Neither woman said a word until they were safely back in the confines of Arizona's car.
"Where to?" the blonde asked with a smile.
"I…" a nervous smile spread across Callie's face "it's been a really long time since someone just gave me a free choice like that"
"Well today Calliope I will drive you anywhere" Arizona peered at the dashboard "at least anywhere that I can get to on a half tank of gas"
"Ok. First stop. We need to get to a liquor store. The nearest one is…"
"I got it" the blonde grinned "I'm more than familiar with its location"
"Ah yes. I forgot about your 'I feel sad' vodka stash" Callie teased.
"Not so much of a stash…" the blonde protested "just a small but essential supply"
"I'm kidding" the brunette reached out and squeezed her arm "and I'm like the last person on earth who would judge you for drinking your feelings"
"Is that what we're doing now?"
"Maybe a little. But actually I feel like celebrating"
"You do, huh?"
"Yep" Callie beamed "Ari right now, I feel free. Like…I've just walked out on my husband, effectively ended any meaningful relationship that I might have with my parents, and I have nothing but the contents of my purse. And yet…I feel like in this moment, I have more than I've had in a really long time"
"What do you mean?"
"It's like in the last few days, I've got myself back. I'm not just somebody's daughter, somebody's wife. I'm me. And that can actually be enough"
The blonde shook her head sadly "Calliope, you have always been enough"
"You didn't…let's just say you didn't see the person that I became over the last few years. I…I'm not avoiding this conversation, but could we maybe put it on hold until I have a drink?"
Arizona laughed lightly "Sure. We're almost at the store anyway"
She was right, of course. Although the liquor store was on the outskirts of town, the small size of the town itself meant that it was only a few minutes drive. Parking the car outside the story, they both got out, and as the blonde headed straight for the door, she saw Callie walking in a different direction.
"Just give me a second" the brunette called, heading towards the ATM that was built into the wall at the front of the store.
Arizona stood outside, choosing not to question any further, as the brunette soon returned, shoving a stack of notes into her purse. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I figured sooner or later I'm going to lose access to the joint account" Callie shrugged "and the daily withdrawal limit is $500 so might as well start getting some of my money!"
"You sure you don't want me to just take you to a bank so you can withdraw the lot?" the blonde offered seriously.
"No" Callie shook her head "I'll take what's mine and then walk away. It's hardly like either of us were loaded, and I really, really don't want to give him any reason to come after me. But this" she nodded at the liquor store and held up her debit card "is on me"
"God you know the way to a woman's heart, Calliope"
They walked into the liquor store together and Callie began browsing the shelves with a frown.
"So…" Arizona stepped in directly behind her, her mouth dangerously close to the brunette's ear "what's your poison?"
Callie swallowed, desperately trying not to appear affected by the blonde's presence "Given your obvious preference, I was thinking vodka"
"You can't go wrong with Tito's"
The brunette found herself frozen for a moment. The proximity of the woman behind her was enough to immediately drive her crazy. She found herself staring blankly at the shelves of vodka in front of her, her brain so overwhelmed that she had suddenly become incapable of rational thought.
"But, you know, it's totally up to you"
Sensing the effect that she was having, the blonde took a step backwards after speaking, putting some distance between their bodies. She could see the visible reduction in tension in the brunette's shoulders and couldn't help but smile.
"You know what" Callie reached up to the top shelf, exposing a strip of skin on her lower back "I think today is a Grey Goose kind of day"
It was the blonde's turn to be rendered immobile. She found herself stood completely still, unable to tear her eyes away from the skin that had been exposed to her, as the brunette turned and walked past her, placing the bottle of Grey Goose in her hand.
"Huh?" Arizona snapped herself out of her reverie, turning to watch as the brunette walked over to the fridge.
"Does Sprite work for you?" Callie asked nonchalantly, taking a bottle out of the fridge and acting as though neither of them was in any way affected by the other.
