Okay! Another chapter, the longest yet. Enjoy! I tried to make this one as long as possible because my work schedule is going to be a little crazy over the holidays and I don't know when I'll be able to get the next one up. I'll try my best! What do you guys think so far? Am I moving things too slow? Too fast? Any suggestions? Thanks for reading!
Callie and Arizona made plans to meet at Joes that night, and Arizona promised and promised that she would be there this time. Callie nervously looked around the room and drummed her fingers on the cold mug of beer she had just ordered from Joe. Even though Arizona swore she would show up this time, the idea of being ditched twice still had Callie a little on edge. She needed something to steady her, finishing her first beer she looked up at Joe and quickly ordered another.
"Everything okay Dr. Torres?" Joe asked as he watched her start on her second drink in less than half an hour.
Looking down at her drink then back up at Joe, she decided she better slow down a little. "Yeah. Hah." She smiled. "I'm just meeting someone here and I guess I'm a little nervous." she said, now tapping her fingers on the bar top.
"Do I make you nervous, Callie?" she heard a sweet voice whisper from behind her.
Almost spitting out her drink at the sound of Arizona's voice, taking a breath Callie composed herself, and turned in her seat so she was facing the blonde woman. "Well hi to you too, Arizona" Callie finally managed to say as Arizona took a seat at the bar next to her.
"What can I get you?" Joe asked the woman who appeared to be the person Callie had just been talking about.
"I'll have what she's having "Arizona said, pointing to the now almost empty beer Callie held in her hand.
"So, you actually made it inside this time" Callie said, looking at Arizona with a smirk.
"Yes Callie. I did. I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm here now." Arizona said with a smirk of her own.
The night went on and Callie and Arizona sat at the bar and drank and talked for hours. Like they were old friends, reunited after many years apart. It would seem strange to other people that they had such a deep, true connection so soon, but they didn't care. They had been talking and drinking for a while and neither of them had noticed that the other had stopped talking and they were now just staring into each other's eyes.
"Ahem" clearing his throat, mark walked up to the pair and interrupted their moment "You two going to do that all night or what?"
Both women jumped and quickly turned away from each other's gaze to take another drink. Turning back to her friend, Callie gave Mark a once over and was immediately annoyed. She knew he didn't need anything, he just wanted to be nosey, like always, and find out what she was up to. "And if we were?" Callie finally responded.
"Can I watch? I mean I assume eventually it will get hot and heavy s…"
Before he could finish talking Callie had jumped off her bar stool and dragged Mark away and out of Arizona's earshot. "What the hell mark?!"She said, slapping him on the arm. "Are you trying to ruin this for me?" Callie said, in more of a whisper than a yell trying to make sure Arizona couldn't hear them.
"Sorry!" Mark said, rubbing the spot where she hit him. "She's hot Cal." He said, leaning around Callie to talk a look back at the bar where the blonde was still sitting.
"Yeah. I know…now could you please take your comments somewhere else before you scare her away" Callie said, looking back at Arizona.
"Fine." and with that, mark was off to use his not so subtle flirting on some poor unsuspecting girl in the bar.
"Sorry about that." Callie said as she slid back into her seat at the bar next to Arizona. "He… he just doesn't know boundary's, well he does, but he doesn't respect them. He is my friend although sometimes I have no idea why. Mark is Mark and…"
Callie was rambling, something Arizona would normally be turned off by, but not with Callie, with her it was incredibly cute. Placing her hand on Callie`s arm Arizona decided she better stop her before she runs out of air. "Callie..."
"…and...Oh my god. I'm rambling. Great." She said with a sigh, and a drink of her beer.
Arizona let out a little laugh "and now you're laughing at me…oh I'm doing so well…"Callie said, shaking her head and looking down at the bar.
"Oh, no I'm sorry." Arizona said, with a smile still on her face. "I'm not, I mean I guess I am but I'm only laughing because you're so adorable when you ramble and I just… wow okay and now I'm rambling" Arizona said, now laughing at herself. "We are terrible at this" she said looking at Callie with the dimpled grin.
"Yeah. We are. But we`re terrible together so that's okay" Callie smiled back.
"Do you want to get some air?" Arizona said as she finished her last drink.
"Yeah" Callie said, as she hopped off her seat and paid for their drinks, she turned to Arizona and held out her arm.
Arizona linked her arm through Callie`s as they headed for the door. "Leavening so soon?" Mark yelled from a table across the bar. The pair continued outside, not even acknowledging the man's comment.
