Disclaimer! This is an AU story. I don't own any characters. I just manipulate them. Characters belong to Shonda and ABC. This is just for fun and entertainment.
Warning! This story will contain heavy topics such as: self-harm, depression, PTSD and maybe more. I will put a trigger warning in the beginning of every chapter.
Trigger Warning: Self-harm, ableism and homophobic language (i don't know if that needs a tw but anyway)
Rating: T for 'heavy' language.
Have a good read!
A/N at then end.
Chapter 3
It was Friday morning. Arizona went to bed at 1AM and woke up at 4:30AM, because of a nightmare. She was super stressed because today they had PE class and that means everyone at school was going to know about her leg, or the lack of. She did a pretty good job hiding it. She didn't park in the handicap parking space. If she was limping she would just make up some excuse.
And Gabby and her stupid puppies were going to have the best target. Gay and disabled. Perfect target for bullying. Speaking of Gabby, since the sticky note thing on Tuesday, she hasn't done or said anything to Arizona or anyone else, so she was kinda relieved because of that.
She tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't because of the stress. She decided she was just going to get ready. She grabbed her crutches and walked to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and just stared. Her thighs were full of old scars and her left arm was full of new and fresh ones. Snapping out of her daze, she turned on the shower and sat down in her shower chair. How the fuck has my life come to this. Oh yeah, a fucking plane crashed.
After 20 minutes, she stepped out of the shower, grabbed her crutches and walked back to her room. She put on her prosthetic and her school uniform. Took her medication. She smeared some eyeliner and concealer on her face and did her hair, and went downstairs as quietly as possible, trying not to wake her parents. She took her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages. She made some coffee and ate a granola bar.
It was 5AM so her father came downstairs. "Good Morning Arizona, why are you up so early?" Her father kissed her on the top of her head.
"Goodmorning Colonel, couldn't sleep." Arizona sighed. "I might go to school early today."
"Are you okay, Arizona? You have been a bit distant lately. Is everything alright at school?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah yeah fine, can I ask you something?" Arizona replied.
"Go ahead."
"Can I go to a friend's house tomorrow? We are just going to watch some movies and hang out. I'll make sure I have all my homework done before." Arizona asked, hoping he would let her go.
"If all your homework is done, I don't see the problem. Is this friend a boy or a girl?" The Colonel asked sternly.
"Dad!" Arizona rolled her eyes. "It's multiple friends actually, I'm not sure who is coming… Addison and Teddy for sure. It's at Callie's house so she's going to be there of course."
"Okay, be home at midnight."
"Dad! It's a Saturday night!" Arizona pouted.
"Fine! 1AM. Not a minute later." Even the Colonel can't resist those eyes.
"Thank you Colonel. Have fun at work, I'm going to school!" Arizona kissed her father goodbye and went to her car. She wasn't sure if she was going to school already since it was only 5:30. She decided to text Callie, maybe she was up already, if she wasn't well...
Arizona and Callie became really good friends and Arizona would be lying if she said she didn't have a small crush on her friend. Callie luckily didn't tell anyone about what she saw in the bathroom the other night. But that friendship could easily be destroyed today. I mean who wants to hang out with the disabled girl.
# are you up yet? # i woke up early and i don't want to go to school yet # if you're not up, i will continue spamming you until you do # calliope # wake tf up
~ let me sleep
# no # calllieeeeeee # cal # callioooooppppppeeeeeee
~ ugh ~ just come over and get ready with me ~ DUDE IT'S 5:30 WHATS WRONG WITH YOU
# a lot. # ill be there in 10
~ i hate you
# no you dont :)
~ ugh i dont
Arizona couldn't stop smiling as she drove to Callie's house. When she pulled up the two humongous houses, she felt her phone vibrate. She took her phone out of her new cross-body bag and saw it was Callie who texted.
~come through the window ~my room is on the first floor so its not high ~my parents will whoop me if they hear someone coming into the house at 5 fucking 40 AM
# where is your window
"Arizona!" Callie whisper yelled. Arizona looked up from her phone and saw Callie's head sticking out of a window at the side of the house. She grabbed her bag and walked over to the window.
