Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.
Arizona's POV
My 71 years old uncle Ted stands up from his seat, wearing the biggest smile on his face while all the guests around the long table greet him with applauses.
"52 years ago, I met the woman of my dream. I still remember the night that we met." His gaze falls to the woman sitting next to him. "I was having beer with my army brothers in a pub closed to the base where I was stationed. And then, I saw her. She was standing near the dancing floor, one of the spotlights shone above her. Her golden hair was shinning like a halo around her. I said to one of my buddies, dear lord, I've seen an angel."
His speech makes everyone around him goes aww...
"Lighting is important, ladies." Auntie Sandra says teasingly, and we all burst into laugher.
I've known Uncle Ted and Auntie Sandra my whole life. They are not really my blood relative but they're closer than that. Uncle Ted, my dad and Nick's father served in the same team ever since they enlisted and they went through fire and water together. Our families grew up together and stayed close even the fathers went their separated ways after the military lives.
This isn't the first time that I've heard the love story of my beloved uncle and aunt, but somehow, it makes me feel emotional tonight - it reminds me the first time that I laid eyes on a certain brunette.
I was new in the hospital, didn't really know anybody so I took my time observing my peers from the galleries. A lot of accidents of children involve broken bones. I needed to know which Ortho surgeon that I could trust to take care of my tiny human, and everyone told me that Dr. Torres is the best. So, I went to observe one of her surgery.
I wasn't disappointed. It was an internal fixation to the radius and ulna, and Callie performed it perfectly. I was in awed by the way of her handling all those instruments liked a part of her limbs, and the confidence she had during the procedure. Before she wrapped up the surgery, it was like she knew that I was fixated on her the whole time, she looked up to the gallery and our eyes locked...
The pair of brown eyes was big, and warm, and expressive. It was shinning with joy and cockiness of just rocking a difficult surgery. And even though half of her face was hidden behind the mask, her eyes told me that there was a big toothy smile hanging on her face.
My thought stirs when a shadow rushing to my side of the table.
"Hey, Auntie Barbara." Nick crouches down to kiss my mother's cheek, quietly greets my dad hoping not to disturb Uncle Ted's speech before sitting on the empty chair next to me. He thinks he is sneaky but of course, everyone sees him and we are all looking at him. Nick being Nick, he shrugs his shoulders with a grin. "I'm sorry, I would have been here an hour earlier but my flight was delayed."
"Of course it was." Uncle Ted glares at him playfully. He waits to continue his story after Nick ran around the table giving his wife a greeting kiss. "Where was I... oh yes, my proposal. I took Sandra out to a..."
"Jeez... he's going to tell the story from the very beginning?" Nick whispers into my ear as soon as he got back to his seat.
"Shut up. It's lovely." I lightly slap his lap under the table.
"I know. I've heard the stories for a thousand times." We snicker together. It is true. We have spent enough time around them while growing up. We know their love stories, all our parents' love stories very well. Still smiling, Nick asks me. "Where is your hot, badass girlfriend?"
I roll my eyes at my mother. Of course she couldn't wait to tell Nick about it.
"I'll tell you later." I whisper back to him, holding up my glass when Uncle Ted calls for a toast to his wife.
This is a small, intimate party with around 30 family members and close friends in Uncle Ted's big backyard. After the caterers brought out the main course, someone turned up the stereo and the party heated up. With the melodies of those soft, romantic ballads in my parents' generation playing, uncle Ted helps his wife getting up from the chair and the two swaying to the music in each other's arms. A few of couples follow the lead, joining into the makeshift dance floor, including my parents.
I watch them with a grin, envying them of finding their better halves and still in love after decades. After a while, Nick taps my shoulder and jerks his head toward the side.
No, he isn't asking me for a dance. We sneak to the other side of the backyard, like we always did as a couple of kids while the adults were having their fun. Laying on the lounge chairs side by side, the two of us catch up of our lives.
"This is the craziest thing you're ever done, Tucson!" Nick almost laughs his butt off hearing how I got myself a fake girlfriend. "Who would have thought that a type-A like you would come up with this bonkers idea?"
"Mom cornered me." I cast him a sidelong glare. I know that he'd find it funny, but his hysterical laugh is a bit too much. "She kept saying that I'm at that age, you know, marriage, babies..."
"So you told her that you're dating the hottest surgeon in the whole hospital." Still grinning ear to ear, Nick holds up his palm offering me a high five. "Nice."
"You think Callie's hot?" Ignoring his hand, I just frown at him.
