Chapter 9
Arizona's POV
Arizona's eyes fluttered open slowly as she smiled to herself. She lay there for a few moments before the memories of the previous night came flooding into her mind. She looked down and saw a caramel arm draped across her midsection and turned her head to look at the owner of said arm. Callie's hair was spread out wildly across the pillow and her lips were parted ever so slightly. Arizona could see that they still had a pink tint to them from all of the kissing they shared. Her body ached in places she didn't know it could ache from having sex, and she couldn't think of a better way to wake up. She knew that every time one of her muscles began to burn at work today she would think back to what happened between the two women.
Reaching over she brushed a few rogue hairs away from Callie's face and the woman began to stir. Deep brown eyes opened and met with the bluest of blue. "Mmm, good morning." Callie said in her raspy voice. Arizona couldn't believe how incredibly adorable she was first thing in the morning. "Good morning to you too." Callie leaned over and snuggled into Arizona. Her face nuzzled into the crook of the blonde's neck. Arizona's body temperature rising instantly at the feeling of Callie's lips on her neck. "If you don't stop doing that, we are never going to leave your apartment." Callie kissed her neck once more before speaking. "Is that really such a horrible idea? I mean, I wouldn't mind being stuck in this bed with you for days on end. I am pretty sure I have enough food and water for us to survive at least 5 days." She joked. "Horrible? No. Irresponsible considering we have departments to run at a hospital? Probably so." Callie huffed and pulled away, plopping her head back onto her pillow and covering her eyes with her arm. "I am so sore. What did you do to me last night?" She asked. This time is was Arizona who laughed and moved her body on top of the Latinas. "I didn't do anything; I seem to recall you being the one who wanted more." Callie didn't argue with the words, because they were completely true. Instead she reached up and grabbed two handfuls of blonde hair and pulled Arizona into a scorching kiss. What both women were certain was fixing to turn into yet another round of hot, passionate sex was interrupted by the sounds of the bedside alarm clock piercing the air. "Ugh… talk about a mood killer. That sound means back to reality." Callie said, sitting up after the blonde removed herself from the top of her body. Reaching over she hit the snooze button and stood from the bed. Arizona couldn't tear her eyes away from the naked form in front of her. She wasn't sure how many times Callie had called her name, but one of the times she finally snapped up and managed to say a 'huh' before blinking quickly and looking at the woman's face. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She asked again, forcing herself to look at Callie's face, and only her face. Callie couldn't help but laugh at how cute the blonde was, and it made her feel sexy knowing that she had that effect on her. It had been a long time since she felt desirable to someone, and she had to admit it felt amazing. "I was asking if you wanted to borrow some clothes. I know you didn't plan on staying here last night, even though I'm happy that you did, so my wardrobe is yours for the taking. Pick whatever you would like." Callie said, slipping into the restroom and turning on the shower. Arizona walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She reached in to grab a t-shirt and pulled it out. She couldn't help but smile when she slid it over her head and the smell that was uniquely Callie invaded her nose. Once she found some yoga pants she slid on her shoes from the night before and tossed her dirty clothes into the hamper with Callie's. She knew she didn't need a reason to return to the woman's apartment, but the thought of having an easy excuse to return made her warm inside. A few minutes later Callie walked back into her bedroom and felt her heart fall in her chest when she didn't see Arizona. She thought to herself momentarily that the blonde had realized what she had done and ran home to her girlfriend. Only when she smelt the familiar smell of coffee coming from the kitchen did she feel stupid for ever letting those thoughts cross her mind.
"Hey beautiful, I thought I would make some coffee for us considering the fact that we will both be running on less than minimal sleep today. I hope you don't mind that I kind of snooped around your kitchen."
"Don't be silly. When you are here I want you to make yourself at home." Callie said, walking towards the cabinet and reaching in for a mug. "Thank you." She said, leaning over and placing a soft, simple kiss on Arizona's lips. "So… should we talk about the giant elephant in the room, or are we avoiding that topic?" Callie said, not looking at the blonde in fear of what she might see on her face.
Arizona reached for the coffee pot and stopped when Callie said what she had known would come up. Sure she wasn't oblivious to the fact that a whole world and a life that now had consequences existed outside of this apartment. Did she wish she could just make it all magically disappear and continue on this high with Callie? Yes. Did she think that what happened last night was a mistake? No. Did she feel like an epic asshole for cheating, regardless of the fact that she wasn't in love with Carley? Yes. Would she go back and change what happened last night? Not a chance in hell. "I believe we should. But Callie.."
