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chapter fourteen ━ how insensitive &
shiny happy people
season six, episode twenty one & twenty two

❝ here, we like to drown our issues
in tequila and punish ourselves
with a dreadful hangover. ❞

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Aliya smoothed out the fabric of her dress, a smile twitching across her lips as she turned around to her side profile, nodding in acceptance of the outfit she had picked.

She slipped on a pair of dainty, gold earrings, and sprayed herself with one last ounce of overly expensive perfume that gave the correct illusion of actually being put together (when in reality, she was not).

With one hand reaching for her best jacket (without jam stains or toothpaste marks) and the other reaching for her purse, she gave herself one final stolen glance in the mirror before leaving her room and hopping down the stairs.

"Dude, you look hot." Alex complimented, sincerely through a mouthful of chips from the couch as Aliya came into view, crumbs coating the front of his shirt where Lexie's head rested.

"I know." Aliya smirked through her glossed lips, slipping on her ugliest but most comfiest pair of shoes, with her more socially acceptable heels in her free hand, the jacket now hung over her arm.

Lexie looked up from the television, grinning wide. "He's right. Where are you going?"

"I'm going on a date." Aliya announced proudly to the couple (situationship) whilst concentrating on the struggles of getting her left foot into the ugly shoe.

Alex shot upright in the sofa, fixing his eyes into his friend. "A date? With who? Do they work at the hospital? Are they a serial killer?" He interrogated, and Lexie groaning in annoyance as she fixed her position on the sofa, cramming chips into her mouth whilst shooting glare over towards Alex.

Aliya narrowed her eyes at him, double checking for the third time if she had everything in her purse. "No, and if he was, why would I go on a date with him?"

"I don't know what you like." Alex shrugged, still sat at a sharp right angle, peering at her.

"It's quite common not to like serial killers." Aliya shrugged on her jacket, pulling her hair out of its trap. "Would love to stay and chat more about the possibility of me going on a date with a serial killer, but I have to go. I'm already late."

"Good luck." Lexie called as Aliya opened the door, loudly. The house was old and grudge holding for the time Aliya nearly burned it down and the house hated her for that— the only possible explanation of the door only struggling to open when she was on the other side.

"I don't need it!" Aliya shut it behind her.

Surgeons were universally known to be cocky, overly-confident and self-assured.

That was their stereotype.

And though in certain social situations, these traits were muted in Aliya, she decided to channel them fully today for the third date she had been on this week in her attempt to 'get back in the saddle', for lack of a better explanation.

Actually. Better explanation.

To ignore the feelings she had seemed to develop for Jackson Avery.

She knew she looked hot. She felt it even, allowing her to mentally check 'confidence' and 'self-assured' off of the list.

Cocky was something she hadn't quite mastered. But, she guessed cockiness could have come from the whole 'I look hot and I don't need luck' thing.

That's what she was pondering the whole drive to the restaurant parking lot to distract her. She pulled up into a free space carefully and took her keys out of the car, reaching for her purse to fish out her lip gloss.

After applying another generous layer, she removed her shoes, slipped on her heels and slid out of the car, making sure not to crease her freshly washed dress and as her heels clicked on the tarmac, she refreshed her mind with the extensive conversation starters she had in her mind, anything to dodge the dreaded small talk.

But, even if she had these conversations starters in her head, nothing could stop her from the rambling she tended to do.

The restaurant was a new place that opened in Seattle, just before Aliya's birthday. Her date describe it as having a 'romantic atmosphere' with candles and roses on every table and that there was an 'absolutely breathtaking cheesecake on the menu'.

She noted his extensive list of random vocabulary he inserted into every single one of his sentences, but she opted to move past that to save herself from a future full of cats and regrets.

Anyway, it would be good to get back in the saddle, she couldn't close herself off forever and, maybe casual sex was all she needed right now.

No strings attached.

"I wonder where they get their eggs from." Her date, Kyle, announced, scanning the breakfast menu at seven in the evening.

"A chicken." Aliya muttered, monotonously, her menu placed in front of her seeing as she found out what she wanted to order fifteen minutes ago.

Kyle laughed obnoxiously, running a hand through his dark hair. "You're funny! Summer said you were funny."

He looked up briefly, before staring back at the menu.

Something even more embarrassing than going out on a date with a guy who had to turn the waiter away three times already because he can't decide what to have, was that this guy knew one of her best friends, and that she is statistically more likely to see him again afterwards when the date ends and she blocks his calls.

Aliya's mind briefly thought back to the guy last week she met on the street who accidentally ran into her. And, how she should've asked him to get a hot dog at the new stand in the park.

They could be sat at this table now and he could've said something like 'would you like to share three desserts between us?'. And then, Aliya would just propose right there and then in between dog photos and when the desserts arrive.

"It's all about these big institutions in this day and age and you know." Kyle blabbered. "So many chains. The amount of cases I handle about lawsuits in restaurants is dreadfully abundant. I think I'm going to go for the Lasagne." He concluded, finally coming to a decision as the menu shut.

Aliya blinked, having completely blanked out for a moment, confused about what Kyle had just spoken about. She just simply replied by smiling and nodding, which faltered as Kyle clicked his fingers to attract the waiters attention, sending a surge of instant agitation up Aliya's spine where her brain told her to just run out of there, even if her vintage heels snapped.

