CHAPTER 29 - PASSENGER

After a particularly rough shift, Amelia and Owen had decided to go out for drinks at Joe's. Nothing like a beer or an orange juice to chase the harsh day away. Amelia was in the middle of an anecdote when she noticed her friend's eyes straying behind her again, towards the opposite end of the bar. Owen had being doing that on and off since they had first sat down, and the neurosurgeon would pretend to not notice when he would not so subtly zone out to check out whoever had caught his eye. But after the fifteenth time or so, she decided to turn around to see who had caught the man's interest.

She spotted a group of friends, loudly chatting at a table full of fruity cocktails. It wasn't hard to spot the woman making Owen all hot and bothered since she was staring back at him with the exact same look he was giving her. However, when she spotted Amelia looking at her, she quickly drew her attention back to her friends and she blushed, as if caught red handed. The neurosurgeon smirked to herself and turned back to face the trauma surgeon, who was still in trance, his hand holding his chin and his elbow leaning on top of the table for support.

She pushed his elbow out of the table, sending it straight into empty space and the brusque movement brought him back to reality.

"Hey!" he yelped, surprised. "What was that for?"

"Go ask her out," Amelia encouraged and tilted her head toward the unknown blonde.

"You think I should?" he squinted his eyes as uncertainty took over his features. "I probably shouldn't."

"Then stop glancing at her with heart eyes," she stated.

"I'm not-" he stopped dead when Amelia gave him a knowing look, as if to say do-not-even-try-to-lie-to-me. "Fine, I think she looks great."

"Yes, she does," Amelia agreed, she had to admit the woman was attractive. "She's nice too. Lent me a tampon when I was in the restroom."

Owen made a face. "Too much information, Amelia."

"What? I just told you she was nice, and since she keeps glancing over here with heart eyes too, you should go over there."

"It's just- she keeps glancing but making a weird face?" he asked, obviously clueless.

"She's probably wondering why you keep glancing at her when you're on a date with me," Amelia stated simply.

"We're not on a date?" Owen looked even more confused than before.

"I know that," Amelia shrugged nonchalantly. "She doesn't."

"Oh, right. Wait-what if she's looking at you? What if she's gay? Can you tell if she is?"

"Honey, I don't need no gaydar to tell you she's looking at you and not at me. So go get it tiger! I already have my own woman waiting for me at home," she finished her drink in one big gulp and kissed his cheek before heading out.

Amelia had been repeating herself for the last five minutes and the look her patient was giving her told her her mind was still totally elsewhere, not absorbing a single word the neurosurgeon was telling her about her upcoming spinal surgery. Her eyes weirdly kept wandering onto Amelia's neck every few often and for a few fearful moments, Amelia wondered if Arizona had left a hickey there that she had forgotten to cover up. Eventually, she remembered this morning and one of her hand flew to her neck, her cheeks blushing slightly.

"Oh right. Sorry about that. Sofia got one of those transfer tattoos thingy into her cereal box this morning and she was adamant on giving it to me."

"Is she your daughter?" Mrs. Wule, her patient, asked with kind eyes.

"Yes," she answered before she could even think about it and Amelia felt her heart swell up with pride.

"Kids, right? Can't say no to their adorable faces."

"Can't, indeed."

"I have two little boys, Andy and Jordan. They're 4 and 6. How many do you have Dr Sheperd?"

"Just the one and only for now," she pointed confidently towards the nurses' station where Edwards was sitting with Sofia impatiently bouncing on her knees. "She's right there in fact."

Sofia waved at her with a wide smile when she saw Amelia pointing at her. Sitting with Stefanie and staring at patients' brains onto the computer screen had soon become boring and she couldn't wait for the neurosurgeon to finish up so they could go eat chocolate Jell-O at the cafeteria.

"Oh, she's so cute! You and Dr Sheperd must have a hard times resisting her huge doe eyes."

"Dr Sheperd?" the brunette asked with her brows furrowed, confused.

"The other neurosurgeon that works here? Isn't he your husband?" Mrs. Wule frowned.

