A/N: Sorry for the delay! My life has been pretty damn chaotic this past week. I'll hopefully write another chapter over the 3-day weekend! Also, I spent the entire day in a jail yesterday…I really feel for Callie and Arizona. I also realized how inaccurate some of this story was.
Chapter 25
Callie sighed as her back was pelted with steaming hot water. She groaned as she felt her muscles relax under the soothing spray. One of her new favorite pastimes was showering. To most people it was just an obligation, but to Callie, it was one of the most pleasurable things in the world, something she decided she would never take for granted again. It was her refuge and her favorite place to get some privacy.
Callie closed her eyes and rolled her neck forward, feeling the tension slip from her body. Her head shot up as the shower door rolled open and Arizona slipped in behind her. Callie's eye roll and frustrated sigh went totally unnoticed by the blonde, who was sliding her arms over Callie's shoulders.
Arizona pressed her front into Callie's back, and much to her chagrin, Callie moaned involuntarily when she felt Arizona's pert breasts against her back. Arizona took the luffa and, after wetting it, ran the soapy material over Callie's torso. She ran it up over Callie's breasts, adding just enough pressure to make her groan, before gliding it over her clavicle and back down her arm. She crossed over Callie's stomach and then dipped the luffa lower to graze the inside of her thighs, making Callie jerk forward reflexively.
"Arizona," Callie whimpered as the desire for her girlfriend overtook her desire for privacy.
Arizona continued to run the luffa up and down Callie's body, but avoiding the places Callie needed contact the most. Placing the sponge back on the shelf, Arizona leaned forward and took Callie's earlobe into her mouth, biting gently at the soft flesh. "I think you're clean now," Arizona practically purred in her ear.
Callie whimpered as her attempts to turn were thwarted by Arizona's strong hands on her hips. "Arizona, please. Kiss me."
The blonde smirked to herself before walking the two of them forward until they reached the back wall of the shower. Arizona placed warm kisses between Callie's shoulder blades and began to trail down Callie's spine.
"Arizona," Callie said louder this time, "kiss me."
"I am kissing you, Calliope," she replied haughtily. She really couldn't think of anything more fun than teasing the usually steadfast brunette.
"You know what I mean," Callie half-spoke, half-moaned, as she felt Arizona's tongue flick over the vertebrae near the bottom of her spine. Arizona ran her hands up the front of Callie's legs, digging her nails into the meaty flesh of her thighs and grinning as they quivered beneath her fingertips. She slowly raised herself up to a standing position once again, kissing her way back up Callie's spine. Arizona continued her path by licking a line up Callie's neck, latching her lips around her pulse point and sucking hard enough to leave a mark.
"Fuck, Arizona," Callie let out in a breathy whisper. Arizona pressed her body flush to Callie's back, running her hand up Callie's thigh. When it reached the apex of her thighs, Callie's hips jerked towards the wall, trapping Arizona's hand in the process. Arizona giggled and released some of the pressure, allowing the Latina to turn, but never moving her teasing hand. As soon as Callie was facing Arizona, she grabbed the smaller woman and mashed their bodies together. Callie felt the white heat pooling in the pit of her stomach, as Arizona continued to stroke and tease her entrance, every so often pulling back to encircle her throbbing clit.
Arizona placed her free hand at the base of Callie's neck, bringing their faces together. She ran her tongue over Callie's bottom lip teasingly, mimicking the actions of her hand in between Callie's legs. Having had enough of the teasing, Callie took the blonde's tongue in her mouth, sucking gently. Arizona moaned into the kiss and took it as her cue to stop teasing.
She smoothly slid two fingers into Callie and marveled at the drenched heat she found. Keeping her free hand firmly on Callie's shoulder to prevent her from moving off the wall, Arizona began pumping her hand, curling her fingers upwards every so often. Trying to gain some control, Callie snaked her hand around Arizona's throat and neck to pull her in for a searing kiss. Callie moaned into the blonde's mouth as Arizona flicked a thumb over her swollen clit. She threw her head back against the shower wall with a groan and slammed her eyes shut as Arizona hit just the right spot over and over and over again.
