Thank you to all of you who have left me sweet feedback on this story so far. It means so much to me! Keep it coming!


As they began making their way back to the house, each woman tried not to look at the other—at the way her clothes stuck to her skin, revealing hard nipples and leaving little to the imagination.

Arizona was thoughtful and quiet, and Callie assumed she was thinking about her conversation with Carly.

"So…what did Carly want to talk about?" she finally asked.

Arizona shrugged. In fact, she hadn't even been thinking about Carly. She had been thinking about how Callie had jumped in after her. "She just wanted to put everything out there."

"Oh." Callie nodded, willing herself not to ask the obvious follow-up question: and what did she say?

The rest of the walk was silent and, when they got to the house, they stopped short when they saw Daniel standing in the front yard, waiting to greet them.

"I want to talk to both of you," he said in a level tone. He then led them through the house, pausing in the kitchen in front of the door to the garage. He turned to face Arizona and commanded, "Your mother's never to hear about any of this."

Inside the garage, Callie and Arizona immediately caught sight of Bailey. The woman looked up from her phone and stared at them. "I told you I'd check up on you."

Wide-eyed, Arizona turned on her father. "What did you do?"

"Well, I got a call from Ms. Bailey here, who told me that, if you were lying—and she strongly believes that you are—she would send you to prison. So I flew her out here."

"Dad…"

"Lucky for you," Bailey interrupted, "your father negotiated a deal on your behalf. Now, this offer is going to last for twenty-seconds, and I'm not going to give you another chance, so listen closely. You are going to make a statement admitting that this marriage is a sham or you are going to go to prison. You tell the truth, and you're off the hook. And she," Bailey gestured toward Callie, who gulped, "is going to go back to Canada."

Daniel looked from Callie to Arizona, who offered nothing but a blank expression.

"Take the deal!" Daniel urged.

Biting her bottom lip, Arizona shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Don't be stupid, Arizona!" Daniel chided.

Arizona ignored him. She turned to Bailey. "You want a statement?"

Bailey turned on her tape recorder.

"Here's your statement," Arizona continued in a rush. "I've been working for Callie Torres for three years. Six months ago, we started dating. We fell in love. I asked her to marry me. She said yes. That's the story." As she turned to go, she nodded at her father, imbuing her tone with venom. "I'll see you at the wedding."

She led Callie back upstairs, and they walked into the bedroom in uneasy silence.

Callie sat down on the bed. "So," she braved, "you sure about this?"

From where she stood by the window, looking outside, Arizona turned to face her. "Not really," she admitted.

"I mean, I appreciate what you've done, Arizona, but I think that-"

"Knock, knock!" came a voice outside the door. Barbara popped her head in. "Hope y'all are decent. Arizona, I need you to come with me."

"What? Now?"

"Yes, ma'am," Barbara insisted. When Arizona still didn't look thrilled, Barb crossed her arms. "Darlin', where do you think I've been all morning? I got you wedding dresses to try on!"

"Oh, mom…" Arizona whined.

"Nope. None of that," Barbara tisked. "I know we're foregoing most wedding traditions, but I'm still going to get you into a white dress, missy. And Callie doesn't get to see you in it till tomorrow, either."

Arizona trudged out the door. "Fiiiiine."

Barbara smiled lovingly at her daughter's retreating form then turned to Callie. "Sweetheart, you just sit tight, all right? You're next.


Lunch and much of the afternoon passed in a blur, and then Callie was with Barbara in the master bedroom, trying on vintage wedding dresses.

"Ooh, Callie, that's the one!" Barbara exclaimed.

Callie looked in the mirror, looking to see how the dress fit. It looked nice enough, but all she really cared about was that it was strapless, so it didn't completely suffocate her in the Alabama heat.

"What do you think?" Barbara prompted.

"It's beautiful," Callie admitted.

Barbara grinned. "You like it? Really?"

"I do," Callie promised.

"You know," Barbara began as she busied herself with her sewing kit. "I was thinking, if you'd like, maybe we could head your way for the holidays this year."

"Oh!" Callie replied in surprise. "That would…that would be nice. Or maybe we could come down to see you."

"Well, that would be lovely." Barbara sniffled. "I would like that very much."

"Hello?" They heard from the other side of the door. "Is it safe to come in?"

"Come on in, Richard!" Barbara called.

Richard stepped inside and hurried to shut the door behind him.

