without further adieu: HERE SHE IS! - ky

It was the middle of history class and Callie was restlessly waiting for the bell to ring so she could go to chemistry and see Arizona. The blonde had had softball practice for hours after school yesterday and with Callie spending extra time tutoring in the library, she couldn't make it to watch.

Not seeing Arizona for twelve plus hours had Callie feeling like she was going through withdrawal. As pathetic as it was, the brunette hated to go more than a few class periods without seeing her girlfriend. When she did, Callie missed Arizona to pieces. Chemistry and lunch were the highlight of the brunette's school day since she got to enjoy them with Arizona.

Hearing her teacher ramble on about the Mandate of Heaven had Callie zoning out more and more by the second, doodling in her notes instead.

After the last half of her never ending period, Callie was relieved to be able to leave and head to Chemistry on the second floor. By the time she got there Arizona was already waiting by the lockers outside of the classroom, texting on her phone.

As Callie approached, Arizona's attention shifted from her phone and instead to the girl in front of her, a big, dimples smile spreading across her face.

"Calliope!" She said, greeting the brunette with a chaste kiss on the cheek. Arizona pulled away and bounced lightly in her spot, "I missed you."

Times like these had Callie remembering that Arizona felt just as strongly for her as she did the blonde, and it made her feel not so needy, "I'm sorry I missed practice, I had tutoring and a lot of homework."

"Don't worry," The blonde hushed, "you can come today, right?"

"Yes, no overwhelming amounts of work so far, maybe I watch my favorite player in action," Callie grinned, Arizona grabbing her hand and pulling her into class before the bell rang on them and they were late. Mrs. Rodgers was a stickler about punctuality.

"Good, it's not as fun when you aren't there to oggle my ass while I play," Arizona teased, throwing a wink behind her as she found her seat.

"I do not!" Callie protested, her jaw dropped in surprise and thinly veiled embarrassment. She didn't think she was that obvious. April must've told Arizona at some point, the little hypocrite! Like she didn't the same thing to Teddy during every practice.

Arizona just smirked at her denial, blue eyes flashing mischievously, "Sure you don't, Calliope."

After that Callie slumped into her new seat behind Arizona. After weeks of dating, the brunette finally moved from her normal spot in the front row so she could be closer to her girlfriend during class. It was some of the only time they could spend together during the day, so she wasn't going to waste it.

Callie continued to feign hurt at Arizona's callout, glaring at her perfectly curled, shiny hair while she sported a pout. She picked out her phone from her pocket and shot a text to the girl in front of her.

C: U can be mean sometimes :p

Callie watched as Arizona grabbed her cell, reading the text before quickly turning and giving the brunette and grin.

A: i never said you couldn't look at my ass, calliope.

A: maybe I like it.

Callie paused at that text, her tongue feeling heavy as her mouth went slightly dry. Despite the heavy makeout sessions and lots of flirting, they never engaged in anything like sexting. Let alone in the middle of class. Definitely not the ideal place to get all hot and bothered over her girlfriend. Especially in front of their very old, seemingly prudish chemistry teacher.

C: We're in class!

A: so?

A: even better to tease u with ;)

The brunette flushed brightly reading Arizona's texting, shoving her foot into the back of the blonde's seat, receiving only a stifled giggle in response. Arizona was such a pain in the ass sometimes, but Callie found it to be nothing but absolutely charming.

C: I'm gonna get back at you later

A: bold, calliope, how are you gonna do that?

Callie actually hadn't thought that far in advance, unlike Arizona, she was all bark and no bite. Lack of sexual experience would do that to you, but figured she could come up with something before the end of the day. Instead she replied vaguely in hopes of deferring the conversation.

C: You'll just have to wait and see..

The brunette didn't wait to see Arizona's response before pocketing her phone. She needed to focus on the lecture so she could basically reteach the whole thing to Arizona later. The blonde could never keep up with Mrs. Rodgers. Poor thing. Trying to pay attention proved to be useless because Callie's mind wouldn't stop thinking about how good Arizona's ass looked in those stupid softball slacks.

