Hey everyone! Thank you guys so, so much for all of your lovely reviews! They're the reason I decided to keep this story alive! Again, I have to apologize for this gigantic hiatus, but in return the chapter is extra-long (for my standards).

I should probably mention that I have never been to Seattle myself, so if I made any mistakes in this chapter, I apologize – everything is based on internet research. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

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After they'd had a generous breakfast of waffles and pancakes – without ice cream, Arizona had insisted – neither of them really knew what to do next. To buy some time, they cleared the table, filled the dishwasher with dirty plates and cutlery and wiped clean both table and countertop. Once they were finished, both lingered awkwardly at the counter, still holding on to their coffee mugs, not knowing what to do with themselves. Finally, Arizona spoke up.

"It's alright, Calliope. You don't have to worry about what happened last night, okay? I know you were just drunk and that what happened didn't mean anything. So don't beat yourself up about it. It happens to the best of us." she added with a tentative smile.

It didn't mean anything? No, of course not. Nope. No-uh. Nothing at all… Callie quickly shook off her thoughts. "Thanks. I'm glad we understand each other." she replied meekly. Do we though?

Arizona nodded thankfully, though the smile on her lips never fully reached her eyes. "So, do you have any plans for today? What do you normally do on your day off?" she asked keenly.

Callie's brain instantly snapped to pictures of herself on her couch, watching movies all day long, eating nothing but pizza, chips and chocolate. Sure, that'll make her think you're an interesting person. "Oh, you know, this and that. Whatever I feel like doing at the time." she answered instead, underlining her perfectly cool response with a casual wave of her hand. Glancing at Arizona, she noticed the blonde looking at her with a skeptical expression on her face. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Callie spoke up again "And in most cases I feel like sitting in front of the TV." she added, chuckling.

"Ah, now that sounds more like it!" Arizona replied playfully.

Callie turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "Don't tell me you do anything productive on your one day off from hospital duty!" she challenged.

In response to this, the blonde simply smiled up at her, partly because she enjoyed their teasing banter, partly because she simply couldn't come up with another smart comeback. A comfortable silence settled in around them, both women leaning against the counter behind them, sipping the rest of their coffee.

After a while Arizona spoke up again. "So, what do you feel like doing today? Any plans?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Not really. I should probably get some groceries, but apart from that… how about you?" Are you going to spend your day in the hospital again, sitting next to your comatose brother? she added in her mind. Callie understood that it was hard for the blonde to live a normal life, considering her brother's condition. But at the same time she wished for Arizona to be able to forget about this tragedy every now and again, to occasionally have a good time without feeling guilty about it or constantly thinking she should be at her brother's side instead. Callie had been a doctor long enough to know that a patient's family members often suffered as much as the patient himself – if not more. The Latina had seen many patients' relatives bury themselves in grief, never leaving the hospital unless they were kicked out, sitting next to their loved ones day in day out, unable to move on and accept the fact that their child, their spouse, their sibling, might not come back. At this moment, the Latina promised herself to not let this happen to Arizona. She was going to make sure the blonde would be okay, come what may.

She was brought back to reality when Arizona spoke up. "I don't really have any plans either. I will probably go see Danny later, spend some time with him…"

"Do you maybe want to do something together instead? Leave the hospital behind for a day, relax a bit? I could show you around the city maybe?" Callie interrupted.

The blonde looked up in surprise. "Uh… I don't know, I mean what if something happens with Danny and I'm not there? I should probably…"

"If something happens with Danny there will be umpteen doctors at the hospital who will take good care of him. Come on, a day off will do you good." the Latina suggested. Seeing that her proposal had no real effect on Arizona, she half demanded, half begged "Please?"

The blonde let out a puff of air, then slowly nodded. "Alright. I suppose I could spare a couple of hours. And you're right, some distraction might be a good idea."

"Great! So… well, I never actually asked, how long have you been here in Seattle?"

"I've been here for a little over 2 months now. Though I have to admit I haven't seen much of the city yet. I just haven't gotten around to it." Arizona answered quietly.

"Perfect! Then I can show you some of my favorite spots in Seattle, and I'm sure we can squeeze some sightseeing in there as well. Sound good?" Callie asked enthusiastically. Though she didn't enjoy visiting the city's attractions too much (ugh, tourists!), she did look forward to spending time with the blonde she had come to adore so much over the last couple of days. She was unable to fully explain her admiration for Arizona, seeing as the draw she felt towards the other woman was very unfamiliar – yet no less exhilarating.

