Chapter 4 (Or the one above the wheels)
Gail leaned over the steering wheel so she could have a better view of the sky.
No, that wasn't entirely true, she was leaning over the steering wheel so she could have a better view of the heavy snow falling from said sky, covering the streets they were supposed to be driving on to get to the department New Year's party.
But said snow had started to fall from said sky faster than expected, making impossible for them to drive said streets and reach said party. Forcing Gail to find an empty parking lot so she could pull over and wait for it to stop.
Whenever that was…
It didn't looked like it was going to be any time soon, though.
"Are you freaking kidding me?!" She cursed, falling back into the seat.
Holly also looked at the sky frowning. "Maybe we should try calling someone? Who is on shift tonight?"
Gail closed her eyes and groaned.
Fighting back a smile, the brunette turned to her girlfriend just in time to see her dropping her head on the steering wheel "Chloe?"
Another muffled groan followed and Holly simply nodded, fishing her phone out of her purse "Chloe."
She entered the password and could help but to smile as the wallpaper appeared on the screen, a black and white photo Steve had taken of both women in front of their Christmas tree.
Gail was sitting on the carpet with an antlers hat, crossed arms and a grumpy face, while the brunette was wearing a Santa hat and leaning over her girlfriend's side to give her a kiss on the cheek.
The three of them had been playing video-games on the living room, but after Steve won the last round of Mario Kart – given them the holiday's hats as a punishment – he had left to grab some more snacks leaving Gail to mop over her defeat and Holly to try and calm her down.
After only couple of minute, Steve had come back to that scene and quickly snatched his phone to capture the moment so he could tease his sister about it later. As soon as Gail heard the click, though, she jumped out of the floor and ran at his direction, tackling him to the couch and sending two bowls flying into the air along with the his cellphone.
Gail pushed him into the cushions, trying to hold him still while one of his hands pushed her face away.
For anyone else, see two adults – a police officer and a detective, no less – wrestling on the couch among popcorn and m&m's would have seem rather strange, but after three years coexisting with the Pecks and being included in their weekly meetings for the past two, things like that didn't surprised her anymore.
Quite the contrary, really, those were the moments Holly enjoyed the most with the two of them. When they were relaxed and goofy, playing and bantering with each other like they did not had a care in the world. Not everyone knew this side of Steve and Gail, they didn't allow many people into this private world of theirs and so she was flattered to witness every single one of their mischievousness, no matter how child they may seem.
She knew there were parts of their relationship that would always be private to them, shared between Steve and Gail, much like Holly herself had secrets only her brother knew of, and she respected that, Holly was simply glad to be led into some of it.
It made her feel part of their family.
Not part of the Peck's family – the way Elaine had looked at her the first time Gail had dragged her to dinner at their house left her wandering if she would ever truly be accepted as that, if it came to it – but part of Gail's family.
The only family that mattered to her besides her own brother.
Holly had beamed at the scene in front of her before putting the control down and stood up to get Steve's phone from the floor. On the way, she picked the nearly empty bowl of m&m's from the floor and popped a few in her mouth as she scrolled the gallery app in search of the photo.
Gail grunted something from behind her, followed by Steve's muffled groans, but she paid no attention to it focused on her task. She finally found the image and fell a warmth spreading over her chest at the sight of it.
Holly knew she had to delete the picture otherwise she'd be Gail's next tagged, but she couldn't bring herself to erase it. She heard a thud indicating that the epic fight had now left the couch and entered the carpet territory, and quickly emailed herself the photo before finally deleting it.
She raised both hands and placed the phone over the coffee table along with the rest of the m&m's. Gail grinned down at Steve and hit him with a cushion on the face one last time, before finally releasing him.
The blonde rush passed her, giving her a peck on the cheek before dashing to the bathroom, while Steve had remained still, staring at Holly with squinted eyes.
"You sent it to yourself, didn't you?"
She had nodded smugly. "Yup."
He hummed and placed an arm behind his head, trying to find a more comfortable position. "She'll tackle you too when she finds out."
Holly chuckled. "She tackles me already."
"Ewww!" His eyes went wide.
The brunette got closer and kneeled close to Steve, picking a handful of popcorn from the ground. "Wanna hear what else she does?"
He grimaced. "Oh gross, Stewart!"
She smirked and threw the popcorn at him. "Then you would tell her, Peck."
