The Dance of Deception 1/5 - Chapter One - Façade (Part One)
The Dance of Deception - Chapter One - Façade
Façade, concealment, cover-up, disguise, it doesn’t really matter what you chose to call it, because in the end these words still mean the same thing; something isn’t quite as it seems.
Façades are a strange thing really; they give a certain appearance to the outside world, while the inside is a totally different story. They can be used to hide away a numerous amount of things, always acting like a Halloween costume, where nobody can see who’s hidden behind the mask. No signs on show to give away the emotions that hideaway behind the surface.
How many façades do people go through to protect themselves during a lifetime? To protect their family and friends? To protect their values? Morals? Beliefs? And sometimes people are protecting more than that, they’re keeping themselves well guarded at all times.
Whatever the reason may be for these façades; words, thoughts, and feelings are hidden from the outside world, giving the entire image that everything is in place and all right. Though in reality, on the inside, nothing really is, now is it?
Erica scratched her pen across the paper, signing her name at the bottom of her chart before throwing it back onto the table in front of her. She let her tired eyes travel from her pile of paperwork to the clock hanging on the left-hand side wall; taking in note of the early hour and instantly reaching for her cup of coffee. She’d been stuck in an emergency surgery for the better part of last night, her patient’s rupturing artery ruining any chance of her finishing her shift on time and any chance of her going home between to sleep between her shifts.
Erica scrunched her nose up at the cold coffee that trickled down her throat, and tiredly rubbed at her eyes, willing herself to wake up and focus, wanting to be ready for another busy day at the hospital. She grabbed a couple of her grapes and popped them into her mouth, enjoying their flavour on her tongue before she reached for her pen again, thinking herself lucky that despite her hectic night, she’d managed to find an unoccupied on-call room for a few hours well needed shut-eye.
Callie pushed open the door to the Attending’s longue and smiled to herself at the sight of her best friend working away at her charts; her quiet entrance going completely unnoticed by the cardio surgeon. She settled into the chair opposite and immediately reached to help herself to one of Erica’s grapes, her action causing blue eyes to rise up from their position to meet brown. Callie stretched her arm and took another grape, popping it into her mouth and giving the blonde a playful smile.
Erica let out an amused sigh and shook her head in response, which only made Callie’s cheeky smile widen. The blonde rolled her eyes and returned straight back to her paperwork. Over the two years that she’d been working at Seattle Grace, Callie Torres had been her best friend for nearly a year and a half of that time.
The Callie Torres she’d first met back then had been a slightly awkward Orthopaedic resident, who had been suffering her fair share of heart-ache and bad luck. It had surprised Erica that the friendly, bubbly Ortho resident that she’d heard so much about, always wore a sad expression on her beautiful face, and seemed to be equally as alone as she was; the other familiar faces of the surgical wing not seemingly treating her with any comfort or respect.
When their unusual friendship started Erica found herself watching Callie grow back into the happy-go-lucky person that she’d first expected; a smile was always plastered on her face, her infectious laugh always coming out and encouraging the blonde to join in, and a confident air masking the vulnerability left behind by her broken marriage.
Without even trying, Callie Torres had broken through all of Erica Hahn’s well placed barriers and the two had settled into an easy friendship. At the beginning Erica had scolded herself for becoming one of those girls who talked for hours on the phone, and spent all of their free time with their best friend. Yoga and coffee became a morning ritual, followed by their lunch time meeting in the hospital cafeteria, Callie always opting for the slightly less healthy choice, and then an evening filled with drink, dancing and nonstop conversation.
During the time that they’d been friends, they’d managed to squeeze in a lot of things that Erica would have considered unusual, such as meeting the other’s parents, going away for weekend breaks together, and celebrating Callie becoming Seattle Grace’s Orthopaedic Attending by watching male strippers. Although she resisted at first, Callie had always managed to twist her arm, and in the end the blonde always managed to have fun.
They’d spent countless weekends lounging around each other’s apartments, watching movies, and drinking, an event which always led to one of them staying the night. They’d even spent Christmas together, although eating a proper Christmas dinner went right out of the window when Erica forgot to switch the oven on. Callie had spent hours teasing Erica afterwards while they downed bottle after bottle of alcohol; they might not have eaten that Christmas, but it had been very merry.
Looking back at how their friendship had grown, Erica knew that now, she wouldn’t change a single thing about it, even if the Orthopaedic Attending was stealing her breakfast. She’d managed to finish adding the final touch to another chart when she felt something hit her shoulder.
Erica lifted her head in time to see Callie throw another grape at her; the fruit hitting her directly in the chest. Callie tried to hide her laughter at the blonde’s expression by pushing a smirk onto her face, “You do know that you’re supposed to eat them, not throw them Torres, right?”
Callie rolled her eyes, knowing that Erica was teasing her on purpose, “Of course Dr Hahn, everyone knows that grapes are a delicious fruit,” she grabbed another one and popped it into her mouth, “They’re very tasty,” she swiped another grape and rolled it between her thumb and index finger, “But did you know, that they’re also very handy when it comes to,” she released the grape from her grip and smirked when it hit Erica’s shoulder again, “Getting people’s attention.”
Erica let out an amused sigh, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, “I guess I missed that piece of information. But since you have my attention now, did you want something?”
Callie flashed the blonde her megawatt smile, “There’s a new club opening on Friday night, I’ve got tickets, come with me? I’ll even pay for the drinks.”
