chapter thirty-five ━ softball chaos
( season eight, episodes six & seven )

❝Have a scone.❞

"SLOAN!" ELLIE TURNED around at the sound of the voice and saw Richard walking toward her. "Why are you not in the mouse lab with Bailey?"

"Um—"

"You're a big part of that trial," he continued, cutting her off and she pressed her lips together. "Shouldn't you be helping her?"

"I quit," Ellie said and he looked at her. "I gave my spot to April."

"Wh—Why?"

She sighed. "I just don't have the time," she replied with a shrug. "If I balance the trial along with my chief resident duties and my specialties, I won't sleep. I already don't sleep. And I'm grateful that you thought of me, sir—really—but I had to go. For my own mental sake."

Richard nodded. "Those are all fair points," he said, letting out a breath. "You have been doing well as chief resident, though, Sloan. Hunt made the right choice."

"Thank you, sir, that means a lot." Ellie hugged the chart to her chest. "Uh, I better go before I'm late for Dr. Hunt's speech."

"Oh, of course."

She smiled at him before hurrying to the resident's lounge. When she walked in, she sat down next to Jackson, nudging him on the shoulder. "You look tired."

"Hm, thanks."

"Fifth year is the hardest year of your residency," Owen was saying, bringing the residents' attention back to him. "Every surgery you do will go on your record—the wins and the losses. In just a few months, you will..."

Meredith slipped inside the room and sat down beside Ellie. "What'd I miss?"

Ellie glanced at her. "Pink scrubs?" she asked.

"You're OB now?" Jackson added with a frown. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, huh?"

"She misses Zola," Alex said from behind them and Ellie glanced at him. "Her uterus hurts."

She rolled her eyes and Cristina shook her head. "Oh, leave her alone, dirtbag," she told him before turning to Meredith. "You are embarrassing me."

"I'm getting to deliver babies," Meredith said to them. "I'm making life, you know?"

Ellie tilted her head. "That's one way to look at it."

"You know what? You're making me gag," Cristina told Meredith. "Okay, slumming it in OB for a few weeks is okay, whatever. Wearing the vagina squad scrubs in public? It's—ugh. We have standards, Meredith!"

Ellie chuckled and turned her attention back to Owen who was still talking to the room full of residents.

"It is extremely important that you rack up as many good outcomes as possible for your boards," he explained to them. "I am implementing a system. I will receive an email if any of you exceed more than ten bad outcomes in your OR. Ten—any more is unacceptable." April hurried in and he looked at her. "Welcome, Dr. Kepner."

"Sorry," she said breathlessly. "I got stuck in the lab with Bailey."

"I don't care where you were," he answered, looking down at his tablet. "I care that you already have—let's see—uh, two bad outcomes in your OR."

"Ooh."

Alex chuckled to himself. "Loser."

Owen looked at him while Ellie rolled her eyes. "Of course, that's nothing compared to Karev's five bad outcomes."

Ellie pressed her lips together and snorted softly. "That was really bad timing..." she commented under her breath and he crossed his arms.

"I keep getting dud patients."

"Tell it to your board examiners," Owen told him. "The point, people, is to keep your bad outcomes to a minimum, or you will be hard-pressed to find a fellowship next year."

Ellie glanced at Cristina who had pulled out her phone. "Uh, who are you texting?" she asked.

"Who do you think?"

Ellie looked up just as Owen's phone got an alert and he looked down at it. "Uh—" He cleared his throat. "Dr. Yang, are you sure that you're getting all this down?"

The blonde covered her mouth in amusement and Cristina nodded. "Mm-hmm," she replied with a smile. "Bad outcomes are bad, which is why I have zero so far—a perfect record I plan to continue during my ortho rotation this week."

Ellie cleared her throat. "Well, you're not the only one with a perfect record," she said. "And I'm also on ortho. It should be fun."

"Oh, please." Cristina scoffed. "No one dies during a hip replacement."

Owen shrugged. "Let's hope..."

☀️

CALLIE SIGHED AND got off the elevator with Ellie and Cristina trailing behind her. "I should be grateful they're getting along, right?" she asked the residents, continuing to complain about Arizona and Mark's newfound friendship. "But I'm not, though, I'm bitter. All they do is cook together and talk about food and watch shows where other people talk about food and—"

"I'm sorry," Ellie interrupted with a small chuckle. "My brother is cooking? And watching cooking shows? Oh, he really is lonely."

