Cynthia watched as Aria walked to the door leading back out to the ballroom. Aria paused at the door, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "If you need to take a minute, Grey would understand," Cynthia offered.

One side of Aria's mouth curled into a rueful smile while her eyes stayed closed. "No, she wouldn't."

"That's...maybe true, but still, if you need a moment…"

"I don't. I'm good. No other option than to be good, right?" Aria opened her eyes and Cynthia watched as she transformed into a different person. Her posture straightened and her shoulders rolled back as a charming glint appeared in her eyes. A practiced smile spread across her face as she pushed open the door and stepped out into the crowd, leaving a worried and confused Cynthia behind her.

Addison had been watching the way Callie and Arizona had been acting towards each other in the limo ride to the hotel and was itching for a moment to talk to Callie alone. Spotting her opportunity as the department heads loitered around their assigned table waiting for the presentation to begin, she took hold of Callie's elbow and guided her away from the group.

"Uh, hey, Addison."

"Callie Torres. Are you and Arizona Robbins on a date?"

"Ah…" Callie glanced back to the table where the blonde woman was in the middle of a conversation with Dr. Webber. Arizona caught her eye and sent a quick smile and wink her way, causing a big smile to spread across Callie's face as well. "Yeah."

Addison grinned at her friend. "So that time I asked if you were speaking the vagina monologues with Cynthia Rogers and you said no…"

"I was in deep denial about my feelings for Arizona." Callie shrugged. "Plus, Cynthia has had the hots for my sister since the day Aria started working with us. So, you were still wrong on that one."

Addison tilted her head to the side and regarded Callie and then glanced over at Arizona. "You two look good together. Are you happy?"

Callie knew she couldn't stop smiling if she tried, so she didn't fight it. "Yeah. I mean, it's different and I'm trying to get over some of the weirdness, but I'm happy."

"Good. You deserve it."

"Thanks. You do too. How are things going with Mark?"

Addison looked over to where Mark was chatting with one of the waitresses and waved a hand in the air. "Oh, you know, he's Mark." She sighed. "Actually, that's not fair. He's been surprisingly great this whole time. He's been involved with Sofia and caring. He's still doing that…" she pointed to where Mark was clearly flirting with the waitress, "But I really think the minute I say that I'm ready for him, he'd be a great partner. And dad."

"So…" Callie looked over at Owen and Derek who were making small talk with each other, both clearly uncomfortable. "How are you dealing with having your ex-husband here while you're on a date? Because I have to tell you, I think it's really weird."

Addison laughed. "It's definitely weird. Derek has been extra moody lately. How's Owen doing?"

"I'm sure you heard about the incident a couple weeks ago at the hospital."

"The rumor mill said that you caught him with Yang and he freaked out."

Callie chuckled. "As always, the rumor mill is wrong. He found out, from my daughter, that I had kissed Arizona when she was over at the house. He didn't take it well."

"What a little snitch your daughter is."

Callie snorted with laughter. "Yeah." Just then, Ellis Grey stepped up to the podium at the front of the room and asked for silence as she introduced the five doctors for their presentation.

"Your sister looks like she's ready to take on the world. The rest of them are about to crap their pants," Addison whispered.

Callie nodded in agreement as they made their way back to the table. She sat down next to Arizona and slipped her hand into the other woman's, leaning in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. Arizona smiled and squeezed her hand before turning her attention to the stage.

Callie clapped enthusiastically after the presentation ended and stood with the rest of the crowd. Contrary to her earlier claims, Aria had taken on the bulk of the presentation, speaking eloquently and passionately about their research. Each doctor had taken a turn at the podium, but Aria had been the thread and the through-line of the speech and she had knocked it out of the park. Callie let out a quick, sharp whistle of appreciation which caught her sister's attention from the stage and Aria grinned at her, winking before Dr. Webber stepped up to the microphone and invited everyone to sit and enjoy their meals and the rest of their evening.

Ellis Grey stepped up to Callie and smiled. "Your sister did a wonderful job."

"She's a rockstar, Chief." Callie beamed. "I taught her everything I know, and she's still much smarter than I am."

"It's a shame about your father."

Callie paused. "What about my father?"

"Earlier today, I asked Dr. Torres if he'd be making the same generous donations to her department that he has made to yours in the past. She said she didn't believe so. But I'm sure you could get him to visit and she can show him the impressive work she is doing for us."

Callie fought hard not to roll her eyes and smiled tightly at the Chief. "Well, we'll see what we can do about that."