Erica brushed a piece of hair away from her eyes, “I don’t know Cal; this week has been manic. I’ve been on all night, and I’m dead tired. I think I could use an early night on Friday, I’m getting old; I need to relax and get lots of sleep.”
Callie chuckled, “You’re not that old Erica, and you can sleep when you’re dead. Please come Friday night, I’ve barely seen my best friend this week and I miss you.”
“More like you’re still upset that I managed to out drink you last weekend and you’re determined to beat me,” Erica smirked and raised an eyebrow in question.
“Fine, I’m a little upset that you managed to down more shots than me. I’m not even sure how that happened; I’m the Tequila queen-”
“If you don’t count Meredith Grey,” Erica stated, interrupting Callie’s ramble.
Callie shook her head, “If I don’t count Grey... Look, please come? We’ll dance, we’ll drink, we’ll laugh; it’ll be fun. Come on Hahn, you know you want to spend time with me. I’ll even cook you breakfast in bed the next morning to help with your hangover.”
Erica sighed, and shook her head. There was no way she was going to win this one, if Callie wanted something she always knew exactly how to keep going until she won the blonde over, “Fine, I’ll go with you. But I want waffles for breakfast.”
Callie smiled in satisfaction, “My speciality. I’d better leave you to it now, otherwise you’ll be even more cranky with me,” she pushed her chair back and headed to the door; her hand grasping the handle and pulling it open slightly before turning back to face the blonde.
Erica caught the hesitant look on Callie’s face and smiled gently, “Cal?”
“I just wanted to tell you that erm...” she let out a sigh and smiled back at the blonde, “I like your hair, the curls look great, they suit you,” she looked flustered for a minute before she regained her composure, “ You look beautiful Erica.”
Erica dropped her eyes away from Callie’s dark pools, as a heated blush covered her cheeks, “Thank you,” she smiled back shyly.
Callie laughed, “You are so cute when you blush Dr Hahn.”
“Leave now or I’ll be forced to kick your ass,” Erica couldn’t help smiling to herself as Callie threw her a wink over her shoulder as she opened the door to the lounge fully and let herself out, the door clicking shut behind her.
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“We need to get Tom into surgery to fix his leg as soon as possible. Can you go and tell his parents that I’m booking an OR and we’ll be doing the surgery in about forty minutes, I think they’ll be glad that he doesn’t have to wait until tomorrow,” Callie scribbled her signature onto her chart and handed it to Karev, “I’ll see you in there, I’ll even let you lead.”
Alex gave her a cocky smile in response, “No problem Torres,” he took the chart from her hand and started off down the corridor.
Callie turned back to the OR board and picked up the marker pen, adding in the details of her patient and her surgery; clipping the lid back onto the pen when she’d finished and placing it back. She reached into her lab coat pocket and drew out her scrub cap, along with an assortment of hair pins, clips and bands. She let out a groan of frustration as one of the pins slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
“I’ll get it,” Erica bent to retrieve the pin and offered Callie a smile, “Got a surgery?”
Callie turned and pointed at the board where she’d neatly added her name only moments before, and waited until Erica had read over the information written there, “Shouldn’t be too bad, I’ve got Karev with me and although he’s arrogant he’s surprisingly good with Ortho.”
Erica took the clips, pins and bands from Callie’s hand and moved behind her, carefully scooping her hair away from her face and tying it up with the hair band. Next she took hold of the pins and slid them into place, making sure that none of Callie’s beautiful dark tresses were escaping.
“Turn around,” the blonde placed her hands on Callie’s shoulders and urged her to turn and face her.
“Since when do you do hair?” Callie asked in amusement.
Erica returned her smile, “Shut up, and give me that,” she took the black scrub cap covered with little bones from Callie’s grip and placed it onto her head. She made sure it was sitting straight before sliding her arms around Callie’s neck and letting her fingers try to work the ties into a knot.
Callie found herself unable to look away from Erica’s gaze while the blonde’s deft fingers skimmed across the nape of her neck as she fiddled to with the ties to her scrub cap. A strange wave of unsteadiness washed over her and she found herself gripping Erica’s hips to steady her balance.
“Finally, all done,” the blonde was just as surprised at having Callie’s fingers digging into her hips as she was at the words leaving her mouth in a whisper. As soon as Erica had opened her mouth to speak, Callie had become acutely aware of how the blonde’s warm breath puffed out and skittered against her own lips.
The heat radiating between them and the smell of Erica’s perfume felt intoxicating in the small distance between them, it was making Callie’s head feel fuzzy; her mind filling with thoughts that maybe if she just leaned in a bit closer she could-
Erica removed her arms from around Callie’s neck and took a step back; averting the dark-haired woman’s intense eyes for second before forcing a smile onto her lips, “Want to grab lunch after your surgery?”
Callie nodded her head and desperately swallowed the dry lump that had formed in her throat, “Of course, that’d be great.”
Erica stared back and opened her mouth to reply; the sound of her pager interrupting the moment that had settled between them. She snatched it from her scrubs and held it to her eyes so she could read the message, “Its Steven’s. I’m needed for a consult apparently. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria after your surgery, I’ll grab you a tray.”
Callie gave a small smile and watched as Erica hurried off down the hallway. As soon as she was out of sight she let out a shaky breath, “Thanks for helping with my scrub cap,” she shook her head, willing the tension to leave her body and headed towards the OR.
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As Erica pushed open the door leading into the cafeteria she took in a deep breath to steel her nerves. She wasn’t normally one to suffer with nervousness settling into her stomach, but since her encounter with Callie earlier that morning she’d felt completely thrown.
