June 25

What are you wearing?

Ms. Torres! That's mighty inappropriate of you.

You're hilarious. What are you wearing on our date? I need to know what to wear and you won't tell me where we're going!

Whatever you want to wear will look amazing. But it's casual. And nothing.

What?

What I'm wearing right now is nothing.

Are you really wearing nothing?

No, now I have on that black thong.

The same one you wore the other night?

Yep. Now you have to get ready, because I'm leaving in a bit and I'm going to see you soon.

What? No. Arizona?

You can't do this.

Come back.

We haven't sexted yet.

It's a milestone.

Arizona!

Grinning, she reread their texting conversation from a little over an hour ago as she sat outside of Callie's house. She knew that Callie would most definitely get back at her later for her teasing, but she couldn't resist. It was like they'd reached this point in their relationship that she felt like she could say and do things like that and it was freaking amazing.

Tonight was the first night she was taking Callie out on a date since they had become girlfriends. She'd been working at the bar every day for the last five nights, and even though they'd seen each other during every night after she got off of work – getting a late dinner, taking a walk, watching a movie – it was nice, but it wasn't the same. The same as taking her out on a date date.

Even doing things like that, those little simple things felt exhilarating with Callie. They did them every night and they still felt fun and new. But she wanted to really go out with her, and have actual people see them together and do actual things.

She hovered over the call button, managing to refrain herself for at least a few more minutes. After all, she was a bit early, she told herself, looking out the window up at the giant house that Callie lived in. She'd known that Callie's family had a lot of money, much like many of their other classmates back in school, but she had never before seen her house. When she mentioned going home, Arizona often pictured it as… the gates.

The gates that were long behind her, down the road. The Torres family lived in one of the wealthy gated communities in the area, and every house in the neighborhood was just as incredible as this one. Her old truck that was mostly kept alive via the skills her father had taught to she and Tim was probably about one tenth of the price of the least expensive vehicle in the neighborhood, and the two older housewives that powerwalked by her a minute ago had given her disdainful looks.

With a quiet groan, she dropped her head back against the seat, because there was another group of those jazzercising housewives coming her way.

"Having fun?"

Callie's laughing voice made her jump, and she turned to see the brunette standing next to the truck, leaning against the open window, with her arm over it. She vaguely wondered if there was ever going to be a time when she saw Callie that didn't make her throat run dry, and she felt a smile on her face, her previous discomfort forgotten, "Hey! I see you found something to wear."

Instantly, brown eyes narrowed at her, making her grin even wider. And then they scanned over her, and it was like she could feel the way her gaze touched over her legs, which made her skin tingle, "I did. Did you?"

In response, Callie opened the car door, which revealed her wearing some sort of tailored black shorts with a red tank top, and she climbed in, wasting no time in leaning across the seat and whispering, "What you did earlier was very, very mean. Are you even wearing your black thong or were you just trying to tease me?"

Feeling Callie's hot breath wash over her ear made her shiver, and she closed her eyes, swallowing hard, "I – you'll have to see."

Arousal shot through her veins as she felt lips brush the shell of her ear, "Trust me, I'm looking forward to it."

Her grip was tight on the steering wheel – they'd barely been in the same proximity for more than a minute, and she already felt like she was ready to be taken. Sex, nightly, was not working to tire her out. Even the first time she'd started to have sex regularly and discovered the many positions and toys and – god – there were still nights where her body was exhausted and needed to rest. But with Callie, even when she was exhausted, she was still up for another round.

Especially when she felt Callie's hand on her bare thigh, inching inward. With a small, strange squeaking sound, she snapped her legs together, preventing that hand from going any farther, "Callie," it was meant to be a warning, but it was more of a whimper. She had to clear her throat twice in order to get more control of herself, "We can't do this here."

Her voice was so deliciously low and husky in her ear, "I know." Then she leaned back, "But I wanted you to know how it felt after you texted me about you wearing nothing and then not answering me."

Arizona reached to turn the key in the ignition and Callie could hear her exhale, shakily. A part of her felt triumphant… but most of her just felt turned on. Rubbing her hand along those thighs that she'd been obsessed with – so smooth and warm and… yeah. It didn't just serve to tease the blonde when it was just teasing herself, too.

