Chapter Ten
She tried. Callie tried really tried to focus on the movie playing on the screen, but the only objection of her attention was sitting right next to her. The two had barely spoke more than a few words once the opening scene started playing; however, Callie knew the blonde to not be paying much attention to Cinderella, too. How could either of them when they sat in such close proximity, their bodies melded together underneath a cover of blankets.
In a whisper, though, Callie reckoned, they didn't need to be quiet, Arizona brushed her lips close to the Latina's ear, sending shivers down her spine. The warm breath of the blonde blew into her ear, the tiny hairs standing up. "Why don't you like it when I call you Calliope?"
Callie wanted to tell Arizona—she wanted to tell her more about herself than she had every told anyone previously. More than her handful of exes, more than her parents and Addison. The moment she stepped into the house and saw Arizona a month ago, Callie felt a pang of something strike her heart, like a beautiful chord played by a harpist.
But did she want to subject Arizona to the tragedy in her life on a first date? Did she want to share the gruesome details of a sister lost too early, too young?
"You can tell me, you know? Contrary to the first couple of weeks I knew you, I actually have been told to be a good listener," Arizona said, her voice still an octave lower than normal. A small hand reached up and took hold of Callie's cheek, gently guiding her head so that their eyes connected. So that Callie couldn't escape. "When you want, I'm here."
The hand gripping Callie's jawline started to slowly drop, but the brunette reached up to keep it in place, relishing Arizona's touch on her face. "The first time you called me Calliope, it took me by shock. Only one other person in my life consistently called me that. Well, I mean, I guess my papa barked it every once in a while when I was in trouble," Callie paused to let out a short laugh, "but I usually don't let anyone continually call me that—only my sister, Aria, was afforded that privilege."
Arizona had removed her hand from Callie's face, opting to rest her head in the crook of Callie's shoulder and neck and entwining their fingers together in a tight lock. Comforting Arizona was now Callie's favorite, although she still found enjoyment in Jealous Arizona. Dropping her gaze, Callie's eyes brimmed with unshed tears, tears she needed to let out in mourning for her sister.
"Oh, Callie." The blonde's voice laced with undertones of sorrow and remorse, empathy and sadness. "It's ok. You don't have to talk about it."
"No, I want to tell you. I have this urge to tell you everything: the good and the bad. And you deserve an explanation after yesterday," Callie said, a small smile on her face. Taking a deep and uneven breath, the Latina used her free hand to wipe away a stray tear before continuing. "I just really don't know where to begin, I guess, because there's just so much to it. Aria was not only my twin sister but my best friend. We grew up doing everything together. I was the athletic one, she was the artistic one. We would play house and gossip and talk boys. She was the first one to know that I swung both ways. And she didn't care. At all. She looked at me square in the eyes and said, 'I wish I was as brave as you.'"
Tears escaped her eyes, silently streaming down her face as Cinderella ran away from the ball in the background. Callie related to the blonde on the screen, running away from her problems, from all the things she didn't want to deal with in her life. Or, at least, that's what Callie perceived.
Callie let her head rest against the crown of Arizona's—the blonde's head still fitting perfectly into the space between her shoulder and neck. It was a couple of minutes before Callie continued, wanting to let Arizona into her life more.
"When my parents found me half-naked in my bed with a girl the summer before my first year of college, they gave me an ultimatum. Either I stay in Miami, work at their company and go to community college or they cut me off. I was scared back then, not nearly as brave as Aria thought I was. So I stayed. I mean, I already tore my ACL, so I figured a true college experience just wasn't in my cards," Callie sighed, thinking back to that summer and the two years that followed. Arizona clutched Callie's hand tighter, using her thumb to soothingly rub the back of the Latina's hand. "So, while I stayed home in Miami, Aria chased her dreams, heading up north to attend Ohio State for college. Things seemed…ok. Not great but not awful. Except, every day I woke up feeling like some other person trying to live in a world I wasn't meant to live in, you know? I wasn't true to myself. I tried everything. I took up different hobbies. I got back in-shape. But something just felt off. It took until I fell in love with this woman to realize that was what was missing. I introduced her to my parents, stupidly, and they told me I was going to hell, that I was an abomination. The whole shebang. They cut me off completely. It sucked…I was broke and alone. But through it all, Aria stayed in contact with me, Skyping me often and making sure to send me some money from her trust fund to keep me going. I actually spent a few months in Columbus with her. Then, a year ago yesterday, I got a call from her best friend at school. Apparently, she was the designated driver for her friends. She was always responsible like that. But that same night, someone else wasn't responsible. Aria got T-boned by a drunk driver, the car hitting her square on the driver's side. She was dead on sight."
