(no subject)
Title: Ready For A Fall (19/?)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17 (but only vaguely)
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, George/Izzie, Meredith/Derek
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.
A/N: This chapter was made possible by the lovely input of _nigella_ and callieluvr who worked me through writer's block with their great ideas and dialogue. You guys amaze me. :) Also.. to the person/persons who flamed me for posting every day ... when you do it as yourself and not anonymously then I'll care what you think. ;)
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Seventeen
Eighteen
*~*~*~*~*~
Wise Men say
only fools rush in
but I cant help
falling in love with you
Shall I stay
would it be a sin
if I can't help falling in love with you...
Like a river flows, surely to the sea
Darlin so it goes, somethings are meant to be..
Take my hand, take my whole life too
for I can't help fallin in love with you...
- Elvis the Pelvis
~*~*~*~*~*~
Addison reached out of the empty conference room and grabbed Cristina Yang as she walked down the hallway. Cristina yelped and broke loose, looking at Addison in shock. "Personal boundaries! Personal boundaries, Dr. Montgomery. Half my epidermis is under your nails."
"You are working with Sloan today. Did he make you get him coffee?"
"Uh, no. I’m a doctor, not a waitress."
"He makes the other interns get him coffee."
"Oh, he tried to make me. I told him that if I got him coffee I’d make it hot and toss it on his crotch."
Addison blinked at her. "Nice, Dr. Yang."
"I thought so, too."
"Hey, did he happen to tell you how he takes his coffee?"
"Why? Are you his waitress?"
"I’m just important that I know."
"I can tell you if you can get me into Shepherd’s neuro surgery that starts in forty minutes. I’ve read all about it and-"
Addison pulled out her cellphone and dialed Derek. "Hey, have you got an intern yet for your surgery after lunch? No? Well, I’m finished with Dr. Yang and she needs something to do. She assures me that she is well versed on this procedure. Well, make room for her because she’s scrubbing in. Okay, I’ll tell her." She hung up and smiled. "You’re in."
"He asked me for a bone dry cappuccino and a Snickers bar." Cristina gazed up at the taller woman. "And you’re my hero."
"Yang?"
"Yeah."
"Where do I find a bone dry cappuccino?"
"Joe can make a mean one."
Fifteen minutes later, Addison bellied up to the bar and smiled at Joe. She ordered the coffee for Mark and the smile didn’t leave her face until Joe told her that George had kissed Nurse Olivia the night before. "What?"
"He left with her. Now, I don’t usually encourage gossip, but I know that you’re Callie’s best friend and well-"
"He kissed her?"
"He raped her with his mouth." Joe nodded. "He was drinking a lot and he had just signed his divorce papers, but still. I had to tell someone. You know, I tried to talk to him last night and tell him that I felt like the marriage was rushed and, well, I don’t think he loves her. You should have heard the names that he called her when they drunk dialed me. It was him and Izzie calling her fat and psycho. And a bitch. George called her a ferret loving whore. I hung up on them, but-"
"When was this?" Addison asked, nostrils flaring.
"It was the night that they did the thing that I can’t possibly talk about because I just ate."
"They called you and badmouthed Callie? Before they did it?"
"I don’t know if it was before or after, but it was horrible. I was so pissed."
Addison took the coffee and put a twenty on the table. "Keep the change, Joe."
Mark was in the scrub room and he glanced up when Addison pushed the door open. "Hey." One look at her face had him forgetting all about the surgery he was prepping for. "What happened?"
"Bone dry cappuccino." She held up the cup. "Is Stevens working today?"
"I think she comes in tonight."
"I need to talk to her."
He sipped the coffee and smiled at her. "You got the drink right, Ads. You know what that means?"
"Yeah, I’m very resourceful."
"You’re also mad as hell about something."
"I’ll tell you later."
Addison called Richard from the parking lot and told him that she had to leave for an hour. He didn’t ask why and she didn’t tell. She pulled up in front of Meredith Grey’s house and knocked on the door. Meredith answered and looked up at her in shock. "Hey, Dr. Montgomery."
"Where the hell is Stevens?" Addison asked, foregoing any greeting.
Izzie appeared behind Meredith and said, "I’m watching a movie. Why?"
Addison stepped past Meredith and slapped Izzie as hard as she could. It was hard enough to knock the clip out of her hair and Addison seized the moment, gripping a handful and holding the blond a few inches from her face. "If you *ever* call my best friend anything other than Dr. Torres, I will pull your uterus out and shove it down your throat. And the world will thank me for making sure you can’t reproduce. One of you is more than enough."
Izzie shoved the red-head away from her, gripping her cheek. "I - didn’t -"
"Shut the fuck up," Addison said. She turned to Meredith, who took a step back. "Where is George?"
Meredith shook her head, but glanced up the stairs without thinking. "Addison, you really need to -"
"O’Malley!" Addison yelled. She stalked up the stairs and George opened the door just in time for her to arrive on the second floor landing. She shoved him back into the bedroom and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Did you sleep with Olivia?"
"What?"
"Did you?"
"Yeah."
She sank her knee into his groin and watched him groan and fall back on the bed. "You *asshole*. Joe told me what you and your first whore called Callie so let me make something very clear to you. When she gets back here you will not talk to her, look at her, or hurt her anymore. You stay the hell away from her and you make sure that your harem understands that I will personally put them in traction if they don’t do the same."
"I signed the papers," George moaned, still rolling on the bed. "I let her go. After I slept with Izzie the other night and-"
Addison punched his hands, which were cradling his crotch. She waited until he finished yelling and then said, "You slept with *her* again? You actually went there after you saw what it did to Callie?"
"Callie’s with Alex! Olivia saw them making out."
"THEN GOOD FOR CALLIE!!!"
"Oh god, I need testicle retrieval surgery."
"No, you should leave it alone. Maybe it will stay broken and you can’t use it. George and his magic penis should retire." Addison spun on her heel and stalked back down the stairs. She slammed out of the house without seeing Meredith or Izzie again. In the car, she picked up her phone and called Callie. She left a message that was simple. "Call me back. It’s an emergency, Callie."
Then she drove back to the hospital and interrupted Mark’s surgery to tell him that she could possibly be going to jail. He handed the scalpel to Sydney Heron and joined her in the scrub room, where he listened intently to what had transpired.
"You kicked him?"
"Hard."
"Did he cry?"
"I think his balls were lodged in his tear ducts, blocking the supply of fluid."
He grinned at her. "You’re a good friend."
"I have *never* done anything like that in my life. I slapped someone!"
"You slapped me *after* you called me a cross country booty call."
"Oh, right. Did it hurt? I want to make sure it hurt Stevens."
"I didn’t hurt me, but I’m sure Stevens is crying like a baby."
"Really?"
"Yeah, slugger, I’m sure."
"Go operate."
"See you tonight."
When the police had not arrived two hours later, she breathed a little easier.
*~*~*~*~*~
After riding the trolleys for most of the morning and hopping off at random places to browse the shops or sightsee, Callie and Alex ate in Chinatown. Callie encouraged him to try a particularly pricey crab dish and he was not disappointed in the least. It was incredible. Callie had ordered sushi. He happily shared with her, but he would *not*, however, attempt raw fish. Instead, he enjoyed watching her eat it because she made it look good. She had worn tight black jeans and a tank top that was dangerously low cut and incredibly body hugging. He had never seen her in that particular shade of midnight blue and the effect was breathtaking.
He hair was also curlier than he had ever seen it. Even her bangs, which usually hung straight over her forehead, were pushed back and blended with the rest of the curl. He didn’t know if it was the sea water or if she had done it that morning in the bathroom with a roller of some kind, but she looked younger and freer.
"Why are you looking at me?" she finally asked him.
