oh, I'm afraid of the things in my brain / but we can stay here / and laugh away the fear
-intertwined, dodie
"Stop honking, I'm here," Amelia said, rolling her eyes as she got into the passenger seat. "I scored a job interview!"
"You took so long because you were checking your email?" Meredith asked, rolling her eyes. "Can't you do that in the car?"
"I saw the notification and got excited, sorry," Amelia laughed. "It's at the community center, I applied for the daycare."
"When's the interview?" Meredith asked.
"Tomorrow at 4," Amelia replied.
"I can drive you there but you'll have to find a way home because I have work until 9," Meredith said.
"Okay," Amelia agreed.
"And just to be clear, I was up at 5, I went on a run, I made breakfast for us, and you were still asleep at 6," Meredith said, rolling her eyes. "Clearly I'm the more productive one here."
"Damn, someone needs their coffee," Amelia said, rolling her eyes at the older girl.
"I was gonna stop somewhere and get some but we're gonna have to get the shitty stuff at school since you took for-fucking-ever," Meredith said.
"I'm so nervous," Amelia said quietly, trying to relax into the seat.
"It'll be fine, you'll like it," Meredith said. "Did Montgomery email you your schedule?"
"Yeah, you have lunch 5b right?"
Meredith nodded. "You'll make friends too, the sophomore class isn't bad.
"Okay," Amelia sighed. "I just hope today goes well."
"It will," Meredith said reassuringly.
"Hey, you're new!" A perky redhead said excitedly as she walked up to the locker next to Amelia. "I'm April Kepner."
"I'm Amelia Shepherd," the brunette replied, closing her locker.
"Oh you're the transfer from West Seattle, you're Derek's sister," April said.
"Yep," Amelia laughed. "Hey do you know where room 202 is?"
"That's American literature, I'm heading there too!" April said. "I'll walk with you."
"Thanks," Amelia said gratefully as the two of them headed to class. "My sister was going to show me around but she had to stay late in bio to finish a lab."
"You've got a sister too?"
"She's my brother's girlfriend, I just consider her one of my sisters," the brunette explained with a laugh. "I've got 3 actual sisters though."
"I've got 3 sisters too!" The redhead said excitedly.
"So you know a lot of people here I take it?" Amelia asked.
"Pretty much everyone," April laughed.
"Meredith wants me to make friends outside of her group, so who should I hang around?"
"Anyone really," April shrugged. "I mean there's people who you should obviously stay away from, but you can tell which ones are always out drinking and doing drugs every night."
Amelia nodded quietly, not sure what to say back.
"My mom always tells me to stay away from kids who do that kind of stuff because it's really easy to fall into it."
"Yeah," Amelia hesitantly agreed. Except it had been different for her. She hadn't become an alcoholic because of her friends. She started drinking because she lost her friends, but she had plenty of opportunities to stop. The only person she blamed was herself.
"I've got a boyfriend, Jackson Avery, and we go to parties sometimes and we drink a little, but not enough to get ourselves into any trouble, you know?"
Amelia nodded.
"What about you?"
"Uh, for the boyfriend thing, I don't have one," Amelia laughed. "And the drinking…I used to but I don't anymore." She remembered just a few weeks ago when she was sneaking alcohol around her sisters and using loads of concealer to cover the dark circles under her eyes. She barely remembered coming home to Lizzie's house piss drunk at 3 am but she recalled waking up at 11 the next morning with a pounding migraine and a note on the coffee table saying she wasn't welcome there anymore. She regretted every single decision she had made in the last couple of years except the one to go to Meredith. Meredith had saved her.
"That's good," April said nonchalantly as the two walked into the classroom. "There's a lot of really great guys here too, I'm sure you'll find a lot of friends. You have me though."
"Thanks," Amelia said genuinely.
"Hey," Cristina said to Amelia as she walked up behind her as they were heading into their biology class. "If we get lucky we might be lab partners."
"Finally, a familiar face," Amelia said in relief. "Everyone's so nice but they're treating me like royalty. I can't wait for lunch."
"Well Derek's kind of a legend around here, everyone loves him," Cristina explained with a shrug.
"Ladies and gentlemen, find a seat while I pull up the new seating chart," their teacher, Mrs. Herman said as she walked into the room. "I see we have a new student this semester, would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Sure," Amelia said anxiously as she stood up. "Um…I'm Amelia Shepherd. I'm a sophomore and I transferred from West Seattle."
