Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Thank you for the love.
All mistakes are mine.

Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital is a big hospital, I know that. I just don't know how big it actually is until I haven't seen Arizona for three days.

Three whole days, and nights.

During the days, she was no where to be 'bumped into'. She was in the building, I was sure. I just couldn't reach her. When I got a page from the pit for a Peds consult, I was ecstatic. But my heart sunk when I arrived there and realized Arizona had passed the patient onto Karev's care in the last minute.

And she had a night shift, and a marathon surgery that lasted until midnight, I had no reason to drop by her house in the evenings...

And now, staring at the tablet on my desk, I can see that her last surgery was ended about an hour ago. She could be at home, being with her parents by now.

I feel like crying. I miss her present. I miss her laughs. I miss her smile. I miss her touches... I miss her.

Resting my elbows on the desk, my head in my hands, I let out a long, frustrated breath. I need to fix it, but I can't do anything while she keeps avoiding me.

Knock. Knock.

My eyes look upwards through my frowning brows, staring at the door when it opens slowly. Pretty sure it's gonna be Mark coming to mock my misery once again. My jaw drops when I see who is there standing outside my office.

"Hey." Arizona gives me a taut smile. I have to blink a couple times to find my tongue.

"Hey."

It's like the very first time that we came face to face in the elevator all over again. She gave me a simple greeting, and I was too nervous to respond.

"I... I'm about to head home." The corners of her lips quirks up to an awkward smile.

"Arizona, can we... can we talk?" I shot up from the chair. I don't know why she's here, but I know that I need to grasp this chance. "I mean, let me explain to you?"

"I know you may not want to," She says, ignoring my questions. "My parents asked about you. They want to know if you will come over for dinner tonight."

"Do you want me to?" I raise my eyebrows, staring at her hopefully. But she seems to have found something far more interesting on the floor. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Arizona."

"So you don't want to come..." She purses her lips and nods her head slowly. "I understand. I'll tell them..."

"No Arizona, wait!" I reach out my hand, blurting out before she turns to leave. "I'd like to go to have dinner with you... your parents."

"Callie, you don't have to." A skeptical expression comes over her face. "I get it. After all, I was being..."

"Arizona, I've made a promise to you." I cut her off, reminding her of the agreement, the promise that I have made with my best friend. I'm not going to break it. "I'll show up at your house as your beloved girlfriend."

"Are you sure?" She narrows her eyes at me, and a ghost of smile playing around her lips.

"My shift will be finished in about an hour, then I'll be there." I nod firmly.

1 hour and 20 minutes later, I'm in my car, a street corner away from Arizona's house, staring at it with my mind running like crazy.

What was I thinking? Arizona is obliviously still mad at me. Her parents want to see me so she has no choice but invite me over. I should have told her to make an excuse to explain why I couldn't be in there tonight, or the rest of their stay.

And I'm pretty sure this night is gonna be awkward. She could hardly look at her outside my office, how can she hug me or touch me or... even kiss me like we have done in front of her parents in the last week?

I shouldn't put her in that position. But...

Tap. Tap.

I jump when someone quietly tapping on my car window. Looking to the passenger side, it is the colonel smiling at me through the window. I unlock the door and he slips in.

"Hi colonel." I smile back at him. "Why are you here?"

"They are preparing dinner, so I take a walk in the neighborhood." The smile on his face fades subtly, fixing me a solemn fatherly look. "And I can ask you the same question, why are you still here, Callie?"

"I... uh..." I wet my lips, thinking that he doesn't want me there to upset his daughter further more. "Arizona... uh... she... uh... dinner..."

"I know you're coming home for dinner, Callie. I just don't understand why you're in here, instead of there." He points his finger at Arizona's house, where is just less than 20 meters away from where we are sitting right now.

I stare blankly out at the windscreen ahead of me.

"I know my daughter, Callie. She can be quite scary sometimes." The colonel laughs, and I'm stunned by his remark. "Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter. She is just hopelessly headstrong, like her mother."

I manage to give him a tight lips smile.

"And even they know that they were wrong, they wouldn't admit it, well, verbally." He shrugs his shoulder with a dry smile. "It was like pulling teeth to get Arizona to say that she was sorry when she broke Timmy's bicycle."

I listen quietly as the colonel continues.

"She believes action is louder than words. That's why she broke her own piggy bank to pay for the repair. And that's why she's in the kitchen making dinner with Barbara right now." He winks his eye expressively.

"She's in the kitchen?" My eyebrows rise to my forehead. She has joked that she would never cook with her mother because apparently Barbara is a control freak in the kitchen. Well, according to the couple times that we spent in there, she does like things to be done in a certain way. Her way.

"What do you think why I need this walk?" The colonel laughs again. "They were arguing the whole time. All I'd hear was - that's not how Calliope likes it."

"She's making dinner for me?" My eyes open wide in surprise.

"She was like a bear with a sore head for days, Callie. I know the smile on her face when she returned home today wasn't for Barbara or me." He says teasingly. "And I'm absolutely sure that she's not making dinner for neither the two of us."

