"Callie, come on. Don't be a spoilsport," Arizona reprimanded as she rolled her eyes. Was it so difficult for Callie to just join in and have a little fun?

But Callie scoffed back at her, "I told you, I don't play car games. They give me traumatic flashbacks."

Turning to face Callie, she lifted her eyebrows, "How in the world are car games traumatic?"

"Many, many hours spent in the car with my mom, playing any kind of game under the sun that you can think of. For years. To be perfectly honest, if we did play, I would probably be able to win in minutes. So, really, you should be thanking me for saving you from the utter humiliation of that loss," the brunette retorted, with that ever present smirk in place.

Arizona found herself grinning despite herself – she'd been trying to get Callie to engage in a variety of car games for the last few hours, to no avail. But she couldn't say she really cared all that much, because their actual conversation was even better than the casual, ever-so-often talking they had done in the last couple of days. And was miles and miles better than the first day of silence, Callie listening to her iPod, and napping.

But still, she sighed and leaned her head back against the seat as Callie drove, "Come on, where is the girl who sang You Can't Hurry Love last night?"

She got shot a look from the corner of Callie's eyes, but it was enough to see how dry it was, "She is sitting right here. And she might enjoy singing classics from the sixties, but that's not the same thing as like, some stupid game about spotting a license plate from Kentucky or something."

Arizona just accepted the words, and leaned back for a second, thinking about their karaoke song last night – it had been chosen by the host because neither she nor Callie was choosing. But it had turned out that they both knew the song already. And after the initial slight stumbling and nerves, it was actually… fun.

Definitely not something she imagined doing often. But yesterday, with Callie all excited over those NASCARs – IndyCars, sorry – and then getting into singing at the karaoke bar… it was so unexpectedly great.

She was brought out of her thoughts as Callie flicked on the blinker, before clearing her throat, "Besides, we're basically here. Well, here as in, Chicago. In the city of destination," she clarified.

It was enough to take Arizona's attention away from her previous train of thought. They had been driving since a little after seven in the morning – nearly four hours now. Arizona shook her head slightly, blonde hair fanning out a bit over her shoulders, and corrected herself: Callie had been driving since after seven in the morning.

Apparently after getting her first taste of being behind the wheel again, she had been obsessed, because she definitely hadn't wanted to pass up the opportunity this morning.

She rolled her eyes at it, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit endeared. It was a kind of innocent enthusiasm that the brunette had. Perhaps the only kind of innocent anything, when it came to the leather wearing, scowling, self-proclaimed badass who would rather be caught dead than in her Prius.

Turning her head to look out the window, her breath almost caught in her throat at the view. Every time she was in a new city, somewhere great, she got a new rush like this. All of the buildings, the history here. It was somewhat stunning.

Callie gave her a look as Arizona heard her question softly, "Have you ever been to Chicago before?"

She shook her head, blue eyes roaming over the cityscape, "No. I've been to a lot of places, but never here. Have you?" the question rolled off her tongue and she managed to look away, to Callie, whose dark hair was spilling messily out of her ponytail, and whipping a bit as they drove with the windows down.

Callie hesitated for a moment, which Arizona caught on to and her eyebrows drew down in confusion, but before she could think to say anything, Callie nodded, answering with a simple, "Yeah. Where else have you been?"

Arizona tilted her head in thought, biting her lip, "A few places." She could tell in the brief look Callie gave her that her answer was unsatisfactory and she chuckled, "My dad is in the military. The Marine Corps," she expanded, before she squinted her eyes slightly in thought, "Um, when I was younger we lived in Albany, Georgia for a while, that's the first place I remember." Though those memories weren't much at this point. She remembered small things, like a swing in the backyard, and riding her bike around the neighborhood with Tim, "Berlin, for a few years after that." She had loved Berlin, though. And they'd stayed for a couple of years, before, "Eventually, when I was a teenager, we moved to California."

And wherever they had traveled with her dad, they're also explored many of the surrounding cities over the time they were there.

As they stopped at a red light, Callie turned to look at her, those dark eyes seeming to bore through her as a perfectly arched eyebrow lifted, "And your parents settled in Berkeley?"

She nodded, and grinned, dimpled popping as she remembered the many discussions her parents had had about where to settle. She'd wanted to go back to Germany, which had been ruled out, "Yeah. It wasn't my first choice, but I love it, now."

