AN: Hey guys, a new update. Grey's story line is killing all of us, so I hope I can help out with this. A little. I also hope you enjoy this!
"Yo, Robbins, wait up!", Mark Sloan called out as the blonde passed him on her way to the kitchen. He pulled a fresh sweater on and stepped up to the woman who had stopped in her tracks. "Walk with me for a bit?", he offered and held out his arm for her to link hers right through it – even though in the past, she never used to do that with him. They had been friends, naturally, since he and Callie were best friends. But the blonde never used to joke around with the man like the Latina.
Blue eyes squinted and skeptically looked at the Lieutenant. "Did something happen? Am I in trouble?" She couldn't recall a big mistake or something out of the ordinary happening during her shifts. In fact, getting acquainted with the new firehouse and its fighters, as well as getting settled back in Seattle had been an easy ride so far – if she chose to ignore everything that happened between her and Callie. "Did someone complain about my work?"
Showing her a bright smile, he told her, "Don't worry. You're an outstanding paramedic. Kepner really likes working with you and the lads seem to get along with you just as well." That wasn't always a given when someone new came to the firehouse. "But that's not what I wanted to talk about with you." He opened the door to the back and let her walk outside first before following her. It was a cold night, but the sky was clear and littered with stars.
"Lieutenant, I think you got the wrong woman", Arizona japed when she caught him staring at the stars. It was an amazing view. "A date under the stars is quite romantic, but you're not really my type." They all had a couple of hours to kill until their shift would be over. And as usual, she had gotten hungry in the middle of the night, needing a snack that would keep her brain and body functioning until she could take a shower and head home afterwards. Most firefighters and paramedics often took naps during the nights to refuel their energy. But pretty early in her career as a paramedic, the blonde had discovered that even dozing off would leave her more tired than awake, so she always powered through the nights.
"Funny", Mark grimaced and sat down on the bench right next to the exterior wall of the station, patting the empty spot next to him until she rolled her eyes and sat down. "Do you still love her?", he asked after sitting in silence for a few minutes. After observing how the blonde acted around his best friend, he was sure to know the answer, but he just needed to ask.
Letting out a sigh, Arizona pulled her knees to her chest, with her shoes on the edge of the bench, and put her chin on top of her folded arms. "Of course I do", she admitted. "Why do you think I keep trying to get her to talk to me? It's not my favorite pastime to watch her walk away from me every time I think I made a step in the right direction with her. You know her. She's just so damn stubborn and I don't even know what kind of issues she has with me." Callie might be hurt, but she was hurting too. She looked at the man and exhaled again. "Do you know?"
But instead of answering the paramedic's question, Mark said, "I know it doesn't look that way, but Callie still loves you, too. After you left, she fell completely apart. I have never seen her like this and I never want to witness her spiraling down again. She was a shell of the woman she used to be and a regular guest at the local bars when she didn't have to work. Then things changed. She had to deal with a lot of life-alternating crap and I still have no clue how she succeeded to come out on the other side of it still standing on her feet. I'm pretty sure a lot of people wouldn't manage life and a career like hers like she does, but she pulls through because she has to. After...", he started but stopped himself. It wasn't his story to tell. "Look, I'm not the right person to tell you what happened, I'm just saying that, if you are willing to deal with it, with her and her life, if you're sure that you can handle the life she has now, don't give up on her. She gave up on what you two had and it crushed her. She won't be able to bounce back from that a second time." Back then, he had told the brunette countless times that she was making a stupid mistake, but she hadn't listened. And after Arizona had left, he had tried to pick up the pieces and put her back together. He let her cry when she couldn't hold back the tears anymore and he let her yell and scream when she needed to. But in the end, Mark knew that only the blonde could tape her heart back together and make his best friend whole again.
Arizona had listened and tried to understand every word her Lieutenant had said, but some were just so cryptic and didn't make any sense to her. Callie was such a strong woman and it took a lot to bring her to her knees. She couldn't even begin to try to think about what had happened to her ex-fiancée. "Mark, what happened?", she wondered, fearing the worst.