Amelia almost choked as she breathed in and she shuddered. "Oh God, no! Derek's my brother!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she hurried apologetically and chuckled lightheartedly, "You both have the same last name and since you both work here, I simply assumed. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I guess I can understand your confusion," Amelia did but it still made her wish she had the neuralyzer from men in black so she could wipe this atrocious image out of her brain. "So, ready for me to explain the procedure this time?" she asked before she had to think about it some more and risking to become nauseous.

"Please, let's."

"Hello sunshine."

"Hey you. Haven't seen you all day, I was starting to think you were avoiding me. Didn't even get my good morning kiss," Arizona teased with a beaming smile as she saw her partner walk into the scan room she was currently occupying.

"I better rectify that ASAP then," the neurosurgeon smirked and softly tugged onto the other woman's lab coat until she could snake her arms around her midsection.

Acting almost out of reflex, Arizona's arms landed on her shoulders as Amelia's mouth found cherished soft lips and pulled her into a tender kiss.

"Good morning," Amelia said goofily as she pulled away.

The pediatric giggled since it was now early evening, "Good morning indeed."

"I don't think I ever told you but I like your lab coat."

"Uh, thanks," Arizona frowned, suspicious of the small glint of mischief shining in the deep blue eyes in front of her announcing her some bullshit was about to come.

"No, I do. It's really helpful. Now I finally know which one is the monkey boobie and which one is the kitty boobie. You wouldn't believe how many times I accidently confused the two, it's unbelievable," Amelia said, ever so seriously.

There it was. Arizona snorted and rolled her eyes, but the neurosurgeon could tell she was more amused than really annoyed.

"You're a dork."

"So you tell me all the time, yet here you are again. Laughing," the brunette said smugly with a toothy smile and her hands strolled down onto her partner's butt, resting on it.

"Unfortunately, I must have gotten used to it over time," the cheerfulness on her features contrasted with her deadpanned statement.

"I told my patient I had a kid," Amelia announced proudly.

It wasn't news that she considered Sofia hers. There wasn't an ounce of doubt in her mind that this ingenious and bright ball of energy was her daughter too. However, it had been the first time she had called Sofia her daughter in front of a total stranger. Derek, Callie, Owen… it had never felt like a big deal to refer to the Latina as hers in front of them because they were family. They had witnessed her relationship with Arizona grow day after day so when eventually she had stopped to call Sofia Arizona's and Callie's daughter to instead call her ours, nobody had really blinked an eye at it. However, referring to Sofia as her daughter to a complete stranger? That had been a first. And god, had it felt good.

"You did?" Arizona asked, surprisingly pleased.

"I did," she nodded firmly. "My patient asked if I had any children and I said yes. I thought about my unicorn baby for a few moments. Even though he passed away, I was still his mom for a whole forty three minutes, you know? And then I thought of Sofia. I know I'm more of the cool step-mom for now but it feels like I'm her mom too, in a way? I bath her, I chase the four-headed dragon that lives under her bed, I punish her when she's being stubborn, I take her to her dance lessons, I worry when she jumps from the monkey bars and-and I get mad when she's refusing to eat her damn vegetables. So, when she asked if I had a kid, I- okay, to be honest, I first had a brain-fart cause I didn't know what to answer. But then, I realized, I feel like her mom, you know? And-" her ramble was interrupted by a soft pair of lips.

"Gosh Amelia. You can't just drop this on me like this!"

"I'm sor-"

"Don't you dare say you're sorry," Arizona said warningly.

She frowned, confused. "But you just said I shou-"

"It's like, when I think I can't fall anymore in love with you, you make it a challenge to prove me wrong," Arizona said, half-annoyed, half-lovingly and Amelia relaxed in her arms. "And it's annoying because every time, I feel like a fool. It's like I'm getting schooled by my own feelings. Who can even do that? And then I look at you, and I'm wondering what an idiot like me did to even spark an interest in you."

"I think you have the situation wrong, baby. You're the one who's way out of my league," the neurosurgeon said tenderly and kissed her. "But, let's face it, Mother Nature gifted you two very persuasive attributes," Amelia said mischievously as she squeezed her butt.

"Annnnnnnd here you go back to being a huge dork," Arizona giggled. "Is there a single reason for you to shatter every romantic moment with your dorkiness? Is it a personal challenge of yours too?"