"Sure…whatever you want is fine"
"Cool" the brunette turned her attention to the other half of the fridge, pulling out an additional bottle, before shutting the doors behind her "I think we're good"
"Champagne?" the blonde questioned, seeing the second bottle in Callie's hands.
The brunette shrugged "I told you, we're celebrating"
Unable to disagree, Arizona followed her to the till, and they placed all three bottles down.
As the cashier was running their purchases up, the blonde leant over, instinctively flashing a dimpled smile "Do you by any chance have any plastic champagne flutes?"
"Erm…" the young guy stammered "we have some red cups?"
"Ok sure, that'll work" Arizona smiled at him.
"Here" the cashier put a small stack of them on the counter "how about I just throw these in for free?"
"Thanks" it was the brunette's turn to offer a winning smile, casually putting an arm around Arizona as she addressed the cashier "that would be…awesome"
"So…um…that'll be $79.95…please" the cashier blushed.
"No problem" Callie flashed him a grin and handed over her card.
The two women watched as the nervous cashier processed the payment before returning Callie's card and their purchases in a brown paper bag.
"Thank you" the blonde smiled at him.
"Yes, absolutely thank you" the brunette added her smile into the mix, watching the cashier turn a deep shade of red.
"You're um…you're very welcome" the cashier stammered.
Trying to hold back their giggles, the two women walked out of the store and made their way back to the car.
"Oh my god" Arizona chuckled "that poor kid"
"He had no idea where to look"
They both sat themselves back in the car and the blonde restarted the engine.
"So ma'am…where are we heading next?"
"You're gonna think this is totally lame"
"I swear to you I won't" Arizona replied honestly.
"Well, you've signed yourself up now" the brunette gave her a warning glance "So I'm thinking, we drop the car at the motel and then just walk down to the beach"
Smiling to herself first, the blonde then turned her head briefly before returning her eyes to the road "You, me, and a couple of red cups. I'm totally down"
They both laughed to themselves as Arizona drove them back. The drive was interspersed with random observations about landmarks in their small hometown, and before they knew it, they'd reached the motel and were both getting out of the car, with the brunette immediately taking hold of their purchases from the liquor store.
Once in the parking lot, the blonde indicated to Callie that she should hold on for a minute and quickly ran up to her room. Returning with two sweaters, in fact the only two that she'd brought with her, she threw one at the brunette and grinned.
"Just in case we get cold" she explained as they started walking.
"Ha" Callie scoffed "I mean, I love the fact you're being thoughtful, but equally if you think I've spent a moment in your presence cold, then you're very much mistaken"
The blonde looked at her with a confused expression "What?"
"Does that not happen to you?"
The blonde's forehead wrinkled "I don't understand"
"Basically…" Callie paused for a moment, considering whether to continue with her admission "I react to you in a physical way, like…literally being around you makes me hot. I don't even mean in a sexual way, I just literally mean that you make me so overwhelmingly warm that I'm not sure a sweater is necessary"
Arizona screwed up her face "I have no idea right now if that's weird or adorable"
"Are those the only options?" the brunette countered.
"No" the blonde laughed "I just…argh I totally don't know how to respond right now"
"You know you need to get over that, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"When things make you uncomfortable, you can't just avoid them completely" Callie pointed out.
"I'm not sure I appreciate this psycho-analysis" the blonde scowled back, but the glint in her eye immediately conveyed the fact that she wasn't serious.
"Arizona"
The way that Callie said her name almost made the blonde stop in her tracks, but she managed to regain control of herself and keep on walking. Wordlessly, she reached out a hand and let it make contact with the brunette's, and when she felt no resistance, she grabbed on tightly.
"I'm listening" she said softly.
"You're uncomfortable right now, aren't you?"
