Chapter Six
June 19th, 2018
"Why isn't my sink working?"
Arizona rubbed her forehead. "Hmph?" She groaned, half asleep. "Callie?" She stretched her arm above her head, holding her phone behind her ear and her shoulder.
She looked around the room. To be honest, she didn't really even remember getting home. She must've snuck out of Callie's apartment early in the morning, she wasn't even under the covers. Her apartment was so cold and it was barely light out.
"Did you break anyone else's sink last night?" Callie's voice was deep, just as it was every morning. Something about the low, grumbling voice did something to Arizona.
Arizona scoffed softly. "Yeah, I broke about six sinks last night just for fun." She rolled her eyes.
"Arizona." Callie scolded quickly. "What the hell is wrong with my sink?" It has to be at least half an octave lower than her normal voice. It flowed from her mouth like warm molasses and stung Arizona's half-awake brain like nothing else.
"It's broken, I told you it was broken." Arizona rambled, groaning as she sat up in her bed, still a little jarred from Callie calling in the first place.
"It was dripping and then you came and broke it." She accused.
Arizona sighed loudly. "It was dripping, it's still dripping. I just made it drip more, it still functions, Callie. Did you try to turn it on?"
"Yes, I've tried to turn it on." She snarked. "I'm standing right in front of it and it's not turning on so my bet on a functioning sink is slim to none."
"Oh, um, I mean I told you I broke it more."
"I know you broke it, Arizona, how the hell do I fix it?"
Arizona smiled sarcastically as she widened her eyes. "God, Callie, if I knew, don't you think I would've figured that out last night?"
"It's not even turning on." She huffed.
Arizona groaned as she sat up lazily. "Callie, it's still a working sink, I didn't screw it up that bad." She huffed, hearing a loaded silence on the other end. "Are the lines on?" She suggested, scrunching her face.
"The what?"
"The knobs under your sink in the cabinet." Arizona explained, her voice was groggy and rough with sleep. She yawned.
All Arizona heard on the line was rustling and clattering, assuming Callie was just roughly taking everything out from under her sink.
"What freaking knobs, Arizona?" She groaned, more things clattered onto the floor.
Arizona rolled her eyes. "You'll see them." She laughed.
"Now what do I do?" She groaned.
"I don't know, twist them." Arizona shrugged, she fidgeted with the edge of her blanket.
Callie groaned on the line.
"Ok I twisted– Fuck!" Callie yelled.
Arizona bit her lip to hold back a laugh. "What did you do?" Arizona asked slyly.
"Just whacked my head on my counter." Callie said slowly, embarrassed.
"Are you okay?" Arizona said after a beat.
Callie fiddled with the faucet that was still dripping, she turned it on and a stream of water started to pour out. "Yeah," she said softly, "So, um, the sinks working."
"Oh, is it?" Arizona smirked.
Callie sighed, biting her lip.
They sat on the phone for a minute without saying anything. Arizona smugly laughing at Callie and Callie pouting flustered on the other end.
"Okay, um, I guess you didn't completely break anything."
Arizona rolled her eyes. "Thanks." She laughed.
"Okay, you cannot laugh at me." She scolded, trying to laugh at Arizona instead. "My carpet is still stained bright red."
It hit her. It was as if she was able to have a full blown conversation with Callie about last night without thinking of the previous night. God, what had she done?
Her heart sank into the bottom of her chest as she felt it start to beat faster. Shit, that happened last night, and Callie was very well aware. It felt as if she punctuated the word red and felt as if she could sense the jealousy oozing from her ex-wife.
"Sorry." She said softly and plainly, she bit her lip until it hurt. She couldn't ignore what she did last night, the obvious jealousy and complete immaturity she showed. God.
Callie stopped laughing.
They sat on the line for too long in silence. It felt weighty and as if all of the air got simultaneously sucked from both of their lungs. Callie felt bad for the first time in this situation. She thought it was just a funny thing to poke at Arizona for, but the silence that Arizona left spoke volumes. It was as if she could see the look on her face and a familiar painful feeling crept into her stomach.