"Fuck," Callie groaned as her vision went fuzzy and her thighs began to tremble. Her breathing was labored as she transferred all of her weight to the shower wall and her girlfriend. Arizona encircled her clit, pressing down with her thumb to sustain Callie's orgasm for as long as possible. As the last waves washed over Callie's body, she slid down the wall and came to rest on the shower floor. Arizona kneeled before her and placed gentle kisses to her hairline and forehead. Callie pulled her in and held her close as the water turned cold.
Maybe invasion of privacy wasn't always a bad thing.
o0o0o
Not even ten minutes passed after Arizona had left for work before Callie's numerous unannounced visitors began showing up.
First was her dad, who came bearing housewarming gifts. Evidently, his flight was scheduled for Miami the following day, but he was thinking of postponing it to stay with Callie longer. After much deliberation, Callie finally convinced him that poor Lucia Torres was being neglected and that she would be fine and managed to shoo him out the door so she could have some peace and quiet.
She had just begun unloading the dishwasher when she heard another knock at the door. She ushered inside a harried Bennet and, after graciously accepting a cup of tea, explained to her that an arrest warrant had been ordered for Erica Hahn. That was the good news. The bad news that she had since managed to slip through the collective grasps of several different police forces and had left the country, leaving no trail whatsoever behind her. Callie thanked him for telling her and assured him that she was moving on with her life. He left shortly after and promised to keep in touch.
Of course, Callie hadn't been totally honest, and as soon as the door shut, she felt drops of saline trickle down her cheek. She had just barely re-composed herself when a third knock sounded. She opened the door just a crack when in barged a tall, handsome man. He made his way to the fridge, cracked open a beer, and took up residence on the couch all before Callie could establish that he was Mark Sloan, the resident manwhore of the hospital, who, Arizona had assured her, did have a heart of gold hidden very, very deeply underneath all the muscle and bravado and effortless sex appeal.
Mark had apparently decided that he was going to be friends with Callie, since she was new and had no real friends. He didn't say it any more tactfully than that. He even tried to give her the "break Robbins's heart, I'll break your face" speech, to which Callie simply rolled her eyes. Despite the fact that she did genuinely enjoy Mark's company, she was more than ready for him to leave. She wanted to clean the apartment before Arizona got home and have a little time to herself.
Several hours later, when Mark was finally satisfied with Callie as Arizona's girlfriend and had eaten his way through half of their fridge, he made his way to the front door, only to be met by a tall, lanky, smiling blonde on the other side. Callie groaned when Mark decided that since Teddy Altman was now here, he should obviously stay.
Teddy presented her with a lovely white orchid plant as a housewarming gift and chastised Mark for not bringing anything himself. She then, too, grabbed a beer from the fridge and plopped herself down on the couch, patting Mark's knee and teasing him about his latest failed sex exploit.
Callie seriously liked the two surgeons. She could see herself becoming friends with both of them and loved that they were so protective of Arizona. She felt as though she could fit in and become part of their close-knit, albeit seemingly dysfunctional, family. But seriously, she just really wanted them to leave. It was now 5pm and as Teddy and Mark bantered, Callie calculated that she had had about 30 minutes to herself the entire day.
When the two finally left, realizing they would be late for their night shift, Callie finished tidying the kitchen and got to work on dinner. As she pulled the paella out of the oven, Arizona waltzed through the door, a pleasant smile on her face.
"Honey, I'm home," she teased, having noticed the apron Callie was wearing. She gave her a chaste kiss before moving to stick her face close to the dish. "God, this smells amazing." She tried to sneak a shrimp that was resting precariously on the side of the casserole dish, but her hand was quickly slapped away.
"Go change. You smell like hospital. Dinner will be ready in just a few moments."