She scanned the groups of people sitting at the tables and felt herself relax a little when she noted that Callie wasn’t there yet. Erica headed over to the line and grabbed two trays, loading one for herself and one for Callie; making sure to get Callie’s usual post-surgery meal of a burger with fries.
She settled the trays onto their normal table and took a long sip of her coke, loving the way the icy liquid quelled the dryness of her mouth. Her mind flashed back to the way Callie had been looking at her this morning and she quickly pushed it aside.
There were times in their friendship when these unnerving moments cropped up, they were always fleeting and both women pushed them from memory, neither speaking about the unusual flow of intensity that passed between them.
“Hey,” Callie settled into the seat next to Erica and offered her a smile, “Thanks for grabbing me lunch, I’m starving.”
Erica smiled back, relief flooding her every nerve at the return of their usual easiness, “No problem. How’d the surgery go?”
Callie took a bite of her burger and closed her eyes, letting out an appreciative sigh. She swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of her drink, giving the blonde a small shrug, “It went okay, we fixed the young boy, Tom’s, leg and his parent’s looked so happy when we wheeled him back to his room,” she took a fry; biting into it, “This food, is to die for. I can’t believe you have salad again Erica, branch out, have a bite,” she offered the burger to Erica and frowned when the blonde shook her head, “You’re no fun.”
“That might be true, but at least my arteries won’t be clogged up,” Callie rolled her eyes and took another bite of her burger, “How did Karev get on?”
“Karev did a good job, but as usual he remains as a cocky asshole; if I didn’t have a strange fondness for him I’d want to punch him.”
Erica let out a chuckle, “Well at least you weren’t stuck with Steven’s all morning. The stupid girl was doing her whole “I’m so attached to all my patient’s thing” again. It drives me insane.”
Callie heard a laugh from the table behind them and turned to see Izzie laughing with George, “You’re right, I’d definitely rather be stuck with Karev, hell I’d even take Grey over her.”
Erica followed her gaze and studied Steven’s with the man that used to be Callie’s husband. She waited until Callie turned back towards her before replying, “I’d rather have Yang over her.”
Callie’s eyes widened, “Wow.”
Erica nodded her head and gave her a smirk, “I know, I’m learning to accept her, no matter how annoying she may be,” she stabbed her fork into her salad and waved it about as she searched for the right word, “Its growth.”
“I’m impressed. Makes you hanging out at the apartment I share with Yang, much less awkward.”
Erica opened her mouth to reply and stopped when Sloan and Sheppard slid into the seats opposite her and Callie, “Hello Ladies, mind if we join you?”
There was something about Mark Sloan that drove the blonde doctor to distraction, she’d never been able to put her finger on the reason why, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the way he treated women. He constantly went from woman to woman, sleeping with them and then moving on to the next, and he had this disgusting habit of hitting on them in his unique sleazy way; unfortunately her and Callie weren’t part of the exception.
“Of course not,” Callie offered Derek and Mark a smile and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Erica; easily reading the look of annoyance that had settled on her face.
“I love the curly hair Erica, but I’m thinking it would look even better ruffled up,” he closed his eyes and licked his lips as he pretended to think about it, “Yeah, I was right. You’d look super hot with sex hair. Want to meet me in an on-call room after lunch?”
Erica scoffed, her blue eyes flashing in anger before her control took over, leaving only disgust behind in her tone, “No thanks Sloan, I’m treating enough women that have slept with you already, they’re all suffering from Chlamydia and I don’t need to become one of them.”
“Ouch Hahn, message received,” he gave her a wink and turned his attention to Callie, “What about you Torres? You never say no to a good old fu-”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Erica tightened her grip around her fork and felt the urge to lean across the table and stab Sloan in the chest with it.
“Erica, it’s fine,” Callie placed her hand over Erica’s, running her thumb over her knuckles and getting the blonde to release her killer grasp on the utensil. She shifted her attention to Mark, “Don’t be an ass.”
“You two can be so uptight sometimes,” Mark shook his head and lifted a hand to scratch at his beard, “You know what usually loosens women up? Sex. I’m up for a threesome if you two don’t like being separated.”
“Mark,” Derek chipped in with his warning tone, noticing the angry looks coming from both the women at the table, “Why don’t you save it for those nurses you like.”
“Fine, but you two are missing out,” he smirked at them before taking a bite of his food.
Derek watched Callie leaning in to talk to Erica, the smirk that appeared on the blonde’s face a few seconds later, before they both started laughing was enough to make him smile, “You know, you two are kind of like Meredith and Cristina,” they stopped laughing at once, Callie turning to him with an eyebrow raised and Erica looking completely appalled, “Except you two have good communication and deal with feelings instead of drinking Tequila.”
“I’m nothing like Yang!” Erica said scandalised by the mere thought.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about the Tequila thing either Derek, trust me, these two can drink just as well as Meredith and Yang,” Mark muffled through his mouthful of food. Once he swallowed he turned his attention to Erica, “And sure you’re like Yang, Hahn. You’re the slightly private one, and Torres here, is your version of Grey, who likes to cuddle up in your bed and mope about her feelings.”
“Meredith doesn’t mope,” Derek added.
“And we don’t cuddle, we’re nothing like Meredith and Cristina, they’re dysfunction,” Callie turned to Derek, “No offense.”
He let out a laugh as he stood, “None taken, but I’m telling you, you two are Mer and Cristina version 2.0,” he flashed them his charm filled smile; “Have a good day ladies.”
A few seconds after Derek left a blonde nurse passed by their table, flashing Sloan a smile, “That’s my cue ladies, I’ll see you around.”
