Callie hurriedly readjusted the cushions on the couch so that they were perfectly aligned for the second time that afternoon. The first time had been before Cristina had splayed across them while eating chips, she noted, as she brushed the crumbs off before standing up straight and huffing out a quick breath.

Her hands came to rest on her hips as she surveyed the scene – for once, it was great that she and Cristina didn't have a very large apartment. Because this morning, she'd gone through and done a ridiculously deep cleaning of it.

As she bit her lip, she traced her eyes over everything once more. It was never dirty in here, but now the bathroom was sparkling, the cabinets and fridge were stocked and organized, and the living room had no clutter. Plus, it all had freshly mopped floors.

And her room had been thoroughly gone through as well. In order to make room for the air mattress she needed for Arizona to sleep on, she'd put everything in it's rightful place – no clothes on the floor or strewn over her bureau – and her bed had been pushed against the wall, effectively blocking the bottom half of her bookshelf in order to preserve the floor space.

"Seriously, it's not going to get cleaner in here than it already is. I don't even think it was this clean when I moved in," Cristina commented from her new perch on the counter.

Where she had promptly sat after Callie had wiped it down. Callie wasn't sure that she and Cristina had ever hung out in the living area like this for this long without doing something like watching tv. But apparently, her running around and cleaning was amusing enough for her roommate to not need any other distractions.

Her eyes darted toward Cristina's bedroom door that was wide open, and from inside, she could see the amount of crap that remained unorganized and ridiculously cluttered, "I have no idea why the apartment hasn't been cleaned in that long. Really. No clue," she threw back, before making her way into the kitchen area, as she pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail.

This morning, she'd woken up early to get the apartment ready because today was the day Arizona was going to come over. To start her week long spring break stay.

The thought of it made Callie's stomach flip nervously.

And then she wondered if that feeling showed on her face because Cristina was chuckling – evilly, it seemed to sound in Callie's mind, "How did you even get roped into this?"

Brown eyes rolled as she leaned back against the counter next to her, "Manipulative friends, that's how," she murmured, picturing Addison and April's simultaneously smug and guilty expressions.

Honestly, she'd been thinking about the same thing all week. She'd wondered if this was a good idea – probably not. She'd wondered if this was something she should try to get out of – probably.

But then she thought of everything. Like the way they'd just come off the dance floor and how ridiculously good it had felt to dance with Arizona like that. And especially the sad look in those vibrant baby blue eyes when April had said Arizona didn't have anywhere to go for her break.

So they'd made this whole arrangement, where Arizona was going to be coming to stay with her for a week, and she was going to stick to it. And despite the fact that she was kind of nervous and unsure as to how it was going to affect her feelings for the blonde – she was sure it could do nothing but make them stronger, she was kind of excited.

The excitement was ill-fated, she was sure.

Cristina reached behind her to grab some Cheerios, eating them right from the box, "Don't think I haven't forgotten that we're having your weird friend –"

Dark eyes rolled, "Arizona isn't weird."

But Cristina just held her gaze with a no-nonsense look, "Review your entire relationship with the girl, Cal. You're weird. She's weird. End of story. As I was saying, you agreed to let your weird friend stay here for a whole week without discussing it with me first. The person who shares in living in this fairly small apartment with you."

She felt herself flush because that was the truth, but indignantly rolled her eyes, "At least you knew it was happening a week in advance. Did I get any notice – let alone permission – that time Meredith was fighting with her roommate and slept here for over two weeks?"

Cristina narrowed her eyes at her, but had no comeback, "Whatever."

She felt triumphant, "Besides, half of the time you're not here anyway. And Arizona isn't intrusive or anything –"

"We have a one room living room and kitchen, Cal. Wherever you go in this place is intrusive," she scoffed, but there was no argument in her tone.

And what she said was a fact, Callie could acknowledge, so she just shrugged. They already lived basically on top of each other but managed to not see each other a lot of the time, and she didn't couldn't imagine that anything would be much different with Arizona here.

