Out of Africa Event: Is this Fixable?
Title: Is this Fixable? (Out of Africa Event)
Author: Chwitchety
Rating: sort of M for swearing is all.
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Disclaimer: I dont own it. I dont profit from it.
Summary: Arizona has come back from Africa and has been at work for a week. She hasn't spoken to Callie yet and comes across her in the doctors' lounge.
A/N: Regarding Out of Africa, I dont know if this qualifies, because I havent resolved why AZ comes back!
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Arizona froze as she entered the Attendings’ lounge.
Callie was sitting alone at the table, eating a meager fruit salad for lunch. Callie’s eyes had widened upon turning to see who the intruder was, before turning back to her food.
Still unsure of herself, but feeling that leaving the room would only make things worse, Arizona closed the door behind her and took a step forward.
It was the first time they had been in a room together since Arizona had returned to work one week ago. Hell, it was the first time she had been able to see her ex properly since her abrupt and premature return from Africa. Arizona’s eyes gazed over the back of Callie’s head, taking in her new hair style and noticing the restrained tension in her shoulders.
She had tried to go see Callie at the start of the week. She had been informed by an enthused and buoyant Teddy that Callie had moved in with Mark. Arizona’s initial disgust was tampered when she begrudgingly acquiesced to the fact that with a sub-letter in their old apartment, moving in with her BFF may have been one of the few options available to Callie.
She had turned up at Mark Sloan’s door on a Sunday evening, knowing Callie would be in, and knocked firmly. She had not expected Mark’s hostile greeting. Upon opening the door and seeing who it was, his face contorted into a sneering growl.
“Be thankful I’m a gentleman and that my career depends on my hands functioning, because even you being a woman wouldn’t stop me from punching you in the face.”
Somewhat taken aback, but incited to retaliation, Arizona cocked her head exasperatedly.
“Grow up, Mark. She didn’t want to go.”
Mark stared at her imposingly. Arizona had not backed down.
Dropping his head to his chest before looking back up at her, he sighed.
“I agree, but I’m her friend.”
She knew what he was saying, what he was willing her to understand. Frustratingly so. There really was and had been no right or wrong in this situation. Why the hell her life wasn’t a cut-copy black and white scenario, she couldn’t figure. It would be a heck of a lot better if it was. Mark knew. He could see the grey. Just - he also saw Callie, and he was always, always going to be in her corner. Through George, through Erica and, now, through Arizona.
Arizona bit her lower lip.
“I need to speak with her.”
Mark shook his head. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Arizona clutched her purse strap reflexively as the sentence made its sharp little way directly to her heart. Jaw line fixed and grim, Arizona searched for the last of her resolve.
“Fine. I’ll see her at work.”
Mark Sloan, though many would not have thought it of him, was a perceptive man. Sensing the blonde’s abject distress, his eyes flicked back to his apartment anxiously before leaning closer to Arizona in collaboration and speaking sotto voce.
“Just…back off for a while, okay? She’s…” he grimaced as he stopped talking, unwilling to give away his friend’s emotional state in words, but pushing his head forward in empathy, trying to force Arizona to understand. “…Okay?”
Arizona felt the first sliver of hope in a long while. If Mark was implying what she thought he was implying, it was that Callie was still hung up on her - that Callie was still in love with her.
Mark shook his head in disgust at his own betraying actions, noticing the grateful gleam in Arizona’s eyes. He raised his voice again.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come here again.”
So here she was now. She took a step closer to Callie, willing her to look around at her again.
“Callie, hey.” Arizona’s voice was soft.
Callie’s eyes flicked over to her left shoulder before sliding back to her food.
“Hey.”
Fingering the back of a chair, a seat away from Callie, Arizona kept her gaze trained on her ex.
“Mind if I sit?”
“Feel free.”
Arizona sat carefully and they sat in silence together for a minute, Callie was munching on a slice of apple.
“So…how are you?”
Calliope Torres could barely hear what Arizona was saying. Her whole chest was hurting like a cartoon pound weight had been dropped on it. Her head had been swirling since Arizona had stepped into the room. She took a breath and desperately tried to focus. She was not going to let this affect her. Arizona did not deserve to know how much she hurt. That day at the airport was the last time that Arizona took any part of her. She was never going to give anything away ever again. And that meant she had to listen to Arizona and be civil.
