A/N: Hi everyone - I bring you chapter 8! I have to say, I was almost surprised by the amount of positive feedback I've had about deciding to include Lexie - I'm glad so many of you agree that in another universe her and Arizona would be good friends!

This chapter was fun to write, so I hope that you enjoy it!

Thanks again for the lovely comments, they really do make me smile!

Disclaimer: none of these characters are mine, they all belong to Shonda Rhimes, I'm just borrowing them and making them do what I want for the sake of my fic.

"I think I may actually have to take Mark," Addison sighed, pulling Callie's focus from the textbook that she was staring at.

"What?", the brunette asked, brows furrowed in confusion at her friend's random exclamation.

"To the wedding," the redhead replied, a defeated expression plastered across her face. "It's in a couple of weeks and I still haven't found a date yet, so I think I may actually have to take Mark."

"Can't you just tell your parents that your wonderful boyfriend couldn't make the wedding?" Callie asked, very aware that taking Mark was a disaster waiting to happen.

"No, because then they'll think I'm making him up!" Addison exclaimed, as if Callie's suggestion was ridiculous.

"You are making him up," Callie countered, raising an eyebrow.

Addison just glared at her friend. "Not helpful Torres."

Callie raised her hands in mock surrender, watching as the redhead's expression shifted from one of annoyance to one of pure defeat.

"Does Mark actually know about this whole fake-boyfriend plot yet?", the brunette asked tentatively.

Addison sighed. "Nope. Didn't want to admit to myself that he was my only option until I absolutely had to."

"Don't you think you should let him know? What if he says no? Or is busy?"

"Come on Cal, when have you ever known Mark to turn down an opportunity to laugh at my sad life," the redhead said sourly. "This will be like hitting a jackpot for him."

"Fair point. Well, look at it this way, at least he's attractive," Callie tried in an attempt to comfort her friend. "If you can get him to keep his mouth shut, I'm sure your parents will be very impressed. We both know he looks good in a suit."

A slight smile broke through Addison's hopeless expression. Albeit a small one, but it was a smile, nonetheless.

"See, that's the kind of commentary that I need," she said, shoving Callie's arm gently. "I knew I kept you around for a reason."

"It'll be fine Addy. Maybe he won't be so bad?"

"Maybe," Addison sighed, but her tone told the brunette that she didn't believe it. They both knew that even Mark Sloan trying his best would still most likely be a disaster, but there was no way Callie would vocalise that. Addison didn't really have any other option.

"Anyway, enough about me. How's it going with Tucson?" the redhead asked, shifting the conversation onwards.

"Tucson?", Callie questioned, completely lost as to what her friend was talking about.

"You know, the city in Arizona?" Addison grinned.

Callie frowned, shooting her friend an unimpressed expression.

"Oh, come on, it's funny!" the redhead exclaimed, apparently over her misery from moments before.

"You know Mark beat you to that one?" Callie asked, sighing.

"He did!?"

"Yep. Keeps calling her Phoenix."

"Damn. I totally forgot about Phoenix,"

"What? How? It's literally the capital."

"Whatever. Slipped my mind," Addison huffed. "Tell me about Mesa."

"Mesa?"

"Another city. Keep up."

"You remembered Mesa but not Phoenix?" Callie asked incredulously.

"Ok sorry, I didn't realise you were the governor of Arizona," Addison drawled sarcastically. "Now give me the goss."

Callie sighed. "There's nothing to share. You were there in both labs, you know what's happening."

"Has there not been any developments in your musical pissing contest?"

"That's what we're calling it now?"

"Stop avoiding my questions!"

Callie really couldn't be bothered with Addison's line of questioning, but the redhead wasn't the kind of person to just let it rest. She had fixed the brunette with a half-excited, half-demanding expression, head cocked slightly to the side, eyebrows raised.

"No, no developments," Callie muttered, and she was telling the truth. Arizona had clearly, wisely, decided that it would be best to avoid pissing the brunette off outside of the lab if she wanted her to remain civil in class.

Callie dramatically turned the page of her textbook in the hopes that Addison would take the hint to drop it.

"Well, what did she say in the last lab then?"

Addison did not take the hint.

"Nothing much," the brunette replied with a sigh. "She called me lazy and incompetent a bunch of times."

"And what did you say back?"

