Callie arrived at the theatre after dropping Arizona off at her train quickly, still soaking wet. Her movements were tentative as she made her way into usually familiar territory – though, granted, she typically didn't arrive here a couple of hours before she was required. When things were mostly quiet.

But her movements were tentative, because as far as she knew, Mark and Addison could very possibly be here, still having sex. And that was just not something that she needed to walk in on. Just because Addison had texted her to come here "right away and don't spare any fucking details" didn't mean that she hadn't texted her while in the middle of a rendezvous with Sloan.

It would be disturbingly unsurprising.

"Torres!"

Speak of the devil, she thought, as she nearly jumped out of her skin from surprise, as Mark's voice came from behind her. His arm slung across her shoulders before she even knew what was going on. His bare arm, because he still wasn't wearing a shirt from his previous activities – and she barely dared to drop her gaze enough to see that; oh thank god, he was wearing pants.

But still, this was weird, and she shrugged his arm off her shoulders, before arching her eyebrow up at him inquisitively, "Sloan? Can I help you?"

He looked at her in a manner that suggested she was being ridiculous, before spreading his arms to the sides with the smirk that he so often wore – just never while interacting with her, "Tell me how it went. You know, your first date with your woman and all."

Callie blinked up at him because what even, "What?"

Mark's smirk grew a little less bright as a look of somewhat confusion settled in, "Your girl? Alaska? Addison said you were going on a date with her for the first time – back a little quick for a date with a hottie, though."

The way he wiggled his eyebrows somehow made her want to punch him and snort in laughter, but she suppressed both urges, because still, "Why did she tell you?" then his words came ringing back in her ears and she felt herself blush before she shook her head, "And we weren't – it wasn't a date. It was a…" get together? Meeting? "Hang out," she settled on, and she could tell that it was lame. And she quietly – sharply – added on, "Not that it's any of your business."

His hands came to his chest, resting over his heart, "I'm wounded. We've been costars for months; I can't take an interest in your life?" even though he was still wearing that damn smirk, she felt that he was being sincere. Which was even weirder.

Glancing around her, but not seeing Addison, she reluctantly turned back to him, "We've been costars, yes. Not friends." If she wanted to prolong the conversation, she would regale him with the reminder that in the length of their acquaintance, he reminded her a lot of the bullies in high school.

Less actual bullying, yes, but the ignored by peers factor was about the same.

Before he could answer, she shook her head and lifted an eyebrow, "Where's Addison?"

He pointed her toward the hallway where the dressing rooms were located, "In yours, waiting for you. To hear about your… not date."

Eyeing him warily, she took a step in the direction, "Is she clothed in there?"

He flashed an actual grin now, clearly amused, "If she wasn't, would I be out here?" then he pulled his shirt on, tugging on the collar for a moment before blowing out a breath, "Well, Torres, see you tonight. Good thing you didn't actual consummate with Alaska, though. Can't risk blowing your vocals."

At his somehow both lecherous and charming wink – did he practice these moves with a coach? – she rolled her eyes, muttering, "Doesn't seem to be a problem with Addison."

And for a moment, she waited for the attitude that she knew him to exhibit to people he wasn't friendly with; people like her, prior to this encounter, really. But instead, he tossed his head back and barked out a laugh, "I underestimated you, Torres." With a lift of his eyebrow, he added on, "Welcome to the fold," aaand there was the smirk again.

"Don't even," Callie waved a hand in his direction, refusing to give in to the pun, as she made her way down the hallway, only pausing and reversing to call out to him, "And her name is Arizona, not Alaska!"

The door to her dressing room was slightly ajar already, and as she pushed it open, she saw Addison lounging in her vanity chair, painting her nails with some of Callie's nail polish – also wearing one of Callie's robes that she kept back here for when she was between changing out of costume and into her actual clothes.

"Please tell me that you're wearing clean underwear under that," Callie nearly begged, because… Mark and Addison. Her poor robe.

"Scouts honor," Addison responded, her tone laden with mischief, and tilted her head to the side with a small grin on her lips. And even though she intended to continue to glare at her friend, she couldn't help but have a mirroring smile because just a few months ago, she wouldn't have known that just by the tilt of her head, that Addison was telling the truth. Then the redhead shifted enough that Callie could see she was wearing shorts and a tank top, and she shrugged, "I got cold."

They were actual friends, and it had been unprecedented, but she genuinely enjoyed her friendship.

