Arizona Robbins was freaking nervous as she got ready for her first date with Calliope. Halting her pacing to look at herself in the mirror, she finally caught a glimpse of what her room looked like. She had been manic in her search for what she wanted to wear, and in her mania, had managed to throw almost every item of clothing she owned around the room. Looking down, she immediately began to second guess what she'd landed on. After twenty or so other outfit changes. Her head spun around almost in panic as she heard a knock on her door.
"Hey Arizona, have you seen my…what's wrong with you? And what happened in here?" Teddy looking up, noticed both the crazy look on her friend's face and the state of the room she'd just walked into.
"I can't figure out what to wear! Callie high jacked my date and now won't tell me what we are doing!" She turned back around with a huff, knowing how crazy she sounded. In all fairness, she and Callie decided that since she'd just moved to town, and Callie had already lived there for years, it would probably be a better idea if the brunette decided on what they were going to do. Teddy knew all about their date and just let her mouth hang open in a smile as she realized how nervous her friend was. Arizona caught a glimpse of Teddy's face in the mirror. "What is so funny?" She turned back around to stare at her friend in the face.
"Nothing, it's nothing…I just don't think I've ever seen you this nervous about anything. It's kind of funny, you're acting kind of crazy. I'm usually the frenzied one, you usually keep yourself together, but you are all kinds of crazy right now." Teddy couldn't hold back her laugh as a flash of terror crossed the shorter woman's face.
Arizona, deciding on honesty from now on, huffed her way over to her clothes covered bed and sat down. "That's because I've never been this nervous before." Throwing her hands up and rolling her eyes. "And this is coming from eighteen years of living under the Colonel's roof!" As fun and caring as her Marine father was, when he was all business, it could set anyone's nerves on edge. She would take one of his lectures over how she felt right this second in a flash, and that was saying a lot.
Once again letting a laugh escape her, Teddy made her way over and sat next to her friend. "Pull it together, Robbins." Nudging Arizona's arm, Teddy said what they always said to each other whenever the situation called for it. Simple words that always helped them bring each other back to reality.
Arizona smiled, releasing a deep breath. Breathing another one in, she looked up from her lap. "Thanks. I was losing it there for a second." Standing back up, she turned to face Teddy. "But I still have no idea what I should wear." Holding both of her hands out, she felt her frustration rise again.
Teddy took a look at her friend, who was wearing white shorts, with a light blue long sleeve buttoned down shirt. The shirt was feather light and the smooth fabric clung to her in the exact right places and fell loose where it needed to. Arizona had buttoned only the ones that had to be done, letting the very top of the camisole underneath show. Teddy noticed she had also straightened her hair. Her friend meant business tonight. "Legs, check. Blue for your killer eyes, check. Cleavage, check. Hair looks great. Arizona, you look awesome, what's the problem? Callie's gonna love it, and you said she told you not to worry about dressing really nice, it was more casual, right?" The shorter woman nodded, visibly relaxing a bit. "Well then I think you nailed it."
Turning back towards the mirror, Arizona decided she was just going to trust her friend. With one final sigh, she stormed out of the room, deciding if she didn't just leave now, she never would. "I hope you're right." Waving to a once again laughing Teddy as she left. "Wish me luck!"
As Callie swung open the door to her apartment, Arizona felt her stomach flip. She'd seen Callie dressed up in a tight black dress that literally caused Arizona to drool. But when Callie opened the door and revealed herself in tight black jeans and a red shirt that was loose at the top, falling sexily off one flawless shoulder, and hugged the rest of her curves perfectly with her hair casually swept to one side, Arizona could have passed out right in Callie's hallway. Especially since the Latina was dressed this way for a date with her. "Hey…" Arizona barely got the word out as all the air seemed to have left her with the sight of the woman in front of her.
"Hey yourself…" Callie literally spoke to Arizona's legs. Because she literally couldn't take her eyes off of them. Because they were literally perfect. Toned and tanned, Callie could barely keep her mouth from hanging open at the sight of Arizona's flawlessly sculpted legs. Making her way up the rest of the blonde's body, Callie felt no shame as she saw that she was also being shamelessly looked over. A grin making its way onto her face, Callie grabbed her bag from just inside the door. "I would invite you in, but I just have a feeling that we might not make it back out if I did that. You look amazing." Stepping out of her apartment, Callie's last statement was said with a grin, her eyes trained on that perfect dimpled smile for as long as possible as she turned to lock the door.
