Though Callie had heard her apartment door close while she was in the shower, she had easily ignored it. After all, she lived with a roommate; these kinds of sounds were the things she had gotten very used to after not living alone. Even if it was kind of odd that Cristina had returned so quickly, because Callie had been fairly sure that she'd been getting ready to go to her evening classes when she'd been leaving her room for the shower.

Oh, well. She figured that her roommate had forgotten something, even though it was very un-Cristina to forget something back in the apartment after she'd left.

She'd been kind of grateful for her and Cristina's relatively opposite schedules recently. Because after her conversation with Arizona yesterday, she hadn't wanted to hear Cristina's commentary.

After tucking her towel between her breasts, she opened the bathroom door and enjoyed the steam coming out around her – it was one of the many small things she hadn't realized she'd been missing during that time where she lived in the incredibly shitty apartment that had a scarcity of hot water.

Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, she threw a glance toward the television in the corner because it had definitely been off when she'd gone into the shower, "What, did your class get canceled today? Because I don't think I've ever seen you decide to skip a class – Jesus!"

Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest as she jumped from surprise, her still damp feet slipping on the floor, making her back slam painfully into the counter. And none of that took anything away from the utter bewilderment she was feeling, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Mark Sloan turned from where he sat on the couch, a smirk on his face, with the remote control to her tv in his hands, "Wow, Torres, that's no way to greet a friend into your apartment."

"You're hardly a friend, Sloan. And I didn't let you in! Did you break in here?" she demanded to know, before realizing that she was still in just her towel, and tightening it around herself, a light blush heating her cheeks.

Now he scoffed and gestured to her movements, "Oh, don't worry about that; it's not like I haven't seen it before."

Lifting her eyebrow, she purposefully kept her hands were they were despite the fact that the towel was secure, "Not mine."

He just shrugged, "Eh, seen one, you've seen it all, right?" his voice had that devilish tone, and it was something that made her want to roll her eyes and chuckle, which is annoying in itself.

But she just stared him down, "No, not really. If that was true, why do you try so hard to see so many different female forms?"

Mark just smiled easily, "Touché. But the point is, I've basically seen yours. Flynn and Lyla get it on all of the time," he commented, referencing their characters. "Besides, I'm here to talk to you about the so-called female form."

Dark eyes narrowed at him as she shook her head, "What are you even talking about, Sloan?" Because, honestly, her head kind of hurt after not getting that much sleep last night, and following this conversation in this weird – so weird – setting was just messing with her even more, "You broke into my apartment to talk about naked women?"

She regretted the words as soon as she saw the lecherous expression take over his features, "I mean, we can go that route if you want to. And hey, I didn't break in; your roommate let me in when she was leaving."

At that, she closed her eyes tightly. She and Cristina really did need to have a talk about this – letting Addison in was one thing, but Sloan? Jesus.

Before this confusing turn of events could go any farther, she held up her hand and made her way to her bedroom, motioning for Mark to stay where he was as he moved to follow. As she shut her door, he called out, "You don't have to get dressed on my account!"

"Shut up, Sloan, or you can see yourself out!" she called back through gritted teeth. In all honesty, she had been kind of hoping that she could spend today alone. In fact, she'd been looking forward to it.

She'd talked last night with Arizona, and it was both good and bad. Good because she really had missed just talking to her. Hearing Arizona's voice at the end of the day made her happy. She liked hearing the way she would giggle when she told her stories and her witty input. And their call last night had that, had all of the elements of their usual calls.

But it was different, and now she felt like she wasn't entirely sure how to make that different feeling go away.

Shaking her head to attempt to stop thinking about it – it was all she had thought about since yesterday afternoon – she quickly dressed and remained in sweatpants and a loose sweater before grabbing a pair of thick, fuzzy socks that she mostly only wore around the apartment before taking a deep breath and heading back to see Sloan.

Who was now reclined on her couch, his feet propped up on the small coffee table, while he frowned at the television. He didn't spare her a look before commenting, "A little HBO wouldn't kill you, would it?"

