AN: WOW - thanks a million for all your encouragement for this story. I've done a bit more formulating of the story today and so have a better idea of what I want to do. I'm actually excited to write it for you :)
Those of you who have read my other stories, know I don't do long chapters (sorry) but I will try and update regularly. So here is chapter 2.

On the drive back home Abby quizzed Arizona about her discussion with Miss Torres. She tried to play it cool and pretend she wasn't interested, but she did a terrible job.

"If you must know, Miss Torres offered to help you...outside school...maybe take you to some exhibitions, but she wanted my permission" Arizona informed the teenager.

"Really?" Abby replied excitedly, her lighting up at the news "oh my god that would be so fucking cool!" the teenager said enthusiastically, instantly regretting her choice of words.

"Abby! Watch your language!" Arizona shot back, eyebrows raised, but she knew she was losing the battle here. Her niece was 15, of course she swore. Arizona remembered being the same age and whilst she never swore at home in front of her parents, when she was amongst friends it was totally different.

"Shit...sorry….oh god….sorry again!" Abby replied quickly, causing a small smile to form on Arizona's face. She couldn't help it, she was happy that Abby was so excited about something. OK it might not have been her preferred subject, but at least she was showing an interest in something.

"Soooo what did you say?" Abby asked "you said yes right?" Even though Arizona was concentrating on the road ahead she could feel the youngster's eyes staring at her, boring a hole into the side of her head as the teenager waited for the answer she wanted to hear. "Because Miss Torres is like A-MAZ-ING. She's so cool and fun when she teaches, I mean compared to Mrs Taylor who was like prehistoric!"

"Abby!" Arizona interrupted the teenager "Don't be so disrespectful. She was no more than 50!"

"Duh yeah...like I said...prehistoric!" the teenager responded matter-of-factly, causing Arizona to shake her head disapprovingly. She would never have spoken about a teacher like that when she was growing up. Her father had raised his kids to be respectful, and it amazed Arizona at some of the stuff teenagers said these days. Colonel Daniel Robbins would be turning in his grave if he could hear.

"I mean all she ever wanted to talk about were the renaissance painters... she thought Picasso was contemporary and modern!" Abby continued with a horrified look on her face as if it was the stupidest thing she had ever heard.

"Err Picasso is modern art!" Arizona might not know much about art, but she knew that much, having visited a Picasso exhibition whilst in Spain once at a work conference.

"Maybe to you!" Abby spotted the hurt look on her aunt's face "no offense, but modern art is no longer….well….modern! Mrs Taylor knew nothing about contemporary artists like Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons or Basquist….and she didn't even consider photography as a proper art form!"

Arizona had vaguely heard of Jeff Koons, didn't know any of the people Abby had just mentioned, yet she couldn't help but smile as she watched her niece become animated as she talked. It reminded Arizona of when herself when her Dad would ask how school had been, and the blonde girl would excitedly tell him all about the cool things she had learnt about the human body.

"But Miss Torres...well she knows everything! Like is super talented, you should see her paint, she's incredible and she has been to so many exhibitions around the world and used to work in an art gallery after College where they sold work from some of New York's best artists. She knows all these really cool, contemporary artists and we're so lucky that she is our substitute teacher for the rest of the year. I've learnt soooo much from her, she's...she's just great. Like really chilled and so different from my other teachers…" Abby just kept going on and on, singing the teachers praises.

Arizona briefly glanced over and saw Abby's hopeful face, those puppy dog eyes that reminded her so much of her brother. "OK….OK…" she said with a chuckle "I get it...you think she's great! I just need to think about it first '' Arizona responded calmly before turning back to face the road, waiting for the teenager to react.

"What? Whyyyy?" The teenager replied in a whiny voice "I don't understand what the issue is. Oh my god…you think she's some sort of paedophile don't you?" the teenager suggested, horrified to think that Arizona didn't trust Miss Torres. "Just because she's cool and treats us like adults doesn't mean she's a pervert!"

Arizona's mouth dropped open in shock "Oh my God Abby, don't be so ridiculous! Of course I don't think that. It's more that I've literally just met the woman. I don't know anything about her!" Arizona explained "…and you know it's kinda my job now to worry about you and all that jazz." Arizona turned and briefly glanced at the blonde who had her arms crossed and staring out the window unhappily.

