Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
A/N: I actually wrote most of this before the episode aired. I watched the sneak peeks and was immediately attacked by plot bunnies. I'd been hoping to be able to get this finished and posted well before tonight's episode, but that didn't end up happening. Consequently, it doesn't really follow the arc of the episode. I hope you enjoy it anyway! Unbeta'd. All mistakes are my own.
"Arizona, come on!" Callie whined for what was probably the hundredth time. She was seconds away from stomping her feet and holding her breath until she passed out. "Just tell me already!"
"I already told you!" Arizona protested, exasperated, as she unlocked the apartment door.
"No," Callie said. "You said 'one or two,' which was obviously not the whole truth, and then you made that face – that one, right there!" She stopped and pointed at Arizona, who was wrinkling her nose and averting her eyes. "And then you ran away. And every time I've tried to bring it up there have been sick babies or dying children or that meeting you made up."
"I didn't make it up! That was a real meeting!"
"Uh-huh," Callie said, unimpressed. "Who was it with?"
"Callie, I'm not going to stand here and prove –"
"How many?"
"How many what?"
Callie made a noise somewhere between a groan and a scream. "People, Arizona. How many people from the hospital did you sleep with?"
"Honestly, Callie, I don't see why it matters!" Arizona cried, throwing her arms up in the air and falling onto the couch. "You slept with people, I slept with people. It was a long time ago."
"You know about mine. I don't know about yours. I'm just curious."
"I know about yours because I've met them all," Arizona pointed out. "Well, except for Erica. I have a baby with one of them. Yours aren't exactly a secret."
"Well, then, why are yours?" Callie insisted, the whine creeping back into her voice. She didn't want to admit it, but this whole question of Arizona's "number" was driving her crazy. Until today, she'd figured all of her wife's exes lived in Maryland or Boston or wherever else Arizona had lived. Logically, Callie knew that none of Arizona's hospital relationships could have been anything serious; she hadn't lived in Seattle long enough before she and Callie had met for them to be anything more than hookups and a few dates here and there.
Still, it was disconcerting to know that around any corner in the hospital, a woman could have her sights set on Arizona, just waiting to hug her a little too long or stand just a little too close. Callie knew she didn't have anything to worry about. Arizona had married her after all; not Colleen the nurse or God only knew whoever else.
But Arizona was hers.
"Because they're not important anymore," Arizona insisted. "I hardly ever see them. I see you. I married you."
"So just-just tell me how many!" Callie was trying, really trying, not to resort to begging. "Please?"
Arizona quirked an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"
"No," Callie scoffed. If Arizona could walk around telling white lies, so could she. "I'm curious." Arizona laughed in disbelief. "Arizona, come on!" Even if you hadn't met mine, I would have told you. Just give me…give me an average. A ballpark." She paused. "It's less than a ballpark, right?"
Arizona rolled her eyes. "Yes, Calliope, it's less than a ballpark."
"You don't even have to say it out loud. Just write it on a piece of paper and show it to me."
Arizona groaned and stood up. "Fine! You want to know so badly? I'll tell you. But you have to remember that this was before we met and I had just moved to Seattle and I just wanted to –"
"Arizona, just tell –"
"Six."
Callie forced her face and voice to remain neutral. "Six."
"…Teen."
"Sixteen?" Screw neutral. "In two months? At the hospital alone?"
"I'm kidding!" Arizona hurried to say. "Kidding. I'm kidding."
Callie pouted. "That's not funny."
"I'm sorry."
Callie pursed her lips and took a steadying breath. "So, six?"
Arizona nodded. "Six."
"Not including me?"
"Not including you."
Callie took a moment to think. Six wasn't so bad, really. She had four herself, not counting Arizona. But still, those four were over the course of several years. Arizona's were contained in two months. And that was just in the hospital. Callie had met Arizona's friends; as far as she knew, Arizona hadn't had…relations…with any of them. But she couldn't help but wonder how many more were out there and where they might pop up.
"Are you happy now?" Arizona asked, smirking.
