Maybe I'm too young to keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so you never know
When I'm broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it
Where are you tonight, child you know how much I need it
Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run
So I'll wait for you... and I'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh will I ever learn
Oh lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late
Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come
It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her
It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
Well maybe I'm just too young
To keep good love from going wrong
Sweet lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late XX
"You SHIT!" Callie laughed out loud as she pulled her hand back and cradled it to her chest.
Alex chuckled away as he grabbed the spilled playing cards off the picnic table. The same crowd from Alex's football games stood, spread around them, music booming from a radio somewhere in their area.
"I told you I wasn't winning just so I wouldn't hit you. I don't care if you're a girl." He began to shuffle the cards again and laughed as he saw Callie's still shocked face. "It's Slap-Jack! If a jack pops out I'm supposed to slap my hand down, if yours lands first, it's not my fault."
"Oh, I see. So you're just slow, is that it?"
"Watch it." He stopped and rolled his eyes at her hissing and rubbing her hand.
"You have a heavy hand…"
"Oh GOD. Let me see--" He bit his cheeks to suppress his laughter at seeing her hand was actually quite reddened. "Oh man…I'm sorry." A chuckle escaped him and she pulled her hand away angrily. He pulled it back and rubbed it between his hands then kissed it. "I'm sorry." he said again, a little more earnest, then leaned over and pecked her on the lips.
They had been doing that a lot lately. Small, short, merely there kisses once in a while. They didn't mean anything as far as they knew. They were friends. Friendly kisses. You wouldn't even call them kisses really. They were more like…handshakes. Personal but not really. At least that's what they told themselves every time it happened. They'd go on with whatever they were doing and not even think about it second time.
"Hey, Joe! Are we out of beer?" Alex asked Joe, who stood with Walter on the other side of the table.
"No. There are more over there." He pointed somewhere a few feet away and waited for Alex to leave before sending a curious stare at Callie.
"What?" She asked, wiping at her face and chin.
"You two like kissing each other a lot, don't you?"
"What are you talking about? No we don't."
"What was that just now then?"
Callie snorted and began to stand up. "That was--we're just--we're friends, JOE. You think everyone wants to sleep with everyone."
"I do?"
Callie giggled nervously and spotted an imaginary object somewhere across the park. "Oh look at that." She didn't wait for him to respond, she simply picked up an apple from the table and walked away.
"Hey. I heard a couple of fireworks starting up." She told Alex as he approached her with two beers in hand.
"Yeah? I thought I heard something." He handed her a beer.
"Thanks. This is my LAST beer tonight though. I have to drive home."
"Don't even worry about it. Joe's the designated driver."
"Does he know this?"
"Not yet." He clinked his bottle to hers and they sipped calmly. "You on for flag football before it gets dark?"
"Shyeah. Let's go."
"Okay." they turned and headed for the rest of the crowd. "Just--don't get too excited. Women against men. I give no mercy. I WILL kick your ass."
"Yeah, we'll see."
An hour later and an unhealthy beer substitute for water, the park was darkened and the fourth of July fireworks were beginning to light the sky. Callie held the football as she looked for a way out of Alex's way, who was heading like a bull towards her.
"Oh shit." She started to run but he caught her by the waist, picking her up on his shoulder. When he put her down, she laughed. "I threw it!"
He turned to one side then to the other , looking for the ball. "Where the hell--" he heard cheering behind him from the women and groaning from the guys and when he turned around, Darcy had dashed across the field, scoring the ladies the winning point. He turned to Callie and glared at her. "You tricked me!" he groaned and grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her quickly on the lips. No one would have noticed it unless they were staring right at them.
"Oh, please. Jealousy is not a good color on you, Karev. You underestimated me. Not smart." She stated simply before walking off to join Darcy as Karev turned around and one of the guys handed him another beer.
XXX
Callie sat beside Alex on a blanket on the grass, watching the fireworks. She shivered. "I'm cold. I'm going to go get my jacket. Want to come with? In case I get lost?"
"Oh, sure. An adventure."
She giggled.
They walked for a couple of minutes until they reached the deserted parking lot.
"How'd you manage to get today off?" She asked him as she unlocked her car.
"I covered for yang last week."
"Oh, I see." She opened the car door and took out her jacket. She stumbled slipping on her leather jacket and Alex braced her by the waist before she fell. "We drank a little too much. Beer does not hydrate." She closed her car door.
