Fault Lines (20/36)
Fault Lines
Chapter 20/36
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye kye9
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Mark/Lexie
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer
Story Summary: Sequel to Choices. Callie and Arizona make the decision to move forward with their lives, but when a gradual series of events begin to snowball, Arizona tries desperately not to lose her grip on reality.
Chapter Summary: Mark and Arizona do something dirty that neither of their girlfriends would approve of. (Yes, Mark and Arizona. You heard us.)
Previous Chapters
A/N: Beta'd by the awesome roughian again, the busiest beta woman in the universe. She has super powers, guys!
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Arizona’s absence from work encompassed a grand total of ten days. Her father stabilized after his most recent surgery and they were keeping him in the ICU for closer monitoring. Against all odds, he was hanging on by a thread. It was even his suggestion that she get back to the job she loved sooner rather than later.
According to the Colonel, she was ‘hovering’ and he didn’t need a babysitter.
Arizona was just afraid of being away if something bad happened to him. However, she couldn’t deny that she was going completely crazy not being able to work with her kids. Any time she was in the hospital she would check on the Pediatrics unit anyway; going back early would give her a nice distraction from all of the waiting around. Even though her dad was on the top of the transplant list for their area, a heart wasn’t guaranteed to show up in time.
As much as she wanted her father to live, Arizona found it difficult to hope and pray for some poor soul to die just so it could happen. Knowing both sides of the equation had caused a permanent knot to form in the pit of her stomach. She was damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.
In the end, she just wanted him to live long enough to meet his granddaughter. She wanted him to meet all three or four babies she and Callie planned on having. The children would need their grandfather around; they were already missing an uncle and any more absences in their lives just didn’t seem fair.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay tonight?” Arizona asked for the thirteenth time, walking from the bedroom to the living room of her and Callie’s apartment. “I can call in and say I’ll work the day shift tomorrow instead.”
Curled up on the couch with her favourite blanket, Callie shoveled a large spoonful of cookie dough ice cream into her mouth and stared unblinkingly at the television screen. “Yeah, whatever,” she called out absently, completely engrossed in Gone With the Wind.
Arizona quirked a tiny smile. “Glad to see you missed having me around.”
“Love you, too,” Callie murmured as she dipped her spoon back into the ice cream tub, eyes staying glued to the melodramatic sequence playing out in front of her.
Taking the hint, Arizona disappeared back into the bedroom to retrieve her coat and bag. She emerged a few minutes later ready to leave for work.
Callie hadn’t budged an inch.
After pulling her hair into a ponytail, Arizona dropped her arms back to her sides and tilted her head curiously at the other woman. “Now might be a good time to tell you that I kinda washed that white t-shirt you just bought with the red bath towels by accident.”
“That’s great,” Callie replied without the slightest change of inflection, spoon lifted half way to her mouth when she paused in mid air. Dark brown eyes began to water as soon as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara started weeping tragically for one another.
“No,” she whined, blinking back the sudden onslaught of tears, undoubtedly brought on by the ridiculous amount of hormones flowing through her system. She cried at sad TV commercials these days; it really didn’t take much.
Arizona shook her head in amusement, shrugging her coat on. She walked to the couch and leaned over the back, planting a loving kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. “All right, enjoy. I love you.”
Callie leaned away from the kiss and stuffed another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
Sighing, Arizona dropped another light kiss on top of her partner’s head before making her way to the door.
***
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Lexie sighed in exasperation, pouting at Mark. “Really, I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t mind spending the evening with Callie while he worked an all-night shift for the first time since she’d been hurt. The company would be nice and the two of them usually had fun, but the fact that Mark didn’t trust her to be on her own was kind of annoying.
“She’s not a babysitter,” Mark reasoned. “I just think it would be good for you to have someone to hang out with instead of being locked in the apartment by yourself.”
The door swung open in front of them to reveal Arizona, dressed and ready to go. “Hey, you two,” she greeted the pair with a bright smile.
“Robbins,” Mark replied. “Is Torres-”
“She’s watching ‘Gone With the Wind’,” Arizona cut in with a small laugh. “I doubt she’ll even notice for the next hour that she’s got company.”
Lexie pouted. “I’m noticeable,” she grumbled.
Arizona grinned as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. “I’m sure you are, Little Grey,” she teased, finally stepping out into the hall. “But this is Scarlett and Rhett we’re talking about here. You’ll be lucky if she so much as blinks in your direction before the credits roll.”
Her gaze shifted to Mark. “Ready?”
He, in turn, looked at his girlfriend. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?”
“For the millionth time, yes,” Lexie sighed heavily. “Now go. Pull on peoples’ faces and give them bigger boobs. It’s what they pay you the big bucks for.”
Arizona smirked and waved to Lexie as she started for the elevator, a somewhat dejected looking Mark traveling along behind her. “If Calliope asks where the jar of sweet pickles went, she already finished them last night. And yes, that includes the ‘secret’ stash she hid behind the water filter.”
Lexie watched the two blondes disappear around the corner before stepping inside Callie’s apartment and closing the door. As expected, the older brunette sat on the couch, staring unblinkingly at the TV.
“Hey,” she called softly, heading over. She cocked her head to the side, noting Callie’s nearly catatonic state, sitting there with tears streaming down her face and a tub of half-melted ice cream in her lap.
Sinking into the empty space beside her, Lexie focused on the screen and became engrossed in the classic movie within seconds. She pulled a pillow into her lap and hugged it to her body, leaning back into the cushions.
Without taking her eyes away from the film, Callie extended the ice cream bucket to her left, sucking on her spoon.
Lexie glanced down at it, then leaned forward and grabbed an unused utensil she’d spotted on the table. She stuck it into the half-frozen substance, pulled her feet up onto the couch to get comfortable, and tucked the container under one arm.
Without either of them uttering a single syllable, she scooped up a spoonful of cookie dough goodness and shoved it in her mouth.
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
***
Arizona was fitting her street clothes into her locker when she heard the distinct sound of Mark grumbling behind her yet again. She debated ignoring him, but he’d been making sad and frustrated noises for a solid ten minutes now as they changed. Alone in the locker room, she didn’t really see anyone else around to ask him what the problem was, so apparently that duty fell on her.
Peachy.
Mark’s problems were pretty much the last thing Arizona wanted to hear about most days - the last time she’d asked him what was wrong, he’d told her he pulled a muscle in his side before going on to describe in detail a complicated sex position he’d twisted a nurse into the previous afternoon.
Needless to say, Arizona hadn’t asked him a single question about his well-being since then.
Now here they were, all alone with ten minutes to spare before the beginning of their shifts, and Mark was making repetitive grumpy noises. Arizona’s inner turmoil was beginning to wilt away under her natural curiosity and desire to help others; maybe even from a little bit of annoyance at the constant pity party he was throwing himself.
Whatever the reason, she finally closed her locker and turned around, leveling him with a carefully neutral stare. “You’ve only been out of the house for five minutes and you’re acting like someone stole your puppy. Is it really already that bad?”
More air expelled from Mark’s lungs as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it into his open locker. Contrary to the blonde’s, it was messy and various scrub caps, food wrappers and t-shirts haphazardly littered the shelves and floor. Arizona’s locker was pristine and barely looked like it had been used in years.