All Callie did in response was "hmm" quietly, which drew back Arizona's gaze, and she didn't find the need to look away, as Callie lightly tapped her thumbs against the steering wheel, keeping them driving in the direction Arizona's phone was taking them. She figured this would normally be the point where someone else she was in conversation with would then open up a little about their own past.

Then again, this was Callie Torres, who remained somewhat of a mystery to her. A mystery who revealed infinitely more information about herself through her actions than anything she ever chose to divulge to Arizona on purpose.

It was slightly frustrating, especially given the fact that she was an open book. Well, fairly open.

Besides, they were friendly, now. Almost friends? Friend-things? And she didn't think it was just because of the deal they'd made, because Callie had been real with her for the last couple of days.

Or maybe Callie was just that good of an actress?

She jerked forward in her seat when Callie slammed on the brakes, muttering, "You fucking bitch," under her breath at the car who cut them off, her ever-present scowl pulling down those perfectly plump lips.

And Arizona had no clue why she found that amusing, other than to confirm that she was, indeed experiencing the real Callie and not just someone who was acting to like her and get along.

Heaving out a sigh she tilted her head, because being genuinely friends meant that she got to ask questions. Right?

"What about you? Why have you been here before?"

Callie sucked in a deep breath, her chest rising with it, before she blew it out quickly, "Uh, my dad travels a lot for business, too. We came here when I was fourteen? No, thirteen." Before Arizona could get out any of her questions – what did Callie's dad do? Where else had she been to? Callie had pushed forward to change the subject, "So, what's the first stop here?"

Her eagerness to change the subject just confused her, because how was talking about her parent's business too personal? Blue eyes rolled once more, because Callie really was just so strange, but she complied, "The hotel."

Those dark eyes gave her a surprised look, "Well, that's different than the usual schedule. We don't usually check into a hotel until after activities."

"Yes, but we're spending two days here, as opposed to the usual one, so I figured we could do things a little differently this time," she explained, enjoying the look on Callie's face whenever she surprised her. When a few seconds beat by without a response, she added on, "I mean, this is the most major place we have to stop, and there is so much to do, so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to stay an extra night?"

But Callie just cleared her throat, "No, it's fine. It finally makes sense why your GPS has been telling me to pull into this parking lot," she added on quietly, which made Arizona snort with laughter.

By the time that they had pulled their duffel bags out of the car and checked in, she heard Callie sigh next to her as they made their way into their room, "How come you always get to choose where we stay?"

As she slid the key card into the door, she lifted an eyebrow, "Why, are you a hotel aficionado?" she teased.

And didn't expect Callie to flush and look away, before rolling her eyes and scoffing a few seconds later, dark eyes glaring, "No," she replied, shortly, "But there is a place I think would be cool to stay, here in Chicago."

"It's a little late, now that we've checked in an everything," but she frowned a but, feeling a little bit guilty, because it was her own sentiment that this was Callie's trip, too, "If you really want, we can stay somewhere you want to, next. I mean, the places I found are mostly just ones from a Google search," she added with a slight grin, leaning against her shoulder on the door, her hand still on the handle.

Just before she noticed the look Callie was giving her, eyebrows lifted as she shuffled a bit on her feet, dark eyes darting between Arizona and the door.

Yeah, because she's carrying our stuff with hers, idiot.

Blue eyes widened, as she let the door slide open, apologizing, "Sorry."

Callie shrugged as best as she could as she stepped by Arizona, seeming to make sure she kept as much space as possible even though her shoulder jammed into the doorway. When Arizona had gone to the desk to check in, Callie had shifted slightly from foot to foot, before offering with exasperation to carry her things for her.

Another facet to the mystery of Callie Torres.

The one and only Callie Torres who dropped their bags down between the beds, as Arizona walked to the windows. It was the same type of thing as the other hotels they'd been staying in – small-ish but clean room, two beds, a bureau. But this room actually had a view.

"You should check this out," she recommended.

All she got in response was a slightly slurred, "No, you should check this out."

When she turned around, she saw that Callie had climbed into one of the beds. Which made Arizona roll her eyes, even as her stomach seemed to tingle a bit; she couldn't help but think that Callie was absolutely adorable as she burrows her head into the pillow with a luxurious sigh, "God, this bed feels so good."

Arizona had a comment about Callie not getting too comfortable because they had a city to see perched on her tongue, which promptly disappeared as soon as Callie arched her back in a deep, languorous stretch and then moaned.

