arching a brow.

"No. I don't think I'd be here if I shotted straight tequila fifty times in a row at a rave." She deadpanned, sliding the red velvet over to the bride to be. "The red velvet's really nice too. But, the chocolate fudge is better."

"What about the carrot cake?" Her mother piped up, sliding the cake across the table in front of Aliya.

And, Aliya watched it come over with a cautious eye, as if it were a disgrace to this world.

Or, as if it could kill her in cold blood.

Because, it could.

Aliya cleared her throat, using the tip of her index finger to push the cake back across the table. "Have you actually forgotten, or are you trying to murder me?"

"You always come up with crazy ideas." Molly scoffed, placing her own fingertips on the other side of the plate and pushing it back to her. "Try the carrot cake."

Aliya swallowed, forcing her plate back to her mother. "I don't think I'm the one with the crazy ideas."

At that, Molly's brow quirked, and she glares across the table at her daughter, who was mirroring the exact same expression, making everyone around them watch whatever staring match they had going on.

"Oh! Excuse me!" April waved her hand at the waitress walking by the table, tugging the plate out of the two women's grasp and holding it above Aliya's head. "No carrot cake, please! My bridesmaid's allergic!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss Kepner, let me take this away for you. We must've gotten mixed up." The waitress apologised profusely, disappearing with the potentially murder weapon.

"Oh, I thought you were allergic to apples." Molly acted confused, resting her elbows on the pink silk table cloth. "My mistake."

"It's always been carrots, Mom." Aliya gritted her teeth before jumping out of her chair. "If you'll excuse me, I'm just going to nip to the restroom."

"Well, hurry up." Molly watched her daughter leave, making her escape away from the table.

Aliya locked the door behind her with a sigh, drawing out her phone from her pocket as she rapidly clicked on the number she wanted to call on speed dial.

Luckily for her, he picked up after the first ring.

"Hey—"

"Alex you need to come get me right now! My mother is trying to kill me!"

"What!" Alex exclaimed from the other side of the call, barely able to work out what she was saying down the line seeing as she was quite breathless from the close murder attempt. "Aliya, you have bad signal!"

All he had heard was "need", "mother" and "kill".

And, just by the word "mother" alone gave Alex an insight into the severity of the situation.

"Alex! Can you hear me?" Aliya spoke desperately, beginning to pace the small length of the baby pink restroom of the bakery.

"You're cracking up!" Alex replied back through the phone speaker, his voice just as desperate.

"Alex! This is life or death!" The brunette cried out, making her question her own sanity.

"You've left? Where have you gone!" Alex answered, not understanding a word she as even saying.

"Okay, okay—" Aliya looked rapidly around the restroom, finding a window right up at the top of the sink.

So, naturally, Aliya decided it would be a good idea to stand on the counter, and stick her head out of the window.

"Can you hear me now?" Aliya panted, her forearms resting on the window pane.

"Yes!" The Karev man said, relieved her could finally hear her voice instead of just crackles through the speaker. "I can, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Thank god!" Aliya sighed in relief from where she was half dangling out of the window of the bakery, getting a very nice view of the back alley. "PAGE ME RIGHT NOW MY MOTHER IS TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"What! How! Why—"

"SHE'S TRYING TO SPOON FEED ME CARROT CAKE, MY LIFE IS AT RISK!" Aliya yelled into the mic, even though Alex could hear her just fine when she spoke normally, but she really was trying to get him to understand the entire situation at hand.

"Oh, crap!" Alex seemed to now be looped in, his breathing heavy down the other line. "Where are you?"

"Hanging out of an open window in a bakery restroom." She replied, truthfully, staring down at a very nice patch of flowers in the alley way next to the bakery.

In the silence that followed, all Aliya could hear was Alex's heavy sigh, followed by: "Which bakery are you at?"

He didn't even question why, because he wasn't the least bit surprised.

"Lavender's, but it's very pink." Aliya answered, desperately seeking refuge from whatever psych experiment this was.

"I'll be there in ten."

The phone call disconnected, and Aliya breathed a sigh of relief, her chin resting on the window as she closed her yes briefly, thanking her lucky stars that—

"Miss? Are you okay up there?" An older woman, walking down the alley holding a basket filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, asked her, looking fairly concerned for her safety. "Do you need any help?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm fine thank you, just need some air!" Aliya grinned, her hair wild which made her look a tiny bit deranged.

