Fic: No Looking Back 5/?
Title: No Looking Back 5/?
Author: possibility2
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: PG-13 (for now anyways)
Summary: AU Arizona meets Callie a week before med school.
Disclaimer: All television shows, books, movies, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work and the characters, events, and settings 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: Ok this is a long one but I kind of love it so here it is. Comments are inspiring :)
Part 1: http://community.livejournal.com/callie_arizona/804200.html
Part 2: http://community.livejournal.com/callie_arizona/805563.html
Part 3: http://community.livejournal.com/callie_arizona/807700.html
Part 4: http://community.livejournal.com/callie_arizona/810634.html
ARIZONA
So Callie wasn’t kidding when she said her roommate was crazy. As I walk through the apartment door that Callie is holding open for me, I’m met with a scene that is, quite frankly, a little scary. While it seems that, at one point in time, their living room was nicely decorated, all I can focus on are the mountains of take out containers spread haphazardly across the room. In addition to the trash, there are dirty clothes, textbooks, and pieces of notebook paper filled from top to bottom with creepy little handwriting, strewn all over the floor. At the epicenter of this disaster, lays an Asian girl, maybe a few years younger than me, apparently asleep on the couch. Knowing my Type A tendencies, it’s taking every ounce of strength I possess not to rush forward and start cleaning up the filth. It wouldn’t be hard, just get a big trash bag and just…no, no I can’t do that…maybe just one pizza box? No. Come Robbins, control yourself. I think Callie has noticed my uneasiness because she immediately starts apologizing profusely.
“Please don’t judge me for this. I promise it didn’t look this bad when I left this morning, I don’t know how she does it, really. I’m usually a clean freak, but Cristina’s boyfriend just joined the army and she’s having a hard time dealing…obviously. Let’s just get ready quick and get out of here before she wakes up. Otherwise she’ll be sending us out to pick up more food for her…”
She’s blushing and kind of freaking out, which is completely adorable. I’m thrilled that she cares so much about what I think.
“Callie, I understand, it’s okay. My brother recently joined the army too, and my mom went through a similar stage. Well, sort of. This is pretty extreme even for her, but…anyways, don’t worry about it.”
She smiles sweetly and leads me over a pile of garbage blocking the entrance to a bedroom. The room looks almost identical to the one we just left, and I’m praying that this isn’t Callie’s room. Seeing the shock on my face, she’s quick to assure me that this is Cristina’s room.
“Ok, how about this?” She’s quickly pulling dresses out of her roommate’s closet and holding each one out for me to look at from my seat on the bed.
“Nuh uh.” I tell her childishly. Each dress seems to be worse than the one before it. While most of Cristina’s clothes seem pretty fashionable, it’s obvious to me that she hasn’t worn a dress since at least junior high. I keep denying Callie’s suggestions, mostly because the dresses are hideous, but partly because I like the idea of her picking out what she wants me to wear, so why not prolong it a little longer? Finally she’s pulled out something decent. It’s a royal blue silky V-neck dress with cap sleeves that looks like it will hit me about mid thigh. Perfect. I nod my head approvingly at Callie when she holds it up to me.
“Finally! I like this one for you too, it’ll match your eyes,” she tells me, causing me to blush and a dimpled smile to appear. She mirrors my smile and playfully hangs the dress over my head while it’s still on the hanger.
“Ok, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be in my room getting ready if you need anything.” She tells me with a broad smile as she slowly backs out of the room. Once she’s shut the door, I quickly begin undressing, trying to get out of this filthy room as swiftly as possible. I’ve successfully gotten down to my underwear and I’m just about to take the dress off its hanger when the door flies open. I instinctually whip around just in time to see a psychopathic Asian coming at me with a baseball bat.
“CALLIE!” I scream, completely terrified that Cristina might actually beat me to a pulp. At hearing my cry, she lowers the bat slightly, her fierce expression turning into one of confusion and…is that disappointment?? I realize that I’m still standing here in nothing but my bra and panties, when I see Callie rush in to see what all the noise was about. For a few seconds we all freeze, each of us clearly uncomfortable but none of us willing to acknowledge it by attempting to move. Since I’m the one still in my underwear, I guess I should get things rolling.