Like, a real, drawn out moan. That made Arizona's eyes widen and her cheeks flush, arousal spreading through her because – well, Callie was a woman. A really fucking hot woman with those long, tan legs and she was lying in bed all stretched out and making those sounds…

"Fuck," the whisper fell out of her mouth before she even realized it, and she froze for a moment, but Callie didn't say or do anything.

She closed her eyes and turned away, trying to reign herself in; it wasn't like she was incapable of controlling herself. Like, damn. She knew a lot of attractive women, and yeah, maybe she hadn't had the pleasure of anyone's company in a few months, but that was really her own choice.

After all, she'd been busy with studying for finals, then actually taking said finals, preparation for her trip. She hadn't foreseen the fact that she would be on said trip with a ridiculously gorgeous woman, who she had struck up this tentative friendship with. Who let out porn star sounding moans while she was in the room.

Well, what porn star sounding moans would probably sound like, she imagined, if they were legitimate.

Eyebrows drawn low, she blew out a deep, deep breath and started to speak, pushing everything else out of her mind, "I was thinking maybe we could just explore today? It's nice out so we could…"

She turned around, trailing off as soon as she took in that those dark eyes were closed, her back was rising and falling slowly and evenly, and all that dark, soft hair had been released from her ponytail, hair now falling over her cheek. Aaaand Callie was most definitely asleep.

A bit deflated, she found it kind of hard to be annoyed at the brunette, when she was all cute with her face pushed against the plush pillow. Heaving a small sigh, indecision weighed on her as she sat down on the edge of Callie's mattress, and – not surprisingly – the movement didn't wake the brunette.

Arizona rolled her eyes at how heavy she slept, but couldn't prevent herself from giving her a small smile, and she tentatively reached out to brush aside the dark hair that had fallen over Callie's cheek, before moving back.

Hmm. It was as soft as it looked. As soft as she remembered it. Which was kind of insane, because it was really fucking soft, that sometimes when she thought back to the night of Incident Number 2 – not like she did it often – she thought that her inebriated mind might have remembered some details not quite accurately.

It was even more difficult to be annoyed, she decided, when she had learned that Callie was definitely not a morning person, yet had been getting up every morning with very minimal complaint, gamely going with her with her plans. Granted, it didn't take much to glean that information after the first day with the brunette.

She hadn't even gone to sleep in the car, after clearly seeing that it was something that bothered Arizona. She couldn't help but like that. A lot.

So, as much as exploring by herself wasn't ideal, she could give this to Callie. Let her have some time in, let her do what she would normally do on a typical day. All right, so she didn't know exactly what Callie would do on a typical day. But sleeping in or taking naps in the afternoon, maybe after hanging out with Elise or while listening to her iPod, she thought those might fall into that category.

You have thought about this too much.

Excuse you, I've hardly spent any time wondering about what Callie does with her daily life.

Maybe not that exactly, but how much did you try to seek her out and try to learn about her schedule after the kiss?

Shut up.

Shaking her head and getting rid of that line of thought – which wouldn't be conducive to anything, really – she made her decision for sure. It would do well to stop being creepy and looking at sleeping Callie, anyway.

After all, they had both been attached at the hip, and not by choice for either of them. Maybe it would do some good to get some space? At the very least, it couldn't hurt.

Callie shifted and murmurs in her sleep with a low groan, which made Arizona hop up quickly, brushing her hands down over her denim shorts.

After a quickly scribbled note saying that she was leaving, she took one last look that confirmed the brunette was out like a light, and closed the door behind her.

She didn't take her car; it seemed foolish when she didn't have a destination in mind. And she was content to simply walk around for a bit, before she found herself in the Chicago Botanic Garden. Mostly because of her mother, who had fostered a garden everywhere that they had lived.

Which was why it wasn't surprising that only a few moments after she had snapped a picture overlooking the rose gardens and sent it to her mother, that she found her phone ringing. With a grin, she picked up, "Hi mom."

"Hi, hon. Beautiful garden! You're in Chicago, right?" Barbara asked, as if Arizona hadn't given her the entire map and itinerary weeks ago, because it made both her mother and father feel safer when they would know where she was.

She continued walking, taking it all in, though she couldn't lie and say she was really enamored with gardening the way her mother was, "You know I am."

Her mom chuckled, "I just wanted a confirmation. How's the trip going, hon? Everything you thought it would be?"