Callie laughed lightly at her before looking at Cristina who was texting on her phone. "Who are you texting?" she asked with a frown, taking the phone.

"Uh, don't—don't read that."

Callie cleared her throat. "'I'll bend you over the conference table and'—"

"No!" Ellie exclaimed, covering her ears. "Stop. I don't want to hear about this. Especially about my boss and one of my friends."

"Okay." Callie shuddered as she handed back the phone. "Why did you let me read that?"

Cristina smiled at her. "My husband can't get enough of me. Jealous?"

"Yes, actually," Callie replied. "Arizona and I haven't had much 'alone time' lately, and so instead, we eat."

Cristina frowned. "Oh, that's depressing."

She sighed. "Yeah, let's just talk about the case. Or..." She handed the case over to her resident. "Ellie's case."

Ellie smiled as she took the chart and Cristina rubbed her hands together. "Okay. What is it? Hip replacement? Shoulder dislocation?"

The blonde chuckled. "This is your first time on ortho, isn't it?" she asked, pausing outside of their patient's room. "Callie and I don't do routine."

As they walked into the room, they heard an annoyed voice. "Get outta there."

"My feet hurt!"

Ellie smiled. "Mr. and Mrs. Moser. Hi."

"Hi," Mrs. Moser replied. "Sorry. My, uh, lazy sack husband thinks that this is his bed."

Cristina looked at them in confusion. "Oh, it's—it's not?"

Ellie shook her head. "No. These are our patient's parents."

"This is Dr. Yang," Callie said to the parents. "She'll be Dr. Sloan's co-surgeon on the case."

"Oh." Mrs. Moser held out her hand and shook Cristina's. "So nice to meet you." She turned back to her husband and hit him on the chest. "Get up! Come on. Pretend you have manners for a second."

"What?" Mr. Moser asked. "The kind the manners that allow you to insult your husband in front of strangers?"

"Stop it."

"Stop fighting." Ellie looked over and saw Tyler, their patient, looking at his parents in annoyance. "You're scaring the doctors. Hi." He shook Cristina's hand. "Tyler. I'm, uh, I'm not staring at your boobs." The blonde smiled softly. "I mean, I—I am, but I—I can't help it."

Ellie turned to Cristina. "Tyler suffers from a degenerative bone disease called cervical spondylosis. He was in a car accident two years ago, which further injured his neck, and so we are gonna build him a new one... in a three-day, three-part surgery." Cristina stared at her and she smiled. "I told you that ortho wasn't boring."

☀️

ELLIE FOUND MARK standing at a nurse's station and he looked up, immediately holding out a plate to her. "Have a scone."

She looked down at it. "Uh, no. But guess what I'm doing today?" she asked in excitement.

"What?"

"A three-day, three-part neck rebuilding surgery," she said, practically bouncing in place. "And I'm leading! So we're gonna need you tomorrow."

"I'll clear my schedule." Mark smiled at his sister's excitement. "Look at you go, sunshine. Is Callie assisting?"

She shook her head. "No, Cristina is."

"Oh."

"What was that?" she asked and he raised his eyebrows. "Your tone changed when I mentioned Cristina. Do you think that she's the wrong choice to be assisting me?"

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "She just—She's not the kindest in the OR, is she?"

She shrugged. "Well, it's too late now," she said, fluttering her lips. "We're gonna be fine. Okay, I gotta go. Oh, and find a new hobby. I think you're gonna make Callie go crazy."

Mark frowned as she walked away. "What's wrong with cooking? Ellie!"

☀️

ELLIE WAS IN surgery with Callie and Cristina. "Today, we're taking out the old hardware," Ellie was explaining to the cardio resident. "Tomorrow Mark will remove the scar tissue. And then we'll implant the cage. So..." She handed her the drill. "Your turn."

Callie chuckled while watching from the side. "Just get in there and, uh, you know, have fun with it."

"Why wouldn't you just do a fusion in this case?" Cristina asked them. "Isn't that standard procedure?"

Ellie nodded. "Yes, but he's had four fusions already," she answered. "So we're really going for a long-term solution. Get in there with the drill, Cristina."

"Right, right." She continued to drill. "But the risk of paralysis is quite high with your approach."

"Ellie's approach," Callie corrected her, smiling at her resident. "And only lame surgeons do fusions. Are you and Ellie lame? No. You're fun... and badass."

Ellie sighed at Cristina. "You're still not doing it hard enough. Here. Like this."

