When the sun streamed in through the windows and over her eyes, Arizona purposefully closed them even tighter, and wondered exactly what time it was. She hadn't set her alarm for the early morning wakeup call, because she hadn't figured she would be sleeping too soundly throughout the night.

But it seemed that she was wrong, she thought, and released a quiet, happy sigh. Despite being too nervous to sleep last night for hours, she felt really rested. Like, really. All warm and cozy, and she didn't think she'd slept this well in a while.

She only slept this well when she was being cuddl – right.

Blue eyes opened quickly, before she hissed under her breath at the brightness of the sun streaming in and closed them again, this time with purpose as she came back to herself, fogginess from sleep quickly dissipating.

Callie's entire body was molded to her back; she could feel her breasts pressed against her, and a long leg intertwined between her own, which… she didn't really register last night. Of course she had known what she was doing, but last night had really been about the straight-up snuggles. She was nervous, she was sleepy, and she had known that the only way she was going to be able to sleep was to feel, well, safe.

So climbing into Callie's bed and somewhat forcing her into spooning was her best bet, and she hadn't even been sure that it was going to work. It wasn't just anyone who could cuddle you and make you feel safe enough to sleep in their arms.

She'd been pleasantly surprised, though, that the arm she'd wrapped around her waist felt natural there, and even though Callie hadn't seemed particularly receptive in the beginning, she'd still stayed.

Maybe Arizona's plan of feeling safe and cozy had worked too well; because Callie was still sleeping, her breath coming out in small bursts against the back of Arizona's neck and the way her body aligned perfectly with Arizona's, was…

Yeah, that same feeling of arousal that had settled hot and heavy inside of her a couple of days ago was back, this time with that lazy morning, easy edge to it. And Arizona couldn't even work up the energy to feel anything about it other than accept that it was really, really nice. She might be keeping things between them platonic, as she was pretty sure Callie was, but it didn't mean she couldn't enjoy this, right?

After all, she was a lady who loved ladies, and there was an extremely attractive one holding her like Arizona was precious. The long, elegant fingers of the strong hand pressed gently against her stomach had at some point slipped under her tank top in the night, and were gently splayed against her stomach, right where that warmth had settled.

And it wasn't even just the warmth that the lazy-morning-arousal had brought; it was more than that.

It was this safe, protected, comfortable feeling, and she was sure that it was brought on by waking up being held like this. Lazily, she lightly stroked her fingertips over the back of the hand that was resting on her stomach, and released another sigh.

Maybe her mother was right; maybe she did need to find a girlfriend.

Shaking her head just a bit, she turned to push her face against the pillow to get rid of the sun and try to get rid of those thoughts. There was no need to think about girlfriends and then overthink everything, because of some cuddling.

She really should simply enjoy it, and this feeling.

So, she did. Settling back against Callie once more – as if she could even get closer – she bit her lip. Callie's front was so soft against her back, and she would have paid money to get those curtains closed to enjoy more time like this. This was so ridiculously comfortable, she was positive that she would have slept in today.

Regardless. Her fingers traveled from where they had stroked over the back of Callie's hand, and slid so that they caressed a bit up her arm. Slowly – so slowly because she didn't want to wake her up and change this in any way – she drew small patterns up the skin of the arm tucked securely around her.

Callie really was so freaking soft.

She vaguely wondered if it was possible for her to finagle her way into this every night for the rest of the trip. That thought was quickly dismissed with a slight grin – there was no way Callie would go for that. It was clear that cuddling like this wasn't something Callie had felt comfortable with, when Arizona first lied down.

And she was relatively surprised Callie had gone along with it as much as she did.

She attributed Callie's original discomfort at this, at being the big spoon so to speak, to the fact that she'd presumably only ever been with men. Now, Arizona didn't have firsthand experience with that sort of thing, but she figured that Callie was probably more used to being the cuddled rather than the cuddle-y.

But… well, she was doing a pretty great job at this.

Her fingers skated down to Callie's wrist, lightly walking over the bone there and then the back of her hand, and she froze as she felt those fingers twitch against her stomach, and then rub gently against her as they settled and she felt a sigh release against her neck, along with a slight snore.