"I like your hair," he replied, reaching out to touch the spiral curl that hung over her left breast. "What did you do?"
"I finally used the gel that I had lost and couldn’t find and dried it with a diffuser." She stole a bite of his lunch.
"You should wear it like this all the time. It makes you look exotic. And exotic and erotic go hand in hand."
"Okay."
He picked up his fork and finished his lunch, then said, "Hey, when’s your birthday?"
"If I tell you when my birthday is, you do not get to laugh or make the obvious joke."
He raised his right hand. "I swear."
"Halloween. My birthday is Halloween."
"I have to say it."
"Alex -"
"You really are Gothic to the core, aren’t you? Your mother planned that date perfectly."
She grinned at him. "I thought you were going to call me a witch or a Satanist. Or a demon. Or, I dunno, possessed."
"You heard that a lot growing up, huh?"
She nodded. "Cam and I both did. He likes to wear leather and so do I, just not head to toe."
"Ooooh, that could have its merits."
"I’ll tell him you said so, but he’s not into jocks."
He threw her napkin at her and she caught it. "What’s he like? Your twin?"
"He’s six foot four. He can look like Marilyn Manson and actually owns a pair of assless pants - which I know because that’s what I got him for Christmas last year. He graduated from business school and is CEO of one of my dad’s biggest companies. He loves to play the guitar, has been with the same guy for ten years, and he has the biggest heart you’ll ever find. He’s funny and smart and he loves to torment my mother as much as I do."
"Your mom is intense."
"That’s one word for it."
"She loves you," Alex replied. "Anyone can see that."
"I know, but she’s hard to please. She’s got ideas and opinions that are unshakeable. And she can hold a grudge better than me and I’m great at it. Plus, she stores every one of your crimes in her brain and pulls them out every time you piss her off."
"That’s just being a woman, Cal."
She flipped him a bird as they finished their lunch and then they headed further into Chinatown, where they absorbed more culture than a person possibly should. When they returned to the shopping district, Callie innocently told him that she wanted to go and call Cam and said that she’d meet him at the trolley in forty-five minutes. He asked her why it would take so long and she just shrugged and walked away, smiling back at him.
Callie made a very large purchase and got two rolls of quarters in the process. She used a pay phone to call Cam. He answered on the second ring. "Hey, Cammy."
"Calliope Torres, you are in so much truh-buhl."
"Is Daddy searching for me?"
"He was, but I talked him out of it. He did find out that you were bitten by an animal. What happened?"
"How did he find out?" she asked, amazed. "Never mind. I sometimes forget what he’s capable of and the people he knows. I saved a lobster’s life and it bit me."
Cam laughed long enough that the operator cut in, asking for more money. Callie quickly added a few more quarters and said, "Hey, I’m going to put the battery back in my phone and call you right back."
After she placed the battery in the phone, she turned it on. There were over forty missed calls and twelve voice mails. She saw that most were from George and that the most recent was from Addison. She listened to that one, just to make the beeping stop, and made a mental note to call her right back. She dialed Cam again and he picked up quickly and said, "You’re so smart, Sis. You took out the battery so Dad couldn’t ping you, right?"
"I did. And it’s fully charged so tell me everything."
Cam filled her in on the details, telling her that he hated George and that Blake and Melana had *shopped* together. Callie gasped on the other end of the line and Cam hastily added, "I know. I almost *died*. She bought him cuff links, Callie. Diamond ones. And he’s officially in love with her. She has become his Mrs. Robinson."
"Blake is gay. Our mother is good, but she does have the wrong equipment for him. It’s infatuation. She’ll kill it with fire soon enough."
"Are you having fun?"
"Alex is my green eggs and ham. I am having a blast, Cam, I am."
He laughed again. "What have you been doing?"
"Besides sex?"
"T.M.I! Excuse me while I reboot my brain."
"We flew to Los Angeles to pick up Goon Docks. We’re sailing her home."
Cam’s stomach lurched and he remembered the dream and the sense of foreboding he had had since then. He told her about it and added, "Just ... stay out of the water, sis."
"I wish you had told me this yesterday."
"Oh my god. Why? What happened."
"I was almost fish food. A fifteen foot Great White’s fish food." You could have heard a pin drop over the line. "I didn’t even try to swim, Cam. I was so scared. Alex jumped in and pulled me back to the boat."
"He jumped in knowing there was a shark?"
"Yes."
"Holy bat shit, girl wonder. If Blake leaves me for our mother then I’m so taking Alex."
"What makes you think you could?"
"Because I’m *that* good," he replied. "Are you okay? After the shark?"
"You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I’m better than okay. I’m in love."
"Oh, sweetie. Ohhhhh, sweetie."
"Don’t use that tone. You’ll see when we get back. It’s just ... for the first time in my life everything is great."
"Rushing is bad."
"Perhaps my memory is failing me, Cammy, but did you or did you not tell me that you were in love with Blake after one date?"
"No, I told you I was in love with Blake after looking at him."
"Well, I looked at Alex. It’s real."
"Be careful. Your heart is-"
"Just fine."
"When are you coming home?"
"We’re in San Fran. We’ll be back in a couple of days. But do not tell *anyone*. I’m not coming off the yacht until I have to and that will be for the party." Callie grinned when the man from the shop motioned for her. He was finished with her surprise. "I’ll call *you* when we dock and you can bring Blake out to meet Alex, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan, mi amore. I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Callie?"
"What?"
"Stay OUT of the water. Promise me."
"I promise."
She hung up and picked up the gift that had set her back almost six thousand dollars. Smiling, she tucked it in her purse and called Addison.
"Hello?"
"Addison? Before you start yelling and get all crazy ... I just want you to know that I love you and miss you and -"
"I just beat up George and Izzie. I don’t think I’m going to jail, but it may be taking them a while to process the paperwork."
Callie stopped walking. "You did what?!"
"I haven’t had sex in a very long time. I was frustrated and Mark wants shackles and chains and then Joe said that George and Izzie called you names so I went to Meredith’s and ... slapped her and kicked his balls into his ass." She took a deep breath. "I also threatened to shove her uterus down her throat and I’m tempted to go back and do it because I don’t think I hit her hard enough."
Callie’s brain was close to exploding from the rapid fire explanation. "Mark wants shackles and chains? But not sex?"
"It’s horrible, Callie. Not only did I find out why he’s a manwhore, I had to manhandle Yang to find out what kind of coffee he likes just so he *will* have sex with me."
"Bone dry cappuccino."
"This is why you’re my best friend. And how do you know this?"
"Okay, you do remember that I slept with him, right? He ordered room service and I heard it."
"And you remembered it?"
"Well, yeah. That’s what people do."
"Argh! He’s right. I don’t know him at all. I lived with him and I still don’t know him." Addison sighed. "What are you doing? Please tell me that you are having sex so I can live vicariously."
"Are you going to get pissed by my answer?"
"Only if you say that you are abstaining."
"I am *not* abstaining at all." Callie sat back down on the bench. "Addison, we’re a couple. Me and Alex. We’re officially together."
"Oh, thank god."
"That’s a departure. Did you repress the fight we had? The one where you said, ‘friends do not date blah blah blah, bitch’."
"George slept with Izzie again. And Olivia. And he’s a bastard who doesn’t deserve you because he called you a ferret loving whore."
Callie burst into laughter then. It was side splitting and several people gawked at her, but she didn’t care. "I *am* a ferret loving whore," she wheezed. "And he slept with the syph nurse? Ewwww. It’s probably a good thing you kicked his dick because it’s probably going to rot off anyway."
"You’re not mad?"
"No, Addy. I’m not mad at all. I could not care less."
"How is this possible?"
