with Cristina Yang due to their competitive natures. The immediate tension between the duo leads to speculation about a potential romance. Yang and Avery compete for the same cases, and in the episode, "Invest in Love," for the first time, Jackson witnesses Cristina taking charge of a situation, and he admires her; he looks at her differently. At a party, when Jackson is a bit drunk, he opens up about how attractive he finds Cristina and kisses her. Jackson is unaware of Yang's relationship with Owen Hunt, so the attraction is natural. Williams does not worry about fans of the couple hating his character because he understands that fans aren't really supposed to like the Mercy Westers; Jackson is in the enemy camp and "has to take his lumps." Williams said the kiss was a "pretty relatable crime of passion." The kiss doesn't have any immediate effects on Owen and Cristina's romance and it remains secret. Jackson and Cristina develop a sort of mutual understanding as they tend to push one another to be better. Speaking of Jackson's past relationship with Lexie Grey, Williams said: "He tried to be safe and wise and not deal with girls, really, when he first focused on transitioning into Seattle Grace from Mercy West. He kept his head down, got his work done and didn't get caught up with banging nurses or anything. But he couldn't help himself with Lexie once they got close; he really kind of fell for her. He made himself vulnerable probably to the least available person in the hospital, because he knew that she had a longstanding relationship with Mark. He knew he shouldn't head in that direction, but he went against his better judgment and got burned for it." "They are both kind of suckers for love [...] they both get caught up in their own momentum [...] he's all about his job and pressure from his grandfather but then he gets bowled over with this platonic relationship. Avery just can't help himself with Lexie." At the end of the eighth season, April and Jackson's friendship evolved into an intimate relationship: "I thought they were going to be able to walk the line of staying on the friendship side of things. What they have is kind of really unique and organic in the world of Grey's Anatomy – two genders in a completely platonic, wholesome, pleasant and productive