"Should we wake her up?"

Arizona wondered through her half-asleep mind, if it was ironic that that was the statement that actually did wake her up. But after a few seconds, she realized that she didn't know that voice at all.

"I don't know. She looks pretty comfortable."

Yeah, she definitely didn't know that voice, either, and it made her anxiety ratchet up a notch, her heart starting to beat quickly in her chest. What the hell was going on?

But she didn't open her eyes yet. Keeping them firmly closed, she ran a mental check-list of everything she knew about where she was.

First, was that she was in Callie's beach house. In Callie's room. In Callie's extremely comfortable bed. For another heart-stopping moment, she worried she was naked under the blankets – before she internally rolled her eyes at herself; as if she and Callie would fall asleep naked together in her parent's house, when her family was roaming around.

She'd only even slept in Callie's bed with her under the guise of friendship. Because after they'd cleaned up dinner the night before, Callie's mother had informed them that their two guest bedrooms had been commandeered as a Bridal Suite, and were simply not accessible as bedrooms at the time.

Honestly, it had been truly difficult to act as if that had been bad news, for both herself and Callie. Regardless, everything had turned out perfectly, given that Mrs. Torres had been insistent that everyone go upstairs and get a lot of rest for the upcoming day.

Secondly, she realized that Callie was definitely not in the bed with her, and the realization made her frown slightly. And feel a little lonely on top of being cornered in here by these women. Neither of which was a good feeling, she decided, and the only way she saw out of it was…

With a sigh, she blinked her eyes open against the sunlight streaming in through the windows, and turned to face the women who had woken her up. Not that she'd really expected to recognize them – considering she'd only met the Torres women – but… yeah, she had no clue who they were.

One of them, a tall woman with blonde hair, who had been frowning noticed her movements, and smiled triumphantly down at her, "She's awake!"

The second one, a girl who looked shorter than Arizona herself, with dark hair and skin, nodded, "Clearly," before she turned slightly to acknowledge Arizona, who pulled the blankets a little tighter around herself, "Hey. We're here for your dress."

Confusion rolled in, and she had to wonder for a few moments if she was missing something from her memory for a few moments. Before she decided no, she had no gaps, and she shook her head, as if it would help her clear her sleep-induced fog, "I – what dress?"

"For the wedding," the first woman supplied, looking at her like Arizona was oblivious.

Which irritated her, because she'd been woken up all of two minutes ago and she didn't even know these women. She bit her lip and shook her head slightly, "I don't have a dress for the wedding."

Well, she had a few dresses that she'd packed away in her luggage for the summer, and she figured she would just pick one and wear it. But before she could explain that to these women, who she belatedly realized were wearing matching pristine silk pastel pink robes, the door to the bedroom flew open.

And Arizona practically melted back into the bed in relief; she didn't think she had ever been as relieved to see Callie as she was at that moment.

She thought that it was a combination of that relief as well as just the fact that seeing Callie brought this little smile to her face. Even as the brunette in question wasn't looking at her, but was glaring at the two other women in the room arms crossed over her chest.

Arizona had seen Callie look irritated with her several times over the last year, been on the receiving end of that look. It was most certainly not a fun place to be, however watching it happen as a third party was much better.

Mostly because angry Callie Torres was freaking gorgeous, Arizona decided, as she ran her eyes over the small flush on Callie's cheeks, and the heaviness of her breathing as she practically growled at the women, "I told you two not to come in here."

And, as Arizona had been on the receiving end of that anger, she knew it wasn't really an easy feat to remain unaffected, as at least the taller woman was. She rolled her eyes at Callie, "You did, but your mom directed otherwise. Have you seen that woman today?"

The shorter one nodded in agreement, "Seriously, when she says jump, she doesn't want to hear how high, she just expects it to be done."

The answer seemed to mollify Callie, to an extent, but she still looked annoyed, "I told you not to come in here and not to wake her up. She barely even knows Aria; she shouldn't have to deal with the crazy."

It was only when the taller woman shrugged and pulled lightly on the sheer sleeve of her robe that Arizona realized that the robes were most likely being worn by the people who had bridesmaid status. Because Callie was wearing one, too. One that fell to her mid-thigh and left the rest of her legs deliciously bare…

Before she could let herself stare too much – she'd really forgotten how taxing it could be to spend time around people who didn't know she was gay – she tore her eyes aware and looked back to the girls standing next to the bed still, as the tall one rolled her eyes, "Come on, we've been up since like five this morning. It won't kill her to be awake now."

Callie's dark eyes narrowed as her teeth ground together, and Arizona jumped in before anything else could be said. Pushing herself up in the bed a bit more so that she didn't feel like an invalid, she shook her head, "Uh, she is right here, so you can talk to me directly."

When Callie finally turned to look at her, Arizona didn't miss the way her annoyed features softened and the irritated glint in her eyes disappeared as those full lips pulled into a small smile, "Good morning." But she didn't allow for any other conversation before she stepped farther into the room and pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "You two can go back to the room. I'll be back in a minute."

