Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyright materials referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

Authors Note: Christmas break is here, I hope to write a lot more. I'm writing it as you read it. Sorry for the wait, its been a crazy couple of months. Thank you to all reviewers. You all are very nice. I had a response to Almicah though: You have no idea how much of an evil grin spread across my face when I read your review. Don't be torn, come on over to the dark side. We have cake.

The morning's sun fell into the room as dreams faded away and consciousness slowly awakened the girls. The apartment was silent; a light sprinkle peppered the sidewalk. Erica's eyes kept open first, she found Callie's arm draped across her stomach. Callie's eyes opened to find Erica's looking back at her. There were no expectations, no hurt feelings, no resentment in that moment. The two gazed at each other in complete silence, each face lit by only the light that peeked past the shades. Both were satisfied with the tranquility of their private moment. Callie's finger's found their ay to Erica's and began absently tracing sloppy hearts above her knuckles. Love began humming its sweet song into the brunettes ear.

"I missed you," Callie said contently.

"I'm right here," Erica said with an equal amount of happiness dripping off of her words.

Callie and Erica unintentionally sighed at the same time, the pair giggled in unison.

"I hate people who look like we do right now." Erica teased with a small wince. Callie beamed at the blonde's comment. Pride pulsed through her veins. She loved nothing more than having Erica near her, she was so proud that Erica was in her bed and in her life…again.

"Come on." Callie demanded as she rolled out of bed and pulled Erica with her. Erica followed without question. She would follow Callie wherever she wanted to take her. The brunette proceeded to cook breakfast for them both. Erica sat herself down on a bar stool and tried to remember whether or not Callie could cook a decent meal.

"Can you cook?" Erica asked cautiously, the last thing she wanted was to insult Callie. Callie looked at Erica in slight shock, she had become famous for her cooking. Then the reality of Erica's question set it, Callie had learned how to cook as a result of Erica's departure. Cooking kept her mind busy, visions of her crying over a pot of ravioli flew through her head. Callie visibly shook the thought from her head as a brief pain shot through her heart at the awful memories.

"I learned after you left."

"Oh," was all Erica could come up with in response. A sad silence settled between them. Callie quickly finished up the pancakes, eggs, and bacon she had planned on making. She set the bar and placed their plates in front of them. Erica ate rapidly. Callie was taken aback.

"I can make more if you'd like," Callie was taking in Erica's full form for the first time. The blue eyed girl she had been so smitten with was at least three sizes smaller. The weight loss wasn't drastic, but it was noticeable.

Erica chuckled. "Victoria couldn't cook." The statement fell from her lips before she could think about what she was saying. Erica realized what she had said immediately. The blonde always lost control of her thought processes when she was around Callie.

"What?" Callie asked, blatantly confused. Erica's face fell. She set down her fork. Callie was put off by Erica's sudden change in demeanor.

"Who's Victoria?" Callie probed. Erica waited. She couldn't tell Callie about Victoria. She wasn't willing to give information about her ex-girlfriend if Callie wouldn't willingly do the same. Erica turned to Callie with a defeated look in her eyes.

"Who's the woman in the picture?" Erica asked. She knew that they had to get everything out in the open. Now.

Something in Callie's brain decided how to deal with the painful process of getting reacquainted to Erica again.

"Her name is Arizona. She is what happened after my best friend left me all alone in this town. She's my past."

Callie had loved Arizona greatly. She appreciated everything Arizona had done for her, she really did. When Arizona left, and broke her heart, Callie came to realize that she was more upset about loosing the possibility of having children. She never wanted to raise children alone, therefore it wasn't an option. Callie had fallen in love with a woman who showed interest when she was crying in a dirty bar bathroom, she was still hurting over Erica. She so desperately needed someone to hold her at night, the way Erica couldn't. The idea of starting a family only added to the reasons why loving Arizona would fill her up. Arizona's leaving forced Callie to acknowledge the truth of the situation. Callie didn't love Arizona for who she was, she loved the fantasy of what she could be.

Erica wasn't as threatened as she thought she would be at the description of what the woman was to Callie. She nodded thoughtfully.

"Arizona? Really?" A smile crept onto Erica's face.

Callie blushed, "tell me about it." Erica decided that the catching up couldn't wait another minute. She wasn't going to wait and wonder for months about what happened during those missed years.

"Tell me everything I missed and I'll tell you everything you want to know." Erica feigned confidence.

Callie nodded; the girls walked to the couch together. They both knew that this was going to be painful, but no one was running away. Not this time.

"You first Miss Erica Hahn."

Erica was always amused when Callie used her full name, it reminded her of her father. She took a breath and prepared to exhale the memories into life.