The redhead was lent forwards across the table now, chin resting on her hands, face eager.

"Uhh," Callie tried to remember, her mind instantly filled with images of the blonde focused intently on completing her E coli. streak plate, her brow furrowed in concentration, a pink tongue poking out from between her lips ever so slightly as her bright blue eyes centred on the inoculation loop in her hand. It was the first time Callie could recall ever seeing the blonde's face doing something that wasn't causing it to be scrunched up in anger, or pulling a sarcastic sickly-sweet expression designed to piss the Latina off, her attention on something other than yelling at the brunette for once. She couldn't help but notice how much less annoying and more peaceful she looked like this, in her element.

Shaking her head to get rid of the train of thought, Callie forced her attention back onto her friend, the redhead's expression growing impatient.

"I don't know Addy, I probably told her to go fuck herself. I can't remember."

Callie could actually distinctly remember telling Arizona that if she didn't shut up that she'd take her Tinkerbell wand and stick it so far up her ass that she'd have to summon some of her singing mice friends to help her pull it out. Arizona had begun to point out that Callie was mixing up her fairy tales again, but hadn't gotten very far before wisely deciding to stop when she saw the deeply unimpressed look that adorned the brunette's features.

But Callie wasn't going to tell Addison this, because she didn't want the conversation to go on for any longer than it already had.

"Ugh. Boring," Addison huffed. "Last time when you were both yelling was more interesting, even if you were a little harsh on Flagstaff."

Callie frowned, the same guilt that she'd been feeling for the past couple of days rising up in her chest again. At the time she hadn't thought what she'd said was that bad, but Arizona's rant had said otherwise, and Mark and Addison had both separately commented that although their little display had been highly entertaining, she had been more than a little bit cruel to her lab partner. Callie had told them both that they could have a say on what she said to the blonde when they'd spent a year listening to her atrocious taste in music, but if she was honest, she was aware that she'd crossed a line. Arizona was a bitch, and an annoying one at that, but Callie didn't consider herself to be a mean person. And during that lab, she had been mean.

"Can we please not talk about Robbins anymore?" Callie asked, exasperation lacing her tone.

Addison clearly sensed the brunette's frustration, because she quickly dropped the topic, electing to instead tell Callie more about her sexist OBGYN professor, and the terrible content that he'd subjected his class to. She'd heard it all before, but at least it was better than having to talk about her blonde lab partner.

"Alright class, as I mentioned earlier on in the semester, for this practical I want a comprehensive lab report, completed in pairs with your lab partners." Dr Webber's booming voice filled the room, his words instantly grabbing the attention of everyone that had only been half-listening to his introduction, the low drone of collective groans leaving their lips sounding around the lab. "I would advise that you pay proper attention to this practical today and make sure you take notes of your results. As you should be doing for all of my practicals, I might add. I want it on my desk by this time next week, no exceptions, and there's some further guidance in the back of the handouts if you need it. As always, you know where to find me."

Callie had been one of said class members who had only been half-listening and, much like many of her peers, felt an intense frustration settle over her at the notion of a lab report. However, unlike most of her classmates, she was less annoyed by the actual work aspect, and more by the fact that this meant she'd have to spend even more time with the perky blonde that was sitting to her left.

"Great…" Callie heard the quiet exclamation come from Arizona's lips, most likely not meant for her ears but reaching them regardless. And where she could be annoyed at the blonde's reluctance, that would make her a hypocrite, because she had been thinking exactly the same thing.

Callie was half tempted to offer to write the report herself, just to avoid spending more time with Arizona, but she knew that there was no way that the blonde would agree to such a thing, being the overachiever that the Latina knew her to be. And there was definitely no chance that Callie was going to let Arizona do all the work – as much as she trusted that she'd do a good job, the blonde already accused her of being a slacker when she was doing half of the work, so what she'd be like if Callie actually fobbed it off on her, well. That was not something that the brunette was willing to put herself through. She'd rather write five lab reports alone than suffer that.

"So, when are you free to get this written?" Callie asked, keeping her voice polite and pleasant.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I have a pretty busy week," Arizona muttered, brushing Callie off, not even bothering to look up from where she was organising the things in front of her on the bench.

"Ok, well if you want to send me your timetable, I can arrange a time around you?"

