A/N: I haven't decided how long this story will be. Just kind of going to write and see how it goes. I have plans for the storyline that looks to be in the 12-15 chapter range but depending on how it is received will lead me to wrap it up much more quickly or abandon it altogether. I'm so new to this writing thing so I may have taken on a bit more than I can chew. Not sure it's quality writing or a quality story. So please review or PM if you have thoughts about the story. I strive to learn where I can.
I have no beta so all the mistakes are mine... sorry.
Oh and I love me some Arizona and Callie so PM if you are just looking for someone to chat about them with. The summer hiatus makes me talk about them more than my roommate probably would like me to
Disclaimer: All characters are property of Shonda Rhimes, Shondaland, and ABC.
Callie and the other graduate students were currently in the graduate student work room reviewing the lab sign- up sheets from earlier this morning, the prospective RAs' resumes and their ARTS forms. The ARTS form was basically a comprehensive report card which listed all the coursework the undergrads had taken thus far en route to completing their bachelor's degree requirements.
Callie, Addison, and Mark were all labmates so they were huddled together discussing the applicants, while Cristina and Meredith were sitting next to them with some of their other labmates mulling over their list of interested RAs.
"Man, Webber takes this undergrad research experience thing really seriously. A formal application, basically a group interview this morning, resumes and ARTS forms?" asked Mark to no one in particular.
"Well, I think that was one of their strategic initiatives in the psych department- to get undergrads involved in research early on. I mean, I think it's a good idea. If you want to go to grad school in clinical psych, you need research experience so get them started early. I wish they were this organized at the University of Florida when I was an undergrad there," Addison explained.
"Soooo, Altman?" Addison posed to her two friends.
"I liked her," replied Mark. "Cute…" earning a glare from Addison, "AND…" he emphasized, "smart per her ARTS form, not socially awkward, and friendly so she would probably get along well with us and the other undergrads."
"What do you think, Callie?"
"Callie? Earth to Torres!"
"Oh, umm… what?" Callie asked as she read through the list of names on the sign-up sheet for their lab. Sadie Harris, Megan Nowland, Steve Mostow, Teddy Altman, Jackson Avery, April Kepner and the name which was the focal point of her attention- Arizona Robbins.
Mark smirked knowingly over at Callie. "Torres is too busy thinking about Blondie, Addie."
"Was not!"
Addison laughed at the incredulous look on Callie's face. "Oh please, Callie. He's right. You totally kept looking over at her while we were interviewing the undergrads. You were really distracted. And because of that, you aren't going to be much help in this selection process, are you?"
"Nope definitely not," Mark answered for her.
"I was not distracted by her!" Callie practically yelled, earning looks from some of her other fellow students.
Just then Cristina and Meredith wrapped up their discussion and came up to where Callie and her team were sitting.
"So are you guys going to bring Callie's eye candy on board or what? You might as well considering Callie was too distracted by her to possibly evaluate any of the other potential RAs" joked Cristina.
"Fine, I was a little distracted," Callie admitted, earning smiles from her friends. "But I trust you guys…" looking between Mark and Addison "…to not screw this up and make good choices. You don't need me."
"Fine, well I like Altman and Robbins," Mark stated and looked pointedly at Callie.
"Ok, what about the others?" asked Addison.
"Eh the others aren't that cute," Mark replied as the girls laughed at him.
"See, this is exactly why I needed you Callie!" said Addison in a feigned exasperated way. She knew Mark would be able to give more input but was just giving her a hard time.
"You know, this is taking you guys forever. How about we, at least, finish this discussion over drinks and team trivia at Sandbar? You all game?" Cristina asked.
No words were spoken in response. The group of friends quickly moved to pack things up and headed out the door.
"Dude, you didn't even talk to her! She was right there! We were even told to talk to the grad students for god's sake and you didn't even talk to her," said an amused Alex.
"I know, OK? I tried but every time I moved in her direction, she took off to talk to some other person. I talked to Mark and Addison though, so I think I might get picked," mused Arizona.
