Two weeks passed since Callie introduced her girlfriend to her friends and Arizona talked with her mother about Callie. The exams they both had went pretty good, especially for Arizona, who finally was able to leave behind the disappointment of the previous one. They didn't have much time to see each other, they barely left the libraries. They just spent a couple of nights together at Arizona's place, but in the morning Callie always had to leave soon. Callie studied with Amelia and Maggie in her hometown's library and Arizona studied with Mark and Teddy at the university's library. Arizona had told Teddy and a couple of her friends about Callie and they all were happy for them, even though they understood that Arizona going to live in LA meant that she wasn't going to be in Seattle with them anymore.

It was Saturday and Arizona had an early flight to Colorado. She was going to stay there only for a few days, but Callie insisted on spending the night at the blonde's and then drive her to the airport, even though it meant that she got only a few hours' sleep and then she had a long day of studying ahead of herself. Since the beginning of their relationship, Callie and Arizona got into a sort of routine regarding sex. They didn't have sex all the times they saw each other, but they did it pretty often. So Callie wanted to spend the blonde's last night in Seattle with her in the hope to make love to her once more before they had to go a couple of days without. She wasn't sure she was going to survive without those powerful orgasms, at least she had to take the matter to herself, waiting for Arizona to come back. But that last night Arizona was beyond tired and was on her period, so she didn't really feel like doing it, even though she knew after that she had to go some days without. So she turned down Callie, who on her part was a little bit more than disappointed. But she knew it wasn't fair to get mad at her girlfriend just because of that, so she pretended everything was fine and just went to sleep cuddled with her.

They said a teary goodbye at the airport and then Callie drove back home to get a couple hours more of sleep. Arizona boarded her flight and as soon as the plane took off, she was sound asleep. She woke up startled by a voice coming out from the speakers, announcing that they were now about to land in Denver. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked outside the window. She felt a sudden excitement to be back home, she was happy to see her family and friends again, even though it meant that she had to tell them about Callie. At that though, her stomach closed off. She was sure by now all her family knew, but she kind of feared her father's reaction.

She got off the plane and waited for her suitcase, meanwhile turning on her phone. There were some notifications but no texts from Callie. She figured that, since after dropping her off at the airport Callie went back to sleep, she would text her good morning, or at least to ask her if the flight went all right. She was well aware that her turning Callie down the previous night disappointed her girlfriend, and by now she knew enough of her to know that she was easily disappointed and was getting better to hide it. Arizona just hoped it wouldn't be a deal breaker. As much as she enjoyed sex with Callie, there were for sure going to be times when for some reason they weren't going to be able to do it. And that couldn't be a deal breaker. So she decided to act as if she didn't notice Callie's detachment and to text her. On her phone there was a new message from her mother saying that she and her father were in the airport's parking lot waiting for her. She quickly replied saying she was on her way and then texted her girlfriend.

'Hey Calliope, good morning! You awake? I just landed in Denver, I'm waiting for my suitcase and my parents are here waiting for me, everything went just fine. Text me whenever you have time. I miss you already and I love you so, so much. XXX'

She put her phone back in the back pocket of her jeans and in that moment she spotted her light blue suitcase on the carousel. She patiently waited for it to reach her and then she took it and started walking towards the exit. Her phone buzzed and she stopped a second to see who it was. It was Calliope.

'I'm glad you made it. Say hallo to your family from me. I'm heading to the library; I'll text you later. I miss you and love you too. XX'

Satisfied with the answer she got, Arizona exited the sliding door of the airport and spotted her parents right away. She hadn't seen them since spring break, so she kind of missed them. Her mother ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

"Arizona, baby, I'm so happy you're here! Look at you, every time I see you, you look more beautiful!", Barbara said, with her voice full of emotions, letting go of Arizona and staring at her.

Arizona moved her gaze to her father, who had always been way colder than her mother, but now he was staring at her with a dead glare.

"Hey daddy", she said, hesitantly moving towards him to hug him. He moved one arm on Arizona's back, but didn't hold her tightly. She already sensed something was off. She looked at her mother and saw her scolding her father with a glare.

"Hey, Arizona!", he said then, "shall we get going?"

So they walked to Daniel's car and they drove home. During the travel, Arizona and Barbara talked a lot, catching up, while Daniel was concentrated driving and barely spoke.

Her first couple of days back in Colorado, Arizona spent most of her time at home, studying. Her father and her brother were behaving as if nothing happened, even though she could still feel there was something off with her father. Her third night she went out with her best friends, whom she told about Callie. They were really surprised, mostly because she was in a relationship and was able to hide it from them. They didn't comment much on the fact that her relationship was with a girl, even though she could feel their puzzlement. After meeting with them, Arizona called Callie to tell her, but she was still at the library, so they talked only for a few minutes.

