AN: I'll be speeding things up so I can end in a good place. Hope you like it.

Chapter 27

Saturday,

January 24th, 2015

Arizona's POV

"And what's today's date?" Callie asked for the third time this morning.

"Callie, I've already told you today's date…"

"Just one more time."

"Callie." I waited for her to lift her head from her notes and make eye contact. "Callie, I'm fine. Can we stop with all the quizzes and questions?"

"Can't you just do these last three for me then…"

"Callie!" I shifted myself off the couch in my mom's living area and shuffled into the kitchen with my crutches leading the way. I had heard they did a pretty good job with what we had to fix my leg, but with the lack of actual medical supplies, it wasn't the best repair. Everybody was searching for pain meds for me and my dad, going on small trips into town to search through some pharmacies. I tried to make the pain seem like nothing on the surface, but in reality, the pain was so bad that I had to get up and walk around just to try and get my mind off the burn in my ankle and shin.

"How's your pain today?" Callie asked.

I knew she was going to ask, and I always lied. "Five." I always said it was a five. I sat the crutches down and gently set my foot against the ground to open the fridge. Nine, it's at a nine now. I was more than pain, it's like a mind over matter thing right?

"I know it's not a five, but why don't you sit down and I'll get whatever it is you want?"

"I can do things for myself Callie."

She gave me a blank stare with some sort of anger in her eyes. I knew I was giving her a hard time, but I've grown so tired of her helping me with every single activity or…thought I have. I do this a lot; I get angry with the people closest to me when they try to help. "Well, I'll be working out back if you need me." She left the living room slamming the door behind her.

"January twenty-fourth, two-thousand-fifteen and it's a Saturday." I mumbled to myself just to make sure.

Hobbling over, I made my way back to the couch and sat down with the letter Fitz had written to me in the past few weeks, keeping me up-to-date with our nation's progress. We had finally had different radio and broadcast systems up and running in most of the states so we were able to communicate with our people back in Texas and others in Seattle, California, all of them.

A knock at the door came. I could be polite and open the door myself, but that would take forever and I didn't want to ask Callie. "Come in." No one came in. "It's open!" I yelled.

Finally, Jackson peeked through the door before letting himself in and finding his way to the couch.

"What's up, Robbins?"

"Nothing." I sat the letters down and picked at the cup of Jell-O in my lap.

"You and Callie at odds again?" I nodded. "Yeah, when's the last time you guys even…ya know?"

"Dude!"

"Sorry, but it just seems like…there's tension in that area." Avery motioned his hands in the air to create some weird force to represent mine and Callie's love-life.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if it's the concussion thing or reality, but I can't remember the last time we were intimate. I almost can't remember our last 'I love you's' to each other, but I know we said them when we left for Texas. We might have had sex the night before…" I tried to think about it seriously, wondering if we really had sex or not.

"Well, once you're back to your feet again, you might need to sweep her off hers." He stuck his finger in my Jell-O cup then licked it off.

"Ew, you can have it now." I handed him the cup and spoon but he only took the cup and swallowed the rest of its contents. "Are you hungry Jackson?"

"Starving. I hardly find time to sit down and eat a meal anymore."

"How about I tell Callie to fix some dinner and we can all sit around and eat together?"

"Sounds good, I'll send April over to help." There was an awkward pause before he tried to keep our conversation going. "So…I heard they have most of the bodies gone."

"Yep." I heard what Jackson did for me but he didn't like to talk about it and I was okay with that, but it seemed like all we did was avoid anything having to do with the trip.

"Sort of like that disease people had back in London, you know, in the olden days?"

"The plague?"

"Yeah, that's it. This is all like the plague, digging massive graves in the middle of nowhere to fill with bodies."

"Yep." I just stared at the floor, wondering where our coolness as friends went.

"I'll tell April about dinner…tonight?"

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll tell Callie and mom about it then get back to you."

The stairs creaked as my mom helped my dad down into the living area. His legs were in good shape and his body recovered well from the malnutrition he suffered, so I'd say he's better off than me now. It really sucked being stuck on the couch all day.