"I had to go, I spent my life trying to avoid feeling that kind of pain. So I left, turns out money can get you out of a city within a night. I headed towards New York, the chief there was my mentor a long time ago, so I gave him a call. I told him I needed a job, I needed something to keep me far away from home. By the time I landed, I had an apartment and my things were going to arrive the next morning. I've never felt more efficient in my life." Erica winked. Callie merely listened intently.

"That first night was really hard. I sat alone in my apartment, it was completely empty, and I cried for hours. I have never felt so alone in my life." Erica paused, visibly upset.

"I guess I cried myself to sleep on the wood floors. I only remember going to work the next day. When I came home my furniture had arrived and was in its place…Honestly, I got rid of all of it because it reminded me of you." Erica's eyebrows furrowed. Callie's eyes grew sad.

Erica continued, "After I got rid of all the memories I could find, everything gets blurry. I lived off of work and coffee for almost a year. I don't remember most of it. But one day a dark haired girl walked passed me and took my breath away. She saw me when I was only going through the motions of real living. Somehow we fell into a relationship, she moved in and we became incredibly close. It had become so hard to inhale after I left Seattle. It felt easier to breath when she was around. It all happened very quickly. We were serious within a couple of months."

Callie didn't like how this story was going.

"I thought I really loved her. She gave me anything I so much as looked at, she held me tight when I was sad, she soothed my anger when I was upset. She was everything I could ever want in a woman. Victoria was in love with me. She asked me to marry her."

Callie's heart stopped. She didn't realize that she was holding her breath. Erica couldn't look at Callie, not yet.

"You know what's awful?" she asked. It was a rhetorical question. She contemplated stopping the story, but she decided that she wasn't going to hold anything back now, she had come this far.

"When Victoria was down on her knee, all I could think about was how much she looked like you. She had decorated the apartment with dozens of candles and music was swimming around the room, she was in a new dress and her heart was in her hands. All I could think about was you. Her long black hair was curled the way yours used to be. Her big brown eyes shinned just like yours did when we sat outside your apartment after our date. The only thing that wasn't the same was her smile. It didn't make me smile. It didn't make me feel like yours did."

Callie's mouth was open in utter shock. Still, Erica pushed on. "So I said no. She left that night. I haven't seen her since. Then I came here." Erica couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief.

Callie felt like she had been hit by a train. She wasn't naïve, she knew that Erica would have likely had a relationship, but this caught her off guard. The thought of someone else marrying Erica made her furious and nauseous all at once. The fact that it made her so upset only reiterated what she already knew deep inside. Erica had regained her breath and looked up at Callie. She waited for a response. A few long moments past. Erica became anxious.

"Do you still love her?" Callie asked with pain in her voice. The contrast of the morning and this moment only making the pain worse. Erica thought for a second.

"No, I'm not sure I ever did."

Callie nodded. Insecurity was running wild inside of her, she wanted to know whether or not Victoria was skinnier or prettier or funnier. The curiosity was killing her. She took a deep breath in and let t slowly escape. None of that mattered, Erica didn't marry someone else and she didn't love anyone else. For today, that was all she needed.

"Okay."

Erica was puzzled, Callie's face was unreadable.

"My turn?" Callie asked. Erica nodded in silence.

"After you left I went home and called you. And called you. And called you. I called you for months, I knew you weren't going to pick up. I just wanted to hear you voice. I was in a haze, I went to work and somehow made it through the days. I had a breakdown in the middle of an O.R. once." Callie chuckled and shook her head at the ghost pain.

"A patient broke my nose and all I could think about was how much it hurt to not have you around. I spent most of my free time crying. I felt like I could breathe after you left, that's where our stories are identical. I remember being really upset one night and going to Joe's to try and drink myself to sleep. I was talking to Lexie Grey about something and it reminded me of you, so I rushed off the he bathroom to get myself together. This woman I didn't know walked in and kissed me."

Erica's features made it obvious that she didn't like where this was going.

"After that things just happened. I thought I loved her, so we moved in together and spent the holidays together and she helped me when I came out to my dad. She was there for me when I quit, then un-quit." Callie winced at her own stupidity. "She helped me through a lot. And a couple of months ago she decided to go to Africa to do some good. I almost went with her. I wanted so badly for her to want what I wanted. But she didn't, I wanted kids. She didn't. She left and I had a lot of time to think about what happened. I didn't love her the way I needed to…So here we are." Callie shrugged.

Everything was on the table. The girls could take it or leave it. Erica had nearly married another woman and Callie almost moved to Africa in hopes of her dream love. Separation hadn't done them well. They had just poured their souls out and were exhausted. The room was deathly silent. Both pairs of eyes met and the pain they both felt immediately vanished. The two women loved each other. They were in love with each other. It took division to prove it to them. They could both feel the love that had never been spoken.

"Erica."

"Callie."

"I love you." Both said at once.

Now what?