It was Arizona's fifth and last evening in Colorado and she was having dinner at home with her whole family. No one brought up the topic of her girlfriend up to then, so she thought they weren't comfortable to talk about it yet. They were having one of Barbara Robbins's famous pies for dessert, when suddenly Tim spoke up.

"So, Zona, how is your girlfriend?", he asked.

She fidgeted with her fork, not lifting her gaze.

"Uh, good, why?"

"I was hoping you could tell us something about her… I mean, I'm pretty curious… Is she hot?", he asked, smirking.

"Tim!", she scolded him.

In the meanwhile, Barbara watched her children interact but Daniel kept his gaze on the dessert he barely touched.

"Yes, she is very hot, but she is mine!", she decided to play along, hoping to avoid any comments on her newly discovered sexuality.

"So you are serious about… this…", Daniel asked, looking Arizona straight in the eyes and moving his right hand in the air.

"I am, yes!", Arizona answered firmly, keeping her gaze on her father's.

He mumbled something but Arizona couldn't make out the words.

"Honey…", Barbara said warningly, turning towards her husband, "what did I tell you?"

Daniel looked back down on his plate and put into his mouth a bigger bite of the dessert.

The silence was very uncomfortable for Arizona. She started biting her cuticles. Then she decided she had to speak up and let her family into her life.

"So, as I was expecting, I see some of you don't completely understand what I'm doing, maybe you were hoping that it was just a phase… But it's not. I love Callie, very much, even though we haven't been together so long. I didn't label myself, I'm not a lesbian or whatever you fear I became… I just… I don't know how to explain it… I fell in love with her and that's it. I hope one day you will meet her and understand how I could possibly fall in love with her."

"Oh, Zona, I'm on board with that, you know it! I love to see you so happy.", Barbara said, then stroking Daniel's forearm.

"Thanks, mum", Arizona said smiling at her mother.

"I'm happy for you too…", Tim said, "I think I'm less jealous of her than I would be of a guy."

"I know!", Arizona chuckled, "do you remember how jealous you were of Jackson?"

"I wasn't!"

"You were!"

"No, I just didn't like him, but I'm sure I'm going to like this Callie. Show me a picture, please."

"Yes, baby, show us a picture of her", Barbara urged.

So Arizona went to her bedroom to take her phone, which was there because she knew her family used to have dinner all together without any phone on the table. She looked at her lock-screen and a wide smile appeared on her face. It was a picture she took a couple of days before leaving for Colorado. It was Callie, sound asleep in Arizona's bed, hugging her favorite stuffed animal, her monkey. She went back to the dining room and gave her phone to Tim.

"Yes, she definitely seems hot, even though in this picture she is more a cutie", he smiled, then passed Arizona's phone to Barbara.

"So sweet!", she commented, passing the phone along to Daniel, who barely looked at the picture, without commenting.

Sensing the awkwardness, Tim asked to see another picture, where he could clearly see how hot Callie was. So Arizona showed him a picture of Callie and her at the park, where their bodies were full-length.

"She is definitely really hot!", Tim exclaimed, "tell her that if she wants to go back to guys I'm here…", he said, winking at Arizona to let her know he was kidding.

"Timothy!", Daniel scolded his son, "this is not a topic to make jokes on!"

"Sorry, dad…"

"Daniel…", Barbara said, looking at her husband.

"Dad, just spit it, please!", Arizona urged, knowing that he had something he wanted to say since she got home.

"Nothing, Arizona, I don't like this, not at all, but you are my daughter, so I'll come around… Just, please, let me be… Maybe it's better to talk about something else…", he suggested.

So that night they played cards together, no one mentioned Callie again, Arizona texted with her for a while and told her something about that family dinner. Next day she said goodbye to her family, with the promise to be back in less than 3 weeks. She boarded her flight back to Seattle and at the airport there was Callie waiting for her. She couldn't wait to see her again.

When Callie saw Arizona practically running towards her, she couldn't help the wide smile that appeared on her face. The blonde had been away for less than a week, but she had missed her like crazy. Spending her whole days at the library studying was definitely no fun at all, but not even getting to see her girlfriend at night, was a real nightmare. So she spent her nights at home or at the gym, which was no fun either. One of the night she spent at home she told her father about Arizona, and he seemed not to care so much. Callie hoped to get some sort of a reaction from him, maybe even a negative one, like the one Arizona said she got from her father, but nothing.

Arizona reached Callie and let go of her suitcase, just to hug Callie tightly. Callie hid her nose in Arizona's hair and inhaled the scent that was pure her.