Amelia shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe I needed you to stop so I could tell you that I fall a little more in love with you every day too. I'm in so deep that I should probably find some petrol soon. You know what I caught myself doing the other day? I was doing post-op on this baby in the NICU and when I turned around, I saw you at the nurses' station. You were talking to Wilson about God knows what. But you were smiling and then you laughed and damn, butterflies in my stomach would be an understatement to describe what I felt. And I just stood there like a stalker and all I could think of was, "See her? That's my future wife out there.""

"Your future wife?" Arizona's voice cracked and her eyes filled with unshed tears, threatening to spill over whatever Amelia replied.

"Yeah," the brunette said like it as the most obvious thing in the world, a huge smile eating most of her face. "I know we haven't exactly talked about it yet, but one day, if you want to and when the time is right, then yes. I have to wife you up before someone else does," she affirmed confidently.

"You do realize I have already been married right?" Arizona teased, a few tears rolling down her cheeks in happiness.

"Sssshhh, you're ruining the moment, sweetheart," Amelia replied and kissed the tears away before planting a searing kiss onto her partner's lips.

"The day you eventually do propose, I'd be a goddamn fool to say no," Arizona kissed her again, hard. "You're her mom too. Sofia may not call you mommy or mama, but you're as much her mom as Callie or me. You read her her story every night, even though it's the same book for two weeks now. You worry about her when she as much as scrapes her hands on the playground, you look so god damn proud when she finally achieve something she worked hard for, you let her play doctor with your stethoscope. You're every bit the mom Callie and I are to Sofia."

It was the neurosurgeon's turn to have her eyes filled with tears and she silently willed herself to get a hold of herself before they could spill over.

"Look at you, making me be in touch with my emotions," she tried to tease but her voice came out too shaky to properly pull it off. "Are you out of your mind? Pull this trick again and you'll only get snot and tears out of me."

"You are impossible," the pediatric chuckled.

"I know, but you love me anyway," Amelia taunted her, her joyfulness finally back in check.

Arizona gave her a sweet smile, leaning in close to her girlfriend but not quite close enough to kiss her. "That I do," she whispered and tenderly placed her lips against plump ones.

"Amy, stop making out with the pediatric surgeon. This is a hospital, people are trying to work here," Derek interrupted as he leaned against the doorframe of the scan room with his arms crossed.

"Go away Derek, we're having a moment here," the brunette willed petulantly with a whine as she pulled away, not opening her eyes to face reality.

"I'm sorry, but I need to borrow Robbins for a consult and you have patients."

"Finder keepers, losers weepers, bro," she looked at him, frustrated. "I was here first, you can come back in five minutes."

"How old are you again?" Derek rolled his eyes.

Amelia groaned unhappily and Arizona chuckled at their childish behaviors. It reminded her a lot of the bantering Tim and her used to have when they were young and she wondered if they would still be like this if Tim hadn't died. She'd like to think so.

"Dinner together?" Arizona asked, trying to accommodate both neurosurgeons.

"You betcha," Amelia sneaked one last kiss, which of course she tried to turn into something more but Derek intentionally cleared his throat before she could.

"I need that consult today, sis."

"Fiiiiiiine," she conceded and sent her brother a death glare. "God, you're such a clam jam."

"You know, I find it pretty ironic that you're in a lesbian relationship yet, you act like a dick most of the time," he informed her.

The pediatric surgeon her to purse her lips together in order to not laugh out loud and she tried her best to control her inner amusement. She completely pulled away from her lover's embrace and gave her an encouraging smile. "I'll see you later, honey."

Arizona and Callie were talking about a patient when a loud and joyful "Mommies!" yelled from far away came to their ears right along the sound of running little feet. Both women stopped their conversation at the exclamation and smiled when they spotted a wild Sofia coming towards them with open arms, Amelia not far behind. Callie bent over and caught her daughter, doing a spin for fun before settling her onto her hip.

"Hola bebe," the Latina greeted her and kissed her cheek while the blonde kissed the other.

"Hola mama, hola mommy," Sofia replied with a big smile and pushed her tousled hair out of her face.

The neurosurgeon eventually walked up to them and kissed her girlfriend good morning and said hi to Callie.

"Don't you look cheerful this morning," Callie said to her daughter.

