It's You, It'll Always Be You

Chapter 7

[Flashback]

The rest of the summer couldn't have been any better for the happy couple. They spent as much time as they could together and it was rare for anyone to see one without the other. Their relationship was the epitome of a summer romance. So many nights were spent on cute romantic dates that often bled into the morning or quiet evenings in where they wrapped themselves so closely together it was hard to determine where one ended and the other began.

It was the last day of summer break and Callie and Arizona decided on spending the night in and just savoring this moment of true peace before having to return to the chaos of classes and studying. Arizona was lying in Callie's arms subconsciously tracing random circles along Callie's skin as they were settling down for bed. "Calliope?" Arizona whispered out against Callie's neck.

"Hmm?"

"What's going to happen after tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think we'll be able to make it? Prove that we're not just a summer romance kind of thing?"

Callie propped herself up to look Arizona in the eyes. She could see the concern and fear in those eyes that she always found herself getting lost in. But there was something else mixed in with the fear and the concern, and that was the love she knew Arizona felt for her. "Of course I do. No one has ever made me as happy as you make me," Callie answered while brushing away stray strands of hair away from Arizona's face.

"Good. Just wanted to make sure that it wasn't just me feeling all these crazy things over here."

Callie chuckled a little at how adorable Arizona was being. "No. You are most certainly not, Arizona. Now go to sleep if you want any chance of being functional tomorrow."

Arizona merely nodded her response before settling back into Callie's arms and snuggling close to her. They were both silent for a while, dancing around the edge of unconsciousness, before Arizona broke the silence again. "Calliope?"

"Hmm?" Was her sleepy reply.

"I love you."

Callie's eyes popped open and she turned to look at the blonde laying in her arms. "You do?" she asked softly.

Arizona smiled shyly at Callie, "I do."

Callie took a deep breath and let it out shakily as tears were already forming in her eyes. "I love you, too."

"So you and Arizona seem to be getting along pretty great."

"Yeah… We are, aren't we?" Callie responded in what could be best described as a dreamy way.

"How are you planning on telling your parents?" Callie's dreamy look quickly vanished from her face. Addison looked at her skeptically. "You are going to tell your parents, aren't you? Have them meet Arizona over the break when you visit during the holiday like you two discussed? Callie!"

"What? I just… I just need some time." Addison stared at her in disbelief. "Oh please don't give me that look, Addie. I'm not ready to tell them, okay? Not yet anyways. They're going to freak out for sure if I tell them."

"If? Come on, Callie. What the hell are you doing here? Do you love her?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Addie. Of course I love her! More than I've ever loved anyone else in my life. She completes me. And don't laugh! I don't care if that's corny and cliché, but she completes me. And I've loved her ever since I first locked eyes with her."

"Then be fair to her, Callie. Be fair to her."

"So how are things with Ms. Badass Torres?"

"Oh my gosh, Teddy. It's been amazing. She is seriously the greatest person I've ever met."

"Hey! I take some offense to that."

"Ha, I'm sorry, Teddy. You are an amazing person too of course! But since she is my girlfriend and the love of my life, I am obligated to put her as number one," Arizona answered with the biggest grin on her face, dimples showing full force.

"You are so cheesy, Arizona Robbins. But I understand. Love of your life, eh?"

"Yes, my new Canadian friend," Arizona joked. "The love of my life. I love her, Teddy. I really do. Everything about her. My world just seems to stop when I'm with her. It's like, I know that she is the one person who could single-handedly destroy me, but I trust her not to do that. I'm so vulnerable letting myself feel this strongly for her after only one summer together, but she makes me feel alive. All these years in med school and all I've been doing is walking around to get by. But she, my amazing Calliope, has made me open up my eyes and live."

Teddy merely shook her head and smiled at her love-struck friend. "That good?"

"That good. I can't wait until winter break so I can take her home to meet my family."

"Wow, that serious already that you want to take her home to meet the folks?"

"Yeah, Teddy. I want her to be the first and last girl I bring home." Arizona's smile never left her face as they continued walking to class.

Arizona looked over again to see that her girlfriend still had a death grip on the steering wheel and was fidgeting in her seat. "Calliope, will you calm down please? If you get any more tense over there you might just break the steering wheel or get us into an accident with how fidgety you are over there. We're just going to spend a few days with your family. No big deal, right? Things went perfectly when you met my parents, so everything will be fine, okay?"

Yeah, except that your family knows you're gay and have been dating a woman for the past six months while my parents have been completely in the dark and will probably freak out if I tell them. "I'm sorry, Arizona. I always get a little nervous around my parents. It's the respect and intimidation thing. Plus, I'm sure my family will love you. They'd be crazy not to." Callie flashed Arizona a smile before turning her attention back to the road, hoping Arizona will just let it go. They were quiet for a while until they drove up to the driveway of Callie's childhood home. "One last thing, can we tone down the PDA and affection around my family? They're still extremely traditional and conservative, so we'll have to ease our relationship onto them, alright?" Please buy that, please buy that…

"I understand. This must have been a difficult thing for them to accept with your background and everything. Hey, I thought you said we were meeting them for dinner at your house?"