After last period, Callie was quick to make her way outside, so she could catch April before she left. It became a habit for them to walk to the softball field together. April attended almost every practice so she could show her support for her girlfriend, and Callie did the same, but with her busy tutoring schedule she couldn't make it nearly as often as April did. But on Mondays,one of her only free days, Callie was always in the stands.

When Callie stepped onto the quad she spotted a flash of red hair waiting nearby, so she quickly jogged to catch up to her, "April!" She called, slowing down when the redhead turned around and stopped.

"Callie, hey!" She smiled, her demeanor perky as it always was. Callie had no idea how she could be so happy all of the time, it was a foreign concept to her, "We missed you yesterday."

The brunette smiled at that, "Yeah, I wish I could've come. How were our girls?"

April sighed whimsically, forever thinking about Teddy, "Perfect."

They continued walking to the softball field, making idle chit chat about their day and how school was going. Over the last month Callie had come to think of April as a friend. Being the only other person who was in the stands during practice made Callie an easy target for conversation. She was not one to converse or make stupid small talk, but April never seemed to stop. She could talk for hours, rambling about anything and everything, and Callie was glad because that meant she didn't have to contribute much to the conversation. She mostly just listened to April rant while she did homework and watched Arizona play. Despite the non-stop chattering, Callie couldn't help but feel fond of April and her acquaintanceship.

April was interrupted mid-story (something about History class and this guy named Alex who wouldn't leave her alone) by Callie's phone ringing. She already knew who it was before looking at the screen, and she watched as Carlos Torres panned across the top on her phone, until it finally stopped ringing. Callie sighed waiting for the inevitable voicemail notification that just kept piling up in her inbox. She'd thought he would've gotten the hint by now that she wasn't going to answer or call back.

It had been almost a week since Callie had left home and moved in with Mark, although it felt like much longer. Despite the time passing, her phone continually blew up with messages from her father, but instead of them being angry like the first few, they've seemed to be more sad. The majority of them just ask her to come home, with Carlos occasionally stating that he just wanted to talk.

Sometimes Callie considered answering his calls, but ended up ignoring them instead, still fearing the retribution she would face from him and her mother. He hasn't given her a reason to trust him yet, so why would she even try to fix things, there was no point. She wasn't going to return to a house she wasn't welcome in.

April's voice broke Callie out of her trance, "Was that your Dad again?"

Callie told April and Teddy the jist of what happened one day after practice was over, because she felt that her friends should know what was going on and why she was acting so off. Plus, she needed her friends right now to help her get through this.

"Uh, yeah. He calls like every hour," Callie laughed, finding it ironic how much her father suddenly cared after being absent for the majority of her life. He had some nerve.

"I'm sorry," April said sadly, setting her bag down on the aluminum bleachers they always sat on, "I don't think I ever told you, but my parents didn't take me coming out too well either."

Callie shook her in confirmation, also placing her stuff down on their seats, she looked at April to continue.

"My parents are devout Catholics, like pray before dinner, go to church, participate in Lent, so they weren't too thrilled to find out that their daughter was gay. It took them awhile to look me in the eyes again and stop ignoring me, but once I sat them down and explained that I hadn't changed and was still their daughter they became a bit more accepting," April took a breath before continuing, it was obvious still a sensitive topic for her, "It was a long time until they stopped insisting it was a phase and that I was just experimenting, but I mean I've been dating Teddy for two years now. I think they realized I wasn't gonna change. My mother had a lot of those moments where I would mention Teddy and she would just freeze, but she's better now. Her and my dad still pray for me and I don't know if that will ever stop, but they love me for me."

Callie couldn't help but hug April, she made it quick, as she wasn't one for showing physical affection, but she wanted to show her gratitude towards April for sharing something so personal.

"Thank you," Callie whispered, "for sharing that with me."

"Of course."