They drove through the gates, and she let her hand drift through the warm summer air, feeling it flow through her hair. There was this feeling, this easy feeling, that she'd never had before. This feeling of being with Arizona, in her truck, with the warm weather, and the sun preparing to set… it was this feeling of calm that she'd never known before this summer, and one that she felt like she'd been searching for for a long time.

A soft sigh left her lips as she turned in her seat slightly to look at her girlfriend. She drove with two hands on the wheel, sitting straight up in her seat – Callie had noticed that a few weeks ago, and for some reason, she found it adorable. She also liked that Arizona preferred to drive with the windows open, letting the wind provide them with relief from the heat over the air conditioner.

It was all of these little things that added up into an amazingly beautiful package, she thought, unable to stop a large smile. Arizona wore her hair down and it blew in the wind coming in from her window, and her skin had this glow now. After their beach date weeks ago, it was like the summer had really set in and the sun had given her this light tanning glow. It was gorgeous.

And this gorgeous woman was her girlfriend. The thought gave her a very warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest.

"So… where are we going?" she asked, looking around them. She was familiar with the area they were driving by, but not super familiar. As in, she knew generally where they were because it was in the same area around where she'd grown up, but she'd never actually gone here.

The way Arizona shook her head with a small smile was completely and utterly adorable, "Uh uh uh. The first time you took me out, I didn't get to know where we were going, and now you don't get to know. Besides, we're going to be there really soon."

She made a hmm sound, glancing around them. It was like she could feel what was around them, but she didn't exactly know for sure. Squinting, she saw bright colors in the distance, "Is this – we're going to the carnival?" she asked, feeling this odd giddiness rise up inside of her.

For just a second, Arizona took her eyes off of the road, "Aw, I didn't want you to know yet! Is it okay? I just assumed that you haven't been to many carnivals in the past."

But the disappointment in her stomach for Callie figuring it out so quickly was long gone when she saw the excitement on the brunette's face. The smile she wore was one of the biggest she'd seen, "You assume correctly! I remember I asked my mom to bring me and Aria to it once, when we were little, and she refused."

Pulling into the parking lot, Arizona shook her head, "Well, you were missing out. This is the best in the state! My dad took Tim and I here when we first came here. It was… an interesting experience," she pulled a face remembering exactly what it had been like. With Tim going on quickly spinning rides resulting in his being physically sick, and she'd been too timid to wander farther than a few feet away from her father.

As soon as she found a space and pulled into it, she reached down to take Callie's hand, "Don't move," she ordered, and she enjoyed the confused expression on her face as she quickly got out and ran around the hood to open the door for her, offering up her hand, "M'lady."

That perfect smile was still on the brunette's face as she took her hand, bringing her other one up to press over her heart "My, what a gentlewoman!"

"You, Calliope Torres, are my girlfriend, and tonight I am going to treat you as such. At the carnival," she joked, tucking the keys into her pocket as she started walking forward. But was quickly stopped when the hand she was holding – and the body attached – didn't walk with her. "What?"

Callie was giving her a look of narrowed eyed confusion, "Did you just call me Calliope?"

"Uh," she paused, and because she knew she had, her cheeks turned pink and she could feel them burn. She'd learned Callie's full name ten years ago, but had only said it out loud by herself, never around Callie. She liked the way it felt on her lips, but judging by the look on her face, she didn't like it nearly as much, "Sorry, I don't know where it came from. I remember that you don't like it, though. It won't happen again."

Callie nodded decisively, "Good. I haven't been called it in years, and I'm trying to brush it under the rug."

Arizona rolled eyes at her as they walked towards the entrance, "I don't know why; it's a beautiful name. It suits you," she added with a small smile, thinking of how she'd always been fond of it.

"Nope, Callie suits me more. No matter how much sweet talking you give to me, this will never change," she stopped again, their linked hands pulling Arizona to a stop, but before she could question her as she turned around, those magical hands were cupping either side of her jaw, and pulling her in.

The kiss Callie gave to her was soft and sweet, and she was just about to tip onto her tiptoes more to get a better taste, before her girlfriend was gone again. Licking her lips to get the residual taste, she hummed, before asking, "What was that about?"

