"Loving someone liberates the lover as well as the beloved. And that kind of love comes with age."
- Maya Angelou
Present day
There's a certain calmness that washes over your body when everything that you have been working so hard for finally falls into place. That calmness however, didn't want to meet Arizona Robbins today. Nope. Anxiety was filling in for the missing emotion
and it came as a force to be reckoned with.
Wiping her sweaty palms against her jeans, Arizona raised her hand to ring the bell of the Torres Residence while trying to and simultaneously prayed that her nerves would calm down. It's Callie, her best friend, the person she knew, the girl who held
her hand through many rainstorms, the girl who calmed her fears when she found out her father was being deployed but most of all she was the girl who stayed.
The door swung open, the custom squeak making its noise heard and Arizona was met with familiar brown eyes, though these were not the pair she needed to drown into. "Mija, Callie is upstairs she'll be down in a minute. Come in" Carlos Torres ushered her
in. He surveilled the younger blonde who was dressed casually smart and armed with a small bouquet of flowers "What are you girls up to today?"
"Calliope and I are going to the Carnival today and I'm going to uhhh…. We're going to try all the rides this time" Arizona nervously said fidgeting with the cellophane that was wrapped around the flowers
"Arizona" Carlos started
"I might even try that toffee apple that Callie loves so much. I swear I really don't see how she can like a toffee apple but not a normal apple. I mean this just has a coat of sugar over it and then the rest of it is just like a normal apple. And it's
not even a nice apple. They use the fluffy red ones." Arizona scrunched her face in distaste and Carlos just laughed
"She's an enigma isn't she."
"I'll say" Arizona huffed though a small smile still graced her face
"Take care of her Arizona" Carlos said, all traces of laughter fading away from his voice. He knew the blonde was too in love with his daughter to even think about hurting her emotionally but he had to say. He felt as though to make himself feel better
about the situation, he had to say.
Carlos Torres was still struggling with his daughter's sexuality but that didn't mean he wasn't trying. But he guessed that wasn't enough because even at this point he found himself not understanding her. It created a dent in their relationship and it
broke his heart. Why was it so hard for him to see past this. Maybe it was because he hated all the girls his daughter chose to date, because they were never good enough for her, irrespective of gender. They never treated her the way she was meant
to be treated. Carlos somehow knew that in Arizona, Callie would finally find love, trust and companionship. He made a note to go see Daniel after this.
"I promise" the younger blonde said wholeheartedly and sticking her pinky out in front of Carlos who chuckled and entwined his pinky with hers. Smiling at each other he stood up and hugged the blonde.
"You are my daughter too, If she hurts you either…. just let me know…. I'll call some people" he said laughing causing Arizona to laugh as well.
"You wouldn't call mom on me! Traitor" Callie said feigning shock and walking up to them. She too was dressed in smart casual blue jeans, a simple white tee and a leather jacket. Arizona however was still focused on the chucks Callie had on. They were
the same chucks that Arizona had drew the joker on.
"Have fun you two" Carlos said before kissing Callie's cheek and just as he was about to walk out Callie pulled him back and gave him a hug.
"Thank you Dad" she whispered as she held onto him and both of them knew the deeper meaning held within the statement. Once she finally pulled away she looked at Arizona "Ready" she nervously asked and after Arizona nodded her head she held her hand out
to the blonde
Walking down the street, hand in hand both of them were too occupied with their own nerves to notice the others quietness. In a way, both were grateful for the silence as it gave each of them time to sort out their emotions
"So I want to take you somewhere before we go to the carnival, okay?" Callie shakily said, knocking Arizona out of her internal mental encouragement speech
'Crap!' "Yeah okay, let me just call mom quickly so that I can tell I'll be getting there a little later. She wanted to meet us" Arizona said avoiding eye contact. Pulling out her phone she sends a quick text before retaking Callie's hand "So where are
we off to?"
"It's a surprise" Callie said as they continued walking
Recognizing the walkway, "We're going to Hog's Hill aren't we?" Arizona said
"Okay fine!" Callie huffed "But you're not getting anything else" she then pouted.
Making their way up the hill, Arizona's eyes landed on a blanket and a bouquet of red roses
"Callie? what is this?" Arizona asked, confused by everything
"I'm tired…" Callie admitted and sighed, her brown eyes piercing into Arizona's
"That's okay, we can always go to the next carnival." Arizona said a little deflated. Too deflated for Callie's liking but she decided to soldier on and before she could "Calliope, why didn't you tell me before we left the house, I wouldn't have minded.
I don't want you to feel pressured to hang out with me today. I just wanted to spend some time with you because you've been so busy recently and I don't even know why. But we can always do it another…"
Callie cut her off by walking toward her and pressing her body against the blonde's and wrapping her arms around her waist "I'm tired of waiting for you to tell me how you feel. So now, Now you're going to shut up and let me tell you how I feel about
you and how perfect we can be together so it can quell any of your fears that you have. okay?"
Arizona was pretty sure she was going to lose consciousness because her vision was starting to get blurry. Was this a dream? Was this her subconscious' cruel way of giving her what she wants only to have it ripped away from her
"Arizona don't cry" Callie softly said as she raised her hand to gently wipe the tears away
Raising her own hand to stroke Callie's face "This feels so real, YOU feel so real." Arizona whispered and then moved out of Callie's embrace and began to look at the view of their little town "But the worst part is, is that all of this is probably my
brain playing with me but GOD!" She said and once again turned to the Latina "How I wish all of this was real, but I don't want to do this to myself" Arizona felt the tears rolling down her cheeks
She used her sleeve to quickly wipe them away before looking up at Callie "I've had this dream more times than I'd like to admit and each time I would allow myself to be with you. What's even more pathetic is that even when you were with someone I'd still
have them. I stopped having them about four months ago, because I couldn't take the pain anymore. I thought I could but seeing you with Jen…. it was….." Arizona was struggling to find the word and then finally settled on "You fell in love with her"
she whispered so quietly that if Callie hadn't been paying close attention, she never would've heard.