"Did you bring it?" Barbara asked.

Richard nodded, patting the pocket of his jeans.

Callie knitted her brows in confusion. "Bring what?"

"Well darlin', we want to give you something, if that's okay."

"Callie, Adele was the love of my life," Richard began. "She taught me everything I know about love: that it's a danger, that it's trusting and surrendering to another person even when you're scared. Especially when you're scared," he corrected himself.

Richard paused. "We noticed that you and Arizona don't have wedding rings, and maybe they're not your style, but…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old diamond ring. "Barb and I thought you might like this."

"Richard…" Callie began. "It's beautiful, but I don't really think-"

"I'm not finished," Richard interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry."

"I gave it to the woman I loved most. I mean, we drove each other crazy, but we were crazy about each other, too. And I'd be honored to give it to the woman Arizona loves most now."

Callie looked between Barbara and Richard's expectant faces, easily reading their excitement. Attempting to find her voice, she offered, "I can't…I can't take this."

"I don't want to hear it," Richard countered. "Arizona and now you are the closest thing I have to kids. I want to give it to you. It'll make me feel like I'm part of your lives even after I'm gone. Take it," he insisted.

As Callie shook her head, she felt tears prick her eyes and cleared her throat, willing them back into her skull.

Barbara moved closer. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

Callie took a deep breath. "I, uh…well, I, uh…" She looked up to see Barbara and Richard hovering over her, concern in their eyes.

"I'm fine," Callie assured them. "It's just…a really beautiful ring."

Richard laughed, obviously pleased. "We hoped you'd like it."

"Now, come on," Barbara cut in. "Let's get you out of that dress."


Arizona was waiting for Callie in the living room, but when Callie was done trying on dresses, she walked through the room without a word and went straight for the front door.

Arizona turned from where she sat on the couch. "Callie…?"

Callie opened the door and ran outside, not even bothering to look in her direction.

Arizona stood up, hurrying to follow after her. "Callie!"

But Callie was already gone.

Callie ran down the road, desperate to escape. Silently, she asked herself why she always ran from everything, but she was too freaked out to bother stopping to psychoanalyze herself. There was a choice to respond to stressful situations with either fight or flight, and she almost always chose flight.

She ran onto the pier, hearing her hollow footfall sound against the wood.

"Callie!" Arizona called again. "Wait up!"

Callie ran to the end of the pier and then realized she had nowhere else to go. She looked out at the water that surrounded her, resenting the fish that inhabited it and their easy, uncomplicated lives.

Finally, Arizona caught up. With her hands on her knees, catching her breath, she demanded, "Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"I needed to get away from everybody," Callie explained.

"What's wrong?"

"It's fine!"

But Arizona wasn't going to let Callie off the hook that easily. "Callie!"

Callie ignored her.

"CALLIE!"

"I FORGOT, OKAY?" Callie exploded.

Arizona's eyebrows furrowed. "You forgot what?"

"I forgot what it was like to have a family!" Callie explained. "I've been on my own since I was twenty-two, and I forgot what it felt like to have people love you and make you breakfast and say 'Hey! We'd love to come up for the holidays,' and I say, 'Well why don't we come down and see you instead?' And give you rings! And you have all that here, and you have Carly, and I'm just screwing it up!"

"You're not screwing it up!" Arizona countered. "I agreed to this! You were there, remember? A deal's a deal."

"Your family loves you. Do you know that?"

"Of course I know that!"

"But you're still willing to put them through this?" Callie pressed.

"They're not going to find out!"

"How do you know they won't find out?"

"Because you said so yourself!" Arizona reminded her.

"But what if your mom...Oh my god, if your mom finds out..." Callie shuddered. "And Richard! If he finds out, he'll have a heart attack and DIE or something!"

"It's going to be fine!" Arizona insisted.

Callie felt herself panicking, and she knew it was no use trying to reel the worry in. She was too far gone. "He's gonna have a heart attack!"

"He's not going to find out!"

"And your dad's going to kill us!" Callie continued. "You said he's killed before. He's going to kill us, and Bailey's going to help! I just don't know what to do and-"

"I don't think that running away is the proper way to express your frustration!" Arizona countered, attempting to remain sane despite Callie's quickly spiraling frenzy.

"A-a-and," Callie continued, not even paying attention to her, "we're about to get married! And everything's all wrong, and my dad's supposed to be here!"