The woman smiled, giving a short laugh as she hurried back on her way down the alley, not even turning back to see her slide back down, hoping from the counter and onto the tiled floor.

"Aliya!" A large bang at the door sounded, which made Aliya rapidly smooth her hair down, seeing as hanging halfway out of the window made it go a little knotty. "Is everything alright in there?"

April's voice called through the door, and Aliya approached cautiously, seeing as she didn't know if a person going under the first name Molly and last name Satan was on the other side.

"Are you alone?" Aliya called back through, placing her hand on the door handle.

"Yes! Let me in please!" The Kepner woman whispered desperately through the wood, and Aliya took the as her cue to unlock the door, throwing it open so quickly so April could dart through. "We need to get out of here! Your mother and sister are driving me mad!

Aliya locked the door behind the pair of them. "Imagine living under the same roof as them for eighteen years!"

"It's all the arguing, the subtle digs, the belittlement!" Now it was April's turn to pace around the restroom. "Aliya, how do you put up with this!"

"When I see my mother, it's usually during dinner when alcohol is involved." Aliya admitted, slipping onto the counter. "Not in a bakery in broad daylight. It helps soften the blows."

"Champagne at the wedding, noted." April nodded, running her hands through her hair with a sigh. "How do we get out of this?"

"Oh, don't worry." Aliya patted the countertop next to her, leaning against the mirror as April joined her side. "Alex will be here in five."

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—✩—
⠀

"We're gonna get a zillion Valen-traumas." April announced, now positively peppy after escaping the cake testing from hell, back in the refuge of the emergency room, awaiting any Valentines's day traumas.

Or, Valen-traumas. According to the red head.

Aliya snorted. "Ha! Valen-traumas. Good one."

April beamed, seeming pretty proud of herself. "I bet a few of them will be good surgeries for our boards."

"Well, it's not Saint Patty's Day." Alex pointed out, and it was obvious he was in a bad mood already merely because the whole ER was decorated with tatty love hearts and red roses. "Those are the good traumas. Car crashes, bar brawls—"

"Shamrock Shoulder." Aliya recalled the first Saint Patrick's Day she had as an intern, spending sixteen straight hours in the OR, all because a drunk guy ended up with a two foot metal shamrock in his shoulder.

Alex nodded at the example, continuing on with his point. "Yeah, Valentine's Day is all swallowed engagement rings, and guys who throw out their backs getting laid."

"How romantic." Aliya said with pursed lips, jotting something down in her chart she was flicking through, seeing she was on peds today. "Maybe you have to go get laid, you're grouchier than usual. And, that's coming from a place of love."

"You're just bitter 'cause you don't have a date." The Kepner woman agreed, smiling happily down at her shiny engagement ring.

"First of all," Alex tone was matter-of-fact. "Valentine's day isn't for having a date with some chick."

Aliya quirked her brow, looking over at her friend, intrigued to hear his Valentine's Day philosophy. "And, what is it for may I ask?"

"Macking the chicks who don't have dates." Alex stated, something Aliya had heard his say since the beginning of time.

"Of course it is, how could I forget!" Aliya said, cheerily, waving her pen around.

"Besides, I have to study for my boards."

Jackson glanced up at that announcement. "You studying already?"

"Of course." April glanced up for a second, narrowing her eyes at the Avery man. "You're not?"

Jackson cleared his throat, and Aliya could see right through the act. "No, I am."

"Who put up all this?" Owen Hunt approached the residents, gesturing to all of the red and pink decor.

"I did." April said, proudly, though judging by Owen's face, she wasn't going to be congratulated. "Well, research shows that a cheerful environment reduces stress and helps patients to feel more—"

Owen picked up one of the decorations contributing to the 'cheerful environment', crushing it in his hand, and throwing it onto the floor, leaving a look of horror on April's face.

"Well, that was just uncalled for." Aliya glared at the Hunt man as he sauntered away from the scene of the crime.

"Aliya," Jackson cleared his throat, tugging in her lab coat gently. "Can I see you over there?" He angled his head to the trauma room, which only made Alex groan.

