Salutations StressZona!

Don't worry about the late reply or the length; I can tell you're super busy. And trust me, I know how it feels.

And might I say, I doubt you're a sociopathic liar. Then again, if you were, this would be the perfect situation to lie in. You could catfish me! For all I know, you might be catfishing me, considering there is no Arizona Robbins on facebook.

Not that I've creeped or anything…

Yes, the premiere of Altered Affection is almost here. We debut the week after the New Year, so… it's slightly less than a month away now! Things are about to cool down, though. Starting soon we have half of the rehearsal time for the holidays. Until right after the holidays, then I'll be busier than ever.

If only there was more hours in a day.

Good luck on finals!
CalliExhaustion

She received the response within just a few days, and the fast response made her grin.

Crazy Callie –

Finals have all been taken, papers have all been written and passed in. End of semester sorority party is coming up, and so is the mock-trial semi-final! Winter break is nearly upon me and I absolutely cannot wait.

Hey now! You are the one who tracked me down by my name, so you know I'm real. And I don't have a Facebook, because I am going to be applying to law schools and then law firms, which do thorough background checks. And even though I don't party like crazy or anything, you never know when something small can come back and bite you in the ass.

What can I say, all of those privacy PSA's and warnings about social media have prepared me for the worst.

You must be extremely excited about the play! And nervous? I would be terrified, as you well know. But I'm glad you get somewhat of a break, too.

Anxiously awaiting break,
Arizona

Growing up, Callie hadn't been a huge fan of the holidays. She remembered having a large Christmas party with her father and his coworkers, her mother and her coworkers, and various other family friends and acquaintances. And the holiday parties were full of fake cheer, and trying not to let on how much of a farce the smile on her face was, as she would catch her mother's stern eye when she wasn't acting her part.

She didn't know if she thought holidays now were worse or better.

For a few seconds, she tipped her head back and downed a few sips from her bottle of beer she was drinking, before slamming it on the table, and growling, "You're going down, Yang."

And her roommate snorted, "Yeah, right. I grew up with this. You're the newbie."

Without bothering to reply, she reached out and took the dreidel that was sitting on their apartment floor between them and spun it, watching it go around for a few seconds before getting dizzy – thanks to her slight buzz – and looking away.

Cristina seemed to have enough of waiting for the dreidel to land on it's own, and reached out to nudge it with her hand. It landed on the gimel – she thought it was the gimel, though she couldn't be sure because Cristina wasn't exactly verbose on… most subjects, including the rules to the dreidel game.

Then Cristina reached out to take the remainder of the Hershey's kisses they had stacked up, and she slapped her hand away, "Hey! That's not how this works." She didn't think.

But because Cristina's poker face was also her normal face, she couldn't tell if her roommate was being serious when she stared back at her, "It is. You landed on the gimel, which means I win the rest of the pot."

It didn't sound right to her, and she reluctantly let Cristina take the rest of the chocolate, eyeing her in suspicion before she muttered, "I don't think my losing has to do with the fact that I'm inexperienced with the game. It's because I'm playing with a cheater."

Only when she had all of the candies gathered in her hand did Cristina shrug and stand up, "If you weren't inexperienced, you would have known that I was trying to cheat you."

Rolling her eyes – whatever, she didn't need the rest of the chocolate anyway, when she was starting double run-throughs of the musical in a week. The day after Christmas. – she fell onto her back and watched Cristina move about the apartment.

"Why don't we have a menorah?" She asked, sitting up just a little bit, as Cristina started pulling out her jacket, hat, and scarf, and throwing them on the couch before hunting for her boots in the small closet.

Her roommate's response started with a snort, "I don't know, why don't we have a Christmas tree?"

"Because you're Jewish and you're the only person I would have to give a Christmas present to. And I'm barely even here to enjoy the aesthetic of it, so… it seems kind of pointless," she shrugged, before pushing herself up with a shiver. It was fucking freezing, but they both agreed that they should keep the heat down as much as they could and just layer up.

Cristina fully emerged from the closet, boots in her arms, before plunking down to put them on, "Do I seem like a spiritual person to you?"

Callie reached over and lifted up the dreidel they'd just used, "You have a dreidel."

"You bought it for me last year after asking me to teach you how to play the game," came the dry response, and Callie grinned after she remembered. And Cristina continued, "Besides, if I had my true spirituality intact, I probably wouldn't cheat you."

