Thanks again for the feedback(s)! Also, your reviews really encourage me!

I hope that you'll like this next chapter, it's a long one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy and these characters, I just borrow them.

CHAPTER 10

Callie was exhausted, her day off hadn't been relaxing at all.

She had spent the whole afternoon in the City Hall with her lawyer, signing piles of documents. But at least she was a Torres again.

She could leave that strange O'Malley phase behind her.

She had been married to George. Sometimes thinking about it she felt like laughing, other times she felt like crying.

She couldn't even explain why she made that impulsive gesture. Was she so miserable to get married, drunk, in Vegas with a resident who wasn't even in love with her? Bailey would have told her that she also had a daughter, and you're not supposed to do this kind of things when you are a parent.

But no.. the loss of the chief resident job, the loneliness and tequila had led her to Nevada for her 31st birthday. Specifically in a sad Elvis chapel, where with no hesitations, she had thrown herself into George O'Malley's arms.

Those three months have been strange, to say the least. She had spent them in a hotel room, which despite being luxurious, wasn't her home, and in the company of a 'man' who hadn't even had the decency to break up with her before sleeping with his best friend. Also, Mark didn't want his two-year-old daughter sleeping in a hotel room, and he disapproved that relationship. That's why she often slept at Mark's to stay with Sofia.

Now, almost two years later, with the divorce papers in hand, she felt like she was a new person.

You could tell it also from how she had spent her 33rd birthday: icecram at the park with her daughter and a home dinner party with friends. She felt much more mature.

New Callie Torres didn't get scolded by Bailey anymore.

It had been a long, difficult and introspective period. The saddest of her life. Well, almost... The worst period of her life had been the post-Arizona months. The loss of her best friend from one day to the next had hurt her more than anything else.

And now, said friend was a colleague of hers.

Sooner or later they would have to confront each other. She didn't know if she was ready.

Maybe all the work and therapy done the previous year hadn't been enough.

.

Sighing, she shut the door with her foot and she threw her bag on the couch. Heading for her bedroom, the second room on the first floor, she met Alex exiting his room.

Rushing down the stairs he greeted her "Hey, are you coming to Joe's? It's me, Yang and both Greys!"

"Both of them? How can I pass on that?" she asked ironically.

"I'll give you a ride, I mean, Cristina will drive us! You don't have Sofia, do you?"

She shook her head "Mmh, she's with Sloan tonight!"

"Come on! Let's loose a bit!" he exclaimed as he tied his shoes.

"You know what? You convinced me... Give me 10!"

.

Entering the bar they went straight to their usual place, the corner of the counter, in order to get their drinks. Shortly after they heard the bell ringing and Grey sisters made their way through the crowds followed by Derek and Mark.

"What are you doing here? Where is Sofia?" Callie asked anxious addressing Mark.

"What? This was your night with her! I thought she was with you!"

She was suddenly feeling sick "What the fuck Mark!? Where's my daughter?" she got up from her stool and started picking up her things.

He didn't think she would have take it so badly "Hey hey, breath, I'm kidding!" he put his hands on her arms "Calm down, I was just messing with you!"

She slapped him on his arm "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Cal, I told you this morning, Derek's mom has her... She always asks if she can have her for a while" he explained while sitting on the nearest stool.

"You didn't, I would remember!"

"Actually yes, I did. You also replied that it was fine... but maybe you were absent.. as you have been in the past few days!"

She didn't answer, she just glared at him. He was right.

Lexie tried to change the subject "So, Callie? I heard congratulations are in order, right?"

"We need to celebrate, TORRES!" Derek commented nicely, while Mark said "Yes, you can finally stop using that terrible surname. It sounded so bad…"

Cristina laughed out loud along with Alex who received a smack from Lexie.

Mark rose his hand and called out "Joe? A shot for everyone, it's on me!"

Mark's offer received a round of applause and some "Uuooh", but still, Callie's smile didn't reach her ears.

He knew her too well, so he whispered "Will you tell me what's the matter? what's wrong huh?". He gave her a little nudge with his shoulder "You should be happy, Callie! You were overjoyed when you got the call from he lawyer!"

.

Meanwhile in the SGMW lobby, sitting with her legs to her chest, there was Arizona, who was waiting for Amelia's round to end to go eat something together. It had been a particularly tiring shift and the emptiness in her stomach was making itself felt.

Reaching her friend at a brisk pace, Amelia Sheperd raised her hand to greet her "Hey Robbins! I'm sorry, but I had some misunderstandings with the new head nurse and I had to fix that!"

"Don't worry, I get it! I'm just starving! What's good around here?" she said rising from the seat.

