Ch. 7 (aka Ch. 6 Part 2)

A/N: Blah blah don't own Rookie Blue blah blah. Ok so this chapter was technically the rest of the previous chapter, but as I mentioned before the chapter had been way too long so I split it up. I'm still working out the kinks of the next chapter or two (which will most likely wrap this story up). Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with my current updating schedule but no promises. As always I appreciate your support and love to hear what you think...


"Took you long enough." Gail called out as she pushed off from the truck. Yep, the cantankerous blonde had waited for the doctor. A part of her had contemplated leaving, not wanting Chloe Price and her stooges to think they had actually been right all along or that their actions had been justified. But despite everything that had happened that night, every overwhelming feeling, all the smothering from her ignorant "friends", she still wanted to spend some time with the other woman. She just wanted to do it on her own terms and not because of the machinations of people who clearly didn't know her well enough to know when they were overstepping their boundaries. She wasn't entirely sure the cops of 15 knew what boundaries were. "Need a lift?"

Holly was shocked, she had been certain that Gail had left without so much as a good-bye and that it might have been the last time she would see the blonde. Yet, here she was surprising her, once again. Holly smiled her crooked smile before teasing, "Thought you were gone. You know, Cinderella at least left a shoe behind as a clue."

"Well I'm no princess and you know how much I treasure my shoes, I could never leave just one behind." Gail made a face at the horror of such a suggestion before continuing her snark, "Not to mention glass slippers are stupid, they're impractical for running away."

"Oh, but five inch heals aren't?" Holly looked pointedly at the objects in question.

"Hell no! I can kick some serious ass in these." If there was one thing Gail could handle, it was her shoes (feelings: no, shoes: yes). "So, you going to hurry up before this thing turns back into a pumpkin, or what?"

"I might have been more inclined to hurry if I had known what was waiting for me." Holly sauntered over to the passenger side of the car. As excited as she was that Gail hadn't left yet, she didn't want her to feel obligated to drive her, plus she wasn't entirely sure being in such a small space together was the best idea. She looked seriously at the blonde, "You know you don't have to give me a ride? I'm a big girl, I can call a cab."

Gail frowned, she still hated taxis and she really didn't want Holly taking one if she could give her a ride, but she tried to squash the rising fear in her chest that those thoughts stirred in her. She focused on opening the passenger side door, "Where's the fun in that?" She winked at the doctor as she climbed in.


Once they had both gotten into the car and Gail started the engine, the stereo immediately turned on to a Janis Joplin song. Gail angrily punched the dashboard to quiet the heartbroken crooning that had erupted. "I'm music'd out." She grunted unapologetically for her abrupt action.

Holly chuckled at the blonde's irrational reaction to the inanimate object. She couldn't really blame her, not after finding out the weird music of the night had belonged to the woman beside her. Music that she couldn't help but notice applied to them specifically. But she kept her opinion on that to herself, the other woman was clearly bitter about the situation.

They drove in silence back towards the heart of the city. Gail didn't bother to ask where Holly was staying. She knew her way around the city and its adjacent areas like the back of her hand, thanks to her family's constant tests. And she assumed that the doctor would be staying with someone she knew, so she headed in their general direction waiting for the doctor to point out where to go. This time the silence wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been on the balcony, there something about being together, away from all the nonsense that was putting the women slightly more at ease. But each woman was still lost in her own thoughts, neither really knowing what to say. For the first time that night, it was just the two of them with no one around to pry or interrupt.

Holly knew she should probably be talking right now, telling Gail about why she was in Toronto, why she had agreed to go to the wedding, maybe mention how good it was to see her again. Most people who met Holly Stewart thought that she was open and friendly, a stark contrast to the prickly blonde driving them back. She was kind and patient, the kind of person who made others feel safe to spill their guts to without judgment. Yes, she was sassy but she wasn't mean. What most people didn't see was how guarded she was when it came to her own feelings. She could easily articulate every random fact about science, medicine, or general knowledge on the planet, but sharing her feelings was something she just wasn't equipped to do. It had been that way in all her relationships, even with Gail. When she kissed her in the coat closet, she had called her insane and then promptly ran away, without any explanation. When she pulled her into the interrogation room she had rambled about the cop putting herself in danger and about the stupid set-up, but she didn't actually say how she was feeling to other woman, instead she let Gail make the first move and kiss her silent. Even after Gail gave her that heartfelt speech about being the most wonderful person she had ever met, she simply said "Good night Gail." And when she wanted her back she kissed her passionately in the interrogation room rather than talking.

