Thanks for the reviews, guys. You're all awesome. Apologies for the delay in updating.
So, Suzanne has finally gone. Time to get their lives together.
I own nothing. All characters/storylines belong to Shonda. I'm simply 'borrowing' them.
I Will Be
Ten years. She definitely said ten years. Lay in her post-coital bliss, in a hotel room she had visited more than once, Callie silently tried to figure out exactly what her girlfriend was talking about. Ten years, what? Ten years before we move in together? Ten years and then we go our separate ways? What the hell does ten years mean? The brunette knew exactly what it meant. It meant that Suzanne couldn't bother her for ten years. What else could it mean? Not wanting to lower the mood even though she was desperate to hear the words come from the blonde's lips, she turned on her side and faced her girlfriend. "Hey, you."
"Hey, yourself." Arizona smiled. "You okay?"
"God, yes." A sigh fell from red lips. "You have a way of doing everything my body wants."
"Guess I just know you too well." Blue eyes threw a wink. "You know, I could spend my entire life here with you like this." The crisp white sheet draped around naked hips, Arizona drew circles on a caramel midsection. "Can we stay like this forever?"
"I'd love nothing more. Who would save your tiny humans, though?" Smiling, Callie ghosted her fingers up a pale arm before bringing her thumb to perfect pink lips. "I mean, I'm all for it, but we'd have to leave the room eventually."
"Mm, I guess you're right." The blonde sighed. "I just want to feel this way forever. Now that we are truly free, you are truly free, I want us to just be happy."
"She's really gone? What you said earlier, you weren't talking about something else?" Callie eyed her girlfriend intently. Looking for any signs that Arizona was bluffing, she found nothing.
"She's gone, Calliope. I promise." Dipping her head, Arizona placed a light kiss on red lips.
Rolling on top of the blonde, Callie deepened their kiss and gently bit down on the other woman's bottom lip. "Thank you." Her voice breaking, she closed her eyes and focused on the here and now. Her hand gently working its way down the gorgeous body beneath her, she slipped it between slick thighs and moaned. "Ready for round two?" Fingers running through soaked folds, she watched as Arizona arched up into her touch.
Lacing her fingers behind the brunette's neck, blue eyes stared deep into Callie's soul. "You feel that, Cal?"
Giving a slight nod and biting down on her own bottom lip, her girlfriend's arousal pooled between strong thighs and Callie smiled. "I do."
"You are the only person in the world who makes me feel like this. The only one who will ever do this to me." Pulling her girlfriend down into a kiss, Arizona gasped as two strong fingers slipped deep into her core. "Oh God."
Knowing exactly what the blonde meant, Callie gave her everything she had. She wanted Arizona to know that she believed her. She needed Arizona to feel that what had happened in that apartment wasn't going to come between them. It couldn't. Arizona had saved her once again, and right now, she wanted nothing more than to love her. Red lips grazing the shell of Arizona's ear, Callie lowered her tone. "You have no idea how good it feels to be inside you right now."
Bodies moulding into one, reconnecting on every possible level, Arizona let herself go. She let the past week's events disappear from her mind. She let Callie simply love her. Hips bucking into the strong thrusts, she wrapped her leg around her girlfriend's waist and pulled her body in impossibly closer. "Yes, Callie. Oh god."
"Open your eyes, baby," Callie whispered as she placed light kisses along the blonde's jaw line. "I want to see you."
Hearing the words fall from the most beautiful mouth she'd ever had on her body, Arizona felt herself nearing the edge. "Oh, don't stop. Yes!" Blue eyes focused on the woman thrusting hard above her, the blonde let out the sexiest moan Callie had ever heard.
Fuck! I swear she will be the death of me. "Come for me, Arizona." Thumb swiping over the bundle of nerves throbbing and desperate for release, Callie felt the body beneath her tighten around her fingers.
"Fuck! Callie… oh God. Shit! Yes, don't stop!" Toes curling, and her grip around the brunette's waist tightening, Arizona felt herself fall over the edge. The burn in the pit of her stomach not lessening, she continued to rock against the hand between her thighs and refused to lose the brunette's gaze. Biting down on her bottom lip, she groaned and rode out the last of her orgasm.
Placing a light kiss on the blonde's chin, followed by her nose, and finally her lips, Callie smiled into their kiss and lay her body down on top of the other woman. "You have no idea how hot you are."
"Oh, I have a pretty good idea." Dimples popped and as Arizona closed her eyes, she let out a hum. "That was amazing."
"Yeah?" Callie smiled.
"God, yes." Running her fingers through dark curls, Arizona brought her hand around and ran her thumb over the brunette's cheek. "I love you, Calliope. So much."
"Don't ever leave me," Callie stated as she rolled off of the blonde's spent body.
"What? No way. I'm going nowhere." Arizona responded. "I told you I wanted forever with you, and I meant it."