"And more," she whispered, thinking about sleeping Callie – their friendship and, disturbingly, her ridiculous moans. Then she cleared her throat because she definitely wasn't about to have those thoughts right there with her mother on the line, "It's good, so far. It's been really good."

"Well, I can only imagine how good, considering you haven't called since leaving school," the older woman reminded her, only slightly teasing.

Arizona rolled her eyes despite the fact that her mother couldn't see – actually, it was much better that her mother couldn't see – though she found herself grinning, "I shouldn't call and drive, mom; it's against the law," and she laughed when she heard her mother's annoyed huff of breath. And laughed a little bit more because she knew it was an exact sound that she made, too, before she sobered slightly, "Besides I texted you the first night."

Her mom's tone was exasperated, "I know that, and I know we have our weekly calls. But I worry about you; you're a young woman travelling by car across the country. I've seen horror movies, hon, and you don't watch them; I know how these matters go."

All right, the laughter was back, and she chuckled, which garnered some strange looks from the family she walked by, "Mom. This is life. Not a horror movie."

But now her mom was smiling, and she could tell from the tone, "I know, I know. I'm just saying, it would be nice to hear from you to make sure you're safe and having fun," she reprimanded lightly.

Arizona nodded again before catching herself, "I know. Sorry. But I've just been… busy," she settled on. It was true, at least.

"Yeah? And how has the trip been?" She found herself lightly smiling, "Eventful," she answered honestly, "We always have something to do. Uh, well, mostly always," she amended, considering the fact that she was walking by herself around some gardens in the middle of the afternoon.

"We – riiight," her mother drew out, and it was then that Arizona closed her eyes, because she knew exactly where her mother was going to go even before she said, "So, tell me more about this mysterious girl you're traveling with."

She continued walking around, squinting in the afternoon sun, as she answered, deliberately keeping her tone light, "Well, what do you want to know?"

Barbara sighed heavily, "Just the basics, hon. You know – who is she, how are you getting along… is she pretty?"

Arizona groaned, regretting even mentioning Callie to her mother even in passing in that first text. The text in question that had been after that stupid fight but she hadn't wanted to make her mom worry about her or the trip, so she had just said that she and "the girl" she was with made it to the first destination. So she just cut her mom off with a simple, yet serious, "No."

"No, what? She isn't pretty? That's not a very –"

With a groan, she interrupted, "Just – stop. She's very pretty," god only knew why she felt the need to defend that, but all she could picture was cute Callie sleeping back in the room. Or even perpetually scowling Callie, though that was marginally less cute, and more – fuck. Stop. "But her being pretty doesn't have anything to do with, well, anything."

Her mother was a master at sounding innocent, even when her intentions weren't, "I'm just asking some questions about your… friend."

She was quick to cut that off, "No… no, mom. No, Callie isn't some sort of – of girlfriend. I don't know why you feel like whenever any girl is mentioned, that she is a potential girlfriend."

"Because, Arizona, you so rarely mention any girls, and I'm an interested parent. You know I'm supportive of your love life, honey. You can tell me these things," Barbara added, her voice low and serious.

Arizona bit back another groan from falling from her lips and for a few seconds, she held the phone to her forehead and shook her head, only mildly frustrated. Her mother was, for all intents and purposes, incredibly supportive. Which she loved and appreciated; she really did. When Arizona had felt the need to go through her, admittedly awful, punk rock phase, her mom was fully encouraging to try new things. When she had decided to go to medical school, mom was right on board and telling her she could do anything. And when Arizona came out as a lesbian, her mother was sitting at the kitchen table reading through PFLAG pamphlets the very next day.

But if there was one thing Arizona wished her mother was decidedly less interested in, it was her love life, "Yes, I know I can tell you, mom. And when there is something to tell you about… girlfriends, you will know."

It wasn't like Arizona was living a nun-like existence – she very much wasn't. And she wasn't afraid of the whole commitment thing, either; it just so happened that she was busy and that there hadn't been anyone in particular that she'd wanted to get serious with.

Get serious with? Did we travel back in time?

The semi-satisfied sigh she heard from her mom was only comforting for a moment before she questioned, "Well, why isn't she a potential girlfriend? You said she's pretty. Oh, I know how you like the smart ones, just like yourself. Is she not what you're looking for there?"