Callie walked over to Arizona and wrapped her arms around the blonde "I'm sorry" after staying in that embrace for a while, Callie pulled back and gently pushed a lock of blonde hair behind Arizona's ear "This is real and I promise. I didn't want to tell
you that I knew because I wanted you to feel comfortable and confident in yourself enough to know that you wanted this too. These past few months have been amazing and I want this...us. I want to give us a chance and that's only if you want to too"Callie
finished
"Follow me" was all Arizona said before taking Callie's hand and walking them towards the carnival. Arizona's brisk strides didn't falter nor did she look back at Callie once on the way and Callie's mind was going in overdrive
'I pushed her too hard didn't I, god damnit Callie she was the one amazing thing and you screwed it up. She just wanted a day at the carnival but no. You had to go make like a guilty person and confess everything to her like she's a priest that can relieve
you. God I'm an idiot'
Reaching the entrance of the carnival, Arizona paid their admission fees and then continued to essentially drag Callie through the fields to the ferris wheel.
"Arizona, Thank god I was beginning to think that you weren't coming. Are we going with the plan now?" Jake, the owner of the ferris wheel asked
"Yes please" Arizona politely replied and then finally looked back to see a very confused and maybe a little winded Callie. Still no words were shared between the two teenagers as they move to sit down in one of the carriages. Arizona's hand still entwined
with Callie's lays rested on the blonde's lap. As they go higher up, Callie's breath catches in her throat when she finally sees it. Looking over at Arizona with tears in her eyes, she saw that the blonde had teared up too and her face had adorned
a sheepish smile as they looked at each other.
Over on the next field, there was a small picnic setup, with the large teddy bear that Callie had seen all those months ago and her name was written in what seemed to be an endless supply of haystacks.
"If you had just given me the day…" Arizona lightly chuckled "This wasn't even the whole plan. We were going to come here and spend the day on all the rides…. except this one for obvious reasons. I would've gotten you a mountain of cotton candy and even
tried your toffee apple and then just as the sun set we would come here and then that field would be lit up with candles and then…. yeah"
"You did all of this….. for me" Callie asked incredulously
"Of course I did, you deserve this and so much more Callie. I want to be the person that gives you that." Arizona said with such conviction that Callie believed it "Can I uhh …..Can I kiss you?"
"Please"
Arizona gently moved impossibly closer to Callie, slowly leaning in. Placing a hand to softly caress Callie cheek, Arizona pressed their lips together. The kiss was chaste, but it was everything to the two of them. Arizona lowly moaned at the taste of
Callie's soft lips and then moved her hand to tangle it in raven locks. Finally pulling back when they felt the wheel moving. Callie dazedly opens her eyes only to see Arizona smiling widely at her. "That was amazing" she whispered
"I would say it was awesome" Arizona laughs
Jake is smiling at them when they finally get off the carriage, though nothing can compare to the light and happiness radiating off the two.
After they walked for a little bit, Callie broke their comfortable silence "We can still go through the day according to your 'plan'"
"Really?" Arizona asked clearly surprised
"Yeah"
—
The sun had set half an hour ago and Arizona had taken Callie on the ferris wheel again and although Callie had already seen the field ahead before, her breath was taken away. Leaning her head on Arizona's shoulder, the two stayed there, enjoying each
others presence. The whole day had been perfect, they played all the silly carnival games and Callie had won Arizona a stuffed monkey that the blonde had hugging her back the whole day. Arizona had tried the sugar coated apple and in a turn of events
like it even more than Callie. They spent the entire time giggling and dragging each other to different places. They kissed in the photo booth, Callie gave Arizona a piggyback ride and they had eaten enough cotton candy to fuel a class of kindergartners.
They were happy. Even though everybody knew Callie, every time Arizona entered a new stall or attraction she would greet the clerk and introduce Callie as her girlfriend, which never failed to put a smile on everyone's faces.
Walking through the dark field, Callie had moved closer to Arizona's body so they could share body heat. The blonde moved to wrap her arm around Callie's shoulder and despite the height difference she managed to kiss the brunette's temple. Slowly sitting
down, Arizona grabbed a blanket and motioned for Callie to sit between her legs.
"This is nice" Callie said as she cuddled into Arizona and the blonde wrapped the blanket around them.
"Question" Arizona said
"Shoot"
"How come you've been so distant lately?"
"I guess I was figuring out my own master plan to get you that I needed some time by myself so I could figure it all out" Callie replied. "Worth it?"
"Calliope you kinda stole my thunder, but I guess its okay" Arizona shrugged and Callie turned slightly
"Take that back!" Callie said lightly pushing Arizona onto the grass
"Or what" the blonde dared
"I'll take my 'I like you' back" Callie smiled
"Great! Can I swap it for an 'I love you'" Arizona said earnestly and even in the darkness Callie could see how brightly blue eyes shined.
Too stunned to verbally respond, Callie leaned down to kiss Arizona so passionately that both of them didn't even realize that there was a fireworks display above them. Resting her forehead against Arizona's, Callie through bated breath whispered "I love
you too"
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. This was the way I always the way I envisioned writing this story; for something to disrupt Arizona's plan but not in a negative way, just in a different way that she had planned out for. Because well… when does
life ever cater to our plans.