The tired looking waiter approached them, slipping open her notepad and dipping her head slightly so her curly black hair fell behind her.

Aliya watched as she brought out her pen to jot the table number down, and fantasied how she much rather be on a date with her. "What can I get for you two today?" She smiled through Kyle's disgusted appearance.

Kyle cleared his throat, pursing his lips at the menu for a further split second. "The Vegetable Lasagne. Are the peppers—"

She spoke quickly to interrupt him. "I would love the tomato and mozzarella pasta with a side of garlic bread, please." She smiled as she handed over the menu to the waiter — Elaine, as her name tag said.

Kyle quickly announced he was going to the restroom as Elaine tucked the menus underneath her arm so she could pour the wine into Aliya's already empty glass.

"I'm going to need at least two whole bottles of that." Aliya gestured to the wine as she watched Kyle circle around the restaurant in an aimless fashion.

It was disappointing really, how his shiny, soft dark hair and the sharp hazel of his eyes were wasted completely due to his already unappealing personality.

"Actually, I change my mind. I need it in an IV. It's better to keep the wine coming in at a constant rate."

"I can see if I can get an IV sorted for you." She replied, bringing the wine to a stop as the glass reached full capacity.

"You are a saint." Aliya took a long sip of the wine, letting it burn its way down her throat.

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"So, when she spoke back to me I just broke down and snapped back. What gives her the right to speak to me like that in my own firm?" Kyle huffed, taking a small mouthful of his lasagne between rants. "It's like she was asking to get fired."

Aliya raised her eyebrows at him. "She asked if she could shadow you for a few hours. It's not like she spilt coffee down you or messed with your filing system."

"It's the audacity that she thinks I have the time for a small, indecent mouse trailing after me. See, she wears these odd, ugly dresses. Does she even care what she looks like? I mean, come on. No wonder she cried in the restroom for hours. No care in what she looks like, it's pathetic." He laughed to himself, taking a sip of his wine in between the laughter.

"What's really pathetic is you acting like a petulant child." Aliya spoke, moving the last bits of pasta around on her plate, causing Kyle's face to contort in ways that belonged in a soap opera.

He stuttered over his next words, only managing to make 'hateful' sound normal. Aliya just shrugged as Kyle continued to splutter. "Women." He spat, chucking his cutlery onto his plate with an ear splitting noise of metal on metal.

Aliya didn't even startle, she just looked at his cutlery. "How old are you, again?"

Kyle snorted, crossing his arms tightly in a childish tantrum. "Thirty."

Aliya clicked her tongue, picking up a piece of garlic bread and chewing it, purposely obnoxiously. "Hm." She murmured, covering her mouth slightly with her hand before placing the garlic bread back on the plate.

"What's so amusing about that?" Kyle grimaced, judging Aliya up and down.

She dipped her head, laughter erupting out of her as her hair pooled around her shoulders. Her back began to shake whilst Kyle just sat there, dumbstruck. "You're thirty?" She laughed harder, shaking her head as she stopped with a loud sigh.

"What's so funny about that?" Kyle asked, his tone sharp and sincere.

Aliya ignored him as she kept laughing, stuffing more of the garlic bread in her mouth.

"Like I said. Women." He shook his head, pushing himself up from the table, grabbing his jacket quickly.

He started to walk away from Aliya's state but then turned back, opening his mouth slightly to protest or insult or do whatever people like him do when they are leaving a woman in a restaurant, but instead his turned back around, storming out the restaurant in a sea of black tie and beige jacket.

"Bye!" Aliya called back, despite the whole interaction, she had a grin on her face, mainly from the fact he finally left.

"I see you got rid of him." Elaine smiled lightly as she walked over, taking the plates from the table. Aliya wiped her lips, removing any tomato or bread crust resting there. "You know, he has his credit card attached to the tab." She informed the grinning brunette.

"Oh, really?" Aliya eyes gleamed as she opened the menu on the table, heading straight for desserts. "Please could I get the cherry pie, the tiramisu and the cheesecake to go and throw in another side of garlic bread." She would get her three desserts one way or another.

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"Reaction, observation, communication." Bailey began to distribute pieces of paper around the room to all the residents, who accepted them cautiously and reluctantly. "Any questions so far?"

Most of the residents in the room's hand shot up in the air.

"We are doing this because Chief Shepherd suggested we brush up on our patient sensitivity skills, that's why." Bailey explained. "And, it just so happens this morning was a very good time. Besides, half of you were raised by wolves."

Aliya eyed the leaflet in her hands. "Why do only doctors need sensitivity training? You know who the real problems are? Lawyers. They need to be trained. And men. Just give all the people in America a sensitivity flyer, that will do it." She turned the leaflet over only to find an airbrushed doctor smiling back at her. "Oh, jeez."

"I'm guessing the date didn't go well." Alex nudged her arm, sipping his coffee as he too looked at the leaflet quickly only to discard it back on the table.

"If well means it ended with free desserts then, sure it went swell." Aliya strained a smile, propping her chin up on her palm as she watched Bailey write 'Reaction' on the whiteboard.

Jackson looked over in curiosity and leaned closer to where she was sat. "You went on a date?" He whispered close to her ear.

