A/N: I hope that everyone had a great holiday! Thanks as always for everyone one who read the last chapter and for all the reviews. I can't promise another update before the New Year but I am going to try. This one has a touch of Christmas so I hope everyone is still in the holiday spirit. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.
…
Arizona felt like she was going to throw up. She usually felt nauseous while flying but this time she thought that she might actually throw up. Her nerves were in overdrive as she gripped the arm rest of her seat tightly. She was trying to be strong. She was trying not to freak out. She hoped that if she closed her eyes and practiced her deep breathing exercises then she would be okay but none of that was working. Arizona didn't think that returning to Malawi would be as hard as it was for her and the plane hadn't even landed in Lilongwe yet. She had easily reconciled her feelings about the Malawi incident in therapy. Her therapist helped her work through her fear and she was able to move past it. But just the thought of being in Malawi again made her tremble. She knew that the men that had taken the hospital hostage were all dead but that didn't mean that the rebel group that they represented was gone. The rebels were still very much around. Her mind couldn't help but believe that the men would know that she was back in the country and come back to the hospital to finish the job.
Her seatmate looked over at her with sad eyes. He could see her taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. He didn't blame Arizona for being so upset. He had spent the last two weeks telling her that she didn't have to do this; that he could go alone but she wouldn't hear of it. He didn't know how he could make this trip easier for her. He was having his own flashbacks as they made their way to Malawi. He knew that walking back into the hospital was going to be hard. He knew that he would constantly be looking over his shoulder as he worked, looking to make sure that there wasn't someone out to kill him. But he knew that his job was important and the children needed him; he also knew that Arizona understood that as well, which was the only reason that she was on the airplane at all.
As the plane started to make its decent, Alex reached out and placed his hand on Arizona's nervously bouncing leg. She gave him a small smile in return and took her hand off of the armrest and covered his hand with hers. Alex would make sure that Arizona's week in Malawi was as painless as possible for her.
…
Arizona didn't talk much once they arrived in Malawi. Not that she had talked much since they boarded the plane in Seattle. She answered Alex's questions with head nods or simple yes and no answers. She let Alex lead the way as they made their way from the airport to the hotel. Alex went out of his way to make sure that this trip had very as few reminders as possible as the last one. He knew he couldn't keep Arizona out of the hospital but he could change other things. The first thing he did was make sure that they stayed at a different hotel for their stay. While the hotel had very good memories, the main one being the first time they ever slept together, it was still the hotel they retreated to after the incident and it would surely bring up bad memories for Arizona. Instead, he booked their stay at a hotel in the downtown area of Lilongwe. Unlike the last hotel that was a short walk away from the hospital, this one would require a rental car but it was worth it to Alex for Arizona's sake.
After parking the rental car and grabbing their luggage, Alex and Arizona stood at the check-in counter waiting in line to get to their rooms. They had been traveling for a full day and Alex could tell that all Arizona wanted to do was order room service and try to get some sleep before starting their first day of work in Malawi.
"Passports," Madga, the lady behind the counter said as she motioned them forward from their spot in the queue toward her.
Alex pulled his out of his jacket as Arizona did the same. Magda took their passports and began typing furiously at her keyboard.
"Okay, Dr. Robbins and Dr. Karev, I have you down for two rooms both on the tenth floor. Checking in today and checking out on the twenty-ninth. Is that correct?"
Alex opened his mouth to confirm but was cut off by Arizona's voice, "We'll only be needing one room."
Magda nodded her head at the blonde and gave Alex a slight smirk as she went back to typing on her keyboard. Alex looked at Arizona curiously. When he made the hotel reservations he didn't want to be presumptuous and book only one room. It had only been two weeks since they decided to be friends with benefits and they hadn't really outlined the rules of the new turn in their relationship. The only thing Alex knew for sure was that as soon as they left the house, their relationship was strictly platonic.
Magda finished their registration and slid their passports back across the counter with two room keys, "Room 1012, elevator is right behind you. Enjoy your stay."
Alex pocketed their passports and keys as he grabbed their luggage and followed Arizona into an elevator.
"Home sweet home," Alex whispered as he pushed the door open to their room.
