Chapter 9

The walk back to the apartment was quiet, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Arizona trying to think of the best way to phrase her feelings and Callie was wondering what this talk was going to be about.

"Was Arizona going to tell her she was already involved in someone else and this was just harmless flirting on her part, had she changed her mind about staying in Seattle and was going to go back to San Diego with her family?" she wondered, each option lowering her mood.

"I'm going to grab a quick shower, do you mind ordering some takeout, maybe Chinese?" Callie asked Arizona after she let them into the apartment.

"Sure" Arizona replied "What would you like?

"mm maybe some Kung Pao chicken and noodles, thanks" she replied.

Arizona nodded and headed for the kitchen where she had seen the takeout menus stored.

After placing the order (she had to grab the mail to get the address for the apartment she had stayed in the past 2 nights), she opened a bottle of wine, poured two glasses and sat on the couch, suddenly nervous about this evening.

She'd had a lot of time to think today, while waiting during Timothy's surgery. Teddy's words about Callie ran through her mind. She could never imagine herself hurting Callie. Looking back on all their interactions in the past 48 hours, she realised there was a special connection and that Callie felt it too. It humbled her to think she could have the power to actually hurt this woman. She had no idea what was going on. Certainly she had flirted with women, kissed them, gotten them into bed but with Callie it was different. The flirting meant something. The kisses they had shared so far had meant something. And boy, with the chemistry between them she knew sex with Callie would mean something more than just answering a physical urge.

The last time these things had meant something more to her were when she was with Carly. They had started dating in med school and moved in together before starting their internship in John Hopkins. Granted that had been for convenience rather than any great symbol of commitment. They had rented a 3 bedroom house near the hospital with 2 other friends and as they were a couple , shared a bedroom. They were happy, with a healthy sex life and even with their hectic hours as interns managed to spend a lot of couple time together. They had even said their "I love yous" though looking back Arizona had realised that was usually said in the heat of passion and not communicated in everyday interactions. She imagined if Calliope Torres loved someone she would tell them every day. That thought made her smile.

The smile disappeared when she remembered her break up with Carly. Arizona had been happy, gloriously unaware of anything amiss in her relationship. They had talked about travelling together after they qualified, doing volunteer work abroad. She had already decided that paediatric surgery was going to be her speciality.

Carly wanted cardio or neurosurgery. Arizona hadn't noticed the disappointed look on Carly's face when she told her she was declaring for paediatrics. Carly kept spending more and more time at the hospital, missing dates with Arizona until eventually Arizona had confronted her about what was going on. She was blindsided when Carly said she wanted to end their relationship. Arizona knew something was up but thought they just needed to talk more, arrange their schedules a bit better so they should spend time together.

Flashback

"Is there someone else?" she cried.

"No Arizona" Carly said "You're just not.."

"Not what" Arizona had asked

"You're too nice"

"What the fuck does that mean Carly, too nice?

"You have no ambition, you're soft, I mean, come on paediatrics? People in paediatrics don't do ground-breaking surgeries or win Harper Averys. I need to be with someone who challenges me,"

"Fuck you Carly" Arizona hissed.

Carly took a step back, surprised at the anger emanating from the smiley, laid back person she had been with for the past two years. She had never really seen the blonde lose her cool.

Arizona had grabbed her purse and stormed out. She went straight to her friend Teddy's apartment and spent 2 days on the couch before her friend Nick arrived to take over from Teddy. She had never been so hurt. She had moved her belongings out of the house and moved into Teddy's spare room, where she remained until she finished her residency and Teddy left for Iraq.

She had of course seen Carly around the hospital but ignored her as much as possible. Carly was wrong, she did have ambition. Paediatrics was not a soft option but was one of the most challenging specialities. You got to work on all parts of the body, but in miniature. She soon had gained a reputation as a hard worker and great researcher. Working with a very supportive attending, she had helped develop new approaches to outdated paediatric medical techniques and had more papers published than even the senior residents in the program. She did have a minor setback when she learned that Carly had lied to her and was actually seeing someone before they split up, a Cardio resident a few years ahead of them. She didn't let the break up or Carly's words affect her outwardly. She was still the smiley, friendly person her colleagues and friends were used to but now her physical urges were satisfied with one night stands and temporary flings, she never had another girlfriend and didn't plan on one. She had never met someone who made her rethink this decision until now. Calliope Torres. Arizona had gotten over Carly, eventually. She knew now they never loved each other. They had an initial attraction and just fell in together. She knew Callie would never deliberately hurt her but she had never thought Carly would hurt her the way she did. And therein lay her problem, her insecurity.

But Calliope Torres. She was gorgeous. She made Arizona want to take a chance. So she had decided to lay her cards on the table for Callie and let Callie decide what the next step would be. Would they just remain friends, have a fling or maybe try for something more.

Just as Callie emerged from her room, dressed casually in black yoga pants and a T shirt, the doorbell rang. Arizona answered, taking the delivery and paying with a generous tip.

She turned to Callie, holding up her hand before the brunette could speak "Don't even offer to pay, this is the least I can do for you letting me stay, and you know, saving my brother's leg" she smiled.

Callie returned the smile "World class surgeon performs miracle and gets paid in Chinese food?"