Of course Gail had discovered the picture not a day later, but after taking a good look at it, trying to hide her smile, she let Holly keep it but made her swear she wouldn't show it to anyone else.
Holly chest swelled with the memories from that day, but the feeling was quickly washed away when she saw that there was no signal available. She started her phone, but to no avail. The thing was still dead.
The brunette sighed and pumped her head against the headrest.
"Are you freaking kidding me?"
Raising her head, Gail looked at the woman with a worried expression. "What?"
"I don't have any signal." Holly waved the phone at her before dropping it into her lap. "Do you?"
Gail opened the glove compartment and unlocked her phone expectantly, but once the screen came to life she groaned again.
Holly couldn't help but to groan too.
It seemed that those were going to be the soundtrack of the night.
The blonde sighed, closing the glove compartment. "I guess that's it, Hols. We're gonna die here."
She snorted. "Stop being so dramatic. We just need to wait until the blizzard stops and call someone to help us." Turning around on her seat she went on. "We called Steve before we left, if we don't get there soon he'll probably come and look for us."
"No, this is it. This is how we go." Gail shook her head looking straight ahead. "I've been shot at and hit, I've been kidnaped, I've had chemical burns, I've been shot at again and missed, I've been raised by Elaine Peck and the universe decided that all of that wasn't good enough." She squinted her eyes and sulked. "I'm going to die buried under a pile of snow in an empty parking lot, on the way to a New Year's Eve party. Perfect!" She said the last word between her teeth, amusing Holly to no end.
She tried to suppress a laugh but it ended up slipping anyway. "Gail, we're not going to die."
The blonde, turned to her and grabbed one of her hands. "Holly, I love you, but optimism isn't getting us out of here." Placing the hand to her mouth she gave it a small kiss, bringing it to rest against her cheek. "We're doomed. We're gonna die. You know, kick the bucket, hop the twig, go belly-up, count the worms, meet the maker, pop the clogs, stick the spoon on the wall, became landowners, assume room temperature, bite the big one. Whichever you prefer, but this is the end for us Holly."
Holly frowned at the words, grinning and chuckling at some of the expressions Gail had come up with. "Gail, just…"
The other woman raised a finger and placed over her lips. "Do not despair my dear, only God knows how long we can survive…"
She pushed the hand away. "Gail, this isn't…"
"…or how much of a horrible dead this will be."
"Gail…" Holly pleaded with a smirk.
"We're so young. So full of plans." Gail frowned for a moment and shrugged "Well, I'm young. You're kinda half way there already so…hey, don't hit a dead woman!" She dramatically released Holly's hand to rub against the arm that the brunette had smacked.
That finally made Gail stop with her sudden digressions, so Holly took the chance. "Gail, stop we're not…" She noticed the devilish smile on the blonde's lips as the woman unbuckle the seatbelt and took off her coat. "What…" Gail begun to unbutton her shirt and Holly had to forced her eyes back to the blonde's face. "…what…are…you…doing?"
Gail slowly finished the last button. "I might die tonight Holly." She turned completely towards Holly, the shirt sliding open with the movement and leaving a streak of ivory skin available for Holly to see. "But I'm not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself, if these are my last hours on this planet then I already know how I want to spend them."
The brunette stared with mouth agape for a moment, before unbuckling her own seatbelt and reaching for Gail's neck to pull her into a kiss.
"Eager much?" She felt Gail whispering over her lips and pulled away, forcing her face to remain straight before finally speaking.
"Death waits for no one."
Gail heard the fading beep of her clock alarm and forced her eyes to open.
"Wait, wait." She breathlessly whispered against Holly's cheek before pushing away from the warm body beneath her.
Holly's eyes shot open as well as she tried to catch her breath, confusion plastered across her face. "What's wrong?" She quickly scanned Gail's face searching for any signs about what had made the woman stop. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just…" Shaking her head, Gail silently cursed herself. She really should have thought this through. The alarm had been set because she didn't wanted to risk entering the New Year without Holly by her side, it was a signal for her to go in search of the brunette in case they got split up during the party. The chances of the two of them separating were sling to none but still, she just wanted to be extra careful.
If she had to greet 2014 surrounded by people she had never seen before or only knew from her mother's dinner parties - plus fifteen division, of course - than at least she wanted to make sure that when the clock hit midnight she would get a proper kiss.
