Arizona was just beginning to hit her groove. She wiped the sweat off her brow as she set up for another swing. Bouncing around, she saw nothing else, her focus tunneling her vison. The headphones in her ears were blasting to push the outside world that much further away. Throwing her punch forward, Arizona's taped knuckles made sweet, strong contact with the hanging bag as she continued to bounce around on her toes. Picking up her pace, she felt the slight hint of a smile begin to form at the corners of her mouth as her arms and core began to burn. Making sure to keep track of her breathing, Arizona let it rip. This punching bag didn't stand a chance. She saw her movements in slow motion, calculating every contact, completely absorbed in her work out. So absorbed in fact, that she never noticed the figure approach her from behind until he was close enough to place a hand on her shoulder, causing the caught up Arizona to turn quickly and swing in his direction.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Mark Sloan moved just in time to avoid taking a swift punch to the side of the head.
Ripping out her headphones, trying to catch her breath, Arizona felt the urge to swing on Mark again for scaring her. "Mark! What is wrong with you?! You scared the crap out of me!" She clutched at her chest and tried to steady herself. She looked up to glare at the man as he began to chuckle.
"I'm sorry, really I am; I didn't think I was going to scare you so bad, honest. Nice swing there, Blondie, that would have been a killer hit; remind me never to mess with you."
This made Arizona start to laugh. "Come on Mark, you should know that already." She winked at the tall man as she bent down to grab a towel to wipe off the layer of sweat that was covering her body.
"Touche. Where'd you learn to box like that anyway? You looked pretty damn good…and I don't just mean the outfit." Mark sent a cocky smirk Arizona's way as he looked her up and down in her black sports bra and red running shorts. She threw her towel at his face in response. Arizona knew she looked hot in her work out clothes, but that didn't mean she needed every pervy guy walking into the gym giving her the once over. Her outfit choice was for comfort, the fact that her hard body just so happened to rock it was merely a bonus.
"Perv. And my dad and brother taught me. I had a pretty bad temper when I was a teenager and I had trouble controlling it sometimes, I'd lash out at people when I got scared or upset, or when things didn't go my way. My dad had always been a boxer and he'd been teaching Tim for years. I never really took any interest in it, but when I started to get into trouble, my dad made it mandatory." Arizona had stopped wondering why it was so easy for her to talk to Mark. It didn't surprise her anymore when they struck up a conversation and she found herself telling Mark a lot about herself. She was relaxed around him and something about his laid back and understanding approach to their friendship reminded her of Tim. It comforted her to hang out with and just talk to Mark.
"You? A trouble-maker? I can't see it." Mark squinted his eyes as if he were really trying to picture a younger, troubled Arizona. He shook his head. "Nah, I don't believe it. You're too…perky." Arizona scoffed at his choice of adjective and the fact that he wasn't the first person to use it when describing her.
"Well, believe it. Because I definitely was. I might be perkier now, but sometimes I'd just let my anger get the best of me. Still do. But my dad taught me with boxing that giving in to your anger isn't going to win you the fight. You can't be crazy with rage. Instead you need to control it, contain it, and be calculating instead." Arizona smiled as she remembered her dad's boxing lectures and all the time she and her father and brother spent together on the dozens of marine bases they'd lived training on the bag. "Anyway, I fell in love with it, and I've been doing it ever since."
"So do you go out and…fight people?" Mark felt a small shudder creep up his spine at the thought of being on the receiving end of Arizona's fists.
Arizona laughed at the slight look of fear in Mark's eyes. "No Mark, it's not Fight Club, I do not just go out and search for people to fight. I used to be in boxing leagues when I was younger, but now I just do it to keep in shape and to work off stress."
"Hell of a stress reliever."
"Like you wouldn't believe. So is there a reason you decided to interrupt my work out and almost give me a heart attack, or do you just do things like that for fun?" Arizona sat on the floor and began to stretch her legs.
