Title: The Brief Time That It Lasts
Author: worldwnomirrors
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: NC17

Summary: AU: Callie gets to know Arizona only to learn that she has a very destructive behavior. Can she help Arizona, can she even get her to open up, or will she have to stand by and watch as Arizona's pain slowly destroys her? And if she can't bare to stand by and watch, what are Callie's other options?

CONTENT WARNING: This story contains, deals with and/or mentions sex, self destructive behavior and suicide.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.

AN: I found writing an epilogue quite hard. Especially the very last line, it's just hard to know what fits, how to completely end something in a good way. I hope it's okay though and that all of you reading this will be happy with this ending. Thank you SO much to all of you who have been reading this story and especially to those of you who spared time to leave comments. It has been great to post this story and to read all of your responses to it, it's made me so so happy. I do have more stuff up my sleeve and I hope you guys will like to read other fics from me in the future because this has been great!
Also, I would like to especially thank bianca_jc for a great and very interesting talk and for letting me put something that she said in this last chapter.

Epilogue

-Callie-

"Okay, what about this one?"

Arizona turned to look over to where I was pointing. "Yeah, sure, it looks good," she said.

"Arizona!" I complained. Where was the enthusiasm? "That's all you say to any of my suggestions. Besides, you need to lie down in it before you know if it's a good bed or not."

"Well, you're buying it, not me," she pointed out. "You should just get the one you want."

"I know that but it's not like I'm sleeping in my bed a lot more than you are. Come on, let's try this one." I grabbed Arizona by her arm and pulled her with me to plop down onto the king size bed.

"True, but it's still your bed," she persisted.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Well, yes," I said. "The one currently in my bed room is mine."

Arizona looked over at me with a frown.

"So, what about this one?" I persisted. "It's comfy right?" I bounced my ass a little up and down. "It's soft. Do you like soft?"

She turned over so she was on her side, narrowing her eyes at me and giving me a sly grin. "Well, miss Torres, that depends," she whispered. Her voice was low. Seductively low, in that way. "In what situation are we talking about here?" She ran her fingers slowly up my arm, only to make a point, because I was wearing my jacket so I didn't feel much of the touch.

I decided to play dumb. "Um, the bed. The bed situation."

Arizona pouted in fake disappointment. "You're no fun."

"Oh I'm plenty fun, you're no fun. Now show me some bed picking enthusiasm."

She only stared at me and then a smile tugged at the corners of her lips again.

"Does that mean you like this one?" I asked.

She just stared at me and her lips finally formed a bright smile.

"You know," I said, "you're cute and I love you and everything but I'm really trying to pick a bed here babe."

Arizona sighed, but not in annoyance or mock, more in defeat. "Okay, well, I do like soft. Soft beds, I like soft beds," she clarified. "And this one's kind of bouncy too," she added as she moved her hips a little up and down.

"Bouncy is good?" I asked, really needing her to like the bed too.

Nodding, she said, "Bouncy is good. So if you get this one, does it mean I can hop on it?"

"Oh, so that's why bouncy is good, huh?"

She sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth and grinned as she nodded again.

"Goof," I said as I chuckled at the adorableness that was Arizona before I got out of the bed. "Come on, let's try another one."

"But I like this one," she whined.

"Oh, so now you want to have a say?"

"You wanted me to have a say and now I'm having a say. Stop complaining."

"I'm not complaining."

"Well, okay, but really Calliope, I'm serious, I do like this one," she said, really meaning it. "Not just because it's bouncy. It's soft, you kind of sink into it comfortably without it being too soft. I like it compared to the other ones we've tried."

I sat on said bed next to Arizona who was still lying down on her side, her head propped up on her hand. "Yeah?" I asked. "You really like it? 'Cause I kind of like it too. I just wanted you to help me decide."

"Yeah, I really like it. But Callie, it's still your bed, and-"

"The one currently in my bed room is mine, yes, but-"

"And I don't really care what bed you have as long as it's big enough that I can sleep in it with you," she continued as if I hadn't said anything.

Wow, it's so much fun talking at the same time as someone else.

"What if I want you sleeping in it every night?" I scooted closer to her.

"Callie, I pretty much already sleep in your bed every night unless you sleep in mine."

Oh god, she was so not getting the hint.

