Thanks for all the reviews and following my story!
I know you guys are not a fan of the Arizona-Leah relationship and I promise you that there will be an end to it. But for now we got to stick with it.
Arizona tip toed to her bathroom and into the shower. She turned on the water and let it run down her back. Arizona and Leah had spent almost the entire day in bed, sleeping with each other, talking and laughing until they fell asleep at some point. Arizona was really happy to finally have an entire day with her girlfriend. She couldn't even remember when had been the last time they had shared some quality time just the two of them for more than a few hours.
Arizona hadn't thought about Callie since leaving her apartment but right now as hot water ran down her back the beautiful woman was back on her mind. Why was that? If Arizona took a look at her relationship and the day she had just spent, there was no reason on earth to think about another woman the way she was. Sure, her relationship with Leah wasn't always perfect and the schedule of a second year resident was a lot crazier than her's as an attending. But all in all, there was no reason for Arizona to complain.
And yet, Callie was able to make her feel like a fool. Not in a bad way but in this having a crush on a cute girl way. Arizona closed her eyes and let her head rest against the wall. This was just crazy and confusing to her. She recapped the last few days and especially yesterday's evening and wondered what the hell was happening. Callie was able to make her knees weak and her heart race just by smiling at her. When ever she saw Callie in the hospital hallways, her mood lightened up. A day without seeing her was always a bad day and she immediately missed having the other woman around. Arizona wasn't sure if there ever had been anyone who had that effect on her. At least Leah didn't and never had in the past.
"Babe, you're okay in there?" Leah asked through the closed door which made Arizona realize how much time she must have spent in the shower since she had sneaked out of bed.
"Yeah, I'm gonna be out in a minute." Arizona answered and started to hurried up.
"I get started on cooking then." Leah suggested and Arizona heard Leah step away.
"Meet you in the kitchen!" She yelled after her hoping Leah would hear her.
Arizona quickly finished showering and wrapped herself in a towel. She could hear Leah working in the kitchen and humming to the sound being played on the radio. Arizona had to smile. Arizona had always loved just looking at her girlfriend working around the kitchen.
What was she even doing with Callie? Right there in the kitchen, there was all she needed. So Arizona shook of every thought of Callie and got ready to joined Leah in the kitchen before she could think about Callie any longer.
"There you are." Leah said and looked at her girlfriend while washing the asparagus. Arizona placed a quick kiss on Leah's cheek.
"What do you need me to do?" Arizona offered but she already knew that there would be no job for her. Leah seldomly let Arizona help.
"Well, I'm all set with this but I'm really thirsty." Leah smiled.
"Red or white?" Arizona read her girlfriend's mind.
"White? There's some in the fridge."
Arizona filled two glasses and placed one next to Leah. She took a sip from hers and watched her girlfriend cook for a while.
"So, everything is taken care of." Leah stated and took a step towards Arizona. She placed a kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "You think, you can make sure this doesn't burn? I want to take a shower too before we eat."
"As much as I want to join you in that shower, I think I can have an eye on this instead." Arizona smirked.
"You have to safe that for desert." Leah laughed and went to the bathroom without turning around. She knew Arizona's gaze was following her every step.
Arizona kept an eye on the food, as promised and since Leah took her time in the shower, Arizona started to get everything ready for dinner.
"Dinner is ready!" She called for Leah after litting the last candle and starting to put their food on the plates.
Arizona and Leah then shared a nice dinner together. They shared a comfortable silence while eating. The food was too good to let it get cold because of too much talking.
Leah pushed her plate aside after eating the last bite. She looked at Arizona.
"Thank you for today. I know we barely have time together and today was perfect." Leah said.
"I have to thank you. This was your idea. Arizona replied.
"I'm glad you liked the surprise. I know you don't like them."
"Today was perfect." Arizona assured and stroked Leah's hand with her thumb.
"So you said something about desert?" She smirked.
Without saying anything Leah got up an held out her hand. Arizona took it and got up herself. She put her hands on Leah's hips and they met for a kiss.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
Arizona pulled Leah into her bedroom, so Leah could keep her promise about desert.
While Arizona spent the day with her girlfriend, Callie was now home alone going through her cards. Mark had left about 2 hours ago after going through every detail of her and Arizona - not that there were many. Callie had told Mark everything that had happened and had not happened. Mark had finally come to the conclusion that there definitely was some chemistry between the two women. He had seen it with his own eyes several times at the hospital and from what he had heard from Callie's narration, Arizona saw something in his best friend as well. His advice was to not give up on anything if Callie really liked Arizona.
And Callie really did like Arizona. So she decided that Mark was right. There was no way that she had imagined the whole thing. Arizona had been flirty – for whatever that was worth now. Callie wouldn't pursue this actively but she wouldn't exactly stand down either. She would keep going and see what would come out of it.