She took the drill from her and took over when a phone went off making a nurse look at it. "Dr. Yang, that's your phone."

Callie frowned. "Really?" she asked. "During surgery?"

Cristina shrugged. "Oh, it could be anyone."

"Mm-hmm." Callie nodded when the phone went off again and Ellie glanced up briefly. "Melanie, could you please read Dr. Yang's message aloud?"

"Melanie, don't do that."

"Yes, Melanie, do." Callie shrugged and crossed her arms. "It could be Chief Hunt. He might need Dr. Yang on an urgent matter." The phone went off for a third time and she nodded. "Yep. Definitely sounds urgent."

Cristina looked behind her at the nurse. "Melanie, don't touch that phone! Just—um—turn it off."

Ellie chuckled to herself and shook her head, turning back to the surgery.

☀️

AFTER THE SURGERY, Ellie was filling out her chart when Lexie found her. "Oh, good, Ellie, I can't cover the ER tonight."

She looked up with a frown. "What?"

"I have to do research for Shepherd," Lexie said and Ellie rolled her eyes. "So, take it up with him. Sorry."

Ellie groaned. "Oh, I will..." She closed the chart and made her way to Tyler's room. "So, we removed all the old hardware, and we're all set to implant the cage tomorrow," she told him and his parents. "So, just try and get some rest, okay Tyler?"

Mrs. Moser nodded. "Oh, well, I'm gonna stay the night and make sure, uh, he's got some company."

"I'll stay," Mr. Moser said. "I—I—I don't need the rest."

"A—And I do?"

"I don't know." Ellie hugged the chart to her chest and looked between the parents. "You're always talking about how—how big the—the bags under your eyes are, so—"

"What?"

"Aren't visiting hours over?" Tyler asked and Ellie looked at him before nodding.

"Uh, yes," she replied. "They are. I'm sorry."

"Uh..."

"Um—uh—alright," Mrs. Moser said before kissing her son on the forehead. "Well, call if you need anything, alright?"

He nodded. "Okay."

Ellie sighed and watched the parents leave before closing the door behind them. "Well..." She looked over at Tyler. "Surgery brings out the worst in people."

"Marriage brings out the worst in them," Tyler told her, shaking his head. "I'm grateful they dropped everything to help take care of me, but seriously, the second I'm better, I'm moving out. I need some peace and quiet."

Ellie smiled. "Well, let me help you get some now, okay? Get some sleep, Tyler."

She walked out of the room and dropped off her chart before walking around the hospital, searching for a familiar face. "You. I have a bone to pick with you."

Derek turned around with a confused look on his face. "What did I do?" he asked.

"You took my resident," she said, crossing her arms with a huff. "The one who was supposed to cover the ER tonight. But instead, she's researching for you."

"I—"

"Do you realize how hard it is to change a schedule because then everybody else gets mad?" she interrupted.

"Well—"

"And why are you being so hard on Lexie?" she continued, once again cutting him off. "She's not Meredith, Derek. Stop punishing her for not being her sister. She's Lexie Grey, not Meredith Grey."

"I—"

"Good night."

Ellie turned on her heel and walked away, leaving a very confused Derek to watch after her. She found Alex waiting for his labs. "Chuck Cain," he said in annoyance. "I gave you his blood work five hours ago."

"Oh, good, Alex!" He looked over at her and she smiled sweetly. "How much do you love me?"

"Uh, I rarely love people, so... top ten."

She paused and tilted her head. "I'll take it," she said. "And being in your top ten, how much do I have to persuade you to cover the ER for Lexie tonight?"

He sighed. "Fine, but you owe me."

"I'll buy you dinner, a drink, and my endless gratitude," she said and he nodded.

"I'll hold you to that."

☀️

ELLIE WAS SCRUBBED into surgery with Cristina joining her. Callie and Mark were sitting in the back, watching. "Damn it," Ellie groaned.

"You need a hand?" Mark asked.

She shook her head. "No, just..." She sighed in frustration. "The cage won't fit. His bone is so destroyed that the screws won't hold."

"We should do the fusion instead," Cristina told her.

"No."

"Well, I researched it," she continued and Ellie paused to look at her. "We can re-fuse him if we take down enough of his scar tissue—"

"I said no," she replied. "Your area of expertise is cardio, this is mine."

Arizona walked in and tapped Mark on the shoulder. "Hey, my surgery got pushed. And I can't pick up the short ribs."

"The butcher closes at six, right?"

