Thanks for any recent reviews I've received. To Calzonafan123, the reason I've had Arizona hold back is because in my mind, I don't imagine there is a huge difference between attempted and actual assault. People react differently, and I don't want to rush her and suddenly she's better. Thanks for your review.


Chapter 29:


It had been a long day, and as Callie walked through the streets of Seattle, autumn leaves gathering at her feet, she figured she would shop around for a gift for Arizona. Checking the time, it was a little after 3pm, and although she was desperate to get home to her fiancé, another hour wouldn't do any harm. Stepping inside the store of her choice, she browsed the many glass cases housing some of the most beautiful jewellery she had seen in a long time. I could buy this entire store. Tanned fingers running along a softly lit case, she instantly made her choice. It was the perfect piece, for the perfect woman.

Having paid for her item, the brunette left the store and made her way back up the street to their home. A drizzle now falling down onto the grey concrete beneath her, she quickened her pace, and as she turned the corner that would lead her to her fiancé, she hit the ground, face first. "Fuck!"

Lifting her head, she felt the blood trickle down from her nose, and as she got to her feet, the pulsating pain from her lip was evident. Shit, that hurts. Placing her hand just beneath her chin, she crossed the street, and hurried home. Damn wet leaves. Knocking loudly, she called out Arizona's name and waited for her answer.

Hearing the footsteps from behind the door, she shifted awkwardly on her feet. "Baby, I need you to move a little quicker." Feeling the pain continuously rush through her face, she tried her best not to cry, knowing it would only increase said pain. Watching as the door opened, she closed her eyes. "Help."

"Shit, Calliope, what happened?" the blonde rushed out onto the porch and helped her fiancé inside. "Callie, who did this?"

Muffled sounds came from behind the hand that was stopping her blood from dripping throughout the living room. "Me. I fell."

"Oh, Callie." Arizona had a worried look on her face. "I think we need to get you to the hospital."

The swelling becoming more evident by the minute, Callie groaned. "Do I have black eyes?"

Taking a closer look, Arizona gave her fiancé a sad smile. "You will do soon. The bruising is getting worse, and fast."

"I just need to clean up a little before we go." the brunette rushed to the kitchen sink. "I'll just be a minute." The pain now searing through her face as she washed away the blood. "It won't stop, Arizona. The bleeding won't stop."

Rushing down the hallway, the blonde reappeared with a white fluffy hand towel. "Here, put this on it."

"Baby, I'm not using that. It will ruin."

Sighing, the other woman gave her a smile. "Calliope, it's just a towel. We can buy more. Now put it on your face, we have to go."

"Okay."

Leading them both out of the house, Arizona's heart broke for the pain her fiancé was in. She had clearly broken her nose, and as she helped her into her car, she watched her close her eyes with the pain. "We will be there soon. Just hang on a few more minutes, yeah?"

Gaining a slight nod from the brunette, Arizona rushed around to the driver side and put the car in reverse. Thankfully the traffic was light right now, and ten minutes later, they were pulling into the parking lot.


Later that night, the women found themselves snuggled up on the couch, and waiting for their favourite show to start. Turning to face her fiancé, Arizona gave her a sad smile. "You are still very very beautiful, Calliope." Arizona's suspicions had been confirmed on arrival at the hospital. The brunette had broken her nose, but luckily, it hadn't required surgery.

Unable to even move her head because of the pain, Callie continued to stare at the TV. "Yeah right. Have you seen the state of my face?"

"I have, and it is beautiful."

"You're just saying that because you think you have to." the brunette tried to force a smile. "Ow!"

"Don't do that. You will make it worse." Arizona placed her hand over Callie's. "It's okay, you will be better before you kno-"

Hearing Callie's cell buzz, Arizona glanced around to find it. Making her way into the kitchen, she picked it up from the kitchen counter and furrowed her brow. "Baby, it's an unknown number. Want me to get it for you?"

"Please."

"Hello? Callie's phone." Arizona listened as a guys voice sounded out through the earpiece. "Yes just one moment."

"Callie, it's some guy asking to speak to you." the blonde handed her fiancé her cell.