Grabbing an undershirt and sniffing to make sure it was clean - and ignoring the face Arizona made as he did so - Mark pulled it on before turning to face her, clipping his I.D. badge to the breast pocket. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh,” Arizona replied, thoroughly unconvinced. “Look, this is a one-time offer, so either suck it up and stop pouting or spill your guts. I don’t have all day.”
Mark cocked his head to the side. “You’re not nearly as nice as people assume you are, huh?”
“It comes in waves.”
Sighing yet again, Mark swiped a hand through his hair and ruffled it messily. “Things are just...hard lately, that’s all.”
Arizona leaned back against her locker and studied her nails closely. “How is she?”
Mark shrugged and glanced down. “Not great. She’s in a lot of pain, stressed about missing work, stressed about the baby. I try to make her happy, but lately it’s like she wants nothing to do with me.”
He sounded so unhappy that Arizona looked up in surprise. “I’m sure she’s just having a hard time with her shoulder. It can be pretty painful without any medication. Maybe she should-”
“It’s not the pain,” Mark interrupted, “it’s me. She wants nothing to do with me. I try to get close to her, to be near her or touch her, and she shoves me away. It’s like I repulse her or something and I have no idea what I did. I tried to get her to have sex last night, promising I’d make her feel good again, only to have her push me away and refuse to talk for an entire hour this morning.”
Arizona closed her eyes and released a breath of her own. “Mark, she’s in pain, pregnant and stressed,” she repeated, since he clearly missed the point the first time around. “She’s not going to want to have sex with you for a while. You need to give her space. Keep ‘Little Sloan’ in your pants and wait for her to come to you.”
Mark’s mouth twitched.
“Ew,” Arizona shot back, scoffing in disgust. “Okay, I tried, but if you’re just gonna be a pig, then-”
“I’m sorry,” Mark chuckled, grabbing Arizona by the arm as she turned away and pivoting her back around. “Jeeze, Robbins. For all Torres talks up that dirty mouth of yours, I’m surprised you’re so squeamish every time I open mine.”
The blonde looked horrified. “She tells you about our sex lif-”
He cut her off again with a sharp laugh, looking a lot more relaxed than he had moments before. “There’ve been hints. Mostly I figure you’re a dirty little freak in the sack just like the rest of us, which you pretty much confirmed with the look on your face.”
He seemed rather proud of himself.
Arizona growled and back-handed him on the shoulder. “Men are pigs. This is why I’m grateful to be a lesbian.”
Mark shrugged and rubbed the bruise she’d left behind. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”
Arizona rolled her eyes but didn’t storm out, to her credit. “Just give her time and don’t go ‘wagging’ anything in her face, expecting to make it better. She’s dealing with a lot for someone her age. She’s only twenty-six and she’s got both a family and an extremely, extremely demanding career that hasn’t even started yet.”
Mark looked down and scuffed a shoe against the floor, genuine sadness passing across his features. “I shoulda kept her home,” he whispered. “Should’ve kept her safe. She shouldn’t have gotten hurt like that. I’m supposed to protect her, Robbins. I promised I’d protect her and then she...”
Frowning, Arizona tilted her head and watched him closely. “It wasn’t your fault, Mark. It was an accident that you couldn’t control. Even if you’d been at work, you wouldn’t have been with her or able to stop the patient. Residents take people up for CTs all the time. It was a freak coincidence.”
Shrugging one shoulder, Mark leaned back into the opposite row of lockers and brooded some more. “I’m an ass, I get that. I’m thinking about sex too much. But she’s Lexie, y’know? She’s all I think about. She’s beautiful. She’s the love of my life, the mother of my child. I just want to be with her. Is that really so horrible?”
Arizona’s emotional response nearly had her thinking ‘aww’ at his cute little speech - until Mark’s mouth kept moving and he quelled the urge just as fast as it had appeared in the first place.
“I’m a guy, Robbins. We haven’t had sex in weeks and all I can think about is locking us both in the bedroom and screwing until the walls cave in.”
Arizona closed her eyes and bit her tongue. She really shouldn’t find herself so surprised whenever his personality popped out of his mouth.
“I’m an ass,” Mark added, noting her exasperated reaction. “I get that. But I’m a guy. I’m a Sloan, okay? I can’t help it. At this rate, I’ve gotta run the perimeter of Jupiter before I can fall asleep at night without bothering the woman next to me. It’s killing me.”
Despite the level of disgust she held for Sloan and his manwhoring ways, Arizona found herself sympathizing with him. Even if it was only a little bit.
She’d been separated from Callie for a while and that hadn’t stopped them from having all kinds of sex. When they’d made a real effort to steer clear of one another, it had been torture. All Arizona could think, see, smell and dream of was Calliope Torres, twenty-four-seven. The woman was in her head and it had been impossible not to be able to touch her whenever she wanted to. In a way she understood where Mark was coming from, even if he was being a pervy jackass about it.
“Don’t you have, um,” Arizona began, feeling her face flush despite her efforts to remain impartial. “Y’know...stuff?” She quirked an eyebrow and waited for him to clue in.
Mark just blinked at her.
Sighing, Arizona rolled her eyes and averted her gaze. “Y’know...stuff for...that kind of things.” A pause. “Stuff of the video variety?”
Mark caught on and for once looked embarrassed. “I don’t have porn,” he blurted a little too quickly.
Plain disbelief was written all over her face. She arched a pointed eyebrow.
His shoulders sagged and he looked anywhere but the matching set of blue eyes two feet away. “Lex found it when she moved in and hocked my boxsets for twenty bucks at the Adult Video Source downtown.”
Still beet red, Arizona cleared her throat awkwardly. “Oh. That...oh.” She didn’t really know what else to say to that.
Visualizing Mark Sloan’s porn collection was not something she ever wanted to do.
She felt sorry for him, she did, but for a long moment she didn’t know what to say to him other than ‘suck it up’. Not being with the woman you loved could be torture, but it’s not like he could force the issue. If Lexie wasn’t in the right place mentally for a physical relationship right now, Mark was shit out of luck until his fiancée felt better.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two parties until something in Arizona’s brain finally clicked.
Not even her ability to empathize with Mark Sloan could really explain why this next idea even entered her mind to begin with. She was somewhat disturbed, mostly because it really seemed like a logical solution.
If someone didn’t do something about the itch in Sloan’s pants - and she knew this from Mark’s previous Lexie-free experience - he was going to over-run her and Callie’s daily life. He would show up on their doorstep at all hours, walk in unannounced, invade romantic meals, and probably even cock-block her inadvertently more than once.
God help her, but those possibilities made her rationalize this next decision in a relatively short period of time. She only hoped she’d be able to wipe all traces of this memory in the near future.
Avoiding Mark’s gaze like her life depended on it, Arizona lowered her voice despite the fact that they were clearly alone.
“I might, um...” She cleared her throat and studied the intricate details on her locker door. “In the meantime, I might have, uh, a-a magazine or DVD that’ll help keep you...‘occupied’.”
It really wouldn’t have helped much if the earth had literally opened up and swallowed her at that point. She was pretty sure she’d still die of humiliation.
“It’s not like I watch it,” she added quickly. “It’s something I was given in college and it just kinda moved around with me in some boxes over the years. But it’s...got girls. And it’s tasteful, unlike the crap you probably watch.”