"I had a lot of fun tonight Callie" Arizona said, her arm still linked through Callie`s.
"Me too." She said, un-linking their arms and leaning against the wall of the bar.
Arizona took her place next to Callie on the wall and they both stood content and silent for a moment. It was a chilly night and they could see their warm breath against the cool night air. Callie pushed herself off the wall and turned to face the beautiful blonde she had spent all night talking to, and slowly falling for. "Arizona… I… I know we said we were going to be friends, but I don't think I can do that."
Now pushing herself off the wall Arizona stood, facing Callie, a little confused. Maybe it was the alcohol but she was sure he heard Callie say they couldn't be friends. "Uh…What…wait…What?" Was all Arizona's booze soaked brain could manage to get out.
She must have had more to drink than she thought because she was not planning on doing this tonight. But Callie couldn't help herself. Arizona was captivating and she knew she couldn't wait any longer. "I don't mean we can't be…uh…" yep the alcohol was taking over, but it was too late now, she had to go for it. "Uh I mean we CAN be friends if you want, but I… I would like to uh… be more than Fri…"
And before she could even finish her sentence, Arizona had pushed Callie up against the wall, lips on lips, hands tangled in blonde and brown hair. The kiss was quick and passionate. Arizona's left hand found its way to Callie`s hips as she used her free hand to caress the dark haired woman's cheek, and then after a moment Arizona pulled away.
The look of surprise on Callie`s face made her smile, but it also made her a little nervous. Callie looked up and focused in on those ocean blue eyes. Eyes that she wanted to see every day, every morning and every night. "Arizona…" She sighed, s she grabbed the lapels of the blondes` jacket, pulling her in for another kiss.
"Wow…" Was all Arizona could manage to say.
"Yeah…" Callie said, still starring into the blondes eyes.
"That was…"
"Yeah…" was all Callie could manage to say. Arizona had taken her breath away.
They were both slightly disappointed when the cab Joe had called earlier for Arizona finally showed up. Neither of them wanted this night to end, but they knew it had to, and so Callie put a still tipsy Arizona in her cab and sent her off with a goodnight kiss. As Callie walked the few short blocks to her own apartment, thinking of Arizona the whole time.
Morning came quickly, a fact that Arizona did not appreciate as the shrill sound of her alarm startled her out of a deep sleep. Trying, and failing twice to hit the snooze button she finally silenced the alarm on her third attempt. Not that it mattered now because she was wide awake, and regretting all that alcohol she drank last night. Luckily she did not have to go into the hospital until later in the day, so she could have some time to recover and get rid of the nasty hangover that was currently making it very hard to think. Not that it mattered much right now, seeing as Callie was the only thing she wanted to think about right now.
Across town, Callie was having a much easier time recovering from their night of drinking. She hadn't had as much to drink as she thought and only had a small hangover, which was slowly disappearing with every sip of coffee she had, preparing herself for a long day of surgeries and thoughts of Arizona. As she strolled into the hospital, travel mug filled with coffee in hand, she was immediately pulled into surgery.
Thank god for coffee. Callie thought as she scrubbed out of the three-hour surgery and headed to the lobby for a fresh cup. As she approached the coffee cart, she spotted the woman who had been on her mind all day, waiting in line for her own coffee.
"Hey." Callie said as she came up behind the blonde.
"Calliope, hi" Arizona said, after ordering her coffee, and turning to face the taller brunette woman.
"How are you?"
"I`m good" she said smiling her signature smile. "I had a lot of fun last night, just a bit of a hangover today" she laughed.
"Well, it was worth it right" Callie said with a smirk, as she thought about their kiss outside the bar.
"Absolutely!" Arizona said, she was almost sure they were both thinking about the kiss they shared last night.
After Callie got her coffee, they began to walk side by side, towards the elevator and back up to the surgical floor.
"Busy day?" Callie asked, as they stood at the nurse's station, both doctors going through their charts for the day.
"No, actually. I've only got two surgeries today, and they are pretty simple. Shouldn't take too long, I was planning on catching up on some of these charts while I had some free time" Arizona said, while pointing to the rather large stack of charts the nurse had gathered for her.
"Yeah I've got a pretty light day myself." Callie said, pausing to think for a minute before she continued. "Did you want to have lunch with me later?" She finally asked the blonde. Callie could understand why this woman made her so nervous, this woman gave her butterflies, and made her ramble on and on. She was almost certain Arizona would say yes, but still the thought of being rejected by her, was not a thought Callie liked having.