Arizona's eyes widened in surprise, and Callie continued to pace, although her pace slowed at that realization. As it turned out, that was a big part of what was bothering her.

Callie's voice was softer then. "He's supposed to be here. And I know the whole thing's just for show, but it's still a wedding, right? And my dad's supposed to walk me down the aisle, and he can't."

"Callie..." Arizona began.

Callie shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Rationally, I know that. I'm just freaking out here. You have this whole life, and I'm ruining it."

"You aren't ruining anything!"

Callie continued pacing, regaining speed.

"Hey." Arizona reached out and grabbed Callie's shoulders to force the other woman to stop moving for a second.

Callie froze and reluctantly met blue eyes.

Arizona forced a reassuring smile. "You and I…are getting married tomorrow. And it's completely consensual. And it'll all be fine. Okay?"

Callie still looked dubious, and she began to shake her head. "Ariz-"

"This is the home stretch," Arizona insisted. "We just need to make it through tomorrow. So would you please relax? You freaking out isn't going to help anything. Just take a breath."

Callie obeyed. "Okay," she breathed.

"Okay." Arizona exhaled a breath of her own, relieved that that was over. "Now, come on. My mom's throwing a barbecue tonight and put us in charge of the fruit salad."

Callie made a face.

Arizona offered out her hand and her most irresistible dimples. "Come on, fiancé. We've got one more day to go."


That night, as Daniel and Richard cleaned the grill, the Robbins family and their friends scattered themselves in the backyard, talking and laughing in small groups under the fairy lights and fireflies. Mosquitoes, too.

Carly walked over to Arizona, offering her another beer. "Hey," she said, a little sheepishly.

Arizona accepted the beer. "Hey."

"So…about earlier…" Carly began. "I'm sorry. If I crossed a line. But I never would have forgiven myself if I didn't say anything. I didn't want to be left with what ifs."

"Well, now you know," Arizona shrugged. "I'm done with us, Carly. I loved you, but you ended things, and I moved on. There's no going back."

Carly smiled. "I know. I get it. And you have Callie now, anyway."

Arizona nodded. "Yeah," she lied.

"We can still be friends, though, right?" Carly checked, sounding nervous.

Arizona reached out and squeezed her hand. "We'll always be friends."


Sitting alone at the picnic table, Callie frowned as she watched Carly and Arizona's interaction from the opposite side of the yard. How's Arizona willing to go through with this when her ex so clearly still has feelings for her?

Before she could dwell too much and throw herself back into a tizzy, Barbara interrupted her thoughts by sitting down beside her. "I want to show you something." She presented Callie with a large photo album, set it down on their laps, and opened it the first page.

"Oh my god," Callie laughed, looking at the first photograph. "Is that Arizona?"

Barbara nodded and grinned. "Yes, it is. She was the fattest baby the world's ever seen." She flipped to the next page. Arizona and Tim on Christmas. Tim attempting to ride a golden retriever. Arizona as a toddler, trying on lingerie.

Callie pointed to a photo. "What's happening here?"

"Oh," Barbara chuckled. "Daniel and Richard used to pour canned peaches into Ziploc bags and trick the kids and say they were eating slugs. Tim joined in when he got older, too. Made Arizona cry every time." She looked up and motioned her husband over. "Daniel! Git over here, will you?"

Daniel made his way toward them. "What is it, Barb?"

"Sit," Barbara insisted. "I'm showing Callie our family pictures."

The man gave in to the matriarch's request without a fight, sitting on Callie's other side. He motioned toward a photo. "That was the day she broke her arm, remember?"

"Oh, yes!" Barbara recalled. She leaned toward Callie to explain, and the three of them laughed at the story.


After a minute of watching Arizona watch Callie, Richard grabbed his glass of water and walked over to her. He stood beside her. "She's pretty special, isn't she?"

Arizona's head shot up suddenly, as if pulled out of a trance. "What?"

Richard nodded toward her fiancé. "Callie."

"Oh." Arizona paused. "Yeah. She is."

"You know how I know you two are made for each other?"

Arizona rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Her uncle was such a romantic. "How?"

"You can't stop looking at her," Richard answered simply. "And every time you look away, her eyes find you."