Callie hadn't realized that she had talked for so long, that she had been sobbing through it all. Fingertips belonging to blonde swiped away the tears that fell, stroking her cheeks in the process. Thinking about her sister brought up so much about her life—about the hell she went through in these last couple of years—and it made her appreciate where she had come since then.
"Calliope, I can only imagine," Arizona said in a small voice, obviously not sure how to respond or what to say. Callie learned that people wanted to help but didn't know how to do so. "I had no idea you were that alone in the world. I am so sorry for the way I acted those first few weeks. God, I can't even image what you thought of me."
"I thought you were a jerk. But a beautiful, intriguing jerk," Callie jested, laughing through the tears. "Thank you, though. It means a lot. And I'm sorry for unloading that on you. I can't say it didn't feel nice to talk to someone besides Addison about it."
The two moved their heads from their current resting position, with their bodies still touching, still pressed tight against each other. Callie wanted to say something more if only to lighten the mood. What a kill joy she felt like on their first date. That was definitely like fifth date material. With Arizona, though, it seemed natural to talk about that stuff.
On the screen in front of them, the Prince had climbed all the stairs to the attic where Cinderella lived, slipping the glass shoe onto her foot, it fitting perfectly on the woman's foot. "Must be nice," Callie said absentmindedly, earning herself a questionable look from her blonde companion. "You know, to find your soulmate. To find the perfect fit."
Arizona hmm'ed in response, staring the screen with interest. Her eyes were scrunched up as she watched the ending scenes. For a brief second, Callie swore she saw tears in the corners of Arizona's eyes. Something about the movie hit the blonde—that much Callie could tell. She instantly wondered about Arizona's past. The woman next to her had walls built so high and so impenetrable that Callie speculated whether she would ever break through.
While the second movie was getting set up on the big screen, Callie watched Arizona hop out of the bed of the truck and turn on some music to fill to silence.
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love if you don't wanna try.
But all that I've been thinking of is maybe that you might.
Baby, it looks as though we're running out of words to say
And love's floating away.
Just say you love me, just for today.
And don't give me time 'cause that's not the same.
Want to feel burning flames when you say my name,
Want to feel passion flow into my bones like blood through my veins.
The music provided that background song that you saw in movies while two lovers sat in different rooms, longingly staring out the window as rain poured out of the sky. Something clicked in Callie as the song's melody quietly played. Why couldn't she be happy again? Why didn't she deserve everything in the world?
"You're staring," Callie murmured. Out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed Arizona gazing at the Latina's profile. "I get it, I'm gorgeous and all, but staring will cost you extra."
The trance the two were in broke with that ridiculous joke, and Arizona laughed, rolling her eyes in the process. "What can I pay you in then, Calliope?" The blonde had a glint in her eye, her words rolling off her tongue seductively. Callie loved this playful side the two shared. It proved much more satisfactory than their bitching back and forth the previous weeks.
"Oh, I think you know."
Arizona wiggled her eyebrows, completely turning her body around to face Callie's side. In seconds, a weight landed on the Latina's lap, the blonde practically straddling her in the bed of the truck as the thunderous fighting scene in The Avengers played in the background. Arizona's muscles tightened, and Callie relished in the feeling of the taut muscles working against her body. Heat flamed up inside her, like a fire igniting in the coldest of winter days.