"Lunch would be super!" Arizona said, placing her hand on Callie`s arm, "I'll come find you after I finish my last surgery."
"Great!" Callie said, as she let out a breath she had held in anticipation, as Arizona hoped on her wheelies and was gone. Callie smiled and shook her head. A grown woman, who had butterflies on her scrub cap, uses words like "super" and "awesome" in everyday conversation, and has wheels on her shoes. As ridiculous as that all sounded, Callie loved all of it.
It was now 3:30 and Arizona found herself on the ortho floor, looking for Callie. Never having had the need to visit this service before, she found herself a little lost. "Do you know where I could find Dr. Torres?" She asked a nurse who happened to pass by.
"I think she is charting in her office, just down that hall." The nurse said, as she pointed Arizona in the right direction.
"Thank you!" She said, and began walking toward Callie`s office. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, and heard a welcoming "come in!" from the other side.
"Arizona, hey" Callie said, looking up from the pile of charts on her desk.
"Hey, ready for lunch?"
"Yes! I've been stuck in here for hours… I need food and coffee. Lots of coffee."
"Charting is the best part of the job, don't you think?" Arizona said, sarcastically.
"Oh yes. It's why I became a doctor!" Callie said with a laugh.
As they walked to the cafeteria they talked and laughed like old friends, the instant chemistry between them was undeniable and both woman knew it.
Oh wow. Arizona thought. That laugh is amazing, she could listen to it all day long, and she wanted to. She wanted to hear Callie laugh and see her smile every day. Arizona had no idea how it happened, how this beautiful Latina woman, with the most amazing laugh and gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes made her feel so amazing. Callie gave her butterflies, good butterflies, and Arizona wanted to be around her all the time, feel her warmth and hear her laugh. She was falling for Callie, falling hard and there was no stopping it now.
"Mind if I interrupt?" Mark said, not really waiting for an answer as he set his tray down and pulled up a chair across from the two woman, still eating lunch in the cafeteria.
"Uh…" Was all Arizona got out before he sat down and made himself comfortable.
"Really Mark?" Callie shot him a look.
"What I can't have lunch with my best friend now that Blondie here showed up?" Mark said, with raised eyebrows, pointing at Arizona across the table.
"For the last time, stop calling me that. My name is Arizona." She said, raising an eyebrow, and taking a bite of her salad.
"Yeah like that's any better…" Mark said with a laugh.
"You know what…"Arizona started, leaning forward, elbows now on the table so she was closer to the man who was getting on her last nerve.
"Whoa, guys…let's just calm down." Callie said, jumping in before there was an all-out argument.
"I am calm!" Mark practically yelled.
"Right." Arizona smirked.
"Listen Blondie…"
"Okay Mark, that's enough." Callie said, putting her hand up, signaling she had enough of the two bickering.
"Oh so you take her side? I'm your friend, but the minute some hot chick walks and gives you a look, I go out the window right? Yeah of course." Mark was practically yelling now.
"Mark come on!" Callie said, in more of a hushed yell.
"Forget it Callie. I'm leaving." He said, getting up and slamming his tray into the trash and storming off.
Both Callie and Arizona sat at the table a little stunned. "I… What just happened?" Callie said, not really asking, but trying to think, trying to straighten the whole thing out in her head.
"I'm sorry Callie, he just…" Arizona started to apologize, putting her hand on the brunettes arm.
"No, it's not you. I mean that didn't really help. But he is…I don't know what his problem is. I thought he was okay with this. With you, and now he is all possessive and I don't know what to do." Callie sighed and rested her head in her hands.
"Go talk to him. Find out what his deal is, and maybe you can straighten it out." Arizona said, even though she doubted that would work. Mark seemed like the kind of guy who didn't like to share, even though he didn't own Callie, he did know her first. "Maybe he is worried that our friendship will affect the one you two already have?"
"What, that's crazy I would never let that happen." Callie said, now seriously thinking that maybe Arizona was right. "I`m sorry about lunch Arizona, but I have to go find him."
"It's okay. "She smiled, "Good luck!" she winked up at Callie, who was now standing, straightening her scrubs.
"Thanks." Callie said, giving a small smile back.
