GIRLS BREAKING HEARTS.

_

“You missed me?” She couldn’t stifle the little laugh that brushed past her lips at Arizona’s admission. Things really felt different between the two now, especially as things with Arizona’s marriage, or lack thereof, became more official. The domestic interactions while they lived together, even if it wasn’t for too long, were enough to put certain thoughts back in the brunette’s head. And while she was able to shove them way into the back of her mind, the idea that there was truly nothing pushing them apart now was something that made her heart feel fluttery. Resting her chin in her hands, probably giving very much heart eyes in Arizona’s direction Amelia smirked, “if you were a little less grumpy in the mornings, I might have said the same,” she winked.

-

“Whatever, shut up, it’s not a big deal,” she was not blushing, grown women didn’t blush. Maybe she had a rash or something, it was possible, even if she wasn’t itchy. It was odd, to feel this way openly for someone who wasn’t Callie but it was bound to happen at some point even if that meant it was with someone who wasn’t Amelia although this had been a long time coming if she really thought about it. Leaning forward, only if slightly Arizona raised a brow, her own eyes shining teasingly, “Liar,  if you didn’t miss me, you wouldn’t be looking at me like that. Like I did something incredibly cool well I’ve just been sitting here.”

_

“I don’t know what sleeping well feels like these days,” Sofia grumbled, putting her face in her hands for a moment. Her hands were pulled away from her face by the bigger of her two dogs, both of which had plopped into bed with her. The smaller dog had burrowed deep back into the nest of blankets on her bed, and Sofia made sure to tuck him in a little extra before slipping out of the bed. “What’re you doing here?” Clearing her throat, Sofia shook her head, “that sounded a little aggressive, sorry, I just mean, like.. what’s happening? I would’ve expected a surprise visit, like, a month or two ago.”

-

“The dogs didn’t wake you coming back in, so it seems like you at least know a little bit of what it’s like,” she gently teased her daughter, her gaze soft as she watched her daughter with the smaller of the two dogs. A little bit it broke her heart, even if most people found it silly, she could see this just proved that Sofia would’ve been good with a baby. Great even and it just wasn’t fair to see her without one. Shaking off the feeling, blonde wisps of hair were shoved behind her ear and she lifted a shoulder. “Well, I came to talk to you about some stuff, about. . me and your mom. But, then you didn’t answer so I let myself in and.. the place was a mess and you need real food to eventually eat, so here I am.”

_

Fully realizing that it was Arizona in the doorway, a smile blossomed mindlessly on Amelia’s lips. Amelia’s hands, super casually, pulled a few of the scans and things toward herself, because she was getting a little tired of the I have a brain tumor conversations for the day. Sure, Arizona was bound to be pissed upon finding out, especially when learning how long Amelia must’ve known, but one more day of peace wouldn’t hurt anything, right? “Thank you,” she spoke sweetly, setting it beside the coffee she’d accidentally let get cold earlier. “Are you finally coming to ask to move back in with me?”

-

The smile on her own features was bright when she saw Amelia’s. Maybe it was stupid, but not really having to hide how she felt any longer was nice, even though she was feeling a little stupid over it. “You’re welcome,” she teased in the same tone, taking a seat across from her at the desk. Shaking her head, sweet laughter slipping up her throat at the idea. “God no. I mean, no offence and everything, but I like my apartment. I just. .” a soft breath escaping before she gave a sheepish smile. “i just missed you a little, I guess.”

It had been a long couple of weeks for Sofia. Between picking up extra shifts to help her coworkers out during the holidays amid her should I actually be a surgeon crisis, while also trying to be the best dog mom she could be, and unintentionally staying sober for an entire month… she was simply tired. Constantly. There were only naps, never a night of sleep. However, during those naps, a train could blow through the walls of the room and Sofia wouldn’t move. That said, when she slowly woke up, she was already disoriented enough but even more so seeing someone else in the room with her. “How long have you been here?” The brunette mumbled, rubbing her eyes then combing her fingers through her hair, “what time is it?”

-

Busy, busy, busy. That was all Arizona was lately, from getting her divorce in order and getting her own place, to then working over the holidays, she didn’t feel like she’d had a moment to breathe all month. When she finally had a day off, she figured she’d check in with all the kids, Sofia being her first stop. Of course her daughter didn’t answer, the dogs barking behind the door. Using her extra key Arizona let herself in, moving to clean up the apartment and take the dogs out. After that, she went back inside, beginning to cook something for her sleeping daughter. Just as she headed into the bedroom to hear the others voice, she shrugged. “An hour or two. Did you sleep well?”