"It's nice to meet you, Amelia," Mrs. Herman said as she pulled up the seating chart and projected it onto the board. "Everyone go find your new seats and partners."
"I'm Owen," a tall strawberry blonde boy said as he sat down next to her. "You're Derek's sister right?"
"Yeah," Amelia replied.
"I play basketball with him, he's a great guy," Owen replied.
Amelia nodded in response. "He and I don't exactly get along but his girlfriend and I are like sisters. She convinced me to come here."
"Well I'm glad you did, it'll be nice to get to know you, " Owen replied.
"Class, you're going to have a six page research paper due next Friday with your lab partner. You can pick your topic but it has to be related to what we're learning today. I suggest you all start tomorrow. You can start class by reading section 9.1 in your books."
"I've got a job interview tomorrow but we can meet afterwards," Amelia whispered.
"Okay," Owen agreed.
"I'll let you know the rest when I figure out a ride for tomorrow but it'll work."
"How about I pick you up from your interview and then we go to the library or something?"
"Okay," Amelia agreed with a smile. She had to admit that Owen was hot and she'd probably date him if she got the chance. But she was here because she wanted to get sober and fix her life and she wasn't about to let anyone in who didn't know her enough to be in this with her.
"So you're telling me you got out of PE just by telling Coach Martens you were having 'girl problems'?" Meredith asked incredulously.
"Yep," Callie said with a proud smile. "I was being honest," she shrugged.
"I wish I had a uterus, Martens hates my class," Mark said, rolling his eyes.
"No you don't, it's brutal," Arizona replied.
"Mine is coming tomorrow, I want death," Cristina laughed.
"Hey, what do you guys know about Owen Hunt?" Amelia asked as she walked up to the table and sat down next to Arizona.
"You should ask Cristina," Meredith said, smirking at her best friend.
"Have you and him had a thing?" Amelia wondered.
"Please, he doesn't even know me," Cristina said, rolling her eyes. "I may have been mildly in love with him but that was in the past," she shrugged.
"Mildly?" Callie asked incredulously.
"The past, sure," Meredith laughed.
"Okay so I've been pining over him since last year," Cristina admitted. "Except he doesn't even know I exist so it's not a big deal."
"Well what do you know about him?"
"He's got a little sister named Megan and she's a freshman. He runs cross country in the fall and he's the best defender on the basketball team. He looks really great in his uniform too," Cristina said.
"I mean is he nice? Can I trust him?"
"He's quiet," Cristina shrugged. "But people think highly of him so I'd say so. Why?"
"He's my lab partner and he seems nice," Amelia shrugged. "I have to work on a project with him tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? I have work tomorrow, Meredith reminded her.
"I know, he said he'd pick me up," Amelia replied with a shrug.
"It's your first day and you already have a potential boyfriend," Arizona laughed. "That's how my first day was too, but with a girlfriend, obviously."
"You tried to get away from me," Callie laughed. "You said you'd find your own friends if we didn't want you around."
"I'm glad you made me stay," Arizona said, kissing her on the cheek.
"Have you met anyone else?" Mark wondered.
"April Kepner, she's in my American literature class," Amelia shrugged. "She seems nice and extremely excitable."
"She's super religious," Callie said with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure she's in denial that there's lgbt kids at this school."
"I've never talked to her for that reason, but she might not be as bad as we think," Arizona shrugged.
"She seems nice," Amelia shrugged. "I'll see though. I hope she ends up being okay with us."
The group nodded collectively as they watched Derek approach the table and sit down next to Meredith. "I was going over a new press break with Coach for tonight's game," he explained.
"Should I go see him about it?" Mark wondered.
"It's easy, he just wanted my input," the older boy shrugged. "Are you guys coming tonight?" He asked.
"I've got practice, I'm sorry," Arizona said apologetically.
"Issac's got a game and he's starting tonight so I promised I'd be there," Callie said.
"It's grocery night," Meredith shrugged.
"I've got work," Cristina said with a shrug.
They were all pretty mad at Derek for treating Meredith and Amelia the way he did and they definitely weren't going to do him any favors. Unfortunately this was making things a little more awkward between the friend group whenever Derek was around.
Amelia walked into the room she'd be having study hall in and quickly scanned it for anyone that seemed familiar. She spotted Owen in the back of the room and sighed in relief seeing the empty desk next to his. He looked up at her and smiled as she walked over. "Hey," he said as she sat down.
"You don't mind if I sit here do you?" Amelia asked.