"I look amazing? Do you own a mirror Calliope?" Arizona finally found her voice as she gestured to the unfairly sexy woman she was about to go on a date with. "I don't even know what to say except you are probably completely right about not inviting me in." She shot a devilish grin at the taller woman, knowing that if Callie had suggested it, she would take her right there.
Callie laughed as they made their way out of the elevator and out of her building. Pausing as she turned them to walk in the direction of their destination, she laced her fingers in Arizona's as they continued on. "So…why do you insist on calling me Calliope?" She made sure to smile at the now visibly nervous blonde. "And before you apologize, don't. I…I don't know why, but I like it. When you say it at least."
Arizona couldn't help the smile now on her face at Calliope's distinction. 'She likes it when I say it.' Looking down at their hands, she tightened her grip. "I just think it's a beautiful name." Callie couldn't hold back her scoff. "I mean it, Calliope." She looked up into those beautiful brown eyes as she spoke. "It's unique and beautiful and I don't think it's an easy name to rock, and you totally rock it. You're sexy, and interesting, and beautiful, just like your name." Glancing back down at their hands, Arizona was glad to see Callie still smiling when she looked back up, although, the brunette was now visibly blushing. Arizona felt her own cheeks begin to suddenly heat up. She had no idea how this woman could make her feel so nervous, but she began to realize it was a welcomed nervousness, making her feel excited at the same time.
"You are one sweet talker, Arizona Robbins." Callie bumped their hips together as she said this, a small laugh escaping her lips. "We will come back to that later though, because we are here." Her smile widened as they turned the corner to where she'd chosen as their first date.
Looking up to see where they'd arrived at, Arizona wouldn't have been able to stop her smile from widening if she'd wanted to. Extending out into the harbor was a giant boardwalk. There were all sorts of restaurants and bars and carnival type games and rides for what seemed like miles. She couldn't control the sudden surge of excitement she felt through her body. Arizona loved boardwalks. Her brother always made fun of her for still being such a kid about certain things, but Arizona couldn't help it. She loved losing herself in the mindless fun a boardwalk had to offer. And funnel cake. Arizona lived for funnel cake. Unable to hide her ecstasy for another second, Arizona let go of Callie's hand to clap hers together in delight.
Laughing at the heart meltingly adorable reaction her date choice got her, Callie relaxed a bit as she realized her success. "Okay, so I'm guessing it's safe to say I took the right gamble in bringing you to the boardwalk? Because to be honest, my favorite pizza place is right over there, and that's what I figured we could eat, and then I thought, ya know, since our first week of knowing each other hasn't been the smoothest, we could just walk the boardwalk and do whatever. Nothing too crazy or serious. You said fun and sexy…and I'm looking at sexy right now." She took this opportunity to rake her eyes back down the blonde's body both for emphasis and her own needs as Arizona laughed like she was nuts. "So I figured walking the boardwalk and whatever we decided to do along the way could be fun. But only if you want to. If you'd rather do something else, that's fine too."
Reaching down to take hold of Callie's hand again, Arizona leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed a tanned cheek. "First of all, you're definitely the one who provided the sexy tonight." She began to walk them in the direction of Callie's favorite pizza place, ignoring the scoff she got for her statement. "And second of all, I don't think you could have chosen a more perfect first date. I love pizza and I love boardwalks, and I am so excited for our date, you don't even understand. I might be a sweet talker Calliope, but you sure know how to show a girl a good time." Glancing over at her date, Arizona shot the taller woman a wink as she opened the door to the pizza parlor for her. She had to consciously keep her composure in check as the Latina raised one stupidly sexy eyebrow at her as she walked passed her inside.
"I do what I can." Callie laughed as she walked passed Arizona trying to hide her reaction. If the blonde was going to try and torture her with flirty banter, she was more than prepared to give it right back. "Why don't you go find us a seat and I'll get us some slices. Pepperoni okay?"
"Sounds perfect." Arizona couldn't help herself from staring for a second as Calliope made her way over to the counter. How she had managed to find herself on a date with such a gorgeous woman, she had no idea.
Scooting into the booth, Callie placed the tray holding their pizza slices and sodas onto the table. "So…since we were talking about my name earlier, I have a question about yours. But you have to promise to not think I am an idiot if I ask it."
"Callie, I'm not going to think you're an idiot, don't be ridiculous." Arizona had no idea what about her name would spark such a conversation.
"Are you named for the battleship or the state?" Seeing the blank look she received across the table, Callie started to think Arizona spoke too soon about thinking she was an idiot. "Or I guess it's clearly something else that I'm not thinking of. I just could have sworn I remembered there being a battleship named the Arizona, but maybe I'm thinking of something else." She picked up her drink and nervously took a sip before looking up to see that Arizona was now smiling at her.