"We have to be together forever. It's too hard not to be around you. With you." Brown eyes softened. "I can't ever lose you, Arizona."
"Good thing you won't ever lose me then, huh?"
Settled in their super king-size bed, the couple felt the tiredness truly hit them. "Oh God, I think I'm in a food coma." Arizona flopped her body back into the plush mattress. "Help."
"I really can't." Callie groaned. "Is this what dying feels like?"
"Mm, I hope so." The blonde laughed. "I could so go this way. Full to bursting." Trying to hold back a laugh for fear of actually bursting, Arizona rolled onto her side and took in the vision beside her. Callie in nothing but a pair of boy shorts and an oversized tee big enough to fit around them both twice looked gorgeous. Yep, I could definitely go this way. Smiling, she traced her fingers up a naked thigh. "So?"
"So?" Callie turned her head and met her girlfriend's gaze.
"How do you feel about everything that's happened the past few days?"
"Honestly?" Callie raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, honestly. I want you to be truthful with me. I don't want us to have any issues that could come back to bite us on the ass." Arizona stated as she lay on her back.
"I honestly thought I was going to lose you. Mainly because none of this was what you signed up for. I mean, I know you told me you could handle yourself, and you've shown that more than once, but it still doesn't make any of this easier."
"How do you mean?" The blonde furrowed her brow.
"Well, it's one thing to actually say you would protect me, but to do it, more than once, I wasn't sure you could take any more. I know I couldn't. I mean, I was a total bitch to you with the whole Natalie thing, and you still stayed. You still supported me when I'd pretty much given you the option of leaving me for her. No one else would do that, Arizona. No one else would put up with that crap."
"Would you have put up with it? Roles reversed… would you have stayed?"
"Because it was you, yes. But anyone else and I'd have been out of that door so fast and never looked back." Callie spoke honestly. The truth in her words was palpable.
"Then that is the same for me. I knew from the minute we got to know each other that I never wanted to be with anyone else. Sure, we've had our ups and downs, and I know things will never be perfect, but I wasn't prepared to give up on us. I'd worked so hard to gain your trust, there was no way I was just going to walk away."
"Thank you for not walking away, and thank you for sticking by me when it turned to shit. I'd thought about walking away, you know?"
"You had?" Dropping her gaze, Arizona felt her emotions trying to get the better of her.
"Yeah. I didn't want you to hurt. I didn't want you to have to go through what I was going through. It wasn't fair to you. I know you are strong, Arizona, and that is one of the things I love about you, but don't ever think that you cannot crumble when you need to. Don't ever think that I need you to be the strongest version of yourself. It's not possible, and one day, you will break. I want to be there for you when that day comes." Noticing the tears in blue eyes, Callie gave her girlfriend a sad smile. "It's okay to let it all out when you need to."
"I just, I-I." Shrugging, Arizona was struggling right now. "I couldn't let you see me like that. I had to be strong. If you'd have seen me break down, what good would it have done? I'd promised you I'd look out for you, protect you, and the thought of not fulfilling that promise? It terrified me. How could I protect you if I was a mess? You'd have worried, and I couldn't have you worrying."
"And that is what makes you the most amazing woman in the world, Arizona."
"That night I went to her apartment? I could have killed her. I'd have taken great pleasure in doing so, but I knew you were at home, and I knew you needed me. Needed us." Arizona cried. "Knowing that I could have just inched that knife a little closer to where it would have done a lot of damage, I felt my body wanting to do it, but my mind and my heart deciding otherwise."
"You kept your cool," Callie stated.
"Mm, you could say that. She just, the things she said, they were horrible. She spoke about you like you were some prize. I knew she was doing it to get a reaction from me. I knew the second she held me against the wall with her own body that she was going to go through with whatever sick thoughts she had in her head, but I could react. Reacting would have meant losing everything. She'd already ruined your life, she wasn't about to ruin mine."
"She ruined part of my life, but you put me back together. You showed me what love was, Arizona. You showed me how a person should be treated."
"I never wanted her to do what she did. You know that, right?"
"I do."
"I'd never have let her go through with it, but in that moment I had to try and think. The only option I had was to hurt her or frighten her. So I went for the latter. The second that knife was grazing her skin, she pulled back. Well, she pulled back but once I'd dropped the knife, she hit me."
"I hate her. You can't imagine how much." Callie spoke through gritted teeth.
"Oh, I can. I've never actually hated anyone before, it's a strong word, but her? God, I can't even bear to think about her. She makes me so angry." The realisation that that woman was still interfering with their relationship, Arizona put her hand up between them both. "No more. It stops now."
"Okay." Callie gave a nod in agreement. "Time for her to rot."
"Definitely." Raising her glass of water, Arizona smiled before sipping. "So, you haven't spent much time with Mark."
