Callie approached the hospital, five minutes early for her arranged meeting with Arizona. Her hands fiddled with the sleeves of her jacket, her fingers unable to remain still as she desperately tried to fight back the nerves. Not only was she worrying about meeting her girlfriend's friends and colleagues, she also hadn't heard back from Jackson Avery yet.
She waited outside the front doors, her phone in her hands. Six or seven minutes passed before she received a message from Arizona.
A: Really sorry, surgery ran late, just getting changed. Christina's on her way down if you want to go ahead with her? X
Callie considered the offer. All that she really wanted was a kiss from her girlfriend, but she also wanted to make a good impression. And that meant not seeming clingy.
C: Ok sure but I'm getting a kiss as soon as you arrive x
A: Just you try and stop me x
A moment later, Christina walked through the front doors of the hospital.
"Hey" she greeted Callie with a nod.
"Hi" the brunette smiled "I hear you're my date until Arizona makes it down"
"Apparently so. But don't you go getting any funny ideas"
"Don't worry" Callie laughed "I only have eyes for one doctor"
"Then we'll be just fine. Come on" Christina nodded for the brunette to follow her "if we hurry, we can get a round of tequila down us before Robbins catches us up"
"Hang on" Callie tried to protest, but found herself automatically following "this was meant to just be a few quiet drinks. Tequila isn't quite what I was imagining…"
"Don't tell me you're a pussy"
"I never said that, just…it's an unusual choice for a first drink of the day, that's all"
Christina raised an eyebrow "Who says it's my first drink?"
"Erm…I…" the brunette stammered, taken aback "I mean, I just assumed…"
"I'm kidding" Christina laughed "I may like a drink, but I like being a doctor more"
"I'm really glad to hear that"
The ice well and truly broken, Callie felt herself relaxing as she followed Christina into the bar that she was sure would end up visiting regularly. Christina nodded at a couple of people, not even bothering with small talk, and headed straight for the bar. Without giving Callie a chance to decline, she ordered two shots of tequila.
"To…Tuesdays?" she suggested, turning to the brunette to hand her a shot glass.
"Seriously? That's what you want to toast?" Callie asked, her eyebrows raising.
"You have a better suggestion?"
"Well, what would you normally toast to?" the brunette countered.
"Anastomotic coronary devices" Christina replied, deadpan "but I didn't think you'd appreciate that so much"
"Let's stick with Tuesdays"
They clinked their shot glasses, licking salt from their hands before letting the liquor slide down their throats. Callie winced, grabbing a slice of lemon to bite down on as she noted that her companion barely flinched.
"So" the brunette shook her head, trying to forget the burning sensation in her throat "I take it you're a tequila pro?"
"Something like that. It's kinda my thing"
"So I shouldn't try to outdrink you, then?"
"On tequila? No" Christina replied seriously.
Callie laughed, enjoying the other woman's deadpan nature, but equally seeing the humour in the complete contrast between her and Arizona.
"Can I buy you a regular drink?" she offered.
"Sure" Christina shrugged "I'll take a beer"
Callie ordered two beers, and then with glasses in hand, followed Christina to a table that already had two occupants.
"DeLuca, Maggie" Christina greeted them both with a friendly nod.
"Hey Christina" DeLuca smiled "and you must be Callie, right?"
"How did you guess?" Callie asked.
"You erm…well, people were fairly accurate with their descriptions of you" he blushed.
Callie raised her eyebrows "Do I want to know?"
"Hot. Latina. Great boobs" Maggie informed her "I'm Maggie by the way, nice to meet you"
"It's great to meet you" Callie smiled, shaking her hand "but I have to ask, who was talking about my boobs?"
Maggie and DeLuca looked at each other before turning back and answering simultaneously "Arizona"
Everyone laughed, and Callie shook her head "I should've known"
"So, how are you liking New York so far?" Maggie asked.
They spent a few minutes talking about Callie's first few days in the city, laughing at her excitement about the subway and hotdogs, before the door to the bar opened and Arizona walked in and the brunette's face lit up.
"I don't even need to turn around to know who just came through that door" Christina teased.
"Sorry" Callie blushed "I…"
"Ignore her" Maggie glared at Christina "I think it's sweet"
"I just threw up in my mouth a little bit" Christina muttered.
"Hey guys" Arizona approached the table, moving round to stand behind Callie and placing her hands on her shoulders "can I get anyone a drink?"