"No, don't. I know that you're going to say that what happened was a mistake and Arizona I'm begging you not to say those words. I can't handle it." Callie said, looking down at her feet. The site making Arizona's heart break inside of her chest. She put her mug down and walked towards Callie. Her hand lifting her chin to make the woman look her in the eyes. "Calliope, look at me." Callie looked up, and Arizona then saw the tears that were formed in them. "I told you that I loved you…that on that island you embedded yourself into my heart, and I meant it. I don't use the 'love' word loosely. I have only said those words to 4 people in my lifetime. My mom, my dad, my brother, and you. I don't love easily Callie. I don't love easily, but when I do love, I love with everything inside of me. And I am the daughter of a marine. I was taught to fight for what I believe in. And I believe in this…in us." Callie couldn't stop the tears from falling freely at this point. "I know that this is going to hurt Carley and Sam, but the thought of hurting you kills me even more. I should have told Carley about us the second we came back, and for the pain that caused you I cannot begin to apologize. But I wasted 10 weeks. 10 weeks that I can never get back. But I refuse to waste another day with you not being mine. I love you Calliope Torres, and it's time to start showing you."
Callie couldn't form words. Everything Arizona was saying all felt too good to be true. She had wanted to hear them for so long, and she had given up on the hopes of hearing them. But right now, in this moment she knew that her dreams were coming true. "I love you too. I love you so much more than you could possibly know." The pair shared a soft, slow kiss. One that they both poured their hearts into. It was a silent promise to the other that the time had come for them. "So what happens now?" Callie asked. Arizona leaned against the counter, and crossed her arms. "Well, I am going to go to the apartment, and get some clothes for work. Carley should be at work already, so tonight I will talk to her. I am going to tell her the truth, because I owe her that much. And then I will check into a hotel until I can make other living arrangements."
Callie nodded, she wished that Arizona didn't have to go through all of this, but it was unavoidable. "I will talk to Sam tonight as well. How about we meet up afterwards and talk?"
"That is a great idea. We can each text after we have worked out our situations. Dinner?" Arizona suggested.
"Definitely." Callie said before leaning in and giving the woman a soft kiss.
Once both women were ready, they left the apartment hand in hand and stopped outside of Callie's apartment complex. Arizona didn't have to be at the hospital for a couple more hours so they said their temporary goodbyes and the blonde climbed into a cab while Callie crossed the street to the hospital. Inside of the cab, Arizona turned on her cellphone for the first time since she turned it off in Callie's bedroom the night before. Almost immediately her phone began going off with text after text. She didn't even have to look at her phone to know exactly who they were from. 19 text messages, 21 missed calls and 12 voicemails. Her stomach was in knots as she flicked on the last few texts.
-Arizona I swear to God if you don't respond I am calling the police."
-I hope you just got caught up talking to Callie and fell asleep and you're not dead in a ditch somewhere.
-I'm panicking Arizona. Please be ok babe.
Arizona tossed her phone into her purse and leaned her head back against the seat. She knew that being with Callie was the right decision; she just wished the price to pay for her own happiness wasn't Carley's heart. The cab came to a stop outside of her condo and she paid the man before stepping onto the sidewalk.
"Good morning Dr. Robbins." Oscar the door man said with his usual smile. "You just missed Ms. Carley." He added. Arizona let out a deep sigh. "Good morning Oscar. Thank you." She said as he opened the door for her. She was thankful to hear that Carley was already gone, so she quickly took the elevator up and into her condo. Inside she saw 2 wine glasses and an empty bottle of wine on the coffee table. "That's strange" she thought to herself. She walked to the hall closet and pulled out a suitcase before placing it on her bed and opening the dresser to begin packing her clothes.
"Well I am happy to see that you're alive, but not so happy to see that you are obviously leaving." Carley's voice caught the blonde off guard and she jumped slightly. "Jesus Carley, you scared the shit out of me." She exclaimed. "I scared YOU? Really? That is hilarious. How do you think I was last night when you never came home? Or when I called you a million times and your phone went straight to voicemail? How scary do you think THAT was?" Arizona stood there, feeling much like a child being scolded by their parents. She wasn't sure how to begin this conversation, especially considering she thought that she had the rest of the day to plan it all out. But her lack of response only fueled Carley's anger even more. "Arizona, answer me. Why did you not-." Carley stopped talking mid sentence and Arizona looked up to see why. Her girlfriend, ex-girlfriend… hell she didn't know what Carley was yet was staring straight at her neck. Arizona reached up and touched the spot that she remembered Callie paying extra attention to that spot the night before when they were making love. "Is that what I think it is? OH my god! You didn't. You slept with Callie!" Carley said, stepping back as if Arizona were on fire. "How could you?"
Arizona stepped towards the hurt woman, hoping to comfort her some how. She didn't want to hurt her this way, but she knew it was inevitable. "Carley, please… just let me explain." Arizona tried. "No, there is nothing to explain. You have nothing you need to say to me that I need to hear. The proof is on your fucking neck. You don't need to say anything else. I am going to work, and when I get back home tonight, you won't be here." And with that, Carley turned and walked out of the condo. Arizona sat on the side of the bed, her head in her hands and tried to calm herself. She knew that she had to pack and get out of here, so she decided to suck it up and get moving. She only took what she could fit into two large suitcases and a few photos. She would have to contact Carley later to schedule a time to get the rest of her things. For now, she wanted to get to work and get herself busy. She hoped that Callie was having a better start to her day than she was having.
