Callie Torres was an enigma.

It had always been a word Arizona related to the other woman, but never before had it been so… so personal.

It has never been personal? Everything about your relationship with Callie has been personal.

Yeah, personal as in she's been pissed off at me, but not like – like it is right now!

There was no way to argue with that, because things between them were different now. Different in kind of the best way possible – she hoped, but different nonetheless. Different in a way that Arizona had no idea exactly what to do or how to approach the situation.

With both of her hands on the wheel, and still singing softly along to the song playing in the car as to not give away what she was thinking, blue eyes glanced at the woman sitting in the passenger seat. Callie was sitting there all normally, like this was the most natural thing in the world. Like this was just any of the other days they had spent driving so far on this road trip.

But it so wasn't.

She chanced another glance at Callie, just in time to see her absently pull her full bottom lip between her teeth as she looked down at their road trip map in her hands and Arizona's singing faltered as her eyes snapped back to the road.

Never before had a kiss on the cheek affected her so much. Why should it? It was a kiss on the freaking cheek, and this wasn't the 1800's. But damn, those soft – so soft – lips had pressed against her cheek last night in the most teasing touch.

It had been the only thing that really happened between them the night before, but it made Arizona's body flush with warmth, and she bit back a groan.

She snapped out of those thoughts when Callie's voice rang out over the music, confusedly questioning, "Out of all of the big cities in Texas, we're going to Midland?"

With a cough and feeling herself flush, she put her eyes back on the road as she defended, "Callie, the big cities in Texas are completely off course. I'm lenient about going an hour or maybe two off the recommended route to go somewhere or see something. But Dallas is the closest to where we were and it's hours away!"

Not to mention the little fact of what they were actually going to be doing there…

Blue eyes saw the way Callie's eyebrows rose in question at her defense, and then followed how the brunette's hand traced lightly over the map, "Robbins, relax. I have no burning desire to see or do anything in Texas. If you so desire to see something in Midland, then by all means."

Arizona bit her lip and nodded, "Okay, good." And she only felt a little bit guilty about not telling Callie everything about this particular stop, but in her defense, she had been a tad preoccupied thinking about everything else that had developed between them.

Callie hadn't acted any differently this morning, after their time in the hot tub. Not that she should, really, because nothing had legitimately happened between them. Except… it had. Not only the cheek kiss – which was on a whole other level – but everything before that.

Callie had definitely checked her out. Arizona knew she wasn't imagining that, because she wasn't that oblivious. And she had without a doubt checked Callie out, because she had fucking eyes, didn't she? The woman was basically a goddess.

A tanned, dark haired, long-legged, beautiful goddess with amazing breasts that were spilling out of the bikini top. Out of Arizona's borrowed bikini top.

But there had been definite flirting. Somewhere along the line, Callie Torres had worked up to flirting with her, and it nearly blindsided her as to where it came from. Complete with the teasing gestures and Arizona knew without a shadow of a doubt that when their legs had brushed – a deliberate move on her part to test some waters – Callie's breath had hitched and she could feel the woman's goosebumps.

There was an attraction there. She had taken some time yesterday morning to accept her own attraction for the brunette, especially after their whole thing the night before that at the bar. But now she knew for a fact that there was attraction from Callie's side. It was something new to her.

And she wasn't sure what to do with it or where to go. Where it would take them, if it took them anywhere. It only added on to the mystery that was Callie. Callie had also been the one to kiss her that night, months and months ago.

Liking girls could just be part of who Callie was, maybe? Maybe the attraction had always been there? She was almost desperate to know. But Arizona so wasn't going to push the other girl about her sexuality, despite the fact that all of her nerve endings this morning had been yelling at her to.

As she drove along, enjoying the sunny sky and almost cloudless blue sky above them, she bit her lip and felt her stomach tightening as she shifted in her seat to try to calm down that restless feeling inside of herself.

Calm the hell down.

I can't calm the hell down! I have feelings for Callie! I like Callie and am ridiculously attracted to her, as you should know because you are me, and there could be something here between us, but she is behaving like… like…

Like her normal self? She's been acting like her normal self this whole day! Talking to you, joking around – stop reading in to everything.

When do I ever do that?

…

Right.

Taking a deep breath, her hands tightened briefly on the wheel as she told herself to try to let this go, especially after she'd listened to Callie's admission yesterday in the car. Her voice had been all… all vulnerable, which was so not Callie, when she had said that she pushed Arizona back because she was scared.

It had made Arizona's chest feel warm all around her heart, that soft admission. But she'd played it off as lightly as she could because Callie had looked about ready to have a panic attack.

