Arizona walked into the cafeteria, her stomach growling loudly as she surveyed the food in front of her. She had just finished a particularly complicated seven hour surgery and had only eaten a slice of toast since breakfast. She loaded her tray with a sandwich, a donut, chips, yoghurt and a bottle of water and scanned the cafeteria for her friends, spying Alex, Cristina and Meredith sitting at one of the tables in the corner. She began walking over to them, opening her chip packet when she noticed a certain someone sitting by herself and reading a medical journal. Arizona changed her line and made her way towards Callie, smiling as she drew near.

"This seat taken?" she asked. Callie jumped slightly as she looked up for the source of the voice. Her food lay untouched in front of her, obviously ignored as she became absorbed in her readings. She smiled and shook her head, gesturing to the seat next to her. Arizona sat down and fidgeted with her hands slightly.

"Hey, I just wanted to apologize for how I was the other day. I was rude to you and I didn't mean to be, I was just having a rough day."

Callie smiled genuinely as she lowered her journal.

"Seriously, you don't have to apologize. I totally understand; we all get like that."

Arizona let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and flashed her dimples. She unravelled her sandwich from its cling wrap casing, her mouth beginning to water at the closeness of the food.

"So, how has your first week at Seattle Grace treated you?" Arizona asked as she took a large bite. Callie placed the journal on the table and picked up her apple.

"Pretty good," she replied, tossing the apple between her hands. "Everyone's been really nice and I've had a decent case load to work with. It's different to Hopkins, but in a good way."

Arizona nodded, her mouth too filled with chicken and mayonnaise to reply. She chewed and swallowed hastily, eager to hold Callie's attention.

"That's great," she said eventually, trying not to cough as a stray piece of chicken lingered at the back of her throat. "You've made a good first impression on everyone, the interns never shut up about how they always get to cut something whenever they scrub in with you."

"I just figure that's the best way to learn. It's how I was taught and I had the best teacher in the world; Dr Bob Sinclair. I was sad to leave him behind."

"You were taught by Bob Sinclair!? He's a legend!"

Callie smiled broadly and nodded.

"Yeah, he is. But I'm here now and this is good too. Addison and Mark have really made me feel at home."

Arizona made a sound in her throat at the mention of Mark's name and Callie raised an eyebrow.

"What's the deal with you two?" she asked. "You're both so professional when it comes to surgery and yet you act like children around each other."

Arizona laughed slightly as she finished her sandwich and moved onto the yoghurt.

"Just different personality types I guess," she shrugged.

Callie raised her eyebrow again, a sceptical expression on her face as she didn't buy the excuse. Arizona couldn't help but smile as she knew her pathetic lie hadn't passed the test.

"You're friends with him, you don't want to know."

"Oh don't give me that! I've known him for a week, try me."

Arizona remained quiet as she ate her yoghurt. Callie stared at her, waiting for a reply that wasn't coming. She gazed around the cafeteria, deliberately avoiding making eye contact and trying to keep her face straight as the woman across from her grew impatient. Callie tapped her fingers against the table before darting her hand out and grabbing the donut off of Arizona's tray.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Tell me!"

Arizona leant across and reached for it; her attempt futile as Callie stretched away from her. Their chests brushed together and Arizona could smell a vanilla scent, no doubt Callie's body wash. Her body reacted automatically to their close proximity and she pulled away hastily as her body tingled slightly.

"Fine, but you have to give it back straight afterwards."

Callie nodded quickly and sat upright in her chair again, eagerly awaiting the story. Arizona sighed and willed her cheeks to remain their natural color.

"My first two years of residency we got along really well. He was a good teacher to me, so much so that I considered going into Plastics at one point. Only briefly though," she added hastily as she noticed Callie pulling a face at the prospect.

"I had been seeing someone since halfway through my intern year; she was head of Neonatal at the time. She wanted to keep our relationship a secret because she thought it would… Um, anyway, in my third year she-she gave me…"

Arizona trailed off as she felt her cheeks redden. Why was she telling the woman she was trying to bed this story? She shook her head and made to stand up but Callie reached out quickly and grabbed her forearm.

"Hey, come on, I asked. I promise I won't laugh."

Arizona opened her mouth, about to tell her no. Callie stroked her forearm slightly as she looked at her and Arizona felt her will melt away. Was she deliberately flirting with her or just trying to get the gay chick to talk? Probably the latter, she thought to herself.

"Okay. Well, yeah," she continued, "After two years together she gave me… syphilis," she mumbled. To Callie's credit, her mouth didn't even twitch.

