. I hope you have that love you crave for, which I never had. All the best, girl. And welcome

"Would you rise up, come and meet me in the sky?

Would you trust me when you're jumping from the heights?

Would you fall in the name of love?"

Chapter 20

"Dad."

"Calliope, you need to come home. Your mom is very sick, she is in the ICU." Dad just blurts out.

"Dad? She is alive, right? Don't tell me a lie." The next thing I ask in a mechanic tone. My mom is everything to me, I don't think I can take that shock if anything happens to her.

"Calliope, just come home. She is still breathing but I want her to meet you..." Dad replies emotionless. I know how my parents are close to each other. My dad is not very good at expressing emotions. He always will be the big spoon, if anything goes wrong.

"What has happened?" I ask in a shaky voice. I talked with her last week only. She promised me to let me know about her health.

"She had a heart attack… last night. Calliope, please just come here. She needs you." I can feel how my dad's voice is waving out of sentiments.

By this time, Arizona has held my hand, "when do you want to catch the flight?" I somehow look at her, "as soon as possible."

"Okay, we can book it right now." She opens the laptop and starts looking for flights. I am feeling so numb at the moment that I even do not know what she is doing. "Callie, would you like to call Eliza and inform her about this? The university needs to know if you are leaving." Out of all these too, I notice how suddenly she has grown up and taken things in her hands.

"Yes, I need to talk to her." I have finished my part and other stuff could be done over emails too. Moreover, I have Arizona who has been an efficient TA so far. So, I think, I'm good to go. Once I come back after my talk with Eliza and faculty office, Arizona informs me that there is only one flight today which will leave after 4 hours and there are no seats in the next two days' flights. "what do you want to do? Can you make it?". She asks concerned.

"Book it. I probably need your help to make it."

"Don't worry…you will reach airport on time."

I'm already late- I start worrying if I'm able to catch the flight anymore. I had to go write last couple of emails, then went to the apartment for packing my baggage. Arizona was a big help. I gave her the key and requested her to mail my remaining stuff to my address in Canada.

Once I'm at the airport, I quickly load my luggage into the cart to take them to the check in section. "Arizona, I don't have that much of time. You stand here for a while, I will check in first." I'm little panicked seeing the long check in queue. I see on the screen that they have started the boarding. Shit!

"You good?" Arizona asks in concern after I come back to her after a while.

"I need to go in…they are boarding." I shift my legs clumsily not knowing what to say. Am I going to meet her again? We have ended so badly and now that my mom is sick, I really cannot think anything normally. But, I need to say something to her, "take care Arizona and thanks for this last moment help." I say this genuinely.

"You are welcome."

"This is your last semester. Have you thought anything further?"

She just nods her head in negative avoiding any verbal answer.

"Okay…just relax for few days and then you may decide." I pause hoping she would say something, however, she keeps mum and avoids to make any eye contact with me. I'm getting late and I need to go right away, before I start begging her to say something before I leave this place forever. "Okay…bye then." I wish I could hug her for one last time. Instead, I turn to the security gates.

"I could not tell you." Arizona yells from my back.

"What?" I stop and turn towards her.

"I could not tell you about my feelings." Arizona takes few steps towards my direction. "At the airport, I wanted to tell you, how much I had started liking you."

"But, you never contacted me afterwards."

"…I could not control my heart to fall for an adult kid… in those few days in Canada, every single time you were near to me or looked at me, every single time I had goosebumps."

"You had enough opportunity to tell me. You knew, Arizona…where I worked."

"I didn't know how to tell you. What could I tell you then? I was practically a kid. You told me that... the way you pampered me, except Neesha nobody has ever done that to me. Everyone disliked me for my awkwardness, but you liked that too… " Arizona comes a little forward.

"…why are you telling all these to me now? I look at the watch- I don't have that much of time. Moreover, my mind is occupied with my mom's health now.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry for everything… sorry for hurting you so much." I see the sincerity in her blue eyes- those eyes- they will be always locked in my heart. I need to know more- I need to hear more.

"That's all?" I ask vulnerably and she again looks down not saying anything.

"Arizona," I take a step towards her and hold her shoulder, "no hard feelings. At least, this time, I will not have any expectation." I stop as the last call for boarding is being announced. I am already late. I quickly grab my carry over bag, "just be happy in life. We may not meet again, but I…okay… I need to go." I finally give her a hug, inhale her shampoo for one last time and turn to walk away quickly before I break into tears. This is a déjà vu - as if same scene is being played, only difference is, this time, instead of Arizona I am leaving. But, this time, I'm more heart broken, more wounded and more ruined. Knowing that I could have a life with her- I'm leaving her for forever.

"Callie?" Arizona suddenly hugs me from back. Her sudden force on my back makes me stumble a step in the front. Amid of a busy airport, she is hugging me from back. I can feel her cheek is plastered on my back and both her hands are locked on my stomach, then she says that. Arizona whispers on my ear, "I love you," separating each of the words., stressing each of the letter, she says it again, "I. Love. You… you are the only person, I have always loved."

"Hah?" I am dumbfounded now. As I try to turn, she holds me tightly, "if you turn, I will not be able to say what I want to say." This time, my name along with other two names are being called as the aircraft is about to leave- few more minutes.

"Arizona!" I sound like a cry not knowing what I could do now.

"Callie, I never thought that somebody could tolerate me- the way I am. I was always afraid of attachments, I still am. But, I want all of them with you- all of my life with you." Arizona holds me tighter this time. But she continues her rambling, "you told me that how incompatible we are… but I would like to spend my life making us compatible for each other…with each other" then she slowly releases me, "I am letting you go with a hope that you are mine, you will be mine."

As I try to turn, abruptly a crew member asks, "are you Ms. Torres?" He grabs my ticket and snaps, "are you deaf? They are leaving." Saying this he almost pushes me to pass the security gate. Over my shoulder, I only have one glance to Arizona's face before I pass the security gate like a walking machine. I do not know what has just happened.

As the aircraft starts, all I could realize that Arizona has expressed her love to me. She wants to be with me. And here I am flying back to home without even telling her that I too want the same.