Shutting the door with a snap behind her, she replayed her conversation with Sloan in her head, and asked, "Do you consider it foreplay to talk about my life? Because I'm starting to think that you really do have an unhealthy obsession."

She wasn't annoyed about Mark Sloan knowing details of her life – she was, however, confused as hell. And slightly concerned that Addison was too grossly fascinated for her own good.

Now blue eyes rolled as Addison finished up her fingernails and started giving herself a pedicure, "Sloan can't ever just keep his mouth shut."

"Can you?" she countered as she moved over to the small pile of clothes she had that she'd neglected to hang back up after last night's show.

"I'm sorry! And for your information, we were having a water break and he asked how you were," Addison told her with a shrug, focusing on her toes for a few more seconds. Callie was somewhat impressed, because she was going quickly, but it looked perfect.

Shaking her head slightly in exasperation, she quickly finished putting all of the clothes up on the rack before turning back to her friend, "Why would he ask that?"

The redhead seemed exasperated right back, "I don't know; he's always trying to make damn conversation after. He asked how my "best friend Torres" was, and it's easier telling him enlightening tales about your life than telling him about mine. And for your information, I don't consider it foreplay – how could I when you and Arizona "don't even have Sapphic vibes," right?" a sly smile slid across her face, as she capped the nail polish and rested her head on her knees.

Callie groaned, as she made her way over to the vanity, sitting atop of it to face Addison, "We… the vibes… not Sapphic," she barely managed to get out, feeling her cheeks burn and stomach twist.

"Right," Addison drawled out, "But come on! Tell me everything; it's like witnessing an unscripted story play out before my eyes," she added, and her tone was purposefully cheesy, but Callie could tell she was being sincere.

Biting her lip, she thought back her day with Arizona. And as much as she did want to tell Addison about it, it also felt somewhat private. Like it would be nice to have it between she and Arizona for a bit.

But, that was not normal, right? For something just between friends?

"It was good," she hedged, and she thought of the way Arizona's face looked when she turned back to face her at the train station, asking if she would call her tonight. It was enough to make her smile, even if it was reluctant. Then she beamed, and confessed, "All right, it was great."

It was enough to make Addison clap and bounce in the chair, "Yes! I knew it. You saw her across the café, and she saw you, and then it all fell into place."

Lifting an eyebrow, she tilted her head to the side, "Aw, you're such a romantic."

The scowl that met her statement had her holding back a snort of laughter, as Addison rolled her eyes, "I'm not. It's just the way things happen when two people meet and the chemistry is too hard to ignore."

"I'm surprised you didn't wait outside to watch us actually meet," the words left Callie's lips and her statement was the complete truth.

Now Addison rolled her eyes again, "Trust me, I wanted to. But I had a dick waiting for me here. Literally and figuratively. Now tell me the details, and make it good," she sat back, with a wide, waiting sliding into place.

Callie shook her head, "I – there's nothing to "make good." We had coffee and went to the bookstore." A few seconds went by, while Addison simply lifted her eyebrows, waiting for more, and brown eyes closed, "Arizona was – she is – just… really… cool," she settled on.

Because that's exactly what the blonde was.

Without waiting for commentary from the undoubtedly opinionated peanut gallery, she found herself rambling, her voice quiet, "I mean, I thought it would be awkward, even though we talk so much. It was, in a way, but also familiar. And I already knew that she was awesome; she's interesting," she decided the word was, and it felt right leaving her tongue.

Addison tried – unsuccessfully, to smother her grin behind her hand, gamely encouraging, "Go on."

"I can't really describe it," Callie circumvented again, even though she could. More easily than she thought, and true to her annoying self, the words just fell out before her brain could process exactly what she was letting slip, "She's – she's really serious, but then unexpectedly funny. Without even trying to be. Crazy focused, but on so many things, at the same time."

She'd already known these things about Arizona, though, so they weren't new. But now, she could actually picture it all. When Arizona was laughing, she now knew the exact way her face formed into that cute smile, with those dimples. She could picture the way those deep eyes looked when the blonde was concentrating on something. It was all so… fitting.

Reaching up, she started to take off her still damp jacket – why didn't she do this earlier? – but her mind was still focused on this afternoon, "Arizona knows all that I can be weird or talk too much, and it was like I could be like that right from the start. And she didn't mind," she more than didn't mind, Callie thought, thinking of their little expedition in the bookstore. She not only didn't mind, but Arizona had a good time, too.