Aliya sighed and turned her head to face him. "I'm not counting it as a date. It was more like an advert on how you shouldn't say yes to your friend when they set you up."  She turned back around, Jackson's eyes still remaining on the back of her head.

"Hey! You two. You have anything more important than this to share?" Bailey called out, turning away from the whiteboard with the pen gripped in her palm.

"Not in a million years." Aliya replied which Bailey chose to ignore, continuing her lecture.

"Anyway. Reaction. Keep your face impassive. Whether prompted by a patient's appearance or lab results, facial expressions of surprise, concern, disgust, et cetera can be counterproductive."

Aliya eyed the rest of the residents, who were all staring towards the front in boredom, sipping coffees and teas, only April was twirling her pen in her hand, scribbling notes in her small red notebook.

"Don't make jokes about patients." Bailey lectured. "Not in front of them. Not even in private."

"Well—" Cristina mumbled in contemplation.

"Yang?" Bailey watched her, ready for any comment she was about to say.

"What if the joke is really funny?" The residents chuckled lightly at Cristina.

"It's not. Neither was that one." Bailey spoke, bored, referring back to her own leaflet. "Moving on. Ob-ser-vation." She announced as she wrote it quickly on the board. Her pager buzzed from her pocket which she looked briefly at before sighing, going back to her small scale lecture. "Use reflective listening. Repeat the patient's feelings back to them. Um— I hear that you're concerned about the surgery, let me explain the risks."

"I can see you like vegetables, after surgery you might become one." Alex whispered and Aliya bit down on her lip to prevent herself from laughing which was covered by the other residents chuckling for her.

"Co-mmun-i-cation." Bailey continued, looking briefly up at Alex in a warning. "Don't use jargon. Use language that the patient can understand. Be creative in using metaphors."

Charles groaned. "I'm terrible at metaphors. I can never come up with them."

"Why? Cause you're dumb as a box of hammers?" Cristina smirked.

"That was a simile." Aliya whispered.

"You see, that's a good one." Charles smiled, stretching in his chair. "You're an ass, but that was a good one."

Bailey continued to ignore them. "Be clear and comprehensive, explain all the risks and all probably outcomes. Leaving nothing out. Questions—"

Reed's hand shot high up in the air.

"Adamson?"

"Why are you going so fast?" The red head questioned.

"I— It just so happens that we have an emergent patient arriving who will need a little extra sensitivity. So remember to employ your R-O-C." She underlined the first letter of each of the three words. "And you will—" She paused, taking a deep breath as she continued. "Rock your patient's world." She finished fast, the residents in the room exclaiming in groans and short bursts of laughter.

"That's a little dumb." Aliya commented, leaning back to stretch her shoulders.

"Ok, that's enough of that. Follow me to the pit." Bailey ushered them out of the room. "Hustle!"

"So, you went on a date?" Jackson caught up with Aliya, just as Alex slipped away from them.

"I think we've already covered that fact." Aliya replied, turning the corner as the group walked through the ER as one big hoard, and then out into the ambulance bay.

Jackson shook his head, the corner of his lip curling upwards. "So, you won't be seeing the guy again?"

"Only in my nightmares." Aliya replied quickly, physically cringing as she mentally relived the encounter for the tenth time since it occurred merely fifteen hours ago. And at her reply, Jackson smiled slightly, looking down at Aliya with green eyes and an indescribable feeling.

The ambulance and a truck pulled up and Bailey turned to the group. "All right, people, remember what you've been taught. Use it throughout the day." She instructed. "There will be consequences if you don't." She gave one final glance of warning before turning back to the truck.

"What, did the circus come to town?" Reed questioned, trying to sneak a look into the truck.

Aliya craned her neck to also try and get a better view through the firefighters and paramedics rushing to the large grey truck. A firefighter began to open the back of the truck, the door screeching as it opened to reveal a man lying on a bed in the truck, his head the first thing to be revealed.

"No." Jackson watched the door opening, his mouth hanging open and head leaning back as he tried to get a better look. "Just the elephant."

"Avery, you're off the case. Go." Bailey ordered as soon as the joke left his lips.

"Sucker." Aliya muttered, grinning to herself, rocking back and forth on her heels.

Jackson nudged her shoulder lightly in retaliation, causing her to grin even more like a lunatic.

"Damn it." He groaned, turning back to the way he came.

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After assessing Bobby Corso, the patient who came in on the truck, he wanted to try and walk, however his legs couldn't bear the weight after him not standing for a while therefore, he fell.

Now, the doctors left on the case were gathered outside whilst Callie assessed the further damage to his legs.

The ortho surgeon strode out of the room.

"Bumalleolar ankle fractures." She turned to Derek, dressed in a shirt and suit jacket from meeting with his lawyer about Gary Clarke.

Lexie told her about the case with Mr Clarke's wife where she was announced brain dead and now he was during them for it, hence the meeting with the lawyer

"Too weak to support his weight, he can go to CT now." Callie informed.

"He's not going into that CT." Derek spoke as Callie walked away from the group.

Richard cleared his throat. "Look, I think if we can position him—"

"—It's rated for half his weight." Derek interjected, looking back into Bobby's room where his wife, Melissa, was holding his hand and Lexie was further examining him. "If it breaks, he gets hurt again and it's not available for the fifty other patients who need it today."