"This is my house." Callie responded rather confused.

"What? No, Calliope. This is not a house! My house in North Carolina, that is a house. This! This is like a hotel! You never told me you lived in a hotel, Calliope!"

"Arizona, calm down, it's not that big a deal."

"Calliope! You're like a millionaire, and you never even bothered to tell me."

"No, my parents are millionaires. I am just a girl who is trying to make it through med school and who recently fell in love with the most amazing person in the universe, alright? Now please, stop freaking out, okay? I never mentioned it because I never felt that it was relevant or important to our relationship. The only things that matter are me and you. My money is just a safety net really. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm still the same person, money or no money. I'm still your Calliope." Callie smiled a reassuring smile at Arizona hoping that it would calm her nerves.

"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just in a little bit of shock right now. But everything you just said is true. Money is just money and you're still my Calliope." Arizona perked up. "Now how about we get in there and meet your parents, yeah?"

The dinner went smoothly with Arizona striking up easy conversation with Callie's family filling the table with laughter and embarrassing stories about Callie as a child. As Callie wished, Arizona made sure to keep her affectionate gestures to a minimum and stuck to mostly loving and lingering glances at Callie when she thought no one was looking. Hours later, dinner, desserts, and drinks were finished as everyone started settling in for the evening. "Thank you so much for having me over and for the wonderful dinner."

"It's no problem at all. We're glad to have you over," Carlos answered. "You have been great company, Arizona. I'm glad that Calliope has such a wonderful friend to look out for her over there in LA since she is so far away from her family here in Miami."

Friend? Arizona felt a need to correct him, but chose to just bypass it as a simple mistake when she noticed Callie slightly tense up. "I'm lucky to have her as well, sir. I've definitely become a better person and have been a lot happier since I met her."

"That's good to hear. Now you two can run along upstairs. Calliope would be glad to show you the guest bedroom that has been set up for you."

Now it was Arizona's turn to tense up and she was about to question Carlos when Callie suddenly interrupted. "There's no need for that, daddy. Arizona can stay in my room with me. We stay over in each other's rooms all the time at school, so if that's okay with you…"

"If that's what you'd like. We just figured she'd like the extra space, but if you're both okay with that, then I see no problem with it." Carlos stood up to leave shortly after. "Goodnight. See you both in the morning."

"Goodnight, daddy. Goodnight, mama."

"Goodnight, Mr. Torres. Goodnight, Mrs. Torres."

"See, not so bad, right?" Arizona said as she was getting settled in Callie's old bedroom.

"Yeah, everything went much better than I expected. You and daddy seemed to get along pretty great."

"It's because parents love me and can't resist my charms."

"Well, parents aren't the only ones," Callie said quietly, walking closer to Arizona and wrapping her arms around her middle once she got to her. "Because I know I definitely can't resist you," she whispered against Arizona's neck, tickling the exposed skin there and slowly teasing Arizona's stomach with her fingers.

"Calliope…" Arizona whined. "No fair… You have no idea how much you affect me with just the smallest things…"

"Hmm, things like this?" Callie asked, peppering kisses all around Arizona's shoulders and neck. "Because if that's what you mean, then I might have a slight idea."

Arizona savored the feeling of Callie's lips on her skin before realizing that if they didn't stop now, then she definitely couldn't in just a few minutes more. "Calliope, you better stop right now before something happens."

"And if I want something to happen?"

"Calliope! No sex in your parents' house while they are here!"

"You're no fun." Callie pouted.

"Oh, don't give me that. I'm going to go shower now so we can get to bed."

"You don't have to shower to get to bed… Or better yet, how about I join you in this shower of yours?" Callie asked suggestively. But when Arizona gave her a stern look, she reluctantly relented. "Okay fine… I'll behave."

"Thank you." Arizona grabbed a towel and her pajamas and headed to the bathroom after a quick peck on Callie's lips.

Callie was still in a bit of a daze when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she called out. "Oh hey, Aria. What's up?"

"I think I could ask you the same question, Callie. What's up with you and Arizona?"

"What do you mean?"

Aria let out a sigh. "I mean, are you and Arizona together. As in, are you two a couple, dating, in a relationship?"

Callie froze. "I… Umm…" Oh God, please help me…

[Present Time]

"Sure, of course we can. Will it take long though? Because I have a shift in a couple of hours." Caitlin shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously and looked around the apartment, pretty much anywhere except for Arizona. It was from her silence that Arizona actually took in Caitlin's appearance and noticed the eye bags under Caitlin's eyes and that she looked physically exhausted, as if from a restless night. "Caitlin, are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine. How's Callie?" Caitlin countered, still not looking at Arizona.

"Umm, she's fine. She just left a bit ago to go back to her father at the hospital."

"I see. So she slept on the couch last night?"

Arizona was starting to get confused as to why Caitlin would randomly show up at her door and then start talking about Callie. "Well, I made up the couch for her, but some time during the night, she got frightened being out there all by herself so she slept in my room the rest of the night."

"So she slept in your room last night. In your bed?"

