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chapter forty one ━ the trent & april chapter
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⋆ ౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

location: seattle, washington
timeline: march 2010 ━ june 2011
( third year ━ fourth year of residency )
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trent levine & april kepner's playlist!

❝ WHEN YOU KNOW...
...YOU KNOW. ❞
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i. daylight, taylor swift
ii. about you, the 1975
iii. stay stay stay, taylor swift
iv. margaret, lana del rey ft. bleachers
v. lover, taylor swift
vi. our song, taylor swift
vii. in between, gracie abrams
viii. say yes to heaven, lana del rey
ix. mine, taylor swift
x. little freak, harry styles

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❝ i don't want to look at anything
else now that i saw you.
i don't want to think of anything else
now that i thought of you. ❞

daylight, taylor swift

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SEATTLE GRACE HOSPITAL
seattle, washington
( 3rd march 2010 )
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Everybody knew that April Kepner was a virgin.

It was news she didn't particularly want everyone to know, but they did.

It was just another thing to add to the hospital gossip column, something she had learned to live with. Because, surely she would meet that person who would finally get her? Who would finally be willing to wait until marriage, and take the time to fully get to know her, not just complain about her voice, or tell her she was too much.

She really was starting to lose hope here. Her best option as of lately was the creepy guy serving slushies at the multiplex.

Or, better yet, become a crazy cat lady.

Everyone knew she had it in her.

But, a part of her always longed for what she had dreamt for, ever since she was a little girl. And, that part of her made no sign of ever disappearing. It was just a part of who she was.

You see, April always wanted the big wedding thing, the whole package. With her closest friends and family there, puns on the mint boxes (mint to be), butterflies, a pretty white dress, flowers everywhere.

She wanted the kids, a nicely sized family home with a big yard, a couple dogs, a herb garden, sidewalk chalk, brightly painted mailbox—

She wanted it all, and she wouldn't settle for anything less.

"Did you really think he was going to hit you with that syringe?" Aliya's voice seemed to snap the red head out of her trance, shaking her awake out of her fantasy land where she would magically bump into Matthew McConaughey and he'd confess his undying love. "Because, the worse he could have done was a bruise."

The brunette woman, who April found quite endearing, smirked lightly and nudged Alex Karev's, who she found was a complete menace, shoulder lightheartedly as they approached the front desk.

Jackson swivelled around in his chair as he noticed them both approaching, a carrot stick waving in his hand. "Want a carrot stick—"

"No!" With the back of his hand, Alex whacked the carrots away from Jackson, causing them to unceremoniously fall out from their little plastic bag, and onto his lap, which for definite snapped April out of her trance.

"Woah!" April dropped her pen, watching as Jackson groaned, picking the contaminated carrots off of the floor.

"Dude! What was that for?" The Avery man questioned, displeased by his now lack of carrots not covered in floor dust.

"I'm allergic to carrots—" Aliya explained, keeping her eyes trained on Alex, waiting for any sudden, unexpected movements alarmingly close to take anyone's eye out.

April shook her head with a chuckle as she caught Jackson, stuffing the bag of carrots into one of the draws quickly, out of the brunette's reach.

Due to the high amounts of media consumed to do with the whole romance thing, April couldn't help but notice her friend's supposed affections for the pretty brunette doctor.

It didn't help he was so darn obvious.

"—But, unless you want me to go bright red and blotchy feel free to keep them out." Aliya joked, bracing her hands on the desk.

"That would be quite amusing— Ow!" Jackson reacted as he deflected Aliya's pen that just collided with his shoulder, ricocheting to the other side of the desk. "That wasn't very nice of you." He pursed his lips at the unimpressed girl, and April couldn't help but snort with laughter from the desk.

"I believe this is yours."

A voice appeared from behind the group, and it caught April's attention, and as she glanced over towards the man stood across from them, her first thought was—

Oh shit.

Yes, you heard her correctly.

See, the man with the dark blonde hair, and blue eyes that a person could get lost in was the very same man April babbled to for a solid four hours at Joe's a month ago.

Even in the dim light of Joe's and the many many beers in her system before unloading onto the poor man, she could still recognise him.

He was tall, taller than her, and dressed in a dark blue shirt and a pair of washed jeans, a jacket slouched over his arm as he stood, watching the brunette doctor.

Oh crap! She didn't know Aliya had a boyfriend!

OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP! 

And, she didn't know that boyfriend was the man she had made out with at Joe's bar. And, the man she didn't even call back when he gave her his number.

Because, even though she did most of the talking at him, he sat and listened, and talked just as much as her. And, maybe a part of her was scared of that. Scared of how much he made her spill her guts in one short period of time.

"Trent! Shit! I'm so sorry, I was in surgery—"

"I gathered you got caught up with something or other. I knew you wouldn't abandon me." The blonde man mocked a sob and April watched as Aliya frowned, though her face shortly broke into a smirk, and she ran up to him, practically throwing her arms around his neck.