“Um, I was just changing and your roommate came in here…with a bat,” I finish awkwardly. It seems my words have at least gotten Cristina moving as she carelessly drops the bat to the floor and silently trudges back out of her own room. I notice that Callie is still staring at me blankly, her eyes subconsciously roaming my body. I feel my temperature starting to rise just at the thought that she’s looking at me, but this is not the time to go there. Even if her roaming eyes suggest that she might be attracted to me, I don’t think she realizes it yet. I clear my throat, hoping to wake Callie out of her stupor.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry,” she says as she quickly turns her head away, attempting to give me back my privacy that is long since gone.
“I’ll just get out of here…” She awkwardly tells me as she quickly turns and leaves the room for the second time.
Well that was…interesting.
I finish dressing within a minute or two, and I’m then faced with the choice of prolonging my stay in this disaster zone or going out there and facing the awkwardness. At first I’m tempted to stay in the room for a little while longer, but as I look around the disgusting mess, I decide I can’t take it anymore. I hesitantly make my way out of the room and back into the living area, where I see Cristina staring blankly at the TV. A TV that is turned off. Weird. I hesitate, trying to decide if I should try and talk to this scary scary girl, or if I should try and find Callie. As I turn to head toward what I assume is Callie’s bedroom, I’m stopped dead in my tracks by the most apathetic voice I’ve ever heard.
“You’re wearing my dress.” She simply states.
“Uh, yeaaah. Callie said I could borrow it, we’re going to a play tonight, and I don’t have anyth-” I’m cut off by her short response.
“I don’t care.” She waves her right hand at me in a dismissing manner, her attention back on the blank TV screen. I take that as my cue to get the hell out of there, and I book it towards Callie’s room. After knocking and getting a ‘come in,’ I quickly enter the room and slam myself against the door a little dramatically with a look of mock horror on my face.
“You weren’t kidding about her being crazy,” I say as straight-faced and terrified-looking as possible. She returns my dramatic statement with a dismissing shake of her head and chuckles lightly.
“Nope, I sure wasn’t.” She smiles at me briefly before I see her face fall a little. I can tell she’s feeling embarrassed about walking in on me earlier, so I try to change the subject to show her it’s forgotten. Well maybe not forgotten, because I’ll be replaying the way her eyes trailed up and down my body later along with that clip I have of her eating my pizza from earlier. Hey, I gotta take what I can get here. But I digress…
“Hey I just realized I don’t have shoes to go with the dress. I’m thinking tennis shoes might throw off the whole look I’m going for here.” She chuckles at me again and is quick to whip open her closet door. She presents the entrance of the closet as if she was Vanna White, and I peak inside to see the floor lined with pair after pair of sexy high heels. I look a little closer to read the size on them, and luckily we wear the same size shoe. Note to self: steal Callie’s shoes. She laughs again as she sees my face light up with the joy that can only come from seeing the perfect pair of shoes. I carefully pick up a pair of strappy silver stiletto heels that wrap around the ankle several times. I look at her for permission and she nods encouragingly. I quickly flop onto her bed and start putting them on. I feel her watching me, and as I clasp the last strap, I flip my hair to the side exposing my neck. I look at her while I subtly but sensually drag my hand up my own leg and thigh. That’s right folks…look who’s in it to win it.
I see her swallow a lump in her throat before she hurriedly gets back to looking for her earrings. I can tell she’s flustered by the way she’s accidentally knocking things down along her dresser top, desperately searching for anything to distract her. Again I feel the need to calm her down.
“You almost ready?” I ask her casually, trying to pretend I haven’t picked up on her obvious discomfort.
