Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the Grey's Anatomy characters. They belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. I just manipulate them to my will in the stories I create.
AN: So I know it seems like Callie is being dumb by not realizing that what she did upset Arizona. However, it was my intention to write it that way because I wanted to and I think/hope after this chapter you'll see why. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 13: The Roof
For the second week in a row, Arizona Robbins owned the gym challenge. She had sat with her back up against a wall, knees bent at a perfect 90 degrees for a full seven minutes. Most of the other women fell out of their wall sit around the three minute mark. Yang had made it five minutes, but collapsed not long after that time call was made. Arizona could've collapsed after watching Yang fall, but she kept going. She wanted to prove to herself that she could outlast not only the rest of the women, but that she had the mental strength to push herself after having such a tumultuous week.
Every other competitor and every trainer watched in awe as Arizona sat against the wall. Even most of the men had given in before Arizona. Only Karev, Avery, and DeLuca were left when Arizona finally gave into her searing quad muscles. After another four minutes, Avery was the last man standing-err…rather squatting. Derek, the appointed head trainer of the group of four congratulated Arizona and Jackson for their victories and awarded them another dinner at Oak Steakhouse. Jackson immediately found April and asked her to dinner. Arizona on the other hand sought out Derek, needing to ask him a pertinent question about her reservation.
"Umm, hey Derek?" she hesitantly addressed the man with flawless hair and even better smile.
Derek grinned as the blonde approached him. "Hey Robbins, what's up?"
There was really no need to beat around the bush here, Arizona was sure of her decision and was sure about what she needed to ask Derek. "So, I know I won the challenge today and I know that means I get dinner at Oak, but I-I don't want it. Can I forfeit my reservation and give it to Yang instead?"
Completely taken aback by Arizona's request, Derek had to take a moment to process the blonde's request. No one had ever asked to not go on their prized steak dinner date. "Arizona, are you sure you don't want your reservations?" Derek asked, still dumbfounded by what she was asking.
"I'm positive. Cristina came in second, so give the dinner to her. Thanks Derek, I appreciate it." Arizona retreated to the locker room to shower and change after confirming that she would not be using tonight's reservation for her and Callie.
Callie watched with curiosity as Arizona approached Derek after winning her second challenge. As she observed the exchange, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealous surge through her as Derek nodded and agreed to whatever the blonde was asking.
There's no way she just asked him on a date. Everyone knows that Derek has been playing Addison and Meredith…he wouldn't throw a third woman into that mix, would he? And Arizona wouldn't really want to go dinner with Derek, would she? No, she's gay! She told me she'd never had one ounce of attraction to men, not ever! So what the hell is going on here? Callie wasn't ready to accept Arizona talking to someone else. She didn't want for the blonde, her blonde, to be interested in someone else.
As the rest of the afternoon came and went, Callie received no invitation to dinner. Not that she was expecting another grand gesture from Arizona, but she still held out hope that she would be joining the blonde later that night.
Callie was pacing her front hallway. Her phone was clenched in her right hand while she chewed the tips of her manicured fingers. If she didn't figure this out soon, she wasn't going to have any more nails. Callie stared down at Arizona's contact information, but she was hesitant to make the call. What would she say? She didn't really know. And was this a conversation she even wanted to have over the phone? No, we need to talk to face-to-face. I like her, like really like her and she deserves more than a phone call. As she came to that decision-the right decision-Callie couldn't help but think that this fissure in their newly formed relationship was her fault. She wasn't quite sure, but all the sudden it dawned on her that maybe she said or done something to cause Arizona's weeklong iciness.
It was just after 7, depending on what time her reservation had been for Arizona would either be ordering her appetizer or diving into her filet. Callie slung the door of the front closet open and grabbed her black North Face jacket and rushed out the front door. When she reached to sidewalk Pete, the doorman, pleasantly greeted her. "Evenin' Ms. Torres. Anything I can do for you?"
Flustered but retaining politeness that had been engrained in her, Callie returned the greeting. "Hello Pete, and yes there is something you can do. I need a cab to Oak Steakhouse as quick as possible."
A simple nod of understanding was all Callie got in return. She watched as Pete scampered from his post near the front door to the edge of the sidewalk where he damn near jumped in front of a passing cab in order to hail it for the heiress. Appreciative, but worried for his safety Callie approached him as he opened the door for her. "Thank you Pete, and I know my father pays you extra to take good care of me, but please take care of yourself too. No more risking your safety for me, okay?"
There was a slight blush to his fair cheeks, but Pete knew that Callie was only looking out for his well being. "Yes ma'am, of course. I apologize for worrying you. Where're you headed? I will inform the driver."
