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! Thank you for coming back.
Oh, I almost forgot to respond to the guest review regarding hopping the father of Maddy attack Arizona and handcuffing her in bed... Dude! That's awful!
I might keep the handcuff for another purpose, but beat up a favorite character?! No way. Have you watched Criminal Minds #200?
Super thanks to calzonaforever35, you are amazing, thank you for editing my stories ;-)
Chapter 34
"Hey Joe, another round for the woman of the hour!" Mark shouted at Joe, who happily made another Manhattan for the grinning blonde doctor. "And tequila."
"No Mark, I don't like tequila, and I don't want to get too drunk." Arizona laughed, and patted on her friend's shoulder.
"Come on, tequila is Callie's favorite drink, we have to drink it for her!" Mark shouted again; Not really knowing if he was already drunk, or just simply too happy that Callie finally got her divorce.
Two shots of tequila was placed in front of them, and Joe added another one for himself.
"To Callie!" They echoed each other, and then finished the shot in one gulp.
"Whoa! I still can't believe he finally signed it and gave it to you. You know how long Callie's been asking him to do it." Mark grinned at the blonde, and Joe filled up their shot glasses in the meantime.
"Me either." Arizona took a gulp of her cocktail to wash away the taste of tequila. "He really loves Callie, and he cares about her too."
"Anyway, he's in the past." Mark picked up the shot glass again, waiting for his friends to follow and finish theirs.
"He's in the past." Arizona took a deep breath, as the tequila went straight to her head and she felt good about it. It was a good buzz, and she was happy. But there was a tiny bit little concern in her head that she couldn't shake it off yet. "Mark, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah!" The plastic surgeon answered with a grin still on his face, gesturing Joe to fill the tequila again.
"Can you tell me about Callie and Malena?"
"What do you want to know?" Mark was taken aback by the question, and Joe stopped his hand to gaze at her.
"George said… Callie loved Malena very much, and she looked at Malena the same way she looks at me."
"She loved Malena. Mal was her girlfriend at the time of course Callie loved her... and the look she gave to both of you? Yeah, pretty much the same." Mark turned to Joe and smirked. "I don't know we should be embarrassed or turned on, right?"
"Why?" Head still spinning lightly, Arizona didn't process the sarcastic tone very well. So she asked.
"Why? Didn't you know she always looks at you like she wants to rip your clothes off and take you right on the spot?" A ghost of naughty smile in the corner of the bristled covered lips. Tipsy Arizona took a long moment to get the dirtiness in the answer, then she pushed Mark's shoulder playfully.
Arizona took another shot to hide her embarrassment, and the men just tittered to each other until Joe shifted to another side to serve his customers.
"Mark, George kept saying he wants Callie to be happy. He's willing to leave her because he wants her to be happy." Arizona wasn't the kind of woman to enjoy binge drinking, and she surely wasn't use to it. After those couple tequila shots, she let her guard down and started to share her insecurity. "I don't know if I can make her happy."
Mark stared at her with a smile, simply amused by this babbling Arizona.
"Was she happy with Malena?" The blonde asked again after a sip of her Manhattan. "Did she make her happy? Like… super happy?"
"Callie was happy with Malena, yes she was super happy." Mark reached a hand to brush a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, smiling at his friend sweetly. "And you make her super happy too."
"I do?" Arizona blinked her eyes rapidly, liked she didn't believe she actually made her girlfriend happy.
"You and Mal are two different kinds of women. First of all, you can't compete with someone already dead, that's insane." Mark finished his shot of tequila, and then asked Lucy to fill up their glasses again. "You don't just make Callie happy. You make her want to be better. She's going to finish med school, and she's reconciled with her family. You did it, give yourself some credit, Robbins."
"I did, didn't I?" Pink lips spread to a wide grin slowly, the two friends toasted with another shot of tequila.
"You need to drink some water, blondie." Mark laughed at the woman's grimace after the burn of tequila, asking for a bottle of water for her. In the meantime, he finally noticed that his girlfriend was in the same pub with him. To his surprise, Lexie was on the dance floor with some guy. Even through they weren't really touching each other, Mark didn't like the closeness the two were sharing. "I'll be right back. I have to go get Lexie."
