A New Beginning (Chapter 4)
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
A/N: Okay, here's another. And for those of you who are offended by drinking I apologize. I am not at all supporting underage drinking, but it wouldn’t be a Mark Sloan party without alcohol...
As for the rest of it, hopefully you will let me know what you love/hate about this one :)
Chapter 4
Daniel leaned against Arizona’s door frame as she pulled on her black flats to complete her night's outfit. She studied herself in the mirror and nodded approvingly. Her hair was perfectly curly, the result of a quick shower, and her makeup was very light, but enough to draw out the blue of her eyes.
“You have a hot date or something, Zona?” Daniel chuckled at Arizona’s nervous look as she grinned at his reflection in the mirror, evaluating her outfit one last time.
She wore a small blue tank top and a short black jean skirt, both of which accentuated every fine detail of her body. She wasn’t ashamed of her body in any way, but rarely did she go through any extraordinary measures to show it off. Tonight wasn’t any exception, but she wasn’t blind to the fact that her shirt was low enough to allow the curves of her breasts to show just slightly and her skirt was borderline too sexy, hugging her hips in the right places and showing off her long, smooth legs.
Arizona spun around to grin at Daniel and nodded slightly, unsure of how to honestly answer his question. “No, just going to a party with a friend.”
She knew how she wished she could answer, 'Yeah, I guess you could say that.' But that would lead to way too many questions and ultimately a confession that she was not willing to make to Daniel yet.
Daniel moved to Arizona’s bed and watched her thoughtfully as she hung a thin necklace around her neck, letting it fall just short of the tops of her chest.
“Just be careful, Zona. Be sure to remind your 'friend' who they are messing with if they dance too close. And all those other guys at the party for that matter.” Sincere concern lit up his bright blue eyes leading Arizona to hug him tightly. If only he knew that he didn’t have to worry about her 'friend' dancing too close.
“You know I will. I promise to come home to you safely. Tell mom and dad that I'll be home later.”
She kissed Daniel's temple briefly and flashed a sincere smile of thanks before running down the stairs at the sound of the doorbell. When she opened the door to reveal the breathtaking form of Calliope she felt her heart jump in her chest. She didn’t think the brunette was capable of being any more beautiful, but she gladly accepted that she was wrong. Callie stood there clad in a dangerously short skirt and a red tank top, not too unlike Arizona’s own ensemble. Her dark hair cascaded down her bare shoulders in stunning waves and her genuine smile at seeing Arizona was enough to make the blonde's head spin.
Before anything was said between the two girls Arizona heard an almost inaudible whistle from behind her. She turned to see Daniel staring at Callie, surprise and admiration obvious on his features.
“Yeah, a hot date.” He chuckled.
Arizona stuck her tongue out at him playfully to which he responded only by raising his eyebrows.
The two girls greeted each other and Arizona followed Callie to the car where Aria was waiting impatiently, no doubt ready to drink and dance the night away with every hot guy that noticed her at the party. Mark Sloan's parties were infamous for drinks, hook-ups, and hot dancing, none of which Arizona was particularly interested in.
As the streetlights lit up the inside of the car with a low orange glow Arizona had a hard time keeping her eyes to herself. She was pleased at the way she and Callie had hit it off earlier that day at lunch and thrilled that Callie had opened up considerably since yesterday and actually seemed friendly towards her. Maybe they were going somewhere after all. Arizona smiled at the thought of it and continued to glance at Callie every so often.
Eventually Callie caught Arizona’s eyes in the rear view mirror and she felt her cheeks start to burn.
“What?” Callie giggled, amused by the embarrassment that Arizona showed at being caught staring.
Arizona shook her head nervously, “Oh, nothing. Just, um, thanks for inviting me tonight.” Callie nodded in response.
“I figured it would be a good way for you to see that we aren’t really as boring and stressed as we may seem.”
“Well if they rumors that I’ve heard about Mark's parties are true, then I’m sure you guys are anything but boring.”
As they pulled up to Mark's house it became very obvious to Arizona that Callie was serious when she said that nobody ever turned down an invitation to Mark Sloan's parties. Cars lined both sides of the streets near Mark's extravagant house, lit up in every window, the bass of the music sending shock waves through the ground.
