Hellooooo! Sorry for the wait! I know it's every writers excuse but I literally have been far too busy to really settle down with this chapter, and for some reason I found it really difficult to write and didn't particularly enjoy it – so it took forever! I'll try my best to be faster with the next chapter, but I can't make any promises, I'm moving out and starting uni on Saturday and will either be too busy or too intoxicated for the first week to get a decent writing sesh done, so please don't hate me for the wait! Also, this chapter is a slight filler, as the next one will be my first 'ahem' scene attempt between our two lovely ladies, which may take some time to get right! :S anyway, enough rambling from me, I hope you enjoy!
PS: to the guest who requested more Arizona, you made me realise how little I actually wrote on her behalf! Addison is the protagonist, but of course Arizona's thoughts and feelings are equally as important – so thank you! :) I've put a bit of it in this chapter, but will touch more on that later! :)
I also haven't proof read very thoroughly, so please forgive any mistakes - Thank you!
A week had passed since the anti-Addison publicity stunt, and although most of the major gossip about it had died down as people got bored and moved on, work was still highly embarrassing for her. With the complete loss of respect, the condescending looks from people she didn't even know, Derek's unconcealed rage, and the relentless jibes and comments she'd heard a thousand times a day, it was a tiring and gruelling process to get through the day. She knew eventually it would go away, but her biggest challenge was earning back her respect. Having been so used to dominating her OR's with unquestionable authority, delegating and giving orders with ease, and having full confidence that 9 out of 10 times her way was the best way, to have that all flipped over in the space of 24 hours was an enormous shock to her system, one she was still getting used to.
Arizona had played a large part in retaining her sanity for the week. When a tearful Addison had finally gotten through to her on the phone and explained what had happened, she had immediately shot down the idea completely, claiming it was ludicrous, denying the very possibility of Addison having done any of it, even without seeing the articles for herself. To this day she had point blank refused to look at them at all, having not seen a single one. When Addison questioned it, she merely replied: "I believe you." Before smiling a reassuring dimply smile and chirpily changing the subject, knowing it wasn't exactly her girlfriend's favourite choice of conversation.
Overjoyed and relieved that Arizona hadn't turned against her, Addison felt just that little bit happier. The only thing that was bugging Arizona was that they hadn't seen each other much at all recently, with a sudden random influx of pregnant women or 'tiny human invasion' meaning they had faced a number of inconvenient clashes over the past few cases, resulting in both being too exhausted by the end of the day to really do much. Arizona didn't want to push it, but she missed Addison more and more as the days passed, and thus the little time they had together each day was golden. Fortunately, it was not doomed to last forever, as their cases were lessening and the end of the new week looked pretty good for both of them.
With this in mind, Arizona kicked back on her heels and rolled to a stop behind her favourite person, wrapping her arms round the other woman's waist to prevent her from turning around.
"Guess who?" She childishly teased.
"I heard those damn roller shoe things before you even got here." Came the sarcastic reply, as Arizona loosened her grip allowing Addison to spin round and face her, their happy smiles mirroring each other.
"I'll have you know these shoes save lives." Arizona replied, doing a little twirl to demonstrate her point.
"Yeah? They help you hold a scalpel better?" Addison smirked. Arizona rolled her eyes.
"Even better, they make sure the person who is already good with the scalpel gets there in speedy fashion."
"Seems to me like you're just trying to get your lazy ass out of running." she joked, Arizona shrugged.
"Well they're definitely a cooler alternative. And besides, the kids love em'."
Addison laughed, a sound that was music to the blonde's ears.
"So, since you hate the shoes so much.. I can agree to wearing something else on our dinner date."
Addison's laugh caught in her throat.
"What dinner date?"
"On Saturday?"
"We have a dinner date on Saturday?!"
"We do now." Arizona winked. "There's this awesome restaurant I think you'll love, and it's only a ten minute walk from my place, or seven minutes if you roll." She wheeled round again, enjoying the look of shock on the red head's face.
"Your place." She replied slowly.
"Well no offence, but your old place isn't exactly human friendly any more." She grinned, and lowered her voice. "And plus, I figured my room would be more romantic than doing it in the rubble." She winked again and planted a playful kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. "I'll pick you up at 7, Saturday. Don't forget!" With that she turned and Addison watched her wheel away, a dry lump forming in her throat, her heart thudding at those last few words.
