A/N: So, I needed a break from "Thread", because I've been in a strange place with that fic recently. Therefore, I've been asking around for prompts.
This is the first prompt I've gotten, by jcapluver on Tumblr.
"Prompt: season 10, AZ walks in on Mama Torres yelling at Callie about how disappointed she is. AZ steps in and sticks up for Callie. Callie is so happy she grabs AZ and kisses her and decides to try and fix them."
Hopefully this is what you wanted :)
& if anyone wants to submit another prompt, feel free to do it either here, on Twitter (fancy_phalanges), or on Tumblr (fancyphalanges) :)
Enjoy!
Callie surprised her wife by cornering her on the Peds floor one night during the late shift. From what she'd heard, Arizona been sleeping at Karev's place-previously Meredith's house - since the storm. Callie assumed it had been at least two months, but if she was being honest with herself, she didn't know for sure. She was lost in a whirl of loneliness and desperation and never-ending surgeries, and because of this, she rarely slept, causing her days blend together.
Callie hadn't spoken to Arizona; she hadn't even muttered a word after their yelling match at the hospital. That is, until she arrived home to Arizona sitting on the couch, waiting to talk it out. And for some reason, that little thing made her snap. "Get out of my apartment," she had calmly spoken. The tear stains on her cheeks contradicted her tone, but she knew Arizona wouldn't look at her. She just had to keep herself together until she was gone. And she did. Arizona had quietly packed a bag, and left, and not even ten seconds after she'd shut the door behind her, Callie was a sobbing mess against the kitchen counter.
They'd left their relationship that way, with no one truly leaving but no one truly fighting for it, for so long.
Which was probably why Arizona simply stood like a deer in headlights when Callie caught up to her. But Callie had finally made a decision. She didn't want to spend any more time crying over something she couldn't change.
"Arizona!" she had called out, and pulled her to the side. Callie's hands were shaking, but if Arizona noticed, she didn't let on. Mostly she looked confused, and instead of speaking, just tilted her head to the side. "I um….I was wondering…." Callie had suddenly forgotten what to say.
Arizona seemed to take that as a good sign, because she tentatively brought her hand up to Callie's arm and began rubbing it softly. "Callie, you can talk to me…"
The touching is what put Callie into action. She hated it, hated that it still felt like how it would when they first got married. But then again, it didn't. Because Arizona's touch used to feel electric… but now it just felt like a shock. "Can you come over tonight to get the rest of your things?" she asked, with a steel tone to her voice, trying to keep her emotions to a minimum.
Obviously it worked, because Arizona dropped her hand instantly, and her expression changed from comforting to pained before a fake smile covered it up. "Oh, um…yeah. Can I see Sofia?"
"She'll be there; she's got nowhere else to go, unlike you," Callie lashed out. And it hurt, but Arizona let it go, because she didn't have a right to say anything. Not after what she had done.
Xx
Over an hour later, Callie was finally on her way home with Sofia after a double shift at the hospital. When she arrived to her apartment, however, the door was ajar. She prepared herself to yell at Arizona, who was obviously over to get her things, because leaving a door unlocked and open in the middle of the night was just unsafe. "Arizona, how many times do I have to tell you-" Callie growled, pushing the door open and not even bothering to look over at the blonde.
However, the voice that cut her off wasn't her wife's. "Calliope."
"…Mamá? What are you doing here?"
Lucia Torres was standing by the couch with a wine glass in her hand. "Do I need a reason to see my daughter?"
Callie had started to walk forward to great her mother, but stopped herself, becoming angry. "Yes, you do. Especially when you fail at the most important job as a mother- being at your daughter's wedding."
Lucia Torres looked less than amused and tsked at Callie disapprovingly. "You still believe was a wedding? That that wreck of a lifestyle is a marriage? Let me ask you something, do you always enter your house yelling? Does that seem like a true marriage to you?"
Callie frowned. "I thought Arizona left the door open, and I-"
"You're still with that woman after what she did?"
Callie's eyes widened. "Who told you about Arizona?"
Lucia rolled her eyes. "My husband, Calliope. Unlike you, I have a decent marriage."
"You don't know anything, mamá! You haven't been around! If you had, you would have known that a year ago, Arizona went through one of the worst things imaginable. She's still hurting!" Callie didn't know why she was defending her wife, and Lucia picked up on that.
