A New Beginning (Chapter 9)
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: This cute little chapter is the longest yet and it was a load of fun to write. So tell me what you think :)
Chapter 9
Arizona fell asleep content that night, still clothed in Callie’s tank top and Pop Tart pajama pants, enjoying the way they felt on her. She was happy. For once in a long time she was genuinely happy. She was out to her brother and Callie had made her feel much better about Daniel leaving. She couldn’t wait to get back to school on Monday to see Callie again. But the hard part was nearing faster than she was prepared for. Eventually she would have to tell Callie that she was gay and that could mean life or death for her possible relationship with the Latina.
Daniel had planned a surprise out for tomorrow and she was looking forward to it, not having to hide her feelings anymore. She had someone to talk to and she was going to take full advantage of that while Daniel was still around.
Callie and Addison talked until the early hours of the morning and Callie was finally content. As she tried to fall asleep scenarios kept playing in her mind. There were so many things that would be different from now on if she really was a lesbian. She would have to tell her family, her friends, and would no doubt be judges, especially by her parents who were very religious.
But it's what she wanted. She wanted Arizona, and with Arizona came many many changes. She would have to prepare for them and ready herself to stand strong in the face of rejection. She would be under fire and she may lose friends, but she kept telling herself she was okay with that. As long as she still had Addison, Mark, and Arizona, she would be just fine.
Mark. He was right all along. Callie rolled her eyes and figured she'd never hear the end of it once Mark found out. Oh well. It would just be another price to pay.
Sleep finally found Callie as she started to replay she and Arizona’s conversation in her mind. She thought back to every smile and every laugh that she shared with her and it relaxed her. She realized she would gladly give up the things that she was used to in order to see and hear that laugh from Arizona all the time.
With Arizona’s soft laughter ringing in her ears, Callie drifted into a sleep filled with images of the beautiful, blue-eyed girl.
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Daniel snuck into Arizona’s room quietly and chuckled at the sight before him that he was so used to seeing.
Arizona was sprawled out under her covers, her blonde hair peeking out from the tops of the blanket in an skewed pattern and one Pop-Tart clothed leg hanging half way off of the bed.
Daniel walked towards the bed, planning to wake Arizona slowly, but changed his mind at the last second. He jumped onto the bed and started jumping up and down, bouncing on the springy mattress, an action that he and Arizona used to do as children and would deny having done it when confronted by their parents.
Arizona jumped up in surprise and flung the covers off of her, her hair flying over her face in a frenzied mess.
“What, what? I’m up!” Arizona looked bewildered at the sudden awakening and Daniel continued jumping, smiling down at her with his blue eyes shining with amusement.
Pushing her hair out of her eyes she stared up at Daniel and giggled.
“What in the world possessed you to wake me up like this?” She tried to put on a serious face, but a smile inevitably broke through.
Daniel stopped bouncing and just offered her a hand silently. Arizona grinned and accepted his hand as he pulled her up beside him. Together they started dancing and jumping around on the bed, both of them reliving fond memories from their childhood.
After a while Daniel hopped down from the bed and turned his back to Arizona, an invitation for her to hop on. She excitedly clung to his back, wrapping her arms and legs around his body to hold on.
They had been doing this since they were kids and she was going to miss this, among several other things, when Daniel had to leave.
Daniel spun Arizona around and listened happily when she squealed with excitement. He carried her downstairs on his back and into the kitchen.
Arizona immediately smelled breakfast and she kissed Daniel happily when she saw the table already set with her favorite breakfast, blueberry pancakes and a glass of milk.
“What did I do to deserve this Daniel Robbins?” Arizona hopped down from his back and took her place at the table.
Daniel beamed, pleased that he managed to make his sister happy.
“Oh, no reason. You are just my favorite sister.”
Arizona rolled her eyes. “Daniel, I’m your only sister.”
Daniel took a bite of his pancakes and nodded. “Yeah, but if you weren't my only sister, you would still be my favorite.”
'Always the charmer.' Arizona sipped at her milk and poured some syrup over her pancakes.
“So what are our plans for the day?” Arizona inquired about Daniel's intentions.
“You'll see when we get there.”