"Listen Abs…I'm not say no OK! I'm just saying that I didn't even know the woman existed until about 20 minutes ago, and so I just need to put my mind at rest first OK?" Arizona said, offering the teenager a strand of hope. "I'll get in touch with her via the school and maybe I can meet her for a coffee first, just to make me feel a bit happier about it all."

"Really?" Abby said looking back over hopefully.

Arizona saw the desperate desire on the 15 year olds face and couldn't help but chuckle "Yes really! Now, why don't you tell me more about your photography...I had no idea."

Abby looked out the window again "Well I know you are super busy at work….and you know….art isn't really your thing…" Abby turned round to face Arizona who had just pulled into their driveway and shrugged her shoulders "...I just assumed that you wouldn't be interested." she added before releasing her seatbelt and moving to open the door.

Arizona felt bad that she had no idea that Abby did indeed have a passion, a passion that the teenager didn't feel she could share with her. Fuck! She really was making a pig's ear of this parenting malarkey.

Yes she had a full on job, but she always tried her hardest to put Abby first. Obviously there were times where she would get stuck in surgery when she should be home cooking dinner, but she had turned down many requests to attend conferences so as not to leave the teenager on her own. Only last week she had been invited to an all expenses paid trip to speak at a conference in London, but those days were a thing of the past. Those days vanished from Arizona's life at 05.37am on 4th October 2019 when a missile hit the armoured vehicle carrying her brother Tim, killing him instantly.

Abby was also a private kid. When Arizona had queried how to manage this with the social workers and counsellors they had all said that it was a perfectly natural response to trauma, and to give her time.

Arizona was used to dealing with kids, she had chosen that area as her specialism for damn sake, but when it came to dealing with one of her own, all her training and knowledge as to how best to talk to them seemed to vanish. At work, she was trained to care about her patients, but to keep a safe distance.

In all the years she had been practising medicine, there had just been one case where she had lost control of her emotions and developed feelings for a patient. Poor Wallace Anderson, a 10 year old who had died after a risky surgery Arizona had been wary about performing. They shared a birthday and so every year, she would raise a glass to the young boy. This year would have been his 18th birthday if he'd had lived. Arizona had learnt her lesson with Wallace, and so made sure she kept her safety barriers up when it came to her patients. Maybe that was the problem? Maybe Arizona's barriers had been up for so long she didn't know how to reach out and be there for Abby other than to take care of her basic needs by providing a home for her.

Before the teenager left the car, Arizona reached out and grabbed her arm. Abby turned to look at her aunt who had a serious look on her face.

"Abby, you are my number one priority now OK, and I might not know a whole lot about photography.." Arizona paused as she saw the look on her niece's face "..OK, anything about photography, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know what you are doing!"

Abby remained silent, her blue eyes staring back at her aunts.

"Listen sweetheart, I love you and I'm thrilled that you have something you care passionately about, and of course I'm interested in it, because I'm interested in you OK?" Arizona said softly as she moved her hand off of Abby's arm and down towards her niece's hand which she gave a firm squeeze.

"OK". Abby responded with a small smile "Maybe I could show you my latest photos?"

Arizona released the teenager's hand and smiled enthusiastically "I would love that!" she said and she genuinely meant it.

###

A couple of days later, Arizona was at the farmers market which was held every Saturday in a carpark near her home picking up supplies for the week. The blonde was busy looking at a mound of avocados, squeezing the ends gently to find the right level of ripeness when she heard someone say her name.

The voice sounded familiar, but the blonde could quite place it before she spun round to find the attractive art teacher from Abby's school smiling in her direction.

Arizona felt a small flutter in the pit of her stomach as she took in the sight, and could stop thinking that she wished her art teacher had been this good looking when she had been at school!

Callie had clearly just finished a work out as was wearing a pair of brightly patterned leggings that hugged her clearly visible toned legs and a cropped vest top, meaning her equally toned abs were on full display. She was carrying a rolled up yoga mat under one arm and wore her hair up in a messy bun, a few loose strands hanging down here and there.