Callie felt a familiar wave of excitement at what she knew waited in that house. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to dance. She wanted to dance until she couldn't move anymore, wanted to dance until every worry she had faded into a realm of meaningless. And that's exactly what she intended to do.
She pulled Arizona along beside her into the house, immediately half-deafened by the blaring music. Arizona took everything in silently, an unsure smile gracing her lips. There were at least fifty people on the first floor, who knew how many on the upper two floors. The living room was packed with people dancing with each other, several with half-empty bottles in hand. The dining room was currently home to a rousing game of spin the bottle, a game which Arizona didn’t have fond memories of and refused to every play again. Couples lined the halls making out unashamed and others were standing around talking.
Callie noticed Arizona’s nervousness and needed to loosed her up.
“You wanna dance?” She started to pull Arizona with her to the living room and Arizona stopped abruptly, shaking her head persistently.
“No, no, absolutely not. I don't dance.” She blinked seriously. “Ever.”
Callie followed her closely as Arizona started to retreat back to the wall. “Aww, come on Arizona. It's fun. You'll love it I promise.”
Arizona’s eyes shot around the room nervously to the people swaying easily to the music.
“No, Calliope. I-” she sighed and brought her hands up in front of her in surrender. “I can't dance. I look like a complete idiot when I do and that wouldn’t help my reputation seeing as how I just moved here. So...I don’t dance.”
Trying and failing to coax Arizona onto the dance floor, Callie finally made her way into the crowd of moving bodies, after downing two shots of tequila, easily becoming a part of the crowd.
She moved fluidly, unashamed as her body swayed perfectly with the slow, steady beat of the music and she felt her muscles loosen, all of the stress from the summer and the past two days of school finally finding a release in her easy movements.
Arizona watched from the wall, silently praying that no one saw the way her eyes couldn’t leave Calliope's body. She watched her intently, following every move that Callie made. The Latina's eyes closed as her arms rose above her head and her hips drew more attention to the sexy way she was moving. Arizona started to lose herself in the way Calliope's body started to call out to her, screaming to be near her. She looked so at easy, so relaxed and so happy. Callie’s hips swayed back and forth slowly, agonizingly slow for Arizona. She wondered briefly if Calliope knew the way that she made people feel when they watched her dance. She couldn’t help but to smile at finally seeing Calliope this way. She knew she wasn’t as touch as she seemed. This was the real Calliope, vulnerable and free Calliope. Arizona loved it and she wanted to see more of the brunette. Her mind briefly traveled to the idea of seeing all of Calliope in her raw form, her body shivering involuntarily at the thought and she quickly scolded herself.
'No, Arizona. Don't think those things. Bad Arizona.'
She couldn’t let herself fall into the trap that she was setting for herself by watching Callie dance. But she found it incredibly hard to stop thinking about Calliope. For the first time since they met she allowed her feelings to break her down. She was taken by Calliope from the first time she saw her. She was in love with the way she smiled, the way she laughed, the way her eyes showed her true feelings, and now here she was falling deeper with every sensual move that Calliope made on the dance floor.
But she would not give herself away. It was way too soon. And all she knew was that if Callie danced any sexier than she was at the moment, then she would surely lose all the rational thoughts keeping her in line.
She kept thinking the same thoughts over and over for half an hour to keep herself from getting to close to the captivating girl dancing with several people now as the song changed to a slightly faster one.
'She is straight, she is with George, you only just met her, you have to just be friends, you can't scare her away.'
Arizona continued to repeat these thoughts while she watched Callie from afar, her body starting to glisten with sweat, making Arizona feel as if she was about to lose it. Her thoughts were soon interrupted, however, by a buzzed Mark Sloan sliding up next to her, his eyes glossy with alcohol and the rush of having so many scantily clad girls all dancing in the same room.
“Hey, Blondie. Having fun?” He flashed her a bright smile and offered her a shot glass brimming with what she guessed was was tequila, provided by none other than an already drunken Cristina Yang. She declined the drink politely and Mark cocked his eyebrows upon following her gaze to Callie.
“She's hot isn’t she?” Mark beamed at his best friend commanding attention with her dancing.