Callie actually meant it when she offered to be accommodating. Since her presentation was now complete, she had a short break from assessed work for her sports medicine class, and she generally just happened to have less on her plate this week compared to usual. If working around Arizona's schedule was going to make her life easier, then she was willing to do it.

The look that the blonde gave her in return could only be described as sceptical confusion, eyebrows raised as she crossed her arms over her chest. Callie couldn't help but notice the way that it made her already low-cut top gape slightly under her unbuttoned lab coat. That paired with the, for once, not resentful facial expression got the butterflies going on overdrive in the brunette's stomach.

Get it together Torres.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she said, trying to get the blonde to break the intense gaze that she was shooting in the Latina's direction. It was making her feel clammy.

"You're being…" Arizona paused, her gaze impossibly intensifying. "…not rude."

Callie, starting to feel slightly flustered for no reason that made any particular sense, let out a slightly awkward huff of laughter. Which was decidedly unlike the brunette when in the blonde's presence, and they both knew it.

"I can be nice you know." It was a lame response, Callie knew it and she was certain that Arizona knew it too, based on the way her eyes narrowed.

"Right…" she muttered, turning to the desk to reach for her phone. Once she'd located it, she swivelled back around to face the brunette, tucking a strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear.

Why Callie found herself watching intently as delicate fingers brushed the pale strand out of the way, she wasn't sure.

"Do you want to give me your number so we can arrange a time?" Arizona asked, gesturing to the device in her hand. On the back of her phone case was a small picture of Alice in Wonderland, holding the cake that said, 'eat me'. Callie found herself barely able to hold in another awkward laugh as she felt her cheeks redden, the irony of the entire thing too much for her to handle.

"Sure," she managed to get out calmly, glad that Arizona was looking down at her screen right now rather than up at her. She recounted the digits to the shorter woman, watching as she nodded her head to confirm she'd heard each one correctly, blonde curls bouncing with each slight movement.

"Awesome. I'll text you my timetable later," she said, a small however genuine dimpled smile gracing her lips for a fraction of a second before she turned to put her phone away. Callie found herself noticing that this was the first time she'd heard the blonde use the word awesome since the first time that they'd met over a year ago.

"Hey, Cal?" the Latina heard come from behind her, causing her to snap her eye line away from Arizona to see Mark coming into view as he rounded their bench. She didn't miss the way the blonde tensed next to her at the sound of his voice. "Can I borrow some of your iodine? Our bottle appears to be empty."

He let one of his classic dazzling Mark smiles spread across his face as he glanced over at Arizona, who looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Hi Phoenix," he nodded, winking at the frowning woman, grinning like his comment was hilarious.

"Wow, I've never heard that one before. You're so clever." Arizona retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Callie found herself snorting, which earned her a scowl from the blonde as she whipped her head around to face the brunette.

"Something funny Torres?" she asked, crossing her arms again. This time Callie managed to keep her gaze on her face – there was no way she was going to be caught staring at the blonde's boobs with Mark standing there.

"Nope, nothing's funny, Tucson," she muttered, unable to stop herself from repeating the joke that Addison had made earlier, despite the fact that they had been having a mildly civil conversation moments ago. It was still Arizona after all. And besides, Addison was right - it was funny.

"You're both truly hilarious," Arizona deadpanned, putting her hands on her hips, any evidence of the smile from moments before having well and truly left her features.

"Lighten up blondie," Mark laughed, which made Arizona scowl even harder. Callie wasn't entirely sure what the woman had against her friend, but in this moment, she was glaring at him in much the same way that she often did at the brunette, which was decidedly more intensely than just being wound up over him teasing her about her name. Callie made a mental note to ask Mark what he'd done to piss her off later. "So, can I borrow?" He gestured to the bottle in front of the pair.

"Sure thing-"

"No. You can't," Arizona butted in suddenly, snatching the bottle off of the table. "We need it." Her voice was stubborn, reminiscent of a child throwing a tantrum.

"We won't need it for a while yet," Callie replied, brows furrowing in confusion at Arizona's sudden burst of childish petulance, her usual irritation towards the woman quickly resurfacing.

"Yes, but what happens when we do need it, and it's not here anymore?" The blonde shot back.

"Uh, we go and ask for it back?" Callie asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. "It's not that complicated."

Mark stayed quiet, clearly unsure what to make of the situation.