Rolling her eyes, she shouldered him over so that he gave her enough room to drop down next to him, "A little HBO costs more money than it's worth."

The affronted look he shot her made her snort with laughter, "HBO is worth every single penny. You can't see anything good on cable," and then he gestured to her chest, nodding like she saw his point.

Snatching the remote out of his hands, she shut the tv off, "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

He crossed his ankles before letting out a long suffering sigh, "I trek all of the way out to this apartment to check on your well-being, and this is the greeting I get?" at her glare, he held his hands up, "All right, all right. The truth is, I heard you went to go see your girl Alaska yesterday and that it didn't go the way you wanted."

For a split second, she wondered how he "heard" that before she realized Addison must have told him. And she shrugged, feeling her cheeks flush, "It didn't go the way I didn't want," she hedged. But it was true – what she didn't want when she went there was to have Arizona tell her that the kiss was detrimental to their friendship.

She got out her apology, and she got an apology in return and a promise that they were still friends. And that was important to her.

It was all of the other information she got when getting her answers that was causing her confusion now. And that other information wasn't really something she felt the need to discuss with Mark Sloan of all people.

"So, Addison sent you?" before he could confirm, she had her phone out and had pulled up her messages with the redhead.

You send Sloan here for a heart to heart because you're busy? Feeling the love.

The answer she got was within seconds, If you think I wouldn't rather be here comforting your lovesick ass instead of rubbing elbows with Derek's connections, you're severely mistaken.

You're my friend; I just wanted to make sure you weren't sitting alone moping all day. Sloan is good at making you do things you wouldn't think are normally fun.

Callie shook her head and didn't want to smile, but couldn't help it, at least just a little. Because if someone had told her just a few months ago that Addison Montgomery would be a close enough friend to send someone to check up on her well-being, she would have been extremely skeptical.

Even more skeptical if someone had told her that person would be Mark Sloan. But, here she was.

Quirking her eyebrow, she looked at him, "Well, apparently, you're supposed to make me go out and do something fun."

Mondays were the day that they had completely off – no classes, no shows. And the clothes she was dressed in right now were the way she was planning on dressing for the entirety of the day. Mark, she knew from experience of working with him, often went out to bars and clubs to find a good time.

But he just shook his head and let out a sigh, and then leaned over the arm of the couch to kick a large paper bag. She could tell from the sounds it made as it clanked into view that it was full of alcohol, and she regarded it with a questioning look.

He answered her unspoken thought, "Not really in the mood to go out. Figured we could stay here, and get drunks enough for you to want to talk about your feelings and all that."

Something was really, really weird right now, and she could easily recognize that. Not just the situation – Sloan seeking out her apartment and trying to bond or whatever – but he was off right now. It was odd.

"So… you came over here in the middle of the afternoon so that we can get drunk together during daylight, like alcoholics?" she ventured, even though she was reaching for a bottle of beer already.

Mark did the same, "It's practically happy hour, Torres."

Between the two of them, a six pack of beer and half a bottle of tequila was gone in about two hours, and Callie wasn't really drunk yet – not in a way that she wouldn't remember anything or have a hangover, thankfully. But drunk in a way where she was feeling warm and cozy and a lot more talkative than she usually would have.

Apparently, so was Mark. He had a slice of pizza half eaten sitting in his hand, that was actually Cristina's, but it was all she'd found in the freezer to cook. Then he set it back down on the plate on the table before leaning his head back and looking up at the ceiling, his expression going from smiling from the joke he'd told just a few seconds ago to rapidly serious.

Then he turned to face her, "I'm not this guy, you know." And the way he said it so vehemently made her feel like she should know.

But her mind was feeling a little fuzzier than usual, and she shook her head, "Um, what guy?"

"The guy who messes around with the girl and then wants more," he explained, in what sounded like a pained voice.

Her eyebrows winged up in pure shock, "Addison?"

He gave her a look like she was stupid, but nodded anyway. Then turned his attention back to the ceiling, and she stared at him still in surprise. She really hadn't seen that coming.