"What about the zoo?" Charles suggested, causing Aliya to scoff at his suggestion, Bailey too looking at him slowly. "They gotta have a CT for like, Rhinos, right?"

"Yeah, and dehumanise him further? Great suggestion, nosedive." Aliya rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms tighter across her body.

"Percy, you're off the case. Goodbye." Bailey ordered, angling her head towards the hallway.

"No, that wasn't a joke. That was an actual suggestion." He defended with a dumbfound expression.

"Go." Bailey mouthed.

"It's a pretty good idea actually." Owen responded as Charles walked off, defeated.

"It's a terrible idea." Teddy countered, Aliya nodding her head in agreement.

"We will spare this man the indignity of treating him like a zoo animal." Richard spoke, looking at the other doctors gathered.

"Why don't we just rely on labs and tests and compile all the information together? It's not ideal, but at least it's something." Aliya suggested, knowing that a CT scan will tell them much more, but seeing as they didn't have access to it they would have to turn to piecing together as many tests as possible.

Derek nodded at Aliya's comment, checking the time on his phone quickly before speaking. "All right, I have a lawyer waiting for me. I have to go, but I want to have a meeting with all of you when his studies come back."

"Let's work him up." Richard ordered, the attendings scattering away in multiple directions.

Aliya stayed with Alex and Bailey as Lexie exited the room with Melissa following.

Lexie cleared her throat. "So, just a couple more questions, his diabetes, did he have it before he— he was immobilised?"

"No, that's since he put on the weight." Melissa answered, spinning her wedding band nervously around her finger.

Lexie opened and closed her mouth, trying to get the words out. "And that's been, uh, how-uh—"

Aliya shot a small glance at Lexie and continued on for her, her eyes moving over to Melissa. "How long has he been immobilised?" She asked, politely whilst Lexie's grip on the chart became worryingly tight, smiling through her embarrassment.

"Uh—" Melissa thought about it for a few seconds, glancing at the ceiling before the dates clicked into place. "Five years ago, his company laid off three hundred employees. He tried to find work for two years, but no one was hiring."

Aliya nodded along as she listened to her speak, taking in all what she was saying.

"Then, he stopped trying." Melissa brushed a part of her hair back away from her face. "It was real hard on him and food, well food made him feel better. I think he's been in pain for a while." She looked back through the glass at her husband, solemnly. "He'd tell me it's indigestion but I couldn't ignore it. And after the news, I just had to call."

"T— The news?" Lexie asked, fidgeting with the chart in her arms.

"We're gonna have a baby. I'm pregnant." She beamed widely as she spoke in complete happiness.

Lexie's jaw dropped. "H— How?"

Aliya gritted her teeth and nudged Lexie in the side as she stammered, trying to think of the words that could take back the question.

Aliya quickly stepped in. "What she meant to say was congratulations, that—"

"That is— that's j-joyous news!" Lexie smiled wide, as if hoping that would make Melissa forget what she said previous.

Aliya noticed out of the corner of her eye Dr. Bailey was making a face at Lexie, trying to tell her to leave. Aliya shared another glance with Alex, who she could tell was trying his very hardest not to laugh at her idiocy.

Lexie handed the chart back to Bailey as she tried to make eye contact with Melissa to offer her the smallest sense of an apology, but instead turned away.

Aliya watched her leave, shaking her head quickly before turning back to Melissa. "How about I show you where the cafeteria is? And the cart where they do the best coffee, believe me, I'm a coffee expert."

Melissa nodded her head and smiled. "That would be nice, thank you." Aliya gestured down the hall and talked as Melissa followed her down.

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"Don't go for the mashed potato." Aliya angled her shoulder at the sad looking yellow lump on the warming plate. "I've had it before, good when you have a cold and you can't actually taste it, bad when your taste buds are working perfectly." She instructed, moving her tray along to grab a sandwich.

"Noted. Baguette it is." Melissa reached out to grab the same sandwich Aliya chose, picking up her tray to walk off. "You're probably wondering why I stayed with him."

"I'm not." Aliya replied, inspecting the drinks and deciding to reach for a water bottle.

Melissa gulped, reaching for the fries. "You sure? Everybody else does."

"Everybody else has small minds and are scalpel hungry." Aliya explained, thinking back to Charles comment and Owen's agreement and how they find it so easy and simple to dehumanise someone. "And other people's judgements don't really matter. You stayed with him because, despite his weight, he's still the same person he way before."

Melissa smiled, lightly, nodding her head, she began walking towards a table as Aliya held back for just a second to grab an apple from the fruit bowl, along with a fruit cup.

"Levine!" Dr Webber joined her at the counter, stopping next to her. "What's the latest on Bobby Corso?"

"When I left him to show his wife to the cafeteria he was still being tested on. It just a case of piecing together small bits of information we get from the tests to create a bigger picture. In my opinion, I think the surgery has a lot of risks. Obviously, it needs to be done but there could be anything underneath that tissue infection from diverticulitis or a perforated colon."

Richard pondered what she was saying, picking his own apple from the bowl. "That's a good point. I'll let you have your lunch now."

"Thanks, sir." Aliya turned, noticing Melissa as she stood paused at the table she would usually sit at with Lexie, Cristina, Alex and Meredith sat on it, all four of them looking up at Melissa with guilt-ridden, widened eyes.