"Um, Sofia's getting up soon so I've got to–" she rambled awkwardly.
"Yeah, me too, I mean, I was just about to–"
"So i'm just going to–"
"Yeah," Arizona said awkwardly. "Tell Sofia good morning for me."
"Of course." Callie smiled too large, trying to brush away what just happened.
"Uh, bye."
"Bye," She heard the end tone, "Arizona." She sighed, pouting her mouth. She took a second, placing both of her hands palm down on the counter, she groaned. God, what was wrong with her?
She stretched her neck, letting her head roll from side to side. She groaned. That silence ate at her so much it perplexed her. Why does she feel this pit in her stomach as if she knew she had just upset Arizona and needed to make it right?
When she walked over to the staircase, the red stain on the carpet caught her attention. She couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the sight. It was just a reminder that Arizona was here, and evidently drinking Callie's wine of choice after she already emptied the white that Callie bought specifically for her.
This morning felt like piecing together a crime scene. A spilled bottle of wine, an empty glass in the sink, the cabinet doors under the same infamous sink left open. Each left a little breadcrumb and a small reminder of Arizona. Part of Callie loved this part of Arizona, the more erratic behaviors she displayed whenever she was stressed or upset, but especially jealous, drove her mad. Callies chest fluttered at the thought of a drunk and flustered Arizona running around her apartment trying to fix the mess she had made, and the sink she was determined to fix. If anything, Arizona sure was stubbornly determined.
When she tried to fill her coffee maker with water, the sink refused to turn on. She had opened the door to Arizona's room– uh, the guest room– to scold her for breaking her sink. She only found empty sheets. She didn't know why she felt so sad to see that Arizona had vanished early that morning.
That was when she came back out into the kitchen to call her. She smiled a bit too hard and was excited a bit too much at the excuse to call her ex-wife first thing in the morning.
Callie smiled before she went up to help Sofia get ready for the day. Her heart pitter pattered at the thought of knowing she would see the blonde later.
"You slept with him?" Arizona exclaimed incredulously.
Nicole scrunched her face. "Oh, hush up, Robbins."
Nicole had finally made her way to New York over the past weekend and in classic Nicole fashion had already left an uncomfortable mess for Arizona to deal with.
"Oh, my god." Arizona emphasized slowly. "You've been here for less than two days."
"It didn't take two days."
Arizona's mouth fell open further. She almost went as far as to plug her ears and started singing.
"I've been here, scrambling between multiple meetings a day about the clinic and trying to fix everything that went wrong, and you've been sleeping with the chief of surgery?" She groaned, resting her head dramatically on the boardroom table.
"Oh, please. Johnathan was a very thoughtful lover."
"Oh, my God." Arizona groaned. "That's Callie's boss." She whined, stomping her foot under the table.
Nicole smirked. "So right out of the gate we're talking about her?"
Arizona huffed and sighed dramatically. "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about." She played off, stacking and unstacking the papers in front of her for no purpose other than to keep her idle hands busy.
"Sure, Robbins." Nicole squinted and laughed.
"Oh, you shut up." Arizona groaned.
Nicole elbowed Arizona. "I'm sure I'll be hearing all about that soon enough."
"Uh, no you won't." Arizona crossed her arms, sighing generously as she relaxed into her own conference chair.
Nicole smirked. She left a hefty amount of silence, prompting Arizona to spill all of her secrets.
Arizona didn't budge. She sat there pouring with her arms folded in protest.
"Come on, Robbins." She led. "If you're going to have drama and gossip you're gonna need to share it with me. So far this place is so stale." She grumbled.
Arizona let out a surprised laugh.
"What, is Callie dating or something?" Nicole scrunched her eyebrows trying to pull out the deeds from Arizona.
She scoffed. "Uh, no, definitely not, she is not dating." She shook her head. At least, she wasn't dating last night. Instead, Arizona just made a fool of herself.
"Come on, Robbins!" She pleaded with an eager smile. "That's a story there."
"Not one you're going to be hearing anytime soon." Arizona rolled her eyes.
"Sure." Nicole nodded sarcastically, breaking it off with a laugh.