Trent chuckled, hugging her tightly back and patting her shoulder, horrifying April to the extreme. "To abandon your own—"

Oh—

Something clicked in April's brain at something the man said, how he mentioned he had a sister working in Seattle.

"Yeah, yeah!" Aliya smacked his arm, backing away from the hug as Jackson cleared his throat abruptly, catching their attention before April could. "Oh, Trent, this is Jackson Avery. Jackson, my brother, Trent Levine."

—Well, thank the lord for that.

Trent's smirk only seemed to widen as Jackson's face contorted in realisation, seeing as he very very jealous two second ago. The Levine man reached out to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Jackson shook his hand, politely, as Trent peered over unsubtly towards Aliya, noticing as her eyes stayed on Jackson as their hands broke away. "I bet it was very hard to have lived with Ali—"

Aliya quickly nudged Jackson's shoulder, smiling through gritted teeth as she made an attempt to stop him.

"And, that is April Kepner." Aliya pointed at the girl staring, practically drooling, at Trent with bright hazel eyes.

She didn't even realise Aliya said her name.

Her focus was on Trent, her entire brain screaming at her.

And, it appeared as Trent knew exactly who she was too, despite the desperate attempt to play it cool.

"April!" Aliya hissed in an attempt to break April out of her haze.

"Yes! Hi. A—April Kepner! Nice to meet you." Clearing her throat, April quickly straightened up, realising that she too could play that game. She could play it call too, just as much as he could.

Though, as she walked forward to shake his hand, the whole play it cool thing was ruined as she tripped over slightly on the discarded chair in the process.

She regained her posture, her cheeks flushing a bright red. "Very nice to— uh— meet you!"

Trent's mouth curved into a sickening smile.

Truly, sickening. The effect it had on April's stomach was as if she had swallowed a dozen butterflies, and now they were declaring war inside of her.

"The pleasure is all mine." Trent stared at her with blue eyes, in a way that only caused a fluorescent pink blush to scatter across April's face and neck.

Aliya's eyes flickered over to Jackson's as she gave him an all-knowing look, her eyes moving back to the pair, stood with their hands still shaking awkwardly between them.

They had been shaking hands for the past ten seconds.

It was getting a bit awkward now.

For everyone except them, so it seemed.

Aliya cleared her throat, desperately wanting to end whatever was going on. "And, you've met Alex."

Trent didn't even bother to reply, he didn't even take his eyes off of April.

"Thinkin' of getting a neck tattoo." Aliya spoke, swaying on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, that would be great." Trent trailed off.

"Well." Aliya aggressively cleared her throat yet again. "I will see you guys later."

With both hands on her brother's arm, she dragged Trent towards the exit, his hand tearing away from April's finally and forcefully.

"See you." Jackson called after her as April stuttered a goodbye through her flushed disposition.

"Dude—" Alex laughed at April's embarrassment, her hands now covering her face.

"What was that about?" Jackson questioned, also laughing at April's demise.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The Kepner woman replied, all flustered.

Jackson smirked, clicking his pen. "You were shaking hands for way too long, you were both practically drooling over each other, you looked like you wanted to rip each others close off—"

"It was nothing!" April protested, pushing her head back out of her eyes.

"Yeah, it looked like a whole lot of nothing," Jackson pointed out, leaning back leisurely on his chair. "Good luck with that, whatever that was."

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After spending the whole day looking back on that particular encounter with complete and totally embarrassment, April was ready to crash into her bed, and ignore her best friend Reed, who had already heard about it all from one of the nurses.

That was until the man the encounter involved was stood before her with the biggest bouquet of flowers she had ever seen, just as she pushed through the doors and out of the hospital, so close to the comfort of her car.

"Hey, thought I'd find you here." Trent smiled wide, his hands shoved into his pockets to save himself from the cold Seattle air, where it was still transitioning from Winter to Spring in an incredibly slow fashion.

"Oh—" April looked at him in surprise, her heart having a biochemical reaction to his presence. "Yeah, well, I do— um— work here so—" She trailed off into a string of nervous laughter, her eyes going everywhere but him.

Who knew a random bush could be so intriguing?

He laughed, edging closer towards her (she could barely see him over the flowers). "Are you finished for the day?"

"Yes, yep, all done with doctoring— um, being a doctor, yes—"

If April were a laptop, she would either be glitching, or at a tech store waiting to be fixed.

"Good," He smirked, finding her nervous disposition quite adorable. "Because, I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me."

"Isn't it Aliya's super top secret surprise birthday party?" April questioned, playing with her purple bag strap on her shoulder.

"It is," Trent shrugged, the cold making his cheeks go red. "But knowing my sister, she would probably be too drunk to even notice."

At that, April laughed, tucking her hair nervously behind her ear.

"You remember what you said to me a month ago?" He asked, readjusting the bouquet in his arms.

April shook her head, though she remembered every single word shared between them. "I said a lot of things."

"The thing you said about men always looking for sex, and how you would rather have a bouquet of flowers?"