"In the trauma room?" The Karev man grimaced at the pair. "God, at least make it the on-call room. There's dying people in here."

"Not for that!" Jackson hissed, leading Aliya away with his palm on the small of her back.

"Get your head outta the gutter Karev!" Aliya called over her shoulder, as Jackson shut the door behind them now they were in the trauma room. "Karev's right. This is totally the wrong place. I'm not having sex with you in a trauma room."

"What! Aliya! No! Not here." Jackson was now pacing, hands braced worriedly on his hips.

"Thank the lord." Aliya stayed stood on her spot, seeing as she was getting a neck workout trying to track Jackson with her eyes. "You okay? Are you having an existential crisis?"

"You're studying for your boards?" He said with a large intake of breath.

"Yeah, I've been studying for them since my second year of residency." Aliya said, casually, her eyes still pinned on Jackson as she tried to piece together exactly what— "You haven't started yet!"

"What? Shhh! Keep it down!" He gestured for her to stay silent, still keeping up his routine pacing of the small space of the trauma room.

"It's fine! That's fine!" Aliya tried to convince, though Jackson had reached stress levels he didn't usually reach. It was usually Aliya's job to stress out. "You're gonna be fine, you know your stuff."

"Fine! Yes, sure! Fine!"

The brunette stopped his pacing, seeing as she was getting slightly dizzy just by watching him. "Hey, don't worry. Besides, I'm an excellent study partner." She smirked at him, and that seemed to cheer him up just a little.

⠀
—✩—
⠀

"You paged me for this?" Arizona exclaimed furiously as she dragged Aliya down the hospital corridor to where the self proclaimed 'plastics posse' were loitering, waiting their arrival. "Why would I do this?"

"Because it's fair." Mark informed the Robbins woman, who stood before him with her hands on her hips, Aliya behind her wondering what the hell was going on and Jackson behind Mark looking like some sort of accomplice. "Because, the three of us are equal parents to Sofia and this is the fair way to decide who stays in with her."

Aliya shot Jackson a puzzled look as Mark continued, though he simple shrugged.

Shrugged!

The cheek. He knew what was going on that conspiring little—

"Unless you'd rather raise her with no sense of fairness or decency in anarchy and chaos." Mark was an excellent guilty tripped, as seen on this occasion, and if they weren't in a hospital, it looked as if the blonde wanted to slap the smug smile off of Mark Sloan's face. "Your call."

Arizona sighed at his reasoning, glancing over at Aliya.

"You know, we were kind of in the middle of saving a premature kids' life and you paged us 9-1-1 to play some sort of game?" Aliya said matter-of-factly, eyes narrowing at the two men. "What are you gonna do, rock, paper, scissors?"

Mark slowly nodded his head, turning to the Avery man. "I like that suggestion." He told him.

Jackson too nodded, considering Aliya's accidental suggestion. "Yeah, that's pretty good."

"What?" Aliya lowered her brows, sharing a look with Arizona as if to say 'ugh, men'. "You can't be serious!"

"Rock, paper, scissors. Who ever loses has Sofia?" Mark pitched the idea to Arizona, who appeared to have given up with reasoning with this man altogether.

"Okay, fine." She said calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Best two of three?" Mark challenged, eyes trained on his opponent.

Arizona nodded, readying herself. "Best two out of three."

The Sloan man looked over his shoulder once more at his accomplice, Jackson, getting ready to cheer him on from the side lines.

"You ready?" The Avery man questioned, and Mark rolled his shoulder's in response, clicking his neck as he took this whole thing way too seriously.

"Okay, Robbins, you got this." Aliya clapped her hands, because now she was starting to get competitive, and she wouldn't stop until Mark and Jackson were crushed. "Eye on the prize. Camping."

Arizona winced at the thought of the camping trip she was going on after work. "You're really selling this for me, Aliya."

"Rock, paper, scissors." Mark called out as the pair began their battle.

And, Jackson and Aliya craned their necks as they both drew a rock.

Mark took a breath, releasing it with a: "Rock, paper, scissors."

"Ha! My rock crushes your scissors!" Arizona grinned, nudging Aliya in the shoulder as the two celebrated their victory by jumping up and down right in that hospital corridor.

"Yes!" Aliya clapped her hands excitedly. "You're totally gonna crush his ass!"