"Oh you shut up." Arizona commanded.
They stood up to exit their first and only meeting of the day.
She was overwhelmed, so instinctively she made her way to where or who she felt the most at peace. Old habits die hard, even if that means resorting to your ex-wife who put you through hell. Somehow, Callie felt like more of a lifeline to her than she had ever before.
Arizona let out a big sigh as she let herself into Callie's lab, she closed the door softly behind her.
"Oh, hey, I was, uh, wondering when I'd see you." Callie lit up from behind her lab bench, pipette in her gloved hands as she dispensed liquid into each of her test tubes.
Arizona rubbed at her forehead so much Callie thought she was about to put a hole through her skull. Arizona groaned.
"Nicole Herman is driving me insane." Arizona said painfully slowly.
"What did she do this time?" Callie chuckled.
"She slept with your boss." Arizona groaned, resuming rubbing her forehead to remove the memory. Arizona made her way over to Callie.
"My boss?" Callie asked, pointing at herself. She took a second to peel off her gloves and slide off her goggles, rolling her chair closer to where Arizona was.
Arizona stared at her with widened eyes. She nodded as she bit her lip.
"As in the chief of surgery, my boss?" They were face to face, Arizona stood right in front of Callie.
"Yes." Arizona nodded slowly, her eyes were the size of saucers.
"Oh." Callie nodded uncomfortably. "Why?"
"Who knows, Callie?" Arizona rolled her eyes. "Who knows why Nicole does what she does sometimes?" Arizona began to laugh.
When the silence grew, Arizona's remorse grew too big not to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
"It was an expensive carpet, wasn't it?" Arizona said hurriedly under her breath.
"What?"
Arizona tilted her head, her eyes looked at Callie apologetically. She fidgeted on her feet, swaying side to side. "The carpet?" She reminded her.
"Oh." Callie chuckled softly as she realized. "Don't worry about it." Honestly, that hasn't even crossed Callie's mind at all. Sure the money wasn't an issue, but it was about what the little piece of stained carpet meant. Much to Arizona's embarrassment, Callie didn't seem to see any need to get rid of the momento.
"So it was expensive." Arizona narrowed her gaze at Callie.
Callie's shifty eyes avoided Arizona's.
"It was a really soft carpet, Callie, the big bucks carpet." She rambled. "The kind you would just lay down on and then fall asleep and forget you were on the floor in the first place."
Callie laughed awkwardly. "It's fine, really." Her eyes spent the time inspecting all the little flecks of bright blue in Arizona's as well as how nicely Arizona looked in scrubs.
Arizona just nodded idly.
"And the sink?"
"The sink was already broken." Callie shrugs, returning her attention back to the chart in front of her.
"I just broke it more." Arizona nodded.
"Arizona…"
Arizona stopped her self-pity and looked up into Callie's eyes. She gulped, it felt too real– too vulnerable.
"You were right, it was dripping before, and it's still dripping now." Callie rambled, shaking her head, laughing a little, her lips coming up to form a small smirk. She tilted her head as she unconsciously drifted closer to Arizona. "Nothing's changed." She smiled.
Nothing has changed.
Callie turned away, gathering herself and taking half a step back.
"Arizona, I'm, uh, sorry for calling and waking you up this morning to yell at you." She said sincerely.
Arizona laughed morbidly, but a genuine smile stayed on her face. She was the first thing Callie thought of this morning, that's something to brag about.
"I needed to get up anyway." She brushed off. "Honestly I don't remember getting home."
"Yeah," Callie's eyes widened in surprise. "Me either, I went to open your door to yell at you and–" She chuckled uncomfortably.
Your door. She came looking for her. She had to force the growing smile off her face. Her heart beat a little faster in her chest.
"Look, Callie." She said sadly. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Callie smiled politely, but partially, she really wasn't mad at Arizona at all, for the brunette, Arizona's actions were rather endearing instead.
"I–" Arizona was about to recant everything she did but realized that probably wouldn't be smart in the situation. "Okay." Was all she could say.
"Really." Callie smiled sadly at Arizona. "Stop apologizing."