"Because I have moved on," Callie said and the fact that her mood was not darkened at all by the news of George’s latest conquest confirmed that it was true.
"So fast?"
Callie’s grin remained on her face. "It’s not too fast. I’m stopping to enjoy everything I can."
"Just remember that Alex Karev is a bad boy."
"I know. He’s very bad in all the right ways and I am a sucker for every move he makes."
"Dear god. Where is my best friend and what have you done with her?"
"Are you still coming to my party?"
"Yep. I’ll be there. I’m bringing Mark."
"I’m bringing Alex."
"Ooooh, I’m bringing a video camera because your family-"
"Will love him as much as I do."
"Did you just say ‘love’?"
Callie laughed. "I have to go, Addison. I’m late for a very important date."
"Be careful. On all fronts."
"I love you."
"Love you back."
----
Alex gave his credit card the biggest workout it had ever had. He bought Callie a thick silver bangle bracelet that was inlaid with fourteen carat gold and solid opal great white sharks. The opals, her birthstone, were mostly black, but each one had streaks of color. When he slipped it onto her wrist, he knew he had chosen wisely and forgot that it had cost almost a thousand dollars. It suited her.
She gasped and ran her fingertips over it. "Alex, this is beautiful. You didn’t have to-"
"I wanted to." He kissed her on the forehead. "A shark made you want to live. That’s to remind you that you better not stop."
"You made me want to live, Alex."
"Well, I’m around your little finger so I can’t really hang around your wrist."
"I dunno. You’re pretty hung." Grinning, she handed him a box. "I got you something as well."
"I knew you were up to no good." He smiled at her. "I take it you didn’t call Cam."
"No, I did call him. I had to do something while I waited for the engraver. My father isn’t searching for us and everything’s fine. Now, open it."
Alex lifted the lid and gasped. It contained a silver and black Rolex watch. "Oh my god. This is a -"
"Read the back, not the name brand."
He turned it over and a lump formed in his throat. She’d had it inscribed with ‘I’ve had the time of my life. Love, Callie.’ He traced the words with his thumb and when he looked back at her, he said, "I’m going to say it now."
"Say what?" she teased. "That I should have quoted ‘The Princess Bride’ instead of ‘Dirty Dancing’? Believe me, when we get back from Alcatraz all will make sense, young grasshopper."
Holding the watch in his hand, he pulled her a little closer and whispered, "I love you."
She looked into his brown eyes and it felt like coming home. Hearing him say the words did something to her insides that she had *never* felt before. "I love you."
"Do we have to go to Alcatraz, Elvira? Surely we can find something better to do."
"No, but we should. Because we don’t get a lot of time off and I don’t know when we can come back." She stood on her toes and kissed him. "And anticipation, Alex, is what makes life worthwhile. So, think about what we’re going to do when we go home tonight. That ought to make it fun."
"That will make it *unbearable*."
Callie took the watch from him and fastened it onto his wrist. It fit perfectly and when they joined hands, her bracelet rubbed against the metal of his watch. They spent the rest of the afternoon taking a movie tour of hot spots that were featured in films and rattled off quotes to one another every time the tour guide called out which films had been shot there.
Callie bought them both matching jackets at the Alcatraz gift shop. She told him that the island got cold at night and they huddled together at the front of the ferry as they sailed toward the island. Callie had purchased several disposable cameras and an older couple happily snapped photo after photo of the two of them throughout their trip. The stole kisses in as many of the cells as they could, posed for photos left and right, but on the on the ferry ride back, she sat a few feet away from him, shivering from the cold.
The impact of what Addison had told her on the phone had set in as they had walked the barren grounds surrounding the penitentiary before they boarded the ferry again. Maybe it was the dank and dismal setting, but whatever it was, it was a stark reminder of the wasteland that she had envisioned George in the day she left Seattle Grace. George had slept with Izzie *and* Olivia and while she wasn’t *hurt* ... she *was* stunned. She had believed, at least in some part of her soul, that her leaving him might actually jar him enough to make him see what he had lost, but it had not. He had learned nothing at all. And as much as he had begged her forgiveness and promised to change ... it had been a lie. He genuinely never loved her the way she had loved him.
Her entire life with him had been a lie.
And she had almost continued living it.
"Callie?"
"Yeah?"
"Is something on your mind?"
She shook her head.
Alex moved a little closer. "If you aim for the truth you just might hit it."
She looked at him. "Have you ever thought that you really knew someone, but you realize that everything you thought you knew was wrong?"
"Oh jeez, Gothika. How did I manage to piss you off?"
"I called Addison today."
"Addison? Oh! OH! I kissed her *once* and made it clear that I wasn’t interested. Actually, she kissed me and-"
"She told me that George slept with Izzie again. *And* Olivia. While we’ve been gone."
He didn’t want to get angry with her, but the feeling rose up inside him so fast that got to his feet to keep from saying something he would regret. He walked to the back of the ferry, where he watched the prison fade in the distance. A moment later, she appeared beside him at the rail. "Callie, we should probably not talk right now."
"Alex, come on."
"No! Today was the perfect day, yet you find out that he’s still an asshole and you act like it’s the end of the world! How can you think about him after -"
"I am not thinking about him. I’m just ... I’m thinking that I’m a fool. I knew it, you know? I knew that he was lying to me all along and I still let him back in. I hate myself for that -"
"Stop." He turned and glared down at her. "You don’t get to hate yourself because of him. Hating yourself almost got you killed. George O’Malley is a fetus. He doesn’t how to handle a real woman because he’s still that *guy* who carries a backpack to work everyday. He’s never going to grow up, Callie, and if you can’t see that then you deserve what he does to you when you take him back!"
"What!? I am not taking him back!"
"Then why do you care?"
"I care about *me* and the fact that I didn’t think before I legally bound myself to someone like him. I knew in my gut that marrying him was a mistake. Even after he cheated and I finally found out I still didn’t say no. I took him back and it went against everything in me. That’s what I care about. Him sleeping with someone else only confirms that I was right. And I have to learn to listen to myself again. I gave up on *me* to be with *him*."
"It is not your fault that you fell for lies. People do it all the time."
"It is my fault that I stopped being the real me. I was never the person that you know with him. Ever. This is me, Alex. You know me. I’m weird and I laugh at crazy things and I watch cheesy movies and I’m insecure and-"
"You don’t have an insecure bone in your body. I haven’t seen it if you do and I’ve seen all of you. You were only insecure with him because he made you that way."
"I’m feeling very insecure right now." Tears clouded her vision and fell before she stop them. "Don’t be mad at me. Please?"
"You know that seeing you cry is the one thing -"
"I’m sorry." She looked away and quickly dried her face, but it didn’t help much. She spun back to face him and cried even harder. "You know what? That’s a lie and I’m done lying. I am *not* sorry. It hurts my feelings that you would just assume that everything I have said to you and done with you means so little to me that I could care what George is doing back in Seattle. I don’t. And you should know better."
"Callie-"
"Don’t talk to me."
"I’m not mad at you."
"Well, I’m pissed enough at you for the both of us." She wiped at her eyes again. "You’re the insecure one."
"I guess first loves have that effect on people."
She looked back at him. "First loves?"
"I’ve never said it or felt like this with anybody else." Alex dried her face himself. "So, don’t cry. Because it makes me wanna die for causing it."
"Then stop making me because we can’t both be suicidal."
"That’s not funny, Callie." He pulled her against him and hugged her. "Can we please not have any more fights on this trip?"
"Are you planning on talking at all?"
"That’s not funny either," he told her, but smiled nevertheless. "You’re freezing. Let’s go sit down."