But this is how she's always been. It was also why her friends hadn't realized how serious she was about Gail when they met. Holly kept her thoughts to herself. Even when Lisa had been out of line, she simply downplayed the situation, letting her friends think that Holly had settled into another fun, easy relationship that would fizzle out on its own. That was another trend of Holly's, to commit to easy relationships that required little to no work. She didn't have the time or energy for the drama that came with serious relationships when she was busy enough with her career. That was, until Gail Peck came into her life. Gail was fun but in no way was she easy or carefree. The woman was complicated and demanding, and she could turn Holly's world upside down without saying a thing. So far the only person the doctor had actually seen a future with had been Gail, which had prompted her impetuous decision to ask her to drop everything and come to California. Yeah, and look how well that worked out for you.

Now here she was with another job offer, one that would bring her back to Toronto and back into Gail's orbit, potentially permanently. If she told Gail about the job and Gail told her to take it would she? If she did and she hated the job she might resent Gail for making her feel pressured into accepting it for the sake of their relationship (not that they were guaranteed to get back together anyway). If she decided not to take the job there would be no chance of reconciliation, they had both decided long-distance wasn't an option for them and Gail had been adamant about Pecks living and dying in Toronto. Then, there was the fact that she actually enjoyed her work in Boston, or rather the potential of her work in Boston. But could she really return to that life knowing the possibilities she could be giving up? What even were the possibilities Stewart? You have no idea how Gail feels about you or what she wants out of tonight? If you bring any of this up right now, you're definitely going to send her up a tree and there's a good chance you'll never get her back down. So Holly decided to bite her tongue for just a little while longer, and instead she simply tried to enjoy being able to soak in the blonde's presence, trying her best to commit the feeling to memory.

For the most part Gail kept her eyes trained on the road, but she couldn't help glancing over at the distractingly beautiful creature seated beside her. If this had been a drive like the ones in the past, Gail's hand would have sat casually on the doctor's thigh keeping them connected despite the console between them as they headed back to Holly's place in eager anticipation of the rest of the night, preferably spent together in Holly's bed (though her couch and kitchen had been fair game). But things had changed, Holly no longer lived in Toronto, tonight had not been a date, there was no expectation of things to come and Gail's hands stayed firmly on the wheel. She knew she should speak now that they were alone and she finally had the other woman's undivided attention. She wanted to tell Holly how glad she was that she showed up, even if it had been surprising as hell. She wanted to spill about how much she missed her, how difficult the last few years had been, how good it felt for her to be back even temporarily, but Gail still struggled to express herself without it dripping in sarcasm, so she kept her mouth shut. With each passing building and street sign, Gail could feel the rising dread at having to say good-bye once again to her person. She needed to say something, anything.

"Pizza." Gail blurted out, her voice breaking the silence and drawing the doctor from her own contemplations.

Holly glanced over curiously at the blonde, a little surprised at the sudden outburst. She had a feeling this was the blonde's way of indicating that she was hungry and wanted pizza but she had always enjoyed forcing the woman to use her words, "Pizza?"

While this is where most people would have simply asked if the other person had wanted to get pizza with them, Gail was not most people. "Yeah, you know one of the basic food groups."

Holly chuckled at the ridiculousness of the statement, not really sure where this conversation was going or why they were talking about pizza. Still, sassing the blonde was second nature to the doctor, "Gail, pizza is not one of the basic food groups. It is composed of ingredients from most of the food groups, but it is not itself a food group."

"Sure it is, it's on that pyramid thing right above cheese puffs but below coffee and donuts. Jeeze, I thought you were a doctor." The light in front of them turned red and Gail took the opportunity to look over when she stopped. She gave the brunette a very hard, accusing look before questioning her credentials, "You are a doctor right?"