Arizona rolled her eyes. "Knowing him, he'll use it all up and then throw it away before we can get any use out of it," she muttered. What the hell she was talking about Callie had no idea, but right now she didn't really care, as the blonde's childish tone was grating on her nerves.

"What's your problem?" Callie asked, crossing her arms and fixing her face into a steely expression.

"I don't have a problem," Arizona spat back. "This practical is important, and I don't want Mark Sloan messing it up." She punctuated Mark's name like he was some kind of vermin, and the venom behind it shocked Callie for a moment.

"I'm right here you know," Mark finally spoke up, a frown of his own on his own face.

Callie really couldn't understand what the hell had suddenly gotten into the woman. One minute she was using words like 'awesome' and actually smiling for the first time Callie could ever remember, the next she had gone back to acting like a petty child again. It made no sense, and it was really damn irritating.

"Mark, do you mind asking Addison?" Callie asked, annoyed now. "Apparently Daisy Duck here has decided to have a temper tantrum." She threw an unimpressed glare in the direction of the blonde as Mark nodded once and walked away, leaving the pair in their prolonged staring match.

"What the hell was that about?" the brunette asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"It wasn't about anything, Callie." Arizona practically spat her name as she placed the iodine bottle back on the bench. "Can we just get the hell on with this?" With that, the blonde turned on her heel and strutted across the lab to where the equipment was stored, leaving a pissed off and thoroughly confused brunette standing in her place.

It was hours later when Callie next saw Mark; by the time he slipped onto the stool next to her, she was already a beer and a half in and starting to feel it.

"Thanks," Mark grinned as the brunette pushed a second full beer bottle across the cold surface of the bar towards him. Callie just nodded. "So, what's up with you then?"

"Nothing," the brunette muttered, downing the remainder of her drink before indicating to the bartender that she wanted another. She didn't look over at her friend, instead deciding to focus her attention on the wet tracks that the drops of condensation were forming on the beer bottle sat in front of her.

"You're staring at that bottle like you're trying to move it with your mind." Mark deadpanned. "Come on Matilda, talk to me." He nudged her shoulder with his own.

"What did you do to make Robbins hate you so much?" Callie asked, ignoring his comment as she twisted her body to get a proper look at her friend.

"Hell if I know?" Mark shrugged. "I tried asking Lexie what was up with her, but she didn't say anything."

"Are they friends?"

"Who?"

"Lexie and Cinderella."

"I think so," Mark replied, snorting slightly at the use of the nickname as he took another sip of his beer. "Lexie talks about her like they are."

"That adds up," Callie smirked. When Mark threw her a confused look she simply replied, "A Disney princess and a twelve-year-old."

"You're an ass, Cal," Mark replied, but there was a smile on his face.

"Maybe that's why Arizona is mad," Callie suggested, tilting her bottle towards him.

"What, because you're an ass?" Mark asked. "That wouldn't be new."

"No, dumbass," Callie shot back. "Because you're trying to get in Lexie's pants."

"You think blondie is Jealous?" Mark asked, his brows furrowed in confusion. Then he looked off into the distance like he was considering the notion, a smile growing on his face. "They would be kind of hot together."

"You're gross," Callie chastised, swatting her friend lightly on the arm and fixing him with a scowl. "I meant because you, a notorious man-whore, are trying to get her very innocent friend into bed."

"I am not trying to get her into bed!"

"Sure you're not. Oh, did I mention that I'm dropping out of med school to become a professional ballet dancer?" Callie quipped sarcastically.

"Ha ha, very funny," Mark deadpanned. Callie just raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok fine maybe I am, but I don't want her just in my bed."

"Dude, I really don't wanna know about your sexual fantasies," the brunette grimaced.

"No, I mean I want more than to just sleep with her," Mark shot back, glaring at his friend, before sighing. "I actually really like her Cal."

"Wow," Callie muttered incredulously, silenced for a moment as she took another sip of her beer. "Is the twelve-year-old going to be the one to finally pin down the great Mark Sloan?"

"You really are an ass," Mark muttered, shoving the brunette playfully.

"You know it," Callie smirked in response. "But for real, I'm happy for you. Have you told her how you feel?"

"Not yet," Mark sighed, before fixing Callie with a serious expression. "Don't repeat this to anyone," he began.

"Repeat what?"

"What I'm about to tell you."