"No, I'm sorry, you're absolutely right. I am named after the battleship. I just wasn't expecting that question at all. I think you're the first person to actually ask me if I'm named after the battleship." Arizona didn't know why this made her so happy. She had long gotten over the insecurities she used to have about her name. Kids weren't always very kind about it. Needless to say, she'd learned early how to be tough and defend herself against ridicule. Since then, she'd just gotten used to people automatically associating her name with the state. Her heart began to flutter as soon as the word 'battleship' left Calliope's mouth.
Seeing how pleased the blonde seemed at her correct guess, Callie felt her own chest fill with pride. "Well, as soon as I heard your name, I thought it was so interesting, I just figured there must be a reason behind it."
Feeling herself start to laugh, Arizona took a sip from her own drink before continuing her explanation, still taken aback not only by the brunette's accuracy, but by her interest to begin with. "I don't know about all of that, you're probably also the first person to think my name is so interesting. Anyway, my grandfather was serving on the USS Arizona when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He saved nineteen men, before he drowned."
"That's incredible…"
Arizona was still surprised at the brunette's genuine interest in the story behind her name. She could see in Callie's eyes that she was hanging on her every word as she spoke and it made her feel great. The story of her grandfather's sacrifice always seemed to make Arizona choke up, but looking into Callie's beautifully interested eyes, she felt herself begin to smile. "Yeah, it is. Pretty much everything my father did his whole life was about honoring that sacrifice."
"So is your dad in the…Army?"
"Marines." Arizona quickly corrected Callie, mostly out of habit. Seeing Callie's eyes widen at her snap correction, she reached her hand across the table and rubbed the back of Callie's lightly. "I'm sorry Calliope, habit. My dad's a Colonel in the Marine Corps. My brother Timothy is a Marine too. I guess you could say it's the family business." She laughed as she finished off her slice of pizza. She and her brother had always joked about serving being the 'family business'. Even when Tim had decided to enlist himself, they continued saying that he was finally 'taking over the family business'. "That's what me and Tim call it anyway, even though my mom hates it." Looking at Callie, Arizona noticed her smile shift. She was still smiling at her, but something in her eyes made Arizona feel like she could see a hint of sadness in them. It couldn't have been something she said could it? She'd been talking about herself, about her family. Seeing the almost vacant look in the Latina's eyes, Arizona knew she was thinking about something. "Calliope? Are you alright? You seem sad all of a sudden." Arizona rubbed her hand again to try and bring her back.
"Wha…? Oh, I'm sorry Arizona, I was listening, really, I was. I didn't realize I was stuck on my own thought for a second…" Callie hadn't noticed herself drift off while listening to Arizona. She loved hearing more about her, craved it really, but the blonde telling her about her family, and the sense of them she got just from hearing Arizona talk about them, made Callie suddenly think of her own family.
"You don't need to apologize…where'd you go just then?" She spoke with a smile and a laugh trying to ease the brunette's obvious stress.
Shaking her head with a blink and a wave of her hand, Callie took one last sip from her drink. "It's nothing, really. Just hearing you talk about your family, I can tell how much you love them, they must be great. They sound great. It just made me think about my family…" She paused, there was no way she was getting into all of that tonight. Tonight was fun and sexy. She had long since come to terms with her family's abandonment, she hadn't even thought about them in a while. "Let's just say, they aren't so great. But I don't want to talk about it. Not tonight at least. Tonight is fun. That story is better saved until after a few more dates." She stood up from the booth and offered the shorter woman her hand with a smile. "Come on, let's move on to the fun portion of this one."
Arizona knew the brunette was being sincere, and as such, was more than okay to just have fun for the rest of the night. She definitely wanted to know the story behind Callie's apparent sadness when it came to her family, but if the sexy Latina wanted to save it for another date, more dates being an even more welcomed thought, Arizona would surely oblige. Returning the smile she was looking up into, Arizona took hold of Calliope's hand and let herself be led back outside. "Well if our other dates are as great as this one already is, I think I can make it through a few more." She shook her head at the taller woman, turning her flirt back on.
"Oh really? You think you can manage?" Callie liked how easy it was to go from a serious conversation with Arizona, right back to their flirty back and forth. She liked how easy everything felt with her. Even having only known each other for a short amount of time, she felt this crazy understanding between them that just made her immediately feel at ease. Feeling Arizona turn to face her and plant one quick, perfect, kiss on her lips only enhanced the good feelings Callie felt swirling around inside of her.