Holly just rolled her eyes, "Very funny, you know you're the only person who follows that particular pyramid."

"False, I can name at least three other people who would agree with me." She knew she could, hell the guys usually ate worse than her no matter what they said. "Come on, I'm starving, so pizza?"

"Ha, you're always starving." Despite years of medical training, Holly was still convinced the blonde's metabolism was an impossible act of nature. Her stomach was an insatiable pit. It was nice to know some things hadn't changed.

"That wouldn't be the case if I had some pizza." Gail continued to finagle. She knew that she could easily grab food after dropping off the doctor, but that wasn't what she wanted. It might be stupid, but she wanted the chance to spend whatever time she could with her. So she offered again in her Gail-like way, "What do you say doc? Feed me?"

The blonde was being oddly persistent about grabbing food, something she could easily do without her. It was getting late and Holly still had a flight to catch the next day. But she rationalized that it couldn't hurt to spend some more time with her friend, whom she hadn't seen in a long time. Plus, it wasn't until the mention of food that Holly realized she was hungry too, but simply giving in had never really been her style. "Since when is it my responsibility to feed you? Last time I checked you weren't a puppy."

"No, still a cat, a very hungry one and, fine, you don't have to feed me just keep me company. Or if you're hungry, I can feed you." You could feed her, really Peck? That's the best you can come up, Gail chastised herself, trying hard not to roll her eyes at how lame that sounded even to her.

Holy simply stared at the woman, extremely amused at her roundabout way of thinking and speaking. She couldn't help but think: This woman is absolutely ridiculous, and adorable, definitely adorable.

But when Gail didn't get a response, she started to backpedal, "I mean no pressure, if you're not hungry I can just drop you off wherever you're staying." Stupid, that was stupid assuming she would want to grab food when she's probably tired and just wants to get away from you and all the craziness that surrounds you. This was just supposed to be a ride, a friendly gesture. She kept her eyes staunchly on the road, but she felt a blush creep up her neck reaching her ears; she was embarrassing herself.

Holly smiled at how flustered the younger woman had gotten without her needing to say a word. She decided to reassure her and take her up on her offer, "Pizza sounds great. Anywhere in particular you want to go?"

"Actually there's a decent place not far from the frathouse. If you don't mind, maybe we can stop so I can change out of this get-up, it's not really pizza parlor friendly." While it had been fun getting dressed up for the wedding, Gail really didn't want to have to tase whoever decided to make some jackass comment to her when all she wanted was some food and to hang out with Holly without people staring.

Holly couldn't deny that she had been enjoying the outfit but she could understand the woman's desire to change into something more comfortable. "No problem at all, you're the one giving me the lift anyway."

Gail just smiled and headed in the direction of her apartment.


"Sorry for the pitstop but I thought it might be a good idea for a change of wardrobe, so you'd stop looking at me like that." Gail explained as they entered her apartment. She was walking ahead of the doctor and didn't bother to turn around as she confidently made her comment.

Sure, Holly had been staring most of the night and she had even showered the woman with compliments in lieu of a greeting, back at the beginning of the night when she wanted to see if she could still unravel the blonde with her words. But that felt like a lifetime ago and Holly thought she was being rather discreet, considering all the thoughts and images just seeing the woman had conjured in her head. "Like what?"

Gail stopped walking and turned around. Holly was rooted to her spot in the middle of the living room as the mesmerizing blonde stepped into the doctor's personal space and husked, "Like you want to peel me out of this dress with your teeth."

She saw the other woman's pupils dilate as she bit her lip. She chuckled at the look of unabashed wanting that crossed the brunette's face at the comment before she smugly sauntered away in the direction of her bedroom. "I'll only be a minute." She called over her shoulder.

It took every ounce of strength for Holly to not follow the blonde and to keep her hands, and teeth, to herself. The image those comments had evoked sent her libido into overdrive but she knew better than to act on it, even if she desperately wanted to. This woman is going to be the death of you, Stewart.

"SHIT!" The shout from Gail when she entered her room startled Holly from her daydream.