Aria had made her way down from the stage, shaking hands along the way and finally stopped in front of Callie and the Chief.

"Wonderful work, Dr. Torres. Please be sure to go around the room to answer any questions our donors may have."

"Of course, Chief. Thank you."

The sisters watched as Ellis walked away before Aria turned back and spoke through her smile, "I don't like that woman."

"You okay? She told me she talked to you about Dad."

Callie watched her sister's eyes cloud over.

"Alright, you know what? Never mind." Callie put a supportive hand on Aria's shoulder. "We're Torres Tough, right?" Callie asked, bringing back an inside joke from their childhood. Neither of them had particularly enjoyed attending events like these, so they always joked about being 'Torres Tough' and maintaining the stiff upper lip necessary to get through.

"Torres Tough. Always." Aria subtly stretched her neck from side to side and shook off the feelings that were trying to creep over her. "How'd I do up there?"

"You were phenomenal, Cat. I'm so proud of you."

Just then, Arizona and Mark joined the duo. "That was incredible, Aria. Great job!"

"Nice work, Little Torres. It almost made me care about carpentry," Mark teased.

Aria stuck her tongue out at her roommate as Arizona slapped the back of his head.

"I should go schmooze. Wish me luck!" Aria turned to walk away just as Mark got pulled away from the group by Addison.

Callie turned to Arizona and smiled. "My little sister is pretty damn impressive, huh?"

"She was great up there. She seemed nervous in the car, but she was like a pro in front of the crowd."

"I'm never that eloquent when I have to speak."

Chuckling, Arizona shrugged. "I hate to agree with you, but I've seen your presentations. They can be a little…"

"Horrifying?"

"…Rough."

"You're being kind." The two women smiled at each other warmly. "Shall we sit?" Callie pulled out a chair for Arizona as the waiters began passing around dinner plates.

Aria was beyond exhausted. She had been pulled into so many different conversations all night. She was making the rounds on her own at first, but then Drew, Shelly, and Frankie had also been pulling her into conversations because they couldn't figure out the best way to speak old-rich-person the way that Aria could. At this point, she was fairly certain that she had spoken to every attendee in the room. She was well-practiced at this-she could be fun and flirty with the men, while still being charming enough that their wives weren't threatened. But she was tired of smiling and her feet hurt and she hadn't had a bite to eat all night. She was also dodging Kelly as much as possible and she was happy to see that her friends all seemed to be ignoring her as well.

Aria stood at the bar, retrieving her glass of wine from the bartender when Drew walked up to her. "This is a nightmare. I've never been this tired in my life, and I'm including my first day as an intern."

She smiled up at him ruefully. "It's almost over. Just another hour or two. We've done a good job-everyone seems really interested in the work."

"Thank god we have you here. And Dr. Rogers...she's been talking us up to everyone too."

"Really?" Aria took a sip of her wine and looked out over the crowd. She realized she hadn't spoken to Cynthia all night since she had broken down in front of her in the prep room, but that the woman always seemed to be no more than a couple steps away as Aria had snaked her way through the room.

"She's practically been your opening act for these conversations. You two didn't plan that?"

Aria shook her head.

Drew spotted a couple of donors who were making their way towards the duo and groaned. "I don't want to talk to a single other person right now. Dance with me. That way maybe people will leave us alone?"

"Sounds good to me." Aria downed the rest of her wine and put the glass on the bar to follow Drew out to the dance floor before the couple could get close enough to grab their attention. He put his hands out and she stepped into his reach, putting one hand on his shoulder and the other in his outstretched hand. "I didn't know you could dance."

"Shhh. No talking."

Callie returned from the bar to find Cynthia sitting next to Arizona, the two women talking quietly. She put Arizona's drink down in front of her and felt her heart flutter as the blonde smiled up at her in thanks.

"Cynthia was just saying that Aria had a little breakdown before her presentation. Do you think she was really that nervous about speaking tonight? She did so well."

Callie sighed. "Chief Grey apparently asked her if we'd be getting funding from my dad for the cartilage work right before we left the hospital. And knowing the Chief, she probably badgered her about it. I think it upset her pretty badly having to admit that it wasn't going to happen. It doesn't help that we're here tonight."

Sharing a confused look with Arizona, Cynthia stood up. "Alright. I'm going to let you two ladies get back to your date." She put a hand on Callie's arm and pointed to Arizona. "I built that leg, California. You'd better get this one out on the dance floor and let her give it a spin."

