A/N: It's been so long since I've written anything creative, so it's going to be rough going for a little bit.
"Ugh. Holly, the sun isn't even up yet." grumbled a Gail who was regretting her decision to run 13.1 miles. Who decided to start this early anyways?
"It should be up by the time the race starts. Runners need to get there earlier to get in their corrals." Holly sat down on the bed next to her wife who had actually gotten up dressed, put her shoes on, and then proceeded to flop face-down sprawled out across the bed. "Hey. I don't think I asked, but which corral are you in? I'm in A."
"What does that even mean? How would I find that out now? Oh man. I guess I can't run since I don't even know where to go."
"It's on your race bib. In the corner….if you opened your eyes you would see that I'm showing you." She was pointing out the letter in the upper left hand corner of her own bib, silently laughing at this goof who found interesting ways of showing her how much she loves her. The latest of which was by signing up for a race knowing full-well how much the blonde disliked running.
"mmmf mm fmm. hmm…"
"Come on. We went over this last night - "
"It still is practically last night." Her wife interrupted her as she rolled over. "I thought we just established that the sun isn't even out yet. Are there even any rays peeking over the horizon?" She opened one eye to look at the smiling, way too perky brunette sitting next to her on the bed.
Holly's laughter filled the room and sent a small smile to the morning grump's lips. "Well, if you got up again you could check for yourself on our way to the start," she laughed as she tugged at the blonde's wrist to try to get her up.
"Ugh. Do you know how much I love you? Of course you do. I'm doing this for you, nerd." But she got up, however reluctantly and shuffled her way to the door, grabbing her pre-run snack and a bottle of water before leaning against the door while waiting for Holly so they could leave. "I thought you said we had to leave soon? Now I'm waiting for you." She leaned her head against the door and closed her eyes trying not to fall asleep while standing up when she felt a familiar set of lips pressed against her own. "Mmm, we could also just skip the race altogether and do a different kind of marathon."
"You would like that wouldn't you? But we both trained," *kiss* "we got up," *kiss* "paid for it" *kiss* "and we're going to kick this half marathon's ass." And with a pull and tug they were out the door and on their way to the car to go running. For no other reason than to run. Why did she think was such a good idea again?
"You know, I'm in a state of disbelief that you not only signed up and trained for this, but you kept it a secret from me this whole time." Holly was way too awake for that hour of the morning and Gail was having a hard time keeping up with her. Prior to this train of thought it was her strategy for achieving her PR and then something about pace groups and plans for the holidays. At the next stop, Holly looked over at Gail and with sincerity written all over her face she turned and said, "This was a really nice surprise though."
"Well, you know. I'm glad someone in this car thinks it's a nice surprise." She mumbled back. The brunette couldn't help but smile at the sarcastic response she received from the blonde whose seat was reclined and eyes were shut. They continued the rest of the drive in a comfortable silence both lost in their thoughts and enjoying each other's company in the time where it's not quite night but not quite morning. "Hols. Why are we stopped? Don't tell me we're there already," as one blue eye opened to glare at the now laughing brunette. "Ugh, fine. I brought this on myself. Let's go." Before she could completely get up, Gail felt Holly's lips on hers.
"Babe? Thanks. I love you."
"Yeah, yeah. I love you too. Even if your hobbies do involve sweating..." and a playful smile spread on her face "...well I guess not of all them are bad."
"We can do that later. But, first things first. Let's run!" And Holly pulled away laughing to get out of the car.
"Tease." But she did get out and they followed the other runners, some still half asleep, some jogging, and others stretching. Feeling suddenly overwhelmed at actually being there, Gail's hand found Holly's and they walked hand in hand to the bag check and scouted out a meeting location in case they lost each other after Gail crossed the finish line.
"Holly! Hey!" A voice familiar to Holly but only vaguely so to Gail called out.
"Jay? I didn't know you were running this one." They exchanged a quick hug much to Gail's surprise, but she figured she shouldn't have since her wife was a hugger.
"I think you guys have met before. Jay, this is my wife Gail. Gail, Jay is part of that running club I've been going to once a week at the track. He's got an amazing kick. And is wicked fast." Gail looked him up and down as she took the proffered hand and shook it. He sure didn't look fast, but these runner types did tend towards the skinnier figures.
"Once before, you picked up speedy over here from the track a few weeks back. I didn't know you ran as well. We'd love to have you join us, the more the merrier." He was just as outgoing as Holly and probably just as enthusiastic about sporting.
"Yeah...I'm not much of a runner...only seldom." Gail tried her best at a smile, but it turned out more of a grimace because of the subject matter and this guy really was so very awake.
"Well, we all have to start out somewhere. Neither was I but the more you run, the more enjoyable it becomes. All it takes is one race before most people catch the running bug. Isn't that right Holly?" Gail just rolled her eyes and glared at this guy, Jay.
"That's what they say. Though something tells me that might not happen in this one's case," Holly replied in a faux whisper as she pointed towards the glaring blonde which elicited a laugh from Jay.
