Love today (2/?)

[boldpapermate]

Title: Love Today (2/?)
Author: Boldpapermate
Pairing: Callie/Hahn, Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Insert Hahn. Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuun :D
Disclaimer: All the characters are property of ABC and Shonda. I own nothing, and no one. Although sometimes i wish i did

Arizona wasn't really one to drink hard alcohol. She was that girl at parties who would watch from afar while quietly sipping her beer. She was the girl who was stuck driving home handfuls of wasted teenagers; she was always the designated driver, never the party girl. It wasn't just because hard liquor tasted like rubbing alcohol, or the fact that it burned, or even because she wasn't 'hardcore' enough. It was because Arizona had expectations of herself, and when you get wasted you tend to lose whatever grip on reality you have. Basically, you just end up getting up to shenanigans. That's right, she said shenanigans!

She wasn't planning on changing her rules because of some pretty girl. No matter how pretty she was, or how good she smelled, or how long her legs were...the point was that Arizona had rules, and she needed to get a hold of herself before she broke all of them. She pushed the button for the elevator again. How long did this damn thing take? She had told Callie that she would meet her in the lobby at seven and it was now five after seven! That would give a super bad impression, and that is not what she wanted.

"Finally," Arizona whispered as the doors slid open.

The rest of her day had gone relatively well. After spending thirty-two very long, panic filled minutes with Callie at lunch, she was now able to pinpoint the cliques in the hospital. She also figured out why people loved on-call rooms so much.  In her personal opinion that was just wrong! Wrong and dirty, because people slept in those very same beds that people were getting their freak on in. In addition, she didn't appear to be hyperventilating at the thought of Callie anymore, which was more of a health necessity then it was anything else.

"Hey." Callie greeted as Arizona walked into the lobby. Arizona scanned Callie’s outfit quickly before was deciding that Callie's favorite color was probably black. After all, Callie was dressed in black jeans, a black top, and some killer black boots. Callie wasn't even doing anything naughty, or anything that involved whipped cream. Callie was barely walking next to her and yet Arizona could still feel her body showing signs of early hyperventilation. Maybe Arizona had spoken too soon, when she said she had gotten over it. How was this fair? Most of her day had consisted of dirty looks from Cristina and her gloomy friend, as well as sideways smirks from Mark, and now she was the poster girl for panic attacks? This was just great.

What she needed to do was breathe. Breathe and maybe try to forge a bit of a conversation considering she had been silent for a long time, and the silence was starting to become a little bit awkward. She didn't need to pay attention to how tight Callie's jeans were, which in case anyone was wondering, they were really, really, tight. Like tight. Like really.

"So," Callie began as they crossed the street outside the hospital, "how was the rest of your shift?"

Long. Long, different, and interesting. But it didn’t matter because Callie smelled really good. She smelled so good and she was just so close that it was all Arizona could think about now.

"You smell really good." Arizona said as she mentally face-palmed. Gosh, it sounded creepy.

Callie chuckled as she turned to Arizona, "I do try ya know?"

"Because smelling bad isn't good." Arizona retorted.



God, she needed a filter. She also needed to breathe. Maybe oxygen would help her actually have a decent, not creepy like conversation. Arizona could do this; she took a speech class in college, she was an adult! She could freaken do this.

"No, it isn't."

Arizona wracked her brain for something to say. She was normally such a chatty person, she had often been the one to keep a conversation going, so it shouldn’t have been this hard for her to figure out something to say.

"I don't understand why people complain about the rain here." Well, that was a start.

Callie smiled as she cocked her head to the side, "you actually like the rain?"

Arizona took a breath, and told herself quietly not to panic, "Yes. Once you get over the depressing qualities, anyway. I think the rain has some nice benefits."

Callie chuckled again, "I agree. That's the whole reason why I chose to come to Seattle instead of staying in Miami."

Arizona made a mental note to ask Callie about Miami later. She tried increasingly hard to keep her thoughts from straying to images of Callie in a bathing suit, and keep them focused on the conversation. This, sadly enough, would only increase her heart rate and probably make her pass out.

Arizona let out a sigh of relief as Callie started to slow her pace tille they were standing in front of an odd-looking bar. Good thing they had finally arrived at their destination because Arizona was not keen on saying something else that would further embarrassed her.