"That's not fair"
The brunette smiled to herself "I obviously know that you are. But if we're going to get to a place where we're completely honest with each other, which I really hope we are, then I need you to admit it"
"Ok fine" the blonde waved her free hand in the air "I'm uncomfortable, And not because it's you, but because it's like all my feelings are currently under a microscope"
"I'm sorry" Callie squeezed her hand "I don't ever want you to feel like that. I just want you to realise that this…this is real"
"Real…" Arizona said softly as they reached the cliff top overlooking the ocean, her hair blowing backwards in the wind "I'm not sure anything has ever felt so real and yet so fictional at once"
The brunette put the paper bags down and slowly stepped behind Arizona, letting her hands snake around the blonde's waist until she was holding her close and could rest her chin on her shoulder "This is real. And we can stand here as long as you need to accept that"
The blonde slowly turned her head so that her face was millimetres away from Callie's.
"I do" she whispered "I do accept that"
The brunette swallowed "You wanna walk down there?"
"Yeah" Arizona nodded, reaching for the paper bags "let me take one of those"
The brunette didn't argue, picking up the other bag and following Arizona to the steps that were carved out in the side of the cliff. They made their way down like they had down so many times before. Only this time felt different.
When they reached the sand, Callie said nothing and followed the blonde as she led the way towards the shore. Deciding that she'd reached an acceptable spot, Arizona stopped and put down the bag that she was holding.
Turning around, the blonde smiled "Here ok?"
"Of course" Callie smiled back at her.
The brunette also put down the bag in her hands and then searched through both of them to find the red cups and the bottle of champagne that she'd bought.
"You ok to start with this?" she asked.
"No Calliope" the blonde grinned "I have numerous objections to drinking champagne on the beach with you"
"You're trouble" Callie shook her head "maybe I should just drink this bottle myself"
Arizona raised an eyebrow "Are you sure about that?"
"No" the brunette laughed, handing Arizona two red cups before popping the cork on the champagne.
The two women stared intently at the cups as Callie poured them each a glass of champagne, somehow using up half of the bottle.
"Are you trying to get me drunk, Calliope?" the blonde asked with a wink.
"Do I need to?" came the response.
A smile spread across Arizona's face "Not in the slightest"
"Then, cheers"
The brunette took one of the cups, leaving Arizona with the other before letting them gently knock together. They both took a sip, their eyes somehow locking together as they did, and the eye contact only breaking when Callie lowered her glass.
"So…" the blonde started, tilting her head "I believe you put a conversation on ice earlier, about how you've started to feel like you again?"
"Nothing gets past you, does it?"
"Nope" Arizona grinned.
"Ok" the brunette took a long swig of her champagne before putting her cup down "so I guess I've told you part of this already, how I was completely broken after you left. And you don't need to apologise" she added, seeing that the blonde was about to interject "but once I ended up with Eduardo, I somehow fell into this position where my only existence was being his wife. Like, I had my job, and for those few precious moments, I was doing something for me. But as soon as I was home, I was literally there to meet his needs. And then seeing my parents was no break from it, because all I ever got was thinly veiled criticism about how I lived my life. And so I just found myself becoming less and less me over the years until…well, until I became the person that I am today. The person that you met when you came back to town"
Arizona took a step forwards, putting her cup down before letting her fingertips gently cup the brunette's cheek "The person that I've seen the last few days is still exactly the same person that I fell in love with all those years ago"
Callie could feel her own resolve crumbling, and she bit her lip firmly to prevent herself from dissolving completely.
"You're still you" the blonde continued in a whisper "whatever the journey you've been on, you've still ended up as my Calliope"
"Arizona" the brunette breathed.
The two women stared at each other, each trying to read every micro reaction in the other's face. Reassured by the blonde's hand on her cheek, Callie let her own hands come to rest on Arizona's hips.
"How…" the brunette paused, trying to gather herself "how do we get the last ten years back?"
"We don't" Arizona replied simply "starting from now, we just look forwards"
"I feel like that deserves a toast"
The blonde grinned as she picked up both of their cups from the floor, handing one to the brunette so that they could bring them together in a cheers. Their eyes stayed focussed on one another as they each took a long sip, draining most of their drinks.
"Can I get you a top up?" Callie offered.