"Hey, I had cancer, I wasn't blind." He shifts on the chair, making himself comfortable and folding his arms behind his head. "I would have asked her out if she wasn't my doctor. And you were drooling all over her."
"I did no such thing." Mimicking his posture, I too pillow my head with my arms.
"Oh Yuma, you sure did." Nick says with a hit of amusement in his voice. "Like I said, I wasn't blind. You were perkier than usual whenever she was in the room."
"She was saving your life." I chew my lips, wandering if I was really that obvious at that time. "I was just trying to be... helpful."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mesa. Just don't forget that I have known you since you were in diapers." He gives me a lopsided smile telling me that I'm not convincing, like I don't already know that. "So, what's next?"
"Next?" I let out a dry laugh. I don't want to think about the next step, but it's unavoidable. "I have to come up with a perfect story, telling mom and dad that Callie and I have broken up."
"What? Why?" He bolts upright in the chair, staring at me.
"What do you mean why? I told you that it's not real." I roll my eyes at him.
"Are you sure?" He asks again.
"It's a fake relationship." I wet my lips before letting out a little sigh. "I think that I'm pretty sure about it."
"No, I mean... you should see the smile on your face while you talked about her." Nick leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. The lights are low in this part of the backyard, but I can still see the furrows between his brows. "Are you sure that you want this to end?"
"Nick..." I shake my head. "It's not my call."
"This is bull-"
"Nick, she holds all the cards." I cut him off.
"How so?" His frown goes deeper.
"For so long I tried to avoid the catastrophe of falling for a straight friend... again." I manage to give him a bitter smile with my shoulders slump. The sympathetic smile on his face tells me that he remembered the embarrassing incident in my youth. "Even though now that I know she's bi-"
"I know. It was brutal." Nick cuts in with a sigh. "But now that you knew."
"I know that from the big blabbermouth Sloan." My lips curve to a pout. "Callie didn't even tell me."
"Now you knew." Nick stared at me steely-eyed. "What's the hold up?"
"Yeah, she's into women but it doesn't mean that she's into me." I glance at him before throwing my head back staring at the starry sky. "It's not like that we're both lesbians and then we automatically attract to each other. Don't tell me that you think every straight woman come across your path wants you."
"Not until they have seen my moves." He chuckles lightly while moving onto my lounge chair. "Have you showed her that you're interested in her?"
"I flirted with her, constantly." Shifting on the chair, I snuggle up against Nick's chest and he wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Well, she explained to me that she's confused with women flirting..."
"You have to up your game, Phoenix." He squeezes my arm saying teasingly.
"I did. Yesterday morning we had a moment... We almost..." I sigh again. "She pulled away. I could see the regret in her eyes, Nick."
"You almost...?" He dips his head trying to look into my face, but I just bury my face deeper into his chest.
"We made out in bed. And if mom didn't interrupt us, I'm pretty sure we would..." Nick and I talk, a lot. That doesn't mean I feel comfortable of telling him that Callie and I almost have sex. I quickly brush it off. "I was caught up at the moment. And she couldn't even look at me afterward."
"Have you two talked about it?" He asks after a pregnant silence.
"We didn't have the chance." I shake my head slightly. "She dropped us off at the airport. Mom and dad were with us the whole time."
"And you didn't call her?" Nick nudges me by moving his shoulder. "You left to here yesterday and you haven't called her once?"
"What am I going to say? Sorry that I almost jump your beautiful bone while you clearly don't want me?" I say with frustration. "To make matter worse, I kissed her, Nick. When we said our goodbye, I kissed her on the lips."
"She kissed you back?" I could hear the amazement in his voice.
"Yes, she did. It was everything I want in a kiss. I kissed her with all the love I have for her and she kissed me back..." I don't need a mirror to know that I have a dreamy smile on my face, but it fades away when I recall what had happened next. "Then she said nothing and let me walk away. And why do I have to call her? She has a phone too, you know."
"God, you're such a girl." He mocks me with a snort of laughter, and I swat him on the ribs.
"Oh shut up!"
"Seriously though, Tempe." With one hand rubbing the spot that I just hit him, he squeezes my arm with the other hand that is wrapping around me. "Do you like her?"
"I love her, Nick." I answer him without hesitation. "I tried not to, but she's just... she's perfect."
"And you really want to leave it like this?" Still holding me tight, Nick asks in a soothing voice. "Without telling her how you feel about her?"
"I can't. I can't risk it. What if..." I would be lying if I say that I haven't thought about it in these 2 days. "Things already got awkward between us after yesterday, what if I scared her off after telling her that I want more than just being her friend?"