Arizona laughed sat on the couch as she started opening the containers. Callie grabbed some napkins and sat on the couch beside Arizona. They both started eating in silence, neither realising how ravenous they were. After several minutes, Callie reached for her glass of wine, taking a sip before turning to Arizona with a raised eyebrow "you ready to talk now?"

Arizona swallowed her food and took a deep breath. She nodded, opened her mouth to speak and found no words. Callie raised her eyebrows at her.

Arizona laughed awkwardly "I can't believe how nervous I am" .

Callie tried not to show her surprise. She wasn't used to seeing the confident, sassy surgeon so unsure of herself.

"I like you" Arizona blurted out. Again, Callie raised an eyebrow, nodded and said "I like you too". After another minute of silence Callie asked "Is that your big talk?, you like me?"

Arizona shook her head "Okay, here's the thing . I like you Calliope Torres and I know it doesn't sound like much but believe me it's kind of a big thing for me because I haven't said that to anyone in a long time, a long long time and I don't know how you feel and we've only just met but I'm nervous and maybe I should leave well enough alone or I could put all my efforts into seducing you, and sure the sex would be awesome and we could see how it goes but I don't think I'd be happy with just the sex, I want to have food with you and walk down the street holding hands with you and talk to you and be quiet with you" she ended the sentence on a whisper, having run out of breath at the end of her long ramble.

Callie was stunned. And touched. She shook her head at the look of apprehension and insecurity on Arizona's face. "Arizona" she whispered. "I like you too" she smiled

"Really" Arizona asked

Callie nodded and pulled the blonde towards her, softly pressing her lips to Arizona's. Arizona groaned and pressed closer to Callie. Their mouths opened and Callie licked along Arizona's bottom lip, groaning as the blonde's tongue traced her own bottom lip before tangling with her own tongue. Callie's hands cupped the blonde's face and Arizona's hands gripped Callie's elbows. Their heated kissing went on and on until they broke apart for air.

"I don't know what's going to happen to us Callie" Arizona whispered

"If you did Arizona, you are in the wrong profession" Callie smiled.

They moved slightly apart, now holding hands, facing eachother. "I'm not good at relationships Calliope and I haven't been in one since my ex told me I wasn't enough for her. The last thing I want to do is hurt you Calliope but I don't want to get hurt either so I kind of need to know where this is going before anything happens, I know its crazy to expect that especially so soon but are we going to have a fling or try for something bigger".

"Someone told you you weren't enough for them?" Callie asked incredulously.

Arizona simply nodded, dropping her gaze. Callie reached up, placed her fingers under Arizona's chin and raised it so their eyes met. "I will never tell you that, I promise" she said earnestly.

Arizona shook her head "you can't promise that Callie, you don't know".

Callie shook her head "Arizona, how long were you together?"

"Just over two years" Arizona responded

"And in all that time she never gave you an idea you weren't enough" Callie pressed

"No, she just sprang it on me one day and that was the end"

"Well then I can promise you if things aren't working I will talk to you before it gets to a stage where it's too late. I have been there, believe me Arizona. I don't know where this is going either but I know this feeling is different, better than anything I've experienced before. It's not going to be perfect but let's take it day by day for now and promise eachother we'll talk about what's bothering us rather than let it fester?"

Arizona considered Callie's proposal and smiled, leaning forward to capture the brunette's lips in a sweet, slow kiss. "Are we going to have sex now?"Arizona whispered.

Callie laughed and pulled Arizona beside her, placing an arm around her shoulders and they sat side by side on the couch. "No, the third date rule still applies"

Arizona leaned her head on Callie's shoulder and sighed. She started telling Callie about Carly, how they had met and ended up living together and touched briefly on the break up and finding out Carly had started seeing someone when they were together. Callie couldn't believe this Carly person called paediatrics a soft option. She often worked on peds cases and working with a much smaller canvas required a lot more skill than working on adults. Arizona smiled at Callie's defence of paediatrics. Callie told Arizona about her ex leaving her in the car park. Arizona placed her hand on Callie's thigh, rubbing it in a comforting gesture, as Callie spoke about Erica, her cardio ex.

"Wait, Erica?" Arizona asked "Not Erica Hahn" she looked at Callie, eyebrows raised

"Yeah, you know her?" Callie asked, realising Erica had gone to John Hopkins

"Oh My, yes, I knew her at Hopkins, Callie she is the one Carly was seeing!"

"No way!" Callie exclaimed, shocked at the coincidence. They both looked at eachother and burst out laughing.

When her laughter had died down Arizona grinned at Callie "You know if we go by the six degrees of separation, we have kind of slept together already" they laughed again before settling back into their embrace on the couch.

All of a sudden Arizona could not suppress a huge yawn. The emotions of the day from Timothy's surgery and this talk had drained her. Callie too yawned and they decided to call it a night. After putting away the food and wine, they stood outside Arizona's bedroom door. Callie pecked her quickly on the lips before Arizona dragged her closer and kissed her soundly on the lips , pulling back briefly then leaning in again for a deeper, longer kiss. Callie finally stepped back, putting some distance between."Stop trying to seduce me" she scolded Arizona.

"I'm sorry, Old habits" Arizona shrugged

"Well from tomorrow, we'll start some new habits" Callie said, opening her own door and blowing a kiss to the blonde. She smiled and with a final "Goodnight Calliope" collapsed on her own bed, falling asleep within minutes.