"Hello, Callie Torres."

"Miss Torres. This is Darryl Jacobsen. I'm with Gold records."

"Um, okay?"

"We caught your gig at Glastonbury and we loved it. Someone has been watching you down at the local Seattle bar you are currently working at and we would love for you to come down to LA and record some music for us."

"You mean like a record deal?"

"That is exactly what we mean, Miss Torres."

"Please, Call me Callie."

"Okay, Callie. We hope you will take up our offer. Of course we will wait while you take some time to think about it, but we would love for you to get in touch soon."

"O-Okay, thank you, um, Darryl."

"Goodbye, Callie."

Arizona's eyes widened as her fiancé hit the end call button. Did she hear correctly? Was her fiancé just offered a record deal? Shaking her head and allowing a dimpled smile to appear on her face, she fixed her stare on the brunette. "Did you just, um, did you just get signed, Calliope?"

"I-I don't know. I, uh, he said to think about it."

"Um, what exactly is there to think about? I mean, seriously, why would you even have to think about it?" the blonde was barely controlling her excitement.

"I don't know. I just think it's something I should think about. Something we should think about." the brunette gestured between their bodies.

"This is your decision, Cal. Whatever you decide, I will be behind you. I mean, you will be huge. My fiancé will be famous."

"But I want us to work. I want us to be perfect before I even think about running off to LA. My life is here with you." Callie sighed. She had never imagined her reaction to be anything like this, but she had a life now, and she had a home with Arizona. It was no longer so simple to just up and leave. "My life is here with you."

"I know it is, but Callie, you cannot turn this down. I won't allow you to." the blonde shook her head. "We will work things out. It will be fine. I promise."

"I don't know, Arizona. I, um, I think my meds are kicking in so I'm going to go lay down for a little while." Callie stood and after steadying herself, slowly shuffled down the hallway and into the bedroom, the door closing tight behind her.

Arizona sat with a confused look on her face. Why doesn't she want to do this? Yes, she loved Callie and wanted her to be in Seattle every hour of the day, but with her job, it wasn't likely to happen. Even Arizona's job couldn't ensure she would be around all the time. She understood that the brunette had to think about it, but she didn't expect her to cut the conversation short and head off to the bedroom to pout. Deciding to give her a little time, Arizona sat back and flicked through the TV channels. She would mention the life changing news to her fiancé later that night.


Two hours later, Callie came strolling down the hallway, and as she caught sight of her fiancé laughing at a game show on TV, she smiled. How can go off to LA and leave this woman behind? Stepping into the kitchen, she cleared her throat. "I want to do it, it's something I've always dreamed of, but right now isn't the best time."

Startled out of her laugh, Arizona turned to find Callie staring at her from the other side of the room.

"I never imagined that I would be in this situation. I never thought I'd find love again, but I did. I did, with you, and you are the most important thing in my life. So, although I want to do it, I won't. I cannot be away from you for weeks at a time. I know you can probably come out and stay with me whenever you aren't working, but that isn't good enough for me right now. I need to be around you, and hold you, and tell you how much I love you…but not on the other end of a call. We have plans. We have a wedding to plan, and a house to buy, and cars to buy, and the potential of one day starting a family, so no, I won't do it. I don't want to lose anymore time with you, Arizona. I'm sorry."

Pulling herself up to her feet, the blonde closed the distance between them. Wrapping her arms around a tanned waist, she smiled. "Baby, don't get upset. Your face looks a little sore right now." Running her thumb along the graze on the brunettes chin, she sighed. "Callie, I'm not going anywhere. Wherever you end up, I will be here, at home, our home, waiting for you. Please do this. Do you know how many people would kill to be in your situation? It's potentially a once in a lifetime thing, and I'm begging you not to give this up. Your music is your life, Calliope."

"No it's not. It used to be. It used to be my life, until you came into it. I would stop it all tomorrow if I had to choose between my music and you."

"But you don't have to choose. I'm not asking you to choose between us. I'm asking you to do this, and I will still be here. I'll speak to Miranda, see if I can get extra time away with you when I don't have any shoots booked. It will work. Please don't give this up."

