A/N

I can't believe that some of you doubt whether I'll make this smooth sailing for our ladies *smiles innocently*

I've now reached the point where my initial idea has run out, but I think I've vaguely worked out where I'm going with this, so at least for now, I'm not ending it. So plenty of time for drama still!

"Ok" Callie focused her eyes on the blonde as she drove "so that's the worst of it over, right? I mean, we could literally drive to the airport right now"

"We could" the blonde shrugged "but I think we both know that isn't the right thing to do right now"

"You're really gonna make me do this, aren't you?"

"What, talk to Mark?"

"Yeah. Have you text him? You should probably give Teddy a call too"

"Yep, I've said I need to speak to him, maybe I'll call Teddy after? Knowing Mark I can't imagine it'll take long…well, speak of the devil"

"He replied?"

"Yeah" the brunette laughed aloud "you want me to read it out?"

"Go for it"

"Ok, so he says 'Thought you'd be tied up with blondie for longer. Let's do lunch. I want details'. Fucking Mark"

Arizona shook her head "How the hell does he…never mind, I mean, it's Mark. I shouldn't be surprised"

"Shall I tell him we'll meet him at the diner at midday?"

"Yeah, sounds good"

"Are you nervous?"

The blonde bit her lip "Honestly, yeah. I know it's only Mark, but…he has the annoying ability to see right through any defences I put up"

"You know you could always solve that by just being yourself" Callie pointed out.

"I didn't mean that I'm not myself with him, I just…"

"I know" the brunette interrupted "he's Mark, and it isn't that simple"

"Yeah" Arizona smiled gratefully.

"You're ok with meeting him though, right? I mean, you did suggest saying goodbye to him"

"Yeah, totally. I'm just not sure I was prepared for the fact that he'd see through us quite so easily"

Callie raised her eyebrows "You know he always has done though, right?"

"I know but…it's always been that thing that we just never acknowledged, you know? Like, he's always alluded to us being more than friends, but we never actually told him anything"

"He knew Ari" the brunette told her firmly "he's always known, deep down. He was the one that was there at so many of our…moments…in the past. And he always had our backs. I mean, he literally walked in on us making out at my 17th birthday"

"I guess" Arizona thought back to all the moments when Mark had appeared, diverting other people's attention from her and Callie "I think I've just spent years trying to tell myself that the only people that knew for sure were the ones that found out after Eliza saw us…and none of them would ever say anything"

"Ari" the brunette reached out to rest her hand on Arizona's thigh "I know it doesn't feel like it sometimes, but there are actually people out there rooting for us"

"I…you'll forgive me if I haven't been able to quite get my head round that"

"Thankfully I have plenty of time to make you see it"

Arizona rolled her eyes "You know it's not too late for me to change our seats so they're at opposite ends of the plane"

"Well that would definitely put an end to my plan to hold your hand all the way to New York"

"Ok fine. You know I can't say no to you"

"I'll remember that in future"

"Wait" the blonde gave Callie a look "don't you dare start using that against me"

The brunette chuckled "You know I won't, not really. But it's kinda nice to know I have that effect on you"

"Calliope" the blonde sighed "you have no idea"

"So…" Callie decided to change the topic of conversation, sensing that it was about to get heavier than was really appropriate for driving round in a car "what do you want to do before we have to meet Mark?"

"I was thinking, are you ok if I call in to see my parents quickly? It won't take long, but I really should say goodbye to them before we leave"

"Sure" the brunette smiled "but I think it's probably best that I wait outside in the car. I'm not sure I want your parents to be the first people to know that we're leaving together"

"Yeah it's a fairly safe bet that my mom would be on the phone to yours before we even left the house. And that is absolutely not on the plan for today!"

They pulled up outside Arizona's parents' house and she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Can I check the rest of the list while you're inside?" Callie asked.