There was no way that could be true. "Uncle Richard…"

"I'm just saying," Richard defended. "People reveal their deepest feelings through what they do, not what they say. So I can see how much you care about her, even after all these months of you calling us and complaining about your 'she-devil' boss."

Arizona's eyes found Callie again. She watched as the woman laughed and flipped through photos with her parents, and her lips quirked up.

A second later, Callie looked up and caught her staring. They shared a silent moment, each smiling at the other.

Then, Arizona turned back to face Richard. "Can I, um, get you some more water?"

Richard chuckled. "You know damn well I can get it for myself."

Arizona looked away.

"It's all right. Don't be embarrassed. I'm going to go to talk to April."


An hour later, the party had thinned out substantially, and soon only the family remained.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to head to bed, too," Barbara decided.

She gave both Callie and Arizona a goodnight hug and kiss, and Callie melted into the older woman's arms this time rather than backing away. "Goodnight, Barbara. Thank you so much for everything."

"Oh, I haven't done anything." Barbara waved her off. "Y'all rest up. Big day tomorrow." She laughed.

Then, all that was left of the party was Callie and Arizona and a bunch of twinkly lights.

Arizona sat down on the picnic table. "You tired?"

Callie shook her head. "I know I should be, but I'm wired. I don't think I'd be able to fall asleep if I tried."

"Me, neither," Arizona admitted. She looked at Callie for a minute, then shifted her position so that she could lie down on the table. She patted the space beside her. "Come on."

Callie furrowed her brow, confused about why Arizona wanted her to lie on the white picnic table at ten o'clock at night. Still, she obeyed and lay down beside the other woman. She followed Arizona's eyes and looked up at the sky. The night was clear, and the stars were bright. She easily made out the Big and Little Dipper.

"I love the stars," Arizona mused.

"Me, too," Callie agreed with a sigh. "But if I start thinking about them too much, I have an existential crisis."

Arizona laughed. "I know. Imagine having a career in science and being reminded every day that you're totally insignificant. I'd rather be in denial, thank you."

"You're significant!" Callie argued, laughing.

"Oh, you know what I mean!"

"I know, I know," Callie surrendered. "In the grand scheme of things, what we did today doesn't matter. It's totally meaningless."

"Well, from the perspective of the universe, yeah," Arizona amended. "But…" She turned her head, taking in Callie's profile—her tiny freckles and charcoal eyes. "What we did today…it matters to me," she admitted quietly.

Callie turned to look at her questioningly. They lay so close that she could feel the warmth of Arizona's breath against her cheek.

Arizona's lips quirked up into a playful smile. "I mean, how you tried to save me," she clarified. "It was a valiant attempt."

Callie groaned and turned away. "You're making fun of me."

"I'm not!" Arizona instinctively reached out and touched Callie's hand to emphasize the truth in her words.

Still a little skeptical, Callie met her eyes, searching for any signs of deception.

Arizona easily held her stare. "I'm not," she swore in a whisper. Then, she confessed, "I actually did try to pull an Edna Pontellier once, you know—just swim out to the middle of the ocean and never come back."

Callie's brows shot up. So, in a way, Arizona had been prepared to kill herself. She was grateful that Richard and Barbara didn't know about it. "What happened?"

A little smugly, Arizona said, "I'm too good of a swimmer. I swam for so long that I got hungry and came back for dinner."

Callie smiled. "Well, I'm grateful for your appetite," she breathed. "Otherwise, we never would have met."

"True," Arizona hummed.

They were silent for a long moment, just staring up at the stars.

"Callie?"

"Hmm?" Callie turned her head toward her.

Arizona bit her lip. "I, um. I know you like to pretend that you don't care about anything or anyone—and you're very convincing—but you do care. I know how much you care. And…I'm actually kind of…glad I'm getting to know you." It was a small confession, but, still, she felt her cheeks grow hot.

Feeling uncomfortable with the way the conversation had turned and put her in focus—especially with Arizona's face so close to hers, her eyes so intense—Callie joked, "You're glad to get to know me even though I'm a 'she-devil' and 'Satan's mistress'?"

Blue eyes remained trained on Callie, and Arizona thought about how wrong she'd been. Callie may have been nearly impossible to get to know at first but, now that she knew her, Arizona realized how different Callie was from what she had seemed. She was good.

She offered a tiny, helpless shrug. "I think I may have spoken too soon."