Arizona clapped her hands, “Oh, I love surprises!”
“I'm glad to hear it, or else this wouldn’t work at all,” Daniel said happily.
Daniel's face became thoughtful for a moment and he smiled, pleased with is idea.
“Hey, Zona, why don’t you invite a friend?”
Arizona stopped chewing and stared at Daniel.
“But I thought it was just going to be me and you?”
“Uh, well it might be more fun if you bring a friend along.”
Arizona frowned at the thought of having to share her day with someone other than Daniel until she thought of Calliope.
Daniel saw Arizona’s face brighten and he knew exactly who she would invite.
“Are you sure, Daniel? I don’t mind it just being the two of us.”
After Daniel insisted on Arizona bringing a friend she quickly finished eating and thanked Daniel for the breakfast.
“I'm going to get ready and call Calliope. I'll be down in a few.”
She took off up the stairs, tripping along the way from excitement causing Daniel to laugh loudly.
Arizona anxiously waited for Callie to answer her phone, knowing that she was probably still sleeping.
When she did answer, Arizona smiled excitedly.
“Hello?” a tired voice answered slowly.
“Calliope! Good morning. I’m really sorry for waking you up,” Arizona apologized.
Callie immediately sounded wide awake and Arizona hoped she was smiling on the other end.
“Oh, hi Arizona! What's up?”
“Well my brother has this surprise planned out for me today and asked me to invite a friend. So...I'm inviting you. If you want to go of course.” Arizona was hopeful and it was obvious in her voice.
“Arizona, I'd love to, but Addison is here. I can't just leave her here alone.”
Arizona made a quick decision, hoping her brother wouldn’t mind. “She can come along too.”
She was so excited about the idea of seeing Callie again so soon that she would find any way to make that happen.
The blonde listened as Callie woke Addison up and let her know what was going on.
“Alright, what time should we be there?”
Arizona jumped up and down with excitement and Callie laughed, charmed by Arizona’s perkiness.
“Uh, we will pick you up at-” she glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand. “10 o'clock. How's that sound?” That gave her half an hour.
Callie agreed and Arizona hurriedly got dressed, pulling on a small blue shirt and a pair of white shorts.
She was excited for whatever they were doing. She was going to be with her two favorite people at the same time and the thought made her smile as she ran down the stairs. Today was her day to be with Callie without being nervous, without feeling like she needed to hold anything back. Today she was going to flirt unashamedly and hope that Callie would flirt back.
“Daniel, I kind of invited Calliope and her friend too. She didn’t want to leave her friend home alone because she is visiting from New York. Is that okay with you?”
Daniel shrugged, that would actually work pretty well.
“Sure, no problem. You ready to go?”
The siblings jumped into Daniel's Mustang and headed to Callie’s house to start their day with Arizona still brimming with excitement.
Callie looked as stunning as ever when Arizona laid eyes on her. Wearing a purple tank top and blue jean shorts she was plainly dressed, but Arizona thought there was nothing that could ever not look good on Calliope.
Arizona introduced Addison to Daniel and it didn’t go unnoticed by either Callie or Arizona when Addison was taken off guard by the stunning dimples that Daniel produced.
Arizona raised her eyebrows to Callie and shrugged, taking her place in the passenger seat, with Callie and Addison in the back. Soon they were off to see where Daniel had planned to spend the day.
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“An amusement park?!” Arizona jumped out the car before everyone else could even unbuckle, much to Callie’s amusement.
Arizona’s eyes shone with happiness and Callie found herself staring at the blonde's dimples again.
'Of course.'
Addison giggled, Arizona’s infectious excitement taking her over.
This could be fun.
Inside the park Arizona was, well, like a child in an amusement park. She was so excited about everything around her and Callie found it endearing.
Callie had a hard time keeping up with the blonde, but she was beginning to get excited as she saw a roller coaster bigger than she had ever seen. She looked to Addison and the red head smiled widely, knowing Callie’s love for roller coasters.
Daniel caught Callie’s look and grinned wickedly. “I'll give you ten dollars if you can get my sister on that.”
“Arizona doesn’t like roller coasters?” Callie had a hard time believing that.
“Go see for yourself.”