"Hey are you okay?" Holly called out, she was worried at the sudden expletive but wasn't sure that she should go see what had happened.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, no worries, I'll be out in a sec." Gail rushed to reassure her guest before she came to her room to check on her.

To say Gail had been scared shitless when she saw someone in her bed when she turned on the light in her room would be an understatement. She had still been thinking of the look on Holly's face and her far from innocent teasing that she wasn't paying enough attention to her surroundings, something she mentally reprimanded herself for. If she had, maybe she would have noticed the presence of her own personal Goldilocks sooner.

"Frankie what the hell are you doing in my bed?" Gail hissed as she shook the snoring woman. She wanted to shout to wake her up, but she also didn't really want her other visitor to hear her. It probably wouldn't look good to have another woman in her bed, not that it should matter, her and Holly weren't anything but she still didn't want her to get the wrong impression. She was also suddenly really glad that she hadn't actually tried to take Holly to bed or that Holly hadn't followed her after her tease, which was something Gail never thought she would be grateful for.

Realizing that the drunk in her bed was out like a light, she decided to just get changed and deal with the situation later. "I'm going to murder Gerald." Gail muttered to herself as she quickly stripped from the dress and heels. The presence of the sleeping woman in her room didn't bother her; even if the detective had been awake, it was nothing she hadn't seen before. "You're missing out on a great show, Frankie, I should be charging admission." Nope, nothing, the woman was out cold.

Rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of the situation, Gail changed into a pair of well-worn jeans that she knew made her ass look great and a form fitted black t-shirt. She didn't really know why but she slipped the pendant Celery gave her into one of her pockets, something about the charm made her feel more confident. She ditched the heels for her patented black combat boots. She tied her hair back into a messy ponytail and made sure her make-up hadn't smudged before looking for the detective's phone. She plugged it into her charger, set an alarm and changed the ringtone to the most annoying sound she could think of, then put the ringer on full blast. "You'll enjoy that in the morning."


Holly started to look around the living room for any sort of distraction to clear her mind and get her body in check. She noticed picture frames scattered around the furniture and walls. The pictures seemed to be of a variety of kids. She was so engrossed in examining them, trying to determine whom the children could be that she didn't notice Gail come up behind her.

"They're foster kids." Holly jumped at the sound of Gail's voice only inches behind her. The detective easily guessed what she had been trying to figure out. "After everything that happened with Sophie, Chris convinced me to get my foster license with him. Most of the kids have been involved in cases and just needed a place to crash till their families could come for them. Some of them have sent letters to thank us or to tell us how they're doing and sometimes they include pictures."

Holly was impressed but not surprised by how generous the blonde could be to open up her heart and home to children in need. It was admirable, to say the least, but she imagined it took its toll on the guarded but vulnerable woman. "Must be hard letting them go."

Gail sighed, "Not as hard as it was with Sophie, but it's nice to feel like we're doing something, making some kind of difference even if it's just to give the kids a safe roof over their heads and a chance to play some video games and not think for a while."

Holly would never understand how Gail always found the strength to put others before herself, no matter how much it might hurt her. She knew it was probably long overdue but she still felt the need to say it, "I'm sorry things didn't work out with Sophie." And I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you through it, she mentally added.

"Don't be, she's with a good family, she even has an adopted sibling. I couldn't be her mom, as badly as I wanted to, I didn't have enough support. This way she gets a whole family and not just a parent, plus, I still see her every once in a while and they like to send letters updating me about her life. The parents were very understanding, and Sophie still gets excited to see me. So that's cool," Gail had stoically given this speech many times whenever she was questioned about the little girl she couldn't call her own. But it felt different giving it to Holly; it made the hurt feel raw again. She really wanted to change the subject before her sadness swallowed her whole and she lost her appetite. She headed to the door, "Anyway we should probably go get some food."

Holly accepted the end of the conversation and turned to follow the blonde. That's when she noticed the outfit, it was Gail's signature look but it still took the doctor's breath away. While the dress earlier today was stunning in a regal sort of way, this look was more intimate in a weird way. It was how she remembered Gail on lazy days off, when they would finally manage to leave the bed in search of food and to rejoin humanity. Needless to say those memories were doing nothing to extinguish the raging inferno in her pants. You are a grown woman, Holly Stewart, not a teenager. Get your hormones in check!

