A/N

Thank you for all the great comments, and where there are constructive points for the rest of the story I'll try and incorporate them (to a couple of guest commentators, I'm currently trying to factor in your specific asks at the moment). But i would also like readers to remember this is a work of fiction, and if there weren't some drama, then there wouldn't be a story at all.

Beeex3 - you should feel justified in any smugness!

Nanasheila - thank you for keeping guessing, and sticking with me!

Tifus, FFChik, NDenner - I enjoy you continuing to put together the pieces, glad the instincts were right and hopefully you enjoy where this goes

FatBoyTorres - I definitely LOLd at your comment

Back in her motel room, Arizona laid back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She began counting the imperfections in the plasterwork, anything really to try and distract her from the events of that evening, but by the time she reached thirty, she realised that nothing was going to displace the vision of Callie's broken face from her mind. And she saw pictured her face, her entire body was wracked with guilt. Guilt at the fact that before today, Callie had believed that Arizona was the sole person who had betrayed her, but now, that extended to all those closest to her. Guilt at the fact that she hadn't been stronger all those years ago, that instead she had just given up and walked away. And more than anything, guilt at the fact that despite every effort to protect Callie, she was the one who had caused her pain, over and over again.

A huge part of her just wanted to run away again. To pack up her car and leave in the morning without looking back. To cut herself out of Callie's life once and for all so that she couldn't hurt her anymore.

But she knew deep down that that would be the ultimate betrayal. Although she could barely look at her right now, in time, Callie would need her. And so she knew that she had to stay, and take whatever the brunette wanted to throw at her in the meantime. She was fairly certain that Callie would go through a significant phase of denial before she accepted the truth of what had happened, which would likely result in a fair amount of venom being sent her way. God knows, she would be the same in her shoes.

And so, she resigned herself to staying until…well, until Callie no longer needed her.

Down the hall, Callie was also in her motel room, but she was knelt over the toilet, alternating between sobbing and retching. She felt like her whole world was crumbling around her. When Arizona had left all those years ago, she thought she would never feel that level of pain again. There were days when she actually thought she might die. But this was a whole new kind of hurt. Her husband, the man that she had shared a bed with, and let touch her in the most intimate of ways, had threatened to r*** her just to get someone out of her life. Memories of them in bed together flooded her mind and she was unable to prevent the contents of her stomach from emptying itself into the toilet bowl. And then there was her father, whom she'd always looked up to, thinking he had her best interests at heart even when he appeared emotionally detached. Hearing that he hated who she truly was deep down so much that he was willing to pay the woman that she loved $300,000, or even to allow…well, she couldn't be sure exactly what he thought he was allowing Eduardo to do…but either way, the man that she'd loved her whole life was a stranger to her.

A creeping doubt entered her mind. Was there any way that Arizona could be lying to her? But she almost immediately dismissed it. She had known Arizona better than anyone in the world, their intimacy wasn't just physical, they had connected on a much deeper level. And when she had first seen the blonde again after all those years, the connection between them had reignited almost instantly. Over the years she had gone through every conceivable emotion when it came to Arizona, even convincing herself at times that she hated her. But always, underneath everything else, there was love. And knowing Arizona as she did, the story that she had told her made sense. The blonde put other people before herself all the time. Especially Callie. The only logical reason that she would have had to break her heart in such a devastating way was if she truly believed that she was protecting Callie by doing so.

Then her thoughts turned in another direction. What if there had been some kind of…misunderstanding? If Arizona had misheard, or misremembered, or maybe Eduardo was just puffing out his chest a bit to try and get what he perceived to be his competition to back off? Yes, she told herself, that had to be it. There had to be an alternative to the terrifying possibility that she had spent the last seven years in a relationship with someone who had been willing to violate her simply so that someone else couldn't have her.

She slowly got to her feet and walked out of the bathroom, her nausea finally under control. It was just a flicker of hope inside her, that there might just be an alternative explanation. But then the logical side of her brain took over again, and she thought about Arizona. Was there really a chance that she could have been mistaken?

And then she thought about Alex Karev, remembering the bruising on his face, and immediately ran back into the bathroom.

Arizona, meanwhile, had tried and failed to make herself fall asleep. She didn't even care how early it was, she was physically and mentally exhausted, but there was no way that her troubled mind was going to let her rest tonight.

She picked up a mug and looked back and forth between her drink options. Coffee or vodka. Caffeine or alcohol. Did she want to make certain that she stayed awake all night, or alternatively at least have the possibility of drinking herself into a stupor?

