WHAT IF...
THE PLANE CRASH NEVER HAPPENED?
"That was fun." Holly mused, looping her arm around Lexie's neck as she smiled brightly towards the girl on their walk towards the shuttle, "And I saw you sneak off into a room with Mark-- alone."
Lexie's head snapped to the girl before her eyes drifted to Mark and Derek talking in the distance before they settled back onto the redhead, "What'd he say?"
"Nothing." Holly shrugged before a smile graced her face as she nudged Lexie's gently, "So tell me--!"
"Shush!" Lexie warned, covering Holly's mouth as she muttered, "Not so loud." Grabbing Holly's hand, she moved the two a few feet away from the parking lot, "Fine."
"Yay." Holly cheered in a whisper, smiling brightly.
Lexie rolled her eyes at her antics before starting as she sat down on a bench, "We talked, and he told me that he broke up with Julia and... we fixed all our issues."
"Ooh." Holly quirked a brow, "And?"
Lexie's eyes flickered from Holly to Mark, and ultimately landed back on Holly as she shrugged before sputtering out a lie, "Nothing."
Holly chuckled, looking at Lexie with a squint, "Oh, I know something happened."
✧
Looking up at the clock as he lightly spun on the chair planted at the Nurses's Station, Jackson mentally counted down the hours it would take for Holly's plane to land as his pocket grew heavy-- the note he had written for Holly practically weighted him down as he felt anxious, knowing the feelings he had written on the paper would change the course of their friendship to something or nothing.
"Excuse me," A familiar voice sounded from the distance, not enough to make Jackson turn, "do you know where Holly Kepner is?"
At that, he turned and quirked a brow, "Logan?"
"Jackson." Logan smiled, walking over to the doctor in relief at finding someone he knew, "Hey, um, do you know where Holly is?"
Jackson folded his arms in front of him as he stood, sizing up the man as he informed, "She's on a flight back from Boise."
"Oh." Logan nodded, almost dejectedly before he stammered, "Um, well, d-do you know when she'll be back?"
Jackson nodded, gesturing towards the clock, "About five hours from now, give or take..." His eyes went to slants, "don't you have to cook something for someone now or--?"
"Yeah," Logan smiled as he joked, "don't you have some life to save?" Upon hearing no laughter, Logan cleared his throat before remarking, "It's my day off today, and, um, I just wanted to apologize to Holly."
Jackson's face relaxed as he nodded, realizing what that meant, "Oh."
✧
"Logan?" Alex questioned as he dumped the remainder of his soup in April's trash that she kept at the corner of her Chief Resident office, "Holly's ex?"
"Yeah." Jackson nodded, his eyes staring off into the distance as he held one hand in his pocket, gripping the note inside, "He said he wanted to apologize."
Alex quirked a brow, turning around to face the soon-to-be plastics attending, "'Apologize' like we need to beat the guy up or--?"
"No," Jackson shook his head as he met Alex's eyes with a squint, "he's a sincere, genuine guy." His eyes flashed down to the pocket, "He'd be good for Holly."
"Yeah, he's great." Alex shrugged, looking at his pager as it beeped before he gave Jackson a look as he left, "Not as great as you would be."
Jackson scoffed lightly, muttering to himself as he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure." His eyes flickered from the trash and his note before he walked over-- and with great hesitation and a lasting look onto the note, he threw it in and sighed, reminding himself as he left, "He'd be great for her."
✧
"Tell me! I lied! I don't know what happened between you two." Holly begged, looking at Mark as the elevator doors closed, "Please?"
"Come on, Mark." Derek gave Mark a look, trying to hide the fact that he too wanted to know what happened, "Just tell her."
Mark squinted at his two friends, "I'm not a gossip."
Derek and Holly scoffed as the former voiced, "You are."
"A terrible one, too." Holly added before she smiled up at him, "Please?"
Mark, who continued to squint at the two, sighed before placing his hands up in surrender, "We kissed--"
"Yes!" Holly cheered before high-fiving Derek, "And here," Holly removed a five dollar bill from her pocket before handing it to Derek, "is your cash, good sir."