"Sounds great! Do you want to get started right away?" the blonde asked, excitement about the day ahead now very apparent in her voice.

"I would just about kill for a shower right now." Callie laughed. "So how about I head home, get a shower and change, and we meet up in, say, an hour?"

"Done! How about I pick you up with the car at your place then?"

They both agreed to this plan, and after Callie jotted down her address (in perfectly horrible doctor's lettering, which Arizona could only decipher because she was a doctor herself; any ordinary mortal would've been stranded), the Latina left to get ready at her own apartment not too far away.

xoxoxo

About an hour later both women sat in Arizona's car, driving to their first destination. Since food was still scarce in Callie's fridge she had decided to take the blonde to a local market place, which was both a lovely spot to shop and a rather prominent tourist attraction. When she had told Arizona about this plan, the blonde had squealed in delight, having heard about the market's quirky traditions. They arrived at Pike Place Market before long, parked the car in a nearby parking garage and walked into the market's main arcade. The constant hustle and bustle inside the building instantly captivated both of them, the welcoming and carefree atmosphere rubbing off on them. They strolled through the busy walkways, stopping every now and again when Callie bought some food from a vendor, or when Arizona wanted to gawk at one of the displays for a little longer.

Finally they arrived at a stall that sold fish, one of the most predominant attractions of the market. A small crowd had formed around the little stand where men in orange pants and wellington boots advertised their products. There were fish of all imaginable sizes and forms, as well as crabs, shellfish and other sea food. Callie and Arizona got closer to the stall, lastly standing at the front of the crowd, excitedly waiting for the spectacle to begin.

A man stepped up to the counter, pointed to a fish and handed one of the vendors a couple of bills. The fishmonger nodded, then suddenly yelled out "One Wild Alaskan King Salmon for the gentleman!" All of his colleagues instantly responded "One Wild Alaskan King Salmon!", yelling out the costumer's order as the fishmonger himself threw said fish behind the counter.

"I wonder how often they drop one of those things." Arizona whispered to Callie.

"Wait a couple more minutes and you'll find out" the brunette responded playfully.

And indeed, only a few minutes later, one of the fishmongers chucked a fish from behind the counter towards one of his colleagues, who was standing closer to the customers. However, the fish flew a bit too far, hitting one lucky spectator square in the face before unceremoniously flopping to the ground. Everyone went silent, waiting for the tourist's reaction, silently hoping he wouldn't throw a tantrum. After what felt like hours, the man laughed out, knelt down and picked up the slippery fish, then held it up for everybody to see.

"That's what I call a warm welcome!" he snickered while handing the animal over to an obviously relieved fishmonger. A round of guffaws went through the audience, everybody clearly amused by the incident, while also relieved that it hadn't been them who were hit with a slimy fish. The presentation went on for a while longer, and both Arizona and Callie, who had been to the market oftentimes before, enjoyed themselves very much. Once the fishmongers' routine was over though, both agreed they'd seen enough of the market and made their way back to the car.

Just as they stepped out of the arcade however, Callie suddenly stopped in her tracks and held Arizona back by the elbow. "I almost forgot to show you the coolest thing here! Oh, thank god I remembered. You have got to see this!" she announced eagerly. She turned around, pulling Arizona with her, and made her way back through the market, turning a couple of corners, until she finally stopped and turned back around to the blonde.

"Close your eyes. I want it to be a surprise" she smiled excitedly. When she saw that Arizona was about to protest, she quickly covered the other woman's mouth with her hand, shook her head and mouthed "Shhhh!".

The blonde rolled her eyes, but eventually closed them, a slight smile tucking at the corners of her mouth. Callie stepped behind her, grasped Arizona by her shoulders and maneuvered her until they had arrived at their destination.

"Open your eyes."

The other woman did as she was told, her eyes opening, blinking against the light, then widening further and further. Her mouth opened in accord, not a single sound coming out. After a couple of moments, she managed to say "What… what is that? "

Callie giggled "That, milady, is the Gum Wall. Which is… well, exactly what it sounds like. Basically a wall with a whole bunch of bubblegum on it. Isn't it cool?"