"Sure, it's in my purse" the blonde smiled "I won't be long"

The brunette opened Arizona's purse, finding the list and skimming her way over the piece of paper. She laughed when she reached the last line, just imagining the thought process that had led to the blonde needing to write it down.

Bank

Get Callie's clothes

See Mark

See Teddy?

See Mom and Dad?

Check in for flight

Drop off rental car

Kiss Callie a lot

Barely five minutes had passed when Arizona emerged from the house.

"That was quick" Callie commented as the blonde got back into the driver's seat.

Arizona shrugged "There wasn't really much to say except goodbye"

As she went to restart the engine, the blonde felt a hand reach out and take hold of her arm, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

"What…"

Before she could even finish the question, the brunette's lips were on hers, kissing her as though their lives depended on it. As quickly as the kiss had begun, it was over, and Arizona blinked her eyes open, breathing heavily.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" she asked, wide eyed.

"Just helping you out with the list" Callie winked.

"Oh" the blonde blushed "well in that case, I think we should just mark that one as in progress"

"Oh yeah, it's totally not completed yet"

The two women laughed and Arizona finally started to drive.

"Shall we just head to the diner? We'll probably be a little early" she suggested.

"Sure. I'll resist the urge to make out with you in the parking lot" Callie grinned.

"That would be one way to announce this to everyone"

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather avoid being the talk of the town…at least while I'm still here"

Sensing the undertone in the brunette's words, Arizona softened her tone "Are you worried about what people are going to say?"

"I…I'd be lying if I said I didn't care what people think. Because I'm me, and I totally care. But at least if nobody's talking about me until I've left, then I can try and just forget about it"

"People will get bored quickly and move on, you know that right? I mean, realistically how long were people talking about me after I left?"

"Weeks I guess. Maybe even less outside of the people that really knew you"

"So there we go. You'll be old news before you know it Calliope" the blonde tried to reassure her.

"Ha" Callie scoffed "Thanks, I think?"

They pulled into the parking lot behind the diner and blonde killed the engine.

The brunette reached over to take hold of her hand, smiling "Just because I'm not making out with you, doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it"

"Oh yeah?" Arizona half-whispered.

"Uh huh. There's some really great kissing going on in my head right now"

The blonde bit her lip, letting her fingers lazily caress Callie's hand. The way that the brunette was looking at her was causing her to shiver. There had always been such intensity in those brown eyes, and when they were focused on her, it made it almost impossible to think about anything else.

"I think" Arizona said huskily "that we should go inside before I end up climbing over the console and taking you right here"

The brunette groaned, closing her eyes "You can't say something like that and then expect me to go and sit in front of Mark"

The blonde's nose wrinkled in disgust "Well that's one way to snap me out of the sexy thoughts. Picturing Mark's face is like having a cold shower"

"Please…" Callie begged "no talk of you and showers right now"

"Come on" the blonde laughed "let's go in"

"Fine" Callie grumbled, following the blonde and getting out of the car "but you definitely owe me some more of that sexy talk later"

"It's a deal" Arizona winked and led the way into the diner.

As they had expected, they were the first to arrive and requested a table towards the back, simply to avoid being noticed by any passers-by who might stop to glance through the window.

"So" the blonde started, once they had been seated and ordered two Americanos "how much do you want to tell him?"

Callie paused to consider the question "Enough to make sure that he doesn't hate me for leaving. But I'd really like to avoid some of the details"

"Ok" the blonde nodded "I'm glad we're on the same page. You know he's going to want some juicy gossip though?"

"Well he can want that all he likes"

At that moment, the subject of their conversation entered the diner, with the unexpected addition of Teddy.

"Guess we can check two things off your list at once" the brunette whispered as their friends headed over to join them at the table.

"Ladies" Mark greeted them, giving both women a hug "I hope you don't mind, but I figured this little reunion wouldn't be complete without Teddy"

"No" Callie smiled widely "we don't mind at all"

"Totally offended that I'm playing second fiddle to this joker though" Teddy faked a glare at both women before also pulling them in for a hug.