Arizona's chuckle died down as she saw the brief look of panic that flicked across Callie's face at the suggestion. She waited until Cynthia had moved through the crowd before putting a hand on Callie's arm. "Don't worry, Calliope. We don't have to dance if you're not ready."

"No. Of course we can dance, if you want to."

Arizona paused, understanding that Callie was working through this the best she could. She could admit that this was an unusual situation for everyone involved, and if Callie wasn't ready to dance with a woman while at a work function with her husband a few feet away, Arizona decided she couldn't really blame her. "I get it-this is new for you." Arizona waited until Callie looked over at her and offered her a small smile. "But it can't be new forever, okay?"

Callie swallowed and nodded. "Okay."

Watching Drew and Aria on the dance floor, Cynthia couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of jealousy. He extended his arm to spin her and Cynthia watched as Aria laughed at something he said and slapped his arm.

Shelly stepped up next to her with a drink in her hand. "Hi, Dr. Rogers."

"Dr. Franklin. Great work on the presentation."

"Thank you. But we both know it was mostly Aria that deserves the praise for this one." Shelly turned to regard the Attending. "Dr. Rogers, may I speak frankly?"

Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, Cynthia turned to the other surgeon. "Okay."

"I don't know how to feel about you. Not professionally-this has nothing to do with the hospital. I'm just speaking person to person right now." Shelly waited for Cynthia to nod before she continued, "Aria is a good friend of mine and she seemed really happy about you. Then suddenly, she seemed really sad about you." She held up a hand to keep Cynthia from interrupting. "I told her that if you ever hurt her, I'd kick you in the kneecap. And I've refrained because, well, because you're my boss and I like my job, but also because I get the feeling that you're not done chasing her and I don't really think the story is over for you two yet."

Cynthia looked back out at the dance floor, where Aria and Drew were dancing closely. "Does their friendship ever bother you?"

Shelly followed Cynthia's gaze and smiled. "No. I trust them both. I also know them both and I can't believe they ever actually made a relationship work. They're ridiculous." She put a hand on Cynthia's arm. "But I trust Drew. And I trust Aria, but that's not the important part. I trust him. I trust his feelings for me and I trust he's not going to hurt me."

Cynthia squinted at the other woman. "You're an insightful little thing, aren't you?"

Shelly laughed. "I know what Kelly said and I know what your fight was about with Aria. It's not that hard to figure out what went wrong."

Sighing, Cynthia shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure how to get her to listen to me long enough for me to explain."

"Keeping her captive during a slow dance seems like a good option. I'm about to go steal her dance partner, so she's free for the next song." Shelly's eyes gleamed mischievously as she set her empty glass on a nearby table. "Best of luck, Dr. Rogers."

Cynthia contemplated the idea for all of two seconds before following Shelly through the dance floor. She watched the other woman tap Aria on the shoulder and request to cut in. Aria immediately stepped away and gestured for Shelly to take her place. Aria turned and spotted Cynthia, who offered her a smile.

"May I have this dance?"

Aria seemed to have a moment of uncertainty before Shelly turned and pushed her forward before turning back into Drew's arms. Laughing, Aria nodded. "Apparently, yes."

Stepping forward, Aria put one hand on Cynthia's shoulder as Cynthia wrapped one hand around Aria's waist. Their other hands joined in the air as the two women paused for an awkward moment before swaying together gently.

Knowing that Shelly was right and that she had to take this opportunity, Cynthia took a deep breath. "I had an ex-girlfriend named Katrina."

"Cynthia…"

"I'm not asking you for any information, Aria, I promise. I'm just telling a story."

Aria paused before acquiescing. "Alright."

"We dated for almost three years. It was my longest ever relationship. Things were going really well at first. We had similar interests, we enjoyed the same books, our friends liked each other. But then things started changing. She started accusing me of things-little things, like lying about what time I got out of work or what my friends and I were doing. The accusations kept growing and I found that I was getting defensive all the time. I always had to have my story ready for when she might decide she didn't trust me." Cynthia took a deep breath. "Near the end, the accusations were out of control-she was sure I was cheating on her every time I had to work late. I had just made Attending and was convinced that people at work were trying to get close to me to help further their careers…"

Aria's eyes locked with Cynthia's as understanding started to dawn.

"And it turned out, in the end, that all of the accusations of cheating had been to cover up the fact that she was the one cheating on me. There were quite a few dalliances, I've come to find out, but the longest-running affair was with her roommate. Kevin."

"Oh, no."

"You're different people, and I know that. But somehow, Kelly's little...monologue managed to set off every insecurity I had from my past and made me start doubting what I knew. I know that week was impossible for you, but I hadn't heard from you and I was getting nervous because of what Katrina put me through. It wasn't fair that I put that on you."