"You seem like good company, I don't mind at all," Owen said reassuringly. "Have you seen everything in the school yet?"
"Not yet," Amelia replied. "Meredith was going to take me around but Ms. Montgomery wanted to give me my schedule and go over some stuff so we spent an hour drinking coffee in her office," she laughed.
"I'll show you around," Owen shrugged, standing up. "The teacher won't mind, I'm usually wandering the halls this period anyway."
"Okay," Amelia agreed, standing up and following him over to the teacher's desk. Owen explained that he wanted to show Amelia around the school and the teacher gave them each hall passes and let them go.
"You know in all the times I've been over at Derek's I've never seen you," Owen noticed. "I had no idea he even had a younger sister."
"Oh…" Amelia trailer off, not really sure to begin. "He and I don't- we don't live together."
"Oh your parents are divorced right? You live with your dad?" Owen wondered.
"My dad's dead," Amelia quickly explained. "Look, I don't mean to beat around the bush or anything. My family life isn't something I really talk about."
"No, I get it," Owen said reassuringly. "I'm sorry about your dad though."
"It was a long time ago, it's alright," Amelia shrugged. "I don't get along with Derek or my mom very well so I'm living with Meredith right now," she explained. "Mer's mom is in a nursing home and she's been on her own for awhile so we figured we'd be good for each other."
"That's so cool, you guys are like roommates," Owen said.
"Yeah, she's really great," Amelia agreed. "I've gotten close with her friends too."
"I'm glad you have people here," Owen said. "And I'm really glad we're getting to know each other. I'm surprised Derek's never mentioned you."
"He's always been kind of distant when it comes to me," Amelia shrugged. "It's not really a big deal, I've got Mark and he's been a brother to me since we were kids."
"So you've met Ms. Montgomery?" Owen asked and Amelia nodded. "She let you use her fancy coffee machine, she must like you."
"She was Meredith's foster mom for a month after she had to send her mom to Roseridge," Amelia explained. "We're pretty close with her."
"That's really good," Owen said. "Oh hey so for the project tomorrow, where do you want me to pick you up?"
"Do you know where the community center is?" Amelia asked and Owen nodded in reply. "I'm interviewing over there."
"Okay, I'll pick you up there," Owen said. "Do you wanna grab food before we start working?"
"Oh...sure," Amelia shrugged.
"I mean we don't have to," Owen said quickly. "I know we just met and I'm not trying to freak you out or anything."
"No it's okay," Amelia replied. "I was gonna make something for Meredith and bring it by Barnes and Noble but I'll just pick her something up."
"I forgot she works there, I see her sometimes when I'm there," Owen said.
"Well it's the coffee shop inside Barnes and Noble but she really likes it," Amelia said. "She brings me coffee home and she gets some of the slightly damaged books that they can't put on shelves."
"Damn, that's a good gig," Owen laughed. "Shoot, I just remembered I have to go to calculus to make up a quiz."
"Don't worry about it," Amelia replied.
"I promise I'll show you the rest of the school tomorrow," Owen said. "Do you want me to walk you back?"
"I think I can find my way," Amelia laughed. "Thanks, Owen."
"No problem," Owen replied.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Amelia felt comfortable, as if she were really truly going to be okay.
"Hot chocolate with extra whipped cream," Arizona said, climbing up on the bleachers, taking Callie off guard.
"What are you doing here?" Callie asked excitedly, giving Arizona a quick kiss. "I thought you had practice."
"It was cancelled and I wanted to surprise you," the blonde replied, handing her girlfriend the hot chocolate. "I figured this might help your cramps a little."
"You're the best," Callie said, wrapping her arm around Arizona's waist.
"How's Issac been playing?" Arizona asked, glancing up at the scoreboard to see that his team was ahead by 5 points.
"Good, he's made 7 points, the first was a free throw," Callie said proudly.
"Any threes?"
"Nope, he's gotten close though," Callie replied.
"Arizona, do you want to come to dinner with us?" Elena asked, looking up from her phone. "We're getting Italian."
"Sure!" Arizona replied.
"It's my favorite place, you'll love it," Callie said.
Arizona nodded in response, glancing up as Issac had caught a rebound and had passed it to the point guard. "Nice rebound!" She shouted, smiling as he looked up at her in surprise.
"It means a lot to him that you come to his games," Callie said sweetly.
"You should bring him to one of mine," Arizona said.
"Really?" Callie asked in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, why not?" Arizona wondered.
