St. Patrick's Day
"Callie!" Arizona called from the doorway of their apartment. "If you don't hurry up, we'll be late!" It was a Friday night, and the couple had been home from work for about two hours. They had plans to meet some friends at Joe's bar for a St. Patrick's Day party, and the blonde wanted to be on time since the couple was still getting teased about missing out on the Valentine's Day party.
"Geez, Arizona, I'm coming!" came a reply from the bathroom. About another five minutes passed while Arizona impatiently waited at the door, wishing Callie would come out of the bathroom so they could leave.
"I will literally leave without you, Callie," the blonde said as she checked the time on her watch for the tenth time in the last five minutes. By some miracle, she heard the bathroom light switch flick off and listened as footsteps made their way down the hall. The brunette appeared from the dark hallway, all huffy and pissed off.
"Arizona, I said I was coming!" the Latina said with a snap in her voice to let the shorter woman know she meant business. Arizona had opened her mouth to reply, but when she heard the tone that came out with Callie's reply, she snapped her mouth closed and grabbed the door handle, twisting it and opening the door to the hallway.
"Arizona-" Callie started, wanting to apologize, but by the time she got to the door, the blonde was already halfway down the hallway. The walk to the bar was silent. Neither one wanted to say a word. One too pissed off and the other feeling guilty. When the couple reached the bar, Arizona plastered a fake smile on her face and went inside to greet their friends. Callie felt awful because she knew that Arizona wouldn't enjoy the night. Instead, the blonde would be caught up in her feelings about their little argument at the apartment.
"Robbins! Torres!" came a rough voice from the other side of the bar. The voice belonged to Mark Sloan, who happened to be at a table, holding a beer. Arizona made her way over to the table and greeted Mark with a hug.
"Hey!" the blonde said, trying to sound like her usual bubbly self. She wasn't about to let her feelings about the argument with Callie ruin the night. "How are you? How was work?" Arizona asked. Even though they worked in the same hospital, Mark and Arizona didn't see each other often due to their specialties. Mark was the head of the plastics department, and Arizona's cases didn't need Mark's consultation very often. Plus, the two had their own hefty workloads, the same as most of the attendings.
"I've been good! Work was great. I gave a woman better boobs; I saved a man's face, you know, the usual work of a plastics god." Mark replied cockily. One thing about Mark was that he definitely had an ego. Well, actually, two things. The second thing was that he had slept with almost every woman that worked in the hospital, including Callie. Arizona thanked the sun and the moon that she was a lesbian because she gagged at the thought of ever sleeping with Mark. She loved the man, but it would never extend beyond that. It didn't prevent him from making the occasional pass at her, though.
Speaking of Callie, the blonde looked around the bar for her girlfriend. She figured that the Latina would have made her way over here by now, but when Arizona finally saw her, she noticed that Callie had sat down at a table with Grey, Yang, Derek, and Karev. The blonde's jaw clenched as she turned back towards Mark. If Callie wanted to play things that way, Arizona would too.
"What's with Torres?" Mark questioned, noticing how Arizona's eyes had hardened, and her posture had changed. The man knew her well enough to know this was her 'my girlfriend pissed me off' look, and he figured it had to do with Callie sitting at a different table than them.
"Nothing," the blonde snapped, letting Mark know that she didn't care to talk about it.
"Okay then, well, let's get you a drink," the man said as he left the table for a few minutes to get her a beer. When he returned, Mark had two beers and a few tequila shots. "This will make you feel better," he said as he handed Arizona a shot. Arizona downed the shot and followed it with a big swig of her beer. Her only plan for tonight was to get wasted and have a good time.
After six shots and three beers, Arizona looked around the bar to find Callie again. With the alcohol coursing through her body, she felt terrible about not talking to the brunette about their argument. The argument was silly, and she just wanted to apologize and spend the rest of the night having fun with her girlfriend. When the blonde finally located the Latina, her body language changed instantly.
Right across the bar from her, there was Callie and some random chick she didn't even know, sitting at a table together. It looked like they were talking, but as Arizona watched, the mystery woman laughed and touched Callie's arm like the brunette had just said the funniest thing in the world. Arizona felt the rage flood her body, and before Mark realized what happened, the blonde angrily stomped her way over to her girlfriend and the mystery woman.