"Pleasure doing business with you." Derek complimented, grabbing the cash with a smile before speaking, "So, that surgery--"
"Did you guys seriously bet on my relationship with Lexie?" Mark scoffed, looking at the two before his eyes landed on Holly, "And you lost?"
"I didn't think you'd have a brain." Holly shrugged as the elevator doors opened before she walked out, "And now, I leave you two alone."
✧
"Honey, I'm home!" Holly joked, walking into the Chief Resident office room her sister still occupied before she frowned her eyebrows upon finding an empty room, "Oh," Holly whispered to herself as she walked over to the desk to drop off her coat, "well, that's embarrassing."
She grabbed the empty soda can left on April's desk-- she assumed it was Alex-- and she would be correct. As her hand hovered over the trashcan, her eyes caught onto a piece of paper soaked in soup.
"Oh, gross." Holly commented before her eyes caught her name written in beautiful calligraphy. She took one look around the room before grabbing a glove from April's drawer, putting it on, and grabbing the note, "Look at me," She whispered to herself before beginning to read, "Lexie's klepto and I'm snoopy."
"Holly," It read, and already Holly squinted at the handwriting, it seemed recognizable but her mind struggled to depict who it could be, either way, she continued, "I hope this isn't too straight forward, or finds you at the wrong time since it feels like each time I try to tell you, I stumble upon my words or someone interrupts-- I'll just start."
Holly released a small chuckle, even in the letter the person who wrote it seemed flustered. She wondered who it could be.
"I like you,"
"Whoa." Holly whispered as her eyes went wide, "Plot twist."
"and have since I've seen you-- your eyes, the very ones I often catch myself getting lost in, are the first thing I noticed about you when you walked through the door, and how the light catches it in such a beautiful and flawless manner I cannot understand."
Holly could only think about all the Shakespearean writings she read in school at that moment, and how she had always wished someone would write her a lovely sonnet-- but this, the note she clasped tightly in her gloved hand, felt better than anything she could've imagined.
"I can already tell your sister is going to poke fun for me writing all this down, but I can't see myself simply talking without a note because I'll forget my words the instant I see you." Holly's heart fluttered, "Now I think i've entered a sappy zone."
Holly chuckled lightly before she grabbed the desk chair at April's desk and rolled it over to herself before taking a seat.
"But it's true, it's hard to picture a life without you-- it's hard to sleep without you, hard to go on about my day without seeing you at least once, and it's hard because, well, you're you. You're the light of so many lives that I hope, if you give me that chance, to be that person for you because along with everything else, it's especially hard to see you sad, and if I could spare you from sadness, from the past and future, I would do it in a heartbeat."
"No..." Holly muttered, her eyes noting that the rest of the letter's writings were smudged by the soup in the trash. She turned the letter to the other side only to be met with a blank page. She frowned, wishing she had more to read as her eyes stared down at the paper, realizing she would have to hunt down the anonymous author.
Smiling at her presence in the room, he walked inside confidently as he called her name, "Holly--"
"Did..." Holly paused, her eyes landing on Logan, who had entered the room, as she gestured to the note in her hand, "D-Did y-you write this note?"
"Uh, nope." Logan shook his head, not familiar with any note before he walked over, "I wanted to apologize."
And with that, Holly looked up, prepared to listen to Logan's speech he had readied as her mind wandered over to think over who the author could have been.
✧
"You foolish boy." Catherine lectured-- and Jackson, who cringed as he held his phone up to his ear, could already imagine her hitting him if she was in front of him, "You could've had her, and you threw her into the arms of that boy--"
"Mom," Jackson chuckled, a hint of sadness escaping from his lips before he cleared his throat and walked forward, away from the hospital, "it simply wasn't meant to be, I guess. Plus, the boy is great for her--"
"My baby is great for her." Catherine corrected with a scoff, "Jackson, you are as clueless as you are--"
"Jackson!" A voice was heard from behind, and instantly, Jackson turned around, already knowing it was Holly as he blinked.
"Mom, I'm gonna call you back." He finished, ending the call with his mother before she could say another word. Jackson watched as Holly rushed over to him before she caught her breath once she reached him, cheeks rosy as fog escaped her mouth.
