Title: Friendly Misconceptions

Author: iheartcallietorres (laurenxx3 on LJ)

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Post 7x05, pre-7x06 (no 7x06 spoilers are included on purpose. I am spoiler-free for 7x06, so if there's anything 7x06 in this, it's purely coincidental). Callie feels left out and talked down to by Arizona's lesbian friends. How does this play out when one of Arizona's friends ends up in the ER with a broken wrist? One-shot.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. All characters belong to Shonda Rhimes/ABC. I don't own anything. Any similarities to real life situations/persons are purely coincidental. Not for profit; for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I have absolutely NO medical knowledge beyond what I see/hear on Grey's Anatomy, so forgive me of any medical-related errors. Also, this is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Please let me know if you come across any, but I'm pretty OCD about grammar and spelling, so there shouldn't be too many mistakes. As always, comments are much appreciated (and will encourage me to write more fics in the future - *hint, hint*).

BIG FAT DISCLAIMER!: After watching (and re-watching) 7x05, this story popped into my head. I wanted to "investigate" why Callie feels "left out" and "looked down upon" by Arizona's lesbian friends. But I want to say this up front: I am not trying to represent ALL lesbians in this story. This is merely a creative expression of how a few of Arizona's lesbian friends may treat Callie. I am not in any way attempting to make sweeping generalizations about the LGBT community, which I am also a part of. I just want to know why Callie feels like this. No offense is meant to be taken by this. I don't think anyone would take offense, but I wanted to cover all my bases. : )

[Callie's POV]

I sat in a booth at Joe's nursing my drink as I chatted with Teddy. I wouldn't say Teddy and I were great friends, but we've grown closer since the shooting. She's been hanging out with Arizona and I a lot more since she finally gave up on Owen, which was definitely for the best in my opinion. And though Mark had been an idiot while "dating" her, they had made amends enough so that the four of us could hang out together on a regular basis.

Tonight, it was just Teddy and I. Mark was working and Arizona was with her friends. Her other lesbian friends. I'd been invited, but decided to opt out. Well, Arizona had invited me. She may miss me, but I'm sure her friends couldn't care less that I was absent.

I like Arizona's friends, for the most part. There's a core group of five: Ginny, Tori, Taylor, Nicole and Arizona. And then there's me. The only one's who's enjoyed sex with men. Tori, I've learned, used to be married to a man, but she claims she never enjoyed sex with him. That she always knew something wasn't right. It wasn't until she met and fell in love with her partner, Ginny, that she realized she was a lesbian. The others, Ginny, Taylor, Nicole and Arizona, are all "gold-star lesbians."

Woo-freaking-hoo.

"Callie, are you listening?"

I glanced up, pulled out of my thoughts. I gave Teddy an apologetic smile. "Sorry," I said. "What did you say?"

Teddy narrowed her eyes at me. "I asked why you're avoiding Arizona."

I sipped my drink. "I'm not avoiding her," I said nonchalantly, hoping she'd let it drop.

"Yes, you are," Teddy said. "Ever since yesterday and the presentations. Did she yell at you for giving her such a hard time? That was kind of mean, by the way."

I blushed and focused my gaze on the condensation on my glass. "She didn't yell at me," I said. "She didn't do or say anything, actually. We're cool."

"Hmm, so why are you avoiding her?"

"I'm not avoiding her," I reiterated. "I'm… avoiding her friends. They don't like me."

Teddy raised her eyebrows. "They don't like you? Why not?"

"It's some weird lesbian thing. They judge me because I've enjoyed sex with men in the past and make no apologies for it. Why should I? It's just who I am." I shook my head. "Sorry. I don't mean to unload on you. It's not your problem."

"We're friends, right?" Teddy asked.

I looked up at her and nodded. "Of course."

"Then you can unload on me and not feel guilty. Now, tell me what's wrong."

I chuckled. "You've been hanging around the trauma counselor way too much," I muttered. I sighed. "Okay, fine. Arizona's friends… they're nice enough… most of the time. They're not outright mean or rude to me or anything, it's just that they're a little condescending at times. I'm a big girl, I can handle it most of the time, but… not tonight. I needed a break tonight." I shrugged in attempt to get her to see that it wasn't a big deal.

"Have you talked to Arizona about this?" Teddy asked.

I shrugged again. "I don't think she realizes it's happening," I said. "And there's really no point in bringing it up because it's really not a big deal." I cringed. "Except, it came up during my presentation to the Chief the other day."