Arizona flopped down on the king sized bed and flicked her shoes off of her feet. She looked positively exhausted. Alex left the luggage at the foot of the bed and lay down into bed next to Arizona. He propped himself up on one arm as he stared at her.
"You okay?" Alex asked.
Arizona took a deep breath before nodding and opening her eyes to look up at the man above her. "I'm good," Arizona said before averting her eyes to look around the room. "I hope you're okay with sharing a room. I just… I don't think being alone would be a good thing for this trip."
Alex took his free hand and gently pulled her gaze back toward him. "You're not alone," he said as he stroked her cheek with his thumb and leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss. It wasn't a passionate kiss but a reassuring comforting one. He needed Arizona to know that he was going to take care of her. Alex smiled as he pulled out of the kiss, still stroking her cheek. "How about I order room service, you go take a nice relaxing bath in that huge jacuzzi, then we'll eat dinner and go to bed early so that we're well rested so that we can save some tiny humans' lives tomorrow? Okay?"
Arizona bit her lip and sat up in bed as she decided that his plan was a good idea. "Okay. Get me some chicken fingers and fries, please?" she asked as she kissed his cheek and made her way into the bathroom, dropping clothes off of her body as she walked away.
…
Arizona stood outside the hospital for ten minutes before she got the courage to walk inside the doors. It wasn't really courage that got her to go inside it was more the fear that she was more vulnerable outside the building than inside it. They were met by the director in charge of the grant program. He outlined all of the new security the hospital had added in the last two months. Arizona nodded and smiled as he spoke but in her head she was thinking about how the rebels with their machine guns would be able to get past all of the security checkpoints the hospital added; rebels didn't care about murder or chaos and would do whatever it took to get what they wanted.
Arizona and Alex were scheduled for three surgeries each on their first day back. The one part of the trip that Alex hated was that he wouldn't be able to be with Arizona the whole time. Arizona hated feeling weak. She put on a brave face and told Alex that she would be fine. She told him to go and fix some tiny humans. They made tentative plans to rendezvous for lunch if time permitted before going their separate ways to find their patients for the day.
They didn't get to meet for lunch. Alex's surgery ran long and Arizona got pulled in to consult on a newborn baby that had been brought into the emergency room. The one thing that could always be counted on in Malawi was a busy schedule. In fact, Alex didn't see Arizona again until it was eight at night and time to go home for the day. He had been a little worried about her. He knew she was strong and tough and would put on a good face but he also knew just how hard it was for Arizona to return to Malawi. Alex finished his surgeries for the day before Arizona did and decided to wait for her in the locker room.
"Hey," Arizona smiled as she sauntered into the room toward her locker.
Alex was surprised to see Arizona so happy at the end of a long day. "Good day?" he asked as he noted her positive attitude.
Arizona lifted her scrub top off of her head as she reached for her shirt in her locker, "Great day. My surgeries went perfectly and I even got to fix up a tiny baby in the ER. How was yours?"
"Good. Very good," Alex answered a little confused at how perky Arizona said to be but wasn't going to question it.
"You can stop staring, Alex. I'm fine," Arizona said as she looked over her shoulder toward Alex. "Today just reminded me of exactly why I'm here. To help give these children their lives back. Am I still scared? Yes, but I'm not going to let it control me."
"Okay. But I'm here if you need me, you know that right?"
Arizona grabbed her bag after she finished changing her clothes. She made her way to the bench that Alex was sitting on and grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "I know," she answered as they kept their hands entwined as they left the hospital.
…
They had made it. Arizona had survived her week in Africa and hadn't had a mental breakdown. She had only had nightmares two of the six nights that they were there. It helped that they were incredibly busy at the hospital. They worked long days and were so tired that by the time they got back to the hotel they fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed. Alex couldn't have been prouder of Arizona. He knew how afraid she was to be back in Malawi but she faced her fears to honor her commitment and she overcame those fears.
"You know today is Thanksgiving," Alex glanced over at the woman in the passenger seat and squeezed their still together hands as they drove back to the hotel for the last time. They had one more night in Malawi before their early morning flight back to Seattle.