Callie smiled slyly and noticed the way Daniel was looking at Addison. This could be interesting.
“Okay, I'll match that bet if you can get Addison on it.” Callie was smiling deviously.
Daniel glanced at Addison and nodded. “You're on.”
They shook hands to seal the deal and got ready to put their most persuasive faces on.
Callie caught up to Arizona who was already a few steps ahead of them, scanning for what she wanted to do first.
“Hey, Arizona. What do you say we get on a ride together? Addison isn’t one for rides, so maybe you wanna give it a shot?”
Arizona beamed and grinned. “Of course. It'll be a good way to start the day.” She was super excited that Callie wanted to ride with her.
Her excitement quickly turned to dread as Callie indicated the coaster that she wanted to get her on.
“Oh, no, no I don’t do roller coasters. Especially not ones that you can't see the top of...” she glared at the looming coaster before them and stopped in her tracks.
Callie frowned, but wasn’t about to give up.
“Oh, come on Arizona. You'll love it!”
“I don’t think so Calliope. I’m not fond of the idea of sitting in a seat that is going 80 miles an hour on a metal track of death.”
Callie giggled at her comment, but continued to insist on Arizona getting on the thing with her.
She glanced over at Daniel briefly to see that he was having just as much luck as she was, as Addison was persistently shaking her head.
“Well, don’t worry. You stand up on this one.”
Arizona’s face dropped and her eyes widened considerably at the thought.
Callie knew exactly what to do. She put on her best grin and looked at Arizona, batting her eyelashes.
“Please?” She reached out and took hold of Arizona’s hand. “For me?”
Arizona gaped at the way Callie was looking at her. Was she...flirting?
That was supposed to be her thing to do today, but here she was watching Callie make the first move.
'Incredible. This might be easier than I thought.'
But oh, no. She wasn’t about to give in that easily.
“What's in it for me?” She fired back at Callie.
Callie shrugged and started to swing Arizona’s hand in hers.
“Well, you just have to have fun. But I'll be right there beside you to keep you safe if you really need me to.”
Arizona’s heart sped up and suddenly the idea didn’t seem too bad.
Oh, yes. Callie was definitely flirting with her.
While Callie waited for Arizona to make her decision she overheard Daniel speaking to Addison.
“Or are you just too afraid?”
Callie watched with amusement as Addison's face turned from fearful to proud. She knew Addison well enough to know that Daniel's comment was all it was going to take to get her on that roller coaster.
Sure enough Daniel walked proudly towards Callie and Arizona, a victorious smile on his face.
Callie gave him a quick smile.
'Damn, he's good.'
Arizona took in a deep breath just as Addison and Daniel stopped next to them.
“Okay. Fine. Just this once Calliope.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows in surprise and Callie did the same, leaning over to whisper in Daniel’s ear.
“That was a cheap shot telling her she was too afraid.”
Daniel returned the comment, keeping his voice low.
“So was flirting with my sister.”
Callie’s mouth hung open. Was she really that obvious? And why did he seem okay with that? Did he know something that she didn’t know?
With that, Daniel took Addison's hand and led her towards the roller coaster, smiling knowingly back at Callie.
Arizona pulled Callie’s hand to follow Daniel and Addison before she lost courage.
As they were being strapped into the seat Arizona felt her legs starting to shake. She was standing up on a roller coaster, with nothing but a chest harness to keep her in place. She looked to her right at Callie whose only emotion was excitement and she felt her whole body start to shake. She was not only afraid of this ride that was sure to kill her, but she was even more afraid of the fact that Calliope had gotten her on the ride in the first place. If she could get her to do this so easily, then what else was this girl capable of?
Before she could say anything to Callie about her being lucky that she was on the ride, the seat lurched forward and they started rising up into the air on an extremely steep hill. Arizona panicked and started to scream. Daniel turned around from the seat in front of her and laughed uncontrollably.
Callie joined in on the laughter and tried to comfort the blonde.
“Arizona, we haven't even done anything yet. The ride has barely started.”
Arizona took several quick breaths and forced herself to turn and look at Callie. She tried to give Callie a threatening stare, but didn’t have the chance before the coaster reached the first hill's peak and she felt her heart drop.