"Come back soon, or I'll go home. I'm not sitting here all by myself." Arizona turned and realized what had taken the man's attention. She laughed and pushed the man forward.
"You're not alone. Drink some water. Joe should be back from the back office soon to keep you company." He called over his shoulder, nudging his way through the crowd toward the dance floor.
Finishing half of the bottle water in one gulp, Arizona turned around, leaning back against the bar and watching her friend successfully snatch Lexie from that guy. The couple wrapped around each other and swung inconsistently in the upbeat music, it was awkward but the two were absolutely enjoying the moment.
Exhaling heavily, Arizona couldn't lie that she wanted Callie to be in there with her. They had never danced together. They talked about going dancing but they never did. She remembered Addison talking about how the Latina could dance... It would feel amazing to be wrapped around her as she swung those hips.
She missed her girlfriend so much.
A sudden movement beside her, caused her to turn her head as she someone sit on the abandoned chair next to her.
"Hey Arizona, how are you doing?" She was met with a warm smile.
"Hi Colleen, I'm good. How are you?" Arizona sat straight and finished the rest of her water.
"Long day, that's why I'm here for a girl's night out." She pointed to a table on the side, where a bunch of nurses from the hospital were there drinking and talking. She looked at her old fling and laughed. "You're drinking water in a pub, what's the matter with you?"
"Just need a little refreshment." Arizona shrugged, and picked up her long forgotten Manhattan for a sip. "Mark made me drink a years reserve of tequila."
"Your cocktails is all watery, let me buy you another one." The ortho nurse knocked on the bar top to ask for the attention from Lucy.
"No, I've had enough, Colleen. I should…"
"I won't take no for an answer this time, Arizona." Colleen smiled at the doctor after ordering. "I'm buying you a drink, and we're going to have a drink like friends, ok?"
She looked around the dance floor one more time, where Mark and Lexie were kissing like nobody's business. Lucky bastard – Arizona said in her head. Yeah, one more drink wouldn't hurt. She took the new drink and clinked it with Colleen.
"No way, he really did that in the OR?" The blonde exclaimed at the story being told by the brunette nurse. The third newly refilled Manhattan almost spit from her mouth.
Arizona was surprised to see this side of Colleen. She was funny, flirty and more relaxed. On the only 'date' they had, this woman was a total dud and Arizona couldn't wait to cut it short. Not that that would change the fact that Colleen wasn't her cup of tea, but at least they might have remained friends after the fling ended.
"Oh yeah, he did. He actually froze; and then he looked up from the open femur and stared at us. We all screamed at him – USE A PIN!" Colleen laughed with her head thrown back. Arizona had her face in her free hand, giggling at the image in her head.
"Dr. Chang is like the worst ortho surgeon in history." The blonde spoke once she got her breathing under control. "How hard is it to get a decent ortho surgeon? Sometimes I am so terrified to have a child come into the hospital with a broken bone, not that I'm afraid the patient won't make it, but I'd have to work with Chang!"
"At least the nurses on the ortho floor are excellent." Colleen took a gulp of her gin and tonic and winked at the obviously overly tipsy doctor.
"And modest too." Arizona rolled her eyes with a mischievous smile, and then picked up her glass again.
"Hey! We saved the day." Colleen punched her drinking buddy's shoulder playfully, but it caused the drunk woman to spill the drink on the floor.
"Oh!" They both giggled at their clumsiness. That caught the bartender's attention.
"Arizona, Arizona!" Joe leaned forward and rested his forearm on the bar top, and whispered loudly to his friend. "I think you've had a little too much already, maybe you should call it a night?"
"You know what, Joe?" Arizona gave the strong hand a few pats. "You're right, you're always right. That's why I like you."
She got up from the barstool and stood for a couple seconds to steady herself. Her head was spinning but it wasn't that bad. She looked around trying to search for her best friend who left her a while ago, but Mark was nowhere in sight.