"Oh, uh, sure," Callie replied distractedly as she turned to fold the blanket on the back of the couch. She hoped Arizona wouldn't notice that she had unfolded it just to fold it again, but she knew that wasn't likely.
Arizona sighed. Callie was most definitely not happy. This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid today. She knew Callie would be jealous, no matter what the number was, and the fact that the number was higher than her wife's certainly didn't help. But the truth really was that Callie had nothing to be jealous of. The only reason Arizona had never mentioned Colleen or any of her other hospital "relationships" was that they honestly didn't mean anything to her. She'd just been having fun, blowing off steam, getting to know Seattle. With none of those six had she been looking for anything serious, and they all knew that. At least, she thought they did.
The moment she'd seen Callie, though, she knew that the mysterious Dr. Torres she'd kept hearing about was not simply going to be number seven on what had the potential to become a long list of conquests.
Of course, then the whole "newborn" thing had happened and she'd freaked out and backtracked, very nearly sliding Julie into the number seven slot. That hadn't been her finest moment. Luckily for her, Callie hadn't given up, and by the end of the night, Julie, the psych nurse who'd left the hospital when news of the merger had reached her, was number six and a half and Arizona hadn't seen her since.
Colleen, Julie, Lenore (Leanne?)…none of them mattered to Arizona anymore, at least not in the way they had at one time. They were in the past. The present, the future, forever – that was all Callie. And that was all Arizona wanted.
"Callie?" Arizona hedged. Callie had finished folding the blanket for the third or fourth time and was now fluffing the throw pillows on the couch. "Are you –"
"Oh, I'm fine!" Callie said just a little too enthusiastically. Bringing it down a couple notches, she said, "I'm okay, Arizona. Really. Just, um…six, huh?" Arizona smiled sheepishly and nodded. "That's cool. I mean, it's good. Fine. It's fine." Callie ran a hand through her hair, hating how jealous and insecure she was suddenly feeling. Arizona had chosen her, hadn't she? In fact, Arizona had chosen her more than once. She'd proven over and over again that Callie was all she wanted. What was the big deal? "So," Callie said, aiming for casual and probably falling flat. "Who, uh, who are they?"
"Oh, no," Arizona said, raising her hands and taking several steps back. "No, no, no, no, no. No way. Not doing that."
"Why?" Callie asked incredulously. "I already know how many. Just tell me their names. You know all of mine."
"Again," Arizona said. "I've met them. Not a valid argument."
"So I could meet yours," Callie tried. "You could introduce me. We could be friends."
"Absolutely not," Arizona insisted. "No way in hell."
"So tell me who they are so I know not to be friends with them!"
"What about Sofia?" Arizona tried the subject-change tactic.
Callie furrowed her brow. "What about her?"
"We have to go get her!"
"Nice try," Callie said, cracking a smirk, "but Mark has her tonight. And I know you remember saying goodbye to her, so don't even give me that."
Damn. Arizona had been so sure that would work. "Well, it's getting late. I think I'm going to take a shower. You're welcome to join me if –"
"Arizona." Callie reached out and grabbed Arizona's arm as Arizona attempted to walk past her. "Stop changing the subject. We're talking. Focus." It was time to bring out the big guns. Out of options, Callie decided to do the one thing that always guaranteed Arizona's undivided attention.
She took off her shirt.
Immediately, Arizona's eyes widened as she forced herself to stay focused on Callie's face. One glance down at those full, soft breasts – oh god, in that downright delicious pink bra – and she'd be a goner. As it was, she was already having trouble remembering what she was supposed to be arguing about.
"I'll ask you again," Callie said. "Your six. What are their names?"
Oh, right. Yeah, Arizona really didn't want to go down this road. "No. The answer is still no."
"Really, Arizona? Why the hell not? Just tell me their names! What is the big deal?" The rational part of Callie's brain insisted that Arizona just didn't want her to get any more jealous and crazy than she was already being and go around threatening people with oh, say, bricks. But the irrational – and much more vocal – part of her brain argued that Arizona was protecting them, and she didn't know what from. "Arizona, please just tell me –"
"I can't tell you!" Arizona shouted. She'd crossed the line from amused and concerned about Callie's emotional state into frustrated. This was exactly the conversation she didn't want to be having, Callie wasn't letting it go, and to make matters even worse, her wife's raspberry-pink covered breasts were staring her in the face, taunting her and making her an entirely different kind of frustrated.