Which made her simultaneously giggle and shudder, because fuck. It was such a light touch, but it made goosebumps that didn't appear to be going anywhere any time soon appear on the back of her neck, and it would be so simple to just squeeze her thighs together a little bit more to feel –

No. No, no. That would be not good to do with your friend Callie – Callie Torres – holding you.

You're right. Inappropriate.

Highly inappropriate.

Right. That was a definite no-go.

The argument had barely been settled in her mind before she felt Callie's lips press softly against the back of her neck and she let out a quiet gasping, "Oh," and her hand involuntarily dug into Callie's arm.

And that was what broke this morning peace. Because suddenly everything froze, and she could feel in an instant how tense Callie became and the quiet snoring quickly completely was cut off.

Which was only seconds before the mouth was removed from her neck, the arm was wrenched from around her waist as if Arizona was burning her to the touch. Both acts made her feel strangely cold despite still being buried under the blankets that were still holding in the warmth they'd felt through the night.

Then mere moments later, that coldness escalated when she heard a resounding thump, as Callie's body was no longer in the bed. It made her smile a bit as she rolled over into the spot that Callie had spent the night in, to see Callie sitting on the floor, dark hair all tumbled around her shoulders, as she rubbed at her head.

It was so weird to be classifying Callie, out of all people, as adorable. But there she was.

A teasing comment rose to the back of her throat and then fell away as soon as she saw what might have been the sourest expression on her face that Arizona had ever seen – and that was saying something. But there was something more there, in the blush that was climbing up her cheeks and the almost shell-shocked way her eyes widened.

As if trying to get a closer look would help her get a better read on that expression, she leaned over the side of the bed slightly, unable to stop from grinning slightly, "Good morning."

Dark eyes snapped to hers, and she watched in confused amusement as several words formed on Callie's full lips before her mouth just snapped closed, before she grunted from the back of her throat. And without a word or even so much as some laughter – after all, she'd figured they had come far enough and she knew Callie well enough to know that this was something that she would find amusing. The whole, falling off the bed early wakeup call thing – Callie stood and walked into the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her.

Leaving an even more confused Arizona back in the bed, eyebrows drawing together as a small pout formed on her mouth. Flopping back onto the bed, she looked up at the ceiling and shook her head slightly, because was cuddling really that bad?

Jeez.

Heaving a sigh, she rolled out of bed and away from the nice warmth of the covers, and hoped that Callie's strangeness this morning was going to wear off during the time she was in the bathroom.

Arizona found out less than an hour later, that that was definitely not the case.

Despite the fact that it hadn't been awkward between them in the car since the second day on the trip, the blonde found herself trapped in the car with a surly Callie. Or, she thought it was a surly Callie, and her eyes flickered back over to the brunette, who was doing a grand job of looking standoffish, with her arms crossed over her waist and staring out the window, pointedly.

Or maybe it was glaring. She couldn't tell from her angle with the quick glimpses she was getting from the corner of her eye, and it wasn't like she could take her eyes off the road too much.

The fact that Callie hadn't said more than two words to her since waking up had not only confused her, but made her stomach feel like it was tangling up in knots. Like she was on edge.

She honestly didn't get it; Callie hadn't been all silent like this since the morning after she'd yelled at her, and Arizona remembered yesterday perfectly. There had been no yelling, no fighting. Not even disagreement, unless the tiny, almost silly, disagreement about staying in the haunted hotel counted.

The day had been, well, pretty amazing. It had even been Callie's idea to take that walk in the park, and take all of those pictures! She wasn't going to show Callie – or ever even allude to the existence of – the pictures that she had secretly snapped of the brunette herself. But she hadn't been able to resist, when Callie was smiling the way she was, and looking ridiculously pretty.

As she came to a stop at a red light, she took a moment to glance at her again, able to take a closer look, and that was when she noticed the dark circles under Callie's eyes.

It wasn't like Callie often wore a ton of makeup or anything, or even that she was always well rested on their travel days. But she didn't think she'd ever seen Callie look like this.

Like she was utterly exhausted, and couldn't care less.

Her hair was hastily brushed, and falling over her shoulders, still kind of tousled messily. Which looked good, she thought, but it wasn't really Callie's style. But she looked all sorts of tired.

Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth in consideration, she thought about how Callie had been sleeping well the night before – until she'd taken it upon herself to wake her up. And she had noticed that Callie had taken a long while before getting a bit more comfortable.

In fact, Callie had still been awake when she had drifted off, herself.