Teddy rolled her eyes at her friend. "You better hope so. Your interests match Dr. Bailey's to a T and Addison's dissertation project sounds like it's right up your alley."
It was true. Dr. Miranda Bailey was a renowned clinical psychologist studying the impact of chronic illness or disease on individuals' psychological functioning. Having spent the last year volunteering at a local children's hospital, Arizona had developed a strong interest in how diseases like cancer, sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, etc...affect children's and their families' psychological well-being.
"I know. I tried to make that clear to Mark and Addison. I just hope it was enough."
"They seemed to enjoy talking to you," Teddy attempted to allay her friend's anxieties. She knew this was important to her friend. Arizona was an active psych major in their dept already as a sophomore and seemed pretty set on grad school.
"Well, let's stop worrying and do something fun," Teddy continued. "Lexie just texted and asked us to meet her and her friends out in Coconut Grove. Apparently they are playing some sort of team trivia and Lexie being all Lexipedia and all is kicking ass. They're gonna win a $75 tab credit so she's offering us free dinner."
"Free food?" said Arizona. "Hell yeah, anything beats cafeteria food. Let's go."
"The film 'The Blair Witch Project' tells the story of 3 student filmmakers who disappear from what town in Maryland? 90 seconds, go!" stated the game announcer.
"All I remember about that movie is how dizzy I got watching it. Note to self, running with a camera in the forest does not make for high quality filmmaking," said Cristina.
"Does anyone know the answer?" asked Addison to her table full of friends. She was met with silence.
"We should just quit. We are behind like 60 points and that table with the skinny brunette doesn't get a thing wrong" sulked Meredith.
"Yeah let's turn our card in. We have undergrad RAs to discuss anyways."
Addison turned her team's answer card in to the announcer indicating their quitting and returned to the table with a new round of beers.
"Ok… before we talk about any of the other prospective RAs, we need to talk about Arizona," Addison stated while looking pointedly at Callie. She continued "Look, Callie, I like her. She was friendly, easy to talk to, smart, and even knowledgeable. She talked to me about the freaking Health Belief Model. I mean what undergrad do you know talks about major theories in clinical psychology, let alone clinical health psychology?"
"Well shit, can I have her?" remarked Cristina. "I liked the people we picked but this girl sounds like she is a lot less wet behind the ears. The less training I have to do, the better."
"No, Mark and I want her. But if Callie is going to act all weird around her or…"
"I won't! It's not a big deal," Callie screamed as Addison glared at her for interrupting.
"May I continue?" probed Addison as Callie shrunk in her seat a bit. "ORRRR…. if there is any chance that Callie is tempted to engage in some improper behavior with said undergrad, then we can't have her on our team. I may think her potential is great but I'm not going to have you working around a minefield that could blow up at any moment. You know what can happen if you break code of conduct."
"Listen Addie. If you want her, then offer her a spot. I'm a grad student. She is an undergrad. She's probably what like 19…" Callie asked as she glanced down at Arizona's resume, "…since she's a sophomore." Callie's eyes went wide at the realization. "I'm 26. Nothing is going to happen. Nothing could happen. Like you said, code of conduct. And even more, she wasn't even interested when I basically tried to get her number so you have nothing to worry about."
Everyone looked around at each other, taken aback by the strength of Callie's denial.
Addison raised her eyebrow at Callie, seeming unconvinced,"Ok, as long as you're ok with it?"
"I'm ok, promise," responded Callie.
Mark and Addison continued to discuss the potential RAs with Meredith and Cristina offering some input, given that they, too, had spoken to all of the undergrads at the meeting this morning. Because Callie had little to offer, she excused herself to the restroom.
Realizing the restroom was empty, Callie spoke to herself in the mirror. "I can't believe she's just a sophomore. She's a kid. A baby. How could I have been so attracted to her? How could I not have realized she was that young? Maybe because she was at an over 21 club and she didn't look the least bit like a kid. She looked hot. She was gorgeous, breathtaking even. She was the first girl to really make me want to explore what was possible and in the end she shot me down anyways. Ughh! God, working in the lab with her is going to be awkward." Callie ran her frustrated hands over her face.