The shorter girl just shrugged and took a step before hesitating, "You are going to bring her, right? Because your mom…"

With an exasperated sigh, Callie nodded, "Yes, we will both be there. Just give her a minute to wake up."

That was enough to make the shorter woman brush by Callie and walk out, only to be followed by the taller woman, who shot Callie a mock-salute and an amused smile, "You got it, boss."

Callie rolled her eyes, but Arizona could tell she wasn't really annoyed anymore as she waited for the other woman to walk out. Arizona couldn't help but giggle in amusement when Callie poked her head out into the hallway and did something that appeared to be surveilling the area, before carefully shutting the door again, and turning to face Arizona with an apologetic look on her face.

Arizona ignored that – and her confusion over what exactly was going on and where exactly she was ordered to go by Callie's mom – in favor of taking her time to run her eyes over Callie. Who was standing there in that short robe, and this time blue eyes lingered on those long, tan legs, which made her lick her lips.

Before moving up and realizing that even though she was pretty sure someone wearing a silky pink robe shouldn't look classy, somehow Callie did. Especially with the way her hair was done up – clearly professionally – in some sort of crazily sophisticated, side-swept curly way. The nicely done hair and the way the V the robe made over Callie's chest shifted as she walked over to the bed made Arizona's throat run dry.

She had to clear it – twice – before being able to ask, "What time did you get up?"

Because while she'd only been up for a few minutes, it was clear that Callie had been up for some time. Especially as she managed to take her eyes off of the brunette long enough to check the time, and see that it was just after nine in the morning.

Callie, in turn, snorted out a laugh as she sat on the edge of her bed. And she managed to somehow look elegantly beautiful and dorky at the same time – really, Arizona had no idea why she found it so cute when Callie would do that, but she did. And she found it even more adorable knowing that if she told Callie what she thought of her little laughing-snort, the brunette would vehemently deny that it was even something she did.

Dark eyes rolled as Callie grumbled, "Since five freaking thirty this morning."

Arizona's eyebrows lifted in surprise, as she teased, "You willingly woke up that early?"

Callie's bottom lip poked out in a semblance of a pout, "Aria came in here and woke me up." Lightly, she shook her head and sighed as she explained, "All of the bridesmaids were ordered to be here by six, in order to prepare. The hair stylist, makeup artist, and tailor are all in the "Bridal Suite"," Callie rolled her eyes at that, before continuing, "And generally, downstairs is kind of crazy because my mom's been having last minute meetings with everyone all morning – caterer, florist, leader of the church choir –"

Arizona couldn't help the incredulous laugh that slipped out at that, "The what?"

But she could see by the pained serious expression on Callie's face that it was no laughing matter, "You'll see," she muttered.

Tilting her head to the side, she thought over what Callie had said, before asking slowly, "So you've already been up for almost four hours. And the ceremony doesn't even start until like, four in the evening, right?"

Callie let out a dramatic sigh, "My mother wanted to insure that if anything went wrong, we would have enough time to rectify it. And, honestly, at this rate, I'm not entirely sure she'll have enough time to run through everything she wants to do by then, anyway. She apparently also wanted to make sure we'd all be ridiculously exhausted, too."

She smiled, before running her hand through tangled, blonde locks, and thought about what had woken her up, "And… what is going on about this whole dress thing? With me?"

Blue eyes took in the way Callie bit her bottom lip and dropped her eyes to the bed before she groaned, "Okay, the thing is – clearly my mom is insane today, right? And a little while ago, she came into the room that I've been in with my sister's friends, and asked about you. Apparently, it had just hit her that you weren't planning on coming to the wedding, therefore you probably didn't have anything wedding appropriate to wear. Which, in her mind, works out fine because she had her stylist – who made Aria's dress – bring over a rack of dresses in a few different sizes to see which one would fit you best."

For a few seconds, Arizona couldn't do anything but stare at Callie as she took that information in. Because… "I don't have anything specifically for a wedding, but I do have some dresses that are suitable."

She might have felt mildly offended by Callie's mother, if she wasn't so entertained by the whole thing.

Callie just gave her a look, "I know that. But, it would probably be in everyone's best interest for you to pick out a dress from her stylist. If I wasn't above begging you, I would be begging you," she tacked on with a smirk.

That made Arizona roll her eyes, "Shut up," before a mischievous grin pulled at her lips, "And I know something about you – the big, bad Callie Torres."

Dark eyes narrowed playfully at her, "The fact that I'm afraid of heights is no longer news," Callie tossed back, clearly remembering the last time Arizona had referred to her as "the big, bad Callie Torres."

But Arizona's own grin grew even more mischievous as she leaned forward a bit to whisper, "That's not it. It's the fact that I now know that you aren't above begging."

Because in the last couple of weeks, not only had she gotten closer to Callie than she would have ever fathomed, but she'd gotten close enough to know – literally – firsthand what it felt like to have Callie under her, begging.

She licked her lips at the thought of it, arousal weighing heavily low in her stomach. And she could recognize the look in Callie's eyes, as the brunette whispered, "Sit back against the headboard."