CALLIE'S POV
Callie was scrubbing out of her first surgery of the day. A short femur repair, and she was still floating on cloud 9 from her night before with Arizona. Sure she knew that she still had so much to handle, but she knew that she would fight for Arizona until she couldn't fight anymore. She pulled her phone out of her lab coat pocket and started to send a quick text to Arizona. But before she could finish typing it, she ran smack into the one person she was hoping to avoid until later. "Sam." "Callie" they said in unison. "Hey. Uh, what are you uh, doing here?" Callie asked, her pulse racing. What did Sam know? Did she suspect anything? She wondered to herself. "I came to see how you were. You left so quickly last night and then I was at Carley's apartment almost all night because she was worried sick about Arizona. She didn't come home last night. Have you seen her?" Sam asked, and Callie knew that clearly she had no idea about what had happened between she and Arizona. "Uh, yeah. She came and dropped off my purse last night and—" Callie's pager went off and she had never been more thankful for the irritating little thing. "Oh shit, it's the ER, big trauma coming in. Meet later and talk?" Callie said, trying to walk away before she had to answer anything else. "Sure. Sounds good." Before Callie could get away, she was caught off guard when Sam pulled her in for a quick kiss. Callie pulled away, just in time to lock eyes with a hurt looking Arizona. After rushing a goodbye, she tried to catch up to a long gone Arizona. Callie wanted to go find her, but her pager went off again. "Ugh!" she said to no one before heading towards the emergency room.
The rest of the day seemed to drag by, and luck was not on her side. Every time she went in search of Arizona, she was in surgery. Every time Callie was in surgery, Arizona was free. Callie couldn't shake the image of Arizona's hurt when Sam had kissed her from her mind. All day that was all she could think about. So when she scrubbed out of her last surgery for the day, which landed her walking out of work 4 hours later than scheduled, she couldn't get to the locker room fast enough. Reaching into her lab coat she retrieved her iPhone and tried to text Arizona when she noticed she had over a dozen text messages. Each and every one was from Sam. She only needed to read one to know that Sam had already spoken to Carley… which in turn meant that Arizona had spoken to Carley. 'Great. Just great.' Callie said to no one. She looked up Arizona's name and clicked the call button. When it instantly went to voicemail she threw her phone into her purse. 'She probably doesn't want to speak to me. She has probably had a horrible day, and then she see's Sam kiss me and I'm sure that was the icing on the cake. Fuck!'
Callie had decided that she was going home, drinking more tequila than her body should consume and then pass out and try to actually sleep. Because without the liquor, she was certain she would be up all night just thinking about Arizona. But when she stepped off the elevator onto her floor of her apartment building she was caught off guard when she saw Arizona sitting on the floor, her head leaned back against the door.
"Arizona?" Callie called out softly. "Are you ok?"
Standing up and dusting herself off, she looked up at Callie. "Uh, yeah. I um, I know I should have called first, but my phone died and I didn't have a charger. I knew I was taking a huge gamble coming here unannounced, but I had to see you." Arizona said nervously. "If Sam is coming, I can leave. I don't want to—"
"Arizona, no. Sam is not coming over. It's over between us. I told you I was not going to be with her anymore. My question is are YOU ok? I know that you and Carley talked, and I'm assuming she wasn't happy about the break up. I mean I couldn't blame her… you are a lot to lose. Please, come inside and I'll make us some tea and we can talk." Callie said, unlocking the door and stepping aside so the blonde could come in.
Arizona walked over to the couch, her suitcases being discarded by the door, and sat down. She hadn't checked into a hotel yet, instead choosing to come straight to Callie's. It only took a few minutes before Callie was joining her, two cups of hot tea in hand. "Here, drink this." Callie said, handing her the cup.
"Thank you. I'm sorry to just barge in like this, I just didn't know where we stood and I had to see you." Arizona again apologized. "Don't be silly, I love you Arizona, and I want you to come here anytime you want. You never have to call ahead of time. You are welcome here anytime. And speaking of that, do you need a place to stay? Or are you going to wheel your suitcases around back and forth to work every day?"
"No, no thank you though. I am going to check into a hotel and I'll be fine."
Callie leaned over, cupping Arizona's cheek and making the blonde look at her. "You can stay here tonight, and we can check you into a hotel tomorrow if that's what you want. We are both off, so we can handle all of that. But stay with me tonight, please. I need to hold you." Callie said, scared that she sounded almost as if she were begging. But she didn't care. She needed Arizona near her, and if she had to beg to get that, then so be it.
Arizona sat there, her head naturally leaning into Callie's touch. Of course she would stay here, she wanted to be in Callie's arms just as badly as Callie wanted her to. "I'll stay on one condition." The blonde stated.
"Name it." Arizona pushed Callie back and straddled her lap, their lips only inches apart. "You have to make love to me again. Because last night was not enough. Getting enough of you is impossible." Callie didn't answer the blondes demand verbally. Instead she pulled up and tangled her hands into blonde locks before pulling Arizona into a deep kiss. That was all the confirmation the blonde needed, and she let herself surrender to her deep love and desire for Callie.