"I don't have it anymore," she added quickly. "But as you can imagine, I was pretty pissed and it turned out she was bisexual, not gay like she had told me, and was seeing Mark behind my back."

Arizona swallowed the lump in her throat, realizing this was the first time she had spoken to anyone about this in a long time. Callie was still stroking her arm as she continued.

"Mark and I had a huge fight over her. And by huge I mean in the middle of the cafeteria while every doctor listened in as I basically spilled all of our secrets to them. He wanted her to leave me for him but she refused and wanted to fix things between us. That really hurt him and his ego and we spat some pretty nasty things at each other. Anyway, I stupidly took her back until I discovered… well, it didn't last. Then a few weeks later, there was a massive outbreak of syphilis and things just turned really bad and she ended up leaving. He blames me and I blame him and so… we just don't get along," she finished quietly.

"I heard about that," Callie said, gazing into space slightly as she remembered hearing about that particular drama from an intern back at Hopkins. She could sense that this was a sensitive subject that Arizona wanted to drop and decided it would be smart to not press for more details at this time.

"That I was dating my attending?"

"No, no, the syphilis outbreak. This hospital got dubbed the nickname 'Seattle Grace Syph' for about a year by everyone else. Addison wasn't too happy considering she had just accepted a job here."

Arizona burst out laughing as she imagined a classy and slightly snobby Dr Montgomery finding out she was heading to a hospital filled with slutty doctors that couldn't keep their pants on. Then again, she probably drooled over the prospect of it; Addison wasn't exactly an angel herself. Arizona became faintly aware of Callie's hand still stroking her arm and she felt her spirits lift. She had already told Callie the entire story and she was still choosing to touch her. She stopped laughing abruptly when she remembered that Callie was Addison's best friend and it probably wasn't polite, especially after Callie had been so understanding towards her.

"Thanks for not laughing," Arizona said quietly, staring at those long tanned fingers stroking her skin.

"It wasn't a funny story," Callie replied, smiling warmly. Arizona looked up and they made eye contact. And there it was again, the feeling of trust and understanding being projected by a single look. A feeling she hadn't felt from another person in a long time.

"Torres!"

Callie looked up frowning at the intruder before her expression changed to one of surprise. She pulled her hand from Arizona's arm to wave at the newcomer before dropping it onto her lap. Arizona turned and nearly groaned in annoyance as she saw Mark walking towards them.

"What are you doing here Robbins? Get lost."

Arizona made to stand up but felt a hand on her shoulder before she could.

"I invited her to sit with me Mark," Callie said, applying slight pressure on her shoulder. "She's my friend too."

"You're new here so you probably don't know, but attendings don't sit with fellows especially if said attending is head of department. It's like an unspoken rule."

Callie opened her mouth to argue but Arizona placed her hand on the one holding her shoulder and gently removed it.

"It's fine Callie," she said quietly as she noticed people starting to look there way. She didn't want to be the centre of the rumor mill and having another public argument in the cafeteria was not a good idea. She could see people starting to whisper and glance from her to Callie to Mark, as if they were some kind of love triangle. She didn't need that rumor going around either. "Plus if I stick around here I'll probably catch something from him."

"Bit late for that isn't it?" Mark replied with a sneer and Arizona sent him a withering look.

"I'll see you round Callie." She picked up her tray and walked over to where Alex, Cristina and Meredith were still sitting. She sighed loudly as she sat down and slammed her tray on the table.

"So we're your second option then, are we?" Cristina asked.

"I feel like punching someone right now, don't tease me," Arizona grumbled and Cristina held up her hands in surrender. She had been making such good progress and then Mark Sloan had to come and ruin it like he always did. She was lucky if she could get five minutes alone with Callie outside of an OR without someone interrupting them.

"She's just grumpy because it's been a week already and Torres is still showing no interest," Alex said, his mouth full of chips. Arizona punched him hard on the shoulder and he made a muffled sound of hurt.

"You can't say I didn't warn you. I have actually made progress I just don't go blabbing about it because we all know how that can backfire on a person," Arizona said as she leant over and snatched some of his chips.

"You so haven't," Alex replied and pulled a face at her.

"Actually, I think she's telling the truth," Cristina said and nodded behind Arizona's head. Arizona turned around to see Callie walking towards her with a donut in her hand. She stopped next to her and leant down slightly, giving Arizona a perfect view of her cleavage.

