Karev looks skeptical. "You're living together, but seeing other people?"
Arizona tries smiling and nodding happily. They're in line at the coffee cart. Just coworkers. Doing coworker activities.
Karev continues to stare.
"This way we don't disrupt Sofia's schedule but we're not," she waves her hand around, "being messy."
"Are you divorcing?"
"Callie said we weren't even 'for real' married anyways."
He looks her up and down. Like he's try to diagnose a disorder. "And you're okay with this?"
"Yes." She says it with surety.
"Your wife is going to bring people home, women and men, and sleep with them, in a bed you helped pay for, and you're okay?" They get to the front of the line and he takes a muffin and hands over cash.
"We need time." She grabs her coffee.
"Listening to her moaning some other dude's name and then you having to show them where the OJ is the next morning because they don't know—"
"She's not…she's not just gonna start bringing people over, Alex. She's probably not even gonna date anyone. Maybe some heavy petting."
He's still skeptical.
"She'll take her time." She pours in too much sugar and cream. It's a problem.
He nods. "Who is it?"
"She's not—"
"That Derm guy with the beard?"
"She thinks I slept with half the Derm department—" it was only a third— "she's not gonna try for sloppy seconds." She stirs the coffee.
"Dude's a dude."
"It's not Derm."
"That hot night nurse then? The one always giving her coffee and purring at her?"
"What? No. That would be sloppy seconds."
"Dude."
She tries not to look smug about her old slut ways and instead takes a huge gulp of her coffee. There's so much sugar in it her teeth hurt.
Alex shakes his head, "Whatever. As long as it's not someone stupid like Hunt."
Her eye twitches.
Alex definitely doesn't see it.
"Dude." He's staring at her. "Is your wife banging Hunt?"
"What? No. Why?" She takes another sip. She's practically guzzling it.
He ticks the reasons off with his fingers, "They both like kids, marriage and are getting over emotionally unavailable sluts."
"Hey!"
"Man," he groans, "she's banging Hunt."
"That's not— You don't— Heavy petting," she finally squeaks out.
"Least he's been to your house before." He takes a huge bite of his muffin and crumbs fly everywhere as he talks, "You won't have to show him where the OJ is."
####
The sex is the easiest thing in the world.
Owen is aggressive. Callie already knew that. She lived with the man and caught him and Cristina on more surfaces than Lysol could handle. But he's tender too. That never came across when she was walking in on them.
He's tender. And playful.
It's a different kind of sex and she works hard not to compare him to others. And she tries not to compare herself to his ex-wife.
And he makes that easy.
She has to be present when they're together. There's something urgent in his touch and this insatiable need to be it, and she's sure she's the same. They've too often been second best to someone, or something, else so when they're together they are everything.
It's addictive and Callie finds herself tugging him into closets like they're interns.
But when they're sated and leaning against a shelf wondering where their pants are it isn't so easy. They laugh and smile awkwardly.
####
"Do you want to get a drink?"
Callie's putting on her scrub bottoms and stares at Owen like a deer in the headlights. He wants to hit himself as soon as he asks. Of course Callie doesn't want to get a drink. She's a single mom living with her ex-wife and her child and working 60 hour weeks at the hospital. She doesn't have time to get a drink with her casual sex…person.
She swallows. "Like…in public?"
He really wants to rescind the offer, "Yes. I mean we could go to the trailer if you wanted—"
She blanches, "No. No, let's do drinks."
He grimaces.
"Wait. Do you want to do drinks," she asks.
He does. He wants to sit and talk. Wants to figure Callie out and figure himself out and make sense of something. "It's just…I asked and then I remembered. You've got Sofia and—"
"She's with Arizona. Already home and probably in bed. I can drink."
"You're sure?"
She gives him a crooked smile. "I'm sure."
####
The orange juice sweats on the counter.
Sofia eats her Cheerios happily.
Arizona watches the condensation bead and fall down the sides of the bottle. She tries to breathe like the world isn't ending.
Callie slept somewhere else.