Her eyebrows drew down low, "What? No. Callie's really smart. We're in school together." They were almost lab partners – but that was the week after the Incident, and Callie found a way to switch partners.

"Is it her personality? Smart and pretty isn't everything, and the whole package can be hard to find –"

This time, she wasn't able to hold back her groan of frustration, "Mom. It's not – she has a great personality."

Then she cringed at herself – great personality? Since when would she ever say that Callie Torres had a great personality? But after a few seconds, she found that she didn't feel the need to correct it.

It maybe wasn't always what she was used to, but somewhere along the line, she had found herself enjoying it. When did that happen?

Shaking herself out of it, she took in a deep breath, "There is nothing wrong with her, mom. It's just… there's nothing there."

Of course out of the last few statements she had made, that was the one she found herself balking at, and she rolled her eyes at herself. Because there really was nothing between them, and that much was the truth.

"Fine, fine, so you aren't interesting in this Callie. Tell me about her anyway," Barbara urged, and she sounded genuinely interested.

So Arizona found herself walking through an exhibition of sunflowers that towered over her own height, trying to figure out how exactly to explain, "She's kind of surly, sometimes." She thought about the snarky comments and the moaning and groaning, but for the most baffling reason, she found herself smiling, "But in a funny way. She… can be nice, when I don't expect it," and she pictured the tea and how Callie had paid for the racing thing. And the fact that she'd actually kept Arizona's non-serious deal about treating her for dinner. Plus, how she'd offered to carry up her duffel bag, "She actually does that a lot," she murmured absently, as she ran her fingertips over a railing.

She wondered whether or not Callie was still sleeping. Probably, it had only been less than two hours. But maybe she should text her, anyway, just to see.

"Does what?" her mother broke into her musings, and her voice was more subdued now than her obvious probing from earlier.

It was just her… mom voice, Arizona decided was the right way to describe it as she answered, "Does things I don't expect. She's unpredictable like that."

"Hmm. That's not something you usually like," Barbara observed.

And Arizona agreed distractedly, "No, it's not." Maybe she should just send Callie a text just to check.

Her mother surmised, "But Callie's different."

Arizona's brain seemed to finally catch up with her mom's questioning, realizing where her mom was going with this, "Objectively speaking, yes." Because most of the time, that unpredictability had been resulting in a blushing, sweet Callie. Or the one from yesterday who was all passionate and excited.

Needless to say, she wasn't going to elaborate on that to her mother.

Who just hummed in response before asking, "And am I going to get to meet Callie?"

And she snorted, "No." That meeting would end in disaster. After she knew how Callie responded to a – a drunken mistake kiss, she definitely wasn't going to introduce her mother to the brunette, when her mom would insinuate that they were girlfriends.

God, Callie would probably transfer schools.

But her mom sounded insulted, "Arizona! You're driving the girl right to California and I'm not even going to meet her?"

"No, because she's going to Santa Barbara before I come home, and she has, um, important stuff to do there," which, she really didn't know at all. After all, she'd only just learned where Callie was going last night.

But it was enough to placate her mom, "Fine, fine. I understand, and I'll mind my own business. I'll let you do, hon; your father and I are going out soon. Stay safe."

She was making her way back toward the entrance/exit, "I will. Tell dad I said hi, and I love you."

"Aw, I love you, too," Barbara was grinning widely, Arizona was sure, as she added, "And have fun with Callie! Bye, sweets."

God, she hated the way her mother said that. And the fact that she is sure she is sure her mom has it in her head that she and Callie are going to be something now.

Which, you know, that was fine, she decided as she walked back down to the sidewalk. Because she knew that was never going to be true. Hell, they were hardly even friends now, right?

Regardless, her phone was already in her hand, and well, it was kind of weird walking around without the brunette. A text wouldn't wake her up anyway, not with the way she slept, so she didn't have to feel guilty about potentially waking her up.

Hey sleepyhead. If you ever finish chasing your beauty sleep and decide not to be a recluse tonight, I'll be at the Navy Pier.

Admittedly, it took her a while to get there – the sun had already set by the time she arrived. But public transportation, and all of the transfers she'd had to make weren't exactly conducive to easy travel.

Still, the pier was stunning, and she pushed her hands deep into her pockets. As deeply as she could into the pockets of her shorts, anyway, and she regret that she didn't bring a jacket to wear over her t-shirt; it had been warm earlier, but now that the sun had gone down, she was shivering.

