A/N: Yep that's right, over a year later and I've suddenly decided to turn this one-shot into a short story. Emphasis on the word short. It will only be a few more chapters but I guess that's better than none. A special thank you to Purple2015 for helping me figure out ways to extend this one.
Just a heads up, the story is going to take a slightly different turn than where the original chapter directed, but it'll all work out in the end...trust me...
Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the song in this fic, but I am borrowing them for your entertainment
"Lunchbox?" Gail called from the doorway of the forensic lab.
Holly didn't even bother to look up from the heart she was examining, "It's still a forensic kit, Officer Peck, no matter how badly you wished I carried snacks with me."
"No, I meant, here is your box of food." Gail shook the bag she was carrying for good measure.
The brunette glanced up, a wide smile on her face as she returned the organ to the basin beside her. She tossed the gloves she had been wearing and washed her hands before joining the blonde in the hallway.
"Gail Peck buying me lunch? How did a girl like me ever get so lucky?" She teased as they made their way to the pathologist's office down the hall.
"Right place right time."
Sitting in a bar reading a book and ignoring everyone else around her. It had made Holly the perfect target of the bet that night and after Gail had procured the good doctor's digits, they had proceeded to destroy the boys' wallets. Turned out they shared an appreciation of higher end liquors. And they stayed, talking, and flirting, and drinking (so much drinking) well past the time the boys called it a night. It wasn't until last call rang that the spell broke and for whatever reasons they had, the two parted that night as nothing more than friends.
"Before you get too excited, the boys paid." Gail explained as she spread out their lunches across the office desk.
"Of course they did. But you're the one delivering it in person."
"I figured it was only fair since you did help me procure it."
"I'm pretty sure you would've won without me." Holly had no doubt about the blonde's abilities at video games ten minutes into watching her play against her roommates that weekend. It had taken some time, but they had eventually coaxed her into joining them, despite being a newb.
"Obviously, but with you as my handicap the guys were willing to up the ante from one week to an entire month." Hence the delivery.
"Good point. Does that entitle me to try some of your food?"
"Nothing entitles anyone to my food." And yet, Gail did nothing to stop the brunette from swiping a bite off her plate. She half-heartedly glared at the doctor, "I've killed people for less."
But Holly had the audacity to just shrug, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "You're sitting in my lab and I can think of at least 25 ways to dispose of your body without leaving a trace or this building."
"You're threatening an officer of the law, Dr. Stewart, that's a criminal offense."
"Well I usually make a woman buy me dinner before I let her break out the handcuffs, but I suppose I could make an exception just this once." Holly winked as she took another bite of food, her lips curling up into a smile around her fork as a small blush hit the pale woman's cheeks across from her.
"I bought you lunch." Gail countered, doing her best to keep up the banter, even though the idea of using her cuffs on her new friend had her way more distracted than it probably should've.
"You brought me lunch, not sure it counts."
Gail just shrugged, "Same difference."
But all the teasing was just that, it was teasing. Harmless flirting that seemed to dictate their friendship. Gail had almost made a move that first night. They were just outside of the bar, waiting to catch a car home, neither in any state to be driving. And they had been standing so close, lingering as they talked quietly under the moon. She remembered focusing on Holly's lips, leaning in before she even realized what she was doing, but Holly had pulled away abruptly. Had rambled about how much fun the night had been and how good it was to make a new "friend" before the car pulled up. So Gail hadn't tried again, not after that first rejection, and she never brought it up again. They were friends, just friends, and it worked.
"What are you up to after your shift?"
Gail glanced up from her food warily, "Why?"
"Well, my friend Lisa wants to meet up for drinks and stuff tonight, but she's notorious for being late or not showing up at all."
"Isn't that why you carry books with you?"
"That is precisely why I carry books with me. But this time I thought I would try something new."
"Like me."
"Well, I'm all about growing these days."