Her heart betrayed her, and it felt as if it was going to burst out of her chest. "Yes, I think that may have been beer-induced." She admitted.

"Well," Trent handed her the bouquet, which she took, her expression shocked as she noticed that the flowers were—

"Sunflowers, peonies, roses and daisies." April whispered, her words catching in her throat at the gesture. "You remembered my favourite flowers."

Trent was growing nervous now, seeing as the Kepner woman had neither accepted nor turned down his offer for dinner. "The florist told me they look awful in a bouquet together, but they're your favourite, so I think they look rather nice."

"They're beautiful, really. Thank you." She beamed, rubbing her fingertips across the smooth petals. "So,"

She trailed off, because, didn't she deserve happiness?

And, should she really be scared of it?

"Dinner? Where did you have in mind?"

April really wished she had a digital camera, because she wanted to remember every split second of how his lips curved into a smile that could've made her combust if she wasn't careful.

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MEREDITH'S HOUSE
seattle, washington
( 11th july 2010 )
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If April were to say she had been messaging, calling and skyping with her coworkers brother every day for the past four months, people would probably say she was a liar.

But, she could bring receipts in the form of her call log, text messages, letters with her address written in his neat handwriting.

Seeing as he lived all the way in California, she didn't really get to see him that often.

Though, even one thousand miles away (she had the distance memorised), April Kepner was head over heels for Trent Levine.

She just physically couldn't right now.

Not after Reed's death.

Not after what happened.

Which was why in her call log, you could also find unanswered calls. And, in her text messages, you could also find unanswered messages.

The Kepner girl sat on her bed in her new room at Meredith's house, staring at her undecorated walls where she still needed to unpack from moving out of the apartment she had shared with the person who was her best friend.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

"Come in." April called, wiping away the tears that had been falling from her eyes.

Aliya popped her head through the door. "Hey, so my brother wants to see you?"

Before she could even question it, Trent appeared in the doorway, offering her a smile.

"I heard about what happened, and I wanted to see if—"

Though he was unable to finish off the rest of what he was going to say as April hurtled into him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she sobbed uncontrollably into the warmth of his shoulder.

His arms snaked around her, holding her closer to his chest.

It was safe to say, Aliya was just as in shock about what she was witnessing as she was about the shooting.

Because, there was definitely something going on between her brother and her new roommate.

And, well, Aliya was a sceptic.

"What am I looking at?" Jackson grumbled, coming to stand next to her in a pair of tartan pyjama pants.

"You tell me." Aliya spoke back, her eyes narrowed at the pair.

The Avery man yawned into his palm, side eyeing the brunette. "Do you want a hug?" He teased, weirdly joyous despite the fact his best friend was also very much dead.

Aliya scoffed, needing her bed as much as she needed air to breathe. "In your dreams, Avery."

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TRENT'S RENTAL CAR
seattle, washington
( 18th november 2010 )
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Ever since July, Trent had made coming to Seattle a regular thing.

And by regular thing, he came to Seattle twice a month to go on a date with April Kepner. And sometimes, it was two dates in one visit.

Which made it ten dates.

It wasn't as if April was counting or anything.

From mini golf, to movies, to dinner, the couple were rapidly falling in love with each other.

Which, if you would have told April at the beginning of the year she would be falling in love with this man, she would have thought you were crazy.

"We've kept us a secret since March, I can wait a little longer." April smiled happily, sipping her chocolate milkshake.

In the grand scheme of things, she didn't mind waiting a little longer to tell everyone she had a boyfriend. Finally.

"It's not because I don't want to." Trent assured, dipping his fry in ketchup. "Aliya's just going through so much with Andy's death, and Summer's cancer—"

April nodded her head, reaching for her cheeseburger. "I get it."

"—And my mom," Trent pulled a face, knowing exactly how Molly would react. "She'll just launch a whole FBI investigation, and you have to meet James—"

"Trent," April laughed, reaching for his hand to get him to take a breath. "It's fine, I totally understand. And, besides, it'll be fun to sneak around. Hidden romances make good television."

Trent reached up, affectionately tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear, tracing his thumb across her cheek. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I should be asking you that question." She replied back, a soft smile across her lips.

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RESTAURANT
seattle, washington
( 15th december 2010 )
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"So," James, otherwise known as Trent's nine-year old son, sat across from her at the table of an italian restaurant downtown. "You're the girl who's been making my dad spend hundreds of dollars on flowers?"

A laugh escaped April's lips as she choked on the water she was sipping.

She had only just gotten to the table, and she was so prepared to ask him about his favourite books and tv shows, instead, it had turned into an interrogation.

Which seemed like what the Levine family did best.

"James," Trent shook his head, poking his kids shoulder. "A hello would be nice."

"Right, hello." James corrected, before leaning against the table, watching April as if he were judging her every move.

"I am, your dad has great taste in flowers." April joked, smiling warmly at the boy.