"Oh, crap." Aliya muttered to herself, quickly moving over to the table, tray in hand.

"Well, it's probably none of my damn business anyway." Melissa snapped, walking away from the table to the other side of the room.

Aliya stopped at the table, her lunch gripped in her hands as she watched in disappointment at Melissa storming away. "What did you do?" Her eyes drifted to look at the four separately.

"Burger and fry." Alex muttered, pointing at Cristina and pushing his tray away from him as he lost his appetite.

Aliya sighed, sliding into the only free seat across from her. "There's a reason why you were kicked of the case, you know?"

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"Green thing coming! Two o'clock!" Aliya pointed, sipping her wine. Cristina bolted up right in her seat to get a better view.

Bobby Corso's surgery ended well, and he was advised to undergo lifestyle changes. In the end, he had a perforated colon, but he pulled through several lap pads later.

"Oh! Oh!" She ushered the waitress to stop, taking two green cylinders off of the plate and handing one to Aliya.

Aliya received it, and looked at it sceptically, having seen many of these things at her mother's many parties. "Green things usually freak me out."

"Napkin?" The waitress offered to Cristina.

"Thank you." Cristina took it, stuffing the appetiser into her mouth as the dark haired waitress pushed out of the kitchen door where the two were currently camped out. "Ugh. That was surprisingly good." Cristina commented, wiping her hands on the napkin whilst Aliya simply nibbled on hers. "This was a great idea of yours. Probably you're best yet."

"I have more where this came from. Countless of my mother's parties has taught me enough tricks that I could fill an entire book— Oh, Martini!" She cupped her hands out, quickly stealing it from the glass tray, sipping it and taking a bite out of the olive. "Ew. Who decided olives taste good?" She handed it to Cristina, Aliya's face pinched from the saltiness of the olive.

"You have the taste buds of a child." Cristina said as she fished out the remaining olives with a cocktail stick.

Aliya smirked. "Do you think they have dino nuggets?"

Cristina reached over to push her shoulder just as Owen entered the kitchen. "Hello." He greeted, stopping at Cristinas knees.

"Oh! Hi!" Cristina beamed, holding the material of his jacket. "Aliya had the best idea and now we have first dibs on the fancy appetisers Derek bought in."

"Sounds fun." Owen nodded his head, eyeing Aliya nervously.

"I'm going to take that as my cue to go." She hopped off of the chair, stolen Martini in hand, and entered where the party was actually happening. Instantly, Meredith hopped out of nowhere. "Woah, hey."

"Hey—Hi." She noticed where Aliya came from and eyed Owen and Cristina, judgingly. "What are they talking about?"

Aliya looked back in time to catch Cristina leaping out of seat into Owen's outstretched arms. "No clue. Why?"

"Oh. No reason." Meredith kept her eyes concentrated on the couple behind them, biting her lip as she watched.

"You're lying through your teeth." Aliya pointed out with an outstretched smile, sipping her Martini, all-knowingly.

Meredith opened her mouth to speak, quickly shutting it as she changed her words. "Scatter." Meredith hissed, shooing Aliya away with the sway of her hand, presumably into Jackson Avery's direction whom noticed her instantly, coming into her eyeline.

"Enjoying the party?" He questioned, dressed in a deep navy blue shirt with two buttons at the top undone, and a beer bottle held lazily in his hand.

"Somewhat." She smiled, reluctantly. "Meredith's parties are ten times as better though. Less standing around aimlessly, more dancing on tables and drinking tequila."

"Ah." He nodded with intrigue. "At Mercy West, parties went a lot more down the whole beer pong and drinking games route."

"Oh, so like a frat party?" Aliya questioned, forgetting the Meredith, Cristina and Owen drama triangle.

Jackson pulled a face at her. "No, it wasn't like a frat party."

Aliya clicked her tongue, crossing her arms over her waist. "It sounds an awful lot like a frat party."

"It's more like a frat gathering." He spoke, causing Aliya to smirk at his rewording.

(Aliya had totally forgotten she had played beer pong on her own birthday party.)

Despite being a Mercy Wester, Aliya never made him or his friends feel like a total outsider like numerous other Seattle Grace residents who made them feel like guests in their home. Even though she made a few invasion jokes too.

He noticed the little things about her. Like the way she made her patients feel at ease, how she would scrunch her face up when she was concentrating to much on charting or in surgery. And even when she was making fun of him he couldn't help but smile at how she spoke.

"You know, here we like to drown our issues in tequila and incredibly loud music and then punish ourselves with a dreadful hangover the next morning—" Aliya informed, her eyes glancing back to Derek, chatting whilst music played in the background. 

"—However," The brunette continued on. "Seeing as the only music Derek has playing is classical music that was probably playing at some function in the 1920s, we may have to resort to stealing an entire bottle of Champagne, which skips the crucial steps of the art of table dancing and the sweet sweet sensation of Tequila, but it hits the spot of self punishment with a god awful Champagne hangover."

Jackson blinked in awe and wonder at Aliya as she finally took a breath. "Sounds much better than what I'm currently doing." He placed down his beer and craned his neck. "Where can we find champagne? You live here, right?"

"Hey! What are you doing? We need as much alcohol as we can get. Pick it back up, take my Martini." She instructed, swiftly but causally slipping the champagne bottle from the table, hugging it to her chest like a life jacket, before ushering Jackson to follow her into the corner of the room.