She tipped the neck of her bottle in her roommate's direction, "You have a point there." A few seconds ticked by in silence as she bit her lip in thought. She and Cristina did get along fairly well – in the times that they were here at the same time and had time to converse. It prompted her to ask, "Why don't we do this more?"

In response, she was treated to a raised eyebrow, "Play dreidel?"

Once again, brown eyes rolled, "No, smart ass, this," she gestured to the two of them, "Hang out. You know, be friends." Because sometimes it seemed so strange to her that they lived together, didn't hate one another, and yet, this forty minutes they had spent playing dreidel tonight was the longest they had ever spent together at one time.

"I don't know. Because we're busy people with our own lives? Because neither of us want to live with someone who is constantly all over our shit?" Cristina gave her a look that was so serious, it nearly made her laugh.

The first day that she'd met Cristina, she had known that she would enjoy being her roommate and that she actually liked her. She liked that she didn't wear some sort of fake mask. She liked that Cristina was the person who would say something to her face and not behind her back.

And even if they weren't "friends" she considered Cristina partially her savior. When she first moved to the city, the summer before this last one, she was living in an apartment smaller than this one, with one bedroom and three other people that had no respect for privacy or personal boundaries. After living with them for a month, and having a few of her belongings mysteriously disappear or be borrowed without permission, she was desperately hunting for a new place to live.

Low and behold, Cristina had been putting up a posting for a new roommate on a popular ad space on a board located near her work.

She'd moved in within the day.

Her roommate let out a sigh, before looking at Callie with her arms crossed, and a sly grin over her face, "Why? Is your letter girl not enough of a friend for you anymore?"

"I don't know what's more frightening; that you think it's normal and healthy to have one friend be "enough" or that you're so invested in my letter friendship at all," she gave the other woman a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk.

Cristina shrugged, "I'm a naturally curious person, Torres. I like answers. And the fact that you randomly tracked down this girl a month and a half ago and wrote to her, and she not only doesn't think that you're a psychotic stalker, but she writes back to you regularly now is somewhat shocking to a rational mind."

Maybe she was right, Callie acknowledged, but it didn't seem so weird to her now, after this time had passed. Now it was just normal.

Standing up, she placed her bottle on the counter before teasing, "Have you ever considered that my shining personality is so addictive that she just couldn't help but write back?"

Once again, Cristina let out a quick laugh, "Right."

Callie thought of the last letter she had received a few days ago, in which Arizona had told her with real, true excitement that she was on winter break – post sorority dance and mock-trial stuff that her letter a couple of weeks before that had discussed – and finally had a few weeks off from classes. She could somehow tell that the other girl was excited just through her words, and she really enjoyed that.

Cristina walked by her on her way to the door, "Well, I'm headed to Mere's. But speaking of Christmas presents, I'm pretty sure one came for you in the mail. From like, Indiana or something."

Callie raked her brain, trying to think of who it was from. It definitely wasn't from her parents, and she didn't think it was from any of her old friends. She didn't even think she knew anyone from Indiana, ever.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" she asked as Cristina pulled open the door on her way out.

"Because as soon as I came back you wanted to play dreidel. I put it on your bed," she called over her shoulder before leaving, and – as customary for her – slammed the door behind her.

And Callie, despite her disdain for the holidays, ran for her room, taking the small package that was laying on its side on top of her blankets into her hands. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she flipped it so that she could see her name written on the top.

It was in that classy, neat cursive that she could now recognize in her sleep, and the smile that was on her face was immediate. Cristina was right, this had been sent to her from Indiana, and she tore it open to reveal three small wrapped packages, and the folded letter.

She opened the letter first.

Merry Christmas Callie!

Though… you will probably receive this before Christmas. I thought I would send it early just in case, though. You said in your last letter that you'll be staying in the city for the holidays, and picking up some shifts at the restaurant you worked at, so I thought this would brighten up your time there. Just some small stuff!

In great news, my last fall semester of undergraduate work is officially done and passed with honors. The even better feeling is that the mock-debate semi-finals went SO well; come next semester, we will be competing in the finals.

Sorry if you didn't recognize where this was from at first; I'm staying at my parents' house for Christmas. Kind of wishing I had stayed at the sorority house, so that I could truly focus on the cheerleading routines that I have to come up with for the competition the week after Christmas and on the cases I have for mock-trial, but alas; I'm already home.

I find that my inspiration is always lacking while I'm home. Particularly in the last few days, when I've been trying to come up with my routines for my girls. So frustrating.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: not enough hours in a day. The fact that you wrote that to me is the closest to proving that we were fated to be friends that you will ever convince me to conceding to.