"How so?"

I bit my lip. "I may have mentioned the whole feeling left out by her friends. Hey, he's the one that mentioned Arizona in the first place!" I defended when Teddy started laughing. "Stupid verbal diarrhea," I muttered into my drink. I sighed and straightened. "I can handle it. Seriously."

Teddy eyed me carefully over the rim of her glass as she took a sip. Something caught her eye over my shoulder and she chuckled. "Well, I hope you mean that," she said, pointing over my shoulder towards the entrance to the bar.

I glanced behind me and groaned inwardly. Of all the places in this city to go, why did they have to choose Joe's? They usually went to another bar across town; one that catered to ladies and ladies only.

Arizona saw us and waved as they made their way towards us. "Hey," she said, kissing my cheek. "I thought you were going straight home after work to catch up on some sleep?"

I plastered on a fake smile and pointed to Teddy. "She conned me into a drink before I went home. I was planning on leaving in a few minutes." I noticed Teddy narrow her eyes at me, but she was silent because it was technically the truth. I had planned on going straight home until Teddy asked if I wanted to grab a drink. Of course, there'd been no conning involved. I'd readily said yes.

Arizona seemed to accept that answer and I acknowledged her friends standing behind her and greeted them.

Arizona had just finished introducing her friends to Teddy when Teddy's pager blared. With a groan of protest, said goodnight and made her way out of the bar towards to hospital, muttering that it was a good thing she'd only taken a few sips of her drink.

Arizona chuckled and turned back to me. "We just stopped by to meet up with Nicole's date and I notice you and Teddy inside, so we decided to stop in to say hi. Are you sure we can't convince you to join us?" Arizona asked once again, a bit of a pout playing across her lips. I almost caved. I was incredibly close to saying the hell with it and agreeing, but Ginny spoke before I could say yes.

"We're going to The Wild Rose," Ginny said matter-of-factly. "It's Pride week. That's when we celebrate our diversity within the gay community, but there will be plenty of straight alliances there, too." Her voice was sugar-coated and upbeat, but I heard the condescension lurking beneath the surface. It was things like that. Comments that weren't blatantly obvious or rude, but rang of snide in my ears.

One of these days, I should call them out on it, but not today.

I offered Arizona an apologetic smile. "I'm just so tired," I said. "And I need to read up on that big surgery of mine for tomorrow."

Arizona pouted, but didn't argue. She gave me a quick kiss and said she'd be home in a few hours. I watched her walk out of the bar with her friends, laughing at something Tori said. I had just finished the rest of my drink and was about to leave when Teddy reentered the bar.

I gave her a questioning look and she sighed heavily. "Patient died before I even got there," she explained solemnly. "Arizona and her friends leave?"

I nodded. "Yep. I managed to say no to Arizona's pout, though I'm not exactly sure how…" I pondered that for a moment. I'm usually never able to say no to her.

I shook my head and returned my gaze to Teddy's. "You missed it. Ginny found it necessary to explain to me what Pride Week is." I rolled my eyes. "I swear, they think I lived under a rock!"

"Even I know what Pride Week is," Teddy said with a chuckle.

"Oh, and then she said that I shouldn't be too uncomfortable because there will plenty of straight alliances there."

Teddy winced. "Ouch. What did Arizona say?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. She didn't even acknowledge that Ginny had said anything." I sighed and picked up my purse. "I really am tired, though. I think I'll head home and get some sleep. I have a huge surgery tomorrow."

Teddy nodded and stood as well. "Good luck," she said. "Oh, and Torres? You really should talk to Arizona about this. You shouldn't have to be uncomfortable around her friends." She gave me a smile, then walked over to the bar, greeting a few other surgeons from SGMW.

I left the bar and headed towards our apartment (I still got giddy whenever I thought of it as "our" apartment). It wasn't that big of a deal, right? I was over thinking this.

Except, it had crept its way into my presentation to the chief.

I cringed at the memory and sighed as I entered the elevator. I leaned back against the wall as the doors closed. Maybe I'm just too tired to deal with all this right now. A good night's sleep was definitely in store.

..::~*~*~::..

I rocked my surgery the next day without a hitch, which put me in a good mood. My adrenaline was pumping and I considered paging Arizona to meet me in an on-call room to celebrate.