"Hey Mr. Robbins." Avery said.

"Good morning Mr. Avery. What brings you here?" Mom sat dad down on the pillow beside me.

"I came to see how Arizona was doing and apparently making dinner plans."

"Dinner plans?" My mom asked.

I sat up straighter in my seat. "Yeah, I was going to ask if you and Callie could maybe work up a little something for the group. I haven't seen some of them in a month and Jackson hasn't had a decent meal in forever."

"Sounds splendid. I would love to have everyone over for dinner. Have you told Callie yet?"

"Uh, yeah-no. She doesn't know anything yet." I looked down to the floor even though I could feel my mother's sad eyes staring at me. It was obvious to her as well; Callie and I weren't in the best place right now.

"That's okay, I'll tell her in a minute. Anything special you would like dear?" She asked Jackson.

"A pie would be amazing if you could." I could see the drool drip from the side of his mouth.

"Sure, I think we have enough ingredients around here to make a pie." Mom wondered into the kitchen to start grabbing items out of the cabinet for dinner.

"Alright, see you later tonight Robbins."

"Alright." We gave each other a fist bump before Avery turned to leave.

"He always was a nice guy." My dad started.

"He still is. He's one of my best friends."

"Think you ever would have been more than friends?"

"Dad…"

"I know, I know." He threw is one hand up in defense. "I know you're…into the ladies, but you guys were so close, I just thought at one point you guys would date."

"We didn't. I love Jackson, but only as a brother." Once I said that, my mind went to Tim and my dad must have noticed.

"You miss him?"

"Of course I do."

"What were his last words?"

"I can't remember, I don't think I want to. I know he just died fighting."

"Sounds like him." There was a silent moment before my dad reached over and touched the rigid pink scar poking out from beneath my tank top. "And this?"

"A pack of C-4 exploded that Tim had set up in a small town down in San Francisco. We went to look for him and found him hopping to different roofs, living off peanut butter granola bars." A small smile came to my face.

"He loved those things." A matching smile formed on my dad's face.

"I know." After a few minutes, I scooted next to my dad and laid my head on his good shoulder.

Later that night…

My mom and fiancé were fixing dinner in the kitchen and from what I could tell, it was becoming very hectic. April had come down with a small cold and figured it wouldn't be the best idea for her to be touching everyone's food.

They struggled to find enough supplies to fix a variety of dishes for our family and I could see the frustration in Callie was she moved throughout the kitchen. Even though my mom has cooked with Callie many more times than I have, I knew Callie liked talking when she had a big crowd to prepare for.

I struggled as I made my way to the kitchen and looked around at all the different pots cooking at once.

It was awkward for me to move around in such a tiny space, between the island and oven, but I squeezed in behind Callie who was cutting veggies on the counter. I put my crutches aside and balanced myself on one leg, using the counter in front of Callie and me to keep steady.

I leaned my head over her shoulder and quietly talked towards her ear. "Hey pretty lady. You need some help with those?"

"No, I'm doing just fine."

I was a little taken back by the sudden rejection, but continued. "I can do something else if you want me to. I could…"

"I don't need any help Arizona." Her voice grew stern and I finally leaned back. We were still close as my hands gripped the counter to hold me up, my front pressed to her back.

I lifted one hand up and placed it on Callie's hip before slightly leaning in again. "You want to talk about the wedding? I hear Bailey makes these cool macaroni cupcakes and…"

"Arizona!" She finally turned around, causing me to lose my grip and tumble to the ground. The fall would have been worse if it wasn't for the huge handles on the lower cabinets where I caught myself. "Oh my gosh, I...here." Callie stumbled to find my crutches then leaned down to help lift me up.

"No, oh no, I can get it myself! Yeah, I can do just fine if you ask me!"

"Don't raise your voice…" Callie began but I wasn't about to let her finish.