Callie sat on his lap, one arm around his back. She put her face against his neck at the breeze picked up. He held her close, whispering softly, and brushing her hair back. Unbeknownst to Callie or Alex, the elderly couple who had taken their photos for the duration of the trip snapped a few more. They had forgotten to give the camera back, but as the ferry finally arrived back at the dock, they happily returned it.
"So, back to the yacht?" Alex wrapped his arm around her as they waved goodbye to the amateur photographers. "I’m starving."
"I know a great place for dinner." Callie leaned into him a little. "I told you that what is written on the back of your watch would make sense tonight."
"I thought it meant that we were going to dirty dance later on."
"Not quite the way you’re thinking."
They hailed a cab and Callie gave the driver an address in San Jose. The driver commented that it was a bad part of town, but Callie simply smiled at him. Alex noticed that the buildings became increasingly shabby as they arrived in a remote part of San Jose almost forty five minutes later. The fare was outrageous and when the cab drove away, Alex said, "I should have driven a cab instead of delivering pizza in high school."
Callie took his hand and led him into an alley. The walls were practically vibrating with the sounds of music. "Are you still mad at me?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
He cut his eyes over at her. "Why do I suddenly feel worried?"
"You’re about to meet my Godparents, Mario and Anita Gonzalez. They own Johnny Salsa’s and that’s where we’re going."
Alex stopped walking. "But-"
"Come on." She tugged him to the end of the alley and knocked on a bright red door. "I can show you the salsa. I can even show you the cumbia. But you have to feel it before you can ever do it."
The door opened and the loud music that had been muffled was suddenly loud and clear. A man with shocking white hair and a matching mustache stared out at them. He looked gruff, annoyed that someone would dare knock at the personal entrance to their establishment. His eyes narrowed on the man and then moved to the woman and he gasped. "Calliope!?"
"Hola, papi! How are you?"
"Anita! Come quick! It’s Calliope!" Mario shouted, then leaped down the stairs to embrace his Goddaughter. He moved with startling agility for a man approaching seventy. He pulled her into his arms and exclaimed, "Oh, goodness! We couldn’t come to your party because Anita had surgery, but you have come to us instead! This is wonderful! Wonderful, mija! Ay dios mio! You are here."
"Papi, this is Alex." Callie introduced.
"I thought your husband was called Jorge." He looked Alex up and down and extended his hand.
Thinking fast, Alex gripped his hand and said, "It’s Alexander George. She calls me George as a joke."
Callie stared at him, wide eyed, but didn’t comment.
Anita Gonzalez finally appeared in the doorway. She was short, round, and her black hair was streaked through with grey. She had pulled it back, making her look almost skunk like. Her face was deeply carved with wrinkles, but a smile lit her features and her obvious happiness shed years from her appearance. "My baby!" she cried.
"Hola, madrina." Callie walked up the steps and leaned down, kissing the tiny woman. "I have missed you so much."
Anita brushed Callie’s face with her weathered hand. "You have been crying, si?"
Callie smiled at her. "We visited Alcatraz. You know that it makes me sad. This is Alex, mami."
Alex climbed the stairs and greeted the old woman. She hugged him, patting his face, and led them slowly down the hallway. It was loud, too loud to think and Alex breathed a sigh of relief when Anita led them into a VIP lounge that was remarkably quiet when Mario pulled the door shut behind them. He sat down beside Callie on a leather sofa and listened as Callie rambled on and on about how her family was doing.
The elderly couple seemed to hang on her every word. After thirty minutes, Callie said, "I wanted Alex to see our culture. He has to be able to dance with me at the party."
"You have chosen a wonderful night to come, mija." Mario beamed at her. "We have a full house."
"You always do." Callie grinned. "Is Reuben cooking tonight?"
"He is."
Standing, Callie said, "We’re starving. Are there any empty tables out there?"
"For you? I will make sure." Mario opened the door.
Callie leaned down and kissed the old woman again. "I want to check your incision before I leave."
"It was just a minor procedure," Anita replied, waving her hand. "Go and have fun, honey."
Mario found them an empty table right beside the dance floor and took their order himself. He tried to convince Callie to try red wine that he had imported from Italy, but she firmly refused. Alex, she noticed, did not ask for beer or accept the offer of wine. She watched as he turned his attention to the dance floor, apparently enthralled by the gyrating bodies that moved in time to the Latin beats. A beautiful woman in a rainbow dress undulated nearby and she saw that Alex had given her his full attention.
It shocked Callie that she didn’t feel any jealousy whatsoever. If it had been George ... she would have gotten pissed and probably left the bar in a huff, but she wasn’t worried about Alex. He was going home with her. He felt her eyes on him and quickly looked away from the woman and she laughed. "You’re supposed to be watching, Alex."
"Can you dance like that?"
"I can."
"Callie?"
Callie leaped from her seat and threw her arms around the man who had walked up. "Constantino! How are you?"
Constantino took a step back and brushed his hair away from his face. "I am well. You certainly look well. Assure me that you are."
"I’m fine." Callie introduced Alex and added, "Constantino is my cousin."
Alex visibly relaxed. The guy was huge and far too familiar with Callie as far as he was concerned. Cousin was fine, though. They weren’t in Alabama. Constantino nodded at the dance floor and said, "Take off your jacket, Callie. Let’s show your husband the way that we wind down at the end of the day."
She pulled her jacket from her shoulders and laid it on her seat. "Watch and learn, Jock Strap."
The music was fast and furious and the second her feet hit the dance floor, a change came over her that captivated Alex. He watched as Constantino spun her around in a series of complicated twirls and then they moved as one. It was the sexiest, raunchiest, and most beautiful dance Alex had ever seen. It truly was a conversation between two people and if Alex had not been told that the man was a relative of Callie’s ... he would have killed him with his bare hands.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her hair bounced and flew around her shoulders an she used it like a prop, letting it fall over the man’s shoulder as she moved behind him and gripped his hips. They stepped forward and back, forward and back, and then he turned quickly, lifted her over his leg and let her drop down toward the floor. He caught her at the last possible moment and plucked her upright. Her hair seemed to move in slow motion and she laughed. Alex heard it and he had to smile.
Their food arrived as the music ended. Callie hurried back to the table and climbed onto the stool. "So, you think you can do that?"
"I can do it."
"Eat fast and prove it."
Thirty minutes later, Alex found rhythm he never knew he possessed and proved it until Johnny Salsa’s closed. True to her word, Callie examined the incision on Anita’s abdomen and then told her Godparents that she would be leaving at first light. She bid them goodbye, crying softly as Anita spoke to her in soft Spanish, and then kissed Mario.
In the cab, Alex put his arm around her and pulled her closer. "What did Anita say that upset you?"
"She told me that they didn’t get all the cancer and she’s not going to do chemotherapy."
"Oh, baby. I’m sorry."
Callie sniffled. "She also told me that any man who feels the music the way you do is a man who feels with his soul."
"Is that good?"
"It’s very good." Sitting up, she looked at him. "You let them believe that you were my husband."
"I - I didn’t know what else to say."
"I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that. I - I didn’t even remember that I’m still married."
Alex pulled her in for a kiss.
She couldn’t have said anything better to him than that.
*~*~*~*~*~
So ... Callie and Alex said the words. I wasn't quite ready for them to say it, but there it is. And they fought again. And made up. And Alex is afraid she's thinking of George. And Callie knows that she's not, but is she being truthful with herself? And everyone else thinks they're rushing, but they don't seem to care. It's so easy to get caught up in one another when there's no one else around and let your guard down, but once they get back into the life they've been avoiding ... what will happen? Is it love or infatuation?
And what the HELL was Alex thinking when he said that Callie was his first love? Did he not just tell Izzie he had been in love with her when she left him for Denny? Oh, there are rough waters ahead.
