Over the horizon 25
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 : Yo! I'm back, my friends. Hope you all still like this story.
Once again, applaud to my wonderful beta Calzonaforever35, you did it again! You are the best.
Chapter 25
"Callie, open the door!" Arizona knocked on the door fiercely. "Joe told me that you're in there. Open the door before I break my hand, please?"
After talking to Bailey, the blonde doctor rushed to change out of her scrubs and grabbed her bag. She tried to call Callie, but it went straight to the voicemail. She ran into Horizon and found Joe tending the bar by himself. They exchanged some words about what had happened and how vexed the Latina was, and Arizona ran upstairs and found out it was locked. After a good 3 minutes of knocking, there still had been no sign of opening.
She pulled her phone out to call Joe, asking if he had a set of keys to the apartment. Suddenly the door cracked open, and there stood Callie, leaning against the door frame with her hands in her jean pockets, looking at her in frustration.
"Why don't you leave?" She asked timidly.
"Huh?" Arizona blinked at the question, totally confused.
"I'm a mess, why don't you just leave me before you get yourself in deeper trouble?" Callie asked again. She dropped her gaze to the floor, not able to look into those blue eyes.
"What are you talking about?" The furrow between her brows was getting deeper, and Arizona took a step closer. She could smell the tequila from Callie's breath. The brunette was still not looking at her, and unlikely to let her in the apartment. "Callie, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about my life. I don't deserve to be happy. People came near me and turned into cold hearted monsters who disowned their own child, died of cancer, or became crazily obsessive. I. Am. Cursed. Just save yourself, go away before the ceiling collapses and falls on you." Dropping her head low, Callie tried to hide her red rimmed eyes and pouted her lips as hard as she could to suppress her tears. She felt a hand land on her shoulder and Arizona's voice in her ear again.
"Are you done?"
The Latina jerked her head up to meet the blue eyes that were closely in front of her. She was bewildered by the question but then it was replaced with devastation when she thought she knew what the woman was asking. She dropped her head again.
"Yes, we're done." It came out with deep sigh.
"No, I'm asking, are you done? Are you finished with the self-pity yet? Because I am not going to do that standing in the doorway." Arizona put both hands on her girlfriend's shoulders with a firm grip, shifted her to the side, and slid into the apartment. That, leaving the apartment owner frozen and confused by the door frame.
Arizona went straight to the kitchen, and shook her head when she looked in the living room and found the half empty bottle of tequila on the coffee table.
Callie turned to face the inside of the apartment, but she still leaned weakly against the door frame, too timid to move. She dropped her eyes again when Arizona came back in view with a bottle of water in hand. Seeing that the brunette hadn't moved at all, Arizona tilted her head to the side, slumped her shoulders and looked at the woman from a distance, waiting for the brunette to make eye contact.
But she didn't...
Finally, Arizona rolled her eyes, walked over to pull Callie by the wrist, and dragged her to sit on the couch. She opened the bottle of water and handed it to Callie.
"Drink up. I am not going to start the conversation with you being drunk."
"I'm not drunk!" Callie snapped. But she accepted the water anyway.
"You are drunk. Otherwise, why would you say something so stupid?" Arizona sat on the coffee table directly in front of the Latina. She shook her head again while pushing the liquor further away from them. "My girlfriend is a smart woman. I hope I am not wrong."
"I am not drunk and I am not stupid. I'm just telling the truth. I am cursed." Callie looked down at the bottle in hand, mumbled in a small voice. "And you know that little amount of tequila won't even get into my system."
"I don't care, drink the water." The blonde ordered in a cold voice.
Callie took a gulp, and then another one after receiving a glare from the blonde.
"You want me to leave you? Or do you want to leave me?" Arizona asked deadpan.
"No, I just… You are… I'm a mess… George is here…" The question from the blonde caught Callie off guard, making her lapse into a stutter.
"George is here, so?" Arizona raised her eyebrows, waiting for the brunette to say more.
"Everything's complicated, I just… I don't know how to deal with it anymore, and you don't need this." Callie looked down to the bottle in hands, fidgeting with the label unconsciously.
"I don't need what? Your love?" Arizona stooped down a little, trying to look at the brown eyes but Callie ducked even lower.
"My mess!" The brunette cried out aloud. Still toying with the bottle but looking at the blonde.
