At School The Next Week
"A little birdy told me someone went on a date." came a cheerful Addison next to Callie.
"Would I be right in assuming this birdy is my sister?"
"Tell me how it was." Addison begged, she didn't get many of these conversations where she got Callie to talk about a date. Callie stopped in her tracks and turned to Addison with a dreamy smile. "It was great, she is great. We're going on another one tomorrow."
"No way! You are smitten."
She quickened her pace to get away, Addison hot on her tale. "I have to get to a class."
"Aw, that's so cute." she knew that she wouldn't get a verbal admission. Callie didn't voice her feelings a lot, but she had a way of expressing them without words.
"I am going to kill Aria."
Addison laughed. "Alright, I'll stop talking about the date. So are you guys eating lunch together today? Maybe I will join you." Now she was just winding her up.
"Goodbye Addison." Callie grunted before entering the gym.
"You never told me how your date went on Saturday."
"It was great." Arizona smiled at the flashbacks.
"So are we going on a second date?" Teddy's excitement for her radiated through the phone.
"Callie and I are going on another date this Friday." She's been looking forward to it the entire week.
"Good. What did you guys do on Saturday?" Arizona knew Teddy was more interested in hearing the after-date details.
"She took us to this place she likes to go to sometimes. It was fun, we talked and there's something about her that just... draws me you know? After the date she paid and drove me home. Then left."
"When she left, was the sun rising or setting?"
"Teddy!" Arizona squeaked out.
Teddy laughed at the horror in Arizona's voice. "I was only kidding, but I found your reaction rather funny."
"I noticed." She replied with an eye roll.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Teddy said sincerely. "Was there at least a goodbye kiss to end the night?"
"I gave her a kiss on the cheek." Arizona smiled remembering the blush Callie tried to hide when she got it.
"I can hear your smile through the phone."
"Shut up." Arizona said playfully. "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later." she ended the call as she walked into the classroom.
"Most people would get the hint that the machine probably just didn't like them after it steals there money three times in two weeks." Arizona said amused. She was about to go looking for her lunch partner.
Callie gazed up from the money slot she was looking at bewildered when it took her money but didn't give the snack. "I probably should have gotten it a while ago." she said with a smile seeing the blonde.
"You can pick a snack from my office drawer before we go to the lunch room if you want." Arizona offered.
"The lunch room is just right there, I'll get our lunch bags and we'll just eat in the office since it's upstairs. Then you wont have to come all the way back down here." Callie suggested getting ready to head in the direction for their lunch.
"Ok, then I'll head up and you just meet me there."
"You have enough snacks in here to open a little shop. Why are there so many snacks?" Arizona had presented Callie with a wide selection.
"I give my classes rewards for good behavior sometimes."
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, I might start doing that. I think I need a snack drawer for myself." Callie said taking a bite of one of her animal crackers and reclining in the chair.
"Yeah, the vending machine doesn't seem too keen of you."
"It's definitely stolen more money that snacks it has given. I don't think there is a time where I ever actually got the snack I wanted." Upon reflection she realized.
"Yet you keep giving it your money, very interesting to see how your brain works." Arizona said teasingly.
Callie tried to glare at her but couldn't help but crack a smile. "Apparently it's Callie tradition to forget my snack at home."
"Usually, not liking your money being stolen would motivate a person to remember to walk with their own snack."
"I get an earful from my sister everytime I forget it, which should be enough but for some reason I stll always forget."
Last week
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Aria asked looking up from the breakfast she was putting together when she saw Callie walking out of her room.
"Much better. How come you're still here?" she said taking a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island. Aria would usually have left for work by now.
"I have the day off." she shrugged. "And I'm making sure my sister actually remembers her food today." Aria is packing Callie's lunch and continues."You know Cal, I keep telling you that if you keep the things on the stove until you leave you're gonna keep forgetting them. Put them on the counter next to the bag so that when you pick it up you see you're lunch is there too."
Thank you for the tip." she gave a tight smile.
"I'm just saying. I am a great sister." Aria said proudly.
"Humble too." came Callie's sarcastic quip.
"Hey! I made you lunch, thank me."
"You are so annoying." she feigned annoyance.
"Come on Cal, you know you love me." Aria said with a wide grin.