"I've never seen a girl steal champagne so elegantly before." He marvelled, following her closely.

"Elegant is my middle name. And besides, I'm experienced in that field." She popped open the top and swigged the champagne, handing it to Jackson who did the same. She watched his expression closely, as he brought the bottle away from his lips, managing to keep the discomfort under wraps.

"The sweet, sweet burning of self torture." He spoke as he understood fully what Aliya had meant before.

"See, he gets it." She clapped quietly, receiving back the bottle as they took it in turns swigging the wine in the corner of the party, talking about anything and everything from previous fancy party experiences, to embarrassing encounters in the local seven eleven.

Several hours later they found themselves with yet another bottle of champagne, sitting on the couch passing it back and forth every few minutes.

"Your dress is very pretty. Very green."

Aliya smirked, finding Jackson compliment amusing with his mumbling voice and how he was currently slouched on the sofa.

"I'm being serious. No messing." He drunkenly waved a hand.

"No messing, huh?" Aliya snorted, looking him up and down, a toothy but somehow entrancing smirk displayed across his lips as he reached to scratch the side of his cheek. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"See, we can compliment each other." He smiled, his head dropping onto the back cushion of the sofa, his head rolling closer to hers as if he had no control in where it went.

Her hand rested on the champagne bottle keeping them apart, her eyes staring blankly at the fireplace where, in her drunken state, she didn't recognise, how close Jackson's head was to hers.

Aliya thought for a brief second, a random and unsolicited memory entering her head, before asking the question she wanted to ask for the past few days. "Why did you care?"

Jackson paused and raised his eyebrows, lazily, keeping in the same position. "Excuse me?" He mumbled.

"About my date the other night. Why did you care?" She brought the champagne bottle up to her lips, slow and steadily taking another sip.

He contemplated his answer, looking down at his lap before averting his gaze back to the woman next to him who hadn't bothered to move away.

"Wouldn't want you going on a date with any old looser." He told her, and Aliya smirked into the top of the champagne bottle, drunkingly giddy as she happily sighed.

"What?" Jackson protested, his voice strained from the amount of alcohol he consumed, Aliya's own throat a little scratchy. "Why are you laughing?"

Aliya continued to laugh hysterically, her head dropping down into her lap, keeping upright with the help from the champagne bottle. "You're just— You're so ridiculous."

Jackson laughed, breathlessly, stopping suddenly to attempt to make sense of Aliya's reply for himself.

However, Jackson quickly gave that attempt up, deciding to erase what she has said as he dropped his neck further down the sofa, bringing his lips closer to hers so they brushed, only slightly. Aliya suddenly but surely became incredibly aware of his breath warming her already blushing cheek, her heart beating a millisecond to fast, causing the beats to echo in her ears, taking her away from the world around her so it was just him and her.

"Aliya! Aliya! I need your help! Now!" Alex's voice called through the party, making the two pause instantaneously, their lips now less than an inch apart. Aliya blinked, pulling back from where she was, physically feeling herself snap out of that moment. She pressed the back of her cold palm to her flustered cheeks, looking for something else to do besides look at his and those green eyes.

Jackson sighed in a sense of disappointment. "Moment's passed?"

"Alex's voice can do that to situations." She too sighed with him, a feeling of foreign disappointment overwhelming her as she prepared to get off the couch.

"Oh, there you are." Alex appeared in the doorway, looking sceptically at the situation with the face he usually always makes at patients, or at Aliya.

She pushed herself up from the couch, her world turning slightly on her axis, but she managed to steady herself, stepping out of her heels which added more hardship to the already difficult manoeuvre.

She gave Jackson a final glance, which she nor him understood fully before looking back to her friend, walking as best as she could over to Alex. He linked his arm around hers, keeping them both somewhat vertical. "So, you called."

"Did I interrupt a moment? Should I kill him?" He turned back to Jackson, now reunited with Charles and April, narrowing his eyes at him as he went straight to being interested in Aliya's near romantic experiences to blunt offers of violence.

"Head forward, buddy, head forward." She patted the back of his neck, placing down the champagne bottle, which had been glued to her hand for too long, on a random surface.

Alex grinned at her, breathing heavily enough for even Aliya to smell the beer on his breath. "So, I did interrupt a moment?" He marvelled.

"Shut up." Aliya pouted as he pulled her through the house. "Why did you need me?"

"Oh, Lexie's stuck in her sucky fat wearing lingerie. Actually, it's more like a granny panty." He chuckled in amusement.

Aliya snorted as she scoffed. "Lexie doesn't have any fat."

"That's what I said." Alex grunted in agreement. "But she still put that thing on and now she's stuck." He continued to drag her up the stairs, nearly making her fall down them.

She was very drunk after all.

"I tried to get her out, but it's like she's grown another layer of freaking skin."

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Aliya did not feel like waking up this morning.

She felt as if a hundred anvils had fallen on her head while she was sleeping, and the refection staring back at her in the bathroom mirror made her think she had been punched in both of her eyes.

Now, with a few layers of her trusty concealer hiding her dark eyes, she leaned on the counter, a phone pressed to her ear, trying to ignore for just a second that she nearly kissed Jackson Avery.