Feeling the guilt lodge low in her stomach, she cleared her throat to get Callie's attention, "I'm sorry. For us being up so early this morning; it would have been better for you to get more sleep. I know it's my fault you didn't get to sleep as much as you should have had," she offered, her voice quiet, but sincere.

Because she was sincere, and she hoped maybe it was enough to make Callie actually talk to her.

But she saw Callie glimpse at her, before she shook her head, and waited a few moments before letting out a deep breath, "I'm fine."

Okay, and it definitely wasn't like Callie to just let that go, and it made Arizona even more confused. Callie would generally have loved to take Arizona's apology, and then rib her even more about it, about how she was so tired and Arizona should be damn sorry, but she would say it all with a laughing twinkle in those dark eyes.

She knew because that was exactly how Callie interacted with her friends before the trip, at least as much as Arizona had seen anyway, and how she'd been acting towards her for a little bit.

And now all she was saying was "I'm fine"?

What the hell?

Arizona tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, and let herself ramble, "It's not – I didn't have a detailed plan for this morning, but it's about an eight hour drive we have ahead of us, so it's better to start early. I know, I know; I make you get up early every day."

Her eyes darted toward Callie – who would have been amused by her talking like this, in the last few days, she knew from experience – but the other woman was just sitting even lower in her seat, her eyes narrowed like she was concentrating hard on something despite the fact that surrounding them were just other cars and she didn't seem to be focused on any of them.

And all Callie did was nod distractedly and murmur, "Yeah."

Yeah? Yeah?

"Okay…" she murmured under her breath, and tried not to look concerned, but she kind of was, because what the hell had happened to Callie that took away her personality?

After a few more minutes ticked by between them, she shifted in her seat, and tried to replay everything that had happened between them, but she was coming up short. Maybe it was something else?

Callie had said in the beginning of the trip that she had other stuff going on and that it made it easier for her to lash out. Maybe that was on her mind?

And even though she hadn't exactly broached topics that were really personal, maybe she should? If that was what was bothering Callie, it might help to mention it.

"Are you okay?" the words left her mouth before she could think of any better articulation, and she rolled her eyes at herself, before clarifying quickly, "I know you said you had other stuff going on, a few days ago."

Callie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, before shaking her head, "Yeah, I'm good."

And she couldn't resist pressing, "Are you, really?" because Callie was so obviously not good that it was worrisome.

In an almost abrupt mood change – at least, to her – Callie turned away from her to face out the passenger window and then reached down to the glove compartment to retrieve her iPod, as she muttered, "Actually, I have a headache. I think I'm going to try to sleep. Wake me up when you want me to drive."

Ah, she nodded in understanding, despite the fact that she was clearly missing something still. But before she could offer the first aid kit that was stowed in the back, Callie had put in her headphones and turned on her music so loudly that Arizona could hear what she was listening to. Granted, it was a song she didn't know, but it was heavy on guitar and what the hell was Callie doing listening to her music so loudly if she had a headache?

Obviously, she wouldn't, which meant that Callie was most definitely lying to her about something.

It made that feeling of uneasiness grow inside of her, and she cast another look at Callie, who she could tell wasn't sleeping yet because of the way her forehead was crinkled in thought.

What the hell had happened?

"I just don't understand why you were all ready to drive through Indiana, deciding that there was nothing there worth seeing, yet we stopped in Missouri?" Callie grumbled, over ten hours later, and Arizona heard her through the bathroom door in their hotel.

God, finally, she thought, as a smile pulled at her mouth, and that heavy feeling that had settled into her throughout the day lifted. It only lifted just a bit, but still.

This actually sounded like Callie, which was such a relief. After she'd spent all freaking day with a Callie zombie who had hardly spoken, which had been unsettling to say the least, confusing and slightly irritating to say the most.

Honestly, it just felt… bad.

And it wasn't for lack of trying on her part. The most Callie had said to her was when the brunette had woken up when Arizona had stopped for gas, after driving for six hours with Callie sleeping beside her. And Callie had only spoken to her to ask why the hell didn't you wake me up to drive?

But even though she'd been tired, too – Callie might have been running on less sleep than she was, but she herself was going on a little less than five hours – she felt that maybe if she had let the other woman sleep more, by the time they arrived in Branson, Callie would be more like her regular self.

