That fall, with the help of Arizona, Callie enrolled in school. Her parents had indeed cut her off financially, so she took out loans to pay for everything. She worked part-time at Joe's on the weekends alongside Derek and Arizona to help them with the busy shifts and with the little spare time that she found, she taught herself how to cook.
When she had first moved into Arizona's apartment, she had very little money, but Arizona had taken her shopping to get some things for her room among other necessities that she needed. Callie, at first, had been hesitant to accept the good deeds from the blonde, but she gradually came to appreciate them genuinely. Now that she was getting on her feet, she repaid her roommate with 3 a.m. dinners after they got home from work.
Arizona didn't have any family and Callie's didn't want her around, so they spent the holidays together. They enjoyed Thanksgiving at Joe's and Christmas at the apartment with Derek and a few other guests. They even had their own tree that they had bought from a downtown tree vendor. New Years' Eve, of course was spent working, but they still had fun. They watched old Grace Kelley movies on the couch for Valentine's Day and hid eggs inside of the apartment for Easter. And in between, they had the occasional midnight swim telling secrets and sharing their lives with one another. Callie and Arizona had become best friends.
Throughout the years of Callie's undergrad stint, Arizona would help her study at home and on her breaks at the bar. As promised, the back corner booth had been reserved for the brunette for her study sessions. It had been hard for her at first since it had been so long since she had been in school, but with the help around her, she was able to ease back in with only a few hiccups along the way. Towards the end of her senior year, it started to become real for Callie that she would soon be a college graduate.
On the day of her graduation, Arizona, Derek and Joe had been in the crowd cheering in full-force. Not Alex, who had treated her so badly or George, who had cheated on her. Sadly, not even her father, who had cut her off from her family for not living the life they had wanted. No one that Callie had once counted on so dearly had been there. But the three people she had come to love so much in recent years - the three people that had consistently been there for her - were there. After walking across the stage and being handed her diploma, she found her friends in the audience and smiled, for they were the reason she had been able to do it in the first place.
Later that night, the foursome had celebrated at the bar with rounds on the house from Joe. Callie looked around at her friends with a smile. Four years ago, she had been a wreck. Four years ago, she had no direction, no ambition, no life. Four years was a long time, but they had treated her well.
It had been two weeks since her graduation and Callie was sitting on the floor of she and Arizona's apartment filling out applications for medical school when she heard the knob on the front door turn. The brunette looked up to see her best friend coming in from a late Tuesday night shift at Joe's.
"Hey!" Arizona said as she peeled off her jacket. "How's the school hunt going?"
Callie slumped down in the middle of the floor that was littered in paper. "This is more work than school was!"
Arizona retrieved a bottle of wine and two glasses from the counter and took a seat in the living room across from Callie. After pouring them each a glass, she grabbed an empty application and a pen. "I'll help you."
"You can't do that, Arizona. I have to do it."
"Why?" She sipped from her glass and set it down. "It's not like they know your handwriting."
"True."
"Besides, the sooner you get these done, the sooner we can go swimming. It's a nice night out."
They sat for another half-hour, across from each other filling out Callie's never-ending applications for medical school. Halfway through her third application, Arizona noticed the school. "MCV?" She questioned her best friend.
"It's one of them, yes."
"But Callie, that's in Virginia."
"I know, but I have to apply to a lot to make sure I get in somewhere."
"But, it's Virginia."
Callie looked at Arizona. "My first choice is UW so I can stay here." Arizona nodded as the brunette continued. "I want to stay in Seattle. I mean, free rent, right?"
This made Arizona smile, but only a little. "Calliope Torres, you are not moving to Virginia. Oregon, I can handle. Wait, are there even medical schools in Oregon?" The blonde shook her head. "Doesn't matter. You are getting into UW. End of story."
Arizona got up and offered Callie a hand. "Come on, we're going swimming, Dr. Torres."
"Hey, I'm not a doctor yet."
"Ah, soon enough."
Callie pulled Arizona into a hug. "Thank you. For everything."
The blonde pulled back and smiled. "Don't mention it. You deserve it. Now go get us some towels. The diving board is waiting."
Two weeks later, Callie's eyes rested on the coffee table in front of her that was littered with tri-folded papers. She sat Indian-style on the couch looking between them and the envelope that she held in her hand. She tapped it on the fingertips of her left hand while she thought. Of the eight medical schools that she had applied to, she had so far been accepted to just three. This one, though, was the one she had been waiting for. The coveted University of Washington.
She set the envelope in her lap and leaned over to shuffle the papers on the table together. She thumbed through them and tossed aside the letters of rejection. The remaining three she sat back onto the table in front of her. Placing her feet on the ground and inhaling sharply, she rested her elbows on her knees and slipped her pinky finger inside of the small opening at the corner of the envelope. Callie took a sip of her wine before unfolding the single sheet of paper to read. After releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, she closed her eyes and tossed the letter in the floor with the other rejects as a sadness fell upon her.