Shrugging her shoulders, Callie winced at the pain. Her whole body bow aching from its meeting with the cold wet concrete earlier in the day. "I don't know."

"At least call him back and ask him when he needs you there for, and if he has any idea how long you will be away. There's no harm in enquiring, right?"

"I guess not." Brown eyes dropped their gaze to the floor. "Are you sure about this, Arizona?"

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life, Calliope."

Removing her arms from the brunettes waist, Arizona handed her cell phone to her, and nodded for her to make the call. She appreciated the fact that Callie didn't want to ruin what they had, and she knew that neither of them would allow that to happen. She also knew that she couldn't live with herself if her fiancé, who had one of the most amazing voices she had ever heard, turned down the biggest opportunity of her life, and her career, for her. It wasn't what she wanted, and she wouldn't allow it to happen. She was proud of Callie, and if she could prove that to her, she felt that now was her chance. Stepping away from the brunette, she allowed her to speak in private, and made her way back to the couch.

"Hi, Darryl. Callie Torres here."

"Hey,Callie. We hoped you would call. So have you thought anymore about our offer?"

"Um, kind of. When would you need me in LA?"

"By the end of the week. We would need to have you sign a significant amount of paperwork and then we would get the ball rolling with your recordings and track list."

"Oh. That soon?"

"Yes, that soon. Once you have recorded your tracks and we all agree that they are ready to be put onto a disc, you will have a month or so before you go out on tour. We are thinking a six month tour around the US first, and if it's successful, we would like to take it over to Europe."

"Um, tour? You never mentioned any tour earlier." Callie felt her heart beginning to sink into her stomach.

"You would sell out, we know it. Do you realise how popular you are right now?"

"Well, no actually, I didn't."

"Callie, the bars you gig in are dangerously close to being shut down for health and safety issues. That's how packed out they are. We know, we have been watching you for quite some time."

"You have? Why didn't you introduce yourselves?"

"That's not how we work. We had to be sure you could bring in the money, and we know, without a doubt that you can. So what do you say?"

"I, um, I guess I should start packing and taking care of things in Seattle. I must warn you though, I fell earlier today and broke my nose, so I'm not looking too great right now."

"Don't worry about that. There won't be any promotional work for a while yet. Your face will be healed, and our make up artist will have you looking awesome. We will arrange a flight for you for the end of the week. Any preference as to whether it is a day or night flight?"

"Um, night if possible. I want to leave flying out until as late as possible."

"No problem. I'll be in touch with your flight details once we have it all booked. Take care, Callie. Goodbye."

"Yeah, bye."

Staring at the now darkened screen of her cell, Callie felt like she had been hit by a truck. Arizona had agreed to a record deal, but would the tour be a little too much for her? Only one way to find out. Moving into the living room, the brunette took a seat beside her fiancé. "They, um, they want me there by the end of the week."

"That's great. Wait, did you tell them about your face? I mean, it's still beautiful to me, but they might not think so." the blonde laughed.

"Yeah, they know. They said it wouldn't be a problem. No promotional work at first, so I'll be fine. They, uh, they said I'd be going on tour."

"That's amazing, Calliope. I cannot believe you are going to be famous. Well, I can, but I cannot believe you are going to be famous, and mine." taking the brunettes hand in her own, Arizona tried to reassure her fiancé. "You are going to be awesome. I'm so excited for you."

"Well, at least someone is." Callie shrugged as she sat back in her seat.


Three days later, Callie found herself sitting in the back yard, guitar resting on her knee. In a few hours, she would be leaving for the airport, and she wasn't sure how long she would be gone for. Each day that passed, killed her a little inside. She didn't want to leave Arizona behind, not with everything that was going on in the blondes life. She wanted to be there for her, but after having another conversation about the decision they had made together, the brunette quickly realised she was fighting a losing battle. Arizona would not let her refuse the offer.

Three hours. Three hours and I'll be leaving her behind. As the tears began to fall, Callie picked up her guitar. She had chosen to sit out here while her fiancé showered, knowing it would give her a little time and space to think. Closing her eyes, she let the tears gather around her jawline as she tugged at the strings of her guitar.