I sighed softly but smiled at her as I took her hand. "What if said I never wanted to sleep in your bed, or in my bed, but in our bed? What if I told you I want this bed to be our bed?" I looked deeply into Arizona's eyes, but now she only looked confused, and I was starting to feel nervous. "You're really going to make me spell it out for you, aren't you?" I figured she must have known what I was getting at, but probably just didn't dare to believe it, so she needed me to say it.

She nodded and gave me an apologetic smile.

"Arizona..." I took her hands and pulled her up into a sitting position. Still holding her hands, I looked into her eyes, my heart beating wildly in my chest. "It's almost been a year since I first met you, and we've come such a long way together since then, as a couple and as individuals. We keep moving forward and that's great," I said. Arizona looked a little worried now so I smiled at her and squeezed her hands and decided I should just spill already. "What I'm trying to say is I want to keep moving forward with you, every day. And we're here in this store because I want to buy us a bed, for a new home, a place that will be our home. Yours and mine."

As Arizona realized what I was actually saying, she brought a hand up to cover her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. "Really?" she choked out.

I nodded. "If you want to, I want us to move in together."

She smiled brightly through tears of joy and then she launched forward, hugging me tight. "Yes," she said, "yes, yes, I want to."

I looped my arms around her body, smiling ridiculously. "I was hoping you'd say that," I whispered.

She pulled away only to take my face in her hands and kiss me. "We don't have to move," she said. "I mean we could live in your apartment if you want, we don't have to get a new one, because you know, I'll be happy anywhere with you."

I smiled and kissed her. "I feel the same way but I really would like to get a new place. One that we choose together, decorate together, furnish together... I want it to really be our place."

Arizona hadn't stopped smiling and it only kept getting wider and brighter. "I think that could work," she concluded, giggling. "I could be okay with that."

We kissed again.

"I love you so much," she said.

"I love you too."

"So this is our bed."

"For our new place."

Four Months Later

-Arizona-

"Sweetheart, where do you want this?" Carlos asked as he and my mother carried a shelf into the apartment.

"Um, I'm not sure, probably the living room. But just put it in here for now," I answered and motioned for them to place it in a corner of the hall.

"Okay, I think that was it," Lucia said as she came up the stairs with two boxes. "Callie's on her way up with the last bags."

"Okay, great!" I said. I was so excited about moving in here. The apartment had a bedroom, a living room, a big kitchen that had just been refurbished, a small balcony, a bright bathroom with a tub, and a walk-in closet. It had as many rooms as my old apartment (aside from the walk-in closet), but they were all bigger in this place. It was in a nice neighborhood, further from the university than Callie's old apartment but closer to my job, which was good since I started at six in the morning some days.

I was over the moon about moving in with Callie and even though we had different taste when it came to furniture and decorating in general, I was sure we would be okay. After all, to me, the most important thing was that we were together. We could have someone else decorate the place for all I cared, as long as we would be living there together.

"So, anyone up for pizza?" Callie asked as she came up the stairs and dropped the bags just inside the door. She looked over at me and smiled brightly. "Arizona and I are buying."

"Oh nonsense," my dad protested. "I won't let you pay for our pizzas."

"I agree with the colonel," Carlos said. "You girls really don't need to pay."

"No, dad," Callie protested. "We're so grateful you guys wanted to help, let us do this, I mean it's the least we can do, really."

"Yes," I agreed. "This isn't up for discussion. Callie and I are paying and that's that."

Carlos looked incredulously between me and Callie. "Fine. But don't expect to be getting used to it."

"I know dad," Callie sighed, "we won't." She looked at me and smiled that gorgeous, delicious smile again. I was pretty sure she was as happy as I was – the smile gave her away. She wouldn't stop looking at me and I found myself lost in her eyes for a moment. I cursed our parents for being in the room as I wanted nothing more than to jump my girlfriend and kiss her breathless.

Probably also rip off her clothes, throw her into bed and make her squirm and writhe with pleasure underneath me.

Yep, that too.

Biting my lip, I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to think about something else.

"So, what pizzas do y'all want?"

Callie took everyone's orders and told our parents to get comfortable in the living room while I started getting plates, utensils and glasses out of boxes. Not that the living room was too inviting that day, there were boxes piled up along the walls and other than that it was just two couches and the coffee table in there. But it would do for now.