The disbelief on Mark’s face took a long moment to give way to part amusement, part shock. “Robbins,” he teased, openly staring at the blonde, “would those happen to come from your...‘personal’ girl-on-girl collection?”
Arizona dropped her head sideways into the locker with a groan. “Oh, shut up.”
Mark merely grinned. “Does Torres know about this?”
Arizona’s head jerked up in an instant. “No,” she snapped, pointing a menacing finger in his face. “And you are not about to tell her, either. Pregnant wives aren’t exactly known for being incredibly rational.”
“Why do you think mine made me sleep on the couch for three days when she found out?” Mark muttered under his breath. He tilted his head curiously at Arizona. “I seriously never pegged you for the dirty mistress type, Blondie. I thought you were all Saint-like and perfect on the inside. Turns out you’re just as much a perv as the rest of us. Guess there is no God.”
“Shut up,” Arizona repeated with a dangerous growl, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. “I’m trying to help you here, you moron. Instead, you’re making me want to hit you in the face with a brick and hide the body in the morgue.”
Mark started laughing, only because Arizona was funny as hell when she was angry and embarrassed at the same time. It was like she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do more - kill him or die herself. He held up a hand in surrender when she whirled back to her locker and ripped it open again, yanking out her lab coat.
Pulling himself back together, Mark cleared his throat and fell silent as she pulled it on. Suddenly he was the one blushing and avoiding eye contact. “Actually, uh...if you wouldn’t mind...?”
Once again, they both looked to opposite sides of the room.
“Just don’t tell Lexie,” Mark added quickly.
“My lips are sealed as long as yours are,” Arizona agreed, still scarlet red.
The awkward moment that followed made Arizona wish she was dead and Mark didn’t look much better. It was finally broken by the sound of her pager a moment later, the shrill beep piercing the silence like a scalpel.
Oh thank God.
Checking the number first, Arizona looked up at Mark and nodded to the door. “I, uh...patients. Kids. Tiny humans are bleeding and I have to fix them, so-”
“Right, go,” Mark said immediately, waving a hand. He looked pretty relieved, too.
But he was still Mark, and embarrassed or not, Arizona only made it halfway to the door before his voice rang out behind her.
“Does this ‘personal collection’ happen to include some sort of home video?”
Arizona twitched and refused to turn around as she paused with a hand on the doorknob. “Sloan, you couldn’t handle my personal, private collection,” she shot back.
Then she tugged open the door and disappeared into the hall.
Mark groaned to himself as he watched her go. At this point, he didn’t doubt her one bit.
***
“Ooh, I like this,” Lexie gushed as she held up a blue onesie with a little red fire truck on the front.
Callie leaned over her shoulder, grinning brightly as she pictured a baby Sloan wearing it. “Aww, look at how tiny it is. I didn’t realize they were gonna come out so little.”
Lexie laughed as she tucked the article of clothing into her shopping bag, already smitten with it. “For someone that’s married to the local Baby Whisperer, you sure seemed surprised about a lot of things,” she teased.
Callie chuckled in return. “Good thing I’ve got my own personal tiny human encyclopedia that walks and talks and changes diapers.”
Lexie moved along the aisle, scanning each item for boys that she came across. She felt pretty good today, even if it was barely nine in the morning and they were already out shopping. She’d enjoyed the previous evening with Callie, bonding over their mutual jobs of carrying the lovable little parasites inside of their uteruses. They’d decided to get an early start and do some shopping while Mark and Arizona finished their eighteen hour shifts.
It wasn’t that Lexie was glad to be rid of Mark. Really, he’d been great about things. Mostly. She was just so glad to have female company for once and she got along extremely well with Callie. It was the first time she’d been able to relax since getting hurt, maybe even since getting pregnant.
And given the events that transpired between Callie and her partner not too long ago, Lexie guessed she was enjoying the company as well.
Glancing over at the brunette, who was busy digging through a bargain bin of baby booties, Lexie took in the light in Callie’s eyes and the general bounce in her step. “Arizona seemed pretty good last night. Don’t think I’ve seen her smile that brightly in a long time.”
Callie beamed at the mention of her partner. “You know, we’re actually pretty good these days,” she admitted, looking over at Lexie. “She still has her rough moments, but instead of pulling away she’s been pretty honest with me. I think she still feels guilty for leaving, so she keeps trying to make it up to me by being extra sweet and spoiling me rotten.”
“Can’t go wrong there,” Lexie laughed, adding another onesie to her bag. She just hoped Baby Sloan was near or under eight pounds, because she was growing increasingly aware of how tiny her vagina was in comparison to the little people that were supposed to fit inside these outfits.
It was a little disconcerting, so she tried not to dwell on it too much.
“How’s her dad doing?” Lexie showed Callie a tiny pink camo hat that the brunette abruptly snatched up and cooed over.
Callie turned the material over in her fingers. “He’s...okay, I guess. He really needs that heart. Teddy and Erica are doing what they can, but it’s not looking too good.” Some of her giddiness faded as the harsh reality of the situation settled back in.
“I’m sorry,” Lexie said softly, feeling a pang in her chest. “If you guys ever need anything, just ask my one good arm and it would be glad to do it for you.”
That made Callie laugh and she sent Lexie a grateful smile. “Thanks, Little Grey. Same goes to you and your one arm. If Mark’s overbearing protectiveness ever drives you up the wall, I can make Zona sleep on the couch and we can share the bed.”
Lexie giggled an linked arms with the older girl, steering her toward the back of the store where the miscellaneous accessories were kept. “Somehow I doubt your lady is going to agree to that deal.”
“Ehh, whatever,” Callie said with a casual shrug. “I’ll just bring up the porn collection she has hidden in the closet and she’ll forget all about it.”
***
Two hours and several hundred dollars later, Lexie and Callie sat in the mall food court and devoured an early lunch. A decent amount of acquired loot surrounded their table with large bags from multiple outlets. Both women were thoroughly satisfied with their success and agreed that they deserved a reward. Since neither of them could drink alcohol, they settled for celebratory milkshakes instead.
Lexie’s cell phone beeped for the tenth time that morning and the brunette subconsciously rolled her eyes as she looked at the number. “Mark again. Wanted to make sure I was able to change okay this morning and that I could reach the cereal box in the cupboard. Because clearly he thinks I’m four.”
Callie watched the annoyance flare up in her companion. “He’s just being sweet, isn’t he? I know he’s a little over protective, but he loves you.”
“Yeah, but I’m not an infant, I’m just carrying one,” Lexie reasoned. “He’s treating me like I’m made of glass and refuses to let me so much as leave the apartment without him supervising my every move. I mean for god’s sake, he would offer to pee for me if he physically could. It’s getting to be a little much.”
Callie winced in sympathy. “Arizona can get like that sometimes. Just tell him that you’re pregnant, not disabled. Then take off his pants and remind him who’s on top.”
Instead of getting the giggle she’d anticipated, Callie watched Lexie’s face darken as she looked away. “What?”
The younger brunette bit her bottom lip and glanced up hesitantly at Callie. “I know I’m not being entirely fair right now, I know that. Mark’s been nothing but perfect since he asked me to marry him. But...I-I think he might be cheating on me.”
Callie was shocked into silence.
“With the slut from down the hall,” Lexie added after a bitter moment passed.
Not wanting to outright deny it when she had no clue what was going on, Callie absorbed this bit of information. “Which...slut?”