Holly had made mention of something similar the first night they met. It explained why she had agreed to get setup with Luck, even though Gail had continued to mercilessly tease her about it. Something about a bad break-up and then there had been the new job and a lot of changes in Holly's life at one time. In fact, it had been part of the reason Gail had thought it would be a good idea to go for the kiss that night...well, that, and the tequila. "Where are you two going tonight?"
"I don't remember the name, but I'll text Lisa before I pick you up."
"Funny, I don't remember saying yes." Gail pointed out, despite the fact that she had every intention of going. But she couldn't let Holly get the impression that she was so willing to hang out with her. Even if she was. She liked spending time with the doctor, who had quickly proven to be way more interesting than her usual crowd.
"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure I heard 'Yes, Holly, I would absolutely love to go out with you and your friend tonight after you helped me earn free food and drinks from my friends on more than one occasion.'"
"You're really pushing your luck today, Stewart."
But Holly just smiled wider, "I'll pick you up at 8."
"Oh no." Gail could hear the sounds of tone-deaf singing all the way down the street.
"Oh yes." Holly caught hold of the blonde's leather clad arm and dragged her in the direction of the club.
"How did you even find this place? Is there some kind of lesbian bat signal I don't know about? Aside from your enormous collection of fleece and backpacks."
Though Holly was wearing neither fleece nor backpack. In fact, she was wearing a pair of sinful leather pants that flaunted every curve and a top with even more buttons undone than she usually wore to work. It had been enough to stop Gail in her tracks when she first saw her that night and more than a minute for her brain to even realize she had been caught staring before she saw the smirk on the brunette's face. Surprisingly, Holly hadn't even teased her about it, simply opened the door to the car they were sharing like a true gentlewoman. But it had been hard for Gail to keep her eyes up and focused on Holly's anytime they spoke. A problem she couldn't remember having with any of her other friends.
"Actually it's called the lesbian network. Anytime a new gay shows up in town, they roll out the red carpet and phones start ringing off the hook. And when a new spot appears, well, just forget it, minds are blown." The brunette did her best to keep a serious face but it didn't last as she laughed at the slightly unhinged jaw belonging to the blonde. "I told you my friend Lisa invited me, she found this place." Holly glanced at the time on her phone, and around the crowd outside. "And of course she's not here yet."
"Well, you know we could always bail, clearly she wouldn't miss us." Gail hadn't realized that the night would consist of singing karaoke at a gay bar. It was a little jarring, considering the blonde was still coming to terms with these feelings towards women that she really hadn't given much credence to before. And even though she had always thought labels were stupid, she hadn't realized she wanted to play for the other team so badly until that night at the bar when she realized that she had had more fun talking and drinking with Holly than any of her ex-boyfriends, including the idiot she had almost married. Or maybe it was when she felt her stomach clench every time Holly's hand brushed hers. Or maybe it had been when the disappointment sunk in after she left that night without a goodnight kiss. Yeah, maybe it had been then.
"Are you uncomfortable? Because if this is making you uncomfortable we can just leave, I'll tell Lisa I'll meet up with her another time." Holly offered, more than a little concerned at the wide blue eyes filled with panic before her.
"What? Me? No. We met because I hit on you in a bar, Holly." And sure, she was the first woman Gail had actually pursued, but hey better late than never, right? "But I should warn you that I'm lesbian catnip."
"Cocky and cute, why am I not surprised." Holly muttered under her breath.
Gail didn't quite catch what the doctor said, still surveying her surroundings, and trying to shake the sudden bout of nerves. "What was that?"
"Nothing." Holly cleared her throat, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Ready to head in."
It was even more crowded on the inside, the off-key singing even louder, and the neon lights a bit brighter. They had quickly made their way to the bar and were a couple of drinks in with still no sign of Holly's friend. The doctor had excused herself to the bathroom when Gail was literally bumped into by a familiar face.
