Hey guys!
I'm back with another story! This is going to be a small multi-chapter fic.
I've already written chapter two so updates should be fast :)
Reviews make me very happy!
xx E
It had all started simple. Like it always does. They had just successfully captured a ghost downtown, and of course Erin had been the only one to get slimed. Again. Usually the girls would mess with her, laughing before finally helping the redhead get some of the stuff out of her eyes and mouth. Today however, it was different. Erin had been on edge all morning, and they all knew it was best to leave her alone when she was like this. So when they got the call, they all hoped that it would go smoothly. That, for once, Erin wouldn't get slimed. But she did.
The redhead tries to duck away, but she already realizes she's too late. The slime hits her two seconds later. She'll never get used to the ice cold feeling. Sure, it's gross and sticky and goes everywhere, but none of that is as bad as the cold. Especially at this time of the year in New York city. She groans and falls down on the floor because of the blast, not even caring anymore. She swears loudly. Her friends capture the ghost, and she waits for the laughing that usually happens. It stays quiet.
There's a hand on her shoulder not too long later, and she's pretty sure it's Abby. Her friend uses a napkin to clear her face. "Are you okay?" She hears a soft voice say, surprised to realize it's Holtzmann that is helping her. She's too annoyed though. Frustrated. Angry. She pushes the blonde away and yanks the napkin out of her hands.
"I'll do the rest myself." She just says. For a second Holtzmann lingers, but then she stands up and leaves. They don't talk on the way home, even Patty stays quiet. She's angry with herself as well, for causing all of this tension, but she can't seem to force herself to snap out of it.
Now they're back at the firehouse, and Erin goes straight upstairs towards her room to grab clean clothes. "Shit." She says when she realizes it's Friday, meaning she has no clean clothes here. She usually brings clean clothes with her every Monday, knowing she'll spend most of her nights at the Firehouse anyways. When she goes home Friday afternoon she goes home to shower and wash her clothes. Luckily she does find some clean pants and underwear, but all her shirts and sweaters are completely covered in slime. She finally finds her old MIT sweater, which has some dried up slime, but it's the best she has. She could of course ask her friends if they have something clean, but she doesn't feel like talking to them. She'll just go home when she's done, they probably won't mind anyways.
She moves towards the large bathroom and finally steps into the shower, letting the warm water wash away some of the tension in her body. Her mind immediately goes to Holtzmann, like it usually does. Lately, the engineer seems to be the only thing on her mind. After they had moved into the firehouse and gotten used to the actual job, it had gotten a lot harder to be around her. Erin would have figured she would drop the flirting, after seeing that she wasn't interested, but Holtz continued to flirt with her. Finally, Erin had snapped. She had told her to cut it off, saying it made her uncomfortable and that it was totally ridiculous and inappropriate. Holtzmann hadn't flirted with her since, in fact she had barely talked to her since. That was two weeks ago.
Yesterday, everything changed. Holtz had brought a girl to their Firehouse after they'd captured a ghost at a coffee place where the girl worked. She showed her around, trying to impress her with her science. The girl didn't seem to understand it at all, and Holtz didn't seem to care. Abby and Patty just laughed, finding it funny to see how hard Holtz was trying.
"You okay?" Abby had asked her.
"Yes, why?" The redhead had answered, not daring to take her eyes of Holtz and the random girl.
"Because I'm pretty sure you're trying to kill that girl by just staring at her." Her friend had said, nudging her shoulder.
Finally, Erin had looked at her. Abby smiled at her, silently telling her it was okay. Whatever was happening, it was okay. The redhead had panicked and stormed off towards her office, which happened to be Holtz's lab as well.
"Excuse me," She said, catching the attention of the two women, "I'd like to go back to work now." She crossed her arms. Holtzmann squinted her eyes.
"Yes, yes of course." She finally said, leading the girl out of their office. Erin had expected her to take her somewhere else, or at least continue their conversation somewhere else. The engineer surprised her by returning to their office minutes later and quietly going back to work. They didn't talk the rest of the day.