The group shook their heads, declining politely as they indicated their nearly full glasses.
"Ok, I'll be back in a minute" the blonde smiled, before leaning down and pecking Callie on the lips "and hi"
"Hi back" the brunette grinned.
"On second thoughts" Christina called after the departing blonde "I'll take a tequila"
Arizona responded with a thumbs up, and the rest of the table laughed. DeLuca began telling the table about his surgery that afternoon, and Callie, if she was honest, zoned out a little, her eyes mainly drifting over to the bar as she unsubtly looked her girlfriend up and down.
As Arizona returned to the table carrying a glass of wine and a shot glass, Callie got up and pulled over an extra chair.
"Thanks" the blonde smiled gratefully, taking a seat "so what did I miss?"
"Maggie said your girlfriend has great boobs" Christina informed her before knocking back the tequila.
"Oh yeah?" Arizona turned to Maggie with a scowl, trying not to laugh.
"Actually I said that you said your girlfriend has great boobs. Which, as it turns out, she does" Maggie grinned.
"Do you think we could maybe stop talking about my boobs now?" Callie asked hopefully.
"I mean, I'm happy to expand to boobs in general" DeLuca offered.
"Please" Christina rolled her eyes.
"Hey, there are more boob lovers than not at this table right now" Arizona pointed out.
"Boobs are pretty damn great" Callie chipped in.
"Hey" Maggie joined in "even I can agree with that"
"You really wanna go there?" Christina turned to Arizona "Because I can think of much more interesting things to talk about"
"Yang…" the blonde glared pointedly.
"Robbins" Christina challenged back.
DeLuca looked between the two of them before speaking "Is this the part where we talk about the thing that we all know about but are all pretending we don't?"
"Andrew" Maggie glared at him.
"What?" he raised his hands in protest "Yang started it"
"And Yang should know better" Maggie switched to glare at her other friend.
"Children" Arizona scolded all of them "it's ok, we can talk about it if you want. I have nothing to hide from you guys"
"You don't need to tell us anything" Maggie told her "but you know we all support you"
"Thank you" the blonde smiled "and thank you, Christina, for putting the fear of god in some of the nurses"
"It was my pleasure" Christina grinned.
"Basically, I spent a couple of rather unpleasant hours being questioned by a jobsworth of a cop. I was never arrested" Arizona said pointedly "so you can dispel that rumour anytime that you hear it"
"I did hear one of the nurses say that this morning" DeLuca spoke up "Erin, I think it was, but Yolanda set her straight"
"Huh" Arizona said in surprise "didn't realise she was on side"
"You know she hates gossip" Christina pointed out "maybe even more than I do"
"True" the blonde agreed "well I guess that's good. I could really do without people thinking I was arrested. Anyway, the whole thing was obviously a load of shit, because as you can all see, Callie" she nodded at the brunette "is clearly here of her own free will, and has not, in fact, been abducted by me"
"Holy shit" DeLuca exclaimed.
"Hang on a minute" Maggie leant forward, placing her hands on the table "the police actually took you in for questioning because they thought you abducted your own girlfriend?"
"Yeah" Arizona nodded, her eyes darting to Callie "it's uh…it's kinda complicated"
"You want me to take over?" Callie asked, squeezing the blonde's hand.
"You don't have to" Arizona squeezed back.
"Yeah" Maggie agreed "I mean, you barely know us. Sorry, prying into Arizona's life is one thing, you we can leave alone…"
"At least for a week or two" Christina interrupted "once you're one of the gang, you're fair game"
"No, it's ok" Callie smiled, her fingers still intertwined with Arizona's "the thing is, I assume Arizona's told you that we know each other from way back, right?"
The others all nodded in confirmation.
"Well" the brunette continued "I was…well, technically am still, married. To a guy that Ari and I grew up with. He's had…issues, with Arizona, for a long time. Thinks that she corrupted me, that I'm not really interested in women and that she took advantage of me somehow…"
"Wait" Christina interrupted "so you're bi, right? Just want to make sure I'm clear on the facts here"
"Yeah, I'm bi" Callie smiled "but he would never accept that and once we were together, it was just one of those things that never got mentioned. He was…he was never the nicest man, but I thought it was harmless…at least, I thought he just took some things out on me sometimes. It's only recently that I came to learn that actually, he treated me better than a lot of people he encountered. And once I learned the truth about him, I left him. That and…well, Arizona came back into my life. So I guess factually, I left him for Arizona, and he wasn't willing to accept that. So despite knowing that I'd left him, and gone with her willingly, he waited a few days and then reported me missing to the local police, making them believe that she'd taken me against my will"
"That's fucked up, man" Christina shook her head.