So, yeah. What she needed to do was not push Callie, because that would probably terrify her, and she nodded resolutely to herself. If Callie wanted to push for something between them, then Arizona would just let the chips lay where they fell.

Easy as that.

Of their own volition, her gaze slid to Callie once more, and connected quickly with dark eyes that were already looking at her face. It didn't matter that Callie looked back down to the map as soon as possible – she'd been looking at her, and there was no denying it.

A pleased smile took over her lips, and she didn't miss the slight blush that raised on Callie's cheeks, even as those dark eyes remained resolutely on the map, though not moving.

She wasn't going to push Callie; but she was really hoping that she wouldn't have to.

A moment later, when Callie cleared her throat and asked, "Robbins?" Arizona wondered if her luck was that good. Wondered if maybe Callie was going to bring up – "Are we planning on sleeping in the car or something for the night?"

That hope in her chest rapidly deflated and she felt her shoulders tighten slightly in discomfort, as she shifted a bit in her seat. This had been a topic she had pointedly not talked about with Callie for a couple of reasons, "Uh, no. Don't be ridiculous."

Callie was looking at her again, but it wasn't a speculative, intense look, but one of confusion. And she could see out of the corner of her eye as that confusion turned to suspiciousness as Arizona knew she was being obvious, "Yeah, but on your little itinerary, it says nothing about the hotel you planned to stop at," a long, tan finger tapped against said itinerary.

Arizona bit her lip and wondered exactly what to tell Callie about this little aspect of the trip…

Which only made Callie sit up a bit higher in her seat and ask, "Robbins, why are we going to Midland, of all places? What's going on?"

She hedged on telling her the whole story for a second, before rolling her eyes at herself because it wasn't like she could actively keep this to herself for much longer anyway; they were going to be arriving later that same day. With a deep breath, she began, "Well, the original road trip I had planned wasn't for – you know, you weren't included in the plan."

And the interest was clear in Callie's low tone as she drawled, "Riiight." When Arizona hesitated for another second, Callie sat up straight in the passenger seat and turned to look at her, prompting, "And?"

She hoped this was received better than she thought it would be, and with that thought, she sighed, "And… look: my dad is from Midland. So, my grandparents still live there and so does his entire family, almost. And there might be a barbeque happening there tonight, with all of them."

There it was. Maybe it wasn't even that big of a deal, except, well, Callie did seem to be turning out to be the type to react badly when things got… personal, and meeting Arizona's family – who could be fairly inquisitive and invasive – especially after their flirting just seemed like something too personal.

She hadn't exactly had a plan of how to tell Callie about this part of the trip, but she'd hoped that by the time they got to this period, things between them would have evolved into friendship territory.

And after last night, she'd kind of hoped that they would just be able to arrive, and Callie would be surprised into compliance.

"A barbeque with you as a guest of honor," Callie aptly guessed, still looking at Arizona with her eyebrow raised, her face unreadable.

At that, Arizona nodded, before adding on, "That part wasn't my idea. All I did was tell my grandma a few months ago that I was going to be driving through, and from that, she insisted that I stay with them for the night and I didn't even know about the actual barbeque until a few days ago." Blue eyes flickered towards the brunette, but Callie was giving nothing away, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you're…"

She trailed off, entirely unsure of what exactly to follow up with, and inwardly berating herself for saying anything at all.

Callie looked at her in question, though, and didn't look particularly upset. If anything, she seemed almost amused as she asked, "I'm…?"

Trying to shrug off her uneasiness, Arizona cleared her throat, "Um, you know." She huffed out a breath between her teeth, and rolled her eyes at herself – a little flirting couldn't change things between them this much. And she hadn't really hidden her thoughts or watched her words with Callie before, and she wasn't intending on starting now, "You don't seem like someone who is really going to be thrilled at the idea of me bringing you home to my family." Now, she outwardly cringed at her own words, because that sounded… not entirely friendly. She was quick to add, "Besides, I only found out about the whole family barbeque part of it a couple of days ago, and it was the day you were acting all pissed at me."

Arizona let out a sigh of relief when Callie focused on the last aspect of what she'd said, as she muttered, "I wasn't –" and then promptly cut herself off, looking like she was debating with herself for a moment, and settling on begrudgingly nodding, "Fair enough."

She couldn't stand how much she wanted to know what Callie had been thinking at the moment, but reined herself in and just nodded, "Great. So, Midland."