"Cynthia, I had no idea."

She shrugged and pulled Aria a little closer, feeling relieved when she didn't pull back or resist. "It's not easy to talk about. I feel pretty stupid about the whole thing. She made me doubt a lot of things about myself, and it's taken me a long time to build that back up. You once told me how you appreciate that I say what I mean and how I'm feeling-it's because of that experience. I don't want anyone to feel the uncertainty that I felt when I was with her."

"I'm so sorry you went through that."

"Thank you. I'm not asking you for anything, Aria. I just wanted a chance to explain my side of the story. I hope you'll give me another chance to earn your trust. I will do my best to not jump to any more conclusions and I'm going to be patient as you share or don't share things about yourself with me. But, even if you decide we should just be friends, I'm still going to be here, if that's okay with you."

Overcome, Aria wasn't sure what to say. She was still hurt by Cynthia's accusations that day, but she could see exactly why Kelly's words had hit so close to home for the other woman. She wanted to explain her side of the story, but she had made the decision long ago to keep some things private and it was a hard line for her to cross. Looking into Cynthia's eyes, she could see the sincerity shining through and Aria fully believed that Cynthia wasn't planning to go anywhere, but she couldn't help the small voice in the back of her mind wasn't ready to trust it fully. "I like having you around, Cynthia. But I'm not sure…"

"That's good enough for me for right now."

"Really?"

"I'm not pushing, Aria. I meant that."

"About earlier…"

"I don't need an explanation there either, unless you really want to give me one. Like I said, I'm just glad you weren't alone."

Nodding, Aria thought back to the advice she had been pushing on her sister from the beginning and decided, in this moment, to lean into the good feelings. She took a step closer to Cynthia, letting their bodies rest against each other and put her head on the other woman's shoulder.

"That looks promising!" Arizona and Callie had been watching the two women on the dance floor closely, trying to analyze what was happening. Watching Aria rest her head on the other woman's shoulder, Callie and Arizona had both let out a sigh of relief.

Arizona looked around the room, and then leaned forward to speak softly into Callie's ear from behind. "You know, Calliope, the only people in this room who care that there are two women dancing together on the dance floor is us. And that's because we're rooting for them."

Callie tore her eyes from her sister and glanced around, surprised to find no one even paying attention to two women dancing together, but more importantly, no one judging it. She sighed as she realized that, as always, the women in her life were right. It was time to lean into the happiness and do something for herself. She deserved it, and Arizona definitely deserved it. She stood and held her hand out to Arizona. "May I have this dance?"

"Really?"

Callie nodded with conviction. She wanted nothing more than to feel the other woman's body against hers as they moved together on the dance floor. She had always loved dancing of any kind, and it was pointless to sit out just because some people might not approve of her dance partner. "Absolutely. Please dance with me."

Grinning, Arizona stood up and took Callie's hand, following her out to the dance floor. They wound up next to Cynthia and Aria and Arizona shot a quick thumbs up to her friend before Callie took her in her arms. "You're good at this, Calliope."

"I've been to plenty of these events and been forced to dance. I'm not really used to leading though."

"You're doing great." Arizona couldn't help but smile as she felt Callie's strong arms tighten on her, their bodies in close contact.

"Hey, so…Rosa has her surgery tomorrow at 11."

"Okay?"

"I kind of, maybe, told her about you today? I mean, I did. I told her that I was getting divorced and she was surprisingly supportive about that, and Aria had told me that Rosa was the first person she had ever come out to and suggested I talk to her, so I did. I just kind of piled it on—the divorce and then that I was dating you."

Arizona pulled back to look into Callie's eyes. She was having trouble following the rambling, but she couldn't help thinking how adorable Callie looked doing it. "Okay."

"She wants to meet you," Callie offered quickly. "She asked if you could come by before her surgery. What do you think? It's not exactly like meeting the parents, and I know we haven't even been dating that long—in fact, we've only had one official date so it's way too soon to meet parents. Although you've already met my mom, which was a disaster. But Rosa won't be like that. And she knows about you and wants to meet you."

Arizona smirked. "You already said that part."

Sighing, Callie rolled her eyes at herself. "What I'm trying to say, is would you come meet Rosa tomorrow morning? I'd like to introduce you to her."

"I'm looking forward to it, Calliope."

Callie smiled and let out a relieved breath.