Callie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, which Mark responded to with a hard glare.

"Scouts' honour," she replied, holding three fingers up in the scout salute.

Mark stared at her blankly for a moment before continuing. "I don't really know how to tell her." When Callie pulled a confused expression, he continued. "I've never dated anyone properly before. Not anyone that I didn't just want to mess around with."

Callie was about to tease him when she noticed that his cheeks had reddened slightly – he was actually embarrassed.

"Wow today really is full of surprises," Callie mused, taking a glug of her beer, the cool liquid running down her throat. "You've never properly dated? Not even in high school?"

"No," Mark mumbled, as he ran his finger over the condensation that had collected on the bottle in front of him, unable to make eye contact with his friend.

"Stop looking so embarrassed, I'm not judging you," Callie quickly clarified, noticing his reluctance to look at her properly.

"Why not? I'd be judging me."

"Well, I'm not," she said firmly. "Take it from someone that has dated, and has suffered a lot because of it – you're not missing out on much."

"You really know how to make a guy feel better Cal," Mark deadpanned. "Are you drunk?"

"Maybe," Callie muttered. She was waving her arms around more than she usually did, and it was enough to make her notice that the room was spinning a little. "But that doesn't matter. What does matter is Lexie. You just need to ask her if she wants to go on a date. And then, whatever you do, do not take her to a sleazy bar, and do not sleep with her immediately afterwards."

"Where do I take her then?"

"Dinner. Somewhere nice. But not too nice. You don't want to come on too strong and scare her off."

"Can you write this down?"

"Just ask her out and then we'll take it from there, ok?" Callie was becoming increasingly aware that she was probably not in the right place to be giving sound advice on anything, especially not dating. Not when she could see two Marks swimming in her vision.

"Ok," her friend replied, seemingly satisfied with the Latina's answer. Which was a relief.

There was a moment of pause where both friends just sat and sipped their drinks, taking in the atmosphere of the bar. It was mid-week, so it wasn't as busy as it would get on a Friday night, patrons dotted around the tables rather than crammed into the space like cattle. There was a dull chatter in the air, enough for it to be clear that they were in a bar but not so much that you couldn't hear anyone unless they were yelling. Callie much preferred it this way; she felt like she actually had space to breathe and properly enjoy herself rather than being stuck sat with some inexplicably sweaty man standing way too close to her for her liking, making so much noise she couldn't hear herself think.

"You never actually answered my question by the way," Mark said, breaking the quiet that had fallen over the pair, both lost in their own thoughts.

"What question?"

"What's up? Why are you three beers down at eight pm on a Wednesday?"

"Long day," Callie put simply. Which wasn't a lie. It was just a heavily condensed version of the truth.

"Long day with a certain blonde on your mind?" Mark implored, his tone not teasing rather genuinely asking.

"She just gets under my skin, you know?" Callie muttered, the words already out of her mouth before she could think about them and the implications of letting them loose. "She makes me feel… weird." She sighed. "…I don't know."

"Uncomfortable weird or 'I'm confused' weird?"

"Both?" she admitted, and it felt good to get it off of her chest. Mark gave her a look that urged her to continue, and she found the words just seemed to tumble out of her. "Most of the time she just pisses me off, and I just want to shove my boot up her damn ass. But there was a moment earlier, where she wasn't angry with me or yelling, and she just seemed so… peaceful? And I started fumbling over my words like a flustered idiot for no real reason. And for like, two seconds, she wasn't that fucking bitch that I hate with a passion anymore. She was… something else." Callie sighed, frustrated that she couldn't articulate how she was feeling properly. She blamed it on the alcohol, but it was probably the fact that she wasn't actually sure herself how she felt. "But then you appeared, and she started being all petty and childish for no good reason and I went back to wanting to slap her again. And now I feel confused about the fact that I feel confused, and it's just making me feel so weird."

Callie wasn't really sure why she had gotten so worked up about all of this, but there was something about the way that the blonde had been earlier that had really thrown her for a loop. And not only that, now she had a brief text conversation on her phone that confirmed that they would be meeting after class the next day to work on their joint lab report. Just the two of them. Sat together in the library. Having to pretend to be civil in the name of getting their work done.

If there was ever a reason to be drunk on a Wednesday, it was this.