"And she's really closed off about some things," which, again, she knew. But she was able to see it today, she thought, as her fingers tapped over the small book in her jacket pocket, as she tossed her jacket to the side, "She's closed off, but she gives really good hugs."

I didn't know how much I needed this. Arizona's words seemed to bounce back into her head, and she felt her stomach twist with them. In a pleasurably warm way, because Arizona had a sweet voice – if that was even the proper way to describe someone's voice – and the words had come out so low and honest, they nearly made her shiver.

By the time she shook herself out of her own thoughts and met Addison's gaze, she knew that there was a blush on her cheeks because she felt embarrassed already, as she realized what had come out during her ramble.

"Love is in the air," Addison sang, and Callie stiffened while her blush intensified.

And she denied, "It's not," because it really wasn't, "I mean, Arizona is really great. This afternoon just confirmed it. But she's also… I have a lot I don't know about her. She's very private."

She thought of the way Arizona had frozen – even her breathing hitched to a stop – when Callie had asked about the mysterious Tim. And the subsequent way Arizona headed off any more questions. And seemed to nearly always duck questions about a lot of aspects in her life.

But Addison shook her head in exasperation, "Callie, you can't deny that you have a crush." Freshly painted fingers reached out to grip her knees, as her legs hung off the edge of the vanity, and blue eyes stared at her with a determined look.

"I – I don't, though," she didn't, because, "Arizona is my friend. A really good friend. And yes, she's awesome –"

"She's awesome and cool and amazing," Addison did such a bad imitation of her that she couldn't help but chuckle for a moment, before the redhead powered on, "You think that the sun shines out of her ass, and on top of all of that, you find out today that she is this gorgeous blonde – one who you admitted to me was someone you were very much attracted to you when you first met her, so don't try to deny it."

Reaching down, she took Addison's wrists and gently removed her grip, and her voice was tight, "I wasn't going to deny it. Arizona is really… uh," beautiful, sexy, "… attractive. And yes, I'm attracted to her. But I can be attracted to someone and enjoy their personality without having romantic feelings for them."

She could, because she'd been attracted to several friends before; she found Addison herself attractive, for goodness sake. It didn't mean anything.

Her friend just nailed her with a glare, "I'm aware of that. But – okay. As someone who is an expert in your life –" Callie's snort of derision cut her off, and she narrowed her eyes even farther, "I'm telling you! Callie. You were so attracted to her when you first met that you wanted to fuck her – don't argue, I know it's true."

Blowing out a huff of breath as she crossed her arms, and decidedly ignored the way everything inside fluttered with the words, she mumbled, "I wasn't going to."

Because… it would be pointless. She had wanted to… act on her attraction to Arizona – did Addison have to be so crude about it? – when they'd first met. Sure, that was true. But now that she was Arizona, well. It was different.

"How is it different?" Addison demanded, and Callie jumped, then groaned, because she couldn't believe she'd said that out loud. "You want to jump her bones. You had a decidedly romantic interest in her, and now you really know her, and you like her personality."

"That doesn't mean anything," but it came out sounding weak and more like a question, because now Addison's words were kind of getting to her.

Addison hummed for a moment as she narrowed her eyes in thought, "So… she's really good at giving hugs? Tell me, Callie. How did you feel when she hugged you?"

Now she was stuck, and she knew it, and her fingers picked at the hem of her sweater, "I… the way I feel after a really good hug."

Dear lord, she'd felt like her entire body had sparks all over it. And her hand – well, she was convinced that her hand was made to hold Arizona's, because they fit seamlessly together. Earlier, when it had happened, it was just a fact.

Like, hey, this feels perfect.

Completely unrelated to having feelings.

And now she wasn't so sure.

It wasn't nearly as easy as she wanted it to be to tell herself that she strictly only liked Arizona as a friend now. Not even as easy as it had been five minutes ago. Leaning back, she felt her stomach twist at what that could mean, and she grumbled as she kicked her foot lightly at Addison, "I really hate you."

The way the redhead's roguish smile took over her features made her even more frustrated, "When you and Arizona have your first child, you'll be thanking me."

A little harder now, she kicked again, and gave a quick, victorious grin when Addison yelped and slid the chair back out of harms reach. Then she rolled her eyes, and in a voice that was snarky enough to impress the redhead she commented, "Yeah, we'll get married and name our first child after you for being the biggest supporter ever."