That… hadn't been exactly what she had been expecting, but regardless, she scooched back until her back was pressed firmly where Callie had asked her to –

And then she understood when it felt like Callie had pounced on her, a soft, strong hand cupping the side of her neck, and the other bracing itself on Arizona's shoulder as Callie balanced a knee on either side of Arizona's thighs, and she could feel her warm curves lightly pressing against her front as Callie's mouth latched onto hers.

Those full lips parted almost instantly, and it was only too easy for Arizona to allow, her tongue seeking entrance into Callie's mouth as she skimmed her hands up those warm, strong thighs.

It almost made her dazed, the realization of the culmination of what was happening between them. She, Arizona Robbins, was in Callie Torres's bed, feeling devoured by the brunette's lips and loving it. And she was staying for a wedding – for Callie's sister's wedding – to be Callie's unofficial date.

Before this road trip, she didn't even know that Callie had a sister.

Then she wasn't really thinking of much at all as Callie's tongue stroked against the roof of her mouth and she gripped those thighs to pull her in closer. So close that she was almost running a little short of breath at the contact.

There was sunlight streaming in through the windows, the scent and sound of the ocean was coming in from the early morning air, and currently, she had Callie Torres pressed firmly against her, with soft, full lips on her own.

A soft whimper left the back of her throat of its own accord as she skimmed her hands up to grasp at curved hips, before the soft warmth of the brunette's body was leaning back and away from her. Blue eyes blinked open, and then she squinted against the brightness of the room, to Callie's face.

Desire felt like it had been poured through her veins – it was that easy for Callie to make her feel ridiculously turned on, and she wondered if Callie even knew that it was that simple – and it had happened in a deliciously slow, smooth slide, in a way that was becoming familiar. With it, a small smile pulled up at her lips as she whispered, "Well, I've been woken up in worse ways than this. It would have been better without those girls in here, though."

Dark eyes rolled at her, even though she could distinctly see the pleased blush on those soft, smooth cheeks, "I figured I should do it before my mom ushers me into makeup, which I'll be forbidden to mess up. And before we leave my room in general, because then there will be a ton of people all day."

The way Callie's face fell at the prospect of leaving the room and being surrounded by the people made Arizona unreasonably amused. Though, she understood the feeling. Surrounded by people all day also meant that they weren't going to be allowed to be together in any way other than friendly.

But, she had known that going into this, so she took a deep breath and pushed away the blankets that still covered her legs, "Well, I guess we don't want to keep everyone waiting, if it's as crazy out there as you say it is."

And as crazy as the two other bridesmaids had made it seem. Or, more aptly, made Callie's mother seem.

She pushed herself out of the bed and grabbed her phone to slip into the pocket of her pajama shorts – not bothering to change because she was just going to be picking out a dress – before she noticed the look on Callie's face.

It wasn't one she could quite place. But the taller woman was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up at her as she was biting her lip, and her expression looked torn.

"What's wrong?" she prompted.

And really, it could have been a multitude of things. Everything that had happened between them considered, Callie had handled it all remarkably well. From embracing having feelings for Arizona, to the physical side of their relationship, to coming out to her sister – albeit, that had so not been intentional – Callie was going through it all like a champ.

Callie sighed and pushed herself up from the bed, her fingers lightly brushing down against the soft fabric of her robe, "I – well, I invited you to stay for the wedding because I wanted to spend more time with you, and this was the end of the road. So to speak. But it didn't even really occur to me until a few hours ago, that I don't even know how much time I'm going to be able to spend with you, at least until the reception later tonight. And now, I feel bad that you're going to be either on your own, or with people you don't really know for a little while."

Her words, combined with the warm feeling they gave Arizona right in her chest, caused a dimpled smile to take over her face, "Calliope," she sighed out and shook her head, because… the way Callie could be all thoughtful was one of the great things she'd discovered about the brunette on the trip.

Actually, no; she'd seen Callie be thoughtful and considerate for other people before. Just, usually not with her. But the way it felt to be included in this little group of people Callie cared a lot about – well, it was an incredibly good feeling, to say the least.

So she just finished with the truth, "I'm happy to stay here for another day, even if you'll be busy for a while. And I understand," she added with a wry smile, "After all, it is your sister's wedding."

The relieved, actually radiant smile she received from Callie was something else that she'd never had directed at her before this trip, and she reveled in it.

Ten minutes later, she was led down the hall and towards the adjacent rooms that were serving as the Bridal Suite, and Callie gave her hand a small squeeze before she dropped it and pushed open the door, revealing the two women who had woken her up as well as another one, who was also adorning a pink robe.

The tall blonde from the room earlier turned to face them, "It's about time! Your mom just came in looking for the two of you."

Callie rolled her eyes, "What could she possibly want now?"

The blonde shrugged, but seemed amused, "How should I know? I'm sure she'll be back once she catches your smell in the air."