"Yeah. Neither do Margaritas."
She laughed and placed her palm on his cheek as she leaned forwards and planted a short kiss on his lips. She pulled away but only long enough to catch his gaze again.
He held her close, pressed her against her car. The mixture of the scent of her perfume and the alcohol between the both of them clouded his brain and he found himself gawking at her mouth. He'd been secretly, deniably obsessing over that mouth of hers since that time in the hospital parking lot and now they were both just drunk enough to pull off a little more.
She was anticipating. She wanted it. His five o'clock shadow was rough under the touch of her palm and her eyes caught sight of his. She dropped her keys and kissed him again as the tiny metal key chain fell on the concrete. She lingered only a little bit longer. Getting full feel of his lips before pulling apart.
"This is--friends do this, right?" She breathed out.
"Yeah. All the time."
"Okay. Good."
He nodded eagerly before wrapping both arms around her waist and kissing her again. He pressed up against her and groaned when she grinded against him in return. She sighed into his mouth as he took her bottom lip between his teeth.
She webbed her fingers in his hair as they got impossibly closer and she had to pull away slightly to catch her breath. His lips reached for hers again like magnets to metal and she obliged, running her tongue over the roof of his mouth. He snaked one hand inside her open jacket as he braced her back with the other and he thought he'd come right there just from hearing her moan as his hand found her breast and kneaded it firmly.
She arched her back and he took this as a sign to lightly tweak her nipple between his thumb and index fingers through her Ramones tee-shirt.
Callie's head was spinning as she clutched the hem of his shirt and pulled him closer to her. If he hadn't been holding her up, she would have probably fallen on the ground. He ran his lips over her chin, her jaw line--he did things with his tongue to her ear and that tiny spot just under her earlobe that made her knees buckle.
A loud group of fireworks exploded, followed by shouting and cheering. They pulled apart, startled suddenly.
"We should--get going." Alex said, panting, one of his arms still around her waist.
She nodded, biting her lower lip. "Mm-hmm. Yeah." She thanked God it was dark because she was sure her cheeks were flushed.
"Okay." He noticed then that he was still holding her, and pulled away abruptly.
"Okay then--oh…" She bent over and picked up her keys from the floor. "--let's go."
"Yeah." he followed her back to their group, wondering if it was going to be weird after that. He shook his head and forced himself to not make it weird. If he made her think it was weird then she would think it was weird. And the last thing he needed was weirdness.
Callie's mind was cluttered with thoughts. She didn't know if she should bring it up or--ignore what just happened.
She was knocked out of thought as Alex caught up to her and nudged her shoulder playfully. "You up for a rematch of slapjack?"
She smiled, relieved. "Yeah. But don't hit me."
"Don't win."
She sighed again. So maybe it didn't have to be weird. They could just move past a silly drunken make out session. Semi-drunken anyway. Whatever.
XXX
Alex sat in the passenger seat of Callie's car. She was apparently sober enough to drive him home. He'd slipped a few beers more than she had and now they sat in silence as the distant sounds of lingering fireworks exploded somewhere in the near distance.
His head rested against the window as the radio played softly. He looked over at her. She was intent. Concentrated on the road ahead. He could smell her from where he was sitting.
"If you could do anything--" He began. "--like, something selfish and stupid. What would you do?"
"Um--" She was jerked out of her thoughts. "--well, I don't know. What would you do?"
"I asked you first."
"Okay. You child. Um--I would…pay all the members of Pink Floyd to reunite for a private concert. And I'd pay extra for them to sing Wish You Were Here over and over until I got sick of it."
"Isn't one of the members dead?"
"What? Shut up. You said anything. There are no barriers."
He laughed. "Okay."
"What about you?"
"Me and Iggy Pop would crash your Pink Floyd party."
"Oh, how crazy would that be?"
He watched her closely. There was no way he would ever have as easy a conversation with anyone else and actually be entertained. He was entertained just by looking at her. "Do you think you're ready to move on?"
The question came as a surprise, even for him.
She was silent for along time. "I don't know."
"Don't you want to?"
"Yeah. I do."
"Why don't' you try?"
More silence.
"I watched this show the other day. I don't remember what it was exactly." She started. "It was Fiona Apple talking about--making a record or something. And she said that you know you've done something incredible when you've put your all into it and when it's over, you're not sure when or if you'd be able to do something like that again. I've just done something huge--and it ended. If I start something again--now, it'd be mediocre and it'd be over and forgotten before I know it."