Arizona tilted her head in obvious confusion. Callie never turned down an apology or an opportunity to be right. Callie loved the big dramatic apologies and gestures, Arizona knew that. So why would she be turning that down?
She reached out and gently and politely squeezed her shoulder. "It's alright, kid." She smiled.
Kid?! Arizona thought. She was most certainly not a kid and when did Callie ever call her that?
"Right, okay, so, umm–"
"Yeah uh, I should be getting back to work anyway."
"Yeah, okay." Arizona smiled tightly. " I have a surgery anyway I have to get to."
"Anything interesting I should come swing by to see?"
Arizona laughed uncomfortably. She shook her head. "The pediatric surgeon wanted some experienced hands to assist," she twirled her fingers. "So here I am."
"In peds?"
"Yeah." Arizona said hesitantly, trying to gauge Callie's reaction.
"Okay, well, um, I'll see you later." Callie mumbled.
Arizona nodded awkwardly before letting herself out.
Callie groaned, sending her head backwards. Kid? That felt so wrong on her lips about Arizona, she thought maybe it would help to put everything at rest and to calm her growingly unsettled stomach, but instead it just felt so wrong. So unbelievably wrong. And they both knew it. Arizona scowled in disgust once she reached the hallway.
"She drank my red wine." Callie said softly. She hadn't really breathed a word about Arizona to anyone since Arizona decided to move to New York. Arizona was Callie's past and she got to choose to keep it that way. Only Callie got to know Arizona in that way.
"The ex-wife?" Callie's friend and colleague Wesley, an orthopedic surgeon attending, asked. Callie didn't divulge much about Arizona, well except for that one night when she got really fed up with Arizona and Sofia was gone and she happened to spill the entire story of her and her ex wife to this poor person she barely knew.
"Arizona." Callie corrected, but couldn't make eye contact.
Wesley nodded hesitantly, he folded the chart he held under his arm. He was a manly looking guy. He had broad shoulders and graying hair. His smirk jerked to one side when he smiled. He teased and comforted Callie to the right degree and partially filled a hole she had been missing since losing Mark, notability Callie had not slept with him.
"She was in my apartment alone with our daughter last night and…" she drifted off. She forced against a smile as she thought of Arizona's actions from the night before. She really thought that Callie was on a date and that freaked her out so much.
"She drank your wine?"
"No, not just the wine, the red wine." She emphasized.
"Okay." He said cautiously.
"She doesn't like red wine, it gives her heartburn." She laughed.
When Callie first moved to New York she was so excited about the chance for no one to know her. No one to judge her or whisper in hallways, no pesky blondes to sneak up on her and break her heart– anyway. Of course she spilled her entire life story to the person in the hospital with the most rumors flying around. Maybe she was attracted to mess–she couldn't help it. But in this moment she couldn't help but think of Arizona alone in her apartment, making a mess of things. She couldn't help it.
"Where'd you go?" He leaned into her field of view.
Callie blushed, her stomach was doing flips.
"She was jealous." She could feel a pressure growing in her chest and it felt as if the floor dropped right out from under her. "She thought I was out on a date so she sat alone– in my apartment– drinking my red wine that she doesn't even like."
"I thought she cheated on you?" He probed. He knew all of it, at least most of what Callie went through with her ex-wife. He tried to remind her.
"She did." Callie said through gritted teeth. That reminder basically broke her completely free of her daydream, but a small sense of hope still remained.
"So why are you grinning like that?" Callie wasn't sure whether she was grinning or rather grimacing at this point.
"Isn't it nice for someone to get jealous over you once in a while?" She rationed.
"Maybe." They paused. "But she's still your ex-wife."
Callie pouted. She knew painfully the last time she saw this jealousy from Arizona.
"Don't be stupid, Callie."
Callie scoffed. "I am not being stupid!" She crossed her arms in a huff.
He raised an eyebrow. "Why is she always at your apartment?" He groaned.
"She's not always th–" she was met with a disappointed look. "Ok," she admitted, "but she's still adjusting and so is Sofia to having both her moms at the same time, so–" she rambled.