"Peck!" Frankie Anderson was a homicide detective for a different division and had graduated in Steve's class at the academy. She was a well-known heartbreaker, having been bounced around a variety of divisions as a result, an obnoxious flirt, and a full-time pain in the ass. The older officer gave the blonde a once-over for good measure, "I didn't know you swung this way. Steve never mentioned it."
Probably because Gail's brother had no idea about his sister's burgeoning feelings. And if he did, that news would spread like herpes. "I'm here with a friend, Anderson." It was a cop out, for sure, but, well, Gail was a cop and she wasn't quite out yet.
"Well, if you two are just friends, you wouldn't mind me buying a drink for the doctor?" Frankie asked as she caught sight of exactly who Gail's friend was.
"Detective, I didn't know you'd be here." Holly greeted as she joined the two cops at the bar. She smiled as Gail handed her the fresh drink she had ordered in her absence.
"I imagine you wouldn't, karaoke isn't normally my thing. But buying a beautiful woman a drink certainly is, so what do you say?" Gail didn't appreciate the lecherous smile on the detective's face, but there was little she could do other than glare at the older woman and wait for Holly's response.
Holly held up her full glass with an apologetic smile. "Maybe another time, we're meeting some friends."
"Shame, well, the offer stands." Frankie said, but she was already distracted by someone new to pursue.
"Do you two know each other from the lesbian network too?" Gail asked as soon as the other officer was out of earshot. She was a little surprised by the note of jealousy in her own voice. She was Gail Peck and Pecks never got jealous.
(Alright, that one was bullshit. Gail had spent the better part of her life jealous of her own brother, but let a girl enjoy her denial a little longer).
"She's a homicide detective, I'm a forensic pathologist and I do occasionally work with other divisions beside 15." There was more than a hint of amusement in the doctor's words as she took a sip of her drink.
"But 15 is your favorite, right?"
Holly's lips quirked up in a lopsided grin belying the chastisement in her voice, "It's not a competition."
"Everything's a competition. Be better than everyone else. Peck rule #3"
"And what are the first two?"
"Always know who you are, and most importantly: don't screw up." Gail ticked them off on her fingers as she finished her drink in one last gulp. Talking about her family had a certain way of driving her to drink.
"No pressure."
"Nope."
Gail was pretty sure she had already managed to break those two rules hard. Clearly, she was still figuring out who she was despite nearly four years in service and twenty seven years on the planet, and as far as her family was concerned she was fairly certain she would always be a screw-up.
"So how competitive are you, exactly?" Holly asked, drawing out the question with an extra amount of sweetness as something on the bar caught her attention.
"Why?" Gail panicked when she saw the clipboard Holly had picked up, a pen in her hand, and a smirk on her face. "Oh no. Don't even think about it. I don't sing."
"Don't or can't?"
"Doesn't matter, I'm not doing it. No way."
"Come on, I'll buy you drinks for the rest of the night," Holly wheedled.
"You were going to do that anyway just for enjoying my company. And that's not much of a victory." Gail pointed out, afterall all their drinks that night had already gone on the brunette's tab.
"Well, then how about if you actually win, I'll do something I swore I'd never do."
"Like what?"
"You know what."
Gail gasped, "No."
But Holly nodded solemnly, "Yes."
"You wouldn't."
"I would."
Blue eyes lit up considerably at the proposal, "A deal is a deal, Lunchbox. No finagling."
"A deal is a deal." Holly offered her hand out to shake on it.
It took a while before it was Gail's turn on stage. And in that span of time, she had consumed more than her fair share of liquid courage, and now that there was a contest involved and a prize to be won, Gail's competitive side had broken through. Luckily her fear of public speaking and stages did not apply to drunken singing.
Gail starting tapping her hand against her hip to the beat of the tambourine.
"I need love, love to ease my mind"
Gail's smooth voice crooned, catching the attention of everyone in the bar and earning her some whistles. But it was the way Holly's jaw had dropped and brown eyes had widened that had her trademark smirk to appear and to put an extra bounce in her strut.