Still just a coincidence, though!

Arizona Claus

As she found herself regularly doing when she opened Arizona's letters, she grinned and shook her head. Leaning over, she opened the top drawer of her bedside table and pulled it open, slipping the letter inside, where it rested on top of all of the other letters.

Then she turned to take one of the small wrapped gift in her hands. There was another little note written on it that said I'm not entirely sure if this is accurate, but I've heard this is something that's good for your voice, if you're a singer. I got some brands that the lady who works at the herbal shop said work well.

Grinning, the opened the wrapping, revealing a variety of decaffeinated teas inside, as well as the small package of honey.

Gently, she placed them aside, before reaching for the next one, which had it's own note attached: For the many exhausting dance practices that you experience (and the many performances to come!)… I mean this gift in an extremely appropriate way.

And as she opened it, she laughed out loud at the small handheld device that proclaimed itself at the top to be a self back-and-neck massager. She understood at once why the last sentence on the note was necessary, and she just lifted an eyebrow at it before putting that next to her as well.

Finally, she reached for the last of the wrapped items, the smallest one, and the note attached to it simply read I don't even know if you will be allowed to use this, but… just in case! (It's from the custom shop that makes our cheerleading uniforms and accessories).

As she opened the wrapping and then the very small box inside of the wrapping, Callie lifted out the ribbon inside, and now the smile on her face was somewhat reverent, as she stroked her finger down the small, slight piece of fabric.

She'd lamented to Arizona in a letter last week that the costumes department had given her a headband to wear in her hair for an intense scene in the play in which her character's romantic lead, Flynn, portrayed by Mark-the-Flirt, and her character would aggressively kiss. And in said scene, his hands were supposed to be digging into her hair, grabbing and pulling.

And a headband in such a piece didn't cut it, as it kept falling out of place. So she'd had a discussion with them as well as the director about how she understood that the head piece was necessary – it was a visual reminder to show the youth and innocence of her character – but it would work better with a hair ribbon, something that she could slowly tie up her hair with in the "morning after" scene as she sang about the experience.

Gripping the ribbon in her hands, she closed her eyes as she brought her hands up to tie back her hair, the way she envisioned herself doing in character. The way she had described to Arizona in her letter, and Arizona had vehemently agreed that it seemed like a better creative choice.

Falling back on her bed with a smile, she took in a deep breath. The type of friend she seemed to have found in her pen pal of only a couple of months? It was the type of friend she had wanted for… a long time.

Then her eyes snapped open and butterflies were in her stomach. God. She had to find the perfect present to send to Arizona.

Wonder Woman,

I didn't know if I was supposed to wait until Christmas to open my presents, but I couldn't help myself. Patience isn't something I have really prided myself on.

And I have to say that I absolutely cannot believe you send me all of this stuff! It's honestly… amazing. I can't believe you put so much thought into these Christmas gifts.

It's really no use to try to deny your Wonder Woman status to me, because I'm even further convinced. You do so much at your school and then you send me these thoughtful things?! Are you actually Santa?!

Nope. This is a fated friendship, Robbins. You have already proved it to me, and there is no going back. You'll see. One day.

I don't mean that to sound threatening.

Extremely grateful!
Callie I. Torres!

P.S. I'm grateful for your disclaimer on the massager.

As much as Callie would have loved to say that she got to take the intended break from rehearsals – as in, take advantage of the fact that she was now having every afternoon and evening off – she was taking advantage of it by picking up shifts at the restaurant she'd left working at when she'd landed her role.

It hadn't been hard to garner these shifts, even though the manager had been irritated with her when she'd given her notice. Not when there were so many people taking time off to go home for the holidays.

Currently, she was just finishing her shift, and it was one of the better days, considering it was only eight o'clock at night. She was almost done! Home free, with a bundle of tips in her pocket.

As she crossed by the bar, intending to go out back to take off her waitressing apron, a flash of red hair caught in her peripheral vision. And then the person turned, and she was face-to-face with Addison.

Who spotted her immediately, and ran her eyes over her nametag, before saying, "You often like to spend your nights moonlighting as a bartender?"

As she was officially off the clock, she rolled her eyes and reached up to untie the apron, "Funny. First of all, I'm a waitress, not a bartender. Second of all, what are you doing here? Isn't this place a little…" brown eyes roamed over the packed, loud sports bar area they were in, "Rustic for your taste?"

Blue eyes stared at her while her eyebrows lowered significantly, "I can't tell if you're insulting me, Torres."

