Hi guys! Here's a little Alex/Arizona friendship one shot. I saw a thing about them on Pinterest and I remembered how much I love their friendship.
I'll be updating Walking Through Fire soon. I'm halfway through the next chapter. I just had to get this out of my system first.
P.s let's pretend Maggie knew about Meredith being in a plane crash from the beginning for the sake of this one shot
Happy Existing! Feel free to leave reviews!
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Go home, Robbins.
But where was home?
Her whole life was so up in the air at the moment. Her busy fellowship was like a jet, flying through the air at thousands of miles per hour and there was nothing she could do to stop it. And her heart-breaking, messy divorce was the wind beneath the fellowship's wings, making every little mishap in her learning lead to an emotional breakdown.
Before, she would have said that anywhere was home, as long as there was love. But love wasn't always enough. That's what she had learned when it had been clear in the therapist's office that love couldn't fix everything, when her wife had walked away and left her, broken, shocked and humiliated on the therapist's couch just moments after pouring her heart out and declaring her love for her.
So where should she go? Callie had made it clear that Arizona suffocated her. Even though she and Callie technically shared the house, she had been staying at the hospital. But her week with Sofia began tomorrow, and she didn't have a home for the little girl, something she'd promised herself she'd always provide for her daughter, no matter what happened.
That's what brought her to the front door of Alex Karev's house. Well, technically, it was Alex's house. She knew Alex and Jo lived there, but she had no idea who else lived with them. She always loved Alex's open-door policy even though she had never stayed there herself. It meant, that for the meantime, there would be a house with love for her to be with her daughter. Somewhere warm with food and love.
She could make a home from that, right?
"You got this, Robbins. Just knock the door and explain." She whispered to herself. She had been conflicted over this. More specifically, her pride had been conflicted. She felt like she was arriving here, tail between her legs, broken heart in tow.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand, numb from the bitter night cold, and knocked gently. She could see a warm light emanating from the living room and she could hear voices coming from inside.
As she saw Alex coming towards she glass door, she smiled sheepishly and indicated to the suitcase she was pulling along behind her. He smiled softly and nodded, opening the door to let her in.
Once she was inside, she saw Jo standing in the doorframe, and Meredith, Maggie and Callie all sitting in the living room. Sofia was staying at April's that night, as the young girl's aunt had promised her a dance party and ice cream. She shut her eyes briefly, brushing off the humiliation. She avoided eye contact with her ex-wife as she spoke to Alex.
"Hi. I probably should have called first, but…," She trailed off, thinking of how best to ask him, "someone told me I should go home, and I wasn't really sure where to go."
Meredith leaned forward in her chair, placing a bottle of tequila on the table. "See? Everyone lives here." She said, as if making a point. Arizona had to agree with her. She'd been witness to and heard from Callie about the different people who had lived in this house.
Alex turned back towards her and gave her a small smile. "Beer is in the fridge, hard stuff is on the counter." He said, pointing towards the kitchen.
"Thank you." Arizona thanked him, tears welling up in her eyes. In that moment, she felt her heart fill with gratitude for Alex Karev.
She turned and made her way up the stairs. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay there long term, as it wasn't handicap accessible. Stairs were okay, but not if she wanted to use crutches or her wheelchair. Not that she felt comfortable taking her prosthetic off in front of anyone, really. She also doubted that she showers had bars in them. However, it would do for now.
Arriving on the landing, she walked slowly down the hallway, opening each door slightly and peering in through the darkness until she found a room that looked unused, as there was no clutter or anyone's personal belongings lying around. She walked in to the room and leant her suitcase on the wall, sitting down on the bed with a deep sigh.
"Okay. This is where I'm gonna live. This is good. People are good. I can do this." She said to herself as she glanced around the room. She had never really been one of the people who were in this house often. She always came with Callie on Christmas and Thanksgiving, sure, but it had never been home as it once had been to Callie. All of the people here were Callie's friends first. Which made her terrified to see how it would play out post-divorce.
Downstairs, not much was said after Arizona arrived. Callie left soon after, obviously feeling awkward. Meredith continued to sip on the tequila bottle and Maggie continued to wander about the living room, taking in the scenery which had been her birth mother's home.
"So, Arizona lives here now." Meredith stated, glancing at Alex.
"Yeah, I guess." Alex said, nodding his head, glancing at the ceiling.
"What happened between them?" Maggie asked suddenly, curiosity getting the better of her. She seemed to have arrived in Seattle just as their marriage fell apart, and the whole thing emanated history.
"So much." Alex and Meredith said in unison. Alex continued, "Shootings, Africa, car crashes, weddings, plane crash, superstorm." He listed off, feeling slightly overwhelmed himself thinking about their past.
"Arizona was in that plane crash too?" Maggie asked, surprised, as she turned to Meredith. She knew brief details about it- that there had been a plane crash and that Meredith, along with other doctors were in it and it was bad. But she didn't know any details. Understandably, it wasn't a common topic of conversation.
