Keep on Keepin' on
Keep on Keepin' on
Chapter 3- Chicken Piccata and Julia Roberts
R (Future Chapters)
Standard Disclaimer: Don't own, Don't profit
Summary: The first date was a slam dunk, will the next one be as good?
A/N-Unbetad, all spelling/grammar goofs are my own
Callie------
I'm in the kitchen stirring the sauce for my previously hyped chicken picatta. I keep glancing up to watch Arizona just wander around my apartment, looking at pictures on the wall, browsing through our DVD collection, and occasionally changing the music playing from my stereo. We had opened a bottle of wine and she returns to the counter to refill her glass. "I really like your place." She informs me.
"Yeah, it's not too shabby is it?"
She giggles before nodding towards the stove, "Can I help you with anything? I'm no Emril but I can handle myself in the kitchen." She heads toward the stove and I grab her by her waist to twirl her around and nudge her towards the bar stools.
"Don't worry about it, I've got it all covered here." I confidently inform her. "How was work?" I ask her, and can instantly picture asking her that question everynight for a very long time. Whoa Callie, too fast, reel it back in. Second date, only the second date.
"Oh my gosh, don't even get me started." She sighs before taking a seat at the counter. "Back to back surgeries for six hours, a skipped lunch break, and only two cups of coffee all day. I'm exhausted." She takes a sip of her wine and meets my concerned gaze. "But I'm really glad to be here right now." She finishes with a smile.
As I continue chopping and stirring we just talk. Easy, care free talk. I learn about her family's European vacation when she was 16, which leads to me hearing about her first time which happened in France on that trip. She asks about my work in Botswana and we continue the easy banter all the way through the meal. Afterwards she attempts to do the dishes but I slap her hands away from the sink.
"Please Arizona. Like I'm really going to make you do dishes. Go make yourself comfortable, these will only take me a sec." She fights me on it but I give her a death glare and she raises her hands in defeat.
She strolls over to the couch and flops down onto it, with the back facing me all I can see are her bare feet dangling off of the arm. I finish the dishes quickly and go to where she is. I manuever so that I'm sitting on the couch with her head in my lap. We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, I run my fingers through her soft strands and she fiddles with a rip at the knee of my jeans. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?" I ask her.
"It doesn't matter to me, whatever you want to do." I wonder how serious she is about that statement...I shake the dirty thoughts from my mind and move over to the movie cabinet.
"What do you feel like?"
"Anything that doesn't suck." I can't help but laugh at her obvious choice.
"Alrighty then, how about The Notebook?" I ask and turn to see her looking at me like I just spoke a different language.
"Really? The Notebook is the best you can come up with? Come on, surprise me a little here." I accept her challenge and dig through our movies looking for a certain title. I find it in the very back of the cabinet and pop it in before returning to the couch and resuming our previous position. "What did you choose?" She asks.
"One that doesn't suck." I tease. The previews play and when the menu screen comes on, she turns her head to meet my gaze.
"Pretty Woman? No way did you just pick Pretty Woman." She stares at me incredulously.
I laugh at her stunned expression. "Yeah why? If you say this movie sucks we might need to just call it a night." I jokingly warn her.
"No I love this movie! Julia Roberts is half of how I figured out I was gay."
"What was the other half?" I ask.
A sly smile curves her lips, "Ninth grade gym class." She says in a suggestive matter.
I can't hold back my laugh. "You're a perv."
"Me?! Which one of us blatantly stared at and then jumped the other in a public place just an hour ago?"
"Valid point." She giggles as she gets comfortable, laying her head on my lap and curling her legs up in front of her. Her fingers find their way back to the stray strings at my knee, and my own carress slowly up and down her arm. The movie continues and I notice the fidgeting at my knee slowing down. Her chest rises and falls at a steady pace and when I lean over her, I see her eyes closed. My heart swells to an almost painful size as I watch a smile tug at her lips in her sleep. I secretly pray that she's dreaming about me, I'm not sure if god listens to me anymore though. I might've scarred him off with the extreme nature of my thoughts in the locker room earlier.
