CHAPTER TWO

Five words. That's all it took for silence to instantly fill the room. There was no hesitation in her voice, no wavering either; it remained completely steady and firm. It was as if it was the easiest thing she'd ever said. It wasn't until she saw the pain flood Callie's deep eyes that a tinge of regret struck her heart, as her eyes widened and her lips trembled slightly.

"Calliope…"

With a quick intake of breath, Callie lifted her hand to stop Arizona from continuing. Her jaw locked, her lips pursed, and she shook her head as she dropped her gaze to her feet as her brow furrowed in hurt. Callie lowered her head before she abruptly turned on her heels and walked into the bedroom without even a sound, shutting the door quietly behind her. For a moment, Arizona contemplated going after her, but she instantly decided against it. Even if Callie acknowledged her after that, there was no way of explaining a statement like that. And she certainly didn't have the energy to keep the fight going any longer.

Arizona switched off the hair dryer and gently ran her fingers through her soft curls. She shook her head once more as she caught one last glance of herself, before treading into the kitchen. She turned on the bar lights and opened one of the cabinets. She needed a donut.

"You let people break you."

She felt the flicker of anger before she saw it in Arizona's eyes. The words flowed so easily from her lips. Was it really that easy to hurt someone you loved like that? She heard the forcefulness in her tone. She felt it as her heart dropped to her stomach. She heard her breath hitch after she'd fully absorbed the words into every facet of her body.

It kept playing over and over in her mind, like one of those skipping records, "let people break you…let people break you…" She knew she looked like she was on the verge of tears, and she knew Arizona had realized the pain she caused her; her expression softened and her lips trembled as she desperately searched for something to say. No, she wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So, as she heard Arizona say her name, she tightened her jaw and balled her hands into fists at her side. She shook her head in disbelief after her name was spoken aloud. Normally, hearing it in that tiny special tone reserved just for her, it gave her butterflies, made her heart beat just a little faster. Now? It made her want to throw up.

She lifted her hand, the only movement she could muster. She didn't want Arizona to continue, she'd said enough. She didn't even want her to attempt to fix this right now.

No matter what followed that Calliope, assuming she even had a clue what to say after it, Callie would never believe her. A declaration such as that one had to come from somewhere, and she doubted even Arizona understood herself from where it did right now.

She quickly turned around and walked into the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her. Arizona didn't deserve the acknowledgement, the satisfaction, of hearing the door slam. She vaguely felt the heated droplets that were streaming slowly and silently down her cheeks. She paused as the door clicked close, grateful for the separation created between she and Arizona. She held the handle briefly, just in case Arizona tried to follow her, closing her eyes and taking a deep, staggering breath. She dropped her hand and guided herself over to the bed, grasping for a pillow and hugging it close, burying her face into it as the sobs racked through her body. The control she'd held onto this long, dissolving into sniffles and gasps and sobs that she prayed Arizona couldn't hear.

Three whole days had passed since Arizona had gone to blows with Callie. And in those three days, Callie hadn't even attempted to leave the apartment, and it was driving Cristina up the wall. She moped and carried on like someone had killed her puppy. That is, when she actually ventured out from her bedroom at all. Most of the time she locked herself in, sniffling softly, gazing longingly at the various photos that adorned their room of she and Arizona, when they were happy, when they were madly in love. God, how she missed the happy. As she sulked her way into the kitchen, looking for a glass of water, she came across Cristina, sitting on the couch, nose deep in a medical journal. She managed an offhanded "Hey" and Cristina merely looked and tilted her head up in acknowledgement. Much to Callie's surprise, Cristina had kept her commentary about the predicament to herself the past few days. Unless you could count all the pent up aggravation written all over her face, and in that case, she never shut the hell up.

As she reentered her bedroom, flipping off the light and flipping on her stereo, she sighed deeply as the music filled the room. She set the water on the nightstand and threw herself onto the bed, bouncing slightly as she grasped tightly to Arizona's pillow, inhaling remnants of her perfume and shampoo. She closed her eyes, replaying the night over in her head, trying to pinpoint the exact second where they had gone off track. As far as she was concerned, the night had been perfect, just what both of them had needed after a crazy, stressful week. As she reflected, she took in the most depressing music she could come up with, memories of her other failed relationships, as she tried desperately to fight back tears, remembering the awful things they had said to one another. Despite it all, though, the smell of Arizona next to her made her feel safe.

Callie closed her eyes and slowly began to feel the weight of the stress disappear, as her sleepless nights finally caught up to her. She was so tired of crying, of thinking, of feeling, of everything. Just so, incredibly, tired. Just as she straddled the line between awake and slumber, the music abruptly stopped, jolting her upright. Slowly opening her eyes as her heart raced, she barely made out Cristina standing next to her stereo, one finger on the off button, her other hand on her hip, impatiently tapping her fingers against it, a heavy set glare directed straight in Callie's direction.

"This has to stop. Now."

Callie didn't even bother with a response. Nothing she could come up with would appease Cristina, nor would there be an acceptable answer to give her. She also knew Yang was right; she needed to snap out of this funk she'd found herself in. She was letting Arizona do the very thing she accused her of; lettering someone break her.

Instead of speaking, Callie rolled her eyes and sunk back into the pillow fortress she'd barricaded herself in earlier, completely ignoring the fact that Cristina hadn't budged. She heard a very audible and overly dramatic sigh from across the room, and seconds later, she felt a pillow from directly under her head being ripped out from under her, hitting her hard, right in the face.

"What the hell, Cristina? She was seriously not in the mood for her games.

"I swear to God, Torres, if Mark Sloan asks one more time if you're still alive, I'm going to kill you myself just so I can tell him to shut up and leave me alone."

Cristina glared at Callie with a ferocity that even made Callie squirm, looking her straight in the eyes to emphasize her point. She wasn't fucking kidding. Without another word, she turned and left the room, leaving a bewildered and slightly intimidated Callie, with her mouth hanging wide open in shock. "What the hell?"

A/N: Chapter 3 (Posting on Monday September 13).