Joe’s looked like every other bar somebody could imagine. Except this bar was  filled with many doctors from Seattle Grace. That’s what made the bar so odd. Seriously, didn't these people have lives? Did they really spend their free time in a bar across from a hospital they basically live in? Arizona wasn't really one to speak, she was going all hyper aware over a straight girl.

"Arizona, I'd like you to meet my...uh.” Callie cleared her throught quickly. “Ugh, my Hahn. Erica. Erica Hahn."

Arizona frowned as she looked at the blonde sitting at the bar. She was slightly over dressed for the bar atmosphere, and even though she was smiling at her, Arizona had this faint feeling that the smile wasn't really genuine. Moreover, she just looked mean. Hahn. Where had she heard that name before?

"It's a pleasure to meet you Arizona. Callie here couldn't stop talking about you. Unfortunately," Erica said as she sipped some of her wine.

Arizona frowned. Was Erica blatantly being rude to her? Naw. Arizona decided with a slight shake of her head. People were not capable of being mean to her because she was adorable. There was no need for rudeness, just like there was no need for lima beans in fried rice. It was just unneccesary.

"It's nice to meet you too, Erica. Unfortunately, I have yet to hear anything about you. Then again, I am new and the only things I seem to hear about are people doing explicit things in on-call rooms."

Really, after Arizona connected the dots, that was all people talked about.

Erica raised her eyebrows as Callie chuckled, "Well. I have to agree with you on that one. Did you want anything to drink?" Arizona slid on to the stool remembering her rule not to get wasted or make a fool of herself. She was already doing a good enough job of that while sober.

"Oh no, I don't drink."

Erica frowned as Callie's smile faltered. Oh, maybe that rather took the meaning out of going for drinks after work.

"Really? Do you just prefer not too or are you just trying to make a good first impression?" Erica asked before taking another sip of wine.

"Erica." Callie warned.

Arizona sat there dumbfounded. People were not blatantly rude where she came from. They had the decency to talk behind someones back. So, okay, Arizona could blame the first insult on Erica having a bad day, or the lack of sex that Erica was probably getting, but seriously. Arizona was not as dumb as she looked. Not that she looked dumb...but whatever! She would not sit here and let some woman insult her just because she was...well because that woman was mean!

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go to the restroom." Erica said before Arizona could think of a snide comeback.

Erica slid off her stool, and walked towards the direction of the restroom. Callie shot her an apologetic look before quickly following Erica.

Well that was a strange and awkward experience. Now Arizona would be forced to sit by herself and patiently wait for them to come back. Maybe this place had some donuts she could eat. What? She had a strong craving for sweets!

Arizona scanned the bar looking for a hidden donut, or anything sweet when she spotted cherries. Well that would just have to do until she could stop at some gas station and stock up. Just as she was about to stand up and grab them, a very loud, and very drunk Mark walked up beside her.

"Don't worry’s beautiful lady. I'm here now, which means yous will no longer haffta sit by yourself." Mark mumbled as he grinned to himself. He tried to sit down, not once, but twice before finally sitting down completely on the stool. Mark was nice, but he was definitely not her type considering he...well, had a penis. Moreover, he appeared to be incredibly drunk and that was never a good sign.

"Um," Arizona began as she looked around trying to find Callie, or even Erica, "actually I'm not alone. I'm here with Callie and...Erica." Even if Erica didn't seem to like her, she'd take Erica over a drunken Mark. Not that Arizona didn't like him or anything. It's just she really wanted those cherries, and Mark happened to be the one preventing her from her sugar filled snack, as well of as mental images involving Callie and cherries. What? She said she was adorable, not celebit. Arizona had needs too.

"Ah. I bet I know what their up to."

Arizona froze, it wasn't so much what he said that bugged her, it was the way he said it. He spoke like it was a secret that Mark just happened to know about. No longer worried about her cherries, Arizona focused all her attention the man sitting next to her.

"What do you mean, Mark?"

Mark grinned as if he had just won some kind of prize and leaned in close to Arizona. Normally she didn't allow men to be this close to her, but then again normally men didn't have a really hot friend who she had a slight...okay, huge secret crush on.

"See. Im not juss a man-whore, I know...I know stufff." Mark slurred slightly as he pointed to his head and smiled. Apparently, Callie was not the only one who liked the phrase man-whore.

