Chapter 2

After that night, Callie never saw Alex Karev again. She learned through George and Jackson, who she remained in contact with, that Alex had gotten too big for his britches, quit the band, and moved to L.A. For the first couple of months, she had bunked down in Addison's spare bedroom. The brunette worked odd jobs here and there to pay rent and the few bills she had, but she was barely scraping by. Barely, as in she feasted on ramen every night.

As life goes, Addison's house gradually became too small for the both she and Callie and the brunette moved on. She crashed between friends' couches for the next few weeks, staying long enough to have fun, but not so long that she wore out her welcome. Out of the blue, sometime in the middle of May, she received a call from her former band mate.

"Hello?"

"Callie Torres, how are you?"

"George! Oh my god, it's been forever! How are you, guy?"

"I'm good, Callie. Real good. Jackson and I are still playing. We found a new lead and singer. That's actually why I'm calling."

"Oh yeah?" The brunette asked.

"Yeah, we actually have a lil' gig tonight at that bar in downtown we used to play at. Joe's Pub. Remember it?"

Callie smiled, thinking of good times with her old band. "I do. When ya playing?"

"Tonight actually. 8 p.m. I was thinking maybe you could stop by and see us? Give us good juju?"

The brunette looked at her watch. 6:20. "Yeah, I think I can make it. I'm downtown anyway and it will be great to see you two."

"Yes, it will. Alright then, I'll tell Jackson you can make. See you later, Callie!"

"Sounds good. See you then."

Callie was excited to see her old friends. It hadn't been years since she had seen them, but it had definitely felt like it. She finished the cup of coffee she had been enjoying at her friend's house and hopped in the shower to get ready. Two and a half hours later, and predictably late, she walked into Joe's as the band was wrapping up their first set.

She took a seat at the familiar bar and waited as they chatted with the small crowd for a few minutes. Callie removed her black leather jacket and set it on the seats next to her to reserve them for George and the others for their break. She missed her days with the band and the dumb groupies that had come with it. The brunette looked on at George and Jackson making friends with the crowd. "Calliope, this is a pleasant surprise."

Callie was startled from her thoughts as she looked up to the bartender in front of her. "Oh, hey." She muttered with a friendly smile.

"Hey yourself." The blonde replied. "No more band for you?" She asked, nodding in the direction of the band.

"Nope, no more band for me." Callie shrugged and looked in the same direction. "It was fun and I miss it." The brunette turned to Arizona. "but I want to do other things." She smiled. "I think I do anyway."

"I gotcha." The blonde said with a smirk before resting her elbows on the bar in front of Callie. "So how are you? Can I get you something to drink?"

Callie leaned on the bar to look at the offerings. Arizona caught of whiff of the brunette's musky, patchouli scent. Yum. Arizona thought to herself as she eyed the girl. "You know what? I'll have a glass of that wine you poured me last time."

The blonde bartender was pulled from her trance by Callie's words. She nodded to the Latina with a smile. "Alright then."

Arizona set an empty glass in from of Callie and spoke as she poured. "So, Calliope. How is everything going? You never called, so I figured everything was okay."

The brunette took a sip of her wine and smirked. "You know, usually when someone doesn't call, that means something is not okay."

The blonde wiped her hands on a towel and threw it aside. "Well, I'm an optimist. I was hoping to hear from you, though. So I'm glad you dropped by tonight." The blonde smiled.

"Yeah yeah, me too. I came to see the guys play." Callie pointed in the direction of her old band mates. "And thanks, again, by the way, for taking me to Addison's that night. I would have been shit out of luck had you not been around." Always reserved, Callie chose her next words carefully. "You're good people, Arizona."

The blonde took it as a compliment. "Well thanks. You're good people too, Calliope."

Callie chatted it up with George and Jackson, as well as the boy's new lead singer, Isobel. After the band was packed up, the foursome grabbed seats at the main bar to wind down. The winding down led to the group losing count of their drinks after round six. After the rest of the patrons left, barkeeps Arizona and Derek locked the doors and offered for them to stay and continue their lush party while they cleaned up. When they were done, the each grabbed a drink and talked between the others from behind the bar.

