Chapter 1

Callie Torres was having a bad day.

Mark Sloan's death anniversary was coming up, and this might be the first time she could properly grieve for her dead best friend.

When Mark passed away, Callie could not grieve too much as taking care of her then-wife and their daughter took up most of her time and energy. That year was spent trying to help Arizona get back on her feet again, both literally and figuratively.

By the first death anniversary, Callie was dealing with Arizona's infidelity. That year was spent trying to save a marriage that no longer was. They both just didn't know it yet.

And on the second death anniversary, Callie's thoughts were of their attempts to have a baby and the – perhaps inevitable – end of their marriage.

What a year this was turning out to be – finding a co-parenting relationship that works with her ex-wife and putting most of her time to her professional projects.

But for today, Callie was pre-occupied with the thought of finally facing Mark's death anniversary with no other pressing matters to attend to.

It was lunch time, and Callie didn't want to be in the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria. She opted to go the attendings' lounge to rest instead, not having much appetite lately.

Surprisingly, she saw that it was quite a full house in the lounge – Cristina, Meredith and Derek were together chatting on the sofa. Jackson, Miranda and Richard were at the large table discussing among themselves.

"Hey," Callie greeted to nobody in particular and sat on one of the couches. She got a smattering of hey's and hello's back.

Miranda paused with her discussion with Jackson and Richard to turn to Callie, "Just so you know, Montgomery is here today. I saw her briefly a while ago." Spotting the striking redhead opening the lounge doors, Miranda smiled and said, "Speak of the devil!"

Addison smirked, "As I once told Derek, I actually prefer Ruler of All That is Evil, but I will answer to Satan."

"Hey! That was a long time ago, and I thought I already apologized for that. Though I can't say there's no truth to it," Derek quipped, earning him a smack on the arm from his wife. "Ow!"

Callie got up to hug Addison and asked, "Not that I am not happy to see you – ecstatic, actually. But what are you doing here?"

"Well, a VIP client of mine is here in Seattle and has decided that she didn't want anyone else to look over her and her baby, even after I assured her that Dr. Robbins is here and is more than qualified to handle her case," Addison replied, taking a seat beside Callie.

It was just then that Callie noted that Arizona was also now in the room, having taken a seat at the dining area beside Jackson.

Callie turned her attention back to Addison just as the redhead softly spoke, "While I'm here, would you mind taking me to Mark's grave? I haven't visited since…"

"That's fine," Callie immediately answered. She didn't want to dwell on Mark right this moment.

No such luck, as Cristina heard Addison and said, "Oh that's right, Sloan's death anniversary is coming up." This caught the attention of everyone else in the lounge.

"Yeah," answered Callie.

Meredith gently asked, "Do you have any plans for the day?"

"Not much," responded Callie, "I was just thinking of visiting his grave, and the rest of the day is not yet planned. Arizona and I still have to discuss it." She looked at Arizona for confirmation.

Arizona looked at her ex-wife and nodded. They will have to discuss what they would do for that day – whether as one family or each having a separate moment with Sofia.

"Well, be sure to take some shots in his memory. Maybe reminisce about the good ol' days," Cristina suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," answered Callie.

Cristina piped up, "Hey, did you know that Sloan tried hitting on me once? He said Derek made him do it! Sloan was really annoyed that I was completely oblivious to his flirting!"

Everyone laughed at that.

"I just wanted Meredith for myself for a while," chuckled Derek, trying to defend his antics.

Miranda snickered, "Must have bruised that man's ego. Good for you, Yang."

Cristina snorted, "No kidding. But I'm pretty sure banging the hottest Latina in town would have brought his ego back up, right, Callie?"

It was Callie's turn to snort at that, "Whatever!"

But Cristina was not done, "Hey. Out of curiosity, were you two ever in love with each other?"

Now Arizona was really paying attention to this. She wanted to hear Callie's answer. They might not be married anymore, and Mark may have been one of her close friends by the time he passed; but there was still that small piece of her heart that always wondered about Callie and Mark.

"No, I was never in love with Mark. And Mark was never in love with me, you know that! When I knew him, he was only ever in love with two women – Addie and Lexie," Callie evenly replied. This was ridiculous, she thought. Not once had that thought crossed her mind.

"Hmm," came from at least two different people in the room.

Callie was incredulous, "Uh excuse me. What did those hmm's mean?!"