She didn't know if it were true seeing as she was incredibly drunk last night, so she resorted to just thinking it was a stupid subconscious dream, seeing as she asked Alex the next day, and he said he couldn't remember a single detail of last night either.

"She slept with him! I can't believe Reed slept with him!" Charles voice pierced through her head like a power drill, escalating the severity of her headache.

"Hi Sandra, yes, I need discharge papers and prescriptions for Mr Henry Stamm." She spoke, false joyfully into the phone, her voice husky. Sandra murmured a confirmation back through the line. "Perfect, thank you." She hung up the phone, jotting in the chart in front of her as Charles still spoke.

"I just can't believe it."

"Chill." A voice that reminded her too well of last night replied calmly. No sign of a sore throat or a hangover, which royally annoyed her.

"She had sex with him! I'm not going to chill!" Charles moaned, slamming his charts on the counter next to Aliya causing her to leap out of skin, her reaction lagged by just a second.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jackson asked sincerely, capturing her attention. "You look dead."

Aliya scoffed. "That's the greatest compliment ever, you really are a gentleman." She looked at him in disgust, realising now that he was closer how he looked completely fine, better even. But at least he reminded her she had forgotten to put in her contacts. "And you look fine, you bastard."

"That's uncalled for, and bitter." Jackson defended as she huffed in response, looking through the chart in front of her.

Meredith and Cristina were still acting weird with each other, which Aliya thought had to do massively with Owen Hunt. Though, she wasn't a full time member of the Twisted Sisters, she was still determined to find out the issue someday.

However, today she was distracted as in the corner of her eye she spotted a familiar face, Summer, sat in the corner, reading a copy of the latest Vogue with her in a braid, reminding Aliya quickly of the argument she had to start with her about a certain misogynist. Therefore, ditching Charles and Jackson, she darted up from her seat.

"Hey! Summer!" Aliya called, smiling falsely at her friend as she approached her. "I would like to know where you found that pathetic excuse for a human being."

Summer's top lip curled upwards into a smirk as she looked up, placing the vogue in her purse. "It's nice to see you Aliya, you look very radiant."

"You're dodging my statement." The brunette huffed.

"Not dodging. I'm ignoring your comment Aliya, because even though you are a very nice person, your very pleasant self can also be very bitter. A hundred shades of bitter. Bitter doesn't look good on you." She stroked the shoulder of Aliya's scrubs, lovingly.

"You sound like my mother." Aliya groaned, Summer pushing a segment of Aliya's dark wavy hair out from behind her ear and smoothing it out. "You are now acting like mother."

Summer's mouth dropped. "How dare you!" She reached out to pinch Aliya, tugging her small bag up over her shoulder. "I heard Kyle was a gentleman."

"Who did you hear that from, huh?" Aliya spoke in frustration, her voice straining slightly as she continued. "He's not a gentleman! He's not gentle. He's an ass that's what he is. He's an assman."

Summer scoffed, her chest rising and falling quickly with laughter. "An assman?"

"Yes." Aliya confirmed with a short nod of her head.

"Okay. I'm sorry about your date with The Assman. I promise I won't invite him to any future gathering of any kind." She fished her keys out of her bag, holding them tight in her hands.

"You're leaving?" Aliya raised a brow. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh—" Summer hesitated slightly, zipping her bag close. "I had to pick up Eliza's prescription."

Aliya pondered her statement, scanning her friend closer to notice her sleep deprived, dark eyes. "Hey? Are you okay?"

"I'm right as rain. I'll see you later." She squeezed Aliya's shoulders tightly, walking away from Aliya and leaving her in slight confusion. 

"Was that Summer?" Alex appeared behind her and Aliya nodded her head slowly, her eyes fixated on the door Summer just disappeared from where the small bag she was carrying barely could fit her phone and purse let alone her daughter's prescription. "Why was she here?"

Alex questioned, looking over at Aliya briefly whose eyes were still on the door.

"Aliya? Dude!" He clicked his fingers in front of her face.

"I think she's lying to me." She stated, eyes still staring straight ahead. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, nervously. "And, I've never really dated properly before until now. I'm not much of a dater."

"Oh." Alex nudged her forward so they could walk instead of standing aimlessly, surrounded by prying eyes.

"Oh." Aliya replied in the same tone as Alex, following him down the hall aimlessly. "I've had three boyfriends in my whole entire life. I've never dated, never. I haven't gone on one of those speed dating shows, or use one of those apps, or websites. I've never liked it. I'm used to just going straight to commitment. Then, running away from it. It was a good routine."

She took something Alex handed to her without even registering what it was.

"But," Aliya waved her hand around. "That's not the point because, now I'm dating! Dating? Dating!"

"Dating." Alex solidified, nodding his head as he guided Aliya around the corner, swerving her away from all the metal shelving.

"I don't like dating. It makes me nervous and squirmy. I'm not cool and calm." She pressed her free hand to her forehead, cooling her hangover migraine too.

"What are you talking about? You are very cool and calm." Alex assured.

"You know, my patient today, Henry. In the ER this morning, he was reunited with I guess you could say the love of his life." Aliya told her friend, dragging her feet behind her. "After all these years they reunited and they still had feelings for each other, despite marrying someone else during that time apart and having kids. And, now they're moving in together. We just fitted a pacemaker into him, and now he's moving in with a woman he hasn't seen in years. Now, that's a love story."