Ellie was getting agitated. She enjoyed watching Addison continue to suffer at work, that was a given. But still Arizona stuck by her. It was as if she had magnetic powers, nothing seemed to shake Arizona off. But what agitated her most was that there was very little she could do about it, at least for now. And it was all down to one reason. That reason being Theodora Altman.
Ever since she'd skipped Teddy's surgery, the cardio attending had not left her alone. Having consistently probed her for details about Mark Sloan - which Ellie had to laugh at – she'd since then reverted to keeping her under close surveillance at all times. It was like the woman had nothing better to do, and Ellie felt trapped. There was no way she could get away with another part of her list without Teddy noticing. And it was getting to her. Her hand twitched at her pocket as she thought about it. It was like a manic impulse, she had to do something soon. She felt like she was going to burst. Arizona was so close, so close to coming back to her, she could feel it. She just needed another little push.
She had not enjoyed having to lie low for a week, but it was just what had to be done. She hoped Teddy would get bored eventually, and go back to being her dopey friend who was on her side. She'd thought endlessly about ways she could pull something off on the sly, something that Teddy wouldn't think twice about, but so far she was having trouble. The next section of her list was labelled 'Career.' And Ellie knew ruining that was going to be a challenge. Especially without being caught. But then, she revelled in a decent challenge. Especially if the prize was as golden as Arizona Robbins. So, she would simply bide her time, and wait for the right moment. Teddy's suspicions would fade, and when they did, she would strike.
"We need to tell her."
"We need proof."
"Erica, did you not see those hideous things all over the hospital?"
"I did yeah, of course I did, but there's still no sure fire way of proving it's Meredith."
Callie bit into her pizza thoughtfully and glanced over to Meredith's table where she sat with Derek, they appeared absorbed in each others eyes, whilst Cristina and Alex engaged in a minor food fight next to them.
"Maybe she's had enough." Callie said aloud.
"The pizza?"
"No! I mean maybe she's done with Addie, she seems pretty happy now. And it's been a week, maybe she's done."
"I hope so." Erica placed a hand on Callie's thigh. "Look I know she's your friend and all, and I'm quite fond of her too, but if this does continue, I don't want you getting hurt in the process. I don't want you targeted."
Callie opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again quickly when she saw Arizona appear over Erica's shoulder.
"Hey guys! What're we talking about?"
"Pizza." They both answered.
Arizona sat down and looked at the mush of cheese and tomato on Callie's plate.
"It looks... Great."
"Yeah it's a culinary masterpiece. Our loyal thanks to Debbie the dinner lady." Erica responded dryly. Callie giggled.
"I like it."
Erica wrinkled her nose at the food. "You like a lot of things."
A soggy carrot whizzed past them and landed on the table in front of Arizona. She followed it's direction and saw that it was ammunition from Yang, and judging by the gloating look on Alex's face, it had missed it's target.
"Just this once, it seems Yang has the right idea." Erica declared, staring down at the unappealing orange lump.
"Pass me the cheese lump." Arizona nudged Erica quietly, who obliged, much to Callie's complaints. She slid it over to her left. Arizona grabbed it off the plate, and in one swift motion, hurled it over to the assaulting table, where it hit the back of Alex's head and stuck there. He raised a frantic hand to it and groaned out loud as he felt the mush slime its way down the back of his neck. Yang collapsed in a fit of laughter as he looked round wildly, but Arizona had ducked and he saw only Erica and Callie, both wetting themselves.
Knowing better than to cross Hahn, he scowled at them both and turned back round, grabbing a napkin and wiping his head as Yang continued to guffaw.
Just then, Callie's phone bleeped at her. It was a message from Addison.
You free? Need to talk to you! X
She tapped a quick reply, then stood up.
"I gotta go guys, I'll just leave you to it." She took in both of them, Arizona's wheely shoes, her smiling persona and the cute little animal on her lab coat, and Erica's professional fashion sense, blunt expression and stern blue eyes.
She had to suppress a smile at the clash of personalities in front of her.
"I'm sure you guys will have a lot to talk about."
"Arizona wants to take me to dinner."
Addison said as soon as Callie had shut the on call room door.
"So?"