As Callie and Arizona lay in bed that night (and, okay, in a sleeping bag in Arizona's case), neither woman could sleep. Every few minutes, Arizona heard Callie switch from lying on her back to lying to her side, and Callie heard the occasional tapping of fingers against a sleeping bag, revealing Arizona's anxiety.

They were back to thinking about the wedding. How strange it was that, three days before, they had been single, and now they were about to get married. In fact, they were about to commit marriage fraud.

Finally, Arizona cleared her throat and broke the silence. "When I came out to my brother," she began in a tiny voice, "he asked me if that meant that I was going to marry a chick."

Callie waited.

"And when I said 'yes,' he had this big smile," Arizona recalled in quarter-tones. "And he said 'I'm going to dance so hard at your wedding.'"

Callie remained silent, waiting for Arizona to say more.

"But now it's here," Arizona continued after a long beat. "And he isn't."

After Arizona didn't continue a few seconds later, Callie managed to find her voice. "Yeah," she breathed.

"And this house just feels wrong without him," Arizona went on. "We still can't bear going into his room. Can you believe it? After ten years, my mom still doesn't know he has a stash of Playboys in his top drawer. They've probably yellowed by now."

Callie chuckled, and the sound cheered Arizona up a little.

Then she sighed. "Being here…I just keep thinking about how my mom cried herself to sleep for months after it happened," she remembered. "And about how my dad still doesn't trust me to this day. How he worries that I'm on the verge of falling apart, but that's just so he won't have to think about his own pain."

Callie exhaled a long breath.

"I just…" Arizona paused, clenching her hands together. "I want you to know that I understand what you said earlier. I know this whole wedding's a sham, but your dad and my brother are still supposed to be here. It's wrong that they aren't."

They were silent for a long time, with both women looking out at the darkness and listening to each other breathing.

Then, Callie offered, "I think I miss his hugs most. Or, well, anyone's." She gave a dark laugh, then sighed in defeat.

Arizona nodded. "Yeah. I get that." She missed her big brother giving her a bear hug after a long day.

Callie wrapped her arms around herself in a makeshift hug. She missed being held. It had been so long since she'd been close to anyone—since anyone had wanted to be close to her, had been willing to break down her walls. "When I used to get worried as a kid," she continued, "he used to give me a hug and say 'Everything will be okay.'"

Arizona waited.

"I have this vivid memory of looking up at him when I was about seven years old and my grandma was in the hospital. He said 'Everything will be okay,' and I said 'Promise?' and he promised, even though he wasn't sure she'd make it through the night. From that day forward, whenever I was scared, he would promise it would be okay. And him promising would be enough." She sighed, thinking about the future that was so uncertain, so terrifying, so potentially dangerous. "No one's done that in a long time."

Unsure of how to respond, Arizona said nothing, and the quiet stretched out between them. After a few minutes, she heard Callie shift positions again, and she felt an increasing need to offer the other woman some sort of comfort.

Making a split-second decision, Arizona sat up, silently scooted out of her sleeping bag, and began edging toward the bed. She looked at Callie, who lay on her side, facing away from her.

As Callie heard footsteps approaching, she turned her head and opened her eyes, and they shone in the moonlight that streamed through the window. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Arizona didn't answer. Instead, she got into the bed and tucked herself under the blankets.

Callie felt her heart beat faster. "Arizona…?"

Arizona inched closer, and Callie felt her breath become labored as she anticipated what was coming. She didn't know what Arizona was going to do, but she sensed the woman was going to do something and, according to her bodily reactions, that terrified her or thrilled her or maybe both.

With a feather-light touch, Arizona rested her palm over a soft waist and moved closer, wrapping her body around Callie's.

"Is this okay?" she breathed. She realized she was tearing down all her boss's barriers that weekend and worried that, at some point, Callie may have had a limit.

Afraid to even breathe, Callie shivered—and not because she was cold. Finally, knowing she had to answer, she expelled a shaky breath. "Yeah."

Arizona inhaled black raven hair. Intuitively, she tightened her hold on the other woman, and she felt her legs hit the backs of Callie's knees. They were that close. "Everything..." She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling relaxed enough to sleep. "…will be okay," she murmured.

Callie felt her body slacken, at last surrendering to Arizona's embrace. She smiled and, abruptly heavy-eyed, she sleepily prompted, "Promise?"

Arizona nodded against the pillow, and Callie heard the matching smile in her voice. "I promise."