"Oh hey there…" Shit! Arizona suddenly realised she had forgotten the art teacher's name and wanted the ground to swallow her up. This was so awkward. She had met so many teachers that night and was struggling. Was it Taylor? Miss Taylor?...no, that was the old one. As hard as she tried, the name alluded her, and eventually the brunette put the doctor out of her misery.

"Miss Torres. Calliope." The Latina said with a playful smile on her face, almost as if she had been enjoying watching the doctor in her struggle to remember her name. "We umm met at the school the other day, I'm Abby's art teacher." Arizona looked at the teacher and felt her cheeks start to blush slightly.

Arizona shook her head "Oh god, Of course Hi...Hi" Arizona bumbled out in embarrassment "I'm sorry, I totally remember you.." How could I forget! Arizona thought as she admired the view in front of her "...It's just your name, it err completely slipped my memory. I'm so sorry".

If she had been offended at Arizona not remembering her name, she had not let on to the doctor who was still somewhat mesmerised by the brunette's smile. "That's OK, I forgive you Arizona" Callie smiled back with a glint in her eye as she rubbed the point home by using the doctor's first name. "I, err I didn't hear back from you" Callie directed the question to the blonde.

"Huh?" Arizona responded as she realised the teacher had asked her a question "I'm sorry what...?" What the hell was happening to her? What secret power did this woman have that made Arizona act all dumb around her?

"The photography exhibition?" the teacher added "with Abby".

"Oh right! Yes...yes of course…" Arizona hesitated for a moment unsure what to say. She could hardly turn around and ask for a full police check, as much as she wanted to.

As if reading her mind Callie let shook her head "Listen..it's OK Dr Robbins...it was a stupid idea..I just thought…" Arizona noticed the teacher had returned to addressing her by her formal name, that the warmth the brunette had initially greeted her with was fading by the second.

"No!" Arizona practically yelled out loud, causing the brunette to raise an eyebrow and give her a worried look. She could see all over Callie's face just how uncomfortable the teacher was feeling due to her odd behaviour. Pull yourself together Robbins, Arizona instructed herself.

Arizona took a deep breath and smiled realising that she probably seemed the unstable one out of the two of them, and she needed to sort herself out fast! Arizona thought of the expression 'first impressions count' and the thought horrified Arizona at what the teacher must be thinking of her.

"Sorry...let me try this again…" She said as she looked at Callie who was completely confused by the blonde's behaviour. "It wasn't stupid. It was incredibly kind of you Miss Torres, and I apologise for not getting back to you, I have honestly been meaning to email the school."

Arizona watched with relief as Callie's facial expression relaxed slightly.

"Listen" Arizona said with a small smile "I don't suppose you would have time for a coffee?" the blonde asked, as she took in that amazing toned body again and concluded that the teacher was clearly uber healthy and probably didn't do caffeine!

"Or a smoothie if you would prefer?" she added nervously.

Callie smiled at the doctor and responded that she would love a coffee, before adding "...besides it'll give you a chance to suss me out and make sure my intentions are honourable"

Arizona's eyebrows shot up at Callie's words who was now giving her a knowing smile "It's OK, I'd be exactly the same if it was my daughter"

Arizona let out a sigh of relief "You would? Oh thank god for that...I mean I'm just over protective of her".

The teacher held the blonde's gaze for a moment before a smile formed on her face again "OK, well talking of honourable intentions, don't you think you should maybe pay for that avocado you've been squeezing the life out of for the past few minutes?"

Arizona quickly looked down at her hands and there was indeed a very bruised and sad looking avocado that no one would now want to buy.

"Ha! I may have accidentally made guacamole!" Arizona joked as she handed over the money to the stallholder and the two women made their way to the coffee van.

As they stood looking at the menu, Arizona couldn't help but take in the brunette's scent. She smelt as good as she looked, and in an instant the blonde started regretting her choice of outfit. She was wearing an oversize college hoodie that was at least 10 years old and a pair of baggy jeans that had paint splatters on the bum from when Arizona had decorated Abby's room before she had come to live with her. The outfit did absolutely nothing for her, and standing next to the gorgeous arts teacher she felt incredibly unsexy and that was before she even looked down at the Crocs on her feet!