Callie watched him follow the nurse like a dog after a bitch in heat and shook her head as she found Erica’s eyes, “He’s a moron, but thank you for defending me.”
Erica gave her a smile, “He really is a moron, and he had no right to speak to you like that.”
“Thank you,” Callie lifted her hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, “I have to go check on a patient. You want to meet me in the lobby at the end of your shift? We can go and grab a drink at Joe’s and through darts at a picture of Mark’s head.”
Erica let out a laugh, “Sounds like a plan Cal.”
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Callie let out a sigh of irritation and shifted her bag higher onto her shoulder at the same time that the elevator doors pinged opened; a smiled instantly formed on her face as Erica stepped through the doors and joined her.
“Sorry I’m a little late, that last surgery ran longer than I expected it to,” Erica offered Callie an apologetic smile as they fell into step with one another.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ve only just got down here myself,” Callie pulled her jacket tighter around her body as they stepped out into the crisp night air, “I really could do with a drink though,” she threw a smirk in the blonde’s direction as they crossed the road and headed towards Joe’s.
“Is there any time that you couldn’t do with a drink?” Callie’s eyes twinkled in amusement as she let out a low laugh and held the door open for Erica to pass through.
“Hey Dr Hahn, Dr Torres,” Joe greeted them in his normal friendly manner as they settled onto the stools in front of the bar, “What can I get for you? The usual?”
Callie nodded, “Yes please, Tequila all around.”
“Actually Joe, I’ll have a glass of red wine please,” Erica shot Callie a look, “I told you Torres, no more Tequila, that stuff is like poison to me, a couple of shots and I’m done.”
Callie accepted her drink from Joe and downed her shot with ease, “You need to learn to hold your alcohol better Hahn,” she titled her glass at Joe indicating for another.
Erica thanked Joe and passed him enough money to cover their drinks for the night, “I out drank you last weekend! I can hold my drink, but unlike you I don’t need to get wasted every night of the week,” she gave Callie a playful nudge and headed over to the dart board.
The younger woman quickly followed, “I can’t believe that you just implied that I’m a slight alcoholic,” she snatched the darts from Erica’s hand and took her shots.
Erica studied where Callie’s darts had landed and shook her head, “With or without alcohol in you Cal, you’re the worst darts player in the world.”
The dark-haired woman feigned offence and pouted, “Well, why don’t you show me exactly how it’s done Dr Hahn,” she retrieved the darts from the board and offered them to Erica.
The cardio doctor smirked in acceptance to the challenge and easily flew her darts into the bulls-eye. When she turned back to Callie, the woman simply shot her an amused look and rolled her eyes, “Do you have to be so annoyingly good at everything?”
Erica laughed in response, “I can’t help it,” she gave Callie a playful took and tilted her head back to the bar, “Another drink?”
“You should know the answer to that one,” Callie threaded her arm through the older woman’s and let herself be led back to the bar.
A couple of hours, and a few drinks later, Erica found herself supporting Callie’s weight against her own as she led the younger woman from the bar. She pulled one of Callie’s arms more firmly around her neck and braced her other arm around her waist as she tried to steady her tipsy friend, “You’re an idiot Torres.”
Callie giggled, “I know, but I was having fun.”
Erica struggled to adjust her hold on the other woman and managed to signal a cab for them. She slid Callie into it before climbing in behind her and giving the cab driver her address. As the driver pulled away from Joe’s and started on the twenty minute journey to the cardio doctor’s house, Erica felt Callie snuggle in closer to her side, her head falling to rest comfortably on the blonde’s shoulder.
She let her blue eyes fall over Callie’s face and took in the sight before her. The younger woman’s honey skin was slightly flushed due to the alcohol, her beautiful brown eyes where safely hidden away as she snoozed and her gorgeous full lips were parted as she breathed against Erica’s neck.
The blonde quickly tore her eyes away and let her head fall back against the seat. It was times like these when alcohol flooded through her system and Callie was completely unaware that her mind started playing tricks on her, she swore her senses became heightened because all she could think about was the smell of Callie’s shampoo and perfume, the way the younger doctor’s breath tickled against her skin and left a trail of goose bumps in their wake, and most proponent was the way Callie’s heated body was pressed firmly against her own.
Erica scrunched her hands into fists and fought the urge to pull Callie closer, this is just what happened when she’d had a few to drink, it was nothing unusual, she just had to keep her calm and ignore the voice in her head that told her to break pass the barrier of friendship that they firmly had in place. The blonde sensed the driver slowing down and shifted a little so that Callie would wake, all she needed to do was get some sleep and then those thoughts running through her head would once again return to their dark depths.
“Cal, we’re here, wake up sweetie,” She ran her hand along Callie’s arm and gave her a smile as brown eyes fluttered open and came into focus. She grabbed her bag and rummaged around for her purse, passing the driver their fare and pulling Callie out of the cab and up to her house.
Once inside she settled Callie on the couch and fetched the dark-haired woman a large glass of water, “You should drink that before we head to bed, you’ll have an even worse hangover if you don’t.”
Callie took the glass and threw Erica a half smile, “Thanks, I really should try and knock off the week day drinking, I’m going to have a killer headache for work tomorrow.”
Erica shrugged and watched as the younger woman finished the water, “You feeling a little sobered up now?” Callie nodded and stood from the couch, only swaying a little before regaining her composure, “Let’s go to bed, I’m exhausted.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Callie held her hand out and waited for Erica to take it before she followed the older woman upstairs.