"Good for Sofia or good for you?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"Hey, woah." Callie scolded, shaking her head. "Like you said, she cheated on me. We're divorced, anyway."
"Anyway? Like just some position you found yourself in?"
Callie tucked her chin in.
"As if you didn't specifically ask for one?"
"Hunter!" She scolded, whipping out his last name for the occasion.
Wesley couldn't help but grin.
"Don't talk about my divorce." She scolded, her face was void of emotion.
He let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Whatever you say."
Callie paused, squeezing her eyes tightly for a moment. What had she let herself believe about Arizona?
"Don't be rash, Torres." He patted her back and chuckled as he walked off.
Callie sighed. What was she doing?
Callie scrubbed in for her last surgery of the day. Surgery made sense. It was usually repetitive and predictable. Orthopedics made sense. The bones were reliable, they had a correct place. In the more routine procedures, it was almost meditative, she got to slow down and think of nothing but the patient on the table in front of her.
Arizona was an anomaly.
Callie had made it several years without seeing Arizona every day in the hallways, without hearing people rave about her talent and whisper rumors. At Grey Sloan it was too hard to be surrounded by that, and often, too easy and tempting to eavesdrop on the rumors surrounding her. Here, in New York, Arizona didn't exist. Arizona wasn't everywhere, she wasn't a co-parent or ex-wife, she was just her daughter's other mother who lived on the other side of the country.
Wesley made sense to her. Wesley fit into her life similarly to Mark although wasn't nearly as involved. They occasionally shared a drink together after work and usually had lunch together, but besides that, Callie had honestly resorted to the life of a recluse. Once she broke up with Penny, she had tried dating a bit, but nothing seemed to work out for long. She wasn't sure what she had left of her own.
She started her research and that gave her something to work for and something that made her excited, but it turned into another habit of Callie's to go all in very quickly. She would stay at work until past midnight when she had a spark of inspiration, honestly it just helped her from the lonely nights at home without her daughter and without a partner in bed beside her. Her apartment got messier than it has been since she was in college and she didn't really care. If Sofia wasn't there, she was almost back to living like a bachelor. Part of this bugged her, but part of it gave her such a freedom that really allowed her to breathe for the first time in a long time.
Callie had lived a life without Arizona. Her life did not revolve around Arizona anymore.
But once Arizona had called her telling her she knew she had to move to New York for Sofia, something changed.
She was so excited. That night, she cleaned her entire apartment. Suddenly, in that moment, what she was perfectly happy living with wasn't enough. It's like she realized a part of herself was missing, and that part was coming home to her.
"Dr. Torres?" Someone broke her from her daydream.
She looked around as she stopped mindlessly operating.
"The patient's sats are dropping." They said urgently, suddenly she heard the monitors beeping that she was so lost in thought she completely tuned out.
Callie shook her head and her hands froze in the patient's body and she looked around. Squeezing her eyes as her mind ran through the possibilities and of her next plan of action. Her heart raced more than it usually did in surgery.
It felt like the universe was conspiring against her as when she opened her eyes to regain touch with the situation in front of her, she locked eyes with a certain blonde who had appeared in her gallery. If this wasn't a bad omen and the world's attempt at a reality check, she wasn't sure what would be.
She shook her head briefly.
"We've got some bleeding." Her first assist noted as they assessed the causes.
"Cautery." Callie commanded as she stuck her hand out palm up.
As she searched around for the bleeding she pushed Arizona from her mind. She knew this wasn't smart. She knew she wasn't being rational with what she was doing and thought of Arizona.
"Are you alright, Dr. Torres?" The resident asked politely once they had gotten the patient stabilized.
Callie nodded but she squinted, perplexed. She was usually calm in a situation like that but one glance of Arizona and she was done for. Well, really, it was the fact that she had been thinking of her and she seemed to materialize before her eyes just as the patient took a turn for the worst.
She wanted to be pissed at Arizona. She was the one who came to New York and messed up her little bubble of Arizona-free drama and workplace. She was the one who frazzled her so much. But Arizona came to New York for her, she was the selfless one in this situation, so Callie knew she needed to suck it up. But, God, how being pissed at Arizona would've been so much easier than unpacking her emotions around the blonde's appearance in New York City and back in Callie's life.