One of those damnably perfect eyebrows raised, "I'll hold you to that."

They fell into a bout of silence, and she squeezed her eyes closed to ignore the majority of Addison's suggestions. Sighing, she felt like she was going to develop a headache from all of the swirling thoughts – about her conversation with Addison, a side note to her run-in with Mark, and most of all, everything about Arizona.

And just as soon as she tilted her head back to rest against the wall, she cracked her eyes open, focusing on something that Addison had said earlier in the conversation, teasing, "So, I'm your best friend, huh?"

A grin played on the corners of her lips, as blue eyes narrowed, and for one of the first times, she saw the redhead flush, "I – don't get all sentimental on me, Torres."

But it was easier to latch onto that than anything else, and she couldn't help but take delight in the way that this was obviously making the redhead uncomfortable, "I'm your best friend," she repeated, singing it out now.

Addison huffed and crossed her arms, "Well, it's not like I have a slew of other people I'm always hanging out with, so you weren't even in competition. You'd be my best friend even if I barely liked you, by that logic."

"But you don't barely like me, you love me," now she leaned forward to make a show of drawing Addison into her arms before she was even close enough to embrace her.

"Yeah, well, I've been in this industry practically my whole life, and you're the only one who doesn't want to backstab someone else to get to the top and has a somewhat decent personality. Don't let it go to your head," Addison grumbled, but Callie could tell she was fighting off a grin.

Now she was close enough, and she drew Addison against her, resting her head on top of red hair and moving back and forth until the other woman reluctantly hugged her back, "Yeah, you're all right," was her response.

When in all actuality, she really was touched.

Drawing back, she was met with the customary Addison grin, with a glint in her eyes, "How was the hug? As good as Arizona's?" the spark in her eye was something Callie couldn't stand, and especially because it made her feel all warm again.

Clearing her throat, she shrugged, "Best friend material, I suppose. I'll keep you."

It had been a nice hug, comforting… the hug of someone who was a good friend.

There were no sparks.

And Addison's eyebrows lifted suggestively, told her that the redhead knew what she was thinking. But she refused to give her the satisfaction of saying anything out loud.

Especially when she didn't know what she would even be saying.

Despite her conversation with Addison earlier – and the fact that it left her feeling… less than entirely sure about her feelings and whether or not they were platonic – Callie was very much looking forward to talking to Arizona during their nightly phone call.

Settling back against her pillows, she didn't even have to put any thought into what she was doing as she dialed Arizona's number, and tapped her fingers lightly against her thigh as it rang.

It only rang twice before Arizona – a little breathlessly – answered the phone, "Hey. Just give me a second."

The smile she already felt was instantaneous as she hummed in affirmation. Then she put her phone on speaker, leaving it on the dresser, as she stood back up and quickly shed her clothes, wondering where she'd thrown her tank top and sleep shorts when she'd gotten dressed in the morning.

She was tired, especially after tonight's performance, and the quick rinse she'd given herself before changing into her regular clothes was just going to have to do until she showered for real in the morning.

"Aha," left her mouth in an excited call, as she snatched her tank top, pulling it on when Arizona's voice came back over her phone.

"Sorry. I was working on this new routine we started earlier. It's kind of hard to critique someone else's performance when you're not doing it correctly, either," she said, and panted a little as Callie assumed she caught her breath.

She hopped a little from foot to foot as she pulled on her shorts, but also tried to take a step back toward her phone, resulting in a swear and a yelp somehow simultaneously leaving her mouth as she nearly fell over.

Arizona's voice sounded very concerned, "Callie? Are you okay?"

Now catching her breath from catching herself from her near-fall, she made her way back over to the phone and picked it back up, "I – yeah. I'm fine. I fell," the words came out in a rush, as she dropped back onto her bed and groaned because it felt so damn good.

There was soft laughter that floated through the air coming from her phone, and she decided it sounded nice, so she left Arizona on speaker and settled the phone on her chest. Then she added, "And thanks for texting me to let me know you got back safe earlier."

"Well, I would want you to do the same," a few seconds went by in hesitation before Arizona continued, "I kind of count on your phone calls as a "safe" text."

Absurdly touched, she melted into a soft smile, snuggling back onto her pillows, "No wonder you were so worried when I twisted my ankle and called late."

