Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.
"She's sleeping?" Andrew turned to his roommate after hearing the door of Sofia's room closed softly. He smiled lovingly while putting away the toys that were spreading around the living room.
"She was out like a light as soon as that little head hit the pillow. You wore her out." Arizona smiled back, joining the young man tidying up the place.
"She's really energetic." Andrew gestured around the living room. "I can not believe a little girl can make such a mess."
"Well, the energetic part was coming from her other mother." The blonde pushed the dollhouse back to the corner, smirked to her roommate over her shoulder. "And the making the mess part, you're partly responsible. Don't forget to put the potato chips bag in the trash and the ice-cream bowls in the sink."
Andrew smiled sheepishly and did what he was told. The mobile phone placed on the kitchen island got off as he passed by there. It was Arizona's. He took it for the blonde who was still busy in the living room. Out of curiosity, he glanced at the screen and raised his eyebrows.
"Emerald City Bar?" The young intern passed the ringing phone to the blonde with a lopsided smile. "This hour in the night, tell me it's a booty call."
Arizona cast a glance to the man. It was not that late, just slightly passed 10pm. However, her friends away from work didn't go to Emerald City Bar. And the only one might call her from there would be April, but the trauma surgeon was at work tonight. She pressed the button and brought the phone to her ear uncertainly.
"Hello?"
"Dr. Robbins? This is Joe." Even though it was kinda loud on the other end of the call, Arizona could easily hear a sigh of relief from the man.
"Hi Joe, what's happening? Why would you call me?" Arizona's brows knitted together, trying to figure out why the barkeep would call her out of the blue.
"Dr. Robbins, I am sorry to bother you but I really don't know who else to call." Joe sighed again. "You need to come down here."
Rushed into the familiar pub, Arizona didn't bother to look around the place. She strode toward the bar where the tall barkeep was standing guard, facing a woman who had her head rested on the counter top. Arizona could recognize that silhouette from anywhere.
"Thanks for calling me, Joe." The blonde thanked the barkeep whilst sitting down next to that woman.
"I can't let her leave like this." Joe jerked his head toward the obvious drunk woman. "I haven't seen her like this for years. I know you two are not together anymore but I just don't know who I can call. I used to call Dr. Sloan or Cristina, but…"
"It's okay, Joe. Really, I'm glad you call me." Arizona sighed heavily. They exchanged a tight smile before Joe shifted to the other side of the bar to serve customers.
Arizona sat there staring at the massive black hair spreading on the counter top. She tried to recall the last time she saw her ex-wife was drunk. It was their wedding night. They both had a lot of champagne. They were both tipsy but were not drunk.
She heard a lot of silly stories from Mark and Cristina about how Callie got when she was drunk. But Callie was never drunk when the two of them were together. Happily together. The only time she saw Callie arrived home drunk, it was during their home separation, Callie went out with Meredith. She drank because she was upset.
Arizona knew, Callie got drunk only when she was upset.
"Callie?" Carefully placed her hand on the brunette's shoulder, she called softly. No answer. She tried again. "Calliope?"
Callie startled. She lifted her head slowly, turned to the voice looking slightly confused.
"Arizona? Why are you here? Where's Sofia?"
"She's sleeping at home… uh… my home. DeLuca is keeping an eye on her." Arizona retreated her hand and put it on top on her own lap, watching he ex-wife struggled to sit straight.
"Right, you're living with a boy now." Callie gave a snort of derision that made the blonde flinched. "Isn't it ironic? You always assume me would go back to men. Some how, you're the one to get into that once you get a chance."
"Callie you're drunk." Arizona blushed off the mocking. "What's going on?"
"Like you'd care." The brunette waved her hand, trying to jump off the stool but a hand on her wrist stopped her.
"I always care about you, Callie." Arizona said sincerely.
Callie squinted at the blue eyes in front of her. Arizona could see the emotions flashing on the delicate feature that made her heart ache.
"You have a funny way to show it, Arizona." The drunken woman breathed out slowly. "You didn't care about me when you cheated on me. You didn't care about me when you decided we should separate. You stopped care about me ever since you stopped loving me."
"That's not true, Callie. I've never stopped…" The blonde tried to defense herself, but her words were cut off when Callie waved her hand again and successfully got off from the stool this time.
"It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing's matter anymore." Callie braced herself with a hand on the counter top. Her head was spinning, just liked her mind. "I've moved on. I've moved on."
"Yes, Callie. You have." Arizona said sadly. She looked around as if suddenly remembered it. "Where's Penny?"
"Yeah, where is Penny? Who is Penny?" Callie turned to face the bar, reaching for her abandoned drink. Arizona took it first and slid it to the side.
"You have had enough. Tell me what's going on?"
"Penny and I broke up, okay?" The brunette glared at the blue eyes quickly before dropped her sight to the counter top.