"Hey man, I'm Derek." The wavy-haired man said, extending his hand to George and then to Jackson. Arizona made small talk with the girls in front of her, noticing Callie's uneasiness with the new girl member of the band.

Two rounds later, at 3:30 a.m., Arizona cleared everyone's empty glasses and spoke up. "So," she said, throwing her bar towel in the laundry bin. "I have an idea. Why don't we grab our things and go hang out at my place." She grabbed her purse and keys and pointed with a smile. "It's just across the street."

Callie and the rest of her friends looked between each other and shrugged. "You sure, Arizona?" Callie asked.

"Of course, Derek and I usually hang out there after work anyway. If you guys aren't doing anything, you should come."

George shook his head. "Okay, alright then."

The others nodded affirmatively. "Let's go."

Five minutes later, everyone was on the balcony of Arizona's loft across the street with drinks in hand. Derek and Jackson talked sports while the others chatted about life, love, and Seattle, among other random things. Callie hopped up drunkenly. "Oohh, I gotta pee."

Arizona popped up as well and opened the screen door to go inside. "I'll show you." She smiled. "I need another drink anyway."

Arizona showed Callie around the small apartment and pointed the way to the bathroom. "I'm going to grab us a drink, I'll be in the kitchen."

Callie nodded tipsily and skipped to the loo and closed the door. A few minutes later she met the blonde in the kitchen. "Oooh, nachos!" Callie said excitedly with a few claps as Arizona pulled a large plate from the oven.

"Thought we could use some food." She smiled. It's almost breakfast time for most of the world, anyway."

The Latina looked around. "Your place is really nice, Arizona. I need to get on my feet so I can have a place of my own like this." She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans and nodded. "Yes, definitely."

Arizona spoke up as she poured each of them a fresh glass of wine. "Well, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me. We're here after work almost every night."

"So, you and Derek - you guys are a couple? He's cuuute, Arizona."

"Oh, Derek?" the blonde giggled. "Oh no, he's not my type. The facial hair thing just kinda is, eew."

"Yeah, I always hated it when Alex forgot to shave." Callie said, oblivious.

"Yes, that. And the whole penis thing too. Just, eew."

Callie took a moment for it to register. "Ohhhhh. Oh, right." She motioned with her hand like she knew all along. "Wow, well, so you are, what?"

Arizona turned her head a little to the side waiting for Callie to say it but finished for her as she smirked. "Gay?"

"Yeah, so you're gay?"

The blonde squinted through a smile. "Yes, I am." She didn't want to make it an issue. She grabbed her glass of wine and the bottle. "Come on, Calliope. Let's go see what the boys are doing."

"And Isobel." Callie spoke up. "She's not a boy."

Arizona turned around to whisper before she opened the door. "I know, but I don't like her much."

"Hahe, I like you." Callie said. "Cause I don't like her either."

For the next few weeks, Callie settled into a semi-regular routine of meeting the guys at Joe's to support their Friday night gigs. She would sit at the bar and chat with Arizona and Derek while she listened to the band. Between set breaks, they would all huddle at the bar to chat and catch up with one another over a rushed drink here and there. And at the end of the nights, the four would close the bar while Derek and Arizona cleaned up only to move the drinking to across the street in Arizona's apartment.

It was July. This particular Friday night was hot and muggy. Well, for Seattle anyway. Arizona turned the key to her door and lets the others in. Closing the door behind her, she threw her keys on the table beside the door and slipped off her beer-stenched tennis shoes. "Derek," she called down the hall to her co-worker, who was taking a piss in the bathroom. "Towels are in there, can you grab a bunch for us?"

"Sure thing, Robbins!"

"Calliope, there's a cooler bag thingy under the sink," Arizona said as she began raiding her refrigerator. "Could you grab it for me?"

"No problem." She rummaged through the cabinet space, found the bag and set it down on the kitchen floor next to Arizona, who began filling it with beer, wine, and food. Derek emerged from down the hall with a stack of towels. He handed one to George, Jackson and Izzy. "You guys ready?" he asked. With nods all around, they were set.