"I…" DeLuca's mouth gaped "I mean, you're kidding right? This is some kind of weird joke you guys made up?"
"Nope" Arizona smiled wryly "sadly not"
"But how…" Maggie's brow furrowed in confusion "surely people knew the truth, and the cops didn't just listen to him?"
"Sadly uh…" Callie looked to Arizona, receiving a small nod to reassure her "not everyone is supportive of Arizona and I…my parents, for one, and so they did nothing to disagree with what my husband was saying. Some friends did, but apparently they weren't as credible as the 'upstanding' members of society that my family seem to be regarded as"
"Well" Christina reached over the table, placing a hand on Callie's arm, causing the rest of the group to raise their eyebrows in surprise "you don't need them now, because you have family here"
"Thank you" Callie smiled shyly, determined not to cry at the display of kindness.
"Callie, you have filed a complaint, right?" Maggie asked.
"What?" the brunette turned to her, confused.
"Against your husband, for filing a false report?"
"I…I hadn't thought about it, really" Callie replied honestly.
"I mean, I don't know what the statute is like in Washington, but I'm fairly sure it's a crime. Might send a message to stop messing with you?" Maggie suggested.
"I…" Callie turned to look at Arizona.
"Completely your call babe" the blonde stroked her hand reassuringly.
"We uh…I guess we'll talk about that later. But thank you, for adding to the 'ways I can get my ex to fuck off' list" Callie grinned.
"Any time" Maggie smiled back.
At that moment, Maggie's phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse.
"Sorry guys, I'll just be a sec, it's Jackson" she apologised before moving away from the table.
"So…" Christina leant forward "is this a list that anyone can add to? Because I'm totally on board with getting back at pyscho exes"
"You sound like you speak from experience" Callie replied.
"Yeah, well…" Christina shrugged "I mean, my preferred way at getting back at anyone who put you down is to be a bigger success than anyone ever thought you capable of being"
Callie smiled "I think I like that idea"
"Christina uh…well, she got her heart broken by one of our professors in med school" Arizona told her "and when they broke up, he told her she'd never even get near a heart surgery"
"And look at me now" Christina smirked "Head of Cardio in-waiting"
"I…thought Maggie was Head of Cardio?" Callie asked, confused.
"Oh she is" Christina nodded "I'm just waiting for her to…get a fellowship or something, and then the job's all mine"
"I…" Callie turned to Arizona for help, not sure what to say.
"She'll be waiting a while" the blonde helped her out "but still, her advice is pretty good"
"Yeah" the brunette nodded "I can totally get on board with that"
Maggie walked back over to the table, a smile on her face.
"All good with Mr Avery?" Arizona asked, smiling.
"All good, he's even making me dinner. Callie – I told him you were here and he said you should check your email"
The brunette's eyes widened and she pulled out her phone, seeing that she had a new email. As she read it, her face visibly flushed.
"What is it babe?" Arizona asked.
"I erm…I have to go pitch my article to Jackson tomorrow. In person. At the New York Times"
"That's amazing!" the blonde exclaimed, grabbing Callie for a hug.
The rest of the table added their own positive comments, and Maggie smirked, clearly already knowing what the email said.
"You want to celebrate" Arizona continued "or…"
"No" Callie answered firmly "god no. I need to prepare. No more alcohol. Clear head needed"
"You want to go home?"
"Yeah, if that's ok?" the brunette asked "I'm really sorry guys, and Ari if you want to stay…"
"I'm coming with you" the blonde interrupted.
"And we understand" Maggie reassured her, with DeLuca and Christina nodding in agreement.
"Ok uh…I guess we're going and uh…great to meet you guys, I mean properly…" Callie stammered.
Arizona smiled, finishing her wine and getting to her feet "Let's go home"
"Yeah" Callie smiled back gratefully, also getting up "hopefully see you guys soon"
She received a chorus of "good luck" and "see you soon" from the table as the two of them headed out of the bar.
"Oh my god" the brunette breathed as they stepped outside.
"You've got this" Arizona reassured her, taking hold of her hand.
Slowly Callie turned to look at her "You know what, I think I have"