“I’m fine thanks.” Callie flashed a small smile towards Arizona before looking back to her salad.
Arizona blinked.
Cool, calm, collected Callie scared her. It seemed like a death knell.
“I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you earlier. I tried to come round on Sunday…” Arizona left the rest of the sentence hanging. She didn’t want to start with accusing remarks about Callie immaturely refusing to see her.
Callie heard the unspoken, nevertheless, and narrowed her eyes.
“I guess I must have been out.”
Arizona flattened her lips at the blatant lie, but let it slide. Her heart felt so heavy, as Callie continued to concentrate on her lunch.
“Callie,” Arizona sighed sadly, she knew it was unfair of her, but, “I still love you.”
Callie’s chewing stopped instantaneously before swallowing quickly. Her head turned to Arizona, although her gaze was fixed to the corner of the room.
“No. Because you don’t leave the ones you love and cut them out of your life completely. So…”
Arizona watched Callie as her head turned back to her food, her pulse in her neck flickering and breathing through subtly pursed lips. God, this was one of the reasons that Arizona had fallen in love with her. Callie’s inability to cover the heart she wore on her sleeve was heart-breaking. Even in her attempts at detachment.
“Callie, it was the right thing to do. You know this. I love you enough to give you a clean break. I just want you to be happy.”
Arizona watches as Callie controls her initial reaction to scoff.
“I make my own decisions to be happy,” she paused before adding, “And I am.”
Sitting in silence again, Arizona runs her eyes over her ex-girlfriend. The warm caramel hands are slightly clenched, indicating her mood. The blue scrub top sits enticingly over the long armed under-top. Her neck, once the object of Arizona’s many affections, is much more easily seen with the new haircut.
“Your hair,” Arizona gestured with her head, “It’s hot.”
“Thanks.” Callie’s singular word emphasized the snarky comments she hadn’t said.
Arizona, unable to help herself, reached out a hand to play with the lush locks that looked so inviting. Callie flinched before Arizona’s hand could meet its destination. Arizona’s movement ceased and her hand dropped back down to her side.
“I’m just worried about you, Callie. I know you.”
Callie’s eyebrows raised in incredulousness, her jaw tightening.
“Well, if you took a break from patronizing me for one second, Arizona, you would find out even if you may feel that there’s no getting over you, others would say the opposite, and you’ll be surprised to know that - I’ve moved on.”
Defensive and angry at the sarcasm, Arizona retorted.
“Callie, both you and I know that ‘Mark Sloan’ is not moving on.”
Callie’s eyes glinted furiously and finally flicked over to meet Arizona’s. She shrugged and shook her head.
“Well, both you and I know that you don’t really have a say in the matter anymore.”
Nothing like the truth to rip a hole in your soul.
“Callie…” Arizona felt her anger deflate at the last remark.
“You can leave now, Arizona.” Callie turned back to her food.
And the anger came right back again at Callie’s outright dismissal. Arizona was so infuriated with her ex-girlfriend’s willful stubbornness that she didn’t notice how Callie’s hands were beginning to shake. She leaned over the chair in-between them to get her face as close to Callie as it would allow. She was livid.
“You don’t seriously expect me to believe that you don’t lie in Mark’s bed each night, wishing that you were anywhere but.”
Callie’s breath hitched in her throat.
“Fuck you, Arizona.”
Triumphantly, Arizona sat back in her seat as Callie grasped the lid to her salad to fumble it back on.
“Touched a nerve did I?”
Callie was incensed at both Arizona and herself, for allowing the blonde to get to her. She stood up abruptly and glowered at the now somewhat smug Arizona.
“Fucking…Fuck you.”
Hurt, and now on a roll, Arizona couldn’t stop herself.
“Fucking Mark Sloan, more like it.”
The shot hit well and true. Callie blanched, mouth beginning to quiver, and Arizona could see the tears begin to well. Immediately regretting the whole situation, Arizona sat up straight, but Callie had already twisted and made a beeline for the door, in an attempt to hide the effect Arizona’s words had had on her.
Slipping out of the room, the door clicked softly shut behind her.
“Shit.”