"Owen and Amelia had a sleepover and he had breakfast with us!"

"He did?" Arizona said with a big smile.

"Si!"

Arizona raised an eyebrow at Amelia, concerned that Owen had slept over. Again. It was becoming the norm these days unfortunately. She loved the trauma surgeon dearly but between him and Sofia, she felt like the only time she could have Amelia to herself for more than five minutes was over lunch.

"Later," Amelia whispered back to her girlfriend.

"His beard makes his besos scratchy," Sofia said and gently tickled her mama's face with her fingers to imitate the feeling. "It's funny!"

Callie playfully grabbed her fingers and pretended to eat them. With a yelp at the surprise attack, Sofia wiggled her way out of the embrace. Both feet safely on the ground, she took Amelia's hand in hers and waved goodbye at the adults.

"Good day mommies."

"I'll come and see you at daycare once I catch a break, de acuerdo?"

"Yep! Bye," she sent them one last big smile before heading to daycare with the neurosurgeon in tow.

When Amelia came into Arizona's office later that day, the blonde was sitting at her desk, reviewing Wilson's notes on their more recent cases with an attentive look on her face. The brunette knocked on the wooden door to grab her attention. Blue eyes floated away from the files littering her desk and they fell onto her girlfriend's figure standing in her doorway, with what she assumed to be coffee in her hands if the inviting smell was any indicator.

"Have any time for your girlfriend?" Amelia asked with a smirk.

"Depends. Is one of these for me?" she teased back with a raised eyebrow and pointed to the beverages.

Amelia handed her one and sat on the edge of the desk, totally disregarding the sheets. "And one cup of sugar with a side of coffee, one!" she joked and then grabbed the nearest patient file, reading the intern's notes with attention.

"Thanks," the blonde took a sip out of the drink, thankful for a break away from administrative duties.

She leaned all the way back into her chair and she felt a few vertebrae popped here and there, letting out the tension that had accumulated from being all hunched up over the patients' files for over an hour now. Every few seconds or so, Amelia's brows would furrow unconsciously, or her lips would twitch over a word, or her eyes would brighten in agreement over whatever she was reading.

"Damn, remind me to borrow Wilson every once in a while, she's really thorough. Don't get me wrong, Edwards's very meticulous too but her writing looks like hieroglyphs, it takes me forever to read her."

"Uh-uh, you're not stealing Wilson away. I trained her to be that good, I get to keep her," she kidded.

The neurosurgeon raised an eyebrow at the other woman. "Protective much, I see?"

Arizona swiveled lightly back and forth in her chair. "I invested a lot of work in this one. You can't borrow her just because you like her writing. Maybe we can arrange for her to give Edwards a few calligraphy sessions though," both women chuckled.

Eventually, after a few minutes of peaceful silence, Arizona gathered up the courage to ask what had been bothering her almost all morning. She looked up at the brunette's face.

"Are you sure Owen doesn't like you anymore?" she mumbled out.

Amelia's eyes left the sheet she had been focusing on and looked up at the pediatric surgeon, visibly confused. She dropped the patient file back onto the desk.

"As in, is he really over you? Because I trust you, and I want to trust him too, but it-it's hard when I know he used to have feelings for you and he's… he's passing more time in our bed than his own nowadays," she sighed because she hated how jealous she sounded when jealousy really wasn't what she was feeling. She decided to start again and tried to explain herself better, "Not that I'm complaining, you guys need each other. I know your friendship is key to his mental health and I just-I worry. Because if he still likes you and-and being close to you like that, it's not- feelings could- it could jeopardize his recovery and end up doing more harm than good."

"Are you done freaking out?" Amelia asked in an almost-bored tone.

"I-uh, yes?" the pediatric surgeon replied sheepishly, no really sure what Amelia's reaction was going to be since her face was blank of any emotions except annoyance.

The neurosurgeon hooked one foot under the blonde's swivel chair and rolled her up until she had her in between her knees. She gently cupped both cheeks in hands, her thumbs caressing her dimples as she settled her eyes into Arizona's anxious ones. She pulled her closer until she could place a delicate kiss on her lips, only letting her go when air became an issue.

