Work Text:
You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset
She's going off about something that you said
'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do
I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like
And she'll never know your story like I do
+++
“God dammit, Iz! Can’t you just let it go? I was trying to make my patient feel more comfortable in her dying moments. Why are you so hellbent on believing something that didn’t even happen?” Alex huffed as he laid down on the bed, cell phone by his ear.
“Because I know you, Alex. I know you and I wouldn’t put it above you to sleep with your patient’s mom,” Izzie’s accusing tone came through the phone.
“I wasn’t being serious. It was a joke,” Alex tried to explain the context once again. “Look, I'm not going to keep arguing with you. Besides, you’re on call. Shouldn’t you be taking care of patients instead of yelling at me?”
“I’m only hanging up because I’m tired of hearing your excuses,” Izzie huffed indignantly. “This conversation is not over.”
The line went quiet and Alex thanked whatever powers were above that Izzie decided to hang up the call. He’d had the longest day on Robbins’ service and had to break it to a single mother that her daughter most likely wouldn’t make it past the end of the week. The last thing he wanted was to spend his evening arguing on the phone with his girlfriend about something he said when all he wanted to do was shower and drink some beer.
“That sounded intense.”
A voice sounded from behind Alex. He’d been so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to notice that the music coming from Jo’s room had stopped. Alex sat up on his elbows to see Jo standing in his doorway, two bottles of beer in hand.
“Here,” Jo stretched out her arm to give him one of the unopened bottles. “You look like you need this.”
“You read my mind,” Alex took the beer from her gratefully. “How do you do that? Know what I need before I even know it?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just go with what I think I’d want in that situation,” Jo shrugged casually. “Don’t be too hard on Izzie. She doesn’t get it. She didn’t have to go through some of the things we went through, so she doesn’t understand that humor is how you cope.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I should just end it. Maybe we’re too different,” Alex’s face grew serious. “But then she does this thing with her nose when she’s concentrating really hard and I don't know… I guess I forget about all the bad stuff.”
“There’s nothing wrong with focusing on the good stuff,” Jo shook her head. “All that matters is that you love her and that you’re happy.”
“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
+++
But she wears short skirts
I wear T-shirts
She's Cheer Captain, and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time
+++
“Wow, Iz you look fantastic,” Jo’s eyes widened as Izzie made her way inside the house. “You know this was supposed to be a casual thing right?”
“Aww thanks,” Izzie flipped her hair proudly. “Oh I know, but it’s New Years Eve and I had a crappy day at the hospital so I decided to make myself feel better by dressing up. I’m glad I still had this dress in my car.”
“Huh, yeah I guess that’s as good a reason as any,” Jo looked down at her own worn out Harvard t-shirt. “I just put on whatever is most comfortable so I can go straight to sleep at midnight.”
Hearing a commotion at the door, Alex peeked into the foyer, “Iz.” Alex’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he took her in. “You look… wow.”
“That’s what I was just saying,” Jo’s lips curved up into a smile. “I can see how you booked all those modeling gigs back in the day.”
“Please,” Izzie scoffed playfully. “Jo could wear a paper bag and still look hot. I have to try to look this good. Alex, tell her. Jo looks great in everything.”
“You do,” Alex looked at Jo sincerely. Even in her old med school t-shirt, she looked beautiful. It was something Alex had noticed from the first time he met her and something he was reminded of everyday. “You always look great.”
Jo couldn’t stop the little flutter in her stomach at his words. But they slowly dissipated when Alex returned his focus to Izzie’s dressed up frame. Jo couldn’t help the pain that bubbled underneath her skin. For months now, she’d been fighting her feelings for Alex. She’d been doing a pretty good job of hiding it. That was made easier since Izzie was her friend and Jo would never dream of hurting her friend like that. It didn’t make the feelings go away, but it reminded Jo that all those nights she spent dreaming that Alex would wake up and realize that she had been the one he’d been looking for all this time were just that, dreams.
+++
Walk in the streets with you in your worn-out jeans
I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on a park bench thinking to myself
Hey, isn't this easy?
And you've got a smile
That can light up this whole town
I haven't seen it in a while
Since she brought you down
You say you're fine, I know you better than that
Hey, what you doing with a girl like that?
+++
“Shut up, no you didn’t!” Jo laughed as she and Alex walked towards the park near the hospital. “And Bailey didn’t threaten to murder you on-site?”
