The how-to-get-over-the-love-of-your-life handbook

So.. Here is the result of the meddling-plan created by one Christina Yang and made into reality by the "super"-crew of surgeons (Mark and Meredith, and to some extend Owen and Teddy).

Personal note:

There is a surprise "gift" for ya'll hidden in this one. Well, it's really not that hidden, but it's great. : )

xxxx

Chapter 4: How to deal with an ambush

Lexie had gone to Arizona's place to get ready before heading to the baseball court, for what she thought was a meeting with Mark. Arizona had bought some beers just in case Lexie wanted to be a little drunk before facing Mark, who she had been insanely embarrassed in front of at Joe's a few nights ago.

"You want a beer?" Arizona asked as she moved towards the fridge. She had just finished getting ready. She just thought that she was going to the baseball court with some friends, so there was no need to make much effort of getting ready. Lexie on the other hand was so nervous that she had spent the last hour or so picking out an outfit. And therefore she was only now laying her makeup and finishing up.

"Well, I would say yes… But I really think I should keep a clear head for this conversation with Mark… Ya'know, after how I acted last time I drank before talking to him." Lexie slightly rambled.

"Oh… Okay." Arizona started, this was really not how she thought Lexie would react. She had never thought that Lexie would have so much courage inside of her, so that she would actually be able to face Mark,, in a situation like this, sober. But then again, Lexie had faced a very frightening chicken-pox covered Callie. "But still, last time… There wasn't much talking, just a lot of one-way yelling." Arizona teased with a smile.

"Very funny Arizona… Very funny." Lexie said as she narrowed her eyes, trying to look intermediating, but she couldn't hide a small smile forming across her lips. Arizona was kinda funny sometimes, even though the situation was a bit tense, she had a way of lightening the mood. Lexie liked that. It was nice.

"Okay, so… no beer for you. But I'll have one anyways, just to drink on the way over there." Arizona said and took a beer from the fridge.

"Ready to go?" Lexie asked. And a small frown appeared on Arizona's forehead and then she laughed. Lexie shot her a surprised look at the sudden outburst of laughter.

"Well, I've been ready for the last half hour. You're the one we're waiting for, if you hadn't noticed." Arizona said and looked at Lexie with an amused look on her face.

"Oh… Yeah I'm slow, I know." Lexie responded and laughed a little as she moved out the door.

Even though Lexie and Arizona had become friends under some strange and painfull circumstances, Arizona kinda liked being friends with Lexie. She needed a friend, and she needed one that wasn't always too serious, so Lexie fitted in perfectly. Even if Lexie sometimes were kind of nervous and rambled a lot.

xxxx

Callie didn't have time to go home before going to the baseball court to meet up with the others. She had had an unplanned surgery and had finished just in time to change clothes. No time to take a bath, so she really didn't look all that great.

What the heck, it's just a few beers with the girls.

Christina had invited Teddy and Meredith too, so it would just be a girls-night out. Callie kinda look forward to some time with the girls, but without Arizona, since that would just be awkward.

Callie got dressed quickly, sprayed on a huge amount of perfume, fixed her hair and makeup in the mirror and headed for the baseball court.

xxxx

Christina, Meredith, Teddy, Owen and Mark stood by the baseball court, waiting nervously for the three girls to arrive, since Lexie would be coming with Arizona. Mark was the most nervous one of the pack. He hadn't really thought the plan all the way through, when he decided to encourage Arizona's "fixing-side". He was going to have to face Lexie, and talk relationship. He really wasn't prepared for that. He was with Teddy now, and it was fun and new and different, since he had never begun dating women with the intention of it leading anywhere.

Callie was the first to arrive. She walked up to the others with a confused look on her face.

What the hell?

"Christina. You said it was girls-night out…" She started and looked at the guys. "Like in no guys, just girls… And… I'm pretty sure those two aren't girls." She looked back at Christina with a questioning look.

"Oh, well… Owen isn't a girl, he was in the army… and that's macho. "She looked at Owen and then her gaze moved towards Mark. "But Mark, well, he's kinda of a girl… If you take a way all the man-whoring."

Callie could do nothing but laugh at Christinas statement. I was true, Mark could be a girl sometimes, especially when it came to gossip.

"So… Are we gonna play some? Or are we just gonna stand here with the beers unopened?" Callie asked, her voice clearly showing that she needed a beer, after a long day at work, trying to avoid her ex-girlfriend.

With that question they moved to the benches at the courtside. Mark and Owen where the first ones to start batting, while the girls opened some beers and started a casual conversation. Although Christina was oddly quiet and seemed kind of nervous. Callie didn't really put that much into it. She thought that it was probably just because of both Owen and Teddy being there.

xxxx

They had been batting for about 20 minutes when they heard some voices approaching the baseball court. But since it was dark it was impossible to make out the two people coming towards them. Or it was for Callie at first. But the others knew who was coming and they all sat on the benches, leaving Callie standing quite confused.