But my pager buzzed just as I was scrubbing out. I groaned and checked it, my groan turning into a grin when I noticed that it was Arizona. But she was paging me to the pit, so sexy time was not on her agenda. Oh, well. At least I got to see her.

I quickly made my way to the pit, fully expecting to find a kid with a broken bone that needed fixing, but stopped short when I saw Arizona at the bedside of none other than Ginny. They were busy chatting and didn't notice my approach, but I saw that Ginny's right arm was elevated and covered with gauze.

"Ginny? What happened?" I questioned once close enough. Though I didn't like some of the comments she made on occasion, I still didn't want to see her hurt.

"Hey," she greeted me with an embarrassed grin. "I feel like such a klutz. I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell. I think I broke my arm."

Arizona chuckled. "It's because of those impossible heels you insist on wearing all the time," she said. She looked up at me. "How was your surgery?"

I smiled like a kid in a candy store. "Smooth as ice," I said. "He'll be back to running marathons in no time." I pulled on some latex gloves and turned to face Ginny. "Does it hurt or is it numb?"

"Kind of numb," Ginny replied. "Until I try and move it."

I nodded and pulled off the gauze, revealing a severely swollen wrist that was already turning shades of blue and purple. It was definitely broken and most likely needed surgery. I felt along the upper part of Ginny's forearm to see if there were any other areas with possible injuries, but couldn't feel any.

"Do I need surgery? Please don't tell me I need surgery because I have a case tomorrow." Ginny was a civil rights lawyer and specialized in gay and lesbian affairs.

I gave her an apologetic look. "I won't know for sure until I can look at the x-rays, but I'm pretty sure you'll need surgery."

Ginny fell back against the pillows with a groan. "Stupid sidewalk," she muttered.

"Dr. Robbins! Need you!" Owen's voice thundered through the ER as he and a team of residents wheeled a gurney with a young girl past, towards the surgical elevator.

Arizona rushed out her apologies to Ginny and sprinted away. I ordered an intern to take Ginny to get x-rays.

It wasn't long before I stood in the viewing room and my initial guess that Ginny would need surgery was confirmed.

I sighed and made my way to Ginny's room to tell her the bad news. Tori was now by her side, clutching her uninjured hand.

Ginny was able to read my expression when I walked in the room. "Surgery?"

I nodded. "I have you scheduled first thing in the morning. Eight AM."

"Damnit," she groaned. "Well, you're doing the surgery, right?" she asked me. I kind of warmed my heart that she wanted it to be me.

I nodded. "You bet," I said. I picked up her chart and made a few notes. "How's your pain level? I can order more meds if you need them."

Ginny shook her head. "I can deal. I don't like the fuzzy feeling they give me." She studied me. "Hey, is your fuck buddy around?" she asked. "I wanna meet him."

"Excuse me?" I asked, utterly confused and feeling my anger begin to rise.

"You know, that guy who's a manwhore and your best friend. Matt?"

I sighed and placed her chart on the foot of the bed. "Mark is not my 'fuck buddy.' Yes, I slept with him in the past, but that was a long time ago." My voice rose several decibels. "Just because I used to sleep with him doesn't mean I will again. And I resent the implication that I would."

I didn't give either of them time to respond. I just grabbed the chart and left the room, letting the door close behind me. That felt good to get off my chest. Really good.

..::~*~*~::..

I was filling out another patient's chart at the nurses' station when Arizona walked up to me, arms crossed, body tense. I instantly knew I was in trouble. I had no idea why, but I know that look. It's the look that tells me that I'll probably be sleeping on the couch tonight.

"Hey," I said cautiously. "What's wrong?"

She looks at me as if she's astonished that I even had to ask. "Ginny told me what happened."

I gave her a confused look. "What happened? When?"

"Callie, don't try and play dumb," she said. She called me 'Callie.' I hate when she calls me 'Callie.'

"Arizona, I really don't know what you're talking about."

She huffed and grabbed my arm, aware that nurses were within earshot. She dragged me to an on-call room and shut the door behind us. "Ginny said that she asked to meet Mark and that you 'went all psycho' and yelled at her."

"What? No-"

"Look, I don't know what you have against Ginny, but she's my friend," Arizona said. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't yell at my friends. I tried, honestly tried to like Mark for you. I'm just asking for the same consideration."

Her eyes shone as if fire would explode from them at any second. My mouth gaped open in surprise.