But then… Callie thought back to the moments she'd seen. The times where Mark seemed to look at Addison with that look even when she wasn't paying him any attention, the times where he was actually genuinely interested in what was going on in Addison's life – and Callie's by extension because she was Addison's best friend. And ever since this whole thing started – the two of them sleeping together – she hadn't noticed any of his regular girls coming around and thinking they were going to sleep together.

Huh.

"So… you like her. More than having sex with her," she clarified.

Mark nodded, albeit hesitantly, "You know her first musical? The not Eloisa," he waved his hand as if to wave off the Broadway play Addison had starred in, earning her that Tony nom. Widely regarded as her best work. But he continued, "I saw her when I was just in the chorus in her first musical, six years ago. And I wanted her then, you know. But then Derek was there, and everything was… how it is. And then Altered Affection happened. I wanted her to get Lyla," he added on offhandedly, and it took her tipsy mind a few seconds to really catch onto the words he was telling her.

"These feelings aren't new then," was all she got out, and she wondered if Addison knew that this was more to Sloan than it appeared to be to her.

But he shook his head, "I thought if we just slept together, it would be fine. But it's not. I want her more and she's – engaged. To that douche bag."

On this, Callie didn't weigh in, because she broached this subject with Addison herself on her tiptoes. It was a minefield, trying to navigate why she was still with Derek when neither of them were really happy. Instead she offered him the best thing she could, "That sucks."

"It does!" he nodded as he took another swig from the tequila bottle, then scowled, "And she's there with him today, acting like the perfect couple," shaking his head, he closed his eyes, "But whatever. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

She didn't point out that he had brought it up, but she did manage to piece together that this was probably the reason she'd thought he was acting oddly earlier. Though she was interested in continuing the discussion, she doubted it would be happening if not for the drinks, and as much as she wanted to continue, Addison was her best friend in this scenario, and it felt like a tricky thing, to be discussing Derek and Addison and Mark and Addison without Addison there.

Wordlessly, she offered him the piece of pizza he'd abandoned, and he took it with a small, grateful smile, "So, now it's your turn, Torres. I shared. Now you."

Frowning, she didn't like the way she felt like he'd somehow played her, but she decided he was right. "I went to see Arizona yesterday," she stressed the name because he seemed to have the worst time remembering it.

"I know that part, skip to the good stuff," he waved her on, turning to look at her.

Rolling her eyes, she thought back to yesterday, "And… I got to tell her everything I wanted to say. We agreed to be friends," she nodded, playing with the corner of the label on her beer as her lips pulled into a little frown.

"That must be why you look so happy," Mark pushed himself up more to turn to look at her, and gave her one of the most serious looks she thought he was capable of.

So she sighed, "It's – I thought for the whole week that she was avoiding me because the kiss was what freaked her out." And she could deal with that. That was what she was prepared to deal with – that was her bad, something she pushed for that Arizona didn't want, and she could fix that.

Now he looked intrigued, "But it wasn't?"

"No," then she frowned again, as she tried to explain, the words feeling thick on her tongue, "It's more of herself that's freaking her out. Yeah, the kiss sparked it, but… she's into women! I didn't read that wrong."

The smile that moved across his face was instant, "Really? Torres, up top," he held up his hand for her to hit in a high five, and she almost did before she clenched her hand in her lap.

Shaking her head, she groaned, "No, she's into women and she's – into me?" Was that right? She licked her lips before correcting herself, "No, she finds me appealing."

"Of course she does. You're fucking hot, Torres," Sloan nodded this to her, and for once, he didn't look lecherous in his smirk, but just… genuine. Like this was just him stating a fact. Then his face twisted into confusion, "So, why are you so damn sad?"

Her mind swam full of all of the words Arizona had said yesterday, and they had burned with the honesty from the blonde, which was another thing that made it so hard, "Because she doesn't want to be with me. Not – not that I was even saying we should jump in and be girlfriends or anything."