"Why are you trying to excuse what she did to you? Cheating is a sin, Calliope, not to mention she's already sent both of you to hell by starting this "lesbian" relationship business. There is nothing about her to excuse, and yet you still do it. You are not half the woman I wished you would be. You aren't strong enough to get rid of her like you did with George. And since you've already ruined one marriage, why don't you end this thing you have going on? It's not real, God will not punish you. Obviously you couldn't have consummated it, considering you're both women." Lucia laughed menacingly.
"Oh, I didn't consummate it? Then what do you call that time that I took Arizona on top of the kitchen counter? Or that time on the floor? Or the hundreds of times we've fucked on the couch because we couldn't make it to the bed?" Callie's words were spit from her mouth as she smirked at Lucia's expression.
"God will be eternally punishing you for this mess you've gotten yourself in, and for what? You still have managed to ruin it anyways."
"What do you mean, ruin it? I haven't ruined anything. My marriage with George was terrible. We moved too fast, and he wasn't good to me even before he cheated on me. And Arizona also cheated on me, in case you can't get that through your thick skull. I did nothing, and yet I'm apparently not good enough for anyone. How is that my fault?" Tears stung Callie's eyes at this point.
"Just what you said. You aren't good enough. You are a terrible wife. That's why no one wants you." Lucia sniffed into the air, and then took the wine glass to her lips.
And just seeing her mother act so casual made Callie see red. She stepped up to Lucia, grabbed the half full red wine glass, and slung it across the room. It shattered against the wall, covering every surface in a bloody color. Lucia just stared.
Xx
Arizona heard yelling. Lots of yelling. Does Callie have another woman over?
She thought about waiting a few minutes to see what was going on, but after a few seconds of listening, she placed the second voice as Callie's mom. Why the hell is Lucia here? Arizona knew that the mother and daughter hadn't spoken since at least the wedding. And Callie sounded in tears.
Instead of knocking, Arizona decided to use the key that Callie had yet to ask for. She had brought it along to give back to her wife tonight. As much as it hurt, she knew that they were over. But now…she would use it one last time, in order to make sure nothing was interrupted inside the house.
When the door opened, however, the sight in front of her made her heart drop. She'd been just on time to see a wine glass thrown across the entire living room, and the sound of glass shattering to pieces pierced her ears. Then Callie started screaming.
. "You don't get to cut me out of your stupid housewife Christian lifestyle, abandon your daughter and your granddaughter, and then… and then…" She stopped suddenly, getting even closer to Lucia. Arizona could feel the heat radiating off of Callie's body as if she were about to explode. And then she did, shoving her mother back with one hand. "I fucking hate you. Get out of my house before I-"
Oh, fuck it. Arizona raced over just in time to intercept her wife in her arms before she could lay another finger on Lucia. She would have let it go on if she didn't know for sure that anything that left a mark would be a one way ticket to court with the Torres family.
As Arizona held Callie, she realized Callie wasn't crying, and she wasn't yelling anymore, she just looked empty. Arizona wasn't even sure if Callie knew that she was there, so she spoke softly.
"Hey, Calliope. I need you to calm down, okay? Please, I need you to sit down so I can talk to your mother."
"I don't want you here. I don't need you to deal with my problems, I have to do that on my own now, remember? Just go," Callie responded bitterly, but it was an empty threat, and Arizona knew it.
So she set Callie on the couch gently, and kissed her forehead before turning to Lucia with a cold glare. "Do you think just anyone would stick around when their wife loses their leg, blames it all on them, and refuses to so much as make eye contact with them for months? Hell, would you stick around if that happened to Carlos?" She let that sink in. "Calliope is stronger than anyone I know. No one deserves her. No one. And yet people still take advantage of her, because of how amazing she is. They take advantage of her, because they think that just because she has a beautiful heart, that means she'll never get tired of the shit they pull. But she does. So, yes, her first marriage ended in disaster and the way I let ours go, it will too. But none of that is because of Callie. She's been my rock, Lucia. And she's not choosing to anything. But she's decided that this time was too much. That I've hurt her beyond repair. And you know what? I agree with her.