"Calliope Torres!" Arizona said in a stern voice, like a parent scolding a child. "What do you think you are doing?" the blonde asked accusingly as she approached the table. Callie, who was undoubtedly drunk, smiled at her girlfriend.
"We were just talking, Arizona," the brunette replied. She didn't think she was doing anything wrong and hadn't even registered that the other woman had touched her arm.
"Bullshit!" Arizona growled. At this point, the other woman had left the couple alone because she didn't want to be caught in the middle of whatever was brewing. "You were flirting with her!" the blonde huffed out. Her cheeks were already flushed from the alcohol, but now mixed with rage, her entire face turned red.
"Arizona, I would never-" the Latina started to reply, but she was cut off by Arizona, who raised a hand, letting Callie know she was done speaking about it.
"Don't," the blonde said, her voice laced with hurt. She couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the argument from earlier, but something had pushed her to the edge, and this was the last straw. As her eyes began to fill with tears, Arizona made her way back over to the table that she shared with Mark.
"Everything okay?" Mark asked. Of course, he knew the answer. The whole bar did because that heated discussion wasn't the world's most private thing. Arizona nodded in response and wiped her eyes, trying to hide the tears as she sniffled. "Okay, well, I'm going to get us more shots." the man replied.
Arizona was so intoxicated an hour later that she could barely remember her name. Mark didn't know how to help the teary blonde, so he did the only thing he could think to do. The man kept bringing Arizona shot after shot, and Arizona, who was still upset, kept accepting them.
Callie had yet to make her way over to apologize because, in her mind, she didn't do anything wrong. The brunette kept glancing over to where her girlfriend was sitting to check on her. Even if they were in the middle of a fight, Callie still worried about the blonde. She knew Arizona thought she could handle her alcohol, but Arizona couldn't. After about six shots, the blonde turned into what Callie called a 'sad drunk.'
A sad drunk is what Callie called people who got whiny, weepy, or cried when they were drunk. Sad drunks were probably the brunette's least favorite type of drunk, but she was always the one to comfort Arizona when she reached that point. Arizona cried over everything. One time, Callie had been the designated driver after a night out with their friends and brought Arizona back to their place, and the shorter woman cried for two hours because Callie was 'so pretty.'
This brought her back to the current predicament. She estimated that Arizona was about ten shots in and who knows how many beers, and she was starting to get nervous. Mark continued to bring her girlfriend drinks, and Callie had begun to chew on the inside of her cheek around shot eight. She had to say something before Arizona was too far gone.
The brunette slowly approached her girlfriend and watched as the blonde downed another shot, making it eleven shots total. When Callie reached the table, she put her hand on Arizona's back and rubbed a few soothing circles, trying to get the shorter woman's attention. Arizona, eyes still filled with tears, turned her head and saw Callie, who still had her hand on the blonde's back. Instantly all of Arizona's anger faded, and the tears began to fall after an hour of threatening to spill over and stain her cheeks. She had definitely reached sad drunk status.
Callie pulled her sobbing girlfriend into a hug, and Arizona buried her face into the crook of the Latina's neck.
"I'm so sorry, Calliope," the shorter woman managed to choke out. She didn't care about any of the stupid things they argued about that night. Arizona just wanted to go home and fall asleep in Callie's arms.
"No, I'm sorry, Arizona," Callie whispered into the halo of blonde hair. She had acted stubborn all evening, and if she had just apologized, none of this would have happened, and the couple could have spent the evening having fun instead of worrying about each other. "Let's just forget about it."
Arizona replied with a nod and sniffled, trying to stop the crying. She was so tired and wasted that she just closed her eyes and eventually blacked out, the amount of alcohol finally taking its toll on her.
The following day, Arizona woke up to her phone buzzing on the nightstand beside the bed. She couldn't recall how she made it home and into bed, but somehow she did. The blonde looked over to Callie's side of the bed and saw that the brunette was still fast asleep. Her phone started to buzz again, and she picked it up, looking at the caller id. It was Mark.
"Hello?" Arizona managed to croak out, her throat severely dry, probably from all the alcohol the previous night.
