When Callie walked into her hotel room, she raised an eyebrow. Arizona hadn't let her know quite how much it was costing when she handed the receptionist her card, but the spacious and well decorated room led her to believe it wasn't cheap. She felt guilty for a moment, and then considered the fact that the blonde definitely owed her, and had practically fallen over herself to pay for this hotel, so decided that she would just go along with it.

The first thing she did was treated herself to a hot bath. As her body was surrounded by the water, she felt all of her stress melt away. She knew that she had told Arizona that she needed space to process everything that she'd learned, but right now she just needed a moment for herself. On reflection, she'd spent the last eight years putting herself second to someone else's needs, and then the second that Arizona had come along, she'd found herself so wrapped up in the blonde that she'd barely taken a moment to breathe. So this, this was Callie time. She was fairly sure that the bubble bath that she was pouring in was at least as twice as expensive as any bottle they even sold in Newport, but in that moment, she decided that she didn't care.

Once she was out of the bath, she found her mind immediately flooded with Arizona again. No matter how much she tried to distract herself, the blonde seemed to reappear with every thought. She remembered ten years ago, and how every little thing had reminded her of Arizona. For years, she'd been unable to step foot on the beach for fear of breaking down at the memories of all the moment they had shared there. Every time a Honda passed her in the street, she was immediately reminded of the car that the blonde drove. Rum, vodka, beer, wine…everything that they had drank together seemed to just taste inexplicably of Arizona. She could no longer watch baseball, purely because the blonde had mocked it so often, or nature documentaries, because Arizona had always bored her trying to explain all the science. And now she had come to realise that the only way she had been able to get over it was to build a life that had revolved around this that had absolutely no connection to the blonde. Because the second that she was faced with Arizona again, the blonde was all that she could think about.

A few blocks away, Arizona was also trying to relax. Only, she was trying to do it on her sofa and failing miserably. She'd drawn out her grocery shopping as long as possible, but the reality was there was only so long you could spend choosing a loaf of bread before people started to look at you funny.

She couldn't quite believe how drastically things could change in just a few hours. This morning, she'd woken up next to Callie, excited about what the next phase in their relationship would bring. The talk they'd had that morning had been necessary, and hard as it was, she knew that if they were to have any longevity, they needed to start off slow. But slow was so much harder when you knew what you were missing.

And then Carina had shown up. Fuck Carina.

But deep down, Arizona knew that the fucking up was really hers. She'd made one throw away comment to Callie that night at the beach, and then her behaviour following had hardly suggested that she was seeing someone. Which she wasn't. But for some damn foolish reason, she'd said that she was. No wonder Callie's head was spinning.

She felt no guilt when it came to Carina. For all that the other woman had said about how often she ended it and then took her back, the conversation before she left for Newport had been the only one that actually had a degree of finality to it. Carina had plugged a gap for a while, especially when Arizona had been so adamant that she didn't want any form of commitment, and the other woman had always said that was the case for her too. But there was still something smothering about someone wanting to know where you were all the time, and who you were seeing, whilst at the same time claiming that they didn't care. The fact that the totality of her sympathy when she'd been told that Tim had died had been a message saying 'Sorry to hear that x' said it all really. Even a friend would have offered something more. Ironically, at the time, Arizona had even wished that she'd offered to come and take her to bed so that she could at least forget for a minute.

But Arizona had realised that what she had with Carina was in far too much of a grey area to ever work out. If it had just been sex, that would have been fine. And in all honesty, that's what Arizona had always said she wanted. But sex lead to texting, and calling, and meeting for drinks, and all of a sudden Carina was acting like her girlfriend despite her protestations to the contrary.

Then there was Callie. The person that made her heart stop. The person who, when she truly reflected, she gave her heart to a long time ago and never really got it back. There was nobody else in the world who could get past her defences like Callie could, and while at times that had been a terrifying thought, she now found it oddly comforting. She wanted Callie on so many levels. Physically, emotionally, intellectually…and the second that she had seen her again, every wall that the blonde had built up over the past ten years had come crumbling down.

