Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, though I do love them dearly.
Since their shared kiss in the coat room at the wedding, Gail had only been getting more and more confused about the situation with Holly. Two days after the wedding, she had called her to hang out. When Holly had suggested the batting cages, Gail vehemently refused, but as always, Holly got the best of her and she gave in.
She felt like she had no control over the situation and it terrified her. She had realized that her feelings for her beautiful brunette friend were more than platonic. All she thought about all day was Holly. The way she smiled at her. The way she wrinkled her forehead when she was deeply concentrated while working in the lab. She even liked how much of a dork she was with her bones and her books and her adorable glasses. She couldn't concentrate on anything, and her paperwork was beginning to pile up.
Going to the batting cages wasn't as terrible as she thought it would be. It was embarrassing, sure, but she actually had a lot of fun. She felt like Holly was the only person she could really be herself around, and this realization scared her, but also comforted her. She knew that Holly wasn't judging her, and she had proven that she wasn't going anywhere. For the first time in a very long time, Gail felt secure.
When they finally left the batting cages that night, it was dark out.
"Hey, it's a nice night out, I think I'm just going to walk back to my place," Holly said, as they walked along the sidewalk toward the bus stop.
"What? No. You're not walking in the city by yourself at night. No way." Gail shook her head over and over until she felt stupid. There she was again, worried about looking stupid in front of Holly. Great.
Holly laughed and flashed that smile that always made Gail's heart beat faster. "Seriously? I'm a grown woman, I can take care of myself, officer."
"I would really just feel better if you didn't. At least let me walk you home?" Gail asked, realizing that this was sounding more and more like a date with each passing minute. What was she doing? She was being all caring, and concerned, and.. chivalrous.
"If you must," Holly sighed, looking sideways at Gail. Her trademark half-mouthed smirk appeared, and it dawned on Gail that this was exactly what Holly was hoping would happen in refusing to ride the bus.
"Oh I see what you're doing. Tricking me into walking home with you so you can lure me up to your apartment and have your way with me," Gail jokingly accused, arching one eyebrow.
Holly threw her head back in laughter and clapped. "Oh good one, nice. Believe me, if I were putting the moves on you, you would know," Holly declared, looking Gail directly in the eye, "and there would be no luring necessary." At this, Gail swallowed hard and looked away. The scene in the coat room flashed through her mind again and she suddenly wondered if she really wasn't on a date for real. Everything about it screamed date. The way Holly had paid for the cages (granted, this was because Gail didn't want to go in the first place, but still), the way she had helped Gail with her stance, pressing her front to Gail's back, her larger hands covering Gail's own on the grip of the bat. She remembered the way she could feel Holly's entire body behind her, brushing up against her. A blush crept up into her cheeks when she thought of this, and she hated herself for it.
Now, as they walked up the street, after she insisted that she walk Holly home, it was unmistakably the awkward final moments of a date when neither party really knew how to act.
Suddenly, Gail felt uncomfortable. Not because she didn't want it to be a date, but because she realized that she did. At this point, Gail had two options: she could either act completely normal and make fun of Holly as usual, or she could press on and make it even more date-like than it already was. She decided it was probably safe to land somewhere between the two.
"So I guess that could have been worse. It didn't completely suck like I thought it would." Gail kicked at some stones on the ground, refusing to meet Holly's eye.
Holly's smirk returned. "Is that your way of telling me that you had a nice time?" It didn't go unnoticed by Holly either that their night together very closely resembled a date.
"Psh, no. It's my way of saying that I'm surprised that I didn't totally hate hanging out with someone who is as much of a lunchbox-carrying nerd as you are." She chanced a glance up at Holly, but realized that Holly was looking right at her and quickly averted her eyes.
"You know, Gail Peck, that might be the sweetest thing you have ever said to me." At this, Gail had to laugh. She gave Holly a small shove and Holly gave her a small shove back and she realized that this would probably constitute as flirting.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, each one's mind racing about what was to happen next on this pseudo-date they found themselves on. Gail's stomach flipped when she thought about the possibility of kissing Holly again. Holly wondered if Gail had even realized that she was essentially on a date with her. If Gail had been gay, Holly would have been sure that it was a date, and been sure that she was being flirted with. But Gail was straight, yet never straight-forward about her feelings, so Holly was considering if it was worth the risk or not.
"Well, this is me," Holly announced, coming to a stop in front of a rather expensive-looking apartment building. Gail looked up at the beautiful architecture, trying not to look too impressed.
"Decent place you got here." Her eyes raked back down the building and came to land on Holly for the first time in ten minutes. She looked beautiful, even dressed down with her hair pulled back. Just as she was about to express this, her words got caught in her throat and instead, she looked down at the pavement, at the other buildings, anywhere but into Holly's big brown eyes.
Realizing that Gail had been on the verge of saying something and then backing down, Holly suddenly became aware that she had in fact realized that they might as well be on a formal date. They both shuffled their feet and shifted their weight from one foot to the other.
Gail stuffed her hands in her pockets, effectively stopping herself from reaching out for Holly's hands to hold them. She needed to get out of there. Her emotions were overwhelming her. She wasn't used to feeling this way, and she wanted it to stop.
"Gail, I-" Holly started, but was interrupted by a panicking Gail.
"Sorry Holly, I gotta go. I just remembered I have this thing.." she trailed off, making a snap decision to place a hurried kiss to Holly's cheek, "thanks though, itwasfuni'llseeyoulater." Her last words came out in a surge as she turned around and rushed back down the street the way they came. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest and she felt tears beginning to sting her eyes. Before she knew it, she was sobbing, hurrying away from Holly as quickly as she could.
Holly stood there, frozen in place. She watched Gail practically run up the street, and could have sworn that she even heard the faint sound of crying. Part of her wanted to run and follow Gail. She wanted to hold her and comfort her but she knew that would send her running for the hills. So instead she stood there. She stood there for what felt like hours, cheek still burning from where Gail had kissed her.
A/N: Please review and let me know what you guys are thinking about the story so far!