It's You, It'll Always Be You
Chapter 1
She peered into the mirror taking in her reflection. Her golden blonde hair still held her trademark curly ringlets, but the rest of her only seemed like a ghost of her former self. No more were her deep adorable dimples when she smiled and no more where the sparkles in her sapphire blue eyes. She reached up and held the heart-shaped pendant dangling from around her neck. She had never taken it off since the one who had given her the necklace placed it around her neck the moment it was given to her. She held the heart tightly in her hand; the pain of the pendant digging into her hand being no match for the pain she still felt in her heart.
She glanced over the sleeping figure behind her and twinge of guilt panged her heart. How is it that this wonderful person behind me hasn't been able to erase this heartbreaking pain? She thought.
"Arizona…come back to bed…"
Arizona flashed an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, babe. I'll be right here." With one last look at herself in the mirror, she let out an exasperated sigh and crawled back to bed. The figure immediately snuggled into Arizona at her return as she wrapped her arms around them as they fell back into a deep slumber.
Arizona's thoughts prevented her from falling asleep as they flooded her mind. She shifted to look over at the sleeping figure beside her. The woman wrapped in her arms was beautiful, there was no denying that. But the chestnut brown-haired, emerald green-eyed beauty was no comparison to the raven-haired, chocolate brown-eyed Latina who still held her heart.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, she muttered to herself. It's been two and a half years, Arizona. Get over it already! You're friends, and you'll have to accept that it can't ever be more than that. She forced herself to silence her thoughts and drift off to sleep, but before she delved into unconsciousness, one last thought crossed her mind, Calliope, she whispered out before finally succumbing to sleep.
To Arizona Robbins, Calliope Iphigenia Torres will forever be the one who got away. They had been friends for years before the devastating event that broke their relationship and whisked Calliope off to California.
Arizona knew she was in love with Calliope the moment they locked eyes. It was an end of the year party after Callie's (Calliope's chosen name) first year and Arizona's third. Being a third year student, Arizona had made some acquaintances, but she made sure not to get too attached to anyone and stay focused on her studies to be at the top of her class. She was only out at the party because one of the previously mentioned acquaintances, Teddy Altman, had practically dragged her out there stating that she had to "live a little". So here she was standing amongst a crowd of fellow aspiring doctors actually having a decent time.
She was scanning the room casually sipping at her drink when her eyes rested upon a raven-haired woman talking to another woman with bright red hair smiling at something apparently amusing the red head said. Her smile literally took Arizona's breath away and she could swear her heart skipped a beat. Out of nowhere, Teddy appeared by her side and followed her gaze over to the beautiful Latina. "Ahh… Nice choice, Arizona. That's Callie Torres. She's a, now, second year student from Miami who's interested in orthopedics."
Arizona stood there with her mouth agape in surprise at Teddy's statement. "I-I…was not looking at her, Teddy. I was just, you know, looking around and stuff."
"Right… Which is why you've been staring in the same direction for minutes now with that dreamy look in your eyes and ignoring what's going on around you. Nah…you weren't looking at her completely mesmerized at all."
"You're such a jerk, you know that, Teddy?"
Teddy threw her head back in laughter. "You love me, Arizona. Now go over there and talk to her. The staring from across the room thing is cute and all, but you're going to look like a creepy stalker pretty soon if you don't go talk to her soon." Arizona felt herself being pushed in Callie's direction and before she could register what was happening, she was standing face-to-face with the woman who had caught her eye. Arizona stood there, locking eyes with Callie, for a while with her famous dimpled smile spread across her face. Her mouth felt dry with nervousness and she couldn't figure out what to say. Before an awkward silence could settle, Teddy cleared her throat to break the two women out of their state. "Hey Callie, Addison. This is my friend, Arizona Robbins. Arizona, Callie Torres and Addison Montgomery."
Arizona shook hands with Addison and turned to shake hands with Callie. The moment their hands touched, Arizona felt a jolt of electricity flow up her arms and her heart immediately started beating faster. She eventually managed to find her voice after she realized that she was holding Callie's hand longer than necessary. "Nice to meet the both of you."
Arizona was disrupted from her flashback by a knock on the door. She knew it couldn't have been Caitlin because she was off to work and already had her own key, so she figured that it couldn't have been anyone of importance. Her friends knew that it was her day off from the hospital and to not disturb her unless it was an emergency. She turned over in bed, willing the person at the door to go away. There was silence for a while, but then the knocking started again. She groaned and got out of bed, not even bothering to put on more clothes over her simple white tank top and pajama bottoms and made her way to the door. She opened the door and stared in disbelief. She rubbed her eyes making sure that she sleep deprived eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She stood there staring at the figure before her and said the only thing she could muster, "Calliope…"
Callie stood in front of Arizona with tear stricken eyes that were red at the rim and the sight of a distraught Callie broke Arizona's heart. "Calliope," she managed to get out as more than a whisper this time. "Calliope, what are you doing here?"