Just when Arizona thought that things couldn’t get any worse.
Author: Chwitchety
Rating: sort of M for swearing is all.
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Disclaimer: I dont own it. I dont profit from it.
Summary: Arizona has come back from Africa and has been at work for a week. She hasn't spoken to Callie yet and comes across her in the doctors' lounge.
A/N: Regarding Out of Africa, I dont know if this qualifies, because I havent resolved why AZ comes back!
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Arizona froze as she entered the Attendings’ lounge.
Callie was sitting alone at the table, eating a meager fruit salad for lunch. Callie’s eyes had widened upon turning to see who the intruder was, before turning back to her food.
Still unsure of herself, but feeling that leaving the room would only make things worse, Arizona closed the door behind her and took a step forward.
It was the first time they had been in a room together since Arizona had returned to work one week ago. Hell, it was the first time she had been able to see her ex properly since her abrupt and premature return from Africa. Arizona’s eyes gazed over the back of Callie’s head, taking in her new hair style and noticing the restrained tension in her shoulders.
She had tried to go see Callie at the start of the week. She had been informed by an enthused and buoyant Teddy that Callie had moved in with Mark. Arizona’s initial disgust was tampered when she begrudgingly acquiesced to the fact that with a sub-letter in their old apartment, moving in with her BFF may have been one of the few options available to Callie.
She had turned up at Mark Sloan’s door on a Sunday evening, knowing Callie would be in, and knocked firmly. She had not expected Mark’s hostile greeting. Upon opening the door and seeing who it was, his face contorted into a sneering growl.
“Be thankful I’m a gentleman and that my career depends on my hands functioning, because even you being a woman wouldn’t stop me from punching you in the face.”
Somewhat taken aback, but incited to retaliation, Arizona cocked her head exasperatedly.
“Grow up, Mark. She didn’t want to go.”
Mark stared at her imposingly. Arizona had not backed down.
Dropping his head to his chest before looking back up at her, he sighed.
“I agree, but I’m her friend.”
She knew what he was saying, what he was willing her to understand. Frustratingly so. There really was and had been no right or wrong in this situation. Why the hell her life wasn’t a cut-copy black and white scenario, she couldn’t figure. It would be a heck of a lot better if it was. Mark knew. He could see the grey. Just - he also saw Callie, and he was always, always going to be in her corner. Through George, through Erica and, now, through Arizona.
Arizona bit her lower lip.
“I need to speak with her.”
Mark shook his head. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Arizona clutched her purse strap reflexively as the sentence made its sharp little way directly to her heart. Jaw line fixed and grim, Arizona searched for the last of her resolve.
“Fine. I’ll see her at work.”
Mark Sloan, though many would not have thought it of him, was a perceptive man. Sensing the blonde’s abject distress, his eyes flicked back to his apartment anxiously before leaning closer to Arizona in collaboration and speaking sotto voce.
“Just…back off for a while, okay? She’s…” he grimaced as he stopped talking, unwilling to give away his friend’s emotional state in words, but pushing his head forward in empathy, trying to force Arizona to understand. “…Okay?”
Arizona felt the first sliver of hope in a long while. If Mark was implying what she thought he was implying, it was that Callie was still hung up on her - that Callie was still in love with her.
Mark shook his head in disgust at his own betraying actions, noticing the grateful gleam in Arizona’s eyes. He raised his voice again.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come here again.”
So here she was now. She took a step closer to Callie, willing her to look around at her again.
“Callie, hey.” Arizona’s voice was soft.
Callie’s eyes flicked over to her left shoulder before sliding back to her food.
“Hey.”
Fingering the back of a chair, a seat away from Callie, Arizona kept her gaze trained on her ex.
“Mind if I sit?”
“Feel free.”
Arizona sat carefully and they sat in silence together for a minute, Callie was munching on a slice of apple.
“So…how are you?”
Calliope Torres could barely hear what Arizona was saying. Her whole chest was hurting like a cartoon pound weight had been dropped on it. Her head had been swirling since Arizona had stepped into the room. She took a breath and desperately tried to focus. She was not going to let this affect her. Arizona did not deserve to know how much she hurt. That day at the airport was the last time that Arizona took any part of her. She was never going to give anything away ever again. And that meant she had to listen to Arizona and be civil.