Callie reached for Arizona's hand once more, and used it as a pretense to pull her closer into the room, though Arizona noted that she lingered, as she gestured to the other women in the room, "Just so you're aware, the woman you rudely woke up in my room is Arizona; my… friend, and neighbor from school." She gestured to Arizona, who waved, feeling slightly out of place in her still sleep-rumpled hair, tank top, and pajama shorts.

Then Callie pointed towards the bridesmaid who hadn't been in the room with to wake her up, "That's Madison," and then at the shorter, dark-haired woman from earlier, "That's Beth. They both met Aria when they were in undergrad," and finally, she gestured at the tall blonde, "And this is Julie. She's been Aria's best friend since… forever."

Madison and Beth both gave her quick greetings, before turning back to a conversation they were having, and Julie stepped closer to her and Callie. Which was when Callie apparently remembered that they were still holding hands, and she reluctantly let it go.

Julie teased, "Yep, been her friend since diapers, and don't you forget it."

Callie gave her a playful sneer, and Arizona could tell that they were more than familiar with one another, before she gestured towards the dresses, "Come on, Arizona just needs to find a dress."

The blonde quirked an eyebrow, giving the both of them a grin, "What, are you afraid I'll spill all of your secrets?"

Which made Callie roll her eyes even as she flushed, "I don't have secrets to spill."

Before anyone could say anything back, Callie's mother seemed to come out of nowhere – but really, from the adjoining door on the other side of a room that Arizona thought maybe led to the other bedroom/Bridal Suite – "Calliope! It's about time; I want your opinion on Aria's hair." Her eyes darted to Arizona, and she flashed her a smile, "Good morning, Arizona. Go on and pick out a dress! I took a few guesses as to your dress size; you look about the same size as Aria. Though a little less in the chest," she finished and then disappeared again, as Arizona felt herself blush and look down at her chest.

Callie distracted her when she squeezed her hand once more and whispered, "Don't listen to her." And she backed away, in the direction where her mother had come from, "And definitely don't listen to anything Julie has to say, either."

"You used to be such a sweet girl!" Julie mocked with a smile, as Callie narrowed her eyes before walking away.

As soon as they heard the sound of another door shutting, Julie tugged Arizona to start browsing through the rack of dress options, but instead of actually looking at the dresses, started to speak, "She was, you know."

Confused, Arizona looked up at her, only for the other blonde to give her the same look she'd given her in the bedroom. The one that said Arizona was being oblivious, as she filled in, "She was such a sweet kid. Shy as a mouse."

That most definitely had Arizona attention, "Seriously? Callie was shy? Callie Torres?"

Because it just didn't fit in with what Arizona knew about Callie – at all. Not only the Callie she'd gotten to know on the road trip, but the Callie from back at school as well.

Julie gave her an excited smile, "Of course Callie Torres. I'm telling you, I've known her for her entire life. Maybe around her family and, well, me she wasn't shy. But around people like you? People her age? Especially girls her own age," Julie blew out a breath and made a face, "No friends, braces, scared to go to school with all of the bullies..." she trailed off with a wince.

And Arizona was more than a little shocked and definitely a little sad. She kind of wished she could hold Callie's hand – or Callie herself – now, but… that definitely couldn't happen for a little while. She tried to tamp down the bad feeling it left in her stomach thinking of a little Callie with no friends and scared to go to school. She cleared her throat, "How long did that last?"

Julie shrugged, before she got a contemplative look on her face, "Well, she stopped coming home in tears by high school. So that was good."

It still left Arizona with a sinking feeling.

But the other blonde continued, "But she didn't make any really good friends until college." She turned to look through the dresses for real, and Arizona followed suit, but her attention was on the topic of conversation, as Julie added, "Aria used to worry about her a lot. I did, too." Her gaze slid towards Arizona before she said, "Callie will probably kill me if she knows I told you about this."

Arizona didn't think she was going to be inclined to bring up Callie's apparently not happy childhood to her any time soon, especially not when it made her ridiculously unhappy to think about, "Why did you bring it up?"

Julie hesitated for a few moments before sighing, "All I'm saying is that… Callie didn't have that great of a time when it came to friends. So, it made her a little rough around the edges at times, but she is really sweet, still. I'm sure you know it, because you're her friend and all. But there are times when she can be short or snappy, and there's a reason for it. She didn't have that many friends growing up – and when she became friends with Addison, well, it took a few years before they were close enough that she started getting invites to hang out with the family. But you're here and it hasn't been that long, so I figure Callie must really value your friendship."

Arizona took it all in with a nod, and then once it was all processed, everything started to make her heart beat a bit faster and feel all warm again. Because… yeah, she heard the story Callie had told her family back in Texas, but being here and knowing that Callie trusted her enough to be around the people in her life like this, made her feel – well, the smile that took over her face probably said it all for her.

Even if she didn't want to say it out loud.

Which you shouldn't! Because you two are just friends! And friends shouldn't smile like this when they find out their friend likes them, as a friend.

Well, it's your face, too. You try to make it stop smiling.

