Chapter 11 - When it rains, it pours

Arizona sat in her apartment, gazing out of the large window across from her over-stuffed, plushy couch. It was always her favorite spot; the couch had set her back nearly $1200, but it was worth every penny. She hugged her glass of tea closer as she sank farther back into the cushions and watched as a slow drizzle started to pelt against the glass in increasing frequency. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there like that, but she suddenly began to realize that it was raining inside, too. Which was odd, considering she didn't have a top floor apartment. But still, drop after drop fell onto her lap. She looked up at the ceiling; nope, no rain. Where was it coming from? She looked all around her, taking in the appearance of her living room. The light had shifted. She took a sip of tea; it was cold. How long had she been sitting here? Finally, her surroundings started to come into focus and she took a deep breath. It felt like she had finally cut through the surface of the water, gulping in air after being held under for too long. She set the cold cup of tea on her mahogany coffee table, another expensive but totally worth it piece of furniture. She leaned back and wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly very cold. She wiped her face without thinking about it, nearly jumping in surprise when she felt tears coating her cheeks. She was crying? Well, that made a lot more sense than it raining inside. A loud crash of thunder startled her and she shrieked as she jumped so high she almost fell off of the couch. She drew her legs in and clasped her eyes shut. She had finally started to calm down... breathe, Arizona, breathe...

Callie climbed the steps up to Arizona's apartment a little too quickly; a fact she only realized when she was standing in front of her door out of breath and panting like she had just ran a marathon. Man, I gotta start working out again... She knocked once, twice, three times without a response. "Arizona?" she asked as she knocked one more time.

Arizona had been jolted into hysterics at the sudden knocking on her door. It had taken her a few minutes to realize she had completely forgotten about her date with Callie. She silently berated herself. How could she forget something she had looked forward to for so, so long? She wiped her face off and jumped off the couch. She hardly looked presentable. Crap. "Coming!"

Callie sighed in relief at the sound of Arizona's voice, although it sounded a bit off. She must just be nervous. Callie's smile grew as she waited anxiously to see what Arizona was wearing; she hadn't been able to stop thinking about all the different dresses she had seen Arizona in over the years and guessing which she would pick for tonight. She secretly hoped she had gone out and bought a new dress, a dress just for her, but she knew she would have the best looking date of the evening no matter what. When Arizona's door opened, however, the sight in front of her was far from the images that had been flooding her mind.

Arizona stood in front her, somehow shorter than Callie had ever seen her, almost as if she were crumpled in on herself. Her eyes were red and swollen, dried tears crusting the corners. Her smile faded as she took in the grey wrinkled shirt and yoga pants, showing the lack of preparation her girlfriend had done for their date. "Arizona?" Callie asked, weakly.

Arizona blushed as she took in the sexy woman in front of her, dressed in a perfectly form fitting black dress and red heels that made her legs impossibly longer. There was a simple bouquet of white roses in her hand, with a single red rose in the very center. "They're beautiful," she said with a sniffle.

Callie looked to the flowers, suddenly remembering she was holding them. "Oh, yeah, they're for you," she rushed as she held the flowers out towards Arizona.

Arizona gave a weak chuckle as she took them. "Thank you."

An awkward silence loomed, ready to settle, but Callie refused to allow it. "Arizona, what's wrong?"

Arizona looked up, a distant searching in her eyes. "Hm?"

"What's wrong?" Callie tried again.

"Oh..." Arizona looked down and at herself. The thoughts that had taken over her mind threatened to rush back in, but she had rushed to build the wall back up, and although it was poorly constructed, it was there. She refused to let it get knocked down now. "You look beautiful," she said with a small grin.

A ghost of a smile flashed across Callie's face before she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Do you need a few minutes to get ready or do you want to stay home?"

Arizona looked around her apartment and then closed her eyes and raised her head to the ceiling. She took a deep breath and she tried to clear her mind. Get in the game, Robbins. Come on, you can do it. She repeated those words over and over, trying to convince herself she was ready to do something besides cry but every time she repeated you can do it, everything about her screamed back NO.

Callie cleared her throat. She watched as emotion after emotion flew across Arizona's face. Several times, she wanted to reach out and bring the blonde into her arms, but she knew there was something else going on in that beautiful brain of her's, and she needed to let Arizona work through them.

"I..." Arizona began before a sob cut her off. She took a deep breath, pushing the sob back down her throat. She opened her eyes and looked to Callie for support. She got it. "I would really like to stay home." Callie's face immediately fell. "Callie, I'm sorry."

Callie bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Right. Well, are you at least going to tell me what's wrong?"

Arizona winced. She couldn't get the words to form in her mouth, the best she could do was shake her head from side to side.

Callie nodded and put her purse down on the couch and paused. Arizona looked like she was about to break down into tears and she just couldn't stand it anymore. She opened her arms. "Come here," she whispered.

Arizona hesitated and wrapped her arms tighter against her center.

"Fine, I'll come to you," Callie closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around Arizona. The blonde was frozen in her arms for a long time, too long, Callie noted. She adjusted, holding her tighter and ran her hand along Arizona's back. Still, the blonde didn't move. "Arizona," Callie whispered in her ear.

Callie's breath was warm on her neck and suddenly, it was too much. She jolted back and out of Callie's embrace.

Arizona had gone pale, a new emotion in her eyes that Callie had never seen, but instantly recognized. Fear.

"Arizona," Callie said, a bit stronger. "What's wrong?"

Arizona opened her mouth to answer, but again, the words wouldn't come out. Her eyes silently begged Callie to fix everything, to put the pieces of herself that had shattered through the day back together.

Callie couldn't handle it; her eyes held a fear she had never seen before, and yet she was begging for help, but she didn't know how. She reached out and took ahold of Arizona's hand. Arizona gripped onto her for dear life as Callie slowly led them towards her bedroom.

Callie continued to gently run her fingers through blonde curls and smiled contently at the soft snoring echoing through Arizona's bedroom. It had taken some coaxing, but she had convinced Arizona to take a warm shower, change into pajamas, and drink some hot tea. Callie had changed into some shorts and a t-shirt that she had just happened to leave during one of their sleepovers and sat waiting on her bed. When Arizona finally emerged, she fluffed open the covers on her bed and invited her to sit next to her, an invitation Arizona gladly accepted. She had instantly curled onto her lap and started crying. Callie still didn't know why, but she had calmed her down enough to finally fall asleep, and for that, she was very proud. Arizona suddenly whimpered and tensed, immediately tightening her grip on Callie's shirt and curling in closer.

Oh, Arizona... Callie thought, what happened to you?