God, she didn't even know how Arizona would have responded to that. Probably move to a new country.

The thought simultaneously made her want to snort in laughter and made her stomach sink. Mark just looked confused, so she elaborated, "She – she's complicated. I mean, she's got this really great personality. Like, she's smart, and funny, and interesting. And driven, so driven." It was only right at that moment that she wondered what it would be like to have that drive focused solely on her.

Her throat ran dry, before the thoughts were forcibly pushed from her mind.

"And a smoking body," Sloan added, nodding at her encouragingly, like he'd just said a huge compliment.

Callie narrowed her eyes at him for a second before rolling them, "And, yes, she is gorgeous. But she has… issues," she settled on, and didn't feel entirely comfortable sharing certain things about Arizona, because she knew that the blonde was so intensely private, "She's so scared of losing any sort of control, over anything. Unfortunately, that also means of her own feelings."

And because Callie didn't know whatever it was that Arizona still hadn't told her about her past, she didn't even know what she could say – if there was anything to say – that would change anything.

Mark watched her carefully before sighing, "I've known a lot of women, Cal. And this one? Screams complicated."

"I know that," she stressed, before her head fell back. Arizona was complicated, and opening up something that was more than a friendship between them could be really complicated, too. She'd known that even before kissing her, "I can't help having feelings for her. And more than anything she knows she's complicated. Which is what's… holding everything here."

When things get messy I run.

I'm not someone you deserve to be in a relationship with.

I'm trying to work on it.

Maybe it's not the way things will always be.

The words rang so loudly in her ears that she clapped her hands over them for a moment before realizing how stupid it was, and dropped them back to her sides.

Sloan shook his head, "I'm kind of out of my depth here. All I know is… you shouldn't be waiting around for someone who isn't going to be returning your feelings."

"She said that, too," Callie quirked her eyebrow up at him, thinking of how serious Arizona was when she had told Callie she didn't want her waiting around for her, "It's just not that easy." How was she supposed to move on from someone when that someone was this someone who was so aware of her faults that she didn't want to inflict them on Callie's life?

Blowing out a deep breath, Mark shrugged, "Well, I'll give the girl honesty, that's for sure."

This isn't easy for me, Callie, Arizona's words hung heavy in her head, because she could see the way blue eyes shined sadly, and hear exactly how small and unsure Arizona had sounded. It had made Callie want to hold her, despite how hard the conversation had been.

"She was honest. Completely honest, which… doesn't make things easier," her throat felt thick and she brought her hands up to rub at her eyes.

Mark just sighed, "Listen, we are both fucked up. But we both need to try to get over it."

"How do we do that, Sloan? Addison is right there in your life and Arizona is right there in mine," she shrugged listlessly, and he watched her in thought for a few seconds before falling back.

"No clue. We're kind of the same, you know. In this situation," he elaborated, turning to look at her. When she just shot him a look, he continued, "We both have our girls in one way and want more of them in others."

And just because it was Mark Sloan laying out this truth for her… she couldn't help but have that smile take over her face, because what even was this? "I have Arizona as a friend, and you have Addison, uh, physically."

He knocked their knees together, "Hey, how about we make a deal? You support me when it comes to Addison, and I support you when it comes to Alaska. We can give each other one piece of advice, right here, right now to start."

Callie weighed his words, and decided that it couldn't really hurt, so, "Sure. My piece of advice to you is to…" though she was reluctant to interfere between Mark and Addison, she made herself continue, "Stop sleeping with her. It's not good for you, to have these feelings for her, but want more. It's making you sad – look at you. Either she'll decide one way or the other."

Her words landed on him heavily and she could see that with the way he was clearly thinking them over, "I – I'll see," he allowed, before giving her a measuring look, "I think you should find a new blonde and go down on her."

Callie's cheeks quickly heated in a dark blush before she furiously shook her head, "Veto." Because she could count on one hand the amount of people she'd slept with and she wasn't going to seek someone out to try to be some sort of replacement for Arizona or something.

Even like this, with things the way they were between Arizona and herself, she was better than that.