I was comfortable, even almost happy, leaving mine and Callie's parents alone together because so far they seemed to be getting along great.

Not wanting to be distracted by our parents talking, Callie made the call in the bedroom and I took the opportunity to get some alone time with her. When I walked in there she was already talking but she smirked at me and held out her free arm as she walked towards me. I hugged her and closed my eyes as I tucked my face into her neck underneath her chin and she draped an arm loosely around my back.

I smiled into her warm, soft skin and I could feel her chest vibrating as she spoke. Content, I sighed and started kissing along her neck, then her chest, and simultaneously, her arm tightened around me.

Hanging up the phone, Callie tucked it into her pocket and wrapped her other arm around me.

"I'm so happy," I whispered.

She giggled softly into my hair, and I could feel the warmth of her breath on my scalp. "Me too," she said. "Miss you though."

"We've spent all day together," I pointed out, but smiled slyly, knowing what she meant.

"We've spent all day with our parents," she corrected. "I've missed this." She hugged me tighter. "And this." She pulled away only enough so she could press her lips to mine in a soft, lingering kiss.

"Mm," I moaned silently in appreciation and rested my forehead against Callie's, my eyes closed. "Okay. Yeah. Same here."

"I could do it in front of them but they'd just be embarrassed, so I thought I'd spare them that," she said. "Don't know how much longer I can take it though."

I opened my eyes to find her looking back at me with a penetrating gaze. "When they leave, we can celebrate having a new place, our place. You can do whatever you want with me. You know, will you? Please?"

"Oh absolutely miss Robbins," she whispered, her voice low. "No holding back then." She winked and then gave me a quick kiss. "I think we better get back to them or they will start wondering where we are. Did you find the plates and stuff?"

"Yeah, I just didn't get it out of the box yet. My discipline, you know. I accidentally started thinking about something more interesting than food," I said and sucked Callie's bottom lip in between mine.

"Does that mean you want to eat me?" she asked in a low whisper close to my ear.

"Hey, none of that now," I said and smacked her gently on the ass. "Behave. If you don't behave, I won't be able to behave and then that's on you."

Callie pouted and gave me her best puppy eyes.

"Behave!" I ordered.

"Fine," she gave in.

"Now come on," I said as I took her hand and started walking out of the bedroom, "let's get back to the old folks."

"Oh danger," Callie warned and shook her head at me, "danger. Do not call my dad old when he can hear you."

"Oh, oh. Okay." I nodded. "Got it."

Callie helped me get the plates, glasses and utensils out of the box and then we went back to the living room to join our parents.

We ate our pizzas while talking and laughing and I felt so happy and content. Occasionally Callie and I would exchange knowing looks, silently communicating the love we felt not only for each other but for our parents, the new apartment and our – our – life.

It was a good life. I didn't know how I could ever express how completely ecstatic I was about what my every day would look like now that we had moved in together. Not that it was that different from before since I almost always slept over at Callie's, but this was definite. Every day I would come home to her. Every night I would sleep next to her. We would go grocery shopping together – I know, silly, right? But it was a little thing that somehow felt so important and meaningful. Making decisions together, planning our time together...

But Callie wasn't my only source of happiness, I was also happy as a person, as a human being. I had come to terms with myself, with who I was and I wasn't blaming myself for Timothy's death anymore. A lot of that had to do with therapy, but also with the close contact to my parents. I had made up with my them, I was finally strong and brave enough to grieve my brother on my own as well as with them. I felt like everything was finally better. Even though it was only during two years that my life was a complete mess and I was in an enormous amount of pain, it had felt like an eternity and during that time I had barely remembered what life used to be like before Timothy had died.

Something else that I had come to realize by dealing with the grief of losing Tim was that the pain, it never goes away. The pain of losing my brother never went away. It just got bearable and I learned to deal with it, but never did it go away. Talking about him became easier, I could reminisce with my parents without completely breaking down. But thinking about him always brought on some sadness or pain and I knew that that would never stop. All I could do was accept it and eventually learn be okay with those feelings.

Even though I had been in therapy for months and I was a lot better, I still kept going to my sessions. I didn't actually think I would fall back into my old pattern of destructive behavior, especially as long as I had Callie, but it was still something that occasionally would scare me because I never wanted to go back to that place.