“She...is...sexy.” Mark continued, nodding and taking another sip of the mixed drink in his right hand.
Arizona couldn’t stop the words that came next. “Oh God, yes. She is sexy.”
Mark's eyes widened as his mouth dropped, surprised at Arizona’s confession. He thought for a second and decided that it was a sober comment and he laughed at the shocked expression adorning Arizona’s face at the words she failed to keep locked inside.
“I mean she's hot,” she clasped her lips shut and shook her head, unable to stop the word vomit pouring from her lips.
'Bad Arizona! Bad bad Arizona! This is what you get for letting yourself get distracted by that girl.'
Mark continued to laugh naughtily and nod in agreement. He offered her the shot glass one more time, guessing that she would probably be needing it right about now, and as he suspected she gladly accepted it, welcoming the burn in her throat as it slid down.
When she looked back to the dance floor Callie was grinning widely at her and she smiled back softly, guilt flashing across her face at the words that she spoke only seconds before.
Still moving her body sensually, if not more so than before, Callie beckoned for Arizona to join her with a wave of her hand.
“She wants you Blondie.” Mark smirked. “And obviously you want her too.”
Arizona glanced at him nervously and he whispered in her ear. “So go get her.”
Arizona argued silently with herself knowing that tequila and an overly sexy dancing Calliope was a dangerous mix and she knew that she needed to be extremely careful. But when Callie winked at her and ran a hand through her tussled hair, Arizona felt herself losing all her inhibition.
With a last look at Mark, who clearly was excited by the idea of the hot blonde dancing with Callie, she stole a long drink from Mark's cup and nodded once, feeling braver by the second as the alcohol began to burn in her veins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Callie had noticed Arizona stealing glances at her, obviously trying hard to not be seen. But she had seen her and she felt a thrill at finally receiving some attention, even if it was only from her new friend. Seeing Mark Sloan conversing with Arizona ignited feelings within her that she had been denying existed. She was jealous. There was no denying it any longer. Arizona did something to her that no one else had ever even come close to being capable of.
She wanted to have Arizona near her and instead she watched the girl panic on the wall as Mark's mouth dropped open in surprise before offering her a shot and a grin that Callie only saw on him when he was thinking dirty thoughts. That was never a good sign. Obviously whatever Arizona had said caused Mark to think about something suggestive and Arizona was obviously horrified.
Callie snickered quietly at seeing Arizona embarrassed for the second time that night. It looked so cute on the small blonde and made her seem even more innocent than she seemed.
'Cute?! What the hell, Callie? What is wrong with you?'
Callie had a feeling that Arizona wasn’t as innocent as she let on. And she fully intended to bring out the side of Arizona that she knew was there. This was the perfect opportunity to get closer to Arizona, to know her outside the binds of school. The perfect opportunity to explore the feelings that Arizona caused her to feel. She had only known the girl for two days and she was already exhausted by the way she wouldn’t leave her thoughts. There had to be a reason and as Arizona started to make her way towards her, she felt her body react to the way that Arizona was looking at her; anxious, but ready. And in that moment she wondered if Arizona shared the same problem she did. She wondered if she was as big a part of Arizona’s thoughts as Arizona was in hers. She was instantly overtaken by the idea that Arizona might feel the same way and she was so ready to know the truth.
Callie reached for Arizona’s hand the instant she was close enough and Arizona slowly accepted it. Callie didn’t want hostility, Callie wanted Arizona to be close to her for whatever reason. Her body felt like it would burst into flames when Arizona hesitantly laced her fingers through Callie’s, trying to keep it innocent while at the same time pushing the boundaries that she had set up for herself to stay away from Callie.
Callie encouraged Arizona to start dancing by taking her other hand and showing her how to move her body to the music. Arizona tried desperately to focus on the technique she needed to know rather than the person making the dance seem like sex on wheels.
Slowly Callie closed the distance between her and Arizona while making sure to not touch her. As they danced so close to each other Arizona opened up and matched the gyrating of her hips with Callie’s, drawing a sexy grin from Callie’s lips, a thousand questions starting to form in her mind.