"Why not?" Callie shouted back.
Arizona closed her eyes, bracing herself for the sting of embarrassment and upset she was sure would come. "Because I don't remember all of their names, okay?"
There were a couple beats of silence, during which Arizona kept her eyes squeezed closed and shoulders tense.
And then Callie cracked up laughing.
Arizona's eyes popped open and registered her wife's face, relaxed into a wide, joyful (if somewhat incredulous) smile as she laughed so hard tears were starting to form.
"It isn't that funny," Arizona mumbled, shifting awkwardly and looking at the floor.
"Yes it is!" Callie insisted, leaving out the part about how a fair amount of her laughter was due to relief. "You seriously don't remember their names? Would you even recognize them if you saw them again?"
"Of course I would," Arizona replied, though she wasn't sure Callie heard her above her laughing.
Registering her wife's discomfort, Callie reigned in her laughter to the best of her ability. "Sorry, sorry. Just – that's why you wouldn't tell me? Why didn't you just say that to begin with?"
Arizona shrugged. "Doesn't exactly make me look good."
"You look fine," Callie reassured. She smirked. "It just makes me look better by comparison."
Making a whining, groaning noise, Arizona turned away in exasperation.
"I'm kidding," Callie promised. "Just…really? You can't remember six names?"
Arizona sighed and collapsed back onto the couch. "It's like I said. I was new to Seattle and I just wanted to have fun. It was a long time ago. I was a different person then." She ran her sweaty palms across her jeans. "You must think I'm horrible."
"No," Callie breathed as she sank down next to Arizona on the couch, all traces of humor gone from her voice. "I don't think that at all. I do think it's funny. But if you don't want me to tease you about it, I won't."
"You're still jealous," Arizona pointed out.
Callie thought about that for a moment. She wasn't jealous, per se. She just wanted to find all of those women and make sure they knew Arizona was well and truly taken. She wanted to forcibly erase all of their memories of Arizona naked. Arizona was hers. No one else had any business remembering the softness of her lips, the sweet scent of her arousal, the feel of her strong fingers buried inside them, the way she moaned when her nipples were flicked in just the right way…
Callie realized with a start that that must be how Arizona felt every time she saw Mark and Alex.
"I'm sorry Mark and Alex have seen me naked," she blurted.
Now it was Arizona's turn to laugh. "What?"
"I'm not jealous," Callie elaborated, "the same way you're not jealous of Mark and Alex."
Arizona nodded in understanding. "I'm not jealous of them, not anymore. Do I wish I could somehow make them forget what it was like to be with you? Yes. But they had, between them, what, a few nights with you? I get you for the rest of my life. And maybe I hated Mark once, and maybe, just for a little while, I hated you for sleeping with him. But I only hated you because I love you so much, and I love you so much more than I could even imagine hating you. And I wouldn't trade Sofia for anything."
And it was true. Now that Sofia was part of her life, Arizona couldn't imagine it any other way. And while she wasn't necessarily thrilled about Mark's role and permanent place in her life, she wasn't jealous. Callie was hers, forever. She had a happy, healthy wife and daughter, both of whom she loved with everything she had and then some.
"Arizona?" Callie's voice cut into her thoughts.
"Hmm?"
Callie nervously twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "Do you, um…would you have forgotten my name if I hadn't come up to you at Joe's and started rambling at you about my life experience?"
"Are you kidding?" Arizona flashed a megawatt, super-magic smile at Callie. "How could I possibly forget a name like Calliope Torres?" She placed a hand on Callie's knee. "You were never just a number, Calliope," she said softly. "From the moment I saw you, you were so much more than that." Callie looked up from her lap at Arizona, almost shyly. "You want to know why I don't remember all of those women's names?" Callie didn't say anything, which Arizona took as a yes. "None of them even hold a candle to you. I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm sure they're all great people. But their names all just flew out the window the first time I kissed you."
