The Bar Chapter 5, a grey's anatomy fanfic

Callie stood at the baggage claim, watching the conveyer belt slowly turn. The five-hour flight from Seattle had been nerve-wracking for the brunette. Somewhere between the mountains of Colorado and the darkness of Indiana, it had hit Callie, full-force, how alone and on her own she was about to be.

She had put up so many walls during and after her affairs with Alex and George. They had, at the time, turned her to stone. In the aftermath of it, she had no family to support her, emotionally or financially. And just hours ago, she had left behind the only people that had ever truly cared for her unconditionally and without question, without judgment. Derek. Joe. And most of all, Arizona. These were the three who had torn down her walls and had made her whole again. They had allowed her to trust again, they had made her alive again. And now, she was alone again. Standing in the large room and watching strangers go about their lives, Callie Torres could feel herself slowly, but surely, creep back into a protective shell of doubt.

Callie eyed the one, lone suitcase she had checked peek out from around the corner. She grabbed it and made her way down the long hall and out to the main portion of the unfamiliar airport. She decided against taking a taxi and, instead, opted for a rental car to make her trek into the city. After signing a few papers and securing a set of
keys, Callie pushed a large glass door to exit Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Her suitcase clicked behind her on the sidewalk as she breathed in the late-summer air. The sun was setting behind the trees front of her as she walked. It was the first sunset she had seen in years. After unlocking her rental and settling in, Callie pulled her GPS from her bag and set it on the dash. She plugged in the address to her new apartment and started the engine.

"What can I get you?"

"Ahh, where's the love, Arizona?" Henry, a regular at the bar, asked with a smirk. "You know what I drink."

"Oh, right. Scotch. Neat." She sighed. "I'm sorry."

"No worries."

"Gimme two, Henry."

Arizona turned from the patron and snuck a peek from her phone from behind the bar, hoping to see a text from Callie. Nothing. She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and grabbed a bottle from behind the bar and began to pour. After setting the small glass down under a napkin in front of her customer, she turned to her co-tender.

"Der, I'm worried."

Derek wiped some sweat from his forehead and addressed his friend, semi-annoyed. "What's up, Arizona?"

She helped him pour beer for his table as she talked. "Well, Calliope hasn't called. Or texted."

"Maybe she is busy unpacking." He shifted a few beers aside. "Or doesn't have service on her pho-."

"-Or maybe her plane crashed, Derek." Arizona said, cutting him off. She looked around to nowhere as she thought of more hypothetical perils. "She could have been mugged or something." He looked at her and rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Well, you don't know, Derek." She looked down, genuinely concerned.

"I am sure she's fine." He wiped more sweat from his face.

"Could you maybe look at that fancy phone of yours and see if her flight has landed?" She pleaded. "For me?"

Derek sighed. "Take these to table 14 for me and I will. What flight?"

"United 336."

He smiled and nodded to the waiting patrons that Arizona would need to tend to and disappeared to the back of the bar.

Forty minutes later, Callie was unlocking her the door to her apartment. She set her suitcase aside and slowly looked around to the new place she would be calling home. Two weeks earlier, the brunette had stumbled across an online ad for someone in need of a tenant to sublet their apartment. Fully furnished and with utilities included, Callie had wired them a deposit immediately.

The place was small, but more than enough for her. The living room and kitchen decors were semi-modern with a hippie-like touch. The walls were kissed with browns, oranges, and greens. Warm, welcoming, inviting. She peeked her head inside of the blue office that was furnished with a mahogany desk and bookshelves to match. She moved on to the bathroom, which she found to be red, with a claw foot tub and black and white tiled floors. Callie finally landed in the bedroom, which was adorned with light blues and browns and had a balcony off to the right that gave her a perfect view of her new city. The brunette looked around a gave a satisfying nod. Her new pad was, in all respects, comfortable.

Callie returned to the living room to retrieve her two bags and a pack of beer she had bought on the way in. She wheeled them to the back of the apartment and into her bedroom. After cracking open a bottle, she set it on the nightstand, opened her suitcase and began to unpack.

Arizona had spent the last twenty minutes tending the main bar by herself. People were drinking faster than she could pour and sweat was spilling from her face quicker than she could wipe it away. She was writing down another round on Henry's tab when Derek emerged from the back. She quickly forgot the other waiting customers and rushed up to him with questioning eyes. 'Well?"

Derek stuffed his phone into his back pocket and smiled. "Her plan landed an hour ago. No crashes, no mishaps."

Arizona breathed a little relief. "Thank you." She turned to join Derek at the bar with the thirsty folks. They talked over the orders of the crowd.