When the rain is blowing in your face

And the whole world is on your case

I could offer you a warm embrace

To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear

And there is no one there to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love

Feeling the presence of her fiancé behind her, the brunette chose not to turn around. Turning around would mean she wasn't leaving. Turning around would mean she would rush inside and lock the front door. Turning around meant she would have to see the beautiful woman standing behind her, and right now, if she was really leaving, turning around was something she couldn't bring herself to do.

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

But I would never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

no doubt in my mind were you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue

I'd go crawling down the avenue

No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do

To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rolling sea

And on the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowing wild and free

You ain't seen nothing like me yet

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders as Callie's voice broke. The thought of leaving Arizona behind was too much, and although she wanted to wrap her up in her arms and never let her go, she couldn't. It was too hard. This was the reason why she quit her last tour. Wanting to be with the blonde was more important than any record deal or tour, and if Arizona would only say the words right now, she would quit again, in a heartbeat. Sure, she was looking forward to recording her music and sharing it with the world, but none of it mattered if Arizona wasn't beside her.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the Earth for you

To make you feel my love

To make you feel my love

Placing her guitar down, she held on tightly to the arms wrapped around her. Feeling the soft skin beneath her fingertips caused a flood of emotions to course through the brunettes body, and as she turned around in her seat, the most beautiful dimpled smile appeared before her. "That was beautiful, Calliope."

"I don't want to leave you, Arizona. I really don't." Callie broke down.

"I know you don't, but I'm going to get finished up in the office as soon as possible and then I will fly out to meet you. I promise."

"How long will that be?" brown eyes pleaded with the woman in front of them.

"A week, tops. If I can get out any sooner, I will book the first available flight. I don't want you to leave either, Cal. I don't want you to, but this is going to be amazing. You will be awesome and then once your tour is finished, we will plan our wedding."

"We will?" the brunette tried to flash her million dollar smile. "Ow!"

"Yes. Please be careful of your face." Arizona nodded. "Now, i'd like to take you to dinner before you have to be at the airport."

"Sounds good. When you get home, I need you to start packing though. Just incase you finish up in work sooner than you thought. Then you don't have to waste any time packing and rushing around." Callie rambled on as she collected her guitar and placed it back in its case. "I mean, if you have everything ready, its less hassle for you. Don't you think?"

"Callie, stop rambling. You are very cute when you ramble, but please, stop." Arizona pulled the other woman inside and closed the back door. "I will be there before you know it."

"I'm going to miss you." the brunette sighed as she made her way through into the living room. Turning to face her fiancé she gave her a sad smile. "I'm going to miss you, and I can't even kiss you goodbye because it's too freaking painful."

"Oh, baby. I know. Let me see it?" bringing her hand up to Callie's face, Arizona placed her hand on the side of her cheek. Feeling her fiancé lean into her touch, she smiled. "It's looking better. Still a lot of bruising, but it looks like it's healing well."

"I don't care how well it is or isn't healing, Arizona. I just want to kiss you goodbye." Callie crossed her arms on her chest and scolded the blonde. "It's not fair."

"Okay, now you sound like a freaking child. Chin up, baby. You will be great before you know it, and then, maybe i'll let you kiss me all you want." Arizona shrugged as she picked up her jacket and purse. "Come on, time is running out and I want to have dinner with you before you leave."

Grabbing her luggage, the brunette stepped out onto the porch and sighed. Putting her belongings in the trunk of her fiancés car, she moved around to the side and slipped in. Knowing that this dinner was going to be the last she would be seeing of Arizona for at least a week, she wanted it to be as nice as possible. Yes, the blonde had promised her she would be there within a week, but they both knew what her schedule could be like, and neither of them knew what the next day would hold. Linking their fingers together on the console, Callie rubbed circles on the back of the blondes hand, silently hoping and praying to whatever god was listening that Arizona wouldn't get caught up at work for longer than expected.


Thanks for reading, guys. Keep the reviews coming. Take care.

Song was 'Make You Feel My Love' by Adele.