She gasped and before she could let out a breath she was flying down the hill at blinding speeds. Her stomach dropped and she screamed louder then ever before, barely hearing Callie’s laughter.
Arizona’s eyes bulged from her head and her mouth was wide open, stuck in mid-scream. She flailed her arms wildly and felt her head spinning as she found herself seeing nothing but the sky as they turned in a loop, her hair blowing in her face. This was insane. She was going to kill Calliope the second she stepped off of the ride...if she survived.
They slowed for a few seconds to make their way up another hill and Arizona forced herself to calm her breathing before she hyperventilated.
Callie glanced over at her and found her fear to be kind of cute. Her hair was windblown and her blue eyes were shining with bewilderment.
“Are you okay Arizona?” Callie yelled over the sound of the coaster and grabbed Arizona’s hand.
Arizona shook her head hard, wishing she could enjoy the fact that Callie was holding her hand, but was too distracted by the fear pulsating through her body.
“I am going to kill you Calliope Tor- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
They sped downhill once again and Arizona continued her screams and gripped onto her harness with one hand, her other still in Callie’s, clinging to it for dear life. If this didn’t end soon she felt like she would die. She had no idea why Callie and Daniel thought this was so much fun.
After two more loops and more screams from Arizona, the ride came to a slow stop. The harnesses flew up to release the riders and Arizona stumbled forward, her legs shaking from adrenaline.
Callie steadied her with firm hands on her shoulders to keep her from falling as they made their way down the stairs, back to solid ground, much to Arizona’s relief. She looked around at Daniel who was beaming with excitement as Addison glared at him. Obviously she had enjoyed it as much as Arizona had, she was just a little better at hiding her feelings.
Callie turned Arizona by her shoulders to look her in the eyes.
“Now was that so bad?”
Arizona glared at her. “You are kidding me right? I hated every second of it. You are never getting me to do anything like that ever again.”
Arizona huffed and rolled her eyes.
“You should be very glad that you are my friend, because otherwise I'd be awful tempted to hit you with a brick right now.”
Callie chuckled and pulled Arizona into a hug, whispering in her ear.
“Well, thank you for going with me anyways. I promise you won't have to do it again. And I'll make it up to you.”
Arizona shivered at the sensation of Callie’s light breath on her ear and despite the horror she just experienced, she started to smile.
“Fine.” Arizona pretended to not care, but she was completely excited.
Callie grinned and noticed Daniel smiling at the two of them while they embraced, wondering why in the world he was smiling so big.
Arizona broke away from the hug, turning to wink at Daniel. This day was going well and she knew he was excited that he had found a way to bring the two girls together without being obvious. Daniel was the best and Arizona would be sure that he knew it. She truly appreciated his acceptance and he made her love him even more by trying to help Arizona have a chance with Callie. And if Arizona was reading Callie correctly, she just might have a chance.
Their stare was broken by Addison who playfully punched Daniel in the shoulder, effectively getting his attention and Arizona was surprised to see that the two were getting along so well. Addison was pretty, and by the way Daniel was looking at her, Arizona knew he shared that opinion.
After watching the Addison and her brother talk for a few moments, Arizona turned to Callie and pointed to the numerous food stands lining the way.
“So, I know a way you can make this up to me.” She stated with a smile and Callie looked where she was pointing.
Callie happily pulled Arizona along to the cotton candy stand and bought a big pink ball of sugar for the blonde. Arizona nodded in approval and thanked Callie, peeling off some of the cotton candy and popping it in her mouth, feeling it dissolve almost instantly.
Daniel glided casually up to the two girls, his arm casually locked with Addison's and smiled at the two girls.
“We are going to go play some games, do you guys wanna come along?”
Arizona’s eyes lit up and Callie agreed, happy to do anything that would please Arizona.
Callie sucked at games. She could ace all of her work at school and beat anyone at a test of knowledge. But she sucked at games that involved no brain power.
Yet here she was, trying desperately to win a water gun game. She had her eye on a small white bear with blue eyes that she wanted to win for Arizona. It was an innocent gesture, winning a prize for a friend, but she hoped that maybe Arizona would see it as a little more.
