Hey guys! I had this idea stuck in my head and just really wanted to write it. It was going to be a one-shot at first, but it got a bit long towards the end so I just decided to split it into three parts. I hope you like this first part!
I apologize for any mistakes I made, it's very late and I'm very very tired (as usual) :)
"Good to see you Jill."
"Thanks Sophie." Holtzmann says, smiling at the girl in front of her. The brunette pulls her in for a hug all of the sudden, and it takes the engineer a few seconds before she wraps her arms around her friend.
"Sorry." The brunette says. "It's just been a while since we've seen you around here."
Holtzmann's smile widens, glad to hear that her friends have missed her. "Yeah, I've been pretty busy saving the entire world."
Sophie nudges her shoulder. "Shut up."
Someone else walks over then, and once more Holtzmann is pulled into a hug. "Is our sweet engineer even more annoying now that she's saved the world?"
The blonde smiles as she pulls back. "Hi Josh. And hey, I'm never annoying!" She says pretending to be hurt by his comment.
"Ready?" Sophie asks. "It's going to be a pretty busy night."
"I'm always ready." Holtzmann says, winking at both her friends as she moves behind the bar, immediately walking towards a girl and leaning a bit closer to hear her over the loud music.
"What can I get you?"
A couple of hours later, Holtzmann is relieved when it's finally her time to take a break. It's about midnight now, so it's about to get a lot busier. She doesn't mind though, glad to be back at the bar. She remembers walking through the doors of the gay bar so many years ago, young and no place to stay after her parents had kicked her out. She had been welcomed with open arms here, and for the first time in her life, Holtzmann had felt accepted. Like it was okay to be a little different, and it was okay to be attracted to women. The owners gave her a place to live upstairs of the bar, as long as she promised to help out; so she did, for about 7 years. After she had started working with Abby, she didn't really need the job anymore, but still often came by to help. Even now, she still liked to pop by from time to time to help out.
She had felt extremely frustrated today, finding that her crush on the redhead was growing more and more now that they spend almost every minute of every day together. Holtzmann always caught herself staring at the physicist, watching how her brow furrowed when she was working on some kind of equation. Sometimes, the redhead would catch her staring, immediately blushing when Holtzmann just shrugged and winked at her. She liked teasing Erin like this, finding the redhead's response extremely entertaining. However, and the end of the day Erin Gilbert will always be straight, and she knows this. Today, after the redhead had surprised her by pulling her in for a hug that lasted just a little too long for it to be casual, it had al been a little too much for the blonde. She needed some distraction, and what better place to go then here.
"Holtz!" Josh yells, snapping the blonde from her thoughts.
"Coming!" She responds, already jumping up and returning to her place behind the bar. She immediately notices how much more crowded the bar has become in the short amount of time that she was gone. For a second she's caught of guard, but then she smiles and walks towards a group of girls at the far end of the bar, taking their orders as she leans over.
Erin groans in frustration, leaning over her desk and resting her head in her hands.
"You okay?" Patty says, walking over and noticing her friend.
"No." The redhead responds, surprising the both of them with her honest answer.
The Historian simply smiles at her. "It's about Holtzy isn't it?"
Erin immediately looks up, her eyes locking with her friends'. "How did you know?"
Patty laughs then. "Baby, how long 'till you realize that I know everything that goes around here. I've known you two have the hots for each other since day one."
"Wait" Erin says, her eyes suddenly widening, "You mean you think she likes me too?"
"Trust me," Abby suddenly says, joining the conversation, "She likes you."
"Wha-" Erin tries, looking from one friend to the other, "do you two talk about us when we're not here?"
The girls look at each other and share a knowing smile. "What else are we supposed to do when there's no ghosts to catch?" Abby said.
"Well I'm not even sure I like her, I'm not even sure I like girls. I've never felt this way." Erin admits, not even sure why she's suddenly so honest with her friends.
"Well.. we can do something about that." Abby says while she smirks at her friend.
About an hour later they're standing outside of a place Erin has never seen before, even though it's not that far from the firehouse. "So when exactly did you go here before?"
"Oh uh.." Abby stammers, suddenly having a hard time coming up with a good lie, "Just found it by accident one time actually. Thought it would be fun."
Luckily, Erin is far too nervous to notice the obvious lie, already walking towards the door of the place. Abby and Patty walk just a few feet behind her.
"Dude." Patty says, nudging Abby with her elbow, "that was awful."
"Yeah well.. I couldn't just tell her the truth could I?"
Patty nods, realizing her friend is right about that. "So, are you sure she's here tonight?"
Abby smiles. "I've known Holtzmann for a long time now; trust me, she's here."