"Good Morning Calliope!" Arizona said excitedly.
"It's 5:45 AM. What is wrong with you? How are you so perky?" Callie whined.
"Not a fan of the mornings huh?"
"I like my sleep. Now come in." Callie walked away from the window and plopped back on her king sized bed.
Arizona tried to climb through the window onto the dresser that was placed under the window. Her right leg was on the dresser but she needed help to get through it completely. "Cal, little help please."
Callie groaned. "It's not that high."
"Callie." Arizona said a bit irritated. I can't even go through a fucking window.
Callie was a bit taken aback by Arizona. She stood up and helped Arizona. "Arizona, are you okay? You seem a bit tense."
Arizona sighed as she sat down on Callie's bed. "Yeah fine. Sorry I woke you up. I woke up at fucking 4:30 AM."
"It's fine. At least I have time to actually get ready now." Callie smiled as she walked to her huge closet. "You know, I hate uniforms. I have all these clothes and I can't even wear them most of the time."
"I think the uniform is kinda nice. I used to go to a school that had foot length, plaid skirts. It was fucking atrocious. Oh and it had a striped jacket." Arizona laughed.
"Oh God, remind me never to complain again about the school uniform. Skirt or pants?" Callie asked.
"Pants. You have PE so it would just be annoying to put on tights again." Arizona reasons.
"Smart." Callie walked back with her uniform in her hands. "Why are you up so early anyway?"
"Just nervous about today." Arizona replied. Callie was to find out today anyway so why not tell her now. But she was going to need a cig. "Mind if I smoke? I'll sit by your window."
"Go ahead. Why are you nervous? PE? I mean coach Riggs is okay." Callie said while taking her shirt off.
Arizona looked away and blushed a deep red. How can she look so gorgeous when she just got out of bed? Holy shit. "Arizona?" Callie said looking at her weird. "Are you sure you're okay? You look flustered."
"Mhm." Arizona walked over to the window.
"You're acting weird." Callie said as she put on her white button up.
"I'm fine." Arizona replied with a smile, relieved that Callie had a shirt on again. She lit up her cigarette and took a hit. "I don't have PE." There's no going back now.
Callie looked confused. "What do you mean? Everyone has PE. It's mandatory."
"I uh- I…" Arizona sighed and closed her eyes. What's wrong with you? Just say it. She took another drag from her cig.
"Okay there's definitely something going. You're not okay." Callie said carefully while plopping back on her bed. "You can talk to me, you know? Whatever it is, I won't judge you. I have my fair share of problems as well."
Arizona made eye contact with Callie. She saw nothing but sincerity and truth. They stayed like that for a while. She gave her a small smile. She pulled up her pants leg. Callie's eyes wandered down to her leg en her jaw dropped slightly as she saw a metal instead of human flesh. "Wow." She whispered.
Arizona's smile dropped and she began to start rambling. "I understand if you don't want to be friends because you know no one wants to hang out with the disabled girl. And at school you probably are going to get more bullied when they find out because you are hanging out with the disabled girl." She chuckled nervously. "You know what, I should probably go." Arizona stood up to grab her bag but Callie grabbed her wrist. She winced slightly.
"Arizona. I don't care." Callie's eyes burned into Arizona's. "It's not a big deal. You're still you right? Because I really like this 'you'." She gave Arizona her megawatt smile. Arizona didn't know what to say but her eyes started to water and her lip started trembling. "Oh no, you're going to cry. I don't know what to do. I'm really bad at comforting." She chuckled nervously.
Arizona laughed softly and wrapped her arms around Callie. "Thank you." She mumbled into Callie's chest. They stood there for a while when they suddenly heard someone walking down the stairs.
"Shit. Hide in the closet." Callie pulled away from Arizona. Arizona snorted weirdly at the irony of that but quickly walked into the walk-in closet. Callie just looked at her weirdly. "What the hell was that noise?" She whispered. "Did that come out of you?" Arizona started laughing.
A knock on the startled Callie. "Calliope!"