Now, Callie was sitting in one couch with her parents and I was sitting in the other with mine. After everyone had finished eating and we were just talking and drinking, as Callie and I made eye contact she leaned back in the couch, held out her arms towards me and mouthed, "Come here."

I smiled and narrowed my eyes playfully at her, but couldn't resist getting up and walking over to her to melt into her warm embrace. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and sat down in front of her, her legs on either side of me and her arms coming to wrap around my waist and pulling me close, my back to her front.

I turned my head and pressed my forehead into her cheek. "Couldn't take it any longer?" I teased under my breath so our parents couldn't hear.

I felt Callie's lips tug into a smile. "I could, just didn't want to."

Even after all this time, being close to her still made my body tingle in every place that was in contact with hers, causing me to get lost in the sensation. I could hear our parents talking, but I didn't know about what. I smiled and closed my eyes as I felt Callie's lips softly press into my temple and her arms tightening around my waist.

We didn't say anything more. Callie's fingers splayed out over my stomach and her breath was hot on my neck, causing me to involuntarily moan. My eyes shot open and I looked from my parents to Callie's, but fortunately it seemed like they hadn't noticed.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I swallowed hard and then sat up straighter and looked back at Callie. "I'll just put the pizza boxes in the trash and the utensils and plates in the dish washer," I said and stood up to collect said boxes, plates and utensils.

"Oh, do you need any help dear?" Lucia asked.

"Oh, no, I'm good, thank you," I assured her with a genuine smile. "Please stay and just relax, you've earned it. I'll be right back."

I quickly gathered everything and went to the kitchen. I placed the plates and the utensils on the sink before I stuffed all the pizza boxes into a big plastic bag. Just as I opened the dish washer I felt Callie's arms surround me again from behind. She wrapped one arm around my waist and the other around my shoulder, her palm flat against my chest.

"I adore your parents but I kind of wish they would leave now," she said as she kissed along my neck. "I want everyone to leave but you." She stroked her hand across my stomach as she kept kissing me.

I cocked my head aside to expose my neck more, giving her better access as I placed both my hands on the one currently resting on my stomach. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus. "Um, I told you to behave Calliope," I pointed out.

"They can't see us," she sighed contentedly.

"They could in the living room."

"Well, that's why you came here right?" Both her hands slipped in under my shirt, one at my stomach and one into the V-neck of the shirt, grazing the top of my right breast. She hugged me tighter and I struggled to remain focused and in control.

"Um, ma-maybe," I stuttered. "You still need to behave. They could walk in."

"I'll take my chances," she declared as she ran her fingertips over my bare stomach.

I felt the hand at my chest slip out from under my shirt and then down over the fabric to cup my breast in her palm. My eyes closed, I let my head fall back onto Callie's shoulder as I arched my chest forward into her touch. She exhaled audibly as she gently squeezed the sensitive mound in her hand.

Biting my bottom lip, I stifled a moan as I felt myself getting more and more turned on. "Callie," I whispered. "Stop." But I wasn't exactly trying to get her off of me.

"Mm," was her only response and she just kept kissing and touching me, slowly driving me insane.

"Fuck baby, please," I pleaded in a whisper. "You know what you're doing to me right now and you know I love it, but I really would rather not put on a show for my parents, or your parents, for that matter."

"Well then you need to stop being so god damn hot because I really can't help myself."

She was a tease. She knew very well we couldn't be doing this right now.

Swiftly turning around in Callie's arms, I took her face in my hands and crushed my lips to hers as I pushed her up against the wall with my body. "You clean up in here," I said as we broke the kiss, leaving her breathless. "I'll go entertain the unknowing people in the living room." I slipped my hand between her legs, roughly rubbing my palm over her core through her jeans in one quick movement as I kissed her again, and I could feel her buck her hips into my hand as she moaned. "We'll talk about this later."

"Bye mom, bye dad," I said as I kissed and hugged my parents goodbye about two hours later.

"Bye darling, see you tomorrow," my mom replied.

Callie's parents lived in Seattle but my parents stayed at a hotel while they were there. Since mine and Callie's new apartment was a mess, we didn't want them staying there. Also because we had just moved in and we didn't want to have them there from day one. I had promised them that they could come back the day after and help unpack though, which I looked forward to.