I have tried, but there's no way I can conceal the big smile on my face.

"She loves you, Callie. And I can tell that you love her too. I don't really know what you two are fighting about, but just don't let it standing between the two of you." He pats the dash board twice gesturing. "Now come on, pull the car into the driveway. I'm dying to taste my daughter's cooking even thought it's not for me."

The colonel gets out of the car as soon as we stopped in front of the house. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, steering me up the steps and through the front door.

"Arizona, Callie's here." He yells into the kitchen, and then disappears off into the living room.

As I stand by the door alone, the giddying feeling that I had earlier vanished completely. Colonel was saying all those nice things because he believed that Arizona and I is a couple and we're in love with each other. It just means that we have done a good job convincing him.

My gaze drifts to the photos that Arizona puts on top of a small cabinet opposite to the front door. Those are photos of her parents, her brother Tim in uniform, a few of relatives that I don't know, and a newly additional one with the two of us. It was taken outside her house the night before her parents arrived.

In the photo, we were cheek to cheek, smiling like without a care in the world because we were in each other's arms.

But this is not real. My heart hurts thinking all this will be ended once the parents returned to their home.

My heart hurts even more, knowing that I don't just going to lose my fake girlfriend. I probably have already lost my best friend.

"Hey, babe." Arizona appears from the kitchen bringing me sharply out of my thoughts. She casts a quick glance back inside then takes the few steps toward me.

"Hey babe..." Before I'm aware of it, I'm calling her by the pet name and leaning forward, a habit that we have developed when we're around her parents. Just when my lips about to touch hers, I catch the surprise on her face. Quickly, I twist my neck slightly, landing the peck on the corner of her lips instead.

"Glad you're here." A pink blush spreads across her cheeks. She seems feeling uneasy with my forwardness.

"I've promised you, haven't I?" I let out an odd chuckle, trying to cover my embarrassment.

She fidgets with the front of the apron that she's wearing. There's a weird tension between us that either of us know how to break it.

"So, I've heard that you're making dinner?" I shove my hands in my pockets, shifting my feet nervously.

"Well, mom does most of the work." She smiles sheepishly. "Mom is in the kitchen, you wanna come say hi?"

"Of course." I smile back and follow her into the kitchen.

Like always, Barbara pulls me into a hug once she saw me. And I smell a nice tantalizing aroma of citrus filling the air.

"It smells good, what are you making?" I peek over to the stove, Barbara is stirring the sauce in the pan and I think I know what that is.

"Chicken piccata. Arizona said this is your favorite." Barbara gives me a meaningful smile.

I steal a glance at the quiet blonde. Once again, she's fidgeting with her apron.

Chicken piccata is not my favorite dish, but that was the first dish that I made with Arizona.

"I was going to use cognac to give a richer favor, but Arizona insisted on using white wine. She said that was how you make it." Barbara says that purposely. She doesn't even hide the worry on her face when she looks between the two of us.

"Yeah," I walk closer to stand next to Arizona and wrap an arm around her waist, making sure that Barbara can see my hand. I turn my face to look deeply into Arizona's blue eyes. "That was how we made it the last time."

Her body stiffens briefly and locks her eyes with mine. It seems my move has caught her off guard. Normally she's the one initiate the touches but this time, I'm the one holding her. I'm doing this for Barbara, but if this night is going to be the last time that I can be this close with Arizona, I am going to hold her as long as I am allowed.

"Yeah." She gives me a timid little smile, but doesn't take her gaze away.

"Okay kids. Dinner's ready." Barbara says and I can hear the smile in her voice, don't know is because the foods can be served, or the affection between Arizona and I that is displaying before her.

The four of us sit around the table enjoying this nice dinner. Arizona and I takes turn to talk about our days and the parents tell us their adventures around Seattle. We have tried our best to act normal but the awkwardness among us is too thick to be broken. It doesn't take a genius to see that Arizona is quieter than usual, and kinda withdrawn. She does smile to me from time to time, but the smile never really reaches her eyes.

Is she still so mad that she can't even sit for an hour pretending that we're having a good time?

I collect the tableware and bring them to the kitchen after we finished eating. It has become a routine that Barbara makes the dinner, and I'd do the cleaning while the Robbins family hangs around in the living room. Tonight, Arizona offers to help with the dishes.

"You don't have to, Arizona." I say softly when she puts the dirty dishes into the sink. "You should go relax with your parents."

"No, it's fine." She reaches for the dishwashing detergent and pours it over the sponge, focusing her eyes on the plates as she started cleaning.

We work together in silence. She passes me the ones that she has done, and I rinse them off and then put them on the rack. Occasionally I'd take a furtive glance at her. Her brows furrow in concentration beneath the lower eyelids, her lips bite to a thin line and her jaws clinches.

I shouldn't put her in this position.

"You know, your parents have totally brought the idea that we're a couple." I sigh after she handed me the last plate. "I think my job here is done."

"What do you mean?" She speaks to me the first time since we started cleaning the dishes side by side 10 minutes ago.