"Well, what if the next one was waiting for you instead of the other way around? What if--it was just waiting. How do you know it won't be better than the last thing?"
"Because a huge project is usually followed by a little one." She cleared her throat and waited a few moment before speaking. "I don't want to be another rebound."
"You wouldn't be."
She met his eyes this time. "But you would. And I don't' want you to be."
He looked away and they didn't speak for the rest of the ride to Meredith's house. Once outside, he turned to her and smiled. "Good night."
"Goodnight."
He leaned over and stopped before kissing her lips. "Goodnight." he repeated and kissed her cheek instead.
She watched him step out of her car and run up the steps and into the house. She sighed and let her head fall back, gathering her thoughts before resuming her drive home.
Alex stepped inside and almost tripped over a bunch of luggage in the doorway. "What the fuck?" He heard laughing in the kitchen and as he moved farther into the house, he saw blankets and pillows on the couch. "Shit."
He walked into the kitchen and his face immediately hardened at the sight of George. He wasn't doing anything. He was sitting at the counter, watching Izzie pull out muffins from the oven, and it made his blood boil just looking at him.
"Hey." George said, innocently enough.
Izzie turned to him too and smiled . "Hey, Alex."
Were they really just sitting there, like the happiest people in the world when Callie was having the hardest time just breathing?
They stared back at him. He knew it was evident he was pissed and they probably didn't know why. He moved slowly toward George and placed one hand on the counter while the other gripped the backrest of his chair, jailing him.
"Alex--" Izzie began wearily as George only stared back, confused.
He wanted to hit him. He wanted to see blood. It was his fault. It was his fault Callie couldn't move on. It was his fault she'd probably sleep with some other guy before she'd even give him a chance. His breathing was shaky with anger. He slammed his palm on the counter and it made both Izzie and George jump. That would have to do. He grabbed an orange from the counter and turned around, leaving without a word.
He walked up to his room, he showered and finally laid in bed, in the dark. Just thinking. He looked over at his alarm clock. It was two o'clock in the morning.
He sat up in his bed and stood up, grabbed his phone and headed out. He walked quietly down the stairs but stopped, hearing a noise upstairs. Izzie was laughing in her room and she was definitely not alone. He looked into the living room and the couch was set for George to sleep in but he was not there.
His body literally began to ache for Callie. This would kill her.
He continued off the stairway and out the door. He sat on the porch swing and whipped out his phone.
Callie lied on her bed, her face rid of make up, her hair pulled into a ponytail, a newspaper laid out on her bed. Her phone rang on the nightstand and she reached for it, without looking at the name on the screen, he answered it. "Hello."
"I would rent the Yankee Stadium for a day."
She smiled at the sound of Alex's voice.
"That's what I'd do." He sighed and leaned back in the wooden bench. "What are you doing? Did I wake you?"
"No."
"Why not?"
She laughed. "I can't sleep lately."
"Oh."
"I'm actually looking through the newspaper for an apartment or a condo or something. I need to move out of here."
"Hmm." He nodded, as if she could see him.
"I might just--hire someone to find me a place--"
"Well, you have the money. Why not use it."
"Right?"
"Mm-hmm. Hey, have you seen Dumb And Dumber?"
"Yeah." She chuckled. "Why?"
"You remember the song?"
"Yeah…"
"Mock-"
"I'm not doing that."
"Mock--"
"No. I'm not doing it."
"MOCK--"
"Is this why you called me? To start a stupid rendition to Dumb And Dumber?"
"Mock--I can do this all night. Mock." He knew she wasn't there to see George and Izzie but he had to cheer her up somehow. At least, for his own sanity.
She sighed and closed her eyes a second. "--ing."
He smiled. "Yeah, wrong line though, try it again. Come on, Torres, put more feeling into it."
"Take what you're getting or hang up."
"Okay. Mock."
"--yeah."
"--ing."
"--yeah."
"Bird."
"--yeah." She laughed in anticipation.
"Yeah--"
"--Yeah."
"Mocking bird, yeah! Hey, everybody, have you heard?"
"Have you heard--there I'm not doing the rest of it."
They talked for an hour about The day, mentioning everything but the kissing. Even though it was all either one could think of.