"I need to find, find someone to call mine"
And from the looks of the women in the bar, most of them would be more than happy to belong to the hot blonde on stage.
"But mama said
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
You got to trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes"
Gail couldn't help it, even as she moved around the small stage, a presence, a diva, wooing the crowd, her eyes kept finding their way back to Holly. The doctor was hanging on her every word and it gave Gail an extra thrill.
"But how many heartaches
Must I stand before I find a love
To let me live again
Right now the only thing
That keeps me hangin' on
When I feel my strength, yeah
It's almost gone
I remember mama said:
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
How long must I wait
How much more can I take
Before loneliness will cause my heart
Heart to break?"
Gail clutched at her chest with the type of extra dramatic flair that always made cruising around the city on patrol with Oliver her favorite times.
"No I can't bear to live my life alone
I grow impatient for a love to call my own
But when I feel that I, I can't go on
These precious words keeps me hangin' on
I remember mama said:
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes"
And despite the fact that this was a competition and Gail really should have been focused on the judges, the next few lines were directed at one person, and one person only...
"No, love, love don't come easy
But I keep on waiting
Anticipating for that soft voice
To talk to me at night
For some tender arms
To hold me tight
I keep waiting
I keep on waiting"
If Gail had been beside her, she would have realized that Holly was holding her breath, the words, the amazing voice, and the way Gail dominated the stage destroying her and her stupid resolve to not jump into anything with someone new, and especially not someone who was still figuring things out. Because Holly couldn't take another heartbreak, not so soon, not when she was still recovering from the scorch marks of the last one. Damn it, this blonde was going to be the death of her looking at her like that, but what a way to go.
"But it ain't easy
It ain't easy
But mama said:
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said to trust, give it time
No matter how long it takes
You can't hurry love
No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take"
Gail finished the song with a flourish before the room erupted in cheers.
"I thought you couldn't sing." Holly playfully accused the second Gail had pushed her way through the crowd, being stopped along the way by appreciative spectators.
"I said I didn't, not that I couldn't. C'mon, Nerd, you should know better than to bet against me by now." Gail tutted as she took her spot beside Holly at the bar. She still had the adrenaline from the performance flowing through her.
"Well, the verdict isn't in yet." But even Holly had her doubts after that performance, or how anyone could vote against those bright blue eyes and killer smile.
It came in soon enough, not only had Gail Peck won the competition and the heart of every single woman in the room, Holly Stewart now had to let Gail drive her motorcycle. It was something Gail had been happy to gloat in the good doctor's face, but it was hard to fully enjoy her victory when woman after woman approached her, offering to buy her drinks, offering their numbers, asking for hers. She was a little surprised at the response and the attention and more than a little disappointed when Holly stepped back and let it all happen.
"Hey, where are you going?" Gail had managed to escape her groupies only to catch sight of Holly heading towards the exit.
"Lisa texted, she got stuck in the OR so she isn't coming tonight, and it's getting late so I was going to head home." It also didn't help that Holly was mad at herself for how jealous she was anytime a new woman approached to congratulate Gail and flirt with the blonde. She wasn't proud of the feeling, and she really didn't want to stand in the way of Gail figuring things out and meeting people.
"Oookay, why didn't you say anything?"
"You were busy and just because I'm ready to call it a night doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy yourself. I'm pretty sure you won't have to worry about paying for drinks even if I'm not there."
But the smile on Holly's face wasn't meeting her eyes, and Gail worried she had overstepped again by directing the song at her friend. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, Gail, not at all. I'm just tired, and I mean it, you should enjoy the victory. I'm just going to head out, I'll talk to you later."
As Gail watched Holly walk away, she didn't feel like much of a winner at all.
A/N: Whoops a little angst slipped into this one. No worries though, this is mostly meant to be fun and fluffy so there won't be much more of that. But yes, Gail is a baby gay with an awful crush on Holly, and Holly is more than a little blind to what's standing right in front of her...anyway let me know what you think and if you're interested in seeing what other things Gail can win at...
