A/N: I posted two chapters at the same time! If this is the first chapter you're reading after the conversation w/ Alex, go back and read Chapter 3 first! (Or don't, lol, but it will mayyyybe make more sense).

~Epilgoue~

Beside her in the driver's seat, Callie was grumbling a little, but Arizona was honestly having a tough time keeping track of exactly what Callie's complaints were.

"-could have caught an Uber-"

"You're really pretty," Arizona told her.

Stopped at a red light, Callie did a double-take. "What?"

"You're really pretty," Arizona repeated. She had been thinking it the moment Callie had shown up at the bar in a leather jacket and old leggings, hair thrown loosely into a ponytail, clearly in the middle of a comfortable Friday night, while Sofia slept over at a friend's. She had even whispered it to Nicole Herman, who had dryly replied, "Quit being a sap, Robbins."

A small smile flitted across Callie's lips as the light turned green. She tossed a small glance Arizona's way, a sweet expression on her face. She looked… something, but Arizona was too drunk to remember the word.

"You know, I would have taken an Uber," Arizona said after a moment. "I'm not that drunk."

"We'll see about that when we get you home," Callie replied.

"I'm not. I'm just drunk enough to want to see you."

Again, Callie did not respond, but a small smile crossed her face again and her fingers drummed lightly on the steering wheel. Such a pretty face, Arizona thought.

Things had been good between the coparents for the past few months. Alex had been right - making a decision about Callie that had nothing to do with Sofia had been good for both of them, had been what they'd both needed to separate parenting their daughter from their own interpersonal problems.

And they were having more fun together too, although that was a newer thing that had happened, only months after long-but-careful talks about the past. Spontaneously grabbing lunch or coffee if Arizona had a procedure at Callie's hospital. Laughing together so loudly in the movies that Sofia no longer wanted to spend time with the the both of them, together. They were getting more comfortable, now that they had emotionally aired some of their grievances. They had their own friendship, outside of Sofia, which was nice, too.

But despite everything, Arizona was holding back. Callie could tell, even before Callie had bluntly pointed out out that she could tell, she knew Callie could tell. And Callie had been patient. But she also hadn't put up boundaries, and despite Arizona's fear that they were about to cross a line they couldn't undo, repeat their tragic history all over again, the closer they got, the harder it was for Arizona to pull away, too.

Which was why she'd drunkenly called Callie when Nicole had told her she was hammered.

Callie pulled up to the curb in a no-parking zone and put the car in park.

"Okay, Arizona, we're right out front and I am not finding parking at this time of night. Can you call me when you get up?"

Arizona nodded, but bossy Callie was hot Callie, and she wasn't ready to go up yet. Instead, she just smiled. A small, tiny, almost-sober voice far at the back of her mind, was screaming for her to stop, to remember what had happened last time, but a louder, more drunk voice reasoned that she had gotten so drunk precisely because that was what she needed to take the next step.

"I'm a big girl, Calliope."

"I know you are." And then - "Hey, you called me Calliope."

"It wasn't on purpose, but I don't take it back. If that's okay with you?"

Callie chuckled. "Yeah, Arizona, it is okay with me, as long as you promise you're not going around calling other girls Calliope."

Was she… flirting?

"Never," Arizona declared, leaning close enough that Callie's scent lingered all around her. "They couldn't live up to the name." There was a pause, but Arizona couldn't tell if it was awkward or not."Thanks for coming to get me."

Callie smiled. "Anytime. I know I uh, bitched at you, but-"

Arizona leaned forward and kissed her, softly and carefully, despite the alcohol, the same way she had in the dirty bar bathroom, all those years ago. She pulled back, and then, staring into Callie's warm, welcoming eyes, leaned forward again, kissing Callie more fervently, hands cradling her precious face. And Callie responded, for a few sweet, blissful seconds, until-

"Arizona."

Callie pulled back, concerned. Why would she be concerned? Arizona wondered. Hadn't she said she wanted this?

"I'm all in," Arizona told her boldly, surprised at the words coming from her own mouth.

"Not like this," said Callie quietly. "This is what we did last time."

"It's not what we did last time," Arizona insisted, trailing a hand sloppily down Callie's cheek. "We've talked. And you're sober."

"Oh, I hate being the sober one right now," Callie complained, more to herself than Arizona.

"I have a lot of bottles in my apartment."

"Arizona. If we're going to do this, we need to do it in a way where there's not a 50% chance you'll regret it in the morning."

Arizona pouted. "What do you mean, regret it?"

"I mean the two of us whisper-yelling at each other across the room while we fight over your leg."

Arizona grimaced. "That was a low, wasn't it?"