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Chapter One - Façade (Part Two)
Façade, concealment, cover-up, disguise, it doesn’t really matter what you chose to call it, because in the end these words still mean the same thing; something isn’t quite as it seems.
Façades are a strange thing really; they give a certain appearance to the outside world, while the inside is a totally different story. They can be used to hide away a numerous amount of things, always acting like a Halloween costume, where nobody can see who’s hidden behind the mask. No signs on show to give away the emotions that hideaway behind the surface.
How many façades do people go through to protect themselves during a lifetime? To protect their family and friends? To protect their values? Morals? Beliefs? And sometimes people are protecting more than that, they’re keeping themselves well guarded at all times.
Whatever the reason may be for these façades; words, thoughts, and feelings are hidden from the outside world, giving the entire image that everything is in place and all right. Though in reality, on the inside, nothing really is, now is it?
Erica scratched her pen across the paper, signing her name at the bottom of her chart before throwing it back onto the table in front of her. She let her tired eyes travel from her pile of paperwork to the clock hanging on the left-hand side wall; taking in note of the early hour and instantly reaching for her cup of coffee. She’d been stuck in an emergency surgery for the better part of last night, her patient’s rupturing artery ruining any chance of her finishing her shift on time and any chance of her going home between to sleep between her shifts.
Erica scrunched her nose up at the cold coffee that trickled down her throat, and tiredly rubbed at her eyes, willing herself to wake up and focus, wanting to be ready for another busy day at the hospital. She grabbed a couple of her grapes and popped them into her mouth, enjoying their flavour on her tongue before she reached for her pen again, thinking herself lucky that despite her hectic night, she’d managed to find an unoccupied on-call room for a few hours well needed shut-eye.
Callie pushed open the door to the Attending’s longue and smiled to herself at the sight of her best friend working away at her charts; her quiet entrance going completely unnoticed by the cardio surgeon. She settled into the chair opposite and immediately reached to help herself to one of Erica’s grapes, her action causing blue eyes to rise up from their position to meet brown. Callie stretched her arm and took another grape, popping it into her mouth and giving the blonde a playful smile.
Erica let out an amused sigh and shook her head in response, which only made Callie’s cheeky smile widen. The blonde rolled her eyes and returned straight back to her paperwork. Over the two years that she’d been working at Seattle Grace, Callie Torres had been her best friend for nearly a year and a half of that time.
The Callie Torres she’d first met back then had been a slightly awkward Orthopaedic resident, who had been suffering her fair share of heart-ache and bad luck. It had surprised Erica that the friendly, bubbly Ortho resident that she’d heard so much about, always wore a sad expression on her beautiful face, and seemed to be equally as alone as she was; the other familiar faces of the surgical wing not seemingly treating her with any comfort or respect.
When their unusual friendship started Erica found herself watching Callie grow back into the happy-go-lucky person that she’d first expected; a smile was always plastered on her face, her infectious laugh always coming out and encouraging the blonde to join in, and a confident air masking the vulnerability left behind by her broken marriage.
Without even trying, Callie Torres had broken through all of Erica Hahn’s well placed barriers and the two had settled into an easy friendship. At the beginning Erica had scolded herself for becoming one of those girls who talked for hours on the phone, and spent all of their free time with their best friend. Yoga and coffee became a morning ritual, followed by their lunch time meeting in the hospital cafeteria, Callie always opting for the slightly less healthy choice, and then an evening filled with drink, dancing and nonstop conversation.
During the time that they’d been friends, they’d managed to squeeze in a lot of things that Erica would have considered unusual, such as meeting the other’s parents, going away for weekend breaks together, and celebrating Callie becoming Seattle Grace’s Orthopaedic Attending by watching male strippers. Although she resisted at first, Callie had always managed to twist her arm, and in the end the blonde always managed to have fun.
They’d spent countless weekends lounging around each other’s apartments, watching movies, and drinking, an event which always led to one of them staying the night. They’d even spent Christmas together, although eating a proper Christmas dinner went right out of the window when Erica forgot to switch the oven on. Callie had spent hours teasing Erica afterwards while they downed bottle after bottle of alcohol; they might not have eaten that Christmas, but it had been very merry.
Looking back at how their friendship had grown, Erica knew that now, she wouldn’t change a single thing about it, even if the Orthopaedic Attending was stealing her breakfast. She’d managed to finish adding the final touch to another chart when she felt something hit her shoulder.
Erica lifted her head in time to see Callie throw another grape at her; the fruit hitting her directly in the chest. Callie tried to hide her laughter at the blonde’s expression by pushing a smirk onto her face, “You do know that you’re supposed to eat them, not throw them Torres, right?”
Callie rolled her eyes, knowing that Erica was teasing her on purpose, “Of course Dr Hahn, everyone knows that grapes are a delicious fruit,” she grabbed another one and popped it into her mouth, “They’re very tasty,” she swiped another grape and rolled it between her thumb and index finger, “But did you know, that they’re also very handy when it comes to,” she released the grape from her grip and smirked when it hit Erica’s shoulder again, “Getting people’s attention.”
Erica let out an amused sigh, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, “I guess I missed that piece of information. But since you have my attention now, did you want something?”
Callie flashed the blonde her megawatt smile, “There’s a new club opening on Friday night, I’ve got tickets, come with me? I’ll even pay for the drinks.”
Erica brushed a piece of hair away from her eyes, “I don’t know Cal; this week has been manic. I’ve been on all night, and I’m dead tired. I think I could use an early night on Friday, I’m getting old; I need to relax and get lots of sleep.”