… it's impossible. Callie freaking Torres – secretly sweet and used-to-be-shy/socially inept Callie Torres who pretended to dislike you for months – likes you a lot more than you could have even imagined.

And it feels really good.

Arizona had only been to a handful of weddings before. Typically those of her cousins, actually, and they were all nicely done. All of them were generally quiet and moving in their own ways. But she'd never been at a ceremony quite like the one she'd just witnessed between Callie's sister and her now-husband, David.

She was kind of blown away over it all still, even after making the move from the church to the lavish ballroom that was located in a grand hotel right on the beach for the reception. She sipped on one of the flutes of ridiculously expensive champagne that were being walked around – and she could tell it was expensive simply by the way the bubbles felt on her tongue.

A hand lightly touched her waist through her dress – she'd ended up choosing a light blue sundress that cinched at the waist, with a high neck that left her arms and shoulders bare. A dress that she really didn't want to know how expensive it was because she would feel paranoid wearing it somewhere that she could spill something on it – and she nearly jumped before she recognized the touch.

Soft, warm, light, and it set off butterflies throughout her stomach, which made her smile even before she turned to see Callie, who was smiling back at her.

Arizona took advantage of being so close to Callie for the first time in a couple of hours, because… Callie was extraordinarily beautiful, all of the time. She truly was. But today, with her hair swept up, wearing a dark red, floor length dress with its sweetheart neckline, and makeup to compliment – she was literally breathtaking.

She'd been sitting in the church when Callie had walked down the aisle, and as soon as she'd seen the brunette, she had been positive that time just – stopped.

And she got the same feeling right now, being able to see her up close. Her mouth turned into a smile, as she whispered, "Hey."

The bright, beautiful smile she got in response could light up a room as Callie murmured, "Hi back. I hope you weren't too bored during the ceremony."

Surprisingly, Arizona hadn't been, and she truthfully told her, "I wasn't, actually. I mean, I don't really know your sister, and I know her husband even less, but it was sweet."

"It really was," Callie said with a content sigh, a smile still on her lips even as Arizona could see the signs of exhaustion in her features.

There was definitely exhaustion, but also a quiet happiness. Despite the fact that she'd heard Callie complain multiple times about the spectacle of it all, and definitely seen her be just done with her mother and the stress, she could tell that it had all paid off. For everyone involved. She could see it in the soft smile on Callie's face and the gleam in her eyes that was somehow captivating.

Callie reached up and slid her hand lightly along Arizona's shoulder as she started to lead them towards a table, that was across from Aria's and David's, so they were facing the couple, as Callie asked, "What do you think?"

Arizona didn't know exactly what she was referring to, but the way her fingertips were still lightly brushing over Arizona's shoulder somewhat absently was distracting, and so she focused on saying, "Well, I'd never seen someone walk down the aisle to a church choir singing before. But it was surprisingly beautiful."

Callie smirked, "I told you this morning that you would see, about the choir."

Arizona rolled her eyes, "So you did."

And, okay, maybe there had been something about listening to a choir singing Make You Feel My Love while watching Callie looking all breathtaking that had made Arizona feel strangely close to tears and like her heart was going to beat out of her chest.

Callie sighed before her hand dropped from Arizona's shoulder and Callie whispered, "I'm so tired right now. And I'm supposed to make a speech; my mom is doing that gesturing thing towards me. A speech." She groaned.

Arizona felt strangely cold without the warmth of the brunette's hand on her shoulder anymore and she turned to look at the way Callie was looking uncharacteristically nervous at the prospect of her speech, "You can do it," she offered with a comforting smile, "Just, um, focus on one person or place. Like, Aria or me, if you want."

Then she inwardly cringed, because why would someone stare at their friend during a speech they were making at a wedding?

Either way, Callie didn't look comforted as she stood, but she whispered a shaky, "Thanks."

Blue eyes followed her, taking in the way Callie's hands were lightly shaking, as her mother handed her a microphone – where she had even pulled the microphone from, Arizona had no clue. But it was there in Callie's shaky hands, and Arizona watched her as she put her elbow on the edge of the table, then rested her chin against her hand.

She really didn't know that someone could look so elegantly beautiful while also looking like a bag of nerves, but the combination was frighteningly cute, she decided as Callie nervously cleared her throat into the microphone.

"Um. Ahem. Uh, hi," she offered a small wave, and the semblance of a smile, "Uh, most of you know who I am already, but in case you don't – I'm Callie Torres, Aria's sister. The Maid of Honor," she tacked on, needlessly, as everyone here had already been at the ceremony just before this.

Callie's cheeks were a darker red than Arizona knew they could be and she watched with slight concern as Callie squeezed her eyes closed and seemed to will herself to keep going, turning to look at Aria and David, "The first time I met David, I was eighteen. He, um, he was just starting to be tutored by Aria, who was his philosophy TA, actually, and they weren't even dating yet."

David lifted his glass towards Callie with a grin, and that seemed to encourage her to continue, "And Aria – well, she kind of thought David was an idiot. Then again, Aria generally thinks a lot of people are idiots if they can't debate the finer points of Aristotle and Plato with her in their free time," she added with a small, nervous, yet joking smile, and it worked to get a bit of a laugh. Which made her more confident.