"So she wants me to go back to hers after!"
"And that's a problem because? I don't see why you're complaining, it's hardly a bad thing. Besides, you'll almost definitely end u- Ohhhhh." Callie nodded slowly as the penny dropped. She look at her friend, attempting to read her mood.
"..First time nerves?"
"Got it in one." Addison sighed, flopping down onto the nearest bed. Callie perched next to her.
"I don't know why it makes me nervous.. I mean we nearly did it before, but it was different."
The question of whether this bed was the bed they 'nearly' christened briefly flitted across Callie's mind, but she dismissed it and shuffled closer to her friend.
"What was different?"
Addison shrugged. "I dunno I.. I guess I wasn't thinking."
"Well there's your solution." Callie clapped her on the back. "Don't think about it."
"But that's just it! Saturday has pretty much been established as 'the night' so I'm forced to think about it because I'm so aware of it! Before was.. A heat of the moment type thing, it was unexpected. This is almost like a... Like a booking or something."
Callie snorted, and raised her hand.
"7pm, dinner." She ticked the air. "8.30pm, orgasm, 8.35p- ow!"
Whatever was due at 8.35 was cut off by the connection of Addison's elbow with Callie's ribs.
"Okay I get it, crappy jokes not helping."
Addison couldn't help but chuckle. "You know what I mean! It's expected, I'm expected to.. Be good."
Callie rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"I'm sure you will be Addie, I had the same trouble myself with Erica when we first got together."
"And what did you do?"
"I slept with Mark."
"Oh." Addison blinked a few times. "Well, I can't do that...again.. Err so any advice that involves staying loyal?"
Callie grinned. "Honestly? Just go for it. Lose yourself with her. It'll be so much easier than you think."
Addison ran a hand through her hair. "But what if.. What if I'm shit?" She looked away, self consciously tugging at her sleeves.
"Well.." Callie stared ahead, thinking of Erica, and leaves. "If you are, then there's always attempt number two." She'd meant it to sound light-hearted, but looking to her right noticed the knuckle of Addison's index finger was between her teeth, a tell tale sign that she was not helping to calm her nerves.
"Listen." She reached over and pulled her friends hand out of her mouth. "You need to have a bit of faith in yourself. You'll be fine, trust me. You'll be a rock star." She smiled, which Addison returned. "And besides, Arizona may not show it, but I bet she'll be as nervous as you are. She's just a better actress." She winked and patted the red heads hand.
"STEVENS!"
Izzie jumped about a foot in the air as the booming voice was sharply followed by the aggressive slam of a pile of files on the desk in front of her. Doctor Bailey stood above them, hands on hips, breathing heavily.
"Stevens. Tell me, you were not responsible for prescribing this patient's heparin?!"
Izzie's brow furrowed as she looked at the case. A few feet away, Ellie craned her neck to get a better hearing angle.
"Yeah.. It's his regular treatment, he's prone to blood clots, I-"
"While it's true we don't want his blood, to clot-" Bailey interrupted her, speaking slowly and firmly, but breathing through her nostrils. Izzie sank down slightly in her chair. She looked positively fuming as she continued. "-We do not want him to bleed to death either!"
Izzie frowned again, feeling a rising panic growing as she tried to work out her mistake.
"TAKE A LOOK AT HIS DOSAGE STEVENS!"
She obliged, and a hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh my god."
"Nope don't bother calling him – not even God could help a man who has ten times the required dosage of blood thinner! Ten times! Were you trying to kill the man?!"
"-No! I'm so so sorry, I made a mistake, I didn't mean.. Is he-"
"-Is he okay? Luckily someone with more than one brain cell double checked the chart before administrating the drug. So yes, he's okay. But you aren't."
Izzie gulped. Bailey's glower did not fade.
"Get out of my sight Stevens. You're banned from the OR for a week."
"A week! But I-"
"GO!"
Izzie hung her head and sat back in her chair, knowing not to push it. Bailey snorted in dismissal, and thundered off to take her mood out on another unfortunate soul. Ellie almost felt sorry for the poor girl, but right at that moment she was too excited. The event that had just occurred in front of her had inspired her, and the idea grew in her mind until she was buzzing, certain it would work. She was a nurse after all, it was perfect. 'Career' suddenly didn't look as challenging any more. Though first, she would have to cover her tracks. She flipped her chart closed and strode off, in search of Arizona.