The thought that she might have fucked up again and ruined her chances was causing a burning feeling in her stomach. All her life, all she'd ever done was try to protect Callie from harm. Every bit of pain that she'd caused the brunette, she'd done because she truly believed that she was saving her from something worse. And yet now her own stupidity, her own inclination to keep her life so utterly private, could be about to be her undoing. Her first thought was no longer to share anything that was going on in her life. Even with people that she cared about. Over the years, she'd managed to create a version of herself that people saw as this perky, sugar-coated blonde who was somehow also an awesome doctor. It wasn't that her friends didn't know her, but they still only knew the part of her that she allowed them to see. The only people who had ever seen who she truly was were people back in Newport, and that had backfired so spectacularly that she had put up a guard that she hadn't allowed anyone to get behind. Until now. Until Callie walked back into her life. And her damn instincts to give away as little as possible might just have destroyed her one chance at happiness.

She had just about managed to drag herself off of the sofa to make herself a cup of coffee when she heard her phone alert her to a new text message.

Her heart began racing as she picked up her phone, only to have it sink again when she saw the name Miranda Bailey appear on her screen. She couldn't help but laugh as she read the message.

Got your voicemail. Had almost forgotten what your voice sounded like. See you back Monday. PS some people here missed you

From anyone else, the message might have sounded abrupt, but it was so completely Dr Bailey that it instantly reminded her that she had a home. New York was where she belonged, with the complete bunch of misfits that she was proud to call her colleagues.

After replying to Dr Bailey to tell her that she was 'super excited' to be back on Monday, and imagining the immediate roll of the eyes that such a message would have provoked, she continued with her original task and made herself a fresh cup of coffee. She told herself to savour every mouthful, because it was now a matter of days before she'd be back at the hospital and relying on either bullying an intern into getting her a real coffee from the cart in the reception area, or instead putting up with the sludge that was available in the attending's lounge.

She had just settled herself back on the sofa when her phone buzzed again. Assuming that it was Bailey mocking her, she casually reached for it and it was only when she looked at the screen that she felt her heart thumping in her chest again.

1 new message from Callie Torres

Her hands were literally shaking as she opened the message.

Hey you. So I definitely managed 2 hours. That's progress right? X

Arizona smiled before typing out her response.

If I hadn't promised to let you text first, I would have messaged like an hour ago, so you're super achieving right now x

She only had to wait a matter of seconds before Callie's reply came through.

So we're sat a couple of blocks apart just thinking about each other then? X

The blonde couldn't deny that what Callie had said was completely true.

Totally busted x

Something about the brunette just made her unable to conceal her feelings. It went against every aspect of her persona that she had created over the years, and yet she found herself just desperately staring at her phone, waiting for Callie to reply.

I was gonna try and play this cool, wait it out a bit, but I think we're past that. (And I've totally given my game away now). So, how do you feel about taking me on a date tonight? X

If Arizona thought her heart was racing before, she was very much mistaken. A date? Like, an actual date, with Callie? Even in her most fancifully hopeful scenarios for how the rest of the day would play out, this hadn't come close to registering. She sat there on the sofa with a wide grin on her face, feeling the relief wash over her, for several minutes before she realised that she probably ought to reply to the message.

Yes. A million times yes x

No more than twenty seconds could have passed before Callie responded.

Omg thank god, you had me worried there. Not that I was counting the seconds *totally cool here* x

The blonde chuckled and decided she had nothing to lose.

No need to be cool. It only took me so long coz I was too busy smiling like an idiot to reply x

She could clearly imagine the brunette laughing as she typed out her reply.

I like the thought of you being lost for words Dr Robbins x

Arizona bit her lip, the mood changing immediately.

It happens far more often that I'd like around you Calliope. How about I pick you up at 8? X

She felt nervous, and immediately chastised herself. It was Callie who'd suggested the date, of course she wasn't going to say no. But still there was this in built doubt in her, like this whole thing might just be some massive joke. When her phone alerted her to another message, she felt physically sick.

It's a date baby x

Immediately Arizona's mood changed. She practically jumped off the sofa. Any other day, she'd have been massively over-analysing Callie's use of the word baby. But she had just agreed to arrange the most important date of her life, and she had less than 5 hours to do it.