The blonde only shook her head. Her eyes wandered over the multicolored wall, which was literally covered in thousands of blobs of gum. Here and there little messages or symbols were formed out of the substance, which altogether covered at least 50 feet of the wall. Arizona didn't know what to say. It was such a weird sight, and, at the end of the day, rather gross, but at the same time it was fascinating that these yucky pieces of scrap, brought together by thousands of people, would end up looking almost like an artwork – which it essentially was.

She felt Callie looking at her expectantly, waiting for her reaction to the bizarre attraction. Arizona turned to her, smiled and asked "Do you have a pack of gum by any chance?"

xoxoxo

When they later arrived at the parking garage, Callie asked "So, what do you want to do next? Go all out, tourist-wise, and go up the Space Needle? Or would you rather get a coffee somewhere? Or, you know, anything else you can think of…"

Arizona put on her best thinking-face, then answered "I think a cup of coffee would be nice right now. If that's okay with you?".

"Sounds perfect."

xoxoxo

Only around 10 minutes later, both women stood at the end of pier 70, overlooking the ocean and sipping their respective coffees (a tall Americano for Callie and an even taller Caffé Mocha for Arizona). After a couple of minutes, the blonde broke the comfortable silence.

"Thank you for this." She turned to the brunette and smiled sincerely.

"For what?" Callie looked confused.

"This. Today. Just, you know… you being here with me. I know you're doing all of this to distract me, and I really appreciate it. So, thank you."

A smile crept onto Callie's face as well as she coyly responded "You're welcome. Pleasure's all mine."

They stayed at the pier for a while longer, just enjoying their time together, sipping their coffees. The brunette pointed out some of the islands that were visible on the horizon and told Arizona a story or two about different trips she took to the isles, with friends, with her family, or by herself. The blonde listened carefully, asking a question every now and again, genuinely interested in what Callie told her. Eventually though, the cool Seattle air crept under their sweaters, and since they'd left their jackets in the car anyway, they decided to drive to their next destination.

"Okay, you got two choices: Space Needle or Public Library." Callie announced. "Choose wisely." she added mysteriously, adding a scary laugh for dramatic effect.

"Oh, I've heard about the library! I've been planning on going there for a while now. Would that be alright?" the blonde answered, completely ignoring Callie's antics.

"Okeydokey. The library it is. It really is pretty cool actually, they built it only a couple of years ago, so the architecture is very modern and quite impressive… but, you'll see that once we're there anyway."

xoxoxo

They ended up spending the entire afternoon together. After they had visited the library – whose architecture really was extraordinary, making their tour most enjoyable – they went up the Space Needle as well. Both Arizona and Callie (who had never been up there, despite having lived in Seattle for quite some time) were taken with the view this clear, cloudless day provided. Again, Callie took over the part of the tour guide, showing the blonde all of the landmarks they could see from the Space Needle – which were a lot. Due to this, they stayed on the platform for over two hours, both completely losing track of time, as they talked about the city, their lives, and generally this and that.

Eventually they realized how late it had gotten, so Callie decided it was time for their very last location for the day, which also happened to be the Latina's favorite spot in all of Seattle. They got back to the car and drove in north-eastern direction, always according to the brunette's instructions. After a 20-minute drive, Callie told Arizona to pull into a large, however almost empty parking lot. Both women put on their jackets and the Latina grabbed two of the plastic bags from the market, skillfully ignoring Arizona's questioning looks.

"Let's go!" was her only answer, and she walked ahead, closely followed by the curious blonde. They came to a gravel walk and followed it, walking in a very secluded area, with no one else in sight, for a couple of minutes. They strolled through a small forest, crossed a clearing and came into another wooded area, until they finally saw the end of this stretch, where the trees cleared and gave way to a large pasture of grass. Right behind it, Arizona could see a lake, glistening in the approaching dawn, which gave the whole landscape an almost mystical atmosphere. They walked closer to the water, until Callie turned and smiled at the blonde.

"This is it."

She handed Arizona one of the plastic bags, and put her own on the ground, sitting down on it. The blonde did the same, taking a seat next to Callie.

"It's so peaceful here. It's beautiful." She whispered, almost as if she was afraid that speaking up might ruin the moment.

"It is, isn't it? I come here as much as I can. It's so relaxing to get out of the city, even if it's just for a few hours, and to just sit here, and think about this and that, or nothing at all. There's never anybody around, I guess most of the people don't even know there's a lake here. I only found it because I got lost once while I was jogging." The Latina answered, also in a low voice.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Can I ask you something?" Callie finally spoke up.