There was nothing better than saving the life of a child. And the feeling you got from seeing that child reunited with his or her parents, the overwhelming relief, the tears, the joy, the love that pulsated from that family afterwards when they realised their child, their baby, the most precious, most important person in their lives was saved, was fixed, was going to be okay, that sight was a reward in itself.
Arizona didn't go a day without thinking it. It was the times like this, when she was being swept up into the arms of a weeping father who's daughter's life she had successfully saved, that made it worth it. These happy moments were, to her, what the job was all about. True, there were the horrific, excruciating times when she couldn't save them. When she wasn't God, and when she had to face an anxious mother or father, and delivr the earth shattering news that their child was no longer with them, that she had been unable to save that child's life, the life that was so faithfully placed in her responsibility by the people in front of her. When she watched people's worlds crumble at her words, those times, they were evil. But, as she kept telling herself whilst the big man continued to weep into her lab coat in between wails of gratitude, it was worth it for these times. For "the joy" as she so accurately named it.
"You're welcome Mr Garton." She grinned, as he let her go and dashed back to his child in the wheelchair, crouching down to her level, staring at her as if the world would end dare he look away. Arizona stood back, but continued to watch, allowing herself to bathe in this moment, this one, beautiful moment that evoked feelings that simply did not exist anywhere else. But it was short lived.
"Arizona!"
She turned at her name and instantly wished she hadn't. Ellie was fast approaching.
Crap.
"Heyyyyy." She managed to summon up a painful smile. "What do you need?"
Ellie reached her, slightly breathless. Arizona guessed she'd run.
"I wanted to apologise." She said, straightening up and beaming at her with full force.
"Huh?"
"For the way I've been acting."
"I say again.. 'Huh?'"
Ellie giggled at the baffled look on the blonde's face. She really was adorable.
"I've been a bit, well since.. You know, 'our night' I've been a bit.. Clingy I guess."
Arizona skilfully masked her sudden snort with a fake coughing fit. Ellie politely waited for her to finish.
"Well I..." She cleared her throat. "I guess you were.. I.. This is awkward."
She looked away from the other woman's overly intensive stare.
"It's only awkward because I'm making it awkward." Ellie stated matter of factly.
The blonde looked back up, lost for words.
"Err.."
"Look." Ellie sighed. "I understand our night was different for you than it was for me."
Arizona looked away guiltily.
"-And I appreciate I may have reacted pretty badly to that, but I accept it now. You're not interested."
Jeez, is she always this blunt?
"Though I hope we can still be friends?"
For the second time, Arizona looked back up at Ellie's outstretched hand. There was something off about her smile, though she put it down to embarrassment.
She probably feels as uncomfortable as I do right now.
Nevertheless, she took the hand, and they shook.
"Great!" Ellie trilled. "Maybe I'll see you around."
Arizona nodded weekly, and watched the girl leave. Finding herself relived to have finally gotten rid of her.
Yang walked past, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Hey Robbins, kudos for standing strong in the most awkward conversation I've ever listened in on." She paused briefly. "If it was me or Mer, we'd have bailed. Guess that makes you a better person than me." She clapped her on the back and continued on her path to the cardio wing.
"Well if you spend time with the kids, you learn morals." Arizona called after her. Yang looked back over her shoulder.
"And if you spend time in cardio, you learn things that are actually important."
"Ouch! Where's your joy Yang? Where's your joy?" she joked.
Yang thought for a moment. "In the OR. Cutting. Waayyyy better than kids any day."
Arizona simply shook her head, smiling as Cristina walked away whistling. She glanced up at the clock and sighed when she saw it was still only half seven. The number sparked a reminder in her however as her hand slipped in her pocket and found her phone. She needed to book that Saturday table.
"Get that damn finger out your mouth." Callie demanded for the dozenth time that evening. The evening her friend had been both extremely looking forward to, and equally dreading. Addison perched on the end of Callie's bed, having been put there by her, after being driven insane by her incessant pacing.
"I said get it out! God." She yanked Addison's hand away from her face and inspected it. "You keep chewing and you're gunna gnaw it off. And trust me, fingers are something you'll need." She smirked, and was too slow to duck as Addison swung the pillow round into her face. "Ow! I meant for surgery!"