Callie chuckled, “You’re not that old Erica, and you can sleep when you’re dead. Please come Friday night, I’ve barely seen my best friend this week and I miss you.”
“More like you’re still upset that I managed to out drink you last weekend and you’re determined to beat me,” Erica smirked and raised an eyebrow in question.
“Fine, I’m a little upset that you managed to down more shots than me. I’m not even sure how that happened; I’m the Tequila queen-”
“If you don’t count Meredith Grey,” Erica stated, interrupting Callie’s ramble.
Callie shook her head, “If I don’t count Grey... Look, please come? We’ll dance, we’ll drink, we’ll laugh; it’ll be fun. Come on Hahn, you know you want to spend time with me. I’ll even cook you breakfast in bed the next morning to help with your hangover.”
Erica sighed, and shook her head. There was no way she was going to win this one, if Callie wanted something she always knew exactly how to keep going until she won the blonde over, “Fine, I’ll go with you. But I want waffles for breakfast.”
Callie smiled in satisfaction, “My speciality. I’d better leave you to it now, otherwise you’ll be even more cranky with me,” she pushed her chair back and headed to the door; her hand grasping the handle and pulling it open slightly before turning back to face the blonde.
Erica caught the hesitant look on Callie’s face and smiled gently, “Cal?”
“I just wanted to tell you that erm...” she let out a sigh and smiled back at the blonde, “I like your hair, the curls look great, they suit you,” she looked flustered for a minute before she regained her composure, “ You look beautiful Erica.”
Erica dropped her eyes away from Callie’s dark pools, as a heated blush covered her cheeks, “Thank you,” she smiled back shyly.
Callie laughed, “You are so cute when you blush Dr Hahn.”
“Leave now or I’ll be forced to kick your ass,” Erica couldn’t help smiling to herself as Callie threw her a wink over her shoulder as she opened the door to the lounge fully and let herself out, the door clicking shut behind her.
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“We need to get Tom into surgery to fix his leg as soon as possible. Can you go and tell his parents that I’m booking an OR and we’ll be doing the surgery in about forty minutes, I think they’ll be glad that he doesn’t have to wait until tomorrow,” Callie scribbled her signature onto her chart and handed it to Karev, “I’ll see you in there, I’ll even let you lead.”
Alex gave her a cocky smile in response, “No problem Torres,” he took the chart from her hand and started off down the corridor.
Callie turned back to the OR board and picked up the marker pen, adding in the details of her patient and her surgery; clipping the lid back onto the pen when she’d finished and placing it back. She reached into her lab coat pocket and drew out her scrub cap, along with an assortment of hair pins, clips and bands. She let out a groan of frustration as one of the pins slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
“I’ll get it,” Erica bent to retrieve the pin and offered Callie a smile, “Got a surgery?”
Callie turned and pointed at the board where she’d neatly added her name only moments before, and waited until Erica had read over the information written there, “Shouldn’t be too bad, I’ve got Karev with me and although he’s arrogant he’s surprisingly good with Ortho.”
Erica took the clips, pins and bands from Callie’s hand and moved behind her, carefully scooping her hair away from her face and tying it up with the hair band. Next she took hold of the pins and slid them into place, making sure that none of Callie’s beautiful dark tresses were escaping.
“Turn around,” the blonde placed her hands on Callie’s shoulders and urged her to turn and face her.
“Since when do you do hair?” Callie asked in amusement.
Erica returned her smile, “Shut up, and give me that,” she took the black scrub cap covered with little bones from Callie’s grip and placed it onto her head. She made sure it was sitting straight before sliding her arms around Callie’s neck and letting her fingers try to work the ties into a knot.
Callie found herself unable to look away from Erica’s gaze while the blonde’s deft fingers skimmed across the nape of her neck as she fiddled to with the ties to her scrub cap. A strange wave of unsteadiness washed over her and she found herself gripping Erica’s hips to steady her balance.
“Finally, all done,” the blonde was just as surprised at having Callie’s fingers digging into her hips as she was at the words leaving her mouth in a whisper. As soon as Erica had opened her mouth to speak, Callie had become acutely aware of how the blonde’s warm breath puffed out and skittered against her own lips.
The heat radiating between them and the smell of Erica’s perfume felt intoxicating in the small distance between them, it was making Callie’s head feel fuzzy; her mind filling with thoughts that maybe if she just leaned in a bit closer she could-
Erica removed her arms from around Callie’s neck and took a step back; averting the dark-haired woman’s intense eyes for second before forcing a smile onto her lips, “Want to grab lunch after your surgery?”
Callie nodded her head and desperately swallowed the dry lump that had formed in her throat, “Of course, that’d be great.”
Erica stared back and opened her mouth to reply; the sound of her pager interrupting the moment that had settled between them. She snatched it from her scrubs and held it to her eyes so she could read the message, “Its Steven’s. I’m needed for a consult apparently. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria after your surgery, I’ll grab you a tray.”
Callie gave a small smile and watched as Erica hurried off down the hallway. As soon as she was out of sight she let out a shaky breath, “Thanks for helping with my scrub cap,” she shook her head, willing the tension to leave her body and headed towards the OR.
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As Erica pushed open the door leading into the cafeteria she took in a deep breath to steel her nerves. She wasn’t normally one to suffer with nervousness settling into her stomach, but since her encounter with Callie earlier that morning she’d felt completely thrown.
