Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy. I just manipulate them to my will. Also, any line or phrase or setting that seems remotely familiar from any other show, movie or book, also not mine.
AN: So…all action last night. Think it's time for a little more conversation? Let's see. Enjoy!
Chapter 9
Arizona's eyes flutter open. She's confused about where she is, having woken up in the loft of a barn for the last six weeks. Looking around the foreign room, the sun shines brightly through the windows, its height in the sky signaling past mid day. As she moves, trying to rouse herself, an arm tightens around her. Looking over her shoulder, she sees the sleeping face of Callie, a possessive arm holding Arizona tight around her stomach. Images from last night come flooding in front of the bright blue eyes. The hours the two women spent studying each other's body, staring into each other's eyes, finger tips caressing trembling skin. The way Callie's flesh felt against the blonde's skin. The single tear that streaked the Latina's face as the waves of her first round of pleasure flooded her body.
Callie's own mind is trying to push her in to consciousness, but she fights it. Turning and burying her head further into a pillow, trying to shield the orange glow in front of her closed eyelids, she loses her grasp on the other body in her bed. Arizona takes that moment as a way out, silently rolling out of bed, slipping on her clothes and exiting the bedroom. Closing the door behind her, Arizona pulls her shirt back over her head and runs her hands through her hair. …jesus…what have I done? …W-what… Oh my god…I should…I should go. I should leave… The blonde battles with herself. Yes, Callie was a willing participant last night… more than willing but… what have I done? Walking back out to the kitchen, Arizona grabs her pack and exits the home.
Callie finally gives up on the vain attempt to stay asleep and opens her eyes, the bright midday sun scorching her corneas.
"What the…." Callie growls, trying to remember why her entire body is sore and feels wonderfully satisfied. Then the images start coming. The memory of last night as she and Arizona explored each other's body and made the other rive in pleasure.
"Oh…god…." Callie closes her eyes again. She chances a reach out to the right but all she feels is empty bed. Opening her eyes and sitting up, she pulls up the covers on that side and looks under them, like Arizona might be hiding down by the foot of the bed, but she's not there. Callie looks around her room, the room she hasn't shared with anyone since her husband died, and see's a mess of thrown clothes and bed sheets, and only see's her clothes. Rolling out of bed and throwing on some jeans and a shirt, she moves out to the rest of the house.
"Arizona?" She calls out, walking down the hallway and peeking into an empty living room. Moving into the kitchen, she see that the blondes backpack is gone. Her heart races as she thinks Arizona has ran again. Quickly throwing on a pair of boots, she flies out the back door and towards her truck, but its not there.
"What the…" She groans, then she hears clanking coming from the barn. Walking towards the noise, she turns the corner and see's her antique periwinkle truck sticking out of the mouth of the barn. Approaching her aged vehicle, she can see the hood raised and the scratchy, uneven singing voice of the blonde from within the belly of the beast.
"But when my loneliness is through, I'm gonna find another you… You take your sweaters. You take your time. You might have your reasons. But you will never have my rhymes. ….I'm gonna sing my way away from blue. …I'm gonna find another you." Callie leans softly against the side of her truck and listens to Arizona continue to sing along with John Mayer's 'Find Another You', listening to the lyrics of the song and can't help but think that they are surprisingly fitting. Arizona continues "When I was your lover, no one else would do. If I'm forced to find another, I hope she looks like you. Yeah…and she's nicer too. Yeah!" Standing back up, hands and white tank top stained black from grease, the blue eyes lock onto brown ones. Pulling an ear bud from her ear, Arizona turns to the bench and sets down the part and tool grasped in her hands.
"Hey…" Arizona says, not able to find those brown eyes again.
"Hey yourself…" Callie says, walking slowly to the front of the truck.
"I uhh… I thought I might get the last few parts into her today…" Arizona says, turning away from Callie and grabbing the remaining replacement parts that she had yet installed.
"Ok." Callie says awkwardly, bending over the nearly empty front end of the truck. To the side she sees the hundred different parts the blonde took out of the truck in the last hour or so she has been working on the beast. Arizona comes up next to Callie and tries to get to work but the Latina is in the way.