“Don’t,” Amelia spoke flatly, looking at the figure that had appeared in the doorway, “please don’t turn on the lights.” The headaches were only getting worse, along with the other symptoms, and at this point, Amelia was fed up with the tumor and ready to get it gone. So there she was, rushing through finalizing her own surgery and getting ready to train the surgeon. “I’m trying not to, um..” die probably wasn’t the best word to use, given the circumstance. Nor were any other dark jokes, because this time, things were a little more serious. Setting the things she was holding down, Amelia leaned back in the chair she was in, offering the other a kind smile. “How’re you doing?”

-

There was a new happiness to the blonde, since having given up on she and Callie. The lawyer was sending Callie her divorce papers and she finally had her own apartment that wasn’t an on call room or Amelias’ guest room but now that she wasn’t seeing her every day - well, she was feeling a little lonely. When she couldn’t find the other, the blonde headed toward the other womans office. Once there, her hand frozen over the light switch, she cleared her throat. “I’d hope not,” she tried to tease a slight smirk on her face. Something was going on, but she couldn’t quite figure it out, and she wasn’t about to pry. “I’m great. I got you a coffee.”

.

“Just so you know, you’re currently my favorite person because of your response to this costume.” Mark said, bringing his glass of alcohol to knock against Arizona’s before also taking a drink of his own. “See, I like to think I suit it too. The comfort of this outfit tonight has made it all worth it. And maybe next year I’ll wear the same sweater and just become Freddy Kreuger. Reduce, reuse, recycle and all that. Now…what is with this carrot costume, Robbins?”

-

“Huh, a two for one costume, Amelia might really be a genius,” Arizona hummed, practically drowning the rest of her alcohol in one sip. Truth be told, she was tipsy enough for the party to see fun, and although the question brought up a sore subject, she only grinned. “Callie and I were supposed to come matching together but as you can see, no Callie. . so I just figured I’d make more of a fool of myself than I already have.”

She giggled softly when the blonde said that she couldn’t feel it due to the extra padding and nodded her head. “Well, I never knew that carrots were so well protected. Never would have guessed.” She joked, carefully moving her bow into a position that would be less likely to get snagged on anyone else’s costume. “So tell me…what’s the inspiration for this costume?”

-

“Neither did I but there’s three layers of padding in this thing which makes me wonder what other people are doing on halloween,” the surgeon admitted as she playfully rolled her eyes over the question. “I didn’t really want to dress up. . well, actually Callie and I had a costume planned but that went to shit, really so here we are. I was just going to be a doctor but one of the nurses told me it was a cop out.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Scout is around here wearing a shirt that says he’s a big dill so you honestly beat him in the costume department,” she replied with a small laugh. “Yeah, Halloween is definitely not the most fun holiday, especially when being at a party like this that, honestly, is a little boring. It would be more fun if they had like, a haunted house to go through at the very least.” Or … something of the sort anyhow.

-

“Shut up, are you serious?” So, maybe she hadn’t seen Scout when she’d left Amelia’s house but that didn’t matter. “Honestly this was the least effort costume ever or at least I thought, maybe I should’ve taken a page from his book.” Eyes glance around the party and she almost considers giving the other her alcohol but decides against it. “You don’t have like... a fake ID?”

“Well no, see the thing is that this costume wasn’t my idea at all. But it was an easy enough costume to make happen. There’s a surprising amount of shirts that look like Ernie’s and then I really just had to go out and grab a rubber duck from the story.” Mark explained to the individual who was beside him, taking a long swig of alcohol. “Yeah, see it was that menace over there who came up with the idea.” He explained, pointing at Amelia as she walked by.

If there was anything Arizona and Sofia had in common tonight?  It was the fact that they’d both had too much to drink and so Mark and Amelia’s matching costume was more adorable than it would be any other night, although friend costumes were always cute. “It’s adorable,” she grinned, glancing over at Amelia, her eyes probably following the brunette for a little too long. “You really suit Ernie,” sh teased, lifting her drink to her lips.

Walking through the crowd of people, Carlin winced as the prop bow that she had made snagged a little on someone else’s costume, carefully moving away. “Oh shoot, sorry. Should have thought through bringing a bow to this event. But it really fit the aesthetic of this character. A completely necessary one. I just need to recognize the width of this thing.” She said with a soft laugh and a shrug. 

“It’s all good,” Arizona laughed, curious gaze falling on the young woman. “It’s a good costume, that’s for sure.” With the compliment, the blonde gave a polite smile before she pointed to her costume. “I could hardly feel it anyways, the costume has a lot of padding.” Thank god for being a carrot.

