A/N So I've listened to te comments about wanting to see them interact as adults...so here we go, a flashback free chapter!
Arizona woke up, her chest tightening and a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Just breathe" she told herself, "it's just a hangover, you're ok". Waking up to a mini panic attack wasn't a new experience for her given the stresses of the last couple of weeks. Then again, neither was waking up with a hangover.
But today was different, she realised, as she felt a strong arm around her waist, pulling her in and immediately causing her panic to dissipate.
"I've got you" came the husky voice from behind her.
"How did you know I was awake?"
"I can feel you. And also, you think too loud"
The blonde rolled over onto her back so that she could look at Callie, who still had her eyes shut and one arm stretched out over Arizona.
"I think too loud?" the blonde repeated witheringly.
"Uh huh. I can hear those cogs whirring from here. Totally disrupting my beauty sleep"
"Still not a morning person, huh?" Arizona teased.
"Nope" the brunette snuggled into her "now just let me hold you quietly while I wake up"
The blonde smiled, not about to argue with that demand. She looked down at Callie, noting ironically that the brunette had managed to move herself into exactly the same position that she had been in all those years ago when they'd first made love. She reached out to lightly run her fingers through the waves of brunette hair, unable to quite believe that she was actually here, in Newport, and Callie was in her bed.
But things were different now. When they were teenagers, even though they'd never placed a label on it, she knew without question that Callie's heart was hers. And that had been all that she had needed. Now, Callie was married. Someone else was her person. Clearly, she still meant something to the brunette. The way that they had kissed, and how she'd held her, was enough to show her that. But it didn't change the fact that she was Mrs Callie Rodriguez.
She felt the brunette stirring, and blurry eyes made contact with hers.
"Ok" Callie grumbled "I'm awake. So tell me some of these thoughts that have got you fidgeting so much this early"
"I…" the blonde paused, swallowing back the lump that was forming in her throat as she looked at the woman in her arms "Why Eduardo? Why him, specifically?"
Callie exhaled, sitting up in bed "You always did get straight to the point. And I will answer, but I'm gonna make us both a coffee first"
Arizona waited in silence as the brunette rinsed their mugs from the night before and used the coffee machine on the table to fix them both a cup.
After taking a large gulp, Callie began to speak "So I think the first thing to say is that I was a mess, a total mess, for a really long time after you left. I'm not saying that to make you feel guilty, and today is about me being here for you and answering your questions, but it's relevant. I had to deal with the fact that, on reflection, I'd been in a two year relationship that had ended completely out of the blue. And though we never called it that ourselves…"
"It was a relationship" the blonde interrupted, agreeing with the sentiment entirely "we were a couple, whether we referred to ourselves that way or not"
Callie smiled "I'm glad we're on the same page with that. But what made it harder was the fact that nobody else knew. To the rest of the world, I was just someone who's best friend had moved away. And sure, people were sympathetic for a while, but nobody really understood that I felt like a part of my body had been ripped away. Even people like Teddy and Mark, who I'm sure had more than a suspicion about the two of us, could never really understand just how much my heart was breaking"
Tears welled up in Arizona's eyes. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the brunette, to take the pain away and tell her that everything was going to be ok. But she also knew that she was the source of that pain. And however good her reasons were, she was the one that had broken Callie's heart. So she sat there in silence, letting the brunette continue.
"For the first year, I basically did nothing. Then Teddy got me a job with her at the coffee shop but it was like I was sleepwalking most of the time. I had no interest in hanging out with anyone or doing anything else. Then Aria started hooking up with Juan, so he'd be around our house a lot. And his parents and my parents became friends, which is when my father ended up expanding his shipping business with them, along with Eduardo's father. So there would be all these family gatherings, dressed up as a party when it was really just a chance for our father's to talk shop. But they made me go, so it was just Eduardo and I left tagging along with Aria and Juan"
"Any excuse for a party, right?"
"You know my parents" Callie smiled back at her "So after a while, Eduardo started suggesting that we should go on a date, seeing as, you know, we kept finding ourselves effectively double dating with my sister and Juan. And I said no, I wasn't interested, so he'd wait a month or so and then try again. I had no interest in dating him, or anyone else, but that never seemed to put him off"
Arizona felt a wave of nausea coming over her, but hid her reaction behind her mug as she took a long sip of coffee.