"Mark left with Lexie." Joe answered her question, as he studied the woman closely. "Are you ok? Can you walk?"
"No problem, I'm not drunk." Arizona waved her hand to Joe, and then turned her smile to Colleen. "I had a great time tonight, but I really should go."
"Yeah, it's getting late, I should go too." Colleen followed after settled the tap. She caught up with Arizona walking slowly toward her apartment building. "Hey, was that the perk of drinking with someone who knows the boss of the pub? I got like 30% off on the bill."
"I didn't know that." Arizona laughed. "I've never had to pay for anything in there."
Colleen laughed along and then shoved the blonde on the shoulder. It meant to be a playful act but it caused Arizona to tumble few steps to the side, Colleen caught her arm to stop her, and they laughed even harder.
"Come on drunk head, I'll walk you home."
The two giggled, talked and bumped into each other all the way to Arizona's apartment. As soon as the shaky hand opened the door, the blonde flopped down on the couch and kicked off her shoes.
"Whoa, I haven't drank this much in ages." She rested her head against the back of the couch. Her head was still spinning, being in her own home made her relax and the tiredness truly kicked in.
"Well, you did drink a lot." Colleen sat down next to the blonde, and flung her arm behind the couch, facing Arizona directly. "Are you alright?"
With her eyes still closed, Arizona nodded slowly, but she groaned when that made her head spin faster.
"You're gonna regret this tomorrow." Colleen teased. She leaned forward, using both hands to massage Arizona's temples, inducing a soft moan from the pink lips.
The massage went on for a few seconds, and Arizona could feel the warm breath on her face. She opened her eyes slowly and found Colleen's face was just inches away from hers. It took her alcohol toxic head a moment to remember those were not her girlfriend's brown eyes.
Arizona was drunk, but not that drunk.
She reached out and pushed Colleen aside gently, trying not to embarrass her new found friend. Clearing her throat lightly, she stood up from the couch.
"Thank you so much for walking me home, Colleen. I hope you don't mind but I think I should head to bed."
"Sure, sure." A hint of disappointed flashed in the brown eyes, but Colleen hid it quickly and got up from the spot. "You should get some rest. I had a good time tonight, we should do this again someday."
"Definitely." Arizona walked toward the front door and held it open for her guest. She stepped back awkwardly after the brunette gave her a lingering goodnight kiss on the cheek before passing through the threshold.
"Goodnight, Colleen." Arizona shut the door before Colleen could turn around, and then she flipped the lock, turned off the light before walked toward the bedroom.
She didn't even bother to change out her street clothes, sleeping was the only thing on her mind right now, and no one was gonna be there to nag her about it anyway.
The moment her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.
That was why she missed the sound of the door opening and shutting, and the lights turning on again in the living room. Until she was stirred by someone climbing into her bed.
"Colleen?" She murmured, too tired to turn around. "I thought I locked the door."
"Colleen?" The person behind her said startled, stopping her hand half way from wrapping around the sleeping beauty. Arizona swerved around instantly.
"Calliope, you're in my dream again!" A dimpled grin plastered on the drunken face. With one look at the drowsy eyes, Callie knew it.
"Are you drunk?"
"I'm drunk with your love." Arizona jumped forward. The force caused Callie to lie on her back and sloppy lips attached to hers. Callie held the blonde's shoulders to push her away slightly.
"Jeeze, I could smell whiskey and tequila in your breath, how much did you drink?" But she got no answer. Arizona's body went limp and her head hung forward against Callie's shoulder. She tilted her head to the side to check on her girlfriend, who had her eyes shut, mouth hung open, and soft snores came out from the woman. "Seriously? You went back to sleep? Is that lipstick on your face?"
Callie shook the shoulders a couple times, but the blonde slept like a rock on top of her and wrapped an arm and leg around her tightly. The Latina was about to throw a tantrum, but seeing the woman had no condition of holding her own head up, let alone having a sensible conversation, she decided to save her breath until the morning. For a minute she wanted to just push the unconscious body away, and sleep in the guest room for the night. But she just couldn't leave the warm cocoon, having her love wrapped around her, smelling her scent… mixed with tequila and whisky.