'Does she know that she is being that sexy? Is she flirting with me?! Maybe its just the alcohol. It has to be the alcohol.'
But Callie knew exactly what she was doing. She was flirting intentionally, an innocent flirting, but flirting none the less. Slowly the questions she had asked herself earlier started to become clear and the seriousness of the situation started to reveal itself to her. She finally gave herself over to the truth that she had avoided from the time she looked at the perky blonde yesterday. She wanted Arizona. She wanted to feel Arizona’s body against her own to confirm the suspicions she felt as she stared into Arizona’s eyes that had become a shade darker than usual.
Aware that Callie’s face had turned quickly from playful to serious, Arizona started to feel an unbearable desire to touch Callie. Maybe she had figured it out. No that was impossible. She was not that easy to read.
Tentatively Arizona took a small step closer to Callie, continuing to match the girls motions. She should stop, this wasn’t going to go well and she knew it. She was reading way too much into Callie’s motions and she needed to step away before it turned dangerous, but she couldn’t.
Just before their bodies came close enough to touch, Callie froze and dropped Arizona’s hand, her gaze directed somewhere other than Arizona’s eyes for the first time that night.
Arizona panicked and took a few steps away from the brunette as the girl stood frozen in place, unable to feel anything. She knew she should have stopped. She had ruined it, had taken it too far away from innocent. But when Callie looked at her briefly, angry tears filled her caramel eyes and Arizona refused to believe that she was the reason for those tears. And sure enough as she turned to follow Callie’s gaze across the room, she saw what had stopped Callie in her tracks.
George O'Malley had Izzie Stevens against a wall engaged in a passionate kiss, a kiss that Arizona knew was not the average friendly kiss.
Callie was numb. She couldn’t feel, couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. Her eyes burned with angry tears as she made her way towards her boyfriend, leaving a stricken Arizona behind, every feeling of excitement she just felt with the girl already gone. The scene before he sobered her quickly and she wanted to scream, she wanted to be far, far away from there. But she knew what had to come first.
“George.” The word came from Callie’s mouth just loud enough to scare Izzie and George who tried to separate themselves quickly.
“Callie, I didn't-I'm sorry, I don't-” George stammered as Callie stared at him blankly. He waited for Callie’s inevitable outburst of anger, but received none.
Callie shook her head and let a single tear slip down her face.
“I wish I could say I am surprised.” She stared Izzie full in the face and Izzie averted her eyes quickly. Words escaped her as her mind ran rampant with too many feelings at once.
“It's over.”
George grabbed Callie’s arm as she turned to leave and her anger let itself out as she slapped him hard across the wrist to make him let go. Three words let him know she was done.
“I hate you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Callie left Mark's house immediately after the incident with George, never turning back to look at him. Aria of course was not ready to leave, so Arizona offered to have her brother pick them both up and take her home.
The car ride was silent as Arizona watched Callie stare out the window quietly. She knew she was hurting and quite possibly confused by everything that happened before George and she didn’t know whether or not to speak to her.
After a few silent minutes Arizona reached over and laid her hand on top of Callie’s, an action that did not go unnoticed by Daniel in the driver's seat. Callie stared down at Arizona’s hand in response before turning to her slowly and offering a sad smile. Arizona could tell that Calliope was fighting tears that were threatening to spill out onto her face. “I'm sorry Arizona.”
Arizona was caught off guard by Calliope's words of apology and frowned.
“No, no, Calliope I’m so sorry that happened.” She searched for the right words before speaking again. “If you need to talk...you have my number.”
Callie turned her hand palm up and gave Arizona’s small hand a light squeeze, comforted by the blonde's touch.
Arizona knew this was going to be difficult. She needed to be Calliope's friend. She needed to suppress the feelings that she had while they danced at the party and be there for Callie while she was in pain. She was enjoying the feel of her hand wrapped in Callie’s as the pulled up to the front of her house and suddenly Callie’s hand was not in hers anymore.
Arizona couldn’t help but feel a little lost and hurt as Callie jumped out of the car without so much as a goodbye
With a sharp gasp Callie whispered “Oh my God,” and hurriedly exited the car, bursting into tears upon seeing a familiar car parked in her driveway.