“The pretty blonde one,” Lexie replied evenly, gnawing on the straw of her milkshake. “With the roommate that has the hots for Arizona.”
Callie’s eyes widened.
“He helped her move their slutty furniture and carried their slutty boxes up from the car, and hung their slutty, slutty pictures on the wall,” Lexie continued, grumbling unhappily.
“Lex,” Callie began slowly. “I know Mark is a lot of things, but he loves you and your baby. I don’t think he would ever cheat on you with some...slut-bomb.”
“He’s Mark,” Lexie shot back, tears welling up in her eyes as she tightened her grip on the milkshake. “He likes hot women and she was definitely hot, and not a million months pregnant with a gimpy arm a-and a crappy fourth-year resident job that she’s missing time on and stupid, stupid hormone trips that make her act all irrational and cause her to accuse him of cheating!”
Callie felt helpless as she watched Lexie burst into a fit of soft, quiet tears, fully prepared to pull the younger woman into a hug and try to help her feel better. Except Lexie was angry that she was crying and hurriedly swiping at the tears herself, scowling and cursing under her breath.
Callie sympathized. Unborn babies were kind of a bitch with their mood swings.
“God, I’m an idiot,” Lexie growled, scrubbing her eyes with an unused napkin. “I trust Mark and I love him, but I saw the way he looked at her a-and then knowing he wants sex but I’m not giving it to him...why wouldn’t he cheat? She’s so hot, I would have sex with her if I wasn’t a bloated cow with popping veins and stretch marks that would make the Lockness Monster run screaming in the other direction!”
Callie slid an arm around Lexie’s shoulder and tugged her into an awkward hug over the corner of the table. “Sweetie, he is not cheating on you,” she promised, rubbing a soothing hand along the woman’s back. “And you are not a bloated cow with popping veins and stretch marks. You still have the figure of a supermodel at six months pregnant and I hate your skinny little ass for it. Bitch.”
Lexie sniffled hard and blew her nose in the napkin. “You do?”
“Yeah,” Callie sighed, tightened her arm around the woman. “I really do.”
“Aw,” Lexie murmured with a cute pout, “thanks. You have awesome boobs. I’ve been jealous since I found out Mark saw them naked and now they only look ten times better. No wonder Arizona’s always staring at them.”
Callie laughed and released her hold on Lexie. “Don’t tell her that. She thinks she’s being inconspicuous.”
***
A grueling seventeen hours after her conversation with Mark, Arizona glanced nervously around as she strolled across the second floor catwalk. Her pace was brisk and full of purpose, and she clutched a thick, folded up newspaper tightly to her body in an almost possessive manner.
I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, she thought to herself, eyeballing everyone she passed as if they knew what she was holding. The only reason she didn’t turn and run for it when she spotted Mark waiting by the far railing was because she wanted him out of her and Callie’s hair for the next few weeks. This seemed to be the only reasonable solution.
God help them both.
The plastic surgeon glanced up when he heard rapid footsteps approaching and he mustered up a tired smile. “Robbins.”
Arizona paused in front of him and remained silent.
Straightening up, he took in the wide-eyed, flighty look on her face. “What’s-”
“Here,” she interrupted, shoving the newspaper hard into his chest and looking around fearfully. “Take it and keep your mouth shut. This never happened.”
Mark caught the object and furrowed his brow, unsure what exactly had her so worked up.
Until he unfolded the newspaper to find two items concealed inside - a dirty magazine and a DVD of a very specific variety.
Blue eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Here? Now?” he hissed, immediately trying to give them back.
“Just take it!” Arizona snapped, pushing the bundle into his hands. “I had to get some paperwork from the apartment, so I grabbed them while Callie was out.”
“Robbins, not here,” Mark growled, continuing the reverse tug-of-war neither one of them was willing to give in on.
“Markus!” Arizona shot back dangerously, giving the folded newspaper an extra shove and making him fumble the items. He nearly dropped everything, scrambling around to quickly stuff them back inside their hiding spot.
“Good morning.”
Mark and Arizona both jumped at the sound of Derek’s voice over their shoulders. They immediately whirled around to face him and suctioned together side by side, making every effort to hide the stash behind their backs.
Mark put on the brightest, most charming smile he could manage, nudging the blonde with an elbow as he tried to pass off the newspaper full of dirty souvenirs. “Chief.”
Arizona could only stare at Derek, looking petrified and extremely guilty as she shoved everything back to Mark behind their backs.
Derek tilted his head curiously as they squirmed, studying them both closely. They looked like they’d just been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “How was the overnight shift? Did things run smoothly?”
“Incredibly smoothly,” Mark answered, staring straight ahead at Derek. “So smoothly you’d think it was waxed.”
Arizona’s eyes widened and she elbowed him hard in the gut. He nearly dropped the newspaper again, barely managing to stop the concealed items from falling onto the Chief of Surgery’s shoes.
“Is that today’s edition?” Derek asked, catching sight of the newspaper. “I’ve been trying to track down a copy all morning.” He extended a hand.
“No!” both blondes shouted a little too loudly.
Derek arched a slow brow and glanced from one to the other.
Arizona tried not to look too shifty but had no idea if she succeeded. Probably not. “Uh-”
Mark sideways-kicked her in the shin and she immediately side-punted him back.
Derek didn’t quite know what to make of things. Mark was always up to something, but Arizona? Not so much. “What’s wrong with you two?”
Arizona finally managed to force the newspaper bundle on Mark and quickly stepped to the side before he could return it. “Nothing! Sloan was just leaving, right Dr. Sloan?”
“I was?” Mark asked blankly.
Arizona was going to kill him. “Yes. You had that big...thing you were doing soon. That thing where you had to put some stuff in your locker beforehand.” She gave him a pointed glare.
A light bulb went on in his head. “Oh! Yeah, that thing. Where I was going to my locker. ‘Cause my shift is over in half an hour.”
Looking from the blonde to his best friend, Mark reached out and clapped a hand down on the Chief’s shoulder. “Derek,” he said with a firm, final nod, brushing by him and continuing on with the newspaper tucked tightly under his arm.
Derek watched him go before turning back to Arizona. She still looked nervous, even though some of the tension drained from her shoulders when Mark left. “You’re getting off too, right?”
Horrified, Arizona’s eyes widened. “What?”
Derek blinked. “Your shift?” he elaborated.
She tried to resume a normal expression as smoothly as possible without looking too relieved. “Oh, yeah. No. Supposed to be, but there are appendixes that need to be taken out and cancers to be removed. Sick, sick little children that need attending to. By me. Because I’m an attending.”
The nervous laugh she emitted sounded shrill and uncomfortable. This whole thing was ridiculous and totally Mark’s fault.
Stepping to the side, Arizona flashed Derek a bright smile and pointed in the direction of the far double doors. “So I’m gonna go do that now. The tiny humans, they beckon.”
Still quite lost and confused, Derek just nodded. “All right then.”
Arizona repeated the same fake laugh, a nervous twitch developing in her right cheek. “All right then,” she echoed before turning and all but fleeing in the opposite direction.
Derek was left standing in the middle of the bridge corridor all by himself. He glanced to the left where Mark had gone and to the right where Arizona had fled to.
“All I wanted was a newspaper,” he muttered to himself before turning around and heading back to his office.