"Ya see blondie, Hahn an' Torres are likes uh...likes a thing." Mark had both his hands out towards Arizona and then smacked them together as if to make his point. A thing? Did he mean his kind of thing or her kind of thing? Wait. That didn't sound right. Was he talking about...no? He couldn't be.

"Do you mean they’re together?" Mark giggled after Arizona asked her question and started nodding his head quickly.

He giggled, a grown man giggled. There was something deeply unsettling about that. On another note, Arizona felt her panic slide away and felt her heart drop slightly as realization hit her. She knew she had heard Erica’s name had sounded familiar.

Hahn. As in Dr. Hahn, the amazing cardio surgeon who had a reputation for being very rude as well as disliking Cristina (Arizona really couldn't blame her for that one though). Word around the hospital was Hahn and some mystery doctor, were having a lesbian--oh. Crap. That was Callie. Wait, Callie and Erica?  As in, the nice girl and the mean girl were together in a relationship? Really? Arizona totally did not see that one coming, and she was good at predicting things. She predicted that Miley Cyrus would grow up to be a slight...well ya know, slut, for lack of a better word, and look what happened there!

"They are fightin'. ‘Bout. You." Mark whispered as he pointed a finger at Arizona.

Arizona’s mouth dropped open slightly in shock. They were fighting about her. What did she do? She was adorable and she worked with children. No one could hate her.

"Why?"

"Whoops, I gotsta go. Ladies are calling me." Mark said as he slid off the stool, completely avoiding Arizona's question, he looked at her and gave her a wink before strutting across the bar to some nurse who had been eyeing him all night. Ugh, one day and she was already in the mist off all this stinking drama.

"Sorry about Erica." Callie apologized, startling Arizona. Knowing that Callie and Erica was an item made her feel even more like a stalker. As well as making her feel a bit inadequate. She heard the stories about Erica’s skills all day; the woman is an amazing surgeon.

"Oh, it's okay. Tough day?"Arizona said, trying not to sound to startled. In a difficult situation, the best reaction was not to panic but to be an idiot. An oblivious idiot.

"Not exactly," Callie sighed, slipping into the stool, "Erica isn't really one for making new friends. She thinks people don't understand her. I talked to her about it and she's okay now. Well…better, anyway." Callie looked so sad; so much so that all Arizona could do was not question her. Maybe Callie was gay, or maybe not. Either way, Arizona needed to put her silly crush aside and just be Callie’s friend because it looked like they both needed some friends.

Erica walked back up to her seat and sat down, ordering another glass of wine before giving an apologetic smile to Arizona. "I'm really sorry; I’ve had a bad day. You know how those go."

"Yeah. I understand." No, she did not. "I sometimes feel the same way." No, she has not. "I’ve accidentally taken out my anger on others a couple of times." No, she has not. However, when the face of doubt, all you can do is lie.

Erica smiled and stared over at Callie, who smiled back. Tonight was going to be a long night. Maybe she should drink.

"I'll take a Vodka tonic." Arizona said to Joe, causing Erica and Callie to look at her with questioning glances. Sometimes rules were meant to be broken. And sometimes so were relationships. No, wait. That was an inappropriate thought. She would have to work on that if she was planning to ONLY be Callie's friend.

-------

Overall the night wasn't a total waste. After a few drinks on Ericas part and more then a few on Arizona's, Erica no longer seemed so bad. The night turned out to be quite fun. They played darts, to which Arizona accidently threw one at Cristina (accidently of course). They sang karaoke (even though there was no karaoke machine) and they danced which if Arizona must say Callie is very good at doing. She was good at doing sexy moves while all Arizona could muster was a mean cabbage patch.

Arizona finally decided that it was about time she went home, because she had to get up early in the morning. She went to pay for the tab when Callie nudged her aside and took out her wallet. Erica was busy singing the blues to Callie, when the brunette dropped her wallet. On instinct Arizona went to reach for it and while picking it up, she noticed Callie's driver license on the outside. She quietly handed Callie her wallet and watched her pay before they all went outside to wait for their cabs together.

It wasn't until Arizona was in the safety of her very silent home, and very warm blankets that she even dared say aloud what she had saw earlier. She didn't want to ask Callie about it because she guessed that she hadn't told anyone, even though Arizona couldn't understand why, it was a beautiful name. She took time to whisper it once more aloud before she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

"Calliope."