A Place To Land, part 16
Rating: PG-13/R
A/N: Izzie was never ill. She hasn't always been a nice person, but she doesn't deserve what Shonda did to her, so nope, she was never ill.
Callie stepped into Erica's bed room, to dump her overnight bag on the floor. It was Friday, and she hadn't seen Erica outside of work for several days. She had started developing withdrawal symptoms. Just the smell of Erica's bed room, where Erica had put on the perfume which to Callie was all Erica, was enough to make Callie stop and sniff the air for a good while. Putting the bag down, she noticed the deep blue dress hanging on Erica's closet door. Smiling, she straightened up and walked over to the dress, letting the soft, flowing fabric run between her fingers. Erica had already picked out the dress she was going to wear for Christina's birthday party tomorrow, and by the looks of it, she would be showing just enough cleavage for Callie to have to concentrate on looking elsewhere. Callie let out a chuckle at just how Erica it was to have the dress ready for days.
For the fifth time in just as many minutes, Callie checked the time, urging it to go faster. Erica had gone in to the hospital in the morning, but was stuck in surgery and Callie had no idea when she would be home. She found an old T-shirt Erica used to sleep in, changed into it and went downstairs to watch TV while she waited - since Erica didn't keep a TV in her bedroom for some reason.
***
Erica headed to the front door, digging around in her purse for the key with one hand, trying to soothe her stiff neck with the other. That last surgery had seemed to last forever with all the complications they had encountered. It was nearly midnight now, although she had gone to work at seven this morning. She had told Callie she shouldn't wait for her at the hospital, but rather go to her house, but now it was so late that Callie was probably already asleep, since she was also at work early this morning. Letting herself in, Erica saw the lights were still on in the living room and a huge smile spread across her face. She couldn't wait to see her gorgeous girlfriend again, and finally kiss those full lips she hadn't been able to kiss in days.
“Hey, gorgeous”, Erica went into the living room and saw Callie half-lying on the couch in one of her t-shirts. She couldn't remember her ever looking cuter.
“Hey, you! Finally you're here. How'd it go?” Callie got up and they met halfway across the floor in a brief kiss before Erica answered.
“Hope you didn't wait up for me?” Her blue eyes were full of concern.
“Of course I did, I wanted to see you. Now how did it go?” She looked at her attentively.
“Oh, it went... as good as it could in the end, I guess. He's alive. I don't know if he'll make it though.” Erica had looked tired when she got in, but now all her energy seemed to have left her, and Callie enveloped her in a tight hug. They stood like that for a long time, Callie stroking her back, slowly easing Erica's tension away. They both knew they couldn't let the hard days break them, and that the good days make up for the bad. Still, the bad days were bound to affect them.
Eventually Callie pulled away, laced her fingers with Erica's and tugged on her hand. “Hey, come upstairs, you look like you could use a massage.”
Erica gave her a surprised smile. “You know, that sounds like a fantastic idea.”
***
The only light that was on in the bed room was a nightstand lamp, and Callie quickly lit a few candles she had spread around the room. Erica stood in the middle of the room, taking in the scene. Her girlfriend, in boy shorts and one of Erica's worn-out T-shirts, the candles and massage oil she had clearly bought just for this occasion.
“Your masseuse is ready for you, miss”, Callie said, in the worst impression of a posh British accent Erica had ever heard, and she chuckled lightly as she started shedding her clothes. When she was lying comfortably on the bed, Callie took the hair claw from her own hair and bunched Erica's hair up and away from her shoulders. She straddled the blonde's lower back, supporting her own weight, warmed the oil in her hands and started massaging her pale, tense shoulders. An appreciative groan let her know her massaging skills weren't too bad. Erica wasn't the only one enjoying the massage, though. Callie couldn't stop thinking about how incredibly stunning every inch of Erica was. She could massage those silky, cream white shoulders for hours.
“Oh my God, your shoulders are like bricks!”
“If I had known my girlfriend is a talented masseuse, I wouldn't have let them become this tense...” Erica mumbled into the bed.
After working on her shoulders, she slid her hands down the soft skin of Erica's back, and massaged her entire back until she felt the blonde was a lot more relaxed. She leant down over her and lovingly kissed her shoulder.