"You went on a date after that," Callie reminded her.
"Yeah, I did. Because you made me nervous and she didn't. She asked me out and I didn't want to be nervous, so I went. She bored the crap out of me and then you showed up and made me realize being nervous wasn't so bad." Callie smiled softly. "None of those other women could have made me nervous if they'd tried. You're the only one special enough to do that."
Callie laughed gently. "I love you," she said earnestly.
"I love you too, Calliope," Arizona said, looking right into Callie's eyes. "Those other women, they're all in the past. You're my whole future. You're forever." Callie dropped her head to Arizona's shoulder and nuzzled her neck; Arizona leaned into the caress. "You have nothing to be jealous about. They're the ones who ought to be jealous of you. You're lucky number seven."
Callie picked her head up and smirked at Arizona. "Lucky number seven, huh?" Arizona nodded.
And then Callie pounced.
It wasn't too difficult given their already close proximity, but Callie threw herself on top of Arizona, pushing her backward onto the couch and immediately capturing her mouth in a hard, hot kiss. Callie's hands slid up and she wound her fingers into Arizona's hair. When she finally (reluctantly) pulled away to breathe, Arizona was gasping.
"Wow," Arizona said on an exhale. Her eyes dropped down to Callie's chest and the absolutely delectable view afforded by her wife leaning over her in just her bra. "You don't have a shirt on," she pointed out.
"Nope," Callie agreed. "You do, though. That's ridiculous." Arizona giggled and reached for the hem of her shirt, then changed her mind and slid them inside Callie's bra to cup her breasts. She hummed deep in the back of her throat, finally getting to feel what she'd been all but aching to feel since Callie had removed her shirt earlier in the evening.
"Mmm." Callie hummed herself at the sensation of Arizona's hands cupping each of her breasts as her palms ghosted over her nipples. She spread her legs to straddle Arizona's hips and leaned down again for another kiss. Taking immediate control of Arizona's mouth, Callie slid her tongue inside and stroked along Arizona's. Arizona moaned softly into the kiss and raised her hips to meet Callie's; Callie ground her hips down. Both women shivered at the friction, and Arizona felt a sudden rush of heat between her legs.
Callie pulled away for air again, but she immediately took Arizona's bottom lip between her teeth and tugged gently. Letting it go with a soft pop, she kissed every spot on Arizona's lips that she possibly could. Arizona tried to return them, but she was already getting lost in the sensations of her pelvis rhythmically grinding against her wife's and Callie's breasts in her hands, and then Callie kissed across Arizona's chin and went to work on her neck.
Arizona arched her back and moaned. Sex with Callie was always undeniably amazing. But lately, in the interest of time, they hadn't done as much making out and heavy petting as they were doing right now, and Arizona was slowly remembering just how much she loved it. Even if tonight didn't end in sex, she'd be a happy woman.
She really hoped it would end in sex, though.
One of Callie's hands slid out of Arizona's hair and under the hem of her shirt to whisper soft patterns on her lower stomach. Arizona's hips twitched, and when Callie's other hand joined in, first drawing circles on her other hip and then slowly lifting Arizona's shirt, Arizona suddenly felt like her skin was on fire.
"Callie," Arizona gasped, head tilted back as Callie's tongue and teeth alternated between stinging and soothing her neck and collarbone.
Callie lifted her head ever so slightly. "Help me out," she murmured lowly. "Take your shirt off." Reluctantly, Arizona slid her hands out of Callie's pink bra and settled them on her own shirt, pulling the material up. Callie's mouth was only gone for a fraction of a second before the shirt was over Arizona's head, and then it was back, nipping, sucking, licking, and all around driving Arizona crazy.
Taking a page out of Arizona's book, Callie slipped her fingers inside Arizona's bra, hands cupping those luscious breasts while her thumbs rubbed circles around her nipples. Arizona let out a throaty moan. Callie loved that sound. She could practically count on it to make her wet, and when she felt the warmth spread to her core, she knew tonight was no exception.
