Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or Glee.
Callie groaned as she lifted her head and looked at the clock on her nightstand, she pushed her hair out of her face and adjusted her eyes to the illuminated clock. 3:00am. She squeezed her eyes tight and prayed that the noise would go away. She apparently had no such luck. The banging on her front door was now getting louder and more frequent. Ever so slowly, she lifted herself up off her bed and padded her way out of her bedroom. With her eyes still shut, she guided herself using only her hands to the front door. After undoing the locks with great difficulty, she swung it open, staring in shock at the sight before her. The two Latinas just stared at each other for a while, Callie in shock, and the other in happiness.
"Hi Aunt Callie" the younger, dark-haired, brown-eyed girl greeted shyly.
Callie could not believe her eyes at the girl standing before her, "Santana, what are you going here?" she asked in shock.
Santana looked down at the ground, before meeting the questioning eyes of her aunt. "I just really missed you" Callie finally let a smile form on her lips and pulled her niece into a hug. The two women embraced, swaying slightly as they both gained strength from the other.
Callie pulled back, "Why didn't you call me?!" she demanded. Santana shrugged her shoulders innocently.
"Santana! It's 3 in the morning, did you catch a cab here?" Callie didn't give her time to answer, "You've never even been to Seattle, mi sobrina! my niece, What if something had happened to you?" Santana simply held her head low as her aunt continued her rant. "Oh dios mio, your mother would've killed me if anything happened to you! Does she even know your here?" Callie finally took a breath and waited for her niece to answer.
Santana took a deep breath before answering, "Okay, tía aunty, I know I should've called, and yes I did take a cab, by the way that shit's expensive, and I got your address from mom's phonebook, but," Santana paused knowing that the next words she uttered would bring out the full Torres woman blowout from her aunt, "Momma doesn't know I'm here" she said quickly and quietly. She dared not look into her aunts eyes as she watched her process the information she was just given.
After a moment, Callie gasped, "YOUR MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW YOU'RE HERE?! What were you thinking, Santana?!" she demanded.
There it was. Santana thought to herself, "Aunt Callie, I couldn't tell mom I was coming, she would've just talked me out of it, and.." she trailed off, she looked up to her aunt with tears at the brim of her eyes. "I really just needed to get away from Ohio for a while" she sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "But if you don't want me here, I can go".
Callie immediately softened at the sight of her nieces tears and embraced the younger girl. Santana finally let the tears fall from her eyes and cried into her aunt's shoulder. Callie rubbed her back and soothed her with calming words. When Santana's tears subsided, Callie pulled away and wiped them from her face.
"Sweetie, you don't have to go anywhere, you hear me? You are always welcome here." Santana nodded and smiled sadly, "Come on, we'll talk more in the morning, you must be tired." Santana nodded once more and followed her aunt into the apartment. Callie led her through the hallway, showed her bathroom, the kitchen, the living room and finally stopped at the bedroom. Callie crawled in the bed and patted the side, signaling for her niece to join her. Santana dropped her bags on the floor and shed her jacket and slipped in the bed with her aunt. Callie wrapped her arms around her niece, giving the comfort she knew that desperately needed. Santana was asleep within minutes, cradled in the arms of her aunt.
As she stroked her nieces' hair, Callie's mind drifted off to when she used to babysit Santana when she was a baby. When they lived back in Miami, her sweet, yet feisty niece would always bring much joy to her. From the moment she was born, Callie knew that this child would always have a place in her heart. The nights that Callie would babysit, Santana would crawl into her bed, much like tonight, and Callie would softly sing her Spanish lullabies. After Callie went away to college, she missed a lot of Santana growing up, but never lost contact. They called each other at least twice a week and caught each other up on everything that was going on. During breaks from school, Callie would return to Miami and spend all her time with her gorgeous niece. They would do everything together, from shopping to checking out guys, they always had a good time. When she finished college, Callie moved to Seattle to do her residence and her sister moved her family to Lima, Ohio. Although it was a little closer than Miami, Callie never got a chance to visit her sister in Ohio. But it wasn't like Aria visited Callie either. The relationship between the two sisters was pleasant at best. Callie was the youngest, Aria the oldest, they had two brothers between them. Callie was always praised by her family, while Aria always got the cold shoulder. While they were growing up, Callie was the girl who followed rules, Aria was the one who constantly broke them. With that in mind, the girls never really got along, at least not the way sister should've. Callie wished her relationship with her sister was better, but she would take the bond with Santana over that any day.
Soon, Callie drifted off to sleep, wondering why her beautiful niece had come out to see her in the first place. And what she could do to help.
Meanwhile, across the hall...