"For the rest of their stay, you can tell them that I have to work late... or you can even tell them that I'm out of town for a conference. It'd stop them from asking me to come joining you guys." I tug the corner of my mouth to a small smile, staring at the swirl of water in the sink through a mist of tears. Maybe it's for the best.

"You want to end this?" She's looking at me, but I can't bring my eyes to meet with hers.

"You seem uncomfortable that I'm here." I chew the inside of my mouth, blinking back the tears. She doesn't need to see my cry. "I told you, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, especially at your own home."

"Calliope, I'm uncomfortable not because you're here. I want you here." She turns around, leaning against the sink and groans. "Ugh! I... I just don't know how to tell you how bad I feel for... you know, overreacting the other day."

"You do?" I snap my head staring at her. The colonel's words from earlier ring through my head, Arizona doesn't do apologize well.

"You don't owe me any explanation, Calliope." She tilts her head upward, heaving a long sigh. "You have every right not to tell me things that you don't want me to know. There's not my place to be angry or... well, yell at you."

"I wasn't trying to keep that from you, Arizona. It's just..." I want to tell her. I want to tell her everything but as always, I stutter on my words when I get nervous. "Erica and I... She and I... It was complicated... we... "

"It's okay, I understand. You don't have to..." She shrugs her shoulders before reaching for a towel to dry her hands. The towel rubs around her fingers as she says, nonchalantly. "Like I said, you don't owe me anything. Although, I'd rather hear about that from you instead of from Mark Sloan."

"Mark is an idiot, and you know that." I roll my eyes before taking the towel that she offers to me. "I never meant for you to hear that from him."

"I know how special Sloan is to you." She resumes to the previous position, leaning back against the sink and staring in distance. "I shouldn't compare myself to him."

"Arizona, Mark is my best friend. He's like a brother to me, but you're not any less important to me." I say in a heartbeat. "You are my best friend, too. I cherish our friendship."

"Yeah?" She looks at me with a smile. I must have said something right. I would see the spark in her blue eyes returns.

"If the both of you fell into the water, I wouldn't think twice to save you first." I shift my body, a hand on the edge of the sink and the other on my hip, facing her directly making sure that she would see the sincerity and seriousness on my face.

"I'm the daughter of a marine colonel." She throws her head back laughing out loud, amusing by my metaphor. "I don't think you'll have to save me from drowning."

"My point is, you're important to me." I laugh with her. There is something contagious in her laugh.

"You're important to me too." She gives me a dimpled smile in return. "Would you forgive me?"

"It's not even a question, Arizona." I dart her a mischievous intimate glance. "I'd forgive you if you forgive me."

"Can I hug you?" She casts a shy glance full of constraint at me. I smile, and then pull her into my arms.

I don't know how long it is that we wrap around each other's arms. Her arms around my neck and mine are holding her tight by her waist. I can feel her body relax and so does mine. We break apart until the door of the kitchen opens and the colonel enters.

"Everything's okay?" He asks, eyeing us curiously.

"Yeah, we're okay." Arizona turns to look at her father, with her hand holding mine, like she isn't ready to let me go yet. She asks when the man goes toward the fridge. "What do you want, dad?"

"Another bottle of wine." The colonel holds up the bottle that he just got from the fridge, smiling at us knowingly.

"You and mom finished a bottle?" Arizona questions while passing him a corkscrew.

"Hey young lady, you know there was like only one glass in there when I took it." He gives his daughter a feign scowl before opening the bottle. Arizona giggles and pulls me out of the kitchen, but the colonel calls us back. "Arizona, have you confirmed the hotel reservation yet?"

"Oh, I almost forget about it. I'll do it now." She makes a grimace. And she indicates the study with a jerk of her head.

"Hotel reservation in San Diego?" I ask. "I thought you have everything arranged already?"

"No, we're planning to go to Mt Rainier the coming weekend." The colonel answers for her, walking behind us down the hall with the now opened bottle of wine in his hand. "Arizona hasn't told you yet?"

"Yeah, we're planning to go to Mt Rainier the coming Saturday, spending a night and then we'll go from there to the airport." Arizona let go of my hand before she walks toward the study where her computer is. She spins around after taking two steps. "Do you want to go with us?"

"Of course Callie is going with us. It's the last weekend that we'd spend some times together." The colonel interjects, while pouring wine for his wife, who is wearing a huge smile on her face, looking at us from the couch.

A/N 2 : I'd like to apologize to you for this chapter. It seems kinda bland and rushed and with a lot of unsolved issues flowing in the air, I know... It's the difficulty of writing a single POV story, I'm still learning. And I just resumed to work after this 10 days long vacation, I don't really have time to polish this chapter (excuse, excuse, excuse... I know.)
Next chapter during the romantic overnight trip to Mt Rainier, subalpine wildflower meadows ring the icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks Mt Rainier's lower slopes (quote from their website), Callie and Arizona will have the talk, I promise.

A/N 3 : Like I said in the beginning, this is going to be a short story. According to the schedule, it will come to an end after 3, maybe 4 more chapters. And the last 2 chapters probably is going to be Arizona POV.