"We usually go to the pub across the street cause it's always open, and the barman is very friendly, Joe.." and she pointed behind her, towards the direction of the bar.

"Ah, yes Joe, I met him some days ago!" going out and looking at the sky she continued "It's fine with me, especially since it's probably going to rain soon!"

They entered the bar accompanied by the familiar ring of the bell and they went sitting at a side table.

Shortly after, Joe walked to them "Amelia! Look at you! I haven't seen you here for a while!". Then turning to the other "Arizona, right?"

She nodded "Great memory!"

"It's a very unusual name! I'm happy to see you've already settled in!"

Arizona smiled to him, already wondering what they could order.

"If I'm not wrong, for Dr. Sheperd hamburger number two and fries with ketchup" he looked up for confirmation from his regular customer.

Still smiling, Arizona added "Make it two then, but no sauces for me, please. Oh, and a draft beer!"

"Perfect, I'll be back soon!"

"Don't you have anything to drink?" the blonde asked.

"Well, we haven't seen each other for quite some time! Let's say it's been a while since I've stopped drinking and everything else... Joe knows what I'm taking anyway!"

"Amelia, I'm sorry! You're right though, lots of time had passed, but if you want to talk, you know, I'm here" but as she was talking she realized she had ordered a beer "Oh shit! I'm an idiot, wait for me to go get something else!"

She got up and took a step towards the bartender but Amelia stopped her "No problem, really, I wouldn't have brought you to a bar, don't you think?"

Arizona returned to her chair nodding, but in that brief moment in which she had looked for Joe, her eyes had landed on her. She had seen Callie Torres with some colleagues, right in front of Joe.

.

While eating their burgers, they remembered the old days and the old common friends. It had been at least an hour, and Arizona had almost forgotten that Callie was in there, until their conversation was interrupted by a tipsy Lexie Grey who, having seen them, had wanted to say hi.

"Doctors! Good evening! You here too?"

"Grey" greeted Arizona, tilting her glass towards Lexie and letting her friend talk.

"Hi Lexie! Well yes, what a rarity, huh?! Are you alone? Everything good?"

"No, I'm with Meredith and the others" she turned, pointing to the group "Come, have a drink with us!"

"Well.." Amelia Sheperd grinned, obviously she couldn't.

Her face was probably espressive because the intern immediately brought her hands to her mouth while cursing "Oh God! Fuck! What did I say, I'm stupid!" trying to make up for the gaffe "A non-alcoholic drink maybe, what do you think? Or, if you prefer, there is Coca cola, coffee, or... Juices! I tried them, they are delicious! Like the pineapple one is like drinking a real drink! Not that drinking a soft drink is.."

"Grey, Grey... It's fine, really!" the neurosurgeon calmed her by placing a hand on her arm and putting an end to that painful show.

Arizona decided to take matters into her own hands, she certainly didn't want to go and drink with Callie. She didn't want drama "Lexie, see, we would like to chat and update each other a bit.. Next time we'll drink juice very gladly, very!"

"Oh God, somebody take her away from alcohol before it's too late!" Amelia commented jokingly as the young girl walked way.

.

"I seem to recall that you weren't bad at playing!"

"Yep! I always win!"

"Obviously" Amelia laughed "And the dartboard is available.. Wanna lose?"

Arizona thought about it. She thought about Callie, that would have been a few meters away from her, and she thought that after all she was not to blame. There wasn't any real reason to avoid each other and hold a grudge. So, she finally answered her smirking "What shall we bet?"

The two took a refill and as they were settling in front of the board, they both felt an arm on their shoulders that abruptly pulled them to a male body.

"Robbins! Shepherd! Two of the most beautiful surgeons our hospital has ever seen!"

As if the situation weren't strange enough, Mark Sloan was now hugging her. No, that was too much. She took her wrist and wriggled out.

"Mark, I see that you too, as Grey, would need some water!"

"I'm sober Robbins"

"Yeah right.." Amelia commented.

"Do you want to play darts?" he asked.

"Actually we was starting a one on one" Arizona answered picking the darts.

"Come on, if I win, Robbins I'll bring Karev for two weeks!"

"Not gonna happen!" the blonde ignored him.

"That's a yes! I'm going to get a teammate"

.

"Hey guys, there's a game to win against Robbins and Amelia, who's with me?"

Everyone looked towards the dartboard and then at each other, no one was with him. Nobody wanted to play drunk darts. Callie above all, as soon as she heard the name 'Robbins', had got a really dark face and she was shaking her head.