"I promise, calling you was literally the next thing on the to do list" the brunette told her honestly.

"So Torres" Mark addressed Callie, having indicated to the waitress to bring two more coffees "you said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah, umm we…I…wanted to…"

Seeing how flustered the brunette was quickly becoming, Arizona subtly placed a hand on her knee under table and took over answering "I wanted to see you in person to say goodbye. I'm flying back to New York tonight"

As Mark and Teddy turned their attention to the blonde, expressing their displeasure at her imminent departure, Callie took a moment to gather herself, deeply grateful for the reassuring hand that remained on her knee.

"And I'm going with her"

The second the words left the brunette's mouth, the rest of the table fell silent and she immediately felt all eyes on her.

"You mean…you're going on vacation?" Mark asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"No" Callie took a deep breath "I mean I'm leaving. I'm moving to New York"

"Together?" Teddy pointed between the two women "You two?"

"Erm not exactly" Arizona answered first.

"Kinda" the brunette spoke at almost the same time.

"So…" Mark looked back and forth between them "which one is it?"

"Together as in we'll be flying out there together. To the same city. Not…" Callie looked at the blonde "together, together"

"Right" Mark folded his arms and leant back in his chair.

"Are you gonna ask about the elephant in the room, or shall I?" Teddy asked him.

"You got this one Altman. I'm just wording my follow up question"

"Ok" Teddy turned to Callie "I assume when you say you're moving…you mean just you? Not Eduardo?"

The brunette nodded.

"Does that mean you guys are…done?" Teddy continued.

"Yeah" Callie nodded again "we're definitely done"

"Done because…" Mark leant forward again, deliberately looking from the brunette to Arizona and then back again "something's going on?"

"No" Callie sighed "done because I finally know the truth about why Arizona left all those years ago"

Mark and Teddy looked at each other and then back at their two friends.

"…which is?" Teddy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah we're gonna need a bit more than that, Torres" Mark added.

The brunette took a deep breath "Arizona left because of my father, and…Eduardo"

The anger spreading across Mark's face was visible to everyone at the table as he turned to Arizona "What the fuck did they do to you?"

The blonde looked to Callie before answering, getting a subtle nod that she was ok to respond.

"Carlos tried to pay me off. And when that didn't work, Eduardo threatened me and…well, he threatened to hurt Callie. And I honestly believe he would have done if I hadn't have left, so…yeah, that's how I ended up running to New York"

There was a moment of silence as the enormity of what Arizona had said sank in.

"You're serious, aren't you?" Teddy spoke first.

"I'm afraid so"

"All this time" Mark looked at the blonde incredulously "you let people think you were the bad guy. Why the hell didn't you say something? You know I would've had your back…both of you"

"I know" Arizona squeezed his arm "and I appreciate it. But I couldn't take the chance. Callie…I would've done anything to protect her…I still would"

"Because…" Mark narrowed his eyes.

"That's all I'm saying Sloane" the blonde gave him a warning look.

"Fine. But I'm on to you. Does this mean I get to go give Rodriguez a kicking?"

"No" Callie warned "please, I don't want anymore drama than there's already gonna be. I just might need to take you up on that offer of having my back"

"Anything you need, Cal" he smiled at her.

"He's gonna say some terrible things about me. Please can you…well, can you make sure at least the people that matter don't believe it?"

"Consider it done"

"You can count on me too Cal" Teddy smiled at her genuinely.

Callie could feel the tension lifting from her shoulders as her friends offered their support. The waitress came over, and the conversation immediately turned light as they all ordered food.

As they ate, Arizona finally removed her hand from Callie's knee, earning her a subtle pout from the brunette. When it came to saying goodbye, their friends hugged them warmly, and before they knew it, they were back in the car and alone.

"So…" Arizona smiled softly "how about we get ourselves to the airport?"