But, looking back at their previous position, this didn't seem to be a problem now. There had been plenty of kissing for the past…how long had it been since they had stopped at the parking lot, again?
Time seemed to stand still when she was cradled between her girlfriend's legs, feeling every inch of Holly's naked skin against her own as they bodies moved in perfect synchrony. The sound of desperate moans and eager pleads mixing with the soft creak of their backseat, muffled only by the rush of blood echoing in her ears. The air damp with heavy breathing and perspirations, covering their bodies as a blanket to shield them from the cold world outside the fogged windows.
Gail swallowed hard at the memories of mere seconds ago and looked at the tantalizing view that was Holly spread on their backseat.
Yeah, she really should have thought this through before stopping.
Now there was no turning back though, the way the brunette had been starting at her only meant she wouldn't be able to dismiss her abrupt pause without some kind of explanation and so, she braced herself for the wave of embarrassment and spoke.
"Five minutes to midnight."
She felt Holly's tension leaving her body and a chuckle left the brunette's lips before she threw her head back and chuckled.
"I don't know if I want to hit you for stopping or hug you for being this cute."
Gail looked at the exposed neck, fighting the urge to retrace the path of kissed she had recently placed there. But once the words finally register in her brain she smirked and shook her head.
"Woah, what?!" She waited until Holly's eyes were on her once again. "I'm not cute."
The brunette's hand traveled from her lower back, up to her neck so that Holly could pushed their foreheads together and bump at her nose. "Yes, you kinda are."
Her eyes slid close as Holly kept pulling her head closed so that her forehead now rested on the crock of the doctor's neck. She felt her throat going dry as Holly's lips reached her ear, husky whispering. "But don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone."
Gail groaned, shivering with want. She had been right after all, this night would mark the day of her death, the only thing she had guessed wrong was the cause of it. It wouldn't be buried under a pile of snow, it would be tangled in Holly's arms.
A smile crossed her lips. She couldn't really complain.
Placing a soft kiss on Holly's jawline, she pulled away again shrugging. "They wouldn't believe you anyway."
"Of course they would. I'm a doctor, I have credibility." Holly stated bragged with a smirk.
"But I have a reputation of being an asshole and that's not something you can get rid of that easily doc" Gail countered back, picking Holly's hand from her neck to play with her fingers. She took a deep breath, assuming a serious tone.
"Maybe that should be my New Year resolution. Make some changes, be a better person (for you)."
She didn't say the last two words out loud, but they were implied in her sentence.
Holly was a wonderful person, so caring and so lovable it was almost impossible to stand near her and not be instantly attracted by her personality, whereas she was an asshole.
Purely and simply.
It didn't seemed to bother Holly in the slightly, she had never made and sort of comment about it and Gail had never had a reason to doubt the extension of Holly's love for her. But even know, after three years together, Gail still couldn't help but to dread the day the brunette would realize that she wasn't worth it, that she was in fact a horrible person, and leave her for good.
Normally it would only take one kiss to make the fear vanish inside her mind, but it always came back eventually.
Holly closed her fingers around Gail's, holding the blonde's hand over her heart. "Gail, are you happy?"
Gail raised her gaze and nodded. "Yes." She smiled softly. "The happiest I ever remember being."
"Then you don't need to change a thing about yourself." Holly brought her free hand to brush a strand of hair away from Gail's face. "You're not perfect, none of us are, but you're not an asshole. You're loyal, you're brave, you're a great friend, always willing to help who need - even complaining about it, you protect the ones you love at all cost, you're caring, you're never afraid to speak up your mind, you're strong minded but not adamant." She punctuated every line with a kiss, gently brushing her lips over the woman's face until Holly pulled away. "You are beautiful Gail. So rare and so beautiful and so loved and I'm so proud of the person you are. Of who you're growing to be."
Gail felt the tears pooling at her eyes, refusing to let them fall. "You really don't think I need to change?" She asked in a small voice but with the ghost of a smile over her lips.
Holly looked up, pretending to be thinking about the matter before snapping her finger. "Maybe just stop leaving wet towels over the bed."
"It was once!" The blonde whined "And I slept on the wetted side!"
They both busted laughing, feeling all he worries and all the doubts leaving their bodies. In the distance they could hear the explosions of the first fireworks, their glow shinning bright in the sky.
The laugh faded and they simply looked at each other for a moment, before
Gail placed a soft peck of Holly's lips.
"Happy New Year Lunchbox."