Callie shrugged. "Relatively speaking. Look, I just… I want you. So much. But I want you to be comfortable. I want to know your boundaries. That's not something we can talk about right now." Hearing Callie say the word "boundaries" was so funny, Arizona thought, but also, so sweet. She had grown in their time apart, she had reflect on what had gone wrong. And she had learned.

"I love you," said Arizona.

And without missing a beat, Callie replied. "I know. I love you too."

Arizona smiled stupidly as a fresh wave of drunken euphoria swept through her. "And you're still not coming up?"

Callie reached out, tucked a strand of hair behind her head. "Not tonight, okay?"

Arizona continued to pout, sensing it was having an effect on Callie. I love you too. The words echoed in her mind, somehow more precious than the first time she heard them, because it was still possible for Callie to love her.

"Look," said Callie. "Why don't I find somewhere to park, and I'll take you up and get you to bed - with all your clothes on- and when you can't sleep off that hangover, I'll take you to brunch, okay?"

Arizona beamed. "Promise?"

"Promise."

Arizona woke with the usual head-pounding that accompanied a night out with Nicole Herman. Sitting up in bed, she tried to collect her thoughts. It didn't feel like a wild night - she hadn't been ridiculously drunk, and she'd gone home before midnight - no, Callie had taken her home.

And then she remembered the kiss, and vague images of clinging onto Callie in the elevator, the two of them laughing, and Callie, tucking her into bed - and fuck. She couldn't remember much of anything else, or what Callie had said to her, and what she'd said to Callie.

Trying not to panic, Arizona sat up and brushed a large, matted mass of blonde hair out of her eyes. The bed was empty, and showed no signs of having been slept in by anyone but her - why did that make her so sad? Shouldn't that be a relief?

"Callie?" she called. No response. "Callie?" she raised her voice. But her apartment was still.

Groaning, she reached for her phone. She had no missed calls, no texts. She hadn't sent any texts, either, and her last call to Callie had been at ten-thirty, presumably when she was still at the bar. Jamming her thumb at Callie's number on her screen, she quickly dialed her ex-wife.

"Arizona?" She was relieved Callie had picked up so quickly, but also, she hadn't planned what she was going to say.

"Callie. I - didn't wake you up, did I?"

Callie laughed. "Arizona, it's almost noon."

"Oh. I - what - what happened last night?"

Callie's voice suddenly got somber. "What, you mean you can't remember?"

"Remember what?" Arizona wracked her brains, but the one kiss in the car was the only one she could remember. And every instance of the two of them in the bed - they'd been fully clothed. And she hadn't been that drunk, had she?

"How you called me and told you that you needed me, and then you professed your love to me and apologized for not being perfect. Then you took me upstairs and we made sweet, sweet love and you made me promise to never leave you again, and as soon as you fell asleep... I left. Yeah, I was considering not even picking up your call, maybe ghosting. But, you know, we have a daughter together, so I figured, might as well do it formally." As Callie spoke, her voice began to drip with sarcasm, and the heart-stopping feeling of dread in panic in Arizona's chest slowly melted.

"Real funny, Calliope."

"Hey, I thought so."

"You suck at jokes."

Arizona could hear Callie's smile through the other end. "Nothing happened, Arizona. We just - we kissed. And then I said we'd talk tomorrow."

"And?" Arizona demanded.

"Well, we're talking now."

"So?"

"So… do you want me to come over and drag your ass to brunch as your date, or as your ex-wife and coparent?"

Arizona hesitated.

"Look, Arizona, I-"

"Your date, Callie. I want to be your date." And despite the pounding in her head, nothing had ever felt clearer.

"Gotcha," said Callie. Gotcha. And that was… that? "I'll be by in thirty."

"Okay." By in thirty. Simple, but mundane. Arizona beamed at no one in particular, not quite wanting to hang up and end the moment.

"Arizona?"

"Calliope?"

"Not that I don't love you and everything, but hearing you breathe on the other end is freaking me out, so I'm gonna go. I'll see you in a bit."

"Sounds good."

Arizona hung up and fell back against her pillows. She needed to get ready - she was pretty sure she was a mess, and she wanted to look her best for Callie. But she needed a minute, too. Part of her didn't believe she'd done it. That she'd taken the leap - that she'd decided, on her own time, that she was ready. Part of her was still scared, still unsure of how to move forward with Callie, if the not-dragging-up-the-past would all fall apart with one fight.

But mostly, she just couldn't wait for brunch.

A/N: Hi everyone! Here we are, at the end! Thanks again for coming along on the ride! I think I probably dragged this story out a little too long - I was torn between wanting to do something fun and wanting to have Callie and Arizona actually deal with their shit. Also, lol, I love Arizona but genuinely don't know how her brain works. But anyways, despite how I feel about it personally, it really did mean a lot to me that so many of you wanted to see how it ended, so thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it! I am working on some more stuff that I'm actually really excited about, so stay tuned! Cheers!