"Well, I wouldn't make her sleep on the floor, so yeah. She slept up in my bed with me."

"Oh…"

"Caitlin, what's going on? Are you sure you're okay?"

"I don't know, I just… Should I be worried, Arizona?" Caitlin asked, finally looking up at Arizona.

"Worried about what?" Arizona asked even though she already knew the answer.

"You and Callie."

Oh no… "Why should you be worried?"

"Oh come on, Arizona. Don't play games with me, okay? Just tell me, do I have anything to be worried about with you and Callie? I mean, I trust you. I really do. It's just that there's only so much trust you can place in someone when an old friend of theirs, a really beautiful, hot, female friend from the past that you've never heard of before suddenly shows up and starts spending a lot of time with your girlfriend. I understand that you're just trying to be a good friend, and I'm not mad at all about that. I'm happy that you're being so supportive of her right now in a time of need, but it just worries me a little, you know? Her staying here with you, in your apartment, all by yourselves, in your room, in your bed. It's just a little unsettling, you know? So just tell me, do I have anything to be worried about?"

Yes. "Caitlin, Callie is just a friend, alright? And you're my girlfriend. I'm sorry if I've been absent or distant lately and that's what is bringing this up in your head, but Callie's just a friend." Please be a good enough answer, please be a good enough answer…

Caitlin flashed a slight smile, "Okay. I'm sorry I bombarded you here without calling first. I was just freaking out a little and couldn't get my stupid insecurities out of my head last night and had trouble sleeping. So I had to come talk to you to ease my thoughts and everything. So thank you for doing that and have a good day at work. Say hi to Callie if you see her around later. I love you. And I'm sorry for ever doubting you." Caitlin said, wrapping Arizona in a quick hug and kissing her before turning around and leaving.

Arizona just stood there in place, speechless and not really know what to do. Oh my God. I can't believe I just lied to her…

"Mark, this is a disaster!" Arizona exclaimed while pacing around the on-call room she paged Mark Sloan into.

"You know, Robbins, I was hoping that this page to an on-call room meant that you'd finally give the Sloan method a chance here. Not have me act as a chick for you."

"Mark! I'm trying to be serious here."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. But what's a disaster?"

"Calliope! Having her here in Seattle."

"What's so bad about that? I thought you'd be happy to have her here. Especially since now you two are kind of talking and okay after that whole George thing."

"That's the problem though. I am happy to see her again and have her here. But that's the thing. I'm a little too happy to have her here. It's almost like things never changed and she just came back and our lives went back to how it was. Except, it can't be how it was because she chose George and left me and moved to San Francisco with him and I stayed here and am with Caitlin now."

"So what? She'll be gone once Derek fixes up her old man and she'll be right back to San Francisco."

"That's what I've been telling myself to shut off my feelings, but they're still there, Mark. And they just won't go away. The worst part is, is that this is starting to affect Caitlin and I can see that she's worried about having Callie around me so much. I wish that I could just stay away from Callie and avoid her at all costs so it'd be easier to deal with having her here, but I can't seem to do that. It's like I gravitate towards her even though I know that it'll only cause me pain. Maybe I've become a masochist, Mark. Maybe I enjoy putting myself through all this pain."

"Don't be ridiculous, Robbins. Once Callie's dad gets all better, you won't have to worry about it anymore."

"But we don't know how long that'll be. He could get better today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, I don't know, never? Not knowing how long is killing me. And it hurts knowing that Carlos is fighting for his life too because I've known him for a while and I know how much he means to Calliope. So seeing her so hurt over all of this makes me even weaker to her. I just don't know what to do, Mark. Obviously getting involved with her would be so unbelievably stupid and hurt so many people, but what about me? What about how I feel?"

"I think you should focus on the things that you do have and the here and now. Don't think about what happened before. Don't think about what might happen in the future. Think about what's going on right now. Doesn't Caitlin know that Callie's in town?"

"Of course she knows Callie's in town. They even met, briefly."

"Does she know who Callie is? Like your history and what she meant to you?"

"Umm… Not exactly…"

"Arizona! Caitlin deserves to know at least that. She's a great person and she's been good for you. After Callie left, I wasn't sure you'd be able to pull it together, but you did and it was because of her. The least you could do is tell her the truth and not leave her in the dark."

"I know, Mark. I'm just scared. What do I do?"

"Do you love her?"

"Who?"

"Caitlin."

"Of course I do."

"But the question is, can you and do you love her more than Callie?" Arizona stood there in silence after Mark's simple, straight-forward question. "And I guess there's your answer."

Writer's block is an evil thing, my friends. But thankfully, after a good, intense workout session at the gym, I was able to sit down and focus and pop this chapter out for you. =D

I feel like I'm writing two separate stories sometimes, don't you think?

OH MY GOSH at tonight's/last night's episode! Arizona was so incredibly cute! I won't spoil anything for anyone here, but if you haven't watched it, you should! It was amazing, and totally worth the month long hiatus. I need to find more friends who watch Grey's so they can freak out with me! D=

Tell me what you thought? Whether it's about this chapter, the episode, or both, I'll deeply appreciate it and maybe even respond back to you. =]