Carlos and Lucia left just a little while before my parents did, and Callie and I were relieved. We had been teasing each other to insanity since after Callie had ordered pizza and now we were both going mad with want for the other.

When I closed the door behind my mom and my dad, I quickly locked it and then turned around and launched myself at my girlfriend. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I kissed her breathless as I pushed her up against the wall, my body flush against hers.

"You said..." she trailed off and slipped her hands in under my shirt as we kissed. "To talk."

"Quit it Calliope," I breathed. "Unless you want me to not rip your clothes off and not take you to bed and not fuck you senseless."

She moaned a little at that and grabbed my shirt, quickly pulling it over my head. "No sheets in the bed," she pointed out breathlessly.

"I don't care." I pushed her harder against the wall, my arousal growing stronger by the second. "Bedroom," I growled. "Now."

Stumbling backwards, I pulled Callie with me, taking her shirt off in the process. Both our bras came off in seconds, and her hands roamed all over me, and mine all over her. But she wasn't touching me where I needed her most. My core was pulsating, aching for her hands, her tongue or just any part of her body on it, so I bucked my hips forward into her in an effort to create friction.

"Fuck," I cursed when all it did was make me more frustrated as it wasn't enough. Callie moaned into my mouth as I ran my hands down her stomach and then in between her thighs. "Touch me," I begged. "Fuck, Callie, touch me." Then I feverishly started undoing my jeans, then took Callie's hand and guided it into my panties. "Touch me here. I need you to touch me here." I panted wildly onto her face and she moaned as her warm fingers met with my drenched folds.

"Oh god," she breathed as she ran her perfect fingers up and down my length. "You feel so good, oh my god. I want to feel you in my mouth, taste you." Another wave of arousal surged through me at those words.

Callie licked a wet trail up my neck as she pulled me backwards until we fell onto the bed, me on top. Her hand was still pressing hard against my sex, her palm rubbing short, quick strokes against my clit as we kissed.

"Yeah?" I asked, just to hear her say she wanted to taste me again.

"Mm," she groaned in response, "yeah."

When we weren't talking, all I could hear was Callie's deep, quick breaths, and it was the hottest thing I had ever heard.

"I need your pants off baby," I said and she swiftly turned us over so she was on top.

"Yes ma'am." She kissed me and then grinned at me before grinding her thigh down onto her hand which was still pressed up hard between my legs.

My eyes widened at the intense sensation. "Ah," I groaned loudly. "Oh god. Fuck."

"You have a very dirty mouth this evening Miss Robbins," Callie teased.

"Pants. Off. Now," I demanded as I tugged at the zipper of her jeans.

"Oh, bossy too," she whispered with a sly smile against my lips.

Undoing the button and the zipper, I shoved my hand onto her panties and slid one finger through her hot wetness and inside of her. I watched as her jaw dropped and she grunted.

"I am really not in the mood for teasing right now, Miss Torres," I declared.

"Um. Oh. Okay," she stuttered. "Pants. Off. Okay."

She gave me a kiss, sucking my tongue into her mouth before getting out of bed, causing my finger to slip out from inside her. She quickly pulled the jeans and panties down her gorgeous legs and then crawled back onto the bed, standing on her knees between my legs. Grabbing the hem of my jeans, she leaned forward and kissed my stomach and slowly started pulling the fabric down my limbs along with my panties. I lifted my hips off the bed to help her but she kept going slow, her mouth following her hands, placing open mouthed kisses along my legs.

"Callie."

"Hmm?" she whimpered distractedly against my skin.

"You're way too slow," I complained. "Just rip it off and come here so I can put my fingers inside you," I commanded.

"Mm," she growled and licked and nibbled at my thigh. "Jesus. Got it. No foreplay tonight," she concluded and came back up to me, placing her body pressing onto mine, one of her legs between mine.

"We've had foreplay for the last couple of hours," I panted, "we're way past it." I kissed her hard, brushing my tongue against hers as I ran my hands up and down her rib cage. "We can have all the foreplay you want some other night." I kissed her again. "Or day." Bending the leg that was between Callie's, my thigh was drenched when it came into contact with her core. "Oh fuck you're wet," I hissed under my breath.