"Hey, Levine." Jackson waved his hand at the two women, stopping their manic hopping. "Smack talk will not be tolerated."

"Sore loser." Aliya retorted, looking the tiniest bit smug.

"We haven't lost yet." Mark scowled, readying himself for round three. "Rock— Hold on, hold on! Time out."

"Time out?" Arizona raised a brow as Mark turned his back on her, taking a few steps towards his teammate. "I'm sorry, time out?"

"Jackson, team huddle." Mark placed a hand on his shoulder, which was now occupied with a towel to dab Mark's sweat Aliya hadn't even seen him get.

"What sad, sad men." Aliya observed, blinking as the pair turned their backs on the two women. "I mean, it really makes you question the male species."

"Oh, my gosh." Arizona breathed a sigh, placing her hands on her hips. "Are you guys kidding me? I mean, some of us have surgeries."

Jackson screwed up his face, reaching a hand out as a signal to stop them from talking. "Can you just give us a second?"

Both Aliya and Arizona couldn't believe their audacity.

But, what was even funnier was that they could hear exactly what they were saying.

"What do you think?" Mark asked, lowering his voice but even then, it was still loud.

"I think she's going paper." Jackson replied back, voice just as loud.

Mark shook his head, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "She's going with rocks. I think she's a rock thrower."

"Yeah, that's what she wants you to think. All right? That's why she did it two times in a row. This time, trust me. Go scissors." Jackson seemed to be very well versed in rock, paper, scissor strategy.

But, Aliya was good at something too.

And, that was eavesdropping.

"Go rocks." Aliya whispered to the blonde, an actual whisper that she knew the opposing team wouldn't hear.

"You sure?" Arizona asked, looking over at the still conversing men.

"Trust me, their brains are like hollowed out tree trunks," The brunette peered over, because now they were playing rock, paper, scissors themselves. "Their strategies aren't as good as they think they are."

"Okay, you guys." Arizona took Aliya's advice, taking a step forward. "It's not a chess game. Can we just do this?"

"Get out there." Jackson smacked Mark's shoulder, ushering him on the so-called playing ground.

"Wow." Arizona shook her head at the theatrics as they made an act to prepare themselves.

"All right." Mark clicked his neck side to side, stretching his shoulders as he hunched over slightly, fist at the ready. "Here we go. Rock, paper, scissors— No!" He cried out as Arizona put down a rock, and he drew a scissors.

"Yes!" Arizona clapped, first pumping as the two women celebrated, high fiving each other in victory. "I'm getting lucky tonight, happy babysitting."

"See you later, honey." Aliya went up to kiss Jackson's cheek, skipping off afterwards.

He smirked, though quickly frowned, remembering he was meant to be scowling. "All right."

"Avery, I said rocks! My gut told me rocks!" Mark lectured the man as the two woman practically skipped away from the battle field, leaving two broken men in their wake.

⠀
—✩—
⠀

"And, thirty! That's thirty right?" Aliya peered into the metal tray, Bailey looking over her shoulder too, making a head count.

Bailey sighed in relief, and Aliya practically cheered in victory, seeing as it was now ten o'clock in the evening and she was very, very later for her Valentine's date. "Thirty diamond engagement rings!"

The whole operating room descended into a round of applause, seeing as that meant eve try one could finally go home, rather than staring at this man's whole digestive system in a wild goose chase.

"Right. Let's close up!" Bailey said, cheerily, placing down her scalpel. "What are you and Dr. Pretty eyes doing tonight then, huh? Any Valentine's day plans?"

"Plans, yes. Any idea? No." Aliya replied back, still trying to guess what this surprise could possibly be.

Bailey chuckled as the closed thirty engagement ring guy up, seemingly in a loved up mood now she was with the hot anaesthesiologist. "I love surprises, there's something—"

"You hate surprises." Aliya interrupted, smirking from beneath her mask. "We surprised you with a birthday cake and you yelled at us. What has Warren done to you?"

"Well— I—"

The Levine woman chuckled. "He must be really good in—"

"SHH!" Bailey quickly stopped her before she could say something about her sex life ahead would rather not want the whole OR to hear. "Let's stitch this man up, Levine!"