In fact, when Callie had stumbled out of the car at the gas station, looking much more rested, but still grumbly, Arizona had already found herself grinning at her. Because Callie ranting about Arizona needing to sleep, too, and the fact that she hadn't wanted the blonde to have to drive all day long by herself… well, it was that Callie that Arizona had come to know and really, really like.

It didn't change the fact that Callie still had been withdrawn when they'd arrived at the hotel just a little while ago.

After finishing up applying her mascara, she leaned back and looked at herself in the mirror; she looked really fucking good. Probably the best she'd looked so far on the trip, and it was certainly the most effort.

But they were going out tonight; that was the whole reason this specific destination had been chosen. Sure, initially it had been chosen for herself and Alex, but she was sure that Callie would have a good time, too.

Or, she was sure Callie would have had a good time before today and her bizarre mood, at least.

Despite that, Arizona was determined to make it a good night. For the both of them, and she hoped that Callie's flippant comment about stopping in Missouri meant that she was getting over whatever it was that had put her in such a bad mood.

Bringing her lips together lightly and rubbing them to ensure that her lip gloss was good to go, she slipped into a determined stare, before throwing the door open, and declaring, "Get ready, we're going out."

It didn't seem to deter Callie from her Missouri rant, "And why Branson? I've never even heard of it; why not St. Louis? And –" her voice broke off into something that resembled choking on thin air.

Lifting an eyebrow, she looked toward the brunette who was staring at her, dark eyes wide, "Are you okay?"

It seemed to help Callie through her little thing, and Callie nodded, eyebrows drawing down low, "I – something was stuck in my throat," she explained, but her voice was back to that tone it had sounded like all through the day.

Low. Withdrawn. Short.

And Arizona didn't like it one bit. But instead of letting the confused frown take over, the one that had plagued her all day take over, she shook her head and grit her teeth, putting her hands on her hips, "Did you hear me? I said we're going out!"

The enthusiasm in her tone was forced, as much as she hated to admit it. Because she was looking forward to this, and she had been looking forward to this with Callie.

Callie's eyebrow winged up, "Are we?"

And the fact that there seemed to be an edge of amusement in her voice was all the hope Arizona needed to hold on to, as she nodded and she felt a full on smile take over, "Yep, so get up."

She clapped her hands a bit as if to say chop chop, before making her way to her suitcase and flipping open the top, as she heard Callie sigh lightly behind her before she asked, "But why Branson?"

"Because I like country music, and while it's no Nashville, Branson still has a good scene," she informed her, as she bent over her bed to dig through her suitcase.

And all she heard was another choked breath before a quiet groan, and she quickly stood up and turned around just in time to see Callie fall back against her bed, her hands pressed against her face, rubbing up and down quickly. Her cheeks were flushed and Arizona stepped forward, "Are you okay?"

Callie took in a deep breath and dropped her hands to her sides with her eyes focused up at the ceiling, and her voice was quiet, "Yeah. Fine. But uh…" her tongue flicked out and Arizona tracked it as she licked her bottom lip, her own cheeks heating before Callie finished, "I'm not going out tonight. I'm going to stay here."

Arizona's eyes narrowed and she sighed, before lightly nudging her, "Callie, come on."

When she didn't get a response other than watching Callie continue to look up at the ceiling, she moved to sit on the bed next to where the brunette's long legs were hanging off of the edge, "I don't know what's wrong, but if you don't go, I'll stay here, too."

Dark eyes quickly turned to look at her, and Callie shook her head, "What? No. You go."

Deliberately keeping her voice light she shook her head, "Nope. I mean, after you promised that you were going to make an effort on this trip, I can only imagine that something must be really wrong if you're going to choose to stay here all night. So I'll stay here – right here," she emphasized, bouncing up and down a little bit on the bed and making Callie bounce with her, "Until you're feeling better."

She could tell that she was saying the right thing – the right thing to get what she wanted, anyway. Because Callie's expression was growing more and more discontent with her words, which kind of hurt her. They had been getting along so well, but now the prospect of sitting around and hanging out with her was something that made Callie cringe?

Either way, she pushed it aside, as Callie sat up, "Fine, I'll go. But I'm not changing."

Blue eyes ran over the woman sitting next to her. No, Callie wasn't wearing anything special, but those fitting black pants and the dark sweater she was wearing – that Arizona was sure would be paired with her leather jacket – was so Callie, and damn attractive in its own right.