"Why are you so pressed about this?" Cristina asked Ellie.

"Why aren't you?" she retorted.

Arizona gasped and held onto Mark's arm. "We could roast a chicken!"

"Yes."

Callie rolled her eyes at her best friend and wife. "Can we please shut up about dinner?" she asked in annoyance. "My mentee—not to mention your sister—is doing a very complicated surgery that I would like to watch."

"Oh, sorry."

Ellie sighed and shook her head. "You can go back to talking," she said and they looked at her. "We're closing him up."

"What?" Cristina looked at her and shook her head. "No."

"Yes," she said, putting down the instruments. "We need more time to figure out a new game plan that's not a fusion. So, I'm gonna secure the cage temporarily and close."

"Which means I'm free to go to the butcher," Mark added and she glanced up at him. "Problem solved. Thanks, Ellie."

She pressed her lips together and looked at Callie. "Sorry..."

☀️

ELLIE SAT ON the bench in the dugout, watching the ball roll past Cristina and Meredith who were lying in the grass. Alex went after the ball before stopping to talk to them and Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Oh, this is going to be awful..."

"Karev!" Owen shouted out to the man. "Throw the all!" He obliged and threw it to Mark who then threw it to Arizona. She jumped out of the way, letting out a scream. "Robbins, don't be afraid of it."

"Wait, I—oh!" Arizona fell when she chased after the ball. "Well, it flew at my head."

Derek looked over at Mark and Ellie followed his gaze, immediately rolling her eyes. "Sloan. Hey, Sloan."

"Yeah."

"Focus," he said, shaking his head. "Hello?"

"Who is that?" Teddy asked.

Ellie sighed. "Oh, that would be Julia Canner," she replied. "She's an ophthalmologist from Seattle Pres. Mark has been... seeing her."

"Every night this week," Callie added and Ellie grimaced.

"That's why I left that part out," she said with a chuckle as she watched Lexie hit the ball and all of the doctors wandered around aimlessly. "Oh, we're doomed..."

"Looking good, Chief Hunt."

Owen looked over at the voice as Ellie walked out of the dugout. "Hi, Chief MacDougall."

"Make it Brad," he said, standing next to him. "I'm surprised to see you out here, Hunt. We've had this field every morning. Is this your first practice?"

"Uh, no," he replied, shaking his head. "No, no, we've been—"

"Oh, I would've thought it was."

Ellie took hold of the bat and Derek's eyes immediately went wide. "Mark... It's Ellie's turn."

Mark instantly pulled away from Julia and Ellie smirked at him. With a sigh, Derek threw the ball and she easily hit it over the fence, passing Mark as she ran around first base.

Owen stared at her as she stepped on home plate and she walked over to him. "Oh, did I forget to mention that I played softball in high school?"

"Uh, yes," he replied with a nod. "Yes, you did."

"Four-time letter winner in high school," Mark said and she glanced behind her at him. "Starting lineup when she was a freshman and set a school record for home runs. The kid's got some skills."

Ellie chuckled to herself as he let his arm hang off over her shoulder. Suddenly, Derek's pager went off and all of the doctors started to leave quickly. She stood to the side next to Owen and watched as the Seattle Pres doctors took their spots.

"I don't think you're as good as you claim."

Their chief crossed his arms and looked at her. "Oh?" he questioned and she nodded. "And why is that?"

She shrugged. "Well, for starts, your outfielders." She pointed at them. "They don't have strong enough arms to throw from that distance. It's the same with your third baseman. You know... just some suggestions. I can't give you all of the tips, now can I?"

Owen pressed his lips together in amusement and looked at her as Seattle Pres' chief walked away. "So... softball in high school, huh? Tell me more..."

☀️

ELLIE POKED HER head inside the computer lab. "You paged, chief? Oh, hi, Henry."

"Dr. Sloan."

She looked between them and noticed the large drawing pad in front of them. "Uh... what's going on in here?"

"We're figuring out the lineup and positions for tomorrow," Owen replied and she nodded. "So, when you played in high school, where did you play?"

"Uh... everywhere?" she said with a shrug. "But mostly third base and shortstop."

Henry nodded and turned back to Owen. "Put her at third," he said and Ellie scratched the back of her neck. "Then put Avery and shortstop and Bailey in centerfield."

"Bailey?" Owen repeated. "Why Bailey?"

"No, he's right," Ellie said with a nod. "She's a leader, she'll know who to get the ball to. And besides, she's not your cutoff. Jackson... he's your cutoff man."