"I remember that the first time I met David, I thought wow, he kind of is an idiot, because there he was, stumbling over his words and everything. But – but then I took another few seconds to look at what was going on between them and I realized, he wasn't an idiot at all; he just had a crush on my oblivious older sister."

Callie cleared her throat and her hands were shaking less as she nodded as if urging herself to continue, "It was a while before he worked up to say anything to her, but when he did I knew it was going to be something special. Because he looked at my sister in a way that I've never seen before."

As she spoke, Callie turned slightly, just enough that her eyes locked with Arizona's. And Arizona had no idea if Callie realized this or not, but the look in those dark eyes as they locked onto hers made her breath catch in her throat.

At that moment, she felt like she understood what Callie was talking about, as she continued to speak into the microphone, eyes not leaving Arizona, "And over the last few years, those looks of admiration they had for each other turned into love, and it's something that we've all seen today. Aria and David found something between the two of them that we all want. Someone to share those looks with."

Callie's cheeks blushed and Arizona felt herself flush as well, because… it felt like something had passed between them, before the brunette turned back to face her sister. She was still speaking, and Arizona tried to focus on the words, but all she heard was the blood rushing in her ears.

And it felt incredibly quick before everyone was clapping, and she was watching as Aria – who was in tears – moved to give Callie a hug. Callie herself looked fairly moved, and Arizona suddenly, vehemently felt ridiculously lucky that she was able to see this side of the brunette.

The one who made heartfelt – albeit nervous – speeches, who hugged her sister tightly despite how much she'd lamented about this occasion in general. The girl who could grumble and complain and could have a tough exterior, only to be the same girl who could get embarrassed and say the sweetest things.

"Hello, again," a voice said to her left, just as she felt someone slide into the chair next to hers that Callie had been occupying minutes ago.

It was a familiar voice at this point; she supposed spending the night casino-hopping and drinking with someone would do that, and she barely held in a groan as she turned to face Addison.

It wasn't that she disliked the redhead, but there was something about her knowing gaze that made her a bit uncomfortable. Biting back a sigh, and managed a small smile, "Hello back. I didn't know you'd be here."

Addison shrugged, "Yeah, Aria and I are friends," she said easily, and it dawned on Arizona what Julie had told her earlier, about Addison being Callie's first close friend. Before she could say anything, though, Addison leaned in towards her, that knowing smirk on her face, "So. You and Callie."

Her heart leapt in her chest, and even though she knew she had a damnable poker face, she made a valiant effort at maintaining it, "Callie and I…" she trailed off, playing dumb on purpose.

But Addison rolled her eyes and reached out to take a sip of her champagne, before she arched an eyebrow toward Arizona, "Look, I'm not an idiot, and I really prefer to just cut right to the chase. I've been Cal's best friend for years now, and I know her. I know that the look on her face when she's with you isn't all friendly fun and games."

Despite the fact that the words caused a pleased feeling to well up in her chest, Arizona bit her lip to stop any positive reaction to having that noticeable of an effect on the brunette, "I don't really know what you're talking about."

It sounded like a slightly weak defense to her own ears, but… well, lying had never been her strong suit. She'd never claimed it was.

Addison gave her an exasperatedly skeptical look, "All I'm saying is that she's never looked at me the way she looked at you the other night, and we are the closest friends possible."

And thank god for that, Arizona thought in regards to Callie never eyeing Addison the way she did with her, and she could feel herself blushing, but she maintained the strongest front she could, trying to look at Addison like she was crazy. Which felt incredibly strange, because it wasn't even her that minded if Addison knew.

In fact, she kind of… wanted the redhead to know, and, like, everyone else. But trying to keep this cover was important, because Callie wasn't ready for her – or everyone – to know. It was almost weird to remind herself that this was all so new. She thought maybe it didn't feel as new as it was because she and Callie had known each other for a while, and since starting something, they'd been together nearly nonstop.

Regardless, despite having been in relationships before that had definitely lasted longer than what she and Callie had started, she'd never felt this need to protect so much. But she thought maybe that came with being one of the few people who was lucky to have seen Callie be vulnerable. And she wanted to take care of that.

She, also, was not in the business of forcing anyone out of the closet.

So, she maintained her hopefully-unaffected front.

Which then crumbled when Addison leaned in even closer so that Arizona could hear her whisper above the music and conversation and general party going on around them, "You call her Calliope and not only does she not scowl, but it made her smile. When she walked down the aisle, she turned to look at you. And, honestly, you've been getting under her skin for months now. I know what's going on here; it's pointless to deny it."

Okay, so their "cover" was apparently incredibly ineffective – though she suspected Addison might have been paying more attention than most other people. Callie was not going to like this, and Arizona narrowed her eyes a bit as she ran them over Addison's face, trying to see what the redhead was thinking.

