The 502 Stories

By AmboDriver

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just playing around with them. They are owned by Shondaland, ABC, and probably a lot of other really rich folks.

A/N: So, if you're like me, you adored episode 09x07 "I Was Made for Lovin' You" but you also felt like there were a ton of scenes that were missing between the last time we really saw them together watching TV and then them being suddenly all happy and showing it again. Since I need some happy/hopeful stuff to write, here are a ton of little tiny scenes (I think right now I have a list of over 30) that fill in that time period that I would have loved to see. They all take place at the apartment (hence the series name) and they may even go after episode 7, who knows. I'm not going to stress over them too much so that I can put out a few a week, hopefully. Some will be super short (like this one) and some will be longer, but each will be just one scene from one point of view.

And also hoping these will help fuel my writing juices for my longer, more serious pieces (not that there won't be serious scenes in this, but I don't need to really develop a plot now that I have my list and the order).

So, hope you'll enjoy it.

And thanks to Lovegood41 for helping me compile the scene list and, as always, both watching the show live via text with me (it's always a good snarkfest for non-Calzona scenes) and egging me on in all my ideas for fic. Occasionally our desire for the dark is overridden by our love of happy Calzona.

Chapter 1 – Couch Détente

Arizona turned off the sound on the TV, but continued to stare at the commercials that followed the end of American Bakeoff. She didn't want to turn off the TV entirely, because to be frank, she didn't want this quiet bubble they found themselves safely in to burst. But as they both sat in the heavy silence of their living room, she also felt herself growing restless at the tension that was still between them. "Today went pretty well," she finally offered quietly.

Callie turned toward her, brown eyes wide in obvious surprise. "I'm so happy to hear that," she said, although her voice and face looked like she was waiting to be slapped for the sentiment. Still, she took a deep breath and started to ask, "Do you, well…" But then she trailed off as her eyes fell to her lap, trepidation shadowing her face.

"We need to work on the socket fit, of course," Arizona said by way of trying to answer whatever it was that Callie had been hoping to ask. "And I stood on the trial prosthesis. I go in tomorrow for better measurements, so—" She stopped, not really having the strength to talk about it anymore. It had been a good day in some respects, but sad all the same. There was something incredibly final to seeing yourself standing on a leg made of metal and plastic, after all. And yet, just the tiniest bit of hope had filled her at the sight, too. But still, it wasn't something she was really ready to talk about with Callie in any depth. Her wife knew the process, having seen enough patients through it herself in her career. She didn't need Arizona going through the details to know everything that still was ahead. Arizona finally sighed to fill the silence. "I stood," she repeated quietly, needing both to remind herself that she'd accomplished something important and to let Callie in just the tiniest of bits.

Callie's smile was certainly genuine, but mirrored Arizona's from earlier as she looked into the mirror at the hospital with David. There was pain around the edges of her lips and a certain sadness in her brown eyes, but also real happiness, too. "It's a big step and just the beginning."

Arizona nodded but didn't respond at first. She supposed the fact she didn't jump on Callie for being supportive or using one of those damned turns of phrase that referenced walking was a huge deal in some respects. Just a few days prior, hell even a few hours earlier before Karev reminded her that Callie was going through hell too, she would have snapped at her and ended the conversation. But now, she let it just pass over her without any reaction and, in a way, that felt good.

She held Callie's gaze for a moment, though, really seeing her wife for probably the first time since the amputation. But then she had to look away as the swirl of emotions in her eyes was too much. She clicked the power button on the TV and let out a quiet breath. "I'm tired," she muttered as she grabbed her crutches.

"Me, too," Callie answered as she got up from the couch. She hovered nearby in that way that Arizona recognized where she was trying to seem like she wasn't hovering, but wasn't doing the best job of it. But once Arizona was steady on her crutches, Callie smiled and started to back away. "Good night, Arizona."

"Good night," Arizona answered automatically. Callie's smile held for a moment but then slipped away as she started to turn toward the front door. "Callie?"

"Yeah?" Callie turned back a little too quickly to feign a casual response. The faint hint of hope in her eyes tore at Arizona's heart.

"Sleep well," Arizona barely whispered as her voice threatened to catch in her throat.

"You too, Arizona."

And then Callie hurried out of the apartment before anything more could be said. It was only when she subconsciously wiped the tear on her cheek away, that Arizona realized how much she hated what her life—their lives—had become. It wasn't so much the physical change, although that was of course both huge and the catalyst, but it was emotionally how they were both reacting. But sadly, she just wasn't sure how to fix it.

She sighed as she looked at the door of their apartment, wondering for the first time if Callie cried herself to sleep at night or slept peacefully at all. The constant shadows under eyes led Arizona to believe it was the former and she frowned at the thought.

"Sweet dreams," she finally whispered—to Callie, to herself, she wasn't really sure—before turning toward the bedroom and another night alone.

TBC…