⠀
—✩—
⠀

ALIYA LEVINE (10:26pm)

hey! i'm out of surgery now.

idiot swallowed thirty engagement
rings and bailey and i had to fish
them all out of his body.

it was great!

⠀
JACKSON AVERY (10:26pm)

Thirty engagement rings! Jeez.

I'm just leaving Mark's apartment,
I'll be there in ten.
⠀

ALIYA LEVINE (10:26pm)

did you just say mark's apartment?

⠀
JACKSON AVERY (10:26pm)

Yes, we had steak and shared
a merlot.

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (10:27pm)

you had steak and merlot with mark?

on valentine's day?

are you cheating on me avery?

⠀
JACKSON AVERY (10:27pm)

Oh, we also had green beans.

⠀
ALIYA LEVINE (10:27pm)

oh if only you said that before,
that makes it so much better!

⠀
—✩—
⠀

"Are you taking me to an abandoned wood to murder me?" Aliya questioned, blinking from beneath the shirt Jackson had used to fashion a blindfold over her eyes. "Because, if you are, think twice. You've never hidden a body before and I'm not gonna make it easy for you—"

Jackson raised a brow at the woman who couldn't actually see his expression.

"And, don't raise your brow at me, I'm only stating the facts." She said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms in the passenger seat as Jackson took a sharp left around a bend.

He looked over to double check she was still blindfolded. Which she was, he was just a little superstitious about the whole thing. "How did you—"

"I see all, Jackson." The brunette stated with a wave of the hand, using her index finger to poke his forearm (which took a couple of tries after poking air the first two)

He chuckled, amused. "Even when blindfolded?"

"More so when blindfolded." She corrected, shuffling in the passenger seat, restlessly. "Are we nearly there yet? I've had to wear this blindfold for twenty minutes."

Jackson glanced over at the time displayed on the dashboard, letting him know it had in fact been exactly twenty minutes since they left the hospital. "How did you know? Have you been counting in your head?"

"Maybe," She hummed, turning her head towards the window and squinting, testing to see if she could see from under neath the fabric. "Are we going bowling?"

"Nope." Jackson answered, simply, trying not to give anything away. "I wouldn't need to blindfold you to go bowling."

"Blindfolded bowling?" She corrected her previous guess.

Jackson shook his head, turning the wheel of the car onto a quieter street. "No bowling, blindfolded or not."

"Hmm," She tilted her head in thought. "Axe throwing? Apparently that's meant to be very therapeutic."

"Axe throwing?" The Avery man laughed at her suggestion, suddenly feeling a little nervous now he could see where he wanted to go in the distance. "Maybe some other time."

"Cinema? Picnic? Camping?" Aliya listed off various different possibilities, all met with the same reply as before. "Glamping? C'mon, Jackson! What is it?"

"Well, lucky for you," Jackson smiled as he put his foot on the brake, pulling the car's handbrake up. "We're here."

"Where? Where's here?" Aliya turned her head back and forth, trying to work out where the hell she was as Jackson turned the car engine off.

"You ready?" The Avery man said with a grin, and some sort of power complex seeing as he knew exactly where they were and Aliya had no clue in the world.

"Ready for what exactly?" The brunette exclaimed desperately as Jackson hopped out of his side of the car, rounding the car to open the passenger side. "Right, easy. There's a step down."

"If I break my ankle, you're paying you're my hospital bills." Aliya blindly reached her hand out to take Jackson's outstretched one, cautiously finding her way out of the car with Jackson's hand at her hip, guiding her onto the ground.

As soon as the door had opened, Aliya had smelt something, though at first she couldn't quite put her finger on it. But now she was out of the car away from the air fresheners Jackson had in there, she knew exactly what it was.

She could smell salt in the air, as clear as day.

But, the hospital didn't have a beach in a twenty minute radius, plenty of lakes, but no beaches.

"That would only be the fair thing to do." He quickly turned to shut her car door, placing his hand on her waist, and the other in her hand to guide her to where he needed her to go.

"You know," Aliya smiled at the smell nostalgically, allowing Jackson to guide her up a path that crunched beneath her steps. "I've learnt to accept the blindfold. I'm actually finding to quite enjoyable." Aliya informed him as the pair stopped in a space, the cold wind hitting her cheeks, sending chills down her spine.

And—

Wait.