Arizona turned to face her. "Sure."

"This will probably sound weird… and is probably totally intrusive, I really shouldn't… forget I said anything." The brunette retreated, suddenly unsure of herself.

"Calliope, come on. Ask away, I won't be mad, I promise." Arizona encouraged her.

The Latina sighed. "Okay, so here goes… are you… I mean, do you like… uhm, are you… gay?" she let out a puff of air.

The blonde chuckled quietly. "Yes, Calliope. I am gay." She warmly smiled at the other woman, Callie's mouth slowly forming into a shy grin as well. "How about you?"

The Latina's smirk quickly turned into a frown, and she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I'm… no, I'm not. I mean, I don't… I've never…"

"Hey, it's okay." Arizona lifted Callie's chin up with her right hand. "Look at me, Calliope. It's alright. It's not important, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, see, you should have. But I should have an answer to that question. It's not that hard to answer. At least it shouldn't be. And a couple of weeks ago, I would've had an answer, but now… god, I just don't know!" she half cried, half shouted out.

The blonde put an arm around Callie's shoulder, pulling her closer. They sat like this for a while, the brunette silently debating in her head, the other woman rubbing reassuring circles on her back. Finally, the Latina straightened up and looked at Arizona.

"Please don't hate me for this" she mumbled as she slowly moved in, lessening the distance between them. She lifted her left hand, cupping the blonde's cheek and stroking the soft flesh there with her thumb. Arizona's eyes fluttered shut at the soft touch and a quiet hum emerged from her slightly parted lips. Callie moved even closer, her upper body almost hovering over the other woman's sitting form, until their faces were mere inches apart. The Latina studied Arizona's face carefully, taking in her still closed eyes, her faintly quivering lips, her heavy breathing, the almost unnoticeable reddening of her cheeks. When another small whimper escaped the blonde's lips, Callie threw all caution in the wind and closed the remaining distance.

Their lips touched, and everything around them was forgotten. All Callie could feel were Arizona's soft lips on her own, a sensation much stronger than anything she had ever felt before. It was almost as if a spark passed between them, for both women moaned silently into the kiss, reveling in the alluring feeling that surrounded them. Callie's hand moved from the blonde's cheek to her neck, pulling Arizona impossibly closer to herself. Their lips moved in perfect unison, not yet parting, as if to hold on to this moment for as long as possible. Arizona's hands moved on to Callie's back, stroking the Latina's body feverously wherever they could reach. The blonde's tongue darted out, drawing a line along Callie's lower lip, wordlessly asking for permission to deepen the kiss. The brunette happily complied, parting her lips and granting Arizona access. As their tongues' first contact, Callie moaned loudly. Never in her life had she imagined a touch could be this intense, this overwhelming. But when their tongues started caressing each other, the sensation was almost too powerful to bear. The Latina squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold on to at least some control. Their tongues dueled in a delicious dance, neither overpowering the other, but simply enjoying the beauty of the moment. Arizona tightened her arms around Callie's back, pulling the Latina on top of her while the blonde herself leaned back until her head hit the ground. The brunette followed the other woman's lead, their lips never leaving each other, until Callie was positioned over Arizona, her knees on both sides of the blonde's waist.

The Latina pulled back a bit, trying to catch her breath, and looked down at the blonde beneath her. What she saw made her breathing even more erratic than it had been before. Arizona's eyes were still closed, as if her mind had not yet registered what had happened. Her lips were swollen and her breathing as troubled as the Latina's, which made her chest rise and fall vehemently under Callie's eyes. Her hair was unruly, forming somewhat of a halo around her flushed face. The brunette could've watched her for hours, but after a while, Arizona's eyes fluttered open. She looked up at the other woman, at first almost disoriented, as if she couldn't tell whether what had just happened had been reality or fantasy. When she felt Callie's hands gently roaming her body, she smiled at the other woman. She reached up with her right hand and cupped the Latina's cheek, much like Callie had done to her earlier.

The brunette smiled down at her. "I know the answer to your question now."

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Soo, that's it! I hope you liked it. Let me know in your reviews!

In case somebody is interested, the locations I talked about are:

Pike Place Market, the Gum Wall, the Uptown Espresso cafe, the Public Library of Seattle, the Space Needle and the Washington Park Arboretum.