---
Chapter 20/36
Authors: Faith kennedysbitch & Kye kye9
Pairing: Callie/Arizona, Mark/Lexie
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer
Story Summary: Sequel to Choices. Callie and Arizona make the decision to move forward with their lives, but when a gradual series of events begin to snowball, Arizona tries desperately not to lose her grip on reality.
Chapter Summary: Mark and Arizona do something dirty that neither of their girlfriends would approve of. (Yes, Mark and Arizona. You heard us.)
Previous Chapters
A/N: Beta'd by the awesome roughian again, the busiest beta woman in the universe. She has super powers, guys!
---
Arizona’s absence from work encompassed a grand total of ten days. Her father stabilized after his most recent surgery and they were keeping him in the ICU for closer monitoring. Against all odds, he was hanging on by a thread. It was even his suggestion that she get back to the job she loved sooner rather than later.
According to the Colonel, she was ‘hovering’ and he didn’t need a babysitter.
Arizona was just afraid of being away if something bad happened to him. However, she couldn’t deny that she was going completely crazy not being able to work with her kids. Any time she was in the hospital she would check on the Pediatrics unit anyway; going back early would give her a nice distraction from all of the waiting around. Even though her dad was on the top of the transplant list for their area, a heart wasn’t guaranteed to show up in time.
As much as she wanted her father to live, Arizona found it difficult to hope and pray for some poor soul to die just so it could happen. Knowing both sides of the equation had caused a permanent knot to form in the pit of her stomach. She was damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.
In the end, she just wanted him to live long enough to meet his granddaughter. She wanted him to meet all three or four babies she and Callie planned on having. The children would need their grandfather around; they were already missing an uncle and any more absences in their lives just didn’t seem fair.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay tonight?” Arizona asked for the thirteenth time, walking from the bedroom to the living room of her and Callie’s apartment. “I can call in and say I’ll work the day shift tomorrow instead.”
Curled up on the couch with her favourite blanket, Callie shoveled a large spoonful of cookie dough ice cream into her mouth and stared unblinkingly at the television screen. “Yeah, whatever,” she called out absently, completely engrossed in Gone With the Wind.
Arizona quirked a tiny smile. “Glad to see you missed having me around.”
“Love you, too,” Callie murmured as she dipped her spoon back into the ice cream tub, eyes staying glued to the melodramatic sequence playing out in front of her.
Taking the hint, Arizona disappeared back into the bedroom to retrieve her coat and bag. She emerged a few minutes later ready to leave for work.
Callie hadn’t budged an inch.
After pulling her hair into a ponytail, Arizona dropped her arms back to her sides and tilted her head curiously at the other woman. “Now might be a good time to tell you that I kinda washed that white t-shirt you just bought with the red bath towels by accident.”
“That’s great,” Callie replied without the slightest change of inflection, spoon lifted half way to her mouth when she paused in mid air. Dark brown eyes began to water as soon as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara started weeping tragically for one another.
“No,” she whined, blinking back the sudden onslaught of tears, undoubtedly brought on by the ridiculous amount of hormones flowing through her system. She cried at sad TV commercials these days; it really didn’t take much.
Arizona shook her head in amusement, shrugging her coat on. She walked to the couch and leaned over the back, planting a loving kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. “All right, enjoy. I love you.”
Callie leaned away from the kiss and stuffed another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
Sighing, Arizona dropped another light kiss on top of her partner’s head before making her way to the door.
***
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Lexie sighed in exasperation, pouting at Mark. “Really, I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t mind spending the evening with Callie while he worked an all-night shift for the first time since she’d been hurt. The company would be nice and the two of them usually had fun, but the fact that Mark didn’t trust her to be on her own was kind of annoying.
“She’s not a babysitter,” Mark reasoned. “I just think it would be good for you to have someone to hang out with instead of being locked in the apartment by yourself.”
The door swung open in front of them to reveal Arizona, dressed and ready to go. “Hey, you two,” she greeted the pair with a bright smile.
“Robbins,” Mark replied. “Is Torres-”
“She’s watching ‘Gone With the Wind’,” Arizona cut in with a small laugh. “I doubt she’ll even notice for the next hour that she’s got company.”
Lexie pouted. “I’m noticeable,” she grumbled.
Arizona grinned as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. “I’m sure you are, Little Grey,” she teased, finally stepping out into the hall. “But this is Scarlett and Rhett we’re talking about here. You’ll be lucky if she so much as blinks in your direction before the credits roll.”
Her gaze shifted to Mark. “Ready?”
He, in turn, looked at his girlfriend. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?”
“For the millionth time, yes,” Lexie sighed heavily. “Now go. Pull on peoples’ faces and give them bigger boobs. It’s what they pay you the big bucks for.”
Arizona smirked and waved to Lexie as she started for the elevator, a somewhat dejected looking Mark traveling along behind her. “If Calliope asks where the jar of sweet pickles went, she already finished them last night. And yes, that includes the ‘secret’ stash she hid behind the water filter.”
Lexie watched the two blondes disappear around the corner before stepping inside Callie’s apartment and closing the door. As expected, the older brunette sat on the couch, staring unblinkingly at the TV.
“Hey,” she called softly, heading over. She cocked her head to the side, noting Callie’s nearly catatonic state, sitting there with tears streaming down her face and a tub of half-melted ice cream in her lap.
Sinking into the empty space beside her, Lexie focused on the screen and became engrossed in the classic movie within seconds. She pulled a pillow into her lap and hugged it to her body, leaning back into the cushions.
Without taking her eyes away from the film, Callie extended the ice cream bucket to her left, sucking on her spoon.
Lexie glanced down at it, then leaned forward and grabbed an unused utensil she’d spotted on the table. She stuck it into the half-frozen substance, pulled her feet up onto the couch to get comfortable, and tucked the container under one arm.
Without either of them uttering a single syllable, she scooped up a spoonful of cookie dough goodness and shoved it in her mouth.
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
***
Arizona was fitting her street clothes into her locker when she heard the distinct sound of Mark grumbling behind her yet again. She debated ignoring him, but he’d been making sad and frustrated noises for a solid ten minutes now as they changed. Alone in the locker room, she didn’t really see anyone else around to ask him what the problem was, so apparently that duty fell on her.
Peachy.
Mark’s problems were pretty much the last thing Arizona wanted to hear about most days - the last time she’d asked him what was wrong, he’d told her he pulled a muscle in his side before going on to describe in detail a complicated sex position he’d twisted a nurse into the previous afternoon.
Needless to say, Arizona hadn’t asked him a single question about his well-being since then.
Now here they were, all alone with ten minutes to spare before the beginning of their shifts, and Mark was making repetitive grumpy noises. Arizona’s inner turmoil was beginning to wilt away under her natural curiosity and desire to help others; maybe even from a little bit of annoyance at the constant pity party he was throwing himself.
Whatever the reason, she finally closed her locker and turned around, leveling him with a carefully neutral stare. “You’ve only been out of the house for five minutes and you’re acting like someone stole your puppy. Is it really already that bad?”
More air expelled from Mark’s lungs as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it into his open locker. Contrary to the blonde’s, it was messy and various scrub caps, food wrappers and t-shirts haphazardly littered the shelves and floor. Arizona’s locker was pristine and barely looked like it had been used in years.