"I don't understand, I'm trying to, I really am but I really don't know what you're talking about." Arizona snatched the water bottle and put it on the coffee table next to her. She put her hands on Callie's knees and pled with her eyes. "Please, explain it to me."
"Arizona! George is here. He is working in the hospital. He is working in your clinic." Sighing heavily, the Latina finally tilted her head to look into the waiting blue eyes.
"So?" Arizona raised her eyebrows innocently.
"Arizona!" Callie whined.
"Seriously, Callie. You're thinking crazy." Despite the look of frustration, the deep furrow between the well-shaped eyebrows, red rimmed eyes, and pursed lips, Arizona couldn't help but to chuckle at the woman's childish whine. Shaking her head slightly, she asked,"Let me ask you this, you served him divorce papers right?"
Callie nodded.
"He refused to sign it…" Callie opened her mouth wanting to talk, but Arizona held up a finger to stop her. "So it's gonna take two years for you to officially divorce him."
The Latina bit her lips, and nodded again.
"But still, you are divorcing him, right? You're not going to change your mind because he's here, living in the same city as you?"
"No god, no. Arizona, I am not going to change my mind, no way." Callie shook her head fiercely.
The blonde picked up Callie's hands, and squeezed them tightly.
"Then I don't know what you're worrying about. He's here, so? He's not dangerous like a sociopath or mafia or serial killer, is he? What would happen with him around us?"
"You're his boss, and we're dating…" Callie started to think maybe she overreacted a bit with the whole George was in town situation. But still, he worked for Arizona and that was still a problem.
"You and I were together even before he started to work in the clinic. You are my girlfriend before I am his boss." Arizona stated simply.
"People would talk…"
"I don't care how people talk, I care about you. Are you really going to break up with me because your ex-husband showed up?"
"Arizona, not just because George showed up, but… I feel like… I'm happy again, I am alive. Then things happened. I love you so much, I don't want anything to happen to you. You're better off without me."
Suddenly feeling stupid, Callie leaned forward, hid her face on the blonde's shoulder, and freed their links hands to wrap around the slim waist loosely. Arizona shifted forward to sit on the edge of the coffee table to minimize the distance between them.
"Stop talking crazy, please." Arizona said softly, while smoothing the raven hair with a hand. "You were not the reason Malena died. Cancer was her cause of her death, not you. It just happened, and with your family, it was all about communication, wasn't it? Your father isn't unreasonable. He called you back after we talked to him."
The brunette didn't give a response, so she continued. "Call me simple, but I do believe you think too much, you make it seem so complicated, seriously. You have your past and I have mine. It made us vulnerable but don't forget, it's the two of us now. You and I are in this relationship. You can't make me end it because of your craziness."
"I just…" Callie swallowed the words she wanted to say, so she sighed deeply instead.
"You panicked, I get it." Still smoothing the silklike hair, Arizona rested her chin on the dark hair, inhaled deeply, and closed her eyes to savor the closeness. After all, it had been a long day for both of them.
They remained in the same position, hands wrapped around each other, enjoying the comfortable silence, until…
"I packed a bag…" Callie murmured sheepishly.
"Callie you didn't!" It startled the blonde, she pulled away to look her girlfriend in the eyes, jaw slightly ajar in shock.
"I almost picked up my keys to drive away, but I couldn't make myself act on it…" Callie brought her hands up to wrap around Arizona's neck, tilted her head to the side. She gazed at the blue eyes with a heartfelt smile.
"Because you're drunk?" Arizona squinted into the brown eyes.
"Because I couldn't leave you." The brunette answered without missing a beat. "I promised you I won't run. I couldn't run. That's why I wanted you to leave me."
"That's why you made me knock on the door for an hour." Arizona chanted, with a mischievous smile. "I'm sorry to disappoint you young lady, but I'm not going anywhere."
"It was only a minute, not an hour…" Callie objected, but she was stopped by a pair of soft lips.
"Then what are we going to do?" Callie asked after the soft, loving kiss, the blonde pulled away again to look into the brown eyes sincerely.
"We, are going to talk to George. Sit down, have a civil conversation. Tell him how you feel, tell him what you want. Make him understand the marriage was a mistake and you have moved on."
Callie nodded slightly, pulled her girlfriend back near her, and buried her face in the crook of the creamy neck.
