AN: I wrote this part of the story in third person because of the direction it's taking. I think the next chapter will be in third person too. Then I will switch back to Callie's voice.

Three months ago and two weeks after George's death Arizona was on her way out of the hospital alone, something she had grown accustom to doing since the young resident's passing. It seemed everyone in the hospital had just fallen to pieces and she was one of the few with the luxury of unfamiliarity. She never really got the chance to know George, though she did hear the stories, of which there were plenty. She was initially in shock and very much saddened She never understood why people so young and gifted are often tragically taken away. But, after the first week Arizona just wanted things to start picking up again if not at work than at least with her girlfriend. It seemed Callie had all but shut her out. Every night before they would wait for each other to finish, and then Callie would walk her to her car; it was their ritual. Now Callie would just stay in the hospital reading over charts and barely looking up unless her pager went off. Arizona couldn't even remember the last time they had a decent conversation. Mostly they'd just lay together in the on-call room unless Callie was in the mood, which she often was, then they would do more than lay there. But no one ever talked, and Callie never left. She wanted to be stuck there with everyone else in that pitiful condition of morning.

At first Arizona told herself to be understanding and she fought so hard to stifle the feelings of anger that were bubbling up inside of her. But the thing was She felt conflicted, Callie was her bright spot, her morning sunshine. She knew and respected her as an independent woman, but she also felt very territorial about her girlfriend. It was hard enough to ignore the suitors both male and female that Arizona saw checking Callie out everywhere they went, but now she felt like she was competing with a dead guy. So she walked out to her car alone one more time, or at least that's what she thought.

"Arizona Fucking Robbins?" she heard a voice playfully calling her.

There was only one woman in the world who ever called her name that way. Sure enough she looked over to find Bette Porter standing inches away from her.

"Bette, wow! It's been ages. What…what are you doing here?"

"The hospital's redoing some of the art-schemes around the building and I've been hires to oversee it"

"Oh wow, small world." Arizona sighed passively

"Yeah tell me about it, I didn't even know you worked here but I saw your name on the surgical board and…well you look amazing by the way"

"Yeah you and your tailored suit and glowing skin you never change. It's good though you're just as beautiful as I remember"

Arizona wondered what she was doing talking to Bette. The last time they spoke they were shouting at each other and Bette was pushing her to leave. The last conversation they ever had was at the house warming party Bette conveniently forgot to invite her to, the one where she found out about the legend that is Bette & Tina. She'd cried her eyes out before finally deciding to move to Seattle. Now it seemed like a little piece of L.A was following her everywhere she went.

"Listen, I'm going to be back and forth between here and L.A over the next couple of months. It'd be nice to catch up if you don't mind."

Arizona found herself wishing she had Callie to talk to or someone to ease her mind and tell her that this was a bad idea, but there was no such person everyone seemed to be off in another world.

"Yeah Sure why not" she said handing over a slip of paper with her number on it.

"You know if you're not doing anything tonight we could meet up or something"

Arizona wondered about the or something Bette could have been referring to. They stood mere inches apart in a sort of awkward anticipation. Bette really hadn't changed much in the five years since Arizona left. She still exuded that aura of quiet confidence that Arizona was so infatuated with.

"I uh…I have a…" Arizona couldn't seem to find the words

"You're busy, I understand. Maybe some other time then?" Bette interjects while taking a hold of Arizona's hand.

The hand hold was such a small gesture but it was almost too much for Arizona to take. She couldn't remember the last time she held Callie's hand, or that Callie held hers. She imagined the hand in hers would be smooth and warm with a hint of vanilla cream lotion. Instead she was overwhelmed by the aroma of Flower Baum and crushed lavender. She saw Bette as this beautiful woman full of purpose, a woman who could have anything she wanted, but all Arizona wanted was Callie. Unfortunately her girlfriend was off in another world and Arizona hadn't seen a trace of her in what seemed like forever. She had to stay strong she told herself while quickly letting go of the hand that was holding so tenderly on to hers.

Arizona hadn't been home for more than ten minutes before she started to panic. She checked her phone constantly to make sure it wasn't on silent. Why hadn't Bette called yet, it was kind of late after all. But maybe she didn't want her to call, maybe this was the exact opposite of what she needed. She reminded herself of her very sexy girlfriend who was just going through a tough spot and would be back to ship-shape in no time. But then that little voice in the back of her head started to tell her things. It was just catching up with a friend, she hadn't talked to anyone in a very long time, Callie would understand, at least that's what she told herself. She fought with herself for over three hours and then the phone rang. She let it ring three times because she really wasn't going to answer, but in the end the voice won out.

"You know for a second I thought you wouldn't answer." Bette says playfully

"Yeah I wasn't sure if I should. So last I checked you were a professor, now your…what are you doing exactly?"

"gallivanting across the country erecting giant penis statues"

"Oh that's exactly what Seattle Grace needs is a large erection"

"I see you haven't lost your sense of sarcasm. Well any way I had a little misunderstanding with a student so I had to cut the university gig short."

"Somehow I get the feeing it was more than a misunderstanding."

"yeah well you haven't met Nadia"

"Ooh, Nadia; it sounds like a Russian stripper's name. I kinda like it."

She gives off a breathy laugh that reminds Arizona of how much fun they used to have together. Back then she was just out of a graduate program and working at a museum and Arizona was the coffee shop girl she couldn't stop looking at.

"God I was on about three mochas a day before I got up the nerve to talk to you"

"Really?" Arizona asks surprised.

"Yeah, I mean you just had this smile, it still makes me melt. But you know I guess we were never meant to be"

"Oh come on now your glamorizing it, we all know I was never going to be able to compete with Tina. How is she by the way?"

The conversation slows. If it wasn't for a soft sigh on the other end Arizona wouldn't even have known she was still there. She tells Arizona about Tina's new job in New York and how its been really hard on her since the market in New York is so congested for art dealers. She talks about how much she misses her TWO KIDS. That's when it hits Arizona, Bette's got everything Arizona ever wanted with Callie only she didn't know how to get there. Before Arizona knew it They were meeting up for drinks or lunch and at first it is just talking, just catching up. She tricked herself into thinking that she could handle this, she actually told herself it was like doing Callie a favor by giving her more space. The truth though, is that what ever happened and what ever was happening was quickly evolving into a very irresponsible manipulation of each other. Arizona knew all of Bette's weaknesses and she knew Arizona's. They were both playing a game and waiting to see who would bite first.

And then Arizona bit…

Please Review. I'm a softy for input.