"Arizona, really, that's not how it happened. Ginny did ask to meet Mark, but-"

Arizona's pager blared, interrupting me. "I have to go," she said shortly.

"Arizona, please, you have to believe me," I pleaded, but she kept walking, letting the door of the on-call room shut forcefully behind her.

I groaned in frustration and sat heavily on the edge of a bed, punching the pillow in attempt to relive some of my anger. Damn Ginny and her misconstrued truth!

..::~*~*~::..

[GENERAL POV]

Arizona scrubbed out from her surgery on a six year old with a ruptured Aorta. She and Teddy had been able to fix the damage, but it was only a temporary fix. The girl needed a new heart.

Arizona was still peeved at Callie. She thought that Callie got along fine with her friends. She guessed she was wrong. She had a hard time believing Callie would go off on Ginny like that, but why would Ginny lie about that?

Teddy joined Arizona in the scrub room, but Arizona was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't even notice.

"You okay?"

Arizona jumped at the sudden voice.

"Sorry," Teddy said.

Arizona shook her head. "I'm fine," she replied to Teddy's previous question tersely.

Teddy eyed her suspiciously as she scrubbed out. "You don't look fine," she said. "You look… angry. You're not angry at me, are you?"

Teddy's attempt to make Arizona smile worked, but only briefly. Arizona shook her head. "It's not you I'm angry at."

"So, you are angry at someone."

Arizona sighed and turned towards her friend. "Fine. I'm angry at Callie."

Teddy sighed. "What did she do? Do I need to go kick her ass?"

Again, Teddy's attempt at making Arizona laugh worked. "Thanks for the 'protective' nature, but I think I can handle it on my own. My friend Ginny - you remember her from last night, right?" Teddy nodded. "Anyway, she broke her arm this morning and is here overnight until she can get surgery on it tomorrow morning. She told me that Callie went off on her for no apparent reason. I'm just mad because I tried so hard to get along with Mark for her. I don't see why she's not doing the same for me."

Teddy was silent for a moment, contemplating. It really wasn't her place to step in, but she knew for a fact that Callie had been trying and succeeding for the most part. Callie was her friend, too though. Teddy decided to say something.

"Did you get Callie's side of the story?" Teddy asked carefully.

Arizona scoffed. "Her side? Teddy, she yelled at my friend!"

"But, Arizona, Callie has tried. She's tried a lot. Maybe you really just don't see it, but Callie thinks your friends don't like her because she has a history with men."

"What?" Arizona questioned.

Teddy nodded. "We were talking last night before you and your friends showed up at Joe's. I don't want to get Callie into more trouble, but she wasn't that tired last night. She was avoiding your friends because she says they talk down to her and leave her out of conversations."

"That's ridiculous!" Arizona cried.

Teddy quirked an eyebrow. "Is it?"

Arizona thought back to previous outings with her friends and Callie, trying to remember if what Teddy said was true. Little comments that had gone right past her before now came surging back to her. Times when Callie tried to put her two cents in, only to be cut off by one of her friends or her ideas thrown to the back.

"Shit." Arizona's head fell forward, her chin hitting her chest.

"She just wants to be included," Teddy said. "And not thought less of because she has a different past than you and your friends. And my guess is that Ginny said something else just a little condescending and Callie just snapped because everything's kind build up recently. Especially since it caused her to lose out on the million dollars."

Arizona's head snapped up. "What?"

Teddy shrugged. "Ask Callie. I've already said way too much." With that, Teddy walked past Arizona, giving her should a slight squeeze.

Arizona stood there for a few more minutes, composing herself. She'd fucked up. Big time.

..::~*~*~::..

[Callie's POV]

I cornered Dr. Bryant, a fellow ortho attending, and got him to take over Ginny's surgery in the morning. I claimed that I had too much on my plate, which was a total lie considering the fact that I had no other surgeries scheduled yet for tomorrow. I just couldn't be trusted to take a scalpel to Ginny's flesh right now.

I had to force myself to stay away from Ginny's room. I'm not normally one to shy away from confrontation, but this was different. Arizona was involved here and I didn't want to mess things up even more than they already were.

I knew I needed to talk to Arizona, but didn't really feel like trying to explain myself to her. I had done nothing wrong. Why should I do all the work?

Instead, I changed into my street clothes as soon as my shift ended and walked home. Normally, I'd hang around for the extra hour until Arizona's shift ended, but not today. Today, I need some time to think.

