So, I'm back with this fic. I hate leaving things unconcluded but I feel like no one is following this fic anymore but, I want to finish this one too. I have ideas for a new fic but I don't want to begin another one until both of mine are done. Maybe a one-shot. Who knows. Anyway, here comes the next chapter. It'll be sort of short. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

It had been a few weeks since the girls got to their 'dating exclusively yet label-less' and everything was going really good. Great, even. They were spending a lot of time together and liking each other more and more with each date. Eliza was feeling more and more ready for the label. She was trying to be cautious with this because last time she quickly jumped into a relationship it was with Shoshana and that didn't end well. This time she was going to think with her head and not her emotions. Although, she was basically in a relationship with Arizona, but the label thing made it less pressuring but it was serious. She was serious about Arizona.

She had yet to tell her family and brothers about the woman she had met. She had hinted Elliot, her twin brother, that she was seeing someone but hadn't gone much into detail and he hadn't asked. He knew his sister very well and knew that if she wanted to tell him about it she would. They had always had a close relationship were they never demanded anything from the other except for love and acceptance.

She was waiting for her to be more serious with Arizona to finally tell them about her. Her mom always told her she didn't want to meet or even know about any of her lovers unless they were serious, label and all. She was really accepting of her lesbian daughter but she was still somewhat traditional in some aspects. She nearly died when she found out Eliza was dating an 18-year-old girl. And that was because she didn't know that they were together when her ex was 17, but she ended up loving Shoshana.

Eliza was hanging out with the residents, sitting in a hospital bed in some hall where they hanged out all the time. 'They' meaning the residents. The attendings had yet to accept her completely. Except for April Kepner, Owen Hunt and Amelia Shepheard, they were all still very cold towards her. At least they weren't trying to sabotage her anymore. She took what she could get.

The residents were all nice to her, especially the three remaining girls in the program. They had become good friends of her. She was particularly close to Wilson and Murphy though. Wilson because she was interested in ortho and Murphy because she was a 'baby dyke' and Eliza was being her mentor throughout her discovery of this part of herself. The thought of Arizona Robbins being the one who made her friend discover her liking of women was a little disturbing but she was willing to look past it. She wasn't going to give up a good friend or a love interest for that. Just like she wasn't going to give Arizona up just because they had both cheated on their ex partners with the same woman, as disturbing as that also was.

"Okay so, Alyssa is acting really strange. We've seen each other three times and I had a really good time. I really liked her and she's someone I can see myself dating in a more serious scale. But lately she's been giving me very short answers when we text and doesn't seem as excited as I am. I've told her that we should see each other again and she said 'for sure' but when I try to set a date she's always busy." Leah said, sighing soundly. As cute and nice as she was, she could be a little too excited too son which tended to scare her potential lovers away.

"Well, I'm sorry Leah but it just seems like she's not that into you." Eliza said, looking at her friend.

"It sucks. I was very into her. I am." the young blonde surgeon said.

"That's the problem." The older surgeon said.

"How come?"

"You, my friend, get too excited too soon. That scares people away sometimes. Unless, you find someone just as easily excited as you. There are plenty out there." Eliza said.

"I can't help it. I've always been that way, even when I dated guys."

"And how did that work for you?" Jo asked for the first time in the whole conversation.

"Horribly except for one time." She said sighing.

"See? Getting excited after good dates is normal, getting overly excited can be scary." Jo said, sitting up on the bed where she was laying on her back.

"Listen to the straight girl. She's right." The older doctor said pointing at her.

Leah was about to say something else when Arizona Robbins walked over to them. The blonde knew that Eliza's young friends knew about them and were being as discreet as they were. On her side, only April and Alex knew. They were fine with it. Neither of them liked to get into hospital drama and hated when they found themselves caught in it. That was part of why she liked them so much.

"Hey you." Arizona said. "I've been looking for you all over. I should've known you'd be here with your resident buddies." She said teasingly.

"If by resident buddies you mean Dr. Murphy and Dr. Wilson then yes." She answered, sticking out her tongue.

"I came to bring you this. It was the last one." The blonde said giving Eliza a butterscotch pudding. Her favorite.

"You are the best." Eliza said giving Arizona kiss on the cheek. It caught her by surprise. It caught all four doctors by surprise. It just happened, came out naturally. She eyes widened and then she blushed as she heard her friends' giggles.

"I know." Arizona said, winking her eye. "Now, I've got to go. I've got surgery in an hour but I wanted to give you this. Do you want to scrub, Dr. Murphy?"

"Yes, yes. Thank you." Leah said jumping off of the bed and smiling like crazy.

"Nothing like surgery to med a broken heart and ego. Go kick ass." Eliza said as the two blonde doctors walked down the hall.


Later that day, while Arizona was still in surgery, Eliza was sitting in the attendings's lounge reading a magazine and waiting for time to pass by so that she and Arizona could go out to eat and then back to the blonde's house to watch a movie and spend the night. They were going to a new Italian restaurant they had been wanting to try. Eliza loved that none of them was one of those women who watch every single thing they eat. She loved food and she loved allowing herself to enjoy it while still maintaining healthy.