"Hey, um, you forgot to take this with you," Callie mumbled and placed it on her tray. "I was wondering, can you meet me on the ortho floor in fifteen minutes? A guy came in with a broken jaw a few hours ago and I was wondering if you wanted to scrub in with me?"

Arizona nodded eagerly but before she could reply Alex had stuck his head between them, a look of desperation on his face.

"I can scrub in if you want!"

"Oh, no thank you, I'd prefer Dr Robbins. I'm sure you're great, but we've worked together on a few surgeries now and I can trust her hands."

Alex's face dropped and he slumped back in his chair.

"I'd love too," Arizona said and returned Callie's smile with as much enthusiasm as possible. She tried not to appear too smug as Callie walked away and she turned back to her food.

"That was embarrassing Alex," Meredith said after a few moments.

"Shut up," Alex snarled, picking up his tray and moving to where Avery and Kepner were sitting. The Twisted Sister's laughed and began talking about Addison's new haircut as Arizona munched on a donut that tasted even sweeter than usual.

"Hey, is he ready to go?"

Arizona tied on her scrub cap as she walked up to Callie who was scribbling in a chart. She shut the folder and pulled her own scrub cap out of her pocket.

"Yeah, OR2 is prepped; I thought we could get going in a few minutes?"

"Sounds awesome. Hey, I was wondering, after the surgery do you want to grab a dri-"

"Robbins!" Arizona spun around and saw the Chief charging down the hallway towards her. She took a few steps backwards as he neared and felt herself shrink a little.

"Y-yes sir?"

"I just checked the OR board and I saw you were scrubbing in on one of Torres' surgeries. Is this true?"

"Um, yes sir."

"The ER is currently filled with paediatric cases waiting to be attended to and you are scrubbing in on a surgery on a 30 year old man. Is this true?"

"Yes sir, but-"

"You are not a resident anymore Dr Robbins! You do not get to pick and choose which specialty you'd like to do for the day!"

"But-"

"Dr Torres can handle this surgery by herself, stop pestering her. I know it's exciting to work with a Harper Avery winning surgeon but we must share the load around, everyone can benefit from her teachings not just you. Now get to the ER and help a damn child!"

The Chief spun on his heel and stalked back the way he came, muttering to himself about not needing another ortho surgeon. Arizona felt her bottom lip begin to wobble and she stared at the floor willing herself not to cry. She felt her eyes starting to prickle with hot tears and she couldn't stop herself from sniffing.

"Woah, he's fiery today," Callie said with an amused look on her face. "Don't worry about it, I'll go see him later and explain that I asked you to- hey are you alright?"

Arizona nodded but continued to stare at her feet.

"Authority issues," she mumbled and wiped her eyes. Callie stared at her for a few moments before the corners of her mouth began to twitch.

"Oh, um, okay. That's-that's okay."

Arizona shook her hand and turned to walk back to the ER, wanting to sink into the floor and die. She reached the elevators and pushed the down button, willing for it to come faster as she saw Callie staring at her from down the hall. That was the second time she had seen her cry in a week, she was going to make Callie think she was some kind of emotional wreck who couldn't handle the pressure of being a surgeon. The elevator doors dinged open and she walked in hastily and pulled her phone from her pocket. She selected Teddy's name from her contacts and typed out a text.

Want to go to Joe's after work? I need a drink.

Her phone beeped a few seconds later as she exited the elevator and made her way into the ER.

Sorry I can't. Back to back surgeries, going to be here until midnight. We can bitch about our days when I get home?

Arizona replied with a 'yes' as she picked up the chart for a young boy who was crying hysterically. The mother began talking at a mile a minute about all his symptoms and how she suspected it was cancer as that's what Wikipedia had said. Arizona forced a smile and listened carefully as she read through his chart. The child, Troy, was probably suffering from a stomach virus but this woman was going to take some convincing. She was definitely going to need a drink after this one.

"White wine please."

Arizona sat down on one of the stools at the bar as Joe poured her drink. She thanked him and took a sip, the chilled liquid running down her throat and she felt herself relax. It was 11PM, three hours after her shift was supposed to finish and she was exhausted. She had diagnosed Troy with a common stomach virus and had been looking forward to finishing early. She was nearly changed into her street clothes when she had received a 911 page to the ER and had rushed a young girl with a blown appendix into surgery. It had been messy and long but, eventually, successful and she felt she deserved this drink.