She didn't say anything, just reached down to kiss me again as her right hand came to my left breast. Her fingers and her palm were soft against me as she gently kneaded the sensitive skin. As she touched me, she ground herself harder onto my thigh and groaned.

"Yeah," I breathed and ran my hands across her chest and up to take her face and pull her in for another kiss. "That feel good baby?" Letting my hands run back down her body, I soon found both her breasts, squeezing them hard but not enough to make it hurt.

Callie nodded, her eyes closed. "Yeah," she said breathlessly.

"Keep doing it," I commanded. "Make yourself come baby."

But instead, she lifted herself from me a little and slipped her hand in between our bodies and in between my thighs. "How about," she started as she cupped me in her palm, "I make us both come?" Then she slid her index finger inside me and stimulated my clit with her thumb. Kissing me, she lowered herself back down and started rocking herself against my thigh, pushing her finger inside of me with every thrust of her hips. "That good?" she asked, knowing I would have a hard time answering.

"Uh-h-h-huh," I stuttered as I rolled my hips in time with her thrusts.

I felt my orgasm rapidly approaching as Callie moved inside of me. Her core coated my thigh with her wetness as she rubbed herself against me, and it felt delicious.

"So sexy," I whispered. "So good."

"You're close," she said, and it wasn't a question. "Let go. Do it baby, come for me."

And I did. Yeah, it was fast but I had been so turned on for hours. I came so hard, and so did Callie, just a second or two after me. I felt that incredible, delicious warmth spread through my body, every piece of my being tingling with pleasure.

Callie collapsed on top of me and I wrapped my arms around her as she slipped out of me. We stayed like that for a while and all I could hear was the amazing sound of her loud breaths. And well, mine too, but they weren't quite as amazing to me.

When we started regaining some resemblance of normality in our bodies, I could feel Callie press her lips softly to my neck and shoulder.

I ran my hands slowly up and down her back as I smiled. "I love you."

And just like that, all that urgency, desperation and need for things to happen quickly was gone. There, in my arms was Calliope Torres. Naked Calliope Torres, kissing me. I could hear her breathe, feel the beating of her heart slowly start to calm.

This, this was real. Not that the sex hadn't been real, but this was... This was almost better. The afterglow, was almost better than the sex itself.

Callie's soft lips, tenderly kissing me. Her fingers ever so softly pressing into the skin on my shoulders.

"I love you so much," I repeated.

Even as we were both completely naked and she was on top of me, it wasn't sexy anymore. I mean, it wasn't unsexy, but it was more than that, better. It was just... Right. Perfect. We had satisfied each other in the best way I knew – and one of the hottest, sexiest ways I knew. But now, we could just relax and melt into each other, emotionally and physically. We were just there, in the moment, feeling the other and feeling ourselves.

"I love you," Callie whispered, and I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her to me, even though she could hardly get any closer than she already was.

I took a deep breath, but it was shaky.

Callie pulled her face up and looked at me, from one eye to the other. "You okay?" she asked, her eyes shining with concern. She knew I was going to cry even before I did.

But even as tears formed in my eyes, I smiled. "I'm good."

She didn't ask. She knew. Instead, she reached down and took my lips with her own, kissing me softly. "Are you happy?" she then asked.

I smiled up at her again, even bigger this time, as the tears escaped my eyes. "Very, very happy, Calliope."

"Mm, good," she said against my lips before kissing me again. "Me too. You make me happy." She kissed along my jaw and down my neck. "You cold?"

"No," I replied honestly. "But then again, I have you covering me, and you're all nice and warm," I said as I nuzzled my face into her hair and squeezed my arms around her. "You want to get a blanket?"

"And maybe some sheets?"

I chuckled. "Sure, if you want to rummage through all the boxes to try and find both. They're probably not in the same box."

"Hmm," she mumbled and nibbled at my bottom lip. "We didn't really think this through, did we?"

"Maybe you didn't think this through. You're the one going on about sheets babe, I'm good right here."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Fine, I'll just go find a blanket then." She gave me another open mouthed kiss before standing up and I rolled over to my side. "But don't you blame me when the mattress and the blanket both smell like sex." She pointed a finger at me but I didn't pay attention as I was ogling her naked body.

"I like the smell of sex," I countered and then bit my lip as I watched her walk away.