Callie couldn't manage to say anything and just fell into Arizona wrapping her arms around her shoulders and sobbing uncontrollably into the crook of Arizona's neck. "He…he…"
Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie's waist and pulled her closer to herself. Having Callie so close to Arizona was making Arizona's body have a field day, but she forced herself to stay focused and be there for Callie. She slowly ran her arms up and down Callie's back trying her best to comfort the sobbing brunette in her arms. She was patient and just letting Callie cry it out, but once she sensed the sobs start to slow, she realized they were still standing there in Arizona's doorway. She pulled back a little from Callie and immediately Callie's eyes flashed a bit of fear from the loss of contact, but Arizona was quick to reassure her. "I don't want us to just be standing here in the doorway. Let's move over to the couch at least, okay?" Callie only nodded and allowed Arizona to guide her to the couch. As soon as they were both settled, Callie automatically curled up against Arizona's body and started sobbing again. Arizona was at a loss for what to do and simply held Callie close to her as she cried her out her obvious pain. After the initial shock of seeing Callie randomly show up at her door, Arizona was starting to realize the effect Callie had on her body. The close proximity and the intimacy of their bodies sent Arizona on a roller coaster ride of feelings and emotions. Her body felt like it was on fire and her senses were running wild inhaling Callie intoxicating smell and feeling the softness of her body against her own warm skin. Her head was whirling and she felt like she was about to pass out herself, but she shook her head slightly to force herself to stay focused on Callie and being there for her. She had to be strong for her and she couldn't break down when Callie needed her.
She thought about breaking their comfortable silence and asking Callie if she was ready to talk, but she felt the slow, steady breathing from the body snuggled into her meaning that Callie had fallen asleep. Arizona contemplated getting up and letting Callie sleep on the couch, but as she moved to get up, Callie's grip around her body tightened letting Arizona know that Callie wanted her close to her. So she sat back and wrapped her arms around Callie's body once again and pulled her close. She grabbed the blanket that hung over the back of the couch and wrapped it around both of their bodies as Callie snuggled even closer, if that were possible, to Arizona and had the best sleep she's had in two and a half years.
Callie slept in Arizona's arms for a good four hours and Arizona didn't have any complaints at all having her in her arms. Time seemed to fly by, yet stay still at the same time cuddling with the woman who, after all this time, still held her heart. She felt like there was nowhere else that she belonged except right here with HER Calliope. Callie shifted around next to her and once her eyes fluttered opened, Arizona was greeted with the warm brown eyes that never failed to make her heart race. Now was no exception as her heart started beating considerably faster and Arizona found herself getting lost in those eyes. They sat there in silence for a while, reveling in each other's presence with small smiles splayed across their faces as they stared into one another's eyes, feeling the intensity of their emotions without uttering a word. "Hey there sleepyhead," Arizona greeted Callie softly, never unwrapping her arms from around Callie's body.
Callie giggled and placed her head back into the crook of Arizona's neck. "Hi…" Her smile never left her face as she allowed her senses to be completely engulfed by everything Arizona. "Guess this is just a little weird, huh?"
"Not at all, Calliope. You know that you can always come to me, no matter what. Regardless if you let me know ahead of time or just show up at my front door a complete mess. I'll always be here for you."
"I knew that I could rely on you. I love you, you know that?"
"Calliope…" Arizona sighed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I umm…" Callie stuttered. "I love that I can trust that I'll never truly be alone in this world because I'll always have you."
Arizona let out a soft chuckle. "That's not any better, Calliope."
"I know… I just… Thank you, Arizona. You really are awesome."
"Any time, Calliope."
"I still love the way you say my name…" Arizona let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm stopping now."
Arizona cocked up an eyebrow and shifted herself so that she can look at Callie straight on. "I'm glad that you're feeling much better than when you first got here, Calliope, and I don't mean to push or rush you or anything, but it would be nice to know why after all this time you just showed up here at my front door and collapse onto me."
I did not collapse onto you!" Callie exclaimed. Arizona gave her a challenging look and that was all it took for her to look down sheepishly. "Okay, so maybe I did just a LITTLE bit, but so what? I'm still a bad ass." Callie smiled triumphantly.
Arizona certainly didn't want to ruin this moment that they were sharing together filled with laughter and smiles, but she had to know the reason why Callie would just show up completely unannounced on the verge of a complete breakdown. "Calliope…please?"
Callie let out a pained sigh and looked up at Arizona again. This time though, her eyes weren't as bright and wonderful as they usually are, but filled with pain and sadness that Arizona hadn't seen in years. "He's dying, Arizona… My father is dying…"
I truly do appreciate all of you who took the time to read this fic. I have been a fan of Callie-Arizona stories for a while now and I really wanted my own chance to try it out. So thank you so, so much. =]