Once outside, Gail decided that driving would cut the visit too short. So she decided to do something she hated doing, "Do you want to walk?"

Holly was surprised and a little suspicious; it wasn't like Gail to want to walk anywhere she didn't have to. At least not the Gail she remembered. "Walk?"

"One foot in front of the other, through leaves, over bridges..."

"Did you just quote Kurt Vonnegut?" It didn't surprise Holly that Gail would appreciate an author with a morose sense of humor.

"Maybe, so what do you say Catherine?" The blonde continued the charade.

"You do realize that makes you Newt?" Holly teased.

"Technically, I think you're more of a Newt." Gail retorted.

She had a point, Holly had been the one to show up out of nowhere, but she was the one being unusual. "You hate walking." Holly pointed out.

Gail just shrugged, "It's a nice night and the pizza place is just around the corner," then she decided to add in her own teasing, "I thought you were a jock, can't handle a little walk, Stewart?"

Challenge accepted. "I'd offer to race you there but we both know I'd win, Peck."

"You are quite the runner." Gail conceded, before giving herself a head start and walking quickly in the direction of the food. "Try to keep up."

She hadn't meant anything by the comment but it still stung when the words reached Holly. Gail might have been a climber, but Holly, she was a runner. Holly shook off the bitterness and went to follow the blonde.


After they each ordered their pie, the two grabbed a seat to wait for the food. Gail had gotten a chicken, bacon, ranch pizza with extra bacon, while Holly had ordered a vegetable pie, no tomatoes. Gail couldn't help but notice the specification. "No tomatoes, huh, someone trying to get lucky?" She inquired with a smirk, flirting with Holly came as easily as breathing to the blonde.

"You're just lucky, I don't want to cross-contaminate your food." The brunette countered the tease. That wasn't the whole truth, Holly had gotten used to ordering food without tomatoes back when she was friends with Gail and had learned about her allergy. It hadn't been anything romantic, just thoughtful, as Holly was aware that Gail had a tendency to eat other people's leftovers after she finished her own food unless it had tomatoes in it, in which case she would just whine about how she couldn't eat it. When they started dating, it was more of a necessity. "Plus, now you won't have an excuse when I try to get you to eat a slice of something remotely healthy."

"Whoa, you know I hate vegetables. I'll stick with my protein and carbs." Yes, Gail was still just as juvenile when it came to her food.

"And cholesterol, I pity your blood vessels. You know, it won't kill you to try something new." The words rang a bell.

"You know, I've heard that before. Yet, I'm pretty sure I disproved your theory when you locked me in a metal cage facing a rocket launcher with nothing to protect me but a metal bat. It was inhumane." Gail made an exaggerated, horrified face at the mere thought.

Holly laughed a loud bright laugh, remembering that night in the batting cages. She could picture clearly how utterly ridiculous the blonde had looked throwing her bat at the ball and shrieking. She also remembered convincing the blonde to try again with her help, she could still feel the butterflies she had gotten when she had sidled up behind the other woman, molding their bodies together to get Gail to adopt a proper stance and whispering instructions in her ear. "As I recall, not only did you survive, but after a little coaching you actually managed to hit the ball."

"Well I had a good teacher, even though I'm pretty sure she was just trying to cop a feel." Gail winked.

"Ha, more like trying to make sure you survived to fight crime another day."

The banter continued throughout the meal, Holly even managed to convince Gail to try some of her "rabbit food" pizza after she agreed to try a slice of Gail's "myocardial infarction-waiting-to-happen." They teased and flirted their way through the food and it wasn't until the staff indicated that they were closing, that the two finally decide to head out. After Gail paid for both meals, despite Holly's protests, they started back in the direction of the apartment. They didn't talk about anything serious or their relationship (or lack there of). They reminisced and shared funny stories that reminded them of one another, like the time a cat followed Holly all the way home from her lab or the time Gail got Rodney to knock over an entire tray of instruments just by smiling at him. They teased and laughed in a way that they hadn't in a very long time. Without the pressure of the wedding and the prying eyes of the wedding guests to weigh them down, they just enjoyed being in one another's company again. Both were surprised at how easily it came, and neither was ready for it to end.