"For you? Definitely." Arizona gave Callie one last devilish smile before running in the direction of the first funnel cake stand she saw.
Callie's laugh was quickly stifled as she looked down at Arizona's toned legs as she ran off. On perfect display in the shorts she had on, Callie felt her eyes widen as she took note of every perfectly toned muscle and thought suddenly of how amazing they would look wrapped around her. 'Oh, I am so a leg girl...' Wiping the dumb look she was sure she had on her face, Callie began to laugh again as Arizona made her way back, funnel cake in hand, looking every bit as excited as a little kid.
"Dessert?" Arizona held the plate containing the fried dough up as if she had just won a prize, eyeing it intensely.
"I've never eaten one of these before, is it good?" The completely dumbfounded look this question warranted her made Callie laugh harder than she had all night.
"Is it good? Calliope, not only is it good, but it is so good, that it should be a crime that you haven't ever eaten one!" She quickly pulled off a piece that had plenty of powdered sugar and offered it to the taller woman.
"You're giving me first bite?" Callie said this with an obvious air of teasing in her tone and a sly grin on her face.
"You better take it before I change my-" The brunette cut her off by deliberately brushing her lips against her fingers as she took the bite.
"Mmmmm…" The sexy hum Callie made caused Arizona's stomach to clench. "You're right, Arizona. That was really good, thank you." With a wink, Callie left the blonde standing there, mouth hanging open, funnel cake in still held up in her hand, as she started to walk down the boardwalk. "You coming?" She chose her words wisely.
Finding her wits, Arizona swallowed, and turned to follow the Latina, ripping a piece of funnel cake off for herself as she did. "You know, if I wasn't so focused on this delicious dessert, I might have a comeback for that display. But since you are right, and this is really really good, I'll let you have that one, Calliope." Licking her lips when Callie turned to her, Arizona made sure she got at least a little teasing fun in, unaware of what her running in shorts earlier had done to the Latina. She quickly moved the hand holding the funnel cake away when she saw the taller woman reach for another piece.
"Hey! You can't turn me on to funnel cake, and then take it away like that!" Callie feigned sadness with a pout of her lips.
Taking the opportunity to make a move, Arizona only smiled at Callie. "Always leave 'em wanting more. I can't just be giving away funnel cake for free like that! You got the first taste as a freebie, anything after that is gonna cost ya." She wiggled her eyebrows at the now giggling Latina as she offered the plate back, starting to laugh herself. Callie's laugh just made her want to laugh too, it was so infectious. She found herself captivated with just about anything the brunette did. Arizona really couldn't keep her eyes off of Callie. She found her breathtakingly stunning, and that only began with the way she looked. Which was miraculous.
"I'm sure we can work something out." Callie inched forward, shimmying her hips slightly with another giggle. She didn't think she'd ever felt so relaxed on a first date before. Even when she'd began dating Erica, there was a little bit of an awkward phase where they had to get used to each other in a romantic way. Nothing felt forced or weird with Arizona, which only made Callie want to be around her more.
After grabbing a few shots at an outside bar stand, the rest of the date was exactly how the two women wanted it to be. Sexy and fun. The walked down the boardwalk, talking and flirting, stopping when they found something that sparked their interests. Callie found out fast that Arizona had not only the excitement of a little kid, but the sugar rush of one too. She didn't think she could have found it more charming if she tried. Arizona had her laughing all night as she beat the brakes off of every carnival game they came across, the sugar rush coming in handy. They stole more than a few kisses on their Ferris wheel ride, mostly to calm Arizona's fear of heights after she jumped on thinking she could handle it for the sake of her awesome date. The liquid courage she'd accrued quickly faded halfway up. Callie could see Arizona's pout as they got off, but she just smiled at how cute Arizona had been all night and pulled her in by the waist as they made their way off the boardwalk, and back towards her apartment.
"I think it's cute, really." Callie tried to reassure the embarrassed blonde.
"You think it's cute to get all shaky and panicked on a boardwalk ride?" Arizona hung her mouth open to emphasize her disbelief.
Callie stepped in front of the blonde, pretending to be deep in thought for a moment. "Mmmm…in general? Nope. But when you specifically do it? Yeah, I'm going to have to say it was cute, sorry." She knew Arizona was well aware she was sorry for nothing. Smiling at the sarcastic chuckle she got in return, Callie didn't notice the bicyclist who was speeding down the street about to take the corner she was stepping off of very sharply.
"Callie, watch out!" Arizona saw the rider just in time, and was able to grab the brunette by her elbow and pull her back, but this threw the taller woman way off balance.