The two couples danced close to each other, enjoying the evening and the music through the next song. As one song finished and the next began, Aria felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned to see Kelly standing behind her expectantly. Aria turned out of Cynthia's embrace but kept her hand firmly in the other woman's.

"What, Kelly?"

"I just want to talk to you. Can we go somewhere private?"

"No, thank you."

Callie heard her sister's sharp tone and stopped dancing, turning towards the two doctors.

"You're being unreasonable."

"And you're a conniving little…"

Callie cleared her throat. "Ar-Chief Grey is right there. It might not be the time to make a scene."

Aria glanced up to see that Ellis and Dr. Webber were speaking to a donor and his wife a few feet away from the group.

Kelly looked at Aria and smirked. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to make a scene in front of your precious Chief. How'd you convince her to fire me, anyway? Did your daddy throw some money at the problem to make me go away? Or did you?"

"Enough, Kelly. I had nothing to do with that."

"Right. Like you weren't badmouthing me to Chang and Grey every chance you got."

"I never said a word about you."

"Then you had your little Attending girlfriend do it for you."

Aria rolled her eyes.

Kelly continued, "Have you even told her? Does she know why people started whispering as soon as you walked in this building?"

"No one started-"

"You're pretty well known around these parts, aren't you, Torres?"

Aria slipped her hand out of Cynthia's grasp and took a step towards Kelly, "Really? That's where you're going with this?"

Kelly just shrugged with a hard glint in her eye.

Callie cleared her throat, getting her sister's attention. She pointedly glanced towards the door and back to her sister before Callie shrugged and said, "I would do it."

Cynthia's eyes got wide and she took a step towards Arizona. "Is she going to hit her?"

Aria mustered up every ounce of grace that had been instilled in her from a young age and Cynthia took a step back at the sudden change in Aria's demeanor. She had been watching the woman work the room all night and Aria seemed like a totally different person in those conversations. Cynthia had been almost relieved as that persona melted away while they danced together and the warm, familiar Aria was the one teasing her and laughing with her. But it was definitely not that person who was facing Kelly now. Aria took another step towards the smaller woman and smiled disarmingly. "Kelly, if you are so interested in this world, would you like to see what it's actually like for me to get exactly what I want? When do I use my name for selfish reasons?"

Arizona and Cynthia shared a confused look.

Aria glanced over Kelly's head and gestured to someone through the crowd. A man dressed in black approached the group. "Can I help you, miss?"

Glancing at the man's name tag, Aria smiled charmingly at him. "Hi, Jimmy. Have you been working here long?"

"I've been Head of Security since the building opened."

"That's just what I was hoping for. Jimmy, my name is Aria Torres. This is my sister Calliope."

Arizona's eyebrows furrowed as Aria introduced her sister but no one else in the group. Her confusion only grew as the man straightened in recognition.

"Yes, Miss Torres. What can I do for you?"

"This woman needs to be escorted from the premises. She's been making threatening remarks to me and my coworkers. Please remove her from the building immediately."

"Right away, Miss Torres." Jimmy grabbed the walkie-talkie off his belt and gave a few short commands. Soon, two more men dressed in black descended on the group.

"You're kidding me!" Kelly exclaimed.

"This is what you've always wanted, right Kelly? A taste of the life you think I lead?" She stepped up to whisper in Kelly's ear. "And you're right, there is a room here named after me. You're standing in it."

Just as the men surrounded the shorter surgeon, Ellis Grey approached the group. "Just what is going on here? Dr. Torres, what do you think you're doing?"

"Actually, Chief," Callie interrupted, stepping up to Ellis and speaking softly into her ear, "she's preventing a scene from being made. I think we can trust that my father's security team has this situation handled and will continue to be discreet." Callie pulled back with her eyebrows raised and waited for the Chief to nod. Callie smiled at the security team and nodded as they began escorting Kelly out of the building. The shorter doctor was obviously trying to cause a commotion, but the three taller men had her surrounded and whisked her away as quickly and quietly as possible.

Cynthia stepped up behind Aria and put a hand on her shoulder, feeling her trembling slightly. Aria turned to Callie as the adrenaline started to wear off. "I need a minute. Away from all this."

Cynthia squeezed her arm. "Why don't we all go to the prep room and take a breath, okay?"

Aria nodded, letting Cynthia take her hand and guide her through the crowd with Callie and Arizona close behind. Aria waited until she heard the door close behind them before she sank down onto the couch and let out a shaky breath. "What did I just do?"

"Um," Arizona spoke up and gestured to herself and Cynthia. "I think the question that we'd like answered first is what just happened?"