Arizona checked herself...what did it matter what she looked like? They had literally just met and the hot woman was Abby's teacher. This wasn't a date or anything. Chance would be a fine thing! There it was again, Arizona's mind having inappropriate thoughts.

"Err, are you sure you wouldn't prefer a coconut water?" Arizona asked the brunette, taking the opportunity to catch another look at the caramel bronze skin on display.

Callie pulled a face "God no! I can't stand the stuff. Nope I'm happy with a good old fashioned flat white..and before you ask...with just regular old cows milk….none of that almond milk crap!" Callie shook her head "I mean how the hell do you milk an almond?"

Arizona raised her eyebrows at Callie's little rant.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend, if that's what you drink?" Callie apologised quickly "I have a terrible habit of putting my foot in my mouth"

Arizona laughed "No offence taken." As she turned to the man behind the counter and ordered two flat whites.

Once they had grabbed their coffees, they started wondering slowly around the stalls

"So how long have you worked at Abby's school?" Arizona asked as she started the interrogation.

"Oh not long. It's coming up to six weeks now. The previous art teacher Mrs Taylor took early retirement suddenly to look after her sick brother. I never met her myself, but I believe she had worked at the school for a long time."

"Too long if your name is Abby Robbins!" Arizona scoffed as she recalled her niece's unkind words about her former teacher. "What I mean is, Abby is a big fan of yours"

Callie smiled softly "Well that's nice to hear, she seems a sweet kid"

Arizona smiled over at Callie with pride "She has her moments!" she said before feeling a warmth of love for her niece wash over her. Arizona was still getting used to that feeling. The feeling of unconditional love and an all consuming need to make sure the teenager was safe.

The fact was Abby had been through a lot in the past four years. Her dad dying when she was 11 and everything she had witnessed afterwards, it amazed Arizona just how strong the teenager was.

The market was in full flow and filling up. At one point Callie's arm had accidentally brushed against Arizona's as she had tried to move out of the way to allow someone past. It was the briefest of contact, but Arizona felt a shiver run down her spin nevertheless. The shiver intensified when the teacher had softly placed her hand on Arizona's by way of an apology. No apology necessary! The pleasure was all mine!

Arizona realised she needed to get her mind back on track and cleared the small lump that had formed in her throat.

"Umm did the school fill you in on Abby's history?" Arizona asked as they weaved their way past the stalls.

"A little" the teacher responded, before clarifying her answer "They told me you had adopted her after your brother died whilst serving in Iraq. I'm sorry for your loss Arizona."

The blonde was taken aback by the softness and genuine remorse in Callie's voice, as she used her first name again. No more Dr Robbins. Maybe Arizona had managed to pull it back after all.

"Thank you Callie." Arizona replied with a soft smile, returning the gesture by using the brunette's first name.

"What happened to Abby's mum?" Callie asked, instantly regretting the question when Arizona stopped dead in her tracks. Callie turned to look back at the blonde.

"They never told you about Debbie?" Arizona asked, surprised at this revelation.

"No" Callie replied, shaking her head "And Arizona, if you feel it's none of my business, then please, just say."

Arizona paused before taking a sip of her coffee. It had been a while since she had talked about Debbie and she wasn't sure if this was the time or the place. The blonde started walking again, the brunette following suit, as she waited for Arizona's answer "I'm just surprised the principal didn't fill you in completely. Tim, Abby's dad, dying was bad enough, but what that poor kid went through afterwards with her mum was even worse."

Callie could see that the doctor found the subject difficult to talk about, and maybe it was none of her business "Listen, you know what…" the teacher said in a more upbeat tone "...I shouldn't have asked...how about we get back to the real task at hand...my grilling!"

Arizona glanced over at Callie thankfully of the change in subject. Talking about Debbie was always hard, and the blonde was prepared to talk about it there and then, with someone she didn't know.

"So…" Callie said with a glint in her eye "What do you want to know?"

Everything! Arizona thought to herself.

AN: Next chapter we'll find out more about Miss Torres. Leave a review and let me know what you think. Take care.
Sarah x