The three girls walk inside the gay bar, taken aback by how crowded the place is. There's barely enough place to stand, let alone dance. It's still better than most places though, especially since there are no annoying man creeping up on them and trying to get in their pants. Abby looks at her friend then, noticing how big Erin's eyes seem to be scanning every part of the room, sometimes lingering on something – or someone – she sees.
"You like it?" Abby shouts, raising her voice. The music is good, but it's loud and somehow she thinks that maybe, just maybe, they're a little old to be doing this.
"Yeah." Erin says, her eyes shining bright even in the darker lighting in the bar.
"See any cute girls?" Patty says, clearly happy to be Erin's wing woman for the evening. The redhead blushes, and awkwardly clears her throat. "Shall we just get a drink first?"
Abby smiles. "I'll get the first round."
The brunette pushes through the crowd, walking closer and closer towards the bar. There's just one more thing she needs to check before she and Patty can set their actual plan into action. She's at the bar now, and immediately two arms wrap awkwardly around her neck, almost pulling her over the bar.
"Sophie." She says, trying to escape from the hug.
"Abby!" The brunette says, smiling broadly at her. "It's so great to see you. What are you doing here?"
Abby had met Sophie after becoming friends with Holtzmann, the two girls getting along immediately. For years, they had felt like they were Holtzmann's parents in some weird way, both often acting like overprotective parents around the blonde.
"Just helping out a friend, or two if this plan works out. Is Holtz here?"
Sophie smiles, already intrigued and wanting to know more about this plan. She nods and points at the other end of the bar. Abby sees her then, talking to some girl while she pours said girl a drink.
"Want me to call her over?" Sophie asks, leaning in a little bit closer so Abby can hear her properly.
"No that's fine." Abby responds. "Just wanted to know if she's here. Can I get three beers?"
The brunette nods. "Coming right up."
"Thanks." Abby says, putting some money down on the bar. Sophie immediately pushes it back into Abby's hands.
"This one's on me."
Abby smiles and thanks the bartender for the drinks, before returning back to her friends and handing over the drinks.
A few drinks later, Abby shoots a glare towards Patty, who grins back at her. Erin's a few feet away from them, talking to some girl. Abby can tell she's more relaxed than normally, the beer having served its purpose. It's nice to see Erin finally doing something without being held back by her own fears and insecurities. The redhead laughs at something the girl says, touching her arm as she throws her head back.
Patty walks over now, tapping Erin on her shoulder. "Yo Erin." She says, "we're gonna go to the bar next doors." She points to Abby, before returning her gaze to Erin. "You should stay though. Looks like you're having fun."
Suddenly Abby sees something in Erin's eyes, and notices how the physicist looks down at the floor. "Uh.. I don't know guys. Maybe I'll just go with you."
She's looking directly at Abby now, as if asking for permission. "Stay." The brunette says. "We'll be right next doors the whole time. You can just come to us when you get bored or something."
Finally, the redhead nods, Abby now pushing her still full glass of beer in her hands. She waves at her friends as they leave the bar, before returning to her earlier conversation with the girl next to her.
Holtzmann realizes she has been smiling for almost the entire evening, noticing how much she has missed being a bartender. Obviously, busting ghosts and being an engineer in general is what she loves most in this world, and she wouldn't trade it for anything. Still though, she feels like she needs this from time to time. It's just the perfect way to blow off some steam.
It's about 2am now, and the place is still crowded. People are a little less thirsty though, most of them pretty drunk by now and slowing down a bit. She moves away from her usual spot to stand next to Sophie, having a better view of the crowd from here.
"Hi there." Sophie says, smiling at her friend. "How's it going?"
"Great." Holtzmann says, "Thanks for letting me help tonight."
"Are you kidding? We love having you here."
The blonde suddenly freezes in her spot as she stares at the crowd. Was that? No.. it couldn't be. There was no way, absolutely no way.
"You okay?" she vaguely hears Sophie ask her, but the engineer doesn't answer, staring at the crowd instead.
Her eyes are glued to a girl a few feet away from her, dancing with another girl and laughing at something she says. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest, and she's suddenly aware of how dry her mouth has become. Then, the girl turns around, and Holtzmann's eyes widen instantly.
Her eyes are still glued to the redhead, who's now talking to the girl again before making her way over to the bar, clearly not having noticed Holtzmann yet. The blonde panics then, not sure what to do all of the sudden. She does the only thing she can think of, and drops to the floor behind the bar.
"Oh my god." She says.
What in the hell is Erin Gilbert doing here?
Hope you all liked it! Also, the other chapter will most likely be a lot longer :)