"Jackson--"
"Oh, Jesus, Holly, you're gonna freeze." Jackson noted, immediately removing his jacket to place it on her before she placed a hand in front of him.
"I'll be fine-- you'll freeze." Holly reasoned as her gloved hand lifted the messy note which caused Jackson's face to freeze, "Did you write this?"
Jackson paused, "I--"
"'Cause the handwriting is strikingly familiar." Holly remarked, oblivious to Jackson's face searching for a lie, "And I--"
"I didn't write it, Holl." Jackson shook his head, catching Holly's face falling as the words left his mouth.
"Oh." She frowned lightly before faking a smile as she glanced up at him, "Um, n-no worries, silly me." Holly shrugged before bringing her arms to her chest as an attempt to warm herself up, feeling idiotic for assuming it was him as she looked at the ground.
"Wait." Jackson exhaled, rushing forward as blood crept up to his face.
"Jackson, it's fine." Holly brushed aside, continuing to walk forward as she sighed, "I--"
"It's hard to see you sad." Jackson began, paraphrasing the letter he had wrote, "And if I could spare you from sadness," Holly turned around, "from the past and the future, I would do it in a heartbeat."
Holly's face froze as her eyes met his in perfect sync, her hand dropped the note as she felt her heart flutter in a million different ways, she whispered, "Jackson--"
"And if you aren't ready," He continued, swallowing the nerves that rose, "that's perfectly fine. For you, I'd wait a century--" Holly began to walk over to the man, throwing the messy glove into a nearby trashcan, "and in that century, I'd try to make you at least a fraction of the amount of happiness--"
Grabbing the collar of his jacket, Holly went on her tip-toes as she gently, yet passionately, collided her lips against Jackson's, expressing as much emotion as she could in that kiss which he quickly reciprocated.
His hand gently cupped her cheek, feeling the coldness of her skin on his before he lifted her up, as both an attempt to warm her up and keep her close, holding onto her as she looped her legs across his torso and the two continued to connect their lips together, not wanting the joyful emotion the two felt as they joined together to leave as quickly as it happened.
The lack of oxygen was the only thing able to split them apart, allowing them time to run their eyes across the other's face before Jackson cleared his throat and spoke lowly, "Holl?"
Holly, inhaling breathlessly, whispered back as snow began to fall from the sky and onto them, "Yeah?"
"Do you want my coat?"
Holly squinted at him as she playfully rolled her eyes, "I hate y--"
"That's my boy!" Mark cheered, shouting before Lexie, who was standing next to him, could cover his mouth from ruining the moment between the two, "Get it, Red!" He looked down at Lexie, who glared up at him with a chuckle, "I owe Derek five bucks now."
Holly buried her face in Jackson's neck as their faces grew red, she whispered to Jackson with a chuckle, "I'm gonna kill him."
Jackson laughed lightly, sending Mark a look before he took the two inside, "You can do that after you warm up."
Holly moved her head away from his neck to glare up at him with a smile, "Fine."
✧
thank you to @lovelystevie (i love your pfp :}) for the idea of an a.u. where the plane crash never happened
you guys have me some lovely ideas with your recommendations and i'll write the ones that got me like oh 👁 cause they're cute 🥺-- and as much as i'd love to write one where "what if george never died" ...i kinda did that with chapter 23 and if i write it again THERE WILL BE SAD TIMES and i feel like that would be evil to jolly if he just showed up in their lives at the point where they are now cause holly healed and stuff and then she sees her not-dead-boyfriend like 😀ohhitherelol
AND I DID MY MATH WRONG 🤡 i didn't realize the way that i had plotted it, chapter 80 will be the big chapter and in chapter 79 something happens because i had forgotten to write that down 🤡🤡
ANYWAYS, i was thinking of cartoon/other-versions for my books and geolly would be allison and scott (from teen wolf, holly would be scott 😳) and then jolly would be daphne and fred from scooby doo (and holly would 100% be fred LMFAO) and if you read my other book greenland and wonder what natalia and owen are, they're mickey and minnie mouse because yes :}
and if you didn't know, there's a poll on my account conversations so please vote if you haven't already :} it's to see what i'll publish next and 👁👁✨ i stan all of the ships hehehe