Grabbing an undershirt and sniffing to make sure it was clean - and ignoring the face Arizona made as he did so - Mark pulled it on before turning to face her, clipping his I.D. badge to the breast pocket. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh,” Arizona replied, thoroughly unconvinced. “Look, this is a one-time offer, so either suck it up and stop pouting or spill your guts. I don’t have all day.”
Mark cocked his head to the side. “You’re not nearly as nice as people assume you are, huh?”
“It comes in waves.”
Sighing yet again, Mark swiped a hand through his hair and ruffled it messily. “Things are just...hard lately, that’s all.”
Arizona leaned back against her locker and studied her nails closely. “How is she?”
Mark shrugged and glanced down. “Not great. She’s in a lot of pain, stressed about missing work, stressed about the baby. I try to make her happy, but lately it’s like she wants nothing to do with me.”
He sounded so unhappy that Arizona looked up in surprise. “I’m sure she’s just having a hard time with her shoulder. It can be pretty painful without any medication. Maybe she should-”
“It’s not the pain,” Mark interrupted, “it’s me. She wants nothing to do with me. I try to get close to her, to be near her or touch her, and she shoves me away. It’s like I repulse her or something and I have no idea what I did. I tried to get her to have sex last night, promising I’d make her feel good again, only to have her push me away and refuse to talk for an entire hour this morning.”
Arizona closed her eyes and released a breath of her own. “Mark, she’s in pain, pregnant and stressed,” she repeated, since he clearly missed the point the first time around. “She’s not going to want to have sex with you for a while. You need to give her space. Keep ‘Little Sloan’ in your pants and wait for her to come to you.”
Mark’s mouth twitched.
“Ew,” Arizona shot back, scoffing in disgust. “Okay, I tried, but if you’re just gonna be a pig, then-”
“I’m sorry,” Mark chuckled, grabbing Arizona by the arm as she turned away and pivoting her back around. “Jeeze, Robbins. For all Torres talks up that dirty mouth of yours, I’m surprised you’re so squeamish every time I open mine.”
The blonde looked horrified. “She tells you about our sex lif-”
He cut her off again with a sharp laugh, looking a lot more relaxed than he had moments before. “There’ve been hints. Mostly I figure you’re a dirty little freak in the sack just like the rest of us, which you pretty much confirmed with the look on your face.”
He seemed rather proud of himself.
Arizona growled and back-handed him on the shoulder. “Men are pigs. This is why I’m grateful to be a lesbian.”
Mark shrugged and rubbed the bruise she’d left behind. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”
Arizona rolled her eyes but didn’t storm out, to her credit. “Just give her time and don’t go ‘wagging’ anything in her face, expecting to make it better. She’s dealing with a lot for someone her age. She’s only twenty-six and she’s got both a family and an extremely, extremely demanding career that hasn’t even started yet.”
Mark looked down and scuffed a shoe against the floor, genuine sadness passing across his features. “I shoulda kept her home,” he whispered. “Should’ve kept her safe. She shouldn’t have gotten hurt like that. I’m supposed to protect her, Robbins. I promised I’d protect her and then she...”
Frowning, Arizona tilted her head and watched him closely. “It wasn’t your fault, Mark. It was an accident that you couldn’t control. Even if you’d been at work, you wouldn’t have been with her or able to stop the patient. Residents take people up for CTs all the time. It was a freak coincidence.”
Shrugging one shoulder, Mark leaned back into the opposite row of lockers and brooded some more. “I’m an ass, I get that. I’m thinking about sex too much. But she’s Lexie, y’know? She’s all I think about. She’s beautiful. She’s the love of my life, the mother of my child. I just want to be with her. Is that really so horrible?”
Arizona’s emotional response nearly had her thinking ‘aww’ at his cute little speech - until Mark’s mouth kept moving and he quelled the urge just as fast as it had appeared in the first place.
“I’m a guy, Robbins. We haven’t had sex in weeks and all I can think about is locking us both in the bedroom and screwing until the walls cave in.”
Arizona closed her eyes and bit her tongue. She really shouldn’t find herself so surprised whenever his personality popped out of his mouth.
“I’m an ass,” Mark added, noting her exasperated reaction. “I get that. But I’m a guy. I’m a Sloan, okay? I can’t help it. At this rate, I’ve gotta run the perimeter of Jupiter before I can fall asleep at night without bothering the woman next to me. It’s killing me.”
Despite the level of disgust she held for Sloan and his manwhoring ways, Arizona found herself sympathizing with him. Even if it was only a little bit.
She’d been separated from Callie for a while and that hadn’t stopped them from having all kinds of sex. When they’d made a real effort to steer clear of one another, it had been torture. All Arizona could think, see, smell and dream of was Calliope Torres, twenty-four-seven. The woman was in her head and it had been impossible not to be able to touch her whenever she wanted to. In a way she understood where Mark was coming from, even if he was being a pervy jackass about it.
“Don’t you have, um,” Arizona began, feeling her face flush despite her efforts to remain impartial. “Y’know...stuff?” She quirked an eyebrow and waited for him to clue in.
Mark just blinked at her.
Sighing, Arizona rolled her eyes and averted her gaze. “Y’know...stuff for...that kind of things.” A pause. “Stuff of the video variety?”
Mark caught on and for once looked embarrassed. “I don’t have porn,” he blurted a little too quickly.
Plain disbelief was written all over her face. She arched a pointed eyebrow.
His shoulders sagged and he looked anywhere but the matching set of blue eyes two feet away. “Lex found it when she moved in and hocked my boxsets for twenty bucks at the Adult Video Source downtown.”
Still beet red, Arizona cleared her throat awkwardly. “Oh. That...oh.” She didn’t really know what else to say to that.
Visualizing Mark Sloan’s porn collection was not something she ever wanted to do.
She felt sorry for him, she did, but for a long moment she didn’t know what to say to him other than ‘suck it up’. Not being with the woman you loved could be torture, but it’s not like he could force the issue. If Lexie wasn’t in the right place mentally for a physical relationship right now, Mark was shit out of luck until his fiancée felt better.
There was a moment of awkward silence between the two parties until something in Arizona’s brain finally clicked.
Not even her ability to empathize with Mark Sloan could really explain why this next idea even entered her mind to begin with. She was somewhat disturbed, mostly because it really seemed like a logical solution.
If someone didn’t do something about the itch in Sloan’s pants - and she knew this from Mark’s previous Lexie-free experience - he was going to over-run her and Callie’s daily life. He would show up on their doorstep at all hours, walk in unannounced, invade romantic meals, and probably even cock-block her inadvertently more than once.
God help her, but those possibilities made her rationalize this next decision in a relatively short period of time. She only hoped she’d be able to wipe all traces of this memory in the near future.
Avoiding Mark’s gaze like her life depended on it, Arizona lowered her voice despite the fact that they were clearly alone.
“I might, um...” She cleared her throat and studied the intricate details on her locker door. “In the meantime, I might have, uh, a-a magazine or DVD that’ll help keep you...‘occupied’.”
It really wouldn’t have helped much if the earth had literally opened up and swallowed her at that point. She was pretty sure she’d still die of humiliation.
“It’s not like I watch it,” she added quickly. “It’s something I was given in college and it just kinda moved around with me in some boxes over the years. But it’s...got girls. And it’s tasteful, unlike the crap you probably watch.”