Without realizing it, both women walked slowly back to Gail's apartment, dragging out the couple of blocks for as long as they could as they continued laughing along the way.

"God, it was so bad, stupid Gerald overheard our conversation and he actually thought I was dying. I was talking about a bucket list for before I became a parent, which was surprisingly good advice I got from an inmate, by the way. You should have seen the look on his face I swear he was about to cry." Gail was laughing just thinking about fooling the rookie. "I did convince him to give me hip-hop dance lessons though."

The dark humor was something that Holly had always found attractive, but the thought of Gail getting dance lessons from the goofy man she saw earlier in the day was priceless. "Seriously? I would have paid to see those. Please tell me you recorded them."

"Hell no! He was an awful teacher." Gail quickly dismissed the notion that there would be any incriminating evidence of the dreadful dance lessons. If everyone thought Gerald-err, Duncan-was an awful student he was an even worse teacher.

Holly smirked, "You sure it wasn't the student?"

"Very funny, you wish you could see my moves, Stewart." Gail teased with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

You have no idea, Holly thought to herself. "Should I break out a boombox?"

"God no, no more music for tonight." Gail was still horrified just thinking about the wedding. They had arrived back at the blonde's apartment, "Well looks like we're here." The disappointment was evident in her voice, but with the night only getting later, she was out of ideas to avoid the inevitable. "Where are you staying?" Gail asked while pushing the button to unlock her car.

Holly was surprised that they had already made their way back, but was even more so when a phantom grey Ford Taurus beeped next to her. "At a hotel not far from the airport. Since when do you have a car?"

"Since, I grew up and started preparing to make the D's. I realized I couldn't rely on other people to chauffeur me around forever." That had surprised everyone. It wasn't that Gail couldn't drive, in fact she was an excellent driver, having grown up on the police course, she was just extremely lazy.

"Very nice." Holly was impressed both by the car, it looked like a Detective's car, and the change in the other woman, it was just another small example of her growing maturity, which was a bit of a turn-on.

"Looks even better on the inside, come on Nerd."


The drive to the hotel was relatively short and both women continued to chat amicably, avoiding any serious conversations. Most of it revolved around 15 and Gail's new promotion.

"So what are you leaning towards after you finish your probationary period." Holly was curious as to what the newest addition to the detective roster had planned.

"Probably Homicide. Guns-and-Gangs, Youth Services, Missing Persons, and Sex Crimes are all out. I could probably go over to Intelligence just to rain on Epstein's parade but hanging out with that many dorks will get old quickly."

Holly pondered the information for a minute. Guns-and-Gangs made sense after everything with Steve. Youth Services would eat away at the sensitive soul. She was pretty sure she knew why she wouldn't want to do the other two, but it was something Gail had never actually spoken to Holly about so she decided not to press it. Instead she remembered something the blonde had said while hanging out in her lab, "Thought you always said Homicide was lazy police work, since the victims were already dead."

Gail laughed, "Well you know me, I'm nothing if not lazy, plus it's not so bad."

"Detective Anderson makes it look appealing?" The words left Holly's mouth before she could even process them and the jealous inflection was unintentional, and slightly embarrassing. What the hell Stewart? Where did that even come from?

Gail noticed the tone and was tempted to mess with the doctor. If it had been one of her ex-boyfriends she would have reveled in the opportunity to make them jealous, but not with Holly. She didn't want to play games with her (at least not those kind of games). "Nah, actually some nerd once taught me all about how important it was to give a voice to the dead. Seems the message kind of stuck."

Holly couldn't help the warmth that spread across her chest at the words and the pride she felt at knowing that she really had influenced the woman in front of her. Not that she had been trying to, she always liked Gail the way she was, but it was an ego boost to know that she had shaped her life in some lasting way.