Her lips curved into a small smile when she thought about the way Arizona looked when they'd talked on the phone a couple of nights ago. She'd made a lot of assertive promises that Callie and Cristina wouldn't even know she was there. That had been kind of cute, because Arizona didn't often seem flustered like that.

Then she had worked herself up and proposed that maybe she just shouldn't come at all, which hadn't been nearly as fun to listen to. But both were notions that were waved off by Callie.

"So, when is she going to be here? Don't you have to leave to go to the theatre soon?" Cristina's tone was that of boredom tinged with curiosity – it was one she used often. Callie wondered how she accomplished it most of the time.

She looked toward the clock at the top of the stove, and bit her lip, "She said she wasn't sure which train she was going to take," she admitted, which was why she'd been up ridiculously early to clean. "And she knows where the apartment is, so I just told her if it got to be too late and I already had to leave, to just come over."

As it on cue, there was a knock on the front door, which made Callie jump. Cristina just looked amused, "You know, I think that this week might turn out to be pretty fun."

"Shut up," she tossed back before making her way to the door, even as butterflies were in her stomach. She knew logically that there was no reason to be nervous. Because, really, this was just Arizona. Despite everything between them that had happened a few weeks ago, there was no need to be nervous around her.

But Callie had never really had a guest over before. Visits from Addison, sure, and that one time Arizona had been here; but never before did she have anyone plan to stay for a while like a real guest. And of course the first and possibly only time she was going to have someone here for a week like this, it was Arizona.

She was practically bouncing on her tiptoes as she swung open the door. And she didn't know if it was just something instinctive that made her need to smile when she saw the blonde, or what, but it happened despite all of the other feelings that were swirling in her stomach.

Dark eyes swept quickly up and down Arizona, who was sporting a small, dimpled smile of her own. Her hair was windswept, probably from her journey to the apartment, and she was wearing a black windbreaker that one of her hands was tugging on the hem of. The small habit revealed to Callie that Arizona was feeling just as nervous as she was right now, and that made her feel somewhat more comfortable.

Bringing her gaze back up, she met those blue eyes and took in her smile, before stepping back, "Sorry! Come in."

Arizona did, stepping past her and because the doorway was so small, she could smell how good Arizona's shampoo smelled, and she closed her eyes tight against the way it made her stomach clench.

There was a possibility that this could be a long week.

Shaking herself out of her slight daze, mindful of Arizona standing right there – plus Cristina watching them only a few feet away – she closed the door, and clasped her hands together in front of her. Clearing her throat, she waved away Arizona's hand from the handle of the suitcase she'd rolled in behind her, "So, the kitchen and living room are… right here," she vaguely gestured to the area they were standing it, and purposefully stood to block Cristina from Arizona's view.

Then she wheeled the suitcase into her room, around the air mattress she'd blown up and made up, until it was at the foot of her bed. Keeping her hands on the handle, she tapped her fingers lightly and bit her lip, "I mean, I know it's really small. Especially in my room, but I didn't want to be sleeping in the living room, at Cristina's mercy when she gets up at her weird six am study times," she could feel herself starting to ramble and made herself be quiet as Arizona tilted her head at her.

"Callie, it's fine," Arizona assured, and she seemed to be perfectly collected now, as she unzipped her jacket, "It's sweet," she added in a soft voice that made Callie's chest do all sorts of warm things.

But when Arizona dropped her jacket to the air mattress, she frowned and leaned down to move it onto her bed, "I'm taking the air mattress. You can have my bed."

Which made a frown come across the blonde's features, "No, absolutely not. You're already letting me stay here for the week. I'm not taking your bed, too."