"See, now I know you're trying to get me drunk"
"No" the brunette shook her head with a smile "I'm just trying to keep you happy"
"You being here is enough to do that"
Despite Arizona's vague protestations, the brunette filled up their cups with the remaining champagne and cast the bottle aside. Taking a sip of her drink, Callie nodded for the blonde to follow her and walked down towards the sea.
"Sometimes I forget how peaceful it is down here" she commented softly.
The blonde shook her head "I don't think I could ever forget. I've never found anywhere quite like it"
"New York not quite the same, huh?"
"God no" Arizona laughed lightly.
"I think I'd like to meet New York Arizona"
The blonde looked at her and smiled sadly, refusing to break eye contact.
"So what made you pick here tonight?" Arizona asked finally.
"Do I really need to answer that?"
"Yeah" came the whispered response.
"Because tonight I feel like I'm starting my life again, and…well, twelve years ago, I felt like my life started here" the brunette replied honestly.
"Which…" Arizona gathered herself for a second "which bit made you feel that?"
"Ari" the brunette exhaled, stepping forwards and slowly running her hands up the blonde's arms "You don't need to question that, ok? You know that the part that actually meant something to me was us kissing behind the rock"
Without breaking eye contact, the blonde drained the rest of her champagne and dropped the cup onto the sand "However you look it, you were the first person I ever kissed. And I always thought you would be the last"
Following Arizona's lead, the brunette quickly finished the rest of her drink, letting her cup fall to the ground "We've had a lot of moments behind that rock"
The blonde chuckled "That we definitely have. I guess it was kind of our thing"
"It's always been my favourite bit of this town" the brunette winked.
"It shouldn't surprise you much to know that it's mine too"
With their hands already on one another, they instinctively began to pull each other's bodies towards each other.
"You wanna take a trip down memory lane?" Callie asked huskily.
"Uh huh"
Dropping one hand down to take hold of Arizona's, the brunette turned and walked towards the rock. As they came to stand behind it side by side, she dropped the blonde's hand and they stared into each other's eyes, their breathing increasing rapidly.
Slowly, Callie took hold of the blonde's hips, and backed herself up against the rock as she manoeuvred the other woman so that she was directly in front of her. Instinctively, Arizona reached out and let her fingers run through the brunette's hair.
"This is kinda familiar" the blonde smiled.
"Yeah" Callie breathed.
"Are you gonna run away this time?"
"No" the brunette shook her head "this time I don't want you to stop"
Arizona raised an eyebrow curiously.
"I mean it" Callie said softly "kiss me and don't stop"
Taking the final step forwards that separated her from the brunette, Arizona took a deep breath and pressed their lips together, letting one of her hands come to rest against the rock while the other continued to tangle into the brunette's hair. She was so vividly aware that this was the exact same position that they had been in twelve years ago, but yet she knew that everything was different. Callie had just given her a very clear instruction that she wasn't to stop.
Slowly she parted her lips, feeling the brunette's mouth move against her. It was the slowest of kisses, their lips tentatively moving against one another before their tongues lightly brushed. Hearing Callie whimper, she pressed herself forwards more, letting her tongue probe deeper.
"Arizona" the brunette breathed against her lips.
The blonde moaned, pressing her body against Callie's. Their tongues intertwined, each of them laying claim to the other's mouth. She could feel the brunette's hands starting to roam up and down her back, each time they moved they took a slightly more confident step in grazing her ass.
Her resistance broken, Arizona let her hand move from its position pressed against the rock, and instead let it slide between their bodies. With her other hand gripping the brunette's hair tightly, she slowly trailed her fingertips down from her collarbone, inhaling sharply as they travelled over the curve of Callie's breast.
As she felt Arizona's hand start to cup her, the brunette gasped. Slowly the blonde repeated the motion, this time gripping her more tightly, and Callie immediately responded by forcefully grabbing Arizona's ass.
"Calliope" the blonde whimpered, breaking the kiss for only a second before immediately re-attaching her mouth to the brunette's.