He shrugged. "Okay."

Henry looked out of the window and saw Meredith at the nurse's station. "She's tall." Owen followed his gaze. "Where do you have her?"

"Uh... left field."

"Can she catch?" he asked.

"Let's find out." Owen took the ball from Henry and opened the door. "Grey, catch!"

He threw the ball at her and Richard caught it with a frown. "Hunt, what the hell?"

Ellie smiled and pointed at the former chief of surgery. "Now, he's your cutoff man."

☀️

ELLIE STOOD AT second base when Derek's turn came to bat. "Come on, Derek!" she called. "Just hit the ball!" He hit it to centerfield and their doctor caught it making Ellie sigh as she walked over to him. "I said hit the ball, not get out."

"Technically, I did hit the ball," he replied and she rolled her eyes, walking away to the bench.

"Little Sloan, you're on the bench," Owen said and she slumped.

"Oh, thank goodness."

She sat down just as Teddy prepared to pitch. She flinched, watching the cardio surgeon throw it wildly. The Seattle Pres doctor hit it to centerfield and, instead of throwing it to Bailey, it was thrown in the other direction.

"How do you even do that?" Ellie asked herself with a frown.

Her gaze shifted to right field where Meredith and Cristina were sharing a drink while Teddy continued to pitch—horribly. In left field, Callie and Arizona were kissing and not paying attention.

"Uh..." Ellie nudged Owen and he looked down at her. "I think some of your surgeons are fighting..."

"Time out!" Richard called out and looked at the trauma surgeon. "I got this, Hunt."

Owen furrowed his brows. "C—Can he do that?" he asked Henry and Ellie.

She shrugged. "He seems to think he can," she replied before walking away and sitting next to Jackson. "Hey, are you okay? You seem kinda distracted."

"Does Lexie seem different to you?" he asked, looking at the woman in the infield.

"Different... how?"

"I don't know..." He sighed. "Like... she's bothered by the fact that Mark is with someone."

Ellie followed his gaze and it landed on Lexie, whose eyes were fixed on the new couple at first base, frustration evident on her features.

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug before looking over at him. "I have to say, though, you look good with a backward baseball cap."

He smiled. "Is that so?" he asked and she nodded. "I'll have to remember that."

"Hmm." She took the water bottle from his hand and unscrewed the bottle cap. "I'm sure you will..."

"So when were you going to mention that you're a softball star?" he asked and she laughed, shaking her head in amusement.

"Oh, that was an eternity ago," she said, the memories floating in her mind. "Mark still brags about it. He would tell anyone he would meet; family, friends, random strangers on the street. But, it was a good way to get my frustrations out, I'll say that much."

"I bet."

April looked into the dugout from her spot at second base and shook her head. "And they say they don't have feelings. Sure."

"Play ball!" Richard shouted from the outside and Ellie shook her head with a chuckle.

"Who decided that playing softball would be a good idea?" she asked.

Teddy, meanwhile, continued to pitch and gave up another home run, making the score twelve to Seattle Pres and zero to Seattle Grace Mercy West.

As his doctor rounded third base, their chief looked at Owen. "Oh, you want to call it, Hunt?" he asked and Ellie glanced over at him. "Team's looking a little tired. Wouldn't want anyone napping in the OR. The last thing you guys need is a malpractice suit."

Ellie laughed to herself. "Is he heckling Hunt?"

"I think so," Jackson replied, smiling at the sound of Ellie's laugh.

He loved that sound.

"Oh." She sighed contentedly. "I love softball."

"Timeout!" Owen called out to his doctors and Ellie and Jackson walked over to the group. "Timeout. Everybody."

"You just took a timeout!"

Ellie frowned at them. "Calm down. It's not that deep. It's doctors playing softball. Not the World Championships."

"Bring it in," Owen said, chuckling at Ellie. "Huddle up. Alright." They all looked at their chief. "I... I just want to say how proud I am of all of you. You are an incredible team." Ellie furrowed her brows and looked at Jackson; he has been watching the game, right? "I've watched you work together—uh—solve problems together. I watched you teach each other and learn from each other. You... step up when you need to and you... you do more than anyone asks you to do. You're the finest team I've ever been a part of."

"Oh, my God."

"What are you talking about?

"That's really sad."

"Beautiful."

Ellie tilted her head. "You—You are well aware that we're losing by twelve, right?"