The good feeling ended though as she felt the car come to a stop and heard Gail say, "Anyway, looks like we're here, final stop." Gail looked at the hotel, she had been surprised when the doctor had said that was where she was staying. "Why are you staying at a hotel anyway, why not stay with your sister or one of your friends?"

Here's another chance Stewart, you can tell her about the job offer and see what she says. Holly willed herself to tell the other woman about the position in Toronto. She knew she was being stupid keeping this to herself. They told each other things, or at least they used to. But she couldn't get out of her own head long enough to share. What's the worst that could happen? Maybe she'll be excited and tell you to take it, or maybe she'll freak out and think you're coming back only for her and create another emergency situation. Plus, what happens if you don't come back? Then what? No, no, no this is a professional decision, not a personal one. You need to make this decision on your own and think about your career like you always have. This isn't about Gail, if you come back it's because you want to not for someone else. Plus, coming back doesn't mean you two will get back together.

Deciding to keep the job offer to herself she answered with another half-truth, "I was only in town for a couple of days and didn't want to disturb them. Plus, I like having some space. Heather and the girls can be a handful. Rachel has her boyfriend and Lisa, is well, Lisa." When Holly had originally decided to fly out for the weekend, she wasn't sure she was going to tell anyone about it, in case she changed her mind or the offer wasn't going to pan out. It wasn't until the job was a real possibility and she had run into Chloe at the precinct that she decided to reach out to her friends and sister.

At the mention of Lisa, Gail remembered Frankie, and what had set all those events in motion. She chuckled to herself, causing Holly to tilt her head in question, a move that always got Gail to spill what she was thinking. "Speaking of the boob doctor, I'm pretty sure we have her to thank for why there is a passed out detective in my bed right now snoring louder than a freight train."

Holly frowned, trying to decipher what the other woman was talking about. Suddenly, it clicked, and she wasn't happy about it. "Wait, Detective Anderson is in your bed? And what does Lisa have to do with it?" Seriously, Stewart you're really playing it cool tonight. You do know you have no right to be jealous. But Holly seemed to have lost all sense of decorum while speaking with her ex; her filter was inadequate to say the least.

"I'm guessing she convinced Gerald to drop her off at my place, probably drank all my tequila too. But it looks like the chick she was seeing decided to put on a little show with a snobby plastic surgeon outside the hospital when Frankie went to pick her up." Gail felt bad for Frankie, it hurts to be second choice and to be in the front row to witness them with someone else sucks even worse.

"Damn, that does sound like something Lisa would do." She couldn't help herself, but she was curious what Gail would do about the other woman. She knew she didn't have any right to ask, but the thought of someone else in Gail's bed made Holly's stomach drop unpleasantly, especially when she remembered what Chloe had said about their relationship. "What are you going to do about the detective?"

"Why do ask doc, you jealous of someone else sleeping in my bed?" Gail really couldn't help teasing the brunette. She didn't have to defend herself; technically she could have anyone she wanted in her bed. But the one person she had wanted the most was the one sitting next to her, so it probably wouldn't help matters for Holly to think there was something going on that wasn't. Her and Frankie were just friends. Even when they had been more than that, Gail's heart had belonged to someone else, and Frankie had known it so she didn't try to compete with it, she just accepted their fooling around for what it was. "Don't be. I already programmed her phone for an early alarm with a very loud, shrill ringtone, and I'll probably just crash in the guestroom or on the couch."

Holly was unjustifiably relieved at the thought that Gail wasn't planning on climbing into bed with another woman, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment that her night with the prickly blonde had come to an end. She wasn't ready to say good-bye even though she knew her flight was leaving the next day and she still had an important decision to make. But, it was what it was.

Finally, Holly worked up the strength to say goodnight. She undid her seatbelt and turned to the driver. "Thank you for tonight. For the dance, and the pizza and the ride." She said softly before she leaned over to give Gail a kiss on the cheek. It was an innocent action, one reminiscent of the last kiss she sadly pressed to Gail's cheek before leaving for San Francisco.

But unlike that time, this time Gail turned her head ever so slightly and gently caught the unsuspecting doctor's lips with her own.


A/N: Some habits are hard to break...