“I’m fine thanks.” Callie flashed a small smile towards Arizona before looking back to her salad.
Arizona blinked.
Cool, calm, collected Callie scared her. It seemed like a death knell.
“I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you earlier. I tried to come round on Sunday…” Arizona left the rest of the sentence hanging. She didn’t want to start with accusing remarks about Callie immaturely refusing to see her.
Callie heard the unspoken, nevertheless, and narrowed her eyes.
“I guess I must have been out.”
Arizona flattened her lips at the blatant lie, but let it slide. Her heart felt so heavy, as Callie continued to concentrate on her lunch.
“Callie,” Arizona sighed sadly, she knew it was unfair of her, but, “I still love you.”
Callie’s chewing stopped instantaneously before swallowing quickly. Her head turned to Arizona, although her gaze was fixed to the corner of the room.
“No. Because you don’t leave the ones you love and cut them out of your life completely. So…”
Arizona watched Callie as her head turned back to her food, her pulse in her neck flickering and breathing through subtly pursed lips. God, this was one of the reasons that Arizona had fallen in love with her. Callie’s inability to cover the heart she wore on her sleeve was heart-breaking. Even in her attempts at detachment.
“Callie, it was the right thing to do. You know this. I love you enough to give you a clean break. I just want you to be happy.”
Arizona watches as Callie controls her initial reaction to scoff.
“I make my own decisions to be happy,” she paused before adding, “And I am.”
Sitting in silence again, Arizona runs her eyes over her ex-girlfriend. The warm caramel hands are slightly clenched, indicating her mood. The blue scrub top sits enticingly over the long armed under-top. Her neck, once the object of Arizona’s many affections, is much more easily seen with the new haircut.
“Your hair,” Arizona gestured with her head, “It’s hot.”
“Thanks.” Callie’s singular word emphasized the snarky comments she hadn’t said.
Arizona, unable to help herself, reached out a hand to play with the lush locks that looked so inviting. Callie flinched before Arizona’s hand could meet its destination. Arizona’s movement ceased and her hand dropped back down to her side.
“I’m just worried about you, Callie. I know you.”
Callie’s eyebrows raised in incredulousness, her jaw tightening.
“Well, if you took a break from patronizing me for one second, Arizona, you would find out even if you may feel that there’s no getting over you, others would say the opposite, and you’ll be surprised to know that - I’ve moved on.”
Defensive and angry at the sarcasm, Arizona retorted.
“Callie, both you and I know that ‘Mark Sloan’ is not moving on.”
Callie’s eyes glinted furiously and finally flicked over to meet Arizona’s. She shrugged and shook her head.
“Well, both you and I know that you don’t really have a say in the matter anymore.”
Nothing like the truth to rip a hole in your soul.
“Callie…” Arizona felt her anger deflate at the last remark.
“You can leave now, Arizona.” Callie turned back to her food.
And the anger came right back again at Callie’s outright dismissal. Arizona was so infuriated with her ex-girlfriend’s willful stubbornness that she didn’t notice how Callie’s hands were beginning to shake. She leaned over the chair in-between them to get her face as close to Callie as it would allow. She was livid.
“You don’t seriously expect me to believe that you don’t lie in Mark’s bed each night, wishing that you were anywhere but.”
Callie’s breath hitched in her throat.
“Fuck you, Arizona.”
Triumphantly, Arizona sat back in her seat as Callie grasped the lid to her salad to fumble it back on.
“Touched a nerve did I?”
Callie was incensed at both Arizona and herself, for allowing the blonde to get to her. She stood up abruptly and glowered at the now somewhat smug Arizona.
“Fucking…Fuck you.”
Hurt, and now on a roll, Arizona couldn’t stop herself.
“Fucking Mark Sloan, more like it.”
The shot hit well and true. Callie blanched, mouth beginning to quiver, and Arizona could see the tears begin to well. Immediately regretting the whole situation, Arizona sat up straight, but Callie had already twisted and made a beeline for the door, in an attempt to hide the effect Arizona’s words had had on her.
Slipping out of the room, the door clicked softly shut behind her.
“Shit.”
Just when Arizona thought that things couldn’t get any worse.