They drove in silence for a few more moments, and she could see that Callie was fidgeting in a way that was extremely unlike the brunette. And, okay, she thought it had to do with that whole revelation of hers that she had those feelings for Callie that made her feel all soft inside with the nerves Callie was showing to her, even without meaning to. So, even though she was kind of looking forward to seeing how Callie interacted with her family, she offered quietly, "We can find a hotel or something, though, if you would rather stay there. I can drop you off before I go to my grandparents, and pick you up in the morning or –"

She was interrupted by a soft, light laugh that gave her goosebumps as it seemed like it floated over her skin. A sound she certainly wasn't used to hearing from Callie, and the girl was giving her a look that she could only classify as challenging, "Robbins, calm down. I'm not scared of being surrounded by your family." She paused, eyebrows drawing together, "Of course, being in the middle of a Robbins family reunion wasn't really something I'd ever imagined happening to me."

She watched as Callie playfully shuddered, an over-exaggerated look of disgust taking over her features, "Though now that I say it out loud…"

Arizona couldn't resist taking the moment to reach out and lightly shove her shoulder, "Shut up."

Callie just gave her one of those Callie-smirks, before turning to look out the window again. And even though Arizona was pleased with that, because it was so… so normal, so them – the "them" they'd become so far on the trip – she admitted that she was kind of worried about the lack of acknowledgement of anything changing between them.

What if it was a fluke? A one-time thing? What if Callie was feeling flirty that night, and that was that?

God, she was going to drive herself crazy with this.

It wasn't until hours later in the late evening, that Arizona found herself sitting in the passenger seat with Callie driving through suburban streets, and the brunette was grumbling, "I don't know why we couldn't just keep using the GPS."

Arizona had her phone tucked into her pocket, and had turned the GPS on it off almost an hour ago, to direct Callie by memory.

She sighed, "I tell you one wrong turn, and all of the sudden, I'm an unreliable source."

The snipping was good, she had decided a while ago. It was good because it meant that they were clearly in a really good place, even though their last few days had been riddled with first, that unwelcome tension, and then good-spirited sexual tension. It was just maddening because with every passing hour she was starting to think that the cheek kiss and the flirting and the checking each other out hadn't done anything to Callie at all.

But. She was determined not to focus on that.

Live in the moment.

Because I've always been great at that…

Either way, she barely managed to hide an amused, dimpled grin by turning her head to look out the window when one of Callie's hands lifted from the steering wheel, "One wrong turn that got us off-course for almost an hour! All because you wanted to see some farm with horses. Robbins, this is Texas. I'm sure there are farms with horses all over the place."

The exasperation in the brunette's voice only made her smile deepen, and she threw back, "Callie, I told you; that was a farm that is special to me! I took horseback riding lessons there." Before Callie could say anything back, she lightly tapped her knuckle against the door, "It's the next house on the left. The yellow one. With all of the cars in the driveway."

Callie slowed the car to a crawl before parking at the curb in front of the neat and tidy two-story that Arizona had many fond memories of. Just thinking about them – the many childhood summers in which she and Tim had spent a couple of weeks or months here – made excitement well up in her chest.

An excitement that she could tell Callie wasn't mirroring, as she could see a look of slight apprehension pass over her features, before she commented, "Well, this looks like the quintessential visiting grandma and grandpa's house."

It didn't sound condescending at all, much to Arizona's slight surprise. It sounded almost wistful, but before she could linger on that, the front door of the house was thrown open.

And Arizona's grandparents were there, her grandmother already jogging down the front walkway, an excited smile taking over her face, arms open for a hug. Her grandfather followed behind her, a more subdued grin on his weathered face, with his hands tucked into his pockets.

It took less than a second after that for Arizona to throw her door open, especially because if she didn't, her grandma was going to pull it open herself within moments, "Grandma!"

She was right, because as soon as she was on her own two feet, she found herself enveloped in a tight hug. It was almost surprising to her how tightly her grandmother hugged her because Arizona had been a couple of inches taller than her since she was a teenager, and despite being slender herself, her grandma was even skinnier.

"Oh, look at you! Just as beautiful as you always are. Are you eating well, up at that school of yours?" her grandma leaned back and ran a critical eye up and down her body, which made her chuckle.

She stooped down slightly to press a kiss to the older woman's forehead before answering, "Yes, grandma."

Her grandfather was standing a couple of feet away, looking every inch like the southwestern boy who had grown up on a ranch that he was, even in his early seventies. He nearly always looked reserved, but she knew that was just him. And for as close as she was and always had been to her grandmother, she was even closer to her grandpa, so when he pulled her into a hug, he nearly took her right off of her feet.

"Missed you, little girl," he told her in his gruff, drawling voice, as he patted her between the shoulder blades, much like he had always done.