"God, I missed you so much…", she said, not pulling out of the embrace.

"I missed you too", Arizona replied. "Shall we get going? I'm really tired", she then added.

"Yeah, we sure can", Callie said, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I… I was lost in your scent", she explained sheepishly.

"Oh, you mean smell?", Arizona asked, the tension completely gone.

"No, your scent is amazing, it soothes me, I missed it so much…"

"Thank you, but now I really stink, after the flight, this hot weather and all…"

"You don't, believe me… But I gladly carry you to your place".

"Thanks!"

So they walked towards the exit of the airport and to Callie's car. The ride to Arizona's place was filled with them catching up, but it didn't last long, it being night and the city not being so congested like it was during the day. Callie pulled up outside Arizona's apartment building.

"So, you want to spend the night?", Arizona asked, not hiding her hope.

"I wish I could", Callie said, dropping her gaze, "but tomorrow I have to be at the library by 8, my exam is in two days and I'm still far behind with the studying…", she explained, truly sorry.

"Oh… I see…", Arizona simply said.

She then opened the door and got off the car, leaving a stunned Callie. She opened the back door and took out her suitcase.

"Thank you for the ride Calliope, good night…", she said, not even waiting for a reply from the brunette before slamming closed the back door too and turning towards her building's door. Callie put her car on parking and got off.

"Arizona", she called.

The blonde stopped and turned around, with tears in her eyes. Callie approached her.

"Look, Arizona, I'm really sorry… I wish I could stay, so much, but I know that if I do stay, I'm not going to make it to the library by 8, tomorrow. We will see each other a lot after these last exams, I promise you…"

"Yeah, after these exams when I'm back in Colorado, sure…", Arizona replied, not doing anything to hide the tears threatening to fall from her beautiful blue eyes and dropping her gaze to the road beneath their feet.

Callie felt her heart breaking. She lifted with her index Arizona's chin and spoke softly.

"I know honey, this situation kind of sucks… But we will see each other as much as we can, I promise you… I'm sad that you have to go work back in Colorado this summer as well, but we have to think positive and see that the future holds many good things for us together…"

Arizona didn't reply. So Callie wrapped her arms around the blonde's smaller body and gently stroked her back. Arizona couldn't take back tears anymore, so she began to sob in Callie's arms. When the sobs subsided, Callie let go of Arizona and looked in her puffy eyes.

"Arizona, don't make it so difficult, please…", she said in a pleading voice.

"I'm sorry Calliope, so sorry… Emotions got the better of me and I just… I don't know, it's like I had a weight on my stomach and after this visit back home it has been lifted, because everybody is on board with me having a girlfriend and I'm so relieved… Well, everybody but my father, but he said he will come around… And I don't know… I'm overwhelmed… Seeing you again… Knowing that I have to spend the whole summer without seeing you… It just, played me a terrible trick. I wanted to spend the night cuddling with you, but it's okay if you can't, I'm sorry…"

"No, Arizona, I am the one to be sorry. You are very tired and so many things happened in these last few days, so I completely understand your reaction. I'll come visit you during summer, I promise… I'm not going to spend my birthday without you, this is for sure. Now, what would you say if after my exam I took you to our beach and then spend the night with you here, or at my house, whichever you prefer?"

"I would love it…", Arizona replied smiling and sniffling.

"I love you, Arizona", Callie said, wrapping her girlfriend in a tight hug, which the blonde soon reciprocated. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, then Callie pulled back, only to kiss Arizona's lips. The kiss was salty, due to Arizona's tears, but Callie was loving every second of it. She swiped her tongue along Arizona's lower lip asking for permission to be let in. When the blonde's lips parted, Callie softly pushed in her tongue, gazing Arizona's. Their tongues battled but in a loving way. When they needed air, they broke the kiss and stared at each other.

"I love you too, Calliope, and I'm sorry for this reaction of mine… Now go home and sleep, text me to make sure you get home safe. Thanks for the ride. Goodnight".

"Don't worry, I'll text you as soon as I get home. I love you, so much. Goodnight".

Callie placed a soft peck on Arizona's lips, and with that she left. She spent the ride back home thinking about what just happened and about the reason why she didn't spend the night with her girlfriend, finding herself regretting it. She got home and texted Arizona goodnight, then she went about her nightly routine and went to bed, but she couldn't fall asleep for more than an hour, thoughts of how much she would rather be in the blonde's bed instead invading her mind and keeping her awake.

So, I'm thinking to skip many parts of the summer, seeing that they are not going to be together. What do you think? Thanks for sticking around and for your reviews and suggestions, keep them coming :)