"This went on for like a year" the brunette continued "and eventually Mark gave me a talking to, and said that he understood I was hurting, but I had to live my life too. So he helped me start looking for work, and I ended up getting a job at the Newport Post as a junior reporter. I've been working my way up ever since. It felt like finally I was doing something for me, and carving out my own place in the world"
"That's awesome Calliope. I'm really proud of you. And I would love to hear more about your work….after this"
"Thanks" the brunette gave a light smile "and I would love to talk more about it. Anyway, umm…my parents noticed the change in me, that I was a little more like my old self again. And seeing how Aria was getting serious with Juan, they started going on at me about when I was going to find a nice boy to settle down with. At first it was light-hearted, supportive even. But after a while they…or rather, my father, started to get more insistent. By this point Eduardo was working in the family business, and my father used to come home raving about him. And so my father switched from pressuring me to date a guy, to wanting me to date this specific guy"
Arizona's eyes narrowed. She didn't like where this was going at all.
"Essentially, my father gave me an ultimatum. I had to make an effort to date someone because, in his words, 'no daughter of mine is becoming a lonely old spinster'. And if he didn't believe I was really trying, he'd cut off all financial support and kick me out of the house, and ensure neither my mother nor Aria spoke to me again"
"He really said that?" the blonde asked incredulously "Fuck"
"Those very words" Callie confirmed "It's ridiculous I know, I was barely 21. Mark had taken me for my first legal drink, obviously. And still this whole time Eduardo had been asking me out, and so I figured this one time I would just say yes, if nothing, to keep my father off my back"
"Ok…"
"And so I went out with him. And then I went out with him again. It made my father so happy, like he actually seemed proud of me for once. And dating Eduardo wasn't so bad, you know? So I figured I'd just keep on going along with it because honestly, at that point I didn't think I'd ever be able to love anyone that wasn't you. So what harm was there in carrying on dating him, if it was keeping everyone else happy?"
The blonde shook her head "You always did put other people's happiness before your own"
"Honestly…I didn't think I could ever truly be happy again. And I know it sounds melodramatic now, but I was young, and you know me, when I have feelings…well, they're always pretty big feelings"
"The biggest" Arizona reached out to squeeze her hand "and it's one of the most wonderful things about you"
"Basically, a few dates turned into months, which turned into years. And life with Eduardo was good. We got on, I could take him to family events, he gave me my own space to see Teddy and Mark and the others. Sure, he can be a misogynist bastard from time to time. But so are most of the men in my life. And in my own way, I came to love him. So when he proposed, I said yes, because…well, why wouldn't I? We had the big wedding, my father got to walk me down the aisle….and here we are"
"Straight out a romance novel" the blonde commented, before realising how that sounded "Sorry, I didn't mean to be sarcastic"
"No, it's ok. I know it's hardly conventional. But it's worked…at least until now"
"Oh Calliope" Arizona sighed, her shoulders dropping "I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty hard to hear. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, truly happy, and I hate hearing that you're not"
"I'm happy" the brunette tried to reassure her "I've got a lot of good things in my life"
"Yeah? How about you tell me about your work?"
The immediate shift in Callie was noticeable. As soon as she began speaking about her job, her face lit up, and she launched into great detail about how she'd progressed up the ranks, and was now the chief editor of the arts and entertainment section. Arizona in turn told her about her work as a paediatric surgeon.
"I guess we both did pretty well for ourselves, huh?" the brunette smiled.
"I think we did"
"Arizona…I hate to say this, but…"
"You have to go?" the blonde finished for her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't exactly tell Eduardo I'd be staying elsewhere last night, and he said he'd be back around noon, but I wouldn't put it past him to come home early to check on me"
Arizona raised her eyebrows but made no comment on the last part "I understand. I've had more of your time than I should have already"
"Maybe…maybe if you're having your 'date' with Teddy today, you and I could hang out again this evening?"
"Sure" the blonde smiled widely "I'll text you and let you know where we are"
"I mean, there's not a whole lot of choices round here, but that would be great"
They smiled at each other again before Callie pulled on her clothes and headed for the door.
"Until later" the brunette leant down, leaving a lingering kiss on Arizona's lips.
"It's a date"