Enough to have her licking her lips before she even realized what she was doing, before she cleared her throat and stood back up, "I guess you'll do as is."

Quickly, she leaned back down to get what she had opened her suitcase up to retrieve – a worn brown cowboy hat that she settled down on her head over her straightened hair. She turned back to face Callie with a grin, "Let's do this."

But the brunette was looking at her like she was insane, "I don't even know what to say to you right now."

She swore there was a hint of a smile on those lips, and it was enough to make hers come out, full-fledged, "You don't think I look good?"

Callie seemed to hesitated for a moment before she shook her head, "Look, no one really looks good in a cowboy hat."

Arizona had no idea when hearing Callie tease her made her feel at ease, but here they were.

They arrived at the dimly lit, but extremely lively country bar relatively soon, and Arizona couldn't help but grin as soon as she saw the dismayed look on Callie's face, with all of the cowboy hats and boots – and she was fairly certain there was a good chance they might witness a line dance.

"Jesus," Callie whispered next to her, dark hair swaying as she shook her head before she headed right toward the bar.

When Arizona sat next to her only moments later, Callie was already gesturing to the bartender for tequila, which made Arizona's eyebrows draw up in surprise. After she ordered her own glass of wine, she turned to look at Callie, who didn't look as… troubled as she had during the day, but she didn't look back to normal, at all.

Arizona really didn't like the bafflement she was feeling, but she had no clue what was on Callie's mind or what was bothering her, and she really didn't understand the sudden mood change.

It was like all of the sudden moody and avoidant Callie was seeping through, but she had no idea why or how to make it stop. Especially when that Callie was also mixing with the Callie had gotten to know and experience.

And there was really only one way to know why, so she took in a deep breath, "What's going on? Seriously."

Callie had already downed her tequila and had another put in front of her, as she seemed to weigh Arizona's words, before shrugging. Then she took in a deep breath, and looked up at Arizona, those dark eyes stealing her breath because they were so intense.

She found herself holding her breath, because she really was sure something was coming. Something better than the blithe "I'm fine"s and the "yeah"s and the "sure"s she had been getting all day.

Before she could even think of what Callie was going to say, her attention was stolen as they were approached from the side by a guy in a cowboy hat, not unlike Arizona's own, she noted.

Blue eyes narrowed as he smiled at her quickly with a slight nod, and she was about to let him know that she was politely, but firmly, not interested. Before his gaze switched to Callie, and there was no quick smile-and-nod acknowledgment, but a full on look.

She watched the way the man's eyes moved down Callie's body, skimming over those long, tan legs, and back up over her ass that, Arizona admitted, looked so ridiculously good in those tight jeans the brunette was wearing. The guy was approaching from Callie's side, which meant he was also getting a nice eyeful of Callie's cleavage as he got even closer.

Her jaw set and clenched tightly as his gaze lingered there a little too long, in her opinion.

Like yours didn't?

I – my gaze doesn't count. I'm her friend!

So friends can ogle friends and it's fine?

Basically, yes! And I wasn't doing it like some sort of… pig.

She already felt like she had him reasonably sized up even before he reached out to lightly tap Callie's shoulder, clearing his throat, "Excuse me."

Arizona would admit that the way Callie's eyebrows drew together and then up on her forehead as if she'd had no idea the guy had been coming over – like she hadn't even fathomed the idea of being approached tonight – gave her an extremely unwarranted sense of satisfaction.

Dark eyes looked at her for a moment indecipherably before turning to face the man Arizona had already deemed Interloper, a question already written into her expression, with her eyebrow lifted. Without even having to say anything, she was demanding to know what he wanted, and Arizona kind of enjoyed it, a lot.

Annoyingly, Interloper didn't seem dissuaded, as he gestured between her and Callie, "I don't mean to interrupt –"

Out of nowhere, Arizona found herself scoffing, which drew looks from both Callie and Interloper for a moment. A confused smile on his face and just another raised eyebrow from her. And given that there was no conversation between the two of them – hadn't been a real conversation all day – he didn't even have a reason to really be sorry about interrupting them.

There was nothing to interrupt.

And since he wasn't even talking to her, she went back to her glass of wine to at least make a decent look like she wasn't too much attention to them, despite really wanting to know what Callie was going to say.