Following Arizona to the floor, Mark also began to stretch. "No reason. I just came to run for a while, clear my own head, saw you, and wanted to say hi. Scaring the shit out of you was just a bonus."
"Gee, thanks, you're so kind." Arizona smacked Mark's leg as she stretched over her own. "You run in here on a treadmill? I hate running inside…it just feels wrong." Arizona loved to run. It made her feel just as good as smacking a bag around and she did it as often as she could. She couldn't stand running indoors though, it made her feel trapped. Arizona hated running without going anywhere. She preferred to run fast and far, putting miles between herself and wherever she began, seeing the distance of her run in the changing scenery.
"What's wrong is getting caught in the rain, having to look out for cars, and not having a television right in front of you…to name a few things." Mark winked at Arizona as she rolled her eyes. "Plus I've just always run on a treadmill. My parents couldn't own a house if it didn't have a home gym in it." Now it was Mark's turn to roll his eyes.
"Well well well, Mr. Fancy Pants. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was talking to someone who learned to run on a treadmill in his parent's home gym. I wasn't aware that I was friends with someone who lived such an extravagant life. I thought you were cooler than that." Arizona squinted her eyes at her friend in jest.
"Please, my parents were obsessed with personal fitness. And maybe they had a little bit of money, but really, you are in no position to make fun of me missy. Or have you forgotten who your own girlfriend is?" Mark began to laugh at this, but Arizona was just confused. What was Mark talking about? What did Callie have to do with their conversation? Seeing the look on Arizona's face, and thinking he'd just upset her by insinuating something about Callie, Mark's laughter subsided. "Hey, I was only joking, Blondie. Cal is no less cool for her fortune. In fact, she freaking hates it, barely tells anyone about it, even though everybody pretty much kn…" He stopped talking as he realized he hadn't pissed Arizona off, but rather, confused the crap out of her. Arizona had no clue just how wealthy Callie's family was. Mark was suddenly much more worried about a certain Latina's wrath at what he'd just let slip.
Thinking back to the couple of times Callie had mention the words 'trust fund', Arizona suddenly felt a sick feeling in her stomach. She needed to ask Mark, but she was really not looking forward to his answer regarding her girlfriend.
"Mark, what are you talking about? What do you mean, fortune?" She wasn't stupid. Arizona knew you needed to be wealthy in order to have a trust fund. But still, it wasn't such an uncommon thing. Way out of Arizona's own life and experiences, but still. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if Mark himself had one, but the way Mark talked about Callie's family was something else entirely. The man used the word fortune for fuck's sake.
"Look, if Cal hasn't told you herself, there has to be a reason…I don't think I should-FUCK!" Mark hadn't been quick enough this time, and a swift punch made contact with his arm. "Are you kidding me?! What? Are you just going to beat it out of me or something?" He stood up, rubbing his now throbbing shoulder, and looked down at the short blonde woman.
"If I have to…" The look in Arizona's eyes told Mark he probably shouldn't risk calling her bluff, because she really didn't seem to be bluffing.
"Look, I know she told you about her family, right? Her father cutting her off and all of that crap?"
"Of course…and about her uncle and all of that." She waved her hands in the air, having already heard this part of the story.
"Yeah well, that uncle and Callie's father are rich as shit. They own some real estate company in Miami, but they pretty much own the city is all that means. I mean, hotels, night clubs, restaurants, you name it. It's pretty ridiculous, actually. I mean, Callie's basically and heiress to a multi-million dollar company. They have hotels and clubs and stuff like that all over the county."
Arizona felt weak in the knees. As if she didn't already feel like Calliope was way out of her league, now she was a freaking heiress on top of everything else? "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Well, no offense, but maybe she thought you'd react like…well, like this. You look like you're about to pass out Blondie."
"Well that's funny, because I just might." She laughed nervously, obviously light-headed.
Mark placed a hand on Arizona's shoulder to help steady her. "Look, Cal doesn't really like to talk about her family's money. At all. She'd rather pretend it isn't there. I'm sure that's all this is. Don't worry about it Arizona." She knew she must look really freaked out if Mark was using her real name.