"Oh, so it's okay for you to yell at me, but it's forbidden for me to feel any type of anger towards you!" I finally found my grip on the counter and lifted myself up to snatch my crutches from Callie's hands.

"Is that how you feel towards me?" Callie asked as if she was hurt.

"It seems that's how you feel about me. I'm sorry I broke my leg and it's hard for me to do everything for myself, but I'm trying to get around more. Don't worry, it won't be long before there will be no need of your assistance Miss Torres! And you don't want to talk about the wedding? Fine, you haven't for months so let's just call it off, huh?!"

My mom began to push me away because I was getting really close to Callie's face which by now, was covered in tears. "Arizona, that's enough. Go back to the living room."

"You see, that's how I feel all the time Callie. All the time! Do you even love me anymore?!" I could feel the volume in my voice reach it's peak.

My mom pushed me completely out of the kitchen. "Arizona, go outside. NOW!" Once my mom began to yell, I knew I needed to stop. As I slowly made my way to the backyard door, I could hear my mom comforting Callie. "I don't know what's gotten into her. Why don't you go freshen up while I finish some of this?" I turned around at the door to see Callie march upstairs crying the whole way up. What have I done?

Dinner was finished a couple hours later and all of our friends and family were gathered around two tables mom had put together to make one big table. A few of them had started small conversations by themselves with one or two other people, but other than that, it was pretty quiet. Everyone ate extremely slow as each minute pasted with awkward silence. After what seemed like a lifetime, Owen, Teddy, and my mom started more small talk.

"Mrs. Robbins, I have to say, this food is amazing." Owen offered.

Teddy followed, "Yes, we've become short on so many supplies; it's nice to have a nice dinner."

"Oh, it was nothing. Callie helped prepare it as well." My mom pointed her fork towards Callie who was sitting beside me.

Owen raised his brows. "Oh, well thank you both for this lovely meal."

"You're very welcome Mr. Hunt." My mom smiled and continued to eat her salad.

Everyone else at the table began to offer thanks and good jobs to them both.

"It was nothing." Callie mumbled under her breath. I could feel the cold from her reply and thought about how much my words must have hurt her earlier. Come to think of it, I noticed everyone else at the table helped me in some way and I've never thanked them. Have I really treated everyone close to me like crap?

"Um…" I started. Should I toast or not toast? Eh, what the hell. "Um, I would like to say a few words or make a toast or something?" Everyone stopped eating and turned their attention to me. "I would just like to say…" All of their eyes started at me and I could feel the pressure pushing down on me. I looked to my parents across the table, holding hands –dad's good one of course-and gathered enough confidence to speak up.

"I would like to say how grateful I am to have all of you here, each and every one of you. I was a total ass in the beginning…"

"Arizona." My mom warned me about my language.

"I was a total control freak at the beginning of all this. I thought I had all the answers and I never thought to ask what you guys wanted to do, but I think I've gotten better with that. First of all, I'm glad to have both of my parents here and as well as they can be along with my beautiful fiancé." Tears began to trickle out of my eyes and down my cheeks. "And I wish…I wish my brother were here to eat this awesome meal with us, and I wish Carlos and Stephanie were here as well. I know it was my idea to take them with us and I'm so, so sorry about what I've done." I was cut short by a gasp of air my body needed to keep me from drowning in my cries.

"I'm so sorry I've gotten them killed and so sorry for putting us in more trouble than needed. I want to say thank you to Callie and Aria for taking care of me when I was hurt, and thank Miranda and Teddy for the surgical stuff." I went down each table thanking each person for what they have done. "Mark and Lexie, you guys have adapted to our family so quick and there's no way I could see this group without you; Owen, man you have done so much for us I can't even name it all, but thank you for teaching me to fight and bringing my friends into that house when everything went to hell; Derek and Meredith, you guys have become the smart ones in the group and we always need your knowledge; Jackson, you know how much you've done for me and what it means to me; April, I hate you sometimes, but deep inside I love you and you're upbeat attitude for things; Alex, you have brought a sense of security and direction for our group which we barely had at the start; Jo, you're Callie's best friend and I feel like you helped us when we couldn't figure it out ourselves and you've kept Callie safe and sane while I was out running around."

