Thank you so much for the reviews and for liking the way the story is going. This is a bit of a transition chapter to get to the holiday, but also demonstrates that they, Arizona in particular, have grown in their time apart. Anyway, I didn't go on too much about London...it's been so long since I've left the house I've kinda forgotten what it looks like. Hope everyone is staying safe :)

Callie looked up at the sound of the bathroom door unlocking and looked over at Arizona who was still fully clothed.

Walking over to the sofa, Arizona took a seat next to Callie before asking " Calliope…I know it's none of my business who you were with whilst we were apart…but you and Lauren have history right?"

Callie nodded "It only happened once, just as I was about to head back to Miami"

Arizona raised her eyebrows "well you clearly made an impression on her based on that performance tonight!"

"I'm sorry she was like that…I don't know what was going on there. She was out of order tonight Arizona"

"Hmm it wasn't fun to watch her run her hands over your back and whisper into your ear like she did, and I have no right to be jealous of something that happened when we weren't together, but I had to ask…. I just wanted to know it's in the past" Arizona admitted

Callie looked into Arizona's eyes "IT was just sex…once….nearly three years ago and we have never mentioned it since, that's why I was so surprised by her behaviour. I'm sorry Arizona, you didn't get to see Lauren how I wanted you to, she really is a nice person…normally!"

Arizona let out a little laugh "I'll take your word for it!"

Callie chuckled "I did think you might say something when she called you Ari!"

Arizona's eyes widened at the memory "Yeah that was a classic move from the 'test the new girlfriend' playbook she did there. Clever." Arizona paused before continuing " She likes you Callie."

"And I love you!" Callie said reassuringly "Seriously Arizona…you are the only person I want"

Arizona was still looked a little concerned "I trust you Callie, 100%...I just don't trust her!"

Callie pulled Arizona into her arms and hugged her "I'm meeting her for lunch tomorrow to discuss a new phase of research and I'll make it clear that she behaved like a bitch tonight and that I'm not interested in her that way."

Arizona pulled back and smiled softly at Callie, feeling a little embarrassed at how needy she was coming across.

"I'm pleased you told me how you were feeling Arizona." Callie added "I don't think we would have had this conversation first time round, and it makes me feel so much better that we can sit down, be honest with each other and how we feel"

"Me too Callie. I was ready to pretend to be tired, roll over and fall asleep when in reality I would have probably just laid there all night thinking up all the worst case scenarios involving you and Lauren.." Arizona confessed

"And now?" Callie asked hopefully

Arizona's eyes widened in a suggestive manner "Well now…." Arizona pulled Callie by her top towards her and planted her lips onto of the brunettes, opening them ever so slightly so that the tip of her tongue tantalisingly slipped inside Callie's mouth, "…all of a sudden I don't feel tired"

"Oh thank god for that…" Callie responded as she pushed her tongue into Arizona's. She wasn't in the mood for messing about.

The next morning they had woken up at 5am due to the jet leg and had decided to take an early morning walk along the river Thames. London was way prettier without all the people Arizona had commented to Callie as they took in the old and modern architecture.

Callie smiled "Hmmm I kinda like it…it's busy, but not like New York busy. You can find some cool, secret gardens and little squares dotted around the town where you can completely forget you are in a capital city, and I luurve the history. I mean look..."

Callie stopped walking and pointed down the river towards the ornate building on the other side of the river "Did you know that the House's of Parliament was built in 1840? Our country wasn't even founded then! And that was a rebuild Arizona…the original building from 1016 was destroyed in a fire! Isn't that mental?"

Arizona face burst into a big smile " When did you become a history buff?" She asked.

Callie blushed a little after her geek out " I dunno…I just spent a lot of time wondering around London whilst I was over a couple of years ago. I think I found comfort in that fact that it was so different to Miami."

"Well the weather is that's for sure" Arizona quipped. To be fair they had struck gold this visit, but Arizona had previously spent a couple of visits getting soaked and had returned home to Seattle with stinking colds.

"Ahhh the weather isn't THAT bad! I mean you live in Seattle, so you must be used to rain by now."

Arizona paused for a moment before asking "Could you live here?" I mean I know you did for a summer, but could you see yourself in London longer term?"

Callie turned to Arizona with a puzzled expression on her face…" I guess maybe…why do you ask?"

Arizona shrugged her shoulders, "Oh no reason" Arizona lied.