And she loved Mark for encouraging her instead of persuing his own interests. He knew that if there ever was going to be something serious between Arizona and Callie, that would be the end of them being friends with benefits. Even now, just at the very beginning, Mark knew that his friendship to Callie was worth more than all the sex he could get. So he was willing to step down to just being best friends again.
So now that Callie got her head cleared, she made good progress with her cards. Time after time she went through them, she felt more confident about passing the boards. She was a good doctor every day and she knew she had the medical knowledge.
Unfortunately, Callie didn't have the day of like Arizona. So after finishing the last stack of cards, Callie made her way over to the hospital. She changed into her light blue scrubs and coat and made her way to the peds floor to check on the boy from the day before. It appeared that the boy was concious and currently with his father. He seemed fine under the given circumstances.
After that, Callie made her way to the Ortho unit to start her shift. For once it was a quiet day. There were no incomming traumas and she had only scheduled two minor surgeries which each didn't take much of her time. Callie was glad. With both working and studying she was happy about each and every quiet day.
Now it was Callie's turn to stand in front of a mirror not knowing what to wear. It was supposed to be a casual evening over at Arizona's place and Callie didn't want to show up overdressed. On the other hand, she wanted to look nice for Arizona. Callie decided on black pants, a dark green, almost turkoise shirt and her lether jacket. As a gift she could have brought wine but since Arizona had done the same thing when she had come over, she wanted to bring something different. Earlier on her way back from the hospital Callie had bought some beautiful bright flowers.
As the door to Arizona's apartment opened, Callie was greeted by one of the blonde's beautiful smiles. They locked eyes for a moment without saying anything. Callie was caught and unable to speak.
"Hi there. Come on in." The blonde said and cleared the way.
Arizona's apartment was bigger than Callie's. From the small entrence hall she was standing in, she could see 4 different doors. Arizona gave her a little tour.
"So these two doors go to the bedroom and bathroom." She said and pointed at the doors on the right.
"Here's the kitchen." Callie and Arizona's passed the door on the left.
Callie followed Arizona to the forth room. It appeared to be the biggest. There was a small dining table for four with a vase full of roses.
The other part of the room was the living-room with a small black sofa and a small glass table. There were some bookshelves as well. Mostly novels but Callie could see some medical books as well.
Callie turned around and realized that she was still holding the flowers. She held them out towards Arizona.
"These are for you." Callie said with a smile.
"Thank you." Arizona replied. "Let me just put them into water. Please sit. You can give me your jacket if you want to as well."
Callie took it off and handed it over. When Arizona left the room, Callie sat down on the sofa and let her eyes wander. The roses must be from Leah, she thought and swallowed.
On a sideboard she could see some frames with pictures. There was a photo of who seemed to be Arizona's parents. The man was wearing a dark blue marine uniform, the woman a fancy gown. So Arizona came from a military family. Callie didn't know before. Next to that frame was a picture of Arizona and a young handsome blonde man in a khaki combat uniform who looked a lot like the other Robbinses. Callie was surprised. She never knew Arizona had a brother. Arizona had never talked about him.
Callie now realized that she didn't know much about the blonde anyway.
And of course there was a photo of Arizona and Leah. It was taken on a beach, on some vacation Callie guessed. Callie now knew who Leah was. With all the interns at the hospital she didn't know everybody's name. But she definitely had seen Leah around before. The two of them looked happy in the picture.
Arizona came back and handed a glass of wine to Callie.
"Thanks."
"So, do you want to eat first?" Arizona asked.
"Honestly, I'm starving." Callie admitted with a smile.
"Alright. You like pasta? I make the best pasta sauce." Arizona said with a confident smirk.
"I love pasta!" Callie almost shouted. Italian was her favorite.
"It's settled then." Arizona replied and went to the kitchen. Callie followed her.
"You want me to help?" She offered.
"No it's fine. You're my guest." Arizona declined and began with taking pots and ingredients out. "But you can tell me how to treat me."
Callie was confused. She didn't know what the other woman was talking about.
"I'm a 42-year old woman of both good physical and mental health. I go running twice a day and eat healthy food." Arizona said and continued with a bunch of symptoms. Callie sat down at the kitchen table and began to explain her line of treatment.
"Very good. I think I'll live, Dr. Torres."
Callie smiled. This was way better than going through card after card. Arizona continued with the next patient. This time a 75-year old male. While Arizona was cooking, Callie explained every treatment she would perform on every patient Arizona impersonated.
"Seriously Callie, I have no doubt that you will pass the boards." Arizona said after the fifth round.
"Well thanks. But you'll never know, right?"
"Just be confident, okay? You can do this." Arizona smiled. "You'll do great."
Callie replied with a smile. Arizona knew how to make her feel better.
"Can you hand me two plates? They're in the cabinet over there." Callie did as asked and the next moment they were sitting at the table in the living-room eating the best pasta Callie had ever eaten.
"I have to admit. This is indeed the best pasta sauce. Where did you learn to cook like that?"