I love Arizona with every piece of my soul, but she really pissed me off today. I was frightened because I've never been this angry with her before. Not even on the day of the shooting when she'd said that she didn't trust me.

I immediately dropped my bag and went into our bedroom, closing the door behind me. I pulled off my clothes as I made my way to the bathroom for a long, hot shower. I scrubbed myself clean, as if I were attempting to wash away the anger.

It didn't work.

I quickly dried off and threw my damp hair up into a messy ponytail before pulling on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. I glanced at my phone and noticed that I'd been in the shower for nearly an hour. I also noticed that I had no messages. Arizona usually texted me once she was on her way home.

I sighed and opened the bathroom door, stopping short when I saw Arizona laying back on the bed, fully dressed and fast asleep. Her legs were hanging off the side of the bed, as if she'd sat to wait, then laid back and fallen asleep.

I couldn't help the small smile play across my lips before I remembered that I was mad at her. I folded my arms across my chest and cleared my throat loudly. She must have just dozed off because she awoke immediately and sat up.

"Calliope," she said, her voice small.

I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to say something. I got impatient after several beats. "Shower's free, but there's no more hot water," I said and moved towards the bedroom door.

"Wait," Arizona cried out, standing quickly and gripping my arm to stop me. "Please. I-I'm sorry."

"For what, Arizona?" I asked, anger lacing my voice. I refused to look at her because I knew that all it would take to forgive her was one look in those cerulean blue eyes.

"For not letting you give your side of the story," Arizona said. "For jumping to conclusions like I'm prone to do." She paused and took a deep breath. "For not seeing things sooner."

I finally looked at her. "Things?" I questioned.

Arizona nodded. "I don't know how I missed it all, but I did. The sarcastic comments, the exclusion from conversations… I didn't realize how much it hurt you."

Her eyes were pleading. Damnit, I knew I shouldn't have looked at her eyes. Her tears were like a knife to the stomach.

No. I can't be sucked in by her eyes.

I shook my head. "You didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm your girlfriend, Arizona."

"I know," Arizona rushed. "And I'm so sorry I didn't listen. But I'm listening now. Please."

I sighed. As much as I wanted to stay mad at her, it was nearly impossible.

"I promise," Arizona said. "I'll talk to them. Tell them to stop being bitches. You're more important to me than them. I-I could probably live without them in my life. I c-can't without you." Arizona's voice broke on her last sentence and I was a goner.

"Arizona," I groaned, pulling her into my arms. Her arms immediately wrapped around me, her hands fisting the back of my t-shirt. I buried my face in her hair and inhaled her scent, coconut from her shampoo and something uniquely Arizona.

I pulled back after several minutes and sat on the edge of the bed, guiding her to sit next to me. "It really hurt when believed Ginny over me. You didn't even let me talk."

Arizona bowed her head. "I know," she whispered. "I was just so… mad, even though I know now that I didn't have a right to be. I should have asked you before getting mad." She shook her head. "I don't know why Ginny would say that, though."

"What exactly did she say?"

Arizona turned her head toward me. "She said that she asked to meet Mark and you 'got all high and mighty' and started yelling at her. She, ah, also may have quipped that she thought you may still be sleeping with him, but that's not the part I believed. I knew that was just Ginny being Ginny."

I shook my head. "And I could have told you that, yes, I did raise my voice at her, but only because she asked to meet my 'fuck buddy.' It was clear she was implying that he was still my, umm, you know. And, I just couldn't take it anymore. I probably shouldn't have yelled, but she deserved it."

Arizona chewed on her lip and cast her gaze downward. "Yelling isn't the way to get through to Ginny," she said. "She gets defensive when someone yells at her. But, I get why you did. And I'm sorry she said that. I'll talk to her. I'm sure she wasn't deliberately trying to get to you. It's just the way she is sometimes."

I nodded slowly. "I try to get along with your friends, Arizona," I said. "And most of the time, I do. I just wish you'd support me a little more."

She nodded and rose up to place a gentle kiss on my temple. "I will. From now on, I'll be watching out for it. I promise."

I nodded and pulled her lips to mine, kissing her softly.

"All is forgiven?" Arizona asked when we parted.

"Forgiven," I answered. "But you still owe me. And I plan on collecting right now." I grinned and pulled to down onto the bed with me, already pulling at her clothes.