"Callie" the name that came out of Arizona's mouth was barely audible as she struggled to control the waves of emotion flooding over her at the sight of the brunette.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, here let me…"

Both women bent down to retrieve the cans of drink, almost reaching for the same one before Callie pulled her hand back and picked up the second one instead. Their eyes met again, only this time they were knelt down and only inches away from one another.

"Here" Callie handed the can to Arizona before standing back up.

The tips of their fingers brushed as the blonde took the can and she bit her lip to prevent herself from visibly reacting. The tingling in her fingertips obliterated any vague hope she had had of having numbed herself to her reactions to the brunette over the years.

"Are you…umm…did you want to come in?" Arizona stammered as she slid her keycard into the door and opened it.

"If that's ok?"

"Yeah sure, unless you umm, unless you need to be somewhere else?"

Callie smiled and the initial tension was broken "You think I'm hanging around outside your motel room because I need to be somewhere else?"

"Right, good point" Arizona stepped into the room and felt the brunette following her "I'm sorry, I haven't really unpacked or anything, and this place is kinda…"

"Crappy?" Callie suggested.

The blonde laughed "Yeah, I guess that pretty much sums it up. So erm…do you want to take the chair? I'm about 90% confident that it won't break…"

"Thanks, I think?"

"Can I interest you in a vodka diet coke? There's a second mug here which…" Arizona peered to the aforementioned mug "probably only has a 25% chance of containing some deathly bacteria"

"You know what, I like to walk on the wild side. Hit me up"

The two women sat in silence as Arizona poured them both drinks. She passed one to the brunette and took a long sip, deliberately avoiding her gaze.

"Arizona"

The husky tone in Callie's voice never failed to make the blonde shiver. She looked up from the seat that she'd taken on the bed and let herself be drawn into the eyes in front of her.

"I'm really, really sorry about Tim. He was an incredible guy"

"Thank you" Arizona smiled back weakly "he really was"

"I'm sorry for just turning up like this, but when I heard you were here…"

"How did you hear?"

"Mark"

The blonde laughed "I should have known. How did he even know where I was?"

"He saw you on main street and called me…as you were heading away from your parents' house, there weren't many other places you could be"

"Perils of a small town huh?"

"Something like that"

"My parents umm...they said you dropped food by, and sent flowers…" the blonde stared intently at her drink before managing to lift her gaze again "thank you, it meant a lot to them"

"It was the least I could do" Callie smiled warmly "flowers kinda felt like an empty gesture, but Teddy and I talked and I think she did a pretty good job picking some out"

"She did"

"How're they holding up?"

"They're getting by, Dad is his usual stoic self and Mom's doing enough crying for both of them"

"And you?"

"I'm ok…" Arizona paused and thought about ending it there, before realising that she could never lie to the woman in front of her "I'm struggling to get my head round it to be honest. Like I'm used to him not being around, but no matter how far apart we were, we were always a team, you know?"

"The Robbins siblings were THE team"

"Nobody could mess with us"

Callie smiled widely "I remember the first time I found that out"

14 years previously

It was the first day of Callie's freshman year at Newport High. Whilst there were plenty of familiar faces from her Junior High, she'd never really fitted in there, and the fact that she was sat alone in the canteen at lunchtime suggested that she was going to have exactly the same problem at high school. It had always been tough following in her older sister Aria's footsteps. Aria was a cheerleader, and therefore by default one of the popular kids. When she showed no interest in being a cheerleader herself, the popular kids in her own year group showed an equal lack of interest in speaking with her. But by virtue of being a cheerleaders sister, the kids who hated cheerleaders seemed to hate her too.

She was minding her own business, trying to eat her salad as quick as she could in order to escape the canteen, when she felt something hit the back of head. Without thinking, she turned in the direction that it had come from and found herself hit square in the face by a spit wad. At the table across from her, two jocks who she knew vaguely to be Eduardo Rodriguez and Juan Perez sat high fiving each other.

"Shame your aim isn't that good on the football field Rodriguez" came a perky sounding voice from over her shoulder.

The two boys scoffed "And what would a pretty little thing like you know about it?"