"I had forgotten about it until one of the nurses asked me about it. She didn't understand the holiday. I had to agree with her about the whole celebrating the pilgrims making peace with the Native Americans just to basically exterminate them later on."
Alex let out a laugh, "Well aren't you full of sunshine tonight."
"Hey!" Arizona mocked offense. "Just because I don't agree with the holiday doesn't mean I don't celebrate it. A day of gorging myself and football? What's better than that? Plus it's the start of the holiday season which you know I love."
"Good," Alex smiled at her. "Because our hotel is offering a turkey dinner and they have satellite television in the sports bar so we should be able to catch the Bears game."
"I still don't see why you are a Bears fan. Pick a real team. Maybe one day the state of Iowa will be cool enough to get their own team. Or you could always go with the Seahawks." Arizona teased her friend. After living in Seattle they had both started to claim the Seahawks more than their childhood teams but they would always be fans of their hometown teams as well.
"How can you not be a fan of the Super Bowl Shuffle? That sealed me as a Bears fan for life. And it's not like you lived in DC either. Shouldn't you be a Ravens fan or something? They're way better than the Redskins," Alex ranted as he parked their car at the hotel. Arizona always gave him shit about the Bears. While they were a pretty decent team they hadn't succeeded in winning the Super Bowl since the mid 1980s. Not like Arizona's team the Redskins was much better but they had won a Super Bowl in the 1990s which the Bears couldn't claim to have done.
"I did live in DC for the last two years of high school and my parents still live there so I have ties to my team at least. Chicago was what at least a six hour drive for you?" Arizona linked their hands together again as they walked into the hotel as they continued to debate the merits of their football teams.
"Well, we'll find out who the superior team is in two weeks," Alex said as he guided them toward the hotel's finest restaurant
"Are you thinking what I am?" Arizona asked as she smirked at Alex and bumped their shoulders together.
Alex laughed and released her hand before wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "I don't think it's fair to take your money from you. The Bears have been on fire this year."
"I never said we had to wager money, Alex."
They paused their conversation for a moment as they waited to be seated at the restaurant. Once the hostess had left them with their menus they picked it up right where they left off.
"What would we bet then?"
"Whatever you want," she mused as she studied the menu even though she knew she was going to go with the Thanksgiving special.
"Anything?" Alex quirked his eyebrows as his mind immediately went to a dirty place.
Arizona leaned in closer to his body and whispered in his ear so that her tongue flicked his earlobe as she spoke, "Anything."
A coughing from the nearby waiter who wanted to take their orders caused Arizona to jump and move back into her own chair as Alex laughed at her bright red face. They weren't used to being so flirty out in the open with each other. Alex loved being able to hold her hand, give flirty touches and kiss her in public. Sitting at dinner, playing footsie with Arizona under the table while they flirted over a meal was starting to feel like a real relationship and Alex was really enjoying that feeling. He knew that once they got back to Seattle it would all go away and the most he would get was spending nights in her bed.
Arizona thought that her Thanksgiving meal in Africa was one of the best Thanksgiving meals she'd had in ages. She didn't expect that a hotel in Africa would be able to make a Thanksgiving spread that could easily rival one in America. After they thoroughly stuffed themselves on turkey and fixings, Alex was pleased to find that the Chicago Bears game was on in the attached sports bar. Even though the Bears weren't Arizona's favorite team she still cheered for them in support of her friend – as long as they weren't playing her Redskins. Alex kept stealing looks at Arizona as the game progressed. She looked happy. She was smiling, cheering and laughing as she watched the football game. At the beginning of their week in Malawi, he didn't think he'd see Arizona enjoying her time spent in Africa ever again.
"So you never said what you wanted to bet," Arizona said as she pulled the covers back on the bed and made herself comfortable. She was exhausted from the week in Africa. The long days at the hospital and the constant worrying about her safety were starting to catch up to her. She had planned on going to bed early that night because she knew she wouldn't get any sleep on the airplane but Alex looked so happy watching the football game that she couldn't drag him away until it was over and the Bears were victorious.