As if having Arizona in her bed – even without her in it – was a hardship. But Callie refrained from stating the obvious, and just set Arizona's jacket onto the foot of her bed with certainty, "You're sleeping here." Her fingers intertwined in front of her, "And I mean, feel free to read anything I have up here or watch the tv in the living room or get anything out of the fridge. Everything is right there –"

Blue eyes were sparkling in amusement at her, "I have been here before, you know," Arizona gently reminded her.

Then her eyes unintentionally flickered to those soft, pink lips and her own felt the answering tingle – yeah, she remembered. Her throat felt tight when she nodded, "I know. I just – I want to make sure you're comfortable here."

The smile she got in response for that was sweet and soft, "Don't worry. I'll be fine," her hands smoothed over her shirt, before her forehead crinkled in confusion, "Don't you have to go to the theatre soon? That's why I didn't text you when I got off the train; I thought it would be cutting too close to your schedule."

She'd told Arizona that she would meet her at the train station, if she took a train early enough to be before Callie had to be at the theatre for the show. As she looked down at the time on her phone, she saw that she was cutting it close – she normally left by about five minutes ago.

But she still hesitated because this was weird. She had Arizona here, with a suitcase, to stay in her apartment – actually, in her bedroom. And on top of that, she was just going to up and leave?

Even though this had been something they'd discussed, briefly. Because as much as Callie would like to take time off while Arizona was here, she couldn't just not show up to her musical like that. The blonde had waved it off, and told her that she didn't expect Callie to be there to entertain her the whole time.

Still… "Is there anything you, um, need? Or that I can do? I have time…" she trailed off, biting the inside of her cheek – she really didn't have time, but whatever.

It seemed that Arizona could tell, "No, I'm good. I think I'll just hang out here today. Don't worry, Callie. I'll be fine here."

They could both hear Cristina cackle from the kitchen, where she clearly hadn't moved and had clearly been listening to them, "Yeah, don't worry. We'll be fine here."

Arizona's eyes seemed to give away some nerves then, at the very least towards Cristina. But… there was nothing Callie could do for the moment, as she stepped over next to Arizona to open her closet and pull out her jacket, "Well, I'll be home – you know when."

Her eyes darted toward the door where she knew her roommate was, and she ran her tongue over her bottom lip in thought, cheeks burning when she saw that Arizona followed the movement, choking a bit just on air, "I – listen, Cristina really is harmless. She can be a loud mouth, but she's –"

The words died in her throat when Arizona placed a soft, warm hand on her wrist, "I said don't worry. I can handle living with all of the girls in the sorority house; I'm sure I can be left alone with Cristina. I'm just going to settle in," she nodded toward her stuff in the corner, before brushing by Callie to go in the direction.

And Callie forced herself not to shudder – it would most definitely be a long week. After a deep breath, she walked out and closed her door behind her to give Arizona some privacy, before turning to Cristina, who watched her with a smirk.

Her roommate was a good person, she knew that. But she also knew that she was teased mercilessly by her, especially on the topic of Arizona. Seeing as how she was running on a time constraint, she lifted her eyebrows and whispered in warning, "Be nice."

Cristina just rolled her eyes, "Relax, Barbie and I are going to be just fine, Cal."

Callie had some reservations on that but with one last look toward her closed bedroom door, she left the apartment and hoped that Cristina and Arizona were going to peacefully coexist in her absence.

Never before had she ran through the theatre so fast after a show to get back to her dressing room. She'd texted Arizona during intermission, and hadn't received a response. Which worried her a little bit.

Thankfully, even though she was a bit distracted, the show went off without a hitch. Richard was already pissed at her for arriving to the pre-show nearly ten minutes late. As she was lifting her shirt over her head, the door to her dressing room opened, and Addison burst in, "Tell me everything!"

This was so far from the first time the redhead came bursting in without an invitation, she didn't even blink, "Everything?"

She perched herself on the vanity, "Um, yeah," her tone said duh, "Arizona arrived today…" she led, waiting for Callie to finish.