Kitchen tools clinking loudly in the kitchen brought the blonde out from her slumber. She groaned as soon as she sat up from the bed, her head was telling her how stupid it was to drink that much of alcohol last night. Sounds came from outside the bedroom again, and she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. As Arizona fumbled out of the room, she thought she was still dreaming when she found out who was making all the noise in the apartment.
"Callie? You're here?" She exclaimed, missing the angry glare from the burning brown eyes. Pushing aside the pounding headache, Arizona ran towards her girlfriend and threw her arms around the taller woman. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"
"Oh, so you could be prepared? How was your date last night by the way?" Callie said coldly, making the blonde look up in confusion.
"What date?"
"With Colleen. You said her name in your sleep, and apparently you had a great time with her. I'm surprised she didn't spend the night." Callie stepped back, and turned around to continue making the breakfast.
"I didn't go on a date with Colleen. I went to have drinks with Mark, he ditched me and I ended up having a few drinks with Colleen. She just happened to be in The Horizon." Arizona followed the pissed off Latina, stood behind her and placed a hand on her hip. Callie tried to shrug it off, but Arizona tightened the hold by putting both hands around her waist from behind. "How stupid you think I am to go on a date with someone in your pub, babe?"
"I don't know. Maybe you thought it was a smart thing to do so I wouldn't suspect it?" Callie turned the stove off and whirled in the arms of the blonde, she cocked her head to stare down the frowning woman.
"It wasn't a date!" Arizona put both hands on the olive colored cheeks, and pulled her so they could lock eyes with each other. "I just had a few drinks with her, and she walked me home afterward, that's all."
"That's all? Nothing else happened?" Callie raised her eyebrows, but the coldness was still in her eyes.
"Nothing happened." Blue eyes were slowly getting watery. Early in the morning, confused with Callie being in the apartment unannounced, a terrible hangover, and the idea of Callie having a wrong impression that she and Colleen did something bad last night all added up together, and Arizona was beyond panic.
"How do you explain the lipstick on your cheek?" Callie used a hand to turn the pale face to the side, trying to look at the mark on the face but it wasn't there anymore, it must have been wiped off by the pillow case over night.
"What lipstick?" Arizona rubbed her own face with a hand in reflex. "Oh oh, she kissed my cheek goodbye when I told her to leave. I told her to leave before anything had happened. I- I- I am fully dressed, you see?"
Arizona took a step back, wanting Callie to see her clothes, but the brunette grabbed her upper arms to stop her. Her eyes widened when the next second, a pair of warm lips attached to hers.
The kiss came and went quickly. Still flustered with the whole situation, wide blue eyes stared at the woman in front of her, who was wearing a naughty smile on her face.
"I was so mad at you last night." Callie pulled the stunned woman closer, and brought a hand to brush the messy bed blonde hair away from the face. "I came home and found you all drunk, calling another woman's name and lipstick on your face. Then I called Mark this morning to ask if I could hide in his apartment. He told me he went to the pub with you."
Arizona didn't know how to react, she just squinted at the brunette with her mouth slightly agape.
"And he happened to see you shut the door in Colleen's face after she kissed you on the face." Callie smiled, and leaned forward about to capture the pink lips again. But Arizona put her hands against Callie's shoulders to stop her.
"That's mean!" The shorter woman struggled to free herself from the embrace, but the hangover she had made her strength weaken. "You made me think I was in trouble."
"Hey, now you know how I felt when you ignored my calls." Callie didn't even try to hide the triumphant smile on her face.
"It isn't funny."
"It kinda is." Callie leaned forward again trying to get a kiss, and she had success this time. But the kiss lasted for just a brief minute. "Hmmm… I can still taste the whisky on your breath, and smell the booze from your pores. You should go take a shower."
"Mean!" Arizona gave the smirking woman a grimace before she turned around. A slap on her butt made her jump.
"Make it quick, breakfast is almost ready."