Alex flicked the light off to the room and crawled into bed next to Arizona. "I'm thinking about it. I don't want to waste this opportunity on something lame. What do you want to bet?"
"Oh no," Arizona shook her head as she curled her body against Alex's. "I'm not sharing until you do."
"So no rules?" Alex asked as he felt Arizona start to drift off in his arms. It had been a very long day for her and he knew that she would fall asleep as soon as she hit the bed.
"No," Arizona mumbled. "But nothing illegal. I'm too pretty for jail."
"Me too," Alex agreed and placed a soft kiss atop Arizona's head that was resting on his chest. "Good night."
The last thing Alex heard before he slipped into dreamland was a quiet "Good night" from Arizona.
…
When they returned from Africa, the holidays were in full swing in Seattle. The first day they had a day off together, Arizona dragged Alex to buy the biggest tree she could find. She also had him out on the ladder decorating the outside of the house with lights of every color while she took care of decorating the inside of the house. She loved the holiday season. There wasn't just one thing about the month from Thanksgiving and Christmas that made her happy – it was a combination of everything put together that made it the best time of the year. She even loved all of the annoying Christmas carols that the radio stations overplayed. She constantly had them playing throughout the house; she even listened to them during her workouts. After almost two weeks straight of Christmas carols, Alex was ready to throw the stereo system out the window and they had to make a deal that Christmas carols were only allowed for one hour a day and that anything more than that she could use her headphones to listen to them.
Arizona's holiday season was going swimmingly until she came into work one day to see a resignation letter from one of her attending surgeons. Dr. Clopper was the attending scheduled to work over the Christmas holidays and now she had no one to fill the spot. She looked at the list of all of her attendings. She knew she could screw one of them over and require them to change their Christmas plans but she wasn't a Scrooge. She knew her only option was to pick up the slack herself. She would have to cancel her Christmas plans. She was going to fly to DC to spend the week with her parents and extended family but not before she spent two days in Iowa with Alex, Amber and Lily first. But now she was going to be stuck in Seattle all by her lonesome for her favorite holiday.
She was in the middle of browsing the internet trying desperately to change her flights in an attempt to salvage some of her holiday vacation when her office door flung open and Alex ran in, closed the door quickly and sighed as he leaned against the now closed door.
Arizona eyed him curiously, "Uhh? What was that about?"
Alex's eyes snapped open. He didn't think Arizona was in her office. The lights were off so he assumed she wasn't there. He was honestly just glad the door had been unlocked as he needed a place to hide out from the unruly nurse who was chasing him. "Oh!" Alex exclaimed and looked at his feet sheepishly. "I didn't think you were in here."
"Right. I gathered that. What are you doing in here then?"
Alex pushed off of the door and flopped on the couch. "McCormick is angry at me."
"What'd you do this time to anger my nurses?" Arizona asked. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. While she saw the kinder, gentler side of Alex Karev, she knew that most of the hospital didn't get to see that side of him. They got to know his loud mouth and tendencies to be an asshole.
"Nothing!" Alex protested.
Arizona gave him a hard glare. She knew that he must have done something.
"Fine. I might have yelled a little during surgery. But she was giving me the wrong tools."
"What'd you say to her?"
Alex looked at his hands and mumbled, "I told her 'to get her head out of her ass and do her job.'"
"Alex," Arizona sighed and continued to glare at him. Nancy McCormick had been a nurse for over twenty years and Arizona knew that she wasn't going to take being yelled at by what she saw as a hot shot young doctor.
"I'll apologize," Alex added before Arizona could lecture him. "I just want to give her some time to calm down before she throws her shoe at me like she threatened."
Arizona nodded her acceptance of his offer to apologize and went back to scanning her flight options on the computer.
"Why so blue panda bear?" Alex asked when he saw the frown form on her face.
Arizona sighed and shook her head. She was trying really hard not to let the latest development ruin her Christmas spirit. Alex patted the couch next to him and Arizona reluctantly stood up from behind her chair and slumped next to him on the couch.
"So…" Alex said trying to get Arizona to talk.
"I have to work Christmas. Clopper quit without giving me any notice. Some job in Idaho. Who wants to live in Idaho?"