Arizona was tempted to return her hands to where they'd been, but, deciding she really wanted to see whether Callie's underwear matched her bra, she set them to work on Callie's belt buckle instead. With one more squeeze of Arizona's breasts, Callie's hands followed suit and began unbuttoning Arizona's pants. She had them halfway down her legs before she decided she didn't want to wait anymore and slipped a hand inside Arizona's blue flowered underwear to cup her.
Gasping at the sudden sensation of Callie's hand on her, Arizona abandoned Callie's jeans to reach up and unhook the front clasp of her bra. What a handy design feature.
Arizona was going to return to her task of removing Callie's pants, but just as she got the zipper undone – oh, god, the underwear did match the bra – Callie began rubbing Arizona's pussy. Both women moaned softly. "Did those other women make you feel like this?" Callie husked. "How wet did you get for them?"
"Y-you," Arizona breathed. "You're the only one. Callie, please – ah!" She cried out as Callie slid two fingers inside her throbbing core, and then whimpered loudly when she didn't move them. Arizona bucked her hips, hoping to spur Callie along, but no such luck.
At least, not until Callie started pumping her fingers without any real warning, hard and deep, while her other hand returned to Arizona's hair and tightened its grip. She lowered her head to Arizona's chest and took a breast in her mouth, flicking the nipple with her tongue and grazing it with her teeth. Arizona's moans turned higher in pitch. She could feel the orgasm approaching, but she desperately wanted to hold it off a little longer. Callie was making her feel so good and she didn't want it to end. Knowing there was no way Callie would slow down now, Arizona settled for stilling her own hips to try to slow the approach of her climax.
Callie raised herself up on her knees so she could pump her fingers even deeper, and Arizona wasted no time in throwing both of her legs over Callie's shoulders. She was vaguely aware that she was probably gripping Callie pretty tightly, but if it kept her mouth on her breast, Arizona didn't really care. The new angle was incredible, deeper even than Arizona had anticipated. Callie's fingers were everywhere, and when her thumb joined in and began rubbing circles around her clit, Arizona couldn't hold back a scream.
Callie lifted her mouth from Arizona's breast long enough to speak. Her hips were backing each of her thrusts and she pumped hard. "You like that?" she grunted from the exertion. "How loud did you scream for them?" Callie felt new moisture coat her fingers as Arizona responded to her words.
Arizona couldn't speak; she could only answer Callie's question with a high-pitched half-scream, half-moan.
"Scream for me." Callie abandoned Arizona's breast in favor of bringing her mouth close to her ear and whispering huskily. "Be loud for me." Arizona complied, releasing a throaty cry as her orgasm drew even closer. She was teetering on the edge, so close she could taste it. "You're mine," Callie growled. Arizona reached down and grabbed at her own breasts, twisting her nipples between the thumb and index finger of both hands. "I'm the last one. I'm the only one." Callie withdrew her fingers almost all the way before slamming them back inside on her hardest thrust yet and curling her fingers. Arizona let out an animalistic scream, one Callie heard only on rare occasions. "Come for me."
Callie groaned in satisfaction as Arizona tightened around her fingers, loving the feel of a warm surge of arousal coating them. Arizona's fingers clamped down hard on her nipples as her whole body went stiff before descending into a flurry of bucks and shivers. Callie slowed her thrusts but didn't stop, softening the circles her thumb was making around Arizona's clit as Arizona rode the wave of her pleasure.
"Callie," Arizona finally said when she was able to speak again. She lowered her legs slowly. Her hips still twitched from the delightful aftershocks. Callie had stilled her hand inside Arizona but opted not to remove it just yet. "You are…you are the only one who has ever made me feel like that."
Callie smirked and chuckled softly. "That's what I thought." She leaned down to give Arizona a kiss, then slowly extracted her fingers from her core. Arizona whimpered slightly at the sudden emptiness but jumped when Callie flicked her clit one last time on the way out.