"Babe, Owen doesn't like me anymore. Not like he used to anyway. You have nothing to worry about, okay?"

Truthful and honest eyes staring at her, Arizona felt a familiar fuzzy feeling invading her belly. She turned her head to kiss Amelia's palm. "Okay," she said in a calm tone.

"In fact, he has a girlfriend now," Amelia prompted.

"He does?" Arizona's brows furrowed and her hands wandered onto her girlfriend's muscular thighs in front of her to finish their jog around her waist. She rested her head onto Amelia's legs and she immediately felt fingers run through her hair.

"Yeah, that's the second reason why I'm swinging by, number one being seeing your pretty face. He wants us to meet her, we're having dinner with them overmorrow night. Owen's."

"Wait, how did I not know about this? How long has this been going on?" She just heard of this woman today and they were already having dinner with her? Talk about fast.

"They met a little under a month ago. Her name's Jennifer. She's nice, and definitely pretty. They've been going out a lot, but you know Owen. Didn't want to tell anyone until he was positive it was something serious."

"You met her already?"

"They met at Joe's. I just happened to be there," Amelia shrugged nonchalantly and she focused her fingers onto the blonde's tensed neck

They spent a few moment in silence, the pediatric surgeon unwinding under Amelia's sweet caresses while the brunette admired her girlfriend's features soften and grow more relax.

"It's almost Megan's anniversary," Amelia confessed gravely and seriously. "That's why he's over so much."

The blonde perked up at the admission and sighed in regret. "Great, now I feel like a moron," she felt guilty for being so bitchy about it. She knew firsthand how hard anniversaries could be.

"It's okay, I get it. I've been spending a lot of time with him lately and not so much with you, I'm sorry. I'm trying to balance everything but to be honest, it's," she paused.

Arizona could tell Amelia was nervous. Fingers were now fidgeting, dark eyes were looking down, she was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth… Nothing about her girlfriend's body exuded the confident attitude it often did. She gently grabbed the wiggling fingers and laced them with hers so the brunette would stop. She squeezed them in what she hoped was a reassuring manner and gave the neurosurgeon a moment to put words on what she was feeling right now.

"It's-umh, hard. I-uh, I haven't been to AA's in over a week," her eyes finally strayed away from their joined hands to sink into bright blue loving ones. "And Derek's been kind of bitchy all week since he lost his patient on Monday and he needs someone to take his anger out on, I just wish it wasn't me. Owen's been taking a lot a time, which he needs and I'm happy to help him and all. But I-I feel like I'm neglecting you and Sof. I just… I want a nice evening indoors with my girlfriend and my daughter. Some junk food, a crappy movie I can fall asleep in front of, perhaps some cuddles."

"I have good news for you then," Arizona smiled cheekily at her and sat back up. "We can go to AA's after our shifts. Then, we're going to go home and Sof is going to talk our ears off about whatever crazy stuff her and Zola did today at daycare. I'mma help her with her homework while you relax in a warm bath. We can order pizza in, thinking about all the bad carbs in it while stuffing our faces anyway. We can have nighttime all together and once she's asleep, we're going to enjoy ourselves. I think we still have some microwavable pop corn left from last time lying around somewhere in the kitchen, we just have to find it. I'm sure we can manage to find a crappy movie to fall asleep in front of. As for the cuddles, well… Sof and I would be happy to oblige."

"You're the best, you know that?" Amelia smiled tiredly, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Arizona grinned sleazily. "I do try," she teased.

"You do know we're only going to Owen's, right? No need to be so dressed up."

"I'm dressed to impress!" Amelia said sassily with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Impress who? Jennifer? Because all I see coming from her seeing you dress like this is jealousy," the pediatric surgeon laughed.

Amelia put both hands on her hips, her poker face on. "Impress you, dumbass."

"Oh, baby," she said in the same kiddie voice she used when their daughter did something she found adorable. "You don't need to dress up to impress me. You already do that by just being you," she said sweetly and truthfully.

"Shut up!" the brunette scolded lightheartedly with a smile. "I wanted to look nice for you, okay? Can't you be a good girlfriend and just be grateful and appreciative?" Amelia stated in annoyance.

"Trust me, I'm very very appreciative," she kissed her slowly.