"Ask her. Keep asking her until she's willing to give you an answer." He put his arm around the woman's shoulders, squeezing it with his hand. "I am sure that you can get back what you two had before you broke up. I know that she has never stopped thinking about you, not for a single day, not even when her world broke apart right under her feet. She once told me, that you are the air she needs to breathe. People can't live without air, Robbins. Ever since you left, she hasn't been living life to its fullest because she can't breathe. She needs you. So trust me, if you are still in, fighting for her will be worth it." That were his last words before he got up and left Arizona alone. Mark had said his bits and he might had overstepped a line, but he did it for his best friend. He just hoped the blonde would still be all in and go for the woman she still loved and cared for.
After fifteen minutes, Arizona went back inside and grabbed two cereal bars from the kitchen before flopping down on the couch in the so called 'chill out zone'. Whoever named it that was probably out of his mind – or too young to understand the seriousness of their business – but a couch and a TV in a firehouse should never be called 'chill out zone'. Zapping through the TV channels without paying attention at all and eventually settling for a documentary of the African wildlife, Arizona thought about Mark's words. What had he meant? Life-altering things? What could that mean?
"You're awake?", the sound of April's baffled voice ripped her out of her thoughts when the redhead showed up next to the arm of the couch, pulling her hair back into a ponytail after the nap she just took. "Did you not hear the siren? We gotta go. Fifty-three old man fell down the stairs, maybe a heart-attack or a stroke." Eyeing the blonde, the paramedic zipped up her jacket. "Are you coming?"
Within a split second, Arizona was on her feet and followed her fellow paramedic. How had she zoned out so much that she didn't realize the alarm going off? Shaking her head to clear it, the blonde climbed into the EMT and stared ahead, her eyes glued to the hundreds of lights on the streets, cars, lamps, some windows. It was the middle of the night, but a city as big as Seattle was never completely asleep.
"Are you alright?", April asked when she had to slow down when the rain hit the windshield.
"No", Arizona answered honestly, and then asked, "Can we leave it at that?" She really needed to get Callie out of her head, if only for a little while, to be able to pull herself together. When the redhead nodded, she refocused her eyes on the road and willed herself to concentrate on anything but her beautiful ex-lover.
Closing the door of her locker, Callie stretched her neck and moved her shoulders around to loosen the tensed muscles. It had been a rough night. The roughest in weeks and she was running on only a few hours of sleep she had the night before. But tonight, Seattle's fire-starters had been on a run and the firefighters had chased them – figuratively speaking. At the end of the shift, three houses were totally burned out and one victim had died before they could get to the man. It wasn't a bad result at all, but it wasn't perfect either and all the Latina wanted was a hot shower to get rid of the dirt covering her face, and she would pick up her niece before she would have the chance to get some rest. "Bye guys", she said as Henry Burton and Ben Warren walked past her, patting her one the shoulders for her good work. After securing the towel over her chest – it was large enough to reach almost to her knees – the Latina made her way into the unisex bathroom, heading for the last shower cubicle.
As a woman with a job dominated by men, she had learned really quickly to shower when her fellow firefighters were done or take one at home. At firehouse 63 she and Arizona had always showered at their apartment. At 22, everybody showed enough respect to not stare. She still changed as quickly as possible and always wrapped herself up before heading to the cubicles so she wouldn't have to change there. When she pulled the shower curtain to the side and stepped inside, she closed the curtain and flung the towel over the wall to her right that stopped three feet below the ceiling. Turning around to activate the water, she gasped when the first sprays of water hit her body. It had been completely silent in the whole room and Callie thought she was alone, but the cubicle was already occupied. By no other than her ex-fiancée.
Pale naked skin was overall covered with goosebumps as the blonde stared at her, shocked to see Callie so close. So close and naked. With her face dirty from the smoke, full lips shone in a ruby red and Arizona wished she could just lean in and kiss the other woman. The brunette wasn't fast enough to cover her chest with one arm and her most intimate part with the other and Arizona had caught a glimpse of the body that was so familiar to her. And yet, it was so unfamiliar after losing a couple of pounds. She didn't know why Callie had lost weight, but she knew that her ex-lover still looked as hot as ever. Those magnificent curves were still breathtaking and the water running down the tanned skin was hypnotizing. As if she was under a spell, her hand moved forward, touching Callie's arm.