Mark had just opened his mouth to reply when Callie suddenly felt someone's hands clamp down on her shoulders, hard. She let out a yelp as she jumped up off her seat, knocking her almost-empty beer bottle over as she brought her arms up to defend herself against her attacker, her heart racing in her chest. And where she wasn't usually clumsy, she'd had enough to drink that her coordination had decided to pack up and call it a night, so, as she turned, she found herself losing her balance. She all but fell into the arms of a certain redhead who had previously been laughing hard at the scowling brunette, her laughter catching in her throat as she realised that they were rapidly heading towards the dirty bar floor.

Luckily for the pair, at just the last moment a set of strong arms wrapped themselves around Callie's waist, Mark firmly tugging her back onto her seat, Addison just managing to regain her balance now that the weight of a second human wasn't flying towards her.

"Sup Cal," she giggled once the brunette had managed to get herself balanced on the stool again, no longer at risk of falling over.

Callie just glared at her friend as she sat back down in her seat, her heart still thumping from the shock, her head spinning from the mixture of alcohol and sudden movement.

"Thanks for that," Addison nodded at Mark, ignoring the brunette's scowl as she slid into the seat to her left. "I think I saw my life flash before my eyes."

"You're not the only one," Callie muttered under her breath.

"My pleasure," Mark nodded in response, raising his beer.

"So, what have I missed," Addison asked, waving at the bartender.

An awkward silence fell over the trio, neither Mark nor Callie all that keen on having to repeat their previous conversations to the redhead, both embarrassed about each of the problems that they had been discussing.

"Oh, not much," Callie muttered after a moment, keen to just drop the subject and drink her woes away. She didn't want to think about Arizona anymore. Heck, she wanted to forget that she'd even been thinking so hard about the blonde at all.

"Yeah, nothing interesting," Mark said, taking another sip of his drink.

Addison looked at the pair sceptically, clearly not believing them but unsure whether to pry or to just leave it.

Luckily for the Latina and her bearded companion, the bartender appeared at the exact moment Addison looked like she was about to say something. By the time she'd ordered and been served, her expression seemed noticeably less intrigued, as if she'd decided better of trying to figure out what had been going on.

"Well thanks for that insightful explanation, both of you," she said with a roll of her eyes. "And my day was great, thanks for asking."

Then, her whole demeanour shifted, as she considered how to word what she was about to say, several expressions flitting across her face. "While we're here, Mark I need to ask you something," she settled on, feigning nonchalance, but the nerves were evident in the way that she began to play with the straw in her drink.

"Huh?" Mark looked up from where his gaze was focused on a spot behind the bartender's head.

"I need to ask a favour," Addison tried again. "It seems I… require your…assistance."

Mark let one of his classic Sloan grins spread across his cheeks. "Are you hitting on me Montgomery? You want a piece of my little Sloan?"

Addison's face immediately switched from one of apprehensiveness to one of pure disgust, brows furrowed, and nose wrinkled. It was enough to cause a very tipsy Callie to let out what could only be described as a giggle, snorting slightly at the way her friend's face was contorted in revulsion.

"God, no," the redhead said quickly, her voice filled with disgust as her frown became impossibly deeper. Mark's face quickly fell back into a neutral expression, feigning nonchalance, which only made the giggling brunette begin to giggle even harder. By this point, both of her friends were looking at her funny, but she was too amused to notice.

"You good Cal?" Mark asked, to which Callie responded with a thumbs-up as she caught her breath, waving at the bartender to order another beer.

After taking a moment to check that her friend was alright and not, in fact, choking on air, Addison continued. "No, I do not want to sleep with you Mark," she said firmly. "What I want is a lot more embarrassing…"

"Well now I'm interested," Mark replied, the smile reappearing on his cheeks.

"I've got myself stuck in an awkward… situation. And I need your help to get out of it…"

"And that's supposed to mean…"

"I… well, I- I need…-"

"She needs you to be her fake boyfriend to her brother's wedding," Callie put bluntly, deciding that she really couldn't be bothered to listen to Addison dancing around the point any longer.

Mark choked on his mouthful of beer, pale liquid spewing from his lips as he coughed for a moment before taking a deep breath, an expression of pure shock settling on his features.

"Callie!" Addison whined, swatting her friend over the arm, letting out a long sigh.

"You want me to what?" Mark asked incredulously.

Addison huffed out a large sigh.