"Shit. My dad. Stop laughing!" Callie whispered, trying to hold her own laughter. She closed the closet door and ran over to the bedroom door. "Hey daddy." She gave her best smile.
"I heard laughing. Are you alone?" Her father said sternly.
"Yes daddy. I just got a text from a friend. She sent a funny video." Callie lied.
"Who's this friend? Do I know her? Is this one of your special friends?" Carlos asked angrily.
Callie rolled her eyes. "No daddy. It was just Addison."
"She's up this early? And why are you up so early? And don't roll your eyes at your father."
"Sorry daddy, me and Addison wanted to go to school early to prepare for a presentation." Callie lied again.
"I'll ask the chef to make you some breakfast." Carlos said as he walked away.
"Thank you daddy!" Callie sighed as she closed the door. Then she heard a bonk. "Arizona?"
"Fuck! I'm okay! I'm okay!" Arizona called out from the closet.
Callie opened up the closet door and saw Arizona rubbing her head. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.
"Yeah yeah. Your shelves are too high. You know, you worry too much." Arizona said as she walked out of the closet.
"They are not high. You're just short." Callie giggled.
Arizona scoffed. "Am not. I'm 5 '4."
"Short." Callie stated.
"Oh shut up with your 5'8 ass." Arizona swatted Callie on her head. "Special friend? That's what homophobic people call it now?" Arizona smiled sadly.
"Oh you know about…" Callie trailed off.
"Yeah… Addison told me and then she looked like she was going to hit me and then I called myself a human rainbow." Arizona rambled.
Callie laughed. "Human rainbow?"
"Yeah, not my proudest moment." Arizona giggled. "Just so you know. If you want to talk I'm here. I dealt with a lot of homophobic people including Gabby."
"Oh my God, is that why you beat her up?" Callie exclaimed.
"For the last time, I did not beat her up! I punched her once. She called my ex a crude name and I'm a good man in a storm." Arizona sighed.
"Good man in a storm?"
"My father raised me like a good man in a storm. Protect the people you love and care about." Arizona smiled.
"Your father sounds like a wise man." Callie smiled.
"He is, but he's also scary and intimidating. But I love him." Arizona scrunched her nose.
"You want breakfast? I can just sneak some waffles in." Callie offered.
"I'm good, I had a granola bar this morning." Arizona replied, getting up from the bed. "You should probably change your pants unless you wanna go to school in," Arizona squinted her eyes "Christmas pajamas? Nice!"
"Oh fuck off." Callie slapped Arizona lightly on her arm. "You sure you don't want any food? Maria is an excellent cook. And a granola bar is not breakfast." She asked while switching her pants.
"No thank you." Arizona smiled politely.
"Okay, what should I do with my makeup and hair? I actually have time to do those things now, wow." Callie walked over to her desk and grabbed her make-up bag.
"See? I'm doing you a favor by waking you up!" Arizona exclaimed. She walked over to Callie and looked in her makeup bag. "Oh, let me try this stuff."
Callie rolled her eyes. "Grab whatever you want. Anyway you didn't answer my question. Hair? Up? Down? Straighten it? Natural?"
"Natural and down. You look really pretty like that." Arizona stood behind Callie. She grabbed Callie's hair and put it forward on Callie's shoulders. "You should cut it. It would look really pretty."
"You think? How short?" Callie blushed.
"Somewhere around here." Arizona put her hand to the length of Callie's jawline.
"No! No way! That's way too short!" Callie looked at Arizona in disbelief.
"Awh come on! It will look so good. Everyone will be drooling on you! Boys and girls!" Arizona whined. "I was going to cut my hair jawline length as well and dye my hair partly red!"
"Really? That's really short." Callie looked at Arizona's shoulder length, wavy hair.
"Yeah. I like short hair." Arizona nodded.
"Fine. Only if you cut it too." Callie agreed.
"Great!" Arizona walked over to the window. "You should put on eyeliner for makeup. And don't use foundation, you don't need it anyway." She grabbed her pack of cigarettes out of her bag.
"You should stop smoking. It's really bad for your health." Callie said while brushing her hair.