"Usually the only one you want there besides your parents is me," Callie shrugged. Since Arizona had been playing basketball, the only one of her friends she ever wanted there was Callie. She knew her friends understood everything about her leg but it didn't change the fact that she felt most comfortable around Callie. Her girlfriend had seen nearly every side of her and they had shared intimate moments that surpassed anything she felt comfortable doing in the past, but she felt amazing and perfectly fine around Callie. She didn't think she'd ever get to the point of feeling that comfortable around her friends, but she was trying to push herself.
"I know, but I'm trying to open up more so I think it'll be good," Arizona shrugged. "The lane was open," she sighed. "Why didn't he drive to the basket?" She asked, getting distracted by the game.
"I'm proud of you," Callie said seriously. "When I first met you, you were so self conscious and didn't want me to know anything about you but over the last few months you've shown me parts of you that I don't think you've let anyone see before. I'm glad I get to be that person for you."
"Yeah, well you're amazing and wonderful," Arizona said sweetly, kissing Callie on the cheek. Callie was the one who made her feel normal and included without making her feel different. They understand each other the most even though they didn't have a lot of similarities.
"How the hell do you afford this fancy as fuck store?" Amelia asked as Meredith grabbed a shopping cart and they made their way through the produce section.
"I've been coming here for years, I know exactly what to get to stay under budget," Meredith shrugged. "I spent about $140 when I was shopping for me and my mom and about $70 for me."
"Damn, $140 a week for 2 people?" Amelia asked. "How the hell are we gonna afford that?"
"We switch off," Meredith shrugged. "I'll buy this week and you can buy next."
"Okay," Amelia agreed. "I love being roommates with you. Remember when we first met?"
"And Derek was panicking because he was worried we wouldn't get along," Meredith laughed.
"I've got 3 biological sisters but you're the only one that gets me," Amelia laughed. "I don't know if it's because we're closer in age or because you're not constantly shoving stuff about medical school down my throat but you're the only one that doesn't drive me crazy."
"I'm glad," Meredith laughed. "You've only been living with me for like 2 weeks, you'll hate me soon enough."
"We should get some fruit and veggies," Amelia said as they skipped through almost the entirety of the produce section.
"We get apples and grapes and baby carrots," Meredith shrugged. "I don't cook, I don't need tons of unnecessary food in the house."
"Well why don't we cook?"
"Because Montgomery loads us up with food every week," the older girl replied. "Plus I don't know how to cook."
"Well I do," Amelia protested.
"It's not in the budget," Meredith shrugged. "Do you eat yogurt?"
"No," Amelia replied. "Ooh can we get cinnamon rolls?" She asked, grabbing them off the shelf.
"Nope," Meredith said.
"What's the big deal? It's like 3 dollars," Amelia whined.
"That's 3 less dollars I get to spend at the mall this weekend," Meredith pointed out. "Amelia you've got to budget things, that's the point of this."
"I've got like $40 in my wallet right now, I could buy them myself," Amelia said.
"Go ahead," Meredith shrugged, a smirk on her face.
"But I'm not, because that little smirk you have is gonna make me feel guilty," Amelia laughed with a sigh. "Plus I'm getting food with Owen tomorrow."
"You are gonna talk to Cristina about this, right?" Meredith asked. "Because she's liked him for a really long time and it'd be kind of shady to ignore her feelings."
"Yeah, I will," Amelia replied.
She hated the idea that Cristina felt threatened by her. Cristina was a sister to Meredith and she knew this, but she couldn't help but feel like she was taking Meredith and Owen away from Cristina.
"I didn't actually need tampons, I just wanted to make out with you," Callie admitted with a laugh as the two of them walked through Target together. "I figured we'd ditch my family and go get Chipotle or something but then my aunt invited you to dinner and I would've felt bad telling her we had other plans."
"She didn't have to buy me dinner, I want to pay her back," Arizona replied.
"She won't take it, you know how she is," Callie shrugged. "I need a job, she does everything for me and I've got to start paying for my own shit."
"Me too," Arizona laughed. "I'm thinking of working at the community center with Amelia. That way she won't have to figure out rides home and stuff when Mer is working."
"Do they have any openings?"
"They've got one in the fitness center," Arizona shrugged. "I could work at the front desk and just swipe people's cards and stuff."
"I'll probably see if the Pizza Hut Cristina works at has any openings," Callie laughed. "She's been begging for someone to come work with her."