"I mean, big-mouth Cal over here did just tell you exactly what I want," she muttered sarcastically. "I need you to be my date." She swallowed. "Please." The word was forced, like it pained her to say it.

"And why the hell would I agree to that?" Mark questioned, his face still a picture of sheer confusion.

"Because you're my friend?"

"I thought you didn't like me?"

"I never said that…"

"You want me to meet your family?"

"Affirmative"

"As your date."

"I just said that didn't I?"

Callie's gaze was flitting back and forth between the pair like she was observing a tennis match, her whole head moving so fast that she was worried she was going to fall off her chair again.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"I may have… told my family an… un-truth…"

"They think she has a hunky boyfriend that she's been with for over half a year," Callie butted in again.

"And why do they think that?" Mark asked incredulously.

"Because she told them she did last summer."

"Callie, I swear to fuck I'm going to gag you in a minute," Addison scowled, her green eyes so intense that they caused the brunette to cower a little. "Please Mark. I'm begging you."

"What do I get out of this?"

"Is the chance to wear an expensive suit and tell the whole of my very large family that you are the love of my life not enough?" Addison said sarcastically.

"Will there be free drinks?"

"Of course."

"And food?"

"More than you could eat in an entire year."

"Hmm," Mark hummed, looking off to the corner of the bar as he thought over the offer. "I'll think about it."

"Is that it?" Addison exclaimed.

"What? I need some time to consider my options!" Mark replied.

"I need an answer!"

"I need to pee," Callie piped up, the alcohol having seriously hit her bloodstream and now her bladder at this point.

Both of her friends threw her an incredulous glare, like what she'd just said was utterly insane.

She didn't think it was insane. She really needed to pee.

Neither of them said anything as she slid off of her chair and stumbled her way over to the grubby bar bathroom, bumping into a chair or two on her way. Maybe drinking three and a half beers on a near-empty stomach was not the brightest of ideas.

After a particularly wobbly journey, Callie managed to make it into the cubicle, all but collapsing onto the closed seat as she pulled out her phone from her pocket. She may be drunk, but she was with-it enough to know that she didn't particularly want to see her phone fall into the toilet.

Her phone screen lit up to reveal that she had a new email from A.

The grin that grew on her face was so big and wide that it made her cheeks ache a little. If she had been a bit more sober, the realisation that smiling that widely over someone whose name she didn't even know was probably irrational may have crossed her mind for a moment.

As it was, she wasn't sober. So, the thought didn't cross her mind.

Eyes scanning over the lines on her screen, she took in about half of the words in the email, her fuzzy brain just about piecing together what A had said.

Logically, she should have waited until she was more with-it to type out a reply. But logic wasn't prevailing in Callie's alcohol-induced-haze.

From: cit107 hotmaildotcom
To: iloveunicorns115 hotmaildotcom

HiA!

You are so nce u know! I like talking to you so much. Iwant you to know that.

I'm really glad you got your derm paper done. Derm kinda sucks ass so. Glad that's over fr you.

Iveg ot a new resipy going ifyou would want to give being my tast tester another go? If you say no I eont be offended I promise.

My friend just asked my other frend to be her fake boyfriend for the weeding. I decied to go pee because it got kinf of awkward. And also I needed to pee. So that's why im replying to you now.

Youre hrat so thank you. Youre my favourtie anonymous internet person.

From C e :0

Satisfied with what she had written, Callie pressed send, before remembering that she actually did really need to pee, and sitting on a closed toilet seat lid wasn't going to get her anywhere in getting rid of that urge.

Placing her phone on top of the toilet roll dispenser, the brunette went about her business, somehow managing to stay upright in the process. Which, in her books, was a monumental success. Now she just needed to make it through the library session with Arizona tomorrow.

A/N2: A little sidenote: once again I am not American, so I did just google a list of the most populous cities in Arizona (and watch that episode where Arizona's friend Nick appears), so if you are American and this doesn't read smoothly then I'm sorry - I'm trying my best! I do have to say I've learnt a lot more about the US and their medical education system (along with a lot of other random trivia) than I ever thought I needed to know through writing this, which has been entertaining!

So, how are we finding the way that this is unfolding? Some forwards progression in this chapter - what do you think will happen when they're stuck writing this lab report together? How is A going to react to C's... interesting... drunk email?