“You're all sticky from the oil now. Do you want to take a bath?” Callie idly ran her hands over her skin which was slick with oil.
“Yeah, I'd like that... If I don't fall asleep immediately.” Callie got out of bed, and Erica started getting up as well.
“Just wait a sec”, Callie indicated with a hand for Erica to stay in bed, “I'll just top it up with hot water.”
“Wha- - You mean you already prepared a bath for me?” The blonde's voice was incredulous.
“Yeah, about half an hour before you came home”, Callie called from the bathroom while turning the hot water on.
She emerged in the doorway with a smile playing on her lips.
“I figured it couldn't be that much longer before you came home... And if it took long still, I could always pull the plug and run you a fresh bath.” Callie sat down on the bed, leant forward and captured her lover's lips with her own.
“You're some homemaker tonight”, Erica joked. “What did I do to deserve all this?” She had that baffled, sweet smile on her face which Callie loved so much.
“Well, for starters you're coming with me to Christina's birthday party tomorrow.”
“There's that.”
“And when I could leave the hospital today, I was exhausted and could only imagine how tired you'd be when you'd be able to leave, since you still had to work for hours. I thought you could use something to pick you up when you got in tonight.”
Erica cupped the brunette's face with both hands and those cerulean eyes locked onto hers for a few seconds.
“Thank you.”
Callie blushed a little, looked down for a fraction of a second before meeting infinitely blue once more. “You're welcome. Come on, before the tub overflows.”
Upon entering the bathroom, Erica noticed Callie hadn't just used the usual bubble bath.
“Wow, Cal, this smells amazing, what did you use?” There was something she couldn't put her finger on, and she could also smell lavender, but not so much that it was overwhelming, just enough for the smell to be relaxing.
“Just some muscle relaxing bath salts, a fizzy bath bomb, a little bubble bath and a little bit of lavender. The temperature should be just right now.” Callie dried the bubbles off the arm she had used to check the temperature.
“Join me?” Erica's request made Callie smile, and she nodded, before getting undressed. She got in behind Erica, and pulled her back gently until her back rested on Callie's torso. She dropped kisses on her neck and wrapped her arms around her blonde, trying to remember every little detail about this very moment, wanting to capture it and store it for later in a mental scrapbook.
“Mmm, this is perfect...” Callie couldn't agree more. “You have skills I had no idea about. You've been holding out on me!” Erica looked back at Callie, giving her a teasing smile, before their lips met in a sweet, lazy kiss.
After the bath, Erica felt like all the stress and tension of the day had fallen away from her, all thanks to Callie. The lovers went to bed, a single sheet loosely slung over their bare bodies, their closeness giving both enough warmth. Callie leisurely caressed the blonde's upper arm, losing herself in everything that was Erica. Eventually, those gorgeous blue eyes slid shut and Callie savored the sight before her until she couldn't fight off sleep any longer.
***
Callie woke up the next morning to find Erica gone, and a look at the alarm clock on the nightstand told her it was already half past ten. No wonder the blonde was already up. Callie knew that she felt like she was wasting the day away if she slept long, while Callie felt the exact opposite about it: If Callie got up early on a Saturday, she would be too sleepy to enjoy it.
Stifling a yawn, Callie got up and eventually got herself downstairs, where she found a note from Erica.
Cal,
I've gone to do some post-ops.
Will be home around noon,
so probably before you get up.
Erica.
“Probably before you get up”, Callie mumbled to herself, amused at Erica's banter even being present in a little note. Callie got out the pack of Pop-Tarts - Wholegrain, a compromise she'd reached with Erica - and poured herself some coffee from the pot Erica had made. She had just cleared everything away after breakfast and was just finished getting dressed upstairs when she heard Erica come home, and she bounced to the kitchen to greet her, where the blonde was putting something in the fridge.
“You're home!” She basically threw herself at Erica, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her cheek.
“You're high. On Pop-Tarts?” Erica smiled at her, not managing to hide for a second how cute she thought Callie was when she acted like a four-year-old.