James, however, raised a brow, and nobody could not find it funny. "You know Aunt Aliya?"

"Yes, I live with her and I work with her." April nodded, glancing over at Trent who gave her a nod of encouragement.

"And, she likes you?"

"I would— uh— say she does." April said, nervously.

After a very long pause of silence which consisted of James' judging stares and Trent wondering what he had done to raise such a sceptic, the boy finally spoke. "If she likes you, I like you."

April nodded, because it was expected seeing as Trent informed her that he was going through a phase where whatever Aliya said was practically gospel.

"Good," April grinned, consulting the menu. "You like Italian food? Pizza was a delicacy in my house when I was younger, followed by a sundae of course."

"I love pizza!" James picked up his own menu, throwing it open.

"What's your favourite?" April asked the boy.

And, as James was giving a long and lengthy answer to that particular question, Trent glanced over at April, who was listening to his every word with enthusiasm, and that's when he knew.

That even after losing his wife and the mother of his child, he knew that he was going to marry April someday.

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MEREDITH'S HOUSE
seattle, washington
( 17th december 2010 )
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For once in April's life, she was the only one in the household with a night off.

So, with a free house and a stack of old DVD's, April made it her life's mission to show her boyfriend all of her favourite films.

That was until the door slammed, and a shadow of a person appeared in the dimly lit hallway.

"OH!" The voice yelled as she witnessed the sight of two bodies practically clawing at each other on the couch in the light of the television.

"Holy crap!" Trent spoke frantically as Aliya switched the light on.

"Trent, what the hell are you doing here?" Aliya interrogated, her hands flying up to her face so she couldn't bear witness to what was going on in front of her. "I thought you were in California?"

"I could tell something was wrong— the, uh—" He cleared his throat, pushing himself up from the couch to shield April beneath him, who was reaching across to retrieve her shirt. "—when we spoke on the phone the other night so, I thought I'd come back and check on you."

Aliya scoffed, her palms pressing into her eyes as she caught a glimpse of red hair through her fingers. "Well, you're not going to find the answers in April's freaking bra!"

"Oh, Aliya—" April piped up from where she was sat, now fully clothed. "I'm so sorr—"

"Don't— please. Don't." Aliya covered her eyes with one palm, backing out of the living room and hitting her heel against the wall rather brutally in the process.

April winced as Aliya began to hop backwards, clutching her foot.

"As you were." The brunette said with a wave of her hand, before running up the stairs as fast as she had ever moved in her life.

"So," Trent cleared his throat, fingertips brushing against the skin of April's back. "What's so great about Matthew McConaughey?"

With a very exaggerated gasp, April looked at him in shock. "Did you really just ask me that question?"

"Kidding." Trent joked, stuffing popcorn into his mouth.

"I can't believe that just happened." April marvelled, shielding her eyes as if that could remove the embarrassment of the past minute. "She was not meant to find out like that!"

"She'll be fine." Trent soothed, running his hands through her hair. "Scarred for life, but fine."

April slapped his shoulder, though she couldn't help but laugh at it all.

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SEATTLE GRACE HOSPITAL
seattle, washington
( 19th december 2010 )
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Aliya was now staring over her coffee mug at the pair in front of her, where it had been merely two days since she caught them in what she would describe as a frenzy on the sofa.

"So," April stirred sugars into her herbal tea, her eyes darting from Trent, sitting next to her, to Aliya, sitting opposite her. "Um,"

The red head looked back yet again towards Trent, screaming at him in her mind to help her out, seeing as they had been sat like this for the past five minutes in the hospital cafeteria.

"How long has this been going on for?" Aliya questioned, though it was more of an interrogation.

(Call her the female Spencer Reid.)

"I would say—" April choked on her own words, and Trent saw it as a sign to take her hand, staring at her unwaveringly with blue eyes, they were sickeningly in love.

"Well, we met earlier this year," Trent began, though he was still looking at the Kepner woman as if it was a miracle she was on God's green Earth. Though, even Aliya could say they did make a very good couple. "Everytime I was in Seattle, we'd meet each other, and then after the—"

"Shooting." April finished what Trent was trying to avoid saying, giving him the go ahead, seeing as she lost her best friend that day.

"Yeah," Trent squeezed her hand, continuing on. "Then, we started dating a couple months ago, we've been together since—"

"November 18th!" April chimed in, smiling and sipping happily on her herbal tea.

Aliya grinned. "I knew it. And, I'm happy for you. And, you didn't have to keep it a secret. You don't have to keep secrets with me."

"Like you kept Jackson a secret?" Trent teased though Aliya's face dropped, which only caused April to drive her elbow into his ribs. "Ow!"

It seemed she had forgotten to tell her boyfriend about Aliya and Jackson splitting up, her mistake.

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MEREDITH'S HOUSE
seattle, washington
( 1st march 2011 )
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"I still don't understand why you punched him." April crossed her arms, frowning at Trent lying leisurely on the bed, reading his book quietly in peace.