"Exactly! You never know who's out there. How did your show go tonight? No more ankle twisting?" Arizona asked, and Callie enjoyed the teasing lilt to her voice.

And she rolled her eyes to her empty room, "No more ankle twisting. And the show went well. During one of the run-throughs, though, there was drama." She told Arizona about how one of the girls who played an extremely minor role attempted to start a fight with Addison, over the affections of Mark Sloan.

She'd been close enough to the action that she managed to stop any contact violence, and also block Addison from returning any blows. But then she'd been dragged into a lie about being Addison's alibi because of the whole situation, and from then on, everything at the theatre had been taxing.

She finished with a sigh, "But the actual show went well." Even if Sloan now seemed to think they were friends, and gave her a wink over "the secret."

As Arizona giggled, she kicked the blanket up over her legs, and let her laughter settle into her chest like a comforting warm feeling. And this was good. This was the way it should be – nothing changed from how she usually felt on a phone call.

"I bet you sing well," was what Arizona seemed to sigh out as her laugh faded, and Callie felt her cheeks warm even as she grinned brightly.

She wasn't very sheepish over her singing – there were many things she was insecure about. Singing wasn't one of them, though, but even still. She whispered back, "I do." Then she cleared her throat, "You'll have to come see sometime for yourself."

"I intend to," Arizona informed her, "I'll admit, I was very tempted to look up a song from the musical."

Her stomach tingled a little at that, and she pushed it away because no, "But you refrained?"

The blonde hummed in affirmation, "I was curious before, but I couldn't look you up without breaking our stupid pact. But I decided as much as I was tempted to look you up, I wasn't going to spoil myself and I'd wait to hear you sing in person. I hope my jaw will drop," she joked.

"Your jaw will drop," she confirmed, closing her eyes as she reached over and fumbled a bit with the lamp, which then left her room in darkness, "Your ears will ring. I'll send you to heaven." As soon as the words left her mouth, she actually cringed at herself. Why did she say things like this, "I – okay, don't get your hopes up that much. But don't leave me waiting too long before you come."

Because she'd been serious when she'd told Arizona earlier that she really was excited about them hanging out more in person. She briefly wondered if maybe she would visit Arizona at her school, because she imagined that it would be fun.

But then she reigned herself in, because Arizona really wasn't that open and expressive about her life at school. It would probably be easier for them to hang out here before she tried to invite herself farther into the blonde's life.

Arizona yawned and Callie heard her move – and they'd talked so often that Callie knew by certain sounds that Arizona was climbing into bed – before she assured her, "Don't worry, Callie. I'll see your show… as soon as I can."

She tried not to let her smile take over her face completely, but it was a losing battle, "Great! We'll make a night of it when it happens. I might be able to get tickets for you, if you want."

"We'll see," Arizona said back to her, and her voice was already starting to slur a little from sleep.

She'd learned that on a lot of nights, it took Arizona a while to unwind before she could fall asleep completely. Sometimes they'd talked for upwards of two hours before the blonde drifted off. But on rare nights, when she wasn't feeling particularly stressed, she would fall asleep quickly.

Callie often thought that Arizona was so busy, she should be able to fall asleep right away because she was constantly running on less than eight hours of sleep. Typically less than five or six. She supposed that would only be in an ideal world.

And even though she herself could fall asleep quickly on most nights, she usually sat up with Arizona and talked, because, well, Arizona usually wanted her to. She liked that, and she would always wait until a minute or two passed as Arizona's breathing evened out before she hung up the phone and fell asleep herself within moments.

She wondered if Arizona feeling less stressed than other days tonight had anything to do with their meeting.

I didn't know how much I needed this.

Callie shook her head at herself, and turned to lay on her side, resting her phone on top of the pillow she wasn't using. And for a startling moment as she closed her eyes, she pictured Arizona there with her, blonde hair on her pillow, while blue eyes looked up at her reflecting in the moonlight, which made her jerk her eyes open again.

Oh, god.

Then Arizona sighed, and her words were even softer now – Callie knew that Arizona was halfway to sleeping for real by now just by the sound, "And I was right; you are beautiful."

She held her breath as she listened to Arizona's completely even out in sleep, and her cheeks burned and stomach sparked and tingled like it did from the hug. Her fingers shook a little bit as she reached up to disconnect their call.

Then she rolled onto her back once more, staring up at the ceiling and cursing Addison for being right.

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Thank you for reading!