“Yup. Wholegrain, though. Which means I get a whole fifteen minutes extra before I crash when the sugar rush ends.”
“Wonderful fix... I mean breakfast.”
“Yeah, don't you think?” Callie flashed her a beautiful smile, before continuing. “So what do you want to do today? We have all day together before the birthday party.”
“I thought we could go for a walk? Maybe head out to Puget Sound and walk on the beach?” Since Erica lived in Shoreline, just North of Seattle, it was a short drive out to the beach.
“That's a great idea. So is it warm today?”
“Yeah, you don't even need a jacket. Something you would have known if you hadn't slept all morning.” Erica's crooked smile was so adorable that Callie couldn't even pretend to be upset with her.
“Sure, let's go! I'll just grab a coke from the fridge, for when my breakfast brings me down again.”
“Yeah, be sure to cancel out any potential health benefits our walk may have.”
“I will, don't worry.” Callie said calmly, opened the fridge and reached in to grab a can of coke. “Oh wow, what's this? A cake?” She put the can on the counter and went to reach into the fridge again, for a closer inspection of the big box in there.
“Hey, no peeking, it's a surprise for Christina tonight.”
“Really?” Callie's eyes widened in surprise, the thought of Erica doing something sweet and thoughtful for Christina seemed just a little too far-fetched. “But if it's a surprise for her, it doesn't have to be a surprise for me, right?”
“Good try. Now let's go.” Erica wasn't going to let it go, and Callie reluctantly closed the fridge and went to find some shoes for walking on the beach.
***
“Wow. Just wow.” Erica appeared in the bathroom doorway in the dress Callie had seen on her closet door. The deep blue fabric caressed her body just right, accentuating her beautiful curves and still leaving enough for the imagination. And Callie's imagination was running wild at the sight, making her mouth water.
“Close your mouth, Torres”, Erica said, winking nearly imperceptibly, so Callie wasn't sure if she had just imagined it. The brilliant smile, on the other hand, she knew she didn't imagine. She loved seeing the woman she loved so confident and strong. Callie had been worried Erica might feel insecure tonight, considering how she had felt about the gossip at work, but it seemed Erica had found back to her old self, after some pushing from Callie's side.
“By the way, you look great too. Really great.” The blonde walked over to Callie, who was standing by the bathroom mirror, putting on ear rings. Erica put her arms around her, kissed her neck before resting her head on Callie's shoulder. Callie regarded the two of them in the mirror, the blonde who left her breathless pulling her close, and thought it was the most perfect thing she had ever seen. She didn't know how much longer she could hold back those three words she longed to say.
***
When they arrived at Christina and Callie's apartment, Christina seemed genuinely happy to see both of them, despite Erica's strained relationship with her. She thanked both of them for the gift before putting it on a nearby table to open when everyone had arrived, and Erica put the cake in their fridge. Apart from Meredith, they were the first to arrive, and they sat down in the living room, waiting for everyone to arrive. Everyone's facial expression seemed to say the same thing. 'Well, this is awkward.'
“So, when's Derek coming?” Erica couldn't stand the silence anymore, and simply needed something to say.
“He should be here soon. He got off work an hour ago.” Meredith nodded, affirming her own words.
“Uh huh.”
“So, he, ah... Should be here soon.” More nodding.
The door bell rang, and Christina shot up to open it, relieved she was able to do something other than watch awkward small-talk.
Alex and Izzie arrived, all gooey-eyed and in love. A few minutes later, Derek and Owen came through the door, discussing some car engine, Owen with a gift bag, Derek with a bottle of expensive red wine.
“Is Sloan coming too?” Erica discreetly asked Callie, but Christina overheard them and answered before Callie had the chance.
“No, Mark came up with some lame excuse, because Three doesn't want to see me.”
“Three?” Erica asked.
“Yeah, Lexipedia”, Alex chimed in.
“Little-Grey”, Derek offered as he gave the wine bottle to Christina, and Erica nodded.
“Weird that she doesn't want to see you when you call her Three”, Erica mocked Christina.
“Yeah, I thought so. You deny me surgeries, and I still want you to come.”
“Exactly.” They shared a chuckle, and Callie marveled at the strange exchange happening before her eyes.