“Dude, she laughed. Bailey freaking laughed out loud and had to walk out the patient’s room so that the poor guy wouldn’t notice,” Alex recounted the story of that morning with amusement.
“Bailey laughed?” Jo’s eyebrows shot up. “At a joke you made about your patient?”
“Yup,” Alex chuckled again as he and Jo took a seat on one of the park benches to eat their lunch. “I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose. The comment just came flying out of me and I could stop it before it was too late. I thought she was going to kick me off the case, but even she had to laugh at how ridiculous it was. The guy had a literal stick up his ass. It perfed his colon.”
“God, I love this job,” Jo snorted.
“I know, me too,” Alex grinned brightly.
Jo stared at Alex for a few moments and admired the grin on his face. It was a surprising sight nowadays. Alex rarely smiled as is, but in the past few weeks the number of times Jo had seen him crack a smile had gone down and she hated it. As far as Jo was concerned, Alex’s real, genuine smile could light up whatever room he was in. Yet, he was increasingly grumpy and brooding, not at all like the jokester she’d fallen in love with over the past year and a half that they had known each other.
“Do I have food on my face?” Alex asked, breaking Jo out of her thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You’re staring at me all weird, is there something on my face?” Alex’s lips twitched as his teasing grin widened. “Or are you just admiring the view?”
“Oh, shut up,” Jo rolled her eyes and gave him an easy smile. “I was just thinking that it’s nice to see you smiling and laughing so much. I haven’t seen you this carefree and happy in a while.”
Alex’s smile faltered a bit and he let out a dismissive scoff, “I haven’t noticed.”
“Alex,” Jo’s eyes softened. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Alex’s statement sounded unconvincing even to his own ears.
“Come on, I know you better than that,” Jo set her food aside for a moment to give him her full attention. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Izzie. We’ve been having some issues lately, but then again, when aren’t we having issues?” Alex trailed off. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just feel like I’m not enough for her.”
“Alex, that’s bullshit. You are a great guy. You’re the best guy I know,” Jo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “How could you not be enough?”
“I don’t know. It just always feels like she is trying to change me to be the guy she wants me to become instead of loving me for the guy I am,” Alex shook his head quietly. “I feel like I’m losing a part of myself to please her sometimes.
“Look, I’m going to say something and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, because I care about Izzie and she’s my friend. I would never want to say something bad about her behind her back… but, why are you still with her?” Jo asked. “Why do you keep trying to make your relationship work when you deserve better?”
Because I can’t have you and if I thought for a second that you’d have me, I’d end it all. Alex thought. He couldn’t say that though. Admitting that he’d been in love with Jo practically since the first moment he saw her. So instead, Alex shrugged and answered simply, “Because I love her.”
Honestly though, Alex wasn’t sure if that was true anymore.
+++
She wears high heels
I wear sneakers
She's Cheer Captain, and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time
+++
“What’s that about?”
“What’s what about?” Izzie looked over to where George was motioning towards. “Jo and Alex?”
“Yeah,” George scrunched his eyebrows as he watched Jo and Alex continuously giggling about something while sitting on the couch. “I know they’ve always been close, but they've gotten really… touchy in the past few weeks. Aren’t you worried about it? ”
Izzie let out a laugh, “You’re kidding, right? It’s Jo. I have nothing to worry about.”
“What do you mean, it’s Jo? Iz, I know you’re a confident woman who’s used to being called pretty and all, but if you’re somehow trying to imply that Jo doesn't compare to you, you’d be wrong. Jo is hot and Alex is all over her,” George expressed his concern.
“I’m not saying Jo isn’t hot or that she’s less than me,” Izzie rolled her eyes. “We both know that’s not true. But it’s Jo… she’s simple and I don’t know…”
“You don’t know what?” George was still trying to understand Izzie’s nonchalant attitude towards the situation.
“Let me put it this way. If we were in high school right now, I’m the kind of girl who wears short skirts and high heels. Jo is the girl constantly in oversized t-shirts and sneakers,” Izzie explained. “She’s one of the guys. So yes, she’s hot, but she doesn’t know she’s hot. She doesn’t do anything to emphasize it. And if I know one thing about Alex, is that he likes it when you emphasize it. So, no. I’m not worried about that. They’re best friends. He’s her person. It would be like me hooking up with you.”
Although he wasn’t convinced, George decided to keep his mouth shut, “Whatever you say, Iz.”