"That Stark's a creep," Trent justified, not taking his eyes off of the page. "He deserved it."

"He de— de— deserved it!" April scoffed, pressing a cool hand to her forehead. "He's my boss!"

"He's a jerk." Trent corrected with a smirk.

"Seriously?" April huffed, crossing her arms as she began to pace the short space of her room.

"Hang on one second." The Levine man closed his book, slipping off of her bed in one swift motion.

"Where are you going?" April called after him as he abandoned her alone, watching her door with intent, and waiting for him to come back.

After about a minute, he returned.

However, this time, he had a football helmet on his head, which looked completely and totally ridiculous.

She couldn't help but laugh at him, and that was probably the whole point of why he had it in his head.

Trent braced his hands on his hips. "Ok, hit me with it, I'm ready."

"You look crazy!" April exclaimed, biting on her lip to desperately stop herself from finding it funny. "This is serious."

"I know," Trent smirked from beneath the helmet. "I thought it would be better to take the necessary precautions."

"Fine, okay?" April stomped her foot on the floor, her nails digging into her arm, continuing her attempts of trying not to laugh. "It's fine. Just take the helmet off, and I'll let it go."

Trent raised a brow. "For real?"

"Yes." April nodded her head. "I will."

"Okay, then." He slowly lifted off the helmet, revealing his very scruffy blonde hair.

April finally crackled, laughter escaping her lips as she dropped down onto her mattress. "Where did you even get that helmet from anyway?"

"Jackson." The Levine man fell back onto the bed beside her, holding his head up with his palm.

"Do you think he and Aliya will get back together?" April asked, softly, wrapping her arms around Trent, nestling into the soft material of his shirt.

"Yes," Trent answered, instantly, planting a soft kiss into her red hair. "My sister is crazy but she's anything but stupid, she loves the guy."

"I hope they work it out," April spoke with a sigh, glancing across at the photo taking from her polaroid camera of Aliya and Jackson on her pin board. The Avery man was giving her a piggy back in the living room (potentially after one too many beers), and Aliya was looking down at him with the wildest smile on her face. "They're good together."

"Speaking of good together," Trent shifted so he could look at her, his hands tangled in her hair. "I've been thinking."

"Oh yeah?" April smirked. "About?"

"Moving to Seattle."

"WHAT!" April bounced up, her hands clamping down on her mouth at the news, at how long she had waited for him to say those words. "Trent, if you're messing with me, I'm going to be personally responsible for digging your grave and burying you in it."

Trent grinned with a nod of his head. "Dead serious. Viewing houses next week."

Within an instant, April pressed her lips against his, because it seemed as if she was finally, after all this time waiting, getting what she had always wanted.

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MINI GOLF
seattle, washington
( 13th may 2011 )
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"They're really rubbish at mini golf." April stated to Trent, as kindly as she possible could as she cast the recently back together couple a look over her shoulder.

Jackson, was leaning against his golf club as Aliya, her face screwed up in concentration, aimed (and missed) the hole.

"Damn it!" They heard the brunette protest. "How the hell can I not get a tiny ball into a tiny freaking hole!"

"Quit the dirty talk and just aim." Jackson joked, and the couple who were actually good at mini golf shared a look.

"Ha, what do you think I've been doing!?" Aliya huffed, stomping over to where her ball was, about half a metre away from her.

Trent chuckled, shaking her head. "She's always been crap at mini golf, she's just too stubborn to accept it."

"This is a faulty club." Aliya frowned as she sent the golf ball flying in the opposite direction to the hole.

"Oh, yeah you can get those, I get them all the time," Jackson replied back to her with a smirk, where he had been standing on the side lines, next to a lighthouse that reached his hip. "Really ruins the game."

Aliya glanced at him from where she was stood on the other side, swinging her club backwards and forwards. "You wanna swap clubs?"

"I don't think that's gonna—" He started to say, before stopping himself. "Fine, yes, knock yourself out."

Aliya clapped her hands together, giving Jackson her hot pink club, and taking his bright green one, before jumping back to her ball, readying herself.

"Make sure you actually hit it this time," Jackson pointed out, as if he were coaching her. "You know, instead of the windmills."

"Haha, very funny— Damn it!" Aliya groaned in frustration as she sent her shot in the completely wrong direction, yet again.

Jackson snorted. "Sorry to say this—"

Aliya shot him a look of warning, her eyes darkening. "Then don't."

"—Maybe it's just the fact you're really bad at mini golf."

"Hey!" Aliya protested, crossing her arms in a huff. "I'm not."

"You have other strengths, Aliya. Believe me, I know." He teased, sending a crimson blush across her cheeks. "But, mini golf isn't one of them."

"Look at them over there." Aliya pointed her club in the direction of April and Trent, already on the fifth hole whilst Aliya and Jackson were stuck on the second. "Those smug asses!"

"You alright over there!" Trent called over his shoulder, obviously hearing Aliya hurtling abuse in their direction.