Mark's words did little to reassure Arizona's insecurities and as she left the gym to make her way home, her mind continued to analyze the information she'd just been bombarded with.
Arizona and Callie sat in the living room of Arizona's apartment later that night. Teddy was spending more and more time at her boyfriend's house, so the shorter blonde often had the apartment to herself for the whole night. Arizona couldn't get the conversation she'd had with Mark earlier out of her head. She knew Callie wasn't the kind of person who would ever judge her for not having money, but she couldn't help the creeping feeling of inadequacy she felt whenever she thought of how absolutely perfect Calliope was all on her own; the fact that her family also had tons of money didn't help the situation at all.
"So what do you want to do tonight?" Callie kissed Arizona lightly on the lips as she came to sit on the couch beside the blonde. "I'm assuming Teddy is at Henry's again."
"Well, she didn't actually say that's where she was, but I just assume as much by now." Arizona looked across the couch as Callie leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Arizona could stare at Callie all day and never get sick of what was in front of her. She was completely enamored with the sexy Latina.
"Mmmmm, you're staring." Callie didn't need to open her eyes to know that the blonde was staring at her. She'd quickly realized that if she wasn't caught up in the ethereal beauty that was Arizona, the blonde was probably staring at her.
"I know…what's your point?" Arizona never made an excuse for staring at her hot hot girlfriend. If Callie didn't look so drop dead gorgeous doing anything at all, she'd have no reason to stare. She winked at the brunette when she'd finally opened her eyes to look at the shorter woman. Arizona decided to just go ahead and suggest what she'd been thinking about all day. "What about Cappi's?" She'd expected the snap of the brunette's head at the mention of the restaurant. After all, they'd never done anything quite so extravagant. Arizona just didn't want Callie to think she wasn't able to do such things.
"Why do you want to go there?" Callie's face scrunched up in confusion. They'd never done anything that fancy, and Arizona had never hinted that she might want to do something like that. Not to mention, Callie hated places like that. She'd been to enough of those places in her life. Her parents insisted on dining in such places whenever their family went out to eat. Places just like Cappi's; fancy Italian restaurants that had waiters in tuxedos and a dress code. She'd never really been impressed. Callie would have much rather just gone to a normal pizza joint any night. Looking into the face of her girlfriend, Callie could see that Arizona looked a little uncomfortable and unsure of herself. Almost as if she were holding something back. "Arizona…" Callie raised her eyebrows as the blonde made eye contact with her, urging the fidgeting woman to talk. "Spill."
"I…I just…I thought maybe you'd…" She just couldn't find the words to express herself, and suddenly felt really stupid.
'Me? Why would she think I'd want to go to…?' The realization struck Callie like a freight train… 'Of course…!'
"Who told you?" Callie's face went from confused to incredibly serious very quickly.
Arizona's mouth hung open and her eyes widened at the brunette's question. "Wha…What are you talking about?" Arizona tried one last attempt at avoiding this conversation. She knew it was in vain as soon as the Latina's face hardened even more.
"Arizona, I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you are a terrible liar. You know exactly what I am talking about. Who. Told. You? And don't you dare lie to me." Callie fixed her very best Torres glare on her face.
Arizona might have actually shaken in her boots when she fell under the menacing glare of her girlfriend. She knew anything other than the truth coming from her mouth was simply not an option. "…Mark told me, but only because I threatened to beat it out of him!" Arizona's words spilled out as fast as she could say them. She knew this conversation was only going to get worse before it got better.
"Wha- I can't believe him! I'm gonna…Wait, why were you threatening to beat something like that out of him?" Callie was so confused and angry. Mark knew she didn't like telling people about her family's money. And…okay, yes, Arizona was her girlfriend, but she couldn't believe he wouldn't let her tell Arizona herself.