"Maybe a little," she admitted, and bounced back and forth slightly on her feet, and wondered whether or not she would be welcome to taking the seat next to Addison. She nearly missed that her response resulted in Addison giving her a small smile. "But mostly, I was just stating that I worked here for over a year before meeting you, and you've never been here before."

Addison snapped her fingers in a somehow commanding way that Callie admired, getting the attention of the bartender, who poured her another drink, as she seemed to take in Callie's words, "Well, tonight I wanted somewhere where no one could find me." Her gaze slid to Callie, "Apparently, I had over-estimated you."

And there it was. Just because Addison was the least unfriendly of the main cast members, she still wasn't exactly nice. Callie gave up the idea of taking the seat next to her, huffing out, "Apparently so," before she started to go out back again.

But then a hand reached out to tug her back to the seat she'd been eyeing, "Just, stay. You might as well, besides, you're already here." She snapped her fingers again to get attention, and gestured for Callie to get the same drink she was sipping on.

It wasn't until Addison let out a long sigh and turned to look into her drink that Callie saw that she looked genuinely… sad. Which she guessed made sense, considering her reasoning for being here. Callie looked at the drink put down next to her; it was an expensive whiskey. Not her drink of choice, but she took a sip and waited a few seconds with the only sound between them coming from all of the other patrons and the music blasting around them.

Then she sighed, and put the drink down, "Are you, you know, okay?"

Not the best approach, she admitted to herself with a cringe.

Addison turned in her seat to look at her after downing the rest of her glass in a large gulp, and stared her down. One of Addison's most admirable qualities as an actress was that intense look that she got. And Callie was learning right now that it wasn't just acting, "Do I look okay?"

"No," she answered her own question. Taking another small sip of the drink, she wondered if she would regret asking but, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She was kind of expecting a snort of derision in response, but when she didn't receive one, she looked back at Addison's face, who was giving her a thoughtful look. One of those silences passed again before the redhead sighed, "What the hell. I trust you'll keep my secret if I keep yours." Callie gave her a confused look, and Addison gestured around them.

"Oh," she realized that the costar was saying that she would keep it a secret from their cast that Callie worked in this restaurant. Even though she cared marginally less about people realizing she worked here than Addison would care that she came here to drink, she didn't say so. "Sure."

Addison now did snort in derision before her voice came out in practically a grown, "Not that it's a big secret for long, anyway. I think Derek is cheating on me."

The words came out so low that she nearly didn't catch them. And when she did, she sat up straight, eyebrows high on her forehead. She wasn't expecting that, "Uh. Wow. I'm sorry. Do you… that's awful."

Maybe this was why she didn't have many friends. Was it appropriate of her to ask more questions about the situation? What else did one say in this situation? Should she just treat her like a friend in need?

Going with that route, she wondered what she would say to Arizona if her pen pal told her that her fiancé had cheated on her.

"He's an asshole. He doesn't deserve you," she nodded decisively, and Addison looked at her curiously.

Then, she just tossed back her fiery hair and laughed. Laughed so loudly, Callie was caught off guard, and she wondered what she had said that was so funny. Addison took in a deep breath, "You know what? I have officially gotten over my jealousy of you getting the role instead of me."

Huh. Timidly, she offered a smile in return, "If only I knew this was how to accomplish that." She inwardly cringed at her own words – because she just referenced using the fact that Addison's fiancé was cheating on her to become her friend – but it just made Addison laugh more.

The redhead was definitely at least a little drunk.

She took another burning sip of the alcohol, before tapping her fingers on the bar, "So… why do you think Derek is –"

But Addison cut her off, holding a hand up, "No. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Um… okay," she awkwardly reached up her hand to pat the other woman on the shoulder before starting to stand, before Addison reached out and tugged her back into the seat. She sat back down willingly. "I kind of thought I was dismissed."

Addison just shook her head, lifting an eyebrow, "Nah. We're both already here, right?" Before Callie could say anything, the redhead launched into a rant about the play, and she had so much to say that Callie was honestly shocked. Because she always seemed so put together, serious, and professional.

Apparently, that was before she transformed into a slightly drunk Addison Montgomery who was now friendly.

They discussed the musical for nearly an hour before Addison slapped her hand against the bar, "And that scene with the make out between you and Mark – sorry, Flynn and Lila – your hair suggestion makes so much more thematic sense! I'm sorry I didn't say anything when you brought it up last week."

