Holly watches from the driver's seat of her car as Gail says goodbye to Chris, Steve and Traci, hugging each of them in turn. She exchanges a wave with them as Gail slides into the car; sighing heavily and leaning her head back against the headrest.

"Did you want to go to the station first so you can change?" Holly asks her softly.

Gail shakes her head immediately. "I don't even care. I'm too tired." She turns her head and stares at Holly silently for a long beat. She knows what she wants tonight. What she needs, but she isn't sure she can say it.

"Wanna come to mine?" Holly asks softly, reaching across the center console to take the blonde's hand.

Gail's features slide into a grateful smile and she nods. "Please."

Holly squeezes her hand gently and releases it to put the car in drive.

They're quiet as they drive. The radio is on softly in the background and Gail is grateful for the quiet after the insanity of the day.

It's not long until the car pulls up into the driveway of a small house on a quiet street and Holly cuts the engine off and glances at her passenger, who appears lost in thought.

"We're only a few blocks from the Penny," Gail muses absently.

"Yep," Holly says. Gail still doesn't make any attempt to move. "You're not gonna make me carry you in, are you?" she asks, a teasing grin quirking her lips.

Gail cracks a smile, but instead of moving, stares at Holly again for a long moment. She licks her lips and hesitates before opening her mouth. "Thanks. For this. Especially after how I acted earlier. At the station."

Holly shakes her head, leaning over the console to kiss Gail softly, quickly. "That was my fault. You were at work. I was just worried."

Before either of them can say anything else, Holly is up and out of the car, moving to the passenger side to pull Gail's door open for her.

Holly slips the key into her front door, pushing it open and standing aside to let Gail enter first. Either it's the shock of the day catching up to the blonde, or perhaps the sheer exhaustion finally overtaking her, but there are no smart-ass comments or snarky remarks that Holly had been expecting bringing Gail home for the first time.

Holly steps into the living room, shrugging out of her coat and tossing it over the back of the couch. "Hungry?"

Gail drops her coat next to Holly's, considering the question. She shrugs rather helplessly. "I can't tell."

Holly reaches out to cradle Gail's face in her palms gently. She presses their lips together in a warm, soft kiss. "I'll get you some comfies and make something to eat."

"Comfies?" Gail repeats, a tired, teasing smile quirking her lips. "Nerd."

Holly winks, pointing out a few rooms as she turns and walks out of the room. "Bathroom, that way. Kitchen, that way. Make yourself at home."

Instead of heading towards either of the rooms Holly just pointed out, Gail drops onto the couch, nearly moaning as she practically sinks into the cushions. She sits up long enough to remove her boots and collapses again. A minute later she hears a thump and there's a pile of clothes next to her on the couch and she glances up in time to see Holly headed for the kitchen.

Once she's changed, Gail joins Holly in the kitchen and takes a seat at the island, her stomach growling as soon as she smells the food.

"Coffee or beer?" Holly asks as she flips a sandwich in the frying pan.

"Beer," Gail replies, letting her hand prop her head up as she watches Holly move around the kitchen.

A bottle is set down in front of her and Gail pops the top and takes a long drink. Her eyes slip closed and she sighs happily. "Mmm, nothing like good beer."

"Especially at 2 a.m." Holly turns to grab a few plates, setting them out next to the pan. She flips a sandwich on each one, cutting them both in half. "Grilled cheese."

Gail perks up at the food and she digs in immediately. Her eyes roll back in her head at the first bite. "Oh my God, this is amazing."

Holly smirks and flips the flat screen on, switching to a channel showing replays of the hockey game. "Damn Leafs," she mutters as she slides up onto the counter and begins eating as well.

Gail wants to tease her for the obvious cliché of being a lesbian and loving all things sporty, but she's so damn tired, she can't bring herself to do it. Especially with Holly driving her home and making her food and giving her good beer.

"Do you have to go in tomorrow?" Holly asks, prying her eyes away from hockey recaps when the TV switches to commercials.

"No," Gail tells her, taking another drink of her beer. "What about you?"

Holly shakes her head. "I'm off." She moves to the coffee pot when it begins to beep and pours herself a mug, adding cream and sugar, and taking a sip.

"That won't keep you up?" Gail asks. She allows her eyes to sweep appreciatively over Holly's form and she smiles when she thinks about how easy it was to introduce Holly to Chris and Steve in her own 'Gail way' earlier.

Holly takes another sip and shakes her head, setting the mug down on the counter. "I drink so much that it barely registers."

Gail gives her a dubious look. "Aren't you a doctor? Shouldn't you know better or something?"

Holly grins Gail's favorite half-smile and shrugs. "Probably." Her features soften as she gazes at Gail and how adorable she looks in her clothes. "I'm gonna change. Be right back. Help yourself to anything."

XXXX

When Holly returns, her hands are in her hair, pulling it back into a loose ponytail, and she's only mildly annoyed that the only thing Gail seems to have helped herself to is the television remote. And she changed the channel from the hockey recaps.

"When I said anything, I didn't mean the TV remote," Holly tells her, only kind of serious. She glances at the TV long enough to watch a series of video clips showing skateboarders busting their nuts. "What the hell are you watching?"

Gail looks up, her mouth open and poised to retort, but it dies on her lips when she gets a good look at Holly, who's dressed in loose sweats, rolled a few times and slung low on her hips, and a worn, comfy looking red plaid shirt only buttoned about three times, and with her hands pulling her hair back, Gail gets quite a view of Holly's tan, taught tummy.