"What? Why are you all sitting down." She said and looked at the others with a confused look and shook her head.

Then she heard it, the voice. She knew it so well, she had practically lived with it for a year. As it came closer, she shot Mark a glare, that was filled with confusion and panic.

Oh God… Why is she here? Did they know?

Oh crap I have to get out of here. I don't wanna break down, not today, not now…

Callie looked around for another exit than the one where the voices came from, but there were none. She was forced to face Arizona.

Arizona and Lexie stepped into the light of the baseball court at first they just saw the others sitting at the benches. Lexie straightened her back as she looked towards Mark. Arizona looked proud, until she looked at Christina and followed Christina's stare that was fixed on Callie. Arizona stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh…" She exhaled.

She then looked back at Mark and gave him a "why-didn't-you-tell-me-look". Mark just smiled at Arizona before turning towards Lexie and standing up. Mark walked towards Lexie and pulled her out of the courts lights by her hand, as he told her that he needed to talk to her. The other, Christina, Teddy, Meredith and Owen, stood up and walked towards the exit of the baseball court.

Callie, who hadn't moved at all, looked at the ground and only occasionally moved her gaze up to meet Arizona's that was filled with confusion and something Callie couldn't make out in the short glances she got.

"Did you know I was coming?" Arizona asked almost whispering the words.

"Eh…" Callie said, caught of guard by the sound of Arizona's voice.

God I miss that voice so much.

"No… No I didn't." Callie said.

"I should probably go, huh?" Arizona asked, hoping that the answer would be no, or actually a yes wouldn't be that bad, since she would avoid a potentially awkward conversation.

"Well, the others are already long gone by now. You can stay if you want." Callie answered and moved towards the benches and sat down. God she hated that she was a little drunk now.

Arizona walked to sit beside Callie. She looked at her feet, she didn't dare to look at Callie, afraid of what her eyes would show.

If we're gonna talk, we might as well do it now…

Callie thought as she took a deep breath, composing herself before she began. But she was cut off by Arizona, who had noticed that she was about to say something and had decided to start instead.

"I'm sorry… About the kiss… I'm sorry." Arizona said.

Callie looked at her, but Arizona was still staring into the ground.

"No… Don't be…" With that Arizona lifted her head and looked into the brown eyes.

She felt the urge to kiss her beautiful ex-girlfriend again. But there it was… Ex… Ex-girlfriend. So moved her eyes to look at the ground once again.

"I'm sorry." Callie said.

And Arizona once again lifted her head, this time staring straight forward.

"Good." She said. She had been angry at Callie after what happened in the on-call room, where Callie had left her crying. But she had been mostly sad, because she never thought that Callie would just leave her in a situation like that. And certainly not after saying that she was there for her.

"Good?" Callie questioned. "I say don't… and you just say good?"

Callie was becoming a bit angry now and that was evident in her voice.

"I was mad at you for leaving me like that, crying… alone… I never thought you would do that… I… I don't know… I just guess I still thought you cared." Arizona tried, but ended up rambling a bit.

"I care. I cared so much that I stalked you and went into that on-call room, knowing that you would need me… Or hoping…" Callie started.

"Well you left, so that doesn't really have 'I care' written all over it." Arizona shot back.

"I… I was confused and scared that you didn't want me there. I… I… Well, I wanted you to need me. But when you said it, I just panicked, I didn't know if I could still hold you or be there for you without breaking into pieces myself… I felt scared… I left… I…" Callie looked at Arizona with tears in her eyes. "I never wanted to hurt you, and I thought that being there would maybe hurt you more. I should have never… I should have…" Callie now broke down in tears. Sobbing as her body began shaking.

"I thought you were mad at me for needing you…" Arizona whispered as she looked at the sobbing Callie.

"No… No. I need you too. I got scared and I ran." Callie started. "That's what I've always done. I run."

Arizona just looked at Callie, while Callie was still crying. And she tried to figure out what to do.

"Can I hold you?" Arizona suddenly asked.

Callie looked up with tears streaming down her face.

"What?"

"Can I hold you?" Arizona asked again. "I want to hold you when you're sad and crying. I want to make it go away." Arizona said as she tilted her head so that she could look into the beautiful brown orbs.

Callie just nodded in response. At first she felt nervous as Arizona wrapped her arms around her and started to whisper soothing words, but then she calmed down and the sobbing increased.