And Callie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, she got to the apartment right before I had to leave and come here. I had to leave her there with Cristina all night."

Addison sucked in a breath, "Yikes." Then the side of her mouth quirked up in a devious smile, "While I can see them getting to the point where they're going to kill each other, I can also see them weirdly getting along. Either is going to be interesting."

Dark eyes glared as Callie reached for the shirt she'd worn here, "I'm not as interested. And in case you forgot, I'm still pissed at you, you know."

Addison's eyebrows lifted in shock, "You're pissed at me? For what?"

Then Callie just stared at her for a few moments, "For what? For – for conspiring with April and arranging this whole spring break arrangement behind my back!"

Addison crossed her arms, "I did you a favor. Look, you may say that you and Arizona are working back to just being friends, but come on. That's not going to work. This is the perfect opportunity."

Gritting her teeth, she shook out her hair from the braid it was in during her last scene, running her fingers through it, "Perfect opportunity for what? Honestly Addison, the last time I listened to what you had to say about Arizona, about taking my chances with her, I kissed her. And that didn't work out so well."

No, that kiss was still haunting her mind and causing phantom tingles.

Addison tilted her head in question, "Okay, but can you tell me that you're not happy that Arizona is at your apartment? Does it not make you feel excited to know you're going to get to go home and not only talk to her like on the phone, but actually talk to her? See her?" she challenged.

Which just made Callie frustrated, "Of course I'm excited. Therein lies the problem; I'm supposed to be trying to move on from these feelings for Arizona, but then you go and push us into this situation. Where I'm going to be seeing her and smelling her every day."

"Okay, so I talked about this with April – while you were dancing with her! Dirtily, I might add," she tacked on with a definitive nod, "And besides, you didn't have to say yes to her staying with you."

At that, Callie just stared at her, before shaking her head, and turning around to find her jacket, "Yes, I did." Because she could see the sad look in Arizona's eyes even now. Back at the club, those gorgeous cerulean eyes were alight from their dancing and a carefree look that she'd never seen before, and then when April had said that Arizona had nowhere to do for their school break… she had looked so sad.

Callie couldn't say no to that. She didn't think there was anyone who was heartless enough to do that, not with Arizona.

With a sigh, she turned back around, and pulled her hair over her collar, "Look. I'm not actually mad at you. But I don't want you to meddle anymore between me and Arizona. It's already hard enough. And if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure that the friend who I have inconvenient feelings for and my roommate are still alive."

Callie was somehow both tentative and hurried as she slipped her key into the lock and inched the door open, already speaking before she saw inside, "Hey, how was…" then she trailed off, eyebrows lifting as she saw that the living room lamps were off, and only the dim bulb in the kitchen was on.

She could just see Cristina's wild mane of hair tumbled over the arm of the couch, her body covered with a blanket, in the dark. Huh. Definitely not what she'd been expecting, especially considering it was barely eleven.

Typically, if Cristina was home when she got back from her show, she was in her room. But she was nearly always awake. Curiosity peaked, she made sure to be quiet as she made her way to her own room, extremely conscious of the fact that Arizona would be in there. And of the fact that she, too, could be sleeping.

But as she inched the door open, peaking her head in, she could see that the lamp on her bedside table – which was situated above the air mattress – was switched on, with Arizona on her stomach, reading.

She could feel her face melting into a smile because coming home to Arizona being in her bedroom, quietly reading a book like this, was ridiculously cute and so domestic that it made her stomach erupt in butterflies.

But she acted as normally as she could, stepping in and shutting the door to block the light from streaming out to the couch where Cristina slept, "I see you survived."

The blonde sent her a small, sleepy smile, and the way it looked kind of killed her, "I did. I – Cristina is actually kind of funny."

As she reached up to unzip her jacket, she lifted an eyebrow, "I've heard Cristina described as many things before. That's not exactly one that I was expecting. Care to explain?"