"I guess I just picked it up from helping my mom when I was little. I was always fascinated by how she cooked and so I was around the kitchen a lot. When I grew up she let me help and soon I was cooking the whole dish on her instructions."
"I'm glad you did. I really love this. Your mother must be a great cook."
"Do you cook?" Arizona asked in return.
"Not really. Just the basic stuff, nothing special. I'm way better at baking." Callie replied. "Ask my grandma. I make the greatest sand cake on earth."
They both laughed. "No, seriously. It may have started out with sand cake but I'm doing okay with real ingredients. I'll bake you something for your birthday."
"August 9th. Make a note." Arizona joked but hoped Callie would remember.
Together Callie and Arizona washed the dishes after finishing dinner. They then made themselves comfortable on the couch, a glass of wine in their hands. They agreed that they had done enough medical studying in the kitchen for the evening. The main reason was that they both wanted to spend the evening talking about everything but medicine. They both wanted to get to know the other better.
"You never told me you have a brother." Callie stated to begin a conversation, not knowing that this was probably the worst question she could've asked.
When Arizona didn't answer, Callie suspected that she probably had hit a soft spot. "Arizona?" She asked and reached out for her hand. Arizona pulled back. Her head was lowered.
"I'm sorry, Arizona. I didn't…"
"He died." Arizona whispered. Callie swallowed. If she had known, she never would have asked. She didn't know what to say. Instead she tried to reach for Arizona's hand again. This time Arizona didn't pull away, so Callie took Arizona's hand in hers.
Arizona looked up. "Tim, that is my brother's name. He was in the Army. Ranger Regiment." Arizona began. "It happened on his second tour in Iraq. They were on a regular patrol round when they were attacked by local militia. Their truck was hit and they barely made it back to camp."
Arizona sobbed. After all this years it was still hard for her. "Tim was injured badly. The situation in camp was chaotic. Another patrol had been hit. There were too many injured for the few doctors they had."
"God, I'm so sorry, Arizona. Really. I didn't know." Callie pulled her in for a comforting hug and rubbed her back.
"It's fine. How would you…"
"Thanks for telling me."
The two women spent the rest of the evening talking about themselves after that and Arizona's mood lightened up eventually. They talked about family, the past and why they became doctors. They were happy to get to know the other and it made them like the other woman even more. The whole evening Callie had the feeling of talking to a very good friend instead of someone she barely knew. She felt more than comfortable around Arizona and she hoped Arizona felt the same way around her.
"One last thing to cross of the list of personal topics, right?" Arizona said two hours later and looked at a confused Callie. "Coming out."
Callie blushed.
"You didn't come out to your parents yet?"
"I haven't exactly had a chance yet. The thing with Erica. Well, it was brief and I think it's best to do it if they can get to know a certain girlfriend when I come out to them. Maybe they will accept it this way."
"You sure about that? I think they will accept it either way."
"Well, you don't know my parents. My very catholic parents."
"Okay, it may be a good idea to wait. I see it." Arizona admitted. "Do your friends know? Mark seemed to."
"Yeah Mark does, obviously. I think pretty much the whole hospital knows since Erica and I broke up in the hallway of the cardio unit. You knew, didn't you?"
"Yes. I mean I heard some rumours. But I didn't care. I thpught that they should mind your own business. You being gay or whatever isn't theirs."
"Thanks. That's nice to hear. So how about you? How was it?"
"Unspectacular. They pretty much knew already when I brought home my first girlfriend. I never had brought home a guy before and there were posters of women in my room. My mom didn't make a big deal out of it and Tim thought it would be very cool that his sister would someday marry a chick."
"You dad?" Callie carefully asked.
"There was some screaming and crying at first but he came around eventually when he saw that it was what makes me happy." Arizona explained.
"You were lucky." Callie stated.
"I was and I'm sure it will work out for you as well."
"Thank you. Not only for encouraging me but for the whole evening. I had a great time."
"Me too." Arizona agreed. "You want another glass?"
As much as Callie wanted to stay, she knew it was better to call it a night. It was late and the wine had kicked in. She knew that nothing good would come out of staying.
"It's late. I should get going." Callie said and hoped that her voice didn't sound too sad.
Arizona nodded. "Okay then." She got up and picked up Callie's jacket from the other room. Back in the hallway she handed it to Callie.
"We should get coffee tomorrow at the hospital." Arizona suggested.
"Come find me when you craving for coffee, okay? I will make time."
"Great. So, good night then."
"Good night."
Arizona pulled Callie in for a hug, longer than it should have been. Feeling Arizona's body against hers made Callie's knees weak. She could stay in her arms forever.
When Callie pulled back, for a moment she thought Arizona would kiss her goodbye. Her face lingered in front of Callie's for a second. Then the moment was gone and Callie didn't even know if it had been real. She was confused.
"Good night." She said again quickly and left Arizona's apartment.