She scanned the groups of people sitting at the tables and felt herself relax a little when she noted that Callie wasn’t there yet. Erica headed over to the line and grabbed two trays, loading one for herself and one for Callie; making sure to get Callie’s usual post-surgery meal of a burger with fries.
She settled the trays onto their normal table and took a long sip of her coke, loving the way the icy liquid quelled the dryness of her mouth. Her mind flashed back to the way Callie had been looking at her this morning and she quickly pushed it aside.
There were times in their friendship when these unnerving moments cropped up, they were always fleeting and both women pushed them from memory, neither speaking about the unusual flow of intensity that passed between them.
“Hey,” Callie settled into the seat next to Erica and offered her a smile, “Thanks for grabbing me lunch, I’m starving.”
Erica smiled back, relief flooding her every nerve at the return of their usual easiness, “No problem. How’d the surgery go?”
Callie took a bite of her burger and closed her eyes, letting out an appreciative sigh. She swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of her drink, giving the blonde a small shrug, “It went okay, we fixed the young boy, Tom’s, leg and his parent’s looked so happy when we wheeled him back to his room,” she took a fry; biting into it, “This food, is to die for. I can’t believe you have salad again Erica, branch out, have a bite,” she offered the burger to Erica and frowned when the blonde shook her head, “You’re no fun.”
“That might be true, but at least my arteries won’t be clogged up,” Callie rolled her eyes and took another bite of her burger, “How did Karev get on?”
“Karev did a good job, but as usual he remains as a cocky asshole; if I didn’t have a strange fondness for him I’d want to punch him.”
Erica let out a chuckle, “Well at least you weren’t stuck with Steven’s all morning. The stupid girl was doing her whole “I’m so attached to all my patient’s thing” again. It drives me insane.”
Callie heard a laugh from the table behind them and turned to see Izzie laughing with George, “You’re right, I’d definitely rather be stuck with Karev, hell I’d even take Grey over her.”
Erica followed her gaze and studied Steven’s with the man that used to be Callie’s husband. She waited until Callie turned back towards her before replying, “I’d rather have Yang over her.”
Callie’s eyes widened, “Wow.”
Erica nodded her head and gave her a smirk, “I know, I’m learning to accept her, no matter how annoying she may be,” she stabbed her fork into her salad and waved it about as she searched for the right word, “Its growth.”
“I’m impressed. Makes you hanging out at the apartment I share with Yang, much less awkward.”
Erica opened her mouth to reply and stopped when Sloan and Sheppard slid into the seats opposite her and Callie, “Hello Ladies, mind if we join you?”
There was something about Mark Sloan that drove the blonde doctor to distraction, she’d never been able to put her finger on the reason why, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the way he treated women. He constantly went from woman to woman, sleeping with them and then moving on to the next, and he had this disgusting habit of hitting on them in his unique sleazy way; unfortunately her and Callie weren’t part of the exception.
“Of course not,” Callie offered Derek and Mark a smile and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Erica; easily reading the look of annoyance that had settled on her face.
“I love the curly hair Erica, but I’m thinking it would look even better ruffled up,” he closed his eyes and licked his lips as he pretended to think about it, “Yeah, I was right. You’d look super hot with sex hair. Want to meet me in an on-call room after lunch?”
Erica scoffed, her blue eyes flashing in anger before her control took over, leaving only disgust behind in her tone, “No thanks Sloan, I’m treating enough women that have slept with you already, they’re all suffering from Chlamydia and I don’t need to become one of them.”
“Ouch Hahn, message received,” he gave her a wink and turned his attention to Callie, “What about you Torres? You never say no to a good old fu-”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Erica tightened her grip around her fork and felt the urge to lean across the table and stab Sloan in the chest with it.
“Erica, it’s fine,” Callie placed her hand over Erica’s, running her thumb over her knuckles and getting the blonde to release her killer grasp on the utensil. She shifted her attention to Mark, “Don’t be an ass.”
“You two can be so uptight sometimes,” Mark shook his head and lifted a hand to scratch at his beard, “You know what usually loosens women up? Sex. I’m up for a threesome if you two don’t like being separated.”
“Mark,” Derek chipped in with his warning tone, noticing the angry looks coming from both the women at the table, “Why don’t you save it for those nurses you like.”
“Fine, but you two are missing out,” he smirked at them before taking a bite of his food.
Derek watched Callie leaning in to talk to Erica, the smirk that appeared on the blonde’s face a few seconds later, before they both started laughing was enough to make him smile, “You know, you two are kind of like Meredith and Cristina,” they stopped laughing at once, Callie turning to him with an eyebrow raised and Erica looking completely appalled, “Except you two have good communication and deal with feelings instead of drinking Tequila.”
“I’m nothing like Yang!” Erica said scandalised by the mere thought.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about the Tequila thing either Derek, trust me, these two can drink just as well as Meredith and Yang,” Mark muffled through his mouthful of food. Once he swallowed he turned his attention to Erica, “And sure you’re like Yang, Hahn. You’re the slightly private one, and Torres here, is your version of Grey, who likes to cuddle up in your bed and mope about her feelings.”
“Meredith doesn’t mope,” Derek added.
“And we don’t cuddle, we’re nothing like Meredith and Cristina, they’re dysfunction,” Callie turned to Derek, “No offense.”
He let out a laugh as he stood, “None taken, but I’m telling you, you two are Mer and Cristina version 2.0,” he flashed them his charm filled smile; “Have a good day ladies.”
A few seconds after Derek left a blonde nurse passed by their table, flashing Sloan a smile, “That’s my cue ladies, I’ll see you around.”