As she exited the cafeteria, Callie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She had no idea what Mark was so cranky today, or where she was going to find him. She thought the best place to start would be the plastics floor, after all that was marks specialty, and she figured he might be up there looking for surgeries to blow off steam, that's what she would do anyway. But after searching the floor for about twenty minutes she gave up, he was obviously not up here, and after searching the ER, a few OR`s and all the coffee carts, she decided to head back to the ortho floor for a while. On her way down, she ran into Dr. Derek Shepherd in the elevator, the neuro god of the hospital, and Marks friend from New York, the man whose wife Mark had slept with. She wasn't sure if they were speaking yet or not, but it couldn't hurt to ask.
"Dr. Shepherd, hi. Dr. Torres" She said, extending her hand.
"Dr. Torres, yes we`ve had a few cases together right? Hello"
"Right, you are. I was wondering, have you seen lately?"
"Yes. I have actually, he was on his way out about ten minutes ago." Derek said.
"Okay, great" Callie said, crossing her arms and leaning against the back of the elevator.
"Please, call me Derek."
"Thank you, Derek" She smiled, and exited the elevator once it reached the hospitals lobby.
Once outside, he scanned the hospital grounds, hoping Mark was still here and not off somewhere else. It only took her a minute to spot him, sitting on a bench with his head in his hands. All of a sudden she felt really bad, Mark was her friend and he clearly felt hurt over something, and she wanted to find out what.
Mark didn't move as he heard footsteps approach the bench he was currently occupying, and felt someone sit down next to him. He didn't have to look up to know it was Callie. Still with his head in his hands, running his fingers through his salt and pepper hair, he finally acknowledged her presence. "What do you want?"
"Mark" she sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't even know what that was all about. Will you tell me what's got you so upset?"
"I'm not upset Callie"
"Right. Okay so if you're not upset, then you just started yelling at Arizona and I while we were having a nice lunch, for what? For fun?"
"No. no I wasn't yelling at you Callie. I mean I did and I'm sorry but it's her that I was yelling at."
"What? Why?"
"Because Callie, she's... just." He stood up, and started to walk away.
Now also standing, she reached out and grabbed his arm. "That is not a reason Mark."
"You`ve known her all of two seconds, and already you're defending her instead of me. You are replacing me with some hot blonde that I can't compete with!"
Doing her best not to laugh at her best friend, who was clearly upset, Callie took a deep breath and calmly explained the situation to Mark. "She is not replacing you." Callie said, now unable to hide her grin.
"Are you laughing at me?" Mark said, looking a little irritated.
"No…hah... Yes. I'm sorry. It's just that it's adorable that you are afraid I'm replacing you. I would never do that Mark."
"Yeah? Well then how come you two are always together and eating lunch at the same time and…"
Kind of shocked that he was having such a hard time figuring it out, Callie thought she better clue him in. "Mark. Really? I thought you would be the first to assume. I mean you were all about it At Joes the other night. She's not just my friend, she's… I mean she is my friend, but Mark I like her. A lot. Like really really like her, in that I don't even care that she's a grown woman who wears Heelys and has butterflies on her scrub cap."
"…Oh… my god. I'm an idiot." He said, now with a big grin on his face. "I didn't think you were serious the other day Cal, I mean I always joke about you dating every woman you talk to... I mean you are hot... but Really? Blondie?"
"Oh Mark." Callie said, wrapping her arm around the taller man's shoulder. "Can we go back to work now?" She asked jokingly.
Placing his own arm around his best friends' shoulders, Mark agreed. "Yeah… I think we probably should…I`m supposed to be operating in like ten minutes."
They both calmly walked back into the hospital and parted ways at the elevator. "See you later, Torres." Mark said with a smile.
"See you later Sloan" Callie said as the elevator doors shut.
An hour or so later Callie was in the attending's lounge changing out of her scrubs and getting ready to go home. She didn't know when Arizona's shift was over, but she was planning on stopping by the Peds floor on her way out to say goodnight, and to let her know everything with Mark was okay. But before she had the chance, Arizona walked into the lounge and collapsed on the couch.
"Oh hey, I was just about to come find you" Callie said, walking over to an exhausted looking Arizona.
"Hey, hi… I'm sorry what?"
Callie smiled, and sat down on the couch so she could look into Arizona's eyes, eyes that the blonde could barely hold open. "You look drained" Callie said, placing a hand on the Peds surgeons' thigh.
At the touch of Callie`s warm hand on her leg, Arizona instantly looked up and smiled. "I am. I need sleep." She finally said, leaning her head back on the couch.
"You done for the day?" Callie asked.
"Yep!" Arizona said, not even moving a muscle.
