Work Text:
We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January
And this is our place, we make the rules
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?
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“No, it needs to go more to the left. The left! Alex, my left, not your left,” Jo directed a frustrated Alex as he struggled to position the Christmas lights on the roof to Jo’s liking.
“Why are we doing this again?” Alex huffed as he placed the final line of lights.
“Because,” Jo sighed as she watched Alex climb down the ladder. “I’ve never had a real Christmas or lived in a house where I could put up lights and a tree in the window so that all the neighborhood kids could see. Last year, we were hardly friends and we spent Christmas in your house that had no furniture and ate pizza and drank beer when we got back from the hospital. But this year, this year it's our house and although she doesn’t like me all that much, Meredith has two kids who deserve to go to Uncle Alex’s house and see lights and presents and smell wood burning in the fireplace. And we deserve it. We deserve the holidays we never had as kids.”
Alex’s eyes softened as he listened to Jo’s rant. He stared at her in silence for a moment.
“What?” Jo crossed her arms over her chest.
“Nothing,” Alex shook his head and took her hand. “I just love you.” Jo’s cheeks flushed at his words. Alex cracked a smile. “We can leave the Christmas lights up ‘til January if that’s what you want.”
“Really?” Jo raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You’d leave them up?”
“Hell yeah,” Alex nodded. “This is our place. We make the rules.”
“If that’s the case, I say that one of our Christmas rules is that you have to give me an organsm every time I try on that fancy new dark green lingerie that I bought in the spirit of the holidays,” Jo’s eyes shined with mirth.
“I could get behind that,” Alex’s smirk grew. “God, where have you been my whole life?”
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Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home
You're my, my, my, my
Lover
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“You ready to go home?” Alex asked as he came to stand behind Jo.
“Huh? Yeah. Yeah, let’s go,” Jo reached for her purse inside her locker.
“Is everything okay?” Alex’s eyebrows scrunched in question. “You seem, I don't know… kind of out of it.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…” Jo let out a sigh. “I met this patient today who thought she’d have forever with her husband. Instead, I had to tell her that the surgery we performed was unsuccessful. She’s going to die and all her hopes and dreams about this happily ever after she thought she’d have got thrown out the window… I don’t know. It just reminded me of why I always kept people at a distance. Of why I was so scared to be with you.”
“You know that’s not going to happen to us right?” Alex brought her into a hug.
“Can we always be this close?” Jo looked up at Alex, eyes vulnerable.
“Forever,” Alex pressed a kiss to her brow. “You’re stuck with me, Wilson.”
“Take me home?” Jo asked quietly.
“Yeah. Let’s go home.”
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We could let our friends crash in the living room
This is our place, we make the call
And I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you
I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all
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“Why is Pierce still crashing in the living room when we have two perfectly good, empty bedrooms upstairs?” Jo asked as they passed Maggie’s sleeping form on the couch. “Robbins has her room and only needs one of the others when Sofia stays here. There’s always at least one empty bedroom. Not to mention the attic room and the den.”
“I told her to make herself at home,” Alex shrugged as they climbed up the steps into their room. “I just wasn’t expecting her to camp out on our couch for this long. She might as well get rid of her place and pay rent here. It’s a lot cheaper.”
“What do you think will happen once Grey comes back?” Jo tiptoed over to the dresser to grab her pajamas. “Do you think Pierce will still live here?”
“You mean if Meredith comes back,” Alex’s face turned somber.
“She’s going to come back,” Jo wrapped her arms around Alex tightly. “She’s gonna come back. I know she is. This is where her family is. This is where you are. This is her home.”
“It’s also where her husband died,” Alex leaned into her embrace. “I hate her for leaving like this, but I get it. I was almost the guy whose wife died, and it terrified the shit out of me. For a few minutes, I forgot how to breathe… and then she left me anyway.” Alex laughed bitterly. “The point is, I don’t blame Mer for leaving because I’d probably do the same thing. I’d probably fall off the face of the earth, too. I know it’s horrible, because Mer is my best friend and I love her, but I kept thanking whatever is out there that it wasn’t you. Everyday I wake up and I’m grateful that you’re beside me, that you’re breathing.”
“You see… this right here is exactly why I’m convinced that all the women we work with are secretly in love with you. Because you say things like that while holding cute kids,” Jo tried to lighten the mood a bit. She knew she had succeeded when she saw Alex crack a smile. “For the record, I’m happy you’re breathing too. I can’t imagine the past three years without you and I never want to. I want all the years with you.”
“We’ll have them,” Alex turned to get a good look at her. “I promise. We’ll have them all.”