"Yeah well. I only smoke when I'm nervous, stressed or knowing I'm going to get in trouble. I'm not one of those chainsmokers with a fucking hole in their throat." Arizona lit up her cig.
"You don't have to be worried, you know. The friends won't care. Cristina would probably make some stupid joke and Mark will still try to get you naked. And you don't have to tell people just have them find out on their own, but I do think you should tell the friend grouph." Callie smiled sympathetically.
Arizona looked at Callie. "I know, but when Gabby and her crew will find out they will have a blast."
"I'll volunteer to punch her if you want?" Callie shrugged. Arizona chuckled. They sat in silence for a while until it just became uncomfortable. "How?" Callie asked softly.
"Hm?" Arizona didn't hear her.
"How?" Callie asked a bit louder.
"How what?" Arizona chuckled nervously. She knew Callie was asking about her leg.
"Your leg? What happened? Were you born with it?" Callie asked carefully.
Arizona tensed. She took another drag from her cigarette. "Plane crash. You might have heard it on the news? 2 years ago. From Texas to Boston."
"Gosh." Callie sighed. "I heard about it. 4 days right? I can't even imagine."
"Yeah." Arizona sighed. "Look, can we not talk about it."
"Okay, but if you ever want to talk. I'm a really good listener. Like really really good." Callie smiled at Arizona.
"Thank you." Arizona whispered. "You should go eat breakfast. I'll wait here. I might use your makeup while you're gone." Arizona smiled sheepishly.
"Okay, I'll be back quickly." Callie finished her makeup and walked out the door. "Brb!"
When Callie finished her breakfast and went back to room, Arizona was sleeping on her bed. Callie smiled, she looked adorable. Callie walked over to the bed and shook her shoulders. "Az! Wake up!"
Arizona sat up. "I'm up! I'm up!" Callie chuckled. Arizona rubbed her eyes and groaned. "Sorry, I didn't sleep very well last night."
"It's okay. I mean you woke up at fucking 4:30 AM so." Callie started to pack her bag for school. "Can I carpool with you? We can go to get some coffee somewhere or something else?"
"Sure, sounds good. I need another coffee." Arizona stood up from the bed. "Let's go!"
—————
It was 7:00 AM when the girls arrived at school. They had convinced the friend group to meet them at 7:15 AM in the parking lot. Arizona was nervously sipping her coffee. "They won't care right? I mean they all wanna become doctors so it's fine." Arizona rambled.
"Exactly. So stop rambling and calm down." Callie made intense eye contact with Arizona.
"Mhm." Arizona nodded. Yeez, her eyes are so deep and intense. Wow! Stop Arizona. Just because she's gay doesn't mean she wants anything to do with you, in that way. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain her left leg. Oh come on! Not right now! She hissed and closed her eyes. Stupid stress!
"Are you okay?" Callie asked worriedly.
"Mhm. I'm fine." Arizona mumbled while digging her finger in her left thigh.
"You keep saying that but I don't really believe you." Callie chuckled nervously.
"Ever heard of phantom limb?" Arizona asked.
"Yeah, phantom limb is a condition in which people with an amputated limb experience sensations, whether painful or not, in their amputated limb." Callie rambled. Arizona gave her a look. "What? I read medical journals, leave me alone!" Arizona chuckled. "Are you experiencing phantom limb right now? How can I help?"
"Yeah, but I'm okay." Arizona smiled at Callie.
They heard a car coming into the parking lot. It was Addison's. She parked her car and she and Teddy stepped out. "Are they together?" Arizona whispered to Callie.
"No, Addie and Teddy have a weird friendship, but I definitely think they hooked up together." Callie whispered back.
Arizona giggled. "Hey Teds, Addison!" She called out. "Over here!"
"I hate you Arizona." Teddy grumbled.
"Goodmorning to you to Teddy!" Arizona exclaimed.
"You made me wake up Teddy 15 minutes early. Do you know what that does to her?" Addison said dramatically.
"Dramatic much?" Callie rolled her eyes.
"Why did you make us come early anyway?" Addison asked.