A few minutes later, Callie was striding through the front door of Oak Steakhouse. She breezed right past the host stand on her way in, not bothering to stop and answer his demands of who she was and if she was looking for someone. Obviously I am looking for someone, she thought to herself. However, she couldn't find Arizona. The only people she recognized was Avery and Kepner. What the hell. Where is she? Scanning the dinning room one last time, Callie recognized another face. Cristina Yang.
"Yang, what're you doing here?" Callie demanded as she approached the two top table that held not only Cristina but also Owen Hunt. These were not the people she was expecting see having dinner. Every bone in her body thought that she would be intruding on Arizona and Derek sharing a bottle of wine. So while she was relieved that her blonde wasn't exploring her options, she was awfully confused as to why Yang was sitting in front of her.
"Well, hello to you too Torres. As you can see I am on a date with Owen and we are enjoying a free steak dinner." Cristina's tone was infused with annoyance at the unwelcome interruption from the trainer.
Okay so maybe she hadn't handled that confrontation the right way. Callie shifted on her feet and decided to take a different approach with the young, agile fighter. "Sorry, Cristina. It's just been a rough week. I was just wondering how you got this dinner date. Didn't Arizona win the challenge today? Shouldn't she be here having dinner?"
Cristina's mind starting working when she realized that Callie was only there in search of the blonde. "You like her, don't you?" Callie was smart enough to answer her.
"You like her and you wanted to interrupt her dinner because she didn't ask you on the date." Yang was hitting the nail on the head, but Callie just stared at her with a blank expression. "Wait, didn't she ask you on the date last week? Ahhhh!" Callie watched the metaphoric light bulb click on above Cristina's head. "You two went on a date last week and then she avoided you like the plague this week. Callie what did you do?" Cristina was on the edge of her seat after unraveling the web of what had transpired between the two women.
Callie could no longer hide her disappointment, it was written all over her face. "I-I don't know. Do you know where she is?"
Cristina went from the edge of her seat to leaning against the back when she saw the emotion in Callie's eyes. "No Callie, I'm sorry I don't." Her apology was genuine and Callie could tell. "All I know is that Derek came up to me not long after the challenge and told me that Arizona forfeited her reservation so it went to the second place finisher. I'm sorry, I wish I knew more for ya." Cristina dismissed Callie with that and went back to enjoying her free dinner.
Callie retreated out of the restaurant and tried to figure out where she should go in search of Arizona next. As she mulled over all the places Arizona could be, Callie's feet led her back to the hotel. Before she knew it she was walking down the hall of the fifteenth floor. Her mind absently leading her to the room of the woman she so desperately wanted to find. A soft knock on the door was all she could muster. Please answer, please answer, please answer.
When she heard the lock on the other side of the door turn, Callie felt her stomach roll with nerves. However, when the door to room 1502 opened she was greeted by a different blonde, a blonde who had tears in her eyes. "Teddy? Are you okay?" Callie compassionately asked. Though she'd only spent a little bit of time with Teddy, she was quite fond of her. They had had a great time bonding at the food truck rally and then Teddy really won her over when she was more than happy to have Callie accompany Arizona back to the room for a movie.
Wiping the corners of her eyes, Teddy offered a small smile because even though she was over the moon happy at the moment, she was still staring into the eyes of the woman who had hurt her best friend. "Yea, I'm good. Happy tears, I promise. What's up Callie, what can I do for you?"
"Umm," Callie hesitated. "I was wondering if Arizona was here, I'd really like to talk to her."
Teddy exhaled loudly, she knew that Callie would show up at their door eventually. And she knew that she would be faced with having to decide if she should inform Callie of the error in her ways or if she should let the Latina figure it out on her own. Which, at this point, didn't seem likely since it had been nearly a week and no progress had been made. "She's not here, Callie. I actually don't know where she is. She left here about forty-five minutes ago saying something about needing to 'de-stress up top'"
"Up top?" Callie repeated with inflection.
"She's on the roof, Callie." Teddy spit out in frustration. The woman in front of her was gorgeous. Straight or not, Teddy couldn't deny that Callie was good looking, but damn if she wasn't being blind to the issue. As she watched Callie turn and hurriedly make her way to the stairwell-the only way to get to the roof access door was through the stairwell-Teddy decided it was time for her to step in and show Callie the light. "Callie, wait!" she exclaimed before the brunette could disappear into the tunnel of stairs.
Callie spun on her heels and marched back down the hall where she met Teddy halfway. "Yea?" she asked the honey blonde.