She got an eye roll as Callie got up to start dressing.
Aria knew she wouldn't say it out loud, but the love was there.
"You're sister sounds like fun to be around."
"Most of the time she is. You can meet her some time."
"I'd like that." Arizona was happy Callie wanted her to meet her sister.
They started clearing the desk of their left over food when the bell rang.
"Before I forget, would you prefer for me to pick you up tomorrow for our date or you drive over to my house then we use one car from there? Where I'm taking you isn't that far from my place. Or we could use my car after school and I take you to my house and we change there and head off. Unless you're uncomfortable with the idea of being in my house, because if you are, I'd be okay with just picking you up. If you wanted to you could even meet me at the spot if that makes you more comfortable." Arizona had been questioning if the date would seem thoughtful enough in her mind already for a while before her ramble.
"How are you not out of breath?" Callie joked. "I would've been fine with any of those options, but I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so it would be easier if I drove to your house and we take your car from there. I'm not exactlysureyet what time I'll be done."
"The place doesn't need reservations so what ever time you're ready could work. Is something wrong or is it just a normal check up?" Arizona asked just a bit concerned.
"Nothing too out of the ordinary." Callie answered as nonchalantly as possible.
"Okay. Just message me when you have more of an idea on time." Arizona left giving Callie a kiss on the cheek. It was their small way of showing affection.
Friday Evening
"Can I at least get a hint?" the drive was only ten minutes but Callie spent it trying to peek under the cloth on her eyes.
"No! Relax and stop peeking, I just have to park then I can kill your suspense." Arizona giggled.
"Well hurry!" Callie said excitedly.
"Alright, I'll take off now." she leaned over a little unraveling the back. She got to have a short moment to take in Callie's scent.
Her eyes widened at the scenery she was taking in, "Wow! Where is this place?" she asked in awe.
There was a breathtaking view ahead of them showcasing the sunset, the lights around Seattle beginning to come on only amplified the beauty.
"When I was younger I came here a lot during summer. I can't tell you how many times I nearly gave my mom a heart attack when I was up here and she couldn't find me. Sometimes asleep and when I woke up I had to race home." Arizona recalled.
"I could imagine. It was a safe space for you." Callie said in understanding, still looking ahead.
"I wasn't sure you were into the whole "scenic-date" thing."
"Are you kidding? This is beautiful, I love it." They looked into one another's eyes.
Arizona turned to look into the back seat. "I got us some food from home. You usually get salad for lunch so I figured you'd want that, and some juice. The bag next to you has your favorite snacks." when she looked up she was met by a touched Callie with a soft look in her eyes.
"You pay that much attention to me?"
"Yeah." Arizona said casually, going back to rummaging through the bags. "Why wouldn't I?" she couldn't see a reason why Callie would think she wouldn't pay attention.
It was small but it warmed Callie's heart.
When they settled in their seats and started eating Callie asked a question. "Your parents, what are they like?"
"Hm... I don't know where to start."
"Where are they from, what's their relationship like, what kind of stuff did you get in for doing when you were younger."
"My mom and dad are from Georgia, high school sweethearts. I think my mom reminds my dad to have smile, he can come off a little too serious sometimes so I think my mom kinda levels him out. I actually wasn't that much of a trouble maker, that was more up Tim's ally. When I got in trouble, most of the time it was because I wasn't paying attention and my nose was in a book so I accidentally hit something. Or like I said, I'd be up here for way longer than I should and my mom just gave me a look that told me go to my room and don't vote down till dinner."
Callie laughed, "I've seen that look a handful of times from my aunt. So your love for books influenced being and English teacher?"
"In a sense. I like kids and I wanted to show them where their interest for books can grow like mine did when I was their age. I guess I some ways it's what you try to do with your PE classes."
"Are you any good at writing or are you solely into reading author's work?"
"Honestly, I wanted to before I decided on teaching but I guess I didn't have enough faith in my abilities. I couldn't see myself making it that far. I wrote a little in high school, no one ever read the stories besides me though. Now that I'm teaching I can say I wouldn't give it up for the world." Arizona reflected and smiled when she thought of the relationships she was able to grow with students and colleagues because of teaching.