She nodded in thought, whilst noticing the object Alex handed to her was a coffee cup. She smiled down at it, then up at Alex before taking a long sip.

"See, this is true love." She raised the coffee into the air. "Coffee is my one true love. Maybe I should marry it? Like that lady in Massachusetts who married a tree."

"I would officiate it for you." Alex offered as Aliya resumed her staring into space routine she had nailed. "I could get ordained."

Aliya bit down on her cheek, turning swiftly to her friend. "Alex?" He led her to a gurney where they both hoped onto it. Alex slouched back, but Aliya stayed straightened, her hands balled in her lap.

"Yes?"

She gulped, dipping her head. "I don't want to be old and grey full of regrets, whining about my life. When I was four, our cat, Sprinkles who my mom called Genevieve, attacked me. I'm going to die because my many cats killed me."

"You're not going to die alone. And, if you do die surrounded by cats, I'll find corpse, if I'm not dead by then." Alex comforted, in a not very helpful way. "And, besides, you're way too smart for your own good. Intern year. You figured out what was killing that young girl."

"The microscopic worms." Aliya whispered.

"The microscopic worms!" Alex clapped his hand in excitement.

"Maybe my love life is a microscopic worm." Her eyes widened as she pondered her epiphany.

Alex pulled a confused look by moving on quickly away from the tiny worm discussion. "That was only in your first month of your internship. And, don't forget your first year of residency on the amputation case that lasted a month. You helped save all of that dude's arms and legs. You sat with the left leg for hours!"

Aliya pressed her lips into a line, nodding slowly. "We were on a first name basis."

"And that lab tech—"

Aliya's jaw dropped, bringing up her hand to slap Alex's arm. "Come on, Alex! Isaac!"

"Yeah, yeah. That guy. You beat all the other residents!" He pointed out in a perky manner, which juxtaposed entirely with his usual demeanour.

Aliya shrugged, causally. "I have a steady hand."

"The steadiest." He clarified, smiling idiotically even more at her as if trying to bribe her in some way.

She turned towards him, sipping her coffee, suspiciously. "Are you cheerleading me?" She spoke through a mouthful of hot coffee.

"Maybe. And besides, love sucks." He muttered blandly, resorting back to his usual self Aliya had become very fond of.

"It doesn't suck." She said quietly, dropping back so her shoulder met with Alex's. "I think I've only ever truly been fully in love once in my life and it was— what would Shakespeare say? Magical. Or, tragic. Both works."

She paused even more, rubbing her thumb against her palm.

"I felt safe and despite the parent problems, I thought— no believed that if anything happened, I would be fine. I loved that feeling. I met Elijah and he showed me what it was like to be loved by someone unconditionally, even though I kept on ending it with him because I was scared, he kept convincing me, until he decided to quit just like I did." Aliya chewed her upper lip before continuing on with her rant.

"I think it was because I was going to be a surgeon. He was always so supportive, he was becoming a surgeon too, but he wanted the whole family man thing. Five kids, suburban home, a dog, seven seater car. I wasn't that kind of girl. God, I wasn't that kind of girl and I don't think I could ever be that kind of girl." A laugh escaped her lips. "Same with Kai as-well."

She gulped back the lump residing in her throat, taking a deep breath before continuing on her explanation.

"He wanted it comfortable, but I always thought it was just— fake. So, I just left and ran to New York and then with Elijah I felt the need to run to Seattle, and with Mark I was too tired to run. I'm not sure if Mark loved me but, that's not the point." Aliya looked down at her palms, avoiding Alex who was careful listening to what she had to say. "The only people who I thought would love me in my life before them loved me on conditions. I guess it was nice feeling then to be loved like that unconditionally, and that's what I would like, I guess. That's what I'd like again. To feel that way. But, I just hate dating." She finished in frustration, bringing the coffee back to her lips, solemnly.

Alex stayed silent throughout it all, listening to her speak. He guessed they were one in the same. They both had to experience lousy parents who put themselves above their own child.

"Don't forget Mrs Handerson. You saved her life when nobody else could." He took Aliya's hand in his, squeezing it tightly. "I love you, Aliya."

She smirked, resting the coffee cup on her thigh, letting the warmth of the cup heat her body. "You do?"

"If you were in a house burning down, I would consider saving you first over running for my life. You're my person or whatever. As Mer and Cristina would say." Alex told her, squeezing her hand again. Aliya smiled wider, dropping her head onto his shoulder, content. "Does this mean we have a pact to get married if we aren't by f—"

"I'm not marrying you, Alex."

"Fair enough." He replied as he patted her head with his free hand.

She turned to him with a wide smile. "But, I'd buy a dozen cats with you when we're old and grey."
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( notes! )

JALIYA NEARLY KISSED GUYS THIS IS NOT A DRILL THEY NEARLY KISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!! even the gif of them above makes me giddy they're literally everything to me!! fun fact though in the first ever draft of scrub caps, jackson & aliya's first kiss was meant to be on valentine's day but i love a slowish burn so i pushed it WAYYY back!!

there's so much going on in this chapter and i lowkey love it (it's genuinely one of my faves, alex & aliya will always be my roman empire)

alex is aliya's personal c*ckblocker i'm so sorry xx

( word count! — 8,400 )