Finding a costume idea had been difficult. Annabelle had circled through about four or five different thoughts before finally settling on the current one, and dressing up as a cowgirl. It was simple, and she thought she looked pretty cute that night. Unfortunately, the teen still wasn’t super enthused about being at this event, especially since she was still, sadly, not old enough to imbibe in drinks that would make the night a little more exciting. Spying someone eyeing her from the bar area, she sidled up and was in the middle of trying to flirt her way into being bought a drink when she heard footsteps walking her way. Turning towards the figure, she hoped they hadn’t heard too much of her interaction. “Hey, nice costume! Are you enjoying yourself this evening so far?”

Arizona had been staying with Amelia for the past week and after trying to avoid dressing up for the party, she finally gave in, buying a carrot costume at the store. It wasn’t the best costume and sure she was half assing it but at least she was here. Arizona was busy trying to get another glass of wine when she heard Annabelle’s voice. She truthfully hadn’t noticed the girl, but gave her a smile anyway. “This is not a nice costume, but thank you for lying,” she teased before taking a sip of her wine, already quite tipsy. “I wouldn’t say I’m enjoying myself, I’m not in the most halloween-y spirit. Are you having a good time?”

-

“Okay,” Amelia drew the last syllable out with a quick eyeroll. “I’ll have you know the hotel’s got the best rating in this area, so it’s really our loss now.” Shooting Arizona a playful smirk, she continued on her hair-taming task, finishing with a small sigh. “So, I’m going to go get some meds, then,” she huffed as she slowly stood to her feet. Emphasis on slowly, because as it turned out, things were progressing, and standing up too quickly was one of the things that made the brunette feel like the world was ending for a few seconds. “Maybe a snack or two, or something,” she shrugged. “Any requests, blondie?”

-

For a moment Arizona thought about it. Staying at Amelia’s would be more comfortable, she could sleep, get better without interruption. “Well, I’d have to test that rating for myself, right? Think I can take back my no?” The offer was sweet even if there had been nothing going on between the two of them. As Amelia stood, the blonde was surprised to see her move so slowly, it was weird for her. It always seemed like Amelia was moving as fast as she could. “Those fresh baked cookies are pretty good,” a slight pout in the others direction. “Are you okay, by the way? You’re moving kinda slow.”

_

“Ugh,” he said, bringing his hands up to shield himself from the germs as she coughed - like that would actually do anything. “Wait, what? Callie kicked you out? What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know when we stopped talking about this stuff - are you okay?”

-

“Dude, you aren’t even gonna get sick,” the blonde huffed, rolling her eyes at his dramatics. As if lifting his hands would do much of anything. “Uh, just some stuff I said when I had an awful fever, she was pissed.” 

izzie had just been at the hospital for 16 hours and finally had a minute to grab a little rest. she made her way to an on-call room. “arizona? are you okay?” she questioned, not wanting to get involved with someone else business. “don’t worry - your secret is safe with me.” 

-

the other blonde was surprised to see her friend, giving her a light smile. she was tired but it didn’t matter, not right now. “probably just a cold,” she muttered, giving the other a soft glance. “you can use the other bed.”

It was rare that she caught one of her parents in this vulnerable state of being sick. She couldn’t really recall them being sick much growing up but that’s probably because most of the time, they acted like they were fine in front of her and her siblings. They always prioritized their children and Isabella was grateful for that. She wanted to be the type of parent her parents were to her future little one. Speaking of, it may not be the best time to tell her mother she was expecting but she knew the rumor would be out soon so she had to go ahead and tell her now before she found out through someone else. Isa was about to speak when her mother mentioned her mama. She cocked her head to the side a bit and asked, “Is everything okay between you and Mama?”

-

Arizona had always prided herself on being the fun mom, the happy one so even when she was sick, if the kids were tiny she was always faking it until she felt better. As the two sat there in silence, Arizona sighed as she allowed herself to lean against Isa for a moment, she was so tired. Shrugging, the blonde hummed at the question, her eyes soft as she thought about what to say. “Me and Mama?” Anything to stall, of course they weren’t. “I’m not sure,” she admitted, a quiet sigh falling. “What are you doing around here?”

“Right,” she nodded. “But you can’t laugh without choking… Doesn’t sound like you’re doing totally fine.” The redhead lingered near the door. Whatever the blonde had, she didn’t want to catch. “Are you contagious?” she asked. “Can I get you anything? Like some tea or a couple of cough drops?” Although she didn’t mind helping Arizona, she would rather be sleeping. She’d have to find an empty on-call room that she could rest her head in since this one was occupied.

-

Arizona cringed at the red-heads statement, she was right. Arizona had a killer cough but she simply shrugged, “I’ve been a lot sicker,” she pointed out with a laugh, this one following through. “No, I’m not contagious, Callie wasn’t sick before I left home, so.” Muttering, she pointed to the bed next to to the one she was laying on,  “you can use that bed,” she offered, shaking her head at the suggestion of needing anything.