Mark groaned as he lifted his head from his pillow, the faint sound of knocking pulling him out of a deep sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced over at his clock and groaned once more. 4:00am. The knocking on his door became more rough, and soon turned to pounding. Reluctantly, Mark pulled himself out of bed and angrily stalked to the front door. Ready to yell at whoever was banging on his door at such an ungodly hour, he swung the door open, but the only movement his body made, was his jaw dropping.
After standing in shock, Mark crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath, "Noah? What are you doing here?" he asked, still dumbfounded at the sight of his nephew. There was no doubt that the two were related, even if only by marriage, Noah Puckerman had the same qualities as his uncle. He was built, a lady's man, sly with his words, and could talk his way out of anything. Noah's father became Mark's step-brother after his mother married, Michael's, Noah's father, father. When Puck was little, Michael left him and his mother to fend for themselves. Mark, decidingly took the place of the leading man in Puck's life. Mark taught him everything he knew, the two were more like brothers than uncle and nephew. After Mark left to go to medical school, the two stayed in touch, but when Sandra, Puck's mom, moved them to Ohio, the two men lost contact. And now after 7 years, he shows up on Mark's doorstep.
Puckerman shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at his uncle, "I, uh, wanted to visit" he said quietly.
Mark raised an eyebrow, "Visit?" he asked not believing it to be true, "That's bull, Puck, did you forget I raised you? Why are you really here?"
Puck took a deep breath before answering, "I need your help" he said softly. Mark could see the pain in his nephew's eyes and uncrossed his arms and sighed.
"Why didn't you call? I could've picked you up from the airport," Mark said, "how did you even get my address?"
"Mom, gave it to me, she said I could come," he paused, "And I'm sorry I didn't call, I was kind of in a rush"
Mark clapped the boy on the shoulder and ushered him inside, "Well, you must be exhausted," Puck nodded, "We'll talk in the morning" Mark said and showed Puck the guest room and got him settled. After making sure his nephew was settled, Mark returned to his room where he fell asleep wondering what his nephew needed his help with that he flew all the way to Seattle for.
The next morning Callie was in the kitchen making herself some much needed coffee. After the night she had, coffee was her only hope to get through the day. She pulled out two cups, knowing very well that Mark Sloan would be barging in any minute now. The coffee maker clicked off, and she poured some into both cups. Making hers with extra creme, and his with extra sugar, she smiled at her knowing exactly how he liked his coffee. Over the past few months, she began to notice the little things about him that she loved. She also noticed herself remembering the littlest things about him, like how he liked his coffee, or how he liked to drink orange juice after a surgery because it made him feel refreshed, or when he was sleeping he liked to bundle under the covers, to just have them all kicked off in the morning, this was something they had in common. That was another thing she noticed, they had a lot of things in common. She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of her door opening, and slamming shut. She smiled up at Mark and noticed the younger boy trailing behind him.
"Found a new friend, Sloan?" she asked teasingly. Mark pinched her side as he came to stand next to her at the kitchen counter.
"No, he's my nephew" he said and took a sip of his coffee, "He showed up this morning practically begging for my help."
Puck shot his uncle a glare and smiled at Callie, Mark noticed the smile his nephew wore on his face, it was the same smile he wore on his face when Callie was around.
"Puck, this is my best friend Callie, she works at the hospital with me," Callie flashed the boy a smile and Mark continued, "Callie this Sloan Jr., Noah Puckerman."
Callie shook the handsome young boy's hand, "It's nice to meet you Noah" she said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, gorgeous, but please, call me Puck" he said slyly.
Callie raised an eyebrow in his direction and turned to Mark, "He's definitely your nephew." Mark smirked and snaked an arm around her waist. He placed a chaste kiss on her cheek and then took another sip of his coffee and savored the bitter sweet taste.
"Aunt Callie, can I borrow -" Santana stopped dead in her tracks as she walked out of the bedroom. "Puckerman?" she asked stunned.
Puck turned around and dropped his jaw, "Santana?"
Both Callie and Mark glanced at each other, than returned their attention back to the teenagers who stood in complete shock of the sight of one another.
"You guy's know each other?" Mark asked gesturing between the two. Puck nodded and smirked,
"Yeah, we know a lot about each other" he said with a hint of something extra in his voice. That something extra that Mark Sloan knew all to well.
"Aunt Callie, what is he doing here?" she asked pointing at a smirking Puckerman.
"He's my friend, Mark's nephew," she stated then turned to Mark, "Mark, this is my niece Santana," she turned to Santana, "Santana this is my best friend, Mark, he lives across the hall and we work together at the hospital."
Santana smiled at Mark and shook his hand, "It's nice to meet you"
Mark nodded, "You too" he then turned to Callie, "Good genes must run in the family" Callie sneered at him.
Puck chuckled and turned to his uncle, "You could say that again."
Santana crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, "Shut up, Puck," she growled, "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"
"What am I doing here?" he asked, "What are you doing here?" Crossing his own arms over his chest, he stood toe to toe with her.