"Oh," Alex said trying not to sound too depressed about it. He was really looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with Arizona in Iowa before she went to spend Christmas Day with her parents. She knew that Arizona had been looking forward to it as well.
"Everyone wants the day off of course. Polly had to work Thanksgiving because we were gone. You are going to Iowa and I don't want to keep you from that. Sears has a new baby and I want him to be home for her first Christmas. Richards also has kids and I don't want to keep her from them either. I haven't worked a holiday in a year so…it's my time," Arizona sighed dejectedly. "I have to take one for the team."
"Just think of all the kids' days you can brighten by being here on Christmas. You're the best person to help keep their spirits up when they're sad about being here on Christmas," Alex tried to remind Arizona about how much fun spending Christmas with the kids at the hospital could be.
Arizona rested her head against Alex's shoulder. She was pushing their unsaid boundaries about touching at work but she was upset and needed his comfort. "I know but I know how much my parents were really looking forward to me being home." Arizona paused before looking up at Alex, "I was really looking forward to spending some of the holiday with you too."
"I know," Alex said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You can push up your vacation so that you are back in time for Christmas so you can still see your parents. And we'll just celebrate before you leave. Or when I get back. I'll be back on the twenty-sixth."
"Yeah, I'm going to leave for DC on Monday so that I can get a week at home before needing to be back here on the twenty-third."
"So we'll celebrate Christmas this Sunday. We've both got the day off in honor of it being the day that the Bears are going to trounce on your Redskins," Alex pressed a kiss to Arizona's temple. "It'll be cutting it close but I can have your gift ready in time."
"Christmas on Sunday sounds good. It'll give you something to cheer you up when the Bears lose because my gift for you is epic," Arizona teased. "Have you figured out what your wager is yet?"
"How about we share that before the game? I'd like to keep it under wraps for a bit longer."
Arizona nodded her agreement and they sat together on the couch in the dark of Arizona's office just enjoying each other's company. They had both been so busy that week that they barely saw each other except for passing moments in the work hallways. When they got home from work all they had time to do was go to sleep before going back to work the next day. Arizona was missing the intimacy that had grown over the last month and a half with Alex. She couldn't chance anyone seeing them together at work to get more than a seemingly unaffectionate touch of the arm from Alex while they were at the hospital. But friends with benefits weren't supposed to want or miss things from their benefits partner – especially not emotional things.
Arizona was about to lean up to steal a mid-shift kiss from Alex's lips when they heard a knock on the door.
"Hey," Teddy called as she opened the door and instinctively turned on the lights. She didn't notice Arizona jump out of Alex's arms toward the opposite end of the couch but she did notice the red blush that covered her face.
Arizona smiled at Teddy and gestured her into the room.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were busy. I can come back," Teddy said when she made her way into the room and saw Alex sitting awkwardly on the other end of the couch.
Alex stood up, "No, I think it's safe for me to leave now. Unless you saw a tiny nurse who might have been cursing my name out in the hallway?"
Teddy laughed, "No, no one that fits that description."
"Good. See you later, Robbins," Alex said as he left the sanctuary of Arizona's office and was pushed back into the hospital, hoping to avoid Nancy McCormick for the rest of his shift.
Teddy took Alex's vacant seat on the couch. She wondered just why Arizona and Alex were in her office in the dark. She had been noticing that the pair was acting different around each other. She couldn't put her finger on how they were different, they just were. "What's going on with him?"
"Oh," Arizona waved her hand in the air. "He pissed some nurse off during surgery and was hiding out."
"So that's why you two were sitting in here with the lights out?" Teddy asked curiously. She had noticed that something was going on with Arizona but couldn't figure it out and Arizona wasn't giving up any information.
"Yep," Arizona answered without providing any additional information. "What's up with you?"
"I'm avoiding Hunt," Teddy said as she allowed Arizona to avoid the subject of what was going on with her and Alex. Teddy figured they might have had a fight or something. She had no inkling of their romantic relationship but the more Arizona avoided talking to her about Alex the more she wondered just what was going on. "Owen wants to make me work Christmas and I don't want to. It's Yangs's year to cover it but they're trying to reconcile after their huge fight over Thanksgiving and he thinks Christmas is a fine time to do that. I think he forgets that she's Jewish."