"Excuse me." Arizona says, and Callie steps back to give her room. The two don't know what to do. Do they talk about it? Do they pretend like it didn't happen? Callie leans against the driver's side door and throws her head back, closing her eyes. …but it did happen. …Now what? Have I lost her forever? …is this her parting gift to me? …She still has to move on. She can't stay here…she won't WANT to stay here. Arizona looks up from her grip on her tool and sees Callie deep in thought. The blonde has had this same argument with herself the entire time she was tearing apart the truck and is still no closer to having an answer. She was at the end of the long gravel drive before she stopped and turned back. …I couldn't leave her. Not like that again. Not after…what we just did.
Setting the tool down, she walks silently to stand in front of Callie leaning back against the truck. She watches the emotions fly across the beautiful face in front of her. …she really is beautiful. Callie's eyes flutter open and then lock on to the blue ones inches from her. Neither knows what to say, neither know what could be said. So, Arizona takes a small step forward. Callie raises a hand and glides her thumb over the curve of the blonde's cheek. Blue eyes search brown eyes. Brown eyes bore into blue eyes.
"I…I don't know…" Callie says, a tear forming in her eye.
"Me neither." Arizona replies softly. Callie lets out a ragged breath and then closes the distance between the two. Lips seal to lips. Callie's hands tangle in blonde tresses and Arizona places stained and greasy hands onto the hips of the Latina. Their kiss is passionate and unyielding. Neither knows what is happening between them, and they don't have the will to stop it. Feelings and emotions rage through them as they take turns dominating the mouth of the other. Arizona lets out a moan of pleasure and Callie eagerly swallows it, pulling the smaller woman into her hard. Arizona pushes Callie back into the truck, grateful it's there to give the two women some support. When their lungs burn for air, their lips part. Both are breathing hard, trying to replace the precious oxygen they had been depriving their body in exchange for the touch of the others lips against theirs.
Arizona looks at the face of the Latina in front of her and see's black smudges marring her perfect skin. She tries to keep her face set but the fit of giggles is too strong to keep in. Dimples pop as blue eyes sparkle in laughter. Callie gives the blonde a questioning look. Arizona brings up her stained hands and traces lines over the woman's face, all the while giggling. Realization lights the brown eyes and strong hands grasps the greasy woman's wrists and pull them away from their face.
"Arizona!" Callie squeals, pushing the dirty limbs away from her, and the blonde just laughs at her. "Oh, you think that's funny?" She asks and gets an even louder laugh in reply. Callie spins the woman and pushes her back against the truck, making a loud bang echo around the barn. Coating a hand in grease from a part within arm's reach, Callie places the hand on the blonde's cheek and runs it down her neck and over her clothed chest. Arizona's breath hitches as Callie's strong hand ghosts down her body. Eyes lock again and suddenly the mood is back to serious. Arizona's hands reach up to the already dirtied face in front of her and pulls Callie down for another kiss. Her insides respond in a way that it has never responded before. …yeah. I think I'm gay. The two part again, resting greasy and dirtied foreheads against the others.
"What do we do now?" Callie asks, her heart racing, her mind reeling. She's scared at what this means. …does this mean I'm gay? Does that mean I'm wrong? …I'm a sinner? I'm going to hell? …How can it be 'wrong' when it feels so right?
"Well… now… I try to remember how to put all those pieces back in your truck." Arizona says which makes Callie laugh. "No… I'm serious… I think I may have pushed my knowledge a little too far…" Callie's eyes flash seriousness but a dimpled grin from the blonde immediately soothes her mind.
"Can I help?" Callie asks, not really wanting to leave the blondes side right now.