Mark let out a long suffering sigh, "Fine. Then try to get over her, at least. Which means you have to come out with us – the cast and everything – at least once a week instead of running home like you're in hibernation."

It would take away from her phone calls with Arizona. And as much as she didn't really want that, it was probably a good thing. So, she nodded reluctantly, "Fine. Once a week." She could at least put in the effort. Her friendship with Arizona could only strengthen with her trying to move on, right?

He turned to look at her, tilting his head slightly – drunkenly – with a smile that she felt was one that a brother would wear. And in a way, it made her feel comforted, "You know, Torres, I don't have this with people."

In response, she just lifted an eyebrow and tipped back the remainder of the beer in her bottle, "This?"

"You know, this," he rolled his eyes before gesturing between them and their drinks on the coffee table and their takeout.

Understand, she nodded slowly, "You're talking about having friends?" and she couldn't help but be kind of amused by it. Because he was the guy who was surrounded by people all of the time, always laughing or smirking, and always looking like he was having a grand old time.

But then she gave him a closer look and thought about that; he was just a guy who was only a few years older than herself, who had been in the spotlight for years, and he wasn't just surrounded by people all of the time, he was surrounded by women. And she knew better than most – she realized with a grimace, thinking of the women who had come up to her, gushing about how great it must be to kiss him for work – that many of those women wanted Mark for something more than his "friendship."

And the lonely look on his face as he nodded might have made her feel a little bad for him, so she knocked his knee with her own, "Hey. We're friends."

"The lovesick losers club!" he declared, wiping that sad expression away, and she chuckled even as she dropped her head back against the couch.

Then she popped back up and slapped her hand against his shoulder, "And don't think I have forgotten that you wish Addison got Lyla instead of me getting it."

By the time it was eleven – time for her call to Arizona – she was sobered up considerably. Mark had been in the back of a cab home over an hour ago, and she'd managed to clean up the living room before Cristina came home.

Not that Cristina would have noticed, anyway.

She reached for her phone, and her stomach was full of butterflies already at the thought of talking to Arizona. Which, even after her long conversation with Mark about the merits of not having feelings for the blonde anymore… well, whatever.

Feelings didn't disappear in a day.

Her finger hesitated above the call icon, recalling their slightly awkward chat last night. And she sincerely hoped that it would be better today.

Then when her phone buzzed with a text, she nearly dropped it from surprise.

It was from Arizona: Hey… do you mind if we skype instead?

Rather than reply, she pulled her laptop onto her bed and opened it, quickly signing into skype, as her stomach twisted in excitement. It hadn't been long since she'd seen Arizona, but… the idea of seeing her again made her feel happy.

Even friends could feel that way about each other, she assured herself. So even if that never went away, it was okay.

Her call was answered quickly, and she smiled upon reflex at seeing the blonde, despite her heart flip flopping in her chest, beating just a bit faster, "Hi. I, um, wasn't expecting this?"

Arizona was sitting in all of her usual gorgeousness. Blonde hair was curling lightly from the shower that Callie knew Arizona routinely took before their phone call time. And she knew Arizona usually straightened it, but she liked it like this a lot. Her knees was pulled up onto her computer chair, and her chin was resting on it as she had a slightly nervous expression on her face.

It kind of made Callie's stomach sink, because she was sort of expecting bad news from this expression. And despite the confusion she felt over all of this – Arizona admitting that it wasn't out of question that she had feelings for Callie, but then remaining only friends. And then the question of how to remain only friends – she really was nervous that this was going to be the blonde telling her that she was wrong yesterday.

That they probably shouldn't be friends after all.

"I – I know. I was just planning on the phone call, too," Arizona admitted quietly, before she really focused on Callie through the camera. Blue eyes seemed to get darker as they ran over Callie, up and down, noticeably.

She felt herself blush just a bit, because this appraisal was… new. And she was pretty sure she looked awful – she'd barely brushed her hair when she'd come out of the shower, so it was still kind of tumbled and messy. Her face was always naturally flushed when she drank, and her eyes a little darker.

