There are many ways to burn a bridge.
There's the easy way. A match. Kerosene. And a snap of the finger. A flick of the wrist. And poof, up in blazing glory.
Or there's the hard way.
Arizona Robbins was figuring that out as she sipped just one more swig of the Tanqueray from Teddy's liquor cabinet. Straight from the bottle.
There wasn't any kerosene, but there was a wicked glint in her eye and one that matched Teddy's hazy stare.
The pair sat in a heap on the floor, watching Pretty Woman, sort of, and passing the emerald green bottle between each other. Arizona had wiped most of her mascara off of her face during her periods of sobbing and it sat around her pretty blue eyes in two matching rings.
Teddy didn't mind consoling her friend. She was so drunk that she could barely make out Julia Roberts's snug red dress, so there was no distraction, all attention focused on Arizona.
"You hangin' in there?" Teddy asked as she reached over to pat her friend's shoulder—missed—and then just settled on patting her bicep.
"Mm, not really. But I'm just trying not to think about it. I can't believe she slammed the door in my face. In my face!" Arizona croaked some. "And then, in the elevator in the hospital, she had the audacity to tell me she fucked that miserable excuse for a man."
Teddy wondered why she was so hoarse. She figured it had something to do with all the crying. When Arizona had called her, she was sitting in her apartment drinking gin straight from the bottle and crying. So, misery loved company.
"She's angry," Teddy tried to help, smoothing her hand against Arizona's slightly mussed locks. The blonde looked like she could use a hot shower and a warm bed.
"I'm such a fuck up," Arizona blurted as she resumed crying again. Teddy sighed and scooted closer, grabbing her best friend's face between her hands.
"Arizona, you are not a fuck up. You're not. No matter what you think," the woman assured, catching tears with her thumbs and wiping them away. "You did what was best for you. Something humanitarian. Somethin' like…huge. Bigger than us."
She was drunk, but she hoped she was making sense.
Arizona sighed as she nodded. "You're right." She took another sip of gin. It burned her throat worse than she thought it would. "But, I'm seriously just... I love Calliope, even though she's hurt me like this."
"I know," Teddy nodded, "I know. She loves you, too."
"Not," Arizona huffed.
A smile cracked on the thinner blonde's face. "C'mon, Arizona. Don't be silly."
Her head tipped back at that and she sighed. "I am silly. We're silly, sitting here crying over spilled milk." She swigged, wiped her mouth, and handed the bottle to Teddy. "My dad used to tell me that crying over spilled milk was useless. All we could do was clean it up, and learn from it. But how am I supposed to learn, ya know?"
Teddy's eyes had pooled with tears. She had no idea why she felt so emotional. "That's beautiful."
Arizona lifted her head up again. "It's nonsense."
"Just like crying over a married man?" Teddy asked with a giggle.
"Yeah, just like that."
The pair split into laughter, holding their stomachs.
"You know what? I think we should dance."
"Dance?"
"Dance," Teddy nodded.
And even though it reminded her of Calliope, Arizona followed Teddy to her iPod dock.
The blonde drunkenly operated the musical storage device, hiccupping through the choices. She stumbled upon some Taio Cruz and pushed play on the touch screen, turning up the volume on the docking station.
Hilariously, and with the highest heels Arizona had ever seen, Teddy backed up, swaying some, and started breaking it down to the beat. Her hips swung while her long blonde locks twirled airily around her head. Arizona just watched and laughed.
"I can't dance, I'm too drunk," Arizona said as she waved the woman off, moving back over to the bottle of gin.
"A-yo, baby let's go!" Teddy replied, singing.
Arizona stumbled back to the sofa and hazily let it catch her fall, resting her exhausted body. She leaned her head against the arm of the couch, her thumb scrolling through her Blackberry to see if she'd missed any calls or texts. Upon realizing that she didn't, she tossed the phone to the other end of the couch, watching it fall behind one of the cushions. She didn't care right now.
Teddy was still dancing and singing along to the poppy music. When she noticed that Arizona hadn't joined her, she sulked, stopping her motions. She suspected the woman had maybe decided to sneak off and text Callie, which probably wouldn't be the best in her drunken state. When she strode over to the couch and realized Arizona was asleep sans phone, she poked the blonde's shoulder.
"Hey," she said sternly.