"Arizona has something to tell you guys, but just wait for the rest." Callie said.
"Yeah yeah, we know she's gay. No need to wake me up early for that!" Teddy rolled her eyes.
"You're gay?" Callie asked Arizona in disbelief.
When Arizona was about to reply Addison cut her off. "Of course she's gay, look at her!" Addison waved her hands around Arizona.
"Hey!" Arizona looked at Addison confused. "Am I supposed to feel offended or happy about that?"
"Why did I just hear about this?" Callie asked, still in shock.
"I thought you knew!" Arizona exclaimed. "I thought Addison might have told you or Teddy! And what did you think when I said I called myself a human rainbow?"
"I don't know! I thought you were just perky!" Callie defended.
"Too much yelling!" Teddy yelled. "Callie you have the worst gaydar."
Callie scoffed. "I do not!"
"You totally do." Arizona and Addison said in unison.
"Whatever!" Callie rolled her eyes.
Soon the rest of the group arrived except Mark and Derek. Arizona was currently sitting on the hood of her car smoking yet another cigarette whilst talking to Teddy. She and Teddy also became really good friends, best friends even. They had hung out before and they were just comfortable with each other. "Is anyone going to tell me why Arizona brought us all here?" A deep male voice said.
"Right…" Arizona glanced at Callie. She sighed and grabbed another cigarette but Callie snatched it out of her hand. "Hey!"
"Stop smoking!" Callie threw away the cigarette. "Arizona has something to tell you all. It's nothing bad." Callie smiled at everyone. Arizona mumbled something in Callie's ear. "No, I'm not going to tell them." Callie muttered back. Arizona gave her puppy dog eyes. "Fine!" Callie huffed. "You guys remember that plane crash that happened in Texas 2 years ago?"
A few of them looked confused at Callie. But Lexie, who carpooled with Meredith, remembered and spoke up. "Yeah! On May 17th a small plane that was supposed to go from Texas to Boston crashed. 7 people were on that flight, 2 died and a kid lost their leg. The victims sued the company and they all won 15 million dollars." Lexie rambled. Everyone stared at her except Meredith. "What? I have photographic memory." Lexie blushed.
"She does. She gives facts about everything. It's annoying." Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Okay… but what does this have to do with Arizona?" Teddy asked.
"I was the kid on the plane." Arizona said, avoiding everyone's gaze.
It was silent for a moment but then Cristina opened her mouth. "Wait. You have 15 million dollars!"
Arizona rolled her eyes. "That's what you got out of the crazy information I just gave you."
"Yeah and you have a robo leg. But seriously you have 15 million dollars!"
"I don't have 15 million dollars yet. I can get it from the bank when I'm 18. And I'm going to use the money to pay for college and med school." Arizona rolled her eyes again at Cristina's word choice for her leg.
"Bitch!" Teddy suddenly slapped Arizona. "Why didn't you tell me! I thought we were friends!"
"Ow! I was scared how everyone was going to react." Arizona mumbled.
"We don't care." The twisted sisters said in unison.
"We're sorry you felt you couldn't tell us." Addison smiled sympathetically.
"I have never screwed a girl with no leg." Mark whispered in Callie's ear.
"I heard that Mark. I'm not going to sleep with you!" Arizona punched his shoulder. Callie did the same. "Does anyone have any questions?"
"Do you really have a fake leg?" Lexie asked intrigued.
Arizona lifted up her pant leg. "Yup." And everyone stared at her again. "Okay, everyone can stop staring at me now." Arizona chuckled nervously and uncomfortable.
"What was it like?" Cristina asked bluntly.
"What do you think?" Arizona rolled her eyes again. "Obviously painful. I fell 36.000 feet out of the sky."
There was again an uncomfortable silence amongst the group. "This is going to go viral on my blog!" Cristina grinned.
"Oh God!" Arizona sighed.
"Cristina be respectful!" Owen, Cristina's boyfriend, said.
"Shut up, Ginger." Cristina replied. "Arizona is cool with it, right?"
"Yeah, fine whatever." Arizona laughed at Owen's face.