The bear was smiling a cute, childish smile and had it's arms open as if waiting for a hug. It reminded her of Arizona and she wanted to get it for her.
Everyone watched as Callie and Daniel fought it out, both with their eyes locked on the bulls-eye where the water needed to hit in order to raise the teddy bear to the top of the game tent and win the game.
When the buzzer sounded, indicating that someone had won, Callie was disappointed to see that Daniel’s bear had risen only slightly higher than hers. She sighed in defeat and handed over more money to play again as Daniel handed a cute stuffed animal to Addison, who accepted it shyly.
Three games later, Callie let out a victorious laugh when she saw that her bear had risen the highest and she hurriedly pointed to the blue-eyed bear and proudly handed it to Arizona. The blonde's dimples lit up her face at the gift and she threw her arms around Callie in an appreciative hug.
“Thank you Calliope!” She held the bear tight and a smiled was permanent on her face.
Arizona kept her arms wrapped around Callie and decided to take things a step further, hoping it wouldn’t get her in trouble. She whispered in Callie’s ear as the Latina had done to her earlier, making sure her lips barely grazed the brunette's ear.
“That was really sweet of you.” Arizona leaned away from the hug and smiled sweetly at Callie.
Callie definitely wasn’t imagining it anymore. Arizona was flirting...and she liked it.
'Score one for Torres.'
Callie was radiating happiness for the rest of the day, nothing could dampen her mood. It also helped that Addison had taken such a great liking the the blue-eyed boy that had invited them here in the first place. They were getting along very well and Callie was happy to see Addison happy again.
She felt better than she had felt for a while when she noticed Arizona happily hugging the prized teddy bear the rest of the day, not letting go of it once.
After several intense rounds of mini-golf, a bumper cart fight, and several other forms of entertainment that did not, much to Arizona’s relief, have anything to do with roller coasters, the tired group of friends grabbed a quick bite to eat at a fast food restaurant and Daniel took Addison and Callie home.
Arizona excused herself from the car to walk Callie to the door, still toting her bear around.
“Well, I hope you had fun today, Calliope. Thanks for coming along with us.”
Callie hugged Arizona and made a point to speak softly directly into Arizona’s ear, continuing their flirting game.
“Anytime. I can't wait to see you again.”
Arizona rolled her eyes with happiness and nodded.
“You definitely will see me again soon. We do have class tomorrow after all.”
Callie frowned at the idea of going back to school after such an eventful weekend, but she felt a spark of hope at seeing Arizona again.
With a small smile Arizona walked back to the car and waved goodbye. Things were getting interesting because she knew Callie was flirting with her. There was no doubt in her mind anymore that this week would bring them closer.
On the way home Arizona couldn’t stop thanking Daniel enough for giving her such an amazing day.
“Daniel, do you like Addison? I mean, I saw the way you two acted together.” Arizona asked abruptly.
Daniel blushed and shrugged off her question. But his blush gave him away and Arizona giggled.
“Yeah, she's cool.”
He quickly changed the subject to avoid talking about Addison.
“So how were things with Callie? I know she was flirting with you an awful lot.” Daniel made it a point to look at the small bear in Arizona’s lap.
“Oh, things were good. Things were more than good. Thank you again Daniel.”
“No problem, Arizona.”
Things were quiet for a moment before Daniel spoke up again.
“You know, I think she wants you.”
Arizona was caught off guard by that statement and she laughed nervously.
“What do you mean?”
“She wants you Arizona. When you weren't looking, I saw her glancing at you and her eyes said everything. She likes you Arizona. I think you really have a chance with her.”
Arizona sighed and held the bear tighter to her, a sad truth revealing itself to her.
“She's straight Daniel.”
At this Daniel simply smiled. He had talked with Addison about Callie and he knew more than Arizona knew at this point.
“Zona, I wouldn't be so sure of that.”
Arizona flashed her brother a bright, dimpled grin and Daniel nodded.
“And that's exactly why...that smile right there. I think that smile has the ability to make anyone fall for you.”
Arizona giggled and Daniel wiggled his eyebrows.
“That smile could definitely make a straight girl run to the other side of the rainbow.”