I looked at everyone as I continued to cry. Jo snuck a hand behind me and began to pat my back as I wiped some tears away. I noticed I had forgotten another person at the table sitting in Aria's lap. A small smile formed on my face as I reached over the table to tickle Maria's belly. "And you Maria remind me of a beautiful butterfly who has come into our group to bring new life and light. Whenever I look at you, I smile and… I feel so happy."

The little girl was almost one. Or was she already one? Have I really been caught up with myself so much that I've forgotten about this precious little girl? A little giggle brought me out of my thoughts to make me realized I still had Maria's attention. "Hoppy?" Even if she missed the 'A' sound, everyone understood and it quickly became a beautiful moment.

"Yes Maria, you make me happy." I could hear Callie sniffle in her attempt to keep from shedding her own tears. "So, I'm sorry to you who I've hurt and treated like crap. I'm more thankful than you could ever imagine and I hope as our world starts to piece back together, we can forget about these harsh times and start fresh." I picked up my cup of water and held it in the middle of the two tables. "To a new beginning?"

Cups met in the middle followed many of us saying, "A new beginning!"

Conversation began to flow more easily as we moved through dinner and into dessert. Callie continued to avoid eye-contact or any contact for that manner with me. I surely thought after my public apology, she would have let off some, but I guess that wasn't her plan.

Muffled moans escaped everyone after the pies mom made were devoured into the mouths of our wonderful family. People began to leave one-by-one after they helped clean up, saying "goodbye" and "thank you" to my mom and Callie for their kind act. When the line at the door disappeared, I made my way to Callie and tried to lay a soft hand on her lower back. I was surprised when she arched her back so my hand would fall away from her then moved across the kitchen to continue cleaning.

"Callie…" I took a few steps closer to her.

She immediately turned around with a hand on her hip. "What Arizona?!"

I was so stunned by her response; all I could do was stuttered and look stupefied. "I uh…I just…"

She threw her dishrag to the ground, began to cry, and stormed up the stairs. Jo popped out from her place at the door where she was talking with my mom and jogged after Callie. I tried to follow her despite the fact I couldn't quite handle stairs yet.

Jo threw a hand in front of me. "Just…wait here okay?"

I wanted to go after Callie so bad but maybe it was best to let Jo talk to her first. After thirty minutes of waiting, I decided to sit at the bottom of the steps and wait for the verdict when Jo came back. An hour passed and I couldn't wait any longer, but no one was around to help me up so I fell asleep there, waiting.

"Arizona… Arizona." A slight stir of my shoulder woke me up from a somewhat light sleep. Jo squatted so we were face-to-face and began to whisper, as it was now nighttime according to the moon glistening through the living room door. "Arizona?"

"Yeah? Wait, what time is it?"

"It's pretty late. Listen, I talked to Callie and she's upset, but I think she just wants to sit down and talk with you."

I hopped up on my good foot and tried to make my way up the stairs when Jo interrupted my progress with an arm around my waist. "What are you doing? I'm going to talk to her."

"Not tonight, Arizona. Callie needs time to rest tonight; she fixed a huge dinner and was exhausted after such a big emotional speech…" Jo and I sat down on one of the lower stairs, her arm still around my back. "That speech was something else you know?" I just nodded and tried to think about how hard it would be to have a new beginning with Callie pissed at me. "I think that speech was badass and I wish Alex would do more things like that. You may not know this, but he's extremely lazy around the hotel. What you did was hot and brave and…all sorts of amazing. I know you probably had more to say, but it was really good Arizona."

I could tell she was trying to boost my self-esteem and it made me nauseous. What if Callie had said something terrible to Jo and this was her way of being nice before the C-4 explodes? That's what it would feel like if Callie left; an explosion from C-4 ripping into your back and knocking you out. "Is she leaving me?" I asked.

"What?"