Honestly, she realizes she had no reason to be angry with Holtzmann. She did nothing wrong, technically. So why is she feeling this way? Why is she so bothered by the blonde flirting with some other girl? Maybe she does have feelings for the engineer… but she's never had these feelings for another girl before. There's nothing she can do anyways, she clearly told Holtzmann she wasn't interested in her, and now she's already moving on. Deciding not to think about it anymore, she turns off the shower which has gotten cold anyways.
She steps out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her and looking for her clothes. Her eyebrows raise when she notices it. She picks up the sweater on top, which is definitely not her own. She brings it to her nose and smells. Holtzmann. The blonde must have realized she's out of clean clothes. For a second she thinks about just putting on her MIT sweater, but her eyes notice the gross green spots and she decides to just put on the other sweater. She puts on her underwear and pants, then finally pulling the sweater over her head. It fits her perfectly, meaning it's probably meant as more of baggy sweater for Holtz herself. It is so comfortable. She finishes in the bathroom and quickly gathers all her stuff. Even though she feels a little bit better, she still wants to go home. Whatever is happening, she needs time alone to figure it out. She walks downstairs to find the girls hanging out on the couch together.
"I'm going home." She states, catching their attention. Holtzmann immediately notices the sweater and smiles at her, which makes Erin's stomach drop. Great, just what she needed, more confusion. She tears her eyes away from the engineer's.
"Okay sure." Abby says. "See you on Monday."
She waves a polite goodbye before exiting the building. Some time alone would probably help.
It didn't. It really didn't. She just spends her weekend alone drinking wine and walking around in circles in her apartment, wearing Holtz's sweater the whole time. Finally, on Sunday night, she calls Abby and asks her to come over.
"You alright?" Her friend asks her, noticing Erin's messy hair and the open wine bottle in her hands.
"I don't know." Erin answers in all honesty, holding the door open to let Abby in. She immediately walks towards the couch, grabbing a glass for her friend on the way there. She opts for just drinking straight from the bottle herself.
Abby has never seen Erin this way. Never. In all those years she's known her, Erin has never gotten this drunk. She was always the one who stayed sober, and had often helped Abby out when she herself had let herself go a little bit too much. So, logically, she doesn't really know what to do. She decides that taking the wine from her is probably a good start. Slowly and carefully, she takes the bottle from Erin's hands, who doesn't even notice, and puts it down on the glass coffee table.
"I think I like Holtzmann." Erin suddenly says, slurring a little.
"What?! I didn't- Oh my-" She starts, but she's interrupted by Erin, who raises an eyebrow.
"You're a terrible liar Abby, you've always been."
The brunette sighs. "Fine. Okay. I knew."
Erin frowns. "How?"
Abby leans back into the couch, thinking about how she should talk to Erin about this. She wants her friend to figure this out herself, but she also can't stand seeing her friend in so much pain.
"Because I know you you." She simply says, not really knowing what else to say to her friend, knowing that she could ruin everything by saying the wrong thing. She could tell Erin about how she and Patty often notice her just staring at Holtzmann, her mouth slightly open as she studies the engineer. Or when the brunette always moves a little closer towards Holtzmann when they sit next to each other in their booth at the bar, always finding an excuse to get closer. Or when Erin smiles that crooked smile, a smile Abby knows is reserved only for certain people. But Abby can't tell her about any of those things, because she knows her friend will get self-conscious and stop all of it. Which isn't what she wants.
Erin still hasn't said anything, and she's leaning forwards now, resting her chin on her hand. "That doesn't really help me." She says softly.
"I know." The brunette admits. "Look, if you really think you like her, you need to show her. You can't walk around being angry at her all of the time." Erin rolls her eyes at that.
"I've not been-" she stops, because yes, she has been a bitch to Holtz these past two weeks. "What exactly do I do?" She says instead.
Abby sighs deeply. "I would start by just being her friend again."
Erin nods and smiles softly. She could do that. Suddenly she remembers the incident and turns her head towards her friend. "What if she brings some random girl over again? Or she flirts with someone at a bar?"
Abby grins. "Something tells me Holtzmann may have done that on purpose."
Erin's eyes widen, not fully understanding what her friend means. Quickly, Abby speaks again. "Never mind. I can't promise you that's not going to happen, but we'll deal with that too."
Let me know what you think!
If you have any suggestions, those are welcome as well :)