Their kiss grew hungrier, each of them seeking to convey years of words that were left unsaid. Hands were roaming, squeezing, unashamedly reacquainting themselves with one another's bodies.
"Arizona" the brunette spoke huskily.
The blonde slowly lifted her head, slowly trying to regain her breath as she just about managed to hold herself up against the rock with Callie's body in front of her.
"There's no-one here to stop us" Callie continued.
The blonde could only shake her head.
"Touch me"
The breathy command was accompanied by one of the brunette's hands taking hold of one of hers, slowly inching it towards her waistband. Sensing no resistance, Callie continued with her motion, moving the blonde's hand towards her until she was sliding it into her pants.
"Oh my god" Arizona breathed against the brunette's lips before kissing her deeply at the exact same moment that her fingertips sank below her underwear.
Both women whimpered at the initial contact, each of them reflecting on how natural it felt for the blonde to be touching Callie in the most intimate of ways. Using her upper body to pin the brunette against the rock, Arizona gave herself a moment to slowly explore her body. She let a single fingertip stroke along the length of Callie, desperately trying to keep control of the way that she was kissing her.
"Please" the brunette begged before thrusting her tongue into Arizona's mouth.
The blonde let out a growl from the back of her throat, immediately pushing herself forward against Callie's body. Her fingers continued to roam, soaking up the wetness that was pooling between the brunette's legs. Content that she had sufficiently reacquainted herself, she slowly dragged her fingertip upwards one more time, finally letting it make contact with the brunette's clit.
"Ari…" the brunette moaned into her mouth.
Arizona began circling the brunette's clit with her fingertip, feeling the way that the body she was pressed against twitched with every flick of her finger.
"Is this what you wanted?" she breathed before kissing Callie deeply.
"Yesssss" the brunette hissed, bringing both of her hands up to grab hold of the blonde's hair.
In that moment, Arizona let herself lose complete control. She was finally touching Callie after so many years of being deprived of her, and every inch of her felt like she was on fire. She circled the brunette's clit at exactly the pace that she remembered that she'd liked it all those years ago, and by the noises that Callie was making, nothing had changed.
The brunette herself was letting the rock behind her take as much of her weight as possible, therefore allowing her body to be overwhelmed by the feelings that Arizona's fingers were producing. She could feel herself involuntarily thrusting her hips every time the blonde's fingertip circled her clit, and each moment of contact made her kiss the blonde more deeply.
"Don't stop" Callie begged, before leaving a lingering kiss on the blonde's lips.
The brunette couldn't take it anymore, and she tilted her head back against the rocks, panting heavily as she let Arizona work her magic.
"I'm never going to stop" the blonde breathed, kissing Callie's neck "nothing has ever felt so good as touching you"
The brunette groaned, desperately grabbing at Arizona's body to pull her against her. Her hips kept thrusting in time with the blonde's circular motion, her body instinctively seeking out every bit of contact that it could get.
"Please" she panted, biting down on the blonde's shoulder "I'm gonna come"
"Yes you are" Arizona moaned "and my god I can't wait to hear you"
"God…Arizona…"
As her hips kept thrusting, Callie finally felt herself falling over the edge. She dug her fingernails into the blonde, keeping her as close as possible as she rode out the waves of pleasure. Letting out a strangled cry, she finally collapsed against Arizona's body, pulling her in so that they were both rested against the rock.
"Oh fuck" the brunette gasped.
"Fucking finally!" Arizona exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the brunette.
"Wow"
"That…" the blonde kissed Callie's forehead "has been a long time coming"
"Yeah" the brunette struggled to catch her breath "I'm not sure it was long at all"
Their eyes met and both women burst into laughter.
"Hey" Arizona nudged the brunette "I was trying to be serious"
"You could literally get me to agree to anything right now"
A wicked smile spread over the blonde's face "Anything?"
"We can discuss that point later" Callie took hold of the blonde's hips again "right now, can you just take me back to the motel?"