Just then the door opened and in walked the centerpiece of Callie's thoughts.
"Arizona…" Callie said in a tone she barely recognized. It was laced with both want and regret.
"Callie…um… hey. We… uh… can't keep meeting this way," Arizona said smiling, trying to sound nonchalant.
Callie nervously laughed. "Yeah, some coincidence huh?" She turned to face the blonde.
"Um, I wanted to talk to you this morning. About last night…" began Arizona.
Callie shifted nervously in front of her. "You don't have to explain. And don't worry. Your turning me down won't affect the selection or anything. Mark and Addison really like you."
Arizona's smile faded at the mention of her lack of interest and Callie's friends liking her with no mention of the brunette's liking. "Oh that's good, I guess. I liked them too. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Arizona took a deep breath and spoke rapidly. "About last night, I… well… I'm not 21 yet so I had to use a fake ID to get into Mansion. When you asked to call me the next time you were out dancing, I panicked a bit and didn't know what to say since I can't get into most places without the fake ID and it was my first time using it last night. I wasn't sure how it would hold up. It's not that I wasn't interested."
Arizona eyes were nervously shifting back and forth as she attempted not to stare directly into the brown, soulful eyes in front of her. She thought if she stared into them, she would get lost in them and do something that would completely embarrass her, like allow the cosmic pull she felt towards the brunette to pull her in closer. As she attempted to avoid looking at Callie, she noticed Callie remained silent in response to her explanation. Arizona chanced looking at her and saw what looked to be confusion and glimmers of hope in the brown eyes. Arizona suddenly felt a wave of confidence, a wave of opportunity come over her. "I am interested, Callie. Very interested," Arizona said as she moved to close some of the distance between her and the object of her desires.
Callie had no idea how to stop what was happening. She knew it was a bad idea but all she could think of was the beautiful blonde in front of her, how good it felt to have her pressed close to her, how smooth the skin of her arms felt as Callie ran her fingertips down them, how smooth the skin of her shoulders and neck felt as Callie nuzzled them with her cheek, how fire coursed through her as she gripped her hips in her hands. Callie's gaze drifted from Arizona's eyes to her lips and back up again. She watched as Arizona bit her lower lip in and subsequently licked her lips. Callie audibly gasped in response.
That was it. All restraint was lost. They reached for each other and their lips collided. The kiss was hard, passionate, raw. Arizona was the first to signal she wanted to deepen the kiss as her tongue sought entry into Callie's mouth. Callie granted her access and was set afire as their tongues came into contact. Callie's hands moved up and down Arizona's back, as Arizona's wound in Callie's cascading hair. Callie longed for more and her hands nearly grasped Arizona's ass but the sound of shattering glass outside the restroom startled the two and they broke apart, gasping for breath. Arizona had never felt so alive and all she wanted was to feel the brunette in her arms again. She smiled as Callie reached up to touch her lips and closed her eyes. Arizona was about to move in again when Callie's eyes shot open and she pushed past the undergrad towards the door.
Arizona called out to her just as she reached for the door handle, "Callie wait, I know this isn't what you expected. Hell, I didn't expect this, but I want this. There's something here," signaling between her and Callie. "I just want a chance to see what that something is, what it could be?"
Callie turned to look regretfully at the blonde. "This is nothing. It can't be anything. You're just a kid."
With that she exited the restroom and returned to her friends' table. "I changed my mind. Robbins is a no go. Scratch her off the list. Let Cristina have her."
"Callie, what…" Addison began, but stopped as she observed the undergrad in question walking away from the restroom with what appeared to be remnants of tears in her eyes. She slowly understood as she saw the same thing in her friend's eyes.
"Ok, no Robbins."
A/N 2: If I get feedback that people are liking this story then updates will continue but will be a bit slower as I move into summer classes, but I WILL update if that's what you guys want. I just ask for a little more patience given my new schedule.
Thanks everyone!