DISCLAIMER:: not mine. still belongs to shonda rhimes and abc studios.
A/N:: drama is my middle name. well actually it's caitlin, but you get the idea. i love the stuff. marriage is not without challenges and i plan to deliver plenty of them. mostly in the form of bastian skedros and ariana torres, plus a few surprise guests later on. hopefully it makes for a good story.
Callie's sobs were all that filled the Torres household. Everything else was silent. For several minutes no one moved, they barely breathed. Finally, it was Sebastian who broke the inactivity. He pushed past the family at the bottom of the staircase where they were frozen and made his way up the stairs to the sobbing form. He kneeled down and scooped Callie up effortlessly. Her arms found their way around his neck, her face fit easily in the nape of his neck… they seemed to fit together perfectly. He carried her the rest of the way up the stairs and disappeared down the hallway leading to her room.
Idola cleared her throat the second they were out of sight. "Eduardo, go to your office, I will meet you there." Her tone was hard and though he seemed almost as if he would challenge it, he didn't. He turned and disappeared towards the back of the house. Idola turned to Aria. "I need you to find Erica. She couldn't have gotten far."
Aria frowned, an action she rarely did, and shook her head. "How am I supposed to know where she'd go? She's Callie's girlfriend."
"Does it look as if your sister is in any shape to go after her? Now you will go and find her Ariana; this will be fixed. Believe me, you do not want to return without that woman, for your sister's sake, and for your own." Idola turned and walked away, leaving Aria alone in the entry hall.
She sighed and turned for the door, glad she was already in casual clothes. Opting against taking one of the cars out to look for the blonde she pocketed her phone and set out. Outside the door, she paused. "If I was upset, where would I go?" It came to her almost immediately. She knew where Erica was without a moment of searching.
Callie was out from exhaustion by the time Sebastian set her down on her bed and tucked her in. He never left the room through the several hours she slept. The sun arched through the sky and made its slow descent. The boys, Idola, and even Eduardo filed in and out of the room at random times to give updates and see if she was okay, but no one stayed longer than a minute, almost as if they were afraid that sadness and misery were contagious.
When Callie finally woke, calm for the first time all morning, the first thing she saw was Sebastian examining her picture wall.
"She's not back yet, before you start asking. Ariana left to look for her less than ten minutes after she left but neither has returned or called."
Callie thought she might start crying again, but she found that she was too burnt out for tears.
"Life used to be so uncomplicated for us Callie."
Callie sighed. She pushed off her covers and got up. When she came to stand beside Sebastian, she leaned her head on his shoulder. "It was always simple for us, wasn't it?"
Bastian smiled. "Yes, it was. I don't think we ever even fought until that night."
Callie shook her head. "Sometimes I wish life were that easy. It would be nice to be that sure again."
Before Callie processed what was happening, she was wrapped up in Bastian's arms and his lips were on hers. When he finally let her go, he smiled. "It could be."
"I had a feeling I might find you here." Aria approached Erica slowly, trying to gauge her mood. "Mind if I join you?"
Erica looked at Aria from the ground up, analyzing her intent. Finally, she nodded.
Aria sat down right next to the blonde. She said nothing. It wasn't fair to judge what Erica might be feeling, and she honestly had no idea what might be going through the older woman's head.
They sat in silence for over an hour, neither ready to engage the other in conversation. Erica, surprising herself, was the first to break the silence.
"How did you know where I would be?"
Aria took her eyes off the view and looked at Erica. "I just asked myself where I would have gone. I always came here when I wanted to get away in a city full of people."
Erica nodded. "I can't imagine that was often."
Aria chuckled. It thawed Erica's heart just a little. "More often then you'd think actually. See, I wasn't the most attractive girl growing up. All this…" She gestured down her body. "It happened the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. I left wearing glasses, a mouth full of braces, and short for my age. When I returned to school I was nearly a foot taller, filled out, the braces were gone along with the glasses. I wasn't even lucky enough to be smarter than Calliope in school. I had the worst younger sibling complex you could ever imagine. I was always trying to escape her shadow."
The sides of Erica's mouth turned up just a little; she could understand that. She was forever trying to live up to Kayla's legacy. "You didn't turn out all that bad you know."
Aria chuckled. "Thanks, I think. You're not horribly awful yourself."
Now that she was a little more relaxed and genuinely in good company, she felt herself loosen up on the anger and betrayal she was letting fester inside her. "Did you come to take me back?"
Aria was quiet for a moment. "I was sent to bring you back, but no, I don't intend to take you anywhere you're not ready to go."
Erica met Aria's eyes. "Thank you."
Aria smiled. "Anytime." She looked back towards the ocean, rubbing the sand off her hands. "Do you mind if I keep you company?"
Erica nodded. "I think I'd like that."