Arizona jolted awake, wondering idly how long she'd been asleep when she noticed Teddy looming over her.
"What?"
"Let's go to sleep, I'll make us something greasy and frickin' awesome in the morning, but you're sleeping, and I don't want you to sleep on the sofa; it'll hurt your back."
Arizona snickered, "Okay, Teddy."
The cardio surgeon held out a hand for Arizona who took it, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. She stumbled forward, falling into Teddy's arms.
Arizona's eyes twinkled as she giggled some, resting her head on Teddy's shoulder. The heeled woman wrapped her arms around her friend, hugging her tightly, pressing her lips to the side of her head.
"You'll be okay. Callie will realize what she's missing after a little while, and you two will be stronger than ever. I'd like to be in your wedding, though, if you don't mind. I've never been to a lesbian wedding."
Arizona chuckled at Teddy's alcohol-induced honesty and nodded against her shoulder, enjoying the feeling of the long hug.
"This feels really good," Teddy said softly, sighing in contentment.
"Mhm, let's go to your bed and snuggle," Arizona sing-songed, slurring the last bit out, glad Teddy heard her.
The pair made their way to Teddy's bedroom where the woman rifled through her drawers for a pair of pajamas for Arizona. She handed the shorter woman a plain white t-shirt and a pair of thin cotton pants, shrugging out of her own shirt in the process. Arizona began undressing, not really caring that Teddy was getting a full frontal view. She was too drunk to notice as she let her jeans and t-shirt fall in a pile in the corner of Teddy's room.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Teddy mumbled as she pulled down the duvet after changing into a tank top and shorts. "But, you have a seriously killer body."
"Thanks," Arizona chirped. "So do you."
Teddy giggled, patting the empty space in bed beside her. Arizona climbed in and sighed, letting Teddy pull her into her arms. If she was being honest, Teddy was bony. She yearned for Callie's warm, soft curves pressed into her back, leg woven between hers, lips on her neck. But Teddy felt nice, too, in her own way.
"You feel nice," Arizona smiled through a yawn. "Thanks for holding me."
"Mm, no problem. You're warm."
"I brought some African sun back with me," Arizona grinned, wiggling her hips unconsciously against Teddy's pelvis.
When Teddy's chuckle turned into a gasp, Arizona realized what she did and then, without a moment's hesitation, did it again.
Teddy's hand started rubbing Arizona's side, gently, slipping underneath the cotton fabric of her t-shirt to touch along her skin. The connection to someone else felt nice, even if it was a woman, even if it was her best friend.
"Did you hook up with anyone in Africa?" Teddy murmured lowly, dangerously close to Arizona's ear.
"Mm, no. I was too distraught, not to mention busy," Arizona said softly. "I had a really hot intern from Germany, though."
"What'd she look like?" Teddy mused, fingertips skirting up along Arizona's ribs.
Soothed by the gentle touch, Arizona giggled. "She was blonde, big green eyes, tan. Had a girlfriend back home."
"Mm. That sucks."
"We talked a lot. I told her all about Callie; she told me about her girlfriend. They live together, were going to adopt whenever the year was up. It made me sad."
Teddy tugged Arizona closer. "Don't be sad. It's okay. Let's talk about happy things."
"Happy things," Arizona parroted.
"If you had to hook up with one doctor at the hospital, girl or guy, who would it be?" Teddy asked, giggling. She probably should have just gone to sleep.
"Um, really?" The blonde blushed. "I dunno."
"Well, if I had to hook up with a guy, it'd be Avery, probably. He's a hunk. And girls? Well, you."
"Teddy!" Arizona squealed, spinning around in her arms. "Do you really have a big lesbian crush on me?"
"Well, when you put it that way, I change my answer to Lexie."
"Lexie's hot," Arizona nodded. "You're hot, too, Teddy."
"Shut up, you don't have to humor me because I told you I think you're sexy. You don't have to—"
But, there was no time to continue her statement as Arizona's lips crashed against her own.
Teddy giggled, muffled against the blonde's lips. This felt like summer camp or some random game of truth or dare. Arizona pulled the other blonde closer, welcoming the tongue into her mouth. Arizona's thigh snuck between Teddy's knees, pushing upward gently. Their plethora of giggles faded some when Teddy groaned into Arizona's mouth, gasping when she felt a pang of arousal shoot through her.
"That feels really good," Teddy mumbled, again.