"I was jealous." Arizona squeezed her eyes.
"Of course you were." Nicole laughed.
Arizona rolled her eyes. "I was pathetic and jealous." She sighed, dropping her head between her hands. "I thought she went on a date–with a man–so I was jealous." Her eyes bulged out of her head on the word man. Somehow, that disturbed Arizona even more.
"You're being silly, Robbins."
Arizona scoffed. "I am." She groaned. "She wasn't even on a date." She groaned louder. "That makes it so much worse. I was just acting like a lunatic for no reason."
Nicole couldn't help but laugh.
"I mean, I don't get to be jealous, I cheated, I had a rendezvous during our break, I–"
"Oh, shut up, Robbins."
"I just went and sat in her gallery for hours because I- I- I don't know why I did!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air.
"Must've been some carpet, huh?" She teased.
"Oh, shut up." Arizona said firmly. She whined. "You know, maybe it's not that bad, maybe she didn't notice. Oh, what am I saying? She basically spelled out what she knew. God, What is wrong with me?"
Nicole chuckled.
"Why does Callie always make me act like an idiot?" She groaned.
"You two have history."
"But does that mean I have to completely decompose as a human being whenever I'm around her?"
Nicole raised her eyebrows as if she wasn't surprised.
"Oh, you shut up." She groaned. "As if the clinic crumbling wasn't enough."
"It is not crumbling." She corrected.
"I have been here for two and half weeks fighting to keep this afloat." She sighed loudly. "Now we don't even have a site for it."
"Man, Robbins, since when are you this gloomy?"
"Oh, shut up." She repeated.
"That Torres has really done a number on you already, huh?" She smirked.
Arizona blushed. She needed to set a firm line, she needed a break from the brunette who ruined her life and yet still has her stomach fluttering like a teenager. But that so did not seem appealing. She had someone in her life that knew her and she knew, isn't that better than not having anyone?
June 20th, 2018
The next day Arizona completely avoided Callie which wasn't hard as she was completely slammed in back to back meetings. She put her mind at ease by putting herself completely into her work, however, her work seemed to be kicking her in the butt at the moment. Something always seemed to go wrong at each meeting and after each one she felt tension building up in her shoulders and her jaw. As nice as it was to have Nicole in New York helping with the workload, Nicole had a special ability of making fun of Arizona as well as making more mess for her.
She had promised to come over that night to spend the evening with Sofia. The three of them shared a nice meal that Callie had prepared, thinking she was so sly when she poured out a glass of wine for both of them. Arizona was quiet for most of the dinner, beside chatting every now and then with Sofia about her day.
Sofia's face scrunched in perplexity at her Mama's often short responses, she could feel the tension emanating off of her.
"How were your meetings today?" Callie asked before taking a generous sip of her wine.
Arizona contorted her mouth side to side nervously. "Uh, they went." She barely gave.
"Not great?" She probed hesitantly.
"Well…" she was about to continue and complain about all of it when she looked over at her daughter. She didn't need to hear the issues at work. "Yeah."
"Do you know what you need?" Callie asked with a smirk, putting her fork down.
Arizona raised her eyebrows. "What do I need?"
"Do you know what Mama needs?" Callie looked over at Sofia.
Sofia giggled. Arizona's heart swelled, nothing fulfilled her like hearing her daughter's sweet laughter and Callie calling her Mama to Sofia.
"A dance party."
Arizona's eyes widened in slight annoyance. "I don't feel like dancing, Callie."
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Callie cheered, getting up and going over to play music through a speaker.
"Mama, you're being kind of lame." Sofia said smuggly as she got up to follow her other mother.
"What are you talking about, little miss?" She challenged.
Sofia shrugged with a mischievous smile.
Callie blasted music through the speakers of Beyoncé and other singers. Callie danced with Sofia as Arizona watched with a cautious smile. They danced loosely, Sofia moreso running around than dancing. Callie hummed along with the music and cheered as she encouraged Sofia.