And wondering down the pier out over the water hadn't helped, clearly, but instead of moving, she just leaned back against the railing, watching all of the people mill about with a sigh.

This was fun; it was nice, the setting was pretty. But she'd been right about her initial weariness of coming on the trip alone, before Alex told her that he'd found her a travel companion. She'd thought that it would be lonely, and of course there were always things to do and sights to see.

But it was always more fun with someone else.

It was the only logical reason she had that explained why she found herself missing Callie and her little comments about everything and everyone. She wondered what the brunette would say about the strange man who was peddling bibles, or the group of teenagers who were having, what looked to be, an impromptu hotdog eating competition.

Callie always had some amusing comment to make about people. Possibly sometimes not the nicest comments, like last night when she commented on how she wished the woman behind them could speak in a different – lower – register because her voice sounded "screechy."

Maybe it was because of her friendship with Alex, which was somewhat of a conditioning to tolerate rude comments, but she actually found things like that funny when Callie was saying them lowly into her ear.

Which was just… unexpected. But wasn't that exactly what she'd told herself since the beginning? Expect the unexpected with Callie?

It was all just so strange, because in the span of just a few days, they were – friends? She didn't know exactly, but they were closer for sure. But she thought maybe that happened when you were literally spending twenty-four hours a day with someone, and it was just the two of them. But, really, she didn't want to question it too much.

They were getting along, and her trip was going somehow maybe better than she had expected. Maybe it was going even better than she had originally planned, because, well, not everything was completely planned out.

Not that she was every going to say that to Callie, because she got a deep enjoyment from the way those dark eyes seemed to somehow spark at her whenever Callie teased her schedule and need to have everything planned out.

With a sigh, she pushed herself back up; she might as well just grab something for dinner and head back to the hotel. Maybe she would surprise Callie and bring her back something from wherever she chose to get dinner.

A small, wicked smile pulled at her lips – she would tell Callie it was something she was sure the brunette would hate, too. Just to see the disdainful expression that would take over Callie's face, and the way she would poke that lower lip into a pout, or possibly a scowl.

Arizona was positive that would be the highlight of her day, which was actually kind of alarming, given that she had gotten to see some pretty interesting sights.

As she continued walking back, sliding her hand along the rail, she paused and squinted to get a better look at –

Yep. That was definitely Callie, less than twenty feet ahead of her, looking around. Looking, Arizona realized, for her.

She was standing there in what Arizona thought of as all of her Callie Torres glory. Tight jeans and boots, with her signature leather jacket pulled on – it was the exact thing that Arizona pictured her in when she thought about her neighbor and her "badass" image.

Feeling her stomach dip and then flip flop in excitement, she was already beaming with a smile as she practically sauntered over to her, "Did someone get lonely at the hotel?"

God, yes. There it was, the way that eyebrow drew up, all perfectly aloof and Arizona enjoyed it every bit as much as she thought she would, "No," she answered shortly, "I…. wanted to see the sights. It's purely coincidental that you're here, too."

Blue eyes narrowed up at her, "Sure. Purely coincidental in the way that I texted you that I would be here, and then you showed up."

Callie scoffed, "You sent that hours ago, how was I supposed to know you were still here? Face it, Robbins, this is a popular destination, and I just wanted to see the water."

"Yeah, you don't get the chance to see the water in Santa Barbara," she retorted, crossing her arms for warmth, because as much as she enjoyed her banter with Callie, it didn't work to warm her from the inside out, "Face it. You missed me."

She'd been teasing, clearly, but even with only the lights from the vendors and lamps around them, she could see deep color spread over Callie's cheeks, and her denial was swift and strong, "I did not."

Arizona grinned and lightly nudged Callie to start walking, in the direction she'd been heading in, before she shrugged and admitted, "It's okay to say it, Callie. I mean, I missed you."

And suddenly, when she took her next step, Callie wasn't there anymore. Confused, she stopped and spun around, shaking her head at the surprised look on Callie's face, before she lifted an eyebrow in question.

To which Callie asked, "Seriously? You missed me?"

The low tone of her voice belayed her actual shock, which made Arizona's lips quirk into a curious grin, "Well, yeah. You've grown on me, I guess." She shrugged, because… well, it wasn't really a big deal.