"Maybe I should do it myself. I mean, I can't drag you into this talk."
"It would be better. Just don't forget, I have your back." Arizona kissed the top of the black hair. "I love you."
A cell phone went off, braking their little comfortable bubble suddenly. Callie sighed and got up to pick up her phone from the kitchen counter. All the while, blue eyes followed her every move.
"Hi Callie, it's me, Joe."
"Why are you whispering, Joe?" Callie frowned, walking back to the couch resuming her previous position.
"George is here."
Of course he was here. He said he would come by after settled down in the hospital. Callie mouthed to her girlfriend. The blonde nodded, reached out to hold the tanned hand.
"Do you want me to kick him out? I sure would love to. But Arizona said he's working out here now, I'm afraid he'll camp out in here until he's got a hold on you."
Callie sighed heavily. She bit the corner of her lips, looking at Arizona with unsureness. Her mind was still shaking but at least she felt the strength coming from their linked hands.
"George is downstairs. Should I…?" She asked Arizona.
"Will you be able to sleep tonight if this is still hanging in the air?" Arizona gave a bitter smile. She knew her girl.
"Joe, tell him I'll be there in few minutes. But don't let him know I live upstairs, ok?" Callie said to Joe quickly before ended the call. She clasped the phone tightly and then looked at the blonde in front of her. "I'm going to talk to George, Arizona. Do you want me to tell him, you and I are in a relationship? Or you want to put it under the raider for now?"
"I'm your girlfriend. I'll kick your butt if you try to hide me." Arizona patted their linked hands with her free hand jokingly. "Now, let's just get this done over with."
George shot up from the bar stool when he caught the familiar dark hair woman entering the bar, he almost missed that his new boss was walking by her side closely.
"Callie, Dr. Robbins." He grinned to the two women accordingly. But his face frozen when he noticed they were holding hands when he tried to clasp his wife's hand. George looked up and questioned with his eyes.
"Arizona and I are dating." The brunette looked at her girlfriend, who gave her a small smile of courage.
"Is that why you moved to Seattle?" George asked in a shaky voice. "You cheated on me?"
"No! George, No!" Callie blurted out a little louder than she intended to, they caught some attention from the customers around the pub. "We met after I settled here."
"But... you're still married to me, Callie. You're my wife."
"George, I..." The Latina was about to explain, but she was stopped by the woman standing next to her.
"Callie, maybe you better not have this conversation in here." Arizona tugged her girlfriend's hand.
"Right. George, let's go to the back." Callie turned around, dragged the still linked hand of her girlfriend's toward the back of the pub to her office. George followed them with a clenched jaw. But the blonde pulled Callie aside before entering the office, gesturing George to go in there first.
"Callie," Arizona whispered into the bar owner's ear. "I won't be far away, ok? I'll be sitting on the bar waiting, just shout, yell, or call, and I'll be right there."
Callie released a deep sigh, grasped the hand tighter and breathed out, "I changed my mind. Can you come with me?"
"I can't." Arizona brought the free hand to stroke Callie's cheek gently. "Call me if you need me. Just talk. Let him know what you think and what you want." She squeezed their linked hands one more time, released the hand and walked backward, letting Callie to go into her office alone.
George was standing next to the chair waiting anxiously. A hint of relief showing on his face when he found his wife closing the door, blocking his new boss on the other side of the door.
Callie walked toward her desk chair, and George followed suit when the brunette sat down. For a few minutes, no one said anything. Callie leaned forward, with her elbows on the desk, fingers entwined and pressed against her bit lips. Her sight dropped to the stationary on the desk in front of her.
George, just stared at the woman in front of him, studying the face of the wife that vanished from him months ago.
"George," the brunette said after a deep breath. "I am so sorry. For everything."
"I forgive you." The man answered without hesitation.
"Listen, I am thankful, for you being there with me when I was down. I am grateful that you stayed with me after Malena died. I can never repay your kindness and support. I really am sorry for hurting you."
"I forgive you, Callie. You don't have to say more, you are my wife, and I forgive you."
"Here's the thing, George." Callie brought her eyes up to look into her soon-to-be ex-husband's green eyes for the first time since they both entered the office. "We shouldn't be married in the first place. It was a mistake, I wasn't in my right mind and I didn't even care what I did."