"Yeah. She lost her leg." Meredith stated, a shiver running down her spine at the memory of the blonde surgeon's femur being snapped in half and having to get bugs out of it.
Maggie didn't say anything more, but instead sank back in to the cushions of the couch, feeling shocked and horrified. She never would have guessed that Arizona had lost a leg- she covered it up so well. She felt a newfound sense of respect for the blonde settle in her chest.
"I'm going to go check on her." Alex decided after a while. He hadn't been sure if Arizona was going to come down, but after a while he gathered that she was settling in for the night and decided to go check on her before she fell asleep.
Knocking on the door, he waited until he heard a soft 'come in' before pushing the door open slowly and smiling when he saw Arizona sitting on the edge of the bed, seemingly lost in thought while her suitcase lay open beside her.
"Hey, Boss." He said, letting the side of his mouth curl into a smile. That term had kinda stuck until day one, even though he was technically her boss. For now, anyway. He knew that once her foetal fellowship was over, she'd be back to kicking his ass over not just one, but two departments.
"Karev." She replied, her signature stern smile for him appearing on her face.
"Herman still kicking your ass?" He asked. He knew that her recent divorce was probably the first thing on her mind at that moment, given the fact that she'd shown up at his door asking for a place to stay, but he knew that she needed to think about something else. Hell, he wasn't even part of the divorce and the rumour mill was driving him crazy. People thought they knew the whole story, but they didn't- he didn't even know it all.
"You bet. Still memorising chicken scratch from the margins of notebooks." Arizona sighed. The truth was, she didn't mind her mentor's strictness. It wasn't her favourite thing, but she knew that Nicole Herman was just trying to teach her as much as possible in a tight timeline. It had been horrible at first, when she had been a mess and Herman hated her, but now that she knew about the brain tumour, a mutual understanding had formed between them.
"It'll be worth it when you're the next kickass foetal surgeon." Alex encouraged her.
Suddenly, she felt tears well up in her eyes. It had been a while that she had thought anything so optimistic. A little reminder that time would go on, and that she would try her best, and eventually, she would be okay.
Alex, seeing his mentor's attempts to keep her tears at bay, held his arm out and offered his shoulder for her to lean on. He understood that she just needed to unload. He had experienced the same thing on the day of Callie's car crash- Arizona was a person who kept everything inside, pretending everything was fine until eventually it would be too much.
Arizona spent a few minutes leaning on Alex's shoulder, tears slowly dripping from the corners of her eyes, down the bridge of her nose and dropping onto the soft black material of Alex's t-shirt. Seeing the wet patch that was forming from her tears, she chuckled throatily and sniffed.
"I'm sorry for getting your t-shirt all wet." She apologised sheepishly, now feeling embarrassed for losing her shit which she'd promised herself over the past few weeks to keep together.
"Eh, never liked it anyway." He shrugged. "You good?" He asked her, noticing her tears had stopped and she seemed to be sitting with her back straighter instead of slumped over and sad.
"I'm awesome." She smiled her signature dimpled smile, and although it didn't reach her eyes, it was good enough for Alex.
"You got everything you need? Crutches, toothbrush?" He asked her as he started to exit the room, turning around in the doorway to face her.
"Don't have crutches, but I'll be fine for tonight. I'll go home- uh, to Callie's- and pick them up tomorrow." She replied. While at the hospital, she had just been sleeping with her prosthetic leg on, which was another reason to find a more suitable place to stay- it always hurt like a bitch in the morning.
"Okay, if you're sure. Jo and I are in the bedroom next to this one, just bang on the wall if you need anything. But watch the wallpaper. We just got it replaced." He said before walking out of the room and back downstairs.
Arizona chuckled at his bluntness. She was really, truly grateful for Alex Karev. She had watched him grow from being an asshole to pretty much everyone, to a genuinely amazing person and an amazing paediatric surgeon.
She glanced at the clock, realising it was almost eleven pm. The night had completely flown by and she was wiped. The emotions of the past few weeks coupled with the grogginess that followed a hearty cry had left her exhausted. She went into the bathroom and quickly changed in to some pyjamas and brushed her teeth.
Walking back into the bedroom, she rolled up her left pant leg and started to remove her prosthetic. This routine had become almost habit to her. Sometimes, when she woke up in the morning, she forgot she was missing a leg. However, she was always reminded of it the second she drew back the covers. But she didn't hate the fact any more. She had become neutral to it. And that was more than she ever could have hoped for.
Settling in to bed, she let a smile form on her face in the darkness as she thought about seeing Sofia the following day. Four years later, she couldn't believe she had once hated the idea of having kids. Sofia was undoubtedly the best thing that had ever happened to her. If it weren't for that little girl, then there would be no way that she would be surviving this. Her daughter brightened up the dullest of days.
Closing her eyes, she finally let the stress of the day go, just for a while, until she woke up again in just seven hours, and the day would reset again. She would go to work, cram her brain with every ounce of knowledge she could comprehend, pick some belongings up from her old home and try not to cry even more over her failed marriage, and finally, see Sofia.
"Just another day," She whispered to herself, "just another day."