Arizona looked around the full bar for a familiar face. A few interns were in the corner playing darts, laughing loudly and sloshing their drinks over the ground. Derek and Owen were sitting at a table in the corner murmuring over their scotch. A few nurses were giggling over a bottle of wine, but other than that she knew no one. She turned back to her glass feeling extremely weary and considering throwing it back so she could go home and crawl into bed when the bell over the door jingled. She heard footsteps behind her and smelt a whiff of vanilla and suddenly didn't feel so tired anymore.

Callie sat next to her, ordering a rum and coke and placing her bag on the counter. She sighed dreamily as she took a sip and Arizona couldn't help but smile.

"How did you surgery go?" she asked.

"Long," Callie replied and took another sip. "A lot longer then I originally thought. My resident's mind was somewhere else and he kept screwing up."

"It wasn't Sullivan, was it?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"He's in love with you. Hasn't stopped talking about you since you arrived."

Callie looked at her bewilderedly before shaking her head and sipping at her drink.

"It's the Harper Avery thing," she said. "People get all star struck about it and think of me as some kind of celebrity. That's what he's in love with. That's what everyone's in love with."

"I don't think that's the only reason," Arizona said and Callie smiled slightly.

"Well, lately it has been," she replied as she swirled the ice around her glass. "That's all anyone ever asks me about. I mean I am grateful for it, but I didn't do it alone, that's what no one else really sees."

Arizona frowned slightly at her last words. A person could only win a Harper Avery if they conducted the research and trials by themselves and then gathered a team to help them. Was that what she meant? Callie noticed Arizona's frown and put her glass back down.

"When I say that, I meant I had somebody supporting and encouraging me the whole way. There were so many times when it just wasn't working and I wanted to quit so badly but she always… this person helped pick up the pieces and would just be there for me. Without them, I wouldn't have even made the shortlist for the award."

"I'm sorry; I don't quite understand what you mean?" Arizona said slowly. Callie downed her drink and ordered another one, sipping it thoughtfully.

"My trial was failing pretty badly when I first started out. I had been working on it for about two months when Dr Sinclair told me that if there weren't any improvements in the next two weeks they were going to shut it down. I was just about ready to give up when a friend came to me and helped me with my thought processes and we managed to think up a new strategy and it worked. The jello that had been filling my test tubes for months finally turned into cartilage and the rest is history, I guess."

"And this friend, they didn't ask for any credit?"

"No, she wasn't like that. She was different. Not many people liked her but we had been friends since our intern year, we were just drawn together in an unexplainable way."

"Is she the reason you left Hopkins?"

Arizona knew asking that question was risky and wasn't surprised when Callie's head snapped up and a flash of anger crossed her face.

"I-what? No, I told you the reason I left was because they wouldn't give me a bigger lab."

"I just don't understand how the number one ranked hospital in America couldn't afford to do that. You said yourself that there were other reasons."

The anger became more apparent on Callie's face and Arizona instantly regretted pushing it. She knew it was none of her business, that this woman probably wasn't interested in telling someone she had known for a week about her troubled past with love. But the next moment all the fight seemed to leave Callie's face and she slumped slightly in her chair. She downed her drink and ordered another and Arizona had a hunch the alcohol was being used to dull the pain.

"We spent so much time in the lab together that we naturally grew closer," Callie said quietly. Arizona was shocked at her sudden change in attitude but overlooked it; she was desperate to hear this information.

"We didn't date but… I don't know what we were. In the end she wanted to put a label on it but I was confused… I am confused," Callie said as she took another gulp of her drink. Tears were brimming in her eyes as she continued.

"She got a job at Mayo and wanted me to go with her. But I decided to stay. Some days I still don't know why."

A single tear rolled down her cheek and Arizona felt an overwhelming sense of sadness fill her. She leant over and rubbed the small of Callie's back as they sat in silence for a few moments. She knew how that felt; to love someone but not be able to be with them and she sympathised. Callie sniffed and wiped her eyes, forcing a smile onto her face.

"So, authority issues huh?"

Arizona couldn't help but laugh as she placed her hand back onto her lap. A loud cheer went up behind her as one of the interns must have hit the bull's eye.

"My Dad was in the army, very strict man. Let's just say I was the perfect child since I always cried whenever I felt like I let him down. I worked hard and skipped two grades in school so that he could boast to all his army buddies about his smart daughter. When I told him I got Chief resident I think he nearly cried."

Arizona finished with a chuckle and drunk the rest of her wine. She ordered another one and noticed that Callie was frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"You skipped two grades in school? Are you still in your twenties?

"Late twenties…"

Callie nearly choked on her drink and looked up in amusement.

"Late twenties!? You're just a baby! Are you sure you're allowed that alcohol? Shouldn't your parents be supervising you," Callie said with a smug grin. Arizona rolled her eyes dramatically and shook her head.

