Title: Meeting in Paradise (2/?)

Author: iheartcallietorres (laurenxx3 on LJ)

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Summary: AU - Callie and Arizona meet for the first time in Fiji. Sparks fly.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. All characters belong to Shonda Rhimes/ABC. I don't own anything. Any similarities to real life situations/persons are purely coincidental. Not for profit; for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I have absolutely NO medical knowledge beyond what I see/hear on Grey's Anatomy, so forgive me of any medical-related errors. Also, this is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Please let me know if you come across any. As always, comments are much appreciated (and will encourage me to write more fics in the future - *hint, hint*).

[Callie's POV]

The woman sitting on the chair in front of me had my heart racing as I inspected her bruised and swollen ankle. I couldn't help but notice that she had amazing legs. Long, lightly tanned, well-muscled… The image of them wrapped tightly around my waist popped into my head before I could stop it and I inhaled sharply.

I forced my attention back to her injured ankle. "It would be easier to see the damage if you took off your shoe," I said, not looking up.

When no answer came and she didn't make a move, I glanced up at her and noticed that her breathing was a little ragged and her gaze was focused a little south of my face. I suddenly realized that I was still clad in only a tiny bikini, but shrugged it off. My body wasn't perfect, but I've always been fairly confident in my appearance. And it was obvious that Arizona liked what she saw.

I wondered briefly if she was gay, but I shook that thought out of my head. Even if she was, it wouldn't matter. I'd sworn off women. I was here to be single and independent. I just had to keep reminding myself that.

I cleared my throat, startling her into looking up at me. I grinned at the blush that spread across her cheeks. "Sorry," she said. "Did you say something?"

I nodded. "I said that it would be easier for me to examine your ankle if you took your shoe off."

"Oh, right," she replied. She reached down and untied her Nike running shoe, easing it off gently.

There was already significant swelling and bruising around her ankle, but after closer examination, I was able to confidently determine that it wasn't broken. "It's just a sprain," I said, replacing the ice. "You'll have to stay off it as much as possible for the next week or so."

She nodded. "Thanks," she said. "I can't believe I sprained my ankle less than two hours after I get here. Way to start off my vacation. And I wasn't even wearing my Heelys!"

I glanced up at her, bemused. "Heelys? As in those ridiculous shoes with wheels that send so many kids into my ER with broken boned that I have to fix?"

"Hey! Heelys are awesome!" she stated proudly with a smile, showing off her dimples. I felt my resolve start to slip at the sight of those dimples, but I quickly regained my senses.

I cleared my throat and stood. "I think I have an Ace bandage in my first aid kit," I muttered as I quickly retreated to the bedroom. I took a beep breath as I entered the bathroom and pulled the kit out from under the sink. I located the wrap, steadied my nerves and turned to leave. I was determined to keep my hormones in check. I had to.

But that didn't stop me from double checking my reflection in the mirror.

"Here," I said, returning to the sitting area. I dropped back to my knees and gently wrapped the bandage around her ankle, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Thank you," Arizona said. "I'm still mortified, you know."

I chuckled as I secured the wrap. "Don't be. It happens to the best of us." I picked up the bag of ice and noticed that it was more water than ice now. "Let me get you some more ice," I said and made my way to the kitchen. The layout of the house was similar to my own apartment in the way that it was all open, so I still had a good view of Arizona from the kitchen.

"Is anyone going to be missing you when you don't come back right away?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I'm here all by my lonesome," she said. "My cousin insisted that I needed a vacation and practically ordered me to use her timeshare."

I chuckled. "Nice cousin," I said.

"Hmm, we practically grew up together," Arizona replied as I handed the ice back to her. "What about you? Romantic vacation?"

I shook my head and on the couch adjacent to her chair. "Nope," I said. "I just needed to get out of Seattle for a while before I started as Attending. It's been way too long since I've had a vacation."

"Me, too," Arizona said. She lowered her foot and began to replace her shoe. "I'm intruding," she said. "I can just call a cab to take me back. Do they have cabs in Fiji?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea, but it's not a problem for me to drive you back. Really. Actually, it's kind of nice to have someone to talk to. I've been here for three days and the lack of human interaction is starting to get to me."

She smiled. "Used to the excitement of a busy ER, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I was about to make dinner. You're more than welcome to stay if you like." I felt my cheeks heat again and I was grateful for my tan complexion that hid my blush. "I mean, if you want to… I-I'm a pretty decent cook and-"

"I'd love to stay, Calliope."

I smiled and stood. I took three steps towards the kitchen before I stopped dead in my tracks. "Wait," I said, turning to her, hands on my hips. "How did you know my full name? I never told you that."

[Arizona's POV]

Crap. I hadn't meant to call her that. I just thought it was such a beautiful name that suited her perfectly and it had just slipped out. I blushed furiously.

"I, ah, accidentally knocked this," I said, picking up her Passport from the table beside my chair, "off the table and it fell open. What's the 'I' stand for?"

She shook her head. "You may know my first name, but you will never know the middle name. And only my parents call me 'Calliope,'" she said.

I shrugged. "I think it's a great name. It fits you. But I won't call you that if you don't want me to." I looked up at her, shooting her my famous dimpled smile. I'd perfected it over my thirty-three years on this earth.

She dropped her hands from her well-formed hips and shrugged. "I don't care," she said. She turned to walk into the kitchen and I couldn't help but take a peak at her backside and I had to cover my groan of appreciation with a fake cough and throat clear.

"Do you like pasta?" she asked once she'd reached the kitchen. "I had planned on making chicken piccata tonight."

I nodded. "I'm not very picky," I said. "I like almost everything. Except sandwiches. And black olives." I scrunched my nose in disgust at thought of the black, salty round things that disguised themselves as actual food. Yuck.