"Little Grey, at least you! Come on, you're good, I can feel it! "

Meredith glared at him "Little Grey, my sister, is pretty drunk"

"No Meredith, he's right, I'm crazy good at darts! I got it!" She jumped off the tool and taking Mark by the hand they both headed towards their opponents before the eyes of all those presents and a skeptical Meredith Grey.

Amelia whispered in Mark's ear "Really? She's wasted, you're lucky if she can stand!"

Arizona laughed and Mark ignored her going to confabulate with his mate.

.

"Come on little Grey, you can do it!" he put a hand on her shoulder encouraging her.

It's unknown how and for what strange reason, but after some rounds Lexie placed the dart in the bull's-eye.

"Oh God! I did it Mark! I did it!" she threw herself at him and the man spun her around.

The other team watched the two with wide eyes. They were both incredulous at the big shot and weirded out by that strange celebration.

"Ok, ok, time out!" Sheperd exclaimed "I need some water!"

"Are you tired already?! You're just scared because we are about to recover!" Mark commented.

"Well, in the meantime I'll use the toilet!" the blonde took advantage of the break.

Not even the time to push the door, that someone pulled it from the inside. That someone being exactly Callie Torres.

They looked at each other, without saying anything and after a while Arizona kindly let her pass. But she couldn't resist anymore, so before she was out of reach, she gently grabbed her wrist and asked "How are you, Calliope?"

Callie, though, snapped "Your.. Your nerve is incredible! You come here, take my spots, my friends and... How easily you ask me that!"

.

Arizona knew that the brunette hadn't heard from her or anything, but she didn't think there was still all this resentment on Callie's part.

The last time they saw each other they had a fight, she remembered that stupid argument very well. It was the day after Callie's 17th birthday.

But after all they had spent three wonderful years, she didn't think she deserved that treatment.

They had quarreled for a futile reason, or rather, Arizona had started a futile argument, because she didn't want Callie to remember the previous night and the drunk kiss they shared. So, instead of talking about it and trying to figure out what her friend knew or didn't, she had simply started criticizing the coarse attitude of that 'stupid Kevin' she liked to flirt with so much.

.

Callie, on the other hand, would have told a whole different version of the story.

She was angry that her best friend hadn't even said goodbye. She had gone to the other part of the world, without bothering to hug her.

And then there was that last period in which things had begun to change, when everything was so confuse and she hadn't understood anything anymore. She only knew that, that night, the night of her birthday, she didn't want to go home with that stupid Kevin. Everything was unclear, but the emptiness she had felt seeing Arizona running away was immeasurable.

These were all things that over the years she had locked up inside her, she had never talked about them, but as soon as she the blonde set foot in trauma room one, they reemerged with such a strength that she couldn't think about anything else.

.

Twenty years had passed but Callie was still the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was standing there in that dirty, darkish corridor, without knowing what to do. She looked at her and was disarmed, she couldn't utter a word.

"You got anything to say?"

Arizona was lost in her memories and in that face. She looked into her eyes, then she moved her gaze down, at her own sweaty hands.

"Wow, great conversation! Good night Arizona!"

And as soon as he heard her name coming out of that mouth, she recovered. She moved fast gathering her things, motioning Amelia to keep in touch and she went after her through the crowds and towards the exit, but turning around she saw no shadow of Callie.

It was not like she knew where Callie would go o where to find her, but she decided to look around anyway. She just didn't want to go home yet, also because she wouldn't been able to get her out of her mind.

.

"I didn't know you smoke!"

"I wish I didn't" she replied to Mark without giving too many explanations.

After a long, unsuccessful walk around the block, she had decided to stop and sit on the brickwork outside her new condo, for the last cigarette of the day. And Mark had come home and interrupted her thinking.

Arizona, amazed that he hadn't brought someone home, asked him "Are you alone tonight?"

"Mm yeah, I'm not in the mood tonight..." he replied vaguely.

She looked at him catching some disappointment in his voice "I thought Little Grey would be your prey tonight"

"Well, no, she's off limits for me. That's Meredith's sister!" Arizona continued to look at him unconvinced, nodding and waiting for him to continue "Anyway you fled, so I practically won Karev by default!"

"Hey, that's not true! I had to run away! And besides you were losing!"

"Then we have to do it again and we'll up the ante!"

"You're on!" she smiled taking a puff.

"I saw you running out fast.. I mean, you seemed a little upset, do you want to talk about it?"

"Oh, thanks Mark, but it's just an incredibly long day!"

They looked at each other, with a hint of a smile, an understanding one.

She put out the cigarette, jumped off the wall and she threw the stub into the basket next to her. Turning to her neighbor she asked "Are you coming up too?"

Please, let me know what you think!

PGS.