Buy a life jacket. It's gonna be a choppy ride.
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17 (but only vaguely)
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, George/Izzie, Meredith/Derek
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.
A/N: This chapter was made possible by the lovely input of _nigella_ and callieluvr who worked me through writer's block with their great ideas and dialogue. You guys amaze me. :) Also.. to the person/persons who flamed me for posting every day ... when you do it as yourself and not anonymously then I'll care what you think. ;)
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Eleven
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Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
*~*~*~*~*~
Wise Men say
only fools rush in
but I cant help
falling in love with you
Shall I stay
would it be a sin
if I can't help falling in love with you...
Like a river flows, surely to the sea
Darlin so it goes, somethings are meant to be..
Take my hand, take my whole life too
for I can't help fallin in love with you...
- Elvis the Pelvis
~*~*~*~*~*~
Addison reached out of the empty conference room and grabbed Cristina Yang as she walked down the hallway. Cristina yelped and broke loose, looking at Addison in shock. "Personal boundaries! Personal boundaries, Dr. Montgomery. Half my epidermis is under your nails."
"You are working with Sloan today. Did he make you get him coffee?"
"Uh, no. I’m a doctor, not a waitress."
"He makes the other interns get him coffee."
"Oh, he tried to make me. I told him that if I got him coffee I’d make it hot and toss it on his crotch."
Addison blinked at her. "Nice, Dr. Yang."
"I thought so, too."
"Hey, did he happen to tell you how he takes his coffee?"
"Why? Are you his waitress?"
"I’m just important that I know."
"I can tell you if you can get me into Shepherd’s neuro surgery that starts in forty minutes. I’ve read all about it and-"
Addison pulled out her cellphone and dialed Derek. "Hey, have you got an intern yet for your surgery after lunch? No? Well, I’m finished with Dr. Yang and she needs something to do. She assures me that she is well versed on this procedure. Well, make room for her because she’s scrubbing in. Okay, I’ll tell her." She hung up and smiled. "You’re in."
"He asked me for a bone dry cappuccino and a Snickers bar." Cristina gazed up at the taller woman. "And you’re my hero."
"Yang?"
"Yeah."
"Where do I find a bone dry cappuccino?"
"Joe can make a mean one."
Fifteen minutes later, Addison bellied up to the bar and smiled at Joe. She ordered the coffee for Mark and the smile didn’t leave her face until Joe told her that George had kissed Nurse Olivia the night before. "What?"
"He left with her. Now, I don’t usually encourage gossip, but I know that you’re Callie’s best friend and well-"
"He kissed her?"
"He raped her with his mouth." Joe nodded. "He was drinking a lot and he had just signed his divorce papers, but still. I had to tell someone. You know, I tried to talk to him last night and tell him that I felt like the marriage was rushed and, well, I don’t think he loves her. You should have heard the names that he called her when they drunk dialed me. It was him and Izzie calling her fat and psycho. And a bitch. George called her a ferret loving whore. I hung up on them, but-"
"When was this?" Addison asked, nostrils flaring.
"It was the night that they did the thing that I can’t possibly talk about because I just ate."
"They called you and badmouthed Callie? Before they did it?"
"I don’t know if it was before or after, but it was horrible. I was so pissed."
Addison took the coffee and put a twenty on the table. "Keep the change, Joe."
Mark was in the scrub room and he glanced up when Addison pushed the door open. "Hey." One look at her face had him forgetting all about the surgery he was prepping for. "What happened?"
"Bone dry cappuccino." She held up the cup. "Is Stevens working today?"
"I think she comes in tonight."
"I need to talk to her."
He sipped the coffee and smiled at her. "You got the drink right, Ads. You know what that means?"
"Yeah, I’m very resourceful."
"You’re also mad as hell about something."
"I’ll tell you later."
Addison called Richard from the parking lot and told him that she had to leave for an hour. He didn’t ask why and she didn’t tell. She pulled up in front of Meredith Grey’s house and knocked on the door. Meredith answered and looked up at her in shock. "Hey, Dr. Montgomery."
"Where the hell is Stevens?" Addison asked, foregoing any greeting.
Izzie appeared behind Meredith and said, "I’m watching a movie. Why?"
Addison stepped past Meredith and slapped Izzie as hard as she could. It was hard enough to knock the clip out of her hair and Addison seized the moment, gripping a handful and holding the blond a few inches from her face. "If you *ever* call my best friend anything other than Dr. Torres, I will pull your uterus out and shove it down your throat. And the world will thank me for making sure you can’t reproduce. One of you is more than enough."
Izzie shoved the red-head away from her, gripping her cheek. "I - didn’t -"
"Shut the fuck up," Addison said. She turned to Meredith, who took a step back. "Where is George?"
Meredith shook her head, but glanced up the stairs without thinking. "Addison, you really need to -"
"O’Malley!" Addison yelled. She stalked up the stairs and George opened the door just in time for her to arrive on the second floor landing. She shoved him back into the bedroom and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Did you sleep with Olivia?"
"What?"
"Did you?"
"Yeah."
She sank her knee into his groin and watched him groan and fall back on the bed. "You *asshole*. Joe told me what you and your first whore called Callie so let me make something very clear to you. When she gets back here you will not talk to her, look at her, or hurt her anymore. You stay the hell away from her and you make sure that your harem understands that I will personally put them in traction if they don’t do the same."
"I signed the papers," George moaned, still rolling on the bed. "I let her go. After I slept with Izzie the other night and-"
Addison punched his hands, which were cradling his crotch. She waited until he finished yelling and then said, "You slept with *her* again? You actually went there after you saw what it did to Callie?"
"Callie’s with Alex! Olivia saw them making out."
"THEN GOOD FOR CALLIE!!!"
"Oh god, I need testicle retrieval surgery."
"No, you should leave it alone. Maybe it will stay broken and you can’t use it. George and his magic penis should retire." Addison spun on her heel and stalked back down the stairs. She slammed out of the house without seeing Meredith or Izzie again. In the car, she picked up her phone and called Callie. She left a message that was simple. "Call me back. It’s an emergency, Callie."
Then she drove back to the hospital and interrupted Mark’s surgery to tell him that she could possibly be going to jail. He handed the scalpel to Sydney Heron and joined her in the scrub room, where he listened intently to what had transpired.
"You kicked him?"
"Hard."
"Did he cry?"
"I think his balls were lodged in his tear ducts, blocking the supply of fluid."
He grinned at her. "You’re a good friend."
"I have *never* done anything like that in my life. I slapped someone!"
"You slapped me *after* you called me a cross country booty call."
"Oh, right. Did it hurt? I want to make sure it hurt Stevens."
"I didn’t hurt me, but I’m sure Stevens is crying like a baby."
"Really?"
"Yeah, slugger, I’m sure."
"Go operate."
"See you tonight."
When the police had not arrived two hours later, she breathed a little easier.
*~*~*~*~*~
After riding the trolleys for most of the morning and hopping off at random places to browse the shops or sightsee, Callie and Alex ate in Chinatown. Callie encouraged him to try a particularly pricey crab dish and he was not disappointed in the least. It was incredible. Callie had ordered sushi. He happily shared with her, but he would *not*, however, attempt raw fish. Instead, he enjoyed watching her eat it because she made it look good. She had worn tight black jeans and a tank top that was dangerously low cut and incredibly body hugging. He had never seen her in that particular shade of midnight blue and the effect was breathtaking.
He hair was also curlier than he had ever seen it. Even her bangs, which usually hung straight over her forehead, were pushed back and blended with the rest of the curl. He didn’t know if it was the sea water or if she had done it that morning in the bathroom with a roller of some kind, but she looked younger and freer.
"Why are you looking at me?" she finally asked him.