With a gasp at the sudden tug, Callie braced herself for the feel of pavement under her ass, but was met instead by strong 'Holy crap, she's strong!' arms wrapping around her torso, holding her complete weight, keeping her from falling to the ground. Looking up, she was met by piercing, blue eyes, filled with concern. Their faces were very close, Arizona's hanging over her own, her blonde hair falling like a wall around them. Callie couldn't think. The shock of almost getting hit, of how Arizona's surprisingly strong arms held her up, and the intense smell of coconut shampoo now consuming her senses had her mind drawing a blank.
Arizona's face softened as she brought the Latina back to a standing position, her hand never leaving the small of the taller woman's back. "Calliope, are you alright?" Her body relaxed as she saw a smile creep across Callie's face. 'At least she's not hurt. That scared the shit out of me.' Arizona tried not to let on how fast her heart was beating as she waited for the brunette to answer.
"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine." Still having to take deep breaths to steady herself, she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "You…you're…" Gesturing to the blonde, she could see the shorter woman's eyebrows raise in both confusion and question. Callie took one more deep breath and finally got her breathing slowed. "How…the HECK…are you that strong? I thought my ass was done for, and then you just…caught me." Callie simply couldn't believe that the small blonde in front of her was as strong as she so obviously was. Callie felt her strength, her strong arms wrapping tightly around her body, as she held her safely off the ground.
With this, Arizona's sly smile was back. Walking up to the beautiful woman she'd just caught, she grabbed her hand and continued their walking. "Oh Calliope, I can't just tell you all of my secrets on the first date, now can I?" She couldn't fight the blush that swept across her own face as she looked up at the dreamy smile her heroics had planted on her date's.
Making their way back up to Callie's front door, the blonde stopped them before Callie could unlock it. Receiving a questioning look from the brunette, Arizona smiled up at her to explain, trying to gather her nerve. "Callie, I had a great time tonight. Like, really, really great. I like you…a lot." She looked down at her feet, suddenly shy for some reason. She didn't quite know how to say what she wanted to say without sounding presumptuous. "I…I just…I don't think we should…" 'Damn it, Arizona, stop being an idiot. She's awesome, she'll understand.' Feeling fingers under her chin, she let Callie lift her face so she was looking into the deep brown eyes that made her knees weak. She could feel her nerves melt away as Callie's mega-watt smile spread across her face.
"I like you a lot too, Arizona…" Callie's smile grew as she saw those heart breaking dimples appear before her. "And I don't think we should move too fast either. So I'm not even going to invite you inside, because if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop myself."
Arizona didn't know if she sprang forward because of how seamlessly Callie was able to understand her, or because of the thought of Callie not being able to control herself with her, but Arizona found her lips meeting lusciously full ones faster than her mind could follow. She wove her fingers into silky brown hair as she felt Callie's do the same in hers. She took a step forward, pushing Callie slightly against her door, pressing their hips together. Arizona felt the whisper of a moan against her lips as the brunette moved her hands from her blonde tresses down to her hips and around her back, pulling her closer. They remained pressed against each other as they parted lips, the need for air becoming something neither one could ignore any longer. After breathing each other in for a few seconds with their foreheads pressed to one another's, Arizona finally lifted herself from the brunette's body, trying to quiet the storm happening below her belt as she did. "I'm…" She had to cough to get the rasp of being incredibly turned on out of her throat. "I'm sorry…I just-" Her apology was cut off by one last, quick kiss on the lips from the obviously equally turned on Latina.
"That." She made sure the blonde was looking her in the eyes to know how serious she was being. "Is not something you need to ever apologize for, trust me. But once again, I am right." Arizona's questioning eyes returned. "It was probably a good idea not inviting you in." Callie added a sexy wink to this point, making Arizona laugh again.
"Or a really bad one." Arizona winked right back, just because she was taking it slow, didn't mean she had to turn off the flirty banter. Callie laughed and then looked right into her eyes, making Arizona's breath hitch as she looked back, feeling like Callie was looking right into her.
"Thank you…for catching me earlier." Callie couldn't explain it, but she couldn't shake how secure she'd felt being completely held up by the gorgeous blonde woman. She wished she could feel that way all of the time.
Arizona smiled, leaned onto her tip toes, and placed a soft kiss onto Callie's cheek. "Anytime Calliope. Have a good night." And with that, she turned and walked back towards the elevators, leaving Callie with yet another dreamy smile on her face.
'I'll catch you every time you fall, if you'll let me.'
Work has NOT let up in the past few weeks. I'm sorry for the slow updates. Hopefully that will change soon! I hope you guys enjoy this one :)