This time it was Callie who started walking again, swinging their hands between them, "It was for being the sweet girl who decided to take me to a carnival because you knew I haven't been to one. Now, what's first? Can we play a carnival game? One of the ones that's fixed and impossible to win?"

Scoffing exaggeratedly, she swung their hands up so she could kiss her knuckles, simultaneously flexing, "Impossible to win? Callie Torres, you severely underestimate me. A proper gentlewoman wins a game for her girlfriend, and said girlfriend doesn't leave the carnival without a prize."

"You actually won me a prize. Arizona Robbins, you are a perfect date," Callie shook her head, having a stuffed elephant tucked under her arm. He'd come with a small nametag in the shape of a heart, proclaiming his name to be Jerry.

She'd never in her life been given a stuffed animal from anyone she'd been romantically involved with, let alone on a date.

Arizona's grin was so large, she was sure it was going to break her face, "I'm very glad you've had a good night."

"I will say, one of the highlights is trying to figure out how in the world you ate a hot dog, popcorn, cotton candy, and an ice cream cone. You eat like a truck driver, have the body of a goddess, you can bartend without looking at the bottles, and you can beat fixed carnival games. I had no clue my girlfriend was Wonder Woman," she said it lightly, but she wasn't entirely joking. Arizona completely blew her mind.

The carnival was near closing time – Arizona didn't think she'd ever been at the carnival this late before – but she couldn't deny that this had been the best time she'd had at one before. Strolling with Callie while the night grew slightly chillier, being able to smell her perfume while their hands were practically perfectly linked between them was incredible. "Me? Wonder Woman? Callie, you haggled with Ricky working at the ticket booth to get both that elephant and this –" she held up her hand, showing the clunky, bright pink bracelet that she'd laughingly told Callie she had wanted when she was in her young teen years but never had enough tickets to win it, "For the price of one. And Ricky doesn't haggle with anyone," she added, holding up a finger for emphasis.

"I suppose we both have our strong suits," she shrugged, but the flush on her face clearly showed her happiness. "We still have fifteen minutes! Can we go on the ferris wheel?"

Her heart jumped for just a second in her chest, but she put on a smile to meet Callie's bright one, "Anything you want!"

Callie led them to the ride, and she waved at the operator, who gave them a wink and a smile in return before gesturing to the seat, and swinging the safety bar down. She'd never been on any sort of rides – her parents were never big on taking she and Aria to amusement parks or carnivals or fairs – and by the time she was old enough to go on her own, that want had passed. But she loved the sky, the stars…

As they climbed up slowly to the top, she looked up into it, "Isn't this great?"

But she didn't get an answer, and she looked over at Arizona, who was sitting shock-still in the seat, with both of her hands on the safety bar, white knuckled. The smile she managed was just a tipping of the corner of her lips, "Yeah. Great."

Concern swooped in strongly, "You don't like heights?" When she got a small nod in response, she felt guilt eat at her, "I'm sorry. Why didn't you say anything before we got on? We didn't have to come on."

An extremely dry and forced laugh came out of the blonde, "Wonder Woman isn't acrophobic, Callie."

In response, she reached down and put her hand over the capable ones belonging to Arizona, squeezing a bit, in a way that was meant to calm her. And it worked, just a bit, until they reached the very top, and the ride just stopped.

Arizona felt the panic set in, her hands tightened on the bar in a vice grip, and she turned her head to look at her girlfriend. Her stomach was twisting unpleasantly, "Callie? Why in the world is he stopping us at the top?"

She slid over to look down, and in that one movement, Arizona's hand left the bar and grabbed her thigh to make her stop, "Don't move!"

Very slowly, she sat back up, feeling like crap, "I think he thought we had some sort of code when we were down there? I didn't mean for him to stop us up here, I swear. Everything is okay. Just hold my hand, all right? Jerry and I are here," she said, trying to lighten her voice, holding up the elephant that had been stuffed into sitting next to her.

Blonde hair blew with the wind, over her shoulders, and it mesmerized her, just a bit, as she shook her head, saying quietly, "I've flown in a plane once in my life. Even when I was moving to school, I drove the truck basically cross country. Do you like to fly?"