She enjoyed the way Arizona's finger traced reverently down the page of her book before using a worn bookmark to mark her place, "Well, after you left it was kind of… awkward. But then when I went into the living room, Cristina was out there playing Mario Kart."

Callie lifted her eyebrow and nodded for her to go on as she made her way to her dressed, and wedged open a drawer to take out her sleep shorts and a tank top, "And?"

"And, I don't mean to brag, but I live on a college campus, and I'm pretty good at Mario Kart," Arizona said from behind her, and Callie couldn't stop but let out a small chuckle. Of course Arizona was good at it – what wasn't she good at? "So I mentioned that to Cristina. And then she proposed we play a tournament."

"Oh no," Callie responded, only half joking, because she knew that when Cristina proposed Mario Kart tournaments – or really any kind of game – it involved tequila shots. She turned around and leaned against the bureau, looking Arizona up and down, "You don't seem drunk," she mused.

And she got an obscene amount of enjoyment from the way the blonde scoffed, "Not even a little bit. I am now the reigning champion, and poor Cristina passed out almost an hour ago."

God, Callie loved – the way Arizona was right now. Relaxed and joking and adorably grinning at her, blonde hair all tumbled from the shower Callie knew she'd taken just a little while ago from the looks of her damp hair.

Then she had to swallow hard to put away those feelings inside of her, clearing her throat, "So you had a good time?" Before Arizona could respond, it was only then that she realized exactly where the blonde was, and dark eyes zeroed in on it, "Arizona! I told you that I'm taking the air mattress."

"And I told you that I'm not going to take your bed from you. Especially after you got home from work," blue eyes narrowed at her as Arizona pulled the blanket tightly around her, as if telling Callie to not argue this, but it really just made Callie realize Arizona was also wearing a tank top, and her bare shoulders looked really soft.

Okay. Yeah, she had to get out of here right now and cleanse these thoughts from her head. Her voice was much weaker than she wanted it to be when she took a few steps to the door, "I'm going to change."

Before Arizona could say anything back, she was through the living room and into the bathroom. And as she changed into her sleep clothes and brushed her teeth, she told herself that she could do this. She wasn't a horny fifteen-year-old boy.

No, she was a thirsty twenty-two-year-old woman, she thought, rolling her eyes at herself with a quiet chuckle.

All right. Deep breath.

She quietly walked back to the bedroom, and slipped inside, noting that Arizona was still under the covers on the air mattress, and blue eyes latched onto her when she stepped back in. Callie did her best to ignore and not shiver when she could practically feel them rake over her. Biting her bottom lip, she dropped her clothes into her hamper, before turning to look in the direction of her bed.

And she wondered how she was going to get in it, because she hadn't really thought of this when she'd pushed one side of the bed against the wall, and laid out the air mattress right next to it. When her gaze went back to Arizona, the blonde noticed where she'd been looking, and Callie could tell by the motion of the blankets that Arizona curled into herself, gesturing at the foot of the mattress for Callie to step there and into her bed.

As she did, she immediately snuggled down into her blankets, and usually, she felt all of the days stress and exhaustion come over her, lulling her into a nice state of relaxation before she would fall asleep.

But right now, she could hear Arizona's breathing and see her head propped up on the pillow, and it kept her feeling like a livewire. Before she could say or do anything, she watched as Arizona's hand came up to the lamp, and switched it off, plunging them into darkness.

And then she kind of felt disappointment. Like maybe they weren't going to have their night talk. Which. Okay, maybe Arizona was tired. Callie couldn't begrudge her that; plus, she was sure if she lied here long enough, she was going to feel the fact that she'd woken up fairly early, and be tired, too.

When she rolled onto her side, she found that she kind of enjoyed the way Arizona's golden tresses were so visible in the dark. And she resisted the urge to reach out and touch them, when the blonde's voice broke the silence between them, "Callie?"

She couldn't help but grin at this; maybe there would be a night talk after all, "Arizona?"