"Arizona..." Nick memorized all the cities of Arizona the state in order to tease me. He only says my real name when the conversation turns serious. I know where he's going and I cut him off quickly.
"No. I'd settle for just being her best friend." I say determinedly. "She's a lot to lose."
"What would Tim say?" His question takes me by surprise. I tilt my head to look at him. "If Tim were here with us, he'd say - little sis, life is short."
"This is not fair." I murmur out my protest, both for him using the Tim card, and the fact that life was indeed too short for my brother.
"No, it's not fair." He agrees with me. "Tim didn't get the chance to tell a girl that he loved her. He'd kick your ass so hard for not even trying."
Nick is right. Tim would be disappointed in me if he knew that I'm gonna let probably the greatest love of my life slip away. If he were here, he would most certainly grab my phone calling Callie for me right now.
Taking the cellphone out of my pocket, I stare at it.
"I don't know what to say. I can't just call her, telling her that I love her out of the blue."
"Just call her. You'd know what to say." Nick kisses me on the top of my head. "She'd say yes, or she'd say no. Then you know."
I unlock my phone and press her number.
I wait patiently with the device next to my ear. It is connected after the third ring.
"Dr. Torres' phone." A strange voice that I couldn't recognize answers the call.
"Hmm... this is-" I frown, trying to figure out why Callie's not answering her own phone.
"Dr. Robbins, it's on the caller ID." The stranger says cheerfully. "Hi, this is Penny. Penny Blake. The third year resident?"
"Oh, hi Blake." Of course I know who she is. The resident that gawks at Callie every chance she gets. The background noise coming from the other side of the call seems too loud to be in an OR, so I ask. "Is... Is Callie in surgery?"
"No, we're at Joe's." Penny answers, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "And she just went to the ladies room."
"Oh, you're at Joe's..." I swallow hard. And I don't need to look at Nick to know that he's alerted by my tensed reaction to the conversation.
"Yeah. Do you want to leave a message for Callie?" Once again, Penny says with her upbeat voice.
"No, it's okay. It's not anything important." It doesn't matter anymore. I end the call hurriedly after a quick goodbye.
"So...?" Nick trails off.
"Callie's on a date." I reach for the glass of wine that I set down on the ground next to my chair, bringing it to my lips and finishing the half full glass in one gulp.
"Are you sure it's a date? I mean, you said that she's not seeing anyone." He pulls away to look me in the eyes, I just avoid him.
"She wasn't, but apparently she is now." I sigh while twiddling with the stem of the wine glass with my thumb and forefinger. "The woman just answered the phone? I told Callie that this resident was hitting on her, and now they're going out together."
"I'm sorry." He gives me a hug before getting up from the chair. Taking my empty glass, he picks up his beer bottle and gives me a sad smile. "I go get more drinks."
With the cellphone clenching tightly in my hand, I cover my eyes with my arm.
Callie is on a date with Penny Blake and I have myself to blame. She didn't realize that there are women lining up for her. I had to open my big mouth and pointed her to Penny Blake. And now, she's out there with Penny Blake.
I have waited for too long to admit my feelings for her. And I faintheartedly crawled into the freaking friend zone. I thought that it's enough for just being her friend, being in her circle. But I've tasted the heaven and now I want more. Knowing that she has opened up, she's ready to date and the one sitting across the table with her isn't me, my heart hurts and I feel like crying.
The vibration of the phone in my hand startles me. The familiar ringtone comes next telling me that Callie's calling me back. Reluctantly, I bring it to my ear.
"Hello." I have to clear my voice to make it sounds less mournful.
"Hey Arizona, you called?" She has to raise her voice to cover the loud noise of Joe's.
"Yeah, I did. But don't worry about it. I just..." Think, Arizona, think. "I just want to tell you that the party's going well. I don't mean to interrupt your date."
"Date? No, I'm not on a date." I could hear the surprise in her voice.
"I thought..." I sit up straight on the lounge chair pulling my knees to my chest. "You're at Joe's with Blake."
"No, Arizona. I mean, yes, I'm at Joe's, but I'm not..." Callie laughs awkwardly. She holds the phone away mumbling something, and then her side is getting quiet. It seems that she's walking out of Joe's as she talks. "I went in for a drink and Blake was already there. She saw that I was alone and then sat down next to me on the counter. It's not a date."
"Okay..." I breathe out a relieved sigh subtly.
"Really, I didn't even know that she was in there. I had a long day and I wanted a drink. Mark's still working so I went there alone. I didn't ask her to come with me, I swear." Callie goes on and on, and I couldn't control my face muscles pulling my lips to a wide spread grin hearing her adorable jabber. "And Blake was... you were right, she was flirtatious. Like really, really flirtatious. I had to run to the bathroom to stop it, but then I forgot my phone on the counter top."