"It's gonna be weird not being able to see each other all the time," Arizona sighed.
"I know, but we both need money so we can get an apartment together one day," Callie pointed out.
"Do you think we're gonna last that long?" Arizona wondered, her expression falling serious.
"Of course I do, don't you?"
"I mean I hope so, but you're the longest relationship I've had and I always manage to screw things up one way or another. I'm just so hesitant about things, you know?"
"Oh I know," Callie said with a laugh, throwing her arm over the shorter girl's shoulder. "Speaking of that, I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?" Arizona wondered, leading Callie down the candy aisle. "Pick something out."
"Spoiling me today," Callie laughed, scanning the aisle of candy before picking out a bag of fun size Twix. "I was wondering when you wanted to take our relationship a step further...like intimacy wise."
"Oh…" Arizona nodded, understanding what Callie meant. "When I'm ready to have sex?"
Callie quickly nodded. "I don't want to rush you, I'm just wondering so I know if I should slow things down," she explained. The last thing she wanted to do was rush Arizona into something she wasn't ready for.
"I've never had sex with a girl before," Arizona replied. "And normally I'd be ready whenever but it's different with you, because I want our first time to be amazing. I know it will be no matter what, but I'll just know when I'm ready, it'll feel perfect."
"So we're gonna take it slow?" Callie asked for confirmation, not quite sure she was following Arizona.
"I'm not saying slow, I'm just saying I think we'll both know when we're ready."
Callie nodded in agreement. "I'm glad we're on the same page, I just didn't want to force you into anything you're not ready for."
"Thank you," Arizona said sweetly. "Go get some tampons and I'll go get some ice cream. We can go over to my place and watch movies."
"Can we go over to mine? Elena's going to a movie with her boyfriend," Callie explained.
"Of course," Arizona said. "I've never heard much about your uncle, is he around?"
"He's a dick," Callie shrugged. "He left after Marco was born, but her boyfriend sounds really great. She's just hesitant to introduce him to us in case things don't work out."
"Tell her I'd love to meet him when she does," Arizona replied. "What kind of ice cream do you want?"
"Rocky road," Callie replied.
"Go get your tampons, I'll meet you over by the ice cream," Arizona said, kissing her on the cheek as she walked away.
"Okay," Callie agreed with a laugh, going to get her tampons before meeting Arizona by the ice cream. "Thank you for all this, you didn't have to do any of it."
"You do stuff like this for me all the time," Arizona shrugged as they walked over to the self checkout. They scanned all their items and paid before walking out to the car.
"You should wear your hair like that more often, it looks hot as fuck on you," Callie said breathlessly, learning over the center console to kiss her girlfriend. She felt her mouth go dry as she took in her girlfriend's beauty. Arizona's hair was parted on the side and perfectly curled around her face. Her makeup was light but tasteful, and her nose was slightly red from the cold weather. Sure, she was cute, but Callie thought she was hot.
"Yeah?" Arizona asked, tilting her head to the side with a laugh before kissing Callie back. She pulled away fairly quickly but felt herself lean forward and kiss her again, cupping Callie's face in her hands.
The next thing Callie knew, Arizona's tongue was in her mouth and she was loving it. Typically when they'd make out, it'd feel aggressive and oddly desperate. This was mainly because they rarely got any time alone. If Callie's little cousins weren't running around, they were at Arizona's and the walls were really thin there. This time, all either of them could feel was absolute love and adoration for each other. It felt perfect and wonderful and...right.
They probably would've gotten to third base if a car hadn't pulled into the space in front of them, causing them to pull away from each other quickly. Making out in front of strangers wasn't something either of them enjoyed doing.
"That was-" Arizona cut herself off, not sure how to put her feelings into words, "awesome"
"You're incredible," Callie said as she put her seatbelt on. "We better go before my aunt gets suspicious."
Arizona nodded in agreement. "You're horny as fuck on your period," she laughed as she pulled out of the parking space.
"You love it," Callie replied with a laugh. "That fucking car had to pull up and ruin the moment," she grumbled.
"It's okay, we'll have plenty of time to make out sooner or later," Arizona laughed, holding on to Callie's hand.
Both of them were so in love and ready to have sex. They were just waiting for the right time.
A/N: I know a lot of you guys have been saying there isn't enough Calzona in this story and I'm really sorry to disappoint you all if you're only here for Calzona but there's definitely going to be a lot more with Amelia and also Meredith and Derek's relationship as well. But big things are coming for Calzona, trust me.