"Okay then. So, how did Holly get you sign up for this race then? I know some other folks whose husbands and wives signed for up at least one race after many years of hassling." Gail wanted to wipe that stupid grin off of this guy's face.
"Nope. It was a surprise." Why was she telling him this? Oh yeah, because Holly was right there.
"I actually had no idea she signed up for it until yesterday. Apparently she trained in secret as well." Holly gave Gail a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh wow. That's actually really awesome. Hey, good luck on getting your time. Sub-1:30. You think you're going to get it?"
"Hopefully. My training has been going well and I think the track nights really helped out a lot. I'm going to run with the pace group and see if I can pick it up in the last 5k. Good luck to you too. We gotta get going, you know how the bathroom lines can get." With a last hug, and nice to meet you's they were finally making their way to the long line of porta-potties where there was just a mass of people in what looked like loosely formed lines but were actually pretty organized if you looked closer. Gail just groaned, stopped at the first one and resigned herself to waiting in a ridiculously long line.
"What are you doing? Come on," Holly was still walking and pulled the still grumpy blonde through the throngs of people waiting to relieve themselves before this disgustingly long athletic venture towards the lines further down and which appeared to be getting shorter. Much shorter.
"Now, we can wait. See? Much better." Holly grinned at Gail.
"You've done this before haven't you?" Gail said as she narrowed her eyes at the smug brunette.
"What gave you that impression?"
"Oh, nothing." She wasn't about to admit that it was indeed much better than her previous choice, but she also had no experience with this kind of thing. "How long did it take you to figure that one out?"
"Three times. I always noticed the shorter line when I was walking towards the start, but didn't actually start getting in those lines until the third one because I always forgot. Ha, but either way we'll have plenty of time." They slowly inched forward and as they got closer Gail noticed that there were more bathrooms than lines and, upon figuring out the system leaned over to Holly and stated, "Wow. These really are your people. So nice. Even when it comes to their bladder." Holly just shrugged and gave her that innocent look that said whatever do you mean? "Don't give me that nerd. I mean really? There's a bathroom system? I'm guessing this is standard."
"Maybe. It's better than having a whole mess of lines."
Gail snorted. "You don't call this a mess of lines? I'm fairly certain those two lines are sharing that one. Looks like there's a breakdown in the system. Now what? Oh wait, they're taking turns. Really?"
"It happens. Relax, you're going to need all the energy you can muster today. You go first I'll wait for the next one."
"How am I supposed to see in there? It's dark out. There are no lights in there." She looked at Holly all seriously.
"Those will provide enough ambient light for you to see." She pointed at the streetlights and the flood lights brought in by the race.
"Seriously? Not only do I have to use a porta-john which likely smells worse than an airplane bathroom, but I have to pee by the ambient light. AKA use the shadows. Ugh, this idea is getting worse and worse. Fine."
After Gail walked away the woman behind them jokingly said to Holly, "Not really one for this kind of thing, is she?"
"That noticeable, huh? No, but I can't really complain she signed up as a surprise for me." She flashed her a smile and shrugged her shoulders.
"Guess not. That's pretty sweet, can she get my husband to sign up too? Haha. Oh, you're up." She pointed at one of the porta-potties that someone just exited.
It was about a seven-minute walk to the starting corrals from where they were and along the way, Gail stopped to gawk. "Holly. Do you see that? I should go over and arrest them all. Public indecency."
"What?" Holly tried to see what had Gail's attention. It didn't take long to see. "Oh, yeah. I've seen that before...Can you really blame them? Did you see the size of those lines, plus the lines are long enough without all of them to add to it."
"But, they're you know...just because they're guys and can do that doesn't mean they can all just line up along the bushes and. Well, you know. Oh no."
"What now?" This was slightly amusing Holly. She had rarely seen the blonde get so worked up about something, but she knew it was because she was trying to distract herself from the reason they were actually there. And actually seeing her be a little shy about this was kind of cute.
"People are taking pictures. Look! Wow, your people are so weird. No shame." She just shook her back and forth muttering to herself about the type of person she had married. Holly linked their arms and patted her shoulder to convey to her wife that it was all going to be okay and tugged her along, "Well. I really appreciate that you did this for me. It'll be worth your while later." And the brunette flashed the blonde a wicked grin. "Here we are. Corral G. Good luck honey, and remember to pace yourself. I'll be at the end, cheering for you."
"Wait. That's it? You're going to leave me?" She pouted into the kiss that Holly had placed on her lips. "Fine, I'll see you later. 2:10. If I don't come in by then send out a search party. Or just call me. I might take a cab home or something."
"Uh huh. Just you wait and see what happens, or doesn't happen later. I'll be waiting. Mwah!" She sent her an over-the-top air kiss, waving her hand as she walked away towards her starting location.
Gail watched her go, seeing her shoulders shake in laughter and found a place to sit and waited for this unbelievably bad idea to get under way. She muttered to herself a little more. "Sign up for a half marathon. It'll be the perfect eay to surprise the wifey. Great. I must've hit my head that day."