So she hugged her arms around his neck a little tighter, and whispered, "I missed you, too."

It was comforting. And a comfort she didn't know she needed, after a long year, and somewhat of a rollercoaster of a road trip so far. She pulled back and grinned when he lightly tweaked her nose, before both of them were then jostled by her grandma, "Sweets, who is that young thing you have sitting in your car?"

Callie.

Arizona whipped around, to find the brunette still sitting in her driver's seat, watching her interaction with her grandparents with an inscrutable look, as she bit her lip, and seemed unsure as to what she should do.

Clearing her throat, she felt herself flush, "I – that's who I've been traveling with. She's my neighbor, actually, at school."

Her grandma looked at her with blue eyes so similar to her own, "Really? Oh, that's wonderful. What's her name?"

Arizona's mouth had already opened to answer, before the idea came to her, and a mischievous smirk pulled at her lips, "Calliope."

She didn't know what it meant or what it said about her when she was finding that she thought Callie's nervousness was equally as endearing as her smirking was. And she didn't want to think about it too much with her extremely astute grandparents standing there, either, because they'd always been able to practically read her mind.

Also, she wasn't making it too hard for them when she found that a small smile had formed on her lips as she'd been staring at the brunette. God, maybe this really had been an awful idea; not because of what it would mean for Callie, but what it would mean for her.

Too late now, she supposed, and tilted her head as she made eye contact with Callie – ignoring the little jolt it sent to her stomach – as she lifted her eyebrows and gave her a little wave, wordlessly telling her to get out.

She could see the brunette take a deep breath, before her hand went to the door and then she was standing up, regarding the elder Robbins with a small smile that only Arizona could read the anxiety in, "Uh, hi."

Then she awkwardly lifted her hand and gave a tiny wave before dropping it back to the top of Arizona's car, clearly unsure of her next move, and Arizona found herself ridiculously charmed.

Briefly, she wondered how much contact Callie had with her friend's parents/families before. As far as she knew, Callie only had a handful of friends at school, and her closest one was Elise. She lived next to them, and she knew that there weren't many family visits from either of the girls' families.

It was no matter for her grandmother, though, and Arizona watched, blue eyes wide, as she ran around the front of the car to pull Callie into her and wrapping her arms around her in kind. The way Callie uncertainly stooped down to return the hug after a few moments was simultaneously comical and heartwarming.

Her grandma was like half a foot shorter than the brunette, and just so small, that Arizona could see from where she was that Callie was being gentle with her, and that… that was not making it easier to stop thinking the thoughts she was thinking.

From where she stood, she could hear Callie's voice – abnormally subdued – as she greeted, "It's nice to meet you."

Which her grandma was only too happy to reciprocate, her southern twang coming through loud and clear, "You, too! Calliope, is it?"

Callie's head whipped up so that dark eyes could positively glare at Arizona, which made her grin, a little giggle escaping her. Which only intensified as Callie looked back at her grandma, and Arizona could tell that she didn't want to seem rude to her, "Ah… yes. But I prefer to go by Callie, please, Mrs. Robbins."

"Mrs. Robbins! Don't be silly, hon, you're staying at my home, no need to be formal. It's Grace. And you are so gorgeous, too," she lifted her hand up to Callie's tan cheek, and Arizona couldn't believe her eyes as she just witnessed Callie Torres get her cheek pinched. Before her car keys were taken from the brunette's limp grip and the older woman took her hand to drag her along, "Come on out to the backyard, everyone is already here! And the food is just being finished up, so y'all are just in time."

She led Callie over to where Arizona still stood with her grandfather, before pushing the keys at his chest, "Get their bags out of the trunk, dear." Before Arizona could offer to help, her grandpa was already moving, and Arizona's hand was taken with her grandmother's other one that wasn't holding Callie's.

Idly, she thought about how she would kind of rather be the one doing that –

"Sweets, how is that lovely roommate of yours? Alex?" her grandmother implored, looking up at her, as she opened the gate and led them through.

Arizona thought back to said lovely roommate, "He's good grandma." Alex had met her grandparents once, when they'd come to visit months ago, and hadn't been exactly prepared, given that he'd been eating cereal in his boxers on the couch when they'd arrived.

She also didn't miss Callie's scoff at the phrasing of "lovely roommate" and she simply turned her head and lifted her eyebrows at the brunette over her grandmother's head, who was giving her a small, unreadable smile back that warmed her from the inside out.