"I do," she answered, softly, and as gently as she could, so as not to sway the seat they sat in – even though she felt and saw Arizona freeze as she smallest movement rocked them – she came in closer and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, "The last time I did, it was back from Botswana, and it was nearly sixteen hours."

Arizona's hand on her thigh tightened and she heard her take a deep breath, "Can you tell me more about that?"

"About flying to Africa?" she looked at the blonde while she asked, but she was looking away from her, looking down at the far away ground, and her knuckles were turning whiter on the hand she used to grip the bar across them.

She shook her head, "No, about Africa in general. About being in the Peace Corps. I remember when you came to the bar, you told me that there was a polio outbreak, and that really got to you. Tell me more?"

As lightly as she could manage, she used the hand that was around her slim shoulders to prompt Arizona to look at her, "I'll tell you more. But you have to look at me and not the ground, okay?" When she got an answering nod, she continued, briefly closing her eyes to picture it. "There was this one guy, Souleymane. He was just a teenager, but he loved soccer. He would kick a ball around every day, and he was really good. He'd hoped that maybe somehow he could leave and play soccer, professionally. He was one of the first people in the village I stayed in who actually welcomed me in."

The way Callie smiled sadly as she was clearly remembering it made her think less about their predicament right now, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. He invited me to play soccer with him," and the thought made her laugh about how awful she was, "Anyway. When the outbreak happened, we – all of the volunteers – were fine. Vaccinated, obviously. But they weren't. It spread quickly because of how bad the health systems were there, and over half of the people we were living with were infected, badly. People were dying," her voice dropped and she looked past Arizona out into where the stars twinkled back at them.

She could remember exactly what it was like there. The huts, the way they would bring whatever medicines and treatments they had to the people who were bedridden. The way their families would cry with them, for them. The children who would have permanent deformities.

Arizona's grip on her thigh had lightened considerably, and she lightly rubbed it across her skin in comfort, "Did your friend, Souleymane, did he…?"

Clearing her throat, she looked back at Arizona, "No, he didn't die. Thankfully. But the muscles in his right leg are completely atrophied, permanently. I'm glad that he made it, but seeing the way he would look at his old soccer ball, at the people who would still play… seeing someone want something that badly and not be able to have it – all of his dreams lived in that ball. It was…" she trailed off, shaking her head, looking down at their hands, the way hers fit over Arizona's perfectly.

And then Arizona spoke, softly, drawing her attention, "Life changing. It was life changing."

Giving her a small grin, she nodded, "Perfect word, Wonder Woman. Life changing."

At the time, she'd never thought a few months could change her life like that. But as she looked at the pale gold, silky soft hair blow along with the wind, she was sure that these months she was living now would be some of the most life changing yet.

June 26

They were back in the truck, and on the way home after finally getting off the ferris wheel and getting an ice cream. The windows were halfway rolled down, and the nighttime air was refreshing and slightly chilly as it came in.

And she had a permanent smile on her face, this warmth inside of her was insane. With the road clear, she took a moment to flit her eyes down to view the dark hair resting on her shoulder. Despite the fact that they were up basically every night until early in the morning, Callie still got this completely irresistible sleepiness. Tonight, it kicked in right as they climbed back into her truck, and she'd yawned widely.

Without a word, she'd promptly slid over in her seat, so she was close enough to put her head on Arizona's shoulder, yawning again as she spoke, her voice so raspy with sleep it gave her butterflies, "Thank you for tonight."

"You never have to thank me for times like this," she whispered back, ducking her head just a few inches, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling to smell that dark hair. She hesitated before starting the engine, instead reaching over into the tiny area right behind the seat for the flannel shirt that was back there, and using both of her hands to spread it behind Callie, and over her shoulders.

It resulted in a long, content sigh from her, "Mmm, smells like you."

She grinned, so wide she was sure her face was going to break from it, before giving her another kiss, and starting the truck. In the minutes it took to drive back to nearby the Torres' neighborhood, she thought about how Callie told her she had an early meeting in the morning, prompting her to ask, "Callie? Do you want to go home tonight?"