The brief contact caused something to snap inside both women. Both moved at the very same second. The Latina rapidly forced Arizona against the wall, slamming her own body into the blonde's as they started kissing fiercely. Hands tangled in wet locks, lips moved in sync as two hearts decided to follow their calling. Teeth nipped at bruised flesh as fingernails dug into skin. It felt like everything it had always done. Like a firework, like everything Callie had always dreamed of when thinking about the blonde.
With the cold tiles against her back and the hot water running down between them, Arizona lost every sense of time and responsibility, the pounding of her heart drowning out the voice of reason, even as loud as it tried to warn her. She tore her mouth away from Callie's to take a few deep breaths, her eyes landing on the brunette's rising chest. Licking her lips, the blonde blatantly stared at the perfect mounds, round and full, just like she remembered. Hard nipples strained forward, begging to be touched and she couldn't help but graze them with both palms, eliciting a moan from the brunette.
Closing her eyes for a moment, the Latina reveled in the feeling of having the blonde touch her breasts again. No other woman touched her like Arizona did. No other woman's body fit like the piece of a puzzle with hers. They were two pieces, made for each other. "Fuck", she grit out when her ex-lover's hands squeezed her breasts a little too roughly and crashed their mouths back together, fervently ravishing the other set of lips with hers and pressing her right knee between pale legs.
Arizona gripped the other woman's upper arms with both hands, leaving crescent shaped indents as she held on to the brunette's like her life depended on it. To the blonde, it felt like it did. She felt more alive in the last five minutes than she had in the past two years. Surely this was rougher and harder than she had imagined their second first time would be, it was anything but how it used to be when they were intimate with each other, she wouldn't want it any other way.
When air once again became a necessity, Callie moved on to the blonde's neck and bit down, causing the women she had trapped between herself and the tiled wall to whimper. Tasting the blood she had drawn, she licked the sore sport before growling and sucking harder on the skin. Her name fell from Arizona's lips in a moan, in a groan and then in a plea. And the Latina knew right then and there, she would never grow tired of hearing that voice.
Feeling the brunette's hand move between her legs, she was shocked to feel two fingers enter her roughly, but after a second, she moved her hips to the rhythm Callie created with her thrusts. A rhythm that build up fast. Soon she was panting in the steamy cubicle, feeling fingertips bringing her closer and closer to her release as her back collided with the wall behind her with every push.
"You like that?", Callie asked against the other base of her ex's neck, right where it met her shoulder. Nipping at the skin over the prominent bone, she simultaneously rolled a pert pink nipple between her thumb and forefinger with the hand that wasn't buried inside Arizona's sex. The sounds coming from her ex-fiancée were almost carnal, high pitched at times when the blonde forgot to stay quiet, and the Latina loved every little bit of it. She felt the blonde's inner walls clamping down on her fingers and Arizona began to shudder as a forceful climax surged through her entire body.
It was a never ending wave of pleasure that swallowed her. Sex with the brunette had always been out of this world amazing – yet, what had just happened topped everything they had ever shared. Her whole being was still convulsing with aftershocks of the pleasurable explosion and her head began to spin from the intensity of it all. She couldn't believe she had climaxed so soon. Sure, she hadn't had sex for the past two years and a lot of pent-up frustration to top it all off, but that was really fast. Her emotions spiraled out of control and Arizona knew she needed to do something or she would break down and cry. And she couldn't allow herself to do that. Not now. She needed to soak up everything the Latina was giving her. So she pushed the other woman away from her, pressed her against the opposite wall and shoved her hand right between toned, tan legs.
"Ari-" But her ex-lover's name died in her throat as two digits entered her without warning and started pumping at a quick pace right from the start. Her head fell back against the wall as her body rocked, completely taken over by the blonde's powerful thrusts. And Callie could do nothing but hold on to the other woman's body as it shook and writhed. "Fuck", she breathed out as perfectly bruised lips sucked on the stiff bud of her left breast and fingers squeezed her buttock, pulling her even closer.
Blue eyes glanced upwards, seeing the brunette's white teeth sinking into her full bottom lip and she groaned at the sight. Arizona had seen this expression many times before. Callie was close and all the blonde wanted to do was take the woman she so desperately wanted back over the edge. "So hot", she stated and a second later, she sucked even harder on the erect nipple as her tongue swirled around it, playing with it to give her ex-lover all she could give.