"I like your hair," he replied, reaching out to touch the spiral curl that hung over her left breast. "What did you do?"
"I finally used the gel that I had lost and couldn’t find and dried it with a diffuser." She stole a bite of his lunch.
"You should wear it like this all the time. It makes you look exotic. And exotic and erotic go hand in hand."
"Okay."
He picked up his fork and finished his lunch, then said, "Hey, when’s your birthday?"
"If I tell you when my birthday is, you do not get to laugh or make the obvious joke."
He raised his right hand. "I swear."
"Halloween. My birthday is Halloween."
"I have to say it."
"Alex -"
"You really are Gothic to the core, aren’t you? Your mother planned that date perfectly."
She grinned at him. "I thought you were going to call me a witch or a Satanist. Or a demon. Or, I dunno, possessed."
"You heard that a lot growing up, huh?"
She nodded. "Cam and I both did. He likes to wear leather and so do I, just not head to toe."
"Ooooh, that could have its merits."
"I’ll tell him you said so, but he’s not into jocks."
He threw her napkin at her and she caught it. "What’s he like? Your twin?"
"He’s six foot four. He can look like Marilyn Manson and actually owns a pair of assless pants - which I know because that’s what I got him for Christmas last year. He graduated from business school and is CEO of one of my dad’s biggest companies. He loves to play the guitar, has been with the same guy for ten years, and he has the biggest heart you’ll ever find. He’s funny and smart and he loves to torment my mother as much as I do."
"Your mom is intense."
"That’s one word for it."
"She loves you," Alex replied. "Anyone can see that."
"I know, but she’s hard to please. She’s got ideas and opinions that are unshakeable. And she can hold a grudge better than me and I’m great at it. Plus, she stores every one of your crimes in her brain and pulls them out every time you piss her off."
"That’s just being a woman, Cal."
She flipped him a bird as they finished their lunch and then they headed further into Chinatown, where they absorbed more culture than a person possibly should. When they returned to the shopping district, Callie innocently told him that she wanted to go and call Cam and said that she’d meet him at the trolley in forty-five minutes. He asked her why it would take so long and she just shrugged and walked away, smiling back at him.
Callie made a very large purchase and got two rolls of quarters in the process. She used a pay phone to call Cam. He answered on the second ring. "Hey, Cammy."
"Calliope Torres, you are in so much truh-buhl."
"Is Daddy searching for me?"
"He was, but I talked him out of it. He did find out that you were bitten by an animal. What happened?"
"How did he find out?" she asked, amazed. "Never mind. I sometimes forget what he’s capable of and the people he knows. I saved a lobster’s life and it bit me."
Cam laughed long enough that the operator cut in, asking for more money. Callie quickly added a few more quarters and said, "Hey, I’m going to put the battery back in my phone and call you right back."
After she placed the battery in the phone, she turned it on. There were over forty missed calls and twelve voice mails. She saw that most were from George and that the most recent was from Addison. She listened to that one, just to make the beeping stop, and made a mental note to call her right back. She dialed Cam again and he picked up quickly and said, "You’re so smart, Sis. You took out the battery so Dad couldn’t ping you, right?"
"I did. And it’s fully charged so tell me everything."
Cam filled her in on the details, telling her that he hated George and that Blake and Melana had *shopped* together. Callie gasped on the other end of the line and Cam hastily added, "I know. I almost *died*. She bought him cuff links, Callie. Diamond ones. And he’s officially in love with her. She has become his Mrs. Robinson."
"Blake is gay. Our mother is good, but she does have the wrong equipment for him. It’s infatuation. She’ll kill it with fire soon enough."
"Are you having fun?"
"Alex is my green eggs and ham. I am having a blast, Cam, I am."
He laughed again. "What have you been doing?"
"Besides sex?"
"T.M.I! Excuse me while I reboot my brain."
"We flew to Los Angeles to pick up Goon Docks. We’re sailing her home."
Cam’s stomach lurched and he remembered the dream and the sense of foreboding he had had since then. He told her about it and added, "Just ... stay out of the water, sis."
"I wish you had told me this yesterday."
"Oh my god. Why? What happened."
"I was almost fish food. A fifteen foot Great White’s fish food." You could have heard a pin drop over the line. "I didn’t even try to swim, Cam. I was so scared. Alex jumped in and pulled me back to the boat."
"He jumped in knowing there was a shark?"
"Yes."
"Holy bat shit, girl wonder. If Blake leaves me for our mother then I’m so taking Alex."
"What makes you think you could?"
"Because I’m *that* good," he replied. "Are you okay? After the shark?"
"You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I’m better than okay. I’m in love."
"Oh, sweetie. Ohhhhh, sweetie."
"Don’t use that tone. You’ll see when we get back. It’s just ... for the first time in my life everything is great."
"Rushing is bad."
"Perhaps my memory is failing me, Cammy, but did you or did you not tell me that you were in love with Blake after one date?"
"No, I told you I was in love with Blake after looking at him."
"Well, I looked at Alex. It’s real."
"Be careful. Your heart is-"
"Just fine."
"When are you coming home?"
"We’re in San Fran. We’ll be back in a couple of days. But do not tell *anyone*. I’m not coming off the yacht until I have to and that will be for the party." Callie grinned when the man from the shop motioned for her. He was finished with her surprise. "I’ll call *you* when we dock and you can bring Blake out to meet Alex, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan, mi amore. I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Callie?"
"What?"
"Stay OUT of the water. Promise me."
"I promise."
She hung up and picked up the gift that had set her back almost six thousand dollars. Smiling, she tucked it in her purse and called Addison.
"Hello?"
"Addison? Before you start yelling and get all crazy ... I just want you to know that I love you and miss you and -"
"I just beat up George and Izzie. I don’t think I’m going to jail, but it may be taking them a while to process the paperwork."
Callie stopped walking. "You did what?!"
"I haven’t had sex in a very long time. I was frustrated and Mark wants shackles and chains and then Joe said that George and Izzie called you names so I went to Meredith’s and ... slapped her and kicked his balls into his ass." She took a deep breath. "I also threatened to shove her uterus down her throat and I’m tempted to go back and do it because I don’t think I hit her hard enough."
Callie’s brain was close to exploding from the rapid fire explanation. "Mark wants shackles and chains? But not sex?"
"It’s horrible, Callie. Not only did I find out why he’s a manwhore, I had to manhandle Yang to find out what kind of coffee he likes just so he *will* have sex with me."
"Bone dry cappuccino."
"This is why you’re my best friend. And how do you know this?"
"Okay, you do remember that I slept with him, right? He ordered room service and I heard it."
"And you remembered it?"
"Well, yeah. That’s what people do."
"Argh! He’s right. I don’t know him at all. I lived with him and I still don’t know him." Addison sighed. "What are you doing? Please tell me that you are having sex so I can live vicariously."
"Are you going to get pissed by my answer?"
"Only if you say that you are abstaining."
"I am *not* abstaining at all." Callie sat back down on the bench. "Addison, we’re a couple. Me and Alex. We’re officially together."
"Oh, thank god."
"That’s a departure. Did you repress the fight we had? The one where you said, ‘friends do not date blah blah blah, bitch’."
"George slept with Izzie again. And Olivia. And he’s a bastard who doesn’t deserve you because he called you a ferret loving whore."
Callie burst into laughter then. It was side splitting and several people gawked at her, but she didn’t care. "I *am* a ferret loving whore," she wheezed. "And he slept with the syph nurse? Ewwww. It’s probably a good thing you kicked his dick because it’s probably going to rot off anyway."
"You’re not mad?"
"No, Addy. I’m not mad at all. I could not care less."
"How is this possible?"