“Uh, yeah. Let me just…” I see her finally put her earrings in, “…there. I’m ready, let’s go.” She practically runs out of the room, as I patiently follow her. From behind I get an awesome view of the hotness that is Callie Torres. She’s wearing a skin tight knee length black dress with a slit up the back, exposing just enough of her thighs to make my mouth water. Her curves are featured perfectly as they sway enticingly in front of me. As my eyes journey further up her back, I feel my heart speed up at the sight of her exposed shoulders, the straps of her dress resting gently off the shoulder. I notice one small freckle on her right shoulder amongst her flawless tan skin, and I’m pretty sure that is my new favorite part of her body. That freckle is just sitting there tempting me. Begging to be kissed, and sucked, and nibbled… Is it hot in here?
I feel a shiver pass all the way down my body, and I open my eyes again just in time to hear Callie tell Cristina goodbye as she opens the front door. How the hell am I going to sit next to her through an entire play?!
“What play are going to anyways?” I try to start up some conversation just to distract myself from thinking about that freckle and everything I want to do to it.
“Phantom of the Opera. It was the only decent thing with tickets still left. Plus I mean, it’s classic. It’s something you have to see on stage at least once in your life.” I can tell she’s nervous that I wouldn’t approve of her choice, but she can’t be any further from the truth.
“I love Phantom, I’ve watched the movie a million times and I’ve always wanted to see it on stage. It’s perfect.” I see a wave of relief flood across her face as I gush about the musical we’re about to go see.
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“How am I supposed to pick? Everything sounds so good,” I hear myself asking in astonishment as I look over the menu. We ran in to a deli diner down the block from the theater to grab a quick bite before the show. There are so many choices of meats and cheeses that I’m a little overwhelmed, however the rumbling in my stomach is pressuring me to make a decision. Not to mention the guy behind the counter and the five people in line behind me.
“I’ll have the American Submarine, uh number 12?” My statement comes out as a question, but to the guy at the counter it’s all the same. He scribbles it down and yells ‘next!’ at Callie. I awkwardly shuffle down the line to the cashier to pay while Callie orders.
“I’m paying for hers too,” I tell the cashier. It’s seriously the least I can do, considering Callie paid for the show tickets and refused to let me pay her back. As Callie smoothly slides down the line, she quickly catches on to what I’m sneakily trying to do.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She asks me threateningly. If I didn’t know her, I’d probably be scared shitless. She can definitely be intimidating when she wants to be. It’s kind of hot actually…focus Robbins!
“Come on, Callie! You let me drag you all over this city today, borrow clothes and shoes, and you paid for the show tickets! Please, just give me this one.” I beg her exasperatedly.
“Fine,” she concedes unenthusiastically, but quickly follows up.
“Thank you for dinner.” She’s smiling at me bashfully, as she picks up our sandwiches from the counter and hands me mine. Our fingers brush against each other, and this time I swear I didn’t do it on purpose! But either way, she’s blushing even more as she avoids eye contact. We quickly sit down and eat our sandwiches, making small talk about the play we’re about to see, and how we should have brought binoculars considering our seats are in the rear mezzanine.
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“Wow…” I hear myself murmur as we finally enter the theater after climbing up to the top floor. The entrance is at the top of the rear mezzanine and we are up so high, we can see everything from up here. I follow the woman who is seating us, but she stops short a lot sooner than I expected. I can’t help but laugh. We are literally sitting in the back row in the furthest right corner. I muffle my laughter as soon as I see Callie’s embarrassment. I didn’t mean to make her feel bad or anything; I just tend to find humor in things whether or not it’s appropriate.
“This is awesome Callie, I can sing along through the entire play without bothering anyone,” I joke with her, and it works because her embarrassment is gone, and is instead it’s replaced with amusement. A few people sitting near us however, don’t seem too amused with the idea of me singing through the whole show. I make a point to say ‘just kidding’ loud enough for them to hear as we take our seats. She sits on my left, which I’m immediately thankful for because I can pretend to look down towards the stage, while I’m really sneaking looks at her. She casually crosses her legs while she flips through the show bill, and I feel myself instantly heat up at the teasing amount of thigh that is now exposed mere inches from my hand. Dang, I was doing so good, and then she had to go and do that. Well two can play that game.