"Sure… come on…" Arizona and Callie spend the next few hours bend over the front of the truck. The blonde teaches Callie the workings of the old engine and the two constantly tease and touch and tickle each other. They don't mention anything about last night and their actions into early this morning, but it's all the each of them can think about. It was the first time either of them were with a woman and it felt so right, but flies in the face of everything they had been thought. Callie, growing up with a super catholic family, was told homosexuality was a sin against God, an unforgivable sin. Arizona, growing up in an military family, having been instilled with the core military values, has always known homosexuality as a bad thing. Gays were constantly tossed from the service because it was 'wrong', 'unnatural', and 'not within the Code of Military Conduct'. But…they felt right together. And that can't be wrong, can it?
Hours later, Arizona installs the part back into the truck. Tossing the keys to a waiting Callie, Arizona tells her to fire up the engine. A minute later, the truck purrs like a kitten, running better than it did when it was brand new. Slamming the hood down, Arizona wipes her hands off on a rag as she looks at Callie. Her eyes skim the Latina's curves as she leans over and reaches into the bed of the truck. Arizona's eyes land on the perfectly shaped ass that makes her insides ache. Callie catches Arizona's eyes and the blonde drops her gaze, a blush forming across her tanned skin. A sly smirk crosses the Latina's face but she doesn't comment about catching the drifter checking her out.
The sun starts to dip just as Arizona and Callie walk out of the barn. Arizona heads in to the bathroom to clean up while Callie washes off the grease from her hands and goes about making them an early dinner. Coming out of shower, feeling fresh and clean for the first time in days, she walks into the kitchen and watches Callie dance behind the stove, moving her body to the tune in her head. Leaning against the door jam, a smile crosses the blondes face as she takes in a little show before the meal. Sticking the baking pan into the oven, Callie turns and sees a squeaky clean Arizona. A smile crosses the Latina's face which gets reflected on the drifters face.
"Umm… I'm gonna go take a shower…" Callie says, her face and arms still dirtied by sweat and grease. "Could you flip the pork chops in about 15?" Arizona nods and steps sideways for Callie to pass into the hallway. As she passes, the two women lock eyes as they are inches away from each other. A shy smile each and they move away from each other, Arizona into the kitchen and Callie into the bathroom.
An hour later, each remaining nearly silent during dinner, they move into the living room. Sitting on opposite sides of the couch, they stare at the cups of coffee in their hands.
"I think I'm going to turn in…" Arizona says, rising from the couch suddenly.
"Oh… ok." Callie says, also standing and following the blonde into the kitchen. Placing both cups in the sink, Callie leans back against the counter and looks at the woman. Arizona is standing at the midpoint between the back door and the entrance to the hallway and back towards the bedroom. Both know what they want to happen, but neither know how to say it. Arizona doesn't want to ask…nor push Callie. And Callie is afraid that she will spook Arizona again, make the woman take off if she moves too fast.
Turning to the back door, Arizona looks over her shoulder and says "Good night, Calliope."
"Good night, Arizona." Callie replies softly. With that, the blonde slips out of the house and heads back towards the barn that has become her own, personal, apartment. Arizona climbs the ladder to the loft above and lies back on her sleeping back that rests atop the old cot, her mind racing with images of the woman across the drive way. Defeated, Callie moves to her bedroom and climbs into the empty bed. Curling around the sheets that still smell of sex and Arizona, she takes a deep breath and feels the essence of the blonde soak into every cell of her body. Both women ache to be in the others arms.
Hours later, and both women are lying awake in their beds. Finally, Arizona has had enough. Swinging her legs off the cot, she climbs down the ladder and walks across the gravel drive and slips into the house. Moving quietly through the house, she grabs the bedroom door handle and pushes it open. Stepping into the dark room, she halts at the doorway. Callie heard the kitchen door open and the sound of boots move down the hallway. When the bedroom door opened, her heart started racing. Turning over, she sees the blonde standing in the doorway, looking at her…needing permission to continue. Callie pulls back the covers of the bed, never breaking eye contact with Arizona. That's all the woman needs. Peeling off her jeans and shirt, she moves to the side of the bed closest to the door and slides underneath the covers. The two women lie on their sides, facing each other, but saying nothing. Soon, both drift off to sleep, only their hands touching.
AN2: So? …Think they will ever talk? Or will they just flounder along next to each other?