It didn't seem like Addison actually thought anything of it, though, and there was no judgement there. Defeated, she let out a sigh before she bit her lip and requested, "Don't tell Callie that you know. Let her come to you."

Addison looked immensely satisfied at the confirmation if her smirk was any indication, "I fucking knew it! And no, I'm not going to say anything to her for a little while at least; why do you think I came to you, first?"

Her mouth already opened to answer before she caught herself, and her brow furrowed in confusion, "Why did you feel the need to come to me, anyway?"

After all, while they had interacted a few nights ago, and struck up somewhat of a rapport, Arizona would go as far to say that they were friends.

But in response to her questioning look, Addison shrugged, smirk still in place, "Because I wanted a little validation." She rolled her eyes at Arizona, but before her defenses could go up, Addison took out a deep breath, "And…," she looked over at Callie, her smirk gradually sliding off her face until she was looking serious, "Look, Cal knows that she could come to me with anything and I'd be there in a heartbeat. I know she knows that. But I also know that what's going on with you and what she feels for you, is probably still scaring the shit out of her, and that she probably doesn't want to talk about it with anyone." Addison's eyebrows drew down low on her forehead as she sighed, and looked as uncertain as Arizona had seen her, "So, maybe, when she's not as scared, you could push her in my direction."

All right – so she really hadn't disliked Addison; that was the truth. And after the other night, she had a glimpse into what Callie saw in her as her friend. But at this moment, she felt an appreciation for the redhead deep in her stomach that was telling her that one day, they might have a friendship of their own.

She inclined her head in response, and got the same feeling that she got earlier talking to Julie about Callie. Like she was trusted, and it was a nice feeling. And she didn't really question the fact that in precious romantic entanglements, she was careful not to go too far too fast, or why it felt kind of different right now.

Instead, she gave Addison a small, dimpled smile, "I will."

Which made Addison grin back, "I had a feeling," she muttered, and finished her glass of champagne before she stood, "Now, I have some words to say with the bride." She'd pushed in the chair that she sat in before she bent down to whisper in a devious tone, "Also, if you don't want anyone to guess what's going on, I'd advise you to turn off the heart eyes."

She could feel herself flush even as she heard Addison cackle and walk away.

Heart eyes. She wasn't making heart eyes–

Blue eyes locked onto Callie as the brunette threw her head back and laughed at something David said, and…

Total heart eyes.

We have heart eyes, for Callie Torres.

And we're not even sorry.

Not even a little bit.

As Callie turned her head and looked over towards where she was sitting, Arizona didn't even have to work up the smile that slid into place on her face, and she immensely enjoyed the answering one that slid over Callie's, as she said something else to her new brother-in-law and then apparently excused herself, making her way back to Arizona.

The blonde looked up at her when Callie was close enough, "Your speech was amazing. You had nothing to be worried about," she assured her.

Callie's face reddened as she lightly picked at her dress just a bit, "Well, I've been writing it for months. And practicing it," she added dryly, "After I asked my mother several times if I could get out of it." She waved her hand, though, and scanned the crowd for a moment, "Did I see Addison over here?"

God. She was a damnably awful liar, and she felt her cheeks flame as her eyes widened, "Addison? I – no. Well, yeah, actually."

Callie's eyebrows drew down as dark eyes sparked with amusement, "Um, okay…" she trailed off, clearly waiting for more information.

That Arizona certainly wasn't going to give her, so she just smiled up at the brunette, "She was just saying hi."

Lying through our teeth.

And I nailed it!

Maybe she didn't, but Callie didn't seem particularly concerned with it as she bit her lip, drawing Arizona's attention to the motion, and she looked like she was deep in thought for a few seconds, before she looked around them as if surveilling the area.

When it all appeared to be in the clear, Callie tentatively offered her hand to Arizona. The move wouldn't look very strange or out of place anyway, but she appreciated it all the same, and she reached up to slip her hand into Callie's.

Their fingertips lightly slid together, and it made her shiver, before Callie's strong fingers curled around hers and they intertwined. Their palms brushed against each other once, then stayed firmly pressed when Callie gave her a small tug, motioning for her to follow her.

She did, ducking around other guests, out onto the terrace that would lead directly onto the beach. The sun had set a little while ago, and Arizona was pretty sure she didn't think there would ever be a more beautiful moment than Callie Torres in a stunning dress, walking with her on a beach after they slipped off their heels so that they could walk along the sand where the waves were washing up on the sand.

They walked until they were far enough away to just be two specs in the distance from the reception, but close enough that they could still hear the strains of music. And the farther they got, the closer Callie seemed to gravitate towards her, until their bare arms and shoulders were brushing against each other as well.

And Arizona definitely wasn't going to deny that she enjoyed the closeness.

The companionable silence they'd been walking in was broken as Callie let out a deep breath, which drew her gaze up. Dark eyes were looking out, unfocused at the water, before she turned them to Arizona, "I want to tell you something."

Arizona honestly had no idea what exactly Callie could want to tell her. She'd heard and seen so many surprises from and about Callie – from the confession of her feelings that went all the way back to last August, to her fears of heights, to the news about her family… yeah, anything could be coming.