But the only response she got were deep, even breaths, and she didn't have it in her to wake her up. She just didn't want to. So she kept driving, until she reached the beach that they'd walked to on their first date, the one that Callie had come to her house for dinner… god, that was over a month ago, she realized with surprise.

A part of her felt like they'd been doing this for much longer, but another part of her felt like it had been a much shorter time. It was like time went both faster and slower with Callie. And now, here they were, sitting in her truck, with Callie sleeping on her shoulder, wearing her shirt to keep warm.

She could hear the waves from the beach as she cut the engine, gently maneuvering her arm up to go around her shoulders, and leaning her head down to rest on Callie's. The night was quiet, with just the waves in the distance, and this… this was what she'd wanted for so long. This truck was the gift her dad and brother had given her – granted, a hand-me-down from Tim – for her eighteenth birthday. And she remembered driving around wondering what it would be like to be driving around with an actual girlfriend.

With Callie Torres as a girlfriend.

And how here she was, and she had Callie Torres in her truck, with her shirt wrapped around her shoulders, as her girlfriend. For real, and not some teenage dream. And reality was so much better than anything she might have ever thought, closing her eyes, listening to the soft sounds from outside.

She didn't know how long it was before her head was jostled, and she blearily opened her eyes to see Callie sitting up. She looked perfectly sleepy, as she rubbed her eyes, looking around the dark outside of the windows, before back at Arizona, and gave her a tired smile, "Hey. What are we doing here?"

"I didn't know if you wanted me to bring you back to your house or if you wanted to spend the night at mine… I mean, you have an early meeting, and you were really tired –" she was cut off by Callie's yawn, and she lifted her hand as if to say, see, look how tired you are.

Reaching up, the brunette's hands pulled Arizona's shirt closer around her, "Your house," and her voice was still all raspy from napping. "Even if we're just sleeping tonight, I like your bed. So much that I almost kick you out every night," she added with a mischievous smile.

Turning the key in the ignition, blue eyes narrowed, and her bottom lip poked out in a pout, "Almost? I actually fell out a few days ago! My back still hurts."

"Aw, poor baby," Callie mimicked her pout, but her eyes were still drawn to stay on Arizona's mouth, and she slowly felt her sleepiness wearing away. She slid her hand to behind the leanly muscled back of her girlfriend, which arched away from the seat, "I mean, me knocking you out of bed one in every approximately seven or eight days isn't that bad, right?"

Arizona dropped her hands to the steering wheel limply, wondering if she was going to get a massage as one of Callie's strong, soft hands lifted her shirt and rubbed over her skin briefly, before moving down, leaving goosebumps in her wake, and Arizona stuttering a bit as her hand slid below the waist of her shorts, "I – uh – no. Nope, definitely not bad."

In fact, she would choose to have Callie in her bed, even if she got knocked out in the middle of sleeping every single night.

That hand slid torturously over her, slowly, then around to her stomach before slipping between the waistline of her underwear and her skin, and despite the fact that she hadn't had sex in the truck in a few years, she was completely willing to –

Then the hand was gone, "Hey, what…?"

And she was met with a triumphant smile across those gloriously plump lips, "You really are wearing the black thong." Even in the darkness, she could see a glint in her eyes, "I really wanted to make sure you weren't just teasing me for no reason earlier."

She could still feel where her hand just was, and she sorely missed it, taking a shaky breath, and reaching out to take Callie's wrist before it moved too far away, "I'm not that mean, I intended for you to see it eventually."

"Good, and luckily for you, I don't think that I should tease," she tilted her head in order to press her lips against the smooth skin of Arizona's neck, pulling back only centimeters to say, "I think we should probably take advantage of this beautiful, quiet scenery and make up for misspent youth right here in your truck –" she broke off to nip at the blonde's earlobe, and the groan she made shot straight through her, "And then we'll move on back to your house for the night."

Arizona didn't have the chance to respond as Callie's lips were on hers, and she could feel her hands pulling at her clothes. Not that she would have any arguments, anyway. Not at all.

Thank you so much for all of your support on continuing this story! I love reading what you had to say and I ask of you to please leave me your feedback on this chapter as well. Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!