+++
If you could see that I'm the one
Who understands you
Been here all along
So, why can't you see?
You belong with me
Standing by and waiting at your backdoor
All this time how could you not know, baby?
You belong with me
You belong with me
+++
“Can’t sleep?”
Jo jumped up in surprise at Meredith’s voice, “Oh my God. Mer, you scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry,” Meredith smiled sheepishly and made her way around the counter to pour herself a cup of the tea Jo had prepared. “They’ve been going at it for a while now. Any idea what happened?”
“I’m not sure. I just keep catching bits and pieces of it,” Jo shrugged as she tried to continue deciphering the yelling match currently unfolding upstairs. “It started with Izzie criticizing something Alex did and then it escalated when George called.”
“This can’t keep happening,” Meredith frowned and leaned against the kitchen island. “They aren’t good for each other. All they do is fight and make each other upset.”
“She’s trying to change him into her idea of the perfect man and it’s obviously not working,” Jo crossed her arms in annoyance. “Alex doesn’t need to change. He’s perfectly fine the way he is. If she doesn’t like it, then she should find someone else that actually meets her standards. Or is okay with being walked all over.”
Meredith was about to open her mouth in response when they caught a part of the conversation going on between the bickering couple.
“I’m not fucking other people because I got bored!” Alex shouted.
Jo and Meredith exchanged a look of confusion. They continued listening as the volume of the argument increased.
“Please. Don’t go acting like a saint. You went and slept with Olivia when we first started dating!” Izzie countered.
“Yeah, and so what? You act as if we were exclusive back then. We went out on a couple of dates and then you met Denny and called me trash! You told me that I wasn’t good enough for you or anyone.” Alex yelled angrily. “You treated me horribly for weeks and what do you do? YOU SLEPT WITH O’MALLEY! You slept with a married man!”
Both Meredith and Jo froze in shock at the revelation. Out of all the things they had predicted, the reality of the situation had definitely not been one of them. After that, the conversation didn’t last much longer. Before either one of them knew it, Izzie was storming out of the house angrily with an overnight bag and her hospital badge in her hands, breezing past them without saying a word.
“Do you want to go talk to him or should I?” Meredith pointed upstairs.
“I’ll go,” Jo stood up from her stool. “You should try to get some sleep.”
Jo made her way up the stairs and walked cautiously towards Alex’s door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked quietly, “Alex? It’s me. Jo. I know you probably don’t want to talk to anyone right now, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you need me. I’m always here for you.”
She waited outside his door for a few moments. After some time, Jo figured that he wanted to be alone. She turned on her heel and was about to walk away when she heard the door open behind her. Jo stopped and looked back at Alex who was sporting red eyes and a pained expression on his face. He moved aside and let her step into the room before shutting the door. She felt her heart crack in half at the hurt in his eyes and didn’t hesitate to envelop him in a hug.
Alex gratefully accepted the gesture and held onto her tightly, allowing some more tears to fall. He sniffled into her neck, “I ended things with Izzie.”
“I heard,” Jo ran her hands through his hair in a comforting manner. “I’m sorry.”
Alex straightened and sat down on the bed. He took one of Jo’s hands in his and started to play with her fingers absentmindedly, “I know this is probably weird, but could you stay? I just… I need a friend tonight.”
“Of course,” Jo cupped his cheek. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
+++
I'm the one who makes you laugh
When you know you're 'bout to cry
And I know your favorite songs
And you tell me 'bout your dreams
Think I know where you belong
Think I know it's with me
+++
“Dude, grow a pair and ask her out already,” Cristina groaned. “I’m tired of seeing you pining for her from afar. It’s disgusting and annoying.”
Alex glared at Cristina from across the nurses’ station. Jo had just left to scrub in on a meningioma resection with Shepherd, leaving Cristina, Alex, and Meredith alone as they went over charts. “Shut up. I’m not pining over her.”
“Yeah and the earth is the center of the universe,” Cristina smirked. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were listing things that weren’t true. Because it’s obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that you’re in love with her.”
“I’m not pining over Jo. Tell her, Mer.”
Meredith raised an eyebrow, “I know you say that there is nothing going on between you and Jo, but maybe there should be.”
“Oh come on,” Alex scoffed. “You can’t be serious can you.”
“As a heart attack,” Cristina deadpanned. “You can’t tell me that you haven’t thought about it.”