Arizona finally stood up and made her way closer to her ex-wife and daughter. She was more than stiff at first, barely swaying side to side.
"Come on, Mama!" Sofia cheered. She reached out to hold her hands as they shimmied back and forth.
Arizona finally cracked a grin as she laughed at her daughter's dance moves.
"You've got some moves, babe." She giggled.
Callie moved between her two girls, making sure both were involved in the dance.
Sofia made her way slightly further away from her mothers, allowing Callie to walk over to arizona and extend a hand out to her. "Dance with me." She smiled.
Arizona raised her eyebrow at Callie.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" She smiled largely, Arizona couldn't remember the last time that big smile was directed at her. "Dance with me." She said again.
With a small laugh, Arizona placed her hand in Callie's as they began to dance together. At first, their hands were the only thing that connected them as they danced almost independent, swaying, and bobbing. Eventually Sofia tired herself out and sat down at the kitchen table nearby. That's when Callie had enough internal permission that she reached out to hold Arizona's waist and they truly danced together.
Arizona giggled at the sensation, but was grateful for the distraction from her work, so she just let into the feeling. Callie spun her in her arms to which all three of them laughed at Arizona's two left feet in comparison to Callie's more comprised dance moves.
They stepped back and forth together as they listened to the music and stared in each other eyes.
"Callie!" Arizona laughed as Callie almost tripped her.
"Just go with it." Callie smirked.
Callie twirled Arizona in her arms. Her hands felt so natural right on each of Arizona's hips. It all felt so safe, so right.
"When was the last time we danced together?" Arizona asked softly, slightly out of breath, when they were face to face again.
"A long time." Callie said with her eyes intent on Arizona's. She would stay in this moment for as long as she could.
They swayed and grooved back and forth for a few more songs, occasionally with Sofia jumping in to have another dance before she wore herself out again with her more experimental and exertive dance moves.
Before they realized it, it was way past Sofia's bedtime so Callie went upstairs to tuck her in as Arizona recuperated from their dance party on the couch downstairs.
"Why won't you tell me what's happening with the clinic?" Callie asked softly when she came back down the stairs, no longer out of breath from dancing.
Arizona avoided Callie's eyes, looking around the room.
Callie quirked an eyebrow, putting Arizona on the spot. She came over and sat right next to her on the couch.
"There isn't much to say."
"Oh, really?" She challenged.
"Callie." She warned.
"You're allowed to talk to me, Arizona." She said softly and seriously. She tucked up her legs and turned on the couch so that she was directly facing her ex-wife.
"Nicole is just– being Nicole." She reluctantly gave, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
"And what about you?" She asked, placing her hand on Arizona's thigh.
Her hand was so warm on her leg, or at least it felt like it was on fire all of a sudden. She inhaled and bit the inside of her bottom lip.
"I'm here, I'm managing." She barely squeaked out.
"That's it?" Callie challenged.
Arizona looked over at Callie with a sly grin. "Callie…" She sighed. "I'm drowning." She finally gave up.
Callie sat their quietly, lightly moving her fingertips over Arizona's leg, careful to not drift north too much and stay in the somewhat friendly region right about her knee.
"I had six meetings today and I barely heard anything from any of them." She sighed, bags appeared underneath her eyes, illuminated by the harsh lighting of just a few lamps scattered around the room. "I don't even think they were speaking English, Callie, its like everyone was on the same page except me." She admitted.
Callie tilted her head as she listened.
"And Nicole, man, as much as she is great and I love her she is a real pain in the ass sometimes." She shook her head. "I'm just mad, she left me here alone for two weeks to fix everything and deal with it all on my own, and then she shows up and, and, just starts, I don't know, Callie." She sighed.
Callie smiled softly at Arizona. She removed her hand from her leg, scared she might've pushed it too far. But in this moment, she just felt so comfortable again. It felt like a night at home where her wife would come home and complain about Nicole killing her in her fellowship. She knew how to manage this and how to deal with this.