Arizona's building had a roof-top pool that no one used in the middle of the night, it seemed - even on a hot, July night. The blonde had never understood this and always chalked it up to it she and Derek being on a shift opposite of the rest of the world. She didn't mind. Having access to a pool in the dead of night with no one around was never anything she would complain about.

They set down their towels and each grabbed a beer, with the exception of Callie and Arizona, who took turns sipping wine from an over-sized bottle of Alice White. Callie admired the Seattle skyline and the stars above that she couldn't see, but knew were there. After a couple of rounds of drinks, Derek and the guys decided to go in for a dip. The girls hung back for a bit and chatted, enjoying the breeze the rooftop offered.

After a while, the alcohol began to set in for Callie. She had been drinking all night, she was heavily tipsy and now she was hot. She wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead before standing up. "I think I'm gonna jump in for a few."

Arizona nodded. "I'll be in in a bit."

"Me too!" Izzy replied.

Callie stripped down to her bra and panties. She hadn't planned on swimming so she didn't have a suit with her but she sure as hell wasn't going to swim in jeans. She also wasn't going to swim in the buff either. The Latina threw her clothes on a chair and walked towards the side of the pool. Arizona couldn't help but steal a glance of the brunette's behind. Between quick sips of wine, she also took a look at her legs, her curves, and her in general.

"And then he told me he wanted to throw me up against a wall and tongue me! I mean, like, really - who says that?"

Arizona was jolted from the stare she hadn't known she was holding by Izzie's talk about some guy. Arizona nodded and took another sip of wine before she cut the other blonde off. "How bout we join the rest of them." She said, standing up. "It's hot, don't you think?"

The two remaining girls hopped in the pool in their underwear to discover everyone else playing a drunken round of Marco Polo. Eventually, everyone settled in and grouped off to different parts of the pool with new drinks in hand. Jackson and Derek sat on the diving board talking golf while Izzie enjoyed George's company just beside them in the deep end. Callie and Arizona sat on shallow steps of the opposite side of the pool. Passing the wine between them, they talked.

"So, Calliope. How's the new job?"

Arizona was referring to Callie's recent stint at Capital One's new call center that had just opened up in downtown. "It's good. You know, it's a paycheck."

The blonde nodded and passed the bottle of wine to Callie. "But not what you want to be doing?"

Callie hesitated, but then nodded. She was a reserved person and didn't open up to people, but over the past few weeks, she had begun to warm up to Arizona. She nodded. "Not really, but maybe I'll figure it all out one day."

The blonde smiled. "I'm sure you will. You could do anything you want. I can tell, you have it in you."

"What in me?"

"The drive, the passion." Arizona temporarily side-stepped the conversation with thoughts of what passion with Callie would be like in the bedroom, but quickly brought herself back. "You know, passion to do what you want." She cleared her throat, trying to hide the blush her cheeks were holding. "in life."

Callie smiled back, oblivious to the blonde's expressions. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

A few minutes later, they were interrupted by George and Jackson, swimming up to them hurriedly. Jackson stood up in the water and nudged George. "You are such the chicken shit, you so won't do it."

George looked at Callie, to Jackson, and then back to the brunette. He kneeled down in the water and glided up to the Latina and smiled. Slowly, he closed the gap between them and met lips with Callie in a soft kiss.

Jackson screamed back to Derek. "Dude, he did it. George isn't a chicken shit after all!"

The drunkeness took over as Callie deepened the kiss, grateful for human contact. It had been months since she had been with Alex and it felt good. It was George, but it felt strangely good. Moans between the kisses began. Arizona giggled and slowly got up from the stairs and walked out of the pool. She grabbed a towel and wrapped herself in it before settling into a chair next to the others, who had already gotten out of the pool. She, along with the others, watched the awkward make-out session between George and Callie.

The blonde was half-way amused by the lack of gracefulness in their public display of affection, and half-way wishing she were the one Callie was being ungraceful with. 'Ahh, such is life', the blonde though as she cracked open a beer and took a swig.