"We…we were just talking. I saw him at the gym today, and I don't even remember what we were talking about, but he made a comment and one thing led to another and then…he told me. But…why didn't you tell me?" Arizona wasn't going to lie. She was a little hurt that Callie hadn't told her something so significant.
"Because I hate it! Because that's not me! Because now you're looking at me differently." She gestured to the shorter woman as her heart began to sink.
Arizona heard Callie's tone change from angry to incredibly sad. "No, I'm-"
"Don't say that!" Callie's angry tone returned. "I know that look well…" Callie got up from her seat on the couch and began pacing across the living room. "So, what? Now you just think I'm someone who needs to be bought?" She stopped her pacing and looked down into the wide blue eyes of her girlfriend.
"What? No! I just…I don't know. I want you to be able to have and do what you're used to-"
"What I am used to?!" Arizona flinched and looked down at the floor as she heard Callie go from upset to straight up pissed off. "Tell me, what the hell is that supposed to mean Arizona? Hmm? What exactly do you know about what growing up in my family makes me used to?"
"Calliope, I'm sorry, I just wanted-"
"Don't Calliope me, and please, don't tell me any more about what you think I'm used to. You and I both know that's crap. I'd think after a month of knowing and hanging out with each other that you'd have a pretty firm grasp on what it is that I'm used to." Callie could barely get her thoughts together. She couldn't believe this was happening again. She'd had plenty of relationships go sour once the other person found out about her family. She hated people treating her differently just because of money that she didn't even ask to have. Of course she'd always been appreciative of everything her family had done for her, and she couldn't be prouder of her father and uncle for building such an empire out of nothing, but that didn't change the fact that it had caused her more than one shitty situation in her own life. People never knew how to take the fact that she had access to such luxury. What people often didn't realize was that the lives of children with such wealthy and busy parents could be very lonely and stressful. She was happier out of that life. She thought Arizona would be able to understand that, but the way the blonde was obviously holding something back was making the brunette nervous and made her just want to run away. She knew the blonde wasn't being honest with her. She was lying about something, keeping something in. 'What isn't she telling me? This must be too much for her.'
"I'm sorry. That's…that's not what I meant. I don't think anything like that about you, I promise. I just…I don't know." Arizona was now off of the couch as well and was running her fingers through her hair in frustration. She hadn't meant to make Calliope so angry. Her own insecurities about not being good enough were causing her to crash and burn. She couldn't get her foot out of her mouth and was finding it very difficult to explain herself correctly.
"You don't know. Well, why don't you call me when you've figured it out." Shaking her head, Callie turned to leave. "I'm going to kill Mark."
"Wait, Calliope, where are you going?" Arizona knew Callie was upset, but she couldn't understand why she was storming out away from her. Again.
"I'm going home. I'm not in the mood to do anything anymore. I just can't right now, I'll talk to you tomorrow or something."
"Calliope, stop just-"
"Just drop it, Arizona. Okay?" With that, Callie turned and walked out the door, holding back tears as she went.
Now it was Arizona's turn to be pissed off. She knew she'd once again made an ass of herself, but this whole storming off before the argument is even over thing that Callie kept doing was getting really old. Arizona grabbed the handle of her recently slammed front door, ripped it open, and stormed into the hallway. "Damnit, Callie! Please, just STOP!" Arizona shouted at the Latina's back before she was able to make it to the elevator.
Callie turned around slowly, a little shocked by the shorter woman's tone. She stood in place as the blonde made her way to stand in front of her. She'd wanted to continue with her storm off, but something in Arizona's voice told Callie that would have been a really bad idea. That didn't mean she wasn't still pissed off. She crossed her arms over her chest, closing herself off. "What Arizona? If you just came out here to lie to me some more, spare me please."
"I'm not lying to you Callie-WAIT! Okay!" Arizona placed her hand on Callie's arm when she turned around to leave again after hearing Arizona continue to hold back.