It had been a slow day. She was now working as an ortho attending as well as the director of the residency program. Today, however had been a slow day for most doctors. She had already observed a surgery by Alex Karev and one by Amelia Shephard, both had been great and collaborative with her. Now she was just plain bored. She was in the middle of reading a very interesting article on cartilage when Meredith Grey, Richard Webber and Jackson Avery entered the room. As always, they didn't even acknowledge her except for Richard who nodded at her.

"Okay so, Joes tonight, right?" Meredith said.

"For sure, I need a drink. It's been a rough couple of weeks." Jackson said.

"Are you coming too, Richard?" Meredith asked. "I know it's not trivia night at a lesbian bar with Arizona but still…"

"I can't tonight, Catherine and I have plans. But you should ask Arizona, she's been acting very odd lately. I have barely seen her outside of the hospital." Richard said.

"Maybe she's dating someone?" the blonde doctor asked.

"I heard she is." Jackson said. This last statement making Eliza pay less attention to the article and more to the conversation happening in the lounge. So, where people aware of them?

"Really? Spill." Meredith said.

"Well, they're just rumors I guess but I heard she's dating someone from the hospital."

"Really? I don't think so, she would've told me." Richard said.

"From what I heard it's pretty new." Jackson said.

"Who is she? She must know her for sure." Meredith said.

"I heard her name is Parker something." He said.

Eliza had to snort at that comment without meaning it. Arizona dating Parker Halliwell? Ha. The mere thought was funny. Over the past weeks, the other blonde doctor had pursued Eliza heavily much to Arizona's annoyance and due to their arrangement, she couldn't tell Parker that she was seeing Arizona and she had joined them at Joes a couple of times and they clearly disliked each other. After a while of trying though, Parker stopped coming off to strong but still flirted with her shamelessly from time to time.

"Oh, Parker Halliwell. Oncology. I know her, I've worked on a couple of cases with her. She's very good looking and nice. I'll tell her 'good job' next time I see her." Meredith said.

Eliza was fighting the urge to laugh but suddenly she didn't think it was funny anymore. Parker was, indeed, a beautiful and smart woman; why wouldn't Arizona date her? It wasn't such a wild thought. It could happen. That was what bothered her, the fact that it wasn't an unbelievable rumor and now that these two idiots were talking about, more people would talk about it. She hated the way things worked around at this hospital sometimes.


Eliza was waiting for Arizona outside of the hospital, sitting on the bench and thinking about the rumor regarding Arizona and Parker Halliwell. It had really bothered her. She was so deep into thought that she didn't even notice that Arizona had been calling her name until she put her hand on her shoulder.

"Eliza!" Arizona said.

The brunette jumped a little bit. "Oh, hey. I'm sorry." She said laughing nervously.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I am."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Things." Eliza snapped.

"Oh. Okay." The blonde

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. It's just that…there's something going on in my mind but I'll tell you later, okay? Now let's just go because I'm starving." The ortho surgeon said and Arizona agreed, leading them both to her car.

The ride to the restaurant had been mostly silent but comfortable. Both of them talked about their days and made some small talk. They arrived in less than 15 minutes and sat in a table right by a window. The place was warm and cozy. They ordered a steak carpaccio to share and Arizona ordered spaghetti Pomodoro and Eliza ordered spinach and ricotta ravioli in a creamy nuts sauce. They ordered some red wine to go with their food too. While they were waiting for their food to arrive Eliza finally spoke.

"So…"

"So…" The blonde said. "What's got you so preoccupied?" she asked, grabbing the brunette's hand.

"I heard something today."

"What did you hear?"

"There's a rumor going on that you're dating Parker Halliwell."

Arizona couldn't contain her laughter at the mere thought. Parker and her? Never. Not even if the oncologist was the last woman on earth. "What?" she asked.

"Yes. Apparently, nurses have seen you two coming out of on call rooms and all." The brunette said rolling her eyes.

"That's crazy!" she said. "Wait, Eliza. You don't believe it, right?"

Eliza sighed. "No, of course I don't."

"For real?"

"Yes. For real. That fact that people have seen you coming out of on call rooms is funny. Mandela effect for sure. Or something like that."

"Okay. Good. Then why are you upset?"

"I'm upset because I hate rumors!" she said. "I hate rumors and I hate this particular rumor because you and Parker it's not such a crazy thought. I mean, it is to me because I know you're into me and that you don't really like Parker very much but it's a very believable rumor. People are going to believe it."

"I'll tell them I'm not seeing her." Arizona said.

"That's not my point, Arizona."

"What is your point, then?" Arizona said, stroking Eliza's hand with her thumb.

"My point is, I don't want more rumors. I don't want people to think you're dating anybody but me. I don't want them to speak about you and anybody else. I want them to speak about you being happy with me, if they must speak about your love life. I want them to know that I'm the one you're seeing, not Parker." The brunette said as the first part of their meal and their wine arrived.

"Okay. So, what are you saying, exactly?" The blonde asked knowingly.

"You know what I'm saying." Eliza said.

"I don't." Arizona said.

"I want to be in an actual relationship with you. I want you to be my girlfriend and not have to hide it. I want you, Arizona. All of you." Eliza said smiling.

"I thought that was what you were saying." Arizona said smiling widely. "I just wanted to make sure my mind wasn't playing any tricks at me."

"So, is that a yes?"

"Of course!" Arizona said laughing and leaning in to kiss her gently on the lips. "Girlfriend."

It was finally official. They were girlfriends and they couldn't be happier.