Addison smiled in spite of herself. "I know damn well what you meant you ass. You spend way too much time with Mark."
Callie bit back her retort about time spending with Mark, and instead looked at the mountain of clothes that had formed on her floor earlier. Addison's entire wardrobe lay in a heap, having spent all evening picking an outfit, looking in the mirror, then hurling it back on the floor in disgust. It was too slutty, it was too formal, it was too girly, it was too too flouncy, it was every excuse under the sun. Eventually, Callie had come to the rescue and forced her to pick one.
She'd settled for a mid-thigh length dress with a V-neck, vivid red in colour, which Callie had claimed would emphasise "That awesome hair of yours" and they'd accessorized it with a slim black belt, her favourite pair of black suede high heeled ankle boots, and a minimum amount of jewellery. Because "sometimes less is more." Callie explained.
Still, Addison felt uncomfortable in her own skin. Usually she was good at this, she rocked first dates, and she rocked looking hot. Tonight however, she saw nothing but faults, and insecurity began to creep in the longer the wait dragged on. She felt exactly like she did after that drunken night at Joe's, when Arizona had brushed her hair out of her face and an explosion of nerves had made her freak out.
Arizona stalled multiple times on her way to Callie's apartment, earning shouts of annoyance from the vehicles behind her. She couldn't help it, her limbs just functioned too late with her brain.
"Sort it out." She told herself in the mirror, and took a few deep breaths. It was dinner, it was just dinner. All she had to do was pick up a fork and eat. Her mind raced ahead, and once again suggestions of 'what happens after' flashed in front of her. She cursed out loud as the car jolted yet again.
"Come on man! Learn to drive!" Someone shouted behind her.
Great, now they're winding down their windows.
Realising she needed to get her act together fast, she cleared her head of such promiscuous thoughts, and took a deep breath as she pulled up outside the block of apartments. She needed to be calm, confident, sexy. Steeling herself, she exited the car. Heaving the stiff door open, she made her way up the stairs, each step increasing her heartbeat, which she doubted was exercise related.
Clasping and unclasping her hands, she hovered in front of the door for a moment, before silently telling herself to main up, and giving a firm knock.
The door flew open almost immediately as a grinning Callie stood there.
"Sorry, you got the wrong blonde." Was the first thing to come tumbling out of Arizona's mouth. Fortunately though, Callie got the joke, and her grin widened.
"Shame! Though I'll admit I was confused for a minute, cos you look just as hot!" She let out an exaggerated wolf whistle. "Addison is gunna-"
But whatever Addison was going to do was unheard, as the red head in question chose that moment to breeze round the corner, and their eyes met. Callie's rambling became background noise, Addison felt her stomach do a triple back flip as eyes travelled over Arizona. It appeared her girlfriend had had been thinking along the same lines with the dress code, as her own, body hugging black dress reflected similar qualities to Addison's, in the sense that it was neither too flashy nor to plain. It was a work of art to the red head though, and Addison found herself seriously appreciating it's skin tight qualities as her gaze lingered over Arizona's large cleavage and voluptuous curves. It was also short enough to show off her gorgeous toned legs, and it was at this point that Addison realised her mouth was open. Ignoring Callie's smirk, she decided to break the silence.
"Wow it's...You look.. "
"Sensational." Arizona breathed as she had a long stare of her own. Addison blushed as she turned to grab her keys.
"Don't be out too late now." Callie mocked as she walked them to the door. Addison rolled her eyes at her.
"Yes mom."
Arizona giggled and they left, Callie shutting her door quietly behind them. She had high hopes for the evening, and felt a surge of happiness for her best friend. Heading for the couch, she dialled Mark's number, before making a mental note to keep her fingers crossed for her new favourite couple.
I also apologise for the length of this chapter, I had planned it to be longer and was actually going to write the dinner scene in here, but I figured it would instead be more fitting as an introduction to the 'woohoo' element of the next chapter ;) speaking of which, I will probably switch next chapters rating to 'Mature' just to be on the safe side with the FanFiction ratings police, so it'll temporarily be in 'M' but I'll switch it back for the chapter after – depending on the content ;)
Anyways, hope my lame filler chapter was okay, love you all for the previous reviews too!
Ta! :)