Arizona sighed in contentment, then gasped when Callie pulled her lips away from her mouth and began kissing down her body. Callie stopped to lick circles around both breasts, rounding off with a kiss to each nipple, before kissing laying wet kisses on Arizona's ribcage, stomach, and hips. Arizona shimmied and kicked her pants and underwear the rest of the way off of her legs in anticipation. When Callie reached her thighs, she raised her fingers, still sticky with Arizona's arousal, to her wife's lips. Arizona moaned softly at her own smell and slowly extended her tongue. Callie could easily have gotten lost in the feeling of Arizona licking and sucking at her fingers, but she was determined to stay focused.
Kissing and nipping at Arizona's inner thigh, Callie could feel the muscles quivering in excited anticipation. She'd be lying if she said her own muscles weren't doing the same. She felt the steady throb between her legs grow to an almost unbearable intensity. She couldn't wait for her turn. But she really wanted to taste Arizona first.
Arizona moaned when Callie moved to her other thigh instead of putting her mouth where she really wanted – no, needed – it. She tried to say something; tried to beg Callie to hurry up and lick her, but her mouth was busy devouring her wife's fingers. She preferred the taste of Callie, but she'd have that soon enough, and in the meantime, this was pretty damn good. The fact that her own taste coated her hot, hot wife's fingers was a definite bonus.
Finally, Callie's tongue made contact with hot wetness. She licked all along Arizona's lips, cleaning up the arousal that lingered there just for her. "You taste so good," she purred as Arizona's legs tightened once again around her neck. Flattening her tongue, Callie dragged it up and down Arizona's slit, running a circle around her clit every time she landed there. Arizona's hands landed in Callie's hair, not that Callie would even have entertained the thought of moving. Just when Arizona thought she was going to scream – or worse, bite Callie's fingers in impatience – Callie's lips wrapped around her clit and sucked. She felt the light sensation of tongue and teeth on her bud, working in tandem with the rhythmic sucks, and she tipped her head back and gasped. The hand that had been in Arizona's mouth rocketed down her body and Arizona cried out as she felt one finger slide inside of her.
Callie's thrusts were softer this time; her lips and tongue did most of the work. Arizona bucked her hips into Callie's face, lost in the delicious torture her wife was giving her. The feeling of Callie's mouth on her was indescribable, the perfect combination of warm, soft, and strong. She had just come, but she felt a peak coming again. This was what Callie did to her.
"Calliope," Arizona gasped out. "Again – I'm gonna – ohh –"
"Mmm," Callie hummed against her clit. That was all it took to send Arizona shivering and shaking over the edge a second time. Callie wrapped her mouth around as much of Arizona's pussy as she could, giving it a good, hard suck as she collected her wife's essence on her tongue. Arizona moaned and cried out, still thrusting her hips as her fingers tightened in Callie's hair and her thighs contracted and released rhythmically around her neck.
"Oh my god, stop," Arizona finally said when she couldn't take anymore. Callie slowly slid her finger out and her tongue made one more pass from Arizona's opening to her clit. Arizona's body went limp, her fingers relaxing in Callie's hair and her legs falling gracelessly to either side. "So good," she breathed out. "So, so good."
Arizona would be lucky if she could remember her own name, let alone the names of the six women she'd entertained so long ago.
Callie shifted up and lowered her mouth to Arizona's once again. Arizona blushed and smiled at the sight of her own arousal glistening on Callie's lips and chin. This kiss was soft and slow, tongues running across lips, mouths exploring as if it was the first time they had done so. Arizona had Callie forever. She had all the time in the world to kiss her.
"I love you," Arizona promised when they broke apart to breathe. "You are my only. Forever, Calliope. Okay?"
"Okay," Callie agreed. "Forever. I love you so much, Arizona."
"You know what I love even more?" Arizona asked mischievously. Callie quirked an eyebrow. "You without pants." With that, Arizona's hands opened Callie's jeans the rest of the way and pulled them down her legs and off along with her underwear, leaving Callie in nothing but that so-sexy-it-should-be-illegal pink bra. Arizona shot Callie a devilish grin. Callie knew exactly what it meant.
Callie shivered in anticipation as she shimmied up Arizona's body, rising up on her knees above her wife's head. She tipped her head back and groaned as she felt Arizona's skillful tongue go to work on her dripping center.
Lucky number seven indeed.