"You know everything that happened with my car? And the accident?" Callie prompted.

She couldn't control the way her hand tightened a bit in reflex to Incident Number Three, and she didn't quit contain her groan, "I thought we weren't going to speak of this event anymore," she grumbled.

Though some aspects of Callie's very grumpy days with her remained – in a now adorable kind of way – many of those prickly, argumentative things had fallen away upon when she had stopped fighting her feelings for Arizona.

And, well, Arizona liked that.

But instead of looking upset on the topic of her beloved car, Callie simply rolled her eyes at her, "It's something you haven't heard before." She took a deep breath, "You know how you offered to pay for the damages yourself because you weren't covered under that drunk idiot's insurance?"

Arizona rolled her eyes right back at the reference of the drunk idiot whose car she'd been driving, but was intrigued nonetheless, "Yes?"

"If it had been that idiot who was driving, I probably would have taken him up on the offer. Or, well, almost anyone else. But, well, there was a lot of damage to the car – in case you didn't know," Callie added with a wicked grin, that Arizona knew was to tease her.

She nudged their shoulders together and tried to bite back a smile, "You don't say."

Callie nodded, "I do. It was expensive, and if it was anyone else, I probably would have set up some sort of payment plan. But even when I felt like shit because my baby was wrecked, I felt even worse – guilty – if I made you pay for it."

Questioning blue eyes took in Callie's features, as the brunette pushed forward, her words coming out slightly jumbled, "I've just – I've liked you for a lot longer than you could have possibly known. And I'm glad that… you know now."

Her words made warm, fluttering feelings arise in her stomach; they were probably even stronger than before due to the sweet, un-put together way she managed to get them out. It was that patented Callie Torres vulnerability.

And Arizona was touched, and she turned to fully face Callie as she murmured, "You're kind of an idiot, about handling your feelings."

Dark eyes playfully narrowed at her, but before Callie could say anything, Arizona brought both of her hands up to cup soft, tan cheeks and pull Callie down enough so that she could brush her lips over those full ones that she'd wanted another taste of since that morning.

She reveled in the way Callie whimpered as she drew her bottom lip between her own, lightly sucking on it, before she released it only to find Callie's lips pressing insistently against hers now.

Her hands slid down over bare shoulders, then she felt the ridiculously soft fabric of her dress under her fingertips, and she dimly was grateful she was finally getting to touch it. She'd been waiting ever since she first saw Callie emerge in the dress hours ago.

One of Callie's hands slid into her hair, adjusting her head so that she was at the perfect angle for Callie's mouth to fix purposefully over hers, deepening the kiss.

But before it lasted any longer, she was disappointed as Callie drew back. Just far enough that contact was broken, because she could still feel her breath washing over her lips, and she blinked open blue eyes to see the close up she had of Callie like this.

She was struck once again by how incredibly crazy this trip had turned out, and her mouth had already opened before she meant it to, "You know, this really didn't happen the way I thought it would."

Callie seemed to understand what she was talking about, and she lightly shook her head, just enough that Arizona felt the movement against her forehead, "I understand the feeling. But… I kind of don't want it to end." She could see the speculative look in Callie's face, and the hopeful feeling raised inside of her even before Callie whispered, "Does it have to? I mean, does it have to end, even though the trip is over?"

The indescribably excitement she felt took over, and she gave Callie a cheeky smile, "Well, Berkeley isn't quite convenient, but it is manageable. And when we go back to school, that's definitely conducive to maintaining a relationship."

For a moment, she froze when she realized she used the term relationship, and she waited for Callie's response. But it turned out the response was a pleased flush, and – if possible – an even bigger smile.

"I know we've only been doing this for a short amount of time. Like, a really short amount of time," Callie murmured, and Arizona nodded, as Callie's hands sought hers out, interlacing them and pulling her closer.

It was true. Because really, they had only been on this road trip for two weeks, and it had been just over a week since that night in Chicago that had seen them cuddling together. Which Arizona saw as the catalyst to setting everything forward in motion.

Callie continued, "So I don't want to – to rush anything here. Any more than we already have, I guess," she added before she rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, "But even though it's been a short amount of time for us together, you know now that I've had feelings for you for a while. A long while."

Arizona's stomach felt a flicker of butterflies at the reminder of it, and she found herself smiling, "I know."

But before she could say anything, Callie pushed on, "I don't want to push too far, but I really don't want this to be the end, even though it's the end of the trip. So… even though it might not always be easy, with me, I want to really keep this relationship going."

Biting her lip, she drew back enough to look properly into those dark eyes, as she whispered, "It might be the end of the trip, but I think that it might just be the beginning for us."

Before this all started, she had no idea this is where she'd end up, but she was really looking forward to the rest of their journey.

Please let me know what you thought! I've loved everyone's thoughts and opinions on this story, and it's been a great journey to write! Thank you for reading.

There is still one more chapter/epilogue-ish thing to come. So stay tuned for that!