The older woman hadn't been lying when she'd told them that everyone was already here and that dinner was almost done; the multitude of food that had been prepared was already cooked and spread over the long picnic table that her grandfather had made years ago. And her aunts, uncles, and cousins were sitting around the table, talking amongst themselves, but clearly waiting for them.

Her cousin, Jared, who had just graduated from undergrad, was the first to notice her, jokingly calling out, "It's about time! We've been waiting here with the food for almost a half hour!"

"The horror," she replied with a grin as they came closer to the table.

Her grandmother abruptly stopped, stepping forward and tugging the top of them behind her so that they walked so close that their shoulders brushed, and Arizona felt herself shiver in response, before her grandma let go of the hold she had on their hands, leaving it so that her hand slid against the back of Callie's lightly.

And the small, gray haired woman shooed two of Arizona's other cousins down on one of the benches, "Make room for Arizona and her friend. Everyone, this is Callie!"

She could feel Callie tense next to her, as suddenly the three aunts, three uncles, and four cousins that were sitting at the table turned their attention to her. And Arizona recognized those looks as their appraising ones.

It was instinctive to move her hand that extra inch to offer it to the brunette as a course of comfort. She didn't know when or how that had become a thing between them, but all of the sudden, it was.

And there was no hesitation before Callie took it, her fingers automatically tangling with Arizona's, and the contact made her feel calmed, and validated in a way. Yes, this was something between them, and Callie had to know it, too.

The only downside – if it was a downside – was the way her entire family noticed the move, and Arizona saw the way all of their eyes strayed to the point of contact, and she flushed. Her sexuality was no secret, but it was another thing to bring someone here with her. Instead of looking over everyone's faces, she landed on her grandma.

Who looked absolutely thrilled, and Arizona knew that she would hear more about this later.

Her grandfather's reappearance as he stepped through the slider door seemed to burst the bubble that they'd fallen in to, and it was a cacophony of sounds from there from the ten people already seated. Many were greetings to her, which she returned in kind, and then there were also the side conversations going on.

It was loud and they over-talked each other, but it was the way it always was with Arizona's family, and she loved it. Even as she felt Callie's hold tighten on her hand slightly, before the brunette's breath washed over her ear, "Is it always like this?"

She turned to look at her, her breath catching when she realized that they were close enough that her nose very nearly brushed Callie's. It took a few seconds to remember what she was going to say, before she managed to get out, "Um, yes. This is actually tamer than usual; this isn't even the whole family."

Arizona's own parents and brother were missing, as well as another aunt and uncle who lived a couple of hours away. Not to mention the myriad of cousins who had spread throughout a few states for college and jobs.

Her grandpa's voice spoke over everyone, which usually happened whenever he tended to want to be heard, because he was typically so soft spoken, "Ladies? Have a seat, and let's begin."

Arizona flushed, because they'd just been standing there in front of her family, holding hands and talking so closely it could be… mistaken for something else. She couldn't exactly blame Callie for when she dropped Arizona's hand in order to take her place at the edge of one of the benches, leaving a spot between her and Arizona's cousin Kelly for the blonde.

Things settled down quickly after that, and Arizona answered questions mostly from her aunts and uncles about how school was going, what she was up to there, how their road trip had been so far.

She kept her eye and ear on Callie, who had started to make conversation with Jared, sitting across from her. Her cousin was a charmer and made effortless conversation with most people very easily.

Jared's mother, her Aunt Karen, was the first other person to reach out to Callie, asking, "So, have you ever been to Texas before, Callie?"

It was as easy as that for the rest of her family to turn their attention to the brunette, and Arizona watched as she flushed from all of the attention again, before she answered, "Well, never Midland."

Jared snorted, "You're not missing anything here."

The response that came from their grandfather was entirely expected, as the older man narrowed his eyes at his grandson, "Midland is the cornerstone of the Robbins family, as well as the childhood hometown of George W. Bush, young man."

Next to her, she felt Callie let a laugh slip out, and Arizona's had to quickly suck her bottom lip between her teeth to stop from laughing with her, because everyone at the table turned to look at her. And she knew that was when Callie realized that her grandpa had been serious, and she stumbled over what to say next, just coming out with, "I – oh. Um, I didn't know that," she finished quietly, before clearing her throat and reaching for her glass of water.

Jared was silently laughing, and within moments, so were the majority of the people sitting at the table, including Arizona, as she turned to look at Callie's face, enjoying the light blush dusting her cheeks that she could only barely see in the reflection of the lamplight.

When she smiled up at Callie, she received a glare that had no real bite behind it that just made her smile even more. She wondered if Callie's glares toward her had always been like this. This superficial glare that made her feel that there was a major attitude backing it, but really, was practically dripping with affection.