Actually there was a reason, but she wasn't sure whether to mention anything just yet. Whilst they had been out in the bar last night, Arizona had checked her phone whilst in the bathroom at the end of the night and had seen she had received an email from Dr Bob Walsh, Head of Peds at the hospital where the conference was taking place.

In his email he explained how much he had enjoyed her presentation with Dr Herman and asked if she might have time to meet for a coffee to discuss a role they had coming up. Arizona was excited to hear what the renowned Peds surgeon had to say as Great Ormond Street was one of the most famous children's hospital's in the world, but when she had returned to the her attention was directed at the redheads hand on the back of her girlfriends back.

Listening to Callie talk so enthusiastically about London warmed Arizona's heart, and she could see how after refreshingly different it must have felt compared to Miami after everything she had been through.

"Actually…" Arizona decided to come clean " There is a reason…well there might be a reason…I..I'm not sure, but the head of peds at GOSH wants to meet me for a coffee today "

"Really?"

"Yeah he came to my session yesterday and wants to talk about a possible position"

"Arizona…that's so exciting "Callie beamed at the blonde

"Yeah I guess it is…I mean it might just be coffee, but he is a bit of a god in the Peds world"

Callie pulled Arizona into her arms for a kiss "You are a peds god in your own right Arizona Robbins and don't you forget it."

Arizona kissed Callie back "Thanks babe…How about you take this peds god back to bed for an hour"

Callie grinned like a Cheshire cat at Arizona's suggestion.

Callie was daydreaming about Arizona and the hot sex they had had once back at the hotel. The one benefit of a long distance relationship was that when they did see each other, they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

"Penny for them?" Callie's though were interrupted as she looked up and saw Lauren standing over her table. Hmmm nothing that I'm telling you Callie thought to herself.

Callie stood up and accepted Laurens hug and kiss on the cheek which was a little longer than normal.

"It's good to see you Cal. " Lauren finally said as released Callie from your hug and took a seat opposite the American.

Callie smiled, she wasn't going to allow Lauren to start down that road again. "Yeah it's really nice to see everyone again" Callie took a sip of her coffee "So tell me, how has the research been going?"

The two oncologists chatted about the research that Callie had been involved in whilst she spent the summer in London and how Lauren was hopeful that they would get more funding to take things to a third stage of trials. "Any chance we might be able to tempt you back over to help out if it gets approved?"

Callie smiled "I don't know Lauren….things have changed….I'm with Arizona now. We've just got back together and I'm not going to just leave America and come over here. .."

"Yeah that all seems to have happened pretty quickly!" Lauren interrupted "I mean the last I heard you were married to a guy and then you're not and now you're with this woman".

Callie felt her skin prickle at Lauren's words "Lauren…please show some respect. Her name is Arizona and she hasn't done anything to you, so I don't get where all this is coming from" Callie called out the Irish doctors behaviour.

"I'm sorry." Lauren smiled "She seems sweet"

Another dig Callie thought.

"Yeah don't be fooled by that….she was raised by a Marine Colonel and is tough as anything"

Lauren gave a weak smile "Look Callie, I mean I'm happy for you if Arizona is what you want, but this opportunity could seriously open doors for you. Our first two trials had some really positive results and we have to have the best people on board for round three which is why I want you."

Lauren paused "For the trial….I mean don't get me wrong….I had hoped that we might have been able to maybe pick up where things were left, but I guess that's no longer an option?"

"No. No it's not Lauren". Callie said firmly "You and I was a one off and I have so much respect for you, but I love Arizona and as exciting as the opportunity is, I'm not going anywhere without her."

Lauren looked like she was finally throwing in the towel "OK Torres….I get the message…your heart belongs to someone else….but if you just fancy a quick shag for old times sake!" Lauren winked and Callie laughed as she saw that it Lauren's way of acknowledging that the battle had been lost.

Callie made her way back to the hotel after lunch and thought about Lauren's offer – the job one, not the shag one! She had to admit that if the offer had come 5 months earlier she would have jumped at the chance to get away from Joe and all the problems at home. Sure it was running away, but it had really helped her before, putting some distance in her life was also good for the soul, but now there was Arizona.

Lauren was right about the work being good for her career, it would certainly open doors and would maybe enable Callie to secure funding for her own research project which combined her previous speciality of ortho with oncology.

Distracted by her phone buzzing, it was Arizona letting her know that the she was going for a quick drink with Dr Herman but that she would be back at the hotel in an hour. Callie decided to head down to Old Compton Street to do a little bit of shopping before they started their holiday properly tomorrow with a night in Paris before a flight to Seville.