"Oh Callie, I am so sorry." A hint of smile found the way to the fair face. Arizona had to bite the inside of her mouth to suppress it. "Why? You two looked so happy together. Is it because of Meredith?"
"No, it's not about Meredith. It's me, okay?" Callie shook her head, refused to look at the blonde.
"Callie…"
"Penny was right. You know what? Penny was right." Still shaking her head, Callie mumbled under her breath.
"What…?" Arizona wasn't sure she heard it right.
"She said, I was so desperate of finding someone to love me, I didn't even see… ugh!" Flipped down on the stool, Callie raised her voice. "She used me to get into the program, Arizona. I didn't see that because she gave me the feeling that I used to get from you, Arizona. She was perky and funny and… and… and she acted like she cared about me, just like you used to!"
"She… what?" Arizona's jaw dropped.
"She was right. I didn't see her. I wanted to love her because she reminded me of you. The woman I love so deeply. The woman I vowed to spend the rest of my life with. I didn't see her."
Arizona was speechless. She didn't even realize Callie had reached behind her, grabbing the drink and finished it with one gulp.
"And the worst part? I wasn't upset of breaking up with her. I was upset because I can not get you out of my mind no matter how hard I tried. Why can't I stop loving you, Arizona? You don't love me but I am still hanging onto you." Tearful brown eyes stared at the empty glass in her hands. "I am pathetic."
"No, Callie! You are not pathetic." Arizona jumped up and stood right in front of the brunette. She took the glass and placed it on the counter top before cupping the tear drenched cheeks in her hands, looking deeply into the soulful eyes. "You are not pathetic, Callie. And I have never stopped loving you. I still love you."
Their eyes locked. Everything around them faded away until Callie snorted sarcastically.
"You have a funny way showing it, Arizona." The drunken Latina shook off the hands on her face, standing up on her unsteady feet. "I don't believe you. I am going home."
"Wait, Callie. My car is parking out front. I'm driving you home." Arizona followed right behind Callie. Her hand wrapped around the curvy hip trying her best to guide the tall woman walked straight toward the exit.
"I'm okay. I'm totally capable of going home myself. I can take care of myself, just like I was capable of taking care of you while you said you didn't need me…" The cold air outside the pub made the brunette shiver. She moved toward the waiting taxi on the left, but Arizona held on tight and led her to the other side, where Arizona parked her car.
"Calliope Iphegenia Torres, you are not going home alone." The blonde said between her teeth solemnly. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she was able to push the drunken woman up against the side of her car, opened the door and settled the slightly limp body on the passenger seat.
The two women fell into a complete silence in the first few minutes of driving. And Arizona made a decision. Instead of heading to Callie's apartment, she made an opposite turn in the next corner.
"I can not leave you alone tonight when you're drunk like this." She glanced to the side, meeting with a question gaze from her passenger. "But I can't leave Sofia with DeLuca all night. So, you're coming to my house."
"Arizona, it's not necessary. Just… stop the car, I can walk from here." Callie groaned and tried to open the door. Luckily Arizona put on the central locking.
"Are you crazy?" Arizona grabbed onto Callie's shoulder pulling the woman to sit back. "You want to have another car crash while you're in my car? Is that what you want?"
The only answer she got was a grumpy groan. She sighed and re-focused on the road.
"Callie, I know you don't trust me." Another minutes of silence passed by, Arizona just wouldn't hold her tongue any longer. "I did a lot of things that disappointed you, I know that. But I mean what I said, I still love you. I have never stopped loving you."
The blonde cast a cursory glance to the side. She swallowed hard when she got no reaction from Callie, who had her head turned toward the window seemingly deep in her thought.
"I want you to be happy. I do." Arizona continued with a bitter smile on her face. "I let you go because I want you to be happy. Even though it hurt so bad to see you with Penny, I was happy for you because you smiled again. You laughed again and you were glowing again. I hate myself for taking that smile away from your face."
Arizona felt a wrench in her heart when the brunette still remained silent. She was afraid to look at Callie, so she stared at the traffic ahead of her.
"But Callie, I love you and you still love me…" The blonde chuckled in her own words, it was like deja vu. "Do you think… Do you want to give us another try?"
Still, no word was coming from the brunette.
Arizona pulled the car into her driveway with a heavy heart. What was she thinking? Callie just broke up with her girlfriend. Callie was drunk and Callie obviously didn't want to give her another chance. Turned off the engine with a sigh, Arizona was preparing to face the rejection.
In the complete silence, she finally heard… Callie was snoring lightly.
Arizona couldn't help to grin like a fool. The quietness wasn't because Callie didn't reciprocate her feeling. There was still hope.
"Callie… Calliope…" Shaking the brunette's shoulder gently, Arizona called out.
"Yeah?" Callie blinked her eyes a couple time, totally disoriented. "Where am I?"
"We've arrived." Arizona tilted her head toward the house. "Come on, let's go get some sleep. And we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"