I still can't get over our kiss last night. It's the only thing I can think of. All of our emotions were poured into that one kiss; pain, heartache, relief, longing, love… I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't one of the most meaningful, passionate kisses we have ever experienced together.
Walking out of the scrub room and to the nurses' station, goose bumps take over every surface of my body as I see her standing there going over a chart with Karev. Taking a deep breath, I approach them and give the best smile I can muster.
"Hey, guys. Anything good?" I really need to work on getting better control of my voice…
She looks up and a small smile forms on those amazing lips, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Ten year-old fell out of his tree house and broke his leg in three places and has some minor internal injuries. Karev and I are working out our game plan and should be scrubbing in soon." She keeps it professional, which I get.
"Anything I can do? I don't have any surgeries scheduled for the rest of the night." I offer.
"No, I think we got this one covered." Karev gives a smile.
"Okay." Disappointment manages to escape in my voice, but I quickly recover. "In that case, I'm going to head out. Callie, Mer is taking Sofia for the night. Zola has been begging for a sleepover. I hope you don't mind."
"No, that's fine. I'll go say goodbye to her before I scrub in. Thanks for letting me know." Callie says and looks back to Karev. "We good here?"
"Yep, I'll go get him prepped. See you in a bit." Karev says and walks off with the chart.
"I'll see you later." I say to Callie, awkwardly standing there wishing I could kiss her goodbye.
"Okay." She offers a weak smile, sadness showing through her eyes.***
"I'll take another, Joe." I haven't drank like this in a long time. But let me tell you, this TOTALLY takes the edge off!
"Are you sure, Arizona? This seems like more than your usual." Joe asks concerned.
I tap on the bar motioning for another. "Don't fret. I got this." My head is so fuzzy and I love it. I haven't felt this good in a while.
"You got it." He puts another shot in front of me and I gladly take it from him and toss it back. The liquid burns my throat as it goes down and I savor it.
"Ya know, Joe, I don't know why I haven't done this more often." Getting up, I stumble a bit but regain my balance holding onto the bar. I start laughing at myself.
"Rough day?" He asks.
"Rough day, weeks, months… Yeah. But hey, I have no one to blame but myself, right?" I say, laughter bubbling out of my mouth. The music starts filtering through my ears and I start dancing, eyes closed. Maybe my eyes being closed is a bad idea. Yep. Definitely! Suddenly I feel myself falling, but manage to not hit the floor. Someone is holding me up. I start laughing at myself again as I look up to see who my savior is. Figures… "Calliope! What brings you here?"
She moves me back into a standing position as I'm still laughing, holding onto the bar and her shoulder for stability.
"One of our colleagues came to me after I got out of surgery saying you were hitting the shots pretty hard and said I should check on you..." Concern and some other emotion is written on her face, but I can't make it out. I'm too drunk to try and figure that one out. "How much have you had to drink, Arizona?"
I straighten myself up and make my soberest face. "Oh, just a couple shots. Right, Joe?" I turn my face towards him and the room spins and I lose my balance. Callie catches me again.
"Okay, let's get you home." She hands Joe her credit card.
"No, it's okay. I'm fine." I try to pull out of her solid grip on me.
"No you're not. Come on, Arizona." She puts her card back in her pocket after Joe cashes my drinks out.
"I don't want to leave." I fight loose. "Seriously, Callie. I'm fine!" Anger seeps out of my words. "You don't need to take care of me. I'm a big girl. I'm fine."
"You're embarrassing yourself, Arizona. People are watching." She warns loud enough for only me to hear.
"Let them." I say and stumble away to the bathroom. I splash water on my face and as I am drying myself off, I hear the door shut behind me and I see her in the reflection of the mirror.
"Arizona, please. Let's just go home." She pleads, but her voice is still firm.
I turn to face her, "Why, so I can go back to the life I screwed up? You know, for the few hours I have been here, I managed to forget how much I hate myself and forgot all the mistakes I've made and even the fact that I only have one leg." I laugh pitifully at the last part. "It felt great."
"You don't get to stand there and feel sorry for yourself, Arizona." She snaps at me.
"No, I don't have that right, do I?" I spit back. I'm so angry that tears start falling down my cheeks.
"Let's just get you home, Arizona." She moves towards me and grasps my hand in hers, her voice softer.
I look at our hands and then back up at her. "Why did you kiss me last night?" I ask, defeat taking over me.
She sighs and looks down, and slowly closes the distance between us. When she brings her eyes back to mine it feels like the world stops. This never gets old. I always get lost in her eyes. "Because I love you, Arizona. And I know that you truly are sorry…"
"You do?" I ask, relief slowly starts working its way through my muscles and I feel myself relax a little. I didn't realize how tense I was.
She nods. "I want us back, Arizona." She whispers.
"Me, too."
"Will you come home with me, now? We can finish talking when we get home." She pulls away slightly, pulling my hand with hers. With a nod, she leads me out of the bar. "Are you able to walk home or should we get a cab?"
I didn't realize how much our short conversation sobered me up. "I can walk." She gives me an 'are you sure?' face and I nod.***
Throwing my clothes into the hamper, I move to walk out of the bedroom as she walks in, stopping me dead in my tracks. She looks so cute with her sweats and tank top, her hair in a messy bun. It brings a full dimpled smile to my face.
"What?" She smiles back.
"Nothing." I reply.
"Oookay." She laughs lightly, but it doesn't take long before her face straightens and she starts looking conflicted again. "So… What now?" She asks, moving around me and sits on the end of the bed.
Turning to face her, I run a hand through my hair and fold my arms across my chest. "This is all about you, Callie…" My head is still fuzzy, a lot less, but I am still having a little struggle trying to find the right words to say. "I know you want us back, as do I, but are you sure you're ready? I don't want you to rush things…"
"I know… But when we kissed last night, Arizona…it… I don't know. It made me feel like everything was going to be okay. I haven't felt like that since…" She stops, but I know what she wants to say and I nod. "I know that we still have a lot of work to do, but I feel better now." She gently grabs my arms away from my chest and carefully pulls me to stand directly in front of her. Looking up at me with her beautiful, brown eyes, I can't help but smile, dimples and all. And for the first time in months, a full fledge Calliope Torres smile appears on her face.
I close my eyes, still smiling, and breathe a sigh of relief. "You have no idea how much I have wanted to see you smile again, Callie." Opening my eyes, she stands and gently weaves her fingers through my blonde curls, staring at me. Her smile slowly fades.
"Please don't make my smile go away again." She softly pleads, causing me to cast my eyes downward to her lips and back to her eyes. There is fear lurking in them and I shake my head slowly.
"Never again, Callie. I promise." I whisper.
The corners of her mouth twist up and she gently pulls my lips to hers in a tender kiss. I sigh contently, bringing my hand to her cheek, gently stroking the soft skin. I've missed this for so long. She breaks the kiss and slowly pulls away. "Will you come to bed with me?" She smiles, causing me to smile.
"I'd love to." I take my prosthetic off as she crawls into bed and I soon join her. I lay on my back and she scooches over to me, resting her head between my neck and shoulder and wraps an arm around my waist.
"I've missed this." She whispers, her eyes closed, a light sigh escaping her lips.
"I love you, Callie." I hold her in my arms and place a kiss on top of head, breathing in the glorious scent of her hair.
"I love you, too."
She is asleep shortly after, but I remain awake for a few minutes longer, just listening to her breathe. Holding her in my arms has never felt so good.
***A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Should I continue or end it here? Let me know! Xoxo.