"I swear, the next thing that comes out of your mouth better be the truth." Callie could hear the harshness in her tone, but she knew Arizona wasn't being completely honest with her about her reasons for trying to go on a fancy date and it was driving her crazy. She couldn't stand the feeling that her girlfriend was being dishonest with her.
Sighing, the shorter woman gathered her thoughts as she rubbed her hands down her face, preparing to be completely honest. Her girlfriend deserved as much. "Calliope, I don't think you're someone who needs to be bought. I don't think that at all, and I'm so, so sorry that I made you feel that way. I…I just…" Arizona looked at the floor, unable to keep contact with Callie's eyes that seem to pull her very soul out of her body in these kind of situations. "You're freaking perfect okay? All by yourself. I think you're miraculous. You're beautiful, you're confident, you're quite possibly the kindest person I've ever met. You're understanding with me, even when I'm being an ass. Like now…" The slight chuckle that feel from plump lips calmed Arizona's nerves enough to continue. "Look, I'm not a shy or insecure person, but when it comes to you, I don't know…I don't understand some days how it is that you chose me…I…I can't help but feel like you're going to wake up one day and realize you're too good for me." She looked back up into deep chocolate eyes and saw that Callie's expression had softened. She looked back down at their clasped hands. "And then Mark told me about your family, and I just thought, ya know, as if you weren't perfect enough…it was stupid. I freaked out and really didn't feel good enough for you. I just want you to have everything you deserve and my stupid brain kept telling me I might not be that…" Arizona felt warm caramel fingers under her chin, urging her head up to look Callie in the eyes once more.
"You're a moron, you know that? How hard was that?" Callie couldn't help but smile. She knew Arizona wasn't the kind of person who would think differently of her just because of money, but the fact that the blonde couldn't just be honest with her had really pissed her off.
"What?" Arizona was relieved that Callie no longer seemed pissed off, but now she was confused.
"I don't know why you couldn't just be honest with me before, instead of that crap about making me comfortable. You know me. You know that's not me."
"I know, I know that…but Calliope…I'm aware I can be an ass, a moron, and I know I don't say the right things all the time, but I can't keep chasing you down every time I make a mistake. You have to trust me, and stay and talk to me, not just storm out." Arizona's voice got smaller as she spoke. She knew she'd messed up and once again had been dishonest with her girlfriend, but she just couldn't stand the thought of Calliope walking out on her every time they had an argument.
"You're right, that's a bad habit…one that no one's ever even bothered to try and force me to break." Callie brought her hand up to cup the shorter woman's cheek. "I'll work on that, I promise, but if I'm going to trust you, you need to trust me too. Stop trying to dance around things that are bothering you. You need to trust me, and talk to me too. No more lying. I hate being lied to. You can tell me anything, I promise you that. I don't want you to feel like there's ever a reason for you to lie to me." Pulling the shorter woman closer to her by her waist, Callie made sure Arizona really heard the next thing she said. "And as far as you not being good enough for me, that's crap too. You're amazing. You're funny, you're sweet, anytime I see you is the best part of my day because you make me feel so happy just by being with me. You've got hands down the most remarkable eyes I think I've ever seen and when I'm with you, I feel safe. Money means nothing to me. Anything that means something to me, is everything you already are."
Arizona could see the truth in Callie's eyes. She knew Callie was being sincere and Arizona felt like she really could tell the taller woman anything. She couldn't hide the smile Callie's words forced on her face. "I'm sorry. I promise, no more lying. Ever."
"So from now on…we trust each other completely." Callie smiled down at her girlfriend. She didn't know why, but the fact that Arizona was the only person to ever chase after her when she stormed out of somewhere made her heart swell in her chest. Even though the blonde's first instinct had been to lie, Callie couldn't help but fall harder for her. Her nervousness at coming clean made Callie just want to wrap her up in her arms and make her feel protected. Callie could tell Arizona's lies had more to do with her own insecurities that with Callie herself. She was determined to make Arizona know without any doubts, that she could trust Callie with everything.