Biting her lip she hummed for a moment, "Sorry, I didn't really do anything today, just kind of hung out around the house."

Then Arizona's eyes snapped to hers again, "Huh?"

She gestured to herself, "You know, I just – I look like this because I've just been lounging around all day."

The most adorable – damn it, shut up Callie – expression of confusion scrunched up Arizona's face for a moment before Callie's words really dawned on her, "Oh. No, that's not – you look good. Like, you look really… good."

Callie could see the way Arizona's cheeks got pink at her admission and her stomach got those butterfly feelings. I don't want you to think that you're not appealing to me. Because you are.

God, her own mind was going to drive her crazy.

Arizona's voice broke her out of her thoughts, and the blonde looked a little nervous, "So I wasn't interrupting you or anything?"

She shook her head, "No, absolutely not. Mark was here during the day, but he's been gone for a while."

The other woman nodded slowly, "Okay." She watched Arizona's hand move at her side and she knew that she was brushing down a nonexistent wrinkle in her sleep shirt, before she asked, "You're probably wondering why I wanted to skype."

Callie lifted an eyebrow, and managed a small smile, "It had crossed my mind."

Please don't say we can't talk anymore, her inner voice begged.

Arizona took a deep breath, before her fingers came up to interlace around her knee, "April – I told April about you. Us. Our friendship," she rushed out, sounding more discombobulated than Arizona typically sounded on phone calls or skype, and damn if it didn't endear her to Callie even more.

She found herself almost at a loss for words as she took that in, "You did?"

Arizona had told April about her. It didn't matter what capacity she played in that – she and Arizona were friends, after all. It was the fact that Arizona had opened up to April that made her happy on one hand, and then on the other hand – what was really making her feel this happiness well up in her – was that private Arizona, who hadn't told anyone about her in months, told April who she was.

Everyone who she had in her life, admittedly not many people but still, knew about Arizona. They knew who she was and Callie's feelings for her. But the blonde was so, so secretive and so nervous about people in her life finding out anything personal about her, that Callie knew this was a big deal to her.

So, yeah, she was really freaking excited.

Arizona licked her lips as she nodded, "Yeah. And after I told her about you, she wanted to "meet" you – again. I mean, I already told her she was being silly because you two met yesterday. But she was insistent."

The pieces fell into place for her, and she nodded, "So, April wants to meet me via skype?"

The way Arizona nodded belied her anxiety, "I told her that we have barely talked to each other on skype," and not once since the kiss debacle, was silently said between them before Arizona continued, "And that I've never skyped with your friends, either. But she… well, you did meet April," she finished, a small smile pulling at her lips.

Callie couldn't help but watch the action and feel charmed, "That's fine. I'd like to meet April, again."

Arizona nodded, her smile getting big enough that Callie could see those dimples, before she turned to get off of her chair and made her way to the door. Callie could see that April had been standing outside, and heard them exchanging words but couldn't understand what they were before April walked past the blonde and daintily sat down in the chair Arizona had just vacated.

As April's eyes appraised her, she felt a little more nervous. Which was silly because Arizona was just a friend whose other friend was "meeting" her. And they'd already met, yesterday. Still, she sat up a little straighter.

Then April gave her a smile, "I wish I knew yesterday that you were the girl Arizona spent hours and hours talking to every night."

The smile she felt herself slip into was ridiculously exuberant and only grew when she heard Arizona's groan of sheer embarrassment from behind her. Then she looked slightly more contrite, "I knew who you were. Once you introduced yourself," she clarified, "But I didn't want to…" she trailed off, because nothing sounded right.

April got what she meant anyway, "It's okay. You've been good for her," she added, and the smile on her face was soft and genuine, but her eyes were shrewdly watching Callie.

Whose dark eyes widened, and a pleased flush worked across her face. She couldn't help it. It was natural to feel like that when someone something like that. And maybe it definitely wasn't helping with these feelings that she had storming around inside of her, but she couldn't bring herself to care right then.