She didn't have to wait long, "You're not," Callie responded, after a minute. But not in the same frustrated tone as she had had all day with Arizona, just… quietly.

Those dark eyes were looking at Interloper, giving an inspection –

You can't just say she's checking him out?

Same thing. –

So Arizona did it as well. And she supposed he was attractive. He was tall, he had broad shoulders, and a nice, dark complexion. He was around their age, she would guess, and his smile was… nice, not lecherous or anything. If she was attracted to men, maybe she would have been attracted to him.

But she didn't really think he was Callie's type. Admittedly, not that she really knew Callie's "type" but – hadn't the brunette just made fun of her before they had left their hotel for wearing her own cowboy hat? She was probably mocking Interloper's hat right now, in her mind. And he was wearing a flannel shirt.

Who wore a heavy flannel shirt in the summer? He had a country accent, too. Callie seemed like someone who preferred a city mouse to a country mouse. After all, didn't she just say the other day that she had been to a lot of cities with her dad? Traveling? And she hadn't been particularly receptive to going to a country bar.

And all of this has to do with anything because…?

Because it – it just shows that he isn't her type, all right?

Right, Arizona, and what is her type?

She had nothing to say to that, exactly, especially because Interloper was smiling all big again and leaned in a little too close for someone who had just met them, "I saw you when you came in; you don't seem like you're too into country."

All right, that was enough. What was he doing, just coming over for a nice chat?

That definitely isn't Callie's style, I know that much.

You're right. He needs to get lost.

That's what I've been saying! We were going to be talking about important things!

She was waiting for it, and almost smiling, because she was sure it was going to be good. Arizona had heard firsthand how easily dismissive Callie could be. And though she didn't usually look forward to someone being pushed away, but seeing it happen to someone who wasn't her did hold some merit. Especially when she was sure Callie was finally going to be talking to her, for real, soon.

Also, seeing it happen to the Interloper, when she had been trying to talk to Callie, would also be –

Wait. Was Callie smiling?

She was. Those nice, full lips that had been pressed against the back of Arizona's neck this morning, were smiling at this guy, and instantly she felt her expression fall flat.

Callie nodded slightly, "Yeah, I'm more into… almost anything else."

The dry, serious tone made Arizona grin, before it almost instantly died on her lips as Interloper chuckled, too, "No problem with that. Maybe I can try to help you like it a little more?"

She scoffed again – wow, was she actually turning into Callie now? – when he gave the cheesy line.

That eyebrow lifted, inquiring without words before Callie asked, "And how would you do that?"

Interloper's smile became a full blown one, and he offered his hand, "A little dance, maybe. Some good conversation."

It was only then that those dark eyes fell on Arizona, and she wasn't even trying to not look annoyed, because she was. After coughing to clear her throat, she found herself shrugging, forcing out, "You should go, if that's you want."

But there was the majority of her feeling annoyed, because no, she was trying to talk to her. And that same part was still convinced that Callie was going to turn the guy down, because she was hesitating for so long, and Callie hadn't seemed that keen on talking to new people at all on the trip so far.

Callie didn't give the man a big smile or even a lot of excitement, which gave Arizona a perverse pleasure, but she did slide off her stool and take Interloper's hand, saying softly to Arizona, "I'll be back soon," as she passed.

Arizona didn't have the patience or enough high spirits to turn and watch them head out to dance, because what was that about? Callie had time for this Interloper, but couldn't take a minute to fucking talk to Arizona about what had been bugging her all day long? After she had been basically ignoring her all day long?

What the hell?

After spending all day confused and trying to tell herself not to feel hurt or to take this personally, all of the sudden, it hit her. She couldn't help but take this personally. It apparently was personal.

Because Callie got here and was all for going to dance with some guy – and "make a little conversation" – that she didn't even know, but had been running hot and cold to her. So it apparently wasn't just the fact that Callie was in a bad mood or that something was bothering her.

Apparently, it was her.

Which she didn't get, at all.

After taking another sip of wine, she noticed that someone had taken Callie's seat, and she looked at her out of the corner of her eye. The girl was a brunette, hair falling down over her shoulder to nearly her waist, and there was a coy smile playing on her lips that complimented her pretty face.