"You're such a— right," Aliya stopped herself mid comeback, advancing towards Jackson and tugging his arm onto the green. "Jackson, get over here and pretend you're me hitting it in, they'll never know."

"They've got eyes in the back of their head," The Avery man informed, looking across at the couple who were apparently good at everything. "They're gonna know."

"C'mon! No they won't!"

"Fine," Jackson sighed, squaring his shoulders in preparation to hit the ball into the hole. "But, you owe me a burger after this."

"Deal, now go." The brunette wavered her hand in the direction the ball should go, as if she was directing a plane landing.

"If we don't win, I'm stepping out into the middle of the highway and accepting my fate." Jackson vowed, sending the ball into the hole.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Aliya launched into Jackson's arms, sending the club flying backwards out of her hands from all the cheering in victory the pair were doing.

"I'm not blind, Aliya." Trent spoke from across the way, hands on his hips as if he were cosplaying a stern, uptight principal. "I saw Jackson hitting it in for you."

"No you can't, you're going crazy!" Aliya tried her best to gaslight her brother now she was out of Jackson's arms. "Are you okay? You know, maybe we should go home, get some rest, cause clearly, you're delirious."

"I'm just standing over here," Jackson said with a shrug of his shoulders, playing it dumb and vouching for his girlfriend. "It's a free country, I can stand wherever I want to stand. I know my rights."

Trent chuckled, and so did April, who had stopped to witness what was going on. "No one likes a sore loser."

"I'm not sore, and I'm not a loser!" Aliya yelled back, reaching to pick up her club as she waved it around in her brother's direction like a prop.

Jackson stifled a laugh. "She's just crap at mini golf— Ow!"

"Oh My God." Aliya dropped her club as she realised where she had hit, because now Jackson was bundled up in a heap on the floor. "I'm so sorry! Jackson!"

"Aliya!" Trent jogged over to them, now standing over the Avery man. "You just wanted an excuse to go home!"

"Oh my—" April gawked at Jackson groaning on the ground. "Is he okay?"

"I just got hit in the balls with a golf club," He managed to say. "Of course I'm not okay!"

"I didn't want an excuse!" Aliya assured frantically, kneeling next to Jackson with her hand on his back, trying to at least attempt to soothe him. "I didn't mean to! Just—"

"What?" Trent crossed his arms.

Aliya sighed, attempting to pull Jackson to his feet. "How did you get so good at mini golf?"

"It's not like it's rocket science." Trent spoke with a shrug, a smug expression on his face, the same April had on hers.

"It might as well be." Aliya hooked Jackson's arm around her neck, letting him lean his body weight against her.

"He needs some ice on that." Her brother observed, helpfully.

"I'm gonna take him home, you finish the game," Aliya informed, retrieving Jackson's keys out of his back jeans pocket. "Try not to hit Trent in the balls." She offered April a final piece of advice, before hauling her six foot two inch boyfriend into the passenger seat.

Putting five minutes between them and the mini golf, Jackson smirked victoriously. "I don't actually need frozen peas."

"What?" Aliya questioned, glancing across to him.

Jackson shrugged, casually, wriggling in the passenger seat. "I faked it."

"You— Oh!" Aliya clapped her hands, taking them off the wheel for a very brief moment. "I didn't think I could love you any more, you're a life saver! You deserve an Oscar, truly. I'm gonna nominate you. Were you a theatre kid?"

As the two were speeding away, the couple remaining watched them leave.

The Kepner woman sighed. "She didn't really hit him, right?"

"Oh, he was totally faking it." Trent confirmed, frowning.

⠀
—✩—
⠀

TRENT'S NEW HOUSE
seattle, washington
( 26th june 2011 )
⠀

"So, you're still doing the whole silent treatment routine?" The oldest Levine sibling spoke, placing down the box he was currently unloading from his creepy rental truck and crossing his arms.

The five of them — Jackson, Aliya, April, James and Trent — were currently moving boxes into his new house.

Well, April, Jackson and Trent were. Aliya and James were sat on said boxes, playing a very heated game of uno in the back of the van before Jackson and Trent had to step in.

Who knew a twenty nine year old could be so competitive.

And, angry when James put down a plus four.

Now that he had sent April and Jackson up to James' bedroom to help him unpack, Trent had finally gotten his sister all alone.

Though, Aliya now wished she was back in the presence of her nine year old nephew, not her older brother.

"Nope." Aliya denied, though she didn't meet the dirty blonde man's eyes, she just pursed her lips at the many boxes of stuff her brother had in his possession, now that she had to actually help instead of entertain her nephew. "Jeez, you have so much crap it's unbelievable."

"Excuse you," Trent looked up, personally offended by the insult. "Have you seen the amount of shit you have in your room?"

"Hey!" Aliya whipped her head around to finally look at him. "It's not shit. I knew you always hated my dresser!"

Her brother pulled a look of disgust, placing a box down onto the sidewalk. "It looks like something Nana has in her bedroom." Trent replied matter-of-factly, taking a box away from the brunette.