"I wanna hear one of your stories some time, I could imagine they are great."
"I'll consider it. I think sometimes you need passion for the things you're good at past just being good at it. I feel like there would be more pressure coming from the fact that I'm writing for other people to see and critique me as an author instead of just writing for the sake of it, so maybe it worked out for me. At some point I might've probably got frustrated by that. Does that make sense?" she was trying to reason.
"But why not think of it as you writing for the sake of it? The ones who like it will stay, the ones who don't will leave. Sure there will always be people spouting some type of negativity because they can, but think of it the same way you think of what other authors do. You told me each story is representation of the thought process of another person, you also have a way you process things, let that be your guide." Callie just exposed another part of how brilliant she was to Arizona. She complimented Arizona's own attributes so well.
"That's a way to look at it. I didn't give myself that chance, much of my talent never got past my self-critiqing." Arizona thought her writing wasn't up to the standards of the authors she grew up reading.
"Just give yourself a chance, don't overthink anything." They were lost in one another's eyes again, seeing into the other's soul.
"You are so..." she blew out a puff of air. "I don't know how to describe you in a way that says everything about Calliope Torres."
"I have a couple for Arizona Robbins." she took her hands. "Cultivating, Mind-bogglingly amazing, Beautiful, Breathtakingly stunning human being."
Arizona had tears in her eyes but gave a laugh. "Mind-bogglingly?"
"Yes, only to describe you." Callie gave a smile.
"I probably should pay you for this therapy session." Arizona laughed again.
"Cash only." Callie played.
"Tell me about your aunt."
"My aunt is one of the kindest human beings I've ever encountered in life. She pushed me a lot when I wouldn't have budged. Me and Aria started living with her when I was three." Callie took a deep breath. "My mom dressed us one morning and we went there. My dad was never a stable paet of her life, it was more of a "mess around every now and then" type thing. Sometimes I wonder why she'd have two kids, keep them for a couple years, then pass them off. You would think she would have had some type of an attachment." Arizona was listening intently. Somewhere along, her fingers found themselves entangled in Callie's, in support. "But yeah, our aunt took us in, she gave love and support and I gave her every reason to yell, but she never did, she was so patient with us. Some nights I was up till late doing homework, she helped make sure it got done before I went to bed. In my teen years when the world felt like it was crumbling under my feet, she comforted me. I'm really fortunate to have her, Aria too."
Callie's jaw clenched as she swallowed, that was the first time she shared that without it being dragged out of her. Callie repositioned herself so that her elbows were on her knees and she was crouched forward a little just looking at the dashboard. She still had trouble sometimes with convincing herself that it wasn't her fault that her mom thought she couldn't take care of the two of them. Two was a lot. Especially when you didn't have intentions for any, and she was the youngest so in her mind when she was born that was too much added to the load.
"Callie." She bent forward toward her. "It's okay." Arizona put a comforting hand on her back. Callie was breathing heavily, fighting to keep herself from crying. "Nothing is wrong with crying. Stop fighting it." Arizona rubbed her back trying to sooth her.
Soft hiccups and sniffles were heard, Callie let the tears fall.
Arizona engulfed her, running a hand through the head of hair laying on her chest. "See? It's okay."
They were like that for a while until Callie spoke. "I guess I owe you some money now." she sat up and looked at Arizona with wet eyes still sparkling.
Arizona laughed and sat up too. "Have you talked since you were with your aunt?"
"She called for one of my birthdays a long time ago. Aria has more of a memory."
"Does your aunt speak to her?"
"Not really anymore, she said that she asked about us sometimes, but I don't know."
Looking up the stars decorated the sky. "It's so beautiful up there at night." Arizona said.
"You could get lost looking at it."
"Yeah."
"My sister's birthday is coming up, she's going to a bar nearby. Could you come?" Callie asked cutting into their comfortable silence.
"Sure, when is it?"
"Week after next on Wednesday."
"I'll save the date in my calendar." Arizona said.
"Okay." Callie smiled.
"Text me when you get home." They were back at Arizona's in the parking lot.
"I will."
"Alright Calliope, drive safe."
"You get in safe. I'll see you." she said starting the car and driving off.
Both of them had the same dopey grin everytime they left one another.
*Author's note*
How was it?