She wished she had the time at the moment to try to delve into all of their past interactions, but instead had to turn away and focus on her family.

Her grandma was the next to ask, "Well, you said you've never been to Midland. Does that mean you've been elsewhere in Texas?"

One of Callie's hands laid on the bench between them, while the other held a fork in her hand, and Callie answered, "I've been to Houston, a few years ago. It was nice."

"Arizona said you're her neighbor? Is that how you two met?" her uncle Rob asked, and she figured that her grandmother must have told everyone down on her end of the table what small amount of information she'd been given so far.

The question was addressed to Callie, who fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, her gaze dropping to Arizona and holding her eyes for a few seconds before she looked back at her uncle only to see the entire Robbins clan waiting.

So Arizona jumped in and answered for her, "Yes, that's how we met. We live in the same apartment building. But, we probably would have met anyway; we both are in a lot of the same classes."

Her answer only garnered more interest, especially from her grandma, "Really, you're in medical school, too?"

Callie nodded as she turned her head to face that end of the table, tossing her hair lightly over her shoulder as she did so, and Arizona was distracted for a moment as she watched the dark locks bounce perfectly into place again.

This time, mostly to distract herself, Arizona found herself saying, "Yeah, she gets really high scores in all of our classes." It was only the words came out of her mouth that she heard her own proud tone.

She could feel Callie's surprised look, even before she looked at the brunette from under her eyelashes, and she felt like her entire chest was eaten up with warmth when that full mouth tipped into a small smile.

And then her Aunt Norah burst the bubble, reaching around the cousin she was sitting next to in order to nudge Arizona's shoulder with a teasing, "Let the girl answer her own questions."

Blue eyes rolled back at her, "I don't want you to question her like she's under interrogation tonight; we're here for dinner," she lightly reminded, mostly because she didn't want Callie to get that uncomfortable feeling again.

Her grandma hmm'd before nodding, "That's true. And, oh, this must be the first homemade meal you girls have had in over a week! Eat, eat," she urged, before pointedly turning her attention to Jared, "And what are you doing for the summer before you go for your masters?"

She felt Callie blow out a breath of relief next to her, and before she could think anything of it, there was a soft, warm hand that landed gently on her thigh. And given that she was wearing short denim shorts, her skin tingled with the direct contact, and she knew without a doubt that Callie felt the goosebumps that popped up under her palm.

Her heartbeat sped up as she felt heat spread inside of her, because Callie's hand was on her bare thigh, and blue eyes were transfixed to it. The way their skin tones clashed and she had to swallow hard to not let her imagination wander about those hands anywhere else on her body.

And after Callie's thumb lightly stroked her inner thigh she couldn't help in the gasp that stole from her throat, as her entire body went on alert. Then – then that hand slid away from her, and she was dimly able to realize that that movement had been somewhat of a silent "thank you."

She definitely wasn't going to wish the contact hadn't happened, but her breath blew out in a rush at the fact that this wasn't helping solve her mystery case of How Does Callie Really Feel.

Within a few moments, she was drawn back into the conversation, and she let her own hand fall to the bench between them, accidentally brushing it against Callie's. Their pinkies were touching, only the barest hint, and she waited for a second to see if Callie was going to move.

But the only movement that happened was when she felt Callie's hand slide even closer, and her pinky lightly linking over Arizona's own. It was all extremely high school – sitting at dinner with her family, holding pinkies with the pretty girl that she liked.

Arizona smiled throughout the rest of dinner.

Her family stayed at her grandparents' house long after the barbeque had ended, and they'd all stayed out at the picnic table until the night had gotten more of a chill to it once the sun had completely disappeared, taking much of the daytime warmth with it.

The Robbins's had moved into the den, Arizona and Callie with them, and they'd been separated in the last couple of hours, while Arizona found herself catching up with her family. And when she'd looked around the room a little while ago and not seen the brunette, she didn't think much of it.

But when Callie didn't return after Arizona had bid goodbye to her aunts, uncles, and cousins, she frowned with the thought that Callie had gone to bed or something without at least telling her.

It was only when her grandma handed her a blanket off the back of the couch, and pointed her in the direction of the slider door that Arizona squinted through the dark yard and could faintly see the outline of Callie on one of the lawn chairs.

After sliding on her flip-flops, she quietly made her way out into the backyard again, shivering for a moment – not really because it was really even super cold, but the temperature had dropped enough that her shorts and t-shirt was not enough – before she made her way to the brunette.

Who was just looking up at the sky, her arms wrapped lightly around herself, with her dark hair piled lightly into a messy bun nearly at the top of her head. It was so cute, and Arizona took a deep breath, before narrowing her eyes, "You skipped out on me."