“Did you ever think that you two are very much alike?” Everyone turned their heads, looking at Alex, wondering how he dared saying something like that to Dr. Hahn. Erica included.
“Yeah”, he continued, smug grin smeared across his face, “You're both cardiothoracic bad-asses, Christina treats Lexipedia like crap cuz she likes her, and Hahn treats Christina like crap cuz...” Realizing what he was saying and who he was saying it to, he closed his mouth while Erica narrowed her eyes at him.
“Well, it could be worse, Karev, I could resemble you”, Erica smiled at him.
“Please, call me Alex”, he smiled back.
“Right, food!” Christina thought it best to interrupt before a fight broke out, and got everyone seated at an improvised table consisting of the kitchen table and living room table with books underneath the legs, making the two roughly the same height.
“Wow, this is so good, I didn't know you could cook!” Erica was astonished.
“I can't, but i'm excellent at buying food.” Christina had ordered from a tapas restaurant she knew, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the food.
When everyone was comfortably stuffed, they brought out the cakes, both the one Izzie had baked and the one Erica had bought. She took the box off in the kitchen and brought it out to the living room, making Christina's face break into a huge grin when she saw the cake was shaped like a heart. It wasn't heart-shaped, like “I heart Seattle” kind of heart-shaped, but shaped like an anatomically correct heart.
“How did you...”
“Yeah, the people at the bakery had their doubts as well, but they pulled it off.” Erica smiled at the resident.
“Owen, get the camera, no one touches this until I get a picture!” Owen, being as smitten as he was, immediately went to look for the camera.
The evening was spent insulting, mocking, bantering, laughing and joking, and after more alcohol was added in the mix, the high spirits were lifted another notch. By the time people had started going home - Alex and Izzie were the first to leave - Christina and Erica were seated side by side, laughing about everything from Mark Sloan to men in general, and even about being lesbian.
“You're really lucky, Erica”, Christina slurred, “You don't have to deal with boyfriends doing stupid stuff to seem tough and cool.”
“Hey”, Owen interjected, “I don't do that!”
“Oh yeah? You and Derek didn't race each other last time you drove to his house trailer?”
“Maybe a little”, he mumbled sullenly, his speech impaired by alcohol.
“Anyway”, Christina continued, “Girls don't do that. We already know we're awesome.”
“But you know, Christina, if you're with a woman, you have to talk about feelings and emotions and stuff a lot more.” Erica wasn't as drunk as the others, and enjoyed the show as the most sober person.
“Oh yeah. There's that. Maybe having a boyfriend jumping off a bridge to show he's cool is better then.”
“Hey, I never... Oh, wait, I did... But it was a small bridge, and a river underneath”, Owen said.
“You jumped off Grove bridge?” Derek sounded surprised.
“Yup, nothing to it”, Owen puffed with pride.
“I did that to impress a girl once”, Derek smiled, before Meredith stared at him and his smile faded.
“Uh, Christina, thanks for inviting us, we had a great time, but I think we better head home”, Derek said, eyes fixed on Meredith.
As Derek and Meredith went out the door, they could hear Derek making excuses.
“Mer, it was long before you... It's not a big bridge...”
“I think Der and Mer will be fighting tonight”, Callie said, drunk enough to laugh at her own wordplay.
“Hey, that's my person you're talking about”, Christina said, before continuing. “And then they'll have make-up sex in the morning.”
Callie and Erica were the only guests left, so Erica called a cab, not wanting to overstay their welcome. When it arrived, Christina walked them to the door.
“Thank you for coming, and thanks for the cake and the shoes.” Callie and Erica had given Christina a pair of shoes which she had wanted for a long time, because she figured they'd be comfortable to stand in during long surgeries.
“No problem. Thanks for inviting us... although it is my apartment too”, Callie suddenly saw the absurdity of being a visitor in her own apartment.
The cab driver honked, apparently sick of waiting, so they quickly said good bye and headed to the cab.
Later, lying in Erica's bed, as close as they managed to get to each other, Callie thought that this felt more like home than her apartment did. Erica's bed felt more like her bed than her own did. Erica felt like home.