Stretching up on her toes, Arizona placed a loving kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Completely. Now can we please go back inside and order some food or something? I'm starving." A small pout made its way onto pink lips as she clutched her stomach.
Callie loved Arizona's pout. It made her weak in the knees and was second only to the blonde's perfect dimples at bending Callie's will. Stealing one last kiss, Callie turned them around and walked back to Arizona's apartment. "Sounds perfect."
Two bottles of wine and tons of Chinese takeout later, Callie and Arizona sat in front of the couch, tangled in each other, talking and laughing.
"Honestly, Calliope, I don't know why you have such a problem with Disney movies. They are so happy!" Arizona's head leaned on the brunette's shoulder as she thought about her favorite movies.
"It's not like I have a problem with them. There are just so many other things I'd rather watch than a kids movie." Callie's arm was behind Arizona around her waist and she poked the shorter woman in the side as she spoke, eliciting a fit of angelic giggles. Even though Callie didn't really care for Disney movies, she loved the fact that Arizona loved them. Callie loved how serious and mature her girlfriend could be one minute, and the next minute, be an adorable, giggling, dimply innocent, Disney watching kid.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Arizona sat up, looking at the taller woman. "I will have you know, these kids movies have plenty of real, adult world, applications and lessons. More so than your scary, bloody movies do." She scrunched her face up as she thought of all the slasher, suspense and zombie films the Latina owned. As if the Latina needed more proof of how badass and hardcore she was.
"Whatever you say babe, you stick with your baby movies, and I'll stick to my zombies." She winked at her obviously drunk girlfriend.
Arizona couldn't help herself as she stopped and stared at the Latina. In her drunken state, all she could see were Calliope's eyes, drawing her in, almost making her feel drunker than she was. They were so big, so expressive; perfect. Reaching out, she moved a strand of raven black hair behind Callie's ear. "Your eyes look like Walt Disney drew them." She broke into another fit of giggles as she saw Callie's face contort in confusion.
"I'm glad you find my eyes funny." Callie only meant it as a joke, but the giggles immediately stopped and her stomach dropped when she turned as saw how serious Arizona's expression was.
"I think you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen." It was true. Arizona had never before been so captivated by someone's eyes. It was as if Callie's eyes spoke to her on their own, telling her things her girlfriend's mouth couldn't or wouldn't say.
"You're just saying that because I said it earlier." Continuing to try and joke, the Latina saw no change in the blonde's expression.
"I know you might think my eyes are great, but your eyes…Calliope, your eyes tell a story. You can say more with your eyes than anyone else I've ever met."
"You're drunk." Callie could feel the deep blush that was making its way up her neck at Arizona's words and the fact that the blonde had been slowly moving her face closer to the Latina's with every one she spoke.
"And you're breathtaking." Arizona smiled at the goosebumps that erupted all over olive skin as she whispered in Callie's ear and bit her ear lobe.
Callie's whole body reacted to the blonde's warm breath on her ear. She leaned her head to give her girlfriend more access to her neck and couldn't hold back a slight moan as Arizona sucked and nipped at it. "You know, it's funny…how you can go from-Ahh-talking about how amazing Disney movies are, to…ooh…to this…" Callie could barely get words out any more she was so turned on by what the blonde was doing to her. She let a gasp out as she felt expert fingers make their way under her shirt.
"Didn't I ever tell you? I'm full of surprises, Calliope." Arizona took plump lips in her own as she maneuvered them until they were laying on the floor, Callie's perfect body situated under her own.
"I bet you are…" It was all Callie could get out before their kiss deepened and their need for physical contact took over the night.
I hope you guys like :). Didn't get as much time as I like to edit, so if there happen to be any mistakes, I apologize. I know the title of this story has to do with summer, but I think this story is going to extend beyond the summer. It seems that's the direction I might take my outline. It all depends on what I can come up with and what you guys feel like reading I guess. Feel free to let me know any opinions! They are greatly appreciated and are fantastic motivation ;)