She paused her breathing, picking up on the sound of wind chimes moving.

"Oh, yeah?" Jackson smirked, hands still keeping her steady. "We can leave it on if you like?"

"No! I need to see!" She stamped her feet excitedly on the path below. "The wait is killing me! I'm going crazy under here!"

Jackson chuckled, soft and low. "Are you ready?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" She enthused, and as Jackson lifted his hands up to take off her blindfold, a gasp escaped her lips.

Because, towering before her was the most beautiful house she had ever seen in her whole entire life.

If you gave Aliya a pencil and a sheet of paper, and asked her to draw her dream house, she would sketch the one before her, with its white brick panels and warm grey roof.

Because, it was perfect in so many ways.

The path they were stood at led up to the steps to the front door, where beautiful wild daisies lined either side. The wind chimes she had heard before were hung on the porch, still moving back and forth from the gusts of wind, the seashells clanking against the metal of the chimes.

The wind even made the porch swing right by one of the bay windows at the front of the house move backwards and forwards.

The house at stood two storeys tall before her, and it even looked homey, nothing like her childhood home.

"Jackson—" She breathed, her eyes stinging from the wind and the tears lining her eyes, her jaw hanging open from the sight before her very eyes. "You— You found us a house."

Jackson, who was feeling pretty proud of himself right about now, grinned from beside her. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" Aliya took a breath, her heart crashing wildly in her chest. "Jackson, I love it! This— it's perfect! Oh my God!" She jumped into his arms, her own arms wrapping around his neck as he spun her around, and she wanted to bottle up their laughter and save it for years to come so she could remember this exact moment in time.

The pair stopped, and Jackson set Aliya on the ground, his hands still around her. "I'm glad you like it, because it's ours."

The corners of Aliya's mouth widened, her eyes sparkling with joy. "You're kidding! Tell me you're kidding! Because if you are, Jackson I—"

"I promise I'm not kidding." He chuckled, and Aliya's jaw dropped a little more which she didn't think it was possible. "I'm being as serious as a heart attack."

"You! What! How— I! Jackson!" Aliya lost the ability to form complete sentences, the shock rendering her completely speechless.

"Come, look over here!" He grabbed her hand and led her around the back of a house, which was when Aliya realised the entire property was surrounded by trees and flower bushes, in various shades of green.

"You're crazy!" Aliya laughed, letting him lead her across the grass. "You know that? You've totally, completely—"

Though the words disappeared into the wind as she saw exactly what was at the back of the house.

She knew she could smell salt.

And it all make sense now as you looked upon the lake at the back of the house, glistening under the blanket of stars above them.

All Aliya managed to get out was the words: "Oh my God."

Because, a boat lay tied to the small dock, and two deck chairs were placed in the middle of the garden, overlooking the lake.

"Jackson— this—" She turned to him, his face lit up just like hers. "This is perfect. I mean, this is insane! How did you find this house!"

He swayed on his heels, his hands in his pockets. "I took a wrong turn."

Right in that moment, Aliya laughed, throwing her head back as she stood in her garden, where she had noted a small gate leading to flower boxes and a greenhouse on the other side. "As far as Valentine's Day presents go, you've sure as hell
have out done yourself!"

She ran back to him, pressing her lips against his, and when the two of them finally drew apart, Jackson reached to touch a strand of brown hair behind her ear, rubbing her cheek with her thumb. "It's freezing out here, don't you think?"

Aliya smirked, stepping backwards in the direction of the steps leading to the back porch. "First one inside drives the boat first!"

"Cheater! You got a head start!" Jackson darted up the grass after her, catching her up and sweeping her into his arms, grinning as she laughed whilst her hopped up the steps to their home.
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀

( notes! )

JALIYA HAVE MOVED OUT !!!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL !!!!!!

and, because i have ZERO chill, here's what their house looks like in my head after scouring pinterest for ideas !!

quick question before i put the pictures in!! when jackson & aliya inevitably get married, what would her name be?? aliya avery, aliya levine, aliya avery-levine or aliya levine-avery?? let me know what you think!!

exterior:

kitchen:

dining room:

living room:

jackson & aliya's bedroom:

random pictures!

finding pictures for their house makes me want to make it on the sims!!!!

( word count! — 7,600 )