"Mine too, I was actually headed home to watch a movie and probably fall asleep on the couch, would… uh... would you like to join me?"
Instantly thrilled at the thought of spending more time with Callie, Arizona suddenly had a burst of energy. "I would love to Callie, I've got to change and then I'll be ready." She said, quickly moving from the couch to her locker.
"Great, I'll wait for you outside." Callie said, not really wanting to leave the room, but doing it anyway. They hadn't really been on any official dates and Callie wasn't sure if Arizona wanted her to stay while she changed or not.
"You can stay if you want" Arizona said, looking over her shoulder back at Callie, as she dug through her bag.
"Then I'll stay." Callie said, her smile growing wider every second she spent with Arizona.
Arizona changed quickly, and Callie tried not to stare, or at least make it obvious that she was staring. But it was hard, she didn't want to be rude but she couldn't stop running her eyes up and down the length of the blondes half-naked body, only a few feet from her. Her skin was beautiful and looked so soft, and Callie had to stop herself from drooling a couple of times.
Arizona knew exactly what she was doing. She could feel the Latinas eyes on her, running up and down every inch of her bare skin, though she would never let on that she knew. She assumed Callie would try not to stare out of politeness, but secretly hoped that she would. After all Arizona was extremely interested in the brunette, and now it as obvious that the feeling was mutual.
"All ready!" Arizona said as she turned around to face Callie.
"Uh…great lets go" Callie said, quickly looking away from the blonde, hoping she didn't just get caught.
"Here we are." Callie said, as she unlocked the door to her apartment. Number 502.
"Wow Callie, this place is great."
"Thanks. It's actually got a really nice view." Callie said, setting her bags down and walking over to with living room window. City lights reflecting back at her, traffic and people bustling below.
"Yeah… it does." Arizona said, coming up behind Callie and wrapping her arms around her waist.
Closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. A shock of excitement ran through Callie`s body at the sudden contact. Turning in her arms so she was facing the blonde, Callie smiled looking into those baby blues. She swore she could get lost in them, and that's just what was happening. Unable to control herself any longer, Callie put her hand on the back of Arizona's neck and pulled her in for a deep, passionate kiss, only stopping when they both needed to breathe. Arizona reached up and put her hand on the brunette's cheek, taking in all her beauty, she had to kiss her again, to taste Callie`s lips against her own and that's exactly what she did. Running her tongue across Callie's bottom lip, asking a silent question, that Callie answered when she opened her mouth and let Arizona in.
Still kissing lips pressed against one another, tongues battling for dominance, Callie walked them backwards toward the couch and once she felt the back of her legs hit soft leather she pulled them down. Arizona now sitting on Callie`s lap, her hands found their way to the zipper on Callie`s jacket, undid the zipper and pushed the leather jacket off the brunettes shoulders. Meanwhile Callie`s own hands roamed up and down the blondes thighs and finally rested comfortably on Arizona's hips.
"Mmm…Callie... I…we should stop..." Arizona said almost completely out of breath as she kissed up and down Callie's jawline.
"…ye…yeah... We probably sh...ould…" Callie could barely speak as she ran her fingers through messy blonde hair and pulled her close, placing little kisses from her shoulder up to her neck and finally on the now extremely pink lips of the woman sitting on her lap.
Both women now breathing heavily sat, resting against each other's foreheads. They knew if they didn't stop soon, they wouldn't be able to, and though neither of them wanted to stop, they both felt like they should probably go on at least one real date before they took it all the way. Reluctantly, Arizona slid off Callie`s lap and sat next to her on the couch instead. Both still catching their breath and in need of a cold shower Callie decided it was time to pop in a movie, and pour some wine. They sat side-by-side, Callie`s arm around Arizona, as she rested her head on the brunettes shoulder. Watching the movie and sipping on their wine, red for Callie and white for Arizona, every once in a while they would glance over at each other and smile.
An hour and a half later, the movie almost over Callie could tell Arizona had fallen asleep, wich was okay with her seeing as she could barely keep her own eyes open. Arizona had moved so that her head was resting in Callie's lap, Callie softly running her fingers through the curly blonde hair. She slid down so that they were both laying comfortably, her front pressed into Arizona's back. Covering them up with a blanket that she had across the back of the couch, Callie wrapped her arm around the blondes' waist, pulling her closer, and closing her eyes. Within minutes, Callie drifted off to sleep and they stayed that way, perfectly comfortable against each other all night long.