"A good wife isn't someone who walks around the house all day and then kisses her husband or wife when they get home. A good wife is someone who knows when to end something that isn't working. Hell, that's what a good person does. And you are neither, Mrs. Torres, so I'm going to need you to get out of Calliope's house."
Lucia's mouth was wide open. "You do not have the right to speak to me like that, you white trash. You are useless to Calliope. Especially with that one leg of yours. I'm glad she left you. I'd rather have her sin than live a life with a crippled lesbian failure like you."
Callie stood up, deciding she'd been quiet for long enough. "Get out." She practically growled her words.
"I'll leave on my own time," Lucia responded with an eye roll.
Callie went to answer, seething once again, but Arizona cut her off. "Did you not hear either of us? Get out, before I call the police and have you arrested for trespassing. And I don't care what kind of lawyers your husband has. I'll be sure to hire better ones. So go."
Lucia seemed to think about her options for a second, before surrendering. "I will not see you again, Calliope. You are not my daughter anymore."
"Good, because you haven't been my mom for a long time. Bye."
With that, Lucia left, closing the door behind her.
Xx
"Calliope…"
It had been ten minutes, and Callie had yet to say anything. She simply stared at the mess the wine had made. Arizona was beginning to get worried.
"Maybe I should get my stuff another time-"
"No." Callie sighed, and then went back to looking at the wall. A few minutes passed before she spoke again, and by then, Arizona had gotten herself situated on the couch.
"We should buy a house."
"…What?"
"We should buy a house," Callie repeated. "Not now. In, like, a year or something. Sofia's going to be old enough that she'll want more space. And we need more space than this. It's a problem when I can throw a wine glass from one side of our home and it can hit the other side when I'm not even trying."
Arizona couldn't comprehend what Callie meant. "Um…Callie…. I cheated on you, remember? I'm here to get my stuff so I can move out completely."
Callie finally turned her head to look at Arizona. "No, that's what you were here for. But now that you're here, I don't want you to leave."
Arizona frowned. "Don't get me wrong. I want you back. I've regretted what I did since the moment it happened. But I don't have an excuse, Calliope. I don't have a reason yet. I can't explain to you why I cheated. So you can't forgive me-"
"Arizona, I'm never going to forgive you. What you did… I'll never forget. But I need you. I've tried so many times to live without you and it's just never worked. And I thought maybe, if you emptied this place of your things, then it could be bearable. But I realized…. There's too many memories here. I mean, who gives a fuck if your toothbrush isn't next to mine? I'll still remember every single day we ever spent together, rushing to brush our teeth because I wanted 'just five more minutes' in bed or you convinced me somehow that morning sex could fit into our schedule. And who cares if you take your clothes out from the dresser and the closet? I'll still remember those nights we'd go out where you'd ask me what you should wear and I would tell you that you look beautiful in everything, because it's true but you wouldn't believe me and you would end up in that same blue dress that you've worn 50 times but it still looks just as stunning on you. And…and who cares if your pictures are off the living room wall? Because we don't need pictures for memories. We just need wine stains. And if you go, and leave me here, all I'll remember is the time you stood up for me in front of my crazy mother and I knew that you really still loved me and Lauren was just a mistake but I still let you go. I can't do that to myself.
"So then I thought, while I was sitting here staring and you kept interrupting, that maybe I should just buy a house. But I don't want an empty house by myself, Arizona. I want a house with you. I want to be with you. But we also need to start over. So…let's buy a house." Callie's voice wavered, showing her vulnerability. She stood up, walked over to where Arizona was sitting, and straddled her, staring into her shining blue eyes. "Please…" There were tears falling down her cheeks now, but she couldn't stop them. "Buy a house with me."
A smile spread across Arizona's face. "Yes, Calliope. I'll buy a house with you. But you have to promise that we'll work this out, because the guilt I feel is piling up and I sometimes can't breathe and I want you to help me underst-"
She was cut off when Callie pressed her lips to hers, only to pull away a second later. "You saved me from my mother, baby. You saved me... I'm willing to do anything to help us figure this out."
"Okay." Arizona pressed her forehead against her wife's. "But you're wrong about one thing."
"What's that?" Callie almost looked scared.
"You saved me. Thank you, Calliope, for saving me," Arizona stated simply, and Callie knew exactly what she meant.
"So, we're trying again?"
"I guess we are."