"Thank you for letting me stay here," Arizona's voice was low, and Callie could hear the way her fingers were playing with the edge of the blanket, picking at it, "I know… things have been kind of slow to get back to where we were. But I appreciate this, a lot. I – I appreciate you a lot," she finished lowly.

And Callie wondered if Arizona had shut the light off because sometimes it was easier to say things like this in the dark. Either way, she was a goner, and she decided it was better to just acknowledge that to herself instead of trying to push it away, "You're always welcome here, Arizona." She bit her lip, "And thank you, for saying that."

She both heard and saw the way Arizona adjusted on the air mattress, so that she was facing Callie's bed. Even though her bed was fairly low, the height difference was enough that they couldn't quite see each other's faces perfectly.

A few seconds ticked by before she got enough courage to ask, "You are welcome here, but… can I ask why you needed somewhere to go?" When it was met with a beat of silence, she rushed to add on, "I mean, I don't know why you couldn't go home? Or be at school?"

Arizona was quiet for a few moments and Callie was pretty sure she crossed one of the lines Arizona liked to mark in the sand, the line of her personal boundary. But then Arizona let out a quiet breath, "I'm… the anniversary of Tim's death is – it's coming up. And being home for it is – having to see my parents during it," she cut herself off, and Callie could make out the way she was shaking her head, "I would have chosen to be alone than be with them. So I would have stayed at school, but it…" she silence as she trailed off was deafening and Callie wondered why her heart was beating so fast. Actually, she didn't because she knew – this was the most Arizona had given to her about her past, "Tim died at my school. I didn't want to be there," her voice dipped so low that Callie had to strain her ears to hear it.

And when she did, her heart dropped in her chest, and it felt like it was aching for the blonde. Without thinking too much about it, she slid her hand out from under her blankets, and offered it down to Arizona to take.

Which she did, after a few seconds, and instead of sitting in the cool air of the room, she had Arizona's enveloped in her own, all soft and warm and… made to fit perfectly right there in hers.

She craved to know more, but she also really didn't want to push it. Not right now, not while Arizona was offering her what Callie knew couldn't be easy for her to just offer up. She lightly squeezed her fingers around the slim ones intertwined with her own, and let herself indulge in the pleasant sparks that shot up her arm at the contact.

Callie adjusted slightly so that they could comfortably keep holding hands like this, resting on the mattress between them. Arizona's voice was hardly a whisper when she asked, "Callie? Do… do you have any siblings? You don't really talk about your family, either."

Biting her lip, hard, she thought that that had been the only perk to Arizona not talking about her own family. She didn't need to know anything about Callie's in return. But she cleared her throat, whispering back, "I – yeah. I have a sister. Aria." She turned her head lightly into her pillow, closing her eyes and feeling the soft fabric against her face, as she exhaled slowly, "She'd be almost fifteen now."

Arizona took it in and waited a few seconds before asking, "Why don't you talk about her?"

She relished in the way the blonde's hand tightened around hers, and she had to wait a few seconds before her throat felt loose enough for her to answer, "Because. I don't really know her," she stated honestly, "I haven't seen her in about two years, and she was hardly thirteen. She was eleven when I moved to college. That's… I don't know what kind of person she is."

All she remembered about Aria was that her sister had loved dress up and dolls; she knew logically that those kind of things didn't interest teenagers.

"What about you parents?" Arizona asked, before she lightly traced her thumb along the back of Callie's hand, making goosebumps erupt on her arms, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I understand. Probably better than anyone."

Callie wanted to smile at that, but instead, she turned her head back to face where she could see the top of soft blonde hair, "It's okay. I'm…" she took a deep breath, "I've never been particularly outgoing. Or outspoken. I'm a lot better now than I used to be, back when I lived at home with my parents." She thought back to her high school days and grimaced, "My parents are both – well, they have a lot of money. And I went to a prep school where I didn't exactly fit in."