I very gently get off the couch with out waking her, and grab a blanket to cover her. I don't really know how to play this now. I could lay bown behind her but the couch is narrow and the last thing I want is to launch her onto the floor. I could carry her to my room but that runs the risk of waking her or of her getting the wrong idea waking up in my bed. I decide to take a safer route and find a pen and paper. I write her a quick note and place it on the table where she wouldn't be able to miss it.
YOU LOOKED SO PEACEFULL SLEEPING, I DIDN'T WANT TO WAKE YOU. MY DOOR IS OPEN IF YOU WANT. SWEET DREAMS ARIZONA XO-C
I leave the stove light on so she's not completely in the dark and head to my room. I leave the door open like I had said and get ready for bed. Once in my pajamas, I tip toe out to the living room and place a sweet fragile kiss on her temple. She sighs in her sleep and I return to my room and crawl beneath the covers. Just as I'm drifting off I remember that Cristina is supposed to come home in a couple hours. I scrawl another note and tape it to her door.
DON'T WAKE HER UP AND DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA. -C
Arizona-----
Shadows of unknown figures chase me. My feet feel like they're trapped in quick sand and they can't move. I try pushing faster but fail as the black shapes close the gap behind me. Ahead of me I see water and somewhere in my subconcious I know that they can't swim. I push on, willing my feet to carry me to the blue safety ahead. Suddenly I'm at the lands edge, hundreds of feet above the ocean and the shadows are closing fast. Where before I couldn't push them faster, now I can't slow my feet as they catapult me over the cliff. I'm tumbling down when it all vanishes.
I jolt up from my unusual nightmare and am confused for a couple beats. It's dark out but a faint light is alluminating a strange setting. This is not my bedroom. As the room becomes clearer, the red couch below me registers in my mind. Callie's? What am I doi- my internal question is cut short when I realize what's going on. We had been watching Pretty Woman and I must've fallen asleep. I rub my eyes and as they refocus I see a note in front of me.
YOU LOOKED SO PEACEFULL SLEEPING, I DIDN'T WANT TO WAKE YOU. MY DOOR IS OPEN IF YOU WANT. SWEET DREAMS ARIZONA XO-C
I flip open my phone and the light blinds me for a second before I can see the time, 2:37. Crap it's early...or late. I've never been quiet sure where the line is between super late and super early. I'm still dazed from sleep and it's leaving me confused as to what I should do now. Head home, that's the safe, smart, respectful thing to do. But I can't just leave without telling her, she would worry. Or at least, I hope she would worry.
I tip toe to her room where, sure enough, her door is held open by a tennis shoe. She's laying on her side faced away from me, but I can see her profile in the stream of moonlight pouring through her blinds. The ghostly shade adds a whole new beauty to her and it's literally breath-taking. I smirk to myself at how easily this newest addition to my life can affect me. I try not to jostle the bed when I climb on and press a kiss right behind her ear. "Good night Calliope, sweet dreams" I whisper low, hoping somewhere in her dreams she'll hear me. I lay another kiss at her temple before turning to leave.
Her hand on my wrist scares me and I jump at the contact. "Stay" Her request is simple and quiet. I smile to her and lean closer so I won't have to speak too loud.
"Calliope, go back to sleep. I'll see you tomo-"
"Stay" She says again, interuppting my previous explanation. "It's late, just stay." Her voice is raspy and heavy from sleep as she pulls harder on my arm forcing me to lay down. Her fingers travel down to intertwine with mine as she wiggles closer to my back. The sensation of her breasts on my back and the way she has our legs twisted together would normally have me on fire, but right now sleep is rapidly taking over me. I feel her lips plant light kisses along my neck and down onto my shoulder. "Night Ari." I grin and sigh at the nickname she's given me and snuggle further into her embrace. This feels right, she feels right. Images race through my mind of us sleeping this way everynight. Stop it! Arizona Robbins, this is just the second date, thoughts of endless futures and white lace and chickens are not allowed. But she could work, we could be perfect.
I bring our linked hands up and kiss the back of her hand. "Goodnight Callie." And before I even register the words leaving my mouth, my dreams overtake me and I'm back asleep.