The disbelief on Mark’s face took a long moment to give way to part amusement, part shock. “Robbins,” he teased, openly staring at the blonde, “would those happen to come from your...‘personal’ girl-on-girl collection?”
Arizona dropped her head sideways into the locker with a groan. “Oh, shut up.”
Mark merely grinned. “Does Torres know about this?”
Arizona’s head jerked up in an instant. “No,” she snapped, pointing a menacing finger in his face. “And you are not about to tell her, either. Pregnant wives aren’t exactly known for being incredibly rational.”
“Why do you think mine made me sleep on the couch for three days when she found out?” Mark muttered under his breath. He tilted his head curiously at Arizona. “I seriously never pegged you for the dirty mistress type, Blondie. I thought you were all Saint-like and perfect on the inside. Turns out you’re just as much a perv as the rest of us. Guess there is no God.”
“Shut up,” Arizona repeated with a dangerous growl, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. “I’m trying to help you here, you moron. Instead, you’re making me want to hit you in the face with a brick and hide the body in the morgue.”
Mark started laughing, only because Arizona was funny as hell when she was angry and embarrassed at the same time. It was like she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do more - kill him or die herself. He held up a hand in surrender when she whirled back to her locker and ripped it open again, yanking out her lab coat.
Pulling himself back together, Mark cleared his throat and fell silent as she pulled it on. Suddenly he was the one blushing and avoiding eye contact. “Actually, uh...if you wouldn’t mind...?”
Once again, they both looked to opposite sides of the room.
“Just don’t tell Lexie,” Mark added quickly.
“My lips are sealed as long as yours are,” Arizona agreed, still scarlet red.
The awkward moment that followed made Arizona wish she was dead and Mark didn’t look much better. It was finally broken by the sound of her pager a moment later, the shrill beep piercing the silence like a scalpel.
Oh thank God.
Checking the number first, Arizona looked up at Mark and nodded to the door. “I, uh...patients. Kids. Tiny humans are bleeding and I have to fix them, so-”
“Right, go,” Mark said immediately, waving a hand. He looked pretty relieved, too.
But he was still Mark, and embarrassed or not, Arizona only made it halfway to the door before his voice rang out behind her.
“Does this ‘personal collection’ happen to include some sort of home video?”
Arizona twitched and refused to turn around as she paused with a hand on the doorknob. “Sloan, you couldn’t handle my personal, private collection,” she shot back.
Then she tugged open the door and disappeared into the hall.
Mark groaned to himself as he watched her go. At this point, he didn’t doubt her one bit.
***
“Ooh, I like this,” Lexie gushed as she held up a blue onesie with a little red fire truck on the front.
Callie leaned over her shoulder, grinning brightly as she pictured a baby Sloan wearing it. “Aww, look at how tiny it is. I didn’t realize they were gonna come out so little.”
Lexie laughed as she tucked the article of clothing into her shopping bag, already smitten with it. “For someone that’s married to the local Baby Whisperer, you sure seemed surprised about a lot of things,” she teased.
Callie chuckled in return. “Good thing I’ve got my own personal tiny human encyclopedia that walks and talks and changes diapers.”
Lexie moved along the aisle, scanning each item for boys that she came across. She felt pretty good today, even if it was barely nine in the morning and they were already out shopping. She’d enjoyed the previous evening with Callie, bonding over their mutual jobs of carrying the lovable little parasites inside of their uteruses. They’d decided to get an early start and do some shopping while Mark and Arizona finished their eighteen hour shifts.
It wasn’t that Lexie was glad to be rid of Mark. Really, he’d been great about things. Mostly. She was just so glad to have female company for once and she got along extremely well with Callie. It was the first time she’d been able to relax since getting hurt, maybe even since getting pregnant.
And given the events that transpired between Callie and her partner not too long ago, Lexie guessed she was enjoying the company as well.
Glancing over at the brunette, who was busy digging through a bargain bin of baby booties, Lexie took in the light in Callie’s eyes and the general bounce in her step. “Arizona seemed pretty good last night. Don’t think I’ve seen her smile that brightly in a long time.”
Callie beamed at the mention of her partner. “You know, we’re actually pretty good these days,” she admitted, looking over at Lexie. “She still has her rough moments, but instead of pulling away she’s been pretty honest with me. I think she still feels guilty for leaving, so she keeps trying to make it up to me by being extra sweet and spoiling me rotten.”
“Can’t go wrong there,” Lexie laughed, adding another onesie to her bag. She just hoped Baby Sloan was near or under eight pounds, because she was growing increasingly aware of how tiny her vagina was in comparison to the little people that were supposed to fit inside these outfits.
It was a little disconcerting, so she tried not to dwell on it too much.
“How’s her dad doing?” Lexie showed Callie a tiny pink camo hat that the brunette abruptly snatched up and cooed over.
Callie turned the material over in her fingers. “He’s...okay, I guess. He really needs that heart. Teddy and Erica are doing what they can, but it’s not looking too good.” Some of her giddiness faded as the harsh reality of the situation settled back in.
“I’m sorry,” Lexie said softly, feeling a pang in her chest. “If you guys ever need anything, just ask my one good arm and it would be glad to do it for you.”
That made Callie laugh and she sent Lexie a grateful smile. “Thanks, Little Grey. Same goes to you and your one arm. If Mark’s overbearing protectiveness ever drives you up the wall, I can make Zona sleep on the couch and we can share the bed.”
Lexie giggled an linked arms with the older girl, steering her toward the back of the store where the miscellaneous accessories were kept. “Somehow I doubt your lady is going to agree to that deal.”
“Ehh, whatever,” Callie said with a casual shrug. “I’ll just bring up the porn collection she has hidden in the closet and she’ll forget all about it.”
***
Two hours and several hundred dollars later, Lexie and Callie sat in the mall food court and devoured an early lunch. A decent amount of acquired loot surrounded their table with large bags from multiple outlets. Both women were thoroughly satisfied with their success and agreed that they deserved a reward. Since neither of them could drink alcohol, they settled for celebratory milkshakes instead.
Lexie’s cell phone beeped for the tenth time that morning and the brunette subconsciously rolled her eyes as she looked at the number. “Mark again. Wanted to make sure I was able to change okay this morning and that I could reach the cereal box in the cupboard. Because clearly he thinks I’m four.”
Callie watched the annoyance flare up in her companion. “He’s just being sweet, isn’t he? I know he’s a little over protective, but he loves you.”
“Yeah, but I’m not an infant, I’m just carrying one,” Lexie reasoned. “He’s treating me like I’m made of glass and refuses to let me so much as leave the apartment without him supervising my every move. I mean for god’s sake, he would offer to pee for me if he physically could. It’s getting to be a little much.”
Callie winced in sympathy. “Arizona can get like that sometimes. Just tell him that you’re pregnant, not disabled. Then take off his pants and remind him who’s on top.”
Instead of getting the giggle she’d anticipated, Callie watched Lexie’s face darken as she looked away. “What?”
The younger brunette bit her bottom lip and glanced up hesitantly at Callie. “I know I’m not being entirely fair right now, I know that. Mark’s been nothing but perfect since he asked me to marry him. But...I-I think he might be cheating on me.”
Callie was shocked into silence.
“With the slut from down the hall,” Lexie added after a bitter moment passed.
Not wanting to outright deny it when she had no clue what was going on, Callie absorbed this bit of information. “Which...slut?”