Callie watched in awe as a petite dimpled blonde stepped beside her with her hand on her hip "I know your completion rate last season was less than 30% and you're gonna be starting this season on the bench"

The smile was immediately wiped from Eduardo's face and he stood up, towering over Arizona.

"You wanna be careful with that mouth of yours darlin', unless you want me to show you all the other ways I'm a great shot?" he hissed.

"Nice try" Arizona smirked "but I suggest you back off from me and my friend here. You see, we bite"

Eduardo laughed "You really think I'm afraid of you?"

"You should be"

"Back off Rodriguez"

Callie's attention turned to a tall, blonde dimpled boy who had approached the jocks table. She could immediately see the resemblance with the girl who had been defending her.

"Whatsup Robbins" Eduardo acknowledged the new arrival "I was just making sure these freshman girls know who the big guys are"

"Don't worry, we really don't need you to tell us who the biggest jerks in the school are" Arizona retorted.

"You wanna watch yourself darlin'" Eduardo glared at her.

"And you might wanna back off my sister" Tim added.

"Woah" Eduardo held his hands up "I didn't know man. We cool?"

"That's up to Arizona, man. Zo?"

"Oh we're cool, just so long as Rodriguez here knows to keep his bodily fluids well away from me and my friends"

Various others at Eduardo's table hid their sniggers behind their various lunch items as Eduardo and Juan glared at Arizona one final time before turning back in their seats to resume their lunch.

Callie just sat there, somewhat overwhelmed by what had just taken place. The perky blonde put her tray down and plonked herself in the seat next her before holding out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Arizona Robbins"

"Hi, I'm erm…I'm Callie Torres" the brunette stuttered, shaking Arizona's hand.

"Torres? As in Aria's little sister"

Callie rolled her eyes "Yeah that's me"

"Sorry, that was really dumb of me, I hate it when people just think of me as Tim's little sister. And I don't really know Aria, just heard Tim mention her a couple of times last year when they were going to parties"

"That would be Aria. Party girl, cheerleader, etcetera etcetera. And I'm…"

"You're Callie, who gets to be totally awesome in her own right"

Callie scoffed "Sure, if you say so"

"I do. And you really don't want to argue with me"

"You know what, I really don't think I do"

Present day

The two women laughed fondly at the memory.

"I still can't believe fourteen year old you came out with "we bite". Did you even know what you were saying?" Callie giggled.

"I mean, kind of. I knew the whole thing was pretty inappropriate and I just said the first thing that came into my head"

"Well I will always be grateful for Team Robbins"

"Cheers to that" Arizona reached out her mug and clinked it with Callie's "and to being free of high school jerks"

"Uh huh" the brunette nodded noncommittally.

"Whatever happened to them?"

Callie looked at her quizzically "Your Mom never told you?"

"I erm…I never spoke with Mom about anyone here after I left"

"Oh. Wow erm…ok" the brunette put down her mug and rubbed her hands on her thighs nervously.

The action drew Arizona's attention to the brunette's hands, and for the first time she noticed the rings.

"You're married?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from wavering.

"Uh huh"

"Ooookay, I get this is a little weird, but…" the blonde's voice trailed off as she began to put the pieces together.

The look in Callie's eyes was almost embarrassed.

"Which one?" Arizona whispered.

The brunette paused for a moment before replying "Eduardo"

"You married Eduardo Rodriguez?"

"Uh huh"

"Oh wow" the blonde exhaled, running her hands through her hair.

"I honestly thought you knew"

"So I've had a long day" Arizona got to her feet with exaggerated enthusiasm "and I really need to get some rest, but I'm sure I'll see you around"

"Sure, umm…" Callie got to her feet and headed for the door "I really am sorry Arizona"

"Me too Callie, me too"

Shutting the door behind the brunette, Arizona finally allowed herself to shed the tears that she'd been holding in all day. She collapsed on the bed, shaking as she cried harder than she ever had before. She cried for Tim, for her parents, for the fact that her family would never be the same. And she cried for Callie. The pain of losing her still felt so raw after all these years, but hearing who she had married was the most painful hit of all.