"I know, I feel kinda shitty on him but more important things came up. I called him before you got home today and he said he was sticking around for a while. Said he had some people to catch up with." Smiling, Callie knew exactly what he meant.
"O…kay?" Furrowing her brow, Arizona tried to figure out her girlfriend's facial expression.
"Oh, sorry. I just, I know what Mark is like. When he says he has catching up to do, he usually means he is on the prowl." Brown eyes narrowing, the brunette shook her head. "Once you get to know him, you'll see what I mean."
"Awesome." The blonde gave a forced smile. She wasn't sure about this Mark guy. She didn't know if she would like him, or even if she would trust him, but she trusted Callie, and right now, if Mark being in town made her happy, then she was happy for her. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little wary around him, but she had been raised not to judge people before getting to know them, and that is exactly how she would continue to live her life.
"You're thinking." Breaking the blonde out of her thoughts, Callie eyed her intently.
"No, I was just…I don't know. I'm just happy…for you."
"For me? Not for us?" The brunette furrowed her brow.
"Of course I'm happy for us, Calliope. I'm just happy that your life is beginning to return to normal. If that means having Mark here as well, then sure, I'm cool with it."
"You don't have anything to worry about, you know?"
"I know." Pink lips curled into a smile. "I've already warned him."
"Y-You have?"
"Yeah. First time I met him." Pale shoulders shrugged. Not wanting to make too much of the situation, Arizona tried to be as casual as possible. I'll spend some time with the guy. Get a feel for him. Take it from there.
"That's my girl." Brown eyes threw the blonde a wink. "So, maybe a movie? Fancy it?"
"Movie sounds perfect."
Settled and comfortable, the couple had gone through two movies, three make out session, one of them getting a little heated, and now, they lay simply looking into each other's eyes. Facing each other, Arizona took in the sight beside her. God, I love her so much. "You know, I could spend my life just staring at you."
"Yeah?" Callie smiled. "You ain't so bad on the eye either."
"No, I mean it." Arizona states. "You are just, I can't even describe it, Calliope."
"I've sometimes wondered how we actually come to meet. I mean, I know it was at the hospital, and I know it was when you helped me, but is that how it is for everyone? Like, is that how people usually fall in love?"
"I don't think so." Arizona smiled. "I think we were just destined to meet."
"Do you really believe in all of that?" Callie gave her girlfriend a funny look. "Seriously?"
"Of course. Don't you?" Furrowing her brow, Arizona gave the brunette a hard stare.
"I don't know."
"Well, that's what I think. I knew from the moment I met you that I was attracted to you. I knew I had to get to know you. The first thing that caught my attention? Your eyes. They just, there was something about them. I'd never seen eyes like it before."
"You just know all of the right things to say, don't you?"
"No, Calliope. I just tell the truth." Smiling, Arizona turned and lay on her back. Thinking hard, Callie noticed immediately.
"What's up?"
"Oh nothing." The blonde shrugged. "Just thinking."
"About?" Raising an eyebrow, Callie refused to let her girlfriend think too hard. This was their down time. Something they hadn't had in a while.
"Us."
"And is that good thinking or bad thinking?" Callie pushed.
"Good. I just, I don't know where we go from here. I mean, I'm happy, like, beyond happy, but I like to know where my future is headed. I know you are in it. I know you are the only one for me, but what's next, Calliope?"
"What would you like next?" Her stomach somersaulting, the brunette had been thinking herself lately. Just, when she was alone.
"I don't know. I mean, are we going to buy a house? I've been looking and I've seen a few things I like but then everything happened and it kinda went to the back of my mind."
"I'd love to buy a house with you. When we get home, we will concentrate on looking for a house, yeah?"
"I'd love that." The blonde smiled. "I'd really love that."
"Great. I think it's time that we concentrated on ourselves. Our relationship. Don't you?"
"I do." Arizona agreed. "I just, I feel like something is missing. I don't know what, but I just know that I want everything with you. I know I've said it before, but I don't want you to forget that. We have to be happy, Cal. Your happiness is all that matters to me."
"I know." The brunette gave a nod in agreement. "Don't ever think that I don't want everything with you too. I totally do."
"I'm so happy that we can finally just relax and live our lives how we want. No looking over our shoulders. No wondering where each other is at. Just, living and being happy."
"Arizona?" Callie narrowed her eyes.
"Mm?" Blue eyes closing, Arizona was in pure heaven. She was alone in a beautiful hotel with a beautiful woman. How could she possibly feel like something was missing? She had everything she needed right here in this room.
"Marry me."
Blue eyes shooting open, the blonde turned and looked at her girlfriend. Did she just? "Sorry, what?"
"Marry me." Callie smiled. "I don't need much in my life, Arizona, but I know that I need you. I need to be able to call you my own. Officially. I need to know that we are bound together, and if that means via a piece of paper, then so be it. Just, marry me?"
Thanks for reading, guys. I look forward to reading your reviews.