Calliope chuckled. "Okay, no black olives. Noted."

"Are you sure I'm not imposing?" I asked, not really looking forward to trying to make my own dinner with my less than stellar cooking skills and a sprained ankle, but I didn't want to be a burden.

Calliope shrugged. "I always make too much anyway," she said, setting a pot of water on the stove. "Really, I don't mind. And you don't seem like a serial killer or anything."

"Oh, yeah, my plan for going on a killing spree has been temporarily foiled due to a sprained ankle," I said deadpan.

"Guess you'll just have to postpone it for two weeks or so," she said, not missing a beat as she returned to the living room, holding a bottle of wine. "Do you drink wine? There's water or tea if you prefer."

"Wine is fine," I said, taking a glass from her. She poured a bit of white wine into my glass and I sipped, humming in pleasure at the bite of the cold liquid.

"Dinner will be ready in about an hour," Calliope said as she sat her glass on the table. "I'm going to change real quick," she said and made her way to the bedroom.

Once the door closed behind her, I pouted. I didn't mind her remaining in her very sexy bikini, but I wasn't about to tell her that. I looked down at my own attire and grimaced. I was still sweaty and my top was damp. Oh, that's attractive, I thought to myself.

As if Calliope knew exactly what I was thinking, she reappeared a few minutes later dressed in a tank top and cut off jeans. "I can find you something to change into if you want," she said. "I know first hand how uncomfortable work out clothes are when you're not actually working out."

I chuckled and looked up at her, grateful. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all," she said. "Come on, let me help you." She held out her hand and I took it. There it was again. I literally felt the sparks and it appeared she did too because her intake of breath was audible. I swallowed and pulled myself up, careful of my ankle. She helped me hobble into the bedroom and into the bathroom. "There are wash clothes in the linen closet. I'll find you something to wear," she murmured, shuffling out and closing the door behind her. I grabbed a wash cloth from the closet and quickly wiped off the worst of the sweat.

My hair was a mess, I suddenly realized with a grimace. I put down the wash cloth and pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair, shaking my head. I finger combed the blond, shoulder-length strands into another high ponytail, securing it with the hair tie.

I reached for the wash cloth again just as a knock sounded on the door.

[Callie's POV]

"Arizona?" I called out as I rapped lightly on the bathroom door.

"Come in," I hear her call out. I gripped the door knob and pushed the door open. I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me. Arizona was running a damp cloth over the back of her neck, bringing it to her front to cleanse away the dried sweat. She didn't even realize how sensuous she was being with that simple task.

I gulped and inhaled sharply. I had to control myself, but she was making that more and more difficult with each passing moment. I cleared my throat and she glanced at me.

"I, ah, here," I said, handing her a t-shirt and basketball shorts. "They may be a little big, but they're better than, uh, nothing." I swallowed hard at the thought of her wearing nothing.

"Thanks," she said, tossing the cloth into the sink and taking the clothes I offered.

We stared at each other for a few seconds. "What?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"Are you gonna stand there while I change?" she asked. "I mean, not that I really mind, but…"

"Oh," I said. "Oh! Right, I'll just, uh, be in the kitchen." I quickly backed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I slumped against the wall right beside the door and rubbed my face with my hands as I struggled to return my breathing to normal.

Never in my life have I been so affected by anyone, male or female, in such a short amount of time. I've known Arizona for all of half an hour, yet she was making me consider throwing my resolve to be single out the window. And I didn't even know if she was gay!

Okay, to be fair, she'd been checking me out in a pretty obvious manner, so I was pretty sure she was into women.

I pushed myself off the wall and headed for the kitchen to get dinner together. I really needed to stop thinking about the beautiful woman that I'm sure would take weeks to get out of my head, if not longer.

[Arizona's POV]

I managed to control myself the rest of the evening, though I'm pretty sure it was because my ankle was throbbing with pain. Calliope offered me some Ibuprofen, which I readily accepted, hoping the pain would diminish.

Dinner was amazing. I sheepishly admitted my lack of culinary skill in the kitchen, telling Calliope that I usually ordered take out.

"Thank you again," I said as she cleared the table. I felt bad that she had to cook and clean up, but with my ankle, helping clear the table wasn't even an option for me.

She smiled at me across the kitchen counter. I would never grow tired of that smile. Of seeing her chocolate brown eyes light up. "It's not a problem," she said. "Like I said, I've been kind of lonely the past few days. As sad as that may seem."

"No, I get it," I said. "Working in bustling hospitals, we're not used to being by ourselves."

"Exactly," she said. She looked behind her at the clock and I suddenly noticed that it was getting late.

"I should probably get back," I said, a hint of sadness in my voice.

"Hmm, yeah," she agreed. She hesitated a bit, looking as if she wanted to say something.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just wondering if, you know, you don't have any plans tomorrow… maybe you want to hang out a bit? I mean, I'm not normally one to make friends quickly, but I had more fun just talking to you than I have the past three days on my own. It gets pretty boring after the first day of laying around doing nothing and… I'm babbling, aren't I?"

I laughed. "A little, yeah," I said. "But it's cute. And sure, I'd love to hang out tomorrow. I had planned on doing a little snorkeling tomorrow, but I think that may have to wait a week or so now."

"Good idea," she said. "I was reading about these all-inclusive day cruises, though, that are supposed to be amazing. Glass bottom boats that allow you to see the coral reefs and marine life. Lunch and dinner are provided, along with other amenities."

I thought about it for a moment. It sounded expensive, but Lynn had insisted that I splurge during this vacation and I had a sizable amount of money saved up from all those years of not traveling.

"That sounds wonderful, Calliope."