They sat like that for hours, not talking, just holding each other, feeling the long wanted comfort of being in each other's arms.

xxxx

During Callie and Arizona's conversation another conversation took place just outside the baseball court, at the small parking lot.

Mark was leaning on the trunk of his car and gestured, with a nod of his head, for Lexie to come and stand next to him.

"Lexie, we need to talk." Mark said, realizing that the side effect from the Callie and Arizona plan might not be such a bad thing. He did need to talk to Lexie, because the way she was acting lately wasn't healthy. He knew about the eating and the drinking. He never wanted that for her. He had just tried to move on when Lexie had broken up with him over the whole "grandfather/father-with-an-18-year-old-pregnant-daugther-thing". And he had been pretty good at it. But for some reason Lexie, who was the one to break up, didn't seem to cope very well.

Standing there looking at Lexie, who was nodding in response to what he had just said, he felt his heart pound a little faster.

"I'm not mad at you…" He started, now the soft and emotional side of Mark was going to show, and he felt kind of nervous. 'Cause when that side showed, the side that he tried to suppress with jokes and gossip, he felt vulnerable.

"I just don't understand, I guess." He finished and looked at Lexie for some sort of response. The confusion was evident in his voice.

"What don't you understand? That I'm hurt too?" Lexie started. "Or well… not 'too' 'cause you seem to be doing just fine."

"I am doing fine… I'm just not doing great. I mean Teddy's great, she has a great personality and the sex… well…" He stopped as he saw Lexie's eyes darken with unshed tears.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say that." He continued.

"No it's okay… You've moved on… It's okay." Lexie replied. The last words were mostly to convince herself that it was okay.

"I only moved on because I thought that I wouldn't have the future that I wanted. I moved on… To something great… But not to something… Awesome." Mark said as he remembered Arizona's long explanation one night at Joe's about how the word 'Awesome' had greater meaning than the word 'Great'.

"What we had… The future that I wanted with you. That was awesome." Mark said and looked at the ground, while shifting uncomfortably on his feet. Well if he wasn't vulnerable before, he sure was now.

"I know… But what you did, what you wanted me to do… I just couldn't." Lexie said still with tears in her eyes. She felt a little relived tough, 'cause now she knew that she wasn't the only one who hadn't moved on for real.

"I know… But now… I mean. Little Sloane is gone. So that issue is gone." He answered and turned to face Lexie.

"Lexie… I know you think I have moved on. And I have sure tried, with all the nurses and Teddy and… Oh, sorry. I did it again… Well I wanna try again. I'm not saying that we should jump right back into it. I'm saying coffee tomorrow, outside the hospital, the two of us… If you want, that is?" Mark rambled and looked Lexie in the eyes, hoping that her answer would be yes.

"But Teddy?" Was Lexie's only response.

"I don't care about Teddy… Or yes I care, but not like you… So. I'll take care of that and you'll just show up?" He questioned.

Vulnerability-day come to Dr. Sloan!

He thought while waiting for an answer. He had had to show some vulnerability to get Arizona to come to the baseball court, so that the meddling-plan would work, and now he had show vulnerability, for the second time that day, to convince Lexie to try again. Today Mark Sloan felt like a girl, and not a badass one, like Callie, but a sissy. That's the word, he felt like a sissy.

"I'll show." Lexie said as she turned around to leave.

I'll show. She thought as if to force herself to believe it.

Mark and Lexie walked home separately. Callie and Arizona didn't.

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After a couple of hours Callie and Arizona had decided to take a walk to Callie's apartment. They talked a bit on the way home, but not much. When they reached the front door Arizona stopped and turned to stand in front of Callie.

"I'm gonna go now." She said. "I know we have talked… But I still don't know where is stand, where we stand. What we are…" Arizona began to ramble, but she was cut off by Callie's lips on hers. The kiss was soft, but the feeling that Callie poured into it was clear. Love.

"Calliope…" Arizona said as they broke apart.

"I know where I stand." Callie whispered. Then she turned around and walked through the door.

Arizona walked home in the cold Seattle air, and all she could think about was that one last kiss. Not the argument or the hours of silence. No... The kiss.

xxxx

Well, the plan worked. Callie and Arizona met, talked and kissed. That my friends would be another triumph for Christina Yang, even though things aren't solved yet, it's still something right? : )

Also there were some action between Mark and Lexie, they also got a little closer to finding happiness.

Spoiler:

Next chapter will include some more action from Mark and Lexie. But it will mainly be about our favorite couple, Callie and Arizona.

Personal note:

So… Did you notice the hidden "gift"? Well, as I said it wasn't all that hidden, but it was kinda great I think. What do you think?

Also this chapter was really hard to write, I had no idea where to take the girls. Did you like how it turned out?

: )