Gail has an inkling that this outfit is entirely deliberate and she's completely willing to admit that whatever reaction Holly was hoping to elicit, she just succeeded. Because when Gail finally meets Holly's eyes, she's smirking, and it makes her roll her eyes, because she knows that particular point just went to Holly's scorecard.

"Want another beer?" Holly asks, letting Gail off the hook for the moment.

Gail perches her chin on her hand and leans on the island. "You totally have that hot librarian thing going on."

Holly pulls another beer from the fridge and pops the top, sliding it over the dark marble counter. "Thanks? I think?"

"Trying to get me drunk, Hol?" Gail asks playfully. "So you can have your way with me?"

Holly's face suddenly shifts, her gaze turning smoldering on a dime. She reaches up to pull her glasses from her face and sets them on the counter. Next, she reaches up to remove the elastic holding her hair back and she shakes her hair out dramatically, her gaze never leaving Gail's rapidly widening eyes. She leans over the counter, giving the blonde quite the view, and her voice drops nearly an octave. "Trust me, if I ever 'have my way with you', I'll want you completely clear-headed, so you remember every which way I make you come undone."

Holly grins at the completely stunned expression on Gail's face, noting happily the way Gail's pupils blew wide open with her little display. "Drink your beer," she orders gently. "I'm tired."

Gail is practically sputtering and she can't for the life of her deny the way her body responded to the little show Holly just put on and she certainly can't ignore the way her heart hammered in her chest with Holly's words.

And just like that it's Gail-0, Holly-2.

Gail watches as Holly flips her head over to pull her hair back again and replaces her glasses and she suddenly feels the need to clear something up. "Holly?"

"Hmm?"

Gail is silent for so long that Holly moves around the island, tugging at the blonde's knees to turn her around on the stool to face her. She drops a hand to each of Gail's legs, smiling a little when her knees part enough that Holly can stand between them. "What's up?" She leans forward to press a quick kiss to Gail's forehead.

It's startling how quickly Holly shifts from smoldering to soft and comforting, but it gives Gail tingles to think about how rare it is to find someone who can so completely be both of those things to her.

"This isn't a phase, or a rebound," Gail tells her softly. She meets dark eyes watching her carefully. "I want this. I want you."

Holly searches her eyes for something, and whatever it is that she seems to be looking for she apparently finds, because she's leaning in again. This time the kiss is slow and deliberate, telling Gail everything she needs to know about how Holly feels about her little confession.

Gail's hands drop to Holly's hips as the kiss deepens between them, and her hands hesitate for only a moment before they slide under her shirt and around her waist, one palming the base of the brunette's spine and the other sliding up her back to hold her close.

"Mmm," Holly hums appreciatively as she pulls back. "That beer tastes really good on you."

Gail sucks in a shuddery breath. "You can't say things like that to me when you're wearing this and looking like you look."

Holly is smirking again and she leans back just a bit, but not moving from between Gail's knees. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Gail's eyes narrow for a moment. "Sure you don't." She's suddenly yawning and again she's struck by how tired she is. But even as tired as she is, she doesn't want this to end. It's all so easy in this moment. She's safe and comfortable and she's scared to death that if she goes to sleep and lets this end, she'll wake up in the morning and the spell will be broken and things with Holly will get awkward or will never go back to being this easy.

Holly reaches out for Gail's hand, pulling her up from her seat. "Come on. I'll get you settled and then take care of all this."

Holly pulls her through the house and finally comes to a stop in her bedroom. She flips on a small lamp on the bedside table and pulls back the blankets, gesturing for Gail to get in. "You can have my bed. I'll take the futon in my office across the hall."

Gail begins to protest immediately, but she climbs in the bed just the same. "You did hear me in the kitchen, right? I wasn't speaking for the sake of speaking. That's really more your thing."

Holly rolls her eyes playfully at the sarcasm coming from the blonde as she pulls the blankets up around her. "You're hilarious."

"I meant what I said," Gail tells her quietly.

Holly nods and perches on the edge of the bed, smiling when Gail turns on her side and kind of curls around her. "I know. But this is still kind of new, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I can get into this bed with you and keep my hands to myself."

Gail thinks it's entirely unfair for Holly to be so ridiculously hot in a moment when she's clearly trying so hard to protect Gail's virtue. "Maybe I don't want you to." She shrugs and reaches a hand out and tangles it in Holly's shirt. "I'm not saying I'm ready for everything yet, but I know I'm ready for something."

Holly gazes at her for a few long moments, finally leaning forward to kiss Gail softly, but pulls back before it can get too involved. When Gail opens her mouth to protest, Holly smiles. "I just want to clean up the kitchen a bit. And you really need to sleep."

Gail's lips turn down into a rather adorable pout and Holly laughs, leaning forward to press a kiss to her bottom lip. "Poor baby. I'll only be a few minutes."

"But you'll stay?" Gail asks, suffering from a moment of rare vulnerability. "Here? With me?"

Holly smiles softly, nodding and kissing her again. "Five minutes. Go to sleep, sweetie."

Gail's stomach twists pleasantly at the term of endearment. She's never really been a fan of them, but it seems fitting coming from Holly in that moment. "Okay."

She's barely awake when Holly climbs into bed a few minutes later, but she's awake enough to roll over to her back long enough to grasp Holly's arm so she can roll back over and have Holly spooning her comfortably. Only when soft curves are pressed against her and warm breath is ghosting over the back of her neck is she comfortable enough to fall asleep completely.

XXXX

A.N. First Rookie Blue fic. The idea's been haunting me since the finale so I finally got it out. Might be a three-parter. Up next, Gail has some trouble sleeping…

Make of that what you will. Thanks for reading!