"You are impossible," she mumbled playfully.

I giggled as she walked out of my sight and I curled up a little to keep warm, too lazy to get up and get my shirt off the floor and put it on.

"You know," I heard Callie call from the hall after a while, "we should have labeled the boxes. Why didn't we label the boxes?"

"Don't know," I called back. "Did you find it yet?"

Callie's head popped out in the doorway. "You could help me you know."

I frowned and she raised her eyebrows at me. "Okay, okay," I complained. She smiled and disappeared out into the hall again as I got out of bed. When I got to the hall, she was standing bent over one of the many, many boxes.

Mm, what a nice view.

"We should really just start unpacking," she said.

I walked up to her, placed my hands on her waist and pressed my hips into her ass. "Later," I simply replied.

She turned around and gave me a warning look. "You, Arizona Robbins, are very bad." But she smiled. "Now help me find a blanket, perv."

I frowned again as she turned back around. "You like pervy me."

She chuckled. "I do. So, could pervy you help me find a blanket?" Turning her head, she smirked and winked at me. "Look in those ones over there," she suggested and pointed to the boxes next to the wall by the bathroom door.

So that's what I did. And it seemed like forever before Callie finally pulled a blanket out of one of the never ending boxes. "Found it!" she shouted and turned to me in excitement. She held the blanket stretched out behind her and I walked over to her and she wrapped me in the blanket with her as I looped my arms around her waist.

I smiled ridiculously up at her before I kissed her. " You know, I still haven't had my fingers inside you."

"Mm," she groaned and then considered what I had said for a moment. "I still haven't tasted you."

I smirked up at her. "We have things to do then."

She reached forward and gave me a wet kiss. "Good thing we have all night."

Warmth. Love. Serenity.

Happiness. Contentment.

Life. Life was that good. Waking up next to Callie, finding her looking at me, the way she did this first morning in our place, was amazing. And it was our place. It really meant we were very serious. Maybe forever, even. I was hoping it was, the forever kind of serious.

We, well mostly I, had come a long way. That was mainly because of Callie. But she had also taught me that I make my own decisions about my life, I make my own choices about how I deal with what's hard and to actually deal at all. But the most important thing that I had come to realize, was that I had control over my life and my feelings. If I wanted to feel better and I decided to, I could.

It's all about how you go about the things that happen to you, what your attitude is.

Before I met Callie, I dealt with my pain in a way that wasn't good for me, it wasn't healthy. I tried to numb the pain, but it would always come back, over and over. It never went away. That relief that I felt when I had sex, it was brief.

With Callie, nothing was brief. Nothing, was brief about being with Callie. The relief, the warmth, the love – it lasted. She made me feel good even when I wasn't with her, and it didn't go away, ever.

"Morning, sleepy head," she whispered softly as she reached down to brush her lips against my cheek. "You sleep well?"

"After all that sex?" I asked with a chuckle. "I slept like a freakin' log."

She laughed. "I bet." Her hand ran back and forth over my stomach as she kissed my face.

"We need pillows though," I pointed out as I closed my eyes and traced my fingers across her ribs. "My neck hurts."

"Yeah, mine too." She looked at me and just smiled, without saying another word. Her eyes were shining with happiness and adoration and I couldn't remember a moment that had ever been more perfect. "So, Arizona, my heart," she whispered, and then paused.

My heart skipped a beat and I giggled as I stroked my fingers across her lips. "Yes?" I encouraged when she didn't continue.

She looked at me without blinking and then smiled again. "We live together."

I smiled back at her and then giggled like a little girl. "We live together."

"This is our bed."

I nodded. "A damn good bed."

She leaned in closer and whispered huskily, "A sex-bed."

I laughed. "Now who's the perv?"

"We're both pervs," she said and bit down softly on my earlobe. "That's why we have such fantastic sex."

I laughed. "Guess so." I closed my eyes and just let myself feel everything that happened inside of me when she was this close to me. "So," I then started, "Callie, baby..."

"Mm-hmm?"

"Care to have breakfast with me? In our kitchen, in our new apartment?"

She pressed herself against me and sucked the skin at my neck into her mouth, not giving me any sign that she was going to answer me.

"Or, um," I mumbled, "we could just have breakfast here."

"...In our bed."