So she tried to push aside those bad Callie-related feelings inside of her and she smiled back, running her eyes down the girl to take in her leggings and plaid shirt, quickly moving back up, "Hi. I'm Arizona."

The girl's eyes warmed at Arizona's perusal, and her smile grew, "Victoria. I was going to offer to buy you a drink, but someone already beat me to it."

Arizona's eyes darted toward her glass of wine, and she shrugged, "Well, then how about I buy you one?"

"How about you dance with me, instead? Then we'll see about that drink," Victoria tilted her head slightly and Arizona wasn't super in the mood to dance, after Callie and Interloper and the way her mood had crashed.

But this girl was pretty and she seemed nice, and it was kind of exactly the whole point Arizona had been trying to get at when she wanted to go out in the first place, right? God, especially after those feelings this morning, all snug with Callie. It couldn't hurt.

So she agreed, and made the first move to take the girl's hand, soft and warm in hers, as she pulled her out to the dance floor, purposefully avoiding Callie. This was supposed to improve her mood.

And it did, a little bit. Victoria knew what she was doing as she moved with the music, and Arizona responded in kind, as she moved with her, finding herself smiling up at her. Yeah, this was what she needed.

The other girl smiled at her, "It seems you know what you're doing."

It was easy and uncomplicated to smile back, and she liked that, "I spent a lot of time dancing to this kind of music. And the sentiment is mutual."

Which just seemed to make that grin even brighter.

One song moved into two, and by the fourth, there was a slow song playing, and she found herself being pulled against the girl, who was just an inch or so smaller than she was, and their bodies settled easily against one another, with two arms wrapped around her waist, her own instinctually moving around her neck.

But it wasn't the same natural feeling she'd had this morning –

God, stop that. There is no reason to think about this morning or to think about dancing with Callie or to think about Callie at all right now.

You're right. She's off dancing with Interloper, and –

That was as far as her thought process got before they turned enough for her to see Callie not dancing with Interloper, but sitting at the bar instead.

She thought about the way Callie had looked this morning, and Arizona had thought it was the darkest expression she'd seen on the brunette's face, but she was very wrong. Because the look on her face right at this moment was definitely the worst.

Her eyebrows were drawn together in a look of deep contemplation, with her lips pulled down in a sad frown. She looked both angry and miserable, staring hard at the bar, and Arizona watched her down a shot of tequila, before Callie looked up and turned her head to exactly where Arizona was dancing.

Those dark chocolate eyes weren't inscrutable for once today, and she could see from across the room the way they stared at all. Almost stared through her, intensely, with that despondent gaze. She missed a step in the dance, and it only last a few seconds before Callie turned away from her, quickly slapping money on the bar before she stood up.

Stood up and started walking away, quickly, determinedly, and blue eyes followed her right out of the bar, before she leaned back and broke the embrace. She met Victoria's eyes, looking at her in confusion, as she gestured at the door Callie had disappeared out of, "I have to – I'll be back."

And she didn't even know what was going on, really, or why she was chasing after Callie when the brunette had made it clear earlier that the only reason she had even come to the bar was because Arizona had practically forced her to, after spending all day purposefully not talking to her despite clearly being upset with her – for no reason.

Yet, there she was, on the sidewalk and reaching for Callie's wrist to stop her from walking any farther, "Where are you going?"

Callie froze at her touch, and Arizona dimly registered that it was exactly where she had touched her this morning, feeling that soft warm skin under her fingertips as Callie had cuddled her in. Then she dropped her hand, as Callie snapped, "Back to the hotel."

"Why?" the word meant much more than why are you going back to the hotel, in Arizona's mind. It also meant why aren't you acting like the girl who has been laughing with me and enjoying the trip? Why aren't you being the same girl who had held her until she felt safe enough to fall asleep?

A lot of whys.

But Callie only seemed to take it one way, and her eyes lit up, "Why? Because I came out with you after you practically made me, and then I've been sitting there alone watching you dance with some other girl!"

There was an edge to her voice that made Arizona's stomach flip flop, and she couldn't help but raise her own voice, "Yeah, after you went to dance with some random guy! Tonight was going to just be a fun night for us! You got up first!"

"Because you said that I should!" Callie exploded back, eyes blazing.

Arizona nearly growled out, "I said if you want," before she huffed out a breath, "You didn't have to. Especially because I was trying to talk to you."