She had already dropped a whole box of dishes, hence why she was put on babysitting duty.

"Are you—"

"I'm implying that you have the taste of an old woman." Trent clarified before Aliya could even question it.

"Oh! That is rich coming from someone," Aliya pulled out a casserole dish with pictures of Trent in his sophomore year of high school around the outside. "Who owns this."

"That was a gag present—" Trent protested, tugging the dish out her grasp, frowning. "It's nostalgic."

He placed emphasis on the finally word, holding the casserole dish close to his chest as if it were a life jacket.

"Hm." She grunted, closing the box and bundling it up in her arms, advancing towards the house, which was relatively big for just the two of them, she thought to herself.

With four bedrooms and two bathrooms, a huge kitchen diner, an even bigger living room and a garden with one of those wooden play structures that looked like a castle, Aliya couldn't help but wonder if he bought this house for a particular reason, that involved the red head, of course.

"Hey, Liy—" Trent moved forward, abandoning the boxes as he jogged up to his sister, stopping her before she had a chance to go inside the house. "I honestly didn't mean to tell Mom about Jackson, if I could rewind time, I would. He's a good guy, if she can't see past the whole Avery thing then—"

"It's fine." Aliya interrupted, giving him a convincing smile, before redacting that previous statement. "Actually,"

(Because, she couldn't let her brother get off that easy, and everything was definitely not fine.)

Aliya moved up the steps leading to the house, placing the cardboard box down on the very huge porch before jogging back down the steps, striding past Trent to grab another box of his belongings. "It's not fine, she's going to kill me, and you're going to be responsible."

Trent chuckled, though when he was met with one of Aliya's glares as she popped back out from behind the wide open door of the van, he quickly stopped, his face dropping. "I deserved that. Look, I'll deal with Mom. She'll have to go through me first."

At that, Aliya scoffed, shaking her head as she passed him again, dropping another box off at the front door. "Because, you're the golden boy who can do no wrong."

Trent sighed, following her up the steps, gesturing for her to take a seat on the step, which she did, very begrudgingly. "Why do you think I moved to Seattle?"

It seemed like a genuine enough question.

So, with a raised brow, Aliya answered. "Because you're all lovey dovey with April."

Trent grinned, looking back towards the wide open door, where he could see through all the way to the kitchen where April was currently giving James a bowl of Captain Crunch cereal, smiling wide as she spoke to him, and laughing harder when he spoke through a mouthful.

"That's one of the reasons."

Watching her brother closely, Aliya could see as clear as day how much he was in love with April Kepner. It was written all over his face. Ever since they were kids, Aliya could read him like a book, he displayed every single emotion he felt on his face for only her to see.

"You know," Trent forcefully tore his gaze away from his girlfriend, and Aliya had to hold herself back from laughing at him. "I'm gonna marry her."

"You are?" Aliya grinned in surprise, pushing her shoulder into her brothers, forgetting the betrayal from before, how he told their mother about Jackson.

Because, she could handle her mother.

She handled her for twenty nine years of her life, she wouldn't be able to even ruin her and Jackson. She couldn't even come close.

"Yep." He answered causally, and he reached into his pocket, digging out something before showing it to Aliya.

The brunette woman gasped as she laid eyes on a ring box in his hand, clasping a hand over her mouth from the shock.

"No way!" Aliya exclaimed, completely at a loss for words as she reached for the box, opening it carefully, exposing the most April ring she had ever seen — princess cut and silver. "It's beautiful, she's gonna love it." She assured, marvelling at how darn shiny that thing was.

"James loves her, she's met Mom, Dad's gonna come and see the house next week," Trent trailed off, shrugging his shoulders as he slipped the ring box back into the safety of his pocket. "It just feels right, you know?"

"You sap." Aliya joked, a small smirk on her lips, taking great joy in the fact that her brother was finally happy again. "When are you gonna ask her?"

"Tonight." Trent replied immediately and without hesitation, as if he hadn't been sure about anything more in his entire life, which Aliya audibly gasped at. "At dinner. I booked us at the same restaurant we had our first date. I'm gonna ask her to move in too."

The brunette clapped her hands together. "No more chore wheel!"

Trent raised a suspicious brow. "What?"

"Never mind," Aliya brushed him off, not ruining what he has coming for him. "You were saying?"

The Levine man cleared his throat, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I came to Seattle to get away from Mom."

Aliya scoffed, dramatically. "And, here I thought you came to Seattle for me."

He smiled, the corners of his eyes creasing as he reached out for his sister's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You're an added perk."

"Well," Aliya affectionately patted his hand, staring out onto the sidewalk, where a kid was currently walking his dog. "I'm happy for you, I really am."

"Auntie Aliya!" James called from somewhere in the house, though it was quickly followed by his sneakers running across the hardwood floors, and him then throwing himself onto Aliya's back, his tiny arms wrapping around her neck.