Callie watched him follow the nurse like a dog after a bitch in heat and shook her head as she found Erica’s eyes, “He’s a moron, but thank you for defending me.”
Erica gave her a smile, “He really is a moron, and he had no right to speak to you like that.”
“Thank you,” Callie lifted her hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, “I have to go check on a patient. You want to meet me in the lobby at the end of your shift? We can go and grab a drink at Joe’s and through darts at a picture of Mark’s head.”
Erica let out a laugh, “Sounds like a plan Cal.”
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Callie let out a sigh of irritation and shifted her bag higher onto her shoulder at the same time that the elevator doors pinged opened; a smiled instantly formed on her face as Erica stepped through the doors and joined her.
“Sorry I’m a little late, that last surgery ran longer than I expected it to,” Erica offered Callie an apologetic smile as they fell into step with one another.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ve only just got down here myself,” Callie pulled her jacket tighter around her body as they stepped out into the crisp night air, “I really could do with a drink though,” she threw a smirk in the blonde’s direction as they crossed the road and headed towards Joe’s.
“Is there any time that you couldn’t do with a drink?” Callie’s eyes twinkled in amusement as she let out a low laugh and held the door open for Erica to pass through.
“Hey Dr Hahn, Dr Torres,” Joe greeted them in his normal friendly manner as they settled onto the stools in front of the bar, “What can I get for you? The usual?”
Callie nodded, “Yes please, Tequila all around.”
“Actually Joe, I’ll have a glass of red wine please,” Erica shot Callie a look, “I told you Torres, no more Tequila, that stuff is like poison to me, a couple of shots and I’m done.”
Callie accepted her drink from Joe and downed her shot with ease, “You need to learn to hold your alcohol better Hahn,” she titled her glass at Joe indicating for another.
Erica thanked Joe and passed him enough money to cover their drinks for the night, “I out drank you last weekend! I can hold my drink, but unlike you I don’t need to get wasted every night of the week,” she gave Callie a playful nudge and headed over to the dart board.
The younger woman quickly followed, “I can’t believe that you just implied that I’m a slight alcoholic,” she snatched the darts from Erica’s hand and took her shots.
Erica studied where Callie’s darts had landed and shook her head, “With or without alcohol in you Cal, you’re the worst darts player in the world.”
The dark-haired woman feigned offence and pouted, “Well, why don’t you show me exactly how it’s done Dr Hahn,” she retrieved the darts from the board and offered them to Erica.
The cardio doctor smirked in acceptance to the challenge and easily flew her darts into the bulls-eye. When she turned back to Callie, the woman simply shot her an amused look and rolled her eyes, “Do you have to be so annoyingly good at everything?”
Erica laughed in response, “I can’t help it,” she gave Callie a playful took and tilted her head back to the bar, “Another drink?”
“You should know the answer to that one,” Callie threaded her arm through the older woman’s and let herself be led back to the bar.
A couple of hours, and a few drinks later, Erica found herself supporting Callie’s weight against her own as she led the younger woman from the bar. She pulled one of Callie’s arms more firmly around her neck and braced her other arm around her waist as she tried to steady her tipsy friend, “You’re an idiot Torres.”
Callie giggled, “I know, but I was having fun.”
Erica struggled to adjust her hold on the other woman and managed to signal a cab for them. She slid Callie into it before climbing in behind her and giving the cab driver her address. As the driver pulled away from Joe’s and started on the twenty minute journey to the cardio doctor’s house, Erica felt Callie snuggle in closer to her side, her head falling to rest comfortably on the blonde’s shoulder.
She let her blue eyes fall over Callie’s face and took in the sight before her. The younger woman’s honey skin was slightly flushed due to the alcohol, her beautiful brown eyes where safely hidden away as she snoozed and her gorgeous full lips were parted as she breathed against Erica’s neck.
The blonde quickly tore her eyes away and let her head fall back against the seat. It was times like these when alcohol flooded through her system and Callie was completely unaware that her mind started playing tricks on her, she swore her senses became heightened because all she could think about was the smell of Callie’s shampoo and perfume, the way the younger doctor’s breath tickled against her skin and left a trail of goose bumps in their wake, and most proponent was the way Callie’s heated body was pressed firmly against her own.
Erica scrunched her hands into fists and fought the urge to pull Callie closer, this is just what happened when she’d had a few to drink, it was nothing unusual, she just had to keep her calm and ignore the voice in her head that told her to break pass the barrier of friendship that they firmly had in place. The blonde sensed the driver slowing down and shifted a little so that Callie would wake, all she needed to do was get some sleep and then those thoughts running through her head would once again return to their dark depths.
“Cal, we’re here, wake up sweetie,” She ran her hand along Callie’s arm and gave her a smile as brown eyes fluttered open and came into focus. She grabbed her bag and rummaged around for her purse, passing the driver their fare and pulling Callie out of the cab and up to her house.
Once inside she settled Callie on the couch and fetched the dark-haired woman a large glass of water, “You should drink that before we head to bed, you’ll have an even worse hangover if you don’t.”
Callie took the glass and threw Erica a half smile, “Thanks, I really should try and knock off the week day drinking, I’m going to have a killer headache for work tomorrow.”
Erica shrugged and watched as the younger woman finished the water, “You feeling a little sobered up now?” Callie nodded and stood from the couch, only swaying a little before regaining her composure, “Let’s go to bed, I’m exhausted.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Callie held her hand out and waited for Erica to take it before she followed the older woman upstairs.
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Chapter One - Façade (Part Two)