Apparently there was no comeback for that, but it didn't stop Callie from coming back with, "I told you I would be back soon. Soon. I danced with him for one dance, and when I came back to the bar, you were off with that girl," her voice lowered and had a sad tone that Arizona hadn't heard from Callie before, she didn't think.

But she could barely wrap her mind around it, but it did slow her down, eyebrows drawing together in confusion, "How was I to know you even wanted me to be there when you came back from dancing, after you've been basically brushing me off all day long?"

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say, because the softness that had taken Callie over seemed to lessen and she groaned, "Because I needed some time to myself! But on this fucking trip we're together twenty-four/seven, which gives me no me-time! Jesus, Arizona."

The forcefulness of her voice jarred Arizona and stirred back her own irritation, "What are you so mad at?"

"What am I so mad at?" Callie asked, scoffing as she crossed her arms.

Which made Arizona confused as hell, because, "Um, yeah, what are you mad about? You went to dance with the Interloper, so what am I supposed to do while you're gone and a gorgeous girl approaches? Say no thank you, I have to wait for my moody friend to come back and not talk to me some more?"

Something she had said made Callie's expression darken even more, just before her eyes narrowed into a glare, "You're infuriating!"

Offended, she crossed her arms to mirror Callie's stance, "I'm infuriating? Callie Torres, you are the most hot and cold person I've ever met. I honestly have no freaking clue what makes you tick, especially when it comes to me."

She could see the way a muscle twitched in Callie's jaw and she almost felt like her eyes were so dark they were burning right through her when Callie's voice dropped to a sarcastic whisper, "Oh, really, you have no idea? Seriously?"

Which served to make her even more frustrated, and she threw her arms in the air, "No! How could I when you are so guarded all of the time?" Before Callie could get a word in edgewise, she pushed on, poking Callie in the shoulder, "And you know what's even worse? I thought we were past this. I thought we were becoming friends. I thought I finally broke past the image you love to show, but I guess it's back to walking on eggshells, and having no idea where we stand. And that hurts me, you know," she finished quietly, honestly.

It seemed that somewhere along the line, the fight had left Callie, because she stood on front of Arizona with her arms crossed in front of her but now it seemed more like she was holding herself than anything.

And she was looking at Arizona with another indecipherable look, which seemed somewhat wounded, but Arizona couldn't care about that right now, because her feelings were hurt.

It was almost like they were too hurt, over this. Like, she was feeling too much for this argument, as if her feelings were disproportionate to what they were actually fighting over, and she didn't like it. It felt uncomfortable, and it made her chest ache with this heavy feeling that was at war with itself.

Like, she didn't want to see that wounded look on Callie's face, but at the same time, she was hurt that Callie seemed to all of the sudden not like her the way she had before.

It was an odd mix, that was weighing on her heavily, and she shook her head, having to clear her throat, "Why don't you just do back to the hotel and I'll… be back later. You didn't want to come out anyway."

Callie's voice was low in her throat, raspy, when she agreed, "No, I really don't – didn't," she corrected herself quickly. And for some reason, her words seemed laden with a meaning that Arizona didn't understand, and Callie just turned around, "See you later."

She watched her go for another few moments, before turning back around and going into the bar, sitting back down next to Victoria, who was watching her carefully, before she offered, "Sorry. I didn't mean to step into any drama."

With a deep breath, Arizona looked at her to assure, "No, you didn't. That was… not about you."

The other woman released a somewhat knowing sigh, "Girlfriend drama."

Which made Arizona choke on the sip of wine she was taking, and shake her head with an uncertain laugh, "No. Definitely not girlfriend drama. Barely even friend drama."

Victoria's eyebrows drew up in barely covered amusement as she gestured to the window that Arizona realized she and Callie had been fighting outside of, "I know girlfriend drama when I see it. The defensive postures, the sad puppy looks. The look you have right now, where you kind of want to go see her but you're also upset. Girlfriend drama."

She wanted to laugh it off, but it came out as a groan. Because it made sense, then. Why she took this whole thing today, with Callie being so closed off so personally. Why it bothered her so much. Why those dark eyes looking at her – as her companion had said – kind of like a sad puppy made her feel bad, despite being hurt herself.

These were feelings. Like, feelings feelings.

Crap.

Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for all of the comments with your thoughts and opinions so far, they mean the world to me. And thank you for reading!