"You should work! I'm working Christmas. It could be fun if we're both stuck here," Arizona shot Teddy her best smile. She knew that Teddy was one of the few people that her dimples and charming good looks didn't work on but she had to try. Having to spend Christmas working with Teddy was sounding much better than a Christmas spent working with Yang. "What were you going to do anyway?"
"Just because I'm single without kids doesn't mean that I should get stuck working every holiday!"
"I didn't mean it like that Teds. I just didn't think you had plans to go out of town or anything. I'm having to reschedule my whole trip to see my parents."
"I was going to eat Chinese and go to a movie."
Arizona nudged Teddy with her shoulder, "We can do that here! It should be a slow day and I'll even let you pick out the movie."
"How nice of you," Teddy rolled her eyes.
"You should appreciate the offer, just ask Karev. He's had to sit through Christmas movie after Christmas movie at our house lately. He would love to be able to pick."
Teddy laughed, "Yang is right – you really do have him whipped. Impressive since he's not getting any from you."
"Hey, it's my house," Arizona defended as she chose to ignore Teddy's comments about their relationship. "He should be happy just to have a roof over his head."
"Right," Teddy said as she glanced at her pager. "Well, if I get stuck here on Christmas we can celebrate together. I'll let you know."
"Great," Arizona smiled as she walked her friend out. "I'm leaving Monday for my parents but I'll be back on the twenty-third."
…
Arizona looked up at the clock in the operating room for the fourth time that hour. It was ten in the morning. She had two hours to finish the surgery, shower and make it home in time for kick-off of the Bears – Redskins game. She wasn't even supposed to be working but an early morning page about a newborn with breathing problems forced her to be at the hospital. It was going to be close but she was sure she could make it home in time.
"Cutting it a little close," Alex yelled at her from the couch as she ran into the house still in her scrubs at exactly noon.
"Pause the DVR and we'll catch up during commercials," Arizona called as she went straight upstairs into her bedroom.
Ten minutes later, and only five minutes after kickoff, Arizona was freshly showered and dressed in her finest, well-worn Redskins t-shirt when she made her way back downstairs to find Alex dressed in his own Bears jersey.
"Ready to watch?" Alex asked as he pushed a freshly opened bottle of beer into Arizona's hand.
"Bring it, Karev," Arizona said as she watched Alex start to press play on the remote. "Wait –," she put her hand on his to stop him from hitting the button. "We need to state the terms of the bet before we start the game."
"Ladies first," Alex said wanting Arizona to say her wager first as he needed to garner a bit of courage to say what he wanted out loud.
Arizona rolled her eyes, "Such a gentleman. If the Redskins win then you have to do laundry for the next year. Including towels and sheets."
"A year!" Alex exclaimed. "Isn't that a bit extreme, Robbins?"
"Well, we'll see what your wager is and then we will adjust accordingly to how much your bet will require."
Alex sighed and played with the label on his beer bottle, "When the Bears win, I want you to go out with me." Alex glanced up at Arizona, "A proper date."
"Alex," Arizona sighed. Almost all of her wanted to go on a date with Alex. She really wanted to be more than just friends with benefits but there was a tiny part of her that was still really scared about what going out, for real, with Alex would mean. The still scared part of her overrode her heart. "We can't go out on a date. I'm gay."
Alex quirked his eyebrows and stared at his best friend, "Arizona, you're not gay."
"Yes, I am," Arizona defended.
"No, you aren't," Alex countered. "We've been having sex regularly for over a month and a half. If you were gay, we would have never had sex to begin with." Alex reached out to grab Arizona's hand and force her to look at him. "I know this is scary for you. I can't imagine what it is like for you to be discovering this whole new part of yourself. But you're not gay. Bisexual, yes, but not gay."
"I can't give you what you want, Alex," Arizona frowned. "I'm dealing with all of these feelings and it's so confusing. I'm not ready to go public with this change in my life and I don't know when I will be ready."