"This coming from the youngest Harper Avery winner in fifty years," she replied.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Depends if you're the one taking me to bed."

Arizona froze, not thinking about what she had said before the words had come tumbling out. It was natural instinct for her to flirt with woman in bars, but she had wanted to take a different approach with Callie. Woo her, befriend her and make her feel like she was calling the shots rather than hit on her like she had done a week ago and be rejected again. To her surprise however, Callie smiled slightly as she took another sip of her drink.

"You're cheeky, Dr Robbins. Now tell me about this baseball game against Seattle Press that we are supposed to be playing next week."

The subtle change of conversation wasn't missed by Arizona but she wasn't complaining. She had expected Callie to grab her things and run towards the door as fast as she could, but this was progress. She explained how the game was an annual event and that they always lost, but the after party was usually pretty fun.

They talked about the hospital and its staff, safe and appropriate topics, for the next hour. The drinks were flowing and the bar was soon packed with Saturday night party goers. Arizona was on to her third glass of wine but Callie was onto her fifth, becoming slightly giggly as the alcohol took effect on her brain. The clock showed 1.30AM before Callie finally rose from her seat.

"I'd better head home," she said, her speech slightly slurred. Arizona nodded and reached for her wallet but Callie shook her head vigorously.

"No, drinks are on me. My way of saying sorry for getting you in trouble with the Chief."

Arizona laughed and thanked her as she pulled some notes from her wallet and slammed them on the counter. They walked out the door together and the cold air ran straight through Arizona's coat, making her shiver rapidly. She began looking for a cab when-

"Walk me home?"

Arizona turned to look at Callie, feeling her heart beat pick up as she saw the mischievous look on her face. She nodded and tried to block the cold from her mind as they walked down the street in silence. Their arms were only inches apart and Arizona couldn't help but stare at those gorgeous tanned hands. Should she make a move? Callie had obviously shown her interest and now it was her turn to replicate it. She was going to do it, she was going to-

"Home," Callie said brightly as they stopped outside of an apartment building. Arizona looked at her bewilderedly; they had only been walking for two minutes.

"Callie… I can still see the bar."

"Yeah! This is my new place, pretty cool right?"

"Um, yeah it looks nice."

Callie turned to face her and they were only inches apart, all thoughts of hand holding going out the window. Arizona swallowed as her mouth became slightly dry; those plump lips were only a head lean away from hers.

"Thanks for listening to me tonight," Callie said in a low whisper, the atmosphere between them changing drastically. They looked directly into each other's eyes but neither made an attempt to move in.

"Anytime," Arizona replied just as quietly. "I like being around you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Being near you is better than a Harper Avery any day," Arizona said. She knew the line was cheesy, but it had the desired effect. Callie smiled broadly and her head tilted downwards slightly. Arizona began leading forward and felt her heart beat quicken even more as Callie didn't pull away. Her eyes never left Callie's as she moved closer to her lips and soon their mouths were only inches apart. Arizona could feel the adrenaline rushing through her as she stared into those dark eyes, faltering slightly as she saw a flash of hesitation cross her face.

"Please walk away," Callie whispered and Arizona felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice over her. She was sure this was the moment; Callie's eyes were begging for her to kiss her, yet her mouth spoke differently.

"What?" Arizona said, not moving forward but not moving backwards either.

"I can't do this Arizona, it's too soon. But if you kiss me… just please walk away."

Too soon? What did she mean by that? It wasn't like they were dating; this was purely a lustful connection. Callie's eyes looked black with desire and Arizona knew if she kissed her, Callie wouldn't want to stop her. So she was telling her to walk away before it reached that point. This was the moment where she could take out the bet, watch Alex's face drop as she retold the story tomorrow morning about how it had only taken a week to bed such an amazing woman. Yet, Callie had opened up to her tonight in a way that she hadn't expected. She had told her about her heartbreak and how she wasn't in the right place to be dealing with any more emotional drama right now. So, what was she supposed to do?

Arizona leant in, kissing Callie on the cheek before stepping back and smiling at her. A look of disappointment crossed her features before it was replaced by relief. Arizona turned and began walking down the street, hearing a door opening and closing as Callie entered her building. She pulled out her phone and dialled Teddy's number, waiting for a few seconds before a disgruntled voice rung through the speaker.

"I was sleeping Az," Teddy said groggily. "This better be important."

"I'm at Joe's; can you come and pick me up? I've got a lot to tell you."