Callie jumped a little bit, as she turned to face Arizona, before she rolled her eyes, "Hardly."

Arching an eyebrow, she walked so that she was standing next to the chair. And she felt a small tugging feeling of concern, "Did you really have that bad of a time with the Robbins clan?"

There was no reason for her to really care about the answer, because Callie was just… Callie, and if she didn't like –

But Callie shook her head quickly, "No, I liked them. I came out here when you guys started really reminiscing. Not even because it was boring, but I was kind of lacking all of the background to really know what was going on. And I wasn't going to be that person, who makes you catch me up."

A smug, delighted smile was playing on her lips, "So, you like my family?"

Callie was cautious as she tilted her head back to look at Arizona, and agreed, "Mhmm…"

"And you like me, too," she finished, just waiting…

And then Callie delivered with a roll of her eyes, "Not at all. Actually, I was just wondering that if your whole family is so great, how you ended up the way you did?" the smirk on her lips was already slipping into a smile.

How was it that that made her smile so much? Suddenly, she revisited her thought from earlier, about wanting to know if this was how Callie had always acted around her, but she'd taken it poorly, because she hadn't been able to see that there was no underlying malice.

"One day, Callie Torres, you'll admit that it's true," she kept her voice light, as she skimmed her eyes down, taking in that Callie was still wearing shorts that revealed long, tan legs, but had slipped on a sweatshirt. It was worn in, comfortable looking, red with a white written in Stanford across the chest.

Callie's eyebrows rose affably, "Don't hold your breath."

Which just made Arizona laugh, and she shifted from foot to foot for a moment before Callie gestured to the blanket draped over her arms, "Did you come out here to hold that, or…?"

Her eyes widened because she'd honestly forgotten about everything aside from Callie, and she bit her lip. Of course, she'd had the intention of giving the brunette the blanket, at first. But now, she slid her gaze to the kitchen to see her grandmother – completely obviously – watching them from the window – and rolled her eyes.

Before she acknowledged the fact that she didn't want to go inside and get ready for bed, despite the fact that they'd had a long day of driving, and it was getting pretty late, and only hesitated for a moment before she toed off her flip-flops and nudged Callie lightly with her shoulder, "Move over."

"Where do you expect me to move to?" Callie implored, even as she made space as best as she could on the lounge chair.

Arizona honestly didn't care that much about having her own space, she thought, as she settled down against the brunette. She wiggled slightly to get comfortable, but all it did was bring her body even closer to Callie's; they were side by side, pressed together tightly, and Arizona could feel Callie's body against hers from shoulder to hip, and then their bare legs pressing together, lightly rubbing together without conscious thought.

The proximity made her feel warm even without the blanket, as she spread it over their legs, and pulled it up around them.

"Sure, make yourself comfortable," and Callie's voice definitely sounded a little short of breath.

Which made her smile, "Why, thank you for the invitation."

She had to bite her lip – hard – in order to stop herself from asking what they were even doing. If they were doing something, the way she felt like they were. If Callie felt like there was something shifting between them, too.

Or if it already had.

None of those thoughts made it out because Callie was already asking, "Where did your family go?"

Blowing out her breath, she tilted her head back, this close to resting it on Callie's shoulder in the process, "They left. It's almost midnight," she informed the brunette, who nodded but looked – almost disappointed? A teasing smile pulled at her lips, "Why, did you want to say goodbye? What a softie you are, Callie Torres."

But Callie shook her head, and Arizona was sure that if she had a better view of the brunette, that she would be flushing, "I don't want them to think I'm rude or anything."

Her eyebrows rose, even as she felt something inside of her shift and seem to click into place, filling her chest with warmth, as she quietly observed, "You really did like them."

Callie's breath blew out, and they were so close that Arizona could feel the warmth skim over her cheek, "I told you that I did."

"But you're always denying that you like me, so how can I ever tell when you're being honest?" she joked, relishing in the warm way Callie nudged their shoulders together, before they settled into a companionable silence for a few seconds, as Callie turned her head back to look up at the sky, like she had been doing when Arizona first came outside.

She, in turn, turned her head to look up at Callie, running her eyes over the smooth line of her jaw, then down her neck, before asking, "Stanford was your undergrad?"

The brunette looked down at her in surprise, before Arizona moved her hand under the blanket to lightly tug at the sweatshirt Callie had on in explanation, which made Callie shift impossibly closer to her.