"Hey, buddy." Aliya patted his arm, though the kid was currently restricting her airway, so the brunette could barely even breathe.

"I beat April at uno!" He exclaimed, seemingly very proud of himself as he loosened his grip slightly, though his head was still pressed into Aliya's shoulder.

The red head in question came sauntering out of the house, Jackson following behind her. She stopped in front of where Trent was sitting her arms crossed.

"It's true." She spoke with an over exaggerated sigh.

"You're unbeatable." Aliya informed him with a chuckle as Jackson dropped down next to her on the step. "A reigning champion."

April laughed as Trent rose from the step, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I was just telling Aliya about our dinner reservations tonight."

"Oh!" April exclaimed, nestling deeper into Trent's side as she turned to the others. "We've booked it for two, but it you guys should totally come along."

"That would be nice— Ow!"

Jackson was stopped mid sentence by the elbow jabbing very subtly into his ribcage.

"We're working," Aliya told the Kepner woman, faking a very sad look. "Rain check?"

"Sure!" April nodded, wandering back into the house with Trent attached to her side. "They're acting weird, don't you think?" April questioned her boyfriend with a curious expression, meandering over to a picture of James when he was a baby.

"They're always acting weird." Trent justified, his heart beating a millisecond too fast, scared she would realise what was really going on.

"I'm just saying," April shrugged, placing the frame on the mantelpiece at a slight angle, then stepping back to see if it looked right with the other pictures. "They're acting weirder than usual."

"Really?" Trent gulped, looking back towards them where Aliya was now slamming down her uno cards, casting Jackson a look of complete disgust. "Hadn't noticed."

"Do you think that photo of James looks right there? And, oh, see that wall, I think a painting would look really nice there—" April pointed, and for the next ten minutes, Trent listened to her as she pointed around the open planned room, telling him that he should really invest in a good vase for flowers, and buy a microwave that actually worked.

"Maybe I should hire you as my interior designer." Trent spoke, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hmm," April mumbled happily, her hands snaking around his neck. "Maybe you should."

⠀
—✩—
⠀

"When I'm inevitably on my death bed," Trent began, holding April's hand in his as they left the restaurant and began walking along past the river. "You're bringing me those fries, I want to be buried with them."

April chuckled, shaking her head. "We're gonna have to get a new dresser."

"What's wrong with my dresser?" The Levine man questioned, his eyebrows knotting together.

"We just—" April sighed, unable to hide her opinion on the very old, very battered dresser her boyfriend owner. "It's awful, Trent!"

Trent looked at her with complete shock. "I'll have you know I've had that dresser for eight years, it's a great dresser."

"It is— it's so great." April said through gritted teeth.

She wasn't very convincing.

The Kepner woman physically winced at the thought of it.

"Me, or the dresser." She grinned, though she was only joking.

"Now that's a pretty hard choice—" Trent began, though was quickly interrupted by April's hand slapping his arm. "I think I would choose you."

"You think?" April huffed, jokingly, wrapping her hands around his forearm.

"I know—"

And, as he said those two simple words, April's eye caught something in the river, something far in the distance, casting reflections on the water.

Because, floating on the water was a large piece of wood, where on top of that wood was a dozen candles with flowers intertwining around them, sunflowers, peonies, roses and daisies.

April's breath caught in her throat as she looked out at the flames spelling out the words MARRY ME?

She could barely speak, barely even breathe as her head snapped back to Trent, who was kneeling on the ground with a ring in his hand, looking at her as if she was the only person that mattered in this world.

"Yes." April spoke, though her voice was barely a whisper, she didn't even look properly at the ring.

"April—"

"Yes!" She said, frantically, her face breaking out into a wide smile, and she dropped to the floor with him, her hands placed on his cheeks. "A million times yes!"

"April!" Trent protested, the ring in his hands. "I had a whole speech planned out! I was gonna tell you I loved you from the moment I saw you, and that—"

"I don't need to hear it!" April told him, tears flooding down her cheeks as a band started to play in the distance, and she could hear the sounds of a violin. "Save it for the vows."

Trent pursed his lips, but even though his speech was cut very short (he still had five more minutes worth of speech left to give her), he couldn't help but start to chuckle at how plans always seemed to change.

"Fine," He said, retrieving the ring from the box, and slipping it onto her finger. "I'll save it for the vows."

⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀

( notes! )

hey i hope you enjoyed this chapter!! i really wanted to go more in depth into trent & april's relationship seeing as they are getting married and they're my cutie pies

i also included scenes that i've already written from previous chapters in this chapter so it's like a little recap of their relationship! & i was going to include april meeting molly but, i decided to keep her out of this chapter because i didn't feel like writing her being a rat like she always is!! & i wanted to keep this chapter all sunshine and rainbows

also, sorry that some of the scenes are a bit short! i wanted to do cute little moments between them too!!

p.s their first fight is totally inspired by the song stay stay stay and i'm not mad about it one bit

( word count! — 7,900 )