Arizona grinned wickedly to her friend, removing her knee and replacing it with her palm, pressing the butt of it against Teddy's crotch. She liked hearing Teddy gasp for her, liked feeling those fingertips dig into her shoulders.
"Arizona," Teddy warned playfully, giggling again. "You have to stop that."
"Why?" Arizona grinned.
"'Cause we're shit faced and dry humping. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to say no in about half a second."
Leaning forward to kiss a line up Teddy's warm throat, Arizona shrugged, smile evident in her words. "You want me to stop? Because I don't think I want to stop."
Teddy gasped again when Arizona punctuated that statement with another press of her hand.
"N-not really," Teddy admitted.
"Good, 'cause I wanna make you feel good," Arizona mumbled before she pressed her lips against the other pair again.
Teddy didn't know what hit her, but didn't dare complain. Arizona was already on top of her, deepening the kiss, tongue sliding into her mouth, hands pulling up her tank top. She squeezed her breasts, rolled her nipples, sucked against her neck. The cardio surgeon was a little too drunk to protest, so instead wrapped her arms around Arizona's tan-lined back, moaning when the other blonde licked a line in between her breasts.
Arizona decided that this was a bad idea, but wasn't going to think. She was just going to go on impulse, on lust, on the comforting feeling of Teddy's breathing in her ear, the whisper of her name, the arch of that slender back. There was no Callie right now, no Mark Sloan. There was just this.
"Turn over," Arizona asked, moving off of Teddy to allow the slim woman a chance to move.
Before she spun onto her belly, Teddy removed her shorts and underwear, barely having time to hit the bed before Arizona was spreading her thighs, pressing kisses across her back.
Teddy gasped when she heard, "On your knees" muffled between her shoulder blades.
Arizona hands went in between Teddy's thighs, teasing at her clit, even though she didn't really need to work the other blonde up as much as she thought. She pushed two fingers inside of her, pumping them from the get go. Something about this position felt a little safer, a little less personal, all while keeping the sexiness alive.
Teddy's hands clutched at her headboard while Arizona fucked her from behind, pushing back against her fingers. The other hand reached around to rub Teddy's clit simultaneously. There was no pillow talk, no words of encouragement, just guttural sounds. Teddy was trying to keep from screaming, so close to that point of release. She wasn't thinking anymore, just feeling. Her mind was officially blown. She'd been with her fair share of guys, but this was just straight up hot sex, male or female.
Arizona's thrusts were deep and powerful, her fingers curling while the other hand focused on working the blonde's clit. She loved hearing her moan, loved the way she worked against her fingers. Teddy's abs tensed against her forearm, knees started wobbling underneath her. Arizona listened as Teddy's sounds elevated in time with her ministrations. There were no cries of names. No 'right there's. Just sex. That's all this was, was sex. And while it made both women feel a little hollow, it was better them than some stranger they brought home from the bar.
Arizona's fingers continued through Teddy's orgasm, trying to prolong it as much as possible. When she came down, Teddy spun around, all but tackling Arizona to the bed. Her lips danced along her neck, hands pushing up that shirt, getting it over Arizona's head. When her hand went to do the same to the pajama bottoms, she felt fingers encircling her wrist, tugging her hand away.
"I need to touch myself," Arizona explained as she bit Teddy's shoulder, free hand sliding into the front of her borrowed pajamas, past the already wet fabric of her underwear.
Teddy groaned, watching as Arizona's brow furrowed while she worked herself, moaning a little, muffling her sounds in the crook of the other woman's neck. Teddy kept her arms around her friend, pressing kisses across her neck from time to time. Arizona's hips ground into her own hand, gasping as she raced toward her peak.
When she did come, she tipped her head back, strangled cries of pleasure spilling from her lips, allowing Teddy to kiss the side of her head again, keeping her as close as she could to her body. Teddy didn't want her to feel alone. She was right there.
They stayed like that for a while, breathing regulating. Arizona helped Teddy relocate her clothing, fixing the duvet and sheets in the process. Both women were having trouble keeping any sort of eye contact and assumed things might be just a little awkward for the next few shifts at work.
Arizona settled back into her temporary sleeping spot, pulling Teddy's still-shaking body against her. She held her tightly, protectively. And even though the morning would bring reality, Teddy let herself feel the safety of Arizona's embrace.
Just for this one night.