"Robbins! Hey, how are you, kid? Did you make it home safe?" Mark asked enthusiastically. Arizona groaned at the chirp in his voice. Clearly, the amount of alcohol also left her with a killer hangover.
"Yeah, I made it home okay. I think Cal brought me home," the blonde replied as she rubbed the back of her neck. She couldn't remember much of the night before but briefly remembered a cab ride home with her head lying in the brunette's lap.
"Okay, good!" Mark replied. "I just wanted to check in on you. Anyways, I've got to go. Talk to you soon!" With that, Mark ended the call and left a confused Arizona on the other line. Placing her phone back on the nightstand, the blonde swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up slowly, trying not to make her knees buckle from the hangover.
After a few minutes, Arizona recovered a bit and made her way to the bathroom. She really had to pee, something she hadn't done in who knows how long. After finishing her business, Arizona went to the sink to wash her hands. Drying her hands off when she was finished, she looked up in the mirror to inspect her appearance and froze when she saw herself. Her once beautiful blonde hair was now an ugly four-leaf clover green color. Startled by the sight, Arizona let out a bloodcurdling scream that woke Callie up with a start.
"Arizona!" Callie yelled, not knowing where her girlfriend was or what had happened. Arizona came bolting out of the bathroom, and the two collided in the hallway so forcefully it knocked the breath out of the couple.
"MY HAIR!" Arizona wheezed. Callie took in the sight before her and had to bite her bottom lip to keep herself from letting out a laugh. The sight of Arizona with green hair was such a surprise that the brunette had no idea what to say. "What happened, Callie?!" the once blonde woman cried out.
"I have no idea, babe," Callie replied with a shrug. She had been so intoxicated last night that she barely remembered anything either. Arizona's eyes suddenly moved to Callie's collarbone, and her eyes got so wide she wasn't sure they could get any wider.
"Callie-" Arizona choked out. She had no idea how to tell the brunette what she just noticed.
"What…?" Callie asked hesitantly, catching on to the weird vibe. She looked down to where Arizona's eyes were lingering and almost jumped out of her skin. A small, but fresh tattoo of the letter A was on her collarbone in black ink. The brunette had no idea how it got there, but she knew exactly what it meant.
"ARIZONA ROBBINS!" Callie yelled with a hint of anger in her voice. "I know you did NOT have me branded with a tattoo of your initial." Arizona's mouth opened in surprise.
"Me?! Why would I have made you get a tattoo?" the now green-haired woman replied.
"I have no idea!" Callie cried as she stepped towards Arizona. She swiftly pulled the shorter woman's shirt off and inspected the pale skin for any sign of a tattoo because she knew that if she had one, Arizona probably had one too. The Latina had Arizona turn around so she could look at her back, and as soon as she did, Callie spotted a small matching C on her right shoulder blade. "Babe, you are not going to be happy," Callie said, turning Arizona back around to look her in the eyes. Arizona groaned, already knowing what the brunette was going to tell her.
"I am NEVER letting you take me anywhere ever again," Arizona said as she crossed her arms, and a look of determination settled on her face. Callie tried to remain serious, but the sight of her girlfriend with green hair still threatened to make her laugh, and after a few silent seconds, the brunette let out a big laugh that brought tears to her eyes. "It's not funny, Callie!" Arizona protested as the Latina continued to laugh. Her laughter was so contagious that it broke the shorter woman's resolve, and a small smile appeared. "Stop it," Arizona whined as she playfully shoved the brunette.
Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona and kissed the top of her now-green hair.
"I love you, Arizona," the Latina said, and it was true. She loved Arizona like she had loved nobody before. It consumed her every thought and feeling, and it was so warm. "And we can fix your hair, okay?" Callie added with a slight chuckle.
"Okay." Arizona sighed into Callie's shoulder. She had never wanted to get a tattoo, but she secretly liked the idea that Callie was always with her now and that she was always with the brunette. "I love you too," Arizona said as she moved her head to look into Callie's deep brown eyes that always managed to take her breath away. The Latina pulled Arizona in for a soft kiss and rested their foreheads against each other.
True to her word, Callie made Arizona a hair appointment the very same day, and they came home with Arizona's halo of blonde hair back in its rightful place.