Her hands settled onto Amelia's neck since she didn't want to destroy the brunette's braids. She ran her tongue over Amelia's lips, silently asking for entrance. She opened up, welcoming her girlfriend's intrusion. Amelia's hands traveled passed her hips to swiftly rest on her butt and pull her impossibly closer. Her tongue battled with Arizona's and she could feel a familiar warm wave of fondness and hunger flooding over her insides, leaving her weak on her knees. The neurosurgeon couldn't help the small moan that left her throat when Arizona's tongue swept along the roof of her mouth.

Out of breath, Arizona broke the kiss and smirked when she felt the quickened pulse under her fingertips. Even though Amelia's eyes were closed, Arizona had little doubt on the darkness of want filling them. She bought her mouth close to the brunette's ear.

"I'll show you exactly how grateful I am once we get back," she whispered and watched the shivers come alive and travel down Amelia's porcelain-like skin.

The brunette finally opened her eyes just in time to witness the sultry smile the other woman was sporting. Arizona shimmied away but the hands on her bottom detained her and she was pulled into another fiery kiss. Teeth scraped at her bottom lip and the blonde whimpered, which prompted Amelia's tongue to assault hers again. Gosh, she had to stop them otherwise they were never going to make it to this dinner in time. She pulled away before she could change her mind and gently pushed the brunette and her devil hands away.

"We really need to go now," she said breathily, her voice dripping with want.

The brunette huffed, disgruntled. "Can't we just cancel?"

Arizona laughed. "He's your best friend, 'Melia."

"At this moment, he isn't," she moaned painfully but grabbed her purse anyway.

The neurosurgeon was about to knock on Owen's front door when Arizona stopped her hand mid-air.

"Wait. Are you sure I don't look under-dressed?" she asked, visibly uneasy.

"If anything, I think you're overdressed," Amelia winked playfully and the blonde softly hit her arm. "Okay, okay, I'm stopping. But more seriously, every inch of you looks absolutely perfect. You're rocking this new sweater and those pants make your ass looks out of this world. I'm maybe bias though," she pecked the blonde's cheek. "If it helps, I'm pretty sure Owen's going to be in sweatpants," she joked while also knowing it was a real probability.

"It weirdly does. Thanks."

"Any chance to drag my friend in the dirt," Amelia chuckled and finally knocked on the door.

Owen opened a few seconds later with a wide smile. The brunette was agreeably surprised to see him wearing real pants.

"Hey guys! Please come in. Jennifer's in the kitchen."

Amelia could tell he was feeling a little stressed but he hid it pretty well. They discarded their coats and once in the kitchen, Arizona had to give Amelia right: Jennifer sure was pretty. She reminded Arizona a lot of Izzie Stevens. Legs for day, blonde curly hair and deep brown eyes.

"Hi," Amelia greeted and shook her hand. "I'm Amelia."

"Right, we encountered at Joe's! Owen told me a lot about you."

"Good things only I hope," she gently elbowed the redhead in the stomach on her way to sit on the barstool which prompted him to reply.

"Of course!"

It was Arizona's turn to shake the blonde's hand. "Arizona," she said with a sweet smile to put her at ease and set the cake they had made with Sofia down onto the counter. She took a sit next to her girlfriend and a hand came to comfortably rest on her thigh.

"Right! You work with Owen at the hospital, isn't that right?" she said after focusing, having more trouble to place her. "This looks delicious," she pointed to the cake.

"Yes, peds surgeon. We've been working together for what? Five years or so. And thanks, my daughter helped so you know, if there are a few eggshells in there, I can't be held responsible," she joked and Jennifer relaxed a little.

"Do you want a drink?" Owen asked as he took out some glasses.

He opened the wine bottle skillfully and Amelia could see the little excitement into his new girlfriend's eyes. She discreetly squeezed Arizona's thigh and motioned to Jennifer with a tilt of her head. Owen poured a glass for Jennifer and then served the pediatric surgeon and himself. When the trauma surgeon didn't even offer some to the brunette, Jennifer frowned and took it upon herself.

"Do you want a glass, Amelia?"

Owen's eyes popped out. It had become so normal to never offer her anything alcoholic that he didn't even realize it might seem weird to other people.