“Of course I’ve thought about it,” Alex sighed. “But she’s my best friend and I don’t want to lose her if something were to go wrong. Not to mention that it doesn’t matter how I think or feel if she doesn’t feel the same about me.”
“Wait? You think Jo doesn’t feel the same way about you?” Cristina put down the chart in her hands. “God, you really are an idiot.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Alex, Jo is in love with you,” Meredith revealed. “I know it because she told us. She’s been in love with you since you guys got into that darts competition at the bar a few months into our intern year and you both mopped the floor with those guys. She wanted to ask you out, but she was too scared and you started dating Izzie soon after that.”
“She what?” Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was no way that Jo had been in love with him. “No. No. Jo could do so much better than me. She deserves better than me. There’s no way that she’d go for a guy like me when she could have anyone she wants.”
“She wants you, you moron,” Cristina slapped Alex on the arm. “Don’t ask me why, because I don’t understand it. But she wants you.”
“Of course she wants you. You’re her best friend,” Meredith smiled. “You are Jo’s favorite person on the planet. You are the only person she really trusts. You know how hard that is for her. But she did it anyway. She loves you.”
Alex stared dumbfounded at the chart in his hands. In the months since he had broken up with Izzie, he’d spent even more time with Jo than he had before and his feelings for Jo increased exponentially. There were so many moments while they were hanging out on the couch or her room or the resident’s lounge or the park where he was tempted to throw caution out the window and just kiss her. But every time, he stopped himself, afraid of what would happen to their friendship if she didn’t feel the same way.
“I’ve gotta go,” Alex put down the papers in his hands.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Meredith called out behind him.
“I’m sorry, I—I gotta find Jo. I’ll finish this later,” Alex continued down the hall.
“You better not come back until you’ve made progress with Wilson!” Cristina shouted so that he could hear.
Typically, Alex would have shot back at Cristina, but he had more important things to do at the moment. Namely, catching Jo before she scrubbed in on that surgery. He searched the OR board to check on the status of the operation and was pleased to see that it had been pushed back an hour. He paged her to one of the quieter supply closets on the floor and waited patiently until she showed up.
“Hey, why did you page me to a closet? Do you need help bringing something somewhere?” Jo asked as she walked in the room.
“You’re the only one who can make me laugh when I’m about to cry,” Alex blurted out.
Jo stared at him in confusion, “What?”
“Just let me get this out,” Alex took a breath to steady himself and he placed his hands on her shoulders. “You’re the one person who turns a bad day into a good day. You know my favorite songs and that when I’m in the car I like to blast them really loud. You’re the only person I can talk to about my dreams. When I came here, I thought I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. But you listened when I started hanging out with Robbins and told you that I wanted to go into peds. You didn’t laugh at me or make me feel stupid for wanting it. You just smiled and hugged me because I found the thing that I want to do for the rest of my life. You are the person who’s supported me every step of the way, even when everyone hated me and if I didn’t really deserve it. You’ve been there. And I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to realize it, but somewhere along the way, you became my favorite person. You’re my best friend, but you’re also the woman that I’m in love with. And maybe I’m wrong, but I think you feel the same way too. I think we have something here and I’d be an idiot if I let another second pass without saying anything. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wanna be with you.”
Jo didn’t know what to say. She was utterly speechless. For years she’d hoped that one day something like this would happen, but she’d given up on it long before Alex and Izzie even got together. She had resigned herself to the fact that she’d have to move on and figure out a way to get over Alex so as not to ruin their friendship with something as messy as feelings.
She must’ve been quiet for too long, because Alex pulled away and put his head down in embarrassment, “I-I’m sorry. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut and not said anything. Just forget it-”
“Alex,” Jo reached for him. She cradled his face and pressed her forehead against his. And although she had no words at the moment, she knew she could show him and leaned in for a kiss.
+++
Three years later
“Do you, Alexander Michael Karev, take Josephine Brooke Wilson to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Alex’s face shined as he nodded emphatically at the priest’s question.
The priest smiled at Alex’s enthusiasm and turned to look at Jo, “And do you Josephine Brooke Wilson, take Alexander Michael Karev to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?”
“I super do,” Jo beamed as she answered without hesitation.
Laughing lightly, the priest grinned, “Well, then by the power vested in me. I now pronounce you, husband and wife. What God has brought together, let no man separate. You may kiss the bride.”
+++
Have you ever thought just maybe
You belong with me?
You belong with me