"Because I have moved on," Callie said and the fact that her mood was not darkened at all by the news of George’s latest conquest confirmed that it was true.
"So fast?"
Callie’s grin remained on her face. "It’s not too fast. I’m stopping to enjoy everything I can."
"Just remember that Alex Karev is a bad boy."
"I know. He’s very bad in all the right ways and I am a sucker for every move he makes."
"Dear god. Where is my best friend and what have you done with her?"
"Are you still coming to my party?"
"Yep. I’ll be there. I’m bringing Mark."
"I’m bringing Alex."
"Ooooh, I’m bringing a video camera because your family-"
"Will love him as much as I do."
"Did you just say ‘love’?"
Callie laughed. "I have to go, Addison. I’m late for a very important date."
"Be careful. On all fronts."
"I love you."
"Love you back."
----
Alex gave his credit card the biggest workout it had ever had. He bought Callie a thick silver bangle bracelet that was inlaid with fourteen carat gold and solid opal great white sharks. The opals, her birthstone, were mostly black, but each one had streaks of color. When he slipped it onto her wrist, he knew he had chosen wisely and forgot that it had cost almost a thousand dollars. It suited her.
She gasped and ran her fingertips over it. "Alex, this is beautiful. You didn’t have to-"
"I wanted to." He kissed her on the forehead. "A shark made you want to live. That’s to remind you that you better not stop."
"You made me want to live, Alex."
"Well, I’m around your little finger so I can’t really hang around your wrist."
"I dunno. You’re pretty hung." Grinning, she handed him a box. "I got you something as well."
"I knew you were up to no good." He smiled at her. "I take it you didn’t call Cam."
"No, I did call him. I had to do something while I waited for the engraver. My father isn’t searching for us and everything’s fine. Now, open it."
Alex lifted the lid and gasped. It contained a silver and black Rolex watch. "Oh my god. This is a -"
"Read the back, not the name brand."
He turned it over and a lump formed in his throat. She’d had it inscribed with ‘I’ve had the time of my life. Love, Callie.’ He traced the words with his thumb and when he looked back at her, he said, "I’m going to say it now."
"Say what?" she teased. "That I should have quoted ‘The Princess Bride’ instead of ‘Dirty Dancing’? Believe me, when we get back from Alcatraz all will make sense, young grasshopper."
Holding the watch in his hand, he pulled her a little closer and whispered, "I love you."
She looked into his brown eyes and it felt like coming home. Hearing him say the words did something to her insides that she had *never* felt before. "I love you."
"Do we have to go to Alcatraz, Elvira? Surely we can find something better to do."
"No, but we should. Because we don’t get a lot of time off and I don’t know when we can come back." She stood on her toes and kissed him. "And anticipation, Alex, is what makes life worthwhile. So, think about what we’re going to do when we go home tonight. That ought to make it fun."
"That will make it *unbearable*."
Callie took the watch from him and fastened it onto his wrist. It fit perfectly and when they joined hands, her bracelet rubbed against the metal of his watch. They spent the rest of the afternoon taking a movie tour of hot spots that were featured in films and rattled off quotes to one another every time the tour guide called out which films had been shot there.
Callie bought them both matching jackets at the Alcatraz gift shop. She told him that the island got cold at night and they huddled together at the front of the ferry as they sailed toward the island. Callie had purchased several disposable cameras and an older couple happily snapped photo after photo of the two of them throughout their trip. The stole kisses in as many of the cells as they could, posed for photos left and right, but on the on the ferry ride back, she sat a few feet away from him, shivering from the cold.
The impact of what Addison had told her on the phone had set in as they had walked the barren grounds surrounding the penitentiary before they boarded the ferry again. Maybe it was the dank and dismal setting, but whatever it was, it was a stark reminder of the wasteland that she had envisioned George in the day she left Seattle Grace. George had slept with Izzie *and* Olivia and while she wasn’t *hurt* ... she *was* stunned. She had believed, at least in some part of her soul, that her leaving him might actually jar him enough to make him see what he had lost, but it had not. He had learned nothing at all. And as much as he had begged her forgiveness and promised to change ... it had been a lie. He genuinely never loved her the way she had loved him.
Her entire life with him had been a lie.
And she had almost continued living it.
"Callie?"
"Yeah?"
"Is something on your mind?"
She shook her head.
Alex moved a little closer. "If you aim for the truth you just might hit it."
She looked at him. "Have you ever thought that you really knew someone, but you realize that everything you thought you knew was wrong?"
"Oh jeez, Gothika. How did I manage to piss you off?"
"I called Addison today."
"Addison? Oh! OH! I kissed her *once* and made it clear that I wasn’t interested. Actually, she kissed me and-"
"She told me that George slept with Izzie again. *And* Olivia. While we’ve been gone."
He didn’t want to get angry with her, but the feeling rose up inside him so fast that got to his feet to keep from saying something he would regret. He walked to the back of the ferry, where he watched the prison fade in the distance. A moment later, she appeared beside him at the rail. "Callie, we should probably not talk right now."
"Alex, come on."
"No! Today was the perfect day, yet you find out that he’s still an asshole and you act like it’s the end of the world! How can you think about him after -"
"I am not thinking about him. I’m just ... I’m thinking that I’m a fool. I knew it, you know? I knew that he was lying to me all along and I still let him back in. I hate myself for that -"
"Stop." He turned and glared down at her. "You don’t get to hate yourself because of him. Hating yourself almost got you killed. George O’Malley is a fetus. He doesn’t how to handle a real woman because he’s still that *guy* who carries a backpack to work everyday. He’s never going to grow up, Callie, and if you can’t see that then you deserve what he does to you when you take him back!"
"What!? I am not taking him back!"
"Then why do you care?"
"I care about *me* and the fact that I didn’t think before I legally bound myself to someone like him. I knew in my gut that marrying him was a mistake. Even after he cheated and I finally found out I still didn’t say no. I took him back and it went against everything in me. That’s what I care about. Him sleeping with someone else only confirms that I was right. And I have to learn to listen to myself again. I gave up on *me* to be with *him*."
"It is not your fault that you fell for lies. People do it all the time."
"It is my fault that I stopped being the real me. I was never the person that you know with him. Ever. This is me, Alex. You know me. I’m weird and I laugh at crazy things and I watch cheesy movies and I’m insecure and-"
"You don’t have an insecure bone in your body. I haven’t seen it if you do and I’ve seen all of you. You were only insecure with him because he made you that way."
"I’m feeling very insecure right now." Tears clouded her vision and fell before she stop them. "Don’t be mad at me. Please?"
"You know that seeing you cry is the one thing -"
"I’m sorry." She looked away and quickly dried her face, but it didn’t help much. She spun back to face him and cried even harder. "You know what? That’s a lie and I’m done lying. I am *not* sorry. It hurts my feelings that you would just assume that everything I have said to you and done with you means so little to me that I could care what George is doing back in Seattle. I don’t. And you should know better."
"Callie-"
"Don’t talk to me."
"I’m not mad at you."
"Well, I’m pissed enough at you for the both of us." She wiped at her eyes again. "You’re the insecure one."
"I guess first loves have that effect on people."
She looked back at him. "First loves?"
"I’ve never said it or felt like this with anybody else." Alex dried her face himself. "So, don’t cry. Because it makes me wanna die for causing it."
"Then stop making me because we can’t both be suicidal."
"That’s not funny, Callie." He pulled her against him and hugged her. "Can we please not have any more fights on this trip?"
"Are you planning on talking at all?"
"That’s not funny either," he told her, but smiled nevertheless. "You’re freezing. Let’s go sit down."