Not exactly fit in as in having no friends, her own mind scoffed at her, but she rolled her eyes at herself, "I just liked to sing, and to read, and mind my own business. It wasn't exactly what my parents wanted. But they were busy a lot of the time, anyway." She could recall the many nights her mother was working late and her father was away on business, "And when I went to college after school, it was because they expected it, not because I wanted it. After two years I just couldn't do it anymore. I felt like a failure and a liar," she breathed out, thinking back on it.

Because her grades were below average in the business courses her father enrolled her in, because she just didn't care. "And then I did exactly the worst thing I could do, in their eyes. I dropped out. Because I realized if I didn't stop it then, I was just going to keep being a shadow of a person instead of who I wanted to be."

Arizona's voice was low when she asked, "Who did you want to be?"

Callie licked her lips slowly and took a few seconds before answering, "Me. Who I am, now. The real me."

Arizona's hand tightened around hers as she asked, "What happened then?"

"Then… they told me that they weren't going to support me bumming around New York, and not to expect them to be there when my pipe dreams failed," she managed to get out with a choked laugh. She wasn't going to cry over this, over them. Not after two years, and not after she hadn't been very close to them in the first place. But still. Sometimes it sucked.

Silence hung around them as she sucked on her bottom lip before releasing it, "I think the worst part is that they didn't think I could do it. And sometimes in my first year here, when I was alone, I thought so, too," her voice was hoarse as she said it, because those nights especially in her first few months in the city had been the worst. The loneliest.

The comfort of the soft hand that had been around hers disappeared and she missed it greatly, but didn't say anything more than a soft, sad sigh, before turning onto her other side.

And she nearly jumped when the side of her bed dipped, and her heart was thundering in her ears when Arizona's arm slid around her waist, before she could feel her body press against her back, curling perfectly in alignment with her own.

Her tongue felt heavy and thick even as her hand felt Arizona's intertwine with her own, "What?"

Arizona's voice sounded a little shaky, but it was comforting in her ear, as she felt the blonde's head rest behind hers on her pillow, "Your parents were clearly wrong. And I think that if they don't already know it, they will someday. Because you did it, Callie. You became your own person and you're not alone. Not anymore."

Her arm tightened around her, and everything about it sent butterflies erupting through Callie's stomach, "Arizona…" she trailed off because she didn't know what to say to this. She didn't know how to take this. She knew that it felt so good.

But Arizona just continued speaking all quietly into her ear, "And the real you? Is amazing. So, they're missing out."

The words made her heart swell, and she couldn't help but not care that this was supposed to be Arizona comforting her about her parents. She couldn't concentrate on anything aside from the way Arizona felt, all sweetly cuddled up to her like this. Holding her.

They settled into bed like this, and she really, really liked that Arizona didn't seem to be going anywhere. It seemed that when Arizona felt Callie was hurting, her own apparent boundaries disappeared.

And Callie would be lying so much if she said that she didn't fall just a little bit harder for the blonde because of that.

Her body felt like it was cocooned by these weirdly comforting tingles that she felt with Arizona so close to her, and for some reason, it was this feeling that finally made her feel so utterly relaxed that she could melt into her bed. Those feelings seemed to shoot over her hand as Arizona's thumb lazily swiped over it, and she whispered, "Arizona?"

Her response was a sleepy sound that made Callie's stomach feel warm; apparently this was just as comforting for the blonde as it was for her.

"Do you… do you feel it?" she asked, because she didn't know how to voice what it was. The electricity between them was accurate, but she worried it would sound stupid coming out of her mouth. But it was something she'd wondered for a long time now.

She didn't have to explain it, though, because Arizona's sleepy whisper ghosted along the back of her neck as her hand tightened briefly, "Yeah. I do."

And so it has begun! Please let me know your thoughts and feelings, I love hearing them! Thank you so much to everyone who already does, and thank you very much for reading!