"No Callie, don't call it a mistake." George leaned forward, placed a hand on the edge of the desk intending to get closer to his wife. "I love you, calling you my wife was the happiest day of my life because I love you. And I take my vow seriously. I promised you I will stand by your side. Take care of you, giving you a shoulder to lean on when you need one…"
"See?" Callie exclaimed interrupting George, and throwing her hands in the air. "I don't even remember you had a vow, I was so drunk. The only thing I remember, is there was a woman saying something about another bride clinging on a bottle instead of a bouquet."
"I know I am not your first choice." Green eyes frowned and gazed into Callie's brown eyes intensely. "I'm not tall, and I'm not handsome, but I have proved to you that I am a strong man that will do anything to protect you."
"George…"
"Malena was the love of your life, I got it." George continued before the brunette could say anything. "I know I won't be able to replace her but I don't mind being the second. I can be your rock. I was there for you."
"George, I will be forever grateful for you being by my side during those months." Callie sighed deeply before continuing on, "I know I can never repay you…"
"No, don't say that." George jumped up from his chair, quickly round the desk to squat next to Callie, making the Latina turn her chair slightly to face the man. George enveloped Callie's hand by both of his, and rested them gently on the sitting woman's lap. "I don't need you to repay me anything. I was there for you. I am here for you. Remember I told you? You have captured my soul from the very moment you walked into my life. I've love you since I first laid eyes on you, and I will do anything for you."
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable from her ex-husband being too close to her, Callie awkwardly withdrew her hand, stood up and glided pass the man on the ground, pacing on the other side of the desk.
"Listen, George." She said as the man stood up and gazed at her. "I am really grateful for your love. I don't know what I have done to deserve it." She held up a hand to stop George from interrupting her. "The problem is, I don't feel the same. We shouldn't be together. It's not fair to you."
"I don't mind…"
"I don't love you, George." The Latina blurt out. "Don't you get it? I was miserable. I didn't even know what I was doing with you. That was why I had to go away."
"I understand that. You ran away because you needed your space to think it through, I understand. I just want you to know, I am here waiting for you."
"George! Jesus, it's like I'm talking to a brick wall." Callie ran her hands through her long black hair with frustration. "I don't need you to give me space. I just need you to sign the divorce papers."
"Callie, listen to me, let me talk, ok?" George approached his wife slowly, pleading with his green eyes. Callie chewed the inside of her mouth and let the man take her hands again. He led her to sit on the chair, but his hands still grasped the ones from the woman.
"I know you don't feel you love me." The shorter man said with nothing but sincerity, Callie couldn't help to soften her brow. "Callie, you are a wonderful human being. You deserve to have someone love you unconditionally. And I am willing to be that person. You can't reciprocate yet because you are still grieving over Malena, I understand that. I will wait for you. Just give us a chance."
"George…" Callie shook her head lightly, opened and closed her mouth several times to try to form the words. "It's not about I'm still grieving or something. I just… don't feel that way with you, I'm sorry. I have found the one who loves me unconditionally, and I love her too."
"Dr. Robbins?" George narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, Dr. Robbins." The brunette gave him a small smile while mentioning her girlfriend.
The man studied his wife's face while his thumbs stroked the tanned hands softly. Callie tilted her head, waiting for him to say something.
"God, you're so beautiful, Callie." George breathed out after the moment of silence. "I'm crazy about you not because of your outlook though. I love you because of your big heart. I love everything about you. When I look at you I see our future together."
Callie listened to the man as he poured his heart out with her mouth agape. During the few months they were together, she was never sober enough to have a conversation with the so-called husband. Or when she started to get herself back on her feet, she just tried to avoid being in the same room with the man. She never knew George was really in love with her.
"I am not going anywhere." George continued. "I waited while you were with Malena. I will stay around even while you're seeing Dr. Robbins. It's killing me. But I know. I know one day you'll acknowledge my love to you."
"Oh George," Callie shot up from the chair, gazed at the slightly shorter man. "You're a good man, you shouldn't have…"
"You're worth it, Callie." He leaned forward, tried to kiss his wife but Callie subtly stepped backward. He picked up the linked hands, kissed on her knuckle instead. "I'll see you around."
Gently put their hands down, George turned around opening the door to leave. Leaving the stunned brunette in the room, hearing the man say goodbye to her girlfriend who sat not so far away from the office.