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Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever)
You're my, my, my, my
Lover
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“I miss you,” Jo swallowed her pride as the words seemed to burst out of her lips. “I probably shouldn’t because I messed this up. I messed us up and I don’t deserve to tell you any of this or feel bad when you almost went to prison for me. But I miss you. I miss you so much my—my body literally aches at the thought of being away from you because it was never the plan. We were supposed to be close forever. We were supposed to be building a life together. But I blew it and I hate it and I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, Alex. You’ve apologized to me about a hundred times and I still haven’t apologized to you, but I’m saying it now. I’m sorry.”
Alex stood there stunned. He hadn’t been expecting Jo to still be standing outside when he opened the door again seconds after closely it, with every intention to run after her after the hug they shared on Meredith’s porch.
“I—I should go. I don’t even know why I came here. I’m sorry,” Jo turned on her heel to leave.
Alex’s hands caught up with his brain and he cupped her elbow lightly, “I forgive you.”
“Oh,” Jo’s eyes watered, not expecting that response.
“I know we’re not there yet and maybe we won’t be for a while,” Alex started. “But I promised you forever and I’m going to keep that. I’m gonna take you out and take you home again someday. Because I’m yours, Jo. I’ll always be yours.”
“You’re mine,” Jo’s eyes filled with relief and what seemed to be hope for the first time in months. She gave him a shaky nod before taking a step back. “Goodnight, Alex.”
“Goodnight, Jo.”
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Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?
With every guitar string scar on my hand
I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover
My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue
All's well that ends well to end up with you
Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover
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“Where the frick is my ring?” Alex sat back on the bed in frustration.
“Alex! I’m wearing it,” Jo held up her hand in front of him. Sure enough, the ring was finally on her finger.
Jo let out a sigh at Alex’s stunned expression and kneeled down in front of him, “I always thought that there was something wrong with me and I always wanted to run, until I met you... You’re so screwed up that you make me make sense. You and me, we just fit. And I don’t want to leave you, Alex. I want a great, big, giant career, but I never wanna go anywhere without you.” She leaned in to give him a kiss. “You are my home.” She kissed him again. “And you are my heart.”
Jo let out a watery laugh, “Alex Karev, will you marry me?”
This time Alex leaned in for the kiss.
“Wait, so that’s a…?”
“It’s a yes,” Alex grinned brightly.
“It’s a yes?” Jo giggled excitedly.
“It’s a hell yes,” he moved in to kiss her again. “God, Jo, I love you so much.”
“I love you more,” Jo cradled Alex’s face in her hands. “And I can’t wait to be your wife.”
“My wife,” Alex tested out the words on his tongue. “I like the sound of that.”
“I’m sorry, it took so long to get here. If it were up to me, I would’ve married you years ago,” Jo pressed her forehead against his.
“Hey, none of that,” Alex wouldn’t allow her to beat herself up about something that she couldn’t control. “All that matters is this right now.”
“Yeah. This is all that matters,” Jo whispered quietly. “As long as I end up with you.”
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And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover
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“Hey! What was that for?” Jo glared playfully at her husband as she rubbed her butt where he’d pinched.
“That was for the comment about the couch in my office you made in front of Link earlier,” Alex grinned amused at his wife. “You’ve really got to watch for who’s around when you say things like that. First Webber, then Altman, and now Link? I’m the chief of surgery, I can’t have them thinking that I’m sneaking off to go have sex on hospital property.”
“But you do sneak off to go have sex on hospital property all the time,” Jo pointed out.
“Yeah but they don’t need to know that.”
“I don’t see what the problem is,” Jo rolled her eyes. “We’re married. We’re newlyweds for crying out loud. We’re allowed to be a little crazy and have sex inappropriate places. Besides, it’s not like you haven’t been doing this exact thing since you were an intern. These walls have heard what you sound like mid-orgasm multiple times.”
“Jo! Keep your voice down,” Alex hushed as he noticed some nurses giggle nearby.
“Whatever,” Jo laughed brightly. She leaned in to give him a light kiss. “I’ll see you later tonight at the charity dinner. Don’t forget to save me a seat!”
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Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever)
You're my, my, my, my
Oh, you're my, my, my, my
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“You came,” Jo stared at Alex in surprise. “You’re here.”
“There’s something I have to do. It’s a little cheesy, but I’m gonna…” Alex got down on one knee in front of Jo and took both of her hands in his own. “I don’t want an out. You hear me? You offered me an out… And you were right. I was scared. So I thought about it, and what I know for sure now is I’m a better man with you. I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife.”
“I did the work here but I’m not magically fixed. I can’t promise that it won’t happen again,” Jo warned Alex gently.
“I don’t care. I love you,” Alex insisted. “I wanna grow old with you, no matter what. For better or worse, in sickness and in health.” Alex’s eyes bore all the sincerity and love in his heart. “Marry me again. Please.”
Jo felt the tears prickle at her eyes as she nodded. And with all the certainty in her heart, she made the simplest declaration she’d ever made, “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
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Darling, you're my, my, my, my
Lover