"I'm sure nothing happened, Arizona."

"I know, I just worry. A lot."

"You worry about her, a lot."

The turned their backs to pour and tab people out. "Well, yeah." Arizona flipped her hair out of her face. "She's all alone, Derek."

"I know."

"I dunno, I just thought," Arizona punched in numbers on the register as she talked. "I guess I thought she would call me or text me the minute she could." She totaled out the tab and ripped off the receipt. "Ya know, just to say hi."

She handed the slip and a pen to Henry as Derek shoved three pints of beer in front of a guy next to him. "Arizona, that is what you would do. Because you love Callie." They continued to work furiously to get themselves out of the weeds, but continued their banter just the same.

"Well even if she doesn't love me, you know, like that - I'm still her best friend. I would have called by now. Or texted." She hung her head. "Or something."

Derek turned to his friend and put his hands on his shoulders, sensing she needed a little comfort. He let his eyes connect with hers. "There are a million reasons why Callie hasn't texted by now." He saw concern flash across the blonde's face. "All of which are non-life threatening."

The fear dissolved from Arizona's face as he continued. "But not loving you is none of those reasons. I promise."

The blonde nodded with a smile. "I know. I just miss her."

"You'll hear from Torres before the night is over, kid." He turned to the chaos in front of them. "Let's get through the next two hours and we'll head to your pad for some drinks. Deal?"

"Okaaaay, deal."

Callie finished stuffing the last of her clothes into the dresser in her bedroom before retreating to the bathroom. She undressed and settled down slowly into the hot bath she had drawn for herself. Lights off and candles lit, she placed a warm rag over her eyes and laid back to relax.

Arizona and Derek had killed two bottles of wine on the blonde's balcony. Their shift had ended hours ago and the night would soon be turning to morning. And still no word from Callie. After tucking Derek in on the couch, Arizona retreated to her bedroom to snuggle into her bed. Beneath the covers, she clutched her phone, checking it every few minutes or so. She was determined not to fall asleep and she was determined to prove Derek right.

"Even if you were a million miles away
I could still you feel you in my bed
Near me, touch me, feel me

And even at the bottom of the sea
I can still hear inside my head,
telling me touch me, feel me
and all the time you were telling me lies..."

Arizona knew the song humming through the radio didn't exactly describe her situation with Callie, but the few lyrics that did were enough to bring tears to the blonde. She turned over, unable to sleep, and checked her phone again. Nothing.

"So tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you
tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make without you
I'm gonna hold onto the times that we had
tonight, I'm gonna find a way to make it without you..."

Three thousand miles away, Callie was settling into bed. She was beyond tired, but after fifteen minutes of restless sleep, the brunette remembered.

"I snuck something into the bag you checked."

Callie quickly popped out of bed and unzipped the only part of her suitcase that she hadn't unpacked. She found a small package wrapped in brown paper and twine. She ripped it open violently. In seconds, she was staring at a silver picture frame that held a photo of she and Arizona from two summers ago.

"Have you ever tried sleeping with a broken heart?
Well, you could try sleeping in my bed
Lonely, own me, nobody ever shut it down like you

You wore the crown
You made my body feel heaven bound
Why don't you hold me, need me?
I thought you told me you'd never leave me..."

Arizona had given up. A normal best friend would have texted over and over to see how Callie was doing. But knowing how she felt about the brunette, Arizona had decided against it. She set her phone on the small nightstand beside her and made a feeble attempt at sleep. Minutes later, she was on her back, staring at the ceiling.

"Looking in the sky I can see your face
And I knew right where I'd fit in
Take me, make me, you know that I'll always be in love with you
Right til the end..."

Callie brushed the photo with her fingers as tears filled her eyes. She missed Seattle. She missed her friends. She missed Arizona. Callie reached over to her phone, flipped it open, and began to text.

Arizona was jolted from her thoughts by the buzzing of her phone. She grabbed in and flicked it open quickly to read. It was Callie.

I suck, I forgot to call you. :( But I just opened what you sneaked in. :) I miss you, Arizona.

The blonde smiled, overwhelmed with everything. She was overjoyed that Callie was okay, but sad that she was on the other side of the country. Arizona breathed in sharply with sadness and relief.

Callie waited for a reply and received one within minutes.

Hope you like it. I miss you crazy much. Seattle is not the same without you. :(

After texting for a half hour or so, the girls called it a night with promises to talk to one another tomorrow.

And beneath the same skies, though miles apart, Callie and Arizona drifted into their own separate slumbers.