"I'm not going anywhere, Zo. I'm not saying we need to go public with us right now. I just want a real date. I want to be able to take you out to dinner and hold your hand. I want to go to a movie and hold your hand. I promise that we'll go somewhere where we won't see anyone we know. We'll drive out to Lynwood or Puyallup or something so that we don't see anyone. You deserve more than just take out food in bed and I want to give that to you. We don't have to tell anyone until you're ready."
Arizona groaned but accepted the terms of the wager and held out her hand, "If the Bears win."
"If the Bears win," Alex repeated as he shook her hand and used their joined hands to pull Arizona into his body. He smiled and hit play on the remote with his other hand. He was on cloud nine after having Arizona essentially agree to date him. He had wanted to date her for over six months and over the course of that time he had gotten to have her in every way but the one he wanted – romantically.
The game was intense. The first half ended with no score. It was turning into a defensive battle of power. Arizona and Alex teased each other incessantly throughout the game. Arizona made sure that Alex knew that if she was agreeing to go on a date with him for his bet then he would definitely be doing her laundry for a year for her part of the bet. By the time the game was over the living room coffee table was littered with empty beer bottles and an empty pizza box.
"So," Alex said as he turned the television off after the last play was run and the score was final.
"So," Arizona smiled.
Alex returned the smile and shuffled closer on the couch to Arizona, "I guess this means you've got to go out on a date with me." The final score was seven to three in favor of the Bears. It was more like a baseball score than a football score but Alex wasn't going to question the win.
"I suppose I do," Arizona said quietly.
Alex frowned at Arizona's tone of voice. He didn't want to force her into anything. He only wanted to go on a date with her if she really wanted to do so. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. I'm not going to hold you to a silly bet."
"Ask me properly."
"What?" Alex was confused.
"Ask me properly," Arizona demanded a second time.
A light bulb went off in Alex's head and he realized what Arizona wanted from him. "Arizona, will you go out on a date with me?"
"I would love to," Arizona agreed before pausing. "But can we do Christmas now? Because I think we could have a lot of fun the rest of the night with what I got you."
"Oh really?" Alex asked as he raised his eyebrows at Arizona and smirked.
Arizona smacked him on the arm, "Not that. Good, clean fun."
"Okay, okay. But maybe later for some not so clean fun?" Alex asked as he leaned in to nibble on her earlobe. He chose not react to the punch he got in the kidney from Arizona for his comment. "I need a bit to put the finishing touches on your present. Give me an hour?"
Arizona moaned at the feeling of Alex's breath on her neck while he spoke. She knew there would definitely be time for dirty fun later in the night. Arizona pulled away from Alex's embrace before they ended up in bed and she wanted to do Christmas gifts before that happened. "Works for me, I need to finish packing for my trip anyway."
Alex watched Arizona as she made her way up the stairs and toward her bedroom. He couldn't keep his eyes off of how amazing she looked in just a pair of jeans and t-shirt. As soon as she disappeared from view, he got up and made his way to the shed in the backyard to prepare his gift for Arizona.
…
"I might not watch many horror movies but I know that the person wearing the blindfold is usually killed," Arizona grumbled as Alex tied a blindfold around her eyes and led her out onto the back deck.
"I promise not to kill you," Alex whispered into her ear and watched the goosebumps form on Arizona's neck. "Just another minute."
Arizona heard the door to the backyard click closed behind her. Alex had left her side and she wasn't sure where he had gone until she could see hints of light through the blindfold and suddenly Alex appeared next to her again.
Alex untied the blindfold to let Arizona see her gift, "Merry Christmas, Zo."
Arizona took in a sharp breath when she saw what Alex had done for her. The entire back deck was decorated in white Christmas lights. There was something new about her deck though. Something that hadn't been there before.
"It's beautiful," Arizona said as she ran her hands over the porch swing that she was sure Alex had built himself.
"You like it?" Alex asked nervously. He had hoped that she would like it but he was never very good at getting gifts for the women in his life.
Arizona turned away from the swing so she was looking at Alex. "I love it," she said as she leaned in to show her appreciation in the form of a kiss. "You remembered," she whispered as she rested their foreheads together.