"And she answered your phone." I chime in.
"She said that she saw your name, thinking that you were calling from the hospital for something urgent." She says, and from her breathing I think that she's still walking.
"Are you going back in for your drink?" I ask the obvious question.
"Nah, I have enough. You're actually giving me an excuse to leave." She chuckles lightly, and I laugh with her.
"Blake was that bad, huh?"
"She's not terrible, just... I'm not in the mood." She pauses for a brief moment, and then changes the subject. "So, how is the party?"
"Everyone is having fun. They're dancing right now." I crane my neck to look over to the other side of the backyard, seeing that almost everyone in the party is on their feet swaying to the music.
"Yeah? It's still going on? How come it's so quiet out there?" Callie asks.
"Nick and I sneak out. Old people party is never his thing." I settle back on the lounge chair comfortably, hearing the silvery laugher coming from the woman that has captured my heart. I know that I'd love to hear her laugh all day, for the rest of my life.
"You two sneak out? Should I be worried?" She says teasingly, and adds a quick follow up. "I mean, in the eyes of your parents, you have a girlfriend and that is me."
"Nick arrived late and we didn't have time to catch up. We're just talking." Nick returns in time to hear his name. He is surprise to see that I'm on the phone, but I guess that he catches on quickly seeing the smile on my face. "By the way, you're a big hit in here."
"How so?" She sounds intrigued. I could totally see her face with lips purse slightly and eyes squint to a thin line looking at me.
"One of the aunts asked if I'm seeing anyone. You know, those nosy aunts that you don't see a lot but always trying to pry into your life?" I ask, and Callie gives me another laugher in response. "And then mom jumped in starting to talk about you. And before I knew it, everyone was surrounding her looking at the pictures that we took in Mt. Rainier."
"So I have saved you from being nagged by your relatives?" I could hear door opens and closes, apparently she's arrived home.
"Yeah, telling my parents that we're dating probably the best idea I ever have." I agree with a smile, and I catch the look on Nick's face, raising his eyebrows silently urging me to get to the point. "Callie, I... give me a second."
I cover the phone with one hand and whisper to Nick.
"I can't just tell her that I love her over the phone."
"Then ask her out on a date, a candle light dinner." He shrugs a shoulder, and then hands me a glass of wine.
"Hey, I'm back. Nick was talking." I give the man an apologetic smile before going back to talk to Callie. "I'm coming back tomorrow around 5pm, do you want to maybe go for a dinner? I haven't really thank you for helping me with everything."
"But don't you want to take a rest after all the travelling?" She says after a pause.
"It's a 3 hours flight, I'm not so old that get tired from a short flight." I crack a joke, surprise that I don't even get a chuckle from the other side of the phone.
"Okay, dinner is fine." She says quietly.
"And we can talk... You know..." Her less of enthusiasm throws me off a little bit. I hate that the awkwardness is back. I take a sip of the wine. "About this."
"Yeah yeah, sure." She clears her throat, it seems that she's also drinking something. "We should talk about this. After all, the party is over. It's time to wrap it up."
"Wrap it up...?" My mouth hang with lips slightly parted and my eyes are as wide as they could stretch. My brain formulates no thoughts other than Callie really doesn't want to be with me. I know it. That moment in bed and my aggressive goodbye kiss have pushed too far and it makes her uncomfortable. She wants this to be over and it's not soon enough...
I register that she's talking but my mind is in turmoil. So much so that I haven't noticed that my father is just few feet away from me, also on the phone.
"Yeah, you're right." I say absentminded, not sure what I'm agreeing with. I know my face is white as chalk and I'm glad that it's too dark for my father to notice it when he comes standing in front of me and Nick after he finished his call.
"Arizona, are you talking to Callie?" My father looks at me with a somewhat excitement on his face.
"Yes, dad." I pull my lips to a fake smile.
"Good, tell her that your mom and I will come back with you tomorrow. There's something we have to handle in Seattle. We're gonna stay one more night and I'm sure your mother would love to see Callie again." He gives me a wink before heading back to the party.
"Hmm... Callie...?" I take a big sip of wine before going back to talk to my fake girlfriend on the phone.
A/N : Sorry about the hold up, and sorry that this chapter is not my best work. I know that a lot of you don't like the slow pace and want to see big progress between the two. All the buildups are for the big finale and I really hope that you'd be pleased. Just... trust me one more time ;-)
All mistakes are mine, sorry.