"I asked you first" she huffed.
"Well, I asked you second, you still have to answer the question!" he shot back.
Santana let out a loud sigh, "I'm here visiting my aunt," she stated, "your turn."
"I'm visiting my uncle"
Mark and Callie watched as the two bickered about what the other was doing in Seattle. Callie definitely noticed the way her niece got riled up about Puck's presence. She could also see the lust between both teenagers eyes. The way his nephew was passionately arguing with the young Latina also didn't go unnoticed by Mark. He and Callie turned to each other, each sharing a knowing glance before deciding to step in.
"Okay!" Mark shouted, getting the attention of both high schools.
"So you guys know each other," Callie stated, "And you both happened to decide to visit your respective aunt or uncle at the same time, and now, you two are arguing over what exactly?" she asked.
Santana looked to aunt with wide eyes, "él rompió conmigo!" he broke up with me!, she said quietly.
Callie gasped, "que era tu novio?" he was your boyfriend? she asked and glanced over at Puck.
Nodding, Santana replied, "es por eso que me fui de Ohio" This is why I left Ohio, she gestured toward Puck.
"Oh Dios Mio" Callie muttered under her breath. Mark looked between the two dark-haired Latinas and knew that something was up, he could tell they needed some 'girl time' . He walked over to Puck and pulled him out of the room. Before leaving, he placed a soft kiss on Callie's lips and promised to meet her at the hospital.
Mark pushed Puck through the door of his apartment and placed his hands on his hips. Puck walked over to the couch and plopped down on it. "Start talking" he said firmly.
Puck sighed before answering, "Okay, so back in Ohio, I was apart of this thing called glee club, Santana was apart of it too, we dated for a couple of months, and then a few days ago I broke up with her because I didn't want people to know I'm whipped," he said with sad tone, "this is the help I need from you," he looked up at Mark, "I need you to help me get her back." Puck placed his head in his hands. "I had no idea she'd be here"
Mark walked over to Puck and sat next to him, he placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and patted lightly, "How bad do you want to get her back?"
"I want to get her so bad that I flew all the way from Ohio to Seattle to get advice from an uncle I haven't heard from in 7 years."
"Okay" Mark said, Puck's head shot up and looked up hopefully, "I'll help you get her back"
"Really?"
"Yup" Mark confirmed, "I'm sorry by the way, for not calling or visiting, I just didn't think you wanted me around anymore"
"It's alright, but I'm always gonna need you around, Uncle Mark"
"Yeah, I'm always gonna need you too."
"You ready to tell me what happened?" Callie asked her niece. They had moved to sit on the couch where Santana had her head thrown over the back and she stared aimlessly at the ceiling.
Santana took a deep breath before turning to her aunt, "While we were back in Lima, me and Puck went to the same school, we both were in this club called glee club, we would sing, dance and just have fun" Callie smiled at the thought of her niece singing just as she did at her age, "Well, me and puck dated a little while, it started off as just sex, " Callie cringed at that thought, her niece was too much like her, "then it was real relationship, and then one day he tells me he's breaking up with me because of his reputation" she said gruffly.
"What the fuck does that mean?" Santana bellowed at the ceiling. Callie chuckled and shook her head at her niece.
"Sweetie, did you ever think it was more than that?" she asked. Santana looked over at her aunt questioningly, then shook her head.
"Maybe, Puck's feelings were growing to strong for him to handle," she said sympathetically, "maybe he was growing to feel things for you that he hasn't experienced, so he got scared and ran," she patted Santana's hand lightly, "Trust me, honey, I know all about this."
"What do you mean?" Santana asked anticipating her aunts answer.
"You know my friend, Mark, he's not only my friend, he's my boyfriend, Santana," she paused before continuing, "But he wasn't always my boyfriend, it started off just being sex, like you and Puck, then we started feeling more and more for each other, so like any man, he ran," Santana stared at her aunt in shock, "but, he also came back, and he showed me how good it felt to be loved again, and I wouldn't change it for the world" Callie said with a beautiful smile adorning her face.
Sitting silent for a moment Santana then turned to her aunt, "So you think he's just scared?"
"Every man is afraid of their feelings, sweetie, but the good men are the ones who give in and overcome that fear."
"So what do I do?" she asked her aunt.
Callie wrapped an arm around her nieces' shoulder and squeezed tightly, "If you want to be with, help him overcome the fear, if not, buck up and move on" she stated.
Santana leaned her head on her aunts shoulder. "Thank you, tía"
Callie pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, "Any time, sweetheart."
A/N: Okay, so this has been on my mind for quite sometime. I always think of Mark and Callie the older versions of Santana and Puck. Please do not read if you don't like either pairing.
Reviews are love!
-kam