"I don't want to burden everyone but homeroom starts in 5 minutes." Alex spoke up.
And with that everyone walked into the school. "That wasn't so bad was it." Callie nudged Arizona.
"Could be worse." Arizona shrugged.
"I'm sorry that that happened to you, Riz." Teddy suddenly said.
"It's fine." Arizona smiled. "Just don't treat me differently."
"Wasn't planning to!" Teddy walked into the classroom.
—————
It was the end of the day and Callie, Arizona, Teddy and Addison had PE last period. There were already rumors going around Arizona's leg because Meredith told George who told Izzie who told another friend of hers. Nobody actually said anything to her yet, so she didn't mind.
They were walking to the changing room but Arizona turned the other way to the bleachers. "What are you doing?" Callie asked.
"Uh, going to the bleachers?" Arizona looked at Callie weird.
"No." Callie said.
"Calliope, are you okay? I don't have a leg remember? I can't really, you know, play sports." Arizona chuckled uncomfortably.
"Just come with us to the locker rooms. She needs company." Addison remarked.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Gabby is probably in there. She will make some stupid remark." Arizona sighed.
"Fuck Gabby, just beat her up again." Teddy grabbed Arizona, dragging her into the changing room.
"For the last time, I did not beat her up. I punched her. Once." Arizona rolled her eyes.
"Whatever it's the same thing." Teddy took her sports clothes out of her bag.
"It's not the same thing." Arizona sat next to Teddy, who started changing.
"It's still badass." Callie put her bag next to Arizona and sat down. "What did she do to deserve it?" Callie asked. They were the only ones in the changing room so nobody was snooping around their conversation.
"She called my ex-girlfriend Joanne and me a dyke and I just snapped. Next thing I knew my hand was all bloody and she was crying." Arizona laughed. "Her friends ran away like scared puppies."
"As much as I live for you to do that again. Don't, cause I need my cheerleaders to look good for the practice game next week." Addison laughed as she was tying her shoes.
"Don't worry. I won't." Arizona chuckled.
Addison and Teddy were walking out of the changing room just as Gabby and her friends walked in. "Hey Ari! Is it true?" Gabby asked when she sat down her bag opposite Callie and Arizona.
"What do you mean?" Arizona resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the nickname. She obviously knew she was asking about the leg.
"Are you really a cripple?" Gabby laughed and her friends did too.
Arizona gave her a death glare. Just as she was about to reply, Callie spoke up. "Leave her alone, Gabby!"
"I didn't ask you anything. Go back to playing fruit ninja on your thighs or something!" Gabby spat.
"Fuck you!" Callie spat back. "Just because your daddy left you doesn't mean you have to be so mean to everybody."
Gabby was taken aback by this. This was the first time Callie actually stood up to herself. "How the fuck do you know that!" She asked angrily.
"I have my ways." Callie shrugged. Arizona looked at Callie with admiration but also confusion. Fruit ninja? She cuts herself?
Callie finished tying her shoes and grabbed Arizona's wrist and walked out of the changing room. "Thanks." Arizona smiled at Callie when they were walking towards the football field.
"It's nothing really. That was the first time I actually talked back to her." Callie chuckled nervously.
"Are you okay, Calliope?" Arizona asked.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Callie smiled.
Arizona decided to drop the subject, but not forgetting about it. They arrived at the field, walked over to the bleachers and sat down. "Are you okay?" The brunette asked, emphasizing 'you'.
"It's fine." Arizona lied. It was the first time anyone used that term directly to her and it hit her harder than she would have thought.
"It's not and you're not." Callie sighed. "But you don't have to talk but when you want to, I'm here." She reassured.
"Thank you." The blonde whispered.
"Always."
—————
I suck, I know. I promised to update every week but school is draining and my mental health is also fucked up, but I'll be fine. :p
Thank you so much for the new reviews. Please please leave more reviews. It motivates me and honestly makes my day.
Also would like to clarify again. English is not my first language, so sorry for any weird sentences or spelling mistakes.
That was it. I'm not promising that I can update next week but I'll do my best of course.
Leave a review! :)))