"Callie, is she leaving me? She wants to break up doesn't she?"

"Wha… no Arizona. Callie just needs some time to rest and then you two need to talk. She loves you Robbins."

"Yeah, she might."

"I know she does because I just spent two hours listening to her talk about how much she loves you."

I took a moment to consider the fact Callie perhaps still loves me. "What would we do without you Jo?"

"Probably fight for longer than you guys need to and argue over nothing."

"Yeah…but you can't show up every time. What happens when we become distant like this again and you're not around? I don't want to depend on you to fix our relationship Jo."

"You don't and you won't depend on me every time to fix your relationship. You guys are still young and working things out for your future. Eventually you guys will know how to handle each other's crappy days and get through arguments, but it's never a bad thing to have a friend to evaluate the situation for a third opinion. I'm here when you need me Arizona."

"Thanks Jo."

"Thank you Arizona. You thanked everyone at dinner, but I think you forgot to thank yourself. You have provided a strong leadership and pride to the group when no one else could. Yeah, you took some risks, but it's because of your hard work that we're working for the President of the United States and living in a safe environment. And yeah, we've lost some, but you've saved so many more."

"Yeah, like who?"

"You're dad…"

"I didn't really save my…"

A finger covered my lips. "Hush. You saved your dad, your mom, Aria, Maria, Amarillo. You've done so much and I don't think you've given yourself enough credit."

"Right. So thanks I guess?"

"Anytime." I laid my head on Jo's shoulder and sighed loudly. "You need some help getting to the couch?"

"That would be nice. Thank you."

Jo helped me to the couch and left after I plopped down with my covers. It was harder to find sleep when I knew something was bothering Callie. I could wobble my way upstairs to get in bed with her but it would one; take forever and two; possibly make her angrier. Eventually- I'm not sure when- I found sleep wrapped up on the cold couch.

Sunday, January 25th

The aroma of hot coffee stirred me awake to the sun staring me right in the face. I tried to cover up my head but the sound of a cup being set on the table brought me out. Callie placed a cup of coffee in front of me then turned to go back upstairs with her own.

"Callie." She stopped before going up the stairs and looked back at me. "Can we sit down and talk?"

She didn't answer vocally but made her way to the couch and sat down beside me. I waited for her to start but she never did so I took that as a sign for me to start. "Callie, I'm…"

"Arizona, don't apologize."

"Then what do you want me to say?"

"I don't know."

I huffed loudly and tried to find a place to start without saying 'I'm sorry' in some form. "Callie, I know I hurt you yesterday and I haven't treated you right in the past month. And I know that going to Seattle without telling you was an asshole thing to do and you can't tell me not to say sorry because I am. I am so sorry for mistreating you Calliope Torres and I want things between us to be good again so we can get married and have a healthy, long-lasting relationship."

"I want a healthy relationship too, I just…" She couldn't look me in the eyes as her hands tightened around her cup.

"What, what do you want?"

"I want things back to the way they were at the hotel in Texas. We were so happy and if we did fight, it wasn't for long because you always made this grand gesture to make up for it. You were so much… sweeter in trying to make me happy. Where did that go?" She finally glanced down at me slouched against the couch's arm.

"I…I don't know where that person went, but things have happened and we've both changed, things have changed Callie. I may not be able to have full function in my foot again and that scares me, my whole life now involves running around and protecting others."

"Protecting others?"

"Wait, don't take that the wrong way."

"Well, where are you when I need you? You're off in Seattle on the other side of the country and I have absolutely no clue."

I leaned further down into my pile of blankets, feeling like nothing I would say could fix this right now. If I knew it would help I'd reach over and kiss her gently on the lips, but it wouldn't solve what's wrong. "I love you." I finally said.

"I know you do." She took a sip of coffee, sighed, and leaned against the opposite side of the couch.

I know Arizona's speech was a little long, but I felt it was important for her to have some sort of realization of her journey since I'm wrapping the story up. What did you think about the speech? Tell me what else you thought. I love seeing what you guys have to say!