Callie wasn't quite sure why she decided too, but she swung her legs up onto the couch and rested them across Arizona's lap. It just felt so natural and comfortable. They always cuddled or rested on each other when recanting their stressful day, it just felt like something so right in the moment.
"I mean, this is what I've been working for in my career, I feel like I am making a difference, but it feels like its all crumbling before me and I'm scrambling to piece it all together." She sighed after taking a deep breath. The pressure and warmth on her lap from Callie's legs was unimaginable and she didn't want to spook her away at all.
Arizona's hands not-so-mindlessly caressed Callie's legs, squeezing and massaging ever so slightly as she continued her stories.
"Thank you for tonight, Callie." She smiled over at Callie. Her brown eyes were so intent on hers it felt as if she was looking right through her.
"I do make a mean spaghetti and meatballs." She joked.
Arizona smiled, her dimples popping out just enough to make Callie's heart start to race in her chest. "I needed tonight." She admitted.
Callie smiled. Arizona needed her. She didn't want this moment to end. "I did too. That was my first dance party in a while." She admitted.
For the first time, Callie spoke about her experience alone in New York, something she hid from Arizona. Arizona assumed Callie was living her best life as what else would she uproot her and her daughter's life for if not that? But no, although Callie was free, dance parties were infrequent and lonely.
"We should do that more often, it was fun, Callie." She smiled, remembering how much their daughter was giggling.
"It was." Callie echoed. "Although I think Sofia got your dance moves." She laughed. "I have no idea what she was whipping out." They laughed together. Arizona squeezed Callie's lower thigh before patting it gently.
Callie reached out with her arm that was toward the back of the couch, resting it right at the nape of Arizona's neck under her blonde locks. She felt a few goosebumps over her ivory skin, smiling softly at the sensation.
"Is this okay?" Callie whispered.
Arizona nodded with a small smile. She cleared her throat, trying to remain calm.
They sat in silence for a moment, neither sure what to say, they just felt it.
"Nicole is driving me nuts." She said choked up, overwhelmed by the sensation of Callie's long fingers on her neck. She wasn't sure what to say, that was the first thing that came to her mind.
"Try to put it out of your mind, Arizona." Callie cooed.
Without warning Arizona felt Callie's hands gently stroking through her hair. It felt so good. The feeling of Callie's strong, lean fingers tangling themselves over and over between her blond locks, was unmatched. Something about the simple motion excited something with Arizona unexpectedly. It was the feeling of genuine affection, of comforting affection. She looked over at Callie slightly out of breath.
"She going to do what she's going to do." Callie said softly, getting choked up herself. The blond hair felt so nice between her fingers. It smelled so clean and felt so soft.
She played with Arizona's hair for so long before she gently began to massage her scalp ever so softly. Arizona felt herself relax further, her muscles lessened their ache.
"You've got me, and you've got Sofia." She cooed as she continued massaging her scalp and playing with her hair. "No one said building a world-class clinic for women's health was easy." She teased.
Arizona swallowed, choked up at the sensation that she couldn't say anything. She couldn't look at Callie, she just squeezed her eyes shut and tried to allow herself to relax.
"I'm here, Arizona." Callie reminded softly.
"You're okay with this?" Arizona asked, finally opening her eyes and looking over at her ex-wife.
"With what?" Callie cooed, her hands once again brushing through Arizona's blonde locks.
Arizona reached up and placed her hand over Callie's that was tangled in her hair. "With this." She said softly, her eyes not leaving Callie's.
Callie nodded softly with a slight smile, mindlessly brushing through her hair continuously, enjoying the feeling of Arizona's small hand over hers.
"Is it okay with you?" Callie echoed the question.
"Of course." She replied with a similar smile.
Arizona paused, Callie's hand did as well, resting on the back of her next again, her fingertips skated over a plentitude of goosebumps.
"Thank you, Callie." She whispered.
Arizona reached out with her hand until she held Callie's cheek in her palm. She brushed her thumb over the soft, warm skin. She leaned over and placed a delicate kiss on her opposite cheek, pulling back before too much time passed. They sat their in peace as they just looked at the other. It was quiet and calm, something both of them could use. They shared a soft smile knowing they would have a person again.