At least to her, but Callie was still standing in the same place giving her an indecipherable look that kind of made her shiver and not because of the cold, but because it was strangely intense. But then Callie cleared her throat and walked forward again, until they were instep once more. And her voice was nearly a whisper, "Uh, yeah. You've grown on me, too." Dark eyes scanned over the side of her face, before adding on, "Like a parasite."

Arizona's mouth fell open, feeling insulted until she looked to see a bright, brilliant, laughing smile on Callie's face, as dark eyes sparkled down on her with her laughter.

The blonde just shook her head, a smile on her lips, too, because it was kind of impossible not to smile back when Callie was grinning like that.

Even as she shivered, teeth nearly clattering with the chill coming off the water.

And after a moment, a beat of hesitation, her eyes widened in surprise as Callie slipped off her jacket and then looked down on the worn leather in her hands for a moment before stiltedly reaching out and offering it.

And she was absolutely fucking floored, because this was Callie Torres's signature leather jacket. Out of all of the people she didn't expect for it to be offered to, it was her. But it was happening, even though Callie was bouncing lightly from foot to foot in clear discomfort.

Her hands were already reaching for it, before she paused, and raked her eyes over Callie, who was wearing a button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, "Aren't you going to get cold?"

But even with her hair blowing from the breeze, Callie showed no signs of being cold, "No, I'm fine. At least I'm wearing pants," she commented, and Arizona swore she saw dark eyes dip lower, before they snapped back up, contritely, to her face.

Arizona wasn't a hero – she reached out for the jacket, taking it into her hands for a moment, feeling weirdly excited as she slipped it on over her shoulders. It was a little big on her, so it didn't look as snug, nor probably nearly as good as it did on Callie, but she was definitely enjoying the warmth, feeling encased by it as the fabric had already been all cozy by Callie having been wearing it.

Given Callie's longer arms, only Arizona's fingers poked out a bit, and she curled them over the edges of the sleeves, unable to stop the smile up at the brunette, and her voice was soft, almost reverent, "Thanks."

Which seemed to make Callie snap out of whatever it was she was in – as she had just been looking at Arizona, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. Instead, she coughed and shrugged, "I figured it's better for me if you don't end up as a human popsicle."

"Mhmm," she hummed and pulled the jacket tighter around herself, "You like me." Before she could vehemently deny as Arizona knew she was going to, she just shook her head with a victorious smile, "Don't try to deny it; I have the jacket as proof."

Callie scoffed, "Don't let it go to your head."

It was impossible not to, but she didn't say anything, only took out her phone and pulling up the camera, which made Callie stare. Before she could ask anything, Arizona snapped a picture of herself, wrapped up in the jacket, and waved her phone at Callie, "Photographic evidence that can never be erased."

The brunette's answering groan made Arizona let out a delighted giggle, because Callie was looking so pained but also so… happy? "Don't ever show anyone," Callie told her, eyes serious, "I have an image to maintain."

Arizona pretended to think, before shaking her head, "Nope. I'm sending it to Alex."

"Don't!" Callie was quick to grab for her phone, "Alex will tell Elise, and she will never let me live it down."

Arizona really didn't see why it was legitimately such a big deal that Elise wouldn't let Callie "live it down" that she'd let Arizona wear her jacket – prized or not – when she was cold. But she just sent her a cheeky smile, "I won't, on one condition."

She was shocked when Callie agreed without asking what it was first, "Fine. What is it?"

In response, she just waved her phone back and forth, "Smile pretty for the camera, Torres." When Callie's eyebrows drew together in confusion and her face moved into a frown, blue eyes rolled, "Relax, I won't show anyone and ruin your image. I want it for my own memories of the trip."

That much was true. Her original plan for the trip had involved taking lots of pictures of herself and with Alex for a possible scrapbooking venture, yet since Alex hadn't actually accompanied her, her picture plans had seriously waned.

Callie sighed, "All right. Let's do it."

Arizona stepped forward and turned so that they were both facing her phone as she held it up, and she had to step back so that her back just barely brushed Callie's front so they were close enough to both be in focus clearly, and just before she took the picture she whispered, "And try not to look pained."

She was sure that after that, the picture she got was going to include Callie rolling her eyes or something of the sort. Instead, she realized, as she pulled the phone down the look at the picture, Callie's cheeks were flushed red – probably from the wind chill, she decided – and she had one of those big, rare smiles on.

Arizona saved it, before showing it to Callie, smiling smugly at her just so Callie would give her that disdainful look she was so good at, "Look. I'm a badass."