"I made it out of the old fence wood. I got the rope that it's hanging on from an old sailboat. I just remember you talking about the porch swing that you and Tim used to always use for your best and most important conversations. And I think this backyard was really missing a swing," Alex rambled as his nerves over his gift took him over. He knew it was an incredibly personal gift and he just hoped that it didn't make her sad to think about Tim.
"It's perfect. Thank you so much," Arizona smiled as she kissed him again. "Now my gift to you looks like crap compared to this."
"I'm sure it's great," Alex reassured her as he dragged her back inside to the house, eager to get his gift. "It's from you so I know that I'll love it."
Arizona directed them to the living room where she had his gift already set up. She had a wrapped box covering the main part of his gift so that he couldn't see it when he walked into the room.
Alex was like a child on Christmas morning and ran to the box as soon as he saw it. "Can I open it?" he asked with his eyes lit up.
Arizona nodded and he lifted the box, revealing his gift.
"Oh my god!" Alex exclaimed as he picked up the various pieces of his gift. "Is this real?"
"Authentic to 1985. That is pure 8-bit gaming goodness," Arizona nodded and smiled as she sat on the floor next to Alex.
"This is awesome! Thank you!" Alex placed an excited kiss on Arizona's lips before turning back toward the game system.
Arizona pushed the power button and watched the television light up with the sounds of Super Mario Brothers Three. "Well, I thought it was a travesty when you said that you never had a video game system growing up. So I had my mom find mine and Tim's and she shipped it out to me. It works perfectly except for occasionally having to blow into a game cartridge to get it work."
Alex took a controller and smiled, "You are so going down, Robbins."
"Please, Alexander. Do I look scared?" Arizona pointed to her face. "I grew up on this. You played, what? Just occasionally at friends' houses? The NES was the first thing my Dad always unpacked after every move. You don't stand a chance against me and my skills."
The sounds of Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Excite Bike, Contra and many other classic Nintendo games filled the house as Arizona taught Alex how to excel in each game. She was rusty but her skills came back to her quickly as they played the video games. While Alex couldn't beat her just yet she was sure that he would be practicing while she was away in DC and would put up a tough fight when she returned.
They played until their thumbs were sore and their hands cramped from the controllers. They had other business to attend to before the morning came. In the morning, Arizona was leaving for a week. It was going to be the longest time period that they had ever been apart since they began their friendship let alone their complicated romantic relationship.
…
"I'll miss you," Alex whispered as he wrapped his arms around Arizona and rested his forehead against hers as they stood in the doorway.
"Miss you too," Arizona mumbled.
"Call me when you land. I'll probably be in surgery but leave me a message so that I know that you got there safely."
Arizona nodded her forehead against Alex's.
"Don't forget you owe me a date when you get back," Alex reminded the woman in his arms. To him it felt like they were already together. That they were already in a relationship.
Arizona smiled and linked their hands together, "I could never forget that. You plan it and I'll be there."
"Good."
"I need to go," Arizona sighed.
Alex picked up Arizona's suitcase and carried it out to her car. "I wish you'd let me drive you."
"You have to work. Plus I'll need a way to get home when I get back since you'll be in Iowa."
Alex opened the driver's side car door for Arizona. Arizona paused to give him a long hug and kiss before she sat down in the seat.
Arizona started the car before turning to Alex who was still standing by her now closed car door. "Take care of my department for me. Don't hesitate to call me if there are any issues."
"I will," he said as he leaned down to give her one last kiss goodbye.
"Bye," Arizona called out as she put the car into reverse and drove out of the garage. She had to stop herself from throwing out an 'I love you' before she drove away. They had told each other that they love each other before. But that was before they were dating or whatever it was they were doing. She didn't know if it was appropriate to tell him those three words even though she really wanted to, so instead she just kept her mouth shut and gave him a smile and a wave as she drove away.
Alex watched Arizona drive away. He didn't go back into the house until her car was out of his line of sight. She had only been gone for three minutes but his heart still hurt. The house felt incredibly lonely already. He had three days before he was to leave for Iowa. He just hoped that work was busy so that the time would go by quickly for him.
…