"Oh. Yeah, Stanford," there was a small smile on her face, and Arizona wanted to know. She wanted to know what memories of Stanford she had that made that smile appear, and startlingly, she really wanted to know everything.

Trying to distract herself, she started, "I went to –"

But Callie beat her to it, "Georgetown."

When blue eyes widened and she could feel herself grin even as she questioned, "How do you know that?"

She could feel Callie fidget for a moment before she answered, her voice low and raspy, "Well, we are neighbors. And neighbors learn things about each other."

Arizona laughed and rolled her eyes, before she shook her head, as Callie looked back up at the sky for a moment before sighing, "This isn't going to work for me."

And she felt a swift feeling of rejection kick in – she really hadn't been expecting that. She… well, she guessed that she didn't really have to ask Callie about what was going on between them, because apparently their banter wasn't even working for her.

She realized her feelings must have been reflected on her facial expression, because Callie quickly elaborated, "For my arm." And before Arizona realized it, Callie was pulling her arm from between them where it had been squished between their bodies, and after a moment of hesitation, she tentatively wrapped it around Arizona's shoulders.

Relief was swift to come to her, and she didn't even know how to stop herself from reaching up her hand to hold onto Callie's over her shoulder. And she didn't pause to wiggle her way into the cuddle? Embrace? Whatever it was, it felt nice. Somehow both comfortable and exciting.

They were sitting so close that she both felt and heard Callie murmur, "There's a shooting star."

Her own voice was barely a whisper as she breathed out, "I already know my wish," and her gaze remained firmly on Callie's mouth.

Callie didn't hear what she said, and the brunette turned to face her, not even realizing how close they were as she started, "Wha–?"

It was all Arizona could take. There was only so much self-control a girl had, and she needed to know. She needed… she just needed. She wanted.

With that, she leaned in, her eyes closing at the first touch her mouth had against Callie's. The brunette's lips were soft and pliant against hers, and as she pressed against her more firmly, she felt Callie's gasp against her mouth.

Her lips opened with it, and Arizona's own went with the motion as her brain was sent into overdrive with the way this all felt. It felt like there were shooting stars all around them, and it was all she could see behind her eyelids. Like her skin was being set on fire in a deliciously electric way.

She lightly pulled Callie's full bottom lip between her own, relishing in the soft sighs Callie was releasing as a warm, hesitant hand came up to cup her cheek. The touch was so soft and gentle, and words that before this trip, she never associated with Callie, and the idea of it all – of all of these traits mixing and forming this woman that she was kissing – made her quietly hum back into her mouth.

Callie whimpered lightly in response, her thumb sliding along Arizona's cheek, as she exchanged her bottom lip so that she could capture Arizona's, lightly sucking, in a way that made arousal shoot through her entire body.

With it, Arizona turned into her to get closer, with her arm coming up and her hand brushing against Callie's waist. And then that hand dipped into Callie's sweatshirt, just enough to feel her soft skin, and her thumb stroked there the way Callie's was moving on her cheek, and Callie's full body shiver made Arizona hum again.

It was Callie who pulled away, and pressed her forehead against Arizona's, breathing heavily, her eyes tightly closed, even as Arizona's fluttered open to take in the flushed just-been-kissed look on her face, and she would have given anything to kiss Callie again, so she leaned in again, this time pressing a light, barely-there, brush of her lips against Callie's top one.

The contact was enough to make her shiver again and god, she wanted this. A lot.

But it didn't mean she missed the way Callie's body tensed against her, just before she pulled her forehead back. And, okay, Arizona could deal with that, but she didn't move her hand from around Callie's waist, and Callie didn't move to get up. Which was a good sign.

I act out. When I feel scared, Callie's words from the day before rang in her ears, and she hoped to god that wasn't going to happen.

"We have to talk about this," Arizona whispered, her heart thundering in her ears.

Callie was frozen against her, and Arizona could swear she could feel her body shudder with the breath she expelled, as she whispered, "I know. Just – not tonight."

Arizona was agreeable to that, especially as Callie let her take her hand under the blanket, and she drew soft circles against it with her thumb, feeling the brunette relax against her, "Okay."

Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much to everyone who already has/does, I love your responses. Thank you all for reading!

Also, a quick random note - Due to the age changes, I had to change some minor things around with Arizona's family history. Just for some reader's info/in case anyone has any questions – Arizona is currently 23, having finished her first year of medical school. Her father, in this, wouldn't have been born until the early '60's. So, Arizona's grandfather from this chapter was born in the late '30's, meaning it was his father who died in 1941 on the USS Arizona.

Basically, rather than be named after her grandfather's heroism, she was named after her great-grandfather's heroism.