I mirror her motion and cross my own legs, ensuring that my foot dangled dangerously close to hers. At the same time I lean in towards her, just slightly, to look over her shoulder at what she’s reading. Her long dark loose curls are draped so elegantly across her shoulder, and I’m so close I can feel a hair tickling my cheek. I subtly inhale and I’m rewarded with the deliciously subtle smell of pear from her shampoo. I finally gain enough focus to actually look at the program she’s holding to see that she’s reading about the actors in the play. I pretend as if I’m at all interested in anything written on the page for a few more seconds, savoring the feel of being close to her, before I reluctantly sink back into my own chair. She looks over at me briefly, like she wants to say something, but I guess she decides against it, or maybe she just doesn’t know what to say. The lights dim in the theater, and I can’t help but lightly squeeze her arm in excitement. I give her a big smile, which she returns as we both turn to face forward once again.
The curtains open on the first scene of the play and within minutes, the iconic organ music fills the room as the chandelier slowly rises from the stage to hang above the crowd in the theater. I’m instantly captivated and can’t help but to sit straight up in my chair to see as much as I can. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Callie smiling adoringly at me, obviously happy to see that I’m happy. As the show goes on, I can only hope that this thing, whatever it is, works out the way I’m dreaming it will, because I’ve only known her a day, but it’s honestly been the best day of my life.
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“What, you don’t like it?” I joke with her as I hold a white Phantom mask up to the side of my face as we look over all the souvenirs they have for sale. She’s shaking her head at my antics as I creep around leaning over her shoulders, never staying in one place too long, while I overdramatically hum Music of the Night in her ears.
“And I thought Cristina was crazy…” I hear her muse, trying to get a rise out of me. I decide to play along.
“Hey! I take offense to that! I’m not crazy, I’m…eccentric.” I give her a big cheesy smile and she just laughs at me.
“Plus, you know you love it,” I triumphantly smirk at her. Yes, I know I’m shamelessly flirting, but I can’t help it. I’m all jazzed up on the high of watching such an extraordinary show, and the catharsis it’s brought has left me hopeful and optimistic…and apparently a little crazy.
“Fine fine, you’re right,” she tells me patronizingly as we start walking out the exit of the theater. I’m suddenly saddened that our perfect day is almost over. It immediately sparks an internal debate within me about how I should end the date-er, day I meant day. If I do what my heart tells me to, I could be headed for a whole lot of disappointment. If I do what my head tells me is best, I could find myself pining hopelessly over this miraculous woman for the next four years at least. I don’t know who to trust. I mean my head has a better track record, but my heart is pretty damn persuasive…I’m drawn out of my thoughts by her melodic voice.
“I have one more surprise for you,” she tells me in a sing-song voice. I find it kind of ironic that she mentions surprises because she hasn’t really given me any surprises today, well not knowingly at least. I look at her expectantly, but all she does is raise her right arm into the arm as if she’s saying hello to all the cars driving by. Suddenly a yellow taxi pulls right up to us, and I realize she’s called us a cab.
“This is my surprise…a cab?” I question her, a little deflated. She just chuckles at me, as usual, and opens the back door for me to scoot in.
“It’s not the cab, it’s where we’re going in the cab. Roll down your window.” I scrunch up my brow, but do as I’m told as I see her whisper lightly into the cab driver’s ear.
Suddenly we’re taking off at a surprisingly fast speed, zooming away from the theater and back uptown. I just look out the window, intoxicated by the sights and sounds of the city as I notice us seem to circle around again and head back downtown. I look up at the street signs to see that we are on Broadway, and as I lean a little further out the window, I see why we are here. When we first got the theater, Callie had managed to keep us away from Broadway itself, bringing me to the theater from the opposite direction. But now, I could see the bright neon lights of 42nd and Broadway, and it really is as breathtaking as they show in all the movies. The lights, the signs, the smells, the people. It all just blurs together into this awesome high of excitement and optimism. Like all my dreams really could come true in this city. As I continue to look out the window, I can’t help but subtly reach for Callie’s hand and squeeze it, trying to let that small gesture be enough to hold me over for right now.
But then I feel her squeeze back, and it’s in that moment that I know my heart won the fight.