Arizona was back on the camera, then, shouldering her way next to April, her face so dark from a blush that Callie didn't think she'd ever seen Arizona look like that before. And the embarrassed glare she gave her friend was certainly something she hadn't seen before.

It was a different side to Arizona, and she kind of was really liking it.

She really was screwed. Arizona didn't have to try to do or be anything to make Callie like her more – maybe she should try to go out with Mark more than once a week with the cast. Maybe a little more distance between the two friends would do her even better.

But she wasn't going to think about that at this moment.

After the two friends finished their silent argument, April just sighed softly, "Well, I have to go. But the squad is going to be heading out to the city on Saturday night."

Callie nodded before catching herself, "Wait, the city as in New York City?"

April nodded in excitement, "To celebrate our victory! You should come. I'd love to get to know you better," April added with a glint in her eyes. But Callie didn't know April well enough to understand the glint.

She bit her lip and looked at Arizona, because she knew the blonde. But her face was fairly impassive, as she stared down at her friend, "Um… I guess I would like to come?"

She would like to come. She would like to go out with Arizona, and to get to know April, and to be introduced to Arizona's community as someone associated with the blonde. The problem was that she didn't know how Arizona felt about that.

April seemed to be satisfied now, and scurried up from the chair, chirping, "Perfect! Arizona will tell you the details. Can't wait to see you there."

Then she made a quick exit, and Callie was staring after her as Arizona settled back onto her chair, sighing as she rubbed at her temples. She bit down on her lip, hard, as she apologized, "I – I don't have to go. She seemed really insistent, and I didn't know what else to say –"

But Arizona cut her off before she could go any farther, "No, that's… it's fine if you want to come," her voice was soft, and Callie didn't know how not to read into this.

"Really?" the surprise was evident in her single word.

Arizona simply nodded, "Yeah. I mean, I was going to invite you myself. I didn't want April to put you on the spot like that, so you don't have to come. If you don't want. And you can bring Addison or Cristina or Mark or whoever, if you want to."

How did she not read into this? Her brain yelled at her again. Because Arizona was here. Asking her to meet her friends. When she was just one of Arizona's best kept secrets from every other aspect of her life.

Somehow, it was like Arizona could read her mind, and she explained, "I – I don't think that our friendship is really fair to you. Your friends know who I am, so… mine should know who you are. I don't want you to feel like I'm ashamed of you or something," Arizona rushed out, and her voice sounded all choked in the way it did when she was being honest with both of them.

And god, Callie hated and loved how her chest felt warm at that. This was what Arizona looked like when she was trying. How she had said that she was working on herself, and Callie was sure this was what it looked like.

Arizona didn't do anything half-assed, it seemed.

The smile that slipped over her face was so effortless, though, "Arizona, I really would like to come. It sounds like it'll be fun. So, I'm in."

Just to be safe – because she remembered what Arizona looked like in her dress at that club a few months ago – she would definitely bring some reinforcements in the form of her friends, though. She might need that slap back to reality.

Shaking herself back to the skype call, she ran her eyes over Arizona's face, "So, you and April? You're all good now?"

A small, cute dimpled smile appeared, "Yeah. We're pretty good, now. We talked today, and she – we're good." Her voice dipped to a whisper and blue eyes looked down before she continued, "And I kind of have you to thank for it. So, thank you."

Confused, she shook her head, "I didn't say or do anything to April."

Then Arizona rolled her eyes and shook her head, "No. I mean, what you said to me, about opening up to people. Last week," she prompted, and Callie thought back to the conversation they had after Arizona had cried, but before the kiss.

And she shook her head, "It was all you."

Arizona looked at her for a few seconds, silence running between them, before she broke it, "Callie, I know things are… weird between us right now. But I don't want them to be."

And Callie knew that because, Arizona was sitting there, trying. She was being all perfect and Arizona and Callie wasn't sure, but she thought it just might kill her. But she would die happily, at least, "I know."

Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for all of the feedback on the last chapter. And thank you for reading!