A hot shower and brushing her teeth washed away the overnight taste of alcohol, and soothed the hangover. A freshly showered Arizona came back to the kitchen with a tank top and a pair of comfy yoga pants, in time to see Callie flip another pancake on a plate.
"Do you need something for your headache?" Callie asked after walking around the kitchen counter and put the plate on the breakfast bar.
"Yes, but I want this first." Arizona walked up to the brunette and wrapped her arms around Callie's neck, pulling her closer for a real kiss, and Callie was happy to give it to her girlfriend.
They settled on the barstool respectively after their kiss. It had been a while since they sat side by side sharing a cozy breakfast, and they both wouldn't be happier to have their legs next to the others.
"Why are you here? I mean, you hadn't told me you were coming back this week." Arizona asked between chewing her bacon. Not that she minded, she was just curious.
"Well, my dad and I had a talk. I went back to Miami to spend time with him during his recovery, but since he's feeling alright and went back to work full time..." Callie washed down the bite of pancake with coffee. She knew she had to empty her mouth for what was coming next. "Once he went back to work, he wouldn't be home that much and my job there was practically done. Also saving me from killing my mom who is planning to set me up with every single straight guy in Miami, he thought it was time for me go back to the woman I love."
A loud squeal came out from the pink lips making the brunette wince, next thing she knew, she was receiving bacon flavored kisses all over her face.
"You're not going back to Miami?" Arizona stepped in between the brunette's lap, a dimpled smile beaming full force making Callie smile as wide as hers.
"Nope, I'm not going back and forth between here and Miami anymore. I spent the last few days dealing with the med school stuff, and I'm taking my exam in Seattle."
"Why didn't you tell me?" The blonde asked with a pout, hands stroking the strong thighs under her palms as Callie brought her own arms around her neck.
"I wanted to surprise you. As soon as I got the confirmation from Millier, I hopped on the red-eye to come back. Just in time to catch my own surprise from you."
"How many times do I have to tell you…" The blonde groaned with annoyance, but it was replaced by a heartfelt smile quickly. "If I had known you were coming back, I would have stayed home and waited for you."
"No, I wanted you to go out. I'm glad you went out with Mark to have some fun. Even though it was with another woman…"
"Callie!" A hard slap on the thigh stopped the Latina from continuing.
"Fine fine fine, I'll stop." Callie laughed and kissed away the pout. "But what was the occasion? I have never seen you get that drunk."
"Yeah, right. That was a celebration." Arizona patted on Callie's lap and then turned to the living room. Callie followed her, seeing her girlfriend pickup her abandoned purse and pull out a stack of paper from it.
"Celebration for what? You got another grant for your department?"
"No, these are for you." Arizona handed over the divorce papers, biting her lips waiting to see the beaming smile spread on the Latina's face.
"My divorce paper? You got George signed it?" Brown eyes lit up when she found the signature on the last page, her mega watt smile on display. "How?"
"It doesn't matter. The important thing is - you are a divorcee now." Arizona suddenly felt nervous about it. "I mean, if you want to. Or you can take some time to think about it. It's a big decision after all."
"Are you kidding?" Callie frowned, but the brilliant grin never faded. "Let's finish breakfast, and then we can drive down to my lawyer to drop these papers off."
Callie grasped the hand of her girlfriend to pull her back to the kitchen, but she stopped half way to give the woman a passionate kiss on the lips. Callie dropped the papers on the floor before placing her hands on porcelain cheeks, stroking it gently with her thumbs as her tongue slipped between parted lips. They moaned into each other's mouth as their tongues tangoed together. After the kiss broke, their foreheads rested against one another and looked deeply in each other's eyes.
"I couldn't do any of this without you." Callie said softly, and swallowed hard trying to hide her choking voice. "You put my life back together. God, I wish you knew how much I love you."
"I love you just as much as you love me." Arizona put a hand behind the neck of the brunette's, standing on her tiptoes trying to kiss her girlfriend one more time. But as soon as their lips almost found each other, Callie pulled back slightly.
"That's impossible." Callie breathed out, and closed the tiny distance between the two pairs of lips.