“The pretty blonde one,” Lexie replied evenly, gnawing on the straw of her milkshake. “With the roommate that has the hots for Arizona.”
Callie’s eyes widened.
“He helped her move their slutty furniture and carried their slutty boxes up from the car, and hung their slutty, slutty pictures on the wall,” Lexie continued, grumbling unhappily.
“Lex,” Callie began slowly. “I know Mark is a lot of things, but he loves you and your baby. I don’t think he would ever cheat on you with some...slut-bomb.”
“He’s Mark,” Lexie shot back, tears welling up in her eyes as she tightened her grip on the milkshake. “He likes hot women and she was definitely hot, and not a million months pregnant with a gimpy arm a-and a crappy fourth-year resident job that she’s missing time on and stupid, stupid hormone trips that make her act all irrational and cause her to accuse him of cheating!”
Callie felt helpless as she watched Lexie burst into a fit of soft, quiet tears, fully prepared to pull the younger woman into a hug and try to help her feel better. Except Lexie was angry that she was crying and hurriedly swiping at the tears herself, scowling and cursing under her breath.
Callie sympathized. Unborn babies were kind of a bitch with their mood swings.
“God, I’m an idiot,” Lexie growled, scrubbing her eyes with an unused napkin. “I trust Mark and I love him, but I saw the way he looked at her a-and then knowing he wants sex but I’m not giving it to him...why wouldn’t he cheat? She’s so hot, I would have sex with her if I wasn’t a bloated cow with popping veins and stretch marks that would make the Lockness Monster run screaming in the other direction!”
Callie slid an arm around Lexie’s shoulder and tugged her into an awkward hug over the corner of the table. “Sweetie, he is not cheating on you,” she promised, rubbing a soothing hand along the woman’s back. “And you are not a bloated cow with popping veins and stretch marks. You still have the figure of a supermodel at six months pregnant and I hate your skinny little ass for it. Bitch.”
Lexie sniffled hard and blew her nose in the napkin. “You do?”
“Yeah,” Callie sighed, tightened her arm around the woman. “I really do.”
“Aw,” Lexie murmured with a cute pout, “thanks. You have awesome boobs. I’ve been jealous since I found out Mark saw them naked and now they only look ten times better. No wonder Arizona’s always staring at them.”
Callie laughed and released her hold on Lexie. “Don’t tell her that. She thinks she’s being inconspicuous.”
***
A grueling seventeen hours after her conversation with Mark, Arizona glanced nervously around as she strolled across the second floor catwalk. Her pace was brisk and full of purpose, and she clutched a thick, folded up newspaper tightly to her body in an almost possessive manner.
I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, she thought to herself, eyeballing everyone she passed as if they knew what she was holding. The only reason she didn’t turn and run for it when she spotted Mark waiting by the far railing was because she wanted him out of her and Callie’s hair for the next few weeks. This seemed to be the only reasonable solution.
God help them both.
The plastic surgeon glanced up when he heard rapid footsteps approaching and he mustered up a tired smile. “Robbins.”
Arizona paused in front of him and remained silent.
Straightening up, he took in the wide-eyed, flighty look on her face. “What’s-”
“Here,” she interrupted, shoving the newspaper hard into his chest and looking around fearfully. “Take it and keep your mouth shut. This never happened.”
Mark caught the object and furrowed his brow, unsure what exactly had her so worked up.
Until he unfolded the newspaper to find two items concealed inside - a dirty magazine and a DVD of a very specific variety.
Blue eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Here? Now?” he hissed, immediately trying to give them back.
“Just take it!” Arizona snapped, pushing the bundle into his hands. “I had to get some paperwork from the apartment, so I grabbed them while Callie was out.”
“Robbins, not here,” Mark growled, continuing the reverse tug-of-war neither one of them was willing to give in on.
“Markus!” Arizona shot back dangerously, giving the folded newspaper an extra shove and making him fumble the items. He nearly dropped everything, scrambling around to quickly stuff them back inside their hiding spot.
“Good morning.”
Mark and Arizona both jumped at the sound of Derek’s voice over their shoulders. They immediately whirled around to face him and suctioned together side by side, making every effort to hide the stash behind their backs.
Mark put on the brightest, most charming smile he could manage, nudging the blonde with an elbow as he tried to pass off the newspaper full of dirty souvenirs. “Chief.”
Arizona could only stare at Derek, looking petrified and extremely guilty as she shoved everything back to Mark behind their backs.
Derek tilted his head curiously as they squirmed, studying them both closely. They looked like they’d just been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “How was the overnight shift? Did things run smoothly?”
“Incredibly smoothly,” Mark answered, staring straight ahead at Derek. “So smoothly you’d think it was waxed.”
Arizona’s eyes widened and she elbowed him hard in the gut. He nearly dropped the newspaper again, barely managing to stop the concealed items from falling onto the Chief of Surgery’s shoes.
“Is that today’s edition?” Derek asked, catching sight of the newspaper. “I’ve been trying to track down a copy all morning.” He extended a hand.
“No!” both blondes shouted a little too loudly.
Derek arched a slow brow and glanced from one to the other.
Arizona tried not to look too shifty but had no idea if she succeeded. Probably not. “Uh-”
Mark sideways-kicked her in the shin and she immediately side-punted him back.
Derek didn’t quite know what to make of things. Mark was always up to something, but Arizona? Not so much. “What’s wrong with you two?”
Arizona finally managed to force the newspaper bundle on Mark and quickly stepped to the side before he could return it. “Nothing! Sloan was just leaving, right Dr. Sloan?”
“I was?” Mark asked blankly.
Arizona was going to kill him. “Yes. You had that big...thing you were doing soon. That thing where you had to put some stuff in your locker beforehand.” She gave him a pointed glare.
A light bulb went on in his head. “Oh! Yeah, that thing. Where I was going to my locker. ‘Cause my shift is over in half an hour.”
Looking from the blonde to his best friend, Mark reached out and clapped a hand down on the Chief’s shoulder. “Derek,” he said with a firm, final nod, brushing by him and continuing on with the newspaper tucked tightly under his arm.
Derek watched him go before turning back to Arizona. She still looked nervous, even though some of the tension drained from her shoulders when Mark left. “You’re getting off too, right?”
Horrified, Arizona’s eyes widened. “What?”
Derek blinked. “Your shift?” he elaborated.
She tried to resume a normal expression as smoothly as possible without looking too relieved. “Oh, yeah. No. Supposed to be, but there are appendixes that need to be taken out and cancers to be removed. Sick, sick little children that need attending to. By me. Because I’m an attending.”
The nervous laugh she emitted sounded shrill and uncomfortable. This whole thing was ridiculous and totally Mark’s fault.
Stepping to the side, Arizona flashed Derek a bright smile and pointed in the direction of the far double doors. “So I’m gonna go do that now. The tiny humans, they beckon.”
Still quite lost and confused, Derek just nodded. “All right then.”
Arizona repeated the same fake laugh, a nervous twitch developing in her right cheek. “All right then,” she echoed before turning and all but fleeing in the opposite direction.
Derek was left standing in the middle of the bridge corridor all by himself. He glanced to the left where Mark had gone and to the right where Arizona had fled to.
“All I wanted was a newspaper,” he muttered to himself before turning around and heading back to his office.
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