Taken aback by the pure domesticity of the situation, and how much she liked it, Arizona leaned in to steal a decidedly more heated kiss than the one just seconds before. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Callie swatted Arizona's ass playfully. "Now go!"
o0o0o
"You know you don't have to do this for me every day, right? Cook for me? Not that I don't appreciate it, because that was seriously delicious, but I just don't want you to feel that – "
"Arizona. Stop. I wanted to cook for you. It calms me down, and to be honest, I needed some calming today."
Arizona's brow furrowed. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, yes, everything's fine. It was just one thing after another and I got absolutely no time to myself."
Arizona nodded in understanding, a little too much understanding.
"You sent them, didn't you?" Callie accused. "My dad, Bennet, your friends? You told them to come over."
"No! No, I didn't. Well, okay, I did. But just Teddy and Mark. I didn't know your dad and Bennet were coming over."
"Why? To babysit me?"
"No, of course not! I just thought it would be nice if you had some company. You don't know anyone, and they wanted to meet you, so I just – " Arizona trailed off apprehensively when she noticed she wasn't getting through to Callie.
"I'm a grown woman, Arizona. I can occupy myself."
"I was just trying to be thoughtful!"
"Well, just tell me next time! I have barely had a minute to myself today. Everywhere I turn, there's someone else making sure I'm okay or keeping me company or there when I'm trying to take a shower in peace."
Arizona cocked an eyebrow at that last one. "I don't seem to remember you complaining about my presence in the shower this morning."
"You know what I mean, Arizona. I just…what was the first thing you wanted to do when you got out of jail?"
"Take a shower, eat a hot meal, and…" Arizona paused when she understood Callie's point. "And get some much-needed alone time."
"Exactly! My whole life…my entire life," Callie started slowly, "I have been suffocated by other people. I grew up with overbearing parents. I went to college and lived with a bunch of girls in my dorm. I rebelled against my parents by moving to LA with Erica, only to find myself living in an overcrowded, filthy house. And then I went to jail where privacy is purposefully stripped from you. I had stopped entertaining the notion of being free to do what I want, whenever I want…to be my own person. I thought it would be different with you. I thought you'd understand."
"I do understand, Cal – "
Callie cut Arizona's apology short. "I think it would be best if I stayed in the guest room for a little while." Without letting Arizona protest, Callie got up from the table and grabbed some of her essentials from the bedroom, before heading towards the guest room. She stopped briefly on the way to place a chaste kiss on Arizona's lips to show that this would not mean a huge rift in their relationship.
o0o0o
Callie opened the door to their bedroom quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping blonde. She smiled at the sight of her girlfriend curled up on Callie's side of the bed, Callie's pillow firmly enclosed in her tight embrace.
At around 1:30am, which also signaled the fourth straight hour she had been unable to fall asleep, Callie realized that stalking off to the guest bedroom in a existential crisis-induced hissy fit would solve absolutely nothing. So here she was, sheepishly and quietly, creeping into bed with her girlfriend, hoping they would wake up in the morning, no questions asked.
Callie sighed softly as Arizona shifted and blearily rubbed at her eyes. "What time is it?" she mumbled in barely comprehensible English.
"It's about 2am. Go back to sleep," Callie soothed as she wrapped the smaller woman in her arms.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm sorry," Callie said simply.
"I'm sorry, too."
"You're not the problem, Arizona. I'm sorry for taking it out on you."
"What is the problem, then?"
"I just needed some time to myself today. I can take care of myself, you know? And it felt like you didn't believe that." Arizona shook her head slightly. "Also, Bennet told me that Erica fled the country. I took it harder than I thought, but I didn't have time to process it before the manwhore and the barbie showed up."
Arizona grinned slightly at the nicknames, before sobering up and stroking Callie's hair. "I'm so sorry about Erica." Callie smiled and pulled Arizona even closer to her, nuzzling the soft hairs on her neck.
"No more taking things out on you that aren't your fault," Callie promised, finally.
"No more babysitters."
"No more sulking in the guest room when things aren't perfect."
"No more shower interruptions."
Callie brought her head back to peer at Arizona's face to see if she was joking. She was not. Callie shook her head.
"No, no, I think those can stay."