"Amelia-uh," he struggled to come up with an excuse, not wanting to divulge his best friend's struggles.

"No thanks. I'm driving," Amelia stated, glad for the excuse and gave Owen a reassuring look. "It smells freaking amazing in there by the way! What did you cook?" Amelia took a deep breath in.

"Chicken piccata," the redhead replied. "To be honest, Jen did most of the work," he admitted sweetly and squeezed Jennifer's arm.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that because we all know you're a little helpless in the kitchen," the neurosurgeon teased.

"Hey! Stop trying to make me look bad in front of Jen," Owen argued and all women chuckled.

"It's alright, I already know about your cooking skills. Besides, you can't be good at every thing, you gotta have a few flaws here and there," Jennifer stated sweetly and kissed his cheek.

Amelia rolled her eyes and pretended to throw up which made Arizona laugh.

"So, you're a surgeon too Amelia, right?" Jennifer asked conversationally.

"Yep. Neurology. What about you? What do you do?"

"I'm an engineer in the food processing industry. I know, doesn't sound as glamorous as surgeon."

"I think it has a nice ring to it," Owen said. "And you get to have a normal shift, which we totally envy."

"Yeah, I'm totally jealous. I barely see this one at home these days," Amelia mentioned towards Arizona.

"Oh, you guys are roommates?" Jennifer raised both eyebrows.

Arizona chuckled. "Amelia's a little more than my roommate. We're partners."

"Oh," Jennifer looked dumbfounded. "Sorry, I didn't know."

"It's quite alright."

They ate accompanied with light conversation, and the more they learned about Jennifer, the more they liked her. Dinner was really good, the blonde definitely was a better cook than Owen. Jennifer still looked a little uncomfortable but both women put it on the fact that it was their first encounter and that the blonde was more on the shy side. Overall, both surgeons thought Jennifer and Owen made a disgustingly cute couple.

The next day, a huge trauma came in and Amelia found herself stuck with Owen and April in OR's for most of the day. However, Owen was no longer the playful and lovable doofus she had seen yesterday evening. The trauma surgeon was moody, almost barking orders at the poor anesthetists and nurses standing with them in the OR's and the brunette eventually had to call him out on it. The ginger apologized for his erratic behavior to the staff once their last surgery done.

"Wanna tell me this was all about?" Amelia asked him as they took their surgical caps off.

He leaned his hip onto the sinks, his eyes fell onto the floor and sadness overcame his features.

"Jen and I broke up," he said rather flatly, trying his best to hide the sorrow in his voice but Amelia heard it anyway.

"What? Why?" Amelia was confused. They had seemed just fine last night when Arizona and she had left.

"She-uh… she said she didn't want me to-hum" he cleared his throat, "to associate with such people."

Amelia leaned on the sink next to him and took his hand, hoping to bring him some comfort. She frowned at the words. "What did she mean such people?"

Owen stayed silent but his shoulders slumped down.

"Owen, what did she mean?" Amelia asked while racking her brain to find a plausible reason. And then, it came. "Did you tell her I'm a recovering addict?" she asked, this time her tone slightly angry and defensive.

Owen's eyes finally left the floor to look at his friend. "No, of course not. You know I wouldn't."

"Sorry," Amelia apologized, feeling a little ashamed of accusing him so fast.

"It's okay. I know it's a sensitive subject," he replied, ever so understanding.

"Then what was it? Was she jealous? Because Arizona did warn me about that since you know, we're pretty close and we-"

"No, that's not it."

"Then what is it?"

Owen stayed silent but his eyes spoke for him. The neurosurgeon could see the pain and uneasiness into them.

"Gay people. She said she didn't want to be associated with gay people and that she didn't understand how I could be friends with you and Arizona," he admitted a little louder than necessary, anger and hurt lacing his voice.

"Oh," she said, taking it in. "Shit, I'm sorry. I know you really liked her," she gently embraced him into a friendly hug.

Owen melted in her arms, thankful for her presence. "It sucks," he whispered.

"It does," she agreed. "Wanna drown your sorrow in alcohol later?"

"I- no, thanks. I'd rather be alone tonight."

"Okay, but promise me to give me a call when glooming becomes boring?"

A small laugh escaped the man. "Sure."