Callie let out a snort of laughter, and then her shoulders shook with even more of it, "You wish."

"I don't have to wish; I have the proof," she reminded her with a wink as she tapped her phone again before sliding it into the pocket of the jacket.

Her breath caught in her throat as Callie stepped forward, into what Arizona would classify as her personal space, her hands reaching up. And Arizona felt her heart stop in her chest before Callie's hands went to the collar of the jacket, popping it a bit, and then pulling it in a little bit, as she murmured, "There. Now you look… slightly more badass."

She found herself beaming up at her once more, before Callie quickly stepped back, "Uh, anyway. Where were you headed before I came?"

Her breath left her in a rush, before she shook her head a bit, "To get something for dinner. Want to join?"

"No, you can go alone. I came all this way to go back to the hotel by myself," Callie said back with an eye roll, her voice dry.

But it just made Arizona smile in triumph, "So it wasn't just a coincidence? You did come to seek me out?"

Callie reached out to hit her shoulder, "Shut up and don't act smug. Like you didn't already know that."

She just shrugged, still feeling – as Callie had said – smug.

As they started walking again, Callie led the way, turning left and starting down the street, "Come on. We'll go to dinner, but first we have to do the most tourist-y thing that everyone does when they come to Chicago," Callie goaded, giving her a sly smile.

Blue eyes shined back, "Oh, and what is that?"

Callie shrugged, "You'll see. Have your phone out to take pictures. You'll probably want them for the little scrapbook that I bet you're going to make."

Her face burned with a slight blush because Callie easily called that, but she went with it. And she knew where they were headed within minutes, as they quickly arrived at Buckingham Fountain. The lights were already on, making it all seem even more majestic than it already was, and it kind of took her breath away.

Callie was right; she did want pictures of this. And after she snapped them, tucking the phone back in, she let herself be taken in by the sight again. And with a quick look at Callie, she could see that she wasn't the only one who was left kind of speechless. Instead of looking back at the fountain, she stood transfixed with the way the lights reflected off of Callie's face, and she decides that she likes this Callie, too. The softly smiling, speechless Callie.

God, at this rate, it was going to turn out that she liked every side of Callie Torres.

And as her smile grew even larger, it made Arizona's breath catch in her throat, again. This time, it was audible, and she was glad that she knew Callie wouldn't be able to see her flush as her stomach tingled with attraction, as dark eyes turned to look at her, eyebrow arched.

At the questioning look, Arizona just tilted her head towards the water, "I didn't really think that a fountain could be so pretty. I guess I am going to have to put it in my scrapbook."

She also didn't expect the way Callie's smile grew even larger at her comment, while still seeming all soft around the edges, her features sliding easily into the grin. And she found herself suddenly thrown back to last September, to Incident Number 2. Which was the last and only time she'd ever had that particular smile thrown at her.

Just before she'd felt Callie's lips on hers.

Her breath felt like it rushed from her lungs, because her memories of that entire night weren't all that clear. But she did have super, super clear – vividly so – images of that event. That smile that had been on Callie's face when she had been dancing with Arizona along with the music that had pulsed through the house, the way that smile because somehow more intimate as she had leaned in.

And the way those full lips had felt when they pressed against her own. The way Callie had tasted as her tongue slid along Arizona's, and the way she'd felt against her body when those nimble, knowing hands had gripped her waist and pulled her in closer, their entire bodies touching, as her hands had tunneled into that dark hair.

All right, maybe she thought about Incident Number 2 slightly more than she typically let on.

It was hard not to, because that singular kiss had lit her entire body on fire. The memory of it could make her lips tingle, like they were right now.

But she shook her head, her hands tightening on the rail she was holding and turned back towards the fountain. Because she had also remembered what happened after that.

Callie wrenching herself away, staring at Arizona in shock and confusion and a look lighting her dark eyes that Arizona could only remember looked like, what the ever-loving fuck. Before she had quickly started speaking in Spanish, and all Arizona really knew what she was saying was, "No."

Callie clearly hadn't been receptive to that, and now they were actually becoming friends. That's what she should focus on. And, as she pulled the jacket around her a little closer, smelling it's very good-smelling Callie smell, she decided that was what she had to focus on, for her own mental health on this trip.

Please let me know what you think! I love all of your thoughts/opinions about the story so far, thank you so much to everyone who leaves them. And thank you for reading, in general.