Just as she was reaching for the bottle of vodka, there was a knock on the door. She opened to find a dishevelled and tearstained Callie stood there. And despite that, Arizona couldn't fail to notice how beautiful she was.

"I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that everything that you told me tonight is true" Callie said softly but insistently.

"Calliope" the blonde sighed "it's true. Believe me, I wish it weren't, but it is"

Callie nodded as her face crumpled, tears welling in her eyes "Can I…can I come in?"

"Of course" Arizona stepped aside, letting the brunette into the room before closing the door behind her "have a seat"

"Sure, erm where should I…?" Callie looked between the bed and the solitary chair.

"Wherever you're most comfortable" the blonde answered decisively "and I can stay as near or far as you need"

"Ok umm…you take the chair. I'll sit here"

Callie sat on the edge of the bed as the blonde took her seat. There was barely more than a metre between them, and Arizona had to fight every instinct in her body not to reach out and touch the brunette.

"Ari I don't…I don't know to process everything in my head right now. How do I…like where do I even begin?" Callie wrung her hands, staring intently at the motion of her fingers.

"I wish I had a straightforward answer for you, I really do. But this is so big…I feel like the only way that you are going to be able to tackle this is one minute at a time"

The brunette nodded "Logically I know that's true. But right now I'm struggling to even think logically. Like I can't get my thoughts to just stay in a straight line, they keep jumping all over the place. One minute I'm wanting to storm back into the house and throw him out onto the street, the next I'm wanting to come in here and scream at you for ruining my life, or even for a moment, scream at you for lying to me"

"You can scream at me if it would help" Arizona offered genuinely.

The brunette shook her head "I don't want to, deep down. Because in amongst all the craziness going on in my head, it's like there's a singular constant that I can't get past. And that's that I trust you. Because no matter what happened in the past, you have never ever lied to me"

"Thank you" the blonde could feel herself welling up "you don't know how much it means to me to hear that"

"I mean, you always were a terrible liar" Callie managed a half smile.

Arizona mirrored her expression "You're thinking about that time we skipped Dr Webber's class, and when he confronted us, I came out in hives and burst into tears, aren't you?"

The brunette chuckled lightly "That's the one the springs to mind"

There was a comfortable pause as both women looked away, remembering for a moment a time when the only secrets they had to keep where why they hadn't done their homework assignment or the fact that they'd topped up their parents' vodka with water to hide the fact that they'd stolen some.

"I know I hurt you Callie" the blonde turned serious again "and I would do anything to take that back. But I truly thought that by making you hate me, I'd be saving you from something much worse"

"I believe you" Callie whispered "it's just that right now I feel so detached from reality. Like everything has got so mixed up that I can no longer figure out what's real"

"I'm real" Arizona reached out her hand so that it was halfway between them "and you're real. So let's start with that to ground you"

The brunette allowed herself to reach out and join their hands, leaving them hanging between them.

"I just…I know that anyone can end a marriage because they want to. But I need answers. I need him to admit it. And I know that if I just go in there all guns blazing, he'll deny everything. It'll be your word against his, and…" Callie faltered.

"Nobody in this town would ever believe me over him?" the blonde offered.

"I would"

Their eyes met and Arizona smiled gratefully, squeezing the brunette's hand.

"I have to leave him Ari" Callie said decisively "because even the part of me that is questioning all of this, that thinks there might be a chance that you somehow misunderstood…well it knows that I will never be able to look at him without wondering"

"I get that"

"But I need to hear him say it. I need other people to know what a monster he is"

"And they will" Arizona said firmly "the secret's out now, there's no going back. And you're not alone in this, I will always be in your corner"

"Please…please could I have a hug?"

"Like you even have to ask"

Arizona stood up, releasing the brunette's hand so that she could sit down beside her and pull her into her arms. They grabbed onto one another tightly, with Callie burying her face in the blonde's shoulder as she felt her back being rubbed.

"I know I said I wanted to be alone but…could I stay with you? Please?" the brunette mumbled into Arizona's shoulder.

"Of course"

"I mean, just to sleep…I just…"

"I know" Arizona reassured her.

"You'll hold me though?"

"Calliope look at me" the blonde pulled back so that she could look at Callie "I will always hold you, no matter what"

Callie nodded, wiping away her tears. Wordlessly they crawled under the covers, meeting in the middle of the bed. Their limbs tangled with one another as their bodies moulded together, both finally only able to relax in the position that they felt safest.