"Do you have any idea why Arizona has been acting out all week? Why she paid Lexie to switch trainers with her so that you got Lexie for nightly review instead of her?"
Callie just stared dumbfounded at the reveal that she had been duped by Arizona. "I didn't know she did that…" she confessed.
Teddy's face softened, it was clear that Callie truly had no clue as to what was going on with Arizona. "Callie, you left."
Callie scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. Opening her mouth to speak, but the closing it again when she realized she didn't have anything to say. As she sat in silence and tried to process what Teddy had revealed, she watched as the woman across from her began to get impatient at her inability to put the pieces together.
"Oh for god sakes Callie." Teddy was exasperated. She just wanted Callie and Arizona together. They were adorable together and even in the short amount of time Teddy had spent with the two, she could see that there was something very real between them. "You fell asleep in her bed, all snuggled up and looking adorable I might add. But then she woke up and you were gone, without a word…you were just gone. What is she suppose to think after that? Because I'll tell you if you can't figure it out."
Shame. That was all she could feel. How the hell had she not figured this out? Was she really that oblivious to what was going on? No, Callie was smart. She had just been afraid. She let her fears blind her to the reality of the situation. She was so scared to repeat what happened with Erica, so consumed with not letting things move to quickly that she let herself hurt the most beautiful and caring person she had ever met. She had to fix this, immediately. "I can't believe I was such an idiot…" Callie barely whispered. "I bet she feels like she's not good enough, right? She feels like she's not worth my time?"
All Teddy had to do was nod. It seems as though all Callie needed was a little push in the right direction and she was able to put all the puzzle pieces together. Callie thanked her with a brief hug and assured her that she was going to fix it with Arizona. Then Teddy watched as she this time allowed Callie through the stairwell door and up to the roof.
Callie took the stairs two at time, her training as a boxer coming in handy as she had to scale fifteen and a half flights of stairs (fifteen up to the thirtieth floor and then another half level to the roof). As she approached the door marked 'Roof Access', Callie took a very deep and steadying breath. This was not going to be an easy conversation to have, and by no means was she looking forward to it, but if she wanted Arizona back she was going to have to face the music.
Once out on the roof, it didn't take long to spot Arizona, as her blonde hair was gently whipped by the warm night breeze. Callie sat and watched for moment, not having to worry about being spotted because Arizona's back was to her. Callie couldn't help but think how incredibly lucky she was to have even met someone as genuinely beautiful as Arizona.
Callie approached the blonde, making herself known by walking with a purpose on the gravel surface of the roof. She didn't want to startle Arizona so she made sure to announce her presence in another way. When she saw Arizona turn to see her, there was shock and-was that happiness expressed on her face? It may have been, but it was quickly replaced by fury and hurt. Arizona went to open her mouth and presumably tell Callie to leave her alone, but before she could say a word, Callie cut her off.
"Arizona, wait. Before you tell me to go, before you tell me to leave you alone, just let me say something. Okay?" When she got no verbal response from the blonde but could see passion in her eyes, Callie went on with the speech she had rehearsed while climbing the stairs. "I get it now, I know why you're upset-"
"Do you? Do you Callie? Because I don't think you do. I've been upset all week and you haven't as much as pretended to be concerned about me being upset." Arizona spit out.
Callie's eyes sank to look at the unappealing gravel she stood on. Arizona was right, she had not made an effort to figure the blonde out all week. For that she would forever be sorry, but right now it was about making it right with her. Showing her that she knew she made a mistake in leaving and to find someway to make it up to her. "I know, Arizona I was wrong. And what's worse is that I had no idea that what I had done was wrong. I was so focused on taking things slow and not making mistakes like I did with Erica. But what I failed to realize was that you're not like Erica and what I am feeling for you isn't like what I felt for Erica. This is stronger and much more meaningful that what I had with Erica. And I am so thankful for that because you are leaps and bounds better than she ever was. You are more amazing than she could ever hope to be. Arizona, I can't even begin to find enough words to tell you that I am sorry. I never, ever meant to hurt you. I never meant for you to think that you aren't enough for me, because you are more than enough. I feel so lucky to even be here groveling at your feet because I don't deserve you. If you give me another chance, Arizona, I swear to you that I will never make you feel this way again. I will never make you feel like less than you are. Let me prove that, please. Allow me to start over, allow me to try again and treat you the way you should be treated-with all the respect in the world and all the honesty and openness. Please?"
AN3: I know, I'm the worst leaving it on a cliffhanger... next chapter will be out as soon as I get it written :) Hope y'all are still enjoying it!