Excitement lit through her, "Thank you! I – my, um, friend bought me this hair ribbon after I told her about it. I've been contemplating bringing it in to rehearsal all week long to do a run-through with it to show how much better it could be, but…" she trailed off, and figured Addison would know what she was getting at; how she didn't want to piss off Richard and everyone else who was in charge, just a few weeks before the show.

"Do it. Callie, I'm telling you, I was practically raised on the stage; do it. The worst that'll happen is that they tear you a new one for ten minutes and you go back to the headband. But they won't, because you're right," she affirmed, and tipped her head back to finish her glass once more. And before Callie could say anything else, she asked, "Tell me more about this friend. The one with the ribbon."

Eyebrows crinkling together, she asked, "What?"

"You hesitated," Addison said slowly, as she turned to look at her, "You hesitated when you called her your friend. I sense a story there."

"Oh," and for a moment, she wondered if Addison would mock her like Cristina did. She'd just made this tentative friendship with the redhead… "Well, she gave me the ribbon as a Christmas gift." Which reminded her that she still had to find a gift for Arizona. She'd been thinking for the last couple of days since she received her package, but she still had no idea.

Addison rolled her eyes, "That's nice, but you didn't answer the question."

Callie just shrugged, "She's a friend. Well, I mean, she's not just a friend."

The redhead smirked and lifted an eyebrow at her, and it wasn't until she muttered an, "Interesting," that Callie realized what it sounded like.

And she felt herself flush, "No, I didn't mean – I just meant, she's a friend who is probably my best friend. I mean, she is my best friend. But at the same time, we're not exactly super close?" she thinks about the strange nature of she and Arizona's friendship.

She knows virtually nothing about Arizona's personal life. Like, she knew her as a person, she knew who she was, but she didn't know… a lot. They just didn't talk about her past or her family, and she knew nothing of Callie's. And that kind of made her happy in a way; she couldn't really explain it.

Addison shrugged, and turned fully to face her, "Callie, get down with your Sapphic vibes."

Ugh, she felt herself flushing even more, "I don't have Sapphic vibes. With Arizona or - or anyone. Right now. No vibes at all. We're pen pals! We're friends. I don't even know what she looks like. We don't even talk about dating lives."

Huh, she'd never even realized that after talking for nearly two months, they hadn't even mentioned romantic lives. Now, she tried to make a mental note to ask about that.

The redhead just "hmm"d in response, but then let it go, "Arizona, huh? Your best friend is a pen pal that you've never seen. You're a strange woman, Callie. But tell me more."

So she did. She told her about the book she bought, about getting the callback to play Lila in Altered Affection, about everything coinciding on those random days, and the letters since. And then she rounded out with her current dilemma of the Christmas present.

Addison nodded slowly, before announcing, "Your pen pal is a more thoughtful gift giver than my fiancé! Even before he was cheating," she tacked on.

Callie nodded emphatically, "She was super thoughtful! I want to be a thoughtful friend, too, and time is running out! If I don't mail it within the next two days, it won't make it before Christmas. Which is part of the magic!"

The redhead slapped her hand on Callie's shoulder, "Listen. You are putting too much thought into this. It's sweet – in an entirely non-Sapphic way," she added with a devious smirk, "– you're already thoughtful. Just think. She just sent you things that were practical for you, about what she knew about your life. Do the same for her." Addison held up a finger, "After we do some shots, to cement our new friendship. Not official until there are shots."

"I thought it wasn't official until Facebook," Callie grinned as the bartender started to pour the tequila.

Addison just shook her head, "You're in a new league, now."

She woke up the next day with Addison's words of wisdom ringing in her ears. Also with a hangover, but the words of wisdom were more powerful.

Her gift was in the mail, addressed to Indiana the next day.

Her first note was attached to the briefcase she'd bought. She didn't know why she'd really gone through with it, but once the idea was in her mind, she couldn't not do it.

Arizona – I don't even know if you use briefcases or will in the future. But when I think of cool, successful lawyers, I imagine them walking around with classy briefcases. And since I know you're going to be cool and successful, I figured you should get a jump start. You can use it at your mock-trial finals!

Don't forget to look inside!

And inside, she had given her a copy of The Phantom of the Opera original Broadway soundtrack, with the note You mentioned that you're having trouble finding inspiration to come up with your routines and cases. Well, when I have trouble finding inspiration, I just find somewhere peaceful, quiet, and give myself to the music. It'll come to you!

Merry Christmas, Arizona.

Callie Claus

Please let me know your thoughts! Thank you so much to everyone who already has/does, the response to this story has been really amazing and I'm kind of blown away by it!

Thank you for reading.