Breaking the news to Arizona later that evening, over dinner, had been heartbreaking for the brunette. The closest school that Callie had been accepted to was in Texas. It was far enough away that she had unofficially decided to accept John's Hopkins offer. It was the best choice, for obvious reasons, but Callie was almost mad that she had been accepted to any of them. She would have to move.
Arizona flipped from one letter to another. "You got into Johns Hopkins but not UW?" She asked with question, with sadness.
"Yes," Callie paused to look out at the Atlanta skyline. She had come to love the view from she and Arizona's balcony. She took another bite of her dinner that suddenly tasted like cardboard, and looked back to her best friend. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Calliope." Arizona furrowed her eyebrows with a bit of resentment. "They should be sorry. Dumb UW fools. They are missing out, because you will be an amazing doctor. They are missing out. Yes, they are."
The blonde set the papers on the table and stood up without looking at the brunette. Five minutes later, she returned with a fresh bottle of wine. There was no toasting or happy celebration between the two. After she had downed a glass, Arizona spoke again.
"I'm so happy for you, Calliope." The blonde smiled. "I really am. But you are my best friend and I love you and the thought of you leaving is making me a little sad right now. So tonight, I am going to be selfish, if that's okay. Tomorrow, we will celebrate."
Callie managed a smile. "You and I, we're in the same boat."
Exhausted from the waiting and the rejection and the deciding, Callie retired to bed early. Arizona, instead, opened another bottle of wine and took a seat on the deck of the balcony. She flipped open her phone and called the only person she could talk to right now. Taking a sip of her wine, she waiting for the other line to answer.
"Derek, can you come over?"
Fifteen minutes later, the sliding door next to her opened. Derek shut the door behind him, took off his jacket and took a seat next to his friend. "You never call me over. You okay?"
"Callie's moving."
"She didn't get into UW?"
"No."
Derek dropped his down and hugged his friend. "You have to tell her, Arizona."
"I can't. She's worked so hard for this." She leaned in tighter to his hug. "I can't take this away from her."
"But you can't let her go without her knowing how you feel either."
Sensing he knew what Arizona's next words would be, Derek spoke up again. "It won't complicate things. Arizona, I could almost bet she feels the same way about you."
"You don't know that."
"Not for sure, you are right. But I do know what it's like to think about things that could have been."
Arizona looked up at her friend as he finished. "It's terrible."
The blonde let all of the tears and emotions that she had been holding inside of her since learning of Callie's news earlier go. Four years of love and friendship flashed before her eyes. To make them go away, she squinched her eyelids shut. It only made it worse. She sat up and took a sip from the wine bottle and sobbed to her friend. "It's my fault. I'm the idiot who went and fell in love with my best friend."
Two weeks later, Arizona found herself sitting next to Callie as they both waited for the brunette's seat to be called for boarding. Arizona had purchased a plane ticket just so she could see her best friend off at the gate. The two played Sudoku and did crossword puzzles and laughed to kill time. Arizona had decided the night before that she would not spill her feelings to Callie. Not now. Not yet. Her best friend was moving to an unknown place and reluctant about it to begin with. The last thing she needed was to be thrown a curve ball of emotions and confessions, so Arizona played the friend part and decided to just be there for the Latina. Nothing more. Nothing less.
When Callie's seat was called, they both rose from their seats and walked toward the gate. Callie turned around after handing the ticket to the attendant. She set down her bags. "So I guess this is it?"
Arizona smiled. "For now."
"You'll come visit me?"
"Of course I will. I'll clear some time with Joe and will be out in no time for fun with you."
Callie stepped closer and put her hands on Arizona's shoulders. "Thank you, so much." She grabbed her friend in a tight hug. "For everything."
Arizona returned the hug. "Your room is yours forever." She stepped back from the brunette. "I don't know if you get fall break in med school. But at least for Christmas and stuff - you better be home to spend it with me-us. You know, Joe and Derek and-"
"I will."
"And you better call me. Write. Email. Whatever you can."
"You have my word, you'll be the first."
The attendant behind them cleared her throat, signaling the need for Callie to get on with it. Looking back, the brunette nodded reluctantly. She gave Arizona one last hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Arizona." Callie pulled back. "I really do."
The blonde nodded. "Alright, you gotta go. I, uh, I snuck something into the bag you checked." She smiled widely.
"Did you now? I'll look as soon as I get my bags when I land." Callie threw her carry-on over her shoulder and began walking to the gate. She turned around once more. "I'll miss you, Arizona."
"I'll miss you too." The blonde called back. "You be great!"
Ten minutes later, Arizona was still by the gate, looking out of the large paned windows and to the plane that Callie was now on. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began a text message to her best friend.
Callie stuffed her small bag beneath her and settled into her seat when she felt the phone on her lap vibrate. She flipped it open to read.
Have a safe flight and call me
when you get in.
I'm so proud of you, Calliope.
The brunette shot a quick response to her best friend and stuffed her phone into her bag before buckling up. Nervous, scared, and sad, she overcame it all as the plane took off. A new chapter in her life had begun.