Callie was so excited for their trip. No work, no pressure for three weeks, she couldn't wait. It had been years since Callie had had a decent break and her batteries needed recharging. As she walked up and down the

The coffee with Dr Walsh turned into pretty much a job pitch. Arizona had been given a tour of the facilities, introduced to a number of people and had complements thrown her way. They wanted her to come and set up a brand new foetal medicine training centre which would have an intake of 15 top class ped surgeons around the world come and study the programme. It was being jointly funded between Great Ormond Street and John Hopkins and she would have to travel back to the states occasionally. Dr Herman and Dr Walsh had studied together years ago and Arizona was touched to hear that it was Dr Herman who had recommended her for the position.

She was flattered and very tempted. With UCLH keen to recruit Callie back onto their cancer trials, London would provide them both with the opportunity to develop their careers and be together, but London also worried her. Arizona told Dr Herman about the job offer over a glass of wine and Herman had told Arizona she would be a fool not to accept it. Grabbing her phone she sent Callie a text letting her know she would meet her straight at the restaurant they had booked for their last night in London, there was something she needed to do first.

Arizona waited in the reception of the hospital and after around 5 minutes Lauren entered the area in a lab coat and headed over to where the blonde was waiting "Arizona! I'm sorry I kept you waiting" She gave the blonde a peck on the cheek

Arizona smiled not completely believing that she was sorry at all.

"Everything OK? Is Callie OK?"

"Yes all fine…I'm sorry to interrupt you at work, but…I was wondering if there was somewhere we can go to talk?"

Lauren looked surprised at the request, checked her watch she added "Sure. I'm actually finishing up for the day, can you give me 5 mins and we can pop across the road to the pub".

Arizona was pleased she had suggested a pub as she could use a little bit of alcohol for dutch courage. "Sure" Arizona replied looking out the window at the pub opposite "I'll head over now and get the drinks in. See you in 5".

10 minutes later and a stunning looking Lauren walked through the pub door, attracting more than one or two glances from the other customers. Her hair was down and flowed over the back of her black blouse which was loosely tucked into black skinny jeans. She had Arizona noted applied some make up to complete the 'just left the lab after another day working to find a cure for cancer' look.

Smiling as she joined Arizona at a table "Cheers" she said as she clinked the wine glass against Arizona's before taking a large swig. "So, what's up?"

Arizona placed her wine glass down and looked directly at the Irish doctor "You!" Arizona said firmly.

Lauren raised her eyebrows at the blonde who wasn't messing around "Ooookay!" She replied with a smile on her face "Callie wasn't wrong when she said that I shouldn't be fooled by the look"

Arizona didn't know what she meant, but she continued "Lauren, I know you and Callie have history, but I'm here to ask you to back away…I…."

Lauren reached over and place her hand on Arizona's to stop her "Arizona…it's OK….I get it…" She said taking another swig of wine "Callie put me straight today. Look I'm sorry about my flirting last night…I was a bit of a dick…..I think I was just a little over excited at seeing Callie again and I don't know…maybe I got a little competitive….anyway, the point is…..I understand the position and I am sorry that I came off the way I did."

Lauren paused before continuing

"Callie and I slept together once and that was it, it was never near what you two had…have now. I respect Callie as a doctor and like her as person….and yeah I think she's hot" Arizona skin prickled at the confession "…but I'm not an idiot…I get she loves you and that she only sees me as friend…and honestly Arizona….I respect that…and and I know you might not believe me from what you've seen so far, but I respect you and I'd like you show you that actually I'm not a bad person…"

Arizona smiled took a swig of wine " Thanks Lauren….I mean she is super hot, so I guess I can't blame you for trying" the two doctors laughed and Lauren appreciated Arizona's olive branch.

"Seriously though… I'm not stupid…I know when to throw in the towel… and I promise you, you have nothing to worry about moving forward" Lauren added much to Arizona's relief.

"Thanks Lauren. Sorry for coming over all 'get your hands off my woman', but I needed to know that things are cool here…between us…between the three of us.

"I'm cool if you are….I'd like us to be friends…especially as I hear from Callie that there might be a chance of you working over here?"

Arizona filled Lauren in on her meeting at Great Ormond Street and Lauren talked excitedly about how cool it would to have them both here and Callie back on the project. As Lauren talked about Callie, she constantly gave reassuring looks to make sure Arizona understood that she was talking about it from a professional basis. Arizona appreciated that and started to see why Callie liked the woman.

Next stop gay Paree.