The two sat quietly for the rest of practice, Callie's phone weighing heavily in her pocket as she pondered opening the messages that were sitting in her inbox.

After practice ended, Callie drove Arizona home so they could study together in peace, without the prying eyes of their peers. Over the last week the whispering and gossip had died down a lot; people were more accustomed to seeing the two girls together now. Callie was more than grateful for that, but it definitely didn't mean she was comfortable with PDA yet. She still preferred to hang out with Arizona privately.

Callie settled down at the kitchen table, while Arizona went to grab some food (she was always snacking), her mind anywhere but there. She kept thinking back to what April said earlier, about her parents not being able to understand the situation until she sat down and talked to them. Callie hadn't seen her parents since the night she left, and she definitely didn't plan on seeing them anytime soon, but maybe…maybe she could try. Her father's messages have been sounding more amicable recently, not to mention Carlos clearly wanted to try to fix things with her. But still, Callie didn't know what to do.

"Calliope?"

Callie looked up at the sound, not realizing she was lost in her thoughts, clearly not paying attention to her girlfriend, "Sorry, thinking."

The blonde smiled sweetly, placing a hot mug of coffee in front of Callie before taking the seat next to her. Arizona knew exactly how she liked it: three cream, three sugar, extra strong. Callie felt especially drained recently, with her anxiety about the situation constantly looming over her like a dark cloud. She needed all the caffeine in the world.

"Thinking 'bout what?" Arizona asked, dimples sitting proudly on her cheeks, just like always. Callie felt some tension leave her shoulders at the sight of Arizona's smile; it always made her feel better.

Callie let out a huff, "I was just thinking about my dad. He won't stop calling me and he's leaving all of these voicemails begging me to come home and talk to him, I feel bad. I feel like he's actually worried...is it stupid of me to be hopeful?"

Arizona briefly thought back to her conversation with Mr. Torres, wondering if she had any impact on his view of Callie and desire to fix things between them. She hoped that her words had made him think and realize that Callie was still his daughter, no matter her sexual orientation. But, she hadn't stuck around long enough to find out, much preferring to book it before she got yelled at. She wasn't good with authority figures.

But maybe all these messages are him turning around and attempting to apologize, regardless, it was still up to Callie on what to do.

"Of course not," Arizona reassured, taking the brunette's hand, "Do you want to talk to him?"

Callie thought for a minute, wondering if it was even worth it to talk to a man who was so quick to condemn her to Hell. What would've made him suddenly change his mind and decide that being gay wasn't an abomination?

"Yeah, I do. I wanna try to fix things, I just don't know what he's gonna say or do. What if this is just all a ploy to get me home and then drag me to church, or-or therapy? I just don't feel safe at my house with them knowing they hate who I am," Callie could feel hot tears welling in her eyes at the idea of her parents resenting her for things she couldn't even control. It was so unfair.

Arizona felt helpless, knowing her girlfriend was hurting, but not being able to do anything about it, "You won't know until you sit down with him and talk. If it makes you feel any safer, Mark and I can wait outside while you speak with your parents?"

Callie smiled softly at Arizona's thoughtfulness, "Yeah, that would be perfect, thank you."

"Of course, Calliope," The blonde leaned in to press a chaste kiss against her girlfriend's lips. She couldn't help but admire how strong Callie was being right now. She had been disowned by her entire family, yet here she was fighting for a chance to get them to understand, despite her fear of being shunned once again. She was for sure one of the strongest women Arizona had ever met, "I'm so proud of you,"

Callie blushed, "Thank you, Arizona, for everything. You have no clue how important you are to me."

The blonde reached up to cup Callie's cheek, grinning, "I think I have an idea."

They kissed again, deeply this time, lost in the moment. Callie almost forgot about her inner turmoil until she heard her phone vibrate on the table, "I guess I should answer that, huh?"

Arizona only nodded reassuringly, watching as Callie tapped the green emote on her cellphone and brought it to her ear.

"Hola, Papá."