"Yeah, you can't possibly think that we have a shot at winning this," Callie added.

"What, this?" Owen asked, gesturing to the field. "Oh, no, no, no. No, we're screwed. You are all horrible at softball."

Ellie squeaked indignantly. "Uh, I beg to differ," she said and he looked at her. "I happen to think that Lexie and I are fine ball players."

"Okay, yes, besides the little doctors," Owen amended and Ellie shared a high-five with Lexie. "But as doctors... you're pretty great, and I'm proud just to get to lead you, and you're all here, so I just... I just wanted to tell you. But now... now we're going down. So what do you say we go down fighting?"

"Yes!"

"One, two, three. Go team!"

Ellie patted Lexie's shoulder as she was handed the softball. "Show 'em what you got, Lex."

She walked over to the dugout and stood next to Derek. Lexie kept glancing over at Mark and Julia at first base and Ellie followed her gaze, hearing Julia's heckling.

"Hey, my grandma's not busy!" she called as Lexie became more and more frustrated. "She can pitch better than that."

Lexie suddenly turned around and threw the ball directly at her.

"Oh, right in the boob!" Callie said, grimacing at the sight.

"What?" Lexie asked innocently, shrugging at the group. "I thought she was stealing second."

"For the love of God!" Their chief stormed over to Owen in anger. "She's a surgeon, Hunt. That could've been her hand. I'm calling it!"

"Whoa," he said, holding up his hands. "So—okay. So, you're—you're—you forfeit?"

Their chief scoffed. "No, we killed you. Game over!"

"You forfeit," Owen said, calling after him. "That was a forfeit!"

Ellie chuckled and leaned back against the metal fence. "I love softball..."

☀️

AT THE END of the night, all of the doctors were gathered on the bleachers, passing a flask around. Alex handed it to Ellie and she raised her head off of Jackson's shoulder to give him a look and he pulled it away. "Sorry..."

"Well," Henry said, standing up. "Thank you guys for letting me be your ringer. Although, I didn't really ring much. It was more like a thunk, but..."

Ellie chuckled at him and rested her head on Jackson's shoulder once more as Teddy looked up at her husband. "Alright, will you take me home?"

He nodded. "I will take you home."

"Well, come on," Arizona said, nudging Callie. "We've got Mark as a sitter, so... I'm taking you home."

"Mm."

Lexie looked at them. "His—His girlfriend's gonna be okay, right?" she asked and Ellie noticed Jackson glancing back at her.

"Ah, it's her boob," Callie replied with a smile. "She's in good hands."

"Stop it!" Ellie exclaimed, covering her ears.

She looked over when she heard a drunken giggle from April and Bailey sighed, standing up to take the redhead home. Meredith and Cristina were laughing nonstop with their heads on their husbands' shoulders and Richard nodded, shaking Owen's hand.

"Good job, chief," he said. "You made it through four innings. Two more than any team I've ever fielded."

Ellie chuckled to herself and stood up. "Alright, goodnight everyone. Good luck getting sober." She looked down at Jackson. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"She loves him, Ellie," he replied with a sigh and he followed her down the bleachers. "I don't think she's ever stopped."

She pressed her lips. "Well... love is a powerful thing," she said and he looked at her. "And we may convince ourselves that we aren't in love, but... in reality... we are..."

He frowned. "Who are you talking about?"

She cleared her throat. "Uh... Mark and Lexie..." She glanced up at him. "Obviously."

"Yeah." He nodded. "Obviously."

Ellie tore her gaze away from him and fluttered her lips. "Um, I'm gonna go," she said, pulling out her car keys. "I'll—I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday," he echoed and she nodded, walking over to her car. Jackson watched her go with a curious look on his face. "Wait!" She turned around and looked at him. "We never had dinner. How about pizza and potstickers?"

A small smile crossed her face. "And the Wizard of Oz?"

He nodded. "Just like old times."

Ellie's smile grew and she nodded. "Yeah," she said, waving him over. "Yeah, I'd like that. But just so we're clear, I'm not sharing my pizza."

☀️

━ author's note:

april kepner, exasperated jallie shipper since 2005...

anywho, i have a question for you all: in the original sunshine, i had ellie go to LA when amelia relapsed (in private practice) to be there for her, and it was mostly just ellie being there. of course, she knows sam and naomi and addie, but other than that, she was a little out of place.

so, i'm just wondering if you all want me to keep that chapter in, or just skip it entirely. let me know!!