Unable to contain the moans any longer, the Latina let them spill out, not caring if anybody would hear her. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, even with Arizona. And even though some of her big mistakes from the past two years had been quick and rough encounters, no other woman had made her feel even remotely close to what she felt now. Tremors went through her body, every muscle spasmed, every nerve ending was on fire as she fell headfirst into a sea of orgasmic bliss.
Spent and breathless, both women tried to catch up with reality. Arizona had her eyes closed, holding the other woman – who tried to stand on shaky legs – up so Callie wouldn't slip and take her down with her. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest, so loud that she feared its beating could be heard by the Latina, who suddenly moved, turning away from the blonde. "Calliope-"
Callie stopped as she heard Arizona's broken voice. Inside, she felt like someone was tearing her apart. Her head told her to stay, to console the blonde, if nothing else. Her heart screamed at her to listen to it, to talk to the other woman and see how things would go. But she was so scared Arizona would think less of her that she chose to stay quiet and let the other woman think she had moved on – or whatever she thought happened. "Arizona", she said, her own voice barely above a whisper as she stared at the shower curtain, her hand in position to pull it to the side and run again.
Seeing this, rage flared up inside the blonde, and when Callie moved even an inch, she spoke up in a demanding, yet more calm and collected tone than the last times the brunette had walked away from her. "Calliope Torres." And it seemed to work. Suddenly, the Latina's hand let go of the fabric and slid down. No matter what was going on inside her ex-fiancée, Arizona had to take the chance and talk. Reaching out with her right hand, her fingertips brushed against the slick skin of the other woman's shoulder blade, a spot she used to kiss every morning they woke up naked in bed together. She relished in the contact and, wanting more, the blonde used her palm to touch more of the warm skin. "I don't know what happened to you when I was gone. But be assured, that, if you walk away right now, I don't ever want to find out. I can't keep chasing you, Calliope. So, it's your choice. I won't come after you if you walk away now. I'll let you go if you want that, but if you still love me, then you need to give me a chance to understand what happened." Marks words were still ringing in her ears. He had told her to keep asking until the brunette would talk to her, but she couldn't keep up with Callie, not like this. This one step forward, two steps back pattern would have her running backwards within the next three days.
Giving herself a few seconds to make up her mind – if she was honest though, she had made her decision earlier that day – she eventually turned around with tears in her eyes – tears Arizona had provoked with her gentle touch and words – the Latina swallowed hard. "I have to go", she said over the drizzling water and noticed the blonde's small smile fall. Turning off the faucet, she cupped Arizona's cheek with her hand. "Not like this, I promise you, this time I am not running away." Maybe she wouldn't have to be scared after all, right now she just hoped the other woman would believe her. "I have to go because I have to be somewhere in a bit. But if you really want to give me the chance to explain everything, we can talk later today." She had to pick up Malia first and then they could talk. Leaving her niece at Mer's place was always an option but she didn't want to take her friends' support for granted. She felt bad enough for having her stay at their place every other night.
Why was Callie talking in riddles with her? Why did she not tell her where she had to be? It couldn't be that bad, right? Arizona was confused and happy at the same time that Callie actually wanted to talk to her. "Okay", she breathed out. "Does eight sound okay?" There was hope in her voice and in her heart, more than she had felt since coming back to Seattle.
"Eight is good. Your place, or-"
"Yours", Arizona quickly interrupted the Latina. Her place was still a mess of boxes, some half unpacked and some pushed aside to get to her bedroom. And if everything would go wrong, she would be the one to run away this time. "I have to ask again. You're not running? Because if you just want to get out of this by making something up that doesn't exist, I'll be mad at you for a very long time. And if you're not at your place at eight tonight, I am officially done with you." Threatening Callie was probably not the finest move, but the blonde ultimately had enough of the other woman's cowardly behavior.
"I'll be there. I promise. But I really have to go now." She turned around and pulled down her towel, wrapping herself up again. She didn't feel that much cleaner than before taking the shower, but she felt lighter. The last thirty minutes had changed so much already. "I'll be there", she reassured, pressed a chaste kiss against a soft cheek and left. This time however, she wasn't running away.
Soooo... with all the tension between them, it had to happen. Right? And Callie didn't run. Yet. Will she run? Or will she finally be honest with Arizona?