Callie sat on his lap, one arm around his back. She put her face against his neck at the breeze picked up. He held her close, whispering softly, and brushing her hair back. Unbeknownst to Callie or Alex, the elderly couple who had taken their photos for the duration of the trip snapped a few more. They had forgotten to give the camera back, but as the ferry finally arrived back at the dock, they happily returned it.
"So, back to the yacht?" Alex wrapped his arm around her as they waved goodbye to the amateur photographers. "I’m starving."
"I know a great place for dinner." Callie leaned into him a little. "I told you that what is written on the back of your watch would make sense tonight."
"I thought it meant that we were going to dirty dance later on."
"Not quite the way you’re thinking."
They hailed a cab and Callie gave the driver an address in San Jose. The driver commented that it was a bad part of town, but Callie simply smiled at him. Alex noticed that the buildings became increasingly shabby as they arrived in a remote part of San Jose almost forty five minutes later. The fare was outrageous and when the cab drove away, Alex said, "I should have driven a cab instead of delivering pizza in high school."
Callie took his hand and led him into an alley. The walls were practically vibrating with the sounds of music. "Are you still mad at me?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
He cut his eyes over at her. "Why do I suddenly feel worried?"
"You’re about to meet my Godparents, Mario and Anita Gonzalez. They own Johnny Salsa’s and that’s where we’re going."
Alex stopped walking. "But-"
"Come on." She tugged him to the end of the alley and knocked on a bright red door. "I can show you the salsa. I can even show you the cumbia. But you have to feel it before you can ever do it."
The door opened and the loud music that had been muffled was suddenly loud and clear. A man with shocking white hair and a matching mustache stared out at them. He looked gruff, annoyed that someone would dare knock at the personal entrance to their establishment. His eyes narrowed on the man and then moved to the woman and he gasped. "Calliope!?"
"Hola, papi! How are you?"
"Anita! Come quick! It’s Calliope!" Mario shouted, then leaped down the stairs to embrace his Goddaughter. He moved with startling agility for a man approaching seventy. He pulled her into his arms and exclaimed, "Oh, goodness! We couldn’t come to your party because Anita had surgery, but you have come to us instead! This is wonderful! Wonderful, mija! Ay dios mio! You are here."
"Papi, this is Alex." Callie introduced.
"I thought your husband was called Jorge." He looked Alex up and down and extended his hand.
Thinking fast, Alex gripped his hand and said, "It’s Alexander George. She calls me George as a joke."
Callie stared at him, wide eyed, but didn’t comment.
Anita Gonzalez finally appeared in the doorway. She was short, round, and her black hair was streaked through with grey. She had pulled it back, making her look almost skunk like. Her face was deeply carved with wrinkles, but a smile lit her features and her obvious happiness shed years from her appearance. "My baby!" she cried.
"Hola, madrina." Callie walked up the steps and leaned down, kissing the tiny woman. "I have missed you so much."
Anita brushed Callie’s face with her weathered hand. "You have been crying, si?"
Callie smiled at her. "We visited Alcatraz. You know that it makes me sad. This is Alex, mami."
Alex climbed the stairs and greeted the old woman. She hugged him, patting his face, and led them slowly down the hallway. It was loud, too loud to think and Alex breathed a sigh of relief when Anita led them into a VIP lounge that was remarkably quiet when Mario pulled the door shut behind them. He sat down beside Callie on a leather sofa and listened as Callie rambled on and on about how her family was doing.
The elderly couple seemed to hang on her every word. After thirty minutes, Callie said, "I wanted Alex to see our culture. He has to be able to dance with me at the party."
"You have chosen a wonderful night to come, mija." Mario beamed at her. "We have a full house."
"You always do." Callie grinned. "Is Reuben cooking tonight?"
"He is."
Standing, Callie said, "We’re starving. Are there any empty tables out there?"
"For you? I will make sure." Mario opened the door.
Callie leaned down and kissed the old woman again. "I want to check your incision before I leave."
"It was just a minor procedure," Anita replied, waving her hand. "Go and have fun, honey."
Mario found them an empty table right beside the dance floor and took their order himself. He tried to convince Callie to try red wine that he had imported from Italy, but she firmly refused. Alex, she noticed, did not ask for beer or accept the offer of wine. She watched as he turned his attention to the dance floor, apparently enthralled by the gyrating bodies that moved in time to the Latin beats. A beautiful woman in a rainbow dress undulated nearby and she saw that Alex had given her his full attention.
It shocked Callie that she didn’t feel any jealousy whatsoever. If it had been George ... she would have gotten pissed and probably left the bar in a huff, but she wasn’t worried about Alex. He was going home with her. He felt her eyes on him and quickly looked away from the woman and she laughed. "You’re supposed to be watching, Alex."
"Can you dance like that?"
"I can."
"Callie?"
Callie leaped from her seat and threw her arms around the man who had walked up. "Constantino! How are you?"
Constantino took a step back and brushed his hair away from his face. "I am well. You certainly look well. Assure me that you are."
"I’m fine." Callie introduced Alex and added, "Constantino is my cousin."
Alex visibly relaxed. The guy was huge and far too familiar with Callie as far as he was concerned. Cousin was fine, though. They weren’t in Alabama. Constantino nodded at the dance floor and said, "Take off your jacket, Callie. Let’s show your husband the way that we wind down at the end of the day."
She pulled her jacket from her shoulders and laid it on her seat. "Watch and learn, Jock Strap."
The music was fast and furious and the second her feet hit the dance floor, a change came over her that captivated Alex. He watched as Constantino spun her around in a series of complicated twirls and then they moved as one. It was the sexiest, raunchiest, and most beautiful dance Alex had ever seen. It truly was a conversation between two people and if Alex had not been told that the man was a relative of Callie’s ... he would have killed him with his bare hands.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her hair bounced and flew around her shoulders an she used it like a prop, letting it fall over the man’s shoulder as she moved behind him and gripped his hips. They stepped forward and back, forward and back, and then he turned quickly, lifted her over his leg and let her drop down toward the floor. He caught her at the last possible moment and plucked her upright. Her hair seemed to move in slow motion and she laughed. Alex heard it and he had to smile.
Their food arrived as the music ended. Callie hurried back to the table and climbed onto the stool. "So, you think you can do that?"
"I can do it."
"Eat fast and prove it."
Thirty minutes later, Alex found rhythm he never knew he possessed and proved it until Johnny Salsa’s closed. True to her word, Callie examined the incision on Anita’s abdomen and then told her Godparents that she would be leaving at first light. She bid them goodbye, crying softly as Anita spoke to her in soft Spanish, and then kissed Mario.
In the cab, Alex put his arm around her and pulled her closer. "What did Anita say that upset you?"
"She told me that they didn’t get all the cancer and she’s not going to do chemotherapy."
"Oh, baby. I’m sorry."
Callie sniffled. "She also told me that any man who feels the music the way you do is a man who feels with his soul."
"Is that good?"
"It’s very good." Sitting up, she looked at him. "You let them believe that you were my husband."
"I - I didn’t know what else to say."
"I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that. I - I didn’t even remember that I’m still married."
Alex pulled her in for a kiss.
She couldn’t have said anything better to him than that.
*~*~*~*~*~
So ... Callie and Alex said the words. I wasn't quite ready for them to say it, but there it is. And they fought again. And made up. And Alex is afraid she's thinking of George. And Callie knows that she's not, but is she being truthful with herself? And everyone else thinks they're rushing, but they don't seem to care. It's so easy to get caught up in one another when there's no one else around and let your guard down, but once they get back into the life they've been avoiding ... what will happen? Is it love or infatuation?
And what the HELL was Alex thinking when he said that Callie was his first love? Did he not just tell Izzie he had been in love with her when she left him for Denny? Oh, there are rough waters ahead.
Buy a life jacket. It's gonna be a choppy ride.