Anticipating what was going to occur, Callie shut her eyes, waiting for blonde lips to touch hers. Time paused—or it sure seemed like it. The blonde inched forward slightly, Callie's breath hitching at the possibility of kissing Arizona once more. Her eyes still shut tightly, Callie felt the blonde's warm breath on her lips. So close. Just as Callie nearly closed the gap, the weight that belonged to Arizona's body on her lap disappeared, a thud coming from right next to her.
She opened her eyes.
"You're cruel, Arizona Robbins," Callie stated, running her fingers through her unruly hair as she attempted to slow down her heartbeat and calm her whole body down from that little interaction the two shared. The blonde gave her a menacing look, all but telling her to 'bring it.' And the one thing she knew about Arizona was that she would bring it.
"Mmmm. Cruel? No. Likeable? Yes," Arizona ribbed. The movie had long been forgotten at this point as the two now faced each other once more. Like a boxing match, the two had been throwing punches at each other all night, getting closer and closer to the knockout. That knockout, hopefully, equaling a great date and a great goodnight kiss.
"Very likeable," Callie stated back, no tone of joking present. She turned serious, as she often did early on in relationship (much to her dislike since it always backfired on her). As soon as her voiced turned serious, she noticed the slight shift in the blonde's demeanor. There but not there. Smiling but scared. "Can I ask you something?"
To cross the line or not? Take the leap or stay on the ship?
"Calliope…" Arizona warned. The Latina sensed that, while she herself had no qualms about being open and sharing information, the blonde was the opposite. But oh how did she want to know everything about the woman sitting across from her, staring at her with those deep blue eyes. Callie had formed connections with those who she dated in the past before—having stronger connection with some more than others—but, with Arizona, Callie couldn't quite place her finger on why she was drawn to her the way she was. Surely, after the shit she got from the woman at the beginning, she would have been repelled, turned off, but she wasn't.
"I just…I want to know you. Your life. The things that make you the way you are. And I get it. This is a first date, and I overly shared like normal, and now I am going to keep rambling because that's just the way I am. But, I like you. And I shouldn't but I do. So, yeah, I want to know why you acted the way you did to me—you know, before. Just…clue me in," Callie blurted out, stammering the whole damn time.
She cringed a tad, thinking about how she promised to 'woo' the blonde on their first date, and, here they were, with Callie having foot-in-mouth disease. This was why she was single. This was also why, after tonight, she would probably remain single. That made her sigh.
Unknowingly, Callie scooted farther away, as if her mind told her to give the blonde some space—literally. But, to the Latina's delight, Arizona retook that space, her legs centimeters away from Callie's legs. Arizona offered a small smile, one of her specialties, her head a little cocked to the side.
"I want to tell you," Arizona whispered into the night. "But I need time. I…I can't."
Callie watched as tears streamed down the other woman's face. Reaching up, she took her thumb and stopped the salty mixture from running further down Arizona's face. "Ok."
Even though it went against all logic, Callie leaned in, her thumb still grazing Arizona's cheek, the other woman quivering. The two had shared a couple steamy kisses and a few soft ones but no tender ones. So, that's what she did. Her lips connected with Arizona's, trying to convey the rush of emotions that flooded her. Their lips moved in tandem, synchronized to the beat of their hearts. Hands grabbed faces and pulled closer, each deepening the kiss.
Then they pulled away. Callie wanted to groan at the loss of contact, but she held it in.
"I think the movie's over," Callie commented lamely—super lamely after they just shared a rather intimate moment and, well, overall, an intimate date. Especially for a first date. "Can I take you home?"
Arizona gave her this look. "No, no, not like that! I mean, we live in the same house and it's late and you're shivering from the cold. I swear, I'm not like that. Not forward. Or anything. I would like that one day, but it's too soon. Unless you don't think